Of course, whether York was actually a ghost in disguise and the real Masha had shown up, or Masha was a ghost in disguise and the real York had shown up, both possibilities were close to zero.
If Masha and York really wanted to find him, they wouldn't have acted alone and left an opening for a ghost without noticing.
So a more likely possibility emerged.
Yu Xing slowly crouched down and peered through the crack beneath the door.
The hallway lights were still on. Just outside the inch-high gap beneath the door was a pair of slippers.
Only one pair.
They were dark brown, their toes pointed straight at Yu Xing's eyes. They were right up against the door.
It was easy to imagine that the person outside was pressed almost entirely against it. The moment the door opened, they'd practically be face-to-face with Yu Xing.
Masha's voice was still ringing out. "Roy, are you going to sleep in? Hurry up and get up!"
Hurry up and get up, Roy.
Are you in there, Roy?
Yu Xing straightened up, gaining a new appreciation for Mr. Brown's patience—he'd been standing outside Yu Xing's door for three hours!
What persistence. And what a surprise.
The fake voice had sounded exactly like York and Masha. Yu Xing hadn't noticed a thing. So one of Mr. Brown's abilities was to imitate other people's voices.
Yu Xing carefully considered whether Mr. Brown was human. But first, he imagined a middle-aged man calling him "Roy" in a little girl's voice... Ew.
Well, he might as well open the door. Then he'd know the answer.
After those three hours, he actually felt that opening the door wouldn't mean certain death.
There was only one Mr. Brown, but three deduction participants. It was unlikely Mr. Brown had