Jessica recalled the contents of the letter Maria had read aloud last night. "Yes, it did say that in the letter. It also said that from now on, she would begin collecting interest. But as long as we solve the riddle of the gold, she will lose those rights."
"Grandfather obtained a huge amount of gold and revived the Ushiromiya Family. So what Beatrice means is that everything Grandfather created with that gold as capital counts as interest. If that's the case..."
"This joke has gone way too far. Could it be that everything belonging to the Ushiromiya Family—that is, everything Grandfather created—refers to the descendants who inherited Grandfather's bloodline?"
"If we interpret that letter from this perspective, then these murders are Beatrice exercising her rightful claim to collect interest. In that case, this incident isn't over yet, because she hasn't finished collecting the interest."
George's gaze swept across the parlor.
There were still many people here bearing the Ushiromiya name.
Goda and Shannon had already been murdered, so even servants who did not bear the Ushiromiya name could not escape disaster.
"The culprit wants to kill every one of us. But George, that doesn't make sense. Why kill only six people? The culprit should have had plenty more chances. If they attacked while we were asleep, they might have been able to kill everyone in a single night. Why didn't they do that?"
"Because there are special terms. Once someone finds the gold, she loses the right to collect interest. And I remember the end of the letter said something like this: it told all of us to solve the riddle of Grandfather's gold together."
"Now we finally understand what message the culprit wants to give us. In other words, the culprit is telling us to solve the riddle