Lynn had just left the Villa, but Tony, who had been seemingly drunk, slowly opened his eyes.
“It seems the negotiations fell through!”
Sitting up from the sofa, Tony said to Rhodes, “I’ve dealt with that guy Stryker before. He’s as stubborn and ill-tempered as General Ross. There’s no way he’d apologize to Lynn on his own initiative.”
Yes, this invitation was actually Rhodes’s initiative, asking Tony for help.
There was no other way. Lynn meant what he said. For more than half a month, Lynn directly sent people to monitor Stryker 24 hours a day.
Even his family’s every move was under the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s surveillance.
Not only that, the Federal Bureau of Investigation also began to dig into all the things he had done in the past.
If the Federal Bureau of Investigation couldn’t be stopped, Stryker would probably be sent to prison for various reasons before long.
Seeing that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was serious, Stryker couldn’t withstand the pressure and directly sought help from his superiors in the Military.
After the Military failed to communicate with James Duke, they asked Rhodes to be a mediator.
Who else could it be, since he had a good relationship with Tony Stark, and Tony Stark also had a good relationship with Lynn?
This was also why Tony insisted on dragging Lynn over for a drink and pretending to be drunk today, after visiting Obadiah Stane.
“I don’t think so.”
Hearing Tony’s evaluation of Stryker, Rhodes said, “Do you believe that after I relay Lynn’s words, Stryker will humble himself and seek out Lynn within two days?”
“Really or fake?”
“Of course, it’s real.”
Seeing Tony’s disbelief, Rhodes spread his hands and said, “Tony, you’re not in the Military or a government official, so you don’t know what it means to be targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“If they really want to act, then let alone Stryker, they would even dare to arrest the Minister of Defense.”
At this point, Rhodes stood up and said, “Anyway, Tony, thank you for your help today. Also, your recent mood—”
“I’m fine.”
Before Rhodes could finish, Tony Stark directly said, “I am Tony Stark, the greatest genius of this century.”
“Alright, genius, you’re in charge of cleaning up the place.”
Pointing to the large pile of wine bottles on the ground, Rhodes picked up his coat and turned to leave, “I need to go back immediately and tell my superiors the news.”
“FUXX!”
Watching Rhodes turn and leave, Tony Stark directly gave him the middle finger.
These two guys, after drinking all his wine, didn’t even clean the room.
Inside the car.
“Lynn, actually, I can also drive and act as your driver.”
Looking at Alice, who had specially come to drive for Lynn, Polaris, sitting in the back seat, suddenly spoke.
Hearing Polaris say that, Lynn glanced at her.
Although Polaris was only fourteen years old now, her height had already reached one meter sixty.
“Alice, find some time to get Lorna and Laura their driver’s licenses. That way, you won’t always have to wait for me to finish drinking before coming to drive for me.”
Hearing Lynn say this, Alice immediately said in a sweet voice, “Don’t, Boss! This is one of the few opportunities I have to show you my devotion!”
“I’m still waiting for you to become a Director so I can be promoted to Assistant Director.”
“Get lost!”
Listening to Alice acting coquettish, Lynn immediately cursed her with disgust.
In others’ eyes, Alice was a tall, beautiful woman with a pretty face.
But in Lynn’s eyes, this guy was just a man who had been born the wrong gender.
Anyone who saw a man acting coquettish would probably feel a shiver of disgust.
“Hmph, Boss, that’s discrimination!”
Hearing her Boss curse her, Alice didn’t get angry.
After all, only those close to him would be cursed by the Boss right off the bat.
“Oh, by the way, Boss, was Tony Stark’s invitation for a drink this time for Colonel Rhodes, to give you a chance to make peace with the Military?”
Facing Alice’s question, Lynn nodded, “More or less, but Tony’s acting drunk skills still need improvement.”
As a top Agent, Lynn could naturally tell whether Tony was truly drunk or just pretending.
“Enough of that. How is Jonathan doing?”
Facing Lynn’s question, Alice smiled, “According to Claire, Jonathan, who has lost everything, has completely fallen in love with her.”
“So, the next phase of the plan can begin.”
At this point, Alice looked at Lynn with some confusion, “Boss, Jonathan used to have a girlfriend, but even when his girlfriend went into Kenny Davis’s arms, Jonathan didn’t make any drastic moves.”
