Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The Detective and the Murderer

111:14:27 For a while, none of us spoke, and we just stared blankly at the numbers that were decreasing bit by bit on the electronic screen.Whether the situation we are in now is someone else's prank or a prank show, this kind of discussion is meaningless.The reality in front of him is that the dead body of the fish is there.It is self-evident that the reality established by the prisoner and the rules he established are the basis for the existence of this world. "Let's dispose of Miss Uozumi's body." The first to suggest is fog cutting.Although the girl in the first grade of junior high school saw the charred body, she acted nonchalantly.

After Wuqie and I started this work, I don't know who started it first, but other people also came to help. We wrapped the fish in the tablecloth and let her lie in the corner of the hall. Before returning to the cafeteria, Wuqie folded her hands and prayed for a while facing Yuju's body, her praying side face with her eyes closed was extremely pure. I went back to the cafeteria with Wuqie. No one paid any attention to the burnt dining table. Everyone moved the chairs away and sat down in different places.There was still a strange smell in the room, but the windows couldn't be opened, so there was no way to breathe.

"Hey, you two." Minase approached me and Kirikiri. "Don't put the huge money aside and walk around by yourself, be careful." I put the hiking bag with Wuqie on the empty chair. That's it... Although it doesn't feel real, but I have 100 million yen now. I checked the inside of the mountaineering bag, and everything was there.After all, under everyone's surveillance, it seems that no one will take advantage of it. "Speaking of which...this matter is troublesome." Chaxia said while touching the brim of his baseball cap. "According to my opinion, this is neither a conspiracy by CIA nor NASA, but a good thing done by the military-industrial complex. This is a psychological experiment of the army. I heard that an institution is studying the behavioral psychology of people under extreme conditions... "

"What army?" "It goes without saying, of course it's the U.S. military." Under the tea grinned. "Huh?" Minase frowned. "Where did the U.S. military come from? Didn't the glasses girl detective over there just say that they received a crime notice. Although they don't know who the prisoner with abnormal brains is, anyway, he has begun to follow the notice. It has nothing to do with the military." "Then how do you explain this fund?" Chaxia pointed to the hiking bag. "Such a huge amount cannot be taken out by ordinary people at once... I think there must be some organization operating in it."

It hit the nail on the head.Without the assistance of the organization, this crime probably would not have even been planned. They don't know there's a Crime Victims Relief Council, should I tell them?And after I tell them, can they understand? "What should we do next?" Toriyao didn't know who to ask. "The auction seems to have started, do you want to start bidding?" "There are still about three hours before ten o'clock in the evening." Xinxian said. "Let's discuss it for a while, and it won't be too late to bid again." "Discussion? What are you going to discuss?"

"I think everyone should work together!" I saw this good time, stood up from my chair and spoke. "You're here again, detective girl with glasses." Minase said with an impatient look. "Yes, I'm here again. I've thought about this auction as well. I think that as long as everyone works together, we can leave safely together." "Hey, how do I do that?" "Every day we take turns to buy 'detective rights' in turn. The person who becomes a detective that day will go around everyone's room at night, unlock the door, and gather everyone one by one. Because the murderer cannot be a detective. We are murderers in front of our eyes, so we can prevent crimes from happening. Also, if we take turns being detectives, it means that we guarantee each other’s lives, so we don’t have to worry about traitors.”

"Ah...it's really an idea that only a kid would have, no, no, no." "Why not? Then I will take out the money and talk about it... If the person who is a detective buys the 'detective right' with a minimum bid of one million yuan, and repeats the same thing five times, then all of us It only costs five million yen. In this way, everyone is guaranteed to get more than 90 million yen to go home." "Can you guarantee that you won't be killed?" Minase pointed at me. "Although we still don't know what kind of structure the guest room is in, but before the detective goes through all the rooms, maybe the murderer has already killed the person, isn't that a possibility? Isn't the detective going to go through all the rooms except his own?" The other eight rooms? Isn’t the person in the eighth room quite dangerous?”

"How can you say that..." "Besides, even if everyone takes turns being detectives, four out of nine people can't be detectives once? Who would be willing to be excluded? Do you want to?" "This, this..." "Look, the detective's idea of ​​gathering everyone together for protection is not safe at all. Isn't there a rule that detectives must also obey the door control? Murderers don't have to follow this rule. That is to say, at night When it comes time to act, the murderer can take the first step." The difference of this step may determine a completely different fate.And the person who becomes the target may be himself.

As long as there is such a possibility, the "detective power" that guarantees absolute safety cannot be handed over to others. At the auction, as long as there is this kind of psychological mischief... then it is impossible for everyone to live in harmony. "After seeing how Uozumi was killed, who would obediently give up the rights to others." Minase said in a weak voice. Yes, we haven't recovered from the shock of her death.In this case, we are in a state of disunity, and it is impossible to follow orders. "The bullet seems to be fired from behind the wall." Nanamura's voice came from overhead.

At some point, he was on the balcony checking the situation around the portrait. "There is a small hole under the picture frame. This is not a trace of being shot. It should be used as a launch port. Although I think the other party should have no bullets, everyone should be careful and be careful not to enter the firing range." Nanamura rolled up her sleeves and came down from the balcony. "Mr. True Detective," Meizhou said. "I don't know why things turned out like this... But it doesn't matter even if the auction is suspended, please catch the criminal! I want to go home!"

