"Come with me, please."

Taizai followed Nishio Butler into the villa.

Although the villa appeared to be a lot more desolate because of such a case, overall, everything could still be said to be in order.

"Please forgive me if I've disturbed you by coming here today."

Nishio Butler's face was obviously haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot. "It's okay. It's our duty to assist in the investigation."

"In order to save time, I'll get straight to the point."

Taizai took out a small notebook from his pocket. "Nishio Butler, your main duty is to be responsible for the operation of this villa, right?"

"More than that."

Nishio Butler's face showed a little pride. "To be precise, I'm responsible for all of Mr. Asai's personal affairs. I only manage the villa because Azai-sama is living here during this period of time."

"During this period of time?"

Taizai accurately captured the period of time Nishio Butler mentioned. "In other words, when Mr. Asai isn't living here, you're not responsible for the management of this villa."

"Yes," Nishio Butler replied, "Mrs. Hanako Shibasaki is usually responsible for the basic operations."

"You mean …" Taizai's eyes flashed. "Shibasaki?"

"She's Mika Shibasaki's aunt."

Nishio Butler said, "She's fifty-six years old this year and has worked here for thirty-two years. The recent incident has been a big blow to her."

"So, it's not convenient for me to talk to her face to face?"

"She's still in the villa. As for whether I can talk to her face to face, I'll have to ask her in person."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Taizai nodded.

"Got it." Nishio nodded. "What else do you want to ask?"

"According to what you just said," Taizai recalled, "this villa is only one of Azai-sama's residences. Does he live here often?"

"I haven't lived here much in recent years."

Nishio Butler said, "It's just that I received a notice letter this time, so I chose this house that is a little further away from the city."

"But according to my observation, this house seems to have been built for a long time, both in terms of architectural style and materials."

"You're right."

Nishio Butler forced a smile. "This villa used to be Asai's ancestral home, but Mr. Asai didn't like it very much, so he didn't spend much time here."

"I see."

Taizai nodded and accepted his explanation. "Nishio Butler, how old are you this year?"

"Me?" This question was a bit out of Nishio's expectations. "I'm twenty-nine this year. Why?"

"I just think that as a butler, you're really young and promising," Taizai's voice sounded very sincere, as if he was praising him from the bottom of his heart. "So when did you start working for Azai-sama?"

"Eleven years ago."

Nishio's face showed a complicated expression. "But at that time, I was just a manservant in the villa, and I became the butler three years ago."

"I see."

Taizai thought for a moment and asked, "You said that eleven years ago, you were a manservant in the villa … Mr. Asai still lived here at that time?"

"Yes."

Nishio's tone was full of nostalgia. "At that time, the supervisor here was Ms. Shibasaki, and Mrs. Asai was also …"

As if realizing what he had said, Nishio immediately stopped talking.

"Mrs. Asai."

Taizai refused to let go of this point. "I read the information before I came. Mrs. Asai died ten years ago, and the cause of death was suicide."

"I don't know much about this."

Nishio's voice immediately became cold. "I was just a manservant who had just started working at that time, and I didn't know about these things."

He said so.

Taizai did not continue to dwell on this topic. "Azai-sama's only son, Asai's second son, is still receiving treatment in the hospital. Are you also in charge of the internal affairs of the Asai family?"

"I'm in charge for the time being. We are contacting Asai Akiko, who is abroad. She is Azai-sama's sister. We are waiting for her to return to take charge."

"I see."

Taizai lowered his head and wrote in his notebook. "I heard that before me, the insurance company had already come to investigate the diamond theft yesterday."

"That's right."

Nishio sneered. "They are just trying to find a way to shirk responsibility and not pay the compensation."

Taizai sighed. "I heard that Azai-sama had put a large sum of money on the blue diamond. Now that we really calculate it, I'm afraid that the insurance company will go bankrupt."

"They won't."

The disdain in Nishio's eyes became even more obvious. "When they were lobbying us to buy insurance, each one of them was more active than the other. Now they only know how to use various excuses and reasons to dodge, but …" His gaze suddenly became sharp, like a knife stabbing into Taizai. "The police won't sit back and do nothing, right?"

"This …" Taizai smiled awkwardly. "I don't think so."

As if to forcibly change the topic, Taizai asked again, "Did they find anything after the investigation?"

"Who knows," Nishio replied. "A group of people came and took a lot of photos. Then they said that they would contact us again."

"If that's the case, I'm almost done with my questions."

Taizai stood up and bowed slightly. "Next, I'll have to trouble you to take me to see Ms. Shibasaki."

Nishio nodded, and the two walked out of the small reception room together. After passing through a corridor, they arrived at the servants' living area. They walked all the way to the third floor and stopped at the door of a small room.

