Leo was silent for a long time.
Kang Mucheng did not force him and waited patiently for his reply.
After a long while, he rubbed his face and smiled bitterly: "It seems that I am not a person who is suitable for lying."
"Good people usually don't like to cheat." Kang Mucheng said softly, with an inexplicable sense of respect, "You have a compelling reason."
Leo hesitated and leaned against the wall dejectedly. The old wallpaper exuded the dusty smell of history, which made his nose feel uncomfortable.
He gathered his thoughts. "To be honest, I thought I had it under control - you know? I invited you to my wedding, and I never wanted you to get hurt - Kimberly's death was unexpected, and it took me a while to figure out... I didn't know how to deal with it."
Kang Mucheng listened quietly.
In the long and narrow corridor, the windows at the end let in luxurious winter light, and everything was foggy.
Leo stared at the ice and snow in the distance, and suddenly thought of the winter night in Boston. He was also not a native of China, and he didn't like parties and staying up late. After being classmates for two years, he and Kang Mucheng finally started talking one day.
At that time, they were in their twenties, very young.
The two chatted in the dormitory.
Although there are countless sons of celebrities, heirs of billionaires, and successors of politicians in the top Ivy League schools, the title of nobility can still attract the attention of many people.
Leo resented this attention; this was the first time he had mentioned his background to anyone.
His story about the town of Bana surrounded by blizzards in winter and the evil and ancient Winter Castle seemed to be taken from an obscure fairy tale book and was totally out of place in the 21st century.
It was hard for his classmates to imagine their teenage years without Star Wars, the Beatles, French fries, popcorn, and Hollywood, and the same was true for him.
I have absolutely no understanding of the impetuousness and noise of my peers.
But Kang Mucheng was very similar to him. They were both silent and introverted people. Instead of beer, parties and women, they preferred things that seemed boring to others.
Like a movie that's over six hours long.
After watching this long movie, it was exactly five or six o'clock. Leo remembered that there was a faint light coming through the dormitory window.
It seems like a lifetime ago, it is already a lifetime ago.
"I don't want to believe that you killed Kimberly." Leo began with a bizarre conclusion, "but I don't have any evidence, and I can't prove it... This is a terrible thing."
As expected, there was a woman. Kang Mucheng looked over and asked, "Who is she?"
Leo: "My sister, Margaret."
Once the taboo is broken, it no longer has an oppressive effect. Without waiting for further questioning, he took the initiative to say: "If there is a curse in our family, it should be this - he has a rare allergic disease and is extremely allergic to sunlight. Even a little bit of sunlight will cause him to go into shock."
"Peggy has this disease. She has been unable to appear during the day since she was a child." Leo gestured as he spoke, motioning him to follow him, "But this is not the worst."
He gently pushed open a carved door at the end of the fourth floor. Inside was a portrait room with portraits of every generation of the Sal family hanging around the room.
"Remember what I told you, my ancestors always had loveless marriages, and my father was no exception. He married my mother, the daughter of a French steel tycoon, to renovate this castle, but the Saar family went bankrupt due to the ravages of war.
"They had me, but neither of them was happy, so my mother left me and went away - I don't blame her, it's much better than before, isn't it? Then, my father married Peggy's mother, and I was actually happy for him at the time, but maybe it's a curse, a man who abandons his wife will always lose his love.
"Peggy's mother suffered from mental illness. When she gave birth, she encountered some difficulties and was extremely mentally unstable. She even tried to kill Peggy when she was born. Our father tried to stop her, and the two of them fought. My father accidentally pushed her down the stairs, and she cut his artery with scissors. When I found them, the blood had already stained the entire floor red."
Leo's tone was very complicated. He was unwilling to believe in the so-called "curse", but the tragedies that had occurred all showed the weirdness of Winter Castle.
"This is an accident." Kang Mucheng tried to comfort in vain.
"Always accidents, always accidents." Leo muttered to himself.
The air was silent for a moment.
Leo took a deep breath and cheered himself up: "Don't worry about this. Peggy inherited her mother's disease. I hired a doctor for her and treated her on time. In the past ten years, her condition has been well controlled."
Kang Mucheng asked: "Is the singing voice ?"
"I am a bit naughty." A helpless smile appeared on Leo's face. "Sometimes, he would run out through the secret passage and play pranks to scare people."
This can explain his previous explanation of the "strange things".
"I don't know much about crime, but Jingjing has been doing works in this area, so I know a little bit about it." Kang Mucheng thought for a long time and comforted her tactfully, "□□ is a very clear murder, it doesn't seem like a prank gone wrong."
Leo paused, turned and looked at him: "Are you so stupid?"
Kang Mucheng clicked.
"I think so." Leo was obviously relieved, but his friend's trust could not change Margaret's situation. He immediately became worried again, "If it's not him, who else could it be?"
He thought for a moment and asked, "What about Jane? She seems to be very - uh, knowledgeable about this matter?"
