Note: The portions in square brackets in this chapter are Detective Schofield's internal monologues.

...

Not more than a few minutes later, the knocking sounded again. It was Dumpty's voice outside the door once more, "Sir, Mr. Corston is here."

"Please, come in," Schofield responded.

The door opened, and Audetta appeared in the doorway, supporting Mr. Corston.

After the two entered, Corston sat down without ceremony. After all, this was his home, and Feng Bujue and the police were already overstepping their bounds.

"I'm sorry, we would like to speak with Mr. Lovecraft alone," Feng Bujue said to the hostess. "Could you please excuse us?"

"This..." Audetta looked at Corston with a questioning gaze, and the latter nodded to her.

Audetta hesitated for a moment, then walked towards the door. Before leaving, she seemed to remember something and turned back, saying, "Uh... officers, Henderson the butler has woken up. The doctor said he's fine. It's getting late, and if it's alright, I'd like to ask Oliver to prepare dinner."

"I have no objections," Schofield said.

Feng Bujue looked at Corston, and the host seemed to have no objections either, so he replied, "Then we'll trouble you, Madam."

After Audetta left, Dumpty closed the door again, leaving three people in the room.

Schofield remained seated in his original position, while Feng Bujue began to pace slowly around Mr. Corston.

"I apologize for disturbing you repeatedly at a time like this," Feng Bujue began.

[Hmm... the opening is exactly the same as before.]

"It's alright, you're only doing your duty," Corston replied, neither servile nor overbearing.

[Hey... it's too strange that even the answer is the same. Only the tone is different, the content is exactly the same! But... the next sentence should be different, right? Because Corston is already sitting, so Mr. Feng can't say "Please sit down" again.]

"I'll get straight to the point," Feng Bujue continued. "The murderer is someone in this villa, right here among us."

[Hey—! After skipping that sentence, he used the exact same line again!]

Corston's expression didn't change much; he simply replied calmly, "Who do you suspect?"

"I do have some hypotheses in mind," Feng Bujue said, putting on a troubled expression. "But before I'm completely certain, I'd like to hear your opinion first."

[He's memorized this script perfectly! I could ask questions according to this pattern too!]

Corston raised his head, met Feng Bujue's gaze, and said coldly, "Are you trying to get me to accuse one of my own family members?"

"It's not all family members, is it?" Feng Bujue said. "Henderson, Oliver, Barton, Powell, none of them are named Lovecraft."

"In my eyes, they are family," Corston replied. "I don't want to believe that any of them are murderers."

[Oh... the old man is quite humane after all.]

"Can't you really think of anyone who would have a motive to kill Dennis?" Feng Bujue pressed.

"Yes, I can," Corston replied. "You."

[He's actually taking the initiative now.]

"Me?" Feng Bujue said. "Oh? Heh..." He sneered, with a face that begged to be punched. "What's your basis?"

"There's no particular basis," Corston replied. "It's just that you're a stranger, and Carol said that you suddenly appeared on the mountainside road and stopped the car. Isn't that suspicious? Maybe you're just a fake detective, actually a killer or something. After killing my son, you're using the identity of a detective as a cover to point the finger at others, so you can clear yourself of suspicion."

As the other party spoke, Feng Bujue had slowly walked to the desk, picked up the booklet on it, and quietly flipped through it. Until Corston finished speaking, Brother Jue didn't respond at all, just continued to turn the pages with his back to the other party.

"Are you listening?" After nearly ten seconds of silence, Corston spoke again.

"Huh? What? Are you done?" Feng Bujue turned his head, widened his eyes, and put on a cheap expression.

[Hey... you clearly heard him, right? Are you deliberately pretending not to listen... hmm... but this should also be a way to provoke the other party.]

"Sorry, I started ignoring you when you said 'there's no particular basis,'" Feng Bujue continued. "With that sentence as the foundation, the rest is basically nonsense."

"Hmph... young man," Corston sneered. "To try to provoke me with a childish trick like 'pretending to ignore' is too laughable, isn't it?"

"After engaging in a prolapsed-anus-level of reasoning, you're actually upset because you don't have an audience..." Feng Bujue responded with a similar sneer. "Looks like I overestimated you before..."

[He's just outright cursing him! And using dirty language! Who was it that said a bunch of cool stuff five minutes ago and then emphasized that I had to "maintain my composure"?]

"Let this daddy tell you what real reasoning is!" Feng Bujue's eyes narrowed, and he stared at Corston, saying, "I swear in the name of my grandfather! The mystery has been completely solved!"

[I say... I feel like there are some strange lines mixed in... By the way, who exactly is your grandfather... Also... didn't you already directly eliminate Corston's suspicion based on the reason that he was "unable to move easily"?... Next, you're undoubtedly going to say a bunch of nonsense to slander him, right... Are you sure your grandfather won't lose his reputation?]

"What exactly do you want to say?" Corston glared at Feng Bujue and asked.

"The murderer is you!" Feng Bujue said, pointing at Corston with an imposing manner.

"Are you crazy? Do you know what you're saying?" Corston was not a weak woman like Carol; he was very calm and even turned his head to look at Schofield next to him. "Detective, is this person really a detective? What's the official stance of your police force?"

Feng Bujue didn't care what he said and continued to do his own thing. "I've already solved the riddle of the locked room... With the door locked, the murderer used a weapon like a steel wire to kill Dennis, then climbed out the window, and then used the weapon to lock the window from outside." He held up the booklet in his hand. "You told Officer Mark that Dr. Powell measured your blood pressure an hour before the incident, after which you stayed alone in your room to rest. In other words, you had plenty of time to sneak down to the first-floor guest room, kill someone, leave the house, discard the weapon, and then return to your room."

Corston thought for a few seconds after hearing this. "That's your reasoning?" He snorted coldly and tapped the floor with his cane. "Then tell me, how can someone who can barely walk without a cane kill someone with steel wire? And how can he climb out the window?"