Inside the vast auditorium of the Flying Theatre, the performance was still ongoing, with various acts taking turns on stage under the host's guidance. Plays, magic tricks, dances, songs... wonderful programs were continuously performed on the stage, earning rounds of applause from the audience.
While the programs on stage were indeed spectacular, the audience's enthusiasm was gradually waning. The applause wasn't as loud as before, not because the performances were bad, but because the main theme seemed to have gone off track.
This performance was advertised with the famous dancer Adele as the main attraction, yet she hadn't appeared since her two dances at the beginning and in the fourth act. There had been no sign of Adele in the programs after the fourth act, which left many audience members who came specifically to see Adele somewhat dissatisfied. Quiet discussions occasionally arose within the venue.
"That's strange... It's been several acts now... Why hasn't Miss Adele appeared yet?"
Sitting in a seat in the front row of the audience, Naifnis muttered as she watched the performance on stage. Then she turned her head to look at Dorothy beside her.
"Miss Dorothy, Miss Adele hasn't appeared for so long, is there something wrong?"
"Something wrong? Perhaps... But the performance isn't over yet, we can wait and see." Dorothy simply replied to Naifnis, then continued to look silently at the ongoing performance on stage. Seeing Dorothy like this, Naifnis thought to herself.
'It feels like Miss Dorothy is a bit distracted. Is it also because she thinks the program is getting less interesting? I hope Miss Adele can hurry up and get back on stage...'
Naifnis thought this to herself. At this moment, Dorothy's main focus was indeed not on the stage, but in the living area behind the theater's backstage, specifically in Maria's room. She was currently using Ed's vision to stare at the four letters on the desk, four letters she had just found, one of which was written by the true culprit who killed Maria.
'What method can I use to divine the true culprit with the least cost?'
Looking at the four envelopes on the desk with Ed's vision, Dorothy thought to herself. If she didn't find a suitable divination method and tried them one by one like this, she would likely end up with a guaranteed result.
Spirituality is still very precious, and Dorothy hasn't reached the point where she can freely squander the "Lamp".
'Perhaps I can divide them into two groups... and divine each group. For the problematic group, I can open it and divine again. This way, I can reliably use two divinations to solve the problem... But two divinations will also consume at least two points of the 'Lamp'. Can it be less?'
Dorothy thought of the first plan, but this plan would definitely cost two points of "Lamp". In Dorothy's opinion, she seemed to be able to push this consumption even lower.
'Let me think again, I seem to be able to push this consumption even lower, if there is a more suitable method...'
'For example, can I directly divine 'which of the letter writers in these letters has malicious intent towards Maria'... No, this divination phrase directly involves those individuals and will lead to a failed divination due to counter-divination.'
Dorothy thought to herself. Under the protection of counter-divination, if the target of a divination involves a protected object, the divination will fail. Asking which of these four senders has malicious intent means the divination target is the culprit protected by counter-divination, so there will be no result.
The reason Dorothy was able to use her cane to divine the location of the hidden letters earlier was because the divination target was the letters themselves, not the letter writers.
'As long as the divination target involves the culprit, the divination will definitely fail... Then... can I do the opposite and divine which letters were not written by the culprit?'
Dorothy thought this way. Following this line of thought, after thinking for a while, she suddenly had an idea.
'I've got it... Can I do this...'
Thinking, Dorothy had Ed pick up the paper and pen on the desk. She first controlled Ed to write consecutive numbers on the four envelopes, labeling them as numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then, she began to arrange and combine these four numbers on a piece of paper, with each group consisting of three.
Next, Dorothy got the four combinations: 123, 124, 134, and 234.
Then, Dorothy had Ed use the scissors on the desk to cut these four combinations from the paper, making four small strips of paper, each with a three-digit combination written on it.
After cutting the paper strips, under Dorothy's control, Ed crumpled the four strips into four small paper balls, all placed in a pen holder. Then Ed took out the paper with the divination array drawn on it from his person, placed the pen holder containing the paper strips on the array on the paper, and then placed a gold coin on the array as a consumption.
All of this was the preparatory process for drawing lots for divination.
After everything was ready, Dorothy began to prepare for the divination. She silently recited the divination phrase in her heart.
'Among the letter writers of the four letters I have numbered 1234, those who do not have malicious intent towards Maria Dokana are...'
After silently reciting the divination phrase, Dorothy began to control Ed to draw a lot. Ed used his hand to draw a small paper ball from the pen holder. At the same time, the luster of the gold coin on the array also became dim.
Ed took the drawn paper ball in his hand, then unfolded it, restoring it to a paper strip. Using Ed's vision, Dorothy saw the number combination written on the paper ball, "124".
