The case seemed to be at an impasse, and in the face of conflicting clues and evidence, Rogge lit a cigar and walked out of the tent, pacing back and forth outside the tent to comb through the existing clues of the case.

"The dead Prince Kevin and the chamberlain Stuart went to the banquet with the other two generals, and only Kevin and Stuart were poisoned, indicating that Kevin and Stuart had a meeting point where they were poisoned, and this meeting point avoided the two generals. ”

The soldier outside Kevin's tent said that he drank a glass of water after returning to the tent, and Stewart did not drink water after returning to the tent, and if the soldier was right, the point of poisoning between the two was not the drinking water poisoning in the barracks, in this case, it was most likely Hochersky's banquet. ”

Thinking of this, he suddenly stopped and thought to himself: "At the banquet, Kevin and the generals ate the same thing, and there was only one thing that he enjoyed exclusively, could it be said that ......?"

He frowned and turned around and walked into the tent, everyone in the tent looked at him blankly, Rogge stepped forward and asked the two generals that Kevin brought to the banquet: "When His Royal Highness Kevin went to the banquet, did he eat anything with the attendants, and neither of you ate it?"

The two generals looked at each other, and one of them replied: "Speaking of which, there is indeed one thing, that is, the beetroot soup that Hochersky made for His Highness." ”

Hearing this, Rogge perked up and hurriedly asked, "Tell me about the situation at that time!"

The general looked back at his comrades and said, "When the maid brought the beetroot soup, His Highness was about to taste it, and Stewart suddenly picked up a spoon and scooped it, and tasted it himself before allowing His Highness to eat it, because the Hocherskis were both present and watching, and the scene was still a little awkward. ”

"Does Stewart often help His Highness taste food?" Rogge asked further.

"Yes," the other general nodded, "Every time His Highness eats, Stewart will help him taste it first, and only when he is okay will he allow His Highness to eat, and this has been the case for many years." ”

"I see, thank you. Rogge winked at Antonio, turned and strode out of the tent, and Antonio and the two girls followed closely and came to Rogge's side to hear him say, "Hochestersky lied to us, he hid the fact that Stuart had drunk beetroot soup." ”

"Are you saying he's a murderer?" Antonio felt faintly bad in his heart, if it was really confirmed that Hochersky was the murderer, war would definitely break out, and Checheng would face the destruction of life, which he did not want to see.

"He is very suspicious, but we can't draw conclusions yet, and it is better to go back to the Marquis of Checheng and talk to Hochersky in person. Rogge set his gaze on Tully's face, and the mermaid hurriedly summoned the lamp god and asked him to take everyone back to the Marquis of Checheng's mansion.

Hearing that Rogge and the others had returned, Hochersky, the Marquis of Checheng, hurriedly came to the castle hall, and Rogge said straightforwardly as soon as he saw him: "Your Excellency, Marquis, it would be better for you to explain why you want to hide that Kevin's squire Stuart had tasted beetroot soup. ”

"I ......" Hochersky looked at him dumbfounded, a little overwhelmed for a moment, Rogge stepped forward and took a step forward, stared into his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Concealing any clues from me is extremely unfavorable to you, and the possibility of you becoming a murderer will increase dramatically, unless you can give me a reasonable explanation!"

Before Hochersky could answer, he suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from the door on the side of the hall: "Your Excellency, please don't get me wrong, my husband is not maliciously cheating on you, he is just worried about misunderstanding and suspicion!"

Rogge followed the prestige along with the people in the hall, and saw a young woman dressed in good clothes come up with hurried steps, and saluted him, saying, "Sir Langaro, I am Hochersky's wife, and a witness at the banquet, Prince Kevin and the attendants have indeed drunk beetroot soup, and I have seen it with my own eyes. ”

"Ma'am," said Rogge, who returned the salute and said, "I have just met King Deiz, and he is very angry at Prince Kevin's death, and has vowed to slaughter the city, and I am afraid that no one but me will be able to clear your husband's grievances, and if he is really wronged, then he had better not hide anything from me." ”

"Of course," the Marquise nodded in agreement, and looked back at the Marquis, who looked sad, and said, "Actually, I was talking to him about this just now, and he was very hesitant to tell you or not. ”

She turned her gaze to Antonio and continued, "I persuade him to believe you, because you are a friend of Captain Antonio, and Captain Antonio is a native of Erus, and he will not want to see the city of Erus slaughtered by foreigners, so he and Sir you will definitely help us with all your might." ”

"You are absolutely right, ma'am, that this is a wise decision. Rogge bowed his head slightly and looked at Hochersky's face, and the Marquis, hearing them say this, finally made up his mind, and invited everyone to sit down and tell the story of the matter from beginning to end, and the Marquise was there to help him add it.

Rogge listened with his head down while smoking his cigar, and when he had finished listening to Hochersky's story, he nodded with satisfaction and said, "Thank you, Your Excellency the Marquis, now I would like to ask Madame for a favor." ”

"Tell me. The Marquise replied earnestly.