“Now, just with Claire, whom he’s only been with for half a month, he’ll lose his mind and assassinate Kenny Davis?”
Facing Alice’s question, Lynn leaned back in his seat and laughed, “That’s why, even though you like women, you don’t understand men.”
“Alice, a man’s possessiveness is terrifying, especially when you have nothing and are living on the streets.”
“Your once privileged life is lost overnight, and the women and friends who once surrounded you scatter like birds and beasts.”
“When you’ve seen the harsh realities of the World and the wickedness of human hearts, and you’re about to die, someone who has loved you for over a decade suddenly appears.”
“She doesn’t despise you for having nothing. She carefully wipes away all the dirt from you, like a ray of sunshine illuminating your bleak and lonely life.”
Turning his head to look at Alice, Lynn said, “If it were you, what would you do?”
Hearing Lynn’s description, Alice suddenly felt a toothache, “I might be like a stray dog, guarding this last bone with my life.”
“Boss, you are indeed still the Master of manipulating human hearts!”
“This is the control of human nature!”
Leaning back in his seat, Lynn Hall said, “He also needs to pay for everything he has done!”
Just as he was speaking, Lynn’s phone suddenly rang.
Picking up his phone and glancing at it, Lynn said, “Back to the Bureau, we have a case!”
“Yes!”
Hearing Lynn’s words, Alice turned the car directly towards the New York Federal Bureau of Investigation.
At the same time, at Claire’s home.
Throwing his handbag on the table, Jonathan sat on the sofa and let out a long sigh.
This was already the fourth company that had rejected him in the past half month.
As soon as he thought of his past life of debauchery, Jonathan wished he could slap himself.
Otherwise, why would he be unable to even find a decent job now?
He turned his head to look at Claire’s photo on the table.
Jonathan, who had been somewhat disheartened, unconsciously revealed a slight smile.
He picked up the photo frame and carefully wiped away the non-existent dust on it.
Then he took off his jacket and got up to clean the room.
If it were in the past, he would never do such a thing, even if it killed him.
But now, as soon as he thought of Claire’s Angel-like smile and gentle encouragement.
Jonathan felt that his bleak life seemed to be illuminated by sunshine.
Thank God for letting Claire appear in his life.
For her, he was willing to give everything!
Just as Jonathan was cleaning the room, he heard the sound of the door opening behind him.
“Claire, you’re back!”
He put down the tools in his hand and turned around, but Jonathan saw that Claire’s eyes were red.
“What’s wrong with you? Did something happen?”
Jonathan quickly came to Claire’s side, his eyes filled with anxiety.
Especially when he saw tears falling from Claire’s face, Jonathan was at a loss for a moment.
“No… nothing!”
Claire forced a smile at Jonathan and shook her head, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m going to take a shower.”
After speaking, Claire went directly into the bathroom and closed the door.
Seeing Claire enter the bathroom, Jonathan’s heart was filled with anxiety.
He cared about Claire so much that as soon as he thought of Claire crying.
Jonathan felt an inexplicable worry and irritability.
At the same time, in a manor in West Village, Manhattan.
“Please introduce the situation here.”
Looking at the police officers everywhere in the manor, Lynn Hall showed his identification and then asked the District Director in charge of the scene.
“Mr. Hall, three days ago, we received a report from Ms. Helena Johnny. She claimed to hear someone coughing in the manor every midnight.”
“After our investigation, there was no one else in the manor except the housekeeper, chef, and maid.”
“To prevent anyone from secretly infiltrating the manor, we also installed a large number of surveillance cameras, but the results did not capture anyone.”
At this point, the District Director spread his hands, “Mr. Hall, you also know that the Johnny family is an old political family, so after Ms. Helena reported it, our NYPD paid special attention.”
“We even sent several police officers to guard the manor, but that night they also heard that eerie coughing sound.”
Hearing the District Director say that, Lynn Hall gave a look to Shawn, who was beside him.
Receiving Lynn’s look, Shawn immediately led his men to inspect the inside of the manor.
Then Lynn looked at the District Director and asked, “Where are those police officers?”
“Right here.”
Waving to the police officers not far away, several officers quickly ran over.
Facing Lynn’s inquiry, one of the police officers said, “Mr. Hall, after we heard the eerie coughing sound at midnight, we immediately followed the sound to search.”
