Chapter 307

Chapter 277 – Solving the Case

In the main hall of Feiteng Theater, as the dance music gradually faded, Adele, who had been dancing with her fellow dancers in the audience, led them back to the stage at the end of the performance. The curtains slowly closed again, and they all took their bows amidst the applause of the audience.

After the bows, Adele quickly retreated backstage. Still in her performance attire, she hastily left after throwing on a coat, walking briskly towards where the audience had gone. In no time, she arrived at a long corridor and reached the door of Box Number Seven.

At this moment, the door of Box Number Seven was already open. Several theater ushers stood by the entrance, looking inside. Beside them stood Ed, wearing a gray overcoat and a low-crowned hat.

“How is the situation? Mr. Detective.”

As Adele approached from the corridor, she asked Ed lightly. Ed responded directly, as did Dorothy, who urged him to speak up.

“It went smoothly, Miss Adele. Your dance was beautiful, and he was quite hungry after watching.” Ed replied, shifting his gaze to the interior of the box, where a gruesome scene unfolded.

Inside the box, the scene was bloody. Various items were overturned, bloodstains drenched the carpet, and a severely mutilated body lay scattered on the bl**d-soaked carpet. In the center of the box, a figure lay motionless.

Byron, who had reverted to human form, was lying on the floor in a suit soaked with bl**d, eyes wide open, drooling mixed with bl**d trickling from his mouth. Just moments ago, his chest had stopped moving. After consuming a large amount of poison, Byron had finally succumbed to its effects.

“For an Extraordinary Being of the ‘Cup’ Path, appetite is one of the easiest desires to manipulate, especially for those on the Beast Transformation Path. With just a little guidance, their hunger becomes uncontrollable.”

Standing beside Ed, Adele scanned the scene inside the box and said. After hearing her words, Dorothy felt a slight realization.

“The Beast Transformation Path is more susceptible to appetite manipulation… Does that mean other paths’ Extraordinary Beings are more easily manipulated by other desires?”

Dorothy thought to herself. After another glance at the scene inside the box, Adele turned to Ed.

“Alright, I followed your request and left him with his full body intact. To be honest, it was much more troublesome than simply killing him. Mr. Detective, you said if he has his full body, you can help me deal with the police issue, right?”

Adele said. If she were only dealing with eliminating this Black Tier Beast Transformer, Adele had simpler methods. But now, she did this entirely because Ed had previously mentioned that if Byron’s body could remain as intact as possible, it would help clear her name.

“Of course, because a dismembered body would likely cause the ordinary police officers to lose control.”

Hearing Adele’s words, Ed smiled in response. Then he reached into his pocket and after rummaging around, pulled out a ring and put it on. Adele keenly noticed the small figures etched on the ring, holding hands and dancing.

“This is… an Extraordinary Item for manipulating Flesh Puppets?”

“Yes, Miss Adele has sharp eyes.” Ed responded. With the corpse puppet ring already on his finger, he waved his hand, and immediately, Byron, who was lying in the box, started to move, standing up in front of everyone.

“Are you planning to use this guy as a Flesh Puppet? What can a stiff Flesh Puppet do?” Adele asked with a hint of doubt as she watched Ed pull Byron up. This time, however, it wasn’t Ed who responded, but Byron himself.

“Of course, to cooperate with the performance, Miss Adele.” Byron’s stiff expression relaxed, and he spoke. Seeing Byron like this, Adele was momentarily stunned, then looked at Ed with a smile.

“As expected… when on stage, you were the one who interfered with Maria. It seems I owe you even more, Mr. Detective. Your ring is far superior to typical Extraordinary Items for controlling live puppets…”

Adele stared at the ring on Ed’s finger, saying with interest. Ed continued to smile in response.

“Heh, just a rare find… Alright, since the main actor is now in place, let’s have everyone else cooperate as well.”

Having finished speaking, Ed scanned the surroundings, looking at Byron and the ushers standing at the door, then began giving instructions.

“So, can I ask everyone here, are there any empty boxes in the theater? Oh, and I also need to remove this guy’s clothes. I need a male performance outfit, something casual will do.”

…

“Miss Adele! Do you know what you’re doing? You still have suspicions hanging over you, yet you went back on stage to perform!” Police Officer Douglas stood in a certain corridor of the theater, angrily shouting at Adele in front of him. Adele responded with a smile.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. I saw the audience waiting so long, so I couldn’t resist going up to dance again. I’m really sorry, Officer.”

With a playful look, Adele responded to Douglas. However, Douglas continued with his anger.

“Miss Adele, don’t you realize that your reckless actions are only making your suspicions worse? If you continue like this, no matter how much the detective defends you, it won’t make a difference.”

“Now there’s no need for defense, Officer.”

At this moment, a familiar voice came from somewhere, and Douglas looked in the direction of the sound, seeing Ed slowly approaching from the other end of the corridor.

“Young detective… What do you mean by no need for defense? Are you giving up on the investigation and thinking Adele is the real culprit?” Douglas said as he watched Ed approach, and Ed responded slowly.

“Of course not. I said no need for defense… because I’ve already found out who the real culprit is. Miss Adele’s innocence doesn’t require further defense.”

“What? You found the real culprit? Who is it? How did you find out?”

Douglas exclaimed unexpectedly upon hearing Ed’s words, and Ed responded mysteriously.

“In that case, please come with me and see for yourself. I’ll explain everything on the way.”

Ed responded to Douglas. Hearing Ed’s words, Douglas was taken aback and then spoke.

“Fine, I want to see what you’ve found.”

Having finished speaking, Douglas ordered some policemen to watch Adele and returned her to her original room. Then he led several other policemen to follow Ed upstairs. Along the way, Douglas asked Ed.

“Hey, boy, did you really find the murderer within an hour and a half? How did you do it? Aren’t you just trying to fool me?”

“I certainly wouldn’t fool you, Officer. Actually, I found the murderer through a bl**d-stained garment.” As they walked, Ed answered directly. Hearing Ed’s words, Douglas responded unexpectedly.

“bl**d-stained garment?”

“Yes, do you remember? I said the main reason Adele isn’t the murderer is that her dress wasn’t stained with bl**d. Given Maria’s condition, the murderer’s clothes must have been stained with bl**d. If Adele isn’t the murderer, how did the real murderer handle their bl**d-stained clothes? After all, they still needed to go back to watch the show and leave with the other audience members afterward.”

As they walked alongside Douglas, Ed analyzed. Douglas nodded thoughtfully.

“Mmm… indeed, handling the bl**d-stained clothes is a problem. Please continue…”