"Ahem, ahem, ahem, how long has it been since they cleaned up this damn place—"
As the pages of the book turned, conspicuous dust particles could be seen rolling in the air. A unique smell of mold and rotten dust went straight into the nose, choking Hitzfeld so much that he had to turn his face away and cough violently after reading for a while.
"Hitzfeld." Ethan paused flipping through the documents and asked her casually, "Do you suspect Pruss is the weird guy who bought the candy?"
"I'm just asking... cough cough cough!" Hitzfeld was still coughing. "It doesn't look like it now. The time doesn't match, and the body shape isn't right either."
"Body size?" Ethan frowned. "What does this have to do with body size?"
He began to recall the candy store clerk's description - the weirdo was indeed wrapped in a windbreaker, so shouldn't he be able to see his figure clearly? Why did she ask for more information about his figure?
"I'm not sure yet~" Hitzfeld exhaled forcefully, his voice returning to normal: "Anyway, I still gained something. By the way, when you check these notebooks, you can pay extra attention to this Pruss. All his actions are important."
"Hitzfeld." Ethan squinted at her, "...Tell me the truth, do you have a clue?"
The girl kept her expression serious.
"You have at least a rough outline to determine who the murderer is?"
Still keep it serious.
Ethan was completely certain at this point. He sighed and shook his head helplessly: "Maybe I would feel better if I stayed in Wayne..."
Of course he was happy that Hitzfeld had such talent and ability, but he was also doing this after all.
The girl is so powerful, I feel so useless...
"Uh—actually I didn't..."
"Okay, no need to comfort me." Ethan waved his hand, "Just follow your pace. I'm an old bird, how can I be so fragile."
He was just joking and his mood has been adjusted.
I don't know who just spoke to me in a complaining tone...
Hitzfeld curled his lips, making sure that he really didn't care, then turned his attention back to the notebook.
The section she was looking through happened to be the one dealing with the Earl's legacy.
In 1921, Nicholas Brende, the Earl of Candy, died of illness. According to the records in DreamWorks' internal archives, he did die of natural causes and the cause of death was indeed overwork.
But he did not die in the laboratory. There were many assistants in the laboratory. They found the count fell to the ground and quickly sent him to the hospital, but he could not be saved.
According to the records in this document, she learned that this was not the first time such a situation had occurred.
Because of his poor childhood, the Earl had a serious lack of nutrition when he was young. This deficit was not made up after he became rich, and coupled with his frequent staying up late, his health was always poor.
Based on the symptoms she saw in the information, with her amateur medical knowledge, she could tell that he suffered from serious cardiovascular, liver, and brain diseases. It could be said that every attack was a hello to the god of death.
Because the number of wills was too frequent - about seven or eight times a year - the Count had actually anticipated his fate. He was very afraid that he would not be able to deal with the many inheritances including DreamWorks after his death, so he wrote wills very frequently.
I often feel good today and find some free time to write a will.
Tomorrow I will be in a bad mood again, and I will regret what I wrote yesterday, so I will tear up yesterday's and write a new one.
Or if you wake up in the hospital after an illness and have some insights, and remember some things that you haven't yet dealt with, you have to write another one - as a supplement to the other wills.
So Nicholas Brand's will, here referring to the will that is truly legally effective, is actually quite a lot. There are twenty-three wills that they found and recorded.
"Ethan." Seeing this, Hitzfeld suddenly looked up, "Do you think it is possible... that some of the earl's wills have not been found?"
"Theoretically, there are." Ethan frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head slightly: "But it's very small. People at that time should not have missed any place."
He had read much more information than the girl, so he was naturally aware of the complexity of the Earl's will.
But having said that - it is indeed possible that the Earl threw some of his wills around after writing them, leading to them being lost in the end. But after his death, those people almost turned the place where he lived and worked upside down.
In this case, it would be useless even if the paper rolls were hidden in the corner between the cabinet and the wall, right? They would still be found... This is probably very low.
