Whispering Verse

The blood hadn't even dried up yet. Xia De frowned slightly and asked:

"The body wasn't moved?"

"No."

Deputy Director Morris said, and took the initiative to introduce the situation at that time:

"The servant who passed by the door found that the door was open, so he wanted to come over and lock the door, and then he found the body. The screams attracted other people who happened to be in the corridor at the time, which led to more than ten people entering here. Saw the body.”

Shade nodded, left the room and came to the door. He opened the door ajar and looked through the crack of the door:

"You can indeed see the body's feet from outside the door, which is no problem. But since so many people have entered, the marks on the carpet are meaningless."

He squatted down in front of the body again:

"The only wound was on the back of the head, indicating that the attack came from behind. Since this Mr. Daniel Philip was a soldier of the New World Pioneer Corps, he should not have let someone with a weapon easily approach his back, and he was killed without any resistance. . This shows that the murderer should be an acquaintance."

He said pretentiously, and asked Tifa to stand in front of him. He picked up the bronze swan statue and made a swinging and hitting motion behind Tifa:

"Since he was killed with one blow, it means that the murderer must have used the most advantageous posture and carried out the most powerful swing. Therefore, we can judge from the location of the wound on the back of the body's head."

He put his free hand on the back of Tifa's head, and then kept bending his legs until he found a position that could just hit the wound:

"The murderer is about two inches (about 5 centimeters) shorter than Mr. Daniel Philip. Also."

He gave the statue to Tifa again:

"Shen?"

The "weak" maid nodded:

"Yes, very heavy."

Then he called the maid in the next room who had witnessed the body, and they all said that the bronze statue was very heavy.

Shade asked the housekeeper to send someone to bring in plaster statues that could be destroyed at will, and then he destroyed one of them by wielding a bronze statue. He also asked Deputy Director Morris and the senior superintendent to also try to smash the plaster statue with weapons. , and then Shade came to the conclusion:

"It is very difficult for ordinary ladies to wield this bronze statue, let alone kill an adult man with a full blow. Even for men, it is difficult to do it without training. With such a powerful swing, I noticed that the wound on the back of the body's head was very deep."

So I summarized the current situation:

"The murderer was an acquaintance of the deceased, Mr. Daniel Philip. He was two inches shorter than the deceased. He was most likely a male, and he was not of thin build."

He squinted his eyes and stood up:

"These are not the key points. The key point is that Mr. Daniel Philip actually died here. Judging from the blood stains at the scene, this is the scene of the first crime, but how did the people attending the banquet come here?"

He asked about the situation of this room, and the last servant who had been in the room had also been found. According to him, because the gifts would be transported soon, this room was not locked, but generally there would be no one there. Come over here. The people who came to the banquet were all respectable people, and there was no need to worry about theft, so in theory, anyone could have entered the room.

There was no appointment letter on the body, and the clues seemed to have been interrupted. But for Shade, he was not a professional detective in the first place. Even if the current group of people were not present, he would immediately sprinkle bone powder, channel the soul and ask who killed him.

The so-called "reasoning" just now was just to show that he was very professional. In fact, he didn't care at all whether what he said was right or wrong. Because it was obvious that the wound on the back of the head was too big. Since the blood could be stained on the murder weapon, it would naturally be stained on the murderer.

There may be very little blood, but fortunately the blood is quite fresh, which is the best target for Shade's [Echo of Blood].

He pretended to take Tifa to explore the room. When he closed the door again and checked behind the door panel, he said in surprise:

"Look at this!"

At this time, Shade wished he had a magnifying glass in his hand, but he could also observe where he was pointing with the naked eye. Tifa is closest to Shade, so she can see it most clearly:

"Behind the door, there was fresh blood. The blood stain was very small and not clear."

"oh?"

This was something that none of the people who inspected the scene just now noticed. People also came to check, and Xia De said:

"Such fresh blood stains should have been left by the murderer. Judging from the position, a certain part of the finger touched the door panel."

"But why did the murderer leave blood stains behind the door?"

Tifa asked cooperatively, and Shade said to Deputy Director Morris:

"Let us reenact the situation when the body was found. You will be the servant who saw the door ajar, and the others will be the people in the corridor. As for me, I will stay here."

