A good few minutes passed, and not a word was spoken.
They doubted their own ears. Melanie, what was going on with Melanie? Of course, she was a lucky woman, but she was also a victim with three murder attempts directed at her.
Lei Ao was the first to say: “No, impossible.”
Holen also said: “Don’t talk nonsense.”
But apart from them, no one else rashly refuted it. Mary even said: “She poisoned herself, totally possible, as long as she got the dosage right, strychnine wouldn't cause death.”
Jian Jing snapped her fingers: “That’s right, once the murderer is identified, many things become so simple. She of course knew Kimberley wore the necklace, and was also familiar with the layout of the house. And she knew very clearly that there was someone here who was madly trying to kill her to stop this marriage - perfect scapegoat, isn’t it?”
Carl couldn’t help but jump in: “What does that have to do with Kimberley? She poisoned herself just to kill Kimberley?”
“No, the person she wanted to kill was... Lei Ao,” Jian Jing said coldly, “They were already married. Once Lei Ao died, the other person lost the right to inherit, and the Sal family's huge legacy would be hers, right?”
“Oh my god.” Qiao Zhi finally caught on and understood, “This is too horrible.”
Lei Ao firmly disbelieved: “You’re talking nonsense.”
“I know you’d say that, which is why I guessed she’d make a move on you, but didn’t tell you. Instead I chose to hide in the car, to save you after it happened,” Jian Jing sighed and said, “Think about it, how come, so coincidentally, the car exploded right after she got off?”
“Maybe...” Lei Ao licked his lips and said with difficulty, “it was just luck.”
“Don’t fool yourself,” Jian Jing looked at Melanie sitting upright, she was still elegant and beautiful, exquisite and tragically beautiful, and her refined features could easily arouse a man's pity, “The person you love isn't as fragile as she looks.”
In a flash, Si Yingjie put himself in Lei Ao's shoes, and couldn't help but say: “This is not strange, we always fall for beautiful women.”
“Your reasoning has a fatal flaw,” Holen said coldly, “I admit she had motive to kill Lei Ao. Why kill Kimberley, just to create the pretense of someone trying to kill her?”
Jian Jing shook her head: “This was an accident. Killing Kimberley wasn't a smart choice. Three brushes with death is too dramatic, two is just right. However, she had no choice but to do it.”
“I don’t understand,” Qiao Zhi said honestly.
Jian Jing said: “Kimberley's existence could lead to a consequence Melanie didn't want to see - an invalid marriage.”
Everyone was confused: “Why? The law doesn't specify that.”
“Lei Ao, I heard your family has a rule, don't know if it's true or not,” Jian Jing asked, “Didn’t Earl Sal say your family is not allowed to marry Hungarian women?”
Lei Ao was shocked. After a long pause, he frowned and said: “Indeed...but it's just, uh, a provision without much binding power.”
She asked: “May I be blunt, what would happen if you did marry?”
Lei Ao hesitated: “I’d need to consult the lawyers.”
“According to local laws, if the will has such limiting conditions, Lei Ao could potentially lose inheritance rights,” Holen said.
Melanie smiled: “My dear, I married you never for property. Besides, I’m French, not Hungarian.”
Lei Ao smiled at her, with unnatural heaviness in his eyes.
Jian Jing asked: “Really, you're French?”
“Do you want to see my passport?” Melanie retorted.
Jian Jing said: “Of course the passport is fine. What struck me as odd were Kimberley's words, she called you a lucky girl - just when you arrived at Uncle Hank's, his stocks surged. Why did she say 'just arrived'?
“If she meant your birth, shouldn't she have used the French word for 'arrive'? More oddly, when she first suggested you pose as a countess, the one she mentioned was Countess Bathory. Forgive my poor European history, I vaguely remember she was quite famous, and, a Hungarian?”
Holen said: “Her most famous rumor was that she bathed in the blood of young girls to maintain her youth.”
Jian Jing realized: “I knew it sounded familiar, she was Hungarian indeed, right?”
“That’s just your speculation,” Melanie said leisurely, “Kimberley liked joking around, maybe she just thought the bloody countess was interesting.”
“I don’t think so. Kimberley was very stubborn about taking pride in France. Emily was French, and Esmeralda she later suggested was also a French literary character. There’s no reason for her to compare you to a Hungarian woman.”
Jian Jing refuted, but also said: “Though this is just my guess. Retrieving adoption records isn’t very hard, it's just difficult to do now - oh well, let’s talk about stronger evidence.”
Her expression gradually became grave: “This was the biggest puzzle I encountered. The two poisonings were extremely clever, any traces left would be normal, since the ‘intended’ victim was you after all. So for a time I was very troubled, and had to analyze your psychological state from a more abstract level.”
Murder is a crime, a malignance, a brutality.
And exquisite murder is also a talent.
The distinguished detective and the cunning criminal, in a moment, arouse a wondrous resonance.
“I think, even if you planned to seize the inheritance from when you first met Lei Ao, the idea to murder must be very recent. You needed to ensure your place on the inheritance list, and that there really was a handsome fortune, not an empty shell deep in debt.
“Most importantly, you had to deal with other heirs. The crux of this plan was killing two birds with one stone.”
