Chapter 290: Interrogation Room

Moon Viewing Terrace, Library, Small Aerial Garden…

The investigation team searched room by room, door by door, finding nothing except traces left by Sunak’s team when they moved furniture and books for evidence collection; the three men had vanished as if into thin air, impossible to locate.

During the search, Su Xi and Chief Ebnek also tried calling the three officers via phone and radio, but received no response.

“Could they have already gone downstairs?” Chief Ebnek speculated: “Besides the grand corridor we came up by, are there any other ways down?”

The man in leather lowered his head to repeat the question into his microphone, receiving a reply from Lady Mylin: “Aside from the route you just took, the only other exit from the third floor is the secret passage behind the Lord’s bedroom.”

They had already searched the library; the hidden door leading to the Lord’s bedroom showed no sign of having been opened.

“No one found on the main route, the secret passage locked and untouched—where could those three have gone? Did they just vanish into thin air?” The man in leather frowned, glancing at a concealed iron door in the corner.

All the doors on the third floor were wooden, but this one was iron, hidden beneath a curtain in the corner; had Lady Mylin not specifically pointed it out, they would never have found it.

“This is the interrogation room used by every past Duchess Vanessa,” came Lady Mylin’s voice through the earpiece: “In the early days, the Freymisret family was more aggressive; certain individuals threatening the family’s vital interests would occasionally vanish mysteriously, only to appear in the Vanessa Castle’s interrogation room, questioned personally by the head of the family.”

—In the early days, the head of the Freymisret family typically also served as Duchess Vanessa.

“The interrogation room is the only place we haven’t searched yet,” said the female officer Su Xi, her expression anxious after so long without finding her brother: “Let’s go in quickly—they might be inside.”

The group exchanged glances, offering no objection.

“Let’s check the interrogation room first; if we still find nothing, we’ll have to go upstairs,” said the man in leather, walking to the iron door; one team member followed, and together they used a short crowbar to pry open the interrogation room’s heavy door.

As the door opened, an indescribable odor wafted out, making everyone wrinkle their noses.

“What is this smell? Like expired cheese rotting in the fridge…” Su Xi grimaced and covered her nose, but for her brother’s sake, she still stepped inside first, frowning.

“We’re going in,” the man in leather said into his microphone, then entered.

The remaining members said nothing, drew their guns, and filed in one by one; soon, the third-floor corridor stood empty.

Ning Zhe, who had been hiding atop the cabinet in the form of a long-tailed tit, watched the last team member enter the interrogation room, waited a moment longer, then carefully flew down and landed on the curtain beside the interrogation room’s door.

Just as Ning Zhe hesitated whether to follow them inside, suddenly his body moved involuntarily.

His two bird-claws left the curtain; his wings began flapping backward in a grotesque manner, like a film reel running in reverse, retracing his flight path all the way back to above the cabinet where he had hidden.

The investigation team members who had just entered the interrogation room now stepped backward out of the door one by one; the man in leather had just watched Su Xi enter, and now lowered his head to say into his microphone: “We’re going in.”

“Don’t go in,” came Mylin’s voice through the earpiece: “Stay away from the interrogation room.”

The man in leather froze slightly, then immediately reacted: “Did the Princess tell you? Is there danger inside the interrogation room? But Su Xi’s already gone in…” “She went in first?” Below on the open ground, Mylin listened to the voice in her earpiece, then turned to the girl seated before the chessboard: “Su Xi has entered. Do you…?”

Should she undo one more move, and rescue Su Xi as well?

“Unnecessary,” said Prumeliya coolly: “That female officer is a ghost. Dejinhansa and the others must have died due to her deception.”

Dejinhansa was the name of the man in leather, and also the squad leader of the four male members of the investigation team.

“Su Xi is a ghost? But…” Mylin was puzzled: “But we already checked Su Xi’s fingers—her right hand is complete, all five fingers intact.”

It was well-known: those enslaved by necromancers, men lost their left pinky, women lost their right pinky.

“I have no proof, but I still tell you: Su Xi is a ghost.”

Prumeliya showed no hesitation, continuing: “Tell Dejinhansa—do not approach the interrogation room. No matter what you see or hear from now on, do not believe it, and absolutely, absolutely do not go near the interrogation room.”

Mylin did not press further, relaying the Princess’s exact words to the man in leather, Dejinhansa.

“Su Xi is a ghost…?” Dejinhansa frowned tightly, staring fixedly at the door Su Xi had entered, recalling her actions since they arrived: “Everyone, check each other’s fingers immediately.”

No one’s fingers are missing!

The four investigation team members and Chief Ebnek immediately checked one another, confirming no one was missing a finger.

One team member asked: “What’s going on? Did the Princess say something?”

“Su Xi is a ghost,” said Dejinhansa coldly.

“What?” Chief Ebnek stared, bewildered: “But… but didn’t you already check Su Xi’s fingers? Her right hand isn’t missing anything—how could she possibly be a ghost by your own rules?”

Ning Zhe, hiding atop the cabinet, silently observed this scene, also puzzled.

He had seen Su Xi’s right hand himself—it was complete. Why did Prumeliya identify her as a ghost?

But if Su Xi wasn’t a ghost, why had Prumeliya rewound Vanessa Castle to the moment before they entered the interrogation room after Dejinhansa and the others went in?

Dejinhansa and Lady Mylin maintained real-time communication via wireless earpieces; if anything happened to the team, she would know instantly—meaning, something indeed went wrong after they entered the interrogation room.

Those who followed Su Xi inside likely already perished; Prumeliya had rewound time to rescue the team members killed by the ghost.

“What exactly is going on?”

Realizing this, Ning Zhe’s confusion deepened: “What happened after the investigation team entered the interrogation room? Why did Prumeliya identify Su Xi—a woman with all her fingers intact—as a ghost?”

(End of Chapter)