"It hurts …"

Waves of numbing pain came from the back of his head, and he slowly regained consciousness in the darkness. The light in front of him gradually took shape: the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the plain wallpaper …

"Where am I …" Compared to his senses, the recovery of his memory was much slower. Nakahara Chūya sat up and saw a strange scene in front of him.

"This …"

The dagger in Chūya's hand hit the thick Turkish-style carpet, but it didn't make a sound.

The pungent smell of blood, the room full of blood, and the person not far from him … all reminded him …

Chūya suddenly got up and reached out to feel the breath of the person next to him.

"Click."

The door opened.

"Officer Nakahara …"

"Azai-sama!"

Because he had just woken up, Chūya's reaction was still half a beat slower. It was as if he was in another world. He stood there in a daze, watching the butler and several police officers rush to the person lying on the side … Azai-sama's side. Several police officers also walked to his side and surrounded him.

"He's dead." Akutagawa stood up. "I'll contact Akiko now."

Chūya immediately felt that everyone was looking at him differently.

"I didn't do it." He realized in hindsight. "I was drugged, and I was already like this when I woke up."

Kokida's face showed a troubled expression. "No matter what, you're now the main suspect. We can only keep you under surveillance."

Zhong Ye still wanted to say something, but the Grand Chancellor suddenly stood in front of him. With a "kacha" sound, the Grand Chancellor handcuffed him.

"Don't speak first," Taizai whispered in his ear.

Taizai gently squeezed Chūya's palm. His hand was very cold. Chūya couldn't tell if it was the metal around his wrist or Taizai's hand that was colder.

Chūya turned his head and glanced at him. He silently allowed Tanizaki to take him to the next room and remove the poison from his body.

"Let me see …" Taizai took the gloves from Akutagawa's hands. Just as he was about to put them on, the entire villa's alarm went off. The butler's face immediately changed color.

"It's the diamond alarm!"

The butler's face turned pale, and the police in the room immediately reacted. Everyone followed the butler and ran to the reception room where the diamond was placed.

"The door is locked." The butler immediately took out the key and twisted it a few times before the door barely opened a crack.

"The door has been tampered with," Nishio Butler said. "It can only be opened this far."

After saying that, the butler squeezed in. Akutagawa, who was following behind, tried to open the door. Indeed, he couldn't open the door even half an inch, so he could only squeeze in sideways.

"This …"

The four police officers who had been left to guard the diamond were all lying on the ground, and the display table in the center had long been empty. The glass case was in Nishio Butler's hands, and the diamond was long gone.

"His life is not in danger." Kokida checked. "It looks like he was drugged by anesthesia."

"That's good."

Taizai responded and walked to the glass case display table. "The alarm just now, was it because the case was opened?"

"Yes," the butler replied.

"Interesting."

Taizai took the glass case aside. "They took advantage of the fact that we all ran over to check the body and made a move here."

"Anesthesia again …" Akutagawa frowned and said hatefully, "It was the same in the gallery last time, and this time too. It seems that it's the work of Thief N."

Kokida seemed to have just been awakened. He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie beside him. "Quick, keep an eye on everyone in the villa. No one is allowed to leave. The number of people is limited. If we check them one by one, we will definitely find the suspect."

The voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie could be heard clearly.

"Got it. It's just that a red car has just driven out of the villa …"

Kokida slammed the walkie-talkie to the ground. The walkie-talkie sank into the thick carpet, but the voice on the walkie-talkie could still be heard clearly.

"We've been set up again …"

There was no need to think about it. It seemed that they would not be able to catch the culprit this time.

"Wait, this …" The panicked voice of the police officer came from the walkie-talkie. "The car, the car rushed out of the guardrail and fell off the cliff."

"What?" Kokida immediately picked up the phone on the ground. "What did you say?"

"We immediately drove to chase after it, but the car did not slow down when it turned the corner. We are now next to the guardrail, and the car has completely fallen off the cliff."

"How could this be …"

Everyone in the room was silent.

"Come back first."

Akutagawa turned on the walkie-talkie. "Watch the gate. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Gather everyone in the villa in the hall. No one is allowed to leave. Keep an eye on them."

"Got it."

Kokida nodded to Akutagawa. "Thank you."

"This is going to be troublesome."

Akutagawa said, "Did they know that there wouldn't be too many of us here today, so they chose to attack at the same time to make us lose sight of one thing?"

"It seems so."

Kokida said, "Akutagawa, you go over to the bodies first. Do a preliminary investigation and preserve the scene. When Akiko arrives, we will determine the official cause of death.