124, according to the divination phrase Dorothy used earlier, the letter writers of letters number 1, 2, and 4 do not have malicious intent towards Maria. Then the only one remaining with malicious intent is number 3, which is not in this group.
Anyway, divination only takes effect when it targets a protected object, invalidating the divination. In this instance, in Dorothy's divination phrase, the target was the letter writers without malicious intent, not directly targeting the culprit protected by counter-divination, so it could succeed. Of course, this method of divination is not always applicable, because divination is better the more direct it is. If the overall ritual is too complex, it will lead to instability in the structure of the divination ritual, thus causing it to fail. Fortunately, there are only four letters now, and there are only four combinations. If there were a few more letters, increasing the combinations and making the ritual more complex and cumbersome, the ritual would not be able to run.
Dorothy used this method of numbering and combining with drawing lots for divination to draw out three letters without malicious intent in one go, confirming that their letter writers were not the culprits. Then the culprit was only number 3, who was not in this group. In this series of operations, Dorothy only performed one divination from beginning to end, using one item from her "Lamp" storage.
'Finally, I've found you...'
Having Ed pick up the envelope she had numbered 3 from the desk, Dorothy thought this to herself. Then she didn't hesitate and directly opened the envelope to look at the letter inside.
Through Ed's vision, after skimming over a bunch of love words in the letter, Dorothy's gaze locked onto the signature at the end of the letter. However, the signature there did not contain a real person's name, but the letter "B".
'Didn't use a real name to contact Maria? But it doesn't matter, as long as I have the item, everything will be fine.'
Dorothy thought this way. Then she had Ed find all the letters signed with "B". After tidying up the scene briefly, she left Maria's room.
Leaving the living area, Dorothy directly had Ed go find Adele. After Ed pushed open the door and entered Adele's room, Adele, who was sitting on the sofa sipping red wine, immediately shifted her gaze to Ed.
"Oh~ Detective came back so quickly. From your look, you've found something, right?"
Adele said to Ed, and Ed also nodded in response.
"Yes, I had a good harvest. I found the letters from Maria's problematic patron..."
Saying this, Ed walked towards Adele, then placed a stack of letters on the coffee table in front of Adele. After Adele randomly picked up one and opened it to examine it, she said to Ed.
"You found them already... I just asked Luff, and he said Maria's private life was a bit messy, and she probably had more than one patron. I was worried you wouldn't be able to find the letters you wanted for a while."
"I have my ways. Alright, the most crucial items have been found. Next, I'll need to ask Miss Adele for your help." Ed continued speaking to Adele. Hearing Ed's words, Adele glanced at him and said.
"Ask for my help? Then, Detective, what do you think I can help you with right now?"
Listening to Adele's words, Ed looked at her solemnly and said.
"Miss Adele, you are an Extraordinary of the 'Cup', and one of a not-so-low rank."
Dorothy had Adele ask directly. The dancer... red... desire... having a grudge with the Wolf Blood Society... combining these key points, Adele's Extraordinary path was actually quite obvious. She was an Extraordinary of the "Cup" path. Being treated this way by the Wolf Blood Society proved that her rank was not too low.
"Yes, isn't that quite obvious~"
Adele replied as a matter of course, and after receiving her confirmation, Ed continued.
"Since Miss Adele is an Extraordinary of the 'Cup', you must know some methods to enhance your sense of smell, after all, the 'Cup''s sensory descriptions include smell. Therefore, I'd like to ask you to rely on the shared scent on these letters to find the murderer."
Dorothy controlled Ed to say this. He learned this trick from Bill. Back when Bill was at the Igwinte Charity Association, he almost found him using the "Cup"'s sense of smell. And now, Adele was clearly a higher-level member of the "Cup" society's upper echelons, so she could definitely do the same.
Although the letters passed through many hands when being sent and carried the scent of multiple people, there were several copies of the letter. While multiple copies of the letter were handled by different postmen, the writer and recipient were the same. Therefore, as long as the shared scent within the letters was found, and the scents of Maria and Luff were removed, the remaining scent would be that of the writer.
If one were to ask why the writer, being an Extraordinary, didn't use "Stone Wisdom Powder" to remove the scent when sending the letter, it was because there was more than one Extraordinary in the theatre. If a letter treated with "Stone Wisdom Powder" fell into the hands of an Extraordinary under Adele before Maria received it, it was very likely that the problem would be noticed.
For example, after Dorothy used Stone Wisdom Powder to remove the scent from the hair accessory with the Beacon Sigil, she gave it to Anna for tracking. The hair accessory itself had its scent removed and was worn by Anna. Under the cover of Anna's own scent, Bill wouldn't discover that the hair accessory was problematic. However, if that scentless hair accessory had fallen into Bill's hands alone, Bill would immediately notice the problem, because having no scent was the biggest abnormality in itself.
