Chapter 4 Chapter 4: The Undead Behind the Door

Nine p.m.For minors, if they don't go home at this time, they will be reprimanded by adults, but for me and Wuqie, the night has just begun. We arrived at the station and caught the tram. This time we were going not to the beach, but to the mountains. Among the six challenge books, the place closest to the scene is the Takeda Haunted House.The total cost was 151 million. The "Black Challenge" I experienced for the first time was 120 million, and this time it was even higher. I forcibly borrowed a computer from a girl in the dormitory, checked it online, and as expected, the Takeda Haunted House is said to be a well-known haunted place among paranormal enthusiasts.

The Takeda family used to be a well-known local landlord and powerful force. It is said that they are descendants of the Kai Takeda family. It was very influential in the surrounding areas from about 300 years ago until before World War II.For peasant uprisings and some small-scale conflicts, the Takeda family mercilessly suppressed them by force. For a period of time, they were even called the executioner Takeda, which made people frightened. However, since the Meiji era, wars have led to the barrenness of the farmland, and the prestige of the Takeda family has also declined, and finally reduced to an ordinary country family.Now with the decline of the countryside, the owner of the house has also left the country, leaving the empty Japanese-style mansion sleeping in the dark. This historic mansion has thus become one of the common spiritual places.It is said that some people have seen the ghosts of exiled warriors wandering in this mansion, and there are also people's heads floating in the air grinning and chasing people everywhere.

It may be inevitable that the Crime Victims Relief Committee chose Takeda Haunted House as the stage for "Black Challenge". One hour by express train.Wukiri and I got out of the car at a dark, unmanned station. "Ah ah……" Once on the platform, it was so cold that I almost screamed, my voice leaving a white trail in the air, as if frozen, and the chilly air of the intermountain basin chilled me to the bone. Wukiri and I buried our faces in our scarves, cuddled each other and walked out of the ticket gate. As soon as we stepped out of the station, what awaited us was a pitch-black darkness.The small road in front of us stretches straight forward, and the scattered street lights are like signposts guiding us to the dark world.In this faint light, the falling snow could barely be seen.

"It's time to do nothing..." I'm starting to regret it. The deep darkness overwhelmed me.And what we are going to next is still a place called a haunted house. Fog cut has been with me every step of the way. "There will be no ghosts, don't worry." "I'm only next to you because it's cold." Wukiri answered briefly, looking around nervously. The taxi we had booked appeared out of the darkness and pulled up right in front of our eyes.The driver's face was gloomy, and he didn't even glance in our direction.Although I was hesitant to get in the car, I couldn't find any other means of transportation, so I had no choice but to get in the car.

"Where are you going?" It was a listless, calm voice. "Do you know where the Takeda family's house is?" When I asked this question, the driver seemed to have thought of something, replied "Yes", and started the car.Although I was a little concerned about his reaction, I didn't pursue it. Kirikiri seemed to be lost in thought, silently looking out the window.It was still dark outside, and the taxi dived deep into the darkness like a submarine. After the car had gone for about 30 minutes, a dark shadow of the house appeared in front of the ramp.At the end of the road surrounded by bamboo forests, this shadow is like a dark sediment, showing a striking outline in the night.

A Mercedes-Benz and a red light car were parked side by side in the shadowy bamboo forest. "Sister Wuqie, could it be—" Takeda Haunted House should be just like its name, it is a haunted house with no one in it, no one should live here now.But the car parked there is not an abandoned car, which means that someone has come to this house. There is an ominous premonition... Both vehicles had one to two centimeters of snow on their bodies.Judging from the snow conditions today, it is conceivable that the two cars have been parked here for several hours. At least the tire tracks have been covered with snow and are difficult to identify.

"The customer... has arrived." The taxi driver said in a gloomy voice.I paid and was about to get out of the car. "Guest... I take the liberty to ask, is there anything going on here tonight?" "I don't know either... Do you know anything, Mr. Driver?" "I also drove a guy during the day... It was so cold and he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, so I thought... this guest was a bit strange..." He was muttering, but I didn't hear the rest clearly. All in all, it seems that there are several guests in this house today.The other party has announced that this will be the stage of "Challenge of Blackness", so this should have nothing to do with the events that will happen next, and I feel more and more uneasy.

"Sister Wuqie, let's go quickly." We got out of the taxi and ran towards the mansion. There is an old door in the middle of the bamboo forest, the door is wide open, we pass through this door, and run on the stone road leading to the entrance. Ahead, a tile-roofed mansion finally took shape.The inside of the frosted glass at the entrance of the mansion sees a hazy light.The mansion is not a haunted house, and there is no doubt that there are people inside. I was looking for a doorbell, but there is nothing so convenient here.I stretched out my hand and pushed it, and the door was unlocked, and it opened all of a sudden.

"What should I do, sister Wuqie?" "Since we're all here, even if it's hard, we must intervene." I nodded in agreement, and stood at the porch and shouted to the corridor inside: "Excuse me--! Is anyone there?" There was no response. There are several pairs of shoes on the cement floor in front of the entrance, including leather shoes, high heels, straw sandals, sandals, and tennis shoes. It seems that there are at least five people in the room.Having said that, these shoes are really not uniform at all. "Let's go in." We took off our shoes and walked into the hallway.On the wall of the corridor connected to the entrance is a disorganized collection, including ink paintings and oil paintings.Although this is a well-known supernatural place, the interior is very clean without any signs of decay, which is also one of the common characteristics of the buildings used in "Black Challenge".It must have been restored by the Crime Victims Relief Council so that it could be used as an arena for games.

We wandered aimlessly up and down the corridors, looking for people, when we heard voices coming from the depths of the mansion. "Hello, please open the door." It was a male voice. Could it be that he was locked inside? We walked in the direction of the sound.After turning several corners along the wooden corridor, a spacious room like a reception room appeared in front of us.All the sliding doors facing the corridor were opened, and the indoor situation could be seen.On the glass tea table were a library book and half-drunk mineral water. It felt as if someone was here not long ago.This scene was very similar to the scene on the ghost ship I had seen in horror movies before, and I suddenly felt a little chilly.

