Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 39 A Story

“I went to Blackwood Mansion when I was sixteen. Ah… Blackwood Mansion is now the House of Death, named for the blackwood trees that surround it. Lord Stephen Lancaster, his wife, and their children moved here at that time…”

"Logically speaking, nobles like these don't usually hire outsiders easily; they have servants who have been passed down through generations. But Mr. Stephen is different. I only learned later that Mr. Stephen was a crazy gambler. Because of gambling, he almost squandered all of his family's wealth, even losing his land. Therefore, he had to dismiss his other servants and come here... This house seems to be the only property that Mr. Stephen's family currently owns."

"To be honest, that period wasn't a good memory. They hired us because our wages were very low. But even so, this family still considered themselves members of the upper class. Even though they had lost everything, they still wanted to put on a grand show and invite guests, as if they wanted to prove to their relatives and friends that their life was pretty good."

But I knew it was all a facade. After each banquet, they would eat bland, tasteless food for quite some time afterward. Of course, they also treated us servants with little kindness. At first, we were indeed afraid of Lord Stephen, after all, he was a nobleman. For us, serving a nobleman was an honor in itself. Besides, at that time, we didn't know much about their situation.”

"Oh...where was I? Right, that house. At the time, those living there included Lord Stephen and his family of three, and us servants. Including me, the cook, and the personal maid, there were about ten of us in total. Lord Stephen had a bad temper, and his wife didn't treat us well either, looking at us like we were toads in the mud, but we could tolerate that. But the strangest thing was their child..."

The old man's voice began to sound tense and uneasy.

"The young master was fourteen or fifteen years old at the time. Logically, he should have been going to school. But he stayed in his room alone every day and never went out. He also wouldn't let anyone clean his room. Except for meals, he almost never left his room. No one knew what he was doing in there. Sometimes when I was hanging clothes out to dry, I could see the young master standing in front of the window, staring at me with a chilling gaze..."

"Fortunately, I'm just a laundry maid, so I don't have much contact with him. But Anne... oh, she's the lady's personal maid, so it's different. She's told me several times in secret that the young master stares at her and smiles strangely, not like a man looking at a woman, but a very weird, chilling smile. And he has a lot of dolls in his house; he seems to really like those things."

I was also very scared at the time, because I also felt that the young master wasn't quite right. In fact, we even privately suspected that the young master might have mental problems, which was why he didn't go to school. After all, generally speaking, dolls are played with by girls, and it's rare to see boys playing with dolls.

During that time, we were all very uneasy, and even considered quitting... After all, this family wasn't very kind to us, and the pay was very low. Initially, we went there because of their noble reputation, but now we felt that the labor we put in and the pay were completely mismatched—I had to wash everyone's clothes and sheets every day, but I only received a dozen or so shillings a week. If I went out to do laundry full-time, the pay would be far higher. The others felt the same way. We approached the lady, hoping to increase our wages, but she told us that it was already a great honor for us commoners to work for the Lancaster family, and we shouldn't have any more unrealistic expectations.”

"You mean Mr. Stephen? He basically doesn't get involved. He goes out every evening and comes back drunk. Sometimes he's even covered in bruises, and a few times the police had to bring him back, apparently for causing trouble or fighting... Everyone was in a panic at the time, thinking we might as well just quit..."

"...Then, things started to get worse..."

“It started with Anne. One day, she suddenly disappeared. The lady was furious, thinking she had run away, and even called the police, saying that Anne had stolen something from the house and that the police should arrest her. But I felt that things were not that simple, because Anne had told me the day before that the young master wanted her to go to her room and that she was very scared. At that time, I comforted her and told her that if anything happened, she could shout, and that I would be outside the whole time.”

"Then...Anne disappeared. I suspected that the young master might have done something to her, or even killed her. But the police seemed to think that the servant had simply run away, so they didn't take it too seriously. I found Mr. Darren—he was the coachman and the leader of our group of servants—and told him about it."

Mr. Darren was surprised to hear what I said. He told me that he had found traces of his carriage going out at night—because Mr. Darren would clean the carriage thoroughly every day after returning home, and on the day Anne disappeared, he found mud on the carriage wheels, even though Mr. Darren had not been to any such places that day.

