"Do you think Mr. Williams can find the murderer again?"
Miss Lawrence paced to the fire and joined the conversation, tea tray still in hand. Rejecting Hathaway and Miss Michelle's movements to stand up and help, he put those things on the small table in front of the two of them, and then sat down.
She looked down and saw Chocolate patting a piece of metal with her claws. The outer surface of that boxy silver metal is covered with the same lines as tree root protrusions and leaf veins. This is really a beautiful work of art. Even though Miss Lawrence didn't see the function of this thing, she was deeply intoxicated by it.
"That's what Jenkins used to sharpen the chocolate claws."
Miss Mihail explained that she actually didn't know why such a small cat had to sharpen its claws with metal, but Jenkins' words sounded very reasonable, so she didn't think about it.
"In my opinion, Jenkins is better off not meeting the criminal, who knows if he's carrying a firearm?"
Mademoiselle Michael took a pessimistic view of the matter.
"You don't have to worry about that."
Miss Lawrence leaned forward and approached the two mysteriously, "When Mr. Williams rescued me from the snow that day, he had a pistol in his hand. It was because the church was worried about his safety and asked him to carry it with him. Yes, I heard it’s a new model made by the [Church of Creation and Mechanics].”
"But wouldn't it be more dangerous to have guns on both sides?"
Miss Mihail was still worried, she stretched out her hand to pick up a snack on a plate, but she didn't put it into her mouth immediately, but just put it in front of her for inspection:
"Perhaps the best result is that Jenkins finds nothing, and the police can arrive as soon as possible. The servants set off in the morning, and Mr. Steward said that they can go around the mountain tomorrow evening at the earliest."
"Tomorrow evening~"
There was indescribable worry in Hathaway's tone. As an extraordinary person, her inspiration was quite powerful. And ever since she set foot on this land, she has always felt a faint sense of crisis intermittently, but she can't find the source. This is like an illusion, but it is also like a warning from inspiration. Even when encountering a strange situation, this feeling has not disappeared, and it has become stronger and stronger as time goes by.
She also very much hopes that a group of people can leave here soon.
The three girls chatted casually in front of the fireplace, while Miss Rick and Garcia lingered by the bookshelves on the other side of the lounge. These two people don't hide their relationship with each other now. It seems that the death of Xuelin that night deepened their relationship.
Regarding this point, the three of Miss Michel could only bless them. But as far as they know, there is a slight animosity between the two families. Although it will not cause the two sides to fight, it will definitely affect the union between young men and women.
Boom~
While he was talking, he suddenly heard a loud noise from upstairs.
Hathaway was taken aback for a moment, and immediately realized that it was a gunshot. Subconsciously, she wanted to run out, but she also thought that her task now was to protect Miss Michel.
Everyone in the room stood up and looked up in the direction of the sound. Before people could react, another gunshot came. Hathaway, who was sensitive to sound, could tell that the two sounds before and after came from different firearms.
"Don't go out now, stay calm!"
As the only living male in the tour group besides Jenkins, Garcia must shoulder the responsibility of protecting everyone at this moment.
He walked quickly to the fireplace and picked up the poker beside him, walked to the door with the terrified servants, opened a gap to look out, and there was no one in the corridor.
There was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground overhead, followed by two more gunshots, and the housekeeper's scolding could be heard on the first floor.
It was quiet upstairs for a few minutes, everyone in the lounge listened with bated breath, and not long after, someone knocked on the door of the room.
"who is it?"
Garcia himself noticed that the voice was trembling.
"It's me, Jenkins Williams. It's all right, you can come out."
There was exhaustion in his tone, because the person they accidentally discovered just now was not the expected gifter, but a very old man.
Yes, the other party in the shootout just now was the elderly key keeper Keo (K) Odley, and now he has died of serious injuries due to a bullet in the forehead.
The bullet hit his forehead directly. Even if Jenkins wanted to treat him, he might not be able to save him, let alone the housekeeper and two servants watching him.
They originally wanted to demolish the wall that blocked the passage, but when they were discussing the demolition plan, they accidentally found someone peeping in the corridor.
Everyone immediately launched a pursuit, but the man jumped out of the window and went outside. Following the footprints on the snow, Jenkins and others came to the steam boiler room at the back of the villa, and found a row of wet footprints extending to the side of the iron cabinet where tools were placed. When looking for the secret passage, I finally found a small compartment divided by straw mats and large stone slabs.
It had obviously not been entered for a long time, and the floors and walls were covered in thick dust and cobwebs. Dense old photos and yellowed old newspapers are hung on the wall with nails and strings, all of which are related to the serial murders fifty years ago.
"Mr. Audley is the serial murderer?"
Miss Rick couldn't believe this conclusion, but it was indeed the truth that everyone had discovered.
"The information in that cubicle proves that the young Odley was the killer who had been wanted by the Cheslan Kingdom for half a century. He killed fifty people in a row for twenty years, and then disappeared. In fact Then I met Mr. Mandela, the owner of the villa, and I have been living and working here."
Having said that, Jenkins looked back at the butler Joel Bangkoks again, the middle-aged man was very depressed now.
"That cubicle was created by Audley himself. According to the diary we found, he searched for reports and investigations about himself through those old newspapers during the ten years he started working here. But as time went on, anyone Even failing to find him, Odley relaxed, abandoned the place, and only updated the information intermittently."
So writing a diary is a very dangerous behavior, and Jenkins never writes a diary.
The reason why the butler was depressed was because he respected this old man who had served the villa for nearly thirty years. It was because of his brief shock after learning the truth that the old man managed to escape to the villa when everyone found the target in the key keeper's room. His agility was no less than that of a strong middle-aged man. When four people came to him aggressively with guns, he smashed through the window glass and jumped out.