r18novel Chapter 57 The Bloodstained Stone in the Secret Chamber
Chapter 57 The Bloodstained Stone in the Secret Chamber
The misunderstanding was resolved in the blink of an eye.
As is customary, Hugo instructed Bogarman to use "Bubble Beam," but the little penguin, his face turning red, couldn't unleash the skill.
Only when its owner, holding the umbrella, gave up the command with a look of apology did the poor Pogaman start vomiting, gushing out large amounts of foam from its yellow beak and coughing up the foam.
Officer Jenny then dispelled her doubts and concisely explained the case to the great detective who had verified her identity—
"The murder occurred in a high-end apartment building in the western district of Feiyun City. The victim was stabbed in the abdomen with a stone in a closed room and died from massive bleeding."
"Stone?" The detective was momentarily dazed. "Was the victim a professional in financial management?"
“No,” the policewoman replied crisply. “The deceased was a Pokémon trainer named Greta, male, 27 years old at the time of his death, single and living alone, and skilled in using Rock-type Pokémon.”
"Please explain the situation in detail." The detective's expression turned serious, and he entered working mode. He took out his notebook from the drawer, looking like he was ready to listen attentively.
Azure, who was taking care of Bogarman, also straightened her posture and listened attentively to the conversation between the police and the detective.
The loss of a living trainer's life is not a funny or amusing case like "sixty trainers in a row choosing Otter".
"The victim's trainer couldn't contact the other party, so he went to visit the apartment, only to find no one answering. Out of concern, he asked the apartment manager to use a spare key to unlock the door, and that's when the body was discovered."
Officer Jenny's explanation was concise and to the point, clear and stern.
"Does the apartment manager have the residents' keys? Won't that raise privacy concerns?" Hugo asked immediately, as if he had detected a discordant note in a piece of music.
“The occupancy rate of the residential buildings there is very low, and the empty rooms are mainly managed by the building manager, so the keys were not collected in time. In addition, the building manager has a good reputation, and the residents trust him, so no one has pursued the matter.”
The detective, with an "I see" expression, continued to press Officer Jenny for details about the time of death and the condition of the body.
The policewoman answered, tapping on her notebook.
"The victim's time of death was determined to be 12 hours ago. The murder weapon that caused the tragedy, as mentioned above, was a large, cone-shaped rock. The victim's abdomen was pierced, but he did not die immediately. Instead, he struggled for a long time before dying from hemorrhagic shock. The forensic doctor speculated that this process lasted about ten minutes, hence the bloodstains at the scene."
The police deputy, Sera, standing nearby, seemed to recall what she had seen that morning, and her face turned pale.
"So the incident happened around 10 p.m. last night?" Hugo asked for specific details while writing rapidly in his notebook.
Officer Jenny nodded: "That's right. There were traces of undigested dinner in the deceased's stomach, so this estimated time of death should be reliable."
“Now, please describe that ‘closed room’ in detail. I’ll just ask directly…” Hugo stared into the policewoman’s eyes and uttered four words—
Is it a locked room?
“Yes, that’s right.” Officer Jenny sighed. “It’s the kind of locked room you’ve been longing for, where only the deceased is inside, the apartment has no other entrances or exits, and all the doors and windows are locked from the inside. The apartment is completely sealed off until the building manager opens it. If Mr. Greta didn’t commit suicide, then it must have been some strange person who can walk through walls who killed him with a stone.”
Noticing the confused looks from Azure and Sera, the detective coughed and began to explain to his two assistants and deputy—
"The so-called locked room mystery, also known as the locked room impossible crime mystery, is a classic puzzle in detective novels. This type of mystery usually involves setting up an area that no one can enter or leave, and then murdering the victim inside. This creates an obvious contradiction—since there is no one else at the scene besides the deceased, and no one else could have entered the locked room at the time of the crime, how was the victim killed? The fun of solving locked room mysteries lies in the various solutions that arise from this contradiction."
After hearing the detective's explanation, Bilan scratched her face: "You mean, a plot that used to only exist in novels is now happening in reality?"
Hugo sighed and nodded to his assistant: "In a sense, that's true. This is a classic locked-room mystery."
He seemed somewhat disappointed by the audience's lukewarm response.
At this moment, Deputy Officer Sera unusually spoke up: "So, Detective, since you are so familiar with the lock room issue, what are your thoughts on this case?"
“Before heading to the crime scene, all reasoning is speculation,” Hugo stated first. “However, I hope to rule out some of the clichéd tricks used in novels. Miss Officer Jenny, I would like to raise a few more questions.”
"Of course, we still have time. Please feel free to ask any questions about this case."
Hugo interlaced his fingers and posed his question: "First, the most clichéd method—were the doors and windows of the locked room truly locked? Many old-fashioned locks can be shaken open simply by banging on them from the outside; many styles of doors and windows also have openings or gaps along the edges, which can be opened from the outside using ropes or similar means. In this case, the crime scene is not a perfectly locked room, and someone outside could naturally enter and commit the crime. Is this possibility?"
Officer Jenny, as if she had been waiting for this question, immediately replied, "We've tried it. All the locks inside are very reliable padlocks, and the windows and doors are all tightly sealed. The manager and the trainer's friend can also testify that the doors and windows were locked when they came. Moreover, the two people are complete strangers, so there is no possibility of collusion."
Undeterred, the detective continued, "Is it possible that the deceased was actually stabbed by a stone outside the apartment, then returned home and locked the doors and windows. At that moment, he pulled out the stone, which was supposed to stop the bleeding, causing the blood flow to increase rapidly, and he died in the locked room as a result."
“A colleague suggested this idea,” Officer Jenny said. “However, the forensic doctor scolded the man, saying that neither medicine nor biology allows such a thing to happen. Besides, there was no blood outside. Furthermore, the trainer seemed to be a person with common sense and did not try to pull out the stone spike stuck in his body, but that did not save his life.”
"So, was there some kind of mechanism to launch stones inside? If so, the real culprit wouldn't need to enter the locked room at the time of the crime. When the victim triggers the mechanism, the stones will be launched automatically, executing the prey that has taken the bait."
“We’ve searched the apartment thoroughly, but we haven’t found such a device,” Officer Jenny said, shaking her head.
"Is it possible that the crime was committed from a distance?" Hugo asked again. "The murderer threw the stone in from outside the apartment, and it just happened to hit the victim in the stomach."
"Impossible. There's nowhere outside the doors and windows in the apartment that would allow outside stones to get in."
"Speaking of throwing stones, were fingerprints or other traces found on the murder weapon?"
Officer Jenny rolled her eyes at the detective without any regard for her image: "It seems like wearing gloves to commit crimes has become common sense lately. There's no trace on that broken rock. If you really want to find any information on it, the rock is shaped like a cone, wider at the bottom than the top, and there are no signs of it being artificially polished."
“Since it’s a Stone Spur, then…” the detective stroked his chin, “let’s discuss the most obvious possibility now—could the Stone Spur be a move unleashed by a Pokémon?”