Jimmy drove to the gate outside the villa. He got out of the car and pressed the doorbell. After a few seconds, a female voice came from the loudspeaker, "Who are you?"
Jimmy: "I'm Jimmy Young. I came to see Mr. Alexander Harrington and made an appointment with him to meet today."
Female voice: "Please wait."
After a while, the door opened and a voice came from the loudspeaker: "Please come in, Mr. Yang."
Jimmy: "Thank you."
He got in the car and drove to the open space in front of the main building of the villa. A middle-aged white woman with black hair opened the door, stood at the door and looked at Jimmy with a smile. When Jimmy came over, she said: "Please follow me, Harrington. Sir is waiting for you."
Jimmy smiled and nodded, and followed the woman into the villa. A man was sitting on the sofa in the living room. When he saw Jimmy coming in, he stood up, took two steps forward, and said with a smile: "Welcome, Jimmy, Kevin told me You, you are a good boy."
Jimmy walked over with a smile and shook hands with Harrington, "Good afternoon, Uncle Harrington. Kevin says hello to you. What's wrong with your leg?" Harrington took two steps forward just now, limping a little. Yeah, it looks like there's something wrong with my right leg.
Harrington glanced down at his right foot, "I fell off the ladder yesterday. It's nothing."
Jimmy: "Oh, sorry."
Harrington smiled, "Please sit down. Serena, two cups of coffee."
The woman next to her, Serena, nodded and said, "Okay, sir."
Although Harrington didn't say it, and Serena didn't say her identity, it was pretty much judged from the conversation that she was a servant of their family. Rich people are just different.
Harrington: "How is Nia doing now? When I called Kevin, he said Nia was in a car accident?"
Jimmy: "She's okay. She's a little injured. It's not a big problem. She just needs to rest at home for a while."
Harrington: "The last time I saw her was two years ago. I'm sorry, I happened to be abroad when you got engaged, so I couldn't make it back."
Jimmy smiled and said, "No, no, it doesn't matter. You and Kevin have been friends for decades, so you don't have to worry about this formality."
Serena came over with two cups of coffee and placed them on the coffee table in front of the two of them.
Harrington picked up the coffee, "Kevin told you about the investigation, right?"
Jimmy nodded, picked up the coffee and took a sip, "Great coffee. Can you tell me more about it? The information Kevin got is not very comprehensive."
Harrington looked around: "I took over this house from a wealthy fishing man twenty years ago, and we have been living here since then, and nothing unusual has happened.
But from about two weeks ago, we often heard some sounds, sometimes a clicking sound, and occasionally there was a thumping sound of items falling, but we did not find anything unusual in the villa, the room There was nothing dropped on the floor. "
Jimmy: "Kevin said you had someone investigate once before. What was the result?"
Harrington: “I called a private investigator in Buffalo, and he found nothing in the house. He also investigated outside and found no large wild animals.
He suspected that the house might be older because a small amount of underground vibrations caused some sounds in the structure of the house. I hired an architect to check it out. The house was somewhat aged, but there were no problems with the main structure and no reconstruction was needed. "
Jimmy: "So we still haven't figured out where the sound came from, right?"
Harrington: "Yes, and this kind of sound does not happen every day. It is completely irregular. At present, it can only be determined to be between 23:00 and 4:00 midnight."
Jimmy: "Who lives here all this time?"
Harrington: "There are only three of me, my bodyguard John and my maid Serena. My wife Emily and son William returned to Buffalo last week. My son is 8 years old and the sounds at night disturbed him. I couldn’t sleep, so I had to find another place to stay temporarily.”
Jimmy: "How are you feeling? Physically and mentally."
Harrington: "I'm okay. Even if I'm woken up at night, I can catch up on my sleep during the day. I haven't noticed anything abnormal for the time being. Wait a minute. Serena, come on."
Serena came out of the next room and came to the two of them, "Sir, what's the matter?"
Harrington: "Selena, have you been feeling anything unusual during this period? Physically and mentally."
