Chapter 25 The Mayor Is Not the Mayor
Pei Hening lowered her head and said softly, "I didn't see him come out. Should we call him?"
Kofi reluctantly stepped forward and knocked on the door of room 302: "Gardner, get up."
"I have things to do today, don't sleep."
Raman had a bad feeling, and she hesitated, "Could something have happened to Gardner?"
Coffey's heart skipped a beat as he opened the door to room 302.
A strong smell of blood wafted out of the room.
Something has happened.
The group quickly entered the room.
There were signs of a struggle in the room, and bloodstains were visible in many places.
But there was no sign of Gardner.
Chu Xuange walked around the room, went to the window, picked up a piece of floral shirt, and calmly said, "Not dead, escaped."
Raman instinctively walked to Pei Hening's side. It was only the second day of the dungeon, and one person had already died and another had escaped. It was bound to be very dangerous from now on.
She'll have to stay with Pei Hening tonight. If danger arises, the two of them can try to fight it off; if they can't—
Then let's push Green out to take the hit.
With her thin arms and legs, she didn't seem to have much fighting ability.
Raman seemed to be thinking of Pei Hening, and she said worriedly, "Green, Winnie is dead, Gardner is in trouble too, we're in danger too. Let's sleep together tonight?"
Pei Hening saw the disdain in her eyes, and combined with her words, she knew that she was targeting her and wanted to push her out as a scapegoat when danger came.
She said softly, "Raman, I'll stay with Biler tonight, you can stay with Kofi. I feel safer staying with a man."
Raman was taken aback by Pei Hening's rejection and looked displeased: "You..."
When she looked up, she was met with those cold and ruthless black eyes. She felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being watched by a large, cold-blooded predator.
Kofi watched the three of them arguing with great interest. Perhaps he had had enough of the show, he asked, "Raman, do you want to live with me?"
Raman: "Hmm."
——
Dining room.
When they went in, the place was empty.
Four dishes were laid out on the table.
Do the servants already know that Gardner is in trouble?
Coffey asked, "What are your plans for today?"
Pei Hening ate breakfast while piecing together evidence.
Chu Xuange casually cut the steak on his plate and said indifferently, "Green and I will work together, and you can work together to look for more clues."
Coffey nodded: "That's fine too."
After breakfast, Pei Hening and Chu Xuange went to the infirmary.
She checked the medicines in the infirmary yesterday, and now she's going to see if anything is missing.
After checking the area, she concluded: "A roll of bandage, antibiotics, and some wound medication are missing."
Chu Xuange knocked on the wall here and there and noticed that the sound coming from the wall was not right. He managed to find a storage cabinet hidden in the wall.
He tried for a long time before finally managing to open the locker.
There was a strip of white pills in the locker. Chu Xuange looked at the instructions and said, "It's a banned drug. It will cause hallucinations if you take it."
Pei Hening frowned: "Why did Kofi feel dizzy when he smelled the medicine yesterday?"
"It's an allergy."
Pei Hening: "Wait, there seems to be something else inside."
It's a photo of Mayor George shaking hands with a handsome man in front of a recurve bow factory. The date on the photo is May 10, 2048.
Pei Hening lowered his eyes, as if some clues were connecting the dots. "In March 1948, Mayor George came to De Saint-Mar to take office. He then drastically closed casinos, built factories, and recruited local residents... In May 1949, the young master won the recurve bow competition, making the town famous, attracting more tourists, and expanding the factories..."
She added, "Just like the newspapers reported, Mayor George is a fairly responsible mayor, so why didn't they deal with the decline in product quality and equipment damage after the factory fire?"
Pei Hening's eyes widened, and she grabbed his wrist, shocked by the information she had deduced: "The mayor isn't the mayor?"
Chu Xuange looked at her with admiration. As expected of his treasure, she was smart and bold, daring to think and guess: "You guessed right."
Seeing that he wasn't surprised at all, Pei Hening asked, "Why did you know the truth before me? I think I was fast enough."
Chu Xuange: "The background information suggests Mayor Andre, but the instance only features Mayor George. Secondly, one issue of the newspaper that Gardner brought back reported on the mayor and his wife's relationship, saying that their relationship 'came back to life' after the fire."
study.
Pei Hening and Chu Xuange found the mayor's family photo album.
There are no photos taken before the end of December 2052; it seems they were deliberately destroyed.
Pei Hening took out a family photo from the album, taken on January 1, 2053.
This photo stands out—in it, the mayor and his wife gaze lovingly at each other, while the young master standing in the middle looks anxious and uneasy.
Apart from that, the other photos in the album all look very happy.
Chu Xuange pulled out two documents from the filing cabinet; the town mayor's signature was different.
The older signature has a steady and powerful stroke, while the more recent signature, no matter how well imitated, has a comical, imitative feel.
"Biler, do you remember the date the photo with the rough edges I found yesterday was taken?"
Chu Xuange thought for a moment: "December 2052, the exact date was torn off, leaving only the '1'."
Pei Hening lowered his eyes in thought and saw a factory site plan in the drawer of the table.
It was a site plan of the factory built after the fire. She compared the signature on it with the two signatures that Chu Xuange had found. This signature was a copy of the later one.
Chu Xuange gently tapped the signature area with his slender fingers: "Mayor George is the former mayor, and the one behind him is the 'George' mayor who took over after Andrei took over."
He asked with a smile, "Under what circumstances can one inherit someone else's social network and remain unscathed?"
Pei Hening pulled out a chair and sat down, replying without hesitation, "Wouldn't it be better if others couldn't tell them apart?"
"Either get plastic surgery, or... become twins."
Chu Xuange walked behind Pei Hening, pressed her shoulder, and said, "Add one more thing: have someone around you cover for us."
Pei Hening laid the architectural drawings flat on the table, and the two looked at them together.
She pointed to a spot on the construction drawing and asked, "Is there a problem with this part?"
Chu Xuange frowned: "It's really unreasonable. Perhaps we should go to the factory and see if there are any clues about the previous fire."
Pei Hening didn't refute him. Even if he didn't mention it, she would still go there to see. All the current clues pointed to the great fire in 2052.
Moreover, she had a feeling that the clues about the factory were crucial.
After obtaining clues about the factory, she might be able to reconnect those seemingly unrelated clues.
Chu Xuange folded the construction drawings and put them in his pocket, then left the mayor's house with Pei Hening.