Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 91 Determining the Direction
With this clue, Li Wei quickly determined the direction of his investigation.

Determining the direction of an investigation is a very troublesome thing when handling cases. If you can't determine a direction, then no matter how many clues you collect, it's like trying to catch the moon's reflection in the water. Just look at Chief McMillan; he always believed that this might be the work of Luddite terrorists, so he focused all his efforts on that direction.

But the problem is that despite putting in so much effort, we haven't seen any results.

There were very few traces left at the scene, and no clues. As things stand, Li Wei thinks that starting the investigation with Miss Olivia's great-grandfather should be a good direction.

So Li Wei spent the whole night in the library.

By tracing the history of the entire Baskerville family, Levi did discover some oddities.

First of all, the Baskerville family has always been headed by women. Even if twins are born, the woman remains the head of the family, while the man... well, let him do whatever he wants.

Then, there will inevitably be a girl among the descendants of the Baskerville family.

They will either have a girl or twins.

This "tradition" lasted for a thousand years until it ended with Sir Baskerville the Elder—his wife gave birth to only Sir Baskerville the Younger, who was Olivia's grandfather. And Sir Baskerville the Younger's wife gave birth to only Sir Baskerville the Third—Olivia's father.

It wasn't until this generation that another girl was born—that is, Lady Olivia.

Of course, from a statistical point of view, probability is always a factor.

However, as a detective who had read countless suspense and mystery novels, Li Wei felt that the probability was too abnormal.

Not to mention, there are so many coincidences.

Sir Baskerville the Elder broke the Baskerville rule that the patriarchal position could only be held by a woman, and then had only one son before disappearing.

Then Sir Baskerville the Younger had another son, and then he disappeared. It was around this time that rumors of a curse on the Baskerville family began to circulate. But in reality, judging from the circumstances, the "curse" was already in effect when Sir Baskerville the Elder disappeared.

The Baskerville family, starting with Sir Sir Baskerville, went through three generations of abnormality, and then the curse lasted for three generations.

Li Wei didn't believe it was a coincidence at all.

Moreover, the reason why old Baskerville became patriarch was also very strange to Levi.

Old Baskerville was a twin brother. When he was sixteen, he and his sister went hunting in the mountains. They returned saying his sister had fallen off a cliff. They searched for a long time but couldn't find her. Since the Baskervilles only had these two siblings as their direct descendants, the sister should have been the patriarch according to custom, but now the brother had to take over.

We can't just hand it over to an unknown outsider.

In Li Wei's view, the accident itself was highly suspicious.

Although old Baskerville and the others who went hunting with him all swore that his sister had accidentally fallen off the cliff.

But how careless must a person be to fall off a cliff?

Are they blind or something?
Conversely, it is a reasonable inference that old Baskerville and his companions, coveting the position of patriarch, conspired to kill his sister.

As a modern person, Li Wei had read quite a few case reports, and after coming to this world, he had also seen many cases.

Think about it, it's not uncommon for people to kill for ten dollars or fight to the position of clan leader.
Li Wei even maliciously speculated that the abnormal births of these three generations of offspring might have been intentional. For example, old Baskerville's children were likely twins, and he secretly drowned the girl, keeping the boy. Then, when his son grew up, he taught him the same trick, so the latter only had one male offspring.

According to previous records, the Baskerville family was bound to have at least one female infant born. So, if no one has been born in the last two generations, does that mean they didn't exist? Or did they die?

The disappearance of Baskerville Jr. may have been an accident, so he did not have time to pass on his legacy. That is why his children had a daughter named Olivia. Otherwise, Olivia might not exist.

Of course, these were all just Li Wei's speculations; there was no evidence, and he had no intention of telling Olivia. After all, it was best to keep these things to himself; there was absolutely no need to tell Olivia.

But digging into the dark history and gossip of the nobility is really interesting.

With the same gossipy mentality as a Bilibili viewer watching a decryption video, Li Wei went to find Olivia with a grin.

"You want to visit your ancestors' graves?"

It must be said that Levi's request surprised Olivia quite a bit.

“That’s right, I have some things I want to investigate, so I want to see the ancestral tombs.”

Li Wei's idea wasn't just a random thought; he came up with it after investigating the pattern.

the reason is simple.

The Baskerville family has always been headed by women, and each generation is guaranteed to have a female infant.

This is somewhat like the idea of ​​"one radish, one hole".

So here's the question: why must the clan leader be a woman?
Li Wei asked Olivia, and she said that the clan chief doesn't need to go through any special ceremony. At most, it's just a formality before the ancestors, and there's no sacrifice involved. It's basically the same as granting a position. In fact, because of the urgency of the situation, even the process of granting a position was simplified for Olivia.

As for things like blood sacrifices, they have never existed.

