Main Hall of the Soaring Theater, on the stage.
The dance music gradually fades, and Adèle, who had been performing passionately on the stage, leads the other dancers back to the stage as the curtains slowly close. They take a bow together amidst the audience’s applause.
After the curtain call, Adèle quickly retreats backstage. Wearing her performance outfit, she casually throws on a coat and swiftly leaves the backstage area, heading toward the audience seating. Soon, she arrives at a long corridor and stops in front of the door to Box Seven.
At this moment, the door to Box Seven is already open. Several theater staff members stand at the entrance, all looking inside. Beside them stands Ed, wearing a gray trench coat and a short-brimmed hat.
"How’s it going, Detective?" Adèle asks lightly as she walks down the corridor toward Ed. Ed responds directly, and Dorothy, through Ed, speaks as well.
"Very smoothly. Your dance was beautiful, Miss Adèle. He was starving after watching it," Ed replies, shifting his gaze to the scene inside the box.
Inside the box, the scene is gruesome. The room is in disarray, with blood staining the carpet. A mutilated body lies on the blood-soaked carpet. In the center of the box, a figure lies motionless.
Byron, now back in human form, is dressed in a blood-soaked suit, lying motionless on the floor. His eyes are wide open, and a mixture of saliva and blood drips from his mouth. Just moments ago, his chest stopped rising and falling. After consuming a large amount of poison, Byron finally succumbed to the toxins and died.
"For those on the Chalice path, appetite is one of the easiest desires to manipulate, especially for those on the Beast branch. With just a little guidance, their hunger becomes uncontrollable," Adèle says as she walks up to Ed and glances at the scene inside the box. Hearing her words, Dorothy feels a slight realization.
“So, those on the Beast branch are more easily manipulated through their appetite... Does that mean those on other branches are more susceptible to other desires?” Dorothy thinks to herself. Adèle, after another glance at the scene inside the box, speaks to Ed.
"Alright~ As per your request, I left the body intact. Honestly, this was much more troublesome than just killing him outright. Detective, you said that if the body was intact, you could help me deal with the police, right?"
Adèle says this because if her goal had simply been to kill this Black Earth-rank beast, she could have done so much more easily. The reason she went through all this trouble was because Ed had mentioned that if Byron’s body remained relatively intact, he could help her clear her name completely.
"Of course. After all, if a mutilated body were to appear in front of ordinary police officers, they might lose control," Ed responds with a smile. He then reaches into his pocket, pulls out a ring, and puts it on. Adèle notices the ring, which is engraved with a circle of small figures holding hands and dancing.
"Is that... a mystical artifact for controlling flesh puppets?"
"Yes, Miss Adèle has a keen eye," Ed replies. With the Corpse Marionette Ring now on his finger, he waves his hand, and Byron’s body inside the box suddenly begins to move. In full view of everyone, the body stands up.
"Are you planning to use him as a flesh puppet? What can a stiff puppet like that even do?" Adèle asks with a hint of confusion as she watches Ed control Byron. This time, it’s not Ed who responds, but Byron himself.
"Of course, to assist in the performance, Miss Adèle," Byron says, his stiff expression softening. Seeing this, Adèle is momentarily stunned, then looks at Ed and smiles.
"So it was you... You were the one who stopped Maria on stage. It seems I owe you even more now, Detective. That ring of yours is much more powerful than ordinary flesh puppet artifacts..."
Adèle’s gaze lingers on the ring on Ed’s finger, her interest piqued. Ed continues to smile and respond.
"Just a rare find I came across by chance... Now that the lead actor is ready, let’s have everyone cooperate a bit more."
With that, Ed glances around at Byron and the theater staff standing at the door, giving instructions.
"Now, could someone tell me if there are any empty boxes in the theater? Also, we need to take off this guy’s clothes. I’ll need a male performance outfit, something casual will do."
…
"Miss Adèle! Do you realize what you’re doing? You’re still a suspect, and yet you went on stage to perform!"
