"Miss Adele?"
Seeing Miss Adele appear at the door, Dorothy felt a slight surprise. She then controlled Ed, who was still in the theatre management office, to stop his divination, put away the crystal pendant, and look at Miss Adele, speaking again.
"As a major suspect, you should be under strict police surveillance right now, shouldn't you? Are you planning to escape?"
"Escaping would confirm the evidence against me and fall right into their trap. I'm not that foolish. Right now, I'm just using some minor tricks to move freely for a while. I can handle ordinary police officers." Looking at Ed in the room, Miss Adele said slowly. As she spoke, she held a thin cigarette between her fingers, took a puff, and after exhaling the smoke, looked at Ed with a look of interest and continued.
"Besides, with the intelligent Extraordinary Detective, Mr. Ed, clearing my name, how could I possibly run? The case is the Detective's stage; I can't possibly tear down the stage for the dancer who is about to perform on it."
Miss Adele continued speaking to Ed. Listening to Miss Adele's words, Ed's eyebrow slightly raised, and he spoke again.
"Miss Adele, how did you know I wasn't an ordinary person?"
"Heh heh... That's a woman's secret."
"Secret..." Ed repeated in a murmur, while Miss Adele nodded and continued.
"That's right, a secret, just like you, Detective, have your own secrets. I don't think you would tell me without a reason why you are getting involved in something that originally had nothing to do with you. You're even willing to pay a heavy price to use methods like divination for this. You know, the price of Tivian's 'Qi' is ridiculously high right now."
'I know that. I'm the one who inflated the price.' Dorothy thought to herself, while Miss Adele continued to speak.
"Paying such a high price to catch the real culprit of this case that should be unrelated to you, Detective, I think your identity and even your motive are more interesting secrets."
Holding the thin cigarette between her fingers, Miss Adele spoke with a hint of languor in her expression, while Dorothy thought to herself, listening to Miss Adele's words.
'Well, actually, for me, the price isn't that high. As long as I find that guy and kill him, everything will return with interest. My main goal is precisely this.'
Dorothy thought this in her heart, while controlling Ed to smile and say to Miss Adele.
"If I said that, as a Detective, my purpose is simply to uncover the truth of the facts and clear the name of the innocent Madam, would you believe me?"
Listening to Ed's words, Miss Adele was slightly taken aback, then let out a light laugh and said.
"That sounds really nice. I almost believe you have a method of accumulating Spirituality by solving cases, Detective."
"Why couldn't I?" Ed shrugged, responding, while Miss Adele waved her hand and spoke.
"Alright, alright, say whatever you want. Regardless of your purpose, since you want to find those people now, we can temporarily be considered allies with shared interests. Although I don't know if you have any other means of investigation after divination becomes ineffective, if you can continue the investigation, perhaps I can provide you with some assistance."
"Is that so? That would be wonderful, Miss Adele. I was just about to ask, do you know roughly how many anti-divination resources they have?"
Ed asked Miss Adele, and she glanced at Ed before speaking directly.
"Divination resources, no one knows the exact amount, but what I can tell you is that those guys are backed by the Fetal Garment Wolf Blood Society. If the Wolf Blood Society provides anti-divination protection, then don't even think about divining anything about them, unless you also have the support of a society comparable in size to the Placenta and they are willing to engage in a full-scale divination war with the Placenta. Otherwise, don't even think about trying this approach."
Miss Adele revealed this to Ed, and Dorothy finally began to understand what kind of opponent she was facing this time.
'Fetal Garment Cult... Wolf Blood Society, so they're old acquaintances... But this is a bit troublesome. If those people truly have the anti-divination protection of the Fetal Garment Wolf Blood Society, as Miss Adele said, then they won't be easy to divine. The Eight Point Nest alone could afford to buy more than ten 'Qi' at once for tens of thousands of pounds. The reserve of 'Qi' within a society of the Fetal Garment Cult's level will definitely be only more, and they also have sufficiently high-level Extraordinary individuals in charge. It's indeed not wise for me to divine the Fetal Garment Cult while suffering from the cross-level penalty.
'Although I have a lot of 'Qi' and they can be replenished, this isn't the way to use them, and 'Light' is also limited. There's no need to waste it unless absolutely necessary...'
'This time... perhaps I can't rely solely on divination to solve the problem...'
Dorothy thought this in her heart, but at the same time controlled Ed to say to Miss Adele.
"Thank you for the reminder, Miss Adele. I know what I'm doing. However, I'm very curious now, Miss Adele, you actually have a grievance with the Wolf Blood Society. I wonder if I could know about the enmity between you?"
"As for that, we can talk about it after the case is solved. If you, Detective, can truly solve this case and save my reputation from being damaged, then not only can I tell you what you want to know about our affairs with the Wolf Blood Society, but you will also gain our friendship and gratitude."
Taking another puff of the cigarette in her hand, Miss Adele murmured, and Dorothy keenly grasped a hint of meaning in Miss Adele's words.