“But we found nothing, and the surveillance footage was all normal.”
At this point, the police officer’s expression became somewhat terrified, “And during the search, we all felt a chill down our spines, as if we were being possessed by a devil…”
“Shut up!”
Before the police officer could finish, the District Director directly interrupted his narration.
Waving his hand to tell him to get aside, the District Director then continued to Lynn, “After the incident, Ms. Helena moved out of this manor. She plans to move back only after this matter is thoroughly investigated.”
“Mr. Hall, because the Johnny family is an old political family, the city Hall kept putting pressure on us, so we had no choice but to contact your Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
At this point, the District Director looked around.
Then, in a voice only the two of them could hear, he said, “Lynn, this matter is extremely tricky, not only because of the Johnny family behind the current Master of this manor, but also because several murders have occurred in this manor.”
“Even before Ms. Helena bought this manor, the previous Masters of the manor had heard the crying of the deceased in the middle of the night.”
“So I suggest you find a way to pass this case to others in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“To avoid unnecessary trouble!”
Hearing the District Director’s words, Lynn Hall nodded slightly.
This District Director had been Uncle George’s subordinate when he was a police chief.
When Uncle George became the Director of the New York Police Department, he naturally became the District Director.
It could be said that he was Uncle George’s trusted subordinate, one of their own.
So, for Lynn, he naturally said whatever he knew and would not hide anything at all.
If it were anyone else from the New York Federal Bureau of Investigation, he would definitely not have said the latter part of his statement.
“I know, Uncle Vandall. Don’t forget to come to the house for a drink this weekend. Uncle George has a bottle of good wine that he’s been collecting since he became a police officer.”
“Haha, George wouldn’t bear to take out that bottle of wine. I estimate that only when Gwen gets married will George be willing to open this bottle of wine.”
Gently patting Lynn’s arm, Director Vandall directly led the NYPD away from the manor.
After the NYPD left, Lynn and his people completely took over the manor.
Arriving at the monitoring room, every corner inside and outside the manor was now visible on the surveillance screen.
"Boss, I've had people rearrange the surveillance equipment, not even missing the blind spots in the Underground Room."
Coming up to Lynn, Sean said, "Also, Alice is questioning the butler and maids in the Villa."
"But I don't think there will be any Gains, otherwise the NYPD would have found out already!"
Hearing Sean say this, Lynn nodded slightly.
But looking at Sean's expression, he was a bit curious: "Why have you been grinning to yourself so much these past few days? The happy expression on your face can barely be hidden."
"Is there something good happening?"
Hearing Lynn's question, Sean scratched his head: "Boss, is it that obvious?"
"You ask them!"
Turning his head to look at Laura and Lorna sitting next to Lynn, Sean said, "Is it really that obvious?"
"Yes X2!"
Laura and Lorna answered in unison.
"Look, even Laura and Lorna can easily tell, your Agent career these past few years has been a complete waste!"
"Hehe.."
Hearing Lynn's "reprimand", Sean chuckled and said, "Boss, I got a girlfriend."
"Weren't you always aiming for Alice?"
"That's different."
Pulling up a chair and sitting next to Lynn, Sean's face was full of smug smiles: "Although my girlfriend isn't as pretty as Alice, she's a pianist, those hands, tsk tsk."
Looking at Sean's intoxicated expression, Lynn shook his head and said: "I don't care about your private matters, just send me an invitation when you get married."
"How's Danny's latest training coming along? I promised Kelly I'd train her son to be a qualified Detective."
"It's alright. After the Adam Morris incident and the mysterious town incident, Danny has grown a lot."
"Although he's a bit lacking in professional areas, if you give me another month, I'll definitely be able to train him into a qualified FBI agent!"
At this point, Sean's gaze turned to Barbara, who was sitting next to Lynn.
"Don't look at me, and don't think about making me participate in those trainings."
Seeing Sean looking at her, Barbara shrugged: "I'm the Boss's secretary now, and I really enjoy this job."
"So, don't think about making me leave the Boss's side!"
"Boss, I just investigated everyone inside the Villa."
Handing the investigated documents to Lynn, Alice said: "The maids and cooks were all brought by Ms. Helena, only the old butler wasn't."
