novelraw Chapter 91 : Confirming the Direction
Chapter 91 : Confirming the Direction
Chapter 91: Confirming the Direction
With this clue, 【Levi】 quickly confirmed the direction of his investigation.
The direction of an investigation, when handling a case, was a very troublesome matter.
If one could not determine a direction, then no matter how many clues were collected, it was like trying to scoop the moon from the water.
Just look at Director 【McMillan】—he had always believed this might be the work of 【Luddism】 terrorists, so all his efforts had gone in that direction.
But the problem was, after so much effort, there had been no results.
Very few traces remained at the scene, and there were hardly any clues.
From the current perspective, 【Levi】 felt that starting the investigation from Lady 【Aurelia】’s great-grandfather should count as a fairly good direction.
Thus, 【Levi】 spent the entire night in the library.
By combing through the history of the entire 【Baskerville Family】, 【Levi】 indeed discovered some strange things.
First of all, the 【Baskerville Family】 had always had female family heads, generation after generation.
Even if twins were born, it was always the female who served as the head.
The males… well, they could do whatever they pleased.
Then, the descendants of the 【Baskerville Family】 always included a girl.
Either a single girl was born, or a pair of twins.
This “tradition” had lasted for a thousand years, until Sir Old 【Baskerville】 broke it—his wife had given birth only to Young Sir 【Baskerville】, who was Lady 【Aurelia】’s grandfather.
Young Sir 【Baskerville】’s wife then gave birth only to the Third-Generation Sir 【Baskerville】—Lady 【Aurelia】’s father.
Not until this generation did a girl appear again—namely, Lady 【Aurelia】.
Of course, from a statistical point of view, probability always existed.
But as a detective, who had read countless suspense and mystery novels, 【Levi】 felt this probability was far too abnormal.
Not to mention, there were so many coincidences.
Sir Old 【Baskerville】 broke the rule that only women could inherit the family head position.
Then he had only one son—and then disappeared.
Afterwards, Young Sir 【Baskerville】 also had only one son, and then he too disappeared.
It was at this time that rumors of the 【Baskerville Family】’s curse began to emerge.
But in fact, judging by the circumstances, the “curse” had already taken effect when Sir Old 【Baskerville】 vanished.
From Sir Old 【Baskerville】 onward, the family line had been abnormal for three generations, and then the curse had lasted three generations.
To call this coincidence—【Levi】 would never believe it.
Moreover, the reason why Sir Old 【Baskerville】 became the family head was also strange in 【Levi】’s eyes.
In his generation, there had been twins.
At sixteen, he and his elder sister went hunting in the mountains, and when he came back, he claimed his sister had fallen off a cliff.
They searched for a long time, but in the end, she was never found.
Since only these two siblings remained of the direct bloodline, by tradition the sister should have become the family head—but now, only the brother could.
It couldn’t possibly be handed over to some nameless outsider.
To 【Levi】, this accident was suspicious in itself.
Although Sir Old 【Baskerville】 and others who went hunting with him swore the sister had fallen off by accident…
But how careless must a person be to fall off a cliff?
Blind? Or what?
On the other hand, it was far more reasonable to assume that Sir Old 【Baskerville】 and his companions, coveting the family head position, conspired to kill the sister.
As someone from the modern world, 【Levi】 had seen no shortage of real case records, and since coming to this world, he had also witnessed many cases.
Think about it—people could kill for as little as ten pounds.
To shed rivers of blood for the position of family head—was that not even more normal?
【Levi】 even maliciously speculated that the irregular births over these three generations might also have been deliberate.
Perhaps Sir Old 【Baskerville】 had indeed fathered twins, but secretly drowned the girl, leaving only the boy.
Later, when his son grew up, he might have taught him the same method, so the latter also had only one male heir.
After all, according to the records, the 【Baskerville Family】 was always bound to produce a female infant.
So if there were none in two successive generations, was it truly that none were born—or were they killed?
Young Sir 【Baskerville】’s disappearance might have been an accident, so he had no time to pass on the method.
As a result, his child was Lady 【Aurelia】.
Otherwise, Lady 【Aurelia】 might never have existed.
Of course, these were merely 【Levi】’s speculations.
He had no evidence, and he had no intention of telling 【Aurelia】.
After all, such things were enough for him to know; there was no need to tell her.
But digging into nobles’ black history and scandals—it really was fun.
Like a Bilibili viewer happily watching a mystery-explaining video, 【Levi】 went off grinning to find 【Aurelia】.
“You want to visit the ancestors’ tomb?”
It had to be said, 【Levi】’s request surprised 【Aurelia】.
“That’s right. There are some things I want to investigate, so I’d like to see the ancestors’ tomb.”This idea wasn’t a whim.
After discovering this pattern, 【Levi】 had already formed this thought.
The reason was very simple.
The 【Baskerville Family】’s heads had always been female, and each generation always produced a girl.
It was like the saying—every radish has its own pit.
So the question arose: why must the family head be female?
【Levi】 asked 【Aurelia】, but being head of the family didn’t require any special ritual—at most, just going through a simple process before the ancestors.