"That's a good idea, my dear lady. As long as the prisoner can be caught, there is no need to attend any auction." "Can you catch the prisoner?" Toriyao stood up and asked. However, Nanamura shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't catch the prisoner at present, because I still have something to do." Nanamura said something meaningful and sat down on the chair. As a result, the time passed slowly like this, and no one bid. People glanced at the clock and at other people every now and then, each seemingly wondering what to do next. I distanced myself from Wuqie and the others, and sat side by side. "There are less than three hours left, but no one has gone to the bidding booth." I said to Wuqie. She ran her fingers through her three-strand braid and stared at the floor. "The auction is not just for today's one... so they are all calculating how to reduce losses and let themselves bid for 'detective rights' consecutively." Wuqie said. "Is that so... After all, as long as one day you don't get the 'detective right', you might be killed that day." "I agree with your opinion, sister Jie." "Ok?" "It's the method of everyone working together. In this kind of game, although the head-to-head method can only make people feel ridiculous at first glance, it is actually a strategy." "But as long as one person is unwilling to cooperate, there may be more flaws." "Well, and there must be some people who are unwilling to cooperate." "Yeah... I don't think it's barbaric to protect my own safety even if I don't hesitate to kill others. And I think it's also the instinct of a creature..." "Sister Jie, are you also this kind of person?" "Who knows... I don't know until then." "I think this is the time now." Wu Qie said with a chuckle. "Ah, did you just laugh?" "No." "No, you must have smiled. It's the first time I've seen you smile." "Speaking of which, sister Jie, have you noticed?" Fog Cut changed the subject beautifully. "Notice what?" "The culprit was among these people." "Oh, this thing—er, huh?" I couldn't help crying out. For a moment, everyone turned to us, but they just looked bored and quickly lost interest in us. "No, although I don't think it's possible." I put my face closer to Wuqie and whispered, "Why do you think so? What's the basis?" "It's Norman. It's just automatically playing the pre-recorded footage. If the prisoner is not here but monitoring us elsewhere, then he can communicate with us in real time, but he didn't do it. To be precise, It's not that he didn't do it, it's that he couldn't. The reason for this is that the prisoner is in the same place as us. The answer - the prisoner is among these people." "But didn't he respond to our reaction?" "It's very simple to consciously guide the audience's reaction and induce in the dialogue. Really, my sis, you don't even know this kind of thing, you are a hopeless fool." "Why, why did you say that suddenly! Anyway, I'm a fool!" "You see, it's very easy to induce this reaction. Then you have to prepare an answer to this reaction in advance, such as-don't be so angry, my lord sister-and so on." "Huh? Huh?" "I just demonstrated what Norman did." "Um, um. I don't feel very clear, but I probably understand it." "Having said that, Norman's way of speaking is very own, very tough, and the responses in many places are a bit weird." "Is that right……" "Mr. Nanamura was very obvious when he asked the question. Maybe he asked the question specifically to confirm this point." Speaking of it, I remember that Norman was talking to himself at the time, and didn't answer the question of Qicun. "Probably the remote control for playing and stopping is still hidden on the prisoner, but he can't do more complicated operations." "How did he shoot Uozumi-san?" "It should be an automatic firing device. There may be a gun behind the wall, or there may be no gun. As long as there are fixed bullets, a needle that hits the detonator, and a spring-like object that activates the needle, an automatic firing device can be formed. gone." "I see...but why did Miss Uozumi burn after being hit?" "I think this is to ensure that Ms. Uozumi will be killed even if the bullet misses, so an ignition device is installed on her body. For example, pendants, watches, mobile phones..." "Ah, speaking of it, she said that the clothes she wears are designated by her employer and prepared here in advance!" "In this case, maybe there is an ignition device somewhere in the clothes. The clothes burned so suddenly and violently, it seems that they should be made of some flammable materials. The prisoner planned to kill the maid with great fanfare in front of us from the beginning. , thus kicking off the