The antique sword was very beautiful and well preserved. The blade shimmered with a cold light unique to cold weapons, exuding an allure of its own.
Kang Mu Cheng looked at Jian Jing and stammered awkwardly, "This, uh, doesn't seem like a suitable toy for a girl."
Jian Jing was also nervous. "Don't cut your hand," she said.
"Hmph!" Jian Jing huffed in displeasure.
Just then, Melanie and Kimberley, dressed up, came over too.
Melanie wore a black evening gown with a pearl necklace around her neck, dressed up as the famous Coco Chanel. Kimberley wore short black hair and a red dress, playing the female lead in the movie.
"My darling, you look so beautiful," Lei Ao said.
"Kimmy, you're even more beautiful than Audrey Hepburn," Carl said.
The other four gentlemen also gave high praises.
Jian Jing rolled her eyes in exasperation. She went back to her room with a black face, pondering how to modify her bust size - which was her excuse for being holed up in her room doing handicrafts.
Who was she looking down on?
For the next hour, she struggled with the costumes in her room.
Then, the accident happened.
She hoped the others could fill in this blank.
Lei Ao, Mary, Holen, Carl, and even Qiao Zhi, the five people seemed preoccupied, and did not say anything for a long time. Kang Mu Cheng glanced at their faces and lightly coughed.
If Golden Crow's employees were here, they would instinctively sit up straight, because that meant Chairman Kang was about to speak.
Sure enough, he carefully weighed his words and said, "Let me go first. If there are any incomplete parts, please supplement them."
Lei Ao nodded gently at him.
So Kang Mu Cheng began, "After you left, Melanie and Kimberley chatted with us for a while..."
It was mainly Kimberley who was talking. On one hand, she was very proud of her look, but on the other hand, she was also very distressed: "In the end, we all chose modern celebrities. What a waste of my efforts in setting up the venue."
The imagined costume party: Versailles style
The actual character looks: Hollywood from the last century
But Lei Ao said, "As long as everyone is happy, weddings should be occasions full of laughter." He held Melanie's hand. "This necklace looks so good on you."
A faint blush appeared on Melanie's fair face. She caressed the necklace and smiled, "This is the keepsake you gave me. How could it be missing from the wedding?"
"Beautiful," he said tenderly.
Kimberley looked at her sister enviously and jealously, and whispered to her husband, "She really is a lucky girl. You know what, those are real pearls!"
The last sentence was too loud, and everyone heard it.
Si Yingjie was quite knowledgeable about jewelry - after all, he had many older sisters and female friends. Upon hearing this, he said, "Hmm? Real pearls? Such evenly sized pearls are rare. May I take a look?"
Melanie was very generous and took it off for them to appreciate, and threw in a bit of sweetness: "This was specially bought by Lei Ao to give me when I attended a charity ball. That night, he proposed to me."
Lei Ao revealed an embarrassed smile, looking like a shy little boy rather than a married man.
Because some unpleasant things had happened before, everyone was trying to erase the gloom, and they all laughed along cooperatively. Holen even said, "This thing made me look at Lei Ao with new eyes - he's usually so shy, as if talking to girls would make him blush. Isn't that right, Kang?"
Kang Mu Cheng also recalled their college days and chuckled, "Yes. There were many girls at school who liked him, but he ran away faster than anyone."
"Oh no, let's not discuss this," Lei Ao said, covering his temple, and actually looking shy for real.
In the midst of the teasing, everyone touched the necklace more or less, including Mary and Qiao Zhi.
In the end, the necklace was worn around Melanie's neck again.
It is worth noting that tonight, after dinner, everyone's main activity area was this lounge. It was located on one side of the second floor, with a huge fireplace and many comfortable velvet armchairs, as well as an expensive antique sofa.
In the past, the master and guests would smoke cigars, read books, chat idly and even play musical instruments and recite poems here.
Qiao Zhi, having no common topic with the others, was the first to leave the lounge, saying he wanted to go back and watch old movies, he didn't need to worry about no internet since he had DVDs.
Right after that, Mary said she was a little tired and wanted to go back to rest, politely ending her conversation with Si Yingjie.
Melanie's health had not yet recovered, and she soon showed signs of fatigue. Lei Ao persuaded her to go back and rest.
But Melanie didn't want to spoil the fun, and instead suggested seeing Lei Ao in his costume. Kimberley strongly agreed, and demanded that the gentlemen should also try. She gave Carl suggestions, recommending he dress up as Casanova, while she would change into a Gypsy outfit.
The gentlemen were...rather embarrassed, after all they were past the age of partying.
But since it had come to this point, it would be impolite to refuse, so they agreed.
Lei Ao, Carl, Holen, Kang Mu Cheng, and Si Yingjie, the five men went to the rooms on the second floor to choose their roles.
At this time, only Melanie and Kimberley were left in the lounge.
The five men changed quickly.
Holen chose a vampire, the clothes fit perfectly, so he went out for a cigar right away; Carl thought for a long time, and chose Einstein, but he said he wanted to keep it a secret from Kimberley.
"She will definitely pick out all kinds of flaws," he said. "Let this be a surprise."
Considering that if he went back now, he would surely be interrogated, he first returned to his own room to take care of some personal matters.
Kang Mu Cheng was helping Lei Ao choose his outfit, which was not so easy to put on, he would need assistance.
Si Yingjie decided to dress up as Freddie Mercury.
He put on the mask and felt the deterrent effect was quite good, so he said, "I'll go scare Jian Jing."
In the end, only Lei Ao and Kang Mu Cheng were left in the room.
