Chapter 141: Epilogue (Part 1)
The train was moving much slower than expected, a feeling that struck Yin Chuan as a first-time train rider. It was also because of this that he didn't feel the expected nervousness when confronting Vina Yun.
Vina Yun was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Mr. Yin, you're so humorous. You're calling me a murderer? I guess it's your first time riding a train and you're a little confused, so you're making fun of me, right?"
Yin Chuan sighed, appearing relaxed. "Indeed, it's my first time riding this thing, and I'm a little overwhelmed. I heard that when Mr. Lafayette took his first train over a decade ago, he didn't know what to do either! But," he changed the subject, "I don't mean to make fun of you, Doctor Yun."
Vina Yun crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair, and said slowly, "Well, the journey is long anyway, and I can't sleep with the train noise. So I'd like to hear how you deduced that I was the murderer."
Yin Chuan smiled faintly. "Since you're interested, I'll waste my breath and tell you. Not long ago, you heard Linlang's reasoning, which I relayed. The victims were eleven children in total, and there's no doubt about that. Four of them had a limb amputated, six of them were found hidden in cabinets in the Satanic cult's secret shrine, and the body of a foreign child, missing all four limbs, was found under a banyan tree in the garden, rotted beyond recognition. Her reasoning is quite impressive, but... there are still some doubts, and quite crucial ones, that she hasn't explained clearly."
"What's the doubt?"
"First, the distribution of the severed limbs, symbolized by a cross, along the two garden canals. Linlang's ability to think of this was truly remarkable, but she didn't delve deeper. Why did the murderer insist on doing this? He had to have these severed limbs discovered in such a ritualistic manner? What was his purpose?
"You have to know that Clark and the Satanists prayed in a secluded place like a well. There was no way, no need, to deliberately expose the severed limbs to the world like a beggar begging for food. Even if Father Douglas was a true leader of the Satanists, he alone would have no reason to do such a thing. So the answer is obvious: someone deliberately did this to draw suspicion onto the Satanists.
"The second doubt is, if the murderer is Ma Lao Ba, wouldn't it be much more reasonable? Moreover, he is also a butcher, and dismembering a human body should be a piece of cake for him. No, it is precisely because he is a butcher that the murderer cannot be him. We all saw that the cross-section of the corpse's limbs was so messy, and the murderer did not seem to be good at butchering and cutting techniques, so Ma Lao Ba got rid of suspicion. Then was it the person who escaped? Probably not. Because Luo Mei has confirmed that the person who escaped was a woman. First of all, she was definitely not Father Douglas. It is impossible for Satanism to choose a woman as the spokesperson for the god Satan; secondly, she has been acting in sync with the Satanists and has not had the opportunity to perform such a ritualistic operation. Therefore, I concluded that the murderer must not be a member of the Satanist!
"So, let's talk about the third suspicious point. Who was the murdered foreign child? If the children from the other ten villages were secretly abducted by Satanists to draw their virgin blood for sacrifice to Satan, why did this foreign child suffer an even worse fate than them? You know, in Jushuitun, whether you, the returned overseas students, or the local villagers, are all very wary of foreigners, right? Purebred foreigners are a superior existence here." Determining the identity from the body might be impossible, but there's one remaining clue: the mark of a watch on the right wrist. It has a Scottish thistle pattern on it. This is a key clue! I've learned more about it from Linlang. The thistle holds special significance in Christianity. According to the Bible, it's the plant that grew from the ground after the Virgin Mary removed the nails that nailed Jesus to the cross. It's impossible to engrave a watch with such symbolic meaning as this thistle, unless someone holds a special status in Christianity.
"So I boldly speculate that the so-called Father Douglas who has never appeared is the Western kid who died tragically!
"I also asked Linlang if there was any precedent in the West for minors becoming priests. She told me that both Catholicism and Christianity only allow men over the age of twenty-five to become priests, and they must complete at least seven years of theological training. However, Satanism does not have this rule. Even underage children can, under the name of Satan's authority, serve as nominal divine spokespersons, equivalent to the position of priests in Christianity.
Vina Yun took a deep breath in her heart, but showed no emotion on the surface. Instead, she continued to listen to Yin Chuan's endless talk with a smile.
"Doctor Yun, are you thinking: What does this have to do with me? Whether he's a Christian or a Satanist priest, how can I prove that I'm the murderer? Of course, these things don't prove you are the murderer. But don't worry, there is still evidence.
"However, since you said you have plenty of time, I will explain my reasoning in more detail. You may ask me, I can still place the severed limbs in the hospital and the garden in secret, but how can I put the leg in the confessional in the church so easily? Yes, it is a secret room, and without the confessional key, it is impossible to put the leg in without breaking the wooden door. But is it really so?"
"So, you can't help but observe carefully. There's a water trough behind the confessional that extends from the bottom and then flows down into the confessional. This design is very puzzling no matter how you look at it. Both ends are downward, so how does the water flow in? What is the purpose of opening up this trough?
"Later, I re-examined the secret chamber beneath the well where Satanism performed its secret rituals, and I realized that the water channel in the confessional led there, presumably to wash away the stains left by the virgin blood used in the rituals. However, the murderer exploited the flow of water from this channel to complete the design of the secret confessional."
Vina Yun's smile still remained on her face, although it gradually looked less natural.
"Interesting. How did the murderer do it?"
