Chapter 174

Chapter 174: Inquiry

The divination was successful. Inside the cabin, Dorothy handed the train ticket she had divined to Edric. She rummaged through the ticket box and pulled out a few more tickets. After moving the box aside, she tucked the drawing of the magical array away, and while hiding it, she had Edric push open the cabin door. She spoke to the two train attendants waiting outside.

“I have a lead now. I need to ask a few passengers some questions face to face. Please help me notify them, saying… there has been a case in the first-class carriage, and I need to inquire about specific individuals.”

Upon hearing Edric’s words, the two train attendants exchanged glances and then replied.

“Of course, Detective. Please go ahead.”

“Thank you for your cooperation. First, it’s this person, Mr. Harry from seat 2 in row 3 of carriage 7. Oh, and when you get to the carriage, please shout it out loud so that everyone hears. If the person called is scared, just reassure them it’s only