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墨書 Inktalez
No one found Anderson's room card on any of the individuals, which meant that the card was either still in one of the rooms along this corridor or had already been thrown into the sea by the Killer. If it was the latter, we would have no way of finding that card.
However, the development of events took an unexpectedly smooth turn, as the room card was found—quickly. We searched each room along the corridor, and after a short while, we discovered the card in Davis's room.
Although we had found the card, things became interesting because earlier, during our elimination of suspects based on their alibis, we had already ruled out Davis as having any opportunity to commit the crime. The captain could attest to this; we certainly wouldn’t suspect a captain of covering anything up. But why was the room card in Davis's room?
We immediately called for Davis and the captain. The captain was a tall, straight-backed Nordic man who usually didn’t say much. However, it was clear that after dinner, when Davis discovered his room card was locked inside his room, he had gone to chat with the captain before midnight.
At a quarter past twelve, we confirmed that Anderson was still alive, meaning that while Anderson was alive, Davis had been chatting with the captain and hadn’t gone out. I asked, “Captain, are you sure he didn’t step out at all during that time or did he go out briefly and come back?”
The captain pondered for a moment and then replied, “I can vouch for Mr. Davis’s whereabouts; from the moment he started chatting with me, he did not leave. I can confirm this. According to Davis, when he went out for lunch and returned to find his room card locked inside, how did Anderson’s card end up in Mr. Davis’s room?”
The captain’s final point struck at the heart of the case’s biggest doubt: there was clearly a time discrepancy. The Killer must have entered Anderson's room after Davis left, killed Anderson, and then placed the room card in Davis's room to create an illusion that Davis was the murderer.
However, if the Killer placed the card in Davis's room after dinner, that would have been impossible. The cabin doors had no gaps whatsoever; not even a hair could fit through them. Moreover, the room card was found not under the door but on the nightstand beside Davis's bed.
This meant someone had entered Davis's room before lunch and placed the card there. But at that time, Anderson was still alive and furious; no one would have opened the door for anyone else. If that were true, how did the Killer manage to enter Anderson's room?
The Killer could not be Davis; although they had fought over a trivial matter yesterday, there was now solid evidence proving otherwise. It seemed someone was framing him. So who could the Killer be? It appeared that some alibis were unreliable.
I never expected things to develop to this point—a locked-room murder case. However, this locked-room scenario wasn’t about where the murder took place but rather about where the room card was hidden. I inquired further with the captain, who confirmed that each room only had one keycard because all guests were wealthy merchants; it was possible that someone’s room contained business secrets. If others gained access to those rooms, it would be disastrous. Therefore, they preferred a complicated procedure rather than allowing a second keycard to exist.
With this explanation in mind, there were only a few possibilities: first, the Killer had been hiding in Anderson’s room all along before we knocked on his door without Anderson realizing it. Once we confirmed everything was fine with Anderson, he would have been killed by the Killer to silence him. Prior to this event, the Killer had stolen Anderson’s keycard and placed it in Davis’s room.
The second explanation suggests that the Killer had previously placed Anderson's room card in Davis's room. After leaving, he called out to open Anderson's door, killed him, and then left.
The third explanation posits that after we left, the Killer used the room card to sneak into Anderson's room, killed him, and then somehow placed the card in Davis's room using a method we are currently unaware of.
All three explanations have their possibilities, but they also raise doubts. The biggest question revolves around the room card. In the first explanation, if the Killer had already placed the only room card in Davis's room, how did he gain access to Anderson's room? Without a room card, he would have had to request the captain to unlock all the doors. The Killer would have had no way to sneak into Anderson's room first.
It is unlikely that Anderson left his door unlocked when he went out; that seems implausible. In the second explanation, if he called out to open Anderson's door, people on the deck would have heard the commotion. Moreover, if Anderson opened the door, the Killer would have lost his advantage. Why wouldn’t Anderson shout for help when he was being controlled?
As for the third explanation, it suggests that the Killer quietly opened the door without Anderson noticing someone approaching him. Thus, while Anderson was asleep, he was murdered. This scenario aligns with common sense; it is quite possible that Anderson fell asleep while watching a video, allowing the Killer to sneak in and kill him. However, this does not explain how the room card ended up in Davis's room since it would have been locked at that time.
