The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 228

She looked to be at least seventeen or eighteen years old, but acted just like a child, clinging to Mary's sleeve and refusing to let go.

Mary was also uncharacteristically gentle compared to how she treated outsiders, softly persuading: "The wedding's been postponed, Lei Ao's not leaving, and I'm not leaving either. Go to sleep."

Margaret revealed a satisfied smile, murmuring: "Don't want Melanie, just Peggy, Lei Ao and Mary, we'll stay in the castle forever, never going anywhere..."

A look of pain flashed across Lei Ao's eyes, but he could no longer say anything about "having one more person to love you".

The medication started taking effect, and Margaret's breathing gradually eased as she fell into a deep sleep.

Only then did Mary erupt, sternly saying: "Why are they here? Lei Ao, you know very well Peggy's situation has been very poor recently, she can't take any stimuli!"

Kang Mu Cheng immediately spoke up: "Sorry, it was our mistake, we disturbed her."

"Don't go too far." Mary questioned, "This is Lei Ao's private matter, what right do you have to pry into other people's affairs?"

"Because Kimberley died." Jian Jing emphasized, tit for tat, "In your eyes, she was a weak and helpless poor girl - I won't deny this, Miss Sall did indeed suffer - but she was also a murder suspect."

Mary said: "Peggy simply didn't have the ability to kill anyone, she never touched the pearls, and couldn't get the poison either."

"But she could appear anywhere at any time through the secret passage." Jian Jing said coldly, "What if she had an accomplice?"

"An accomplice? Me?" Mary keenly asked, "Because I don't approve of Lei Ao getting married?"

"No, it's because Margaret doesn't want her brother to get married." Jian Jing said. "And you're her friend."

With Margaret's appearance, most of the doubts about Mary were also resolved - she had said her mother was employed by Castle Winterfell, so it could be inferred that she must have spent a long time here as a child, and was most likely good childhood friends with Margaret who seemed to be of a similar age.

Therefore, Mary's disapproval of Lei Ao's marriage was not out of love, but concern for Margaret.

However, this did not reduce their suspicions.

"You weren't in your room during the blackout." Jian Jing said. "Clear your suspicions before you can clear Margaret's."

Mary fell silent.

Jian Jing turned to look at Lei Ao: "Who knows about Margaret?"

"Only me and Mary." Lei Ao said uneasily.

"Then let's stay here, just the few of us, and get to the bottom of this: during the blackout, Lei Ao came in through the secret passage from the study to look for Miss Margaret, correct?"

Lei Ao: "Yes."

"Did you find her when you discovered the door was open?"

Lei Ao shook his head, looking to Mary for guidance.

However, Mary said: "I'm not sure, at the time I was in the kitchen preparing dinner for Peggy, Uncle Qiao Zhi didn't know about Peggy's existence, so I had to avoid being seen by him. After the blackout, I immediately went upstairs with candles."

From the kitchen to the second floor, the timing matched up.

Jian Jing deliberated: "You didn't go see her?"

"I knew Lei Ao had locked her in the bedroom, I didn't expect her to come out." Mary pursed her lips, "At that time, my first reaction was of course to go upstairs and figure out what had happened."

Jian Jing nodded, not commenting further, and took out the steak knife she had put aside earlier: "Seen this before?"

Mary said: "It's a knife from the kitchen."

"When I came in, Miss Margaret attacked me with this."

Mary knitted her brows, her face full of confusion.

But to her surprise, Jian Jing gave up on this question, and instead asked, "Can you draw me a map of the secret passages? It doesn't need to be very detailed, just the parts for the first, second, and third floors."

Lei Ao hesitated for a moment before saying, "I can, this isn't really a secret."

He drew a simple map.

It must be said, the old castle had an exceptionally large number of secret passages.

Front view:

..............Hidden layer..................

....Stairs....Lei Ao & Melanie's room..

.Hall of Mirrors....Stairs....Carl's room..Kang..Jian..Si....Secret

.Hidden study..Stairs.......

.Passage..Reception room..Stairs........

..................Basement area......................

The first secret passage was on the fourth floor, and could open up a new corridor through the portrait room leading to Margaret's room. And in this corridor, there was a hidden door, behind which were stairs - the second secret passage, leading down to the third floor's Hall of Mirrors, second floor's hidden study, and first floor's reception room.

The third secret passage was on the right side, going down from Lei Ao and Melanie's room, successively passing through Si Yingjie's room, originally Kimberley's room, the hidden layer behind the kitchen, leading to the basement.

Behind most of the rooms on the fourth floor, there existed a hidden passageway connected on both sides to the left and right hidden passages.

"The entrance in our bedroom has been sealed off." Lei Ao said. "She must have gone around through the hidden layer to Si's room."

Jian Jing: "Why seal it off?"

Lei Ao was very embarrassed: "It wasn't very convenient."

Kang Mu Cheng: "Ahem."

"Oh oh, yes that too." Jian Jing breezed past it casually, "Do the passages lead to the kitchen?"

Lei Ao explained: "Peggy used to like putting things in the food, so my father sealed this layer off very early on."

Jian Jing felt something was off. If Margaret had no way to get into the kitchen, why did Lei Ao think it was his sister's prank after the first poisoning case?

"Could Margaret get in?" She followed up.

"Let me explain." Mary said, "Originally she couldn't, but when they renovated the kitchen two years ago, the walls were damaged, and there was an empty cabinet behind which you could climb in."