Kang Mucheng said: "I went to his room this morning, but he was not there. I haven't seen him until now."
Leo was stunned and said, "Oh, no, could it be..."
Kang Mucheng gave him a look of "this is just the way you are".
Leo sucked in a breath of cold air, immediately locked the door of the portrait room, and then opened the mechanism on the painting. The decorative panel next to the fireplace was removed, revealing a secret passage that was exactly the same as the corridor outside.
"Come with me." He said.
The two men walked into the secret passage - although it was a secret passage, it was not cramped or dark. It was just like an ordinary corridor, except that it had an extra section and hid several rooms - Leo pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, and inside was a large bedroom similar to his master bedroom.
There are sparkling crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, red tasseled bed curtains trailing over the four-poster bed, a magnificent floor-to-ceiling mirror, ivory carved decorations, and Rococo-style powder blue armchairs.
Sitting on the chair was a skeleton dressed in palace attire.
Kang Mucheng's heart trembled, and he asked, "Is this the disappeared skeleton?"
"It's Peggy's mother." Leo said concisely, "Peggy has no choice but to accept your departure."
He apologized, "I'm sorry for deceiving you. I have explained this to Peggy later. You didn't know it was terrible. You just wanted to take me to meet Melanie's relatives. Kimberly suddenly spoke up, which scared you so much that you left her behind."
Kang Mucheng: “…” He could only shake his head.
"Peggy." Leo walked through the bedroom and into another corridor that had never appeared before. "Where are you?"
"Is that Leo?" Someone in the room on the left called out, "Please come in."
Leo pushed the door open and was stunned: "What happened?"
This is a doll house filled with dolls collected from all over the world, even a full set of Barbie. At this moment, a blonde girl wearing a soft tortoise shell on her back fell on the soft wool carpet, her hands and feet were tied tightly with restraints, like an overturned big tortoise.
"Woo woo!" His tongue was pressed against his mouth by a cloth strip, making him speechless.
"Oh God!" Leo said quickly, "Jane, let me go."
"Please don't worry. I didn't hurt Miss Margaret, but you are very interested in this unsafe toy," Jian Jing turned the steak knife in her hand, "aren't you?"
Leo was shocked: "Peggy, where did you get the knife?"
Jian Jing untied the cloth covering her face.
Margaret burst into a sharp cry: "Die, die, die!"
Leo felt so embarrassed that he stepped forward and held her shoulders: "Peggy, calm down."
"Leo, I hate you." Margaret stopped shouting when she saw her brother, and sobbed on his shoulder, "Let them leave, let them go, I don't want to, I don't want to see them."
Leo hugged his sister and patted her back soothingly: "It's okay, don't be afraid."
Kang Mucheng glanced at Jian Jing with a hint of reproach: Is it because you are not fierce enough
Jian Jing immediately apologized: "This is my fault. Brother Yingjie was frightened yesterday. I was afraid that everyone would get hurt again, so I followed him in. It seems that I frightened him."
"Peggy has hardly ever met a stranger and can't be provoked." Leo seemed to be talking about the matter at hand and not blaming her, but his tone was nothing like the initial friendliness.
"I'm really sorry." Jian Jing said.
Prying into other people's secrets and exploring hidden truths will naturally cause displeasure to others, and this is the price that must be paid.
After a short wait, he said, "I need to eliminate Margaret's suspicion."
Leo: "I don't think so."
Jian Jing's eyes flickered slightly: "You just believe it? Please don't be offended, I don't mean anything else, but you just concluded that the matter has been resolved before, I thought you temporarily restricted your actions?"
"Yes, I locked him up." Leo said.
"Why do you just believe it?" Jian Jing was very perceptive. "When you heard the singing, you should have confirmed it through the secret passage in the library as soon as possible, right? This is why you were late."
Leo nodded: "Yes, but at that time..." He frowned and said with a little surprise, "The door was open."
"Is it the bedroom door?"
"Yes."
Jian Jing pondered in silence.
Last night, after I cracked the mechanism of the mirror room and entered the secret passage, I carefully studied the bedroom door. There was no lock from the inside, but three bolts could be put on from the outside to ensure that the door was completely closed.
With Margaret's temper, it would be impossible for her to break out of the door alone.
Who let him out
"Margaret." He squatted down and opened the charm card. "You came out the night before last, right?"
Margaret leaned on Leo's shoulder and smiled crookedly: "I know you will die."
"Why?"
"It's cursed."
Leo said sadly: "No, Peggy, don't think about this."
"What did you see yesterday?" Jian Jing continued to ask.
Margaret said: "Leo, don't marry me. I can't live without you."
"Peggy, even if we get married, you won't lose me, and you will have someone to love you." Leo looked into her eyes sincerely, "I won't leave you."
"No!" Margaret's emotions fluctuated violently again, and she screamed, "No! No!"
His face was twisted with hatred, which made Leo tremble with fear.
Is that it
Is it that Margaret couldn't accept Melanie, so she killed her