6.It's over

A man in a black trench coat with a stony face happened to meet Lynn and Matt.

Lynn immediately recognized him as the [Awakened] he encountered before entering the tavern.

The man in the trench coat also remembered their brief encounter not long ago from the conspicuous feature of Lynn's wheelchair: "Where is Brother Bazel?"

Before Lynn could speak, Matt pointed to the private room: "Over there."

Then, the man in the trench coat bypassed the two of them and walked straight over there, coldly.Lynn, who had intended to ask Matt to go down to the second floor, turned his wheelchair around and pretended to go watch the gamblers playing cards, but in reality, he began to secretly observe the movements of the man in the trench coat.

The man in the trench coat was an [Awakened], so could it be that he had received the same mission as Lynn, responsible for investigating who killed Brother Bazel a few minutes later?

Or was he the murderer who was about to kill Brother Bazel?

[Awakened] are probably all extraordinary, and with his one hundred corruption value and unknown abilities, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to eliminate Brother Bazel.

As Lynn observed and analyzed, the man in the trench coat arrived at the private room.

Without knocking, he walked straight into the private room.

For the next two minutes, there was no sound coming from inside the room.

"Brother, what are we...?" Matt grew more and more confused and impatient.

"Trust me, Matt," Lynn struggled to explain all these scientifically inexplicable events to Matt, but his heart was sincere.

He wanted to complete this mission safely and survive, and he wanted to bring his brother, who had a good character, to live a good life together.

Matt sensed all of this in Lynn's eyes, and his emotions gradually calmed down: "…I trust you, Brother."

After dealing with the small episode with Matt, Lynn kept glancing alternately at the closed door of the private room and the staircase where someone could appear at any moment.

[Three minutes and eleven seconds, three minutes and ten seconds—]

Only a third of the time remained.

There were only two possibilities from here on out.

The first was that the man in the trench coat had received the same mission and, after understanding the situation with the Bazel brothers, would leave the private room and wait for the final moment to arrive.

The second was that the man in the trench coat was the murderer of the Bazel brothers, and he would...After eliminating the Bazel brothers, he would try to clear his own suspicions.

For Lynn, both scenarios were good news.

If the trench coat man's mission was the same as hers, then they could cooperate to solve the case together. If the trench coat man was the murderer, then she could simply identify him and complete her task.

With the trench coat man's involvement, things had become somewhat simpler.

As for how to determine what the trench coat man's mission was, Lynn believed it couldn't be easier.

If the trench coat man was one of the Bazel brothers...The last person to enter the private room before the death was the murderer. Conversely, there was a high probability that it was one of their own.

Next, all they had to do was wait.

Two minutes later, the door to the private room opened, and the trench coat man emerged alone.

Lynn focused intently on the game of cards at the table, occasionally chatting with Matt, pretending to be completely uninterested in the situation in the private room.

The trench coat man did not leave after leaving the private room but also came to the side of the gambling table to watch.

During this time, Lynn never lifted his head, but he could sense that some of the trench coat man's attention was on him.

[Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight seconds -]

Less than a minute remained until the Bazel brothers' death.

So far, no second person had entered the private room.

"Blackjack! Blackjack! Haha! Take the money!"

"Dammit, did you collude with the dealer?! You haven't lost much at all!"

"Haha! I just have good luck, you can't do anything about it. If you don't believe me, you can go find the Bazel brothers to seek justice!"

The gambling table was extremely lively.

Lynn's heartbeat, however, continued to accelerate.

[Thirty seconds, twenty-nine seconds -]

Less than half a minute remained, and on this beautiful Christmas Eve, a horrifying murder would occur in the tavern filled with festive atmosphere.

[Twenty-one seconds, twenty seconds -]

"Bang."

The door to the private room was opened.

Lynn, Matt, and the man in the trench coat turned their heads simultaneously.

They saw two ladies beginning to tidy up the private room, while the Bazel brothers walked downstairs, chatting and laughing.

"Lynn?" Halfway down, Bazel Burton noticed Lynn standing by the casino, "How's it going? There's nothing faster to make money than this in the world."

"It's fine." Lynn tried to maintain a natural expression.