Lei Ao looked very embarrassed, arguing: "Peggy couldn't get poison, and wouldn't recognize it either."

"Maybe, but that's not the issue." Jian Jing mused for a moment, then said, "Alright, I don't have many more questions about Margaret, now I want to investigate some other things. No need to wait for me for lunch."

Jian Jing went back the same way, coming out of the Hall of Mirrors on the third floor, and entering the room across through the side door.

Here, it is necessary to present a top view of the second and third floors.

The layouts of the two floors were similar, with the stairs dividing the left and right areas, and corridors in the middle with rooms on both sides.

Second floor top view:

Lounge....Stairs.....Guest room-Dressing room-Guest room

.......Corridor..........................

Hidden study....Stairs.....Billiards room...Smoking room...Observatory

Third floor top view:

Treasury....Stairs.....Carl....Kang...Jian...Si....

.......Corridor..........................

Hall of Mirrors....Stairs.......Small ballroom..Lounge..Piano room

Across from the Hall of Mirrors was the Sall family treasury, displaying antiques collected by the Sall family, such as exquisite silverware, gold pocket watches, enameled snuff bottles, famous people's swords, Chinese ceramics, rings engraved with names... Not necessarily worth a fortune, but definitely historical artifacts.

Or family memorabilia, such as medals, manuscripts, guns, court dresses, fans... All were relics of ancestors, telling the family's history and glory.

After spending more than an hour carefully appreciating the exhibits in this room, Jian Jing went to the small ballroom.

This was where noble young ladies used to dance in the past, but it hadn't been used for a long time now. The floors were dim, and the wallpaper around also gave off a musty smell.

Passing directly through the ballroom was another lounge.

Compared to the large lounge on the second floor, the walls and ceilings here were more feminine, with paintings of the Virgin Mary and goddesses, in pinkish hues.

Unlike the decor, the furniture was very modern, with comfortable large sofas and a big screen, perfect for getting together with friends to watch movies.

The last room by the window was a piano room, and of course there was an antique grand piano. The windows were locked tight, and outside was a frozen ice layer that looked from afar like demons pouncing on the cliff, coldly watching someone.

With that, the inspection of all the rooms on the third floor was complete.

Going down to the second floor, she encountered Holen in the smoking room.

"Mr. Holen, you've come here to smoke again?" she greeted him.

Holen nodded coldly.

"To be honest," Jian Jing asked casually, "are you sure you don't want to tell me who you were with during the blackout yesterday?"

Holen was shocked: "What did you say?"

"You weren't here at all," she said.

"No, I was," Holen said calmly.

"During the blackout, I didn't smell any cigarette smoke on you," Jian Jing bluntly revealed, "but later when we met in the library, there was."

Holen suddenly stopped, and immediately said, "You must be mistaken."

"My sense of smell is keener than most people's. If you had smelled of cigarette smoke back then, I definitely would have noticed."

A mid-level observation card would not miss such an obvious clue. Jian Jing had no relevant memories, which meant she should not have smelled anything.

"So you're suspicious of me now?" Holen asked in response.

Jian Jing smiled slightly. "On the contrary, I think you know that Kimberley was wearing Melanie's necklace, so it definitely wasn't you, unless you killed her in a moment of anger over Kimberley's joke."

Holen was stunned. "Why?"

"Because you saw Melanie," she said. "You're tight-lipped and conceal the truth only because you don't want to cause trouble for Melanie. It's easy for unsavory rumors to arise when a soon-to-be-married woman, no, an already married woman, speaks in private with a close friend, away from their good friends and husband."

He pondered silently, the cigar pinched between his fingers burning quietly, the smoke drifting into the air.

After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Jian, you've caught me a little off guard. I didn't expect you were serious. I thought you were just joking around, playing a detective game."

Jian Jing chuckled.

"I did look for Melanie. We had some private matters to discuss," Holen said, upholding his principles. "Even if you suspect me, I won't tell you."

She didn't care. "You don't have to tell me. You just need to say 'yes' or 'no'."

Holen raised his eyebrows and made a "go ahead" gesture, his manner extremely elegant, as if he were a noble gentleman who had traveled through time from Prussia, polite yet arrogant - although one couldn't speak highly of women's intelligence, they had the privilege of being capricious.

But when Jian Jing stated her question, the dignified expression on his face froze.

"Just a little, hmm, result of my detective game," Jian Jing said insincerely. "So, yes or no?"

Holen tensed his face. After a long time, he nodded imperceptibly.

"I have nothing more to ask you," she said coldly.

After noon, the weather finally cleared up.

Jian Jing went to visit the recuperating Melanie. "How are you feeling?"

"My chest feels a little stuffy. Lei Ao said he'd take me to the hospital." Melanie struggled to sit up and smiled wryly. "Jian, give me some good news, please."

Jian Jing said, "Mr. Holen has admitted that he met with you before the blackout."

Melanie let out a soft exclamation, then looked ashamed. "I should have told you myself. Augustus...it wasn't him."

"Of course, he knew the necklace wasn't on you anymore," Jian Jing reassured her. "So far, the clues are very clear. I'm just worried about Lei Ao..."

Melanie was puzzled. "Lei Ao?"

"No, never mind," she cut herself off. "You should go to the hospital now."

"When I get back, will this be resolved?" Melanie asked expectantly.

Jian Jing replied, "Yes, I think everything can be resolved."