novelonline Chapter 3175 Detective is dying (26)
Chapter 3175 Detective is dying (26)
Chapter 3175: Detective is about to die (Twenty-six)
The Pale Knight's guess turned out to be correct. Schiller found a family photo in the pocket of the oldest man. Judging from the position, the family composition was indeed as the Pale Knight said.
Another important detail that can be seen from this photo is that there is a pasture behind this family’s house, and they most likely make a living from animal husbandry.
Schiller turned the photo over and found a line of words on the back: "To my lovely little Jenny on her 6th birthday - Daddy Hervé."
It seems that Hef is really the father of the 6-year-old girl outside, and the people who died here should be his wife, son, father, daughter-in-law, etc.
The first thought of others after seeing the photo was, could this be the family that drank the mutton soup?
The owner of the diary once mentioned in it that he felt sorry for the 6-year-old girl. Jenny's appearance and the words behind the photo correspond to this clue.
"But how could they die here?" Bruce frowned in confusion, looking back at the body of the little girl in the distance and said, "Although the diary doesn't say how they died, from the date on the diary, it can be seen that this should have happened several days ago. How could the bodies be preserved so well?"
Schiller was also thinking about this problem. The temperature in the lighthouse was not low, so it should not have the function of preserving food. However, judging from the condition of the bodies in the lighthouse, they should have been dead for no more than 24 hours.
This does not match the time of death of the family mentioned in the diary that foreshadowed the appearance of the Wanderer, but it does not rule out the possibility that this family is different from that family, or that there is a problem with the flow of time in the lighthouse.
It is known that there is no shortage of food in the lighthouse, and there are many ways to replenish liquids, so it is unlikely that their family attacked each other for survival resources. It is possible that they were controlled by monsters.
Schiller suddenly thought that although the diary said that the family was crazy, it did not say that they were all dead. Perhaps they might have escaped and hid in the lighthouse. After hiding for a few days, the monster still did not let them go, causing them to kill each other until they died.
After searching the sixth floor, there was nothing there except the corpse, so Schiller went up to the sixth floor again and found a bedroom on the sixth floor. There were a lot of letters in the bedside table.
The recipient column all says "Andersi", but there are several different names in the signature, which proves that these are letters written to Andersi by several different people. Schiller thinks that Andersi should be the keeper of the lighthouse.
When Schiller saw the familiar names at the signature, he knew that the highlight was coming, because the people who sent letters to Andersi included Harold, the owner of the diary, Jeff, the last survivor of the lighthouse, and even Madeline.
Some people may wonder why there are so many handwritten letters in a story with a modern setting. Normally, shouldn’t they just make a phone call or send an email directly?
It can only be said that this overestimates the quality of the US communication network. There are some extremely remote villages in the United States that don't even have electricity, let alone signals.
Many people wonder when watching some American blockbusters why people don’t call for help or the police after a car accident. In fact, it’s not that the protagonist is stupid, but that there is no signal at all.
Even in the suburbs around big cities, the phone signal is terrible and the Internet signal is even worse. As long as you find that the signs of human civilization activities are gradually disappearing along the road, don't hold out any hope of calling for help. You can only hope for the best.
Based on Schiller's understanding of this village, their most efficient means of communication is probably the landline telephone. Of course, mobile phones should also be available, but they are probably used more by young people.
The fastest way to pass news within a village like this is to bring a verbal message. If the information is complicated, it is better to write it on paper.
Schiller began to read the letters in order.
Then he discovered a problem - this group of outsiders had already come to the village long before the Wanderer incident broke out.
In such small villages, villagers basically know each other, and there are almost no outsiders. Once a strange face is seen, it will be a big event that shocks the whole village. They do not welcome strangers.
The first letter was from Jeff to Andrew. It mentioned that the richest fleet owner in the village hired a doctor to treat his wife. It was said that the doctor was a graduate of a prestigious university. In the letter, he complained that the boss would rather spend money to hire a charlatan who came from nowhere than to hire a good sailor like him.
So Schiller knew that Jeff was actually a sailor, and it was true what Bruce said about coming here to investigate a rare case, but this rare case was the wife of the boss of a shipping team in this village.
It is not difficult to see that this village is a very primitive fishing village. Men go out to sea as sailors, and women raise animals at home. Jeff's family should also be composed in this way.