"Haha! That's great! But we need to get down first, let's play together later! Let's go!" With that, Bazel Burton and his brother Chad descended the stairs.

[Seven seconds, six seconds -]

They're going to die!

The man in the trench coat glanced at Lynn.

"Matt, let's go downstairs, quick!" Lynn patted Matt, who quickly pushed the wheelchair towards the stairs.

[Two seconds, one second -]

"Bang! Bang!"

"Ah!!!"

As soon as Lynn and the man in the trench coat reached the stairs, they heard the sound of bodies rolling down and sharp screams.

The two exchanged a glance, instantly recognizing each other's identity. The man in the trench coat didn't have time to say anything and leaped down, rushing to the crime scene at the fastest speed.

"Hurry! Matt! Carry me down!" Lynn exclaimed anxiously.

"What's going on, bro?" Matt, who had heard the commotion, hadn't yet processed the situation.

"Just go down, quick!"

"Okay!"

Matt understood the severity of the situation from Lynn's expression and tone, and without hesitation, he picked Lynn up and quickly carried him down the stairs while also carrying the wheelchair.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, Matt saw the Basile brothers lying haphazardly in pools of blood beside the stairs, and he almost stumbled in shock: "Oh my God!"

"Don't be afraid, just carry me down!" Lynn tried to reassure Matt with a calm tone.

"Bro... this..." The sight of the lifeless bodies of the Basile brothers, who were still alive a moment ago, made Matt's legs tremble uncontrollably.

The man in the trench coat arrived before they did, blocking the people who wanted to come and see what was happening, and shouting, "I'm a peace officer!" to maintain order.

"Hey! Was anyone else coming down after the Basile brothers fell?!" Lynn asked the man in the trench coat urgently.

"No one before, and no one after!" The man in the trench coat had immediately asked the people nearby after he came down, confirming that the only things at the staircase were the two bodies that had rolled down.

"Then the murderer is on the second floor!" Lynn concluded.

"Block the stairs! Don't let anyone escape!" The man in the trench coat hesitated for a moment before understanding the reason behind Lynn's words.

The Basile brothers had rolled down, indicating that they were killed before reaching the first floor. And when they chased down from the third floor, they didn't see anyone else, so the murderer must be on the second floor.

"How did they die?" Instead of rushing to the second floor, Lynn further inquired about the condition of the Basile brothers.

"Their throats were slit by a sharp object! Nothing else."

"They're externally injured!" The man in the trench coat replied.

"Check their fingernails! Are there any skin tissues?" Matt was afraid to go downstairs, and his mind was still in a daze, so Lynn had to ask the man in the trench coat to confirm the situation from a distance on the stairs.

Upon hearing this, the man in the trench coat squatted down and carefully examined the Basile brothers' hands: "No!"

"Let's go! To the second floor together!" Lynn patted Matt, "Matt, carry me to the second floor!"

"Brother! We have to leave now! It's too dangerous here!" Matt instinctively wanted to flee.

"Believe me, we must find the killer! Hurry up!" Lynn hated that he couldn't move freely and had to convince Matt to go to the second floor first.

The man in the trench coat hesitated for a moment before reminding the frightened crowd around him, "Without my permission! No one is allowed to approach the bodies! No one is allowed to leave! Otherwise, you will be responsible for the consequences!"

Without waiting for a response from the patrons or the musicians whose music had suddenly stopped, the man in the trench coat rushed up the stairs, grabbed the wheelchair from Matt, and reached the second floor first.

Seeing that the wheelchair had been taken away by the man in the trench coat, Lynn insisted on going up, and Matt gritted his teeth and reluctantly did as he was asked.

"Wheelchair." Upon reaching the second floor, Lynn retrieved the wheelchair from the man in the trench coat and sat down.

"What's going on down there?!"

"Let's go down and see!"

Before the three of them could delve deeper into the second floor, people from both the second and third floors heard the commotion below and gathered to go down.

"Bang!"

Seeing this, the man in the trench coat decisively flashed his police badge and pulled out his revolver from his waist, firing a shot into the empty space. "Stay where you are! No one moves without my permission!"