After processing the information from the couple, Arata walked over to the bed, got down on his stomach, and looked underneath.
The space under the bed was completely empty, large enough for a grown adult to easily lie in.
He wiped the floorboard with his hand, but his fingers came up clean.
"Did Miss Kawahana usually pay attention to cleanliness?"
"My daughter was actually quite lazy. It was always the maid who came into the room to clean," her mother replied.
"Is the maid here?"
"Because my daughter disappeared so suddenly, the maid was terrified that the same thing might happen to her. She already resigned and went back home before you arrived."
"Can you still get in touch with her?"
"I originally wanted to give her severance pay today, but I found out she can no longer be reached," Mr. Kawahana said helplessly.
"Arata, don't tell me you suspect the maid?" Tenten asked from the side.
"She's definitely a suspect. After all, the first person to enter the crime scene every single time was the maid."
"I've got it!" Denji, standing to the side, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "It could be the Maid Devil! I heard from some yakuza guys before about a maid who got jealous of her employer's wealth, killed the entire family of three, and took all the valuables from the house. And that person was never caught!"
"No way!!" The Kawahana parents turned pale with fright. They had never once suspected the maid.
Now that Denji brought it up, the two of them felt a sudden sense of terrifying realization. No wonder the maid left without saying goodbye and cut off all contact. It was highly likely related to Kawahana's disappearance.
"I'll send people to look for her immediately. We absolutely must find her." The Kawahana parents instantly had a clear target and hurriedly rushed out of the room in a panic.
"The Maid Devil? You can even come up with something like that?" Tsurugi's mouth twitched.
Arata was already unreliable enough, but he didn't expect Denji to be even more ridiculous. He actually fabricated a 'Maid Devil' out of thin air.
"You never know. I actually saw that news story too. As long as fear is born, a devil will be born," Peter voiced his perspective.
Seeing that his own teammate also believed in the possibility of a Maid Devil, Tsurugi didn't say anything more.
"Whether it's a Maid Devil or not, we'll know when we get to the next house."
After finishing his inspection, Arata turned and left. This inspection was noticeably faster than the last one.
After bidding farewell to the Kawahana parents, the group arrived at the third crime scene: Miss Kudo Ran's house.
Miss Kudo Ran's father, Kyuichi Kudo, was a renowned foreign trade businessman in Nara Prefecture. It was precisely because of his daughter's disappearance that the higher-ups kept constantly pressuring Special Division 3's Captain, Kiko Natsume.
Now, standing in front of Kudo Ran's villa, the members of Division 3 all stood in place and let out a collective, heavy sigh.
It was obvious none of them wanted to go in.
"Let's just let the Division 4 guys go in themselves this time. I don't want to go in just to get yelled at." Tsurugi voluntarily took a few steps back.
"I'm not going in either. They don't like Fiends. They even almost had their bodyguards attack me last time." Peter was deeply displeased with his previous experience and stood next to Tsurugi.
"I'll go in with you. If no one leads you, there's no way Mr. Kudo will see you." Tenten took the initiative to step forward and rang the doorbell.
Ding dong...
The crisp sound of the doorbell rang out. Time and time again.
After waiting quietly for dozens of seconds, there was still no response from inside the villa.
"Are they not home?" Tenten asked herself in confusion, turning to look at the others for an answer.
"Impossible. Even if Mr. Kudo isn't here, the maids, security guards, and others should still be inside the villa," Tsurugi countered.
"Then I'll try again." Tenten pressed the doorbell once more, but even so, no one opened the door.
"Could the doorbell be broken?"
"Let's just knock." Arata forcefully banged on the villa door a few times.
Despite the loud banging and shouting, no one came out to answer.
At this point, Denji couldn't sit still anymore and began repeatedly taking running starts to jump high up the wall.
"Hey, what are you doing!!" Tsurugi suddenly roared.
"Since no one's home, we might as well jump the wall and go in." After several attempts, Denji still couldn't quite reach the top of the wall.