We continued to walk further along the corridor. The door at the end of the corridor was ajar, and the cold air leaked from it.is it here…… "Open the door, please!" The voice did indeed come from the front. I grabbed the doorknob—and the door swung open. "Are you okay?" The short corridor leads directly to the front, with a row of windows on the right, and the floor under your feet is fair-faced concrete covered with only a layer of matting.The air-conditioning comes from under your feet. There was a door at the end of the corridor, and several men and women stood motionless in front of the door. "Oh? Who are you!" The big man in the Hawaiian shirt pointed at us and wondered if he was the guy the taxi driver mentioned.With his messy jet hair and thick gold necklace and bracelet, the man looked like a punk, but his appearance was too typical for him to think he was doing it on purpose. "What the hell is going on...it's not rock and roll at all..." The man in the Hawaiian shirt seemed confused. "Could it be a new guest?" Said the girl with the younger sister's hair, glasses and kimono.She is petite, and if you just look at her figure, she looks like a child, but judging from her appearance, she should be between twenty-five and thirty years old, and she is an intellectual beauty.This is probably what Zashiki Waruji would look like if he grew up. "Yes, yes, sorry, we are late." I subconsciously echoed. "What are you doing here? Is someone locked in there?" "I don't know if he was locked in, or locked himself in? Speaking of which, there should be an uncle inside this door, but no matter what we call him, he doesn't respond at all. Ah ha ha." The woman is wearing an exaggerated sequined sweater, heavy makeup, bright tawny hair, a bust that appears to be blown out on purpose, and a miniskirt that looks just right for the kind of grown-up evening entertainment place. "Among the guests who strayed here, you are the sixth and seventh." The man in a suit and sunglasses, who was a model, said that he should be over 1.9 meters tall and spoke with a foreign accent. It seems that I was right. This man might be of mixed race. The voice we heard in the corridor just now seems to be this person, he should be calling the person locked in the room. "Don't waste time, hurry up and interrogate that uncle, he must know the inside story. But the door is not locked, why can't you open it? What a joke!" The man shook the door back and forth.It is true that no keyhole was found on the door, but there was no sign of it being opened.What is incredible is that when you pull back hard, the door will move slightly, as if someone pulled the door from the inside. To sum up the current situation - the group of people are invited visitors to the mansion, and there is a man stuck inside the door. "Did the guy inside do something bad?" I asked, and the woman with glasses on my sister replied: "No, not really, but he probably knows all about why we've been called here." ——I see, I gradually understood. They must have received some kind of invitation letter from the perpetrator of the "Black Challenge", so they came here.However, the host who invited them didn't show up for a long time, so they were at a loss as to what purpose the other party had invited them here, and they didn't know what to do in the future.At this juncture, a man was locked in the room and could not come out.So they speculated that this man might know something... that should be the case. "Why won't the door open? It feels like someone is pulling the door behind it. Hey, I said, open the door!" "Master Jiejie," Wuqie bit his ear with me. "The challenge book says 'rubber band', could it be..." "Huh? What's going on?" At this moment, a strange sound came from the room.We gathered in the corridor were silent for a moment, listening carefully to the series of sounds. The sound of something hitting something else.Then came a dull male voice. The sound of something big falling, accompanied by tiny vibrations.Then there was silence... "Hey, hello? What happened?" The man in the Hawaiian shirt shook the door violently. "Don't shake the door slightly, use all your strength at once, and try to pull the door back." Wuche suggested. "Well, oh, let me try." The man straightened the nose of his plane, held the door handle, and pulled the door with all his strength.So the door moved a little toward us. Although it was only for a moment, there was a gap in the middle of the door, and one could barely see what was going on in the room—— "Did you see it just now?" "No, it's pitch black inside, you can't see anything." "No, I saw something next to the door, please open the door again." The man in sunglasses asked. The man in the Hawaiian shirt agreed, pulling the door back with all