OBS Chapter 3903 The Missing Maid Case
Chapter 3903 The Missing Maid Case
Chapter 3903 The Missing Maid Case
The missing young maid of the Kindle family was the personal maid of the family's youngest daughter, Queen Diana's niece, and the cousin of Princess Lacey and other princesses. She disappeared a week ago while on leave, and her family has not seen her return home; it's as if she vanished the moment she left the Duke's estate.
"Although there weren't many clues left for Xia De at the time, he still relied on his intelligence to start with the interpersonal relationships of the maid in his uncle's house, investigating her daily interactions and schedule, and analyzing various factors that might have a conflict of interest with her or lead to her disappearance or even death."
Subsequently, Shad investigated the maid's room and searched her belongings. Through careful reasoning and bold hypotheses, he successfully ruled out the possibility that the missing person might be involved in a spy case.
Finally, combining all the clues above, Shad deduced that, based on the bloodstains on the handkerchief the maid used to wipe her injured finger, he used [Echo of Blood] to find…
"Wait a moment!"
The investigation began on Monday, but it was already Saturday evening, the 28th of the Wind-Rising Moon, which was also another "Red Butterfly Day" after the Battle of Fate. The last rays of twilight had disappeared over Mount Fatumunster. In the courtyard of the Snow Mountain Hall, Luvia, who was preparing to have a barbecue around the campfire, interrupted Lacia.
Luvia only returned to Topsk this morning; her training, which lasted for more than two weeks, was finally over. That's why the princess and the writer took such a precious Saturday to spend with everyone, as a way of celebrating Luvia's return.
"Lascia, you just said that Shad did all that investigation and deduction, but in the end he still relied on magic to find people?"
Luvia asked, and Lacia, sitting proudly by the campfire, nodded:
"At least that's how Dorothy describes Shad in her manuscript: the famous detective Hamilton, without any other clues, discovered the only lead through his intelligence."
Winnie stood smiling by the charcoal grill, preparing barbecue for everyone. Ellie raised her hand:
"Keep listening to the story!"
Emilia and Leona, who were beside Ellie, clearly thought the same thing, so Lacey continued her story by the campfire with a smile:
"Afterwards, Shad tried to find the missing maid's whereabouts with the [Echo of Blood]. Although too much time had passed, fortunately, after Shad advanced to a higher level, the [Echo of Blood] could still see blurry and discontinuous blood-red light and shadow for objects that had been missing for more than 48 hours."
He spent another two days in the city, eventually venturing deep into its sewers. Using a sewer map given to him by a friend, he finally found a path leading from the alley near the Duke's manor to the basement of another viscount's manor in the south of the city.
Emilia cupped her face in her hands and asked curiously:
"Could it be that the maid disappeared because she eloped? That's what it says in the book."
The pointy-eared elf transformed a branch into a fallen tree trunk, and now sat on it with two little unicorns and Agelina. The little princess held an apple and shook her head.
"Of course not, this story is much more exciting than elopement, Ellie. You want to eat this apple, right? But Shad said he can't give you too many apples until he and Miss Reinhardt come back. Okay, just one bite. You... never mind, remember to hide the core."
Lacey continued speaking to Luvia and the girls at the academy:
"In the Viscount's mansion, Shad discovered clues about arms dealing. He thought the maid's disappearance was related to arms dealing, but before closing the case, he gave me the information. You know I'm in charge of military logistics now, but I had people investigate, and arms dealing does exist, but it has nothing to do with the missing maid."
Furthermore, the owner of the viscount's mansion, which is connected to the sewers, had no idea about the missing maid. It seems the maid's disappearance was merely a matter of her using his basement and had nothing to do with his household affairs.
"So his discovery of arms trafficking was entirely due to his involvement in the case investigated by Xia De."
Dorothy concluded, and Lacey nodded:
"After several twists and turns, Shad continued his investigation, the tedious details of which are omitted. In short, for convenience, he hired Miss Reinhardt, who was a little less busy, as his detective assistant starting Wednesday afternoon, and they conducted inquiries throughout the city."
Together they conducted on-site investigations in the slums, mingled in the illegal Rhodes Casino, and chased down a gang of thugs selling illegal drugs at night, only to find that the gang had provided the missing maid with a false identity.
Finally, yesterday, Friday night, Shad invited Miss Reinhardt to a masquerade ball for nobles, where the missing maid was eventually found.
