At the main hall of the Soaring Theatre, on the stage, the dance music gradually faded. Adele, who had been dancing freely in the audience seats, led the accompanying dancers back onto the stage at the end of the music. Then, the curtain was slowly drawn again, and they bowed together amidst the audience's applause.
After the curtain call, Adele quickly retreated backstage. After casually throwing on a coat over her performance attire, she swiftly left the backstage area and hurried towards the audience section. Before long, she arrived at a long corridor and reached the door of Box Number Seven.
At this time, the door of Box Number Seven had been opened. Several theatre attendants stood at the entrance, all looking inside the door. Beside them stood Ed, wearing a gray trench coat and a short top hat.
"How is the situation, Detective?"
Walking towards them from the corridor, Adele asked Ed gently. Ed answered directly, and Dorothy also allowed Ed to speak directly.
"Very smoothly. Your dance moves were beautiful, Miss Adele. He was starving after watching it," Ed replied, shifting his gaze inside the door to look at the scene within the box.
Inside the box at this moment was a bloody scene. Various items were overturned everywhere, and blood stained the carpet. A badly mutilated body, gnawed to pieces, was scattered on the blood-soaked carpet. In the center of the box, a figure lay motionless.
Byron, who had returned to his human form, was now wearing a suit heavily stained with blood, lying motionless on his back in the box. His eyes were wide open, and saliva mixed with blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Just moments ago, his chest had stopped rising and falling. After consuming a large amount of poison, Byron had finally died from the poisoning.
"For an Extraordinary of the 'Cup', a strong appetite is one of the easiest desires to manipulate, especially for Extraordinary on the beast path. I just need to guide it slightly, and their hunger becomes unbearable."
Walking over to Ed's side, Adele said this after scanning the scene in the box. After hearing her words, Dorothy felt a slight emotion in her heart.
'The beast path's appetite is easier to manipulate... Does that mean Extraordinary on other paths are easier to manipulate with other desires?'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. Adele, after glancing at the scene in the box again, spoke to Ed.
"Alright~ As you requested, I've left this guy's body intact. To be honest, this was much more troublesome than just killing him directly. Detective, you said that as long as his body was intact, you could help me deal with the trouble with the police, right?"
Adele said this. If it were just about eliminating this Black Rank shapeshifter, Adele had a more direct and easier method. Doing it this way was entirely because Ed had previously said that if Byron's body could be kept as intact as possible, he could help her become completely "innocent."
"Of course. After all, if a body with missing limbs were to appear before ordinary police officers, they would probably lose control immediately."
Listening to Adele's words, Ed responded with a smile. He then reached into his pocket, and after fumbling around for a while, pulled out a ring and put it on his hand. Adele keenly noticed the inscription on the ring: a circle of small figures holding hands and dancing.
"This is... an Extraordinary item for manipulating Living Puppets?"
"Yes, Miss Adele, your eyesight is quite good," Ed replied to Adele. With a wave of his hand, now wearing the Corpse Puppet Ring, Byron, who was lying in the box, immediately began to move, standing up directly in full view of everyone.
"You want to manipulate this guy as a Living Puppet? What can a stiff Living Puppet do?" Seeing Ed make Byron stand up, Adele asked with a hint of confusion. This time, it wasn't Ed who answered Adele, but Byron.
"Of course, it's to cooperate with the performance, Miss Adele." Byron's stiff expression relaxed for a moment, and then he spoke. Seeing Byron like this, Adele was slightly startled, and then looked at Ed, smiling, and said.
"Indeed... On the stage, you were the one who stopped Maria. It seems I owe you a little more, Detective. Your ring is much stronger than ordinary Extraordinary items for manipulating Living Puppets..."
Adele stared at the ring on Ed's hand, speaking with interest. Ed also continued to respond with a smile.
"Heh heh, just a rare treasure I obtained by chance... Alright, now that the lead actor is in place, please cooperate a bit more."
After speaking, Ed glanced around, looking at Byron and the theatre attendants standing at the door, and began to give instructions.
"So, may I ask everyone now, are there any empty boxes in the theatre? Oh, and we also need to take off this guy's clothes now. I need a set of men's performance attire, a regular everyday style is fine."
...
"Miss Adele! Do you know what you are doing? You are still under suspicion, and yet you are still performing on stage!" In a corridor somewhere in the theatre, Officer Douglas stood there, angrily speaking loudly to Adele in front of him. Adele, in front of him, responded with a smile.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I saw that the audience had been waiting for me for too long, so I couldn't help but go and dance another song. I'm truly sorry, Officer~"
With a hint of playfulness, Adele responded to Douglas, while Douglas continued to speak, his anger not yet subsided.