his strength— "This is... I see. It seems that there is something like a rope or elastic inside to seal the door. Is there anyone with scissors or a knife? Just cut off the thing that seals the door, The door might just open." "Ah, I do have ordinary knives." I took off the backpack on my back and took out the paper cutter from the pencil case. "This should work. Then Mr. Hachiki, I will leave the task of opening the door to you." "I can't help it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event for a man. Let me handle it!" The man rolled up his sleeves, showed us his rather muscular muscles, and then grabbed the doorknob. "Come on, Rock 'n' Roll!" He pulled the door with all his might. "Keep like this." Under the gesture of the man in sunglasses, the man in the Hawaiian shirt remained still. The man in sunglasses inserted the paper cutter into the gap that appeared in the middle of the door, and then moved it up and down. "Cut off!" The next moment, the man in the Hawaiian shirt was knocked open by the door and fell down in the corridor. Yet almost no one turned their attention to him. After the man in sunglasses turned on the lights in the room, everyone's eyes were firmly attracted by the strange scene in the room. I couldn't help but hold my breath. The first thing that caught my eyes was the horrible body lying in the middle of the room.A middle-aged man in Japanese work clothes lay prone on the ground.It was obvious at a glance that he was dead. If you want to ask the reason, it is because a Japanese sword was deeply pierced into his back. One step late--if we had come earlier, things wouldn't have turned out like this!I bit my lip. However, facing the strange scene at the crime scene, this feeling of regret did not last long.This crime scene is extremely strange. There—— stood two warriors in armor, and they seemed to be looking down at the corpse. "Ah, what, what is that—?" The brown-haired woman pointed at the armored warrior and screamed. The ghost of the wandering warrior— No, it's not a ghost or a phantom, but a set of armor that really exists in reality.Among the two armored warriors standing side by side, the one on the left holds a Japanese sword in his right hand. The armored samurai on the right is also standing with his arms bent. He made a gesture of holding a knife, but he has nothing in his hand, and the scabbard hanging around his waist is also empty. Could it be that the sword of the armored warrior pierced the man's back? "Both sets of armor seem to be empty inside." The man in sunglasses stepped into the room and approached the armor.The inside of the armor is indeed empty, and a whole set of armor is put on an armor frame similar to a mannequin.However, it may not be able to stand on the armor frame alone, and there is a board-shaped pedestal installed underneath, which is supported by pillars. We were at a loss for a while, but in order to find an answer that could convince ourselves, everyone stepped into the room one by one. Wuqie first approached the man who fell on the ground to check if he was still alive.She shook her head in silence. The younger sister, the woman in glasses, took out her mobile phone from the sleeve of her kimono and called the police.The phone seems to be connected smoothly. "It's better to call an ambulance, although I think... it should be impossible." Wuqie said. I didn't bother with the body, and went to check the inside of the armor first. The armor is a set of upper and lower sets, including bottoms, shoulder armor, armguards, knee pads, gauntlets, straw sandals, and everything from a helmet with beautiful decorations to a visor covering the face.I looked into the helmet tremblingly, but there was only darkness inside. There is no doubt that both sets of armor are empty. "Is this armor here in the first place?" I asked without a clear goal. "Well, that's right," replied the man in sunglasses next to him. "It's just that these two sets of armor are placed on the side of the wall as decoration, and they are not placed in the center of the room like this. The knife is also stored in the scabbard." "That means someone moved the armor here and put them side by side like this?" "Maybe it moved by itself." The man in the Hawaiian shirt said with a serious expression. Indeed, judging from the current situation, it is only possible that the two armored warriors attacked the victim. Having said that... I don't know what's going on in this room. The room itself is very simple, about ten meters in depth and width, with almost no furniture or daily necessities. The walls are decorated with several ancient paintings and calligraphy with dirty borders.As soon as you enter the room, there are two pillars arranged vertically and parallel on the