"Xiao Ai suspects that Edwin and my grandfather were killed?"
Ikegana heard Chi Feichi mention Haibara Ai's suspicion, and looked at Ike Shinnosuke, "Actually, your father and I also had such suspicions. I was in school in London, and your father..."
"It was the first time I visited here and when I heard your mother talk about those things," Ike Shinnosuke took over, "I also mentioned this suspicion directly to your grandfather and grandmother, but..."
"The investigative abilities of those at Scotland Yard were indeed not very good back then. However, your grandfather and grandmother were not stupid either. They also suspected the beneficiaries of the arson incident. If my eldest brother and grandfather died, my mother might lose her inheritance rights."
Ikeana slowly explained, "The person who might have inherited all this at that time was my grandfather's distant cousin, but he was working as a tutor in London at that time and had never set foot here since he was born, including before and after the arson incident.
After the arson incident, he did not take advantage of the fire like others. It seemed that someone had come to him. However, he said that he and my grandfather were no longer close relatives and had no interest in these inheritances. He also supported that my mother should inherit this property.
everything."
"If it was someone else who did it, then he must be eliminated as the first heir according to the law at that time," Chi Zhenzhi said. "But he lived to the sixth year after your grandmother inherited the family business. It was due to an old illness.
It caused complications and he died a normal death after two years of treatment. That’s why your grandfather and grandmother believe that there was no other inside story about the arson incident."
"Back then, the fire broke out in the high tower on the side of the old house. Edwin did study Braille there during that time, and his mood was very unstable. That year, he even asked his tutor to go to town to buy books for him. My grandfather was originally there that day.
He went to the church in the town, but he suddenly returned home and rested in the studio next to the study. The fire ignited the books in the study, and then ignited the carpet and leather wallpaper. The fire was very big. Before they could wait,
When they ran out, the collapsed wall blocked the road. In the end, they couldn't run out, and the people outside couldn't put out the fire completely. The tower was burned into ruins. After your grandmother gave birth to her second child,
Only then did people clear out all the rubble," Chikana sighed, "This is what your grandmother told me. She and I both believe that Edwin had no intention of harming anyone, he just... gave up on himself
."
"Where exactly is that tower?" Chi Feichi asked.
“Just where the elderberry forest is,” Ikegana recalled, “after the tower collapsed, the walls of the adjacent floors were also burned black, so that side was torn down, and the place where the fire broke out was not rebuilt.
The area occupied by the original house was reduced, and the castle side was rebuilt inside."
While talking, the three of them arrived at an iron door at the back of the corridor. Ikekana handed the flashlight to Shinnosuke Ike, took out a bunch of keys, turned over one of them, unlocked the door, and pushed the door open.
"Neil, Mitchell, and Rod's rooms are all on this side. After their deaths, the rooms have remained as they were. Your grandmother installed an iron door here and no one is allowed to step in at will," Ikegana explained,
"Not long before she passed away, she gave me all the keys here, including the key to this iron door. But before it was blocked by the iron door, I went to their room many times because of sadness.
I've been here Nian, and I didn't find any suspicious traces inside... By the way, whose room do you plan to start looking at?"
Chi Feichi looked at Chi Zhenzhenjie, and when he saw that Chi Zhenzhenjie did not express his position, he said, "Uncle Rod's room."
He was more interested in Mitchell, but since he had to see all three rooms when he got here, he decided to start with the room of his fourth uncle who suffered from porphyria.
"That's the one at the end of the corridor," Ikegana led the way, "He likes to stay in the corner."
The wooden door, which had been rarely opened for decades, was pushed open, and the door shaft made a creaking sound. The dust in the room was also picked up by the airflow and rushed outside the door.
At the same time, a smell of old and rotten wood also came from the house.
Ikekana waited for a moment, took the flashlight from Ike Shinosuke, walked into the room, turned around and helped the two people behind him to light up, "There are no electric lights here."
After Chi Zhennosuke followed, Chi Feichi took out a small flashlight from his coat pocket, turned on the switch, and walked into the room.
Thick black curtains hung in the room, and the old mahogany tables, mahogany chairs, and mahogany bookshelves were covered with thick dust. Even the carpets, neatly made quilts and sheets on the bed were covered with a layer of dust.
The color has faded over time, and the whole room is either black, dark red, or gray, which looks very depressing.
Chi Janai saw Chi Feichi's flashlight sweeping towards the sheets. In order to prevent the dust that had not yet settled from being stirred up again, Chi Jana said as softly as possible, "After Brother Rhodes passed away, the sheets and quilts here,
The pillows have all been changed. The skin on his body was festering before his death. The previous sheets were really useless, so the sheets, quilts and pillows were all new."
Chi Feichi said "Hmm", the flashlight beam stayed on the bedside table, and walked over, "There are traces of something being smashed here. It looks like... the body of a vase. It should be a copper vase.
It must have been hit with great force, and the surface of the wood was somewhat dented."
"Is that that one?" Ikegana pointed the flashlight at the copper vase placed in the corner of the wooden table. "I saw it when I came here before. The body of the vase has a slight dent, which can match the marks on the cabinet, so
I think Rod also smashed things in the room because of physical pain before, but it was just when I didn't know it."
