Capítulo 1291: Chapter 1291: The Suspects
The blood hasn’t even dried yet, Shard slightly frowned and asked:
“The corpse hasn’t been moved, has it?”
“No.”
Deputy Director Morris said, and took the initiative to explain the situation at the time:
“A maid passing by the door noticed that it wasn’t closed, so she wanted to lock it, and then discovered the corpse. The scream attracted others who happened to be in the corridor at the time, which led to more than a dozen people entering the room and seeing the corpse.”
Shard nodded, left the room to come to the door, and peered inside from the crack in the door:
“From outside the door, you can indeed see the feet of the corpse, that’s not a problem. But since so many people have entered, the traces on the carpet are meaningless.”
He squatted down in front of the corpse again:
“The only wound is on the back of the head, indicating the attack came from behind. Since Mr. Daniel Philip is a soldier of the New World Frontier Legion, he shouldn’t have allowed someone holding a weapon to easily approach him from behind, especially without any resistance. This suggests the assailant is likely an acquaintance.”
He pretended to deduce and had Tifa stand in front of him, while he picked up the swan statue and mimicked swinging and striking behind Tifa:
“Since it was a one-hit-kill, this means the assailant must have used the most advantageous posture to deliver the strongest blow, judging by the position of the wound on the back of the head…”
He placed his empty hand on Tifa’s occipital area and bent his legs continuously until he found a posture that just matched the wound position:
“The assailant is about two inches (around 5 cm) shorter than Mr. Daniel Philip. Additionally…”
He handed the statue to Tifa:
“Is it heavy?”
The “frail” maid nodded:
“Yes, very heavy.”
Then he called another maid from the next room who witnessed the corpse; she also stated the statue was heavy.
Shard had the butler bring in plaster statues that could be freely damaged, then swung the bronze statue to smash one of them. He also had Deputy Director Morris and the senior inspector attempt to swing the weapon against the plaster statues, then Shard concluded:
“For most ladies, lifting and swinging this bronze statue is quite challenging, let alone delivering a full-force blow to kill a grown man. Even for men, if they’re not trained, it’s difficult to perform such a powerful swing. I noticed the wound on the back of the corpse’s head penetrated deeply.”
Then he summarized the current situation:
“The assailant was familiar with the deceased, Mr. Daniel Philip, is two inches shorter, most likely male, and not of a slender build.”
He squinted as he stood up:
“That’s not the key point; the key is, Mr. Daniel Philip actually died here. From the bloodstains at the scene, this is the primary crime scene, but why would someone attending the party come here?”
He inquired about the room’s situation, and the last maid who had been to the room was found. According to her, since the gifts were soon to be transported, the room wasn’t locked, but generally, no one would come here. The attendees were all dignified people, so concerns about theft were unnecessary, meaning in theory, anyone could have entered.
No letter of a meeting was found on the corpse, and the clues seemed to be interrupted. But for Shard, he wasn’t a professional detective; if not for the people present now, he could have immediately scattered bone powder and used necromancy to summon the soul and ask who killed him.
The so-called “deduction” just now was only to show he was professional, but in truth, he didn’t care whether his words were right or wrong. Because it’s quite obvious, the wound on the occiput was too large; since the blood could stain the weapon, it would naturally also stain the assailant.
The amount of blood was perhaps scarce, but fortunately, the blood was quite fresh, which was the perfect target for Shard’s “Echo of Blood.”
He pretended as he led Tifa to investigate the room. When he closed the door again and examined the panel behind the door, he exclaimed:
“Look at this!”
At this point, Shard wished he had a magnifying glass, but he observed the place he pointed at with the naked eye. Tifa was closest to Shard, thus the clearest sight:
“Behind the door, there are fresh, stained blood spots. The area is very small and not distinct.”
“Oh?”
This was something the people examining the scene earlier hadn’t noticed, and they came over to inspect. Shard then said:
“Such fresh blood traces should be left by the assailant, judging by the location, it seems some part of the finger touched the door panel.”
“But why would the assailant leave blood traces on the panel behind the door?”
Tifa cooperatively asked, and Shard then said to Deputy Director Morris:
“Let’s reenact what happened when the corpse was discovered. You play the role of the servant who saw the door ajar, and everyone else can be the ones in the hallway. As for me, I’ll remain here.”
