Chapter 22 Group Investigation
Pei Hening secretly breathed a sigh of relief; Gardner was truly brave.
The middle-aged man's face darkened: "Mr. Gardner, please be careful with your words."
Gardner scoffed, "Alright, hurry up and assign rooms."
Pei Hening got the key to 305, while Chu Xuange got the key to 306, which happened to be next to hers.
Coffey 301, Gardner 302, Raman 303, Winnie 304.
The room layout is: 301, 302, 303.
corridor
304, 305, 306.
Pei Hening put the key in her pocket and followed the others to the living room.
Coffey pushed a letter toward them: "This is a threatening letter addressed to the mayor. Take a look."
The book was passed around among the people and soon reached Pei Hening's hands.
"Mayor George, I'm back. Your retribution has come."
The letter was still stained with blood, and Pei Hening could even smell the metallic odor of blood.
Gardner asked with interest, "Didn't you say there were also his young master's fingers? Where are the fingers?"
Coffey said, "Butler Carter, may we take a look at your young master's fingers?"
Carter's butler, a middle-aged man, took out a black velvet box with a very bad expression.
Gardner opened the box, inside was a severed finger.
Pei Hening noticed that Raman and Winnie both looked rather unwell.
She also grabbed Chu Xuange's hand, her face pale.
Chu Xuange sat down next to her and, noticing her movement, subtly scratched her palm.
Chu Xuange took out a glove and put it on. He took out his finger from the box, tested its feel, and then carefully examined the cross-section of the cut finger.
After he finished reading, he put his finger back.
"Bieller, have you found anything?" Coffey asked.
Chu Xuange nodded: "It was cut with a chainsaw, and—it's very fresh."
Raman said, "Let's split into groups to investigate. One group will investigate at the mayor's house, one group will go to the place where the young master disappeared to look for him, and one group will go around the area to inquire about what's been going on lately."
Winnie: "Then I'll go with Biller."
Gardner: "Why should you be with him? He's here to protect me!"
Raman didn't speak, but subconsciously touched the gun at his waist, trying to give himself a sense of security.
Pei Hening also wanted to be with Chu Xuange, but she couldn't speak up because of her character.
Kofi pinched the bridge of his nose: "Men and women will be grouped together, draw lots."
Winnie rolled her eyes at Gardner: "I'm fine."
"Go ahead and smoke."
"No objection."
"OK."
"Um."
After everyone agreed, Kofi tore off a piece of paper and wrote 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.
Pei Hening drew 1.
She looked at Chu Xuange.
He opened the note and showed it to Pei Hening: 2.
The final groupings were: Kofi and Pei Hening; Chu Xuange and Raman; Gardner and Winnie.
"Group 1 will investigate the mayor's house, Group 2 will go to the place where the young master disappeared, and Group 3 will investigate the unsettling events of the night. We're setting off now, and we'll meet here at midnight in two hours."
——
Kofi asked, "Should we split up or go together?"
Pei Hening lowered her head and said softly, "Let's go together and see the young master's room first."
She pushed open the door to the young master's room and immediately saw the recurve bow hanging on the wall.
This bow must have been made by a master!
In his younger days, Chu Xuange enjoyed playing games, and Pei Hening learned about them as well.
There is also a trophy display case in the room, which is filled with trophies.
Coffey: "This young master is quite outstanding."
"Um."
Pei Hening entered the room and smelled a very faint disinfectant odor.
Coffey must have smelled it too; he frowned and became more alert.
He went to rummage through the items on the shelf.
Pei Hening walked to the bedside, opened the bedside table, and found an opened bottle of sleeping pills and half a photo with frayed edges.
The photo shows a curly-haired little boy holding a bow high, as if he has obtained some trophy, with an arrogant and disdainful expression.
Coffey: "I found an old diary, why don't you come and look at it with me?"
"good."
[April 28, 2058]
They've signed me up for a recurve bow competition again.
...
[May 1, 2058]
Insomnia.
My dad said he's made an appointment with a psychologist for me to see.
My insomnia is incurable by psychologists, but my dad doesn't believe it.
...
[May 12, 2058]
Winning, winning, winning is so tiring.
He only likes the honors I bring him.
I ran into a strange person who said he knew about the tricks I used.
Was he trying to threaten me?
...
[June 7, 2058]
I must be crazy to see a psychologist!
They are all insanely curious people with no real ability but a strong desire to uncover other people's secrets!
It's not even as effective as a bottle of sleeping pills, it's useless!
...
[June 9, 2058]
I remember killing him back then!
Why is he back again?
Who is it?
Who is playing a prank?
Could it really be true?
...
[June 12, 2058]
Persistent insomnia.
Strange things are happening in the town, and the people involved are all connected to what happened back then.
They say he came back for revenge.
...
[June 16, 2058]
He should come back if he dares!
If I could kill him once, I could kill him a second time! A third time!
...
The diary ended there. Pei Hening wrote down the contents of the diary and continued searching for clues.
As she stood up, she suddenly tripped over something.
She picked up the object from the ground and found it was an old recurve bow, most of which was hidden under the cabinet.
She pulled out the recurve bow and noticed something was wrong with it; the bowstring was split and the bow was on the verge of breaking.
Coffey: "You seem to know a lot about this stuff?"
He pushed up his glasses and spoke calmly.
Pei Hening smiled shyly and introvertedly: "I've only watched a few matches, so I don't know much about it."
Kofi casually picked up a cup from the table, only to find a pill stuck to the bottom of the cup.
He frowned, took out the pills from the bottom, and gently sniffed them.
"This medicine doesn't seem to be working properly."
He felt very dizzy.
Pei Hening told him to sit on the sofa: "You rest, I'll look for it."
They searched through almost all the miscellaneous items in the young master's room, while Pei Hening went to look at the trophy display case.
The first championship trophy was awarded on May 12, 2049, and the second championship trophy was awarded on May 12, 2054.
Every year thereafter, the young master won the recurve bow championship trophy.
Given the young master's abilities, there shouldn't have been so many years between the two trophies.
Pei Hening noted down this unusual occurrence.
Coffey asked, "Why are you interested in the trophy? Is there any information on it?"
"I feel like something's not right. Why don't you come and take a look?"
Pei Hening called him.