Kravinoff Manor, also known as Kravinoff Hall, is a historical estate located in upstate New York, nearly a hundred years old and abandoned for almost twenty. The hall is a pilgrimage site for New York's ghost movie and detective story enthusiasts. This abandoned, massive, Slavic-style mansion sits in a dense forest, isolated from civilization, with only one old, dilapidated road leading to it.
Crucially, for decades, no one has ever managed to get inside.
Peter had secretly messaged Harry and Amadeus. The two, who were about to leave school, exchanged glances. Kravinoff Manor? Isn't that the surname of the guy from last night?
They rushed over, startling Jessica, the upperclassman who was about to share some "top-secret information." "Didn't you two stay up all night gaming?"
"That's irrelevant," Harry said, tossing his backpack on the floor and pulling up a chair to sit down quickly. "Where were you?"
"We were just talking about how no one has entered Kravinoff Manor for decades? Where did that information come from?" Peter asked curiously.
Jessica shrugged nonchalantly. "Because there are absolutely no video or even descriptive records of it. We even went to check it out last year, and we couldn't find a way in. There weren't even any broken windows from homeless people or anyone else."
I won't ask why the detective club didn't try to break a window last year. Peter sighed and took the photocopied notes Jessica handed him. In short, the detective club's activity for the day was to speculate on what was so special about the manor.
The notes naturally included information on Kraven the Hunter himself, his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who had moved to New York. Peter read through it. Kraven's great-grandfather was a Russian aristocrat who moved to the United States to escape the revolution. His grandfather returned to the Soviet Union during World War II, donating large sums to help them fight the Nazis.
During Kraven's father's time, his father, Nikolai Kravinoff, was one of New York's most prominent billionaires, using the family's connections in the city to invest in a wide range of businesses across various industries. However, in the 1980s, Nikolai suffered significant financial losses and sold off most of his enterprises.
As Peter looked at this information, he felt a bit confused. Something just didn't feel right. It wasn't about the manor, but the Kravinoff family itself. What was it that felt off...
A descendant of a Russian aristocrat who had lived in the U.S. for over seventy years went back to Russia and was able to enter the political sphere without any trouble?
No, that wasn't it.
"Chameleon..." he mumbled softly, looking around. Besides Cindy, who looked at him with a slight sense of awareness, no one else noticed his comment. Peter took a deep breath.
Others might not know, but Peter knew that the Chameleon was Kraven's father's illegitimate son, making them half-brothers. The question was, after this family returned to Russia, it was one thing for the older brother to enter politics, but why was the younger brother able to join the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (which had evolved from the KGB) and undergo surgery to get that face that could transform into anyone?
A spy who could become anyone would be involved in crucial missions, and their defection would be a huge loss to the intelligence agency. Yet, the Russians were willing to trust the Chameleon, a person of Russian descent who had grown up in the United States and might not even truly consider himself Russian.
From this one fact alone, a very clear conclusion could be drawn: The Russians trusted these people from the U.S. immensely, even though they had lived in the U.S. for decades, and even though they had initially fled Russia to escape the revolution.
There was only one answer. The Kravinoff family, at least starting with Kraven's grandfather, must have been with the KGB. It started when his grandfather went to the Soviet Union to make donations. Otherwise, none of this made sense.
Of course, this had nothing to do with the issue the detective club was discussing.
Harry, of course, presented a theory with many flaws. "Kravinoff Manor is essentially a transit hub for smuggling exotic animal products. He goes to Africa on a hunting vacation every year, and that seems completely illogical. So, Sergei Kravinoff must be going to Africa every year for illegal hunting, having the animals made into artworks, and then smuggling them into the U.S."
Jessica naturally raised the obvious question. "Then why doesn't he sell them in Russia?"
"Because... Americans are richer than Russians."
This statement was completely illogical. The luxury goods industry doesn't make money from the poor. Russia has plenty of wealthy oligarchs, and Kraven was a member of the Russian parliament. It would be far easier for him to make connections and do this in Russia than in the United States. Moreover, given his status, he shouldn't even be directly involved in such a business. His family or some trusted associates should handle it, while he distances himself from such a gray-area industry that could easily be exposed.
But having seen Kraven at Fisk's Museum of Natural Arts last night and actually finding several trade documents, Harry was even more convinced of his theory.
And so, Jessica gave the obvious answer.
"Insufficient evidence. Pass."
Harry, not getting the approval he wanted, sighed. Amadeus hesitated for a moment before tentatively suggesting, "Maybe it's just simply because... he locked the door? Maybe he needs to come back and stay there sometimes."
"Then why haven't any homeless people or thieves broken in?" Harry immediately countered, and then answered his own question. "Ah, of course, it's because someone regularly cleans their house."
"Actually, when we went there last year, we couldn't find any signs of cleaning." Felicia, who had been observing the new students' deductive skills, noticed that Peter hadn't spoken and that Cindy was busy writing something. "The yard was very messy. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in at least a decade."
"Are you sure?" Peter looked at Felicia. "You really didn't find any signs of anyone entering?"
"People occasionally come to explore, but we really didn't find any signs of forced entry." Even before Felicia had injected herself with the super-soldier serum, a year ago she would have had a very good understanding of burglary. If even she said there were no signs of entry at Kravinoff Manor...
Felicia looked at Peter with a hint of curiosity. "Do you have any thoughts?"
"No, none at all," Peter quickly shook his head. His clue came from the fact that Chameleon was Kraven's brother, which was information not provided in the files. And based on that deduction, the reason why Kravinoff Manor was so mysterious and secure was self-evident, wasn't it?
It was a former KGB safehouse!