Chapter Six: Suspicion

  Zheng Hanfei walked to the back of the stage and saw Sterling yelling at the person in charge of the stage with a furious face. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, it seemed that his doubts were correct, or he should thank Ouyang Xiuxiu instead.

  "Mr. Sterling, what's going on?" Zheng Hanfei asked as he walked up onto the stage.

  "It was Zheng Hanfei, sorry, something came up, let's talk later." Sterling gave Zheng Hanfei an apologetic smile and turned his head to continue scolding the stage manager: "What were you thinking, making such a low-level mistake? Are you trying to get fired?"

  "But... sir, this really isn't our fault." The stage manager explained, "We've already checked, all the machinery on the stage is normal, and there were no error commands in the display rack's security system. What happened earlier should be an accident."

  "What a surprise! You're telling me what a surprise!" Sterling fumed, "Have you ever seen anyone have an exhibition with such low-class surprises?"

  "The manager..." The person in charge of the stage was speechless. Indeed, as Sterling said, unexpected things often happen at exhibitions, but this kind of unexpected event may be a first in history.

  "Mr. Sterling, what is this..." Although he had a rough idea, Zheng Hanfei still wanted to confirm it.

  "Don't call me Mr. Sterling, it sounds awkward." Perhaps realizing that Zheng Hanfei was still present, Sterling took a deep breath and said in a slightly calmer tone: "I'm good friends with your father, if you don't mind, just call me Uncle instead."

  "Uh... is this okay?"

  "What's wrong?"

  "Ah! Uncle Sterling, was what you just said referring to the mistake that just happened on stage?"

  "Right!" Sterling covered his head in frustration, and from the crisscrossing of his eyebrows, it was clear that he was in a terrible mood.

  "Did Stirling think this wasn't a mistake? Wasn't an accident?"

  "I do think this wasn't an accident, but all signs indicate that it was indeed an accident."

  "Have you ever thought that Kitty did it on purpose?" Zheng Hanfei boldly guessed.

  "Katie? Impossible, did she have a reason for doing so?"

  Zheng Hanfei fell silent, although it was possible that Kitty had done this thing, but she didn't have any reason to do so. If it was because of her hatred towards her father for not caring about them, then this method was a bit childish. Moreover, she couldn't make moves that would humiliate the Klares Group just because of their discordant relationship.

  "Alas, what's going on here? The miniature spotlight suddenly malfunctioned, and now this low-level thing appears... I'm really unlucky!"

  "If you think ordinary people can stop me, I wouldn't recommend living a life of suffering..." A sweet voice sounded behind Zheng Hanfei and Sterling.

  "What?" The two of them turned around and found Kitty smiling at them with a smile, but Zheng Hanfei felt that her eyes were a bit abnormal.

  "Father, don't you remember the last sentence written on the threatening letter?" Kitty said with a nonchalant expression, "Perhaps your security system offended the so-called threatener - the spirit in Acheron, so it let you experience a bit of misfortune ahead of time."

  "How can you talk like that?" Zheng Hanfei stood up for Sterling, "Is it because of this? So you won't install cameras at the scene again?"

  "Is this Mr. Zheng Hanfei? I've long admired your name." Katie smiled slightly, "As you said, that's right, we advised our father, but unfortunately he only did half of it, and now he's tasting this misfortune."

  "She is your father! How can you say that?! This 'Tear of Hope' was a birthday gift from your father, he must protect it well."

  "If it weren't for this threatening letter, he might not have come back at all." Kitty said indifferently, glancing at Sterling without paying attention to Zheng Hanfei.

  "You..."

  "Oh, right, Mr. Zheng Hanfei." Katie seemed to have thought of something and revealed a sly smile, saying: "Your identity is a detective, but detectives are also ordinary people, just like the threatening letter said, it's impossible to stop it with ordinary human power, so I advise you to leave early, don't wait until you can't protect the gemstone and end up in shame."

  "I didn't become a detective for fame, don't bother me!" Zheng Hanfei adjusted his collar and looked at her with a suspicious gaze, "However, you'd better be careful what you say, or I'll take you for that blackmailer."

  "Me? Ha ha, ridiculous. If you think I'm intimidating, then keep a good eye on me before 8 o'clock." Katie sneered, "I was just giving you some friendly advice, didn't expect you to suspect me."

  "Haha." Zheng Hanfei didn't take these words to heart, but instead smiled and said: "As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang. Although there aren't three cobblers here, there are two detectives who are even smarter than them. I think that even if it's a god, it can't escape our eyes."

  "Two?"

  "Big sister, you seem to have forgotten your friend - Ouyang Xiu."

