Ethan grinned and smiled at her.
"He was bullied at school, hungry and cold... What gave rise to his ideal was not his inherent nobility, but a piece of candy she bought with all her income after a day's work."
"That might be the first time in his life that he knew what sweetness was."
“Perhaps it was from that moment that he set his goal to make candy a common food.”
Hitzfeld was silent for a moment.
Then he asked, “Do you believe in this one more?”
"That's not my subjective opinion." Ethan shook his head. "According to the first statement, given their family situation, his father couldn't have afforded to buy alcohol all the time. There are many contradictions in this statement."
"Then I checked the time of all the records and found that as time went by, the records of the second statement became less and less. It was as if an invisible force was erasing the impression in people's minds."
"Maybe it was the royal family's doing," Hitzfeld said. "They wanted to establish him as the spokesperson for... ketchup, and later as the spokesperson for candy, a star for children, and they certainly didn't want anyone to know about his family scandal."
"It doesn't matter now." Ethan looked at her. "The most important thing now is whether his former residence is related to Enling Road, and whether his death was caused by no external factors as recorded."
Yes.
This is the key.
Hitzfeld frowned deeply - this was exactly what she wanted to grasp. The reason why she asked Father Vander that question at the end was that she suspected that Nicholas Brende might be related to Ghost Street.
After all... ghosts handing out candy, ghost streets suddenly appearing, and so on.
The New Lunso Church at the intersection of Enling Road happened to be a place he had visited as a child, and the Huishi Orchard behind it was formerly the red eggplant orchard that was once under his name.
With so many coincidences, she naturally wondered if he had lived nearby.
Even lived on Enling Road.
But there are still many doubts.
Apart from anything else, he is a noble man in every sense of the word. How could such a man turn into a ghost to seek revenge?
And they targeted children?
Could Nicholas be such a demon for such a young child?
What happened to him before he died?
As the girl was walking on the road with questions in mind, she suddenly saw Ethan take out a cigarette box from his arms, take out a cigarette and hold it in his mouth.
During this process, she saw a black-and-white photo inside the cigarette box.
Although she only caught a fleeting glimpse, she still recognized it - it could only be the face of Batti Villefort.
She couldn't help but glance at Ethan's profile again.
No words were spoken.
Just quietly accompany him.
--------
I'm not feeling well and have a headache... Allow me to rest for a day, I'll continue with the three updates tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Chapter 21 Predecessor
“There is no problem with the nearby water source.”
When I returned to the yard of No. 14 Enling Road and saw Darent again, this was his first sentence.
"The water supply to these houses is directly piped in, and the source is the water plant west of the orchard. They have carefully checked the tap water quality of these houses and found no trace of hallucinogens."
"There's also the Chengbei Park, and the lakes and streams there are fine... There aren't any factories nearby, and you can walk for an hour without finding a large furnace, and there's no toxic smoke pollution."
In short, the translation means the same thing: Hitzfeld's speculation is wrong. The residents of Enling Road encountered the ghost street not because of a simple hallucination.
"You've neglected the orchard." Hitzfeld glanced at him and shook his head slightly, looking very disappointed in him. "That's right. After all, you've never been a farmer. You don't know that you have to burn something to fertilize the land before farming."
In fact, after the tragic death of 7-year-old Brody, Hitzfeld was certain that it was definitely not due to simple hallucinations.
It is impossible for hallucinations to make a child pull his head out and fly to the roof to eat candy, but hallucinations may still be a secondary cause, a special means to lead these people into Ghost Street.
Otherwise how can we explain that only the people on Enling Road encountered hallucinations?
After all, Bill Ponson had emphasized that he had gone to the police station many times, but each time the police sent someone to find it, they found nothing. Even the reporters who followed him to make a big news returned disappointed, which fully demonstrated that Ghost Street had preferences.
It is not an indiscriminate evil disaster, but requires certain specific conditions to be met, and only those who are targeted by it can enter.
But if we speculate from this angle, it looks more like revenge.
Could it really be the ghost of Earl Candy?
"Oh! You talk as if you were a farmer!" Darent was dissatisfied and continued to argue with the girl: "Look at your little finger... If I didn't know you, I would guess that it couldn't hold the gun steadily."
"Ah!" The big white dog immediately rushed forward and barked at him, "Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
"What do you want to do?" Darent raised his cane and hovered it in front of the dog's nose, circling back and forth. "Do you dare to bite me?"
"Crack!"
"My Black Lord—are you really biting!?"
"I need detailed information about nearby residents."
Darent was playing with the dog nearby, and Hitzfeld ignored him. When he saw Sheriff Daisy jump over the fence and come in, he made a direct request to her: "In addition, we also need a copy of Mark Sinley's information before his death in the car accident."
"No problem." Daisy had just come out of the Ponson family's house. Although she had been taking notes all afternoon, it was clear from her furrowed brows that she was still at a loss as to what to do with the case.
When she had no ideas at all, she was very happy to have someone stand up and tell her what she needed to do, so she immediately wrote down her request in a notebook.
"Do you want the information of the residents in the surrounding area? A total of 15 houses?"
"Both." The girl nodded, and then added: "If possible, give me a copy of Mr. Pang Sen's history of making a fortune."
"That's a lot to check." Daisy's brows, which had just relaxed, frowned again, "...But we will try our best. But Hitzfeld, can I ask what you want to find out with this information?"
"Your pet often patrols the sky but never finds any suspicious individuals. I wonder if it doesn't think the other party is suspicious at all."
"Ah? You mean Jess...you suspect the murderer is a nearby resident?" Daisy was shocked by her bold guess.
