A skeleton hand fell out from the destroyed statue; it was holding something wrapped in paper.
Liam quickly held Lilly and covered her eyes from the eerie scene. Edward was stunned for a moment before collecting himself, “Liam, I think you should bring Lilly home first.”
“I want to stay here!” Lilly protested, but to no avail. “Lilly, I am sorry but you cannot stay here,” said Liam. Without a moment of hesitation, he picked her up and rushed home.
“Now Lilly, why don’t you go home and play with Granny? Let Uncle Edward and I deal with the statue,” Liam continued, “Remember, if anyone asks, tell them it was Uncle Edward who destroyed the statue accidentally.”
“Why?” Lilly was perplexed. “It wasn’t Uncle Edward. Why do I have to lie?” Liam frowned and said, “Just listen to me for once, okay?” Lilly shrugged, “Fine.”
Liam brought Lilly home and left immediately after. While Bettany was away preparing food, Lilly asked Pablo, “Master, why do I have to lie about destroying the statue? Lying is bad.”
Without glancing up from the book he was reading, Pablo replied nonchalantly, “Have you heard of a white lie? Lying is not always bad. Your uncles are merely trying to protect you by asking you to lie. If people find out about your extraordinary strength, they’re going to cut you open.”
“No,” Lilly was frightened, “Please don’t let them cut me open!” I am no food! Why would anyone want to cut me open?
Bettany seemed amused. “Don’t be silly! No one is cutting you open,” she said, handing an apple to Lilly, “Here, eat an apple and everything is going to be alright.”
Lilly took the apple and looked at Pablo, puzzled. Pablo took out the jar of souls and summoned a female spirit. He asked the spirit, “Why is your hand hidden inside the statue?”
Pablo had not realized the spirit had a severed hand because she had kept the full information of how she had died from him. Now it was clear she was trying to gather her severed hand, so her soul could rest in peace.
“I was holding my money when I was killed, and my hand got separated from my body.” She answered sadly, “I could not rest in peace without my hand. I have been wandering the mortal realm for the past five years, trying to retrieve my hand.”
Pablo glanced at her, “You knew it wasn’t just salt, didn’t you?” The spirit was dumbfounded. Pablo continued, “You knew, yet you did it anyway for money. You got what you deserved.”
He had no idea how her severed hand got inside the statue, but if the cops found the hand and the bag of money, they would trace the fingerprints to Winona in no time.
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