side wall. There are many hooks on the pillars, which must be used to put Japanese swords or wooden swords on them. The floor is made of wooden planks, and the part near the center of the room is black, which seems to be very old. I think this room used to be a sword dojo.There are also two framed words hanging on the wall, which read "Real Sword Victory" and "A Thousand Miles of Despair" respectively. In such a place, a man was stabbed to death by a real sword. The armored warriors are in the center of the room, closer to the inside, standing side by side, just like a pair of door gods.Both armors were facing the center of the room, or it could be said that they were looking at the fallen corpse.One of the armored warriors holds the knife firmly in his hand. It turns out that the inside of the armor's gauntlet has a hand-like structure, which can be embedded in the handle of the knife. Kirikiri approached the armor for a closer look. "The torso of the armor is also stained with blood. It should have been splashed. The blood is still fresh. It should be believed that it was stained by the blood that splashed around not long ago. Blood can also be seen on the nearby floor." "I said, sister Kirikiri, the murder weapon is this Japanese sword, right?" "Well, there seems to be no other trauma." "Then where did the 'Tong Tian Guan' mentioned in the challenge book go? I haven't seen anything similar to a civet cat?" "I think it should be the name of this Japanese knife." "Oh, oh...that's how it is." Later I checked, and the correct way of writing seems to be "Tong Tian Guan". "Hey, this situation is still not right. I can't think of any other possibility except that the armored warrior stabbed the uncle to death," the man in the Hawaiian shirt said with a stiff expression. "If a person stabbed uncle to death, where did this person go? I can't find it anywhere." "Did you run away—?" The brown-haired woman asked in a drawn out voice. "Ah? Look clearly, the two windows are locked. Anyway, no matter what, the windows are paneled with wooden lattices, so people can't get out." "The other door is also tightly sealed with a rubber band from the inside," the man in the sunglasses walked to the left and right doors in the room. "The knob lock is not locked, but the left and right handles are wrapped with rubber bands, and some tricks have been made to prevent the door from being opened." "The door we came in looked like a rubber band was hung between the doorknob and the hook on the wall and wrapped around a few times." said the brown-haired woman.The severed rubber band was curled up under the door. "This should be called—the Chamber of Secrets, right?" said the younger sister, the woman wearing glasses, calmly. "Or the murderer may be hiding somewhere in this room." But I took a general look around the room, and there was nowhere to hide. "Sister Wuqie," I whispered to Wuqie while being careful not to be heard by the people around me. "If this is the secret room of 'Black Challenge', then this matter has something to do with the Crime Victims Relief Committee, right? Is there a mechanism in this room, such as a place on the floor that can be opened, or The wall can rotate or something, that's how the murderer escaped, is it possible?" "Your reasoning is the same as last time, Mrs. Jie, but it's not necessarily wrong." She was talking about the Normans Hotel case.Anyway, it is best to imagine any possibility. "By the way—" Fog Cut asked the visiting people. "Including those who were killed, is that how many people came to this house today?" "Well, that's right." The younger sister, a woman wearing glasses, replied. Originally in front of the door, there were four people in Hawaiian shirts, cut glasses, sunglasses, and a hot girl with brown hair. They were worried that the victim would stay behind closed doors.They add me and Wuqie to make six people, and add the victim to seven. Everyone is here—? "I see," Wuchee replied without emotion, and began to check the nearby floor. "Before the police arrive, check all the places that can be inspected." "Hey, who are you guys? You shouldn't be ordinary guests...?" "That's right, aren't these two girls a bit suspicious?" "What's suspicious! We're actually—" Just when I was about to say something, Wuqie tugged at the hem of my clothes, so I closed my mouth again. "It's not too late to explain later, let's concentrate on investigating the case now." "Say, that's right." Wuqiri and I checked all possible places such as floors, walls, ceilings, etc., but there were no places or traps that people could pass through. Wuqiri and I decided to check the situation outside the crime scene before the police intervened. There might be traces left on the snow. I looked out from the window