auction." "He didn't hesitate to spend so much time just to make it look more like a game..." I crossed my arms and looked at the people in the cafeteria one by one. Who among these men is the culprit— "Speaking of which, there is one important thing I forgot to tell you about Miss Uozumi." I remembered and said. "What's up?" "She's actually a detective." "...Really?" Even Wuqie was taken aback. "Well, she showed me the Detective Library registration card, it shouldn't be forged. The DSC number is '756'." I lowered my voice. "She said she was pursuing Mr. Toriyao for a fraud case related to counterfeiting." "That's it..." Wuqie stared at his fingertips.She didn't set her sights on Toriyao specifically. "If he was the criminal, that would also explain why he killed Uozu-san in the first place. The detective who was chasing him was the most troublesome, so he killed Uozu-san." I had an idea and said. "The purpose of this auction must also be a large-scale fraud..." "That's strange. The motive of 'Black Challenge' is revenge against the perpetrator." "Ah, you're right." "The reason why Ms. Uozumi was killed should have nothing to do with her detective status. I don't think the prisoner probably knew she was a detective." Is Toriyao not related to this "Black Challenge"? Those summoned by the "Black Challenge" are not necessarily related to the incident.In order to realize the technique, sometimes unrelated people are also involved. "The culprit is among these people, and at the same time—the person who has committed a crime for revenge—the target is also among these people. How about trying to reveal the truth of the incident from this aspect, it must be no small thing..." "Who would easily confess the crimes they committed?" "Probably...not at all." "What's more important than this is whether we should think about the countermeasures for the auction." Wuqie glanced at the electronic screen and said. "Or can we only compete with each other?" "Although I am very unwilling, but under the current situation, there is no other way." It was ten o'clock in the evening before the gate control time, and the remaining time was less than three hours.Considering the time it takes to bid and get to the room, etc., it's really only like two hours. I inevitably feel a little anxious. "There are five auctions in total, and the fund is 100 million yuan. Simply calculating, almost 20 million yuan each time is the maximum limit." I can hardly believe that amount came from my own mouth.If you have this much money, you can buy the clothes you want, you can get new glasses, and you can buy bags... "Sister Jie?" "Ah! I've imagined something wicked. No, no, this kind of money . . . is no different from the money in Monopoly." I shook my head desperately. "Speaking of which, Mrs. Jie, are you planning to bid for the 'Detective Right' at the next auction?" "Of course. If you don't take pictures, won't there be no way to protect other people? If there is no master key, I can't help you." "Really." Wuqie seemed a little shy, and his eyes fell on the floor. "I think other people will definitely take this auction seriously. They don't want to protect others, but to protect themselves. I don't mean to blame them, but, first of all, they must win at the auction, otherwise what is it? Can't do anything." If you can't win, you can't change this state of powerlessness. If you want to be a detective all the time, you must rely on strong willpower to win. Although I didn't want to compete with other people for "detective rights", but if this point will be used by others in turn, then I can only join the competition. "Speaking of which...Sister Wuqie, don't you need 'detective rights'? You are a natural detective. If you are deprived of your status as a detective, then there is nothing you can do?" When I asked, Wuqiri put his hands on his chest and raised his head. "Yeah. But surprisingly, I am comfortable with the situation, which surprised me." "adapt?" "I have always felt that if I am not a detective, there is no meaning for my existence. I also thought that when I am no longer a detective, will I disappear like a mermaid princess. But now, as a A detective has been deprived of his abilities, but I still exist here. What turned into a bubble and disappeared, I probably just thought too much." "You must be thinking too much." I replied with a smile, but Wuqie's expression was very serious. "After the last 'Black Challenge', I also thought about it... I think I am too obsessed with being a detective. Of course, I am a detective who inherited the surname Kirikiri, and I am very proud of that, but... I haven't forgotten... Sister Jie, you told me, don't carry