CH 110

Evan left after seeing Duke Wilson again. Now that the matter of Colonel Mel is getting more and more complicated, he must figure it out as soon as possible. Only in this way will the pressure on Duke Wilson will be lessened.

Evan is so considerate of Duke Wilson and the Duke is of course very clear about this, so when he sent Evan away early, the joy in his eyes was very obvious, so obvious that Butler Chris muttered, this is something that has never happened before. In the past, if Reverend Bruce left, the Duke would definitely be sulking.

Duke Wilson did not see the different expression of Butler Chris. After Evan left, he immediately summoned Kevin. Although a positive investigation of this matter is necessary, what Duke Wilson believes more is that he needs to know about the power behind the scenes. This time, the mastermind of this matter was able to hide from his subordinates. It seems that he is definitely not an ordinary person. He must make plans early.

After Evan left Cornwall manor, he walked directly towards Sheriff Chandler’s house. Sheriff Chandler is in charge of the investigation for this matter. If he wants to know more about the situation, it would be best to find Sheriff Chandler.

When Evan arrived at Sheriff Chandler’s house, Mrs Chandler was reprimanding the children in the house with a very serious expression on her face, but when she saw Evan coming, she immediately put on a gentle smile.

“Oh, Reverend Bruce, why are you here? Will is upstairs now, are you here to see him?” Mrs Chandler is not a beautiful lady, but when she smiles or laughs, she would still have a very gentle look on her face.

Evan nodded with a gentle expression and Mrs Chandler also dropped her tearful youngest son, welcomed Evan into the house and shouted to the second son who was watching the joke in the corner, “Go and call your father down and tell him that Reverend Bruce is here.” The second son is a clever little ghost and immediately ran upstairs. Evan followed Mrs Chandler to the living room but found that the whole living room was covered with Mrs Chandler’s woven fabric, all the hats and socks on the stools and on the sofa made the place look very messy.

Embarrassed, Mrs Chandler smiled, “I’m really sorry, I’ve made you laugh. Because Christmas will be in a few days, these are all prepared for the charity association.”

Evan nodded with a smile, “You really are a kind lady.”

Delanlier is a traditional Protestant town and the women in the town always have endless kindness, so both the Charity Association and the Women’s Association of this town are very lively places. Evan has heard of this before.

While the two of them were talking, Sheriff Chandler came down from upstairs. His tie was crooked and his hair was messed up. He looked as if he hadn’t slept all night. Seeing his appearance, before Evan could say anything, Mrs Chandler got angry first, “Oh, look at what you look like! This is really indecent, we have guests!”

Muttering, Sheriff Chandler came over as he scratched his hair that looked like a bird’s nest and said indifferently, “Reverend Bruce is not an outsider.”

His natural appearance made Mrs Chandler very angry but she tried to endure it. Evan smiled, “Madam, please don’t be angry. Sheriff Chandler is right. I am a good friend of the sheriff and I don’t mind these things.”

Seeing that Evan said the same thing, Mrs Chandler had nothing else to say, but she gave Sheriff Chandler a hard look, turned and left the living room. Seeing Mrs Chandler go out, Sheriff Chandler walked over, swept out a space on the sofa and motioned for Evan to sit down. Evan didn’t dislike it and sat down.

“I know what you are here for, Reverend Bruce.” Sheriff Chandler sat on the sofa opposite Evan and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, “It’s just that things are still a mess now and I don’t know how to go about this matter. I don’t know what’s going on.”

Evan smiled slightly, “It’s not just you, I’m also very confused now. Did Mr Ederson really commit suicide?” He asked tentatively, but his eyes looked into Sheriff Chandler’s without blinking, for fear of missing something. Sheriff Chandler frowned when he heard him ask this question and glanced at Evan, “Do you have any thoughts when you ask this?” He knows very well that Evan is not someone who does aimless things.

Evan just smiled and shook his head, “Unfortunately, I don’t have any thoughts. I just think that someone like Mr Ederson should not have committed suicide, so I am a little surprised. Mr Ederson is not such a fragile person.”

Sheriff Chandler sighed, “Not to mention you, a new priest, even I don’t want to believe it. Ederson is a good guy, he has a will of steel, I am also very surprised that such a person committed suicide.”

Evan raised his eyebrows, “In this case, isn’t there any suspicion of homicide?”

Speaking of this, Sheriff Chandler smiled wryly and waved his hand, “If it is true, I will not be resting at home now, but I will continue to investigate this matter.”

Evan frowned, there still seemed to be no trace that Ederson committed suicide first.

“So, did this Mr Ederson leave any suicide note?” Evan continued to ask.

Sheriff Chandler shook his head, “If there is such a thing, then I don’t have to speculate for no reason here.”

After hearing this, Evan’s frown deepened, it seems that this matter really has no clues.

“So what’s Colonel Mel’s mood about this matter?” Evan looked at the sheriff and asked thoughtfully.

