The detective is dead, I did it.

Chapter 26 Rats Drilling Tunnels

Charlotte stopped in front of the window in the collection room and gently ran her finger across the windowsill.

A thin layer of dust settled on my fingertips.

"I see, so it doesn't look like it was climbing through a window."

She withdrew her hand, and when she saw Li Ang approaching, she naturally rubbed the dust from her hand onto his clothes.

Li Ang: "..."

Trying not to notice the small dust spots on his clothes, Li Ang also glanced at the window.

The windows were locked from the inside, and there were no signs of dust being wiped away or pressed on the windowsill, not even a footprint or a finger mark.

The windows, covered in dust, looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

The cue words hovering over the edge of the windowsill confirmed what they saw with their own eyes.

"That's strange." Li Ang frowned. "He didn't go through the front door, he didn't climb through the window, so he couldn't have crawled out from underground, could he?"

He said this casually, but Charlotte squatted down instead, her gaze falling on the carpet beneath her feet.

Underfoot was a huge, deep red Persian carpet that almost covered the entire floor of the collection room.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual, but Charlotte had a keen eye and naturally noticed the very unnatural wrinkles in the corner of the carpet near the wall.

It looks like it was lifted up and not fully aligned when put back.

"Assistant, take a look at this."

Li Ang walked over and looked down. The prompt immediately appeared:

[The moved carpet conceals a secret passage.]

"...Did it really crawl out from underground?" Li Ang squatted down, grabbed the edge of the carpet, and lifted it up forcefully.

A large cloud of dust rose up, choking him and causing him to cough twice.

The floor exposed under the carpet looked no different from the rest of the floor, so he stepped on it twice.

The sound was dull, like stepping on a solid wooden board. At first glance, it didn't seem like there was anything wrong, but you could still hear a hollow sound.

It's like there's a mouse hole under the wooden board.

"Here." He pointed to the floorboard that sounded off.

Charlotte didn't hesitate. She drew a small dagger from her waist, inserted the blade into the gap between the two wooden planks, and with a gentle push, pried the planks apart.

Below, a dark hole was visible, less than twenty centimeters long. It looked similar to a mouse hole, but much larger than a typical mouse hole.

The problem is that the ground is paved with cement, and even an ordinary person with a shovel might not be able to break through it, let alone rats.

Li Ang peered down into the hole and couldn't help but blurt out, "This is... a rat hole?"

The opening was so small that he even doubted he could fit his head inside.

"It's not an ordinary hole." Charlotte squatted down next to him, took a coin out of her pocket, and tossed it in.

The coin tumbled a few times in the darkness and quickly disappeared; there was no sound of it hitting the ground for a long time.

"It's a tunnel dug by man." Charlotte stood up. "It seems that this case also involves people with special abilities."

"Ability user?"

"No ordinary person could squeeze into such a small hole. Even for a small child, this size would be too difficult." Charlotte tapped the edge of the hole with her toe.

"Only those with the ability of 'shape transformation' can shrink their bodies to the size of a cat and squeeze through this hole."

Li Ang recalled his black sword, which could change length and size; its ability was to transform its shape.

If this ability could be applied to oneself, then getting into this hole wouldn't be a problem.

"The problem now is that we don't know where this tunnel leads," Charlotte said, considering whether or not to fill it with water.

However, considering the potential impact on the foundation of the mansion, she ultimately abandoned the idea.

"Simple," Li Ang said. "Catch a mouse, tie a conspicuous strip of cloth around it, and put it inside. The mouse will take the easiest route, and when it comes out from the other end, we'll know where the exit is."

Charlotte glanced at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "I didn't expect you to come up with such a method. You truly deserve praise."

"You can praise me a few more times."

Li Ang raised his head without any hesitation, completely ignoring the ambiguity in the detective's words.

The two returned to the study and told Viscount Cavendish about their discovery of the tunnel.

"What?! A tunnel?!" The Viscount jumped up from his chair. "Someone dug a tunnel under my collection room?!"

"Damn it! That bastard!!!" He slammed his fist on the table, as if he wanted to smash it to pieces. "There must be a mole! How could they have dug a tunnel right under my collection room without a tip-off!"

Li Ang stood aside, giving the same disdainful look as the detective, and glared furiously at the fat, big-eared man.

When this guy moves, all the fat on his body jumps around wildly, which is hilarious.

The viscount quickly arranged for someone to catch a mouse, then tied a white silk thread to the mouse's hind leg and put the mouse in through the hole.

The mouse hesitated for a moment in the darkness, then took off running.

"Have men guard the area around the manor," Charlotte told the Viscount, "especially the gardens, the backyard, and near the walls. Tell me immediately where the rats are coming from."

The viscount immediately gave the order.

All the servants were scattered throughout the mansion, their eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to slacken their vigilance in the slightest.

Charlotte and Leon stood at the door of the collection room, where a servant was holding a ball of cotton thread and continuously unwinding it.

"If the tunnel exit is outside the mansion," Charlotte said in a low voice, "that would be troublesome."

"What's going on outside? Didn't we tie a line? We can find the exit by following the line."

"We can find the exit, but we can't catch the person." Charlotte shook her head. "If the exit is outside the manor walls after the rat escapes, it means the tunnel has extended into the surrounding neighborhood, and we can't possibly seal off the entire area."

"But if the thief had already stolen the jewel, why did he leave that postcard? Saying he'd come back tonight to collect another item?"

Li Ang thought for a moment: "Maybe it's just a provocation?"

"If that's the case, then it's pointless."

After about ten minutes, the cotton thread stopped rolling.

A servant came rushing in from the direction of the garden: "Found it! The mouse has crawled out of the bushes in the corner of the garden!"

When the group arrived at the garden, the mouse was crouching at the base of a bush. Because the cotton thread on its hind legs was tangled in the branches, it could only tremble as it watched the crowd gather.

After the servant took the mouse away, Charlotte squatted down to examine the spot where the mouse had emerged.

Behind the bushes, on the ground, there was a hole the same size as the one in the collection room. The soil around the edge of the hole was still fresh, so it must have been dug out just a couple of days ago.