the burden of thinking." "Yes, yes." Although she keeps her feelings hidden, at the same time she has her own troubles.Usually she always makes it impossible to see what she is thinking, so I have never noticed... "Now that I have been deprived of the 'detective power', it is strange that I am calmer than usual. My mind is more than usual More sober, and can be more ruthless than usual." Wuche covered the corners of his mouth with his fingertips and smiled. ——It feels half-understood, but it seems that this "Black Challenge" inspired her fighting spirit. It was rare to hear her talk so much, and from her expression, there was a feeling of high spirits.If I had to venture a word - she looked eager to try. The identity of a detective is the reason for her existence. At the same time, it is also an extremely heavy pressure. She always uses her small back and thin legs to withstand the heavy pressure to survive.Ironically, however, this isolated space allowed her to get rid of the pressure she usually endured, which allowed her to re-examine her true self. "This is also thanks to sister Jie." "Huh? I didn't do anything..." "Having this guy by my side, telling me I'm not an empty shell, that's..." When she said this, she seemed to suddenly feel embarrassed, and quickly closed her mouth. I waited for a while to see if she would speak again, but it might be because of some complicated psychology that she refused to take the initiative to speak again. "However, the deprivation of 'detective rights' is only limited to this enclosed space, and it will only become like this under the prisoner's rules... In fact, you are also a detective now." "I wish it was that way," she said flatly, putting her hands in the pockets of her uniform. "However, I don't intend to be like my sister Jie, who wants to protect others and survive together. I don't have these ideas. If necessary, even at the expense of others, I have to achieve my goal... This is the Wuqie family. detective." "I know, Miss Detective." I stroked Yukiri's head like coaxing a child. She gave me an angry look. "So what about the auction?" I asked to avoid her eyes. "It's possible to get 'Detective Rights' five times in a row." "Huh? Do you have a way to keep taking pictures by yourself and not let others take pictures?" "Ok." "any solution?" "I'm cooperating with Sister Jie. It doesn't matter which one of us is the person who takes the 'Detective Power'. To put it simply, the two of us are counted as one person, and the sum of funds is 200 million. The funds that can be used Twice as much as other people. Others can only use 20 million at a time, but we can use 40 million. The other party should not prohibit the borrowing of funds.” Unexpectedly, the word "cooperation" would come out of her mouth.In theory, this is indeed a solution, but if a relationship of trust is not established, this plan cannot be established. Of course I trust Wuqie.Does she also trust me? "How is it, sister Jie?" "The first time and the second time may be able to use funds to overwhelm others... But from the third time on, other people should also have this mentality, thinking that 'only by cooperating with others can we win'. In this way, other people Maybe it will be divided into three groups, and then there will be no way to win with money." "All in all, you should be able to win the first three times. Especially the third time, it doesn't matter if you use more funds. If everything goes smoothly up to this point, then from the fourth time on, other people will have other psychology." "What's going on?" "First of all, the first three times, we used the 'detective right' to keep everyone alive. This is the premise. In this way, other people will start to feel, 'Let those two people come to be detectives and feel at ease'. So they next thought It's like, 'Leave as much money as you can and take it with you when you leave safely'—that's what guarantees us a big win." "Will things go that smoothly... um—" I leaned back on the chair back.I've been sitting still all day today, and my body feels sluggish. "However, there are two problems with this plan." Wu Qie said with his white fingers raised. "The first is the premise of 'protecting the safety of everyone's life'. We don't know what method Norman said the murderer will use to kill people in the middle of the night, so we don't know whether everyone can be saved." "You must protect everyone." "There is more than one problem. The 'everyone' mentioned here probably also includes the murderer, that is, the prisoner." "That's it...it turns out that the prisoner also participated in the auction!" "That's right, and the prisoner has the master key in his