Cton West District, Number 57.
Compared with the East District, the West District was known as the rich district. Land here was worth gold. Most homes were either detached houses or splendid villas, and those who lived here were either wealthy or noble.
Outside one villa, a group of police officers had sealed off the surrounding area.
A murder had happened in the rich district. Of course, Cton Police Department treated it with great importance.
Sheriff Marbury was bald on top and wore a neat mustache. Right now, his face looked especially ugly.
The reason was simple.
If he could not solve this case and catch the killer in a short time, whether he could remain sheriff would be hard to say.
The powerful people living here would never accept a threat to their safety.
They could ignore the serial murders in the East District.
But such cases could not appear in the West District.
Over the past two months, Caelum had solved quite a few cases and had quickly gained fame. Naturally, he had dealt with Cton Police Department more than once.
So whenever a difficult case appeared, Sheriff Marbury often invited Caelum to help.
His evaluation of Caelum was extremely high.
He claimed that Caelum was the smartest person in Cton, perhaps even in the entire United Kingdom of Stars, and also the fastest at solving cases.
Because of that, quite a few detectives had become very interested in Caelum.
Every detective of some standing in Cton had at least some connection with Sheriff Marbury.
Someone who could receive such praise from Marbury had to possess extraordinary skill in solving cases.
Many detectives wanted to compete with Caelum.
Among them was the young woman who had once met him in the dark alley.
She liked challenging clever people.
Even more, she liked competing with them.
"Sheriff Marbury, I heard you ran into a difficult case?"
The young woman was still dressed like a tomboy, wearing a brown checked coat. A mild smile rested on her face as she walked over.
Sheriff Marbury seemed a little surprised.
"Miss Geraldine, usually even invitations cannot move you. What brought you here today?"
"Those boring cases cannot interest me at all. I only take cases that catch my interest. You do not mind me helping, do you?"
Geraldine was very confident.
So far, there had not been a case in Cton that she could not solve.
The only difference was whether the case interested her, and whether she wanted to investigate it.
Of course, she had not come here today entirely for the case.
Her main reason was to see someone with her own eyes.
Geraldine made no attempt to hide her interest in Caelum. In her eyes, there was already a faint anticipation, a desire to test herself against him.
"Sheriff Marbury, has that person you called the smartest man in the kingdom arrived yet?"
Sheriff Marbury looked behind Geraldine.
A figure in a black suit entered his sight.
He immediately gestured to her.
"He is here."
Geraldine turned.
Then she paused.
"It is him?"
Caelum had left too deep an impression on her.
With her memory, which never forgot what she had seen, there was no need to identify him carefully. She remembered him at once.
"Sheriff Marbury, let us get straight to the point."
After Caelum arrived and greeted Marbury, he immediately turned to the matter at hand.
His way of doing things was unusually direct.
Sheriff Marbury nodded.
"Come with me."
Caelum followed Sheriff Marbury.
Geraldine entered the crime scene with them, and naturally introduced herself to Caelum along the way.
"My name is Geraldine."
"Call me Caelum."
Caelum’s reaction was indifferent.
At least this time, he did not ignore her completely like before.
Creak.
Sheriff Marbury led the two into the villa.
He pushed open an old wooden door, and it gave off a sharp, grating sound.
The crime scene appeared before them at once.
A man lay on the floor.
His neck was twisted in an extremely strange shape, almost turned a full circle. The way he died was bizarre.
The first time Sheriff Marbury saw the scene, he had determined it was murder.
But the scene had left behind no valuable clues.
There was nowhere to begin.
"You two, please make full use of your abilities."
Marbury made an inviting gesture.
Geraldine crouched and carefully identified the dead man’s face. She recognized him immediately.
"Baron Blinken. He was quite a good man. I often saw him helping the poor. Two years ago, I even spoke with him briefly at a certain banquet."
Then she looked Baron Blinken over from head to toe and examined him carefully.
Soon, she gave a precise judgment.
"He has been dead for no more than eight hours. There are no external wounds anywhere on his body, and no signs that he struggled. He died very suddenly."
Sheriff Marbury said, "I only want clues about the killer."
"The killer?"
Geraldine shook her head.
She and Caelum gave the same conclusion at the same time.
"It was suicide."
"It was suicide."
Geraldine turned to look at Caelum.
This man did have some skill.
He had actually reached the same judgment as her in such a short time.
"What nonsense!"
Sheriff Marbury could hardly believe it.
"His neck was twisted like this. Are you two trying to tell me he did that to himself?"
"I know this conclusion is hard to believe."
Geraldine stood and said, "But once every possibility has been excluded, the remaining one must be the answer, no matter how unbelievable it seems."
Caelum had no interest in explaining anything to Marbury.
He only picked up a book that had fallen onto the floor and began flipping through it.
The title of the book was Old Gods.
This was no coincidence.
It was a novel.
The background of the story was almost identical to the background of this world.
Indescribable great beings wandered among the stars.
They were embodiments of the laws of the universe.
They were the ultimate horror of the cosmos.
Old Gods sleeping beneath land and sea stirred restlessly.
Humanity was covered by a world of madness, distortion, and shadow. People lived like rats in a cage, yet knew nothing of it.
This was not writing fiction.
It was plainly describing the truest face of this world.
At some point, Geraldine had come to stand beside Caelum.
Looking at the contents of the book, she said, "With the development of science and technology, humanity gradually gained a more complete and clearer understanding of nature and the universe. Yet because of that, humanity also gradually lost its reverence for nature and the universe. This is an extremely arrogant mindset."
Caelum asked in return, "So you believe the religions and beliefs of today are no longer enough to restrain humanity’s growing arrogance, and therefore there is a need to invent a higher and greater existence as humanity’s ultimate fear?"
Geraldine was genuinely surprised.
"I do not remember telling you that I am the author of this novel."
Caelum did not answer the question.
He looked straight at Geraldine, a deep light flashing through his eyes.
"Miss Geraldine, is your faith in science firm?"