Just then, the lights went out.
Lei Ao was stunned for a moment, then said very excitedly, "You wait for me here, I'll go take a look!" Then, without waiting for Kang Mu Cheng's reply, he rushed out on his own.
The five people were completely separated.
Jian Jing: "What happened after that? How did you gather together again?"
Kang Mu Cheng: "I was a little worried, so I followed Lei Ao out. I just happened to hear people talking on the other side of the stairs. It was Melanie and Kimberley who came out. "
Jian Jing: "Was Kimberley still alive at that time?"
Kang Mu Cheng: "Yes, I heard her talking."
"I was on the stairs between the second and third floors. I heard movement below, so I went down too," said Si Yingjie. "But I was a step late because I had to take off the mask."
Jian Jing: "Did you hear Kimberley's voice?"
Si Yingjie: "Yeah, I heard her say 'Damn it, who is it again?'"
Jian Jing turned her head and stared at Holen: "What about you, Mr. Holen?"
Holen said: "My cigar just finished when the lights went out. I was about to go back, and should have arrived around the same time as them."
Jian Jing twitched her nose. There was indeed the smell of cigars on him. "What did you hear?"
Holen: "Melanie was calling for Lei Ao, Kimberley was cursing, and Kang told them to stay put. Then we should have gathered together."
Kang Mu Cheng nodded, confirming that what he said was true.
Jian Jing thought for a moment, then asked, "So until this point, none of you had any light?"
Si Yingjie: "Our phones were in the rooms." With no network, what's the use of phones - to play games?
Kang Mu Cheng: "I left mine in the lounge."
Holen: "Same."
Melanie and Kimberley were both wearing dresses, with nowhere to put their phones.
She nodded, and asked, "What about the others?"
Carl: "I was on the third floor. I took my phone before coming down, arriving around the same time as you."
Qiao Zhi: "Of course I was fixing that damned fuse box."
Lei Ao: "I went to the library to get the candle stand, then came back to find Melanie. Mary was already there by then."
Mary: "Yes, as soon as the power went out I went to the kitchen to find candles - snowy weather occasionally causes circuit problems. This wasn't the first blackout in the castle. I lit the candles and came up to see you all gathered together."
"What was Kimberley's situation at that time?"
Mary said: "I didn't see her situation clearly, I just saw her suddenly fall to the ground, and also tripped Melanie, who fell down the stairs."
"Alas!" Jian Jing sighed.
Once again, everyone was a suspect.
The layout of the crime scene was as shown below:
.................Third floor guest rooms..
............↑..............
Lounge.......Changing rooms..
............x...............
The Library Room...............The Smoking Room
........................
............↓...............
......First Floor...............
x is where Kimberley died.
Then, here are everyone's routes.
Lei Ao: Came out of the dressing room, went into the library to get a candlestick, went to x
Holen: Came out of the smoking room, walked back, went to x
Kang Mu Cheng: Came out of the dressing room, directly went to x
Si Yingjie: Came downstairs from the stairs between the second and third floors, went to x
Carl: Came downstairs from the third floor guest room, went to x
Mary: Came out of her own room, went to the kitchen to find a candle, went upstairs to x
Qiao Zhi: Did not appear
Jian Jing: Came downstairs from the third floor guest room, went to x
The order they gathered: Melanie and Kimberley came out of the lounge, went near x. Kang Mu Cheng, Si Yingjie and Holen arrived one after another, then Mary, Lei Ao, Jian Jing, Carl.
This is clearly very problematic and unbelievable.
Suspicious point 1: Lei Ao rushed out of his room first, entered the library, so why didn't he run into Melanie and Kimberley who had come out of the lounge? The lounge and library are very close, it's suspicious that he didn't go find his wife first.
Suspicious point 2: Who can prove Holen came out of the smoking room?
Suspicious point 3: Carl and Kimberley's changed rooms were in front of Jian Jing's. Jian Jing waited in her room for a while before coming out, yet he seemed to arrive after her.
Suspicious point 4: Wasn't Mary a bit fast? She ran from the first floor to the second floor, and had to go to the kitchen to find something, yet she arrived so much earlier than the others.
Suspicious point 5: Did Qiao Zhi really not go upstairs?
Judging by the light sources, it was Mary, Jian Jing and Carl. In other words, when Mary arrived, it was pitch black.
Anyone could accurately stab Kimberley by locating the necklace.
Or rather, Melanie.
She needed to figure out what was going on with the necklace.
"I'm going to go ask Melanie," she said.
Melanie had been given a sedative and was now lying in bed pale-faced. Seeing Jian Jing come in, she weakly asked, "Why Kimberley? Why?"
Jian Jing had no choice but to bluntly ask, "Why was Kimberley wearing your necklace?"
Melanie was stunned, as if not understanding her words: "She really liked it, asked if she could borrow it and wear it for a while, just for today, she'd give it back to me after the wedding, so I lent it to her... Why ask this?"
"Was it just when it was you two? Did Kimberley bring up wanting to wear it beforehand?" Jian Jing pressed.
Melanie blankly shook her head: "No, she didn't. I guess with Lei Ao there she was too shy... You may not know, this was our token of love..."
It made sense.
Jian Jing nodded and said, "There was glow paint on the necklace."
Melanie's brows furrowed as she understood. In an instant, tears welled up: "Oh no - Kimmie - did I get Kimmie killed? No, don't... "
Under the effects of the medication her body did not convulse, but tears had already streamed down her cheeks.
Jian Jing sat at the edge of the bed and held her hand, slowly asking, "Maybe you can tell me, who wanted to kill you?"