'Miss Adele refers to herself as 'we'... This means she's not alone; she's also a member of a society, and it's a society that is hostile to the Fetal Garment Cult and the Wolf Blood Society.
'Compared to the secular judgment she might face, Miss Adele cares more about her reputation. Yes, the Wolf Blood Society's false accusation cannot harm Miss Adele herself. Ordinary police cannot keep her, an Extraordinary, but Miss Adele's reputation in the secular world can indeed be ruined by this false accusation.
'The Wolf Blood Society failed to assassinate Miss Adele, so they decided to create this false accusation to destroy Miss Adele's reputation as a secular dance star. It seems... this reputation holds some special significance for Miss Adele, this Extraordinary.'
Dorothy quickly analyzed some other meanings in Miss Adele's words in her mind. Afterwards, she controlled Ed to smile and say to Miss Adele.
"I will do my best, Miss Adele."
"Then I shall look forward to it, Detective. I will be waiting for your news at the police station. If you need anything, find me there."
"Oh, and finally, a hint for you: Maria was already dead before she performed the fourth act of 'Crimson Mother' with me. What danced with me there was just a flesh puppet."
"So it was a flesh puppet?" Ed said, feigning surprise, while Miss Adele responded with a mysterious smile.
"I thought you had already deduced that, Detective."
After winking at Ed, Miss Adele threw the cigarette butt into the trash can, then opened the door and walked out. For a moment, only Ed was left in the room.
'This woman...'
Dorothy thought this in her heart, then she controlled Ed to sit on a sofa, strike a pensive pose, and she herself fell into thought.
'Well then, next, let's try to find the murderer using some other clues.
'What needs to be confirmed now is Maria's real cause and time of death. Maria was alive during the second performance, but she was a Corpse Puppet when she came on stage for the fourth performance. So... her real time of death was between the end of the second performance and the beginning of the fourth performance... If I remember correctly, that was between 6:32 and 6:55.
'I controlled Maria's body before; her body had no external injuries. She might have died from poisoning or suffocation.
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'In short, let's confirm it now...'
After confirming these points, Dorothy controlled Ed to stand up from the sofa, quickly tidied up the floor, and walked out of the management office. He went backstage at the theatre, where he found the other dancers of the Flying Dance Troupe who were being questioned by the police.
"Gentlemen, may I ask them a few questions as well?" Ed said to the police officers who were conducting the questioning. And because of Douglas's previous promise, Ed now also had the right to investigate, so the police allowed Ed to question them.
"Of course, Detective."
Afterwards, Ed found a dancer who had a relatively good relationship with Maria and began to inquire about the situation. Looking at the nervous dancer in front of him, he calmly asked.
"Excuse me, Miss, between the second and fourth performances, did you see Maria? You went back backstage together then, right?"
"Hmm… between the second and fourth performances… Let me think… After the second performance, Maria seemed very happy and went out by herself. I asked her what she was going out for? She mysteriously said it was a secret and didn't answer me. When she came back, the fourth performance was about to start. Because time was short, as soon as she came back, she went directly onto the stage with us. I didn't even have time to ask her what she had gone to do?"
The dancer in front of Mr. Ed spoke directly after pondering for a while, and Dorothy's brows furrowed slightly after hearing this.
'Sure enough, Maria went out after the second performance and wasn't backstage, but the key is that she actually went out by herself and was very happy when she left? What did she go to do?'
Dorothy thought to herself like this, and then she controlled Mr. Ed to ask the dancer in front of her a few more questions, but she didn't get any useful information.
Afterward, Mr. Ed thanked the dancer for her cooperation, then got up and left the backstage. During this process, since she hadn't obtained enough useful information, Dorothy also began a new round of thinking.
'It seems… for now, it's still impossible to figure out what happened to Maria between the second and fourth performances… Perhaps now we can deduce this case from some other angles.
'Firstly, Maria left the backstage by herself very happily immediately after the second performance ended. Where she went is unknown, but since this was a premeditated assassination, Maria's departure must have been arranged. She left so happily, if it wasn't the influence of some Extraordinary ability, then it might have been someone who called her out, or perhaps she had an appointment with someone else.
'Another point worth noting is that Maria immediately participated in the fourth performance of 'Crimson Mother' dance after she came back. At that time, she was already a Corpse Puppet, but for a while before 'Crimson Mother', she was still able to barely dance with others. Although her movements were stiff, she could keep up. As a backup dancer, there was no problem in the eyes of ordinary audience members…
'This is very strange. As a Corpse Puppet, Maria at that time was already dead on the spiritual and soul level, but she could still dance and still be a backup dancer for Miss Adele. This means that… the manipulator who controlled Maria, who might also be the murderer, also knows how to dance this dance, or at least knows how to do the backup dance, so they could keep up with the overall dance from the start without making mistakes and being discovered by the audience…'
At this moment, Dorothy finally realized a very important point, which was that the Corpse Puppet Maria was able to dance with others at the beginning. Although her movements were stiff, her rhythm was not slow at all. Maria was already dead at that time, she couldn't dance by herself, so it was her manipulator who controlled her to dance.