"Stop right now! Do you want to get arrested for burglary?!!!" Tsurugi yelled. After all, a wealthy and prestigious man lived in this villa. If they were caught trespassing, they would absolutely be reported, and their bonuses would be wiped out entirely.
"Peter, use your sense to see if there's actually anyone inside the villa. I feel like something is fishy," Arata said, walking over to Peter's side.
"Mr. Kudo probably just doesn't want to be disturbed. How about we come back later?" Tsurugi was always acting contrary to Arata, subconsciously believing that Kyuichi Kudo just didn't want to receive them and was ignoring the door on purpose.
"I have a feeling Mr. Kudo might already be dead, because I can smell the scent of blood coming from inside the villa," Arata stated.
"Arata, don't scare us. If Mr. Kudo is dead, the pressure on our Division 3 will be even greater." Tenten looked panicked, clearly unable to handle the prospect of a sudden, massive increase in workload.
"I also sense something abnormal." Peter's expression grew solemn. He crouched down, closed his eyes, and pressed his palms against the ground.
A moment later, Peter suddenly stood up. Seeing his reaction, the group already had a terrible premonition.
"Peter, how is it?"
"Dead. There are indeed a lot of dead people inside."
"Don't tell me there are apples again!" Denji immediately asked.
"Not this time. Anyway, let's go inside and take a look first."
Peter shot several strands of spider web from his wrists, sticking them to the wall so the group could use them to climb over.
However, possessing the power of the Flea Devil, Arata didn't need the spider webs at all. Wrapping an arm around Tenten's slender waist, he effortlessly leaped from outside the gate directly into the villa's courtyard.
Tsurugi, who had originally planned to climb over using the web, saw this and immediately let go, dropping back down.
If Arata could do it, he wanted to try it too.
He backed up a few steps, then his body suddenly accelerated. Just as he was about to hit the wall, his legs pushed off with all his might. His entire body launched high above the wall structure.
But just as he was about to clear it, his ankle clipped the edge of the wall.
The next second, his body lost its center of gravity, and he smashed face-first into the ground. He looked incredibly miserable and pathetic.
Hearing the commotion, Arata slowly turned his head. When he saw Tsurugi making a total fool of himself, he scoffed, "Damn, and here I thought you were a pro. You couldn't even jump over."
"Tsurugi, are you okay?!" Tenten immediately ran over to help him up, but Tsurugi pushed her away. He wiped his twisted expression and forced a calm facade. "I'm fine. I was just afraid of stepping on an ant when I landed, so I lost my balance on purpose."
"An ant? Where?" Denji crouched on the ground, genuinely searching for the aforementioned ant.
"It probably flew away," Tsurugi chuckled awkwardly, not expecting Denji to actually start looking for it.
"Ants can fly?" Denji scratched his head, his face full of question marks.
"Haven't you ever seen a flying ant? Hurry up and get inside, why are you looking for ants? You Division 4 guys are weirder than the last!" Tsurugi yelled, quite displeased.
Meanwhile, Arata and Peter had already moved deeper into the villa grounds.
"Is Tsurugi always like this?" Arata asked curiously.
Peter just smiled at this and said, "Tsurugi usually takes great care of us. He's not normally this confrontational. It's probably because of Captain Natsume. After all, he likes her. Because your Division 4 caused Captain Natsume to fall ill in bed again, he's being extra strict with you guys."
The first half of the sentence was spoken at a normal volume, but Peter leaned in and whispered the second half directly into Arata's ear, terrified of being overheard by Tsurugi.
After all, Tsurugi didn't know that Peter and Tenten had already figured out his crush on Kiko Natsume.
"What are you two talking about!!" Seeing the two walking in front whispering, Tsurugi suddenly barked. "I really only landed on my face earlier because I didn't want to step on that ant!"
"Uh... we weren't discussing the fact that you landed on your face," Arata said, looking a bit speechless.
"Oh, that's good then. And no one is allowed to discuss what just happened, either."
After saying that, Tsurugi strode to the front, leaving them with a view of his resolute, stubbornly proud back.