There was no involvement of sacrifices.
It was basically like conferring a position.
In fact, when it came to 【Aurelia】, because the situation had been urgent, even the conferring process had been simplified.
As for any blood sacrifices or the like—that had never existed.
That made it all the more interesting.
Why?
Since this rule had been passed down from the ancestors, 【Levi】 decided—why not go ask them directly?
Of course, the dead couldn’t speak.
But perhaps there would be some clues in their tomb?
To 【Aurelia】, this request was very odd.
Her father’s disappearance—what did that have to do with the ancestors?
That was what she thought.
But even so, 【Aurelia】 still had someone take 【Levi】 to the 【Baskerville Family】’s ancestral cemetery.
One advantage of the countryside was its vast land—used however one pleased.
For example, this 【Baskerville Family】 cemetery.
【Levi】 roughly estimated it was nearly three times larger than the 【Holy Lord Church】 cemetery in the 【Mist City】, comparable to a football field.
The graveyard was enclosed by walls.
Inside, paths crisscrossed, greenery was planted—it felt almost like a high-end neighborhood.
Following the guide, 【Levi】 walked in, looking around as he went.
Tombstones alone marked the ordinary graves.
Those with houses were the enhanced ones.
The tallest and grandest villa, of course, belonged to the ancestor… well, the divisions were quite clear.
Standing at the deepest part of the cemetery, facing the villa-sized tomb, 【Levi】’s expression was calm.
This had been a founding hero, after all.
Building such a large tomb was normal.
At least it wasn’t dug underground—that was already pretty good.
Compared with the surrounding tombs, this one was not only large but also spotless.
Even the iron gate had been polished until clean, without a trace of rust.
“We clean the ancestor’s tomb every year.”
The elderly tomb keeper struggled to push open the heavy doors while explaining quietly to 【Levi】.
The tomb keepers were also passed down through generations, though in a slightly different sense.
In the 【Baskerville Family】, tomb keepers were retirees from other posts.
In this era, there was no formal concept of retirement, but when one grew too old to work, they came to guard the cemetery.
And in passing, chose their own future resting place.
The 【Baskerville Family】 was proud of its history, and greatly respected its ancestor.
After all, the family’s status had ultimately been built by that ancestor, and a millennium of lineage itself was a kind of qualification.
From one perspective, their family history was even longer than that of the 【Empire】 itself.
Naturally, this was a matter of pride.
The iron gate creaked open.
Carrying his 【gas lamp】, 【Levi】 stepped inside the tomb, carefully inspecting.
The stone coffin in the center, of course, belonged to the ancestor.
It was very tall and large, nearly three meters long and two meters high.
On the lid was carved a knight, eyes closed, hands folded over a longsword.
Around the coffin were carvings of flowers, vines, birds, and beasts.
Apart from this, the most striking things were the four stone statues in the four corners of the chamber.
An eagle, a bear, a wolf, and a leopard.
“What do these mean?”
Looking at the four snarling statues, 【Levi】 asked.
The tomb keeper chuckled.
“Ah, that is considered an interesting legend. Some say they were once animal kings who fought alongside the ancestor. After their deaths, they still guarded her, so their bodies were buried here and statues made.
Others say they represent the ancestor’s great power, placed here to show that she will forever protect us.”
“Hmm………………”
【Levi】 nodded, then walked to the statues, curiously observing them.
He passed over the other three quickly, but before the wolf statue, he stopped for a long time.
It was a wolf statue, head raised in a howl.
From its appearance, it was quite fine, full of vitality.
Yet after staring at it for a while, 【Levi】 lowered his gaze, staring instead at the stone slab beneath it.
After a moment, 【Levi】 spoke.
“This stone slab has been moved.”
“Ah?”
Hearing him, the tomb keeper rushed over, examining the slab.
“Moved?”
“That’s right.
There are signs of it being lifted, and when replaced, it wasn’t aligned properly…”
【Levi】 pointed at the slab’s edge.
Sure enough, one corner rested atop another slab.
“This…”
“Help me move it aside.”
【Levi】 spoke as he narrowed his eyes.
He now had an idea—a very wild idea.
The tomb keeper, though unsure what 【Levi】 intended, still stepped forward and helped shift the stone slab, revealing the soil beneath.
“Dig it up.”
“Dig? …Alright.”
Had 【Levi】 wanted to dig up the ancestor’s coffin itself, the tomb keeper would never have agreed.
But now his own curiosity was piqued, so he began digging under the slab as instructed.
He dug… and dug………
“Stop!”
When the hole was nearly a meter deep, 【Levi】 suddenly shouted.
Then he crouched, brushing the soil carefully with his hand.
Soon, a pale shape emerged from the dirt.
It was a skull, no larger than a fist.
Buried in the soil, its hollow eye sockets stared straight ahead.
“Eeeeek—————!”
Seeing this, the tomb keeper cried out in fright, stumbling backwards.
But 【Levi】 stared at the skull, then rose to his feet after a long moment.
“Go notify Lady 【Aurelia Baskerville】.”