"How the hell did you find out about this mechanism?" asked Robert impatiently after resolving Chiko's concerns, after all, he paid the price of running naked three laps for it.

"Remember those four paintings in the hallway?" said Eric, as he began to solve the puzzle, "the answer lies in these four paintings." ”

Chiko and Robert began to reminisce carefully. In Chiko's eyes, there is nothing special about these four paintings, whether it is artistic techniques or color matching, they are all at the level of a street painter. Robert could not see the mystery of these paintings, both artistically and mechanically.

Eric continued, "Can't you just look at the four paintings together?"

"Like reading a comic strip?" Robert asked.

Robert's words reminded Chiko. Only then did she realize that although the themes, painting styles, and contents of these four murals were different, the composition of three of them represented the three directions of the opening mechanism. In the first mural, titled "Feelings", Tarot, the goddess of spring in ancient Greek mythology, is kissing a branch full of young shoots, and the branch and tarot pose towards the upper left. In the second mural, titled "Worm", a white chrysalis cocoon lies on the damp soil against the backdrop of a forest. The third, more straightforward, is a sunrise over the sea, with the red sun rising in the middle of the horizon.

"But how does the fourth picture ......" Chiko's train of thought was stuck in this strange picture. The painting is set against the backdrop of a wooden house with a fireplace on the right and a middle-aged woman leaning against the fireplace with a worried expression.

"Remember the name of the painting?" asked Eric.

"See your left. Chiko recalled for a moment, and suddenly realized. In this painting, on the left side of the wooden house is a windowsill with a vase with seven green leaves on it, and a butterfly rests on the top of the branch. Chiko continued to carefully recall that the number and position of the shoots on the branch that appeared in the first painting closely matched the green leaves on the branch in the fourth painting. The white butterfly in the fourth painting mirrors the white chrysalis cocoon in the third painting. Finally, there's the sunrise over the sea, which is even more subtle – the shadow of the vase is facing just to the east.

Robert could never remember the four paintings, and as he watched the two of them play a dumb riddle that he didn't understand, he couldn't help but show his presence: "It doesn't matter if the answer is in the painting or not, but you don't change anything except the two corners." ”

"The four paintings represent the four steps to open the mechanism, and I only took three steps now, one step away from a home run, and of course I can't open it. Eric learns the posture of the woman in the fourth painting leaning against the fireplace.

"What's the secret in that painting?" Chiko couldn't find any other clues.

Eric prompted, "Do you think about which way the woman's eyes are looking, and what is the name of the painting?"

"To-" Chiko suddenly found that Eric's current position corresponded to the position of the woman in the painting, if according to the meaning of the title of the painting, the woman's eyes should be looking in the direction of the vase, but in fact, the direction of the woman's eyes in the painting is the position in front of the fireplace that is 45 degrees to the right, that is, where she is now.

Chiko began to test the ground under her feet with her heels. Sure enough, a piece of the originally solid and compact ground magically loosened. Chiko stepped on it slowly, and every time she stepped on it, there was a "click" and "click" sound from the fireplace.

"Miss Agent, can you move a little smarter, can this thing still be broken?" Robert urged, who was not in a hurry, "and while you were grinding, maybe someone from the National Investigation Bureau found another entrance." ”

Robert's last sentence poked at Chiko's worries. Chiko held her breath and stepped on it hard. The intermittent "click" sound in the fireplace began to become coherent. At this time, Robert noticed that the agents of the National Investigation Bureau, who had been in order outside the villa, began to make some commotion, and several agents from different directions were rushing towards the fountain in the center of the manor at the same time.

Naturally, Eric noticed a change: "I think George, they're in some trouble – they're in the wrong place. ”

"What do you mean?" asked Chiko.

Eric explained, "Have you fully inspected this villa before, there are no secret rooms, no empty rooms?"

"Of course, we know for sure. Chiko nodded affirmatively.

"That's the wonder of this mechanism. Eric began to unravel the mysteries of the manor's organs. When he entered the scene of the crime, he noticed that the room had about 15 square meters of space protruding outwards through the view from the window. After cracking this mechanism, he finally uncovered the core essence of the manor's mechanism - the activity space. In fact, the foundation of the entire estate is not "monolithic", according to Eric's speculation, it should be made up of 5-7 movable plates with riveted structures, and one side or corner of these plates has some space hollowed out. Before the mechanism was opened, there was a solid piece under the villa, so the people from the National Investigation Bureau and the police station did not find the secret room underneath. However, when the mechanism is opened, the movable plates at the bottom begin to stagger and move slightly, and these hollow spaces scattered in each plate are just put together into a 15-square-meter secret room, and the entrance to the secret room is in this room.