"Miss Adele, do you know that your reckless actions like this have already increased your suspicion? If you continue like this, even if that Detective tries to defend you, it will be useless."
"There is no need for defense now, Officer."
At this moment, a figure that sounded somewhat familiar to Douglas was heard. Douglas looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Ed slowly walking towards them from that side of the corridor.
"Detective kid... What do you mean there's no need for defense? Could it be that you've given up on the investigation and also believe that Adele is the real culprit?" Looking at the approaching Ed, Douglas said, and Ed slowly replied.
"Of course not. What I mean by no need for defense... is that I have already found out who the real culprit is. Miss Adele's innocence needs no further defense."
"What? You found the real culprit? Who is it? How did you find them?"
Hearing Ed's words, Douglas spoke in surprise, and Ed responded with a mysterious smile.
"As for that, I'd still like to ask you, Officer, to bring people over to see. I'll tell you the specifics on the way, Officer."
Ed responded to Douglas. Hearing Ed's words, Douglas was startled, and then said.
"Alright, I'll go and see what you've found, kid?"
After speaking, Douglas had a few police officers escort Adele back to her original room, and then took a few other police officers to follow Ed, walking towards the upper floors of the theatre. On the way, Douglas asked Ed.
"Hey, kid, did you really find the killer within an hour and a half? How did you find them? You're not lying to me, are you?"
"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you, Officer. In fact, I found the killer through the clue of the bloody clothes." Walking along the road, Ed answered directly, and hearing Ed's words, Douglas spoke in surprise.
"Bloody clothes?"
"Yes. Do you remember? One of the main reasons I said Miss Adele wasn't the killer was that her dance dress wasn't stained with blood. Given Maria's death, it's inevitable that the killer's clothes would be stained with blood. If Miss Adele isn't the killer, then how did the real culprit deal with their blood-soaked bloody clothes? After all, they had to go back and continue watching the show, and after the performance ended, they had to leave with the other audience members."
Walking beside Douglas, Ed analyzed, and Douglas also nodded thoughtfully.
"Hmm... That's true. Dealing with the bloody clothes is a problem. Continue..."
"So I believe there are two possibilities. The first is that the real culprit's murder this time was premeditated. They brought a change of clothes and, after killing Miss Maria, found another washroom to clean and change. However, the murder weapon found on the grass outside the window at the crime scene disproved this possibility."
Ed continued, saying that after Byron manipulated Maria into "suicide," he threw the knife used as the murder weapon out of the bathroom's ventilation window, where it was easily found by the police later.
"That murder weapon was something from inside the Soaring Theatre's backstage, not brought from outside. It's suspected that Maria brought it to the killer. If the killer truly planned to murder Maria, he wouldn't have failed to prepare a weapon beforehand, but instead used something from inside the Soaring Theatre. What if he couldn't get it? Therefore, I believe this murder might have been a spur-of-the-moment act."
"Secondly, if the killer murdered Maria on a whim, then he absolutely couldn't have prepared a clean set of clothes to replace the bloody ones. Without clothes to replace the bloody ones, he couldn't possibly be naked, so there was no other way; the killer could only steal a piece of clothing to wear."
Ed continued speaking, and after hearing Ed's words, Douglas responded curiously.
"Steal? Whose? The audience watching the show wouldn't bring an extra set of clothes for him to steal."
"Naturally, there's a place to steal from, Officer. Don't forget what kind of place this is. This is a Soaring Theatre. Putting other things aside, there must be a lot of clothes." Ed continued, and Douglas immediately understood what Ed meant.
"You mean... the killer stole clothes from the Soaring Theatre?"
"Yes, I've seen the backstage wardrobe room. There's hardly anyone there, it's easy to steal from. In fact, I've already had the Soaring Theatre staff count the clothes, and indeed, one men's suit is missing."
Ed said, and Douglas, hearing this, also understood how Ed was looking for the killer.
"So, as long as we find out who is wearing the missing clothes, we can determine he is the killer."
"Exactly. I've already had the Soaring Theatre service staff who recognize that suit patrol the audience seats, and I've also had them enter each box to check under the guise of offering service. We just got the results, let's go quickly."
Saying this, Ed and Douglas continued walking forward. After walking for a while, they arrived at a corridor on the upper level. One side of the corridor had windows, the other had doors with numbers, which seemed to connect to the boxes. At the end of the corridor, several Soaring Theatre service staff were knocking on a door, shouting as they knocked.