of the outer corridor, and the outside was the atrium. Although it was pitch black, I could barely see the atrium, which was stained white by the snow, through the light from the window.At least there are no footprints in the range that can be seen from here, it is a complete snow field. Then, we came to a position where we could see the entire site from the outside.From the corner of the main house of the mansion, the exterior of the Kendo Hall can be seen through the window.This place can also be regarded as the backyard, a space surrounded by buildings and bamboo forests.From here, you can see a door that opens left and right, which should lead to the murder scene. The handle on the inside of the door is also sealed by a rubber band.But, no matter what, it seemed certain that no one had entered or exited that door, not a single footprint in the backyard. In other words, the scene is a secret room of snow. At exactly zero o'clock, the sound of sirens and the lights of warning lights had surrounded the haunted house.Police in uniform, criminal police in suits, and criminal investigators in overalls rushed into the scene in groups. This is the first time for me to experience the "Black Challenge" involving the police.The items listed on the challenge book have all been completed, which means that the murderer's turn is over and it's our turn to act. However, with the police controlling the situation, it is impossible for them to allow us to move freely... All relevant personnel, including me and Wuqie, were gathered in the waiting room. The rough-faced detectives in suits began to question us. "I've said it several times. We received a black letter, which told us to come here and wait for someone from Takeda." Said the man in the Hawaiian shirt sitting on the sofa. "A black letter?" Out of my usual habit, I asked without thinking, and the detectives turned their heads and gave me a glare. "Ah, sorry, please continue." "It's true, I threw the letter at home, so I can't show it to you..." "I'm taking it with me." The younger sister, the woman wearing glasses, took out the black envelope from her sleeve with trepidation. She took out the black letter paper from the envelope and unfolded it on the glass coffee table. The detectives were very interested in it and picked it up. I mingled among the detectives, peeking over their shoulders at the words on the letter paper. This strange invitation letter also gave me a feeling of deja vu, which is probably the practice of "Black Challenge". "Do you all know this person named Takeda Suiyun?" A criminal policeman asked. "This..." Everyone present shook their heads. "Since you don't know this person, why are you invited to this kind of place for a birthday party? Don't you think it's suspicious?" "Of course I think it's suspicious." The man in the Hawaiian shirt replied with an exaggerated shrug. "Speaking of which, Takeda Suiyun died more than ten years ago," said the young detective. "But if he's alive, he seems to be exactly a hundred years old now." "I knew it was." "Does that mean we've been summoned by a hundred-year-old ghost? That's a nasty joke." said the man with sunglasses.He was sitting leisurely on the sofa with his legs crossed. To those who did not understand the current situation, he might feel that he was the highest status among those present. By the way, the younger sister is sitting on the sofa with a woman wearing glasses.She was in stark contrast to the striking, tan-haired woman, who, with her legs resting on the coffee table, didn't seem to mind that she was wearing a miniskirt. "It's incomprehensible," said a detective. "What is the purpose of you coming here?" "Didn't you tell me that you were called by a strange letter," said the brown-haired woman. "By the way, can you let us go back?" "I can't let you go now." "Hey——, this uncle really hates—" "This is a murder case, but it's a human life. I hope you can take this matter seriously." Regarding the advice of the criminal police, the woman pouted and stopped talking. "What about you?" They finally turned their eyes to us. "That...uh..." "That's right, what's the matter with these two brats?" said the man in the Hawaiian shirt. "Actually, we also received a black letter, so..." "That's weird. Just now you reacted as if you just found out that there was a black letter... I heard that you two came much later than the others. Is there any reason for that?" "We also have other things to deal with in the afternoon, so we have been unable to get away, that's all." "You are not ordinary children, are you?" Eight ghosts interjected. "You can inspect the corpse without changing your face, and you can walk around the scene to check if there is a secret door..." "Okay, I confess," I told the whole