“What if some wills are not in a fixed place?”
"……I did not understand."
"That is to say." Hitzfeld stared into Ethan's eyes. "Is it possible that it was taken away in advance and hidden?"
"Did you get the inspiration from Maps's guess?" Ethan frowned, then grinned. "It's unlikely... The Earl died in 21. It's been so many years. Even if you suspect Pruss, he was either not born or was a child at that time. He couldn't have had the opportunity to do such a thing."
"What if it was his father's generation?"
"Impossible." Ethan stopped laughing. "At least I still remember the name Pruss. I just forgot his last name was Xinlai... But if there were still people from his family working here, I would not have forgotten. My memory tells me 'no'."
And if Pruss's parents did not work at DreamWorks, they naturally would not have the opportunity to get close to the count, and it would be impossible for them to secretly take away any will.
This is his logic.
Hitzfeld didn't say anything, just stared into space with his one eye and fell into deep thought again.
Ethan opened his mouth, but ultimately decided not to interrupt her and continued to flip through the book.
Lily wandered around the room, but couldn't find anything to play with. She slowly walked to the girl's feet, lay down next to her, and curled up her body into an oval.
There was a sound of footsteps.
Lily looked up.
Ethan stopped what he was doing.
Hitzfeld was startled out of his thoughts.
They all heard it...the footsteps came from more than one person.
"Yes... they should still be there."
This is the voice of Chief Steward Yitai.
His body emerged from the doorway, with one foot stepping into the door frame, but his face was still turned back with an awkward smile on his face.
The next moment, Karen Baker's arrogant and annoying face also squeezed in.
He stepped into the door and stood still, his expression indifferent, looking at the two of them with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
"Agent Baker..." Hitzfeld stood up.
She didn't want to be rude.
"I can't understand why you guys come here to check information at this critical moment?"
Karen interrupted, shaking her head with a half frown.
"I remember Bill spent a lot of money to invite you from Wayne Port, but you didn't care about the life and death of that family at all..."
"Tsk, tsk... I can't help but admire your cold-bloodedness, Miss Hitzfeld. The real you is much more indifferent than what you act in the play."
"What happened to the Ponson family?"
Hitzfeld's face darkened.
Karen wouldn't say these things without reason.
Could it be that something happened on Enling Road again...
But how long had it been since the last two murders? The murderer had just been "injured" yesterday, and it was not even dark yet, so he shouldn't...
"Facts speak louder than any excuse." Karen narrowed her eyes.
"Mrs. Ponson was killed shortly after you came out."
"I think you should go back as soon as possible to explain to Bill why the protector he found was not present at the time."
Chapter 36: Parting Ways
Hurrying back to No. 15 Enling Road, Hitzfeld could hear crying before he even entered the door.
The fat boy Cokeley cried the loudest. Besides him, Lina and Ini also had red eyes. Only Bieber managed his expression well. Although he looked very heavy, at least he didn't show any signs of crying.
The boy seemed to have grown up suddenly. He kept comforting his brothers and sisters and giving them hugs so that they could get rid of their sadness as soon as possible.
"Where's the body?" Ethan pushed aside a police officer and looked at the others present. "Where is the body?"
The police officers did not answer, but looked at him - and Hitzfeld - with meaningful eyes.
"How dare you come back?" Bieber let go of Innie and wanted to rush over here. The police officers moved at this time and grabbed him tightly to prevent him from coming over.
But Bieber's roar could not be stopped, he continued to shout: "You should have stayed outside! Go and continue your investigation! It's best not to come back again!!"
Ethan frowned and made no response to his provocation.
The reason why relatives died might be that they did not leave anyone behind to protect them. This logic does not make sense if you think about it carefully.
Why did they run away so confidently? In addition to judging that the murderer could not commit another crime in such a short period of time, another major factor was that Enling Road was blocked.
There are so many police officers outside, and there are sentries at the door of almost every household... Let alone the murderer, even if a mouse wants to sneak in - are these people just decorations?