Lacey smiled and accepted the wine glass from Dorothy, gently swirling it in her hand. The wine rippled within, gleaming with an intoxicating light.
"Now the answer is revealed—even my mother didn't know that the missing maid was my uncle's illegitimate daughter, and also my cousin. She was unaware of her identity from a young age, was adopted by a commoner family in Tobesk, and a few years ago was arranged to live with my youngest cousin at the Duke's manor."
Some time ago, someone with ulterior motives revealed her identity to her. Encouraged by that person, she wanted to escape her current life and my uncle's control, which is why she deliberately disappeared.
Who instigated her?
Stella asked curiously, as she enjoyed stories with twists and turns.
"It's funny, it was my cousin, the half-brother of this missing maid cousin. He fell in love with this maid cousin, but he knew that as long as she stayed at home, she would definitely not be with him."
So he had his men incite his maid cousin to disappear, intending to have her live in a place he arranged for her, and then gradually deepen their relationship.
Although it was a shameful affair involving her mother's family, Lacey made no attempt to hide it. The girls listening to the story gasped, clearly not expecting the truth to be like this. However, Ellie and little Leona didn't react much; the former was staring at the sliced apple that Winnie was skewering on a bamboo stick, while the latter tilted her head and looked at the snow-capped mountain while listening to the story.
“When Xia De gave the investigation report to his mother, she was furious. I had never seen my mother so angry before, not even when I was a child.”
Lacey sighed, and Adelina nodded, still shaken:
"Mother told Uncle about the results of Xia De's investigation. This morning, my cousin's leg was broken by Uncle, and my maid cousin was sent to live in the city where the Jindel family's ancestral home is located. Mother even ignored Father's objections and called Uncle in and gave him a good scolding, saying that as a duke, he couldn't control his family at such a critical moment for the kingdom and actually caused such a disgraceful incident."
The arms dealing, gang-related crimes, and underground casinos that Xia De uncovered during his investigation were all things his cousin had deliberately implicated to cover up his cousin's whereabouts. Although his mother didn't say anything, the cousin's considerable influence was likely related to his uncle's lack of oversight of the family.
Adelina took the plate from Winnie and placed it on her lap. Luvia nodded, then thought for a moment and asked:
"I see. But since it concerns the Queen's family's scandal, this investigation conducted by Xia De can't be made public, right?"
Lacey shook her head:
"The truth cannot be made public, but Xia De's investigation can be made public, after all, the commotion he has caused in the past week has been too great. Although something else could be fabricated to cover up this scandal, with war looming, Father has no time to deal with this matter."
Therefore, Xia De's investigation concluded with the finding that "the missing maid was a spy from the South," a conclusion that most people accepted.
Stella couldn't help but sigh:
"The stories of big cities are truly fascinating. My teacher has been telling me about her time in Tobeskoye with Shad these past few days. I never imagined the truth would turn out like this. But when are you and Shad coming back?"
Luvia calculated the time:
"We finished our group meeting this afternoon. Shad said he was going to Ridwich Field to collect his prize money. Although he brought Claire along, the two of them probably won't be doing anything else and should be back soon."
No one needs to accompany you to collect the prize money; the girls all know that this is just an excuse that Shad makes up so he can be alone with Claire.
He had only agreed to invite Claire to his home, but now they had embarked on a truly spectacular urban adventure together. As the adventure neared its end, a private "farewell" was necessary, which is why everyone was patiently waiting here.
However, Shad didn't keep everyone waiting for too long. While the girls were chatting with Emilia about Ellie's recent studies and life, and the pointy-eared elf was happily talking about how sometimes when the girls transformed into human form, they would like to spend the night in her bedroom and have a pajama party, Shad returned with Claire by the hand.
The witch with beautiful platinum blonde hair still had a slightly flushed face, but now that the sun had completely set, this was definitely not the afterglow of the sunset, so everyone could be sure that they had done something before.
Stella put down her plate and stood up to greet her teacher, then went to help Winnie. The maid smiled and winked at Shad, then served him his food.
Under the starry sky, the lively barbecue party continued in the courtyard of the Snow Mountain Hall. Claire and Luvia sat on either side of Shad, while Lacey listened to Emilia tell stories about the little unicorns. Dorothy stood up to help Stella and Winnie, praising Winnie for managing No. 6 St. Teresa's Square so well recently.