The next morning, Charlotte and Caroline returned to John's house, and Caroline handled the negotiations.

Initially, John was not in agreement.

He didn’t want to continue involving himself in Susan’s problem.

However, considering the power imbalance between the parties and the amount Caroline offered him to repair the door, he eventually relented and handed over the house willingly.

The interior of the house was extremely empty, with windows the size of a human head, likely due to the region's climate.

Susan's body had already been removed. According to John, Nick had dug the grave and buried her in the local cemetery.

There were no traces of blood, suspicious footprints, or tools that could have been used in the crime.

In summary, Charlotte found no useful clues.

"Before we arrived, the house was locked from the inside," Charlotte said, fiddling with the door lock.

It was a simple mechanism; without the key, it couldn’t be opened from the outside.

Forcing the lock didn’t seem to be an option.

At the back of the house, there was a barn, and there was no back door. The only possible exit was through the front door, and the only viable exit would have been through the window.

The only exit, no one could have entered or exited...

Wait, this is... the famous case!

A light of realization flashed in Charlotte's eyes. "Caroline, I think I understand."

"Miss, what did you understand?" Caroline couldn’t imagine that Charlotte had found any clue.

She was just waiting for Charlotte to get tired and move on to Solvellon.

"It’s a locked room!" Charlotte proclaimed, with the certainty of a detective.

Caroline was momentarily speechless.

"A locked room, or 'impossible crime,' is when the crime happens in a closed space, where it seems impossible for anyone to have committed the crime. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t solve the case, but I am Charlotte Christie’s daughter! My mother described fourteen types of locked rooms, and if I know which type this one is, I can solve the case!"

If anyone had handed Charlotte a pipe at that moment, she could have been acting in a play... Well, she actually did use a black box to carve a pipe.

She put it in her mouth, took a drag of the imaginary tobacco, and blew out equally nonexistent smoke, with a satisfied smile.

Perhaps she was hoping Caroline would praise her.

"Perfect... reasoning."

Caroline thought to herself, somewhat divided.

She was wondering if, upon arriving in Soperlon, she should send a letter to the Count suggesting that he burn all of Charlotte’s books.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Miss, do you remember Mr. Porlotens, the character from your book?" Caroline tried to phrase her words carefully. She didn’t want to provoke Charlotte's stubborn temperament at this moment.

Charlotte touched the pipe, stroked her chin, and imitated the detective from the book, assuming a thoughtful expression. "Mr. Porlotens, of course. He is the respectable assistant to the great detective Agatha, a scholar, a master of theory."

"Do you remember his famous phrase?" Caroline continued, trying to guide the conversation.

“‘One should not draw conclusions before there is concrete evidence!’”

“No, he always says this same phrase in every case.”

“Let me see... ‘No wonder it’s Miss Agatha’?”

“No, it’s the phrase at the beginning of the case.”

“Ah… ‘Quick, call Miss Agatha’?”

“No.” Caroline sighed deeply, unsure if the young woman was doing this on purpose. “It’s ‘I assure you this is not the work of witchcraft.’”

“Ah…” Charlotte felt a little embarrassed and, still with a last bit of hope, asked: “Can you also assure me of that, Caroline?”

“Sorry, Miss, it’s witchcraft. I thought I told you that yesterday.”

“Yes, now I remember.” Charlotte lowered her head and threw the newly carved pipe back into the black box.

If it’s witchcraft, it doesn’t matter whether there’s a secret room or not. Witchcraft like blood extraction from a distance exists. The wizard could live in a distant tower, hundreds of miles away, or even on a pirate ship.

“What are you doing?” A woman was leaning against the door.

Her body was so robust that the light from the door could barely pass through the cracks, making her shadow stretch long.

“We’re investigating the cause of Lady Susan’s death; we think it was witchcraft,” Charlotte said despondently. “Have you heard of witches? Or other special abilities?”

“Why do you care? Someone dying here is as common as can be.” The woman’s expression changed slightly, but against the light, Charlotte couldn’t see her clearly.

“A knight cannot ignore the suffering of commoners.” Charlotte slung the black box over her shoulder. “If you don’t know, I’ll ask others. Anyway, I must find out the truth.”

The woman took out a long object, placed it in her mouth, and then pulled out a thinner one.

She scratched it on the ground, and a flame appeared — a match.

She lit the cigarette and took a long drag.

Charlotte walked toward the door and said: “Ma’am, could you step aside a bit?”

The woman exhaled a large cloud of smoke.

Charlotte quickly stepped back to avoid being suffocated.

Caroline positioned herself between the woman and Charlotte.

Her first impression of the woman wasn’t good, in fact, she felt a little repulsed.

If she continued blocking the lady’s way, Caroline wouldn’t hesitate to use more... forceful methods.

“Have you heard of a six-legged chicken?”

Upon hearing that, Charlotte immediately became interested and asked: “What is that? A mist monster? Or some strange creature?”

“I’ve never heard those strange words you said, a six-legged chicken is just a six-legged chicken.” The woman took another drag. “It’s more or less… “

The woman looked Caroline up and down and pointed at her, saying: “It’s similar to your doll, but it crawls, has six legs, and is quite short. Its hissing sound is a death omen, and the poison it carries can make blood dry up, just like Susan. The six-legged chicken has been here a long time, at least longer than this village. It’s killed about nine people, not too many.”

Charlotte blinked, trying to recall a similar creature, but couldn’t find anything in her memory.

“Oh, it looks like a chicken,” the woman added.

That small addition didn’t help Charlotte’s memory, but the good news was that now she had a clue and knew what to do.

“Thank you so much, kind lady, but I must know your name…”

“Kelly, no last name, just Kelly.”

“Lady Kelly. My name is…” Just as Charlotte was about to introduce herself along with Caroline, the woman turned and walked away.

Charlotte frowned but quickly relaxed.

She was already somewhat used to the rudeness of people.

“Caroline,” she said while leaving the house, “What do you think that was? I’ve never heard of a six-legged chicken. Could it be a newly discovered species?”

“Sorry, Miss. I don’t know.” Caroline followed her.

“No problem, Caroline, we’ll find out.” Charlotte tried to imagine what a six-legged chicken might look like in her mind.

“If it only uses poison, you can handle it, right?”

“Please, let me take care of it.” Caroline seemed quite calm.

Dolls didn’t fear poisons, after all. No poison, no matter how strong, would affect a metal doll unless it had corrosive properties.

And, based on the appearance of Susan’s body, the six-legged chicken didn’t seem to have corrosive poison.

Caroline noticed that Charlotte wasn’t heading to the inn and asked: “Miss, do you already know where to look for the six-legged chicken?”

Charlotte turned, widening her eyes as she looked at the doll, as if seeing her for the first time. “Where do you think I would look for a chicken? Of course, in the chicken coop!”