Page 311
Walking on the corridor on the second floor, Bai Heqing lowered his head slightly and could see the first-floor hall submerged in water below him.
He really couldn't understand this strange interest... This special villa made Baihe Qing feel like he was in the water city of Venice.
No, maybe even Venice is not that outrageous. At least the Venetians will not let water in to flood their own homes.
The three of them walked through the long corridor surrounding the lobby on the first floor and finally came to a lounge at the end of the corridor.
Pushing open the heavy door of the hall, Kurahashi Motoaki and Shirakawa Kiyoshi walked in.
"Everyone, Detective Shirakawa and Detective Mary are here."
There were seven people standing or sitting in the luxuriously decorated hall. After hearing Kurahashi Motoaki's voice, the seven people turned their heads and looked over almost at the same time.
"Welcome, I didn't expect you two to come so soon."
One of the seven men immediately stood up from the sofa and walked towards the two of them with a smile.
"Although Lady Elizabeth repeatedly assured me on the phone this morning that you would be able to come today, considering the distance from London to here, we are actually prepared for you two to arrive tomorrow...
Anyway, it's great that you two can come here so quickly."
As he spoke, the man extended his hand toward Shirakawa Kiyoshi and made a gesture as if he wanted to shake hands with him. He spoke in Japanese.
The man was wearing a blue suit, had a middle-parted hair, and a thin face. Shirakawa Kiyoshi and Mary had seen his photo from Black Rose before they came.
He is Takahiro Tone, the man who is the eldest son of Eijiro Tone but is not included in the list of heirs to Eijiro Tone's estate.
"Mr. Guiyang, you are too kind. It is the duty of detectives like us to do our best to help our clients solve their problems." Bai Heqing also smiled and stretched out his hand to shake his hand.
"You two, I think you all know why Lady Elizabeth asked you to come here on her behalf, right?"
Another man stood up from the sofa where Tone Takahiro had been sitting and asked.
The man was wearing casual clothes, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, had a buzz cut, and looked very similar to Takahiro Tone.
He is Tone Takahiro's younger brother, Tone Kosuke, the eldest son of Tone Eijiro, and the second young master of the Tone family who also does not appear on the list of heirs to the estate.
"My father left behind a large inheritance, but when he decided to write a will, he was already extremely weak, and in the end he didn't even have time to tell us the exact location of the inheritance...
The only thing we can be sure of at the moment is that the heritage must still be on this island..."
"Master Hangjie, please rest assured. Since we have accepted this commission, we will definitely help you find the whereabouts of the inheritance."
"Humph!"
As soon as Bai Heqing finished speaking, a cold snort suddenly sounded in the hall.
He looked in the direction of the voice and found an elderly white man.
The white old man was wearing a dark green suit. He was rather old, probably in his fifties or sixties. His face was covered with wrinkles, and much of his blond hair had turned white with time.
Unlike the others in the room, this old white man had a very special aura, heavy and aggressive.
He is Geoffrey Clyde, one of the three heirs designated by Eijiro Tone, a former British naval lieutenant and a retired soldier.
"What can two young boys accomplish?" Seeing Bai Heqing looking at him, Clyde said with even more disdain.
"Come on, come on, Clyde. Young people are always better than us old, gloomy old men, aren't they?"
As soon as Clyde finished speaking, an old man sitting opposite him holding a cup of coffee spoke with a smile.
Compared to Clyde, this old man looked older. He had a typical East Asian male appearance, was a little fat, had a smooth bald head, and only a few pitiful strands of hair hanging on both sides of his head.
This man is a Singaporean named Yang Douxin. He seems to be the big boss of a certain company. Like Clyde, he is also one of the three heirs to the estate.
"Hmph, it will only cause more trouble..." Clyde just smiled coldly at Yang Douxin's words.
"This old British man seems to look down on us." Since the two were talking in English, Mary explained to Bai Heqing quietly and quickly.
"It doesn't matter. This has nothing to do with us." Bai Heqing replied softly with a smile.
"Please don't take it too seriously, Mr. Clyde doesn't mean any harm."
At this moment, a young man at the coffee table nearby spoke to the two of them in a gentle and apologetic voice.
This young man has a scholarly temperament and a handsome appearance. He seems to be about the same age as Shirakawa Kiyoshi.
His name is Kazuhiko Kitakami. I heard that he is a lecturer at a university in Japan and is the last person on the list of heirs to Eijiro Tone's inheritance.
At this point, Tone Takahiro and Tone Kosuke, the sons of Tone Eijiro, and the three designated heirs of the estate, Clyde, Yang Douxin, and Kitakami Kazuhiko, had already recognized five of the seven people originally in the hall, thanks to the information provided by Black Rose.
The last two people left were a sturdy man with a full beard and an East Asian woman wearing a purple cheongsam. These two people were not included in the information previously provided by Black Rose.
"Okay, stop talking useless nonsense!"
Clyde interrupted Kitakami Kazuhiko impatiently, glanced at Shirakawa Kiyoshi and Mary, and said bluntly:
"Now that they are here, let's act quickly and find the inheritance as soon as possible so that I can leave soon..."
"Ugh!"
Clyde had just said half of his words when Yang Douxin, who was sitting opposite him and drinking coffee with a smile on his face, suddenly raised his hand to cover his neck, with an extremely painful look on his face.
"Yang?!"
Seeing this, Clyde quickly stood up. The coffee cup in Yang Douxin's hand fell on the table. He stared at Clyde with wide eyes, his mouth opening and closing. After struggling painfully for a few times, he tilted his head and fell on the sofa.
