The Deceitful One

Bryan brought the gas lantern closer to the circular dial on the surface of the safe. After looking at it carefully for a moment, his excitement vanished.

His brows furrowed as he thought in his heart, 'What the fuck is this!? What's up with all these numbers?'

The circular dial was as big as a baby's fist and there were numbers written around its circumference, beginning from 0 at the top and ending at 60 as it went around the dial clockwise.

The numbers were only marked every ten digits and the numbers in between them were symbolized as tally marks.

Bryan had never come across such a lock before, hence, he was utterly confused as to how to crack it. But he didn't give up. Hidden inside the safe might very well be the greatest amount of wealth he had ever seen in his life.

He took a few deep breaths and crouched down in front of the safe. He kept the gas lantern beside him, making sure that the numbers on the dial were illuminated and visible.

Although Bryan didn't know what to do, he still decided to follow his instincts. It had always helped him in the past, there was no harm in depending on it now.

He stretched his right hand forward and first rotated the dial by turning it several full revolutions in a clockwise manner. Then he leaned forward and put his ear against the surface of the cold metal, right beside the circular dial.

Bryan had a feeling that listening to the sound produced by the lock mechanism in the safe when he turned the dial, would help him crack it.

He brought his right hand forward and began turning the dial, listening to the sound of the lock mechanism in the safe reverberate. He tried many different combinations, both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Soon he got the hang of it. He came to the conclusion that when the mechanism behind the circular dial produced two clicks back-to-back, that's when he would be closer to cracking the safe. Those two clicks were imperative.

He noted down the number on the dial when the mechanism behind the dial made two clicking sounds, both while turning it clockwise and counterclockwise.

Bryan's mind made fast calculations as he went through all sorts of number combinations. Finally, after about thirty minutes, he arrived at the two most likely combinations that could crack the lock.

"It's either 7,34,55 or 55,34,7… hmm, I should first try turning it counterclockwise and then I'll try turning it clockwise." He mumbled to himself as beads of sweat had already started to form on his forehead.

A minute later, with a click sound, the safe was unlocked. Bryan felt so happy and accomplished that he nearly screamed in excitement.

He calmed down his emotions and then wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. Bryan then grabbed the handle of the safe's door and pulled it open.

The content of the safe left him completely and utterly bamboozled. Bryan's eyes went wide and his mouth agape, his lower jaw almost touching the floor.

Inside the safe, he saw rows and rows of gold bars. There were at least 50 of them inside and each gold bar weighed about 12 kg. Other than that there were stacks of cash lying inside in a neat and tidy manner.

Starting from 1-pound notes, all the way to 100-pound notes. Never in his life had Bryan ever seen a 100-pound note. Forget a 100-pound note, he hadn't even laid his eyes on a 20-pound note.

There was so much cash that Bryan didn't even have a rough estimate of what the total amount would come to. Other than the gold and cash, there was also some jewelry, gems, as well as silver.

'R-rich! I'm fucking rich!' Bryan was over the moon as his mouth started drooling at the sight of such wealth.

However, he felt a little emotional as well. Four months back, he didn't even have money to eat. He had to steal from the food stalls in the farmer's market in order to fill his stomach.

Bryan couldn't help but sigh emotionally as he thought, 'Fuck it, what matters is the present. No point in thinking of the past. I'm rich now, hehe.'

He entered the safe while crouching a little and took his time to store everything inside his silver pocket watch.

Halfway through, his actions suddenly froze as he mumbled, "Why didn't I just put the entire safe in the pocket watch? I could have cracked it when I went back home… how stupid of me!"

Bryan shook his head and then continued to store all the items in the safe. Five minutes later, the safe was completely emptied out.

He looked at the empty safe and grinned from ear to ear. Then he took out the letter he had written at home before he came and put it inside the safe.

'I've already achieved my purpose. No point in staying here any longer.' Bryan thought inwardly and then exited the secret passage behind the bookshelf.

He looked around the study one more time, making sure that he had taken everything of value. Then his eyes fell on a portrait painting of Jeffrey Gill, hanging on the wall.

Bryan suddenly had an idea as he smiled mischievously. He approached the painting and took it down using both his hands. He then placed it on the floor and made it lean against the wall.

A prankish light shone in his eyes as he unzipped his pants. He took his penis out and then urinated all over the painting, all the while chuckling like a madman.

After finishing his business, he cast Shadow Concealment again and left the study. He had the sudden urge to enter Jeffrey's room and scare him by pretending to be a ghost, however, he controlled his impulses and stealthily left the house.

On his way back home, Bryan's face was full of smiles as he thought about what new clothes to buy or other things he could spend his money on. Yes, HIS! It was now his money.

Tomorrow morning would be the beginning of Jeffrey's nightmare and the prelude to his eventual doom.