The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 260

At the restaurant, Jian Jing sits alone by the window, recording today's investigation results in her small notebook.

So far, there seem to be three motives for killing Zi Shu:

1. Disrupting the transaction (the buyer lost the bid? Doesn't want the auction to succeed? Prevent the bronze head from leaving?)

2. Thinking Zi Shu was the seller (snatching the bronze head? Out of historical resentment?)

3. Personal revenge against Zi Shu for his forgery

Zi Shu's time of death was between 8:30-10:30pm. By screening everyone's timeline, the following suspects can be obtained:

Chou Niu: 7:52-8:30 pm, bidder 2

Shen Hou: 7:50-8:35 pm, bidder 2

Wu Ma: 8:15-9:00 pm, claimed to be a proxy bidder, refused to disclose the client and auction item

Yin Hu: 8:40-9:20 pm, bidder 2

Si She: 9:30-9:55 pm, bidder 1

Chen Long: 9:50-10:00 pm, refused to disclose

--Auction Ends--

Xu Gou: 10:05-10:15 pm, bidder 3

Yin Hu: 10:10-10:20 pm, left for the third time

Hai Zhu: 10:15-10:25 pm, bidder 2

Through the timeline, Wei Yang and You Ji can be ruled out, but it cannot be determined that they have no suspicion. For example, could the elderly woman You Ji have conspired with Shen Hou?

But there is still a critical question here.

After 10pm, not everyone necessarily went to the auction room, but before 10pm, everyone had gone to the auction room. If Zi Shu had died very early, how could later arrivals not have noticed? Or to be more precise, would they cover it up for someone?

Maybe they would, but the bodyguards said that after 9pm, they saw with their own eyes Zi Shu ordering them to fetch fruit.

So the scope can be further narrowed down.

Yin Hu: 8:40-9:20 pm

Si She: 9:30-9:55 pm

Chen Long: 9:50-10:00 pm

--Auction Ends--

Xu Gou: 10:05-10:15 pm

Yin Hu: 10:10-10:20 pm

Hai Zhu: 10:15-10:25 pm

The murderer is among these five people.

Then, don't forget about the missing auction slip. This could have been taken by the murderer, or by someone who came later. There is no further information for now.

Jian Jing bites the end of her pen and tries to deduce some possibilities first:

1. Yin Hu knew the auction failed, killed Zi Shu in a moment of impulse, then fled in panic. Si She and Chen Long discovered the problem but chose to remain silent for various reasons (such as the auction slip). Later, afraid of exposure, Yin Hu returned to the auction room and faked the locked room scenario.

It kind of makes sense, but it's quite far-fetched. Could it be that both Si She and Chen Long held grudges against the deceased? Yin Hu should also have known clearly that problems would be discovered immediately by later arrivals. And it's really difficult for two people to both remain silent.

2. The killer is Si She, and Chen Long kept silent for some reason. Then in all likelihood, he took away the auction slip and faked the locked room - if he couldn't get in and didn't know about the victim's death, it seems a bit unreasonable for him to stay silent.

3. The last person to enter, Chen Long, is the killer.

But don't forget that Xu Gou, Yin Hu and Hai Zhu went out again at 10pm. Surely it can't be just by coincidence that all three really needed the bathroom at the same time? If any one of them went to the auction room, why didn't they mention the locked room?

Oh right, the locked room.

She circles this phrase. There are many possibilities for creating a locked room scenario - detective novels have mentioned it more than once. For example:

1. Disguise the victim’s death as suicide or accident;

2. Frame the person who has the key or is in the same room;

3. Delay the discovery of the victim's death;

4. Use the locked room to interfere with the investigation and overlook some important evidence;

5. The criminal is an artist trying to provoke the detective/police with a locked room mystery.

But solving cases by wild guesses will get nowhere. Based on the known clues, Jian Jing could make up seven or eight plausible case versions that meet the requirements. To be honest, although she has been mocked by Qifeng countless times for her “novel-like” deductions, the simple reason why Jian Jing always succeeds is: there is only one truth. Only the real chain of events can perfectly match every single clue, with no second possibility.

