Jonas soon heard Inquisitor Fox's calm voice, "…I have no clue about how to catch this perpetrator with the current information. I need more."
Those words made Jonas frown. To think that even Inquisitor Fox was at the ends of his wits about this situation.
"No worries though. I hardly get cases like this." Inquisitor Fox added. It would be wrong to say he wasn't excited about this.
"Would you allow Sam Lee to investigate freely, Marquis Rhodes?" Inquisitor Fox asked Jonas.
There was a forced smile on Jonas' face, "You already have my weakness in your hand. You think I can stop him?"
"I naturally won't be blackmailing you with it, Marquis Rhodes. I just wanted to know your thoughts." Inquisitor Fox asked.
"Nothing. As long as he doesn't ask for our family secrets, it will be okay. If he does pry into our secrets then I hope you find another subordinate, Inquisitor Fox." Jonas threatened with a cold voice.
"Marquis Rhodes, I'm not interested in your family secrets. We should be allies rather than adversaries, in my opinion." Inquisitor Fox spoke.
"Very well. Then you have my consent." Jonas nodded and slowly stood up.
Inquisitor Fox had to be careful with his words. He couldn't give away the fact he suspected someone from the Rhodes House to Jonas. It would be difficult to predict Jonas's actions afterward.
He spoke with a calm voice, "Then please allow me to borrow one of your subordinates who can show Sam Lee the location from where the perpetrator vanished. Maybe I can find some clues when I look at the scene personally."
When Jonas heard those words, he nodded in agreement. Even though he had already seen the site, he found no clues. But Inquisitor Fox was different. He would notice very small things and create conclusions from seemingly nothing. And he had never been wrong until now no matter how wild those deductions appeared to be.
"Very well. I will lend you one of my aides for this. He isn't too bright so I would appreciate it if you ignore his errors." Jonas spoke with a smile.
On the other side of the Voice Transmission Array Stone, Shun thought with a small smile 'Marquis Rhodes is probably going to make some unremarkable man lead Sam Lee to the site. He doesn't want someone to slip up and reveal Rhodes Family's secret. A man can't reveal a secret if he doesn't know it.'
Jonas knew that Inquisitor Fox had probably deduced the reason but he didn't care. His motive was to send a point across. And that was to not poke the Rhodes Family's secret.
Sam Lee had no idea that Inquisitor Fox and Jonas were conversing so subtly. The words on the surface were completely different from their real meanings.
Inquisitor Fox didn't mind it at all. He wasn't planning to ask something of a grave secret to the Rhodes Family.
"Naturally. I only plan to use my energy to find our kidnapper. I don't plan to waste my energy to chide a servant." Inquisitor Fox spoke casually.
Those words relieved Jonas. His instincts told him that he could trust Inquisitor Fox on this. Also, that servant didn't know of any of the Rhodes Family's secrets so there was no harm.
With this, the deal was struck.
~~
Sam Lee left the Rhodes Estate while following the subordinate assigned by Jonas. His subordinate was someone named Coby.
Once the two entered the Silent Death Organization's headquarters, Sam heard a voice in his head.
'Sam Lee, share your senses with me.'
Even though Sam Lee had put away the Voice Transmitting Array Stone, Inquisitor Fox's voice still resounded in Sam Lee's head.
This was all because of Sam Lee's ability.
It was a unique ability that allowed him to share his senses with those possessing a special relic owned by him. The range of this ability depended on the power of the user.
As a 3 Star Warrior, the person needed to be within 30 miles of Sam Lee's range, and Sam Lee could differentiate them based on their Spiritual Energy and share his senses with them.
This was an ability that was strangely convenient for Shun. He could keep his identity hidden while seeing the place as if he was present there.
He had investigated many crime scenes through such ability. On his own, Sam Lee's ability could be considered useless. It had low potential in combat but this was just too good of an ability if used as a support.
Sam could use this ability to find the enemy's hidden spots and they could all ambush their hiding spots.
Sometimes they would be ambushed instead but the results were more likely to be in their favor.
Soon, Shun's mind began to receive a lot of information. This was information sent by Sam Lee using his ability. This information contained everything that his senses were experiencing right now.
"Let me talk for some time."
Shun spoke within his mind. This was naturally not a request but an order.
"Alright."
Soon, Shun gained the authorization to command Sam's body.
The first thing he did was near the man named Coby. He spoke with a smile, "What is your name?"