"He has lived here since he was five years old, until he became the butler of this Villa's first Master at the age of twenty. Sixty-five years have passed since then."
"Sixty-five years? It seems no one knows this Villa better than he does."
Flipping through the information in his hand, Lynn thought for a moment and said: "According to the information, from the establishment of the Villa until now, it has changed seven Masters over decades, but everyone who bought the Villa would hire him as a butler, which means he must have something extraordinary."
"Could it be because he has lived here since he was a child and is very familiar with everything here, which is why those people would hire him as a butler?"
Hearing Lynn's words, Alice said: "And Boss, according to my investigation, all previous Masters of this Villa have praised him highly, including Ms. Helena."
"So I guess this might be the reason why he can always be hired as a butler."
In response to Alice's explanation, Lynn closed the documents in his hand and said: "That's a possibility, but this old butler must know a lot of things inside this Villa."
"Help me call this old butler over, I have something to ask him."
"Yes!"
Nodding, Alice got up to call the old butler.
A moment later.
An old butler walked in, whose hair was white but meticulously combed, and even though he was over seventy years old, he still appeared energetic.
Looking at the white-haired old butler, Lynn said: "Mr. Reynard, please sit down, I have some things I want to ask you."
Facing Lynn's invitation, the old butler sat upright in the chair and said: "Please ask."
"Mr. Reynard, the first Master of this Villa was the Felton Family. Is it the same Felton Family that is still active in politics today?"
"That's right, Detective, the Felton Family bought this land and built this Villa back then. I was only five years old at the time, living here with my father."
"When I became the butler of this Villa at twenty, the Felton Family encountered some crisis, and later Mr. Campos Felton had no choice but to sell this Villa."
At this point, the old butler looked at Lynn: "After the Felton Family entered politics, this Villa was never bought back."
"So I stayed here."
Hearing the old butler's words, Lynn nodded: "Then the information says that the previous Masters of this Villa heard the sound of spirits crying at midnight. You must know about this, right?"
"I've heard a few former Masters mention this, but I haven't heard it with my own ears."
"Later, I had people investigate, but found nothing."
At this point, the old butler took out a list from his pocket and handed it to Lynn: "Detective, although my faith is in God, I never believe in the existence of devils or ghosts in this World."
"This list contains the priests invited by successive Villa Masters to perform 'exorcisms', but none of them had any effect."
Lynn Hall took the list from the old butler's hand and nodded slightly.
After the old butler left, Lynn handed the list to Sean: "Have someone check it."
"Yes!"
After taking the list, Sean immediately went to investigate.
The Villa covers a large area, not only with various plants, but as the new Master of the Villa, Helena also raised many small animals in the Villa.
She threw the frisbee out and watched the dog run out joyfully to catch the frisbee in the air, then bring it back to her.
Barbara raised her hand and stroked the dog's head, then continued to throw the frisbee out.
She then turned her head to look at Laura and Lorna, who were feeding the hedgehog.
Only then did she say to Lynn beside her: "Boss, it seems Ms. Helena Johnson is quite loving, she actually raised so many small animals in the Villa."
"Do you really think so?"
Hearing Barbara's words, Lynn sat in the wicker chair and smiled: "If Helena really had a loving heart, she wouldn't have left the Saluki here alone."
"Not to mention raising it with hedgehogs and those little rabbits. You should know that Salukis, also known as gazelle hounds, are a type of hunting dog."
Hearing Lynn say this, Barbara looked at a few litters of rabbits hopping on the grass in the Villa.
She then looked at the Saluki, which was holding the frisbee but whose eyes were always on those rabbits.
Then she said thoughtfully: "Boss, do you mean that the reason Helena raises these animals in the Villa is to create a loving image for outsiders?"
At this point, Barbara frowned and said: "According to the information, the Johnson Family is an old political family. Although Helena is not involved in politics, she has several charitable foundations."
"And a loving image can leave a better impression on the public."
"Tsk, as expected of someone from a political family, outwardly glamorous but inwardly filthy!"
Hearing Barbara say this, Alice, who walked out with food, smiled: "Not bad, Barbara, it seems you've worked hard following the Boss, you can think of so many things just from one sentence from the Boss!"
"Of course!"
Taking the hot dog from Alice's hand, Barbara's tone was a little proud: "Although I haven't received Agent training, when it comes to knowledge of the dark side, I'm not necessarily less knowledgeable than you."