Therefore, Mr. Darren suspected that someone might have secretly driven his car to do something while he was sleeping. He assured me that he would investigate and then tell me what had happened.

"Then... Mr. Darren also disappeared... No, we can't say he disappeared, because we can still see his carriage coming and going every day, but we can't find him anymore. Before, when Mr. Darren came back, he would go to the back garden to rest for a while and have a smoke. But after that, he never appeared there again."

But, but I know Mr. Darren is still here… because one day, during a torrential downpour, on my way back to my room, I saw Mr. Darren through the window. He was driving his carriage, stopped at the gate. He stood there, completely upright, maintaining his composure despite the storm. Then I saw the lady get into the carriage and leave…”

"Then... things became increasingly strange. The lady disappeared, the gentleman disappeared, it seemed like everyone had vanished. Every morning when I woke up, I would find another figure missing. The chef was no longer in the kitchen, but there was always a steaming breakfast on the table. The lady no longer came out, but I could still often hear her hysterical screams and angry shouts. The gentleman also disappeared, but I could still hear his usual drunken groans coming from his room. Yet, I still felt as if I was the only one in the house... no, there was also that young master. Every day when I went to hang the clothes out to dry, he would stand by the window, staring at me."

"...That day was the same. I was hanging out the laundry when I noticed that terrifying gaze. I turned around and saw the young master standing by the window, looking at me. Just like before, he had that eerie smile. Not only that, I also saw other people standing behind him. There was a gentleman, a lady, and Anne, Mr. Darren...They were all standing behind the young master, watching me."

I suddenly had a feeling that I was going to disappear too, and that I would become one of them. So I ran... Yes, I ran out of that house without looking back, and I never went back. As for what happened to that family after that, I don't know. I only heard that they all seemed to have disappeared...

"...That's all I know...I don't know how they are now, nor do I know what happened, but I know that in the end, I can't escape it all..."

The old man's voice faded away, and Katie was now shivering, her body trembling. Although the old man's narration was dry and lacked the flair and conflict of traditional storytellers, and was even somewhat incoherent, the mere thought of the scene sent chills down Katie's spine.

"Grandma, what do you mean? Have you discovered something?"

Katie asked anxiously, but the old man remained silent. At that moment, Levi stood up, reached out, and abruptly pulled back the curtain.

Then they saw an old man-like doll sitting on the bed, covered with a blanket. Its entire body was made of wood, and its cloudy glass eyes were gazing out the window.

"Alas-----!"

Seeing this, Katie almost jumped off her chair in fright. She clenched her little fists and stared at the doll in front of her.

"What, what's going on?" "This is interesting."

Li Wei carefully examined the doll, then looked around.

"Alright, the story is over, it's time for us to go."

"Ah... um..."

Katie nodded, followed closely behind Levi, and then turned and left the room. Before leaving, Katie glanced back one last time, and then she was surprised to find…

"Detective!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"The doll is gone!"

"Yeah, that's quite interesting."

Li Wei didn't turn around, but just casually replied with a word of agreement.

"let's go."

"Ah, um..."

Katie nodded and followed closely behind Levi. The girl was very uneasy, even a little scared—just as Katie said, she wasn't afraid of monsters she could fight with her fists. After all, apart from their strange appearance, they weren't particularly dangerous to Katie.

But a person who was just talking to them and telling them stories has suddenly turned into a puppet?
Then the doll disappeared?

That's a different story!
When the two left the damp room and reached the door, they saw the laundry worker sitting on a stool against the wall, as if she had fallen asleep.

“Um… this lady…”

Looking at the laundry worker, Katie hesitated, unsure of what to say. Should she tell her that her grandmother had turned into a doll and disappeared?

However, just as Katie leaned over to speak, she froze—the person sitting on the bench was not a living person, but a doll.

It was like one of the exhibits in a dollhouse, with its hands outstretched in front of its knees, and a few shillings on them.

"…………………"

At that moment, Katie felt like the hairs on her entire body were about to stand on end.

"Detective! What should we do now?"

She gripped Li Wei's clothes tightly, watching him anxiously, afraid that if Li Wei turned around, she would see a doll's face as well.

Thankfully, Li Wei is still Li Wei.

"Um……………"

Faced with Katie's question, Levi pondered for a moment.

"My personal opinion? How about we just set that house on fire?"

(End of this chapter)