章節 68: Arsonist
"What do you want?" Alice approached step by step, her gaze filled with a compelling and menacing aura.
"I... I got the wrong floor," the man's eyes evaded Alice's scrutiny, and he forced a smile, attempting to leave.
As the two brushed past each other, the man's expression turned fierce, and he splashed a bottle of something towards Alice. Remaining vigilant, Alice swiftly dodged aside.
The liquid splashed on the ground, emitting a pungent odor. It was gasoline. Seeing that he had failed to catch Alice off guard, the man, not willing to be outdone, took out a bundle of kindling, lit one, and tossed it onto the gasoline. The ground instantly erupted in flames.
Seizing the opportunity while Alice was hindered, the man hurriedly ran downstairs. Alice promptly retrieved a fire extinguisher and quickly extinguished the flames before chasing after him.
Finally, on the tenth floor, she caught the man."Why did you come here to set fire?" Alice secured his hands behind his back, questioning him in a cold tone.
The man snorted, turned his head away, unwilling to speak.
Alice decided to take a more direct approach and produced a dagger from her pocket, holding it against the man's neck. "Speak!"
Realizing that Alice was serious and capable of taking action, the man hesitated for a moment but eventually confessed, "I... I just feel resentful. Why do you guys live in such good houses, with no worries about food and clothing, while I have to suffer hunger and cold?"
"Why did you target me?" Alice stared coldly at him. "If I'm not mistaken, the last time your target was my home too. Seeing a gate blocking your way, you mistakenly thought I lived on the fourteenth floor, so you set fire to the house there, didn't you?"
The man was suddenly speechless; Alice's guess was surprisingly accurate.
"You better confess honestly, or don't blame me for being ruthless with my blade," Alice said in a detached tone, the blade leaving a trail of blood on the man's neck.Feeling the pain, the man was frightened, and his mind cleared up a bit. "I didn't target you. I was just dissatisfied, randomly picked a household. You see, I didn't harm you. Let's call it even, okay? I won't dare to do it again."
Alice, seeing him still trying to talk his way out, sneered and suddenly gripped the dagger, thrusting it towards his forehead.
"Ah!"The man screamed in terror, but the pain didn't come. He cautiously opened his eyes, only to find the blade tip mere millimeters away from his forehead, glinting with a cold light.
Alice, with a half-smile, said, "I changed my mind suddenly. I can't let you die so easily."She extended a jade finger, gently rubbing her smooth chin, and spoke with a sinister smile, "What do you think about locking you up, making a cut on you every day? How long do you think you can survive?"
The man was scared out of his wits, his face pale, pleading continuously, "This has nothing to do with me. I was manipulated by someone. You should find the person behind all this."
"You'd better confess the truth," Alice's tone was icy.
"I don't know that person. He suddenly approached me, said to set the fire, and promised me twenty pounds of rice. I'm a bit cynical, plus my life hasn't been pleasant. I can't stand seeing others living better than me, so I agreed to help him," the man explained hastily, fearing that Alice might suddenly attack.
"Do you know how to draw? Draw a picture of him," Alice demanded.
The man shook his head, his face full of fear.
"There's no point in talking to you," Alice frowned, her gaze chilling.
"I don't know him, he just approached me suddenly, only told me to set the fire, gave me ten pounds of rice, and said he would bring the remaining ten pounds when the job was done. I can help you lure him ," the man stammered, sweating profusely.
Alice, looking at the close proximity of the blade, cold sweat dripping down the man's face, said expressionlessly, "I can consider this option."She wasn't afraid of him escaping.Five minutes later, a dense 'smoke' billowed from Allenfamily's balcony, with flames faintly visible on the glass windows. Meanwhile, Blanche was responsible for projecting the flames, and Alice used dry ice to create a large amount of smoke, producing a convincingly realistic effect.
After completing everything, Alice looked at the man, "Now you can go back and report."
Sheridan watched in astonishment—could this really work?Without daring to delay, he turned and left.
Alice disguised herself, followed him from a distance, and kept an eye out for any suspicious characters in the vicinity.
Sheridan lived in the tent area, returning to his 'home' and quietly waiting.He knew Alice was lying in ambush not far away, probably seeing every move of his clearly. He didn't dare to act recklessly.
Alice sat on a tree branch, layers of leaves completely concealing her figure. However, her field of view was excellent, capturing the entire tent area.
After half an hour passed, a slim man with a low-brimmed duckbill cap appeared in front of Sheridan's tent.The mastermind behind the scenes showed up!The man didn't enter the tent but handed Sheridan a bag of rice from the outside. Sheridan showed no intention of taking any action.
Alice leaped down from the tree and walked briskly over, restraining the man who was about to leave. "Don't move!"
Sheridan hastily explained, "He's not the one instructing me."
"I'm just a delivery guy, what's going on?" the man struggled.
Alice: "..."
Releasing him, the man glared at her and quickly ran away.
Sheridan looked weakly at her, "Well, it seems like the plan failed, but I have another trick. What do you think? I'll remember where he lives when I meet that guy next time, and then you can go and catch him."Alice could tell that the person was very cunning, not likely to easily reveal themselves. Contacting Sheridan might not be the actual mastermind.
"You'd better be honest with me. If I find out you're fooling me and working for someone else, don't expect to leave the base alive," Alice warned.
Sheridan quickly assured, "I dare not, I dare not!"
As Alice reached home, she encountered the urgently returning Allenfamily father and sons.
"The house is on fire, hurry back," Atticus said anxiously to her.
Alice quickly stopped them, "The house is not on fire. It's smoke created using dry ice."
The father and sons subconsciously halted. Alice continued to explain, "My mom and I made it together. Don't worry."
Atticus sighed in relief, about to inquire about the reason when he saw someone passing by and decided to keep quiet.
Back at home, they found Blanche sitting comfortably on the sofa, and their suspended hearts finally dropped.
The dry ice smoke on the balcony was nearly dissipating. Atticus asked, puzzled, "What's going on?"
Alice explained the whole story, "Our house has been targeted. The mastermind is well-hidden and extremely cautious."With the current clues cut off, they could only plan for the long term. As long as that person targeted them, there would be more moves.Why was that person coming after them? Revenge? Or did they have other motives?
Alexander sighed, "Yesterday, we were watching others put out the fire, only to find out we were the target."
Blanche worriedly said, "If it's for revenge, you all must be careful when you're outside. Maybe you should bring the guns, just don't let others know we have them."
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