Then this is very interesting.

why?
Considering that this rule was passed down from their ancestors, Li Wei decided to ask the person in question directly.

Of course, the dead can't speak, but who knows, there might be some clues in her grave?

To Olivia, Levi's request was quite strange.

What does the disappearance of one's own father have to do with one's ancestors?

That's what she thought, but Olivia still had someone take Levi to the Baskerville family cemetery. One of the great advantages of the countryside is that the land is vast and expansive, and you can use it however you want.

Like the Baskerville family cemetery right now, Levi roughly estimated that it was almost three times the size of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cemetery, comparable to a football field.

The cemetery was surrounded by a wall, with roads leading in all directions and landscaping throughout, making it feel like a high-end residential area. Li Wei followed the people inside, looking around as he went.

Those with only tombstones are ordinary, those with houses are enhanced, and the tallest and biggest villa naturally belongs to the ancestors... Hmm, the distinctions are quite clear.

Standing at the deepest part of the cemetery, looking at the tomb chamber in front of him that was as big as a villa, Li Wei remained calm.

He was a founding hero, so it's normal for him to have such a big tomb. At least they didn't dig it all the way down to the ground, which is already quite good.

Compared to the surrounding tombs, this tomb was not only larger but also cleaner. Even the iron door was spotless, with no trace of rust.

“We clean our ancestors’ tombs every year.”

The old man responsible for guarding the grave struggled to push open the heavy door, explaining in a low voice to Li Wei. The role of gravedigger was also passed down through generations, but their method of succession was different. Like the Baskerville family, the gravediggers were all retired from their posts. In this era, there was no such thing as retirement, but as they got older and could no longer perform their original duties, they came to the cemetery to guard it.

I'll also find a spot for myself.

The Baskerville family is very proud of its history and deeply respects its ancestors. After all, their family's status was ultimately established by this ancestor, and a thousand-year-old lineage is itself a form of prestige. In some ways, their family history predates that of the current empire.

It's certainly something to be proud of.

The iron gate opened, and Li Wei, carrying a gas lamp, entered the tomb chamber and began to examine it carefully.

The stone coffin in the center, without a doubt, belonged to the ancestors. It was quite large, approximately three meters long and two meters high. The coffin lid was carved with a knight wielding two longswords and with his eyes closed. The sides of the coffin were carved with flowers, vines, and various birds and beasts.

Besides these, the most eye-catching feature is the four stone carvings located at the four corners of the tomb chamber.

An eagle, a bear, a wolf, and a leopard.

"What does this mean?"

Li Wei looked at the four menacing stone sculptures and asked a question, to which the tomb keeper chuckled.

"Ah, that's quite an interesting legend. Some say that these are the animal kings who fought alongside our ancestors, and after their deaths, they wanted to protect our ancestors, so they were buried here and statues were erected for them. Others say that these statues represent the powerful strength of our ancestors, and placing them here means that our ancestors will protect us forever."

"Um………………"

Li Wei nodded, then walked over to the statues and curiously examined them. He glanced at the other three statues quickly, but he stared at the wolf statue for a long time.

This is a statue of a wolf howling with its head raised to the sky, and from its appearance, it is quite impressive. The entire sculpture is also very dynamic, but Li Wei stared at it for a moment, then lowered his head and stared at the stone slab beneath the statue.

After a moment, Li Wei spoke.

"This stone slab has been moved."

"what?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, the tomb keeper also walked over in surprise and examined the stone slab carefully.

"Has it been touched?"

“That’s right, there are signs that it was rummaged through, and it wasn’t aligned properly when it was put back…”

Li Wei stretched out his hand and pointed to the edge of the stone slab, where one corner was indeed resting on another stone slab.

"this………"

"Come help, move it away."

As Li Wei spoke, he narrowed his eyes. He now had an idea, a very imaginative one.

Although he didn't know what Li Wei was going to do, the tomb keeper still stepped forward, moved the stone slab aside, and revealed the soil underneath.

"Dig it up."

"Dig? Okay..."

If Li Wei wanted to dig up his ancestor's coffin, the tomb keeper would certainly be unwilling, but now he was also a little curious, so he began to shovel the soil under the stone slab as Li Wei requested.

As I shoveled and shoveled...

"stop!"

Just as the gravedigger had dug nearly a meter deep, Li Wei suddenly called for a stop. He then squatted down, reached out, gently stroked the soil, and carefully swept it away.

Then, a pale white color appeared in the soil.

It was a skull no bigger than a fist, completely embedded in the mud, its dark eye sockets staring straight ahead.

"Alas-----!"

Seeing this, the tomb keeper was startled and quickly stepped back. Li Wei stared at the skull for a moment before standing up.

"Go and inform Duchess Baskerville."

(End of this chapter)