"What do you mean?" Sam showed obvious displeasure at being stopped.

"I had the security guard let you in so I could tell you to your faces that you two have no right to enter the crime scene," the sheriff replied affectedly.

"Crime scene?" Feng Bujue repeated these four words, then continued, "Oh... so, something did happen, some kind of 'case,' right..."

The sheriff quickly realized his slip of the tongue, but he went along with it, responding, "Yes... so, as irrelevant parties, you have no right until the police have finished their investigation..."

"Firstly..." Feng Bujue didn't even intend to let him finish, interrupting directly, "In my opinion, this isn't a 'formal investigation' at all. If it were, you'd be arriving in a police car, wearing a uniform, with your subordinates, not in plain clothes, driving your own car."

As he spoke, Brother Jue gestured toward Sam. "Secondly, Sam isn't an 'irrelevant party' either. I believe you already know... that 'he was on the phone with John when the incident occurred.' So at the very least... he's an important witness."

The sheriff couldn't refute Brother Jue's words, not a single word, but he did hear something in Jue's words: "You said... 'at the very least'?" As he said this, he stared at Sam with malicious, suspicious eyes. "So... besides being a witness, does he have some other 'identity' in this case?"

Even in a small place like Kochi Koti Island, a person who could become sheriff had to have some ability. At this moment, his reaction was quite sharp.

Fortunately, Feng Bujue had a ready answer. "Isn't that obvious? His other identity is John's brother. Of course, that identity may be irrelevant to the case, so I think the 'witness' identity is more important."

This answer was impeccable, and the sheriff couldn't find any fault with it.

"Tch... anyway, I said you can't go in, and you can't." Since official talk couldn't fool these two, he could only resort to force. "Even if I'm not in uniform, I'm still on official business right now. If you don't leave, you're obstructing official business."

"Outrageous..." Sam said, "You're clearly abusing your authority!"

"Watch your phrasing, Sam," the sheriff said coldly, "It's not up to a fraudster who forges wills to teach me how to do my job."

"You..." Sam was about to lose it.

"Hey~" But Feng Bujue stopped him. "Don't get angry, everyone's an adult, you have to know how to solve problems peacefully." As he spoke, he took out his phone. "By the way, could you tell me what the island's emergency number is?"

"What are you going to do?" Hearing this, the sheriff, who had been aggressive just now, panicked instantly.

"Naturally, I'm calling the police," Feng Bujue replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Isn't there a 'case' happening here?"

"I'm the sheriff! I'm already here!" the sheriff retorted sharply.

"So what?" Feng Bujue said, "Where's the police line? Where are the investigating officers? Is it just you? Are we back in the era of Westerns? Does the whole town rely on a sheriff in plain clothes and a revolver to maintain order?"

The sheriff was speechless because he was indeed in the wrong. He had received a private call from John and was asked not to go through official channels before things "came to a conclusion" to avoid leaving a record.

These actions were undoubtedly serious violations, even illegal...

Helpless, the sheriff could only tell the truth: "Listen... kid, you don't understand the situation on the island, so don't interfere... Mr. Herbert doesn't want things to be too public..."

"Is John Herbert the Minister of Justice?" Feng Bujue once again interrupted rudely. "Isn't he just a civilian? Just because he's rich, can he order the sheriff here around?"

Brother Jue was Chinese, and he was ten times better than these Europeans at playing the game of labeling and conceptualizing: "Sheriff... lifestyle issues are one thing, but as a police officer, if you take favors to do things for people..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" the sheriff quickly shouted, "I just made a flexible decision based on the actual situation, so... so I didn't bring a team over..."

"Then please be flexible again..." Feng Bujue had been waiting for these words. "...let us in."

...

Five minutes later, inside the Herbert family mansion, on the second-floor corridor.

The sheriff, with a dark face, brought Sam and Feng Bujue to this place.

When John Herbert saw his brother, his expression underwent some subtle changes.

In an awkward atmosphere, the sheriff walked to John's ear and whispered a few words. During this process, John's gaze constantly shifted between Sam and Brother Jue.

After the sheriff finished speaking, John came to the two of them with a sullen face and said to Sam, "You've come at quite the time..." He glanced at Brother Jue, "And... you even brought a detective?"

For someone involved in a "murder incident," he was unbelievably calm. Judging from the way John spoke, it was as if he was the one in control of the entire situation, not the sheriff behind him who was acting timidly and riding on his coattails.

"Feng and I just met at the hotel bar," Sam said, "It's purely coincidental that he came here." His tone was equally unyielding. "As for what you said about 'coming at quite the time,' I don't quite understand... I just heard some strange noises from the other end of the phone when I was talking to you, and I came to check on you out of concern for my brother. What's wrong with that?"

Clearly, Sam Herbert was no longer the naive, clueless rich kid who was harmed without even knowing it. Over the years, he had relied on his own brains and hands to venture out into the world. Even if his scheming wasn't as deep as his brother's, he wouldn't be led by the nose by a few words in the face of the current situation.

"I'm fine," John stared into Sam's eyes, his gaze seemingly trying to penetrate the other's pupils to observe his brain directly. "Thank you for your concern... but, I don't think you and your friend will give up so easily with just this sentence, so..." As he said this, he turned sideways and gestured toward a door behind him. "I'd better let you come over and confirm it yourselves."

"Then I won't be polite." Before the other party could finish speaking, Feng Bujue walked up quickly as if nothing was wrong. When he brushed past John, he intentionally or unintentionally bumped the other party with his shoulder, looking like a hooligan entering a house.

A few seconds later, Brother Jue arrived in front of the open door and looked inside.

What came into view was a huge bedroom. Judging from the luxury of this room, the identity of its owner was also obvious.

At this moment, in a corner of this bedroom, on an expensive pure wool carpet near the desk, lay a person.

Or rather... a corpse that hadn't cooled down yet.