Sheriff Chandler looked at Evan with some doubt, “This…I haven’t asked about it. Do you think this matter is related to Colonel Mel’s case?”

Evan didn’t expect him to ask this. As he thought of this, the smile on his face suddenly became a bit forced and he waved his hand lightly, “I’m just guessing, because this incident is really too coincidental and these two gentlemen are both Duke Wilson’s staff, so I will inevitably…”

Sheriff Chandler nodded in agreement, “You are very right, I also feel deeply that it can be related. But these two things are so different that I didn’t even think about it.” He said a little ashamedly.

Evan just smiled, “It’s normal that you didn’t think about it, after all, I was just guessing randomly.”

But Sheriff Chandler’s face became serious at this time, he looked at Evan and said in a low voice, “Your idea is very novel, but it is also very thought-provoking. These two things are indeed too coincidental. I just accepted this case yesterday and the General Administration immediately held a meeting. I didn’t think about it carefully. This matter, now it seems that there are indeed many doubts.”

Seeing that Sheriff Chandler had understood what he meant, Evan finally heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. He always felt that this incident was too coincidental, but he didn’t know what the special connection between them could be. Maybe only Colonel Mel, who is an insider, knows something that he doesn’t know.

Now that he has a new direction of investigation, Sheriff Chandler is full of energy. He immediately stood up from the sofa, stood in front of Evan with some excitement and said, “Can you accompany me? Let’s interrogate Colonel Mel again. The Colonel is a very cunning person, I think only you can get words out of his mouth.”

Evan waved his hand modestly and said a few words politely, but in the end he was still unable to resist the various invitations of Sheriff Chandler so he followed Sheriff Chandler to the police station contentedly.

***********

Seeing Colonel Mel again, he was much calmer than last time, at least he could no longer see the resentment and pain from last time on the surface, but there was still a look of panic in his eyes and he looked a little pitiful.

“Colonel.” Evan nodded to him politely.

After Evan spoke, Colonel Mel’s eyes swept over to Evan, but there were no more ups and downs in his eyes and he just nodded mechanically.

Sheriff Chandler was a little impatient with Colonel Mel like this, he tapped on the table lightly and said, “I came here with Reverend Bruce this time to tell you a very regrettable news.”

When talking about this, Colonel Mel raised his head abruptly, a little panic flashed in his eyes and Evan frowned.

“Mr Ederson is dead.” Sheriff Chandler didn’t notice the difference in Colonel Mel and continued to speak in a calm tone.

Evan, however, has been staring at Colonel Mel’s every move and he is very aware that when Sheriff Chandler said these words, Colonel Mel was subtly relieved.

Evan’s doubts suddenly increased. What was he worried about?

“Ederson?” Colonel Mel looked at Sheriff Chandler with some confusion. He tilted his head slightly, his face showing a look of bewilderment, “How could he die?”

Since Sheriff Chandler finished speaking, he has been looking at Colonel Mel’s face for fear of missing something. Hearing what he said, he frowned, “Judging from the evidence at the scene, he should have committed suicide.”

“Suicide?” Colonel Mel’s originally calm tone finally had some ups and downs. He looked at Sheriff Chandler and waved his hands firmly, “No, no, it’s impossible. Ederson will never commit suicide!”

“Absolutely not?” Sheriff Chandler looked at Colonel Mel with sarcasm, “Why do you say that he will never commit suicide? Are you going to tell me that he is a Catholic and that suicide is against the doctrine?”

Colonel Mel ignored Sheriff Chandler’s provocative tone. He just kept frowning and said calmly, “Ederson visited me in prison the day before yesterday.”

“What!?” Sheriff Chandler abruptly stood up from the chair without hesitation, “It’s impossible, I gave an order that they are not to let anyone come to see you.”

Colonel Mel raised his chin, looked at the face of Sheriff Chandler with a calm expression and said in a low voice “Yes, you did order that, but unfortunately, Ederson is my lawyer.”

Sheriff Chandler’s face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, he didn’t know that Ederson turned out to be a lawyer.

“What’s going on here?” Sheriff Chandler sat down holding his fire, almost gnashing his teeth as he looked at Colonel Mel.

But Colonel Mel’s expression remained calm at this time, as if he didn’t notice Sheriff Chandler’s anger.

“Ederson sneaked over to visit me the day before yesterday. We talked about some private matters. He begged me to speak well to the Duke and he also told me…” Colonel Mel took a deep breath at this point and he seemed a little uncomfortable, “And also told me that he has a seriously ill son living in a nursing home and he needs to stay with the Duke to maintain the expenses, otherwise his son…his son will die.”

By the time he said the last sentence, Colonel Mel’s tone had become a bit bitter, his expression seemed a little sad and he seemed a little regretful. He looked straight at Evan sitting beside Sheriff Chandler and murmured, “And I rejected him.”

T/N: Hmm, I’m getting even more and more suspicious of this colonel