Serena: "Except for losing a little less sleep, I don't feel much else."
Harrington: "Okay, it's okay."
Serena left, and Harrington looked at his watch and continued: "John has gone to help buy food. It may take about half an hour to return."
Jimmy: "It doesn't matter. Just wait until he comes back and ask. Are you roughly sure where the sound came from?"
Harrington: "No. In fact, I talked to them all. Everyone can hear it, but the sound is different whether it is high or low. Another thing is that no one can tell the direction of the sound. The sound is It was like it was ringing around people, and I had no sense of direction, and I couldn't tell where the sound was coming from."
Jimmy: "OK, I don't have anything to ask for now. Can I see other rooms?"
Harrington: "Of course, there are no secrets here. Please feel free to do so. I won't accompany you to see it. My legs are not convenient right now."
Jimmy stood up. His eyes had not been closed since he came outside the villa, but he had not found any problems yet. He originally thought that what happened here was a supernatural event, so he should be able to observe something with his eyes.
This time his mission was not to handle the FBI case, but to be a good friend of his father-in-law, so naturally he had to be more careful and rule out all possibilities.
What the private detective said before is indeed possible. Low-intensity seismic waves may indeed cause some buildings to resonate, but this situation is rare and has only occurred in the past two weeks. The probability is low. Big, but certainly one of the possibilities.
The second possibility is animals, such as a novel he once read, Rats in the Wall, where a group of rats gnaws at the materials in the building, or the sound of squeaking can also produce similar effects, especially when they are seen in all directions. In this case, surround sound must be formed.
However, this is next to Buffalo, the second largest city in New York State. It is unlikely that such a large number of rats would be concentrated in a villa in this kind of place. If there were so many rats, Harrington and the others would have discovered it long ago.
The third possibility is that someone is using directional sound wave weapons outside. This possibility is even less likely. Even if Harrington is rich, he is just a rich man. No one will use such weapons to deal with a lawyer and real estate developer. of.
The fourth possibility is special circumstances. The terrain environment is abnormal or there are construction sites around, etc. to form special electromagnetic radiation, which relies on the structure of the villa to form an echo.
The fifth type is supernatural events. This is what Jimmy first thought of. If it is really a supernatural event, then whether it is a ghost affecting the people here or a monster with special abilities, this situation is not impossible.
This living room is more than half a floor high, with a double-layered crystal chandelier overhead. Although it is daytime, the chandelier is still on. The living room is not large in area, and the wooden floor looks a bit old. Although it is well maintained, the stains of time can still be seen in some places.
The furniture in the living room all looks like solid wood, and some of them look very dated and should be old items. He looked at the surrounding walls. There was a larger landscape painting and a few smaller oil paintings on the wall between the windows. However, there were no portrait paintings here. They were basically landscapes and architecture.
There is a semi-circular corridor on the second floor connecting various rooms. There is a wooden guardrail around the living room, separated by several pillars that go straight to the top. There is a fireplace on the right wall. Judging from the color, this fireplace may still be there in winter. in use.
Jimmy took out disposable gloves from his pocket and put them on. He came to the fireplace and took a look inside. Then he squatted down on the edge and took a look at the chimney. The signs of blackening inside the chimney showed that this fireplace would indeed be used. There's nothing in it either.
When he came to the wall, he reached out and touched the hanging lamp on the wall. He would lightly touch the furniture fixed on the wall or on the ground to see if it could be moved and if there was anything abnormal.
The inspection in the living room was very quick. Jimmy went to the dining room, kitchen, storage room, bathroom and other rooms nearby and looked around. He saw nothing unusual with his sight or heart, and he did not hear any unusual sounds. .
After checking the first floor, Jimmy looked at Harrington:
Jimmy: "Can I go upstairs and take a look?"
Harrington: "Sure, go ahead."
