The Demon’s Menu

He had seen similar people in his "career", but he never thought that Jason would be one of them.

Why would such a person become a writer?

Just like me, was it because of retirement?

John couldn’t help but wonder.

Jason then went around the car, pulled open the door, and sat down in the passenger seat.

As soon as Jason was seated, John handed Jason a document bag.

"Here are the documents related to Butler Emod’s former employer ’Edward’ that you requested."

John spoke with his usual crisp efficiency.

"Thanks."

Inside was a thick stack of documents, which were very detailed.

They covered everything from Edward’s birth to his disappearance.

Edward was born in 1933 in Cherry City, into a wealthy family, receiving an elite education from a young age and took over the family business as an adult, including a bank and a mining company.

Findelter became the butler of the Edward Family thanks to a letter of recommendation from the family’s former butler before his retirement.

The two parties had collaborated for nearly thirty years, with Findelter diligently assisting Edward, who in turn entrusted many of his business affairs to Findelter to manage.

If things had continued this way, Findelter would have taken care of the Edward Family for two generations, and possibly even three, before retiring and introducing a new butler.

Or perhaps he would simply have his offspring inherit his role, becoming the Edward Family’s legacy butler.

But something unexpected happened.

In ’97, Edward suddenly contracted some bizarre illness that not only rendered him delirious but also led him to make several irrational investments, causing the decline of the entire Edward Family.

After going through the documents, Jason looked at a photograph included in the file.

It was an old black and white photo, at least twenty years old or even older, with slightly frayed edges.

In the picture, there were two men, one sitting and one standing.

A significantly younger Findelter stood smiling in the photo, while a well-dressed, bearded middle-aged man sat in front of him.

The man held a cane in his hands, resting both hands on it, left hand below, right hand above, revealing a ring embedded with a gemstone on his right index finger.

Despite the black and white photo, Jason could still roughly estimate the ring’s costly value.

"A family with banks and mines..."

Jason said, looking towards John.

Though Jason didn’t finish his sentence, John understood what he was getting at.

A family with banks and mines wouldn’t disappear so quickly.

Unless someone was deliberately obstructing them.

And what about Edward’s poor decisions?

A man who had successfully steered the family business for decades, a steady hand at the helm, was certainly not a fool. Perhaps he could make a mistake once due to an accident, but he surely wouldn’t mess up several times in a row.

Such a sequence of incidents and errors suggested something more.

"There are some problems."

"But they’re subtle."

"It seems someone is obscuring these issues; there isn’t a trace of evidence in my channels; however, I’ve heard some rumors."

John talked about his investigation after reviewing the documents.

"Rumors?"

Jason was intrigued.

Rumors, although often unsubstantiated,

Still have their sources.

"In the year before Edward’s bankruptcy, people often heard him cry out at night."

"The kind of inexplicable shouts filled with fear."

"And it was from that time that Edward began making investments that no one else could understand: spending exorbitant prices to buy some strange items."

John continued.

"Strange items?"

Jason became even more interested.

He seemed to have sensed the presence of ’food’.

"Yes, these items are very secretive; Edward never let many people see them. They’re only known through Findelter’s accounts, and the butler is reluctant to talk further about them."

"In fact, if it weren’t for the desire to find Edward’s whereabouts, everyone would believe this butler would remain tight-lipped."

John nodded, explaining.

"How did Edward disappear?"

Continue your adventure at

Jason asked.

The recent documents noted Edward’s disappearance, but the records were vague, with just a few lines: After leaving the rented house in the suburbs, Edward never returned.

The people around claimed that the destitute Edward seemed to have become insane, unable to accept his current situation.

Some say that Edward had displayed signs of suicidal tendencies more than once.

All very consistent with common sense.

It’s the behavior of someone who has lost hope.

If it weren’t for the "abnormal" investments before.

"Just as the records show,"

"Findelter confirmed such a claim,"

"Edward had said he was cheated, that they were all scammers and the like,"

"However, there is one thing that I am very concerned about,"

John paused for a moment, his facial expression turning somewhat strange.

Jason did not urge him, quietly waiting instead.

About one or two seconds later, John continued:

"Three months after Edward disappeared, someone saw Edward!"

"But it was Edward’s ghost!"

"A ghost?"

"Yes, a ghost!"

"The witness claimed to have seen Edward wandering around his old house, his entire being ethereal,"

"The person who saw him was so frightened that they ran straight home,"

"And it wasn’t the first time,"

"Later on, when someone wanted to buy Edward’s old house, they encountered similar events, only theirs were even more bizarre, as if they were dragged into a nightmare,"

"After two such incidents, Edward’s old house was completely shunned,"

"It quickly fell into desolation, but then suddenly last summer, it caught fire, the flames devouring the entire mansion, and by the time the fire department arrived, it had already been reduced to ruins,"

A haunted old mansion?

Destroyed by fire?

Add to that Edward’s purchase of all sorts of strange things before.

Jason couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.

He always felt someone was erasing traces.

Clearly, Jason wasn’t the only one who thought so; some others did as well.

"In the days following the incident, some people started lingering around Edward’s old house,"

"They were obviously looking for something,"

"However, they all left empty-handed,"

"This was no secret at the time; many from the Cherry City underground world tried their luck,"

"They saw those guys,"

"They must be outsiders,"

"And they are not to be messed with,"

John emphasized.

"What happened afterward?"

Jason asked.

"After that, many became increasingly interested and the ’Edward disappearance case’ resurfaced in the sight of these guys, they started investigating, and then..."

"Deaths began!"

John’s face took on a somber expression.

He began to describe the part of the previous investigation that troubled him the most.

"The first three who started the investigation all died unnatural deaths,"

"Drowning, accidental electrocution, and a car accident!"

"These three were the most famous private detectives, investigators in Cherry City,"

"Two died quietly, their bodies were cold when found,"

"But the one who had the car accident, he left behind a message—"

"He was holding a doll in his hand,"

"It’s the kind of doll you see placed in front of cars, usually chosen by people for decoration, something they like, or you could say, cute,"

At this point, John pointed to a spitz-like dog doll on the dashboard of his car, connected by a spring that would bob its head and wag continuously when touched slightly.

"But his doll was different, and, moreover, he didn’t stick it there; he held it in his hand in advance—someone investigated and found the detective had bought this doll about three days before then, and had kept it with him, as if he had already foreseen his fate, to leave a message to people,"

"What was the doll?"

Jason couldn’t help but ask.

John replied straightforwardly—

"It was a..."

"A coffin!"

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