Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse

Chapter 541: Chapter 541: The Little Devil

Just as Melody Summers was feeling confused, she heard the nanny muttering, "...It was that child... It must have been that child..."

Melody Summers was taken aback. ’A child? What child?’

The nanny’s eyes were vacant as she continued, "...I saw it yesterday. Even though that child is young, his eyes... so vicious and evil... Those aren’t the eyes of a child! ...They’re the eyes of a demon!"

"Yes, a demon! That child is a demon! He must be the one who harmed the young mistress..."

Hearing the nanny’s illogical ramblings, Melody Summers and Grace Sutton glanced at each other, both completely baffled—

’What child are they even talking about? And how did demons get involved?’

As the two of them stared at each other, bewildered, several police officers suddenly walked out of the villa. One of them was a familiar face—it was Officer Hopper, the one who had brought Howard Fletcher to the Summers Family’s house yesterday.

After what had happened yesterday, neither Melody Summers nor Grace Sutton was particularly eager to see Officer Hopper. But to their surprise, upon spotting them, he walked straight over.

Officer Hopper stopped in front of Melody Summers and Grace Sutton, frowning as he asked, "Do you two know the whereabouts of Howard Fletcher?"

Melody Summers was utterly confused, and Grace Sutton, her face a mask of bewilderment, replied, "...How would we know where he is? Didn’t you take him with you?"

Hearing Grace Sutton’s reply, Officer Hopper’s expression grew even more grave. In a low voice, he said, "This homicide next door... it might be related to that Howard Fletcher..."

"What?!" Grace Sutton, completely shocked, blurted out, "How is that possible?!"

Melody Summers was just as astonished—

’How could it be related to Howard Fletcher?’

’Howard Fletcher and Zara Walsh... They had absolutely nothing to do with each other!’

’How could Howard Fletcher kill Zara Walsh? And why would he kill her?’

Seeing the astonished looks on Melody Summers’ and Grace Sutton’s faces, Officer Hopper thought for a moment before briefly recounting what had happened after Melody Summers got home yesterday.

"...And that’s what happened. Yesterday, Ms. Zara Walsh took pity on Howard Fletcher and brought him home. No one expected something like this to occur..."

Officer Hopper himself found it incredible, but the villa’s surveillance footage had clearly recorded Howard Fletcher taking a fruit knife from the living room fruit bowl late at night and sneaking into Zara Walsh’s bedroom.

Howard Fletcher stayed in Zara Walsh’s bedroom for half an hour. When he came out, he was covered in blood. Barring any surprises, it was almost certain he was the one who killed Zara Walsh.

Recalling the gruesome scene in the bedroom, Officer Hopper said with a grim expression, "From the looks of the scene, Ms. Zara Walsh had her throat slit with a knife in her sleep. It was a fatal blow..."

"The killer seems to have tried to cut her head off... but due to issues with the knife, they didn’t succeed. Instead, they shaved off all the flesh from her neck..."

Recalling the scene, even Officer Hopper felt his blood run cold. He had been a police officer for so long, but he had never seen such a brutal scene!

Hearing Officer Hopper’s words, Melody Summers understood everything. She immediately pieced together the cause and effect—

’Zara Walsh must have seen the argument at the Summers Family’s gate yesterday. She knew Caleb Summers was dead. To get the ring back and to get revenge, she chose to take Howard Fletcher home temporarily, planning to use him as a pawn.’

’But who knows what happened after Howard Fletcher got to the Walsh Family’s home. Maybe Zara Walsh beat or cursed him, making him hold a grudge. Or maybe it was for some other reason. In any case, Howard Fletcher took advantage of the dead of night to sneak into Zara Walsh’s room and kill her.’

At this thought, Melody Summers was simply at a loss for words—

’She never would have imagined it. Zara Walsh, the pampered daughter of a wealthy family, had spent her whole life looking down on everyone, arrogant and disdainful. She never considered the lives of the poor to be worth anything, yet in the end, she died in such a miserable way at the hands of one of the very poor people she despised the most...’

The thought of Howard Fletcher tormenting Zara Walsh for over half an hour with a fruit knife, nearly severing her head entirely, sent a chill down Melody Summers’ spine.

Grace Sutton clutched her chest, clearly terrified as well. In a trembling voice, she said to Melody Summers, "Thank goodness... Thank goodness we didn’t let him in yesterday... Otherwise..."

Otherwise, they might have been the ones to suffer such a gruesome fate!

Hearing this, a flicker of unease crossed Officer Hopper’s face. He also recalled how he had forced the Summers Family to take in Howard Fletcher yesterday, and he felt a pang of guilt.

He truly hadn’t expected that the boy, who seemed so innocent and naive, could be so brutal!

Officer Hopper cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment and said to Melody Summers and Grace Sutton, "The surveillance shows that after the murder yesterday, Howard Fletcher jumped from the second-floor balcony and ran towards the back mountain. The cameras on the back mountain are constantly being sabotaged, so we don’t know where he’s gone."

"You’re his family, after all. If he comes looking for you, please contact the police immediately."

Melody Summers shot a quick glance at Officer Hopper but didn’t say anything more. She just nodded in agreement.

After Officer Hopper left, Grace Sutton watched the police car drive away in the distance, her heart still pounding with fear. "That’s just too scary... Do you think that Howard Fletcher will hold a grudge and come back for us...?"

Including Zara Walsh, Howard Fletcher now had seven lives on his hands. He was a straight-up monster! Grace Sutton felt a chill run down her spine.

Hearing this, Melody Summers offered some comfort, "Aunt, don’t worry. No matter how capable Howard Fletcher is, he’s still just a child. He’s only ever succeeded by ambushing people in their sleep. There’s nothing to be afraid of."

"Besides, he’s out there on his own now, with no food or water. He definitely won’t last more than a few days. The police will probably catch him soon enough!"

Grace Sutton was finally put at ease by Melody Summers’ words.

After comforting Grace Sutton, Melody Summers headed back to the villa first. She had spent the whole morning gawking at the commotion and had a pile of orders she still needed to ship.

A batch of grapes in her space had ripened yesterday. As one of The Arcadia Shop’s most popular fruits, they had sold over a thousand pre-orders as soon as they were listed. Her customers were all eagerly waiting for their shipments!

After Melody Summers left, Grace Sutton lingered at the gate of the Walsh Family’s home for a while longer, listening to a few bodyguards and nannies who had gathered to talk:

"...What are we going to do? The miss is dead just like that. Do you think the master will blame us for not taking good care of her..."

"The miss brought that little brat back herself. There’s no way he can blame us for it..."

"You never know. These rich people all have bad tempers. A friend of mine works as a nanny for the Jennings Family. She accidentally ruined one of Miss Jennings’ dresses while washing it and Miss Jennings broke her hand! We’ll be screwed if Mr. Walsh takes his anger out on us..."

"I’m not daring to stay, anyway. After something like this, I’m terrified just living in the villa! I need to find a new job. I heard some of the bases over on the back mountain are hiring. Want to go check it out together...?"

"There’s no money in doing hard labor at the back mountain bases, and I still have to pay the utility bills at home! A lot of rich people from neighboring cities have been moving here to take shelter recently. As long as there are rich people, they’ll need bodyguards. We won’t have to worry about finding new jobs..."

"..."

The group at the gate chattered back and forth. After listening for a while without hearing any other useful information, Grace Sutton headed back to her own villa.

But just as she reached her front door, she felt a sudden grip on her wrist—someone had grabbed her from behind!