"And Bram, let's skip over the fact that we originally asked him for help and just talk about this case...why did he hook up with Johnny to kill people like this?"
"They have no motive!" he said.
"money?"
"I think Bram is richer than their family!"
"woman?"
"That girl named Helen has a nice figure and good looks. You saw what happened just now. Her mother wanted to do that, and she almost took off her clothes and offered herself to him...! As long as Bram agrees, we will be a family. Why would he kill his future relative for nothing?"
"Since all of these are impossible, the last possibility is nothing more than a deep hatred between them."
Darent shook his head. "Unfortunately, Peter Bram died of old age. The information cannot be wrong, and there is no possibility of revenge."
"That means there is no motive, and your speculation is nonsense."
"Are you kidding me?"
Hitzfeld laughed contemptuously.
"It seems that you are not very smart, my dear assistant."
"I warn you……"
"They have a grudge against each other." Hitzfeld interrupted him, "Their biggest disagreement is that they want to seize more pirate treasures with fewer people."
Darent was slightly stunned.
"You said pirate treasure..."
"While you were sleeping this morning, I went to see the town's lamplighter. This is the important information he gave me."
Hitzfeld took out the little notebook and handed it to him, asking him to add to his own thoughts while he looked through it.
"As you can see, the Gebrina family, that is, in the early days when they only had four people: Horus, Beni, Furken, and Jonah."
"The gold rush was in full swing at that time. According to my previous speculation that they were pirates, it was obviously impossible for them to hide in a place like Barvik that would attract a lot of attention and might have a large influx of people in a short period of time."
"Hmm..." Darent frowned.
That's exactly what she said.
"So they must have come here before gold was discovered here!"
Hitzfeld said with certainty.
"At that time, Barvik was desolate and dilapidated. There was no sign of human habitation for miles. It was a perfect place to hide from pursuit."
"Even if they are finally discovered, they can just run to the river beach and hide in the Burro Canyon. With such a complex terrain, it will be difficult for the police to catch them."
"But they didn't count on finding gold here!"
"After the news about the gold got out, it was too late for them to leave."
"But..." Darent finished reading the notes, "There are still some things I don't understand... that is... when everyone wants to go to one place, but you insist on going against the trend, especially when you are in good health, it is easy to attract other people's attention... Yes, that's right! But they are not ordinary people, so it is not difficult for them to escape from Barvik?"
"escape?"
The girl sneered, "Why are you running away?"
"Have you ever seen a bandit complain that the money he robbed was too much?"
"I understand."
Darent realized: "...Fokken!"
"Fokken-Gebrina. Horus lives in the town with Benny and Jonah. On the surface, they don't get involved in any fights and try to keep a low profile. But Fokken went out to organize their own gold mining team... They also want gold! The more gold and treasures, the better!"
The more he analyzed, the more he felt that Hitzfeld's summary made sense.
"If a fugitive pirate says he has no stolen treasures on him, I don't think you will believe him."
Hitzfeld nodded.
"They may have hidden the treasure somewhere in the wild, on a riverbank, or in a canyon."
"And it is very likely that they were divided into several groups, because they are pirates, and this profession...even brothers believe in settling accounts openly."
"Fokken is definitely not missing. I speculate that he died in an internal struggle because they wanted to annex Fokken's share."
"They didn't leave because the treasure was difficult to take out or because... after killing Furken, they still couldn't find the treasure he had hidden. So they chose to stay in this rotten place and wait for the day when they can find it."
"…not for some elusive gold mine!"
Darent frowned in thought.
He was looking for logical holes in Hitzfeld's reasoning.
If you really want to find loopholes, there are definitely some, but we must admit that this is currently the most reliable route.
"So the doctor found out about this from somewhere... Oh, maybe from the records left by his father, and then he convinced Johnny to go treasure hunting with him... He took such a big risk to go out every night just to find these things..."
Darent muttered to himself.
"Maybe they have a way to avoid evil."
Hitzfeld said.
"any solution?"
Darent raised his eyebrows.
"this."
The girl helped him turn another page.
He lowered his head and saw a circular ring with dense patterns painted on it.
Chapter 23 Confusion
After some brief discussion, Hitzfeld and Darent reached a consensus.
The following points can now be confirmed.
①: It is indeed possible that Bram is the murderer, and his motive for committing the crime is to steal the treasure owned by Horus and Jonah.
②: From what Old Bard said about Horus traveling thousands of miles to the capital to attend the auction, and from Jonah's previous entrustment of them to find Falcon's ring, it can be seen that both Horus and Jonah care very much about the blood-patterned gold ring.
③: That ring may be the source of the Gap Curse. It is very likely in Bram's hands now. Bram's ability to go out in the Eternal Night is related to it.
