Chapter 17 Seventeen, strange talk

At dawn the next day, a steamboat of less than 200 tons was quietly going out to sea at the mouth of the Osaka River.Fortunately, it was a calm and sailable day. The steamboat looked small, but seemed to have a lot of power. It sailed through the sea at an astonishing speed, and arrived at the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula in the afternoon.However, the ship did not find a port to call, but sailed across Ise Bay, across the central area of ​​the Pacific Ocean, and headed towards Enshu Beach at high speed.This small boat is not simple, it looks small but it only chooses the route of big steamships.

The cargo ship with a dark hull is inconspicuous, and the strange thing is that there is not even a cargo hold on the ship.After getting off the deck, I really couldn't tell that there was a whole row of luxurious cabins inside.This ship that looks like a cargo ship is actually a passenger ship, no, it's actually a luxury house.The room at the stern is spacious and bright, and is very richly decorated.Presumably this is the owner's lounge. In the room, the floor was covered with an expensive Persian rug, the ceiling was painted pure white, and there were delicate crystal chandeliers hanging from it that did not look like they should be adorned on a ship. There were also decorative wardrobes, a round table covered with fabric, a sofa and some armrests. chair.

Among them, there is a sofa whose style is completely different from the overall decoration of the room. It destroys the harmony of the room, and it is placed in the corner, as if it was only placed here temporarily. Hey, why does this chair look so familiar?Oh, there is also a big patch on it, it is indeed the one that was placed in the living room of the Iwase mansion three days ago, and the one that Sanae, the daughter of the great jeweler, was stuffed into and shipped away with the person and the sofa.But why put it here? Oh, since the sofa is here, could it be... no, there is nothing to doubt.We only pay attention to the sofa, but we ignore the person sitting on it.That person was wearing a shiny black silk dress, with glittering jewelry on her earlobes, chest, and fingers. Her beauty was very stressful, and her plump body curves were looming.She is the black lizard that people can never forget once they see her, and she is also the female thief who hid behind the oil paper door of the Japanese boat last night without realizing that she was being followed by a wise detective.

The Japanese-style boat where the female thief was hiding sailed into the big river along the tributaries at night, and finally she boarded the steamboat moored at the mouth of the river. So, what kind of ship is this?If it was an ordinary merchant ship, it would be impossible to calmly give up the best cabin to a notorious female thief. Could it be that this ship is the private property of Black Lizard? If that is the case, it can explain why the "human chair" appeared.To further speculate, Sanae, who was originally stuffed in the chair, has been released this time, but has entered another cage?

Let's not delve into these doubts, let's take a look around, especially by the door, we can't miss it, is there another person standing there? It was a man in a sailor's cap with a gold ribbon badge pinned to it, and a high collar trimmed with black.Generally speaking, this should be the dress of the purser, but this person looks very familiar.With a snub nose and a burly physique, he looks like a boxer at first glance... Ah, now that I think about it, he is the rogue boxer who disguised himself as Dr. Yamakawa in the K Hotel in Tokyo and kidnapped Sanae.In other words, it was Junichi Amamiya who dedicated his soul to the Black Lizard in disguise.

"Oh, are you also frightened by this nonsense? Really, such a big man is afraid of ghosts?" The black lizard leaned slowly on the sofa, with a mocking look on its beautiful cheeks. "It's really scary. The situation at that time was really unusual. Other people are superstitious. If you hear those babbling words, you will definitely be scared in your heart." The ship swayed constantly with the sway of the waves, and Ah Run's disguised chief purser staggered with fear on his face. The decoration in the room is as mentioned above, a bright crystal lamp hangs from the ceiling, and beyond the iron wall, is the night sky, and the dark sea and the dark sky can be seen as far as the eye can see.When it is quiet, everything is silent, and the waves that rise and fall like mountains come one after another. At this time, the poor boat is like a fallen leaf floating in the endless darkness, swaying alone.

"What's the matter? Tell me in detail. Has anyone seen a ghost?" "No one has seen ghosts with their own eyes. However, Beicun and Hetian heard the sound of ghosts at different times. It doesn't matter if they are alone, but they both heard strange noises." "Where?" "The guest's room." "Oh, Sanae-san's room?" "That's right. When Beicun passed by at noon today, I suddenly heard someone whispering inside. At that time, you, me, and others were all in the restaurant, and Ms. Sanae's mouth was tightly gagged as usual. I can’t speak. Kitamura guessed that someone might be trying to misbehave Miss Sanae, so he planned to go in to see what happened, but at this moment, he found that the door was locked from the outside. He felt that something was wrong, and quickly took the key to open the door.”

