Ch 295: Piecing It Together: One Mystery Remains, Another Begins

Bal went to check the various archives from seven years ago, while Phia went to the archives from two or three years ago. Because there was so much to look through, time quickly ran out before the Council Hall closed.

“Tsk, how did it get so late?”

After Bal was ushered out by the staff, he scratched his head.

“There’s still a bit I haven’t finished looking at.”

“I’ve only looked through half of mine.”

Phia was also helpless; she had to look through two years’ worth of archives, and with the archives getting more and more detailed, her progress was very slow.

“Forget it, let’s go home.”

“Mm.”

The two returned home; Philia was leaning on the table doing her homework. Hearing the door, Philia quickly went to greet Bal and Phia.

“Father, Mommy, welcome home!”

Bal, who had originally been somewhat gloomy, had all his bad mood swept away when he saw his lovely daughter greet him.

“I’m back, what’s my good daughter doing?”

Bal picked up Philia and kissed her face.

“Philia was just doing her homework.”

“Is that so? Philia is so good.”

“Hehe.”

Bal put Philia back in her chair; a bell was clearly visible next to Philia’s homework. As soon as Bal saw the bell, he immediately became nervous.

“Philia, where did this bell come from?”

“Teacher Katerina gave it to me. Father, is there a problem?”

Philia looked at Bal with some confusion, tilting her head.

“Philia, can you lend the bell to Father to take a look?”

“Okay.”

Bal picked up the bell and walked to Phia, who was drinking tea.

“See if this bell is the same style as the one you got before.”

Phia took the bell from Bal and compared it to the bell she had stored in the extradimensional space.

“It’s very similar, but there are still differences.”

“Elaborate.”

Phia picked up Philia’s bell and began to explain.

“Look here, the inside of the bell isn’t hung with threads, but connected with a metal clasp.”

Then Phia showed Bal her previous bell.

“This bell is hung with red threads. Although the external material is the same, the internal construction is different.”

Hearing Phia’s explanation, Bal breathed a sigh of relief. He returned Philia’s bell and sat back next to Phia.

“Whew, it seems I was too nervous.”

“It’s not a bad thing; at least you’re still paying attention to Philia, thinking about her safety.”

“After all, she’s our child.”

Bal closed his eyes and began to recall all the details of this incident. He felt something was wrong.

“What’s wrong? You’re closing your eyes and frowning, what are you thinking about?”

“I always feel that this case has a sense of incongruity; I feel that we’ve been going in the wrong direction.”

“You feel something is wrong before even finishing reviewing the archives?”

“Mm, I feel like something is missing.”

“Then tell me about the whole process.”

“Okay, first, let’s sort out the timeline. If the timeline is correct, it should be roughly like this: Twenty years ago, a murder case occurred. The victim was a ranch butcher named Feodor Franklin, a vampire.”

“Mm.”

Phia took out a notebook and began to draw a logical diagram of the timeline.

“According to Feodor’s statement, he died at the hands of a man named Franklin. Let’s assume the murderer is Edmonton Franklin, who died yesterday, because he admitted to killing someone twenty years ago during yesterday’s questioning. So the first question arises, what was the motive? As a hero, Edmonton shouldn’t have any antisocial tendencies, so why would he kill?”

“Could it be that he has personality problems?”

“Unclear, we don’t have any evidence to prove this. His soul has dissipated; you can’t use spiritualism to ask him.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s bypass the motive. After Edmonton killed Feodor, he buried him, and his remains have not been found to this day, although we already know where they are. In chronological order, next is Edmonton being killed seven years ago. I speculate that the murderer was Feodor’s ghost.”

“Mm.”

“So, since Edmonton already killed Feodor and hid his body, why would he encounter Feodor’s ghost? And thirteen years later, what happened in between?”

“If you say so, there are indeed suspicious points. First, the statute of limitations for criminal cases in Guangyue Town is twenty years. Logically, as long as Edmonton doesn’t say anything, no one will know about this. After twenty years, he could walk the streets swaggeringly, and even talk about it freely. Secondly, why did Feodor want us to bring Edmonton to see him after killing Edmonton? It doesn’t make sense. Finally, why didn’t Feodor become a ghost after being dead for thirteen years, but suddenly became one seven years ago?”

“Right, these are also the points I’m questioning: Why Feodor wanted to see Edmonton, and the reason why Feodor became a ghost.”

“Let’s put a question mark here for now. You continue.”

“Okay, I’ll continue. In chronological order, there was another murder case in this house two or three years ago, two victims, killed in a similar way to Edmonton, both with fatal wounds from sharp weapons in the back. Who these two people were is not recorded in the book Grey gave us. Also, why did Feodor kill them? Clearly, he hadn’t killed anyone after killing Edmonton. Why did these two people die?”

“Indeed, this needs further investigation tomorrow.”

“Now there are two more suspicious points: What is the use of the bells you got and the bells in Edmonton’s house? Also, logically, the remains of the recorded deceased should be taken away by family members or disposed of directly. Why could Edmonton be resurrected? Who resurrected him using blood magic?”

“Emmmm, the more we investigate, the more troublesome it gets, and the more suspicious points there are.”

“Indeed, it would be nice if it were like Mrs. Zeril’s case.”

“Hilarious, you’re even reminiscing about that.”

“Forget it, Xiaoyue is still at home, let’s not talk about this anymore.”

At this time, Xiaoyue walked to Bal’s side, her expression quite troubled.

“Master…”

“Mm? What’s wrong?”

“I just heard you talking about blood magic, and I might know who did it.”

“What?!”

Bal immediately stood up, shaking Xiaoyue’s shoulders.

“Explain clearly, this is important!”

“Yes, I remember that blood magic is a magic that the vampire race is skilled at. There are very few people in Guangyue Town who can use blood magic. Mr. Feodor, who disappeared twenty years ago, is one, and Xiaoguang is another…”

“Xiaoguang?”

“Although we are sisters, our parents are not pure Soul-Devouring Demons, they have vampire mixed blood. Xiaoguang inherited their vampire bloodline.”

“Tsk… Go call Xiaoguang back, I have something to ask her.”

“Master, if it really was Xiaoguang, will you drive her away?”

Seeing Xiaoyue’s troubled expression, Bal also found himself at a loss.

“Let’s call Xiaoyue back first. If it’s not her, that’s best. If it is… then we’ll have to see.”

Phia walked to Xiaoyue’s side, arms crossed over her chest.

“…I understand, I’ll go get her now.”