hand, so he doesn't need to win the auction. In other words, he may come to make trouble. Maybe he came here for this purpose." "Then the method of cooperation will not work." "No, I think there is still value in practice." "why?" "At least the first time and the second time we can use a cooperative approach. By the third time, the situation will change, and maybe we will not be able to shoot 'Detective Power' by then. But it doesn't matter, the question is who will What kind of method is used to film it, and then we need to confirm whether there is anything weird in it. As long as we press harder and harder, the other party will do everything possible to hinder us." We have to use the rules made by the prisoner in reverse, and use it as a trap to lure the prisoner out--under such an urgent situation, you can still think of so many things, it is worthy of the mist.What if she wasn't here, I couldn't help but shudder when I thought about it. "It seems that the other people have no intention of cooperating with others for the time being. After all, it was the first time I met yesterday. How can we build a relationship of trust?" "This plan works!" I said excitedly. "There is no need to participate in five auctions. As long as you find the 'Black Challenge' prisoner in the middle, the game will be over." "That's what happened." "Then... I'll give the money to Sister Wuqie, and you can take the 'Detective Power'." "...Can you really give it to me?" "It's better than me being a detective." I replied with a smile. "The first is the first auction, we must win." "—I see." I opened the hiking bag and checked the contents of the bag. Just then, I noticed someone standing up—it was Nanamura. "Okay, everyone." Nanamura began to speak with his usual dramatic gestures. "If everyone's bidding time is five minutes, then we will spend a total of forty-five minutes. In terms of time, there is no longer any delay. We can't keep delaying like this." "Who, no one bid?" Minase already looked exhausted. "Wait, wait, I haven't counted yet!" Toriyao wagged his fingers and didn't know what he was counting. Tea is in the corner of the room, facing the wall, chanting words, as if talking to an invisible person. "I don't want to be a detective! I'm here to buy vacuum tubes, why did things turn out like this... Woohoo!" Meizhou cried like a child. Xinxian crossed his legs and was reading the book he brought, feeling as if he had given up on communication and immersed himself in his own world.He did say that he was not interested in the auction, but now that the situation has changed, I don't know if he still thinks so. Ye He hugged the mountaineering bag tightly in his arms, closed his eyes, and looked intoxicated, as if he treated this large sum of money as his own child and kept stroking it. It was a weird scene. "Let me tell you, sister Kirikiri," I whispered, "What about that person...Mr. Nanamura? Do you want to tell him our plan?" "I don't think it's necessary. He should understand after the first bid." After all, he was also a double-zero detective, so he must be trying to figure out a way to deal with the criminal. "Then let me lead the charge. Raise your hands if you object." Of course, no one objected. After confirming that there was no objection, Nanamura picked up the hiking bag and walked towards the bidding compartment. "When I bid, everyone can discuss the order, which will save time." Nanamura said so while opening the door of the compartment. A machine that looks like a bank's ATM can be seen through the door.Nanamura stood in front of the machine and closed the door with his backhand. The auction has finally started—— "Then, let's discuss the order, everyone." I stood up and said. "Is it okay to use 'Detective Fist' to decide?" "What is Detective Fist?" Mei Zhou tilted her head and asked. "Well, don't you know? The detective is bigger than the criminal and smaller than the cat, and the prisoner is bigger than the cat and smaller than the detective, and the cat is bigger than the detective and smaller than the prisoner—that's about it." "How should I express this? Forget it, don't do this, ordinary rock-paper-scissors is better." Minase protested. In the end, everyone decided the order using rock-paper-scissors——Tori Yao, Kiriri, Yotsuru, Shinsen, Chashita, Mifune, Minase, and me. At the same time as we decided on the order, Nanami also happened to come out.He holds a small card in his right hand—and a shrunken hiking bag in his left. All eyes are on the backpack.It seems to be relatively... no, it is quite light. It doesn't look like he's hiding the cash anywhere.During the cremation incident just now, his coat was destroyed, so