Chapter 18251832 [Solving the Case]

Jiang Xia thought for a moment and said, "According to what you said, the 'Phantom' started from here, passed by Kariya Yuto in the middle, and then ran to the other end and bumped into Mr. Matsuzaki. Then he turned back and suddenly jumped into the sea in front of Kariya Yuto?"

“…”

This route does sound very strange: if even Masahiko Matsuzaki can scare the "Phantom" into returning along the same route, then there is no reason why Kariya Yuto, who has an even more terrifying temperament, should be treated as air by him.

And if the "Phantom" had successfully passed the level of Yuto Kariya, then when he met Masahiko Matsuzaki later, there would be no need for him to turn back, and eventually he would be attacked from both sides and committed suicide by jumping into the sea.

Now he looks like he is going to jump into the sea in front of everyone.

The short-haired girl still felt something was wrong: "But everyone has seen the room on the 4th floor with their own eyes. Someone broke in, lived in it with a suitcase, and even wrote scary bloody words on the wall."

"Whether it's the bed sheets or the bathroom, there aren't many signs that the room has ever been lived in," Jiang Xia said. "And the suitcase in the room is a little smaller than a large suitcase, so it can be put inside other suitcases and brought to the island without anyone noticing. The 'Phantom' is not a real person, but a fictional murderer who was used to take the blame."

Seeing that the others had fallen silent, Jiang Xia continued to smoothly push forward the progress of the case: "The old theater and the gorgeously decorated hotel are the few selling points of this island. In order to facilitate the sale, the previous seller took a lot of exquisite photos and posted them online, including the structure of each house.

"The new owner doesn't seem to care too much about this island. He didn't clean up the information after the deal was completed. In addition, the theaters of the same era have similar structures and mechanisms. The murderer doesn't need to go to the island in advance. As long as he conducts targeted investigations in advance, he can use this place to set up the killing move he wants."

Maya Hashimoto was giving first aid to Kurosawa Kazuma when she suddenly discovered that the man had opened his eyes and seemed to be trying hard to say something.

Hashimoto Maya: “…”

He guessed what this guy was obsessed with. In order to increase the chances of success in rescuing him, he had to ask Kurosawa Kazuma questions with his eyes slightly twitching, lest this guy should get into trouble: "I heard that when the first murder happened, all of you were in the restaurant, and you suddenly heard the deceased screaming, so you ran out to check the situation. Then don't you all have alibis?"

When the short-haired girl heard this, her eyes lit up: "Yes! You are the only one who suddenly appeared and has no alibi. Could it be you..."

Hashimoto Maya: “…”

Could it be that he could not escape the tragic fate of being treated as a suspect? He obviously didn't look like a bad guy...

Fortunately, a reliable detective will never wrongly accuse anyone.

Jiang Xia said patiently: "On the surface, it does seem to be so, but when we went to check the stage just now, we found that the distribution of the chandelier fragments was a bit strange - at a certain position, the fragments suddenly disappeared, leaving a straight and neat dividing line. And combined with the surrounding environment, we can find that the line is exactly where the curtain falls.

“Ms. Matsuzaki may have some obsession with playing the heroine. On the first day when we practiced, she deliberately played the heroine for demonstration, and she left all kinds of screams.

"The murderer recorded her screams in advance, and then tried to lure her to the stage that night - since the deceased had done some things that would give others a handle, this step was not difficult.

"When the deceased arrived at the stage as scheduled, it was dinner time, and everyone except her... and Mr. George gathered in the restaurant. Before dinner started, everyone found that Matsuzaki Haru was absent, and heard her screams, so they rushed out to look for her.

"But the scream at that time was actually just a pre-recorded recording. In fact, at this point in time, the deceased was still alive. She was standing on the stage at that time, separated from the speakers by a thick soundproof curtain. In addition, there was a heavy rain and thunder outside, so the deceased did not hear the pre-recorded scream and was still waiting on the stage.

“Because there was a lot of noise and we were new here and not familiar with the terrain, we couldn’t tell where the screams were coming from, so we had to disperse and look for them.

"The murderer rushed to the backstage during this time. In order to cover up the real murder, the murderer pressed the button for the opening of the play. Then a shrill bell rang. Under the cover of this sound, he cut the rope, and the chandelier fell, killing the people waiting on the stage.

"Other people who are searching for the deceased will quickly determine the location of the accident when they hear the penetrating ringtone, and will run towards the stage from all directions. The murderer only needs to take the opportunity to raise the curtain, take a shortcut and meet up with the others, and he can blend in with the crowd smoothly."

"And this murder is also related to Mr. Inozuka's death."

...and the death of Taro Izuka?

Hashimoto Maya pricked up her ears silently, and the half-dead Kurosawa Kazuma also looked over.

Jiang Xia was quite satisfied with the instinctive vigilance of the two listeners, and continued: "The tape left behind in the first method is a flaw that must be dealt with. However, when the murderer finally found an opportunity to avoid everyone and sneak away to deal with it, he discovered that someone had access to the tape before him."

As he spoke, he shook a piece of debris in the bag: "Just now, we found the fragments of Mr. Izuka's flashlight in the backstage. He was probably attacked there... Alas, in fact, he had nothing to do with the cause of this case, but inexplicably became a victim of a serial murder case. It's really unfortunate."

"Doctor Shinchu" looked at him silently.

Jiang Xia seemed not to notice the other party's gaze, and continued calmly: "It is precisely because this was an unplanned murder that the two cases after this seem a bit rough... Let's take a look at the second case first.

"The night before, Eimi Chikada said she wanted to see a ghost. The next morning, she was found hanged on a tree next to the hotel. There was no trace of a second person in the mud under the tree. Coupled with her previous history of committing suicide and blaming others, it looked like she was controlled by a ghost to commit suicide.

"But the murderer did not have to do any work to pull her out of the house. He only had to make a noose by loosely driving a few nails into the outer wall, around the corners of the window.

"After the murder began, he only needed to find a way to get the victim to look out the window, and then use the protrusion on the building as a fulcrum to instantly tighten the rope and the noose, strangling the victim's neck."

(End of this chapter)