But think about it, this is indeed possible - they patrolled the area before the crime and didn't find anything strange. But what if the murderer doesn't look suspicious at all, and is a "normal person" in the eyes of them, or even the mountain eagle Jie Xi?
Wouldn't it be natural for him to slowly lay out his plans during this period of time, and possibly clear himself of suspicion after succeeding?
She looked up at the street outside, and saw the shadowy outlines of houses No. 13 and No. 12 from several hundred meters away. Daisy's heart was also shrouded in a shadow.
She had never been to Ghost Street, but had only heard the residents' general descriptions of it, and had no idea of the terrifying feeling it had.
But now, after hearing what Hitzfeld said, and thinking of the boy Brody's weird smile, she suddenly felt that it might not be safe to walk on the street outside, because she didn't know whether the real murderer might be hiding in a nearby house, watching her.
"As for the other requests... after all, this looks more like revenge, so I need to know what they have done before," Hitzfeld continued.
"Right." Daisy nodded as she wrote down the information. "It's the right decision. I'll send you the necessary information as soon as possible."
"By the way, Sheriff." Hitzfeld looked at the sky and casually asked, "When was Enling Road built?"
"Well... let me think... it's probably been a while..."
"I guess it was in 1966, which means at least 19 years ago?"
"Huh?" Daisy looked up suddenly, her eyes wide open as she stared at the girl, her face full of surprise, "...Are you teasing me on purpose?"
No one usually remembers this thing, so her impression of it was very vague.
But after being reminded of the specific time, she immediately remembered it—it was indeed around this time. She then suspected that Hitzfeld knew everything in detail and asked her to test her.
This is a bit much.
He was just a detective without an official position... Daisy thought she had been very polite to him, but this kind of test was close to the level of provocation and even insult.
"No, you misunderstood." The girl shook her head, "I guessed it."
"So you guessed it?" Daisy's voice became louder, her eyes wider than before.
"Ah."
"But...how can we guess the exact time?"
"We went to the church in the afternoon, and Father Vander said he didn't know about it, but he had been brought into the church by Bishop Lanno since he was 9 years old. I calculated his age and felt that the construction time of Grace Road could not be less than 19-20 years."
"..."
Sheriff Daisy opened her mouth slightly, shocked beyond words by this logic.
The priest is 28 years old this year. He was 9 years old exactly 19 years ago.
According to this line of thinking, if Enling Road was built after 1966, it is impossible for him, who lived at the intersection of Enling Road, to have no memory of it.
This is really simple math...
But she said it so naturally.
After taking a deep look at the girl, Daisy calmed down and said, "I roughly remember that it was in August 1965...Enling Road was renovated once."
"What about these mansions, were they there before the renovation?"
"Yes... If my memory serves me correctly, there were far more than 15 mansions at that time - there was no plan to build the North City Park at that time. The roadside you see now... that is, the part that belongs to the park, was originally supposed to be residential houses lined up side by side."
"So that means more than a dozen houses were demolished at that time?"
Darent finally regained control of the cane, straightened his collar and asked her.
"I don't know any more." Daisy shook her head.
"After all, it's too early. I'm not someone who specializes in this kind of planning, but I can help you find the archives from that time."
"Then you must not know whether Nicholas Brende lived here before?"
Ethan watched for a long time and finally spoke.
"Nicholas...Brend?"
Hearing the name, Daisy was half confused and half shocked.
"Of course I don't know. Why do you think so? His residence is in the west of the city! The former residence of Earl Candy is often visited by tourists..."
"We think he shouldn't have just that one house." Hitzfeld interrupted her, "and his red tomato garden is right here. This garden is so closely integrated with Enling Road, it's impossible for the owner to not have a place to live nearby."
"I am not sure……"
Daisy just shook her head.
She was completely confused by them.
Why are you mentioning Earl of Candy again?
Could it be that they suspected that the weird guy handing out candy was... the Count back in ghost form?
"I know."
Just then, a hoarse voice suddenly came from behind.
"It was because he lived here that the predecessor of Enling Road was called Candy Avenue."
Chapter 22 Dog Dream
"lady!"
Hearing Daisy's low cry, Hitzfeld already knew who was coming.
Turning around, a young widow in a black dress was standing on the steps of the house, looking down at them. The wooden boards under her feet and behind her were covered with bloodstains that could not be cleaned up after repeated washing. Coupled with her stiff expression, it was a bit scary at first glance.
"Why are you out again?" Daisy immediately stepped forward to help her. "It's almost night, shall we go in first, ma'am?"
The body on the lawn had been taken away, and apart from the police officers on guard outside, they were the only ones left in the yard. They first invited Mrs. Sinlai back to the house and made her sit down on the sofa before deciding to continue the previous topic.
"Ma'am." Hitzfeld was the first to speak, "It seems that you know something about the predecessor of Enling Road, that is, 'Candy Avenue'?"
"Yes." Mrs. Shinley said dully, "But I don't know this myself. I heard it from my husband."
Her husband was Mark Sinley, the unlucky man who died in a car accident.
"It doesn't matter." Hitzfeld glanced at Ethan, who had already taken out a notebook and a pen. "We want any information that can help the case. Just tell us, do you know why this street was renovated at that time?"
"I'm not sure." Mrs. Xinlai paused, "But I once heard Mark mention that this was a stupid decision. Some people deliberately wanted to eliminate his influence, so he came back for revenge..."
Was she hiding at the door and eavesdropping just now?
Ethan looked at her in surprise. Because if she hadn't been eavesdropping...it was unlikely that she would recover so quickly and link the child's death to Earl Candy.
