"What?!"
Saul's expression changed. The large intestine in his hand seemed like a virus now, and he felt his hand begin to go numb.
He flung the intestine to the floor, where it twitched a few times in the dim light.
Their expressions were all grave. Annie even crouched down to examine the thing closely.
Phil brought the candle lamp closer so they could see it more clearly.
The intestine looked thoroughly cleaned, its folds bunched together like a glove made of skin. Someone unfamiliar with it probably wouldn't recognize it as an intestine at first glance.
Saul felt a little strange, thinking it odd that Annie could tell at a glance that it was a sheep's large intestine.
But then he remembered she had said she was a novelist who wrote mysteries. Maybe she had seen something similar before?
He made excuses for Annie in his head, but Annie didn't think much of it. After confirming that the thing was real, she stood up and told them.
"Wait, it's weird enough to find a sheep's intestine in this kitchen, but why hang it overhead? What kind of sick joke is this?"
Phil cursed. Although he had been startled at first, now that he had recovered, he wanted to know who had done it even more.
[These three really have nerves of steel. They can stay this calm even after seeing something so creepy.]
[It's pretty normal, I guess. There's a police officer, a novelist, and a rich second-generation heir among them. None of them are ordinary people, and they may all have seen corpses before.]
[What I want to know is how that woman recognized it at a glance. Are novelists really that impressive?]
[Maybe she's a novelist who specializes in murder (snickers).]
[Haha, right! Serial murders, at that!]
[Damn, I never would've guessed that woman wrote about this stuff when she looks so timid.]
[Boring, boring. They should've brought that blonde woman instead. She'd be scared out of her wits if she saw the kitchen!]
Afterward, they searched again, but found nothing else unusual this time.
The head Xie Qi had previously asked Nikalos to hang up was still unfinished, so Nikalos had taken it back to his room to work overtime on it. Thus, the three left the kitchen with their doubts.
The perspective shifted to Bailey's group of three.
Their search went smoothly. There were several rooms behind the stairs, which were probably where the servants slept.
They first searched the storage room, but found nothing.
Sofina stayed behind Song Nan the whole time, watching the other two listen at the servants' doors one by one.
They didn't dare knock directly, so they could only linger at each door for a while, making sure there was no sound before moving on to the next.
Fortunately, there weren't many servants' rooms—only five in total.
Since they couldn't find anyone, the three decided to head back.
Just then, Sofina caught something odd out of the corner of her eye. There seemed to be another door hidden behind the storage room.
She didn't dare speak, so she tugged on Song Nan's sleeve and gestured for her to look back.
Only then did the three notice another door there, and it looked as though it led outside the villa.
The lock on the door was open, too!
Before Song Nan could stop him, Bailey hurried over and pushed the door.
But something outside stopped it from moving.
Bailey pushed outward with all his strength, only to spot another lock hanging outside through the gap in the door.
Shit!
Bailey's hopes were dashed, and he slammed his fist against the door.
With a clang, the sound echoed through the living room.
Song Nan and Sofina's expressions changed at once. They hurried over and pulled at Bailey, trying to get him to leave quickly.
But when they turned around, a figure suddenly blocked their path.
!!!
"Ah—..."
Sofina had just started to scream when Song Nan clapped a hand over her mouth and nose, forcing the sound back down.
Bailey also staggered back a few steps and cautiously sized up the newcomer, his heart pounding with fear.
A brown-haired maid with freckles on her cheeks stood there, her head tilted and her eyes clear as she looked at them curiously.
She was still wearing her maid uniform, a long white apron wrapped over a long black dress, giving her a plain and innocent appearance.
Seeing that she didn't seem aggressive, Song Nan breathed a slight sigh of relief. After exchanging a glance with Bailey, she spoke with difficulty.
"Y-hello, Miss Maid. We were just looking for the bathroom. It's hard to see at night, and we got lost. We're very sorry to have disturbed you."
Lina seemed to believe her. Her eyes widened as she said, "Oh! Then let me show you the way. I'm very sorry I wasn't here to serve you sooner."
This maid was different from the other servants. She seemed more like a normal person.
Seeing that they could communicate with her without trouble, the three breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as they were about to head back, they ran into Saul and the others coming out of the kitchen.
"!"
When Lina saw Saul and his group, her expression suddenly changed, and her tone became very anxious.
"You—guests, how could you go into the kitchen? Lord Kani doesn't like people entering without permission!"
Saul and the other two hadn't expected one of the villa's servants to appear here either.
Seeing the three behind the maid signaling to them with their eyes, Annie hurriedly said, "We're terribly sorry. We were so hungry, and we didn't know we weren't allowed in the kitchen. We were hoping to find something to eat."
"Honestly, you'd better not have touched anything. If Lord Kani finds out, there'll be big trouble."
Lina spoke in a complaining tone, just like an ordinary young girl.
Seeing that they could communicate with her, the six exchanged glances with one another.
Saul, Phil, and Annie looked at each other and decided to ask her for some information.
So Annie spoke up, telling her what they had seen in the kitchen.
"An intestine?"
Lina tilted her head, looking a little confused.
"Yes. It wasn't an ordinary intestine, but a sheep's large intestine."
Annie shared the result of her analysis with everyone. The other three, hearing it for the first time, all looked grim.
Sofina in particular would have cried out again if Song Nan hadn't been keeping an eye on her.
Lina, who also understood what Annie meant, trembled all over after hearing her words, as if frightened.
"H-how could that be..."
Saul thought she couldn't believe it and was about to step forward to comfort her.
But just then, the place where they stood suddenly lit up.
A light far brighter than the candelabrum shone on them, dazzling their eyes, which had grown used to the dimness.
When their eyes adjusted, they saw the elusive silver-haired butler standing before them.
"Guests, what are you doing here at this hour?"
His low, hoarse, aged voice rang out. Perhaps because of the darkness, the butler's tone was somewhat colder than it had been during the day.
"We're... we're going back to our rooms right now."
After a moment of silence, Song Nan was the first to speak.
Saul had wanted to tell him that two of their companions had gone missing and ask whether he knew anything about it.
But when he saw Song Nan signaling to him, he swallowed the words.
Sai Basi's expression softened considerably as his gaze swept over the six people before him.
"Very good. I hope you guests can rest easy in your rooms tonight. The master does not like disobedient guests."