"And George, where did they find it?" asked Chiko.

Eric thought for a moment, "They should have found the power plant of the mechanism." No matter how stealthy the mechanism is, it must have the motivation to activate. I think that fountain is what was the impetus for the manor's mechanism to kick in. Putting the power source of the manor trap and the fountain on the same engine is the most confusing. I think it must have been the agents of the National Investigation Bureau who discovered the fountain device, and we activated the mechanism here, so there must have been some bad changes there. ”

"We must get in right away!" Chiko suddenly felt that something was wrong, George must have guessed that it was our gang that had discovered the real entrance to the agency, and it would not take a few minutes for the agents of the National Investigation Bureau to rush in.

At this time, Robert's walkie-talkie rang: "Sheriff, I'm Kanter, and we're in place." ”

Eric grabbed the walkie-talkie and said excitedly: "Kante, you came in time, I need ......"

"Hey, I'm their boss!" Robert snatched the walkie-talkie back with his backhand, "Kanter, I'll have fifteen minutes to guard the entrances to the villa." ”

"Understood, Sergeant. ”

The three of them got into the fireplace and slid down a rope. Sure enough, a secret room of about 15 square meters magically appeared under the fireplace. The secret room is very basic, with only one bookshelf, a desk, and a chair. But the most eye-catching thing is a large pool of blood on the desk, which is very consistent with the 1260 ml of blood that Mr. Will lost.

"These blood...... Is Mr. Will dying here?" asked Robert.

"Just check the DNA and you'll be clear. Eric walked over to his desk and took a jet-black dart in his handkerchief, "Mr. Will must have been cut by this dart in his neck artery, which caused him to lose a lot of blood." I think there must have been some narcotics and hallucinogenic drugs on this dart, so Mr. Will died very peacefully. ”

Based on the wound on Mr. Will's neck and the position of the dart on the desk, Chiko used her eyes to calculate the angle at which the dart was fired. But strangely, the angle at which the dart is fired is exactly the wall behind the seat that is 75 degrees upward.

"Be careful, there may be a mechanism on the wall. Eric walked over to the desk and was about to sit down in his chair when he heard a reminder from Chiko.

"It's okay, I guess the trigger condition for the wall mechanism should be on this desk. Eric sat down in his chair without hesitation, and Chiko and Robert held their breath nervously. But, as Eric expected, everything was fine.

"Remember those TV series and movies where the treasure hunt goes? I think Mr. Will must have spotted the location of the object on this table, triggering the dart trap on the wall when it was turned on. So where will it be......" Eric muttered excitedly like an explorer discovering a treasure.

Moments later, Eric noticed that the handle of the desk drawer seemed to be a moving mechanism. He glanced up at Robert and Chiko and asked, "Do you think bullets are faster or darts faster?"

Chiko understood what Eric meant, she pulled out the gun from her waist and aimed it at the 75-degree wall behind the seat: "Of course the bullet is fast." ”

"It's too dangerous, in case the Miss Agent doesn't shoot on target, or the dart ...... from elsewhere," Robert exclaimed.

"That makes a lot of sense. I think there's another way. Eric looked up and smiled.

"What?" Robert asked.

"It's you. ”

"Uh-" Robert muttered for a moment, "I think our Miss Agent let you die." ”

"That's fine. Eric cleared his throat and began counting down to three seconds.

Three. Chiko tensed her body and pulled the trigger.

Two. Eric glanced at Chiko, who bit her lip and stared at the 75-degree angle.

One. Eric and Chiko held their breath at the same time.

"Click" only heard a familiar sound of a mechanism, then 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds...... 1 minute ...... There was silence in the chamber, but only a round hole was visible in the 75-degree angled wall. At this time, a layer of cold sweat had oozed from Chiko's back, and his hands began to tremble slightly.

"It's over, I guess this mechanism should be disposable. Robert, who came back to his senses, immediately pressed Chiko's gun, for fear that the gun would go off.

Eric squirmed his throat and leaned back in his chair gasping for breath. At this time, there was a square depression of about 1 square on the top of the desk, and there was a wooden box inside, and there were a few drops of blackened blood dripping from the box.

"How's that?" Eric looked up at the two of them, "which of you is interested in opening it." ”