Of course, he understands.
After all, they were hired by Bill Ponson. They were not at the scene when the client's wife was killed, and they could not avoid being blamed. All he could do was remain silent and wait for the sadness and anger to subside.
By the way...I have to remind Hitzfeld not to be provoked by Karen Baker and confront this family.
Ethan turned his head with this thought in mind, but found that Hitzfeld was staring at the house expressionlessly, as if he didn't hear the ridicule at all.
He followed her gaze and saw Mr. Ponson again after a few hours.
He sat in a wooden chair by the window in the living room, in his tuxedo, leaning forward with his face buried in his fat hands.
The twilight of dusk shone on his back, and everyone could clearly see that his broad shoulders were trembling slightly.
At his feet was a bamboo stretcher covered with a white cloth. From the outline, one could guess that the person underneath was Mrs. Ponson.
"How pitiful." The black-clad policemen deliberately sighed in front of the two men.
"I was taking a nap when I suddenly tumbled down the stairs. When I found out, there was a candy bar in my mouth... It went straight into my brain."
"It's a pity."
"If someone could stay in the house to watch over him, he wouldn't be completely unresponsive..."
"Tell me." Amidst the whispers, Hitzfeld suddenly turned to look at the black-clad police officer next to him, "Why did Karen Baker go to the candy factory?"
"Why should I..." The policeman raised his head with disdain.
But after looking into the girl's eyes, his expression froze.
Endless anger was hidden beneath the blue sea.
This was the emotion he read from the single blue eye.
He didn't know why... he didn't understand... how such terrifying pressure could erupt from her thin body. He even suspected that he was hallucinating just now, because he seemed to... glimpse a ray of dark golden light in the deep sea.
"The director...he found out that the previous generation of the Xinlai family was a man named Pruss Xinlai, who was once a senior manager at DreamWorks..."
He unconsciously told everything he knew: "Then he also found out that this Prussinlai...had had contact with Bishop Lanno...They might have been...emotional rivals in the past."
"So he suspected that Bishop Lanno planned all this?" Hitzfeld asked coldly, "Because Pruss was once a senior executive of DreamWorks, he might know the evidence that he forged a will to annex Red Eggplant Garden. In order to prevent the possibility of being exposed, he took action against the Xinlai family... Did he go there to investigate this?"
"I don't know about that..." The police officer came to his senses a little, revealing a half-embarrassed and half-impatient expression: "The director can't possibly tell everyone about his plans. If you want to know, just go and ask yourself!"
"Hitzfeld." Ethan went around to the other side to block him away, and whispered to the girl: "If the news they found is true, I think it is necessary to investigate Bishop Lanno."
At this point, it was rare to find any clues that could link the murder victim to the murder case. Even if he wanted to exonerate the Earl, there were some things he couldn't say.
The Count's ghost is not the only murderer in this case.
If the emergence of Ghost Street is understood as the Earl's spirit being angered, then the cause of its anger - no matter how you look at it, the New Lunso Cathedral... the transaction in the Red Tomato Garden back then is inseparable.
Whether Bishop Lanno harbored a grudge against Pruss and planned the murder, or Bishop Lanno supported a corruption group and killed people to prevent the news from leaking, he is heavily suspected.
"It's not him." Hitzfeld shook his head affirmatively.
"Although there are some details I haven't figured out yet...but I know it can't be him."
Why is she so sure?
Ethan was stunned.
According to his thinking...there is really no other possibility?
He thought the girl might be so used to solving difficult cases that she thought all cases were that difficult.
Isn't that true? Since he discovered her, Hitzfeld has been involved in major and strange cases. Each case is very difficult, with complicated inside stories and hidden cunning opponents.
But as a seasoned detective, Ethan knew this wasn't the norm.
Most cases are actually not that complicated. Even though many of them involve evil spirits, the murderer's motives are mostly simple and his methods are mostly crude. There is no need to think about so many unnecessary things.
...That may well be the case in this case.