Nishio gently knocked on the door twice. After a few minutes, a dull female voice came from the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Nishio."

"What's the matter?"

"The police came today and said that they want to talk to you." Nishio asked tentatively. "I wonder if it's convenient for you …"

Before he finished speaking, the door was suddenly pulled open, and the two people outside the door were shocked.

The woman standing at the door looked to be in her forties. She didn't wear any makeup on her face. She looked rather haggard, and her eyes were obviously red.

However, to Taizai's surprise, she was dressed in black, simple and neat, and her hair was meticulously combed.

"You want to see me?"

Her gaze fell on Taizai. Although it was a question, her tone was indisputable.

Taizai thought of what Nishio Butler had said just now. She was the actual manager of the villa. From her attitude, it seemed to be true.

"That's right." Taizai wanted to say something, but she said first, "Please come in."

Taizai smiled bitterly and followed her in. She didn't even look at Nishio Butler and closed the door directly.

The two of them sat in the room. Taizai looked around her room. It was dressed the same as hers, simple and elegant. Only a crystal photo frame on the bedside table and a small silver teacup next to it looked slightly more expensive.

Seeing Taizai's gaze wandering over there, Hanako Shibasaki didn't bother with pleasantries and asked directly,

"Are you curious?"

"Uh …" Taizai retracted his gaze. "Ms. Shibasaki, I'm …"

"Don't bother." A trace of impatience flashed across her face. "You're a police officer. If you have something to say, just say it."

"It's about the murder of Azai-sama two days ago and the theft of the diamond." Taizai deliberated over his words. "Do you have any clues?"

"I wasn't there that day. I asked for leave and went home." She replied stiffly. "But Nishio Butler was there. Didn't you get anything from him?

You even had to come and ask me. "

The dissatisfaction in her tone couldn't be ignored.

"Well, we learned that a maid who left the villa that night, Mika Shibasaki, is your niece."

Taizai glanced at the photo frame on her bedside table again. "So I want to know something about her from you."

Hanako Shibasaki looked at him for a long time. Taizai still looked relaxed and unmoved by her imposing manner.

Finally, she stood up and handed the photo frame on the bedside table to Taizai. She said firmly, "Mika won't kill anyone."

The photo was obviously old. In it, two women were smiling at the camera. The background was the villa.

The woman on the left was Hanako Shibasaki from a few years ago. The woman on the right looked less than twenty years old. Taizai had seen Mika Shibasaki's photo before and recognized her without much effort.

The two people in the photo were smiling happily, especially the girl on the right. Her youthful vitality seemed to be about to seep out of the paper.

"This is you and Mika Shibasaki."

"Mhmm." Hanako Shibasaki's gaze softened for the first time. "It's a photo from ten years ago."

Taizai returned the photo to her. "So, Mika Shibasaki also worked in this villa ten years ago?"

"That's right."

Hanako Shibasaki nodded. "Eleven years ago, the child's father passed away. She couldn't find a job, so she wanted to come to me. I introduced her to help in the kitchen here."

"She's been working since then."

Hanako Shibasaki nodded. "That child has a lot of friends here. She's doing pretty well, so she's been working."

"Then what do you think is the reason behind the discovery of the opened poison in Mika Shibasaki's room and her sudden departure from the villa?"

"Mika isn't a child who would kill."

Hanako Shibasaki's face immediately darkened. "I don't know the reason, but it can't be her doing. Someone must be trying to frame her."

Taizai nodded and asked, "Then in your eyes, what kind of person is Mika Shibasaki?"

"She's very diligent and friendly."

Hanako Shibasaki pursed her lips. "She's very kind to everyone, but she's a little too timid. She doesn't even dare to go to the bathroom at night." She smiled bitterly. "A few years ago, a guest came with a puppy.

The puppy ran away in the garden at night. She didn't even dare to look for it herself, so she dragged me along. "

"Friendly, diligent, timid." Taizai repeated. "Anything else?"

Shibasaki Hanako frowned. Her lips twitched a few times, but she finally said, "It's nothing."

"Last question."

Taizai seemed to ask casually. "You've known Nishio Butler for a long time, right? What kind of person do you think he is?"

Hanako Shibasaki's face suddenly turned pale. Her eyes drifted, and her hands trembled involuntarily. "Nishio … Glib tongue, hypocritical, pretentious, a beast in human face …"

Taizai patiently listened to her diss of Nishio Butler. He added, "Then, why do you think so?"

Hanako Shibasaki, who had been talking non-stop, seemed to have suddenly been cut off. She was tongue-tied. After a while, she said,

"I just hate him.

His gaze and smile are like a venomous snake hiding in the dark, ready to bite you at any time. "

"Thank you for your cooperation." Taizai stood up. "May I ask where Mika Shibasaki's room is?

I want to take a look. "