The once naive Peter. Why would he try to kill her? Moreover, those eyes that seemed to be pleading something…

Sidney politely requested once more.

“Captain, Peter is too frightened right now.”

“…”

Logan withdrew his sword with a dissatisfied look. Then Andy reluctantly followed his superior’s lead.

“Thank you.”

Only then did Sidney slowly pick up the dagger and crouch down in front of Peter.

“It’s okay now.”

Peter, who had been lying curled up like a shrimp, sobbed as he expressed his grievance.

“I absolutely, absolutely did not intend to harm Lady Warden. My goodness… why… would I do such a thing…”

“For now, the floor is cold, so it would be better to get up.”

“…Sob.”

Peter staggered as he tried to get up with a frightened face. Quickly supporting him, Sidney showed him the dagger.

“Peter, why did you have this?”

“That dagger… I took it out of that bathtub. I was going to throw it away, but when I saw the Imperial Guards… I brought it to give to Lady Warden.”

Even as he spoke, Peter glanced nervously towards the door. His hunched shoulders and bent back were also unlike him.

“Peter, if you’re uncomfortable, should we go talk in your room?”

“Well… if the police find out I’m talking to Lady Warden…”

Is he afraid of the police? Sidney looked at Logan with eyes asking what to do. It meant to deal with the police.

Logan, still with a displeased face, ordered Andy Spencer.

“Sir Spencer, guard the stairs so that no one comes up to the third floor.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Peter flinched at Logan’s cold tone and tightly shut his mouth.

Just when she had gotten him to open up. Sidney glared at her superior over her shoulder, filled with resentment.

In response, Logan slightly lowered his head while twitching the corners of his mouth.

Why is he looking at me like that? One eye half-closed, a subtle gaze. He looked full of mischief yet also pleased.

Now? In this situation? Why is he happy? While Sidney’s mind was filled with questions, her heart was pounding for some reason.

Both Logan and her own heart… were strange.

As she frowned in displeasure, Logan abruptly asked a question.

“By the way, why did you only check the bathtub in the men’s bathroom?”

To ask such an official question after confusing her like this. Somehow she felt manipulated.

Logan Redford crossed his arms and gestured with his chin, urging an answer. She had no choice but to open her mouth.

“The bathroom floor has never been this clean before.”

Sidney lightly tapped the clean floor, unlike the women’s bathroom, twice with her foot.

“So you thought the culprit used this place and cleaned up. It’s certainly a good place to dispose of a weapon. Since it’s a shared space, it’s hard to pinpoint the culprit. All residents as suspects…”

“The culprit is an outsider.”

If a weapon was found inside this building, the police would focus their investigation on the residents.

The culprit probably aimed for that. To be naturally excluded from the list of suspects.

“You seem quite certain. What’s your basis?”

Is he asking because he doesn’t know? Sidney opened her mouth to speak but then closed it.

Unlike for nobles, investigations targeting commoners in the Asnel Empire are closer to targeted investigations rather than evidence-based.

In other words, they would drag vulnerable commoners who were near the scene of the incident to the police station and forcibly extract confessions.

It’s truly absurd, but… it’s something that has been done for a long time.

For this reason, commoners teach their children to run away and not get involved in incidents and accidents.

In other words, if the culprit is in their right mind, they would never commit murder in their own residence.

Could Logan Redford not know this common sense? No way. Logan was clearly teasing her. As a result, her answer was nothing short of sarcasm.

“I… have a hunch too.”

With that, she went out into the hallway. Peter, who had followed her, opened the door marked Room 309, next to Marien’s room.

“It’s humble, but please come in.”

The room structure was similar. The difference was that a large table and six chairs filled the living room.

Screech, Logan pulled back two chairs. He took one of them and crossed his long legs.

“Sit.”

Sidney sat next to him, and Peter sat across from them.

Sidney was about to ask about the dagger and Marien when she noticed cards placed on the table.

There’s no need to rush. She opened the conversation with a light topic to ease Peter’s tension.

“Peter, do you still play cards with your friends these days?”

“How did you… Were we too noisy?”

He seemed worried about the noise. Sidney gestured towards the wall with her eyes. Only then did Peter apologize with a crestfallen face.

“I’m sorry. We tried to avoid gatherings when Lady Warden was here as much as possible…”

Yes, this was the kind of person he was. Someone who would be so sorry and flustered if he thought he had caused even the slightest inconvenience… Sidney chuckled softly and murmured.

“It wasn’t particularly bothersome.”

The conversation stopped, and a moment of silence passed.

Tap tap, she slowly looked around the room while rhythmically tapping the table with her index finger.