This was a very simple request, so everyone exited the door. Soon Deputy Director Morris exclaimed quietly at the door:

"Oh God, what's going on?"

Then people all poured into the room, but they didn't see Shade in the room.

"Oh, what's going on?"

At this time, Shade's voice came from behind, and he stood at the end of the crowd.

"So, the murderer was discovered before he could leave! So he hid behind the door and blended into the crowd!"

Senior Superintendent Mr. Johnson said, then frowned:

"So the killer is now."

"Yes, right next door, with Her Highness Agelina."

The crime scene was temporarily sealed off, and people followed Shade to the next room. Fortunately, there was no second murder. The people staying here temporarily at this time include servants of the Yodel Palace and guests who came to attend the banquet. They even included Raphael Birmingham and Henry Mafal, who were favored by Larousse III. Two other candidates.

"This murder is definitely not a planned killing, because the murder that occurred in Yodel Palace will definitely be detected, and no one will be stupid enough to place the crime here. After the murder, the prisoner was able to escape in a planned way without showing any flaws. This shows that the other party’s psychological quality is excellent, and I think we can distinguish each other from the people who have entered the scene.”

Shade told Princess Agelina his inference, and with the help of the princess, a total of fifteen people were asked some questions, focusing on why they appeared in the corridor at the right time.

Based on everyone's answers, combined with Shade's judgment of the prisoner's body shape and personality, three more suspects were identified from the fifteen people. During the slightly lengthy questioning period, Shade gave Tifa his coat and entrusted her to temporarily leave Yodel Palace to do something.

The three people who were finally identified from the fifteen were Raphael Birmingham, the son of the Duke, who was considered by Shade to be humble and kind, Henry Mafal, the son of the Duke, who wanted to play Rhodes with Shade not long ago, and about George Venn, footman at Del Palace.

The three of them were identified as having serious suspicions of committing the crime, and when Shade picked out the three of them, "she" also chuckled in Shade's ear.

"I swear this was not an intentional retaliation. They were really suspicious."

Shade emphasized.

[I didn’t say anything, you don’t have to explain. 】

"She" replied seemingly in a good mood.

A separate room was used for the final interrogation, while other suspects listened to the conversation outside in the small study on the inside of the room. Shade, who had already proven his reputation as a "famous detective" before, also made a final inquiry.

For reasons known only to Shade, the three suspects were put together for questioning. They were sitting on the sofa against the wall. The two duke's sons were just a little anxious, but the manservant was really panicking.

In his opinion, if the real murderer is not found in the end, letting him take the blame may be the best outcome of tonight's unfortunate incident.

"Ahem."

Shade coughed. He did not sit down, but the little princess sat behind the desk. Others stood on both sides of the table, watching Shade make the final "judgment."

"The current situation has been explained to you before. The murderer of poor Mr. Philip was mixed in with the crowd who found the body, trying to escape his crime, and the three of you are the most qualified murderers in body shape, and you can't explain yourself. Why was he the person who appeared in the corridor at that time?"

"Going to the bathroom" cannot be used as an excuse here, because there is no bathroom in that direction. The excuse given by the two noble young men was that "the gift was inappropriate and they wanted to take it away quietly", and the excuse given by the footman was that they went the wrong way.

These are lies at first sight.

Of course, there was no blood stain on the fingers of the three people that could be identified with the naked eye. They must have found a way to wipe it off while waiting in the room.

"I actually already know who the murderer is. I can give you one last chance. Who will take the initiative to admit it?"

Shade asked. The manservant was already a little desperate at this time. Shade's words made it clear that he had not found out at all. Mr. Raphael Birmingham smiled and shook his head slightly, while Mr. Henry Mafal, who tried to invite Shade to play Rhodes, nervously wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

No one present believed what Shade said, but in fact, he had conducted so many reasonings, and only this sentence "I already know who the murderer is" was the most serious.

"You must have heard of the 'Haunting of Tobesk Country House' at the beginning of the year, and the case of the theft of the century. Compared with that incident, this case is not complicated. Yes, I already know it All the truth. In the name of Detective Hamilton of Saint Teresa Square, tell it and I'll give you one last chance."

Shade loudly promoted his reputation, and the people behind him watched his "performance" with interest. The three people on the sofa against the wall had different expressions, and no one spoke for a while.