Mrs. Winter was calm and composed. She got straight to the point in her very first sentence, explained the situation, then invited us inside, saying as she walked, "This is something we'll have to discuss at length. Come in first."
The few of us exchanged glances.
Judging by the gloomy aura around Mrs. Winter, she was a ghost unlike any we'd encountered before. Like most of the ghosts here in Tissent, she was a stranger to us.
That meant she was probably trustworthy. At the very least, she had nothing to do with Lena and wasn't under her control. She should want to destroy Lena just as we did. But we knew far too little about her. We'd only heard a couple of things about her from that police officer, Tom.
As Mrs. Winter walked, she reminded us not to trample the little garden in front of her house. Once we were inside, she even asked what we'd like to drink.
We were indeed thirsty, hungry, and tired, but Wu Ling turned down her offer on everyone's behalf.
"Oh, you don't need to worry. Everything's fine and hasn't expired. It's all ordinary stuff. I only bought this tea last week." Mrs. Winter busied herself, preparing tea and snacks.
Steam rose fragrant and warm from the teacups.
"Hmm, where should I begin..." Mrs. Winter took a sip of tea. "I died... many years ago."
She'd chosen an opening that surprised us all over again.
"My husband passed away in 2008. I died in 2009. We'd both been married before, but neither of us had children. He fell down the stairs and passed away not long after he was hospitalized. I died in my sleep. My body was in the garden. I couldn't leave it in the house and let the whole