She paused briefly before continuing, "But they also want students to learn about different kinds of people in society. So are selfish, so elegant, so refined... and so have no class at all and will resort to anything just to gain an upper hand."
Hearing this, Mr. Crow couldn’t help but mutter,
"The university is taking a big risk letting n like this... or that woman from the previous case... issue missions."
Lana smiled faintly. "You don’t understand. But since we’re here, let’s properly examine the case. From what I’ve observed so far, I’ve connected a possible story... though I’m not sure how accurate it is."
Mr. Crow asked, "What kind of story?"
Lana explained calmly,
"The man has bruises all over him. He hears won crying. And earlier, the ghost in the elevator was a female ghost. Not to ntion, I saw the guard’s vision. He’s supposed to die at the hands of that ghost. But from what I sensed earlier, that ghost didn’t seem malicious. She seed... confused. As if she didn’t even know she was a ghost. Yet she killed the guard. That ans the guard may have been hiding sothing punishable or sothing he should have told people but didn’t."
She continued,
"And this house has a strong alcohol sll. But if you sll carefully, there’s another scent underneath... sothing pungent. Ezra may have drenched the entire apartnt in alcohol to hide it."
Mr. Crow sniffed the air, and his eyes widened. "There’s... a tallic sll."
Lana nodded. "From what I can sense, Ezra is hiding sothing. And that woman we saw earlier was most likely his wife, whom he killed. The guard may have known about it and stayed silent. So the ghost attacked him."
Mr. Crow frowned deeply.
"But there are loopholes. Why wait so long to kill the guard? And the guard seed very honest. He didn’t look like soone who would hide such a thing."
Lana shook her head gently.
"It’s not about personality. It’s about circumstances. If the man was threatened to remain silent, he might have had no choice but to hide the truth. The ghost wouldn’t understand that. She only knows her own pain. To her, the guard was soone who saw and said nothing."
Her reasoning left Mr. Crow stunned. "Your intelligence keeps surprising ..."
However, he quickly added and said, "Even if that’s the case, we still need more evidence before concluding anything."
Lana nodded. "Of course. This is just a rough outline. There’s definitely more to the story."
Just then, Ezra ca out and forced a smile. "You can check now."
Lana nodded and walked toward the room, but before entering, she casually opened the apartnt door. Ezra frowned deeply.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Lana pointed behind her with a calm expression. "The two ghosts behind said they were suffocating because of the sll, so I opened the door to let fresh air in."
Ezra’s expression stiffened noticeably before he reluctantly nodded. Lana smirked internally but didn’t comnt.
She entered and began her investigation. Instantly, she noticed that the entire house was filled with black gas... but there was no ghostly presence at all.
No wandering spirit. No trace of a lingering soul. Only heavy, suffocating negative energy.
Suddenly rembering the cobwebs she had seen earlier, Lana turned toward Ezra and asked in a calm voice, "How long have you been living here?"
Ezra looked slightly panicked before answering, "I’ve been living here for about three months. Before that, I was busy with so work."
Living in an apartnt but having cobwebs in the house... hm... interesting.
Lana nodded. "Do you have any relatives or family mbers you used to live with?"
Ezra shook his head. "I had a wife three months ago. But she died because of an illness."
Lana nodded slowly. "Then the voice you’ve been hearing might be hers."
Ezra quickly shook his head and explained, "No. I invited a priest. He cleansed the entire apartnt and perford a calming ritual. So the voice isn’t my wife’s."
Seeing him so certain, Lana smiled and said,
"If that’s the case, then I’ll investigate the elevator next. I saw a woman there... her eyes were extrely large, and she had a creepy smile that looked like it was stitched with thread."
Hearing those words, Ezra’s expression shifted instantly. Surprise flickered, followed by a brief flash of panic.
That single reaction confird to Lana that the woman from the elevator was connected to him. However, she did not reveal a hint of suspicion on her face. She simply turned and began walking out.
Ezra suddenly shivered, as if he could already feel the presence of the ghost lingering in the elevator. He quickly reached out and stopped Lana.
"If you’re the one completing my mission and helping exorcise the ghost... shouldn’t you give so kind of charm or equipnt? Sothing to keep safe? So the ghost can’t harm ?"
Lana smiled politely. "Of course, I can give it to you. But it’ll cost money. The university allows charging fees."
Did he think that she would let him mooch off her?
Hearing this, Ezra clenched his fists. He had paid a hefty amount to a middleman just to issue this mission directly to Shadowridge University.
He had hoped to lure students from the weapons departnt, talisman division, or ideally, so superhuman student who could exorcise the ghost instantly without digging into his backstory.
His plan was simple: spend money to get the mission accepted, but avoid paying for expensive protective equipnt.
Now, hearing he needed to pay extra, it felt like soone slapped him across the face. All his sches had gone to waste.
Taking a deep breath, he forced an awkward smile.
"I was just joking. You don’t need to take that seriously."
Lana nodded calmly. "I never took you seriously in the first place."
Ezra’s jaw tightened, and a hint of sothing dark flashed in his eyes.
He slowly lifted his hand as if intending to strike or grab her.
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