Chapter 289 Outsider
Chapter 289 Outsider
Ning Zhe opened the door and came to the corridor on the second floor of the clock tower. He flew up directly, which was faster than the investigation team who went up the stairs from the main corridor. He could wait for their chance on the only way up the stairs.
On the way to the Grand Corridor, Ning Zhe quickly summarized the currently known information.
About Plumeria's chessboard:
1. After Plumeria made the "Undo" operation, time was reversed to before she made her first move.
From the perspective of Sheriff Ebonick, Housekeeper Mary, and the investigation team, Officer John did not kidnap the sheriff, the chandelier was not knocked down by his 11 shots, and the henchman was spotted by "His Highness" as soon as he entered the room, and was shot in the head by Mary's swift American Iai.
For everyone in the lobby on the first floor, they only heard one gunshot from housekeeper Mary killing the henchman, and there was never any gun battle.
But female police officer Susie, who was not in the lobby on the first floor at the time, heard it. She and other police officers including Gavin Newsom were in the laundry room at the time. They heard the continuous gunshots coming from the direction of the clock tower and the short gun battle that was "undone" and never happened.
2. Plumeria set up the chess game in three places: the underground warehouse, the lobby on the first floor, and the open space in the center of the castle.
Except for the chess game in the basement which Ning Zhe could not observe due to the dim light, the two chess games set up in the lobby on the first floor and the open space in the castle were placed very deliberately.
When setting up the game in the hall, the four sides of the chessboard correspond to the four walls of the hall, front, back, left and right.
When setting up the game in the center of the castle, the four sides of the chessboard correspond to the four walls of Vanessa Castle in the east, south, west and north respectively.
"So, the rule of that chess game should be - 'set up the game'."
Ning Zhe quickly came to a conclusion: "Chess pieces can only move within the chess game, and 'repenting' can only affect the state within the chess game. Outsiders are not affected by the chess game."
“When the game was set up in the basement, the scope of the game was a warehouse.”
"When the game was set up in the clock tower, the scope of the game was the lobby on the first floor."
"When the chess game is set in the center of the castle, the scope of the chess game is the entire Vanessa Castle."
Therefore, although the gunfight in the lobby on the first floor was "undone", for the parties involved, this incident never happened, but Susie, Newsom and other police officers who were outside the game still remembered the gunshots they heard before. As outsiders, they would not be affected by the game.
This is also the reason why Susie’s cell phone time is more than ten minutes faster than Ningzhe’s watch.
Ning Zhe walked quickly through the corridor and came to an open-air circular terrace. On both sides of the terrace were two long milky white curved stone steps, which connected to the ground floor in a graceful snake-like arc. This was the main structure of the bell tower, the 'Grand Corridor'.
Standing at the side of the terrace and carefully leaning his head out, Ning Zhe quietly looked at the girl in black skirt standing quietly in the open space in the distance, and recalled what the man in leather jacket said before he left: "The safety of His Highness and us is in your hands, Miss Meilin."
"No wonder the man in leather jacket dared to lead the team directly into the bell tower. He was not impulsive, but confident."
The chess game has been set up, and now the entire Vanessa Castle is under the control of Her Highness Plumeria. Everyone in the chess game is just a chess piece in her hand that she can "undo" at any time.
The Frimmisret family obviously knows a lot about the ghosts in the castle, otherwise they would not have sent such a targeted Upgrader to directly control the entire Vanessa Castle, but the question is... "Is this 'Your Highness' an Upgrader or a Granter of Titles?" Ning Zhe looked at Plumeria's slender back like a flower branch, thoughtfully.
There were dense footsteps downstairs, and Ning Zhe's body suddenly turned into a wisp of invisible air. A long-tailed tit flew into the lush green leafy potted plant beside the guardrail, its eyes shining black.
The footsteps became clearer than blurry, and a man in leather jacket holding a gun in both hands first came into view. A group of six people walked up the large corridor to the second floor and came to the edge of the terrace. Further inside was the second-floor banquet hall that Ning Zhe had set on fire in his dream before, and it was still intact.
"We're on the second floor, and everything is normal now." The man in the leather jacket was wearing headphones and nodded into the microphone clipped to his collar, saying, "We're preparing to go to the third floor now...Okay, I'll pay attention."
Sheriff Ebonick walked to the terrace railing and waved to the people downstairs. Ning Zhe hid in the potted plants and turned his head to look down. Housekeeper Mary, who was standing in the middle of the open space, also waved over here. She and Plumeria seemed to be wearing headphones as well, and the two groups were keeping in touch in real time.
"Susie, what did your brother say in the last phone call he made to you?" the man in leather jacket asked as they walked.
Policewoman Susie shook her head. "Nothing, sir. After the call was connected, I didn't hear him speak. There was only some indistinguishable noise on the other end of the phone, like fabric rubbing against the ground, or the wind blowing the curtains. He hung up soon."
"Yeah."
Without staying on the second floor for long, the man in leather jacket took the lead and led everyone upstairs.
During this field operation, 24 police officers were divided into groups of three. The group that Susie's brother was in was responsible for investigating and collecting evidence in areas such as the library on the third floor of the clock tower. The place where they last lost contact was also on the third floor.
Vanessa Castle has a strict hierarchy, which is reflected in the architectural structure:
The first floor is centered around the reception hall, with facilities such as stables, kitchens, and laundry rooms, where servants are the mainstay of activities;
The second floor is centered around the banquet hall, with many vacant guest rooms and entertainment venues, and is a place for entertaining guests.
The third floor is the private area of the castle's owner, Grand Duchess Vanessa. The library, art exhibition hall, and the castle lord's bedroom are all on this floor.
When the investigation team arrived at the third floor, many doors were already open. These doors must have been opened when Sunak's team was investigating and collecting evidence before his disappearance, and they were not closed in time.
"Everyone act together. Be careful not to get separated or left alone." The man in leather jacket said, pointing the gun with both hands at the nearest door.
The six of them entered together. Inside the door was an exhibition hall with many glass display cabinets. In addition to paintings, porcelain and other artworks, there were also many souvenirs that had special meaning to the Flimmisret family, such as:
The deed to the family's first fiefdom, the horseshoe of the beloved horse that accompanied the first owner in battle for many years, the bow and arrow that killed the leader of the peasant uprising, the written records of the marriages between family members and the royal family...all of these are properly sealed in glass display cases and quietly displayed in the exhibition hall on the third floor of Vanessa Castle.
The group searched the exhibition hall for a long time but did not find anything suspicious.
"Next room." The man in leather jacket turned his gun around, led the team out of the exhibition hall and walked into the next door.
(End of this chapter)