As for the Central Plains Police, let Tanizaki and the rest keep an eye on them. I will take care of the statements, and leave this to … "

Taizai nodded. "Got it."

"Please, Taizai," Kokida said solemnly.

"Don't worry."

Kokida and Akutagawa were not at ease at all, but after all, everyone was busy. They could only give a few instructions and put the unconscious policemen in a nearby room.

"Hold on."

Akutagawa said, "Mr. Butler, you were the first to enter just now. The next one is me, but it took me a lot of time to open the door. So in order to eliminate your suspicion, please come with me for a check."

The butler nodded. "Do you want to search me?"

Akutagawa acquiesced.

"Got it." The butler immediately agreed. "I'll go with you now."

Kokida gave a few instructions and was sent away by Taizai with the excuse of "I like to investigate quietly by myself." Two policemen who wanted to stay to help were also sent away to investigate the people in the villa.

"It'll be troublesome if we're discovered."

Taizai took off the Bluetooth headset from his left ear and threw it into his pocket. He sighed and began to search the room.

First was the display table.

Taizai removed the bracket used to hold the diamonds and the velvet below the display table. Immediately, a brown wooden column of the same color as the bottom of the display table was revealed.

Taizai reached out and knocked around, then began to remove the side of the wooden column.

"Sure enough, there's something here."

He picked up the mask that the police officer gave him and carefully put it on. Then, he began to remove the hollow wooden board on the side.

Behind the wooden board was a small hidden compartment. Inside, there was a small bag that had been punctured. The bag was already empty.

Taizai carefully looked at the removed wooden board under the light above his head. Sure enough, he found a small hole in the wooden board.

"This explains where the gas that made people unconscious came from."

Taizai stood up, pulled off the mask on his face, and brushed his messy hair.

However, his hair was obviously not very comfortable. After he messed it up, it became even messier.

Next was the diamond …

The series of events just now happened too suddenly. Even he was somewhat disturbed.

If he recalled carefully …

They received an apple from Azai-sama.

They went to Azai-sama's room together.

Then, they found Chūya and the dead Azai-sama.

The diamond alarm sounded, and some people rushed over.

The diamond disappeared. Someone drove a sports car away from the villa, but died halfway …

"How do I put it …" Taizai smiled bitterly as he scribbled on the carpet. "I feel like I've been set up."

If one simply followed the evidence on the surface, the general idea would be: someone killed Azai-sama and took advantage of the chaos at the time to steal the diamond. After that, he drove away before the police. Unfortunately, he was too unlucky to control the speed of the car on the winding mountain road during the chase. He rushed over the railing and fell off the cliff.

"Yes, this idea is what the culprit wants us incompetent police to have."

"Then, on the other hand, what is the culprit trying to hide …"

Taizai stood up and paced around the room.

"First of all, the culprit must still be in the villa."

To be able to arrange such a trap, this person must be a bold and meticulous person, or rather, a person with a big heart. It was impossible for him to run off the cliff in a panic when the car had a problem or when he was being chased.

Then, the person who died was either a coincidence or a scapegoat.

"Second, the diamond must still be in the villa. It may not even have left this room at all."

As long as the police officers recovered, they could give the information before they fainted. The diamond could only be stolen after they fainted. The transfer time was very short. The culprit probably did not carry it with him because even the most incompetent police officers would immediately arrange for a body search.

Since transferring the diamond was too risky, then …

Taizai stopped. There was a large crystal mirror in front of him. He looked at the dark yellow room through the mirror.

The crystal chandelier above his head and the crystal lamps on the wall reflected each other. The whole set was custom-made and expensive. Together with the mirror, the small hall was spacious and bright.

There was a large leather sofa and a glass coffee table. There were also several crystal ornaments on the coffee table. He and Chūya had played with them earlier.

There was a painting hanging on the wall behind the sofa. It looked like a water lily by Monet. On the wall facing the sofa was a set of display cabinets. The original blue diamond display stand was next to the cabinets.

The floor was covered with a soft Turkish-style carpet. When people stepped on it, the carpet's fluff could even reach their ankles.

The Grand Chancellor walked to the side of the display cabinet and reached out to pull it. Sure enough, it was locked.

Looking through the glass, there was some dust inside the cabinet, which proved that it had not been opened.

Taizai thought of Chūya.

"Let's deal with this first before I go see him." Taizai stood next to the display stand.

"If it was me who got the diamond, knowing that this room would be searched, where would I put the diamond?"

He took three steps back and looked around again.

Moments later, he reached out his hand.