Green curtains blocking the sunlight, an old frame on the wall with a scene of Marcel Port, bread crumbs left on the countertop, and bottles of alcohol neatly lined up in the corner…

Alcohol bottles? Sidney tilted her head slightly. And she recalled the conversations she had heard through the wall.

Even when his friends begged, Peter never compromised on alcohol.

When the atmosphere became awkward because of that, someone would start singing and everyone would join in together.

It was a bit noisy, but the atmosphere was so cheerful that she sometimes sang along too.

“You didn’t drink alcohol.”

“What? Oh… I heard alcohol helps forget bad memories… so I drink occasionally.”

“Bad things?”

“…Big Mouth Rick died.”

Peter hung his head as if it was his fault and couldn’t continue speaking.

“How did it happen?”

“Well, that…”

Peter looked back and forth between Sidney and Logan, hesitating before opening his mouth.

“A month after Lady Warden left, Nora who lived on the second floor was murdered. And two days later, Emma who lived in the room next door… Oh, God.”

Peter buried his face in his hands and called out to God, as if it was still horrifying to think about. Sidney added words to help Logan understand.

“Both in their mid-20s… Nora was a courtesan, Emma was a bar employee.”

“As expected, Lady Warden… you remember all of us.”

“It’s a habit from my job.”

Sidney avoided Peter’s eyes, uncomfortable with his intensely moved reaction.

“So…, I heard that if this became a serial murder, the Imperial Guard would intervene. The next day, the police announced that Nora and Emma had committed suicide.”

“You don’t think it was suicide?”

Logan’s heavy voice, which had been silent all along, rang out. Peter raised his head with an indignant face and poured out his words.

“Of course not. Their bodies were as horrible as Marien’s.”

“Wait. Nora, Emma, and Marien… were all killed in the same way?”

Peter hung his head and sobbed quietly.

Even if they were common women.

If three people were killed in the same way in one building, it wasn’t an ordinary matter.

Moreover, they didn’t report it to superiors? They even tried to cover it up by dismissing it as suicide.

This is strange… Logan seemed to have the same thought as he questioned Peter.

“The investigation? They must have investigated at least.”

“When Emma died, the police arrested all the residents.”

“Arrested? Not just questioning?”

Peter shook his head from side to side, shuddering. The almost seizure-like motion was similar to the reaction shown by severely tortured prisoners.

Which means…

“Did the police torture you?”

“They said it’s also a crime if we know there’s a murderer among us but hide it… But none of us sold out our neighbors to save ourselves.”

When saying the last part, Peter’s voice was filled with strength. Enough to fully convey his love and pride for his neighbors.

What’s that to be proud of. Sidney muttered to herself as she turned her gaze away from Logan.

“…They’re that kind of people.”

The images of neighbors who smiled naively when meeting in the hallway, on the stairs, or on the street flashed through her mind. Peter’s testimony continued.

“But because Big Mouth Rick babbled nonsense about being ‘Lady Warden’s’ friend…”

It was unjust violence. A petty attempt to pin crimes on the weak and powerless.

How painful must it have been for these naive people to even lie about being a ‘friend’. How desperate they must have been to ask for ‘Lady Warden’ to be called.

“Why was that a problem?”

“The police higher-up who heard that ordered us all to be released. Big Mouth Rick… died while being beaten by the policemen who were disciplined because of that incident.”

Crazy. They killed someone for such a reason?

Of course, they might feel wronged. If they thought they were the only ones disciplined when they acted the same as others.

But what about the residents who had to endure their assault unjustly? They are people too.

Even if they had nothing to boast about except Sidney Warden, even if they were powerless and poor… they were citizens of the Asnel Empire who needed to be protected.

“Big Mouth Rick… he was the one with a huge bear-like body and a booming voice, right?”

“Yes! Yes! You remember him. When that guy laughed, it could be heard down to the first floor.”

Sidney clenched her teeth as she recalled the jovial and cheerful Big Mouth Rick.

“Are you sure they were policemen?”

“They covered their faces with black cloth… But I clearly heard one guy say while drunk, ‘Because of these bastards we even got disciplined… I’ll kill them all.'”

“Did you report it?”

Peter stared blankly at Sidney before dropping his head. He muttered in a weak voice.

“Who would listen to people like us… But it’s enough that Lady Warden listened. Now Rick can rest in peace too.”

If only he had pleaded for his friend’s unjust death to be revealed… I wouldn’t feel this shitty.

As she sighed, her eyes met Logan’s. His face was expressionless as always, but the look in his eyes was different from usual.

It must be just her mood. Logan Redford wouldn’t care about or worry over someone’s emotions.

But as if denying such thoughts, Logan took her hand.

The firm grip and warmth, as if telling her not to waver, calmed her trembling.

Why, why are you…