So the manipulator who controlled Maria also knows this dance, he knows the backup dance for 'Crimson Mother'!
'The manipulator also knows how to be Miss Adele's backup dancer, and this dance seems to be Miss Adele's new work, which hasn't been publicly performed before… So the fact that the murderer, the manipulator, knows the backup dance means that… Miss Adele's secret dance rehearsals were leaked, maybe there's an insider in the theater?'
Having reached this conclusion, Dorothy's expression immediately froze, and then she immediately controlled Mr. Ed to go to the room where the police were holding Miss Adele. After saying hello, he walked in and found Miss Adele, who was lying on the sofa reading a magazine in the sealed room.
"What is it, Detective? Do you have any progress?" Crossing her legs, revealing her fair legs from beneath her red dress, Miss Adele closed the magazine and said, while Mr. Ed sat beside her and spoke.
"Almost. I have some guesses now and want to come to you to verify them." Pulling down the brim of his hat, Mr. Ed said, and then he told Miss Adele about his guess regarding the insider. Miss Adele frowned for a moment, then shook her head.
"Impossible. It shouldn't be a problem with someone in the theater."
Miss Adele said with certainty, and Mr. Ed asked directly.
"Why are you so sure there's no problem? Since Maria, who was dancing at the beginning, was a Corpse Puppet, it means that Maria's manipulator must know how to dance this dance, and it was previously publicized that this dance is your latest work, so it's possible that an insider in the theater secretly learned your dance."
"No, in order to prevent those paparazzi and for absolute secrecy, we didn't arrange this dance in this theater, but in my personal private place, so even people from the theater wouldn't know what 'Crimson Mother' is like." Miss Adele continued to say with certainty. After she finished speaking, Dorothy's expression also couldn't help but freeze, the possibility was small.
"Then… is there any possibility that your private place could have been infiltrated?"
"The possibility is small. Although the girls don't know, I have complete anti-detection measures there, including invisibility, small Corpse Puppets, Ghosts, and wall-crawling… If those guys could infiltrate there, I would have been finished long ago."
Miss Adele said seriously. Listening to Miss Adele's words, Dorothy felt a little speechless in her heart.
'Using a place that resembles a secret society headquarters for dance rehearsals, how big is her heart… Is it necessary to guard against paparazzi like this? Using so many Extraordinary anti-detection methods…'
Dorothy muttered in her heart, and then she controlled Mr. Ed to continue asking Miss Adele.
"Then is it possible that the girls in your dance troupe are the insiders themselves?"
"That's even more impossible. These girls are all people I've vetted. Some of them are directly my'students', I trust them."
Miss Adele responded. Listening to her words, Dorothy was startled. She knew what a "student" in the mouth of an Extraordinary meant. This generally refers to other lower-level Extraordinary guided by this Extraordinary. This shows that Miss Adele's Extraordinary level is probably not low, and there are other Extraordinary in the dance troupe who were guided by her personally.
"Trust can sometimes be an illusion." Dorothy had Mr. Ed remind Miss Adele, saying that she believed simple trust couldn't explain the problem, and the insider could still be in the dance troupe, among the other backup dancers.
However, Miss Adele's response was somewhat beyond Dorothy's expectation.
"Trust can be an illusion, but desire cannot."
"Desire?" Hearing Miss Adele's words, a hint of confusion arose in Mr. Ed's voice, and Miss Adele, after glancing at Mr. Ed, smiled and continued to say.
"Do you know why… those guys used Corpse Puppets to assassinate me? That's because… my ability, I can sense the desires in the hearts of others around me, especially… others' desires for me.
"Whether it's love or appetite… I can sense the desires of everyone around me, and to some extent, killing intent is also a kind of desire, the desire to kill others…
"I can sense the desires of the surrounding spirits, and when desire is focused on me, my range of perception increases and my perception becomes more accurate, so when someone within my perception range has killing intent towards me, I will immediately know their location."
Miss Adele explained slowly. After hearing her words, Dorothy was silent for a moment. She controlled Mr. Ed to speak.
"So, assassinating you is a very difficult thing, and Corpse Puppets have no desire, no killing intent, so they chose to assassinate you by using Corpse Puppets…"
"Yes, a Corpse Puppet approaching me from behind with a knife will not have any killing intent, I won't sense it, because a Corpse Puppet has no desire…"
Miss Adele said with a hint of laziness. As she spoke, she moved closer to Mr. Ed, pressing her body against his, and placed Mr. Ed's hand on her exposed thigh.
Then she brought her mouth close to Mr. Ed's ear and whispered in a charming voice.
"It's like you, you have no desire for me either~ Detective…"