Officer Christopher confirmed that Mr. Atwood had been shot through the heart.

There is a small hole in the window that is clearly visible, and there are some cracks in the surrounding glass as well.

"It seems likely that someone shot him from the outside, and a shot Mr. Atwood in the heart." "Judging from the situation at the scene, the door was locked and the windows were closed, which means that this is a completely closed space."

"However, judging from the height of the bullet hole, it seems to be only up to the waist." Said the Marquis of Condorcet.

"Well, I guess, Mr. Atwood may have been sitting at the time." Officer Christopher said, gesturing with his hand to the position, "If you're sitting in a chair, it's just the right height. And judging by the wound, it should have been shot from the back and then through the chest."

After being shot, he struggled before he fell to the ground.

In this way, Mr. Atwood was also defenseless.

"But would anyone shoot from the window with such precision?" The Marquis of Condorcet said, "This is the second floor!"

"It's a bit difficult." Officer Christopher also took a look at his surroundings.

From the window of this room, you can see the Seine not far away. The sun, the lawn, the sand, and nothing can be used as a support point for sniping.

Even if the range can be reached, it must be at least at the same altitude.

"Could it be that someone shot him in the room?" The Marquis of Condorcet guessed.

If you can't do it from the outside, you might be able to do it from the inside.

"It's not impossible." Officer Christopher didn't deny it, "But if someone can shoot Mr. Atwood in the room, how do they get out? The doors and windows of the room were locked, and only the butler Peg had the backup key there. And when the shots rang out, Mr. Peg stayed in the hall with us."

In other words, the housekeeper has ample alibi.

"Well......" Mr. Condorcet understood.

If you want to kill Mr. Atwood from the room, you must first solve the puzzle of the secret room.

Is it possible to lock the door and escape from the inside?

Looking around, there is only one chimney for the fireplace that leads to the outside, in addition to the doors and windows.

However, the chimney space does not seem to fit the volume of an adult.

It should also be difficult for small children.

"I said, can't it be a suicide?" Elena asked, confused.

They all seem to have naturally ruled out the option of suicide.

However, the reason why Elena asked this was because there happened to be a flintlock pistol next to Mr. Atwood's body.

And it was in a state where it had already been fired, and there was still a trace of residual heat in the barrel.

"This...... I don't think it's likely, right?" Officer Christopher replied, "Since he's going to invite us here to a banquet, I don't think about it. Do this kind of thing when so many of us are waiting for him in the living room."

This really doesn't make sense.

"Moreover, Mr. Atwood invited me over this time, in addition to attending the banquet, I also have a matter to report to him on the previous commission." Officer Christopher continued, "But none of that matters. In short, I believe that Mr. Atwood could not have committed suicide."

"I don't think it's likely to be a suicide." Bella said suddenly, "There are two reasons."

"Huh? Which two?" Bella was so sure that Elena was very curious.

"First of all, the bullet hole in the window is the first suspicion." "If Mr. Atwood wanted to kill himself, why would he shoot at the glass? When we were just downstairs, we only heard one gunshot. In other words, if it was really a suicide, then it must have been Mr. Atwood's own shot, but why did the shot used to commit suicide cause damage to the window at the same time?"

Isn't that weird?

"Could it be that he turned his back to the window and shot himself in the chest?" Elena speculated, but soon she herself dismissed the idea, "Ah, it can't be, it's even weirder."

Not to mention that Officer Christopher had already experienced wounds, and the bullet was fired from the back into the heart.

"That's right." Bella continued, "Aside from the reasons for doing that, if you do, the blood will be splattered on the windows. But there was only blood on the floor. Secondly, there is another thing that I am very concerned about, which is the body of Mr. Atwood."

"Remains?" Mr. Christopher was puzzled, "Is there anything wrong with the body?"

"Isn't that strange?" Bella said, "Officer, come and see if Mr. Atwood's body is already a little stiff."

Officer Christopher crouched down and examined Mr. Atwood's body again. Sure enough, as Bella said, the corpse had not only cooled down, but also began to show a certain degree of stiffness.

"This ......," Officer Christopher frowned, he was indeed careless, "but the blood on the ground didn't freeze?"