"And if I don't work hard studying while following the Boss, I'm afraid the Boss will have a new secretary before long."
"Alice, you don't really think I just watch mysterious adventure variety shows all day with my tablet, do you?"
Looking at Barbara's smug look, Alice picked up a hot dog and handed it to Lynn.
Then she raised an eyebrow at Barbara: "Barbara, if you want to stay by the Boss's side forever, then practice your 'skills' more, practice both up and down, preferably until the Boss can't do without you.."
Before Alice could finish, Barbara directly gave her the middle finger and said: "You, with a woman's appearance and a man's mind, are indeed filthy."
"There are two little girls here."
"Hmm X2?"
Hearing Barbara mention them, Laura and Polaris both looked up at the same time.
"It's nothing, little sisters, come eat hot dogs!"
Handing the food to the two, Alice sat down next to Lynn.
While eating hot dogs, Laura and Lorna continued to feed the hedgehog.
They just kept muttering to themselves, did she really think they didn't understand anything!
Midnight, inside the Villa.
Ever since Lynn brought the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents into this Villa during the day, the old butler had arranged a guest room for each Agent.
However, Lynn did not have his people move in, but instead arranged for his subordinates to continuously patrol the Villa in shifts.
In the monitoring room, Laura and Lorna were already asleep at this moment, and even Barbara was dozing off.
Only Alice, after returning from a round of inspections with her people, stayed up late with Lynn.
"How are things?"
"No abnormalities found yet. Sean's side also visited those priests, but didn't get any useful clues."
At this point, Alice quietly asked Lynn: "Boss, there aren't really any devils or ghosts, are there?"
Without directly answering Alice's suspicion, Lynn continued to ask: "What about the old butler's situation?"
"I have people watching him. He went back to his room to sleep at ten o'clock. He doesn't seem worried at all about the terrifying coughing and the crying of the spirits."
"Boss, I always feel that this Villa gets creepy at night."
Seeing a hint of worry flash in Alice's eyes, Lynn smiled: "Are you worried it's really haunted?"
"Yes, Boss, after all, all previous Villa Masters have experienced strange things, which explains a lot. And ordinary people don't know, but we personally witnessed evil rituals in that small town."
Facing Alice's somewhat worried expression, Lynn smiled: "Don't worry, I've pretty much figured out the strange coughing sound."
"As for the crying of the spirits, and why he's doing it, I haven't figured that out yet."
Seeing the Boss's confident demeanor, Alice's face was full of doubt.
Who was the "he" the Boss was referring to?
Was he referring to the old butler?
And she had been with the Boss all day, and hadn't noticed anything unusual!
However, seeing Lynn's confident look, Alice still sat beside him, quietly waiting for midnight to arrive.
As time slowly passed, at the stroke of midnight, the surveillance footage suddenly distorted.
Although it quickly returned to normal, a series of intermittent cries instantly echoed through the Villa corridor.
The crying sound was extremely eerie, like the resentful sobbing of a woman who had died many years ago.
Not only that, but an old coughing sound was mixed in with the crying, and the two superimposed sounds made it even more chilling.
Hearing this eerie sound, Alice instantly stood up from her chair, a handgun already loaded at some point, ready to attack.
And Laura and Lorna, who had already fallen asleep, were also woken up by the sound, their two small faces filled with terror.
Lynn Hall glanced at the monitor, then got up and walked out.
Alice, Laura, and Polaris quickly followed him.
As soon as they entered the corridor, the eerie, chilling sound instantly vanished.
Several FBI agents ran over from another part of the manor, and upon seeing Lynn, they immediately said, "Boss, we found no signs of intrusion."
Listening to his subordinates' report, Lynn Hall nodded.
Walking along the corridor, he soon found a hedgehog in the corner.
Compared to the other hedgehogs in cages, this one was inexplicably found here.
Alice and the others merely glanced at the hedgehog, then cautiously looked around again.
Only Lynn squatted down, picked up the hedgehog, wiped its mouth with his fingertip, and then rubbed his finger.
The hedgehog's mouth was a bit wet, clearly having just drunk Water.
After putting the hedgehog down, Lynn began to inspect the traces left by its constant movement.