"I found a bamboo tube by the window next to the sink, which was just right for connecting to the water flow from the hole on the window sill. This way, the water from the garden could flow downwards, leading it to the dark room below the well. From there, the flushing water could be discharged back into the well.
"But the problem is, this kind of flow can't automatically transport a thigh to the confessional. Why can't we think about it the other way around? If the force of the water flow is somehow designed to move the leg into the confessional in the opposite direction, perhaps we can do it."
"Then tell me, I'm all ears." Vina Yun said calmly.
"Okay, let's do this..." Yin Chuan took out a pair of chopsticks from his pocket, placed one flat on the chair, and tilted the other on the horizontal side of the backrest. "You see, this is like the canal and the bamboo tube. The water in the garden canal flows from the top through the bamboo tube to the other side to the secret room. This is a design of Satanism. If the murderer wanted to use this thing to move a leg, it would obviously be impossible. However, the murderer was very smart. He did the opposite and used the reaction force to transport the leg to the confessional, thus completing the perfect secret room."
"How do you do the opposite?"
Yin Chuan picked up the chopsticks that were leaning against the crossbar of the chair and placed them on the other end of the horizontal chopsticks, also leaning against it.
"Well, that's all."
Vina Yun frowned, "How can this be done? The water will flow in the opposite direction of the confessional!"
Yin Chuan smiled. "That's why I said it's the opposite—" He took off the string tied to his hand, hung it on his index finger, and then stretched his index finger horizontally above the upside-down chopsticks. "Just like that, if we put a roller or a ball in the sink below to fix the legs tied with string, wouldn't the water flow in the opposite direction just transport the legs towards the confessional? And I also saw that there is a foldable hinge switch on the back door of the confessional that can be extended to the cross on the table inside. It's not difficult to make this mechanism. As long as you control the water flow rate and the recovery of the string, others will not be able to find any flaws."
Vina Yun snorted unconsciously twice. Although she was still smiling, it was obviously a fake smile.
"Completing this mechanism doesn't seem to prove anything, but the suspicion about you lies elsewhere: the so-called 'residence' where you and Linlang are hiding. That room isn't your real residence, is it? I suspect it's the home of a child named Douglas.
"Linlang took me to that room. Besides some medical books, there was an ink pen holder and an oil lamp on the table. But the strange thing is, the ink and pen holder were on the left hand side, while the oil lamp was on the right. Doctor Yun, you're not left-handed, are you? Don't you find it awkward to keep the pen you use most often in your left hand?"
Vina Yun frowned, "But how do you know Douglas is left-handed?"
"Of course I know, because he wears his watch on his right wrist. Doctor Yun, do you really think I've never seen anyone wearing a watch? Right-handed people generally don't wear watches on their right hand, as it would be very uncomfortable if they used their hands frequently. So they usually wear them on their left hand, which they don't use often. But Douglas wears his watch on his right hand. Doesn't this mean he's left-handed? There are also children's items like glass balls in the room, so I won't list them all."
"Just because of this, you doubt that the house is not mine?"
"Also, when Clark's men went to search the village to arrest Linlang, you could have locked the door from the outside. But you left Linlang alone in the unlocked room. Why? I think there's only one reason, because you don't have the key to this room. You were afraid that Linlang would go out on her own after you left, and if someone saw her, you would be completely exposed! Later, Linlang brought us to the room again, and she just pushed the door open and walked in. Why didn't you lock the door? This proves that you are definitely not the owner of this room!"
"Haha, no matter what I say, you still haven't produced any evidence that I am the murderer." Vina Yun seemed confident.
"Don't worry. I found a clue pointing to you from the cross-section of the severed limb. First, although the muscles were cut very messily, each cut was straight, and the blade did not penetrate the flesh very deeply, indicating that the murderer used a sharp and short knife. Secondly, compared to the messy cuts of the muscles, the bones were cut off in one go, indicating that the murderer used a more powerful tool to cut off the limb after cutting the muscles. Therefore, only Ma Lao Ba's guillotine has this ability.
"Of course, you can question why it couldn't have been done by Ma Lao Ba. Of course it couldn't have been done by Ma Lao Ba. He's a butcher, so how could he have used such a fine, short blade? The only blade I can think of is a scalpel used by foreign doctors."
"Is this what you call evidence?" Vina Yun looked at Yin Chuan coldly, "Mr. Yin, you may have forgotten that I am just a gynecologist, not a surgeon."
"Why? When you were treating Linlang's injuries, you said that trauma treatment is a fundamental skill for any doctor, and that it's essential to master any discipline. Of course, trauma treatment isn't the same as surgery, but with your medical credentials, since treating injuries is no problem, then learning some surgical skills shouldn't be a big deal, right?"
Vina Yun snorted again, but did not directly refute Yin Chuan.
"You still haven't produced any evidence..."
"Remember yesterday when it rained and the two severed limbs in that room were stolen? Obviously, that was the murderer's doing. Why would he steal a leg and an arm? There's only one possibility. There are clues directly pointing to him. I guess it's related to the real owner of the room. Also, it was raining outside when the severed limbs were stolen, but there weren't a single footprint in the room. Why is that? It means he was afraid that his footprints would be compared. Who would be afraid of having their footprints compared? I can't think of anyone else except you.
"As for the most direct evidence," Yin Chuan paused and slowly lowered his head, "it must be in your suitcase!"
As soon as these words came out, Vina Yun's face suddenly changed.
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