"Let's each report our activities now."
Lin stood wearily by the sofa, looking at the stiff atmosphere among the group. He still had to muster the energy to gather clues.
"Lin… I think… it's best not to do this right now…"
At this moment, the silent Aponia suddenly spoke up to stop Lin. She looked at Lin, her expression serene.
"…"
Lin looked around at the silent people with their heads bowed and sighed heavily.
If he asked about their activities now, it would only deepen their mutual suspicion. And if he took them one by one into a separate room for questioning, his personal credibility was not enough to prove that he wasn't the murderer.
If they were all strangers sitting here, this situation wouldn't happen, but precisely because they were close friends, the contradiction was even greater now.
But they couldn't just let things continue like this.
Lin had a strong sense of unease. He predicted that this was just the beginning…
…
The successive deaths of Su and Kevin completely drained the warmth from the room. Even with the fireplace constantly burning, only coldness spread.
To prevent more victims, they unanimously decided that everyone would stay together in the living room until the police arrived.
"Lin, come here."
Kalpas's call interrupted Lin thoughts. He looked up and saw the white-haired man wearing a mask standing by his room door, cocking his head at him.
A slight tug came from his arm. Lin looked down. It was Mobius, who had been resting with her eyes closed in his embrace, now opening them with a cold look.
Her meaning was clear: Don't go.
"…" But Lin gently pulled her hand away, stood up, and followed Kalpas into the room.
He knew Kalpas wouldn't seek him out for no reason.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered, Kalpas locked the door, then pressed his ear against it. After confirming that no one had followed, he lowered his voice and said to Lin, "Lin, I might know who the murderer is."
As he spoke these words, a strong sense of dissonance arose in Lin mind, but he couldn't immediately grasp where it came from.
Perhaps influenced by the emotions of the others, Kalpas's voice was very low. Coupled with the mask blurring his sound, Lin could barely hear what he was saying and had to listen intently.
"…Kalpas, you didn't need to pull me aside. Others would also listen to your account," Lin shook his head. "And even if you gained my support, it wouldn't matter. What you need to do is tell everyone your thoughts and let them judge."
"But what I'm going to say concerns you, or more accurately… concerns you and Mobius."
"…"
Lin expression changed when he heard Kalpas mention his wife's name. Kalpas saw this and continued, "Do you know why Aponia said not to discuss it anymore just now? That woman, hmph…"
"It concerns Aponia?"
"Because her movements are suspicious. From the scene, someone killed Kevin, left his room, and locked the door, right? Then you said you and Mobius were the last two to arrive besides me. Time-wise, that rules out the three of us."
Kalpas wasn't stupid—that was their consensus. However, it was somewhat unexpected that he could patiently organize his thoughts without sounding aggressive or mocking.
"And then I just heard Kosma saying to himself…"
At this point, Kalpas's voice dropped to an absolute whisper.
"'Aponia came from the first-floor guest area.'"
"…"
The first-floor guest area?
It had already been mentioned that the villa had three floors: the men's sleeping area was on the first floor, and the women's on the second. Therefore, Aponia should have come to the living room from the second floor, by all accounts.
This meant that Aponia at that time…
"Hmph, I always suspected this woman would make a move, but I never thought Kevin would fall into her hands…"
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Isn't it because you and Mobius got married? Tsk, I really don't understand what goes on in those women's heads. Is there nothing left but love?" Kalpas glared at Lin, gritting his teeth, "It's because of you!"
"What exactly do you mean?" Lin grew more confused. He asked, "Because Mobius and I got married?"
"The day you got married, she got drunk. You should know that the nun never drinks, but that day was the first time she got drunk, and she dragged Sakura and said a lot of things. Most people had already left, but Su, Kevin, and I stayed behind."
Lin remembered that the three of them had indeed stayed behind then. In Lin social circle, they were the only three male friends of similar age, so they helped with many things, including the wedding arrangements.
"The three of us heard her say that she would definitely not let Mobius off, that Mobius had gone too far, and so on. But we all just dismissed it as the nonsense of a drunk woman," Kalpas looked seriously at the bewildered Lin, "But now it seems it might not be that simple… And what she plans to do is probably eliminate the three of us and Sakura who know the truth first, before going after Mobius."
"No, Aponia wouldn't do that," Lin firmly shook his head, denying it.
Because of this… kind of thing? For such a strange reason?
"Do you really think so, Lin? Do you really believe that?" Kalpas said meaningfully.
"…"
Do I really think so?
Lin heart twinged slightly.
…
Kalpas and Lin returned. Lin exhaustion was more apparent. Mobius wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't utter a word under Lin gaze.
If Kalpas was telling the truth, and Aponia had a one percent… no, one-ten-thousandth of a chance of being the killer, then her motive was Lin and Mobius's marriage?
But what did she mean by "Mobius had gone too far"?
Was there something he didn't know?
Lin suddenly realized that he didn't understand his friends, whom he had known for so many years, at all. And this information was told to him by Kalpas, who usually didn't participate much in discussions.
So, could it really be Aponia…
Wait a moment.
"Where did Aponia and Kosma go?"
Lin suddenly stood up, anxiously searching for the two figures.
The others, who had been staring down, also realized that two people were missing and started to look for them.
At this point, Lin ominous premonition reached its peak.
"Thud!"
Behind them, at the villa's main door, came the heavy sound of a body hitting the ground.