Chapter 103 - Preliminary Investigation
That night, Evan stayed in Cornwall Manor for the night as a matter of course. Little Edward blushed with excitement and Duke Wilson also showed a rare gentle look on his face.
Evan still lived in his original room, which should have been a very normal thing, but after what happened in London, this matter became a bit ambiguous.
Evan was lying on the bed, looking at the dark ceiling, feeling a little dazed. He squeezed his cuffs, thinking about today’s events. How should the relationship between him and Duke Wilson be positioned? For now, Evan is not very clear about this.
Maybe as a lover, but thinking about Duke Wilson’s expression when he returned to his room just now, Evan still felt a little excited in his heart. That kind of reserved and forbearing emotion made his ears feel hot. He had many men and women around him in his previous life and he himself was not a good man, but he had never experienced such a feeling, which made him feel both strange and a little overwhelmed.
Evan didn’t sleep well that night. The face of Duke Wilson and the appearance of little Edward appeared alternately in his dreams. At the same time, his experience before coming to this place also flashed from time to time. He always thought it was a memory that he had forgotten long ago, but he didn’t realize until today that he had never forgotten it.
When Evan woke up the next morning, his eyes were black and his expression was a little sluggish. Duke Wilson was shocked when he saw him like this.
“What’s wrong with you? Did you not sleep well last night?” He looked at Evan worriedly.
Evan smiled reluctantly, “I’m fine, I’m just a little tired.”
Duke Wilson frowned and was about to say something when Butler Chris suddenly stepped forward, “Reverend Bruce, Mrs Sanders sent someone to bring you a message. She hopes you can return to the church early because the church will be very busy today.”
Evan frowned slightly, “I see.” What can make the church so busy? Evan was a little puzzled.
Now that Mrs Sanders had sent this message, Evan didn’t dare to stay in Cornwall Manor any longer. After finishing his breakfast in a hurry, he hurried back to the Delanlier Church in the carriage prepared for him by the Duke.
As soon as he got out of the carriage, he saw Sheriff Chandler waiting at the door. Seeing him coming, he hurriedly greeted him with a smile, “Oh, Reverend, I almost missed you. Mrs Sanders just told me that you were not in. Fortunately, I waited for you a little longer.”
Evan smiled a little unnaturally, he was very clear about Sheriff Chandler’s purpose, “That’s really great.” He said a little dryly.
Evan and Sheriff Chandler walked into the church together. As soon as they entered, they saw Mrs Sanders sitting on the pew in front of the altar praying. When she heard someone coming in, she immediately turned her head and found that It was Evan and her expression eased a little.
“It turned out to be you.” She hurriedly stood up from her chair, walked to Evan and quickly greeted Sheriff Chandler, before saying, “Reverend, Christmas will be in another month. You need to prepare. There will be a Christmas party in the town and the church will also have arrangements. I’m afraid you have to be more cautious these few days.”
Only then did Evan suddenly realize that he almost forgot about it. In this era, Christmas is a hundred times more important than it was in his era. When he was an assistant priest, he helped Reverend Ross prepare for Christmas. There have been several Christmases and now it’s his turn, but he has to decide by himself, and the arrangement of the church… Evan thought about the red face of Reverend Ross every time he came back and he knew it shouldn’t be a bad thing.
“I see. Thank you for your reminder. I will try to stay in the church these few days.” It seemed that he would be busy at the end of the year, but he didn’t know what would happen if Duke Wilson found out about the news.
After greeting Mrs Sanders, Evan and Sheriff Chandler walked into the living room behind the church. Evan took off his thick robe and Sheriff Chandler also took off his thick coat, and the red stove in the room made the whole room very hot.
“It’s been a long time since you left this time. I didn’t know you were back until I saw Duke Wilson yesterday. How was it? Was London fun? Was your brother’s wedding grand?” Sheriff Chandler asked with a smile.
Evan grinned a little stiffly, not knowing how to answer this question. Was London fun? Of course it was fun, the king was killed. Was his brother’s wedding grand? Of course it was grand, but the bride almost got into my bed.
Evan thought about his trip to London this time and was a little unsure whether he was more unlucky or those who had experienced these things were more unlucky.
“It was okay.” Evan said perfunctorily, “What’s the matter with you this time?” He quickly changed the subject, because there was really nothing to say about the trip to London.
Evan’s words were very effective, and Sheriff Chandler’s attention was quickly taken away from the topic.
“Alas…” He sighed, “I really don’t know what happened to Delanlier, such a peaceful town has experienced such a terrible thing. I believe you should have also heard about Colonel Mel.”
Sheriff Chandler looked depressed, to be honest, he has been a sheriff for so many years and he has seen more corpses in the past six months than he had seen in the past few years.