"Please show me the road from the dining room to the banquet hall. Rogge stood up and said to the others, "Let the others stay here with the Marquis, and I will go alone with Madame." ”

Although the crowd was bewildered by his intentions, they did not object, and the Marquise led Rogge out of the hall to the kitchen, and walked all the way from the kitchen door, on the way Rogge walked silently without saying a word, and the Marquise at first gave him some introductions, and when she saw that he did not respond, she also fell silent.

When they reached the door of the banquet hall, the Marquise was about to push open the door of the banquet hall, but Rogge stopped her and said, "All right, let's go back to the hall now." ”

The two turned back to the hall, and Rogge sat down opposite the Marquis and asked, "Your Excellency, how long did it take you to go back to the dressing room to change your clothes after making the beetroot soup in the kitchen?"

"No more than five minutes. The Marquis replied after a little recollection.

Hearing the Marquis's words, Rogge showed a faint smile, he played a cigar on the ash tray in front of him and smiled: "That's very interesting, you asked the head chef to give the dishes to the maid, and the maid took the dishes to the banquet hall before you, and you set off about five minutes later, but you ran into the maid at the door of the banquet hall." ”

He glanced at the thoughtful expressions on everyone's faces and asked with a smile: "I just calculated, according to the normal walking range, the distance from the kitchen to the banquet hall is only five or six minutes at most, and the maid set off first but arrived at the banquet hall at the same time as you, what was she doing in the five minutes of delay?"

The Marquis and the Marquise looked at each other in surprise, and the Marquise asked uneasily, "Could it be that Victoria did it?"

"Then we're going to ask her personally, please call her, and we'll hear what she has to say. Rogge said to the Marquise.

The Marquise hurriedly ordered the housekeeper to summon Victoria, a young girl of seventeen or eighteen years old, to the hall after entering the hall, and then bowed respectfully for the lady's orders.

"Victoria, ...... you," the Marquise was about to ask, but Rogge stopped her with a look, he got up and walked up to Victoria, looked the plain-looking blonde up and down, stopped in front of her, smiled and introduced himself, "Hello, I am Sir Langaro. ”

"Hello, Sir. Victoria hurriedly saluted him.

"I'd like someone to walk around the back garden with me, how about you go with me?" asked Rogge, staring at the maid's lowered face.

Victoria glanced inquiringly at the hostess sitting on the sofa, and the Marquise nodded slightly hesitantly, and Victoria replied respectfully, "It is my pleasure." ”

Rog then walked out of the hall with the maid and led her way to the back garden, where he chatted with Victoria about her relatives in the family, and Victoria told him that his parents lived in the city, that the family had a grocery store, and that his brother, who was a year younger than him, worked as a waiter in a nearby inn.

"Have you been home lately?" asked Rogge, smiling concerningly.

"No, I haven't been home for a month," said Victoria, looking down a little melancholy, "because of the siege of the Deiz, the lord and the lady are restless, and we have to obey orders at all times, and we have no time to go home." ”

"It's hard work," said Rogge, pausing to look around at the back garden in late autumn, turning back to Victoria, "how are you doing here?

Victoria smiled when she heard this, and she said with pleasure: "The lord and the lady have been very good to me, and they have treated me like a daughter during my years in the house, and they are very lovely people. ”

Rogge smiled and nodded, and asked with deep meaning, "It does sound good, but what if they tell you right away that you will be arrested for poisoning His Royal Highness Prince Kevin Deiz?"

Hearing Rogge's words, Victoria's eyes widened in surprise, and she took a step back in horror and shook her head: "I didn't, I didn't poison the prince, I heard about it, but I just brought the dish to the prince, I didn't do anything!"

"It took you nearly ten minutes to get from the kitchen to the banquet hall, and it only took five minutes for normal operations, so why did you wait so long on the way?" asked Rogge, looking at her terrified face.

"Because I met Valentina, we were standing in the hallway talking for a while, when Yuri came up from behind me and asked me why I was still here with my plate, and he said that he had just seen the master go this way, and asked me to hurry up and bring the food to the banquet hall. ”

"I just remembered that I had delayed too much time, and hurriedly rushed to the banquet hall with Valentina, and when I walked to the door, I heard the footsteps of the lord behind me, I quickly pushed the door in and put the dishes in front of His Royal Highness the Prince, that's the thing, I'm really not a murderer!"

Rogge listened to her words silently, took out a silver coin from his body and handed it to Victoria, saying, "Although what you said is very similar to that, I still need to continue to verify, before I find out if it is related to you, you can use this money to help me buy some tobacco back, I think there should be in your grocery store, right?"

"Yes!" Victoria quickly took the money and nodded to Rogge, who waved his hand at her and said, "Go ahead, go back and see your family by the way, and bring the tobacco back to me." ”

Victoria hurriedly turned to leave, and Rogge stared quietly at her back as she hurriedly left, and heard the little hairball peeking out of the back of her neck asking, "Stupid wolf, didn't you let the rabbit run back into the hole?"