Common sense would have taken at least an hour or two for the corpse to become stiff. And the blood is exposed to the air, and at today's temperature, it will coagulate in a maximum of ten minutes. When he saw Mr. Atwood just now, the blood was still fluid, so he assumed that Mr. Atwood had just lost his breath and had not paid attention to the stiffness of the corpse.

"It's a bit of a contradiction." The Marquis of Condorcet also thought about it, "However, I know of a circumstance that can speed up the ossification of corpses."

"Do you mean, strenuous exercise before you die?" Officer Christopher said.

"That's right." The Marquis de Condorcet said, "If the deceased had just experienced a violent fight, it would have caused the muscles to contract, which in turn would have accelerated the rate of stiffness after death."

"Mr. Atwood, however, is clean, and does not appear to have sweated." "Also, there are no obvious signs of a fight in this room, and we didn't hear anything unusual coming from above when we were downstairs."

Until the time of that gunshot.

It seems that the problem is in a difficult position.

"Officer, do you know what this is?" Just then, Bella asked, pointing to a black mark on the window.

Officer Christopher took a closer look and saw some black stains near the bullet holes in the glass.

"Like...... It's gunpowder." Officer Christopher said, "Could it be that the other party fired the gun against the window? However, this is the second floor, and there is no focus outside."

It's not going to be floating in the air, is it?

Officer Christopher opened the window, leaned out, and looked around.

It's about seven or eight feet above the ground, and it's unlikely to come up unless you use a ladder.

He looked up at the roof again, and there was no place to hang a rope from it.

"Mr. Peg, is there a ladder here?" Officer Christopher asked.

"Yes." The butler replied.

"Where?"

"Right in front of the warehouse on the first floor."

"Where's the warehouse?"

"To the north, near the forest."

Mr. Peg finished speaking, and took Officer Christopher down to check.

The main entrance hall of the villa faces south, the window of Mr. Atwood's room faces east, and the warehouse is located on the north side of the house.

The ladder rests against the wall of the warehouse.

"Is that how the ladders are usually placed?" Officer Christopher asked.

"Yes." "Because the house has just been completed," replied, "there may be some deficiencies that need to be repaired, and ladders are often used, so they are not put away."

Moreover, there shouldn't be many people stealing this kind of thing.

"That's ......."

Officer Christopher thought for a moment, then moved the ladder over and set it up on the second floor.

He climbed cautiously up the ladder to the window of Mr. Atwood's room. And the bullet holes in the glass are just within reach.

"Marquis Condorcet, can you bother?" Officer Christopher asked.

"No problem." The Marquis de Condorcet nodded knowingly, and then made it to the chair in front of the desk.

Officer Christopher was lying on his stomach at the small hole and looked inside, just enough to see the Marquis de Condorcet's back a little to the left.

Mr. Atwood was about the same size as the Marquis de Condorcet, and if shot from here, he should be able to hit the heart.

Back in the room, Officer Christopher gave everyone a brief explanation of what he had just discovered.

"In other words, with that ladder, anyone can shoot Mr. Atwood from the outside, right?" Elena concluded.

"That's right." Officer Christopher continued, "There is a fence on the outside of this villa, and there are no signs of climbing on it, and I have asked the maid guarding the door, and there have been no new guests arriving in this period of time."

If there were, Mr. Peg would have been informed to go and greet him.

"Do you mean that the perpetrator is in this villa?" Miss Margaret asked.

"Hmm." Officer Christopher nodded.

According to his speculation, someone had just sneaked out while everyone was not looking, climbed to the second floor with the help of a ladder next to the warehouse, and then shot Mr. Atwood in the room with a pistol. Then quietly come back here and blend in with the guests.

"Since prisoners can use ladders to climb to the second floor, can they also use ladders to climb over the wall? So you don't leave a trace, right?" Marquis Condorcet asked.

"It does not leave a mark on the wall." Officer Christopher said, "But how do you get the ladder back into place? When I had just passed Mr. Pegg, the ladder was leaning against the wall of the warehouse. It's also unlikely that you can jump from the roof of the warehouse to the outside of the fence."

"Well......" the Marquis de Condorcet could not think of any other explanation.

So, Officer Christopher began to ask everyone about the location of the crime and the relevant proof.