What else is missing? She rests her chin on hand, pondering deeply, oblivious even when the waiter brings the dishes over.

Just then, other guests also come for dinner.

Wu Ma, Wei Yang, You Ji and Shen Hou sit together. After exchanging just a few words, Wu Ma brings up the burglary of his safe, reminding Wei Yang, “You’ve got a lot of stuff there, better keep an eye out in case the thief sets sights on you too.”

Wei Yang is greatly shocked. “There are thieves on board? Have they been caught?”

“I asked the crew, they said no keycards were reported lost,” says Wu Ma. “But you know electronics aren’t reliable, anyone who knows how could easily clone a card. Just be more careful, everyone.”

Wei Yang frowns deeply.

Elderly woman You Ji suggests to her, “Why not ask the secretary to lend you a safe deposit box? Theirs must be more secure than the cabin safes.”

“I’ll go ask,” Wei Yang took some small and exquisite items, each worth no more than a few hundred thousand, but all delicate and dazzling. If stolen, they would be hard to find.

She hurries off, returning in less than half an hour, face relaxed. “There is indeed a safe on board. I’ve moved my things over.”

“Is it reliable?” Wu Ma asks.

“It’ll do,” Wei Yang smiles. “The door is professional grade anti-theft, much sturdier than the cabins.”

“Good then,” Shen Hou briefly nods, pondering, “Stealing stuff aside, there’s no reason to target you.”

Wu Ma says, “I also wonder why. I clearly don’t look rich, do I? If it's someone on board, wouldn't they know who has more money?” As he speaks, he signals subtly at Hai Zhu.

Hai Zhu is dressed head-to-toe in branded goods: a Patek Philippe watch, Hermes belt, Gucci clothes, plus a funky looking bracelet. He yells loudly, “What the hell is this crap? Tastes fucking awful! Get me some shark fin!”

The chef who was scolded out looks displeased.

Shen Hou forces a smile, the wrinkled old face still shrewd. “Perhaps what he wants to steal isn't valuables.”

Wei Yang sets down her cutlery, sips champagne. “What is it then?”

Shen Hou gives a cold laugh without answering.

At the next table, Jian Jing listening all the while helps finish his reply in her mind: the Letter of Authorization.

The letter authorizing Zi Shu from the seller to auction the item.

Now that Zi Shu has died, even Mr. Gu doesn't know who the seller is. Whoever gets the Letter of Authorization can take away the collection.

Not bad, this thief’s mind works quickly indeed.

But only the eleven guests and Tina know about this. If the secretary's identity checks out, could the thief be among the ten people?

Thoughts tangle without making sense of anything.

Jian Jing closes her notebook, picks up cutlery, ready to finish her now slightly cold pasta.

In between, Chou Niu and Xu Gou also come for dinner, the former orders steak but pairs it curiously with papaya stewed razor clams, while the latter takes French onion soup with potato gratin.

Both smell wonderful.

Jian Jing: “...Please bring me another serving of shrimp dumplings.”

Full from the meal, she returns to the crime scene.

This time, she carries out a meticulous inspection all over again, growing more doubtful: Zi Shu went to take wine, was he celebrating something? The knife was improvised from what was on hand, so the killer attacked him spontaneously without preparation?

Quite a few people mentioned Zi Shu kept confidentiality well and likely wouldn’t reveal results before the auction ended. If the killer didn't know the outcome, what motive did they have to kill him?

From this perspective, those who left after 10pm seem more suspicious.

Also, doesn’t this allow ruling out revenge? Revenge must be premeditated, carefully planned. In such a unique, restricted environment of access and exit limits, it is not a good opportunity to attack.

Dissatisfied with the auction results? Or did conversation accidentally reveal Zi Shu to be the seller?

Xu Gou: 10:05-10:15 pm; Yin Hu: 10:10-10:20 pm; Hai Zhu: 10:15-10:25 pm.

Xu Gou (if he didn't lie) wanted to bid for item 3 and faced no competitors at all, so no motive. Yin Hu and Hai Zhu were both confident bidders for item 2 and seem rather suspicious.

