Mr. Atwood, a close friend of Miss Margaret's father, had recently bought a house in the suburbs of Paris. To celebrate his move to his new home, he prepared to hold a banquet and invited Margaret's father, Mr. Price, to the banquet.

"My father happened to be busy with some things lately and was not in Paris, so he asked me to attend the banquet on her behalf." Miss Margaret said, "Mr. Atwood also made a point of exhorting in his letter to bring as many companions as he could, for he was more fond of being lively."

The implication was that Miss Margaret was inviting Bella and the others to join her.

"Great!" Elena grabbed Margaret's hands excitedly, "You're an angel."

Elena loves banquets and balls the most, and she won't miss them if she has the opportunity to attend.

"Bella and Anna are coming along, right?" Miss Margaret asked.

"Well......" Bella hesitated.

To tell the truth, she had planned to visit Professor Pascal again at the University of Paris in the next two days and ask him how the book was doing.

"Of course, Bella doesn't have anything important anyway." Elena grabbed ahead of Bella and replied, "Anna is naturally fine."

"It's amazing." Miss Margaret said happily, "Mr. Atwood must be overjoyed. It's a pity that Miss Elsa is busy with the cake shop, and Mrs. Frida doesn't seem to be available lately."

Seeing that she is so enthusiastic, Bella is not easy to refuse.

"Where's Lady Roland?" Elena asked.

"She looks like she has some important meeting. Anyway, there's not much time for this week." Miss Margaret said, sighing, "What a pity."

"It doesn't matter, isn't there still us?" Elena said.

"It's good to have you, otherwise it would be embarrassing to let me go alone!" Miss Margaret said gratefully.

"What about the men?" Elena then asked.

"It seems that only the Marquis de Condorcet has time." Miss Margaret replied.

In fact, Monsieur Aroué and Monsieur Montesquieu are not without time, but they are older, and they prefer to sit in the salon and play cards than in this young activity. Monsieur Diderot seems to be busy revising some book, and at the same time needs the help of Monsieur Rousseau. Everyone else has their own things to do.

Eventually, Mademoiselle Marguerite invited the Carlos sisters, Elena and the Marquis de Condorcet.

The next afternoon, they met in the southern suburbs of Paris and drove together to Monsieur Atwood's new home.

The Marquis de Condorcet did not go out with the talking parrot. Originally, Elena was still worried about whether it would stain her things again, but it seems that this time it was too worried.

And the Marquis de Condorcet apparently took this into account.

"It's a newcomer, so you can't cause trouble to your master's house." The Marquis de Condorcet explained, "You can't just take him out until you've trained him."

However, Elena and the others felt that the bird called Boogie, the Marquis of Condorcet was probably not well trained.

Still, people don't really mind, having it and the rabbi in the salon can bring a lot of joy to everyone.

Monsieur Atwood's new home is located southeast of Paris, near the Bourse de Vincennes, and not far from the Seine.

"It seems that Mr. Atwood has really chosen a feng shui treasure." The Marquis de Condorcet sighed, "It's a nice place to live."

"Look, it's the flock!" Elena said, pointing to the field outside the window.

At this time, a flock of sheep happened to pass by outside.

"Haven't you seen a flock of sheep?" Bella asked, confused.

"I've seen it." "It's just that I've been in the city for so long, it's rare to get out. The scenery outside is really relaxing."

Bella felt the same way. Although Paris is bustling, it is also full of the hustle and bustle of the metropolis. Occasionally, going out for a walk in the countryside is indeed a good way to relax.

Presumably, Mr. Atwood also took a fancy to the pleasant environment of the suburbs, so he chose to live here.

"What does Mr. Atwood do?" Marquis Condorcet asked.

"Hmm...... Listening to my father, it seems that he is making water to produce ideas." Miss Margaret replied.

"Do you deal in fish and shrimp?"

"Almost," Margaret said, "I don't know the specifics."

As the carriage unhurriedly traveled, it crossed a stone bridge in the medieval style to the east bank of the Seine. Then after driving for some time, Mr. Atwood's mansion suddenly came into view.

This new villa is set against the backdrop of the Bonnette de Vincennes and faces the lawn on the banks of the Seine.

As soon as Bella and the others stepped out of the carriage, they saw a neatly dressed butler standing at the door to greet them.

"Hello, is this Miss Margaret?" The butler bowed politely.

"I am." Margaret returned the salute gracefully.

