The man in the black coat stood at the entrance of the underground office.

His face remained hidden beneath the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat.

Only the tattoo of a laughing clown on the back of his hand was clearly visible.

Ryan slowly slipped the diary behind his back.

“You’ve been chasing this notebook for a long time.”

The stranger smiled.

“Not the notebook.”

“The truth inside it.”

Oliver tightened his grip on the iron pipe.

Mrs. Martha quietly moved closer to Ryan.

“Don’t trust him,” she whispered.

The man laughed softly.

“I wouldn’t trust me either.”

---

For several seconds…

Nobody moved.

Finally, Ryan broke the silence.

“Who are you?”

The stranger removed his hat.

“My name is Victor Kane.”

“My grandfather was the Fourth Man.”

Oliver’s eyes widened.

“The traitor?”

Victor nodded.

“That’s what your families called him.”

“But history is always written by the winners.”

Ryan frowned.

“So you’re saying Detective Blackwood lied?”

Victor shook his head.

“No.”

“He simply never learned the whole story.”

Victor slowly walked toward the old desk.

“My grandfather didn’t steal treasure.”

“He stole evidence.”

“Evidence proving that the city’s richest businessmen had built a criminal organization behind respectable names.”

Ryan opened the diary again.

The missing pages.

The strange maps.

The scratched photographs.

Everything suddenly made sense.

“The missing pages…”

“They contained their names.”

Victor smiled.

“Exactly.”

---

Mrs. Martha looked at Victor with tears in her eyes.

“My husband died because of those papers.”

Victor lowered his head.

“So did my grandfather.”

“They blamed each other.”

“When the real criminals escaped.”

Silence filled the underground room.

For fifteen years…

Everyone had been hunting the wrong enemy.

---

Ryan looked around.

“So who are the real criminals?”

Victor pointed toward the ceiling.

“They’re still out there.”

“The organization still exists.”

“The people chasing us tonight work for them.”

Before anyone could react…

A loud explosion shook the entire tunnel.

The lights went out.

Dust filled the air.

Oliver shouted,

“They’re blowing up the entrance!”

Pieces of stone crashed onto the floor.

The underground office began collapsing.

“We have to leave!”

---

The four of them ran through the secret passage.

The walls cracked around them.

Wooden beams fell from the ceiling.

Ryan was still holding the diary tightly.

Suddenly…

Mrs. Martha stumbled.

A heavy beam crashed in front of her.

She couldn’t cross.

Ryan and Oliver tried lifting it.

It wouldn’t move.

Victor rushed forward.

“Move.”

Using all his strength…

He pushed the beam aside.

“Go!”

Mrs. Martha crossed safely.

Before Victor could follow…

Another section of the ceiling collapsed.

Oliver grabbed his hand just in time.

Together they escaped through the hidden exit.

A second later…

The tunnel caved in completely.

House Number 13 shook violently.

Then…

Everything became quiet.

---

Firefighters and police arrived within minutes.

Neighbors gathered outside.

For the first time in fifteen years…

House Number 13 was surrounded by people instead of fear.

Ryan looked at the old house.

Half of it had collapsed.

The famous midnight ghost house…

Was gone forever.

Mrs. Martha sighed.

“I suppose the neighborhood won’t hear the ghost laugh anymore.”

Oliver smiled.

“Oh…”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

He reached into his backpack.

Ryan laughed.

“You brought the speaker?”

Oliver nodded proudly.

“I recorded my laugh years ago.”

He pressed the play button.

“Hahahahahaha…”

The familiar ghostly laugh echoed across Maple Street.

Several police officers jumped in surprise.

One firefighter dropped his helmet.

Ryan laughed so hard that he nearly fell onto the grass.

“You are impossible.”

Oliver bowed dramatically.

“I have a reputation to protect.”

Even Mrs. Martha burst into laughter.

---

The next morning…

Ryan published his article.

The Truth Behind The Laughing Ghost.

It became the most-read story in the country.

People finally learned that there had never been a ghost.

Only a lonely father.

A brave detective.

A loyal friend.

And one very stubborn journalist.

The city council restored House Number 13 as a small historical museum.

Oliver became its official guide.

Every tour ended exactly the same way.

At midnight…

The lights went out.

The famous laugh echoed through the building.

Visitors screamed.

Oliver smiled.

Then he switched the lights back on.

“Congratulations.”

“You’ve survived the Laughing Ghost.”

Everyone laughed.

---

One evening, Ryan locked the museum before heading home.

As he walked past the old gate, he noticed a small package waiting for him.

Inside was a brand-new notebook.

There was no sender’s name.

Only a handwritten note.

Every mystery has another mystery hiding behind it.

Ryan smiled.

“So…”

“You want another adventure?”

He looked toward the night sky.

“I accept.”

He tucked the notebook under his arm and walked away.

Behind him…

A gentle laugh echoed through House Number 13.

Not a frightening laugh.

Not a lonely laugh.

Just a happy one.

The house that had once terrified an entire neighborhood had finally become a place filled with smiles.

And from that day forward…

Whenever children asked if the Laughing Ghost was real…

Oliver would grin and answer,

“Only if you refuse my cookies.”

The End.