This was a simple request, so everyone exited the room, and Deputy Director Morris quickly gasped quietly at the door:
“Oh, God, what has happened?”
Then everyone rushed into the room, but they didn’t see Shard inside.
“Oh, what has happened?”
At that moment, Shard’s voice came from behind; he was standing at the back of the crowd.
“So that’s it, the murderer couldn’t leave in time and was discovered! Thus, he hid behind the door and mingled with the crowd!”
Mr. Johnson, the senior inspector, said and then furrowed his brow:
“So the murderer is now…”
“Yes, just next door, with Her Highness Angelina.”
The crime scene was temporarily sealed off, and the people followed Shard to the adjacent room. Fortunately, no second murder occurred. Those temporarily staying there included Yordle Palace’s servants and guests attending the banquet, even including Raphael Birmingham and Henry Mafal, the other two candidates favored by Larus III.
“This murder is definitely not premeditated, because any case occurring at Yordle Palace will certainly be solved, no one would be stupid enough to commit a crime here. After committing the murder, the perpetrator was able to plan an escape without showing any flaws, which indicates that the person’s psychological quality is excellent. I think we can distinguish them from those who entered the scene.”
Shard shared his deduction with Princess Angelina, and with the princess’s assistance, a total of fifteen people were separately questioned about their reasons for being in the hallway at that time.
Based on everyone’s answers, combined with Shard’s judgment of the criminal’s physique and personality, three of the most suspicious individuals were identified from the fifteen. During the slightly lengthy questioning, Shard gave his coat to Tifa, entrusting her to leave Yordle Palace temporarily to handle some tasks.
The three singled out from the fifteen were Raphael Birmingham, the son of the Duke whom Shard deemed humble and kind, Henry Mafal, the Duke’s son who recently wanted to play Roder Card with Shard, and George Wayne, the male servant from Yordle Palace.
The three were identified as having significant suspicion of committing the crime, and when Shard selected them, “she” chuckled quietly in Shard’s ear.
“I swear, this is not intentional revenge, they truly are suspects.”
Shard emphasized.
[I didn’t say anything, you don’t need to explain.]
“She” replied, seemingly in a good mood.
A separate room was used for the final interrogation, while the other suspects listened to the dialogue outside from the small study within the room. And Shard, who had previously proved his reputation as a “famed detective,” also conducted the final questioning.
For reasons known only to Shard, the three suspects were gathered together for questioning. They sat on the sofa against the wall; the two sons of the Duke were merely somewhat anxious, while the male servant was genuinely panicked.
In his view, if the real murderer couldn’t be found, taking the blame might be the best outcome for tonight’s unfortunate incident.
“Ahem.”
Shard coughed. He didn’t sit down, but behind the desk sat Princess Margaret, with others standing on either side of the desk, watching Shard deliver the final “verdict.”
“The current situation has been explained to you before. The murderer of poor Mr. Philip blended into the crowd that discovered the corpse, attempting to evade their guilt, and you three have physiques that most match the conditions needed for the perpetrator, and can’t explain why you appeared in the hallway at that moment.”
Here, “going to the bathroom” can’t be used as an excuse because there’s no bathroom in that direction. The excuse given by the two young noblemen was “the gift was inappropriate and they wanted to quietly take it back,” while the male servant’s excuse was that he went the wrong way.
These are obviously lies.
Of course, there were no visible bloodstains on their fingers, presumably wiped away during their wait in the room.
“I actually already know who the murderer is; I can give you one last chance, who will voluntarily confess?”
Shard asked, and the male servant was already somewhat desperate at this point; Shard saying such things clearly indicated he hadn’t discovered the truth. Raphael Birmingham simply shook his head with a smile, while Henry Mafal, trying to invite Shard to play Roder Card, nervously wiped sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
No one present believed Shard’s words, but in fact, this sentence “already knows who the murderer is” was the most sincere after so much reasoning.
“At the beginning of the year, the ‘Tobesk Country Villa haunting incident,’ and the case of the century thief, you must have heard of it. Compared to that, this case isn’t complex. Yes, I already know all the truth. In the name of Hamilton Detective of Saint Delan Square, speak out, I give you one last chance.”
Shard loudly proclaimed his reputation, while the people behind him watched his “performance” with great interest; the three sitting on the sofa against the wall had varied expressions, none of them spoke for a moment.