Chapter 7 The Other Maid

“By the way, there should be another maid in this mansion, right?” Feng Bujue spoke as he meticulously dripped oil into a bowl of sauce. Although his hands were busy preparing the food, his mind was fully engaged; multitasking was not a burden for Brother Jue, but rather… a kind of release.

Earlier, he had guessed that the Lovecraft family had more than just Oliver as a maid. After all, there were so many rooms in this villa, as well as corridors, halls, stairs, etc… Even just surface cleaning would take one person half a day. What’s more, there were chores like cooking and laundry to do. Even if Henderson and Barton helped out, the manpower would still be insufficient.

“Yes, there’s also Mrs. Martha, another maid. She went back to her hometown for Thanksgiving this year and won’t be back until after the holiday,” Mrs. Odette replied.

“So even you have to come to the kitchen to help?” Feng Bujue said with a smile.

Odette naturally understood the hidden meaning in his words, and she replied somewhat awkwardly, “Sorry… I’m really… not very good at these things.”

Feng Bujue only needed to watch for a minute to know that this lady’s cooking skills were only good for assisting; she probably rarely came to the kitchen to do anything on weekdays.

“No, no… you’re doing great. I think Ms. Oliver is very grateful to you for being here,” Feng Bujue said.

“That’s right, Mr. Feng, the madam has really helped me a lot these days,” Oliver chimed in. “The previous two madams wouldn’t even bother to pour themselves a glass of water…”

“Oliver!” Odette interrupted the old woman and gave her a look, shaking her head slightly. Clearly, she didn’t want Oliver to continue. Presumably, this maid had a lot of complaints about the master’s previous two wives and often grumbled, and this was not suitable for an outsider to hear.

Oliver was also very sensible. Seeing the madam speak, she quickly shut up and busied herself with her work.

“Hum…” Feng Bujue chuckled, picked up the bowl in front of him, and changed the subject. “Look, carefully dripping the oil in like this, and then stretching and stirring it like a thread, can prevent the oil and water from separating.” He put the bowl aside. “In a moment, we’ll pour this sauce over the oysters, and my specially made spinach and cheese baked oysters will be complete.”

“You always give people surprises, Mr. Feng,” Odette also gratefully replied, relieved that he didn’t press the issue. “Who would have thought that a detective would have such cooking skills?”

“Hehe… this dish is only of medium difficulty,” Brother Jue replied proudly. “I’m also prepared to make two dishes of similar difficulty: chicken liver mousse and seared Japanese filet mignon.” He pointed to a pile of vegetables in the corner. “Pick out a few old potatoes, and using double-fried method, we can also make a unique pomme soufflé. The French stuff is still pretty good…”

“Oh! I say, Detective, how many dishes are you planning to make? And I haven’t even heard of many of the dishes you’re making,” Oliver said from the side.

“Don’t worry… I can handle these dishes by myself.” Feng Bujue’s expression was indeed relaxed and casual, but his movements could be described as fast, accurate, and ruthless, at least twice as fast as the movements in those cooking shows on TV…

At this moment, Brother Jue’s thoughts were not complicated. He had two main purposes for coming to the kitchen: first, he wanted to take advantage of the time before dinner to question the last two suspects; second, he just wanted to have a good meal…

In this script, players need to ingest food and water. Since he had to eat anyway, why not eat something good…

The game Thriller Paradise has very realistic food simulation. Players who have bought food props in the mall know that from potato chips to steak, from candy to lobster, the game can fully simulate the most realistic flavors.

Now, he could use the resources in the script to enjoy a free, expensive meal, and show off his cooking skills. Feng Bujue certainly didn’t want to miss such a good thing.

“By the way, madam, there’s a question that I don’t think Officer Mark asked you…” Feng Bujue suddenly asked without warning, “Who do you think is the most suspicious in this case?”

Odette’s hand trembled slightly. She stared at Feng Bujue with wide eyes, the anxiety that was originally suppressed in her eyes instantly revealed with a look of surprise.

Oliver also looked over, a worried expression on her face.

After an awkward silence, Mrs. Odette seemed to have made up her mind, and her expression became firm: “It’s me.”

Feng Bujue was still busy with his work, calmly responding, “The reason?”

“Because… Dennis and I have never had a good relationship.” Odette’s words coincided with what Barton had told Brother Jue earlier. “When I married into the Lovecraft family seven years ago, Dennis strongly opposed it. Although I later tried to ease the relationship with him, his attitude towards me was always cold. You saw it in the hall today…”

“What I want to hear is…” Feng Bujue interrupted, “…what I didn’t see.”

Odette’s heart skipped a beat. Then, she seemed to understand something and sighed, “Alas, it seems nothing can be hidden from you…”

Feng Bujue was thinking in his heart: I’m just bluffing… You really have something going on!

Odette continued, “Okay… I… went to see Dennis before the body was discovered.” Before the other party could respond, she immediately said, “But I swear! I didn’t kill Dennis! I didn’t even enter that room!”

“Mm, I believe you.” Feng Bujue picked up a large handful of washed vegetables, spread them out in front of him, and began to cut them at high speed, saying as he cut, “In my opinion… this is how things are…

This afternoon, your husband and Dennis had a dispute for some reason, and they even fired a gun. As the mistress of this house, it’s only natural that you would be worried about this.

At the time, you must have been speculating that the reason for their argument was because of you. So… after a while, you went to Dennis’s guest room, wanting to talk to him.” His words and the sound of the knife cutting on the cutting board were rhythmic, and his speech was extremely fast.

“As a result, you knocked on the door for a long time, but no one in the room responded, so you left. Unexpectedly, not long after… Dennis was found dead in his room.

Because Dennis has always been at odds with you, and you happened to be in front of the guest room door at the time of the incident, your suspicion is undoubtedly huge. You were afraid of being implicated, so you temporarily concealed this matter.”