“If something from your school makes the news, you might even show up on TV.” Dad said this as he turned up the volume on the television.

Samuel Grant just replied indifferently, “I don’t recall any reporters or anyone like that coming by this morning.”

Time passed quickly. Samuel Grant sat there doing homework for two hours, while his dad had a few drinks, stared at the boring news, and eventually dozed off.

After tidying up, turning off the TV, Samuel Grant returned to his room and took a pen from under his pillow. It was a regular gel pen he’d taken from Henry Clark’s desk the night before.

This pen reminded Samuel Grant that everything from last night wasn’t a dream, wasn’t an illusion, and certainly wasn’t his imagination—it had truly happened.

December 11th, 4:00 p.m.

Samuel Grant went to Ethan’s bookstore again. When he pushed open the door, the scene inside was almost exactly the same as yesterday.

But today, Ethan didn’t ignore Samuel Grant. He put down his book and coffee right away and spoke first: “Come in, sit wherever you like.”

Samuel Grant walked over to Ethan’s desk, only to find there wasn’t even a chair. The only armchair in the room was occupied by the bookstore owner, so he could only reply, “I’ll just stand.”

Ethan opened the drawer beside him, took out a book with a black cover, and placed it on the desk. “All of Miura Kazuya’s secrets are in here.” He kept his hand pressed on the book, showing no intention of letting go. “Where’s the thing you brought?”

Samuel Grant shot back, “Since you already have my book, you must know I did what you asked, so why bother asking?” As he spoke, he placed Henry Clark’s pen on Ethan’s desk.

Ethan yawned, looking completely unimpressed. “It’s precisely because I know far more than you imagine that I can’t let you see Miura’s book just yet.”

“You’re going back on your word?!” Samuel Grant raised his voice, shock and anger flaring up instantly.

But Ethan quickly doused his emotions. “The reason you want to see this book is to get revenge on Miura, to vent the resentment you’ve built up over two years of his bullying. Hmm… maybe you even want to take out all the anger from your short life on Miura. Whatever, I support you. But I think, at this stage, you might have more urgent things to deal with.” He changed the subject: “This morning, at your school, there was a police officer. He’s outstanding, even extremely sharp. At five in the morning, he was the first officer to arrive at the scene of Henry Clark’s ‘suicide.’ He immediately noticed something suspicious and made the right call—Henry Clark was murdered.”

Samuel Grant’s face turned ashen, and he involuntarily took a step back. “What did you say…”

Chapter Four: The Inverted Cross

Ethan ignored Samuel Grant’s shock and threw out an even more astonishing statement: “This police officer, like me, is of the ‘Paper’ rank. He’s not on the same level as ordinary humans like you, so you won’t find a book with his name in my shop. But that doesn’t matter. He’ll inevitably reveal some of his deductions to his colleagues and superiors, and I can piece together clues from the thoughts of others.”

“You… what exactly…” Samuel Grant stammered.

“What exactly am I?” Ethan finished Samuel Grant’s question for him. “My name is Ethan—‘Tian’ as in heaven, ‘Yi’ as in number one. That’s not a stage name; I can show you my ID.” He took another sip of coffee. “Of course, that’s not important. What matters to you is remembering the name of that police officer: Whale Bird.

With his abilities, he’ll find you and push you to the brink in no more than forty-eight hours.”

Samuel Grant replied in a panic, “Are you kidding me! Henry Clark Sensei’s death has nothing to do with me. Whether it was suicide or murder, it’s got nothing to do with me!”

Ethan picked up Miura’s Book of Hearts. “Now I’m offering you a second deal.

If you give up on reading Miura’s inner thoughts, I’ll tell you who really killed Henry Clark, and about the fatal mistake you made last night that will come back to haunt you.”

Once again, Samuel Grant faced a choice, but this time he made up his mind quickly. “Fine, I won’t read Miura’s book. Just tell me what happened last night!”

“Hahahaha…” Ethan laughed maniacally. “You gave up your chance for revenge on Miura so easily out of fear? You agreed that quickly.”

To Samuel Grant, this laughter sounded unbearably harsh. He felt like a puppet being toyed with by this weirdo, yet he was powerless to resist.

After a full minute, Ethan finally stopped. “Alright, I keep my word—at least when it comes to deals.” He cleared his throat. “Everything you thought to do last night was basically unnecessary, but the things you forgot to do were all fatal.”

Ethan picked up the coffee pot beside him and refilled his cup, then continued, “Let’s start from when you opened the teachers’ office door.

The fingerprints you left on the door can’t be used as evidence, because it’s not unusual for dozens of people’s prints to be on that kind of office door. I’m sure you realized that, which is why you didn’t go back to wipe the prints off the door, but only wiped the ones off the window in the first-floor corridor.”