9.Time tells all

"I've never been to the kitchen." Facing Bank's accusation, Dean calmly defended himself to Lynn and Arthur, "Either he's the murderer and deliberately slandering me, or he's drunk and mistook me for someone else."

"I'm telling you, I'm not drunk. I clearly saw you go into the kitchen looking for something, and when I asked you, you didn't say anything." Bank had his own version of the story, "And you went to the kitchen twice in a row. If you were to kill someone with a knife and put it back, two times would be just right!"

"As a chef, you have easier access to "Does that make sense?"

"It was you who killed the boss! You saw that I was drunk, so you thought you could take the knife in front of me and it wouldn't be used against you as evidence!" Bank was emotional.

The other patrons had been aware of what was happening since Arthur's questioning began. Seeing Bank and Dean accusing each other of killing the Bazel brothers, they were all shocked and tried to keep their distance.

At the same time, none of them were in a hurry to leave, waiting to see how the sheriff would uncover the truth.

Lynn watched the two men argue while pondering.The depravity level is the highest, and at least one of them is connected to the murder weapon.

Now, the murderer can be confirmed to be one of the two. Focusing on them and conducting a thorough investigation will surely yield some results.

Arthur was tired of listening to their bickering and decided to question the other two chefs first to verify whether Bank was lying and whether Dean had entered the kitchen.

Unfortunately, one of the chefs claimed that he had diarrhea today and spent most of his time in the bathroom, while the other said he was busy cooking and didn't notice if any guests entered the kitchen. Even if they did,"Could it be that coincidental? Either not there or working in the kitchen for so long and not knowing if anyone came in?" Arthur questioned.

"Indeed," Lynn agreed with Arthur. "If the murderer entered and left the kitchen in a short period, it could be explained by the fact that you were either not there or busy at that moment. However, killing the Bazel brothers is definitely not something that can be done in a short time."

This statement puzzled Arthur as well: "But from the time we discovered the Bazel brothers were murdered to the time we surrounded the second floor, it didn't even take thirty seconds."Lynn hummed, "The time you mentioned is the time when the murderer finally struck."

"Finally struck? You mean... there was a waiting period?"

"Exactly. No one can predict when the Bazel brothers would come downstairs. To kill them at the staircase on the second floor, the murderer would have to wait there constantly. Hence, the time would inevitably be prolonged. Even if the murderer was lucky and the Bazel brothers appeared shortly after he left, it would still take at least ten minutes for the murderer to grab the knife, commit the murders, and return the knife to the kitchen, wouldn't it?"

Arthur's eyes lit up as he processed Lynn's analysis, "Right! The murderer grabbing the knife...""The minimum interval for placing the knife back would also be ten minutes. It's understandable that you weren't there or didn't notice when the murderer grabbed the knife, but it's too much of a coincidence that you weren't there or didn't notice when they put it back either! Keep in mind, it's dinnertime on Christmas Eve, and there's an endless amount of work to be done in the kitchen!"

Lynn looked at the half-sobered Bank, "Care to explain?"

Bank was now mostly sober, "It's precisely because everyone is so busy that we don't have time to pay attention to whether a guest has entered the kitchen or not."

"If your logic holds true, it implies that you, just like Dean, could have left unnoticed by the other chefs to murder the Bazel brothers," said Lynn."You're not clearing your suspicion, quite the opposite, you're making it stronger."

"No, that's not right." Bank patted his forehead, seemingly trying to shake off his dazed state, "This actually clears my suspicion. The kitchen is so busy, how could I possibly have the time to stand at the stairwell for ten, twenty minutes, or even longer, waiting for the boss to come down?"

"Hmm, fair point. And you, do you have anything to say?" Lynn turned to Dean, whose emotions remained remarkably stable.

"Me? I don't have anything to say. I don't know anything. I was just here to eat...""I was eating," Dean sneered, "My food is still there, I'd only eaten half of it when you came in."

Arthur stepped forward to check Dean's pie and broth, both still warm: "This doesn't prove anything, does it? You could have bought a meal, eaten half of it, and then gone to wait by the stairs."

"You're suggesting that I calculated in advance when the tavern owner would come down, bought my meal, ate half of it, and then went to wait for the opportunity to attack?" Dean found it amusing, "Is that any more logical than the drunken chef's story?"

Lynn went over to touch the utensils herself, confirming that they were indeed still warm.Then it doesn't make sense.

No one can predict exactly when the Bazell brothers will come down the stairs, even knowing that it's Christmas Eve and there will be a program on the first floor, they might still come down at any time, allowing for at least a ten-minute margin of error.

If Dean were the murderer, how could he have gone to buy a meal in the middle of his wait, eaten half of it, and then gone back to waiting, just as the Bazell brothers happened to come down?

Wouldn't he be afraid that the Bazell brothers would happen to come down while he was buying food, thus missing the best opportunity for assassination?

"He was using the excuse of buying food to gather information around the kitchen!" Ben exclaimed."After buying the food, he conveniently took the knife!" Ke pointed at Dean with conviction.

"Then the problem becomes even more complicated. How could he take the knife and put it back without being seen by any other chefs except you, and after killing the Bazell brothers, the food he had eaten half of was still not cold? How could he control the timing so perfectly?" Arthur was starting to lean towards believing Dean.

"You said you saw him take the knife and put it back, so you should have a clear idea of how much time passed between those two events, right?" Lynn asked Bank.

"I think it was only about ten minutes," Bank replied.

His response was close to Lynn's estimated maximum..."Ten minutes," Lynn couldn't be sure if her estimation was accurate or if Bank deliberately gave a time frame that aligned with her analysis to discredit Dean.

"Ten minutes," Arthur muttered, "Dean, not knowing when the Bazell brothers would come down, managed to buy a meal in ten minutes, sneak into the kitchen to take a fruit knife, eat half of his meal, go to the second-floor staircase to kill the Bazell brothers who just happened to be coming down, and then put the fruit knife back in the kitchen before we arrived, all while sitting back at his table to continue eating?"

When you break it down like that, the actual time left for Bank to commit the murder at the staircase might have been only a minute or two."It's impossible. How could someone on the second floor know the exact time when the Bazell brothers, who were in a private room on the third floor, would come down?"

"Ding - dong - dong -"

At that moment, the clock hanging on the wall of the restaurant chimed.

It was exactly nine o'clock.

Lynn stared at the clock, her eyes suddenly widened as she understood the whole situation: "I got it."