The manor's corridor was very wide, appearing empty without any potted plants or greenery.
Soon, in a very inconspicuous corner, Lynn discovered a hair-thin crack on the wall.
Approaching the edge of the crack, Lynn squatted down and gently ran his finger along it.
Then, with a push, a palm-sized secret door appeared before everyone.
Seeing this, Alice also squatted down, looking at the plastic bottle cap inside the palm-sized secret door.
She then said to Lynn, "Boss, if you don't look closely, you really wouldn't find this small secret door here."
Saying this, Alice reached in and took out the bottle cap.
The capacity of this bottle cap was not large, at most it could only hold a few milliliters of Water.
However, the inside of the bottle cap was wet, indicating it had contained some liquid that had been drunk.
"Boss, I'll have someone analyze it right away."
"No need. It likely contained saline or sugar Water."
Saying this, Lynn pointed his laser pen at the hedgehog: "The aged coughing sound you just heard was made by this hedgehog."
"When a hedgehog drinks sugar Water or saline, its digestive system is stimulated, causing it to make this sound."
"And the eerie coughing sound that scared Ms. Helena Johnson came from this!"
Hearing Lynn's explanation, Alice suddenly realized, "So that's it. No wonder you were so confident, Boss."
"When you saw those hedgehogs this afternoon, you already guessed it, didn't you?"
"Yes!"
Nodding and standing up, Lynn looked at Alice and said, "Take your people and search the manor thoroughly. Don't miss any corners. I suspect there are other secret doors inside the manor."
"Yes!"
Once she knew it wasn't some ghostly or supernatural event, Alice's worries immediately vanished. Since it was a man-made trick, she was confident she could uncover the clues.
Sitting down in the living room, Barbara, curious, leaned over and asked, "Boss, how did you know that hedgehogs cough after drinking salt and sugar Water?"
Facing Barbara's curious question, Lynn did not explain.
This was just an ancient trick, similar to loach blood, black dog barking, and bats hitting doors.
He hadn't expected that someone in the West would also know this trick.
As Alice led her team in a meticulous search, inch by inch, she soon discovered another very inconspicuous secret door in the manor owner's Master bedroom.
Wearing gloves, she took out an old-fashioned portable tape recorder from the palm-sized secret door.
Pressing a button on the recorder, an eerie woman's crying sound emanated from it.
The old tape began to play, and the unclear sound quality made the crying sound even more chilling.
"Tsk, this little gadget scared away one manor owner after another?"
Looking at the old recorder in Alice's hand, one FBI agent said, "But it makes sense. Anyone who hears this terrifying sound in the middle of the night would probably be scared half to death."
"Only the Boss is amazing; otherwise, who could have discovered it?"
For the FBI, as long as a case didn't go beyond their cognitive scope, such as supernatural or ghostly phenomena, they didn't care at all.
So, when they learned that this case was a man-made trick, they immediately arrested the manor's old butler.
In the living room.
"Speak. Why did you use such methods to scare away one manor owner after another?"
Lynn Hall asked, watching his subordinates press the old butler, dressed in pajamas, into a chair.
"I don't understand what you mean."
Facing Lynn's inquiry, the old butler looked bewildered.
As if none of this concerned him.
"This manor has had seven occupants. Except for the original Felton Family, every owner who purchased the manor has been scared away by these 'terrifying' events."
Placing the old recorder and plastic bottle cap on the table, Lynn looked at the old butler and said, "I had people thoroughly investigate the information on this manor."
"Since the Felton Family, both the maids and the cooks were temporarily hired by the people who bought the manor."
"Only you have remained in this manor for decades, from beginning to end."
"The previous few manor owners only heard 'the crying of the dead,' but only after Ms. Helena Johnson moved in did she also hear the eerie coughing sound."
At this point, Lynn Hall said, "I think you must have thought of the hedgehog coughing method by utilizing the many animals Helena kept."
"And only you, who knows every blade of grass and every tree in the manor, would know where to hide secret compartments and similar devices."
Leaning on the sofa and looking at the old butler, whose expression was still "bewildered," Lynn said, "I'm very curious, what is your ultimate goal in doing this?"
"To occupy this manor? It shouldn't be. You are already over seventy years old, but you have no children, not even direct relatives."
"Even if you occupied this manor, you couldn't leave it to anyone."
