Decorative displays lined the walls of the corridor, and a vase had shattered near the rotating staircase. Judging by the size of the fragments, the vase was about forty centimeters tall.
The pianist picked up a piece of porcelain and saw streaks of red blood among the water stains on the floor.
Had someone used the vase to smash someone else?
At the same time, the scenario he had been picturing in his mind became gradually clearer—the victim had been attacked with the vase between the stairs, which caused them to fall down and hit a prism-shaped column before running towards the entrance.
Now, the traces of blood left in the kitchen confirmed there was one victim, while the bloodstains at the main entrance indicated a second victim, and a large pool of blood near the living room coffee table could be from a third.
Given the substantial amount of blood loss, all three were likely already dead.
But the script only mentioned one "ghost"...
No, that's not right!
The task only specified to find the "ghost" in the story, not how many there were.
The pianist gazed at the vase fragments, deep in thought, when suddenly a voice emerged from nearby, "Speaking of which, it seems like this is the only vase in the entire mansion. It must be quite precious, right?"
The pianist quickly turned around and saw the dancer in a fiery red gown.
The dancer appeared quite young, around eighteen or nineteen, her graceful figure accentuated by the fishtail gown. The vibrant red color was striking.
Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, a few strands casually falling across her forehead, her smile revealing a touch of playfulness.
It was this unexpected approach that could catch one off guard.
When had she gotten so close...
Without betraying his emotions, the pianist stood up, holding the piece of the vase in his hand, and smiled, "I'm no expert in art, but it could be an antique for all I know."
With a slight smile, the dancer took the porcelain piece from his hand, caressing the smooth pattern, and said in an ambiguous, leisurely tone, "It's so clean. It must be wiped daily, I guess."
"Perhaps," replied the pianist noncommittally.
He did not continue the conversation, and after a cursory glance at the second-floor layout, he turned and walked towards the room from where he had earlier heard piano music.
The dancer watched his retreating figure, just curving her lips into a smile.
The lighting in the mansion was bright, the space generous. Apart from the chaos and shocking bloodstains, there was nothing particularly sinister or frightening.
A splendid crystal chandelier hung above the rotating staircase, its sparkling light casting reflections on the glossy red steps.
Swishing her fiery red gown, the dancer walked to the railing, leaning over to look down.
...
...
Half-past midnight.
The servants' quarters were on the first floor, close to the kitchen and laundry room, and were easy to find.
While everyone else was scattering to look for clues, the male servant returned to the living room tall cabinet and took out the revolver he had placed there earlier.
Wearing a body-fitting vest suit, his trousers did little to conceal the shape of the revolver; he had had to remove it earlier.
The male servant looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him, then flipped open the cylinder to check the bullets.
Six chambers, indeed one was missing.
It was unclear where it had been used.
The male servant pocketed the handgun again, planning to hide it in his room first, but as he passed the sofa, something caught his eye.
There seemed to be something glittering under the coffee table.
After some thought, the male servant went back to his quarters on the first floor, hid the revolver under the mattress, and then returned to the living room.
He lay on the ground and from a three-centimeter gap under the coffee table, pinched out a bullet.
The lawyer paused for a moment, then took out the envelope and tipped it upside down, expecting something like legal documents, but instead a stack of photos spilled out.
The subject of the photos was the female writer.
With a relaxed and content smile, the female writer sat in the garden sipping tea, and her gaze wasn't on the camera but on the pianist sitting across from her.
Even, the photo looked like it was taken secretly.
Even, there were a stack of pictures like this!
In various scenes of the garden, or on the sofas in the villa, the dining table where they ate, all of them are photos of the female writer with the pianist, although they don't seem to have much physical contact, they do seem to be engaged in animated conversation.
The female writer laughed really beautifully!
The lawyer's expression turned strange as he continued to look through the photos, finally coming to one where the two of them were playing a duet, sitting together on the same stool in the piano room, with their backs to the camera.
This scene was a bit more intimate.
Lawyer: "..."
So, had he been cuckolded?
The lawyer couldn't help but touch his head, feeling like a green hat was being firmly placed upon him, and suddenly he didn't feel so good.
He quickly gathered up the photos and threw them back into the drawer, wishing out of sight, out of mind.
But after a while, he took them out again and continued to look through them.
However, since the "lawyer" collected these things, it meant that he had already suspected that his wife was involved with the pianist, right? So what would he do about it?
After all, which man could endure such a thing?
Would he kill over it?
...
...
The midnight clock ticked steadily forward.
The players had found some clues here and there in the villa, even securing key props.
Only Xu Shuo sat quietly in his room, feeling his way through most of a urban romance story—albeit not a thick book, he found that blind people can actually read quite quickly.
The book was quite interesting, a romance story about a border city painter and a wandering female white-collar worker saving each other, a story filled with artistry.
Xu Shuo closed the book, cocked his ear to listen; melodious piano music drifted from the piano room once again.
His room was close to the spiral staircase, adjacent to the piano room.
Actually, when the pianist had ascended to the second floor, Xu Shuo had already heard the light steps and the quiet voices of the two people.
The blind girl's hearing was stronger than he had imagined.
The silhouettes of fingers dancing on the piano keys seemed to carry over with the music, but his own understanding of music wasn't profound, so it wasn't until the climax that he recognized "Für Elise", the school bell sound from Xu Xi's junior high school days.
Unlike the person who had aimlessly pressed piano keys before, this time the person in the piano room was playing seriously.
Xu Shuo listened quietly for a while until his door was suddenly, unexpectedly knocked on.
"Sister, have you fallen asleep?" the dancer's cheerful voice came from outside the door.
Xu Shuo thought for a moment, returned the book to the drawer, stood up, and navigated with his cane to the door, unlocking it.
Before he could open the door himself, the person outside seemed to hear the unlocking sound and pushed down the handle, bursting in.
He stepped back hurriedly, but the visitor moved forward as well, and Xu Shuo immediately smelled a faint scent.
Indescribable, it felt a bit stuffy.
The dancer grabbed his shoulders, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered secretively, "Sister, I've discovered something interesting!"