This situation resembles a paradox. I believe that during the process of committing the crime and framing someone else, the Killer did not anticipate that Davis would inadvertently lock the room card inside his own room. Otherwise, even if Davis jumped into the Indian Ocean, he wouldn’t be able to wash away his guilt. If we cannot analyze this from a procedural standpoint, we can shift our focus to motives.
This is different from a city where there are many people involved. On this ship, there are only about a hundred individuals in total; even if we question each one individually, we can clarify matters. Analyzing motives is definitely feasible; thus, we need to identify who might hold a grudge against Anderson or who might have animosity towards Davis.
Previous alibis are naturally rendered void because someone forged them convincingly with almost no flaws. Zhao Mingkun has now come downstairs. Although I had someone keeping an eye on them, this ship belongs to Zhao Mingkun and so do her subordinates; she could go wherever she wanted with just a word.
“Have you found any useful clues?” Zhao Mingkun asked slowly as she approached. “It’s getting late now; if there’s nothing pressing, I’ll be going to sleep. We have about a week left; I hope you can find the Killer during this time. Otherwise, it will be detrimental to our organization.”
I shook my head and replied, “We haven’t found any useful clues yet, but there’s still time; I’m sure we’ll uncover something within ten days.” Leaning closer to Zhao Mingkun’s ear, I added, “If I can’t figure out who the Killer is, what will you or the organization do?”
Zhao Mingkun looked at me with an ambiguous smile before responding: “If you can’t find out, what can we do? Naturally, we’ll wait for the police to handle it after disembarking. What do you think we could do? Sometimes you overestimate us; if we had such capabilities back in Jing City, why would we go through so much trouble to bring you here instead of just kidnapping you outright?”
With that said, Zhao Mingkun patted my shoulder and gave me a meaningful look. I certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to believe her words. Given Zhao Mingkun and her associates' methods, they could easily find a scapegoat; once off the ship, Zhao Mingkun could lead her group away while leaving that scapegoat to deal with their own misfortune.
He shook his head, but there was still plenty of time, so he wasn't in a hurry. Outside the corridor, only two people remained on guard while the others had left. Being alone in this quiet hallway made him think of various scenes from horror movies, and it felt eerily similar.
He didn't return to his own room but decided to stay overnight in the deceased Anderson's room to see if he could discover any useful clues. Anderson's body was placed in a large freezer that had originally contained fish; now it held a corpse instead. He wondered what the surviving fish must think of their new company.
He opened the VCR in the room. Anderson had been watching this video before his death; it was a foreign art film that made him feel drowsy and unable to concentrate. It was strange to be unable to sleep while watching such a film. He opened the window to let in some fresh sea air and shake off his lethargy.
Leaning out of the window, he tried to see if it was possible for the killer to have come down this way, but it seemed unlikely. First, the window was too small for an adult to fit through. Second, there was a significant distance between each floor; if someone were to descend from above using a rope, they would need a key card from the upper floor, which meant finding Zhao Mingkun—clearly an impossible task.
If someone were to drop down from above, they would have to cover a distance of about ten meters. Even with a long enough rope, the killer would have to be brave enough to attempt it. The ship's walls were slippery; one misstep could send someone plunging into the vast ocean below, leaving no time even for tears. Was it possible for someone above to throw a key card inside? With that thought in mind, he immediately conducted an experiment using a deck of playing cards.
Unfortunately, it proved impossible. It seemed like a sealed room with no way for anyone to tamper with the window. Under these conditions, for someone to enter or for a key card to be brought in without leaving traces would be nothing short of miraculous.
With that realization, he shook his head helplessly. It looked like he would have to start investigating the relationships among these people tomorrow—who wanted Anderson dead or who wanted to frame Davos? The first step would be looking into those American businessmen and determining if there were any conflicts of interest among them.
However, it was already late at night; he decided to put off these thoughts until tomorrow. Looking at the hypnotic art film, he figured he would fall asleep soon enough.
On his first voyage at sea, he encountered a well-known Bengal Aid Worker. Young and impulsive, but too poor to make any real moves until the First Mate told him that a bag of instant noodles could get him through the night with a group of women...
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