Jimmy slowly walked up the stairs next to him. He walked very slowly, looking left and right as he walked, and at the same time he would hold the stair railing and try to shake it. Standing in the corridor on the second floor and looking down at the living room, the entire living room is clearly visible, and there is nothing unusual seen from above.
This villa is not too big. There are three rooms on the second floor, one on the left and one at the end of the corridor. One of them is a study room, two are bedrooms, and the master bedroom has an independent bathroom.
The study room is quite large. Two single sofas and a coffee table are placed in the corner. On the other side is a large bookcase. There is a desk and a chair in front of the bookcase.
Jimmy looked at the bookshelf and made sure it was stable before leaving the study. The bedroom is also in a similar solid wood style, but the walls are covered with light brown wallpaper, which makes the style different from other rooms.
On the third floor is a small guest room. The room is relatively clean and tidy, and it looks like no one is staying. Another room looks like a converted music room, with a black grand piano in the corner. On the other side of the corridor are two servants' rooms, which naturally have nothing special.
Jimmy stood next to the window of the music room and looked out. In front of him was a peaceful and pleasant field and woods. The shadow of the city could be seen in the distance. It didn't seem very far away, but the scenery was really good. Looking at the scenery and playing the piano in such a music room, I guess you will be in a good mood.
Jimmy came to the living room, and Harrington looked at Jimmy with a smile: "Did you find anything?"
Jimmy shook his head: "Everything looks normal. I looked at the surrounding walls and found no abnormalities or cracks."
Harrington nodded: "Okay, this matter won't be settled in a short time. Let's stay here tonight. There are guest rooms on the third floor."
Jimmy: "Is it convenient?"
Harrington: "Of course, my family is not here, so you just came over to chat with me."
Jimmy: "Okay, I just want to see if there will be any sound at night."
Jimmy went out to take down the bag from the car and checked into the guest room on the third floor. Bodyguard John came back soon, and Harrington asked the same question. John didn't know the source of the sound, and he also had no sense of direction.
Naturally, we had dinner with Harrington. The servant Serena's cooking skills were very good, and the steak was no worse than those cooked in ordinary restaurants outside.
Jimmy and Harrington chatted for a while, then went into the room to go to bed early, because they might have to wake up in the middle of the night, and it would be nice to sleep a little longer. The key is that he and Harrington are not familiar with each other, so it is not easy to find a topic to talk about. Especially after he talked about his profession, Harrington frequently asked him about the cases he had done before. It would be more worry-free for him to just sleep quietly. .
At midnight, Jimmy's cell phone alarm rang. He woke up immediately, put on his underwear, put on his gun holster, took out a box of .44 Magnum bullets and put them on the bedside table, and sat on a chair to wait for the sound. It wasn't until after 2 o'clock that a small creaking sound sounded. As Harrington said, there was no way to tell where the sound came from.
Jimmy stood up and observed the entire villa with his mind's eye. There was no abnormality before, but now a very light color appeared in his mind's eye. It reminded him of the situation he encountered by the river in Dallas. In his mind's eye, he could see I saw very faint colors, but when I switched to normal vision, there was nothing.
According to Jimmy's previous experience, this light mist should have a source. The previous source of the mist was the head in the box under the tree. Now the source of the mist is unclear and needs to be investigated carefully.
He pulled out the 1875, took a handful of bullets from the bedside table and walked out of the guest room. Bodyguard John also opened the door and looked at Jimmy holding a gun. He knew Jimmy's profession, so he didn't react too much, "Mr. Yang, did you hear that?"
Jimmy nodded: "I heard it. Go and look after Mr. Harrington."
John nodded and came outside Harrington's room on the second floor.
Harrington also woke up. He stood at the door of the bedroom in his pajamas. When he saw Jimmy coming downstairs, he called him: "Jimmy, did you hear the sound?"
Jimmy nodded: "I heard it and am now looking for the source. Uncle Harrington, stay in the bedroom and don't move around for the time being."
Harrington nodded: "I understand, I'm going back to the bedroom. John, you can come in too."