"Mr. inside, please open the door. We have free complimentary service here."
"I said I don't need any service! Go away!"
Inside the door, a seemingly angry voice responded to the service staff outside. Just as these service staff were about to say something, Ed also arrived at the door with Douglas and several police officers.
"How is the situation now? He still won't come out?"
"Detective, the other party still has no intention of opening the door. He won't open it even when we say there's complimentary service," a service staff responded. Ed, hearing this, spoke directly.
"Then just use the key to open the door."
"Yes."
Saying this, the Soaring Theatre service staff took out the key and opened the door. After pushing the door open, the scene inside was a box room. The person inside, seeing the door opened, immediately stood up angrily.
"Who let you in? Do you believe I'll complain..."
Inside the box, a man wearing a somewhat flashy suit shouted loudly. Just as he was about to vent his anger, he saw the police standing at the door and froze on the spot.
Without being polite, Ed walked directly into the box, and Douglas and several other police officers also walked in. Seeing the police enter the box, the man in the clean, flashy suit subconsciously took two steps back.
"Officer... what are you doing..."
"Mr. Byron Davis, some cases have occurred in the Soaring Theatre, and we would like to ask for your cooperation in the investigation." Looking at Byron in front of him, Ed, standing beside Douglas, said directly. Byron then looked towards Douglas and spoke.
"What cases? Officer, I've been watching the performance in here the whole time. I don't know anything..."
"Don't speak yet. Just answer the questions and cooperate with the investigation," Douglas said seriously. Byron, seeing this, swallowed his saliva and then spoke.
"Alright... ask whatever you want quickly."
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Davis. So, the first question I want to ask you is... Do you know Maria Dokana?" Ed asked Byron directly. Byron, after hearing the name, was slightly startled and then said.
"I don't know her. I don't know a woman named Maria."
"You don't know her... Then what about these letters?" Saying this, Ed placed several unfolded letters on the table in the box and continued.
"These are letters exchanged between Maria and one of her lovers. The handwriting on them, and the handwriting you used for the box registration, aren't they a bit too similar?"
Ed said this. Unlike the ordinary audience seats, the Soaring Theatre boxes require reservations. Meanwhile, Douglas on the other side felt somewhat surprised after seeing Ed take out these letters.
'This kid, how could he find out so much in such a short time?'
"It's just handwriting! It's too easy for them to look alike, this, this doesn't prove anything!" Biting his teeth, Byron continued to shout, while Ed calmly continued to answer.
"Is that so? Then let's not talk about the handwriting for now. Let's talk about this suit of yours, Mr. Byron. Can you explain where you bought this suit you're wearing?"
"Uh... this, this was a gift from my friend. I don't know where he bought it..." Byron said hesitantly, while a Soaring Theatre service staff member on the other side shouted loudly at this moment.
"Those are clothes we use for performances here! They are specially custom-made, not sold outside!"
After hearing the service staff's words, Byron suddenly froze on the spot, his eyes wide, fists clenched, his whole body revealing a tense expression.
At this moment, Douglas glanced around. He noticed a rather bulging bag on top of the box. After seeing the bag, Douglas spoke directly to the police officer beside him.
"Search it."
Hearing Douglas's words, the police officer immediately went to search the bag. Byron subconsciously wanted to stop him but was restrained by Ed.
"Chief Douglas, Detective Ed, there's this inside!"
Soon, the police officer searching the bag pulled out a suit jacket from it, which was soaked in blood. This was Byron's clothing. All this blood was from when Byron previously killed the servant. Of course, at this moment, this blood, in the eyes of Douglas and the other police officers, naturally belonged to Maria.
The moment the bloody clothes appeared, Byron's face instantly darkened, as if all hope was lost. His body went limp, and he directly knelt on the ground with a thud.
"Mr. Byron, now, do you have anything else to say?"
Looking at Byron kneeling before him, Ed slowly murmured. Byron, trembling, raised his hands and covered his head, speaking with a trembling voice.
"It's all... it's all... that guy's fault, it's all that bitch's fault! We were clearly just talking and playing around, but that bitch took it seriously! Saying she wanted to be with me forever... Bah!"
Spitting loudly, Byron's expression became agitated. Then he raised his head and spoke loudly with even more intense words.
"That bitch actually wanted to marry me! And she threatened me with things I did before! As a lowlife bitch, she actually wanted to tie me down for life! She was just a stepping stone I used to get close to Adele, just a tool! What is she compared to me?! I just made her pay the price for her foolish threats! What did I do wrong!"