Half an hour later, after the room had been thoroughly inspected, Charlotte and Vill-V simultaneously stopped in a corner of the room, looking at it with great interest.
It was a spot where the wallpaper had peeled away, revealing a dark brown word written in blood: RACHE.
"What does this word mean?" Vill-V frowned, somewhat perplexed.
Although she could imitate others' thought processes, she was, after all, still young, and her repository of knowledge was not yet rich enough. Thus, she was baffled by this character that looked like a name.
At this, Charlotte raised an eyebrow. Just as she was about to offer a smug explanation, another voice beat her to it.
"Vill-V, the word 'Rache' isn't the English name 'Rachel'. It's the German word for 'revenge'."
"Oh? Mr. Li, you're quite knowledgeable. To think someone your age would know German."
Charlotte turned her head, looking Fu Li up and down, her tone laced with probing curiosity.
She was intensely curious about anyone she couldn't see through.
From the moment he entered, Fu Li had been sitting quietly, reading a book, showing not the slightest discomfort in the presence of a corpse. He seemed almost bored, as if he had known the solution to the mystery all along.
"Heh, thank you for the compliment, Miss Charlotte."
Fu Li looked up and smiled. "I was just reminding Vill-V that language is a very important field of study. Perhaps she can broaden her learning horizons a bit sometimes, and not limit herself to just physics and mathematics."
"Hmph, I know. I'll read more books when I get back."
Vill-V's face was a little red, and she felt a pang of annoyance in her heart.
It was a good thing Fu Li had helped her out just now. Otherwise, she would have definitely been one-upped by that Charlotte woman.
Thinking of this, she shot a grateful glance at her 'assistant' and then offered her own analysis.
"Alright, it's clear now. This person was murdered, and it was because someone held a secret over him, forcing him to come here in disguise."
"You're right," Charlotte said, shifting her gaze from Fu Li. "But in your opinion, how did he die, Miss Vill-V?"
"Without a doubt, it was poison. Cyanide poisoning, to be specific. The scent of almonds in his mouth makes that clear," Vill-V stated with the certainty of someone who had studied chemistry in detail.
"Correct." The excitement in Charlotte's eyes grew more apparent. "Then, in your opinion, what does the murderer look like?"
"The killer should be a man in his thirties, a little over six feet tall, with small feet. He smokes Indian tobacco and likely rode in a carriage with the deceased. Furthermore, the killer has ruddy skin and his right fingernails are relatively long."
Vill-V stated calmly, then looked at Charlotte with a smile. "I shouldn't have to explain how I know all that, right?"
"Of course not. So this is your talent? Perfect imitation?"
Charlotte clapped her hands and asked with a smile, but Vill-V just replied nonchalantly, "You guess. Is this my ability or not?"
The answer was yes, but not entirely accurate.
Recalling the information Fu Li seemed to have blurted out just moments before, Charlotte suddenly burst into a peal of delighted laughter. Immediately after, Vill-V also let out a somewhat exaggerated laugh.
Clearly, they were both having a lot of fun today.
However, in stark contrast to their amusement were Gregson and Lestrade, who had been standing by the whole time with completely baffled expressions.
At this moment, any thought of underestimating Vill-V had vanished from their minds. Even a blind man could now see that the impossibly arrogant detective had, for the second time, acknowledged someone else.
As for the first person she had acknowledged, that was her assistant, Watson.
'Damn it, are all kids these days monsters? Learning German, too? How is anyone else supposed to live with this level of competition?!'
Lestrade lamented internally, selectively forgetting his earlier disdain for Vill-V. He straightened his back slightly and shot a smug look at Gregson.
See? I've found a detective who is no less capable than Charlotte.
Noticing his gaze, Gregson's expression darkened, and he secretly gritted his teeth.
As for Fu Li, he had at some point put down his book and was now propping his head on his hand, smiling as he watched the two inspectors secretly compete.
"Would you like me to explain how they observed all these details?"
"What, you understood?" Three people—including Watson—exclaimed in unison.
In their eyes, this young man had done nothing at all. How could he possibly understand what they had done?
Then, they saw the young man nod and begin to explain in a light, nonchalant manner how Vill-V and Charlotte had deduced the clues from the tiniest of traces.
As he spoke, Charlotte was once again astonished, because what he said was almost identical to their own lines of reasoning, and he hadn't even investigated the scene himself.
As for the two inspectors, they could only nod blankly after listening, feeling as if they had understood everything and nothing at the same time.
Fu Li felt a bit helpless about this, as the method he used was a form of cheating.
Long before they arrived, the 'Alan Institute' and the 'DA' organization he had founded had already cooperated, placing all the files on this murderer and Moriarty right in front of him.
Knowing the answer in advance, and with his experience, it was a very simple matter to reverse-engineer the process of deduction.
Of course, although building factions was a part of one's strength, Fu Li himself didn't feel it was anything to be proud of.
He was just deliberately shaping the 'Alan Institute' into an antagonistic figure, allowing Vill-V to unravel it bit by bit, just as she had with The MOTHs Who Chase the Flame, only to discover that the organization was completely different from what she had imagined.
If I do this, maybe she won't have such a major conflict with The MOTHs in the future.
Oh, foolish Vill-V. Experience my teachings well.
Fu Li closed his book, hiding his deeds and merits, and then said:
"Since the investigation is more or less complete, what are your plans? Are you going to look for the person directly, or go back and rest first?"
"Let's go back and rest. It's already so late. If we don't get a good night's sleep, we'll get wrinkles."
Charlotte yawned, glanced at Vill-V who had no objections, and then at the two obviously anxious inspectors.
"Alright, you two don't need to be so anxious. Even for us, finding the murderer takes time. Could you please be a little more patient? Okay?"
With that, she turned to Fu Li.
"By the way, Mr. Li, could you use your DA organization to do us a small favor? It's very simple. Just add a piece of news to tomorrow's paper. It's late now, and the people I know might not be able to do it."
"Mhm, of course, no problem," Fu Li replied with a smile. Vill-V, however, asked with confusion:
"You want to find him using that ring? Isn't that too slow?"
"Mhm, I can't help it. We're not like you, after all. We won't use methods that are beyond the rules unless absolutely necessary. Besides..."
Charlotte said provocatively, "I don't believe my actions will be any slower than yours."
"Is that so?" Vill-V raised an eyebrow, a confrontational glint in her eyes. "Then why don't we make a bet? See who can capture him first?"
"I'd be delighted to."
Author's PS:
I went to the hospital this afternoon. Don't worry, just got some medicine, nothing serious. But today's chapter is only 2000 words, sorry. Also, as everyone can see, the pace has clearly quickened. I should be able to finish up this plot arc tomorrow.