If the writer had used Stone Wisdom Powder to remove the scent from the letter before sending it, then when it reached Luff, Luff, being an Extraordinary, would immediately notice the problem, and their whole plan wouldn't be able to proceed.
Therefore, Dorothy could be certain that the letter carried the scent of the writer. As long as this scent could be identified, there would be a clue to finding the murderer.
Listening to Ed's words, Adele smiled slightly, and then continued to speak.
"It seems your occult knowledge is quite extensive, Detective. Yes, as a 'Cup', I do have the ability to deeply identify scents. This method you mentioned for finding the murderer is indeed feasible, but... if I go looking myself, it might cause too much of a stir. I think it's better if you handle this matter for me."
Saying this, Adele got up from her seat, walked to one side of the dim room, took something out of an exquisite box, and after returning to the sofa and sitting down, she handed Ed three sigils and three small pieces of dried meat.
"These Finding Breath Seals, by consuming 'cup', can give you a stronger sense of smell than ordinary tasters for a short period, even stronger than ordinary Scent Identification Sigils. Use it, and you'll be able to identify the scent on this letter and search for the owner of the scent in this theatre."
"This stuff is quite precious, and I don't have much. I've given you all three that I collected. And these dried meats are 'cup' Spirituality storage items, providing you with the Spirituality needed for the sigils."
Listening to Adele's words, Dorothy had Ed take the sigils and dried meat curiously. After examining the dried meat in his hand, Ed said.
"What kind of meat is this? It's not human flesh, is it? If it's human flesh, I'll pass."
"Ho~ So the Extraordinary Detective's moral bottom line is quite high, that's truly rare. As expected of a righteous Detective, isn't it?" Seeing Ed's response, Adele said with interest. She felt herself becoming increasingly interested in the man before her.
"Don't worry, this isn't human flesh, it's beef. Although human flesh is indeed the best choice for 'cup' storage items and has always been favored by the Flesh Eaters faction, not all 'cup' storage items are necessarily human flesh."
"Some 'cup' societies, although they also accumulate Spirituality by eating the flesh of living beings, mainly consume the meat of livestock animals. Although the Spirituality in animal flesh and blood is much inferior to that in humans and extremely difficult to absorb, if the method is right, 'cup' can still be obtained from animal flesh and blood. These dried animal meat storage items are made by them. You can try them, they taste quite good."
Adele explained slowly. Ed listened to Adele's explanation while looking at the dried meat in his hand. After looking it over, he still couldn't really tell if it was human flesh, so he could only put it away for now.
'Never mind, I'll keep them for now. Anyway, I can also use my own 'cup' to drive the sigils.'
Dorothy thought this, then had Ed put away the sigils and storage items. After that, she again had Ed ask Adele.
"Thank you for your support, Miss Adele. Now I can finally find the murderer. However, to narrow down the search area shortly, I have another question to ask you. Miss Adele, what is the maximum range of your passive perception of killing intent?"
"With me as the center, a radius of 137 meters. Within this range, I can perceive any desire aimed at me." Adele answered directly, and after hearing this, Dorothy also had Ed nod.
Next, Dorothy closed her eyes. From her vast memories, she recalled the theatre floor plan she had seen earlier in the management office. Then, like drawing software, she drew in her mind, using Adele's range of activity on stage as the origin point, and according to the scale given on the map, she drew a large circle with a radius of 137 meters.
This large circle encompassed many parts of the theatre, including the vast majority of the audience seats. This meant that the murderer would not be within this range, otherwise their killing intent would be perceived by Adele.
Adele's perception circle instantly helped Dorothy eliminate most of the search area. Now, he only needed to go to the remaining very small part of the edge areas and search for the murderer's scent there.
And finding these few minority edge areas wouldn't take long.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Adele. I think... this search has come to an end. Please wait for good news..."
Saying this, Ed prepared to get up and leave. Adele, however, called out to him just before Ed was about to leave, and spoke to Ed's back with a serious expression.
"Detective, if you really find that wolf cub lurking in this theatre, don't act rashly. Remember to inform me. Those guys are very dangerous."
Listening to Adele's words, Ed paused slightly. He immediately turned around and said to Adele with a smile.
"Can I interpret that as... you're concerned about me? Miss Adele?"
"...I just want to personally deal with the person who dared to cause trouble during my performance and killed Maria, don't misunderstand. Of course~ if an excellent Detective like you were to die because of reckless actions, I would also feel regret."
Adele said to Ed quite seriously, while Ed smiled and bowed to Adele, then turned around, opened the door, and walked out of the room.
Now, it was time to find the murderer.