Anna jumped down from the window and followed the path to the back of the hotel. She took out an umbrella with a pink panther pattern on it and came to a small yard.
The place was surrounded by a wooden fence and was very quiet. Behind the fence was a forest. The fence was not high enough for a child to climb over easily. The whole yard was paved with gravel, so it was not easy to step on the wet mud …
Then where did Dort step on the wet mud? Anna climbed up the fence and could clearly see some messy footprints in the mud that led to the forest. Unfortunately, the footprints had been ruined by the rain and could not provide any clues. However, Anna guessed that Dort's footprints might be among them.
Dort did meet someone here before he died. He did it secretly because he did not want to be discovered.
Anna jumped down from the fence and came to the side of the hotel. There was a broken window. Glass shards fell outside and sprinkled on the old tree stump under the window.
Firewood was scattered around the old tree stump. A rusty axe was left on the stump. A small black spot of lace was hooked on an iron nail that protruded out of the stump.
Anna, who was wearing a pair of dragon-skin gloves, pulled out the axe with one hand. She carefully looked at the thing hanging on the nail. The lace was very clean, and it did not look like it had been hanging on the axe for a long time. Perhaps it belonged to a woman who came here recently, or perhaps today, with lace on her.
Oh, sorry. My mind is too rigid. It could also be a man who came here with lace on his body. Perhaps Dort used a lace handkerchief to wipe his nose when he was chopping firewood?
No, 'said Anna to herself,' that is too strange. '
Anna put the axe back to its original position. After thinking for a while, she picked it up again. Since she couldn't use magic at will, it was better to bring something to protect herself. She looked around and put the axe into the blue cloth bag.
[Self-defense Weapon Acquired: Rusty Axe with Lace Decoration]
After putting away the axe, a dilapidated wooden door attracted Anna's attention. It was not conspicuous and was hidden among the piles of wood against the wall. There were many wooden barrels in front of it, but it did not affect the door from opening normally. There was also a dirty ladder on top of the barrels.
"Maybe Mr. Dott came out from this door." Anna tried to turn the knob, but it didn't open. It seemed to be locked from the inside, because there was no lock on the outside.
She could barely break it open with the axe she had just obtained, but it was a little reckless to do so without knowing what was inside. It was not in line with her image as a little fairy.
Anna turned around and suddenly noticed a strange object in the corner of the yard. It was a well, a well covered with wooden planks. Anna opened the planks and found that the well was not deep. There were many scratches on the wall of the well. She looked carefully and found that the stains were the same as the stains on the ladder of the wooden bucket beside the door. Someone had used the ladder to go down the well.
Interesting, there might be something in the well. Anna was a little excited, but she didn't want to go down because it was too dirty.
"This way!
Quick!
Haier!
That person should be running this way! "
Officer Harvey's shout came from the side of the hotel. Anna was about to leave when she suddenly had an idea. She threw the ladder on top of the wooden bucket into the well, covered it with wooden planks, and knocked over a few small barrels beside the well. She pretended to be in a panic and hid them.
"He ran into the well!"
Haier ran out behind Harvey. He was so tired that he was panting. He immediately noticed the mess in the yard and focused his attention on the strange well.
"Damn it!"
Harvey moved the wooden plank aside and saw the wooden ladder inside. "He should still be inside. Haier, you guard outside. I'll go down and catch him!" Harvey held the small pistol in his hand and stepped into the well.
"Yes..." Haier looked around nervously. "Officer Harvey... Should I go get backup?"
"Guard the well first!
Don't wander around. We still don't know if he has an accomplice... "Harvey frowned. His raincoat was stained, but he reached the bottom of the well without a hitch.
The well had been abandoned for a long time, and it emitted an unpleasant, damp smell. The space at the bottom was small, probably only a little bigger than a public toilet. There was no place to hide. Harvey held the flashlight in his mouth, gun in one hand, and felt the wall of the well with the other, hoping to find some kind of mechanism.
But there was nothing. It seemed to be an ordinary dry well. Harvey removed the flashlight from his mouth and sighed. "Haier!" he shouted at the well. "There's nothing here!
We've been fooled! "
Haier didn't reply, and there was no sound from the well. "Haier?"
Harvey looked at the round sky above his head, and for a moment, he felt like an angry and helpless little frog.
"F * ck," Harvey cursed. Realizing that something was wrong, he quickly climbed up with the wooden ladder.
Just as he was about to reach the exit, the light in front of him disappeared. Someone had covered the well with wooden planks. Thump! Thump!
Harvey hit the planks hard, but it didn't work. Someone had blocked the planks with something.
"Haier?
Haier, are you there?! "
Harvey cursed loudly for a while, then calmed down. Because there was no sound from outside, he had to conserve his energy and wait for help.
He went back to the bottom of the well, and a vague idea formed in his mind. To be able to lift such a heavy thing to block the exit and control Haier... This person should be a strong and muscular man...
Harvey took out his walkie-talkie and made a few calls, waiting for a response from the other side. He knocked impatiently on the wall of the well. Suddenly, he heard a different sound coming from behind a rock.
Harvey frowned and knocked again to make sure that there was something behind the rock. What an unexpected surprise.
He pulled the rock out and took out a dark brown book wrapped in a plastic bag. The cover was dirty. Perhaps it had been flipped through often, because the book looked a little wrinkled.
"Secret," was written in black ink on the cover of the book. This book belonged to the deceased, Mr. Dott. Harvey read it with difficulty with his flashlight. The first page of the book said, "... I inherited this tavern from my father. He told me from his sickbed that he named me Dott because my grandfather was also named Dott. He was a great businessman, and my father wanted me to be as great as he was..."
"... But in fact, my father, who lived with my grandmother since he was six, didn't know my real grandfather. My grandfather had a bad temper and was a scumbag. That's what I knew about him. But I, Dott, did learn a lot from Old Dott..."
"... For example, controlling a person through secrets. But how do you learn other people's secrets?
Old Dott used glass shards to carve on my body. Wine, and something born from fire. He called it the Devil's Egg... "
"... The powder of the Devil's Egg is mixed with wine. Those who drink it will only speak the truth. Old Dott said that it was a precious treasure given by the devil. The reason why the Hanged Ghost Tavern is called that is because many people have hanged themselves here because my grandfather caught their little secret..."
Dott's handwriting was not nice. Officer Harvey had to work hard to read it clearly. He felt that Dott and his grandfather were crazy. How could there be something that would only make people speak the truth after eating it?
"... Secrets. I like secrets, and most people in this town have secrets. That makes me very excited. Mayor Gray has secrets, Penny has secrets, Frank Bryce has secrets, and the doctor has secrets too. I can't say that I know these secrets..."
"... Because secrets have to be hidden. That's what a secret is..."
Harvey sighed and inhaled another mouthful of moldy air from the bottom of the well into his lungs. He coughed. Great. Everyone whose secrets Dott knew had become suspects. Harvey frowned as he looked at the Book of Secrets in his hand. He did not want to know these secrets at all.
This was because the villains in TV series would always say, "You know too much." before they killed someone.
"Is there someone in the well?"
Harvey coughed. Suddenly, he heard a little girl's voice outside the well. Her voice was trembling. "Is that the fairy who lives in the well?"
Why would a fairy live in a well?
Harvey shouted loudly, his heart filled with joy. "I'm Officer Harvey!
Child!
Get someone to let me out! "