The wife of the fleet owner who owned the ships was diagnosed with some strange disease and had to go to the big city for medical treatment. This eventually attracted Bruce's attention and he followed the last ship of the year to this unknown village.
Then there was a letter from Harold, the owner of the diary, to Andersi, the lighthouse keeper, which mentioned that the sheriff of the village who had died in the previous incident had been buried, and a new sheriff would be sent from the neighboring town soon. He just hoped that nothing would happen this time.
Schiller realizes that this could be the origin story of Nite Owl, who was transferred here because of the death of the village sheriff.
Madeleine's letter surprised Schiller a little. The letter was very long and finally revealed her motive for coming here and part of the truth.
"I feel very sad, Andy. It has been almost 20 years since we last met at Yale University. I once thought that your decision to return to your hometown was a waste of all your years of hard work, but now I understand that maybe you are right."
"After my family died, I was supported by my relatives. It was a very difficult time, but I managed to get through it. I worked hard to go to college, met good teachers, and made many friends who I thought would help me."
"But when I was dealing with the death of my family, they all avoided me. Only you were willing to talk to me. I am very grateful to you, Andersi."
"I am writing this letter to tell you that about two months ago, I lost the lawsuit against Siltec Health Insurance Company again, and this time no court is willing to accept my lawsuit again. I think it's time to give up."
"I am very happy about your plan to invite me to relax, and I have decided to visit your beautiful hometown, but I still have one thing I want to do. If you can understand me, I will be very grateful."
Schiller obtained two most important pieces of information from this letter. The first was that Madeleine came to the village at the invitation of her college classmate Andrew.
The second is that Madeline’s family did not receive normal insurance compensation for their deaths, and she may not even have received normal death compensation, which forced her to live with others.
Schiller instinctively felt that the insurance company's refusal to pay compensation might be closely related to Madeleine's suicide and the current situation in the village.
From the few words revealed by Madeleine, Schiller could infer that her family conditions were not bad, and could even be said to be very good. Such a family would not be stingy in buying insurance, and once a family member died, the insurance company would probably have to pay a huge amount of compensation.
Schiller then read on and found that the next letter was also written by Madeleine.
"...Thank you for caring about my family, Andy. They should be doing well in heaven now. As for the lawsuit...I don't want to explain too much because it's completely meaningless."
"But I am a little worried that you will misunderstand me as being unreasonable or defrauding insurance. I must tell you that my demands are legitimate, and it is that damn fraud insurance company that has repeatedly shirked their responsibilities."
"I don't want to talk about my sad story, but I still have to say that they refused to pay the accidental death insurance money on the grounds that my family members died in an attack on each other, and even sued me for insurance fraud. They said that our family has never been harmonious, and this kind of premeditated murder is not covered by their insurance."
"They are just a bunch of liars! A bunch of devils who shirk their responsibilities! My family and I have always been good friends. Our family is very harmonious. They are controlled by those monsters, so they kill each other. You will believe me, right?"
After reading the letter, Schiller basically understood that the insurance company refused to pay the compensation because Madeline's family members died of infighting, for example, the father killed the mother with a gun, and then the father was killed by his son.
Generally speaking, compensation for accidental death will not be paid in this case, especially when both the murderer and the victim are insurance beneficiaries. This is highly suspected of insurance fraud, and it is no wonder that Madeline has been defeated time and time again.
Schiller was not sure whether there was insurance against supernatural events in this world, but he thought that Madeline later chose to study the supernatural, perhaps to prove that her family was indeed killed by the supernatural and it was an accidental death, so as to recover her insurance money.
This reminded Schiller of the family that died in the lighthouse. It was obvious from the scene that they also killed each other, which meant that the monster they encountered might be the same as Madeline's, that is, the mysterious wanderer.
But these letters prove that Madeline also came here before the Wanderer incident broke out, which means that Madeline did not come here chasing the Wanderer. On the contrary, it is possible that Madeline brought the Wanderer here.
What does she want to do?
After sorting out Madeline's logic in his mind, Schiller felt that if it was no longer possible to recover the compensation and seek justice for his family, then the only thing she wanted to do was to make the insurance company that refused to pay pay the price.