In a corridor of the theater, Officer Douglas stands angrily, shouting at Adèle, who responds with a smile.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I just couldn’t resist dancing one more song for the audience. My apologies, Officer~"
Adèle replies with a playful tone, but Douglas’s anger doesn’t subside.
"Miss Adèle, do you realize that your reckless actions have only increased your suspicion? If you keep this up, no amount of defense from that detective will help you."
"There’s no need for defense anymore, Officer."
At this moment, a familiar voice reaches Douglas’s ears. He turns to see Ed walking down the corridor toward him.
"Detective... What do you mean there’s no need for defense? Have you given up on the investigation and decided Adèle is the culprit?" Douglas asks, but Ed calmly responds.
"Of course not. What I mean is that I’ve already found the real culprit. Miss Adèle’s innocence no longer needs to be defended."
"What? You found the real culprit? Who? How did you find them?"
Hearing Ed’s words, Douglas is surprised. Ed smiles mysteriously and responds.
"Well, why don’t you bring your men and come see for yourself? I’ll explain everything on the way."
Ed says, and Douglas, after a moment of hesitation, nods.
"Alright, let’s see what you’ve found."
With that, Douglas orders a few officers to keep an eye on Adèle and escort her back to her room. He then takes a few other officers and follows Ed upstairs. As they walk, Douglas asks Ed.
"Hey, kid, did you really find the killer in just an hour and a half? How? You’re not pulling my leg, are you?"
"I wouldn’t dare, Officer. In fact, I found the killer through the clue of the bloodstained clothes," Ed replies directly. Hearing this, Douglas is surprised.
"Bloodstained clothes?"
"Yes. Remember how I said Miss Adèle couldn’t be the killer because her dress wasn’t stained with blood? Given the state of Maria’s body, the killer’s clothes would have been soaked in blood. If Adèle isn’t the killer, then how did the real culprit deal with their bloodstained clothes? After all, they had to return to the show and leave with the other audience members afterward."
Walking beside Douglas, Ed explains his reasoning. Douglas nods thoughtfully.
"Hmm... That makes sense. The bloodstained clothes are a problem. Go on..."
"So, I think there are two possibilities. First, the killer planned the murder in advance and brought a change of clothes. After killing Maria, they found a restroom to clean up and change. But the murder weapon found outside the window of the crime scene contradicts this theory."
Ed continues. After Byron manipulated Maria into "committing suicide," he threw the knife used as the murder weapon out of the restroom’s ventilation window, where it was easily found by the police.
"That weapon was from the theater’s backstage, not brought from outside. It seems Maria brought it to the killer. If the killer had planned the murder in advance, they wouldn’t have used a weapon from the theater. What if they couldn’t find one? So, I think the murder might have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
"Second, if the killer acted on impulse, they wouldn’t have prepared a clean set of clothes to replace the bloodstained ones. Without a change of clothes, they couldn’t go naked, so they had no choice but to steal some clothes to wear."
Ed continues, and Douglas, intrigued, responds.
"Steal? From whom? The audience members wouldn’t have brought extra clothes for the killer to steal."
"Of course, there’s a place to steal from. Officer, remember where we are—this is a theater. If nothing else, there are plenty of clothes here," Ed explains, and Douglas immediately understands.
"You’re saying... the killer stole clothes from the theater?"
"Exactly. I’ve seen the backstage wardrobe. It’s not heavily guarded, so stealing would be easy. In fact, I already had the theater staff check the inventory, and a men’s outfit is missing."
Ed says, and Douglas now understands how Ed found the killer.
"So, we just need to find out who’s wearing the missing outfit, and we’ll have our killer."
"Exactly. I had theater staff who recognize the outfit patrol the audience seating and check every box under the guise of service. We’ve got a lead now, so let’s hurry."