story with some self-defeating. "We are detectives, and we came here to solve the incident. We knew in advance that an incident would happen here, but the source of intelligence cannot tell. When we rushed here, it was already one step too late..." I shook my head. All kinds of eyes were focused on me, among which the eyes of the detectives were particularly cold. "...Oh, detective. What about you?" "There's no need to tell you." Kirikiri said expressionlessly like a puppet.Facing the criminal police, she still has this attitude. I don't know whether she is well-trained or too cold. "I said, little girl, is this a case investigation? It's fine for a layman to pretend to be a detective for fun, and it can't be confused. Are you listening to me?" The criminal policeman seemed to be able to scare the suspect into tears just by looking at him, but facing his questioning, Wuqie put on a look that had nothing to do with him, and looked into the distance. "Police department, please take a step to speak." At this time, a young criminal policeman came, and he called to stop the criminal policeman. "Let's talk about it later." "The police department." The young criminal policeman refused to let go. "What's wrong?" "Just now the police station called..." The two detectives whispered.After the conversation was over, the detectives turned around and lowered their heads deeply towards Kirikiri and me with the help of centrifugal force. "I'm very sorry, I didn't know that the two of you are Mr. Ryuzoji's assistants—in fact, the two of you could have told us earlier..." "Uh, ah... yes." I nodded in bewilderment. "What did Mr. Longzouji say?" "He only said that he would send two detectives, please take care of us... You two arrived very early, and you are really different from laymen pretending to be detectives. Let's go through a procedure, can you send the two detective books Let us have a look at the library registration card..." I took out the card as he said, and the detectives saluted. "Confirmation is complete, thank you very much. Please wear this armband when you two are here, and return it to us when you leave." Wukiri and I took the armband with the word "Investigator" written on it.I tried to learn what I did and saluted, and all the investigators present saluted me back. ... an inexplicable sense of pleasure.However, Wuqiri frowned slightly, and stared at the armband with some dissatisfaction. "What's the matter? Sister Wuqie, you should also wear this on your arm." "It feels as if everything is under the control of Longzuo Temple Yuexia, which is really uncomfortable." "I didn't expect Mr. Longzouji to have such a great influence on the police." A true detective should be respected and trusted by the police, and only those who are regarded as national heroes are qualified to become great detectives.In this sense, Longzuosi Yuexia is indeed the supreme authority in the detective world. At the same time... Even if we say that what happened in this mansion was written by Ryuzoji, no policeman would believe it. "Then next, we will ask you about the situation. We will summon you one by one to another room for inquiry. Please cooperate." "Hey, it's not over yet? My skin is dry, who is responsible?" "Then let's start with this lady in the kimono." The detectives completely ignored the problem of dry skin, and led the woman whose younger sister wore glasses to the next room.At the same time, the rest of the criminal police also left the reception room one after another, leaving only one policeman in uniform to monitor. "Oh, oh, this is a big deal." Said the man in a suit and sunglasses.Although he said so, his tone was very calm, without any panic.He's polite, so it's not too much of a nuisance, but he's probably just going his own way. "Speaking of which... I didn't expect you to be detectives too." "Too?" "Well, it looks like all the guests gathered here tonight are detectives." "So, everyone? Then you too?" "Ok." "Why didn't you tell the police in time?" Like they were hiding their detective status. "Police and detectives have always had a bad relationship. It is because we have experienced this in previous experience that we avoid unnecessary self-expression, and there is no other intention." "How can the people under Longzou Temple understand this kind of thing? For detectives like us who have no background, this is the guy who eats." The man in the Hawaiian shirt cut in and said. There are many unavoidable things in the world of detectives... I can't help but think that it doesn't matter to me.The reason why I have this kind of thinking is probably because I am still a half-hearted detective with little experience. "Hey, anyway, we have to confess to the police during the interrogation, so let's tell