A thick moldy smell drifted out of the small room. The top floor appeared to be leaking, and the room was damp and uncomfortable.
The windows were all sealed up with wooden boards. Chen Ge inspected them and realized that the boards were new. They had only been installed recently.
"This is just a very ordinary guest room." The burnt furniture had already been tossed away. The room was empty, and there was nothing of value to be found.
Then again, it's been five years. Even if there's evidence, it won't be able to preserve it.
He exited the room and wandered down the dark corridor. Most of the guest rooms had been emptied. Trash and trash were mixed together. There was not even a place for him to step.
Trash can reflect a person's lifestyle and personality. Perhaps I'll be able to find something from this. Chen Ge changed his target. Enduring the strange smell, Chen Ge searched for more than an hour, and he did find something strange.
Why are there so many plushies in this apartment? There are no children here, so who could they belong to? He spent two hours going through all the trash and found four plushies in total. Compared to the trash that filled the corridor, these four plushies were not that eye-catching. If not for the fact that Chen Ge majored in toy design, he might have overlooked them as well.
The four plushies had been left there for who knew how long. They were covered in dirt and mold. With a light touch, one would be able to pull out a bunch of fluff.
Chen Ge studied them again and again, and the suspicions grew. The plushies looked different, but they came from the same manufacturer.
Could they be left behind by the tenants who stayed here after Ping An Apartments was renovated? Soon, Chen Ge shook his head to reject this idea. The chance of moving into a haunted apartment with a child aside, even if they did move in with a child, they wouldn't bring four plushies with them at the same time. After all, these four plushies come from the same manufacturer, and based on the craftsmanship and style, they should be from several years ago.
The toy market changed quickly. Before he took over the Haunted House, he was an employee at a toy company, so he was familiar with the market.
Since they weren't left behind by the tenants but were kept inside a haunted apartment, then they probably came from the apartment. He made a bold guess. The original owner of the apartment had two daughters. If I'm not mistaken, this doll belongs to them.
At this point, another question surfaced in Chen Ge's mind. Fire and water are merciless. The house and the furniture were all burned down. How did these four dolls survive?
"Is it a coincidence? Or … someone purposely placed it in a safe place? " Chen Ge felt like he had found a very important clue. There is only one person who can move the items in the middle of the fire, and that is the killer himself! But why would he risk his life to protect four dolls? Are these four dolls that important to him? "
The zipper on the back of the doll was already rusted, so Chen Ge tore it open. Among the rotting cotton, he found a card. It was about the size of his palm, and the words were filled with love. It gave Chen Ge goosebumps. She placed a love letter inside a doll? Isn't it too subtle to use this method to confess? "
He started to imagine the killer's personality. The killer should be a shy man who was too shy to confess his love in person, so he gave the doll to the victim, hoping that they would open it after they returned home.
With curiosity, Chen Ge tore open two more dolls. There was a card inside each, and the content was similar.
However, when he tore open the fourth doll, a chill crept up his spine.
There was no love letter inside the last doll. Instead, the moldy cotton was filled with torn notes, and all of them had only three words on them — Go to hell!
For some reason, intense love had turned into the most vicious curse. Chen Ge had no idea what had happened in between.
"The words on the notes should be left behind by the killer. This is the key evidence." He picked out a few notes and placed them in his pocket. He was about to dig deeper when the voice-activated light at the corner of the staircase suddenly lit up!
"Someone's coming!" Chen Ge panicked. He quickly switched off the flashlight on his phone and hugged the dolls to hide in the guest room.
Holding his breath, Chen Ge hid behind the door and peeked out through the gap.
Footsteps came, and the conversation of a man and a woman echoed down the dark corridor.
"I need to get that thing out of here as soon as possible. I can't waste any more time."
"The new tenant came up to the third floor earlier. He walked to the staircase and suddenly went back down. He almost noticed me."
"I know. More and more people have been coming to the apartment recently, so we need to get rid of this thing as soon as possible."
"Okay."
"Call the others. We'll dig it out tonight and bury it in the back mountain."
The newcomer was holding an old-fashioned miner's lamp. With the light, Chen Ge got a good look. The two people talking in the corridor were the landlord and the woman from the first floor.
"Why would they come to the third floor so late at night?" Chen Ge adjusted his angle. After ensuring that he would not be discovered, he stuck his body to the back of the door.
Soon, the tattooed man and the fatty all walked up the stairs. They were not only wrapped up, but they also carried tools like an iron drill, a gunny sack, and a cleaver.
"What are they doing?"
They stood in the corridor, and it seemed like they were having an argument.
The fat man who walked at the back was in a bad mood. "Are we really going to do this? Once we dig it out, our fingerprints will be left around it. Then, everything will be unclear. "
"You think everything will be clear now?" The landlord glared at the fatty. "Stop wasting time. Come and help."
"I think we should call the police." The fat man stood where he was.
Hearing that, the tattooed man walked over and grabbed the man's collar. "Are you crazy? Are you going to throw yourself at the gun? The first thing the police will investigate will be us. When that happens, your hit-and-run and our occupation of the old man's apartment will all be exposed! "
"Honey, don't be angry." The woman who lived opposite the tattooed man walked over. "We all have a part in this. No one can escape. Let's get to work."
"None of us are clean, and it's not easy for us to find a place to stay. If any of you dare to have other ideas, don't blame me for turning on you." The landlord shoved the iron drill to the fat man. "You go and do the first one."
"Me?" Sweat immediately dripped from the fatty's forehead. His face alternated between green and white, and he slowly moved the drill.
Seeing the strange behavior of the people outside the door, Chen Ge felt that something was wrong. "What are they planning to dig up?"
The fat man walked to the deepest part of the corridor. He pushed the trash to the side, and under the gaze of the other tenants, he pulled back the curtain behind the trash with shaking hands.
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