④: At the same time, it may also be the key to finding the treasure left by Furken.
⑤: Bram once said that Paul Lawrence issued a curse before his death, which might have been his intention to mislead them. The curse range they measured later was exactly the same as the "Lawrence curse" he had spoken at the time, which might mean that he could control the curse with the ring.
⑥: It is impossible to confirm whether Johnny is still alive. They plan to follow the doctor when he goes fishing this Saturday, hoping to get key evidence.
"That's about it."
Hitzfeld kept shaking his head, regretting that Darent did not completely agree with him.
He basically believed all the other speculations, except for the fact that Benny was pushed down by Johnny, on which he reserved his opinion.
"The reason I'm not sure is because the old lady is harmless."
Darent said.
"Yes, Horus and Furkon are pirate brothers. They may have been extremely vicious and evil in the past. Jonah, who was raised by Horus, is not a good guy either. I know all this."
"If Johnny hated his father and grandfather under Bram's instigation and wanted to kill them, then we can say that he is stupid, or has an excessive sense of justice... and so on..."
"But what's wrong with Bernie?"
"This old lady... From Mrs. Gebrina, Mickey, Chris and other descendants, we can see that she must be a sensible and good person - otherwise a group of pirates can't teach such children, right? What reason does Johnny have to kill this kind grandmother?"
"Indeed, the reason is still unknown."
Hitzfeld nodded and changed the subject: "But my assumption is that if such a person exists - that is, Benny was indeed pushed down, then Johnny is indeed the biggest suspect."
"why?"
"Because Dewey didn't yell at that time."
Darent was stunned.
"It didn't bark." Hitzfeld nodded. "You saw how violently the animal reacted when it saw us. Even if its own owners, Mickey, Chris, Helen, Lily, Mrs. Gebrina... these people came to feed it and approach it, it would not have remained silent. So if there really was such a person, he must have a very close relationship with Dewey, and it couldn't have been an outsider."
"And what did Mickey say at the time? Only Horus, Jonah and Johnny were close to Dewey, and I saw that the face of the corpse had been shaved off, so of course I would guess so."
"Your hypothesis." Darent held his chin with one hand and pointed at the girl with the other hand, "There is a big flaw in your hypothesis."
"Loophole?"
"After the old lady fell, there was a huge backlash... You went upstairs and we were downstairs. The nearby townspeople heard the noise and gathered around with lights on."
"That's right."
"If there really is such a person, how did he escape?" Darent spread his hands, "...The only normal way to get from the second floor to the first floor is that staircase - it is watched by the people on the first floor. You didn't see him on the second floor, and if he jumped out of the window to escape, he would be discovered by the townspeople."
"It's simple." Hitzfeld tilted his head. "He could have been hiding on the second floor, or in that hidden attic, until daytime, when you all were asleep and rested, and then he could sneak down and run away."
This was the revelation she got from the mechanical golem - never ignore the darkness beneath the lamp.
"It's easy to confirm this. Your shoes will definitely be covered in mud after coming from the riverbank. The first and second floors were where Chief Inspector Makan and his men went before, so there are so many messy footprints that they can't be distinguished. But as for the attic, they didn't go there at the time."
"You want them to open the attic? Are there any traces in there to confirm the hypothesis?"
"Correct."
"I don't recommend you do this."
Darent said thoughtfully.
"Now we can basically confirm that Horus and Jonah are dangerous - very dangerous. If you expose their bad deeds, they will be afraid of you, but if you keep pushing their bottom line, they may choose to take risks."
"Take a risk?" Hitzfeld was stunned.
"Like telling you to shut up completely."
A chill rose from behind the girl.
She remembered the way Horus had looked at her during the conflict.
"I didn't bring you to Barwick to play detective games, Hitzfeld."
Darent shook his head.
"It would be great if the case could be solved, but no matter what, I have to consider your safety first."
Hitzfeld frowned, suddenly feeling a little ridiculous.
I have experienced the second golem curse and witnessed the evil of the evil.
To stop it, I joined forces with many others and worked together for a common goal.
Many people died.
Many people didn't even have the time to leave a last word.
Yes, I have witnessed it all... It is precisely because I have witnessed those noble sacrifices with my own eyes that I have always felt that stopping the evil and suppressing the curse are more important than anything else.
But right now, the greatest threat to my life is not the curse I am trying to suppress.
But people?
Are you a human being like me?
"..."
She could understand that a group of bandits could not possibly have such awareness.
But she still felt it was ridiculous and a little empty inside.
Muko...
lady……
Did they sacrifice themselves just to protect these people?
"Don't think too much."
A hand landed on the top of the head and rubbed it vigorously.
It's Darent.
The thin man also tilted his head. He could see what the girl was struggling with.