Evan smiled slightly, with a gentle expression on his face, “I’ve heard about this incident a little bit.” He paused slightly when he said this, “I heard that the one who died was a nun? This is simply terrible.”
The death of a religious person is not a trivial matter in this era. Although Catholicism is not as powerful as Protestantism in the UK today, they will not sit back and watch their believers be killed. They must have something to say.
“Who said it wasn’t?” Sheriff Chandler sighed, “But it’s okay.” His expression immediately became excited, “We caught Colonel Mel. Although there is no evidence that he killed Sister Elisa, the unusually close relationship between him and Sister Elisa really makes me feel skeptical. I heard that you have a good relationship with Colonel Mel, do you know about this?”
After Sheriff Chandler asked this sentence, Evan pursed his lips incomprehensibly. This matter is now known to everyone and he has no need to hide it, and maybe he can rely on this to make the sheriff have better feelings for Colonel Mel.
“Although it’s a pity, I do know.” Evan said with a sad expression.
Sheriff Chandler originally just asked a random question, but he got an answer. He was surprised and looked at Evan, “You know?” He stood up abruptly, “This is really so shocking! How on earth do you know?” Sheriff Chandler looked at Evan with a burning look, as if he could get the ironclad evidence to convict Colonel Mel from Evan in the next moment.
Evan’s lips curled up, this time he was going to disappoint Sheriff Chandler.
“Colonel Mel told me this. Although he pretended to be a friend, I’m sure he was talking about himself. I didn’t expect this incident to verify my idea.” Evan said with a wry smile.
Hearing this, Sheriff Chandler felt disappointed and he sat back on his sofa, looking sluggish.
“This is too strange.” Sheriff Chandler murmured, “He actually told you such a terrible thing? It’s really against common sense.”
Sheriff Chandler firmly believed that Colonel Mel was the murderer, so without waiting for Evan to find an excuse for Colonel Mel, he said directly, “However, it is also very likely that this is his way of concealing it from others. I still have to investigate carefully. Reverend, thank you for telling me frankly.”
Sheriff Chandler looked at Evan very sincerely and the impression he had of Evan got better.
Evan waved his hand with a smile, “You don’t have to thank me, I’m just telling the truth. This incident has caused a lot of bad reactions, you still have to solve the case as soon as possible, don’t let these dirty questions about Colonel Mel fill Delanlier.”
Sheriff Chandler nodded, but he was thinking about how to go back and torture Mel so that he could plead guilty as soon as possible.
But Evan suddenly said at this time, “Colonel Mel is also my friend, I wonder if you can allow me to meet him?”
Sheriff Chandler frowned slightly but then his expression eased a little. The current situation is still not so bad that visits are not allowed, and Evan’s request is reasonable.
“I really think you are a noble gentleman. Others may have long wanted to sever ties with Colonel Mel at this time. Don’t worry, I can still decide this matter.”
For the current British gentleman, reputation is obviously is very important. As long as a gentleman is a little clean, he is not willing to have any relationship with a prisoner. Evan’s request is indeed a bit unusual.
Evan gave a wry smile when he heard Sheriff Chandler’s praise, but in the end he could only wave his hands, “Your praise made me blush, thank you very much.”
Sheriff Chandler is a man of action and immediately takes Evan to the police station. Evan was also very anxious in his heart. This kind of thing should be done as early as possible, the later it will be, the harder it will be.
Colonel Mel was held in a cell, he was at least still a gentleman so no one dared to lock him up with bullies until he was convicted.
When Evan saw Colonel Mel, he was also taken aback. It was just an incident of one night, but Colonel Mel seemed to have become another person. He looks at least ten years older.
“Sheriff, how could you treat Colonel Mel like this? He hasn’t been convicted yet, you…” Evan looked angrily at Sheriff Chandler standing beside him.
Sheriff Chandler quickly waved his hand, “Reverend, please believe me, I never abused Colonel Mel and we even know that he hasn’t been interrogated yet.” After Colonel Mel was escorted back yesterday, time had passed, so they didn’t conduct any interrogation but put him in prison trying to scare him. But they didn’t expect Colonel Mel to be so fragile, and he became like this in one night.
Evan frowned a little in disbelief, Colonel Mel was a man who had been on the battlefield, how could a night in prison turn him into what he is now.
Just when Evan wanted to say something, Colonel Mel suddenly spoke.
“Reverend, don’t blame Sheriff Chandler. He really didn’t do anything to me.”
His tone was three points desolate, three points sad, three points regretful and there was also a sense of despair. Hearing this, Evan was stunned for a moment.
T/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!! 🎉🎉🎊🎊🥰🥰
I pray this new year will be better than last year for all of us, and God will grant all of us everything our heart desires this year, in Jesus name.