"Our man, Peg, is Mr. Atwood's butler. Please go in and rest with your companions first, the master is taking care of some things, and it may take a while to come out." The butler said apologetically.

"It's okay." Margaret replied, "Let's go and sit in the living room for a while."

After that, Margaret and her group of five followed Butler Peg to the hall of the villa.

Peg ordered the servant to bring some black tea.

"It's not a small place." Monsieur Condorcet lamented, "Much more than where I live in Paris."

"Of course, land in the suburbs is cheaper." "If you go to the country and buy it, it's cheaper."

"Yes...... Is it......" Marquis Condorcet smiled awkwardly.

"But the Palace of Versailles is also in the suburbs, right?" Mademoiselle Marguerite suddenly asked, "Is it because the land in the center of Paris is more expensive?"

"Well......" Elena thought for a moment, "I don't think the royal family's assets can afford it, right?"

Perhaps, the location of the palace was based on many considerations.

A few people chatted for a while, and there was another sound of carriages outside. Mr. Peg immediately went out to meet him.

The person who came was Officer Christopher.

"Ah, isn't this the busy man of Paris?" Elena quipped, "What, your jurisdiction has expanded here?"

"Miss Medici is a good joker." Officer Christopher took off his hat and saluted slightly, "I was also invited by Mr. Atwood to the banquet."

"Tsk, I really didn't expect it." Elena shook her head, "Officer Christopher is still very sociable?"

"What did you say, I and Mr. Atwood are old friends. This time it moved to a new house, no matter how busy I am, I have to take the time to come and have a look!"

"Huh? Do you know Mr. Atwood?" Miss Margaret asked in surprise.

"Well, it's a bit of a friendship. When I was working in other places, I was taken care of by Mr. Atwood." Officer Christopher replied, "How many of you are here for the banquet too?"

"Miss Margaret has been invited." The Marquis de Condorcet said, "We are just accompanied."

"That's pretty good, Mr. Atwood likes it best." Officer Christopher said, "It's not like me, and I'm coming alone."

"How's your relationship with Daniel?" Bella remembered the previous police officer's son, Daniel, and was a little worried about that child. When I was at the University of Paris a few days ago, I didn't have time to ask.

"Well, it's okay." Officer Christopher sighed, "Since that incident, I've tried to set aside half a day a week to take him out to play. He seems to be quite happy."

"Know that your company is more precious to him than any toy." Bella said.

While a few people were chatting, many people came to the living room one after another. Some of Bella they've seen, some of them are strangers. But Officer Christopher, who knew a lot of people, and he was able to name more than eighty percent of the guests.

It's really not a shame that he is one of the best figures in the Paris police department, and he can eat anywhere.

When the crowd was almost there, Butler Peg began to arrange for the other servants to set up the tables, chairs, and utensils, according to the number of guests.

Just when everyone was immersed in greeting each other and gossiping, a loud noise suddenly came from upstairs.

"It's gunshots." Officer Christopher subconsciously became alert.

"I'll go up and have a look." Steward Peg said, then turned back and instructed the servant, "You go ahead and set the dishes."

Immediately afterward, he walked up the stairs to the second floor.

The guests in the hall were still chatting, not paying attention to the noise just now.

It wasn't long before Mr. Peg was seen running down in a panic.

"Oh no, Officer Christopher." Mr. Peg said nervously, "Mr. Atwood, he's ......."

"What's wrong with him?" Officer Christopher asked.

"Go up and have a look." Mr. Peg said, pointing upstairs.

Officer Christopher immediately followed the butler up to the second floor.

"I'll go check it out too!"

At this time, how can there be no Elena who loves to join in the fun?

"Why don't we go up too?" Miss Margaret said.

So, Bella and Anna, as well as Mademoiselle Margaret and the Marquis de Condorcet, also went up to the second floor with Elena.

Mr. Atwood's room is the second upstairs on the right turn.

When they came up, Bella, they saw that the door was wide open.

Officer Christopher and Mr. Peg were standing at the entrance.

"Is the door open?" Officer Christopher asked.

"No, it's locked." Mr. Peg replied, "I called for a long time and no one answered the door, so I opened it with the backup key."

"No one just came in, right?"

"Probably not."

Curious about what the two were talking about, Elena leaned over to take a look, but was stopped by Officer Christopher.

"Don't destroy the scene." Officer Christopher said cleanly.

Inside the room, a middle-aged man lay quietly in a pool of blood, a bright red color soaking the nearby floor.