Chi Feichi squatted down by the bed, looked at the mark on the bedside table, then stood up and looked at the wooden table. This mark was left for too long, and it is difficult to confirm the specific time, but he can roughly guess where the vase came from.
The one that hit the head of the bed "was indeed hit from in front of the wooden table."
"There doesn't seem to be anything special in other places," Ikegana shined a flashlight around, "Rhodes doesn't like others entering his room because he needs to change his dressing in the room, and his skin is sensitive due to porphyria.
Not only did he keep the curtains drawn all year round, but there was also little ventilation. There was often a strange smell mixed with various medicines and potions in the room. Before his death, I had only been in his room two or three times, so I was not sure what was in the room.
Nothing is different from before.”
Feichi hid under Chi Feichi's clothes. After Chi Feichi entered the door, he looked around with hot eyes and reminded loudly, "Master, there is a secret passage behind the wall next to the desk! The switch is on the wall lamp. There seems to be something there.
This is a very dangerous mechanism. Come closer, I need to take a closer look!"
Chi Feichi considered that there were not many snakes left to shed, so he didn't rush to kill the snake. He put the flashlight on the bedside table and walked to the desk.
Feichi poked his head out from Chi Feichi's collar and looked up at the dusty wall lamp. "There are a lot of gears in the wall. Let me take a look... The way to open the mechanism seems to be to turn the base of the wall lamp and then press it in. If
Turning to the right and then pressing it will activate the archery mechanism on the window sill. The arrow seems to have not decayed yet and is facing our position. If we turn to the left and pressing it... Master, there are many hangings on the ceiling.
Sword, it can definitely sieve the people standing in the room!"
Chi Feichi: "..."
Now is not the time to feel emotional, right?
"Feichi, what's wrong?" Chi Zhenzhenjie turned to look at Chi Feichi who was standing in front of the wall.
Chi Feichi looked at the confused Chi family couple, then looked at the wall lamp, "There is a secret room here, and the switch is the wall lamp."
Ikekana was startled, but not too surprised. He looked at the sconces on the wall and asked, "Could it be a secret passage built to avoid danger during wars? Before the 19th century, once a war broke out, British nobles would have to go there.
On the front line, soldiers also need to be recruited from the civilian population. Many old, weak, women and children will be left here. When a war breaks out, if the enemy invades the territory, this kind of castle will be the first place to be cleaned and looted. In order to protect the country during the war,
For the elderly, women and children who stay here, many castles will secretly build an escape passage. My mother told me that the passage mechanism for the servants' room is in the storage room at the end of the corridor, and the passage entrance and exit on the first floor of the main building is in
In the pantry next to the banquet and dance hall, the passage entrances and exits on the second floor are between the master bedroom and the room in the middle, which is next to the room where non-stayers are staying. On the third floor, they are at the corner of the corridor and the room at the end. There are also two side buildings where guests live.
The entrances and exits are scattered in order not to be discovered. The switches are all on the gold wall lamps on the wall, but she didn't say that there are also passage entrances and exits in the room at the end of the second floor..."
"There shouldn't be any dangerous mechanisms at the entrances and exits of those passages, right?" Chi Feichi asked.
"Dangerous mechanism?" Ikegana looked confused and said truthfully, "No, it was originally a passage for the elderly, weak, women and children to take refuge, how could it be possible to set up a dangerous mechanism? If it is dangerous, it is probably because the secret passages extend in all directions.
, many places were built in a roundabout style, with many forks in the road, and some mechanisms to change routes. There were no detectors in those days. If the correct route was not known, even if a hundred soldiers pursued the secret passage, they might not be able to escape.
You will be trapped and die inside.”
"There is a dangerous mechanism here..." Chi Feichi looked at the window sill, "You guys go to the bed."
In order to prevent Ike Shinnosuke and Ikekana from touching the trap with confidence, he felt it was necessary to demonstrate the dangers of this wall lamp.
Ike Shinnosuke and Ike Kana didn't understand what Ike Feichi wanted to do, so they looked at each other and walked to the bed far away from the desk. Ike Kana also picked up the flashlight to help Ike Feichi illuminate.
In the beam of light, Chi Feichi reached out to hold the wall lamp, turned it to the right and pressed it again.
There was a soft 'click' sound from the window sill, and the wood underneath the window frame moved away, revealing a row of copper plates covered with arrows below.
Before Chi Kana could shine his flashlight, the row of arrows shot out quickly and quickly arrived in front of Chi Feichi, almost blocking the space that Chi Feichi could avoid.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
"Whoosh..."
The moment the arrow flew out, Chi Feichi also raised his hand and shot the rope hook towards the ceiling, and was pulled upwards.
"Click."
The dark holes in the copper plate were filled with arrows, and the angle was adjusted to let the arrows shoot out again.
This time, fifteen arrows were shot towards the ceiling and floor, and two of them were directed towards Chi Feichi, who was pulled to the ceiling by the rope hook.