  "What's going on, Ouyang Xiu?! Didn't you two have a bet? How can you be cooperating?"

  "Hey, young lady, are you listening carefully? Are you intentionally prying into our affairs?"

  "No." Katie looked a bit flustered, her eyes darting back and forth. "I just heard Linda mention it."

  "Oh? Is that so." Zheng Hanfei smiled meaningfully, his suspicion towards her growing heavier in his heart. He guessed that the so-called spirit of Acheron was likely to be her, but he had no evidence now and didn't dare to jump to conclusions.

  "Alright, I'll go first, goodbye, great detective." After taking a last look at Zheng Hanfei, Katie turned and left the backstage, as for where she went, nobody knew.

  "Sorry, my daughter's temper is like that, please don't mind," Sterling said with some embarrassment. He didn't expect his own daughter to be so disobedient, it seemed she really hated him.

  "Uncle Sterling, it's okay, I've already gotten used to being scolded enough times when I came here."

  Looking in the direction where Kitty left, Zheng Hanfei was deep in thought. He had to discuss this clue with Ouyang Xiuxiu thoroughly.

  ……

  "Is that true?" Ouyang Xiu's reaction was a bit abnormal. This is also understandable, a friend who has known for a long time, suddenly sees another side of him, and it's impossible for anyone to accept it all at once.

  Zheng Hanfei nodded and told Ouyang Xiu this clue. In addition to thinking together, he also wanted to ask Ouyang Xiu about Kitty's news.

  "That's not right, this doesn't seem like her usual style." Ouyang Xi murmured, "If it were Di Luo, there would still be room for forgiveness, but... how could Katie do such a thing? It's strange, really strange."

  Di Luo? Upon hearing Ouyang Xiu say that, Zheng Hanfei suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen him backstage at all. At that time, he didn't seem to be on stage either. So where did he go?

  "By the way, have you seen Dilo in the background?" At this moment, Ouyang Xiu also realized this problem and asked hurriedly.

  "I don't know!" Zheng Hanfei shook his head, then looked up in one direction with a smile all over his face and said: "However... we can ask the relevant people."

  "Who's concerned?"

  "Linda!" Zheng Hanfei pointed at the blonde beauty with a great figure in the crowd and shouted.

  "What's up, you two?" Hearing the shout, Linda hastily walked out of the crowd and came to the front of the two, asking.

  "Hey, where did Di Luo go? I seem to have only seen him at the beginning." Ouyang Xiu asked.

  "Oh, you're talking about Mr. Dilo? He had a bit of stomachache, so he left the scene ahead of time. He said he'll be back before 8 o'clock and perform a wonderful magic show for everyone."

  "Really! Thanks, Linda." Zheng Hanfei and Ouyang Xiuxiu said in unison.

  "You're welcome, it's all in a day's work!" Linda bowed slightly and then disappeared into the crowd.

  "What do you think?" asked Ouyang Xiu.

  "I don't know, there's no evidence, can't jump to conclusions." Zheng Hanfei shook the juice in his cup and drank it all at once. After that, he looked at his watch on his wrist, "Still half an hour before 8 o'clock, we can only wait. By the way, this case has got us all worked up, don't you want to eat something else to replenish your brain cells?"

  "That's also true." Ouyang Xiu took a cup of juice from Wang Bo's hand and drank it all at once. "After such a long time of thinking, even if I were made of iron, I would still be unbearable."

  "Hey, how dare you take my juice?"

  "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

  "Your face is really thick."

  "If you'd rather be alone and don't want to hear some things about Kitty and Dill from me, I'll just go get something to eat in the dining room."

  "You're ruthless!"

  "Thank you for the compliment!"

  "…." Zheng Hanfei glared at him and said somewhat irritably: "Let's get to the point already!"

  "Ah!" Ouyang Xiuzi thought for a moment before speaking slowly, "All I can say is that although Di Luo loves magic, his personality and temperament are similar to what you described as Katie's, arrogant, domineering, without the demeanor of a magician. But I have to say, he really has a good hand at performing magic, comparable to some master-level figures."

  "Where's Katie?"

  "She, well, how to put it, she's very doting on her little brother. Whenever the two of them are together, I always see a maternal glow about her. As for the temper you mentioned, she has lost it at times, but I've never seen her lose it with you in a place like this."

  "Maybe it's because she saw me talking with her father."

  "Maybe..."

  As they spoke, both fell into silence, lost in their own thoughts, waiting for the time on the threatening letter to arrive, waiting for the spirit of Acheron to come, waiting for it to seize it at the moment of its crime.