there was no place to hide it. "Okay, who's turn is it next? There's a little formality to go through, so it's better to take the time it takes about five minutes." Nanamura said so, showed us the card on his right hand, pulled a chair next to him, and sat down leisurely.He tossed the hiking bag aside, the hiking bag—had deflated. There was commotion in the room.I quickly took Wuqie's hand and came to a place far away from the others. "Hey, what is Nanamura-san planning to do!" "You reacted too much, sister Jie." "But! That man must have done something wrong." "Yeah, I didn't expect him to do this... It is indeed a double zero level." "Now is not the time to admire him. Then we won't be able to film 'Detective Rights'!" While I was whispering to Kirikiri, Toriyao walked into the bidding booth. After he finished bidding, it was the turn of the fog cut immediately. "What to do? Re-plan?" "Well..." Wuqie folded his arms and fell into deep thought. "Let's avoid this auction." "Avoid? Are you saying you can't bid?" "Hmm. We probably won't be able to win against Nanamura-san." "Can't win...how can this be done!" "Don't panic, sister, there is no problem with this, because Mr. Nanamura is from our side." "However, I don't think that person can be trusted." I couldn't help blurting out. "Because he's a cheapskate! Isn't sister Wuqie paying the taxi fare in the end?" "I can't say it's logical, but in fact he paid a lot of money when he made an offer." "Is there some kind of trick..." "Of course there is such a possibility. However, if this is the case, we can't spend tens of millions at this time. If the mountaineering bag is fake and his purpose is to inflate the bid amount, then we will pay All the money will be lost..." "What should I do, there is no time." I saw Toriyao coming out of the bidding compartment.His hiking bag looks almost the same size as it was before he went in. "Let's keep it for now." "Wuuuuu...is it alright..." After the birdhouse tail, Fogcut walked to the bidding booth.She struggled to carry the backpack with both hands.The weight of 10,000 sheets and 10,000 yen is considerable, and it was very hard for her two thin arms. At the time of the fog cut bid, I was close to Seven Village. "Uh...well, could it be..." I pointed to the hiking bag and said. "Oh, the public bid amount is against the rules. Even if it's your request, miss, I can't say it." "Now is not the time to say such things!" I raised my voice involuntarily. "If you have any ideas, can you tell me? It is also more convenient for us to act..." "May Yu-jun." Qicun folded her arms and turned to me. "I think of you as a detective, so I won't tell. Or do you want me to treat you like an ordinary high school girl?" He may mean to say, don't depend on others. No matter what the circumstances, saying "please tell me" does not qualify as a detective. Does Qicun have any chance of winning? Judging from his look of ease, it seemed that he was sure that he would win. I shuffled listlessly back to the corner of the room just as Mistcut emerged from the bidding compartment.I hurried to her side, and I almost rushed towards her. "How about it?" "No problem." Wuqie flicked the hair on his cheek. "I came out without bidding. It seems that 0 yen is also possible." Saying so, she took out a small card and showed it to me. "this is?" "It's a bid card, probably something similar to a registration card." Bidding continues as we speak. Yehe, who entered the bidding compartment behind Wuqie, spent more than five minutes in it, and almost ten minutes before coming out. When he came out, he still hugged the mountaineering bag tightly in his arms like his own child.Money or life, this ultimate choice must have troubled her for a while. Afterwards, Xinxian entered the compartment and came out immediately.He held the card in his hand, and it seemed that the formalities had been completed.He was in stark contrast to Ye He. He probably really didn't have any obsession with the auction. Chashita, Mifune, and Minase followed.Among them, Meizhou took the longest time. It took her a lot of effort just to move the mountaineering bag containing the huge sum of money into the compartment, and it seemed that she had a lot of effort to operate the machine. Finally—finally it was my turn. I carried my heavy hiking bag and headed for the bidding compartment.The time now is far beyond our estimates, so I must act quickly. I stood in front of this box that looked like a telephone booth and opened the door. Opposite me is a touch-screen machine, probably prepared by the Crime Victims Relief Committee for this game, these people really put a lot of thought into it. I went into the compartment