you as soon as possible, we don't want to be suspected by Mr. Longzouji." The man in sunglasses took out the registration card of the detective library from the inside pocket of his suit. Salvador Sumu Xiaoxiao——DSC number "752" "I specialize in counterfeit scams." The photo printed on the card is also wearing sunglasses.It turns out that it is different from passports and driver's licenses, so it's okay. "Level 2, isn't it amazing? He's only 8." The brown-haired woman with two legs resting on the glass coffee table leaned out, and it turned out that she was also a detective.She pulled out her own card from her cleavage, covered in glitter appliqués. Durocris - DSC number "488" "My field of expertise is the Department of Zoology, so it should be regarded as the aspect of caring for animals?" Her card is several times thicker than normal due to the number of decals.This is the first time I have seen someone put decals on the detective card, I think it may not be able to be inserted into the terminal of the detective library... "This is me." The man in the Hawaiian shirt casually flashed the card. Hakki bullet DSC number "666" "The field of expertise is gambling. I don't gamble, do I? My job is to teach those who illegally make money." "Everyone already knows that everyone is a detective?" "Well, in fact, before you came, we had already confessed our identity as detectives during the conversation. We are both detectives, and it is easier to act than to conceal." Su Mu pushed the sunglasses and said. "It looks like it's all pre-arranged," Haki said, using the windowpane as a mirror, straightening his shirt collar. "The text of the 'birthday party' invitation that all of us received should be the same, but the 'power of attorney' in the same envelope is different. For example, the power of attorney I received was that this mansion was It became an illegal gambling venue and entrusted me to investigate. Because this is my field of expertise, the other party has laid an attractive bait to lure me into the bait." "As for my power of attorney, I want me to judge whether the paintings in this mansion are real or not," Su Mu said with an exaggerated gesture. "However, if even the content of the power of attorney is false, then it must be said that the perpetrator knows the detective's situation quite well. No matter how you look at the 'birthday party', it is suspicious. It must be the perpetrator's trick to make the more dangerous lie—that is, the 'power of attorney'—look more realistic." “人家听说的是有人在这里买卖保护动物呢，虽然觉得很麻烦，但如果这是真的，那事情不就糟糕了吗？动物不是太可怜了吗？” “也就是说，各位都是上了当之后被引到这里来的吧。” “谁中计了啊。”八鬼不服气地说。 “不，事实如此，你就承认吧，”宿木劝他说。“我们中了作案者的圈套，被公认为杀人案的犯罪嫌疑人了。” 这种模式跟我上个月经历的天狼星天文台事件很类似，都是侦探收到捏造的委托书然后纷纷登上事件发生的舞台。在那起事件中，侦探们逐一遭到杀害。 这次的被害者只有一个人。由于警方已经介入，应该可以认为凶手接下来不会再继续犯罪了。当然，也不能保证可以百分之百地放心。 “然后呢，你们俩又怎样？你们真的是侦探？” 听到杜若这么问，我把侦探图书馆的卡片拿出来给她看。 “你好像年纪不大嘛，多少岁了？是高中生？真的——？胸部不会太大了吗？话说，你又不是专门负责杀人案的，当侦查官没问题吗？好不公平啊，我也想当侦查官！” “这其中是有原因的……”毕竟不能真的向她解释，于是我转移了话题。“这边这位雾切妹妹，她可是比我年纪还小的初中生侦探。是不是很可爱？” “专业领域是？”宿木饶有兴趣地问。 “现在是说这个话题的时候吗？”雾切冷冰冰地回答。“你们上了作案者的当，现在可是有杀人的嫌疑啊。” “唔……”宿木把交叉的两条腿换了个边，把长长的两条手臂张开。“你说得没错。要是不解决这起事件，那就不只是名誉扫地的问题了，搞不好还会背上莫须有的罪名。” “话说，我又不是专门跟杀人案打交道的，你解决一下啊。” “啊——？人家也是啊，一听到杀人案人家就要全身发抖了。” 在他们俩你一言我一语说得热闹的时候，那个妹妹头戴眼镜的女子回来了，她以楚楚动人的姿态在沙发上端端正正地坐下来。 “刑警先生请杜若小姐过去。” “咦——。接下来轮到人家了？我都困得不行了啊，我皮肤出了问题警察会给我负责吗？话说这简直跟上学的时候干了坏事被叫到老师办公室一样嘛？这么一想感觉好像有点兴奋起来了。” 杜若自顾自地咕哝着，到隔壁房间去了。 “刚才这两位年轻的侦探正好在做自我介绍呢。”宿木语气平稳地说。 “哎呀，那么我也介绍一下自己，”她掩口一笑。“我的名字是水井山幸，关于我来到这里的原因——各位是不是都已经说了？” 水井山幸——DSC编号“527” “我也跟各位是一样的，我收到的委托书上写着征求改建的意见。我的专业领域是建筑相关。” “顺带一提，关于那位被害的男子，各位知道些什么？” “白州寸铁，五十二岁，”宿木回答。“在他的随身物品中有侦探图书馆的登记卡，除此之外并没有什么可疑物品。他的DSC编号是'126'——这个编号是代表在宗教领域中，主要负责东洋邪教等方面的案子吧。” “不知道这次事件跟宗教有没有关系。”水井山偏了偏头说。 “谁知道呢。他遇害的原因可能跟这方面有关吧。”宿木回答。 “在我们来到这里之前，这个叫做白州的人怎么了？听说他把自己关在那个房间里不出来……” “不是不是，他没有把自己关起来啊，”八鬼半躺在沙发上，左右摇晃着手。“那家伙不知道什么时候就不见了……因为他消失得那么突然，我们还以为他就是那个把我们引到这里来的人呢。好像就是在那个时候吧，我们检查了他的东西，找到了侦探卡。然后，我们就在到处找他的时候，发现了那扇打不开的门。” “白天的时候那间剑道场还可以正常出入的，”宿木解释说。“但是不知什么时候，门就突然打不开了……因为那扇门上没有锁孔，我推测应该是里面有人把门堵上了。那么到底是谁做了这种事……正在我考虑这个问题的时候，发觉除了白州先生之外，所有人都已经集合在那个地方了。” 这样一来，自然可以想到门后的人就是白州了。然后，正在他们在门前观望的时候，我们俩出现了。 紧接着，事件发生了。 被害者在门后被刺杀的时候，宿木、杜若、八鬼、水井山全都在门的这一边。这就意味着，凶手应该是除了这四个人以外的另一个人，这是很自然的逻辑。 接下来还有密室的问题。凶手究竟是如何出入密室的呢…… “能不能详细说一说在我们到这里之前到底发生了什么事？”雾切没有明确目标地问。 “好吧。待会儿我应该会全部告诉警方的，这就当做是提前练习吧……” 宿木做了个夸张的动作，开始讲述。 他们是在今天（准确来说是昨天），一月十日的下午一点左右，在武田鬼屋集合的。 顺带一提，我们打开挑战书是在一个小时之前的正午时分，这就是说，在“黑之挑战”拉开帷幕之后仅仅过了一个小时，在这个阶段，舞台上的演员已经到齐了。 在短短一个小时内分发邀请函让演员到齐是不可能的。那么是凶手早已预料到我会在一月十日正午之时打开挑战书，事先做出了行动？ 不，应该不是这样，想必凶手是提前让所有人在大宅里集合，只要挑战书一打开，就立刻进入行动实施阶段。也不知道是幸运还是不幸，挑战书打开的日子和人员集合的日子正好重合，于是凶手迅速实行了犯罪。 宿木等人在到达大宅之后，首先各自进行自我介绍。此时他们应该还处于相互试探的阶段，没有人表露自己的侦探身份。 下午三点，这时距离集合时间已过去两个小时，委托人仍然没有出现，此时所有人都开始产生怀疑。这个时间点过后，所有人都在大宅里随意闲逛，谁在哪个地方做什么只能分别询问本人了。 晚上九点，众人终于开始想到委托本身可能是捏造的，也许也有人提出是不是该离开。在他们之中，杜若第一个坦白自己的侦探身份，随后其余人也坦白说出了自己真正的来访理由。 在这个时间点，白州已经失踪。 众人越发怀疑白州也许就是那个假扮委托人的幕后黑手，于是所有人都开始四处寻找他，但一无所获。 