Old days, dice and investigator's manual

"Even so, I still need to check with my own eyes whether the things are still there and whether they are intact." Isaac continued to play the mysterious role that Finn had imagined.

Finn looked at him with an "I knew it" expression: "Why bother... Fine, it's just next door anyway, it's not a big deal."

Isaac gestured for Finn to step back a few paces, then slowly retracted his revolver and stood up from the bed. Finn rubbed his side where the gun had been pressed against him, then turned and walked out of the room.

Isaac followed him into the corridor. Finn took out a lighter, and with a ding and a click, the light dispelled the darkness.

Reaching the door of room number 4, Finn took out several keys from his pocket, examined the labels on them, and selected one to insert into the lock and open the door.

Upon entering the room, the layout was similar to Isaac's, with almost identical furnishings. However, there were no particularly eye-catching items in the room; the bed was neatly made, and the desk was empty, as if it had never been occupied.

Finn walked straight to the desk, opened the drawer, and Isaac took two steps closer. Inside the drawer were several jewelry boxes of different sizes and materials. Some were inlaid with gemstones, while others were simple velvet boxes. Finn opened one of them, and inside was a pearl necklace.

"It hasn't been touched, has it?" Isaac asked.

"Of course, that person didn't intend for me to actually be a robber, so I wouldn't dare to embezzle it." Finn closed the box and opened the drawer next to it, which also contained several jewelry boxes.

Isaac's gaze swept over the jewelry. Finn then walked to the wardrobe, opened the door, and found several pieces of clothing folded inside. He pushed the clothes aside, took out the boxes hidden underneath, and opened them one by one. Inside were jewelry, a pocket watch, a few gold coins, and some small items that looked like antiques.

"Is this all?" Isaac looked around but couldn't find what he was looking for—his collection of books.

"Of course not." Finn closed the box and put it back in its place. "There are two more."

As he spoke, he walked out of the room, and the two went to room number 7. Finn also used the key to open the door, skillfully pulled out the drawers, opened the wardrobe, or squatted down and pulled out several small boxes from under the bed, like a skilled warehouse manager, taking out the boxes from various corners one by one to show Isaac.

After touring the three rooms, boxes of all sizes were scattered all over the floor, containing a wide variety of valuable items. However, Isaac's vague expectations gradually cooled, replaced by disappointment.

He had thought that since Finn had been involved in the bank robbery and the stolen goods were still there, he might be able to find his books. But in fact, there was no sign of any books at all.

Seeing Isaac frowning and remaining silent, Finn became even more certain of his guess. He grinned, revealing a set of slightly crooked teeth: "Disappointed? Too bad there's nothing I can do. The item is indeed not in my possession."

Isaac tried to make his gaze appear even colder, and under his gaze, Finn shrugged: "Who knew things would go wrong halfway through? This whole trip was for nothing, and it's a real headache. But anyway, you all know the stuff isn't in my hands, so there's no need for us to clash, right?"

Finn leaned against the wardrobe, arms crossed. Isaac slowly paced back and forth, stopping by the window to organize his thoughts, gradually making sense of things.

The first thing to consider is what Finn and his group originally planned. The people behind Finn have a clear objective: they're after "something" in the Palmer Bank safe deposit box. Judging from Finn's attitude, he doesn't seem to care much about the other stolen goods.

Well... perhaps directly stealing that specific safe would be too obvious and easily attract unnecessary attention. So they decided to pull off a big heist and make a big splash.

They pried open multiple safes and took everything inside, thus obscuring their true target amidst the stolen goods. Then, they returned the stolen items in a staggered order, preventing the powerful from pressing for an investigation and leading ordinary victims to believe, "My things will be back in a few days."

Even... if their target was their own collection of books, they probably guessed they wouldn't dare to openly seek official help to recover them, nor would they dare to make a big fuss. Ultimately, they would quietly take the books away through a high-profile heist.

The "mishap" that Finn mentioned likely refers to the fact that they didn't get what they originally wanted.

Isaac paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the jewelry boxes scattered on the floor before finally settling back on Finn's face.

But the question is, why does Finn think he "should" know that Finn and his group no longer have those things? Or, in Finn's eyes, what is his own identity?

Judging from Finn's attempt to scare himself away with ghost stories, he doesn't consider himself an official, and especially not someone affiliated with the church. However, Finn also believes he has some kind of powerful backer, and that that power is wary of the "big shot" behind him.

Tsk, it's still unclear whose side Finn sees him as on, or even if he doesn't consider himself an official. So, on another note, what makes Finn believe he possesses a lot of information, even without considering himself an official? Is he investigating something?

Fein probably doesn't know much about me, otherwise it's unlikely that such a misunderstanding would occur. Therefore, the information that caused Fein to misunderstand me was most likely revealed after I entered the Amorton Mansion.

Something flashed through Isaac's mind, and he steadied himself. Although he wasn't 100% sure about this, he still decided to bluff.

"Since you know why I've come to you, let's be more direct," he said. "Carlo Schuster, how much do you know about him?"

When Isaac threw out that name so abruptly, Finn replied without any surprise, "To be honest, I have very limited clues about that guy."

Sure enough! Isaac felt the excitement of having guessed the question correctly. The most direct reason why Fein thought he was not simple was that he had mentioned this name when he was at the front desk.

In Fein's view, he seemed to be someone who was tracking Carlo and had already found his way here, but he was not sure about his background, so he went up to test him and might judge that he was not an official by some of his reactions.

Based on Finn's recent statements, Isaac deduced the general situation and was left speechless.

He took a deep breath: "So... how did that person take those books from you?"