"Coby. Who are you?"
"I am Sam. I was wondering what do you do in the Rhodes Estate?" Shun asked with what appeared to be a curious voice.
Coby heard his words and looked slightly proud as he rubbed his nose, "I am head of the servants in the Rhodes Estate. Whenever a guest appears, I am the one asked to entertain the guest. Lord Jonas even encourages me to do whatever I want."
"Woah. You actually had such high status?!"
Coby looked even prouder as he saw Sam's excited face. He added with an arrogant tone, "That's correct. Lord Jonas thinks quite highly of you since he made me accompany you."
"That's amazing. I am thankful to Marquis Rhodes as he has allowed me to meet a wonderful man." Shun continued with the flattery and Coby just accepted them with a proud look.
He even felt that he had the bearings of an expert right now.
"Hehe…"
"I was wondering though. Did something strange happen in the Rhodes Estate recently? Someone behaving unnaturally?" Shun asked in a tone that appeared quite natural.
To Sam, it seemed as though this man wanted to have some small talk with him.
'Hehe… It's rare to find someone who sees through my true ability.' Coby arrogantly thought and added in his thoughts 'I can't disappoint him with my information otherwise, he will look down on me.'
Coby cleared his throat before speaking confidently, "You are asking the right person. I naturally know of everything that happens in the Rhodes Estate. You might not know it but Lord Jonas's newlywed wife vanished a month or so ago. Milord has been trying to find her, using all the men available in the Rhodes Estate."
He then paused to look at Sam and saw that he didn't react. It was as if he wasn't impressed by the information, meaning he knew it beforehand.
In reality, Coby's words had placed Shun in deep thought.
Coby clicked his tongue as he thought he couldn't be outdone like this and then spoke with a bright smile, "I do remember someone who has behaved unnaturally recently."
This caught Shun's attention as he looked at Coby and asked him with some interest, "Who is it?"
Coby raised his finger with a devious smile and spoke, "This information is valuable."
Shun understood what he meant and mentally commanded Sam 'Give him a Gold Coin.'
Even though Shun was using Sam's body, he couldn't actually do something with it other than talk.
Sam though obeyed Shun's orders and handed a gold coin to Coby.
"It's fun doing business with smart people," Coby spoke with a grin as he placed the gold coin away. His face turned serious as he spoke, "The one I believe who has behaved the most unnaturally is none other than young master Edwin. However, it is because his servants quite close to him died in the forest nearby. After their deaths, he began eating different kinds of food."
Shun was surprised at this information. Much more than when he received Tiana's information. This was because he felt as if he had received a clue.
"What kinds of food does he eat now?" Shun asked Coby with a serious expression.
"Earlier, he used to eat vegetables and fruit. But now, he rarely eats vegetables. He has almost made it a habit to eat roasted beasts' meat and fish. His appetite has greatly increased as well. It has increased by around 5 times." Coby went on to speak everything he knew.
Shun couldn't help but praise him, "Your memory is excellent. You remember it all so well."
Coby proudly responded, "I was the one who took his order so I naturally noticed it. Also, he stays in his room almost the entire day. There are other reasons as well but I can't speak about those."
'The forest! It hasn't been checked yet!'
Shun immediately ordered Sam 'I will cut off the connection between us. Continue talking to him and inform me of what you learn. I will go and check up another place.'
With that, Shun was gone before Sam could say anything.
Shun could naturally cut this sense-sharing through his end. He just had to flare his spirit slightly and he was back in his body.
He immediately dashed towards the forest.
'A month ago, that woman named Tiana vanished from Marquis Rhodes's mansion. According to what I heard, that's around the same time when Marquis Rhodes returned from the capital. And he was informed of the tyrannical actions of the Merchant Union and the Silent Death Organization. I will need to gather more information to get the timing perfect.'
'Also, this guy named Edwin Rhodes. He changed after the death of his servants. Certainly, the death of someone close can drastically change someone. I can be considered a prime example of that. Becoming an introvert is normal. Switching his diet is normal as well if he wants to become stronger. But there is no explanation for his sudden increase in appetite. That is clearly abnormal.'
'Moreover, his behavior entirely changed after returning from the forest. And the forest is the only remaining place other than Rhodes Estate that hasn't been inspected. Is this a coincidence?'
A smile appeared on Shun's face as he felt that this case was getting more interesting.
'It has been a while since I found a mystery this fascinating.'