The crowd exchanged glances, daring not to react. Liu Yuning said, "Everyone, please move aside and cooperate with our work. There's a lounge nearby!"
The passengers grumbled under their breath before being led away by Gao Mingqiang and his team. Xiao Yuande and I walked across the deck and directly into the ship's cabin.
Liu Yuning, Yuan Hezong, He Xin, Xie Chuchu, and others had already arrived.
I had previously recognized Yuan Hezong's computer skills, and He Xin seemed to value him as well. We had spoken to Director Huang about his involvement, and he had agreed to let Yuan Hezong join, although he was still in his internship period.
With the help of a coast guard, we learned that the victim had met her fate in the ship's kitchen.
Ships and airplanes are entirely different. Take the Titanic, for instance; it housed a grand hall, dining rooms, suites, and even music and art rooms.
This cruise ship was likely only affordable for the wealthy. The interior was incredibly luxurious, with even the floors rumored to be pure gold, reflecting one's image as they walked.
He Xin looked around, exclaiming, "This is too extravagant. No wonder people say the rich really know how to live!"
"Enough talk, let's go see the body!"
"Hehe, what's so interesting about a body? Dad, you're such a weirdo!"
"It's for work. But honestly, I'm more interested in bodies than mansions!"
"Hahaha, that's why I say you're weird."
We entered the kitchen, adorned with countless crystal decorations. Even this place seemed deliberately embellished. The deceased lay peacefully before a cabinet, seemingly without any visible injuries. There was a small amount of blood on the floor, making it appear as if she had merely fallen asleep out of exhaustion.
The kitchen utensils showed no signs of disturbance. The body was discovered by a cruise ship staff member, a waitress wearing a light blue uniform and a flat white hat, looking quite professional. She nervously explained, "All the passengers were preparing to disembark when I came to the kitchen area and found the door locked. I found someone to help open it, and when we did, there was a person lying inside. We touched her neck and discovered she had already passed."
"The kitchen door is not supposed to be locked. I know that old lady; she's Mrs. Qiao from Gang City, and her family is in the cotton clothing business. I spoke to her a few times before. She told me she was here for business but also for a vacation."
"I remember Mrs. Qiao as a very kind old woman, no more than 60 years old. She was in the fifth seat on the left of Cabin One. She was fine the whole time. I saw her chatting with other passengers several times. About 30 minutes before disembarking, she suddenly stood up to go to the restroom. I assumed she was in there, but the next time I saw her, it was in the kitchen!"
"She looked as if she were sleeping, but I noticed blood on the floor, and I immediately felt uneasy. I was afraid to touch her, worried about getting into trouble, but curiosity got the better of me and the coast guard. He's a security officer who came with the cruise ship. There are about a dozen coast guards on board."
"Thank you for the information!" I replied, briefly observing the waitress's microexpressions. Her reaction was normal, indicating she wasn't lying.
I asked Liu Yuning to find the coast guard from earlier while I knelt down, put on rubber gloves, and began the examination with Xie Chuchu.
The deceased was wrapped in a gray-blue French coat. Considering the current weather, wearing such thick clothing seemed suspicious.
I opened her coat and found a sweater underneath, making me wonder if she had a cold and was that afraid of the cold?
There seemed to be no external wounds. Where did the blood come from?
I suddenly noticed bloodstains in the deceased's nostrils. Using an examination light, I discovered the blood was flowing from there, but some marks on her face had been wiped away.
Applying luminol reagent, these traces reappeared. At this point, I didn't need to use yellow wine, as it was much less convenient.
"Why was the deceased bleeding from her nose? Did she have a certain illness?" Xie Chuchu speculated.
"She had nasopharyngeal cancer!" I said, pulling out a medicine box from the deceased's clothing, labeled for treating nasopharyngeal cancer.
"How did you know that without seeing the box?" Xie Chuchu asked curiously.
"Well, I've seen patients with nasopharyngeal cancer before. Their nosebleeds are purplish-blue."
Xie Chuchu nodded curiously and took out a pen, as if she were my student, to record the information.
Liu Yuning returned then and said, "That coast guard said the door was deliberately locked, likely from the inside. But if it was murder, how did the killer escape?"
"So you think it was suicide?" I asked.
"Yes. The cruise ship has 100 people in economy class and 50 in first class. I've checked the surveillance footage. When Mrs. Qiao entered the kitchen, no one else approached. So theoretically, it can be ruled out."
"That's too hasty. The killer could have acted before Mrs. Qiao left her seat!" I countered.
"You mean the passengers near her are all suspects?"
"Not necessarily those nearby. You can check everywhere Mrs. Qiao went on the ship. After all, if it's someone close, the killer would surely consider it. We'd find them quickly. Of course, this is assuming there is a killer, and a killer only exists if suicide isn't ruled out."
"Okay, so you can't confirm it yet?"
Liu Yuning asked. My attention returned to the body. I turned the old woman over and discovered a barely visible pinprick on the back of her head. An ordinary person wouldn't notice it. Seeing me stare at that spot, Xie Chuchu asked, "Senior, what are you doing?"
"There's a pinprick there!" I showed it to Xie Chuchu with the examination light. She quickly understood. At the same time, I took out a peculiar box. It looked like it had many small holes, was gray-black, and about the size of a human head. I placed it on the deceased's head, making her seem as if she were resting on it.
"Consultant He, what are you doing? Don't mess around!" Liu Yuning questioned.
"This is the Yin-Yang Box from our He family's mortuary experts. It can measure the weight of a person's head!"
"What's the significance of that?"
"A great deal. Normally, a human head weighs 2100 grams, but hers weighs 2300 grams. Why the extra weight? It's likely due to that pinprick!"