Everyone shuddered in unison, and Gollor's eyes flickered.
"So Luosang could have been poisoned to death, too?"
"He was almost poisoned to death. He was only a little short of it."
Paul stood before the shattered floor-to-ceiling window and leaned out to inspect the garden, deep in thought.
"The window was broken, but there were very few shards inside the room. Most of them fell outside."
Everyone was taken aback. Only Miranda nodded.
"I understand. That bastard didn't break in through the window," D.D. realized. "He felt something was wrong after drinking the poisoned wine, so he desperately smashed through the window and escaped this way!"
At those words, everyone crowded toward the broken window.
"He stumbled all the way, even trampling the lawn and hedges," Marius said thoughtfully as he looked at the garden below.
"That was why the butler and servants woke up early."
"So Luosang the Second not only failed to kill someone, but was also poisoned, fled all the way, and ended up in terrible shape?" Gollor narrowed his eyes.
Everyone looked at one another.
"I'll arrange it now," Toledo said through clenched teeth as he turned. "I'll see if we can follow the trail and find anything. If he really was severely poisoned..."
"Be careful," Marius reminded him from behind. "We thought he was gravely wounded and on the verge of death before, too, but he always manages to surprise us."
Everyone turned back and examined the crime scene again.
"If you're right, Mira," D.D. said in astonishment, "that's unbelievable. Brennan, this defenseless old man, overcame the strong with the weak and almost poisoned Luosang the Second to death all by himself?"
"He almost did something that all of us together couldn't?" Nesi's expression was ugly.
The others exchanged awkward glances, and the atmosphere grew