晚上十点，宿木发现外走廊尽头的剑道场大门有异常，他尝试把门打开，但门只能稍微活动，打不开。 接下来的三十分钟内，杜若、八鬼、水井山依次出现在外走廊上。在他们各自说明情况的过程中，三十分钟过去了。 这时，我和雾切出现了—— 接下来就是我经历过的那些事情了，在我们试图打开门的时候，室内传来了响动。我们打破密室进入室内，打开灯，发现一名背上刺着日本刀的男子倒在房间中央。 “当时室内传来的应该是白州先生遇刺倒下的声音没错吧。”我没有明确目标地说。 “是啊，我赶到被害者身边的时候，看到他背上的伤口正在不断流血，就像刚刚遇刺一样。” “这就是说，杀人的家伙当时果然就在那里吧？” 八鬼抱着胳膊说。 “在我们踏进房间的时候，室内没有开灯呢，”水井山谨慎地把自己的思考转化成语言。“当时凶手会不会乘着一片漆黑的时候从刚刚打开的大门溜出去了呢……” “不会，最后进房间的是我，我跌倒之后坐在外走廊上的这段时间内，没有任何人从房间里出来。而且，那扇门是往外开的，那种藏在门后的老办法也是行不通的。” “我是在黑暗中摸到房间的电灯开关的，不过应该不到一分钟电灯就亮了。如果凶手真是趁着黑暗逃走的，那么他必须在短短一分钟内就逃脱。”宿木解释说。 “都说他无处可逃了啊。” “之后我跟雾切妹妹检查过现场外围，积雪上并没有足迹之类的痕迹。” “那么杀白州先生的凶手到哪里去了呢？” 水井山把食指抵在嘴角偏了偏脑袋。 “我说啊——，果然还是铠甲干的吧？”八鬼皱起眉头说。 “铠甲里面是空的啊，这一点绝对没错。” 宿木回答。我也看过了，里面当然没有人，而且也没有任何可疑的工具或是装置。 “我不是这个意思，喏，那个……” "What's the meaning?" “就是鬼魂啦！干吗非要让一个成年人说出口啊！” “你的意思是说，是鬼魂附在了铠甲上面挥动日本刀？” 宿木很认真地追问，但不管怎么想这都太荒唐了，一点都不科学。幽灵怎么会变成铠甲武士杀人呢…… 而且，虽然这么推理可能有点全知视角的嫌疑，不过正因为这是“黑之挑战”，所以事件是不可能以超自然的结论而告终的。凶手肯定是以复仇为动机，运用某种手法杀害了被害者的。 但凶手是怎么做到的？ 现场是密室，而且在被害者遇袭的时候，所有犯罪嫌疑人都在门外面。建筑物周围没有足迹，也不可能存在第三者。 不管从哪个角度看来这都是一起不可能犯罪。 “能不能告诉我下午三点以后你们每个人都在什么地方做什么？” 雾切把戴着臂章的那只手叉在腰上说。不愧是专门跟杀人案打交道的“9”号侦探，她已经很有侦查官的架势了。 “你是想检查我们的不在场证明？”水井山说，表情有些不快。“告诉你当然也没关系，但为什么你要问那么久之前的不在场证明？白州先生是在十一点左右被害的啊……” “被害者应该是在下午三点左右失踪的，从这个时间点开始，凶手有可能已经与被害者接触过了。” “原来如此。不过也没什么不在场证明……这个时间，我正在这间待客室里看书。因为这里被我们当做集合地点，大家进进出出很频繁，不过我基本上是一直待在这个地方的。” “这么说可能有点失礼，不过你是不是有点缺乏紧张感了？”我尽量婉转地提问。“一个神秘人物把你们叫到这间鬼屋来，在这种状况下还可以这么悠闲吗？” “我觉得情况没那么严重。我是后来才听说这里是鬼屋的……而且我觉得只要老老实实等上一会儿，委托人迟早会出现。我认为当时还是应该优先遵守保密义务。” 也许她说得没错。当时并没有什么可以称其为事件的突发状况，除了手上的神秘委托书之外没有任何异常，我大概也会跟她采取同样的行动。 “当时没有见到被害者吗？” “大概三点以前，他一直坐在那边的沙发上摆弄手机，之后就不知道了。” “他在用手机打电话？”我问。 “不，他说他在玩股票。我没问，是他主动告诉我的。” “我从三点左右开始一直在查看屋内的书画作品，”宿木回答说。“我是为了鉴定书画赝品而来，所以在委托人出现之前，我打算提前做点功课。我尤其多花了些时间观察玄关的那些画。顺带一提，我跟白州先生在走廊上好几次擦肩而过，应该是没有什么可疑的地方……不过具体时间我记不清了。” 接着八鬼开口了。 “也没什么好说的，我就是在屋子里乱转，一次都没碰到大叔。只不过，我倒是老撞到那个轻浮的女人，被她说了不少难听话，她说她正在打电话，叫我滚一边去。” 结果所有人都是单独行动的，没有人能够替他们做不在场证明。话说回来，在下午三点到晚上十一点这么长的时间里，要是谁有可靠的不在场证明，那反而不对劲了。 “啊，好累——” 这时，刑警们终于放过了杜若，她回到待客室来了。她抓着头发，往沙发上一扑，把脑袋枕在扶手上躺着。 “接下来是那边那个年纪一大把的落魄不良少年，那些可怕的大叔在等你哦——” “谁是落魄不良少年啊，我哪里落魄了。” 八鬼整理着自己的飞机头，到隔壁房间去了。 “大家都已经说过了，所以也请杜若小姐回答一下……”我代替雾切对杜若说。“下午三点以后，杜若小姐你在什么地方，在做什么？” “喔——，好像真的侦查官啊，”她高兴地拍起手来。“三点是吧？那种小事谁记得啊。” “大概说一下就可以了……” “唔——嗯，就是到各个房间去看了一下，一边走一边给我朋友打手机……好像是吧……？” “好的。”感觉光问也不管什么用。 “结姐姐大人，”雾切踮起脚在我耳边说。“这里没什么事了，我们趁现在去调查几个地方，走吧。” “什么走吧……去哪儿？” 雾切陡然抓住我的手腕，打算拉着我离开待客室。 “啊，光吃饭不干活！”杜若的声音让我觉得如芒在背。 “抱歉，我们很快回来！”我回头扔下这么一句，被雾切扯到了走廊上。 “怎么了，雾切妹妹，你很少这么积极啊。” 她以前总说什么要是没有接到委托，解决事件就没有意义，要不就是什么唯一的目的就是晋级，一直不愿意跟“黑之挑战”扯上关系，很难想象她居然会有现在这种态度。 “……没这个功夫了。” “你是说时间不够了？的确，剩下的时间正在一分一秒地减少，但简单算来，一个案子差不多可以花上二十八个小时呢，时间还是很充裕的。” “我不是这个意思……” 雾切低下头，手捂着嘴，好像很难以启齿似的，但与此同时，她抓着我手腕的那只手却一点都没有放松。 我紧跟在她身后走着，注视着她纤细的肩膀和后背。这副十三岁少女的躯体到底背负着多么沉重的负担啊，而其中又有多少是她出于自己的意志主动去承担的呢。 难道我就不能替她分担一些她一力承担的东西吗。 “你还有些事情开不了口跟我说对吧。” 她没有点头，也没有回头。 “因为'黑之挑战'这些乱七八糟的事，所以一直没机会问你，是不是有什么原因让你现在回不了家？” “这件事待会再说。”雾切甩开了我向她伸出的手，简短地表示拒绝。 但我没有气馁：“你家里是不是出了什么事？” “结姐姐大人，”雾切将锐利的视线投向我。“现在没时间胡思乱想了。” 这才不是胡思乱想呢。我本来很想这么说，但还是作罢了。 她和我之间那面透明的墙壁——本来以为它已经不存在了，但现在我却悲哀地发现，它仍然如此地不可逾越。 “结姐姐大人，你好像随身带着尺子对吧。” “嗯，”我从背包里取出卷尺。“你要用？” 雾切点点头，接过卷尺，测量起草鞋的尺寸来。 “大概26……26.5厘米吧。” “你量铠甲武士的脚做什么？” 雾切站起身来，把卷尺还给我。 “我们会把铠甲带走的，”法医官大叔说。“躯干部分也找到了血迹，有必要做进一步检查。” “请问是被害者的血吗？”我问。 “做了DNA鉴定才知道。不过，血型是AB型，跟被害者一致。” "That's it..." 只能认为是这个铠甲武士动起来袭击了被害者。现在我可以想象出具体的画面：铠甲武士从刀鞘里拔出寒光闪闪的刀，向着被害者的后背刺去—— “警方现在是在往哪个方向进行调查？” “这样下去应该会认定是自杀案吧。” “自、自杀？” “从现场状况来看，这个房间里应该不会有别人。” “但是被害者是背后中刀死亡的啊？要是比较短的菜刀或是小刀就算了，一个人怎么可能用日本刀刺到自己的后背？” “不，他只要把日本刀固定在一个地方就可以了。为了伪造受到他人袭击的假象，把刀具固定在一个地方往自己身上捅，这是很老套的伪装手段。” “那要固定在什么地方……” 啊，这里不是正好有个地方吗。就是铠甲武士身上。 要是自己背对着手持日本刀的铠甲武士撞上去，应该就可以实现用日本刀自杀了。 但是我立刻枪毙了这个想法。这可是“黑之挑战”。不可能会是自杀。 不可能……？要是这些人聚集在这里本身跟“黑之挑战”并没有什么关系呢？ “我说，雾切妹妹，会不会——” 我本想跟雾切说话，她却好像已经对铠甲武士失去了兴趣，走向了房间里侧的门。 把门封住的皮筋还保持着原状。门把手下面有旋钮锁，看样子只要一转就可以从内侧把门锁上，但凶手不知为什么没有把旋钮锁锁上，而是用皮筋把门封住了。这是不是跟密室手法有什么关系呢。 雾切仍然保持着沉默，两只手按在双开门的其中一扇门上，把自己那点微不足道的体重压在上面往外推。 把门封住的皮筋稍微伸长了一点，门中间出现了一条缝，勉强能让风透进来。 门后面是后院，一片漆黑，什么都看不见。 "let me help you." 我在雾切旁边背靠着门，打算利用腿部力量用后背把门顶开。这样一来，皮筋倒是出乎意料地伸长了，门中间的缝隙大概能让一个人把手臂伸进去了。 “咦，这皮筋很松嘛。” “看来有必要想想为什么要用皮筋把门封住，”雾切从门旁边走开。“我想关键就在这样用力把门推开时制造的缝隙。结姐姐大人，这次我们不要只推一边，试着把两扇门同时推开。” 我们同时把体重压在双开门的两扇门上往外推。 门中央的缝隙扩大了，差不多可以让一个身材纤瘦的人挤过来。只不过，皮筋正拦在相当于腰部那个高度的位置，要想避开它就必须从更狭窄的缝隙里挤过去，感觉需要一点技巧…… “不过这样一来，有一件事倒是清楚了，这个密室是有空隙的。” 只要找个东西卡在门缝里，应该就可以很轻松地出入房间了。这个密室乍看之下被皮筋封得密不透风，实际上却是有空子可钻的。 “但是外面没有脚印啊。” “啊……这样……” 这扇门面对着后院，从这里出入的时候就必定要经过外面。但是我们发现尸体的时候，中庭和后院都没有见到有人走过的痕迹，这是我们用自己的眼睛看到的事实。 “啊，但是！”我突然想到了一件事。“外走廊那边呢？要是那边门上的皮筋比较松的话……” “我们打开门的时候，用尽全力把门拉开才能让刀子伸进去，我想应该没办法制造出可以供人出入的缝隙。” “咦——……那果然还是密室？这是不可能犯罪吗？” “谁知道呢。所谓的不可能犯罪，归根结底是'让人觉得不可能实现的犯罪'，只是我们这样认为而已。但是，只要有一个人坚信这不是不可能，那么不可能犯罪这种幻想就会像泡沫一样消失。我们是侦探，就算最后只剩下一个人，也要承担起这个职责。” 虽然雾切说得又干脆又坚决，但一般的侦探是不可能有她这种觉悟的。她是个天生的侦探，同时对她而言，侦探事业就是人生的一切，果然只有她这样的人才能够达到这种境界。 也许这就是把我和她隔开的墙壁吧。 “我说，结姐姐大人，我们顺便到外面看看吧。” “……嗯，说得也是。” 虽然从眼前这扇门出去比较快，但我们没穿鞋子，所以必须得先回一趟玄关。我们离开了命案现场，沿着外走廊去往主屋。 玄关前的水泥地上摆着一大堆皮鞋，应该是警方相关人员的，我们花了好一番工夫才从当中找到自己的鞋子。 雾切在拿起自己的鞋子之前，先把最开始来访的五个人的鞋子拿了起来往里看。 "what are you doing?" “检查鞋子的尺码。” 宿木——28.5 八鬼——27.5 白州——26.5 杜若——24.5 水井山——22.0 “你一直很