"What about you? Why did you come up here? And why did you ask that family to leave Ravenska Village?" The eldest lady returned the question to Xing Ze.
"I am here for the murder just like you. As for the reason, please allow me to keep it a secret for now, Miss Shafiq. But don't worry, I will definitely tell you the truth as long as the time is right.
"As for why that family was asked to leave, I think they were in danger, of course not the kind of revenge the mayor's son had, but their lives were in danger. I don't have any evidence yet, I just feel that way, but I hope I'm wrong.
"
"Why?"
"Because if I'm right, that means there will be another victim."
Although she didn't understand what Xing Ze was talking about, Ali could tell from his serious expression that he was not lying.
"Okay, what should we do next?"
"Ace said that his father has a wizard friend, so let's go visit him. By the way, that wizard is the one who reported the crime."
…
The Highland Apartment is close to Ravenska Village Railway Station and far away from the office building where the murder occurred. The two walked almost through the entire town to reach the apartment.
The style here is very different from the apartment Xing Ze saw before. Although it is not much luxurious, it looks neat and orderly.
The manager of the apartment was an elderly lady. She tied her long silver hair behind her head and fixed it with two stick pins.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Harvey, a painter."
"Who? Speak louder, my ears are not working properly." The silver-haired administrator turned his ear and shouted.
"Harvey, madam, is a wizard painter." Xing Ze shouted, raising his voice.
The old lady put on her reading glasses, "Oh, Harvey? What do you want from him?"
Ellie tapped her fingers on the back of her other hand impatiently. If Xing Ze hadn't told her not to use her identity all the time, she would have wanted to report her family's name.
There is no need to let the whole town know that you are coming. Thinking of Xing Ze's words, Ellie had to put away her impatience.
"My name is Xing Ze, a reporter from "Today's News". This is my assistant. We would like to interview Mr. Harvey."
"He's not here anymore." The old lady's words were like a basin of cold water.
"Not here anymore?"
"Don't you do any research before interviewing?" the administrator sarcastically said, "He moved out a week ago."
"No." She suddenly denied it again, and Xing Ze swallowed the words on his lips.
"He was taken to the hospital. His friend, our Sheriff Martin, came and collected his things and helped him pay the last few days' rent.
"I asked Martin what was going on, but he just said that Harvey had moved away. The two of them had a good relationship and frequented each other, so I didn't become suspicious.
"Did something happen to Harvey? Oh, for Merlin's sake, I should have expected it. He's a nice kid, even if he's a bit fussy at times."
Xing Ze tried to ask: "How did you know that something happened to him?"
"What?" The old lady moved her head forward.
"Merlin, please." Ellie on the side finally couldn't stand it anymore, she took out her wand and cast a spell.
A beam of bright starlight flew out from the tip of her wand and then wrapped around Xing Ze's throat. Xing Ze felt his throat feel refreshed.
"I said, how did you know that something would happen to him?" He said to the old lady, and found that his voice became exceptionally clear and loud, as if he was speaking into a microphone.
"Oh, is that magic?" The old lady's eyes lit up, "That's great. If I can do magic, I must cure my deafness first.
"Harvey, that kind young man, he often plays little tricks to make me happy. You ask me why I know something will happen to him? It's because he has become a little neurotic recently, although he was like this before.
But never that serious.
"I told him not to go to the ruins all the time, but he never listened to me. In December, yes, December. He started shutting himself up in his apartment for long periods of time, for days.
Not showing up.
"I've been to his apartment, which is at No. 302, and it's a complete mess. What I'm trying to say, Mr. Reporter, is that after a certain age, a man without a family becomes a terrible person, and it was the same with Harvey.
"His room is full of paper balls and discarded paintings. Those things take up most of the space in the apartment..."
"Okay, ma'am. But let's talk about how Harvey became neurotic." Xing Ze tried to change the subject.
The old lady pushed up her reading glasses and asked, "If I told you, would I appear in tomorrow's newspaper?"
"Oh, okay. He's acting like a lunatic. You know what I'm saying? He'll just sit in the yard all day long, or get drunk."
The administrator cautiously looked around, even though there was no one there, and then said in a low voice: "I suspect he is taking hallucinogens."
"Ah, I understand." Xing Ze nodded and wrote down the key points in his notes.
Ellie, who was behind him, came up and asked, "Where did he get the hallucinogens?"
"I don't know about that. I never touch that stuff. Maybe you should ask Martin, he's the Sheriff here."
"Why did he end up in the hospital?"
"In a bar fight, I heard he bit off a man's ear. For Merlin's sake, that was really terrible." The old lady patted her heart.
Xing Ze stopped writing, thought for a moment, and then asked: "Can we go to his apartment and have a look, madam? It's not rented out, right?"
"This is against the rules." The administrator said righteously.
The magic wand raised by Ellie was pressed back by Xing Ze, who showed a proud smile, "I'm thinking of putting this report on the front page, ma'am, that will require a few pictures, maybe..."
A smile appeared on the old lady's serious face, which made her wrinkled forehead become more criss-crossed.
"I have a photo of myself when I was younger, if you could use it."
"Of course, the premise is that some kind person can let us in so we can complete this report."
"Okay, you convinced me, handsome guy. Please wait a moment." The old lady got up and looked for the key.
Ai Li glanced at Xing Ze and whispered: "Good job, handsome guy. Maybe you should have dinner with her, after all, you two had such a good conversation."
"At least I got the key to get in." Xing Ze didn't intend to lose his words.
"All it takes is a confusion spell."
"Magic is not omnipotent, Miss Shafiq. What's more, facing such an old man, can you do it?"
"Don't pretend to be kind, Xing Ze. As far as I know, in order to achieve your goal, your means are much more vicious than the Confusion Curse."