Jian Jing said the last Chinese idiom, then translated it into English. So the expressions of Lei Ao, as one of the birds and brother of the other bird, clearly changed.
But he held back the urge to question, and didn’t rashly believe a person he’d only known a few days over his own wife.
Jian Jing went on: “Poison is hard to get past security checks. If your bag was searched, it would be very hard to explain. After you arrived here you stayed in the castle, rarely going out, and it's unsafe to buy poison in unfamiliar places. So where did the poison come from?
“I carefully examined the poisoned needle that killed Kimberley. It was very inconspicuous, but different from a regular disposable stainless steel needle. At the time I didn’t pay attention, until I went to the third floor collection room, where a corner cabinet displayed a diary.”
Lei Ao said: “Wilson’s diary?”
“Yes, he was your...”
“My grandfather's brother.”
Jian Jing said: “He participated in World War II, collected some war memorabilia, including a Soviet medical kit and the poisons the Germans used for assassinations, including cyanide and strychnine. The poison needle was an old injection needlehead, its unique shape matched the metal syringes of the past.”
Holen sharply asked: “Were there fingerprints? Otherwise how does it prove anything?”
“It proves the murder weapon was improvised on the spot,” Jian Jing said. “Let’s recall what Melanie wore at the first night's banquet, it was a beautiful evening gown.”
Mary said: “I see, the key lies in how she administered the poison.”
“Yes, the evening gown had no pockets. Under everyone's watch, how did she manage to secretly poison?” Jian Jing stared at Lei Ao and asked, “You know now, right?”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to look at him.
Lei Ao's face was stiff, like a mask. Faced with Jian Jing's questions, he didn't answer or refute.
That already said it all.
“It was the ring,” Jian Jing announced the answer, “I remember very clearly, it was a beautiful antique ring, the setting encrusted with a red ruby...”
Lei Ao nodded slightly: “Oui.”
Here is my translation of the Chinese novel excerpt into English:
This is a classic European ring design that was popular in the 16th century. The ring has a hidden compartment, usually used to hold smelling salts, hair, spices and...poison.
"So the truth is simple. Open the hidden compartment, and with a flick of the wrist while drinking...everything is accomplished." Jian Jing calmly asked, "Melanie, do you need to find that ring and test it for traces of strychnine, or are you going to deny knowing anything about this?"
"No need." The beauty slowly stood up, a charming smile blossoming on her alluring face, "To say more would only make me look bad. Yes, Lei Ao."
She looked at Lei Ao and softly revealed the answer: "It was me."
"Oh no," Holen turned his face away, his expression contorted, unable to bear looking any longer.
Lei Ao sorrowfully looked at her and said in a low voice, "I don't understand."
"Lei Ao, I don't like this kind of plot twist: the truth comes out and then comes the tearful telling of one's story to elicit the audience's sympathy. Hackneyed detectives love doing this, but what's the point?"
She looked down at the audience's faces and slowly said, "From very early on, I had decided that I must live the high life in the future. I loathed the old, cheap apartments, the alcoholic, addict and prostitute neighbors. I also hated my lecherous foster father and stupid foster mother. I hoped they would all go to hell."
"With great difficulty, I obtained a handsome and wealthy husband, and could immediately start living a comfortable life. But because of my bloodline, ha, the damned Hungarian bloodline, I would lose everything? No, I won't allow myself to go back to those days."
"Lei Ao, of course I love you, but compared to love, I want money more, enough money to end this nightmare. Most women like me know very clearly that men are unreliable, only money will never betray you, so I'm afraid..."
Melanie glanced back with a smile, and drew a small pistol from her embroidered handbag.
"No, don't move." She extended her arm with the gun pointed at Mary next to her, "Lei Ao, for the sake of our marriage, let me kindly remind you to go check on lovely Margaret. If you're late, I don't know if she'll still be alive."
Lei Ao abruptly stood up and staggered a few steps: "No, Melanie, no..."
"Be a man and face reality," Melanie said coldly, "Gentlemen, please leave, or poor Mary will be meeting her maker."
Mary clenched her fists, "You think you can get away with this?"
"That's for me to worry about," Melanie's hand holding the gun was very steady, her tone calmly ruthless, "Jian, go to the garage and get a car for me. Don't try anything funny, look at Mary's face."
"You're thinking too much," Jian Jing put down her cooled hot chocolate, "I wasn't planning on trying anything."
She didn't put down the silver spoon she was stirring with, but instead quickly, forcefully and precisely threw it.
Aimed right at the card.
The exquisite silver spoon was no more than an inch away, hitting Melanie's wrist exactly. From the intense pain, her body reacted faster than her mind, and she abruptly let go.
The gun dropped down.
Mary reacted swiftly, immediately kicking the gun away so she couldn't pick it up again. Then she darted up and dodged to a safe spot.
Melanie gripped her swollen wrist, with deep surprise in her beautiful eyes.
Is it over?
In this second and a half?
"Failure and death, they both happen in an instant," Jian Jing smiled, "Melanie."
She was silent, then after a moment, lightly sighed and sat down in the chair.
Jian Jing said, "Let's go check on Margaret, I hope she hasn't played herself to death."
??? Please indicate the source when reposting:
