The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 343: David

["Your father, the viscount, has just summoned me," the baroness said, her tone a little more animated, clearly pleased to have a moment to herself. "I've asked the servants—Lu Li and the others—to accompany you."]

[Sara nodded and, calling for the servant David who was waiting outside the door, asked him to take several books from the shelf and carry them to the gazebo in the garden.]

"What rotten luck," David sighed. Outside, a thunderstorm raged.

After exchanging glances with Lu Li and the others, David took several books from the shelf, which was now just a dark silhouette, and followed Sara out of the house.

[The driving wind and rain lashed at his face, making it difficult for David to breathe. He squinted, trailing behind Sara's dark silhouette.]

[The gazebo stood at the edge of the garden, only a few meters from Agate Lake. There was nothing around but withered plants and a paved path. David set the books down where Sara pointed.]

[He stood with his back to Sara as the incomprehensible, ancient voice continued to echo.]

...

Lu Li, Petra, Rola, and the baroness waited in the bedroom.

Lu Li stood on the balcony. Usually, the view from here swept across Agate Lake and the city of Belfast, but now a solid curtain of rain hid everything from sight. Only the intermittent flashes of lightning revealed the faint, blurred outlines of the world outside.Unlike the relatively calm Petra, Rola, and the baroness, Lu Li felt a creeping anxiety beneath the superficial serenity. The longer the quiet lasted, the more intense his premonition of disaster grew.

The evil spirit was not about to tell a simple story with a happy ending.

But when would it make its move?

In the bedroom, Petra and Rola were conversing in low tones. The baroness sat on the sofa, her butler standing beside her, casting frequent glances toward Lu Li.

After some time, Petra addressed Lu Li. "What do you think about the bloodstains on the carpet?"

Lu Li shook his head.

"It could be... Adam's blood," Rola ventured, leaning on his broom. "Sara might have pretended she was hurt to hide it. It's not like we can check if she really has a wound."

He looked toward the baroness.

"I didn't notice," the baroness replied. As a dark silhouette, she couldn't discern such fine details.

"Adam's body isn't in the bedroom," Lu Li stated.

"That's what worries me," Rola muttered. He could handle ghosts, but solving riddles was not his strong suit.

The clues were too sparse, and Petra could only offer a vague warning. "Whatever happens, be careful. The story is becoming dangerous."

The danger could come from two sources: either Sara would uncover their deception, or the resurrection ritual itself would prove to be sinister and demand a sacrifice.

The fact that Sara had summoned David alone was clearly not a good sign.

The next part of the story didn't come until almost two hours later.

[The midday sky was as dark as twilight, pressing down with an oppressive weight.]

The baroness recited her line expressionlessly, "My lady, are you feeling better?"

Lu Li and the others stepped out into the hallway to continue listening to the story.

The exorcists left the room and moved to a safe distance, out of earshot.

This segment of the story contained a great deal of crucial information: Sara had hidden Adam's body in the gazebo, she had begun a resurrection ritual from the "Book of the Dead," and David, for some unknown reason, had chosen to help her.

"We could call for David," Rola suggested, still gripping his broom.

"We'd better not," Petra replied. "David must have his reasons. If he wants to tell us something, he'll do it himself."

"You're right," Rola conceded with a shrug.

Lu Li and the others took seats at a long table. The butler clapped his hands to summon the maids, instructing them to inform the cook to begin preparing lunch.

For the entire afternoon following lunch, Lu Li, Petra, Rola, and the baroness were left to their own devices. David never reappeared.

Petra was growing anxious. As evening drew near, he walked with Lu Li and Rola to the edge of the garden and spotted a human figure in the distance, standing under a lantern in the rain.

Petra relaxed slightly.

Was David not returning because of the story's constraints? Or had he discovered something important?

Bright light blazed from the baroness's house, but the darkness outside was so profound that everything else was lost in shadow. The lantern only illuminated a small patch of ground.

After a short while, the sound of David's footsteps came from around the corner of the corridor.

As they all watched, a dark silhouette appeared at the far end of the hall.