Also, considering the murder method, it would be quite difficult in terms of physical strength and skill for Xu Gou to swiftly, ruthlessly, and accurately kill a man in his fifties.

Could it be that the murderer is Yin Hu or Hai Zhu?

Yin Hu went back and forth three times, showing strong intention. Hai Zhu has a rude personality and deliberately rushed into the locked room first, which seems to match the motive of the creator of the locked room very well - but what is the use of this locked room?

No, something is wrong.

Something is completely wrong!

Jian Jing suddenly became irritable, feeling that this case was not like what was being analyzed at all. It seemed to make sense and be reasonable without any other explanation, but it just made people feel uncomfortable all over.

This is not the feeling of taking the pulse accurately.

Intuition told her it was not true, and under the "Spiritual Intuition" skill card, intuition is usually correct.

The reasoning just now was definitely not the truth.

She knocked hard on her forehead, discarding all previous thoughts.

Forget about the auction, forget about the collectibles, forget about the motive.

Review the clues from the beginning.

The reliable clues currently known are: 1. The timeline she witnessed herself; 2. The testimonies of the two bodyguards; 3. The terrain of the locked room, including the auction room and the large locked room from the hall to the auction room; 4. The missing auction list.

Is there anything else?

Are any clues being overlooked?

Jian Jing racked her brains, but still did not have the answer.

The clock ticked to eleven o'clock. She glanced at the clock in the auction room, brought over a chair, climbed up and took a look. Very good, the dust accumulation was uniform and moderate in thickness, no one had tampered with the time.

So why make a locked room?

A super simple locked room that anyone who has read detective novels could suggest a way out of, what is the necessity of its existence?

It couldn't be that the murderer had a flash of inspiration and did it on a whim while having a chuunibyou episode, right? Any author who dared to write that could expect a rating of 1.0 on Bookworm Reviews.

After fussing about it, it was twelve o'clock, still without a clue, so she had to go back to sleep.

The sleep quality was terrible.

It seemed like she had just dozed off for a bit when she heard strange noises outside. She jolted up in shock, rushed out the door, and patrolled the corridor vigilantly: "What's going on?"

An employee came rushing down the stairs, panting: "This is bad, something happened in the safe room!"

Jian Jing: "Huh?"

She hurried upstairs. By the time she reached the hall, she saw the overflowing pungent white smoke. The character status panel indicated "trace anesthetic".

"You stay here and wait, I'll go take a look." She stopped the employee and entered alone.

Inside the passage, the white fog was even denser. She held her breath, thinking she could rush in in one go by relying on immunity. However, this time she had overestimated the 1 point increase.

Just barely making it to the vicinity of the safe room, she already felt dizzy and her vision blurred. She could vaguely see that the four bodyguards guarding the door of the safe room were all unconscious.

She really wanted to take a closer look, but it was difficult to stay in the enclosed passage for even one more second, so she quickly retreated back to the hall, opened the doors wide, and asked the employees to arrange the ventilation system to quickly dispel the anesthetic fog.

After about ten minutes, the white fog finally dispersed and she hurried in.

The doors of all three safe rooms were wide open. The safes in Room 1 and Room 3 were completely undamaged, but the safe containing the bronze head sculpture in Room 2 had been violently cut open, completely empty inside.

Jian Jing couldn't help but swear.

The employee who had come with her was dumbfounded: "What should we do now?"

"Wake up Tina, contact Mr. Gu, and then gather all the guests in the dining room," Jian Jing said.

The employee hurried to follow her instructions.

When Tina arrived, she was still wearing silk pajamas, and asked in a shocked and bewildered tone: "The collectible... was stolen? Who stole it?"

Jian Jing was also quite frustrated. She also wanted to know! But she couldn't panic, and spoke calmly: "We are going to investigate this matter. Go ask all the staff on the ship, who was not sleeping or not at their post just now."

Tina had one advantage in that although she could not make decisions, once given a command she could take action: "Oh, okay."

Jian Jing called the four unconscious bodyguards over. They were still a little woozy and confused about the situation.

"Tell me what happened just now, you go first." She randomly pointed at one of them.

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