and closed the door.After the door is closed, people outside cannot see what is going on inside. There are operating instructions on the touch screen-"Please enter your name." Why do you still use the eight-bit pixel style in this era. All in all, did as directed.Although I thought about using a pseudonym, I didn't think it was meaningful, so I entered it truthfully—"May Yujie", the operation is no different from that of an ATM machine. After entering the name, the screen for registering fingerprints is displayed on the screen. I followed the instructions and pressed my thumb on the fingerprint authentication device. "Registration successful" and then the screen switched to the screen for inputting numbers. I kept the number at "0 yuan", and when I was about to press the "OK" button - I suddenly hesitated. What if Nanami's mountaineering bag is a bluff? Could it be that he used some kind of trick to hide the funds somewhere for the time being.He created the illusion of investing a huge amount of money, but actually only paid the lowest bid of one million yuan. In this way, he could successfully obtain the "detective right" with only one million yuan. There is no problem with Nanamura getting "detective rights". The question is, did any of the previous bidders notice Nanamura's bluff. No - of course they noticed. He showed us the mountaineering bag that was so obviously empty, anyone would feel suspicious. What do people do when they discover his bluff? They should conversely think of obtaining "detective rights" by themselves. Just pay two million, and you can win if you pay two million. Will someone pay two million out of this idea? —Wait, what if there were two people, or three? Two million is not enough.three million?four million? ——Oh, what should I do? The ten o'clock door control time is getting closer, I have to make a quick decision, everyone is waiting for me. I tore the plastic bag containing the banknotes in my mountaineering bag.A bundle of banknotes is one million yen. After some struggle, I took out five bundles—that is, five million yen. "5 million yen" After pressing the "OK" button, the banknote opening opened automatically, and I stuffed five bundles of banknotes with seals in them. So the screen switched again - "The bid was successful" At this time, a card spit out from a hole in the lower part of the screen, the same as the one held by other people.I took out the card and took a closer look, and found that there were precautions written on the back of the card. 注意：拍卖会结束后，中标者所拥有的卡片将会自动成为总钥匙，请保管好这张卡片。 我拿着卡片出了隔间。大家的视线一起投了过来。 漫长的十分钟过去了。突然，不知从哪里传来了鸣笛声。这是拍卖会结束的信号吧。我们的视线在空中漫无目的地游移。 “喂，你们看那个！”水无濑指着阳台上面。 诺曼的肖像画刚才所在的位置显示出了文字。在下面看不大清楚，所以我们都走到二楼阳台上去看。 那里显示的是拍卖的结果。 看到这个结果之后，最惊讶的人大概就是我。 说实话，我几乎想抱着脑袋大叫“上当了”——不过我还是忍住了。我保持着面无表情，但说不定我的脸色实际上是相当难看的。 “真侦探先生，你只出了一万日元？咦？最低不是一百万日元的吗？” 美舟把手按在脸上歪着脑袋。 “是你个头啦，南瓜头。你看清楚点儿，单位是万元啊，他出的是一亿，一亿日元！” “咦——？” "Exactly." 七村把身体靠在阳台栏杆上，把一只手向外伸开，说道。 “你疯了？”鸟屋尾的声音变了调。“第一次就出全额，之后你打算怎么办？” “话说大家怎么都是零！”我不由得发出抗议。“这是怎么一回事啊？” “什么怎么一回事……”水无濑皱起眉头。“你不是也看见那个侦探的登山包了吗，看到之后你还会浪费钱去出价？正常人都不会吧。” “要是没有中标，出价的钱就会被没收的吧？说明的时候你难道没有认真听？” “这么重要的钱怎么能说丢就丢呢？” 连夜鹤都在说我了。I am speechless.看来是我过度解读了…… 我瞥了一眼雾切，她正用冰冷的目光往我这边瞧。 Sorry…… “今天晚上只能靠侦探了啊。”茶下不知道为什么满头大汗，拼命擦着脸上的汗水。 “你、你会不会保护我们不被杀人魔干掉啊？”水无濑问七村。 “那是当然，你以为我来这里是为了什么呢？来吧，各位，请跟我来。我想这张卡片应该已经变成总钥匙了。” 七村扬了扬卡片给我们看，然后翻过栏杆，轻飘飘地落到下面的食堂地板上，一个人先出了房间。 “喂、喂，大家快跟上！”水无濑下了楼梯追七村去了，我们也跟在他后面。 我们从食堂出来，到了大厅。我小声对雾切说：“雾切妹妹，抱歉，我失败了……没想到事情会变成这样……” “结姐姐大人到底是经过了怎样的心理历程才会得出500万这个数字，我很容易就想象得到。”雾切用沉着的声音说。“虽然结果是失败了，不过我觉得这就是结姐姐大人你的风格。” “你是在夸我？” "no." “……也、也对。”我垂头丧气。“话说回来，不知道七村先生到底在想什么，今天就把一亿日元全部花光了，之后他打算怎么办啊。” “也许他是打算今晚就让一切结束。” “这怎么可能……” 如果是双零级侦探，说不定也是有可能的吧。搞不好他已经知道犯人是谁了……七村好像正在查看大厅里的其他门。 我们聚在他周围：“这里有个卡槽啊。” 门旁有一条细长的缝隙。七村把卡片插了一半进去，响起了“哔”的一声电子音，然后门开了。 大家都“哦”的一声叫了出来。 “距离晚上十点还有四十七分钟，我们必须赶快找到客房。” “七村先生。”雾切很少见地主动开了口。 "What's wrong?" “能不能把你的卡片借我用一下？” “嗯，你试试吧。” 七村毫不犹豫地把这张价值一亿日元的卡片交给了雾切。 雾切接过卡片，跟七村一样，把卡片插进卡槽。然而没有任何反应。雾切默默将卡片还给七村。 “卡片好像能够感知使用者的指纹，这张卡虽然很薄但是做工很精细。” 七村把卡片收进口袋。 他们是在确认中标者以外的人是否也能使用总钥匙，而结果是不能。两个侦探之间的交流缺乏解释，真让人头痛。 我们打开门，一脚踏进一个全新的区域。 正对着门的是一条笔直的走廊，向前延伸而去，看样子好像有五扇门。此外，左手边还有一道楼梯，好像是往楼上去的。 七村走向最近的一扇门。 旁边没有插卡的卡槽。他握住门把手向外一拉，门开了。 然而门后只有一面用水泥筑的墙壁。虽然这景象很荒唐，但这也许为了在空间上把跟游戏无关的地方隔绝在外。 把其他的门打开一看，所有房间都被水泥封住了。这些水泥墙没有任何出奇之处，找不到暗门或是隐藏机关之类的东西。 “可以去的地方很有限，看来倒是省了不少事。” 七村很轻松地说。 我们决定上楼去看看。虽然这家酒店理应已经成了废墟，但走廊和楼梯上居然一尘不染，看得出是有人收拾过。只不过，楼梯却修得很陡，一点也不为客人着想，只能认为修这楼梯的人时故意想让我们不舒服了。 楼梯平台上的文字写着“2F”。 通往二楼的入口也被水泥完全封死了。水无濑试着踢了一脚水泥墙，但理所当然的，入口并没有打开。 于是我们又上了一层楼。文字写着“3F”。 来到三楼，这次入口终于打开了。 往上还有楼梯，可以看到楼梯平台上的文字是“4F”。然而台阶却已经从中崩塌，看来是没办法上楼了。从楼梯上的洞可以看到下面的楼梯平台，一个不小心搞不好会从这里失足跌下去。 “太危险了……应该竖个正在维修的牌子啊！”水无濑抱怨道。 无奈之下，我们只能往三楼走。 铺着红地毯的走廊在大概二三十米处向左拐了九十度。走廊上没有窗口，昏暗的灯光勉强能照亮脚下的路。走廊左侧等距离排列着房间门，一共有五扇。 离我们最近的那扇门上挂着“301”的牌子。 “是客房啊。” 七村握住最近那扇门的把手。门把手下面有插卡的卡槽，不过这时门好像还没有锁上。 