Facing Lynn's deductions, the old butler still shook his head: "Detective, I really don't know what you're talking about. I've lived in this manor for decades, and the manor owners have changed seven times, there's no need..."
"It's the Felton Family, isn't it?"
Before the old butler could finish, Lynn directly said, "Perhaps after the Felton Family built this manor, they left behind some secrets that couldn't be known."
"And the reason you've stayed here all this time isn't that the Felton Family abandoned you, but rather that you've been keeping their secrets!"
Hearing Lynn say this, the old butler's expression froze.
Before he could speak, Lynn continued: "I investigated the Felton Family and found that, as you said, after their decline, they sold this mansion."
"Even in the subsequent fifty-plus years, despite their efforts, with four state councilors emerging from the family, they still couldn't reach the former glory of the Felton Family."
"And compared to spending hundreds of millions to buy this manor, it would be better to invest the money in their 'future.'"
At this point, Lynn smiled and said, "You mentioned Campos Felton, the second Family Head of the Felton Family, who is now 87 years old. The secret you want to hide should be related to him, right!"
After hearing Lynn lay out all his conjectures, the old butler remained silent for a long time.
Then he sighed and said, "No wonder you're so young and already hold such a high position in the Federal Bureau of Investigation; you are indeed very capable."
"You're right, but I apologize, there are some things I cannot tell you."
"For decades, I've been tormented by my conscience, but I was treated like family by the Felton Family since I was a child."
"Mr. Campos treated me like a younger brother, so I absolutely cannot betray him."
"Please judge me as the culprit, and please allow me to take this secret to hell!"
After speaking, the old butler seemed to have shed a heavy burden. Although his mouth was tightly shut, his expression was visibly much more relaxed.
Seeing that the old butler was unwilling to disclose anything, Lynn shrugged, then had Shawn take him away.
"Boss, no more interrogation? If it doesn't work, we can have Laura use her ability to put him in an illusion, then..."
"No need."
Before Alice could finish, Lynn smiled and said, "Alice, don't you think this manor is too old?"
"It is a bit, Boss. It seems it hasn't been renovated since it was built, at most just some touch-up painting."
"That's the reason."
Standing up from the sofa, Lynn stretched his body: "I had Shawn inquire with the previous few buyers of the manor, as well as Ms. Helena Johnson."
"When they first moved in, they weren't scared at all. But precisely when they complained about its age and wanted to undertake large-scale renovations, the strange things began."
"Boss, are you saying the secret is hidden within the manor's structure?"
After speaking, Alice waved her hand, immediately instructing someone to prepare a detector.
As the detector started, everything in the manor's structure initially appeared perfectly normal.
But when it scanned the Underground Room, the detector found some extraordinary things.
Arriving at the Underground Room, Lynn's subordinates began to smash the wall according to the detector's readings.
As the wall was broken open, a foul odor immediately permeated the entire Underground Room.
After the bricks and stones fell away, human bones, hair, and other things embedded in the cement were all dug out.
"Ugh..."
Barbara, who had been standing next to Lynn, immediately covered her mouth and ran out after seeing this scene.
Laura and Lorna, however, watched everything before them with interest.
"Aren't you two little ones scared?"
Raising his hands and gently patting their heads, Lynn asked with a smile, "If you're scared, you can leave first."
"There's nothing to be scared of, is there? It's just human bones and hair embedded in cement. Although the smell is a bit unpleasant, Lorna and I have personally killed bad people who tried to molest us."
"But according to what you said, Lynn, if this was done by Campos Felton..."
"Then these dead people must have been buried here for decades, right? And surprisingly, they're quite well preserved."
Laura, who seemed well-behaved, instinctively removed Lynn's hand from her head and said with a grin.
Polaris, who stood on Lynn's other side and had a somewhat gloomy and irritable personality, made no movement.
She seemed not to dislike Lynn's hand on her head.
After subtly testing her and realizing that Polaris wasn't as indifferent to him as she appeared, Lynn withdrew his hand.
Lynn had no perverse intentions; he merely wanted to gradually increase their intimacy by occasionally performing gestures that an older brother would typically do for his younger sister.
Now it seemed that the seemingly well-behaved Laura was actually very independent.
Conversely, Polaris, with her cold and melancholic exterior, deeply yearned for affection.