【This is the first one.】
Chapter 423 For the inheritance
In the lounge of the Tone family's annex, Yang Douxin, a business owner from Singapore, suddenly died on the sofa with his hands covering his neck and a grim and painful look on his face in full view of everyone.
Just as everyone in the hall was so shocked by the scene that they stood there motionless, Bai Heqing calmly put on the white gloves he had prepared long ago, walked forward and pressed the side of Yang Douxin's neck.
Just dead people, he has seen a lot of them.
"No pulse. The person is dead."
Then, he looked at the blood slowly flowing from the corner of Yang Douxin's mouth, pinched his mouth open with force, and leaned in to smell it gently.
"An almond-like taste in the mouth could be cyanide poisoning."
Letting go of his hand, Bai Heqing stood up, turned around and looked at the people behind him, and said:
"From what we can see now, Mr. Yang was poisoned to death. Everyone who was in this hall before is a suspect. Therefore, before the police arrive, please do not leave this hall to avoid increasing your suspicion."
Mary immediately repeated his words in English, and Shirakawa Qing turned to look at the old housekeeper who was standing at a loss, and said:
"Butler Cangqiao, please call the police."
"Okay, okay, I understand! There is a wireless phone at the end of the corridor. I will be right back!" Kurahashi Motoaki nodded and quickly turned around and left.
"How could this happen? How could this happen..."
Opposite Yang Douxin, retired Navy Major Clyde stared at his body in a daze, took two steps back, and fell down on the sofa muttering to himself, his expression shocked and terrified.
Of course, the expressions on everyone's faces in the hall were similar to his, but his reaction was the most prominent.
Bai Heqing glanced at him, then turned his attention to the cup of coffee that had been knocked over by Yang Douxin.
If he remembered correctly, Yang Douxin was already holding the cup of coffee when he and Mary first entered the hall.
And Yang Douxin did drink this cup of coffee before he died of poisoning, so was the coffee poisoned?
"Did Mr. Yang brew this coffee himself?" Bai Heqing asked everyone while holding up the coffee cup.
"No, no, I brewed it..."
Kitakami Kazuhiko, a university lecturer who was also one of the heirs, raised his hand and said in a panic:
"Not only that, I brewed the coffee for everyone in the hall... but, but I wasn't the one who poisoned the coffee!
I was the one who brewed the coffee. If I poisoned it, I would be the first person to be suspected. How could I possibly do such a thing?!
And everyone took their own coffee from the tray, and I took the last remaining cup!"
Well, the logic is clear and the key points are also mentioned.
Bai Heqing was very relieved to hear this. He hadn't encountered such a cooperative suspect in a long time. It seemed that the case could be solved quickly this time.
According to Kazuhiko Kitakami, although he was the one who brewed the coffee, the coffee that came into everyone's hands was chosen by everyone themselves, and he took the last remaining cup.
Therefore, unless there are differences on each coffee cup, allowing a specific person to choose a specific cup of coffee, it would be difficult to kill someone by poisoning the coffee.
But unfortunately, Bai Heqing had just noticed that the coffee cups used by everyone in the hall were all exactly the same set, with no difference in appearance.
Therefore, the murderer must have poisoned her through other methods.
"Humph! Who knows how you poisoned her?"
At this moment, Clyde, who was still a little dazed because of Yang Douxin's death, seemed to finally come to his senses. He turned his head and looked at Kitakami Kazuhiko with sharp and cold eyes.
"Mr. Clyde!" Being questioned by Clyde, Kitakami Kazuhiko shouted excitedly: "Please don't doubt me for no reason! Why would I do such a thing?!"
"Motive? Of course it's for the inheritance left by Tone Eijiro." Clyde sneered and said, "There were originally three heirs to that inheritance. Now that Yang is dead, will I be the next one?
After you kill both of us, you can take all the inheritance for yourself..."
"I've said it before! There's no way I'd do this just for the inheritance!"
Not paying attention to the quarrel between the two, Bai Heqing reached out and touched the cup of coffee that was knocked over by Yang Douxin and splashed on the carpet.
[The color is light, something must have been added to the coffee, is it milk... huh? ]
Bending down, Bai Heqing picked up two small plastic bags from the carpet.
These two packaging bags are one long and one square. Looking at the outer packaging, the long one is used for milk, and the square one is used for sugar.
They probably fell onto the carpet when Yang Douxin spilled the coffee before he died.
「Ah, I see……」
"Everyone, besides Mr. Yang, who else among you drank the coffee brewed by Mr. Kitakami Kazuhiko?" A guess suddenly flashed through his mind, and Baihe Qing asked.
"It's me, Master Kosuke, Miss Meiling and Mr. Kevin." The one who answered Shirakawa Qing was Kitakami Kazuhiko, who was eager to clear himself of suspicion.
The young master Kosuke he mentioned is the second young master of the Tone family, Tone Kosuke.
Miss Meiling and Mr. Kevin were the remaining two people in the hall whom Shirakawa Qing and Mary did not know: the strong white man and the East Asian woman in the purple cheongsam.
Five of the seven people drank coffee, while the remaining Clyde and the eldest son of the Togen family, Togen Takahiro, drank red wine.
"Has anyone added milk and sugar?" Bai Heqing pointed to the two plastic bags in his hand and asked again.
"I added milk!" The first person to answer was still Kazuhiko Kitakami.