With that, Ed and Douglas continue walking. After a while, they arrive at a corridor on the upper level. One side of the corridor has windows, while the other has doors with numbers, leading to the boxes. At the end of the corridor, several theater staff members are knocking on a door, calling out.
"Sir, please open the door. We have a complimentary service for you."
"I told you, I don’t need any service! Go away!"
A voice from inside the box responds angrily. Just as the staff members are about to say something, Ed arrives with Douglas and a few officers.
"What’s the situation? Is he still refusing to come out?"
"Detective, he still won’t open the door. Even when we said it’s a complimentary service," one of the staff members replies. Ed nods and says.
"Then just use the key to open it."
"Understood."
With that, a theater staff member takes out a key and unlocks the door. When the door opens, the scene inside the box is revealed. The man inside, seeing the door open, stands up angrily.
"Who gave you permission to come in? Do you want me to file a complaint—"
Inside the box, a man wearing a flamboyant suit shouts, but his words trail off as he sees the police officers at the door. He freezes in place.
Without hesitation, Ed walks into the box, followed by Douglas and the other officers. Seeing the police enter, the man in the flamboyant suit instinctively takes a step back.
"Officer... What is this about...?"
"Mr. Byron Davis, there’s been an incident at the theater. We need you to cooperate with our investigation," Ed says directly, standing beside Douglas. Byron looks at Douglas and says.
"What incident? Officer, I’ve been here watching the show the whole time. I don’t know anything..."
"Don’t speak yet. Just answer our questions and cooperate," Douglas says sternly. Byron swallows hard and nods.
"Alright... Ask whatever you need to ask."
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Davis. First, I’d like to ask you... Do you know Maria Dokana?" Ed asks directly. Hearing the name, Byron is momentarily stunned, then says.
"No, I don’t know any woman named Maria."
"You don’t...? Then what about these letters?" Ed says, placing several unfolded letters on the table in the box. He continues.
"These are letters exchanged between Maria and one of her lovers. The handwriting on these letters looks remarkably similar to the handwriting on your box reservation form."
Ed says, and Douglas, seeing the letters, is surprised.
“This kid... How did he uncover so much in such a short time?”
"It’s just handwriting. Similar handwriting is easy to fake. This proves nothing!" Byron says through gritted teeth, but Ed calmly continues.
"Is that so? Then let’s not talk about the handwriting for now. Let’s talk about your clothes, Mr. Byron. Can you tell us where you bought that outfit you’re wearing?"
"Uh... This... This was a gift from a friend. I don’t know where he bought it..." Byron stammers, but one of the theater staff members shouts.
"That’s one of our performance outfits! It’s custom-made and not available for sale outside!"
Hearing this, Byron freezes, his eyes wide and his fists clenched, his entire body radiating tension.
At this moment, Douglas glances around the box and notices a bulging bag. He points to it and orders one of the officers.
"Search it."
The officer immediately moves to search the bag. Byron instinctively tries to stop him but is restrained by Ed.
"Officer Douglas, Detective Ed, look at this!"
Soon, the officer pulls out a bloodstained suit jacket from the bag. The blood on the jacket is from when Byron killed his servant, but to Douglas and the other officers, it appears to be Maria’s blood.
The moment the bloodstained jacket is revealed, Byron’s face darkens, as if all hope is lost. His legs give out, and he collapses to his knees.
"Mr. Byron, do you have anything to say now?"
Ed says slowly as he looks at the kneeling Byron. Byron trembles, covering his head with his hands, and says in a shaky voice.
"It’s all... It’s all... that woman’s fault! That bitch! We were just having fun, but she took it seriously! She kept talking about being together forever... Ugh!"
Byron spits in disgust, his expression growing more agitated. He looks up and continues shouting.
"That bitch wanted to marry me! She even threatened me with things I’d done in the past! A lowly whore like her thought she could tie me down for life! She was just a stepping stone for me to get closer to Adèle, nothing more! What right did she have to threaten me? All I did was make her pay for her stupid threats! What did I do wrong?!"