七村打开了门。我们一同向房内看去。 这里看起来确实像是客房——不过说实话，这房间真糟糕。 我最先想到的是——监狱。 房间中央是一张简单的铁管床。这不是酒店营业时用的床，大概是为了今天专门搬进来的，怎么看都很廉价的样子。床头这一边的竖板——床头板上胡乱挂着毛毯和床单。现在没有女仆了，意思应该是叫我们自己铺床吧。 房间里的照明只有埋在天花板里的白炽灯。 室内没有窗口，只有正对着门口的墙壁上，在偏高的位置有个采光窗大小的长方形小洞。而且这个洞里没有装玻璃之类隔绝外界空气的屏障，就这样空着，上面镶着铁栏杆，冷气正毫不留情地从外面往里灌。 难怪这么冷。房间角落里装着暖气片，不过很难说光靠这个能不能取暖。 在一进房间左手边的地方有个整体浴室，看来是有热水的。在这个令人绝望的环境之中，这简直就是唯一的希望。 这些就是房间里所有的东西了。 “开玩笑吧……这样我们不成囚犯了吗……” “这个时代囚犯的待遇还更好呢，”鸟屋尾皱着脸说。“这下，我的腿脚可要受凉了……” “我想在大厅里睡觉——”美舟一副随时会哭出来的样子。 “我也有同感，不过门禁必须要遵守呢。” 新仙虽然叹着气，语气中却带着一种什么都可以接受的沉稳。 “侦探先生，拜托你了，一定要来救我们啊。” 夜鹤在七村身上蹭来蹭去，像猫一样撒着娇。他们的身体紧紧地贴在一起，在未成年人面前这样真的没关系吗。 “看起来好像只有五间房，剩下的呢？”水无濑扫视了一番走廊，说道。 “是不是在拐角后面啊？” 我们暂时离开了房间，来到拐角处。走廊在这里向左拐了，与刚才方向相反，在走廊的右侧，五扇门一字排开。 再往前走廊就到头了，没有见到窗口和紧急出口。 三楼似乎是L型的结构，除了客房之外什么都没有。想必是在酒店原本的基础上，将其作为“黑之挑战”的舞台进行了改造。 “房间怎么分配？”七村神色自若。 “随便吧。”水无濑打开最近的一扇门。 “等、等一下，房间的顺序很重要，”茶下叫了起来。“你们想想啊，离那个有'侦探权'的人近一些的话，得救的概率肯定会高一些。” 听到他的话之后，我们陷入了沉默。 indeed so.在侦探一个房间一个房间巡视的时候，杀人魔，也就是犯人，可能就会在暗中进行犯罪。 “根据这层楼的构造看来，侦探在入口处最靠前的地方会比较好吧？” 鸟屋尾提议道。 三楼的住宿层从结构上来看，走廊尽头没有出口，是一条袋形走道。只要有“侦探权”的人在入口处坐镇，哪怕犯人出现也不用担心会不知情。 “那我就住'301'吧。”七村说。 “侦探隔壁的房间谁住？”水无濑问。 “果然还是用侦探拳来……” “就说这玩意儿没人懂啦。要是没有人提名的话，那我就住进去了，没人反对吧？” “喂，别想自己占便宜。” 茶下抓住了水无濑的肩膀。 “你干什么啊，大叔！” “要公平决定啊，公平决定。” “啊？要怎么公平决定？” “用出价金额来决定如何？”新仙站出来调解。“当天拍卖会上出价金额高的人，就能够入住离侦探比较近的房间。” “原来如此，这样一来以后出价的钱也不是白白浪费掉了，”鸟屋尾摸着自己的白胡子说。“就这样吧，我赞成。” 没有人表示反对。结果大家决定让我住在七村隔壁的房间里。 “只不过……仔细想来，其他人全都是零啊。” “就用石头剪刀布来决定算了，麻烦死了。” “等等，这个时候还是应该多花点心思。” 鸟屋尾从晚礼服的胸前口袋里取出了扑克牌，是那种魔术师经常用的单车牌。 “呃……剩下还有七个人啊，就用从红桃A到红桃7的这几张牌吧。从抽到数字最小的人开始，大家按顺序住进离侦探比较近的房间，这样如何？” 鸟屋尾抽出七张牌，把其他的牌收回口袋里。 “等等，你不会是打算耍诈吧，大叔。” 夜鹤用责备的口吻说，从鸟屋尾手上抢过了牌。她把这几张牌对着光照了照，又翻过来倒过去，检查牌上有没有做什么手脚。 “要是我发牌你不放心的话，那就找别人来。” “那就让我来吧。” 这次水无濑从夜鹤手上抢走了牌。用笨拙的动作洗过牌之后，他蹲了下来，把七张牌在地上排开。 “谁先拿到算谁的，挑自己喜欢的牌吧！” 大家陆续捡起了牌。结果，抽到A的是美舟。之后依次是雾切、水无濑、夜鹤、新仙、鸟屋尾、茶下。 “……为什么我是最后一个？……啊，难道说你们也参与了这个阴谋？” “您一直在说什么阴谋阴谋的，到底怎么回事啊。” 我无可奈何地说。只不过，这倒确实是某个组织的阴谋。 走廊最里面的“312”号室，因为第十个人鱼住已经死了，大家决定让它空着。 顺带一提，房间号码好像没有4和9。在比较老旧的酒店里经常可以看到这种习惯，这是因为人们通常认为这两个数字不吉利。 我看了看时间——九点四十五分。 “赶快进房间比较好，至少在十点之前应该还是安全的。”七村说。 聚集在走廊上的我们各自走向自己的房间。 “十点过后，我会按顺序把门打开。在此之前，不管是谁来，都不能把门打开。请大家多加小心。” 对于七村的话，我们点头表示知道，在走廊上各自分别，一边在心中祈祷一切平安无事，一边走进房间。 “雾切妹妹。”我叫住了她。 "What's up?" “很快就能再见到你吧？” “……谁知道呢。”她不带情绪地说，头也不回地进了房间。 The door is closed.不知为什么，每次跟她分别，我都不由自主地觉得这像是最后一次。 我孤零零地留在原地，呆呆地注视着她房间的门——突然察觉到有动静，我向走廊前方望去，茶下正从对面走过来。在陈旧的酒店走廊上，穿着棒球服的男人缓缓走近，这一幕简直只能用奇妙来形容。 “您怎么了，茶下先生？” “没有……”茶下回头看了看，确认没有其他人在。“你现在是一个人？” “是的，如您所见。” 其他人好像都已经进房间去了。 “你是侦探对吧？我有话想跟你说。” “……关于阴谋的？” “可能是，也可能不是。这件事实在令人觉得毛骨悚然……”茶下靠近我，突然压低声音。“这场莫名其妙的心理实验，可能就是那个叫做新仙帝的人搞出来的。” “咦？”我也跟着压低声音。“新仙先生？这是怎么一回事？” “我见过他。两年前发生的事故……你记不记得？那次隧道崩塌，被困在里面的十五个人都死了……” “啊，是的，的确有过。据说三天后救援队进去的时候，所有人都已经死了。” “是的，那条隧道一直有很多人目击灵异现象，我也在那里取过材。那起事故发生的时候，我觉得这可能也跟灵异现象有什么关联，所以赶到了现场，而且正好我家就在那附近。我在那里拍了好几张现场的照片……其中一张就拍到了。” “是、是灵异照片？” “不是不是，就是他啊，新仙，他在记者和媒体的人群当中盯着隧道看。” “……应该是碰巧吧？也许他只是因为工作关系到现场来的。” “工作？采访报道？大概吧，可能是，可能不是。这件事其实还没完，我在调查某栋发生过灭门惨案的房子时，随便拍了几张附近的风景。当时案子发生之后已经过了一个星期，所以附近都没有记者了。但是……照片里面拍到了一个人面对着那栋房子站着，他应该就是新仙。” “是不是一个跟他长得很像的人啊？” “我比较过很多次，不管怎么看都是同一个人，”茶下的身体开始微微发抖。“到这里来之后，我见到他的时候……一开始我也觉得他大概只是跟那个人长得很像。但是听到他说话之后，我总算搞清楚了，他……他就是死神，他会带来死亡。这个莫名其妙的心理实验，可能也只是死神的游戏，是用来观察面临死亡的人有什么反应的。” 新仙是死神？ 用幽灵、死神之类超自然的东西来解决问题，身为一个侦探我实在无法苟同。但是从茶下恐惧的神情看来，他好像真的对此深信不疑。 “啊，已经没时间了，虽然很不想回房间……不过这也是没办法的事。我走了。” 茶下调整了一下棒球帽的位置，回身沿着走廊往前走。 “为什么要对我说这个？”我对着他的背影问。 “也没什么理由，大概是我的第六感吧。” 九点五十分，我们互相告别了。我走向自己的房间，打开门。为了坚定自己的决心，我用力做了个深呼吸，然后走进房间。 我踏进房间一步之后，手刚刚松开把手，门就自己关上了，看来门上装的是自动锁。 我又有点害怕起来，想把门打开，结果门很轻易地就开了，看来在夜晚时间到来之前这扇门都是可以自由开合的。只不过，要是在门禁时间一不小心打开了说不定会受罚，所以我还是很小心地重新把门关上了。 我观察了一下室内的情况。 这房间的构造跟刚才看到的七村的房间没有任何区别。天花板、地板、四面墙的水泥层都裸露在外，灰色统一了一切，感觉就连人的心情也跟着灰暗起来了。 这个空空荡荡的房间里什么都没有，这一点倒还好说，关键是寒冷实在让人受不了。如果能把那扇铁栅窗给堵上，应该多少会好一点吧。 我来到房间里面，仰头看着铁栅窗。这窗子的位置大概比我高出三个头，我没办法通过这扇窗向外看。从高度来看，应该差不多有两米吧。 干脆把毛毯塞进窗口里边吧。我这样想着，将目光投向床上。我正打算去拿毛毯，突然注意到了脚下。铁管床的床脚用螺丝固定在了地板上。 看来这张床是无法移动的，这应该是为了让我们没办法把这张床当成屏障防止杀人魔侵入吧，从中可以感觉到对方的不怀好意，仿佛是有意让我们无法保证绝对安全。 能够保证安全的只有“侦探权”，也许对方正是为了让我们这样想。话说回来，门本来就是向外开的，倒也很难说床到底能不能起到屏障的作用……我手拿着毛毯在窗子旁边跳上跳下的时候，晚上十点终于来到了。 并没有听到什么铃声，门锁被锁上的沉重声音向我告知了这一刻的来临。 在这一瞬间，我全身僵硬，虽然知道没什么意义，还是回头凝视着房门。 ——这是杀人魔开始行动的时间。感觉整栋建筑物内的气氛都为之一变。 水泥墙猛地散发出了丝丝冷气，让房间里的灰色越发浓稠。我听不到丝毫动静，就好像全世界的生物都灭绝了一样……一片令人毛骨悚然的寂静。 十点零一分……零二分……我查看了一下房门。前后摇了摇，房门纹丝不动。 真的被关起来了……我突然觉得很无助。 虽说这次是我自己一头闯进来的，但参加“黑之挑战”这么可怕的经历，我真是已经受够了。 杀人魔随时都可能打开这扇门进来。杀人魔，也就是犯人，他真的就在参加拍卖会的人当中吗？ 我想起到这家酒店来之前在网上看到的报道。报道中提到的那起案件，说是一个住在这里的客人突然像发了狂一样，接连杀害其他的客人。那个人好像产生了幻觉，他认为“墙后面有人袭击他”。 墙后面……我突然起了一身鸡皮疙瘩。四面墙都在注视着我。 事实上，也确实有人正注视着我们，就是那些观看“黑之挑战”取乐的有钱人……不，还有一样东西比这些可怕得多。 ——那就是死亡。这墙壁的冰冷，其实是死亡的温度。 可能是因为刚才听茶下说了那些话，“死亡”这个词在我脑海中挥之不去。 压抑的封闭感逼得我几乎要大喊大叫了，但我还是忍住了。 It's fine. ……没事的？这么说有什么根据？ 在这种情况下，唯一能够救我的就是拥有“侦探权”的人——侦探。现在，我根本不是侦探，只是一个软弱无力的高中女学生。 我渴望得到侦探的力量。渴望得到对抗黑暗、对抗犯罪的力量。 就在这时，我听到了敲门声。 “是我，七村。”没错，这是七村彗星的声音！ “我开门了。”伴随着“哔”的一声，响起了门锁打开的声音。 门开了——我不由自主地缩在房间的角落里，摆出了警戒的架势。 开门的人万一不是七村该怎么办？或者……说不定七村就是那个杀人魔？ 虽然明知这是不可能的，但冰冷的空气却让我疑窦丛生。 “你没事吧？”出现在门口的人正是七村。 他右手拿着的不是小刀，不是手枪，而是钥匙卡。 我一边擦着冷汗一边点头。 “好，那我们到下一个房间去，跟上。”