"Could it be that the cloth ball in his mouth fell off? In fact, Ms. Sanae was cursing under her breath." "But the cloth was tightly stuffed, and the ropes that bound his hands were not loosened. Of course, there was no one else in the room except Ms. Sanae. Kitamura was so frightened that he immediately felt chills all over his body." "Did he ask Sanae-san?" "Well, he took down the cloth ball so that she could speak temporarily, but I didn't expect Miss Sanae to be frightened, because she didn't hear any sound at all." "It's so weird, is it true?"

"At first, I was very skeptical, thinking that there was something wrong with Beicun's ears, and I didn't pay much attention. Unexpectedly, when all the staff gathered in the restaurant an hour ago, Hetian heard the weird voice again. He immediately took the key to open the door , I didn't expect that the situation was exactly the same as that encountered by Kitamura. There was no one other than Ms. Sanae, and the cloth ball in her mouth showed no sign of loosening or falling off. Soon, these two bizarre incidents spread throughout the entire ship , has finally been exaggerated as Mr. Storyteller's best ghost story."

"What did they say?" "These guys all have criminal records, hide secrets in their hearts, and have killed more than two or three people, so everyone believes that it is the evil spirits. Hearing the rumors that there are ghosts on the ship, I feel uncomfortable. Comfortable." At this time, another big wave rushed over, and the hull made a strange noise, being thrown to the crest of the wave and then to the bottom of the wave, as if sinking and sinking in an abyss. At this time, the crystal chandelier above the head suddenly turned brown, as if signaling, flickering incessantly strangely, wondering if there was something wrong with the generator.

"This night is really creepy." Run Yi said to himself timidly, staring timidly at the crystal lamp that seemed to be exhaling. "A big man like you is so timid? Hehehe..." The woman in black's laughter hit the iron wall and was knocked back again, so there was a strange echo in the room. Then, as if it was the aftertaste of the laughter, a white object sneaked in from the door.With a big black turban wrapped around his head, a white turtleneck, and a white apron, his chubby face is full of tension. He is the cook on board. "Oh, it's you. Why did you show up all of a sudden? You surprised me." Runyi blamed repeatedly. Hearing the reproach, the chef immediately lowered his voice, as if reporting a major accident: "A strange thing happened again. The monster slipped into the kitchen, and the whole chicken disappeared." "Chicken?" the woman in black asked suspiciously. "Oh, it's a dead chicken. When I was preparing Chinese food, I hung seven plucked and scalded chickens in the cabinet. But just now, I saw that one was missing, and there were only six left." .” "But, there seems to be no chicken for dinner." "Well, that's why I find it strange. There are no gluttonous hungry ghosts on this ship. Who would steal chickens but monsters?" "Could it be that you remember wrongly?" "Impossible, I never make a mistake in remembering these things." "That's unbelievable. Ah Run, why don't you search the whole ship separately with everyone? Maybe there's something wrong." Strange things happened one after another, and the female thief became uneasy and couldn't sit still. "Well, that's what I planned too. Whether it's a dead spirit or a living person, as long as it can talk and steal food, it must be a tangible object. If you check closely, maybe you can really find out the 'monster'." As a result, chief executive Jun Yi left in a hurry, ordering everyone to search the entire ship immediately. "Ah, and, that distinguished guest asked me to convey a word." The chef suddenly remembered that he had a message to report to Black Lizard. "Hey, Miss Sanae?" "Yes. I delivered the food just now. After I helped her untie the rope and remove the cloth strip from her mouth, for some reason, she ate all the food with relish. Then, she promised not to make unnecessary struggles , and won't yell and beg me to stop tying her up." "She said she would be quiet?" The woman in black was surprised. "Well, it's easy to say that she has completely thought about it, and she is completely different from yesterday." "This is too abnormal, ask Beicun to bring her here." The chef took his leave after receiving the order, and after a while, a crew member named Kitamura came in with the freed Sanae.