In the dark night, the roaring steam train continued to speed forward. The originally peaceful night on the train was broken by a sharp scream, and a bloody tragedy was presented before everyone.
The dark-skinned Captain, who was trimming his beard, was urgently called out of his office by a train attendant. While putting on his hat, he was guided by the attendant all the way to the scene of the tragedy, a compartment in Carriage No. 3.
"Please make way."
Pushing through the onlookers, the Captain arrived in front of the compartment and, as the train attendant had said, he saw a male Corpse covered in blood inside.
"Someone really died..."
Looking at the male Corpse, the Captain murmured. Then his gaze sharpened, and he saw that there was still a living man in the compartment. At this moment, he was bending down to carefully examine the Corpse before him, investigating the murder scene.
"Hey, who are you?"
Looking at the man at the murder scene, the Captain said directly, while the train attendant beside him helped to answer.
"Captain, this Mr. Ed claims to be a Detective. As soon as he saw the scene, he said a murder had occurred here and asked us to call Captain."
"Detective?" Hearing the attendant's words, the Captain couldn't help but look suspicious. At this moment, the man named Ed in the compartment also stood up and turned around to look at the Captain behind him.
"Hello, Captain, my name is Ed, and I am a Detective. I have just conducted a preliminary examination of the scene and confirmed some information. I'm afraid I might need some assistance from Captain shortly?"
Edrick spoke to the Captain quite politely, and after a slight pause, the Captain asked in return.
"Detective, what have you confirmed?"
"Some basic information, such as the cause of death. It was due to fatal wounds to the chest and abdomen. From the wounds, the murder weapon appears to be a small knife, like a dagger. Based on rigor mortis and body temperature, the deceased died no more than an hour ago."
Edrick said, while also pointing to a spot on the ground where there were several severed fingers and a handgun.
"The fingers on the deceased's right hand were severed, and a handgun with a blood-stained grip was found under the sofa. This proves that the deceased struggled with the murderer before death. The deceased held the gun in self-defense, and the murderer killed him after slicing off his fingers and knocking the gun away."
"I believe we are facing a vicious murderer, Captain."
Standing at the door of the compartment, Edrick spoke while pointing at the scene inside. His demeanor was calm, his expression composed, showing extreme professionalism, which left the surrounding crowd, including the Captain, stunned.
"To be killed with a knife even while carrying a Hudson-24, that murderer is indeed a ruthless person. So, Detective, what should we do now?"
The slightly awestruck Captain asked Edrick. He had never encountered such a situation before and didn't know how to handle it. Meeting a professional now was the best possible outcome.
Hearing the Captain's words, Edrick asked the Captain seriously.
"Captain, when is the next stop?"
"We are about to arrive at Fir Town. We will stop there for a short while to resupply," the Captain answered directly, and Edrick immediately spoke.
"We cannot stop, Captain. If we stop now, the murderer is very likely to escape by jumping out the window. We cannot stop until we reach a large city with sufficient police force to take over this train.
"Captain, even if we cannot help the police catch the murderer, we must keep the murderer on the train. This is the duty of a Kingdom citizen. We cannot condone evil."
Edrick spoke to the Captain righteously, and the Captain also nodded after listening.
"Yes, what you said makes a lot of sense, Detective. Then we won't stop at Fir Town. The next city is Montoya. If we keep going, we should arrive in about four hours. I will send a telegram to the Montoya train station, asking them to report it to the police and have the police ready."
The Captain replied like this. Hearing his response, Dorothy, hiding behind the crowd, smiled slightly.
'Now you can't run away for a while.'
Smiling, Dorothy continued to control Edrick and said to the Captain.
"Captain, having a murderer mixed in with the passengers is truly unsettling. I would like to try and find him first. If possible, please have the train crew cooperate with me."
"It would be great if we could find that madman, but Detective, do you truly have that ability?" the Captain said with a hint of doubt. The Captain couldn't immediately trust a stranger who claimed to be a Detective and have the entire crew assist him.
Facing the Captain's skepticism, Edrick said with a smile.
"Captain can certainly trust me, the Army Officer who participated in the Ufeiga Continent colonial war."
Hearing Edrick's words, the Captain was stunned and then spoke in surprise.
"How did you know?"
'Because my Corpse Puppet found your framed military photo on your office desk. All your information was clearly written on the back of the photo...'
Dorothy, behind the crowd, thought this. She had anticipated beforehand that she might need to show some skill to convince the Captain to cooperate, so when she had the attendant look for him, she also sent a small Corpse Puppet to sneak into his office.
"Heh heh, just some insignificant deduction, nothing to mention."
Edrick chuckled and responded to the Captain's words, and the other party continued.
"That's amazing, Mr. Ed. I did serve in Ufeiga. May I ask how you deduced my information?"
"Ah... how did I deduce it..."
Being asked by the Captain like this, Dorothy was momentarily stunned. She quickly controlled Edrick to look at the Captain twice, and then improvised the deduction process based on the result.
"Captain, the skin color on your face and hands is somewhat dark, while the area below your collar is lighter. This phenomenon would not occur while working on a train. This proves that you previously engaged in some other work that involved long-term exposure to the scorching sun. And since Captain's current identity is Captain, the previous work was unlikely to be that of a laborer or farmer."
"When Captain first arrived, I saw that Captain's demeanor was resolute and extraordinary, with a strong military bearing. When Captain first saw such a bloody and horrifying Corpse, Captain remained composed, without the slightest change in expression. This proves that Captain has seen many similar scenes. Additionally, Captain immediately stated the model of the handgun used by the victim, proving that Captain is very familiar with weapons."
"Therefore, I judged that Captain is a soldier, a soldier who has worked in a hot region. Among our Kingdom's overseas colonies, only the Ufeiga Continent fits this description. And it is not easy for ordinary soldiers to take on a position like Captain after retiring, so it is more likely that Captain is an officer."
After a great deal of effort, Dorothy finally managed to have Edrick deduce the process in reverse based on the result. During the deduction process, she even brought up unreliable factors like demeanor. Fortunately, she had read detective works like Sherlock Holmes before and knew how to piece together certain plot points. After this so-called "deduction" ended, sounds of incredible conversation arose among the crowd, and the Captain also nodded repeatedly.
"Ah... Yes, yes, I did serve as a second lieutenant in Ufeiga, Mr. Ed. Please forgive my previous rude skepticism about Detective's ability. Now the crew is willing to fully assist Detective in apprehending the murderer."
'Phew... finally done. Others get the result through the deduction process, but here, I knew the result first and then made up the deduction process. Is this even considered a Detective? However, it is indeed much easier to deduce the process after knowing the result.'
Letting out a sigh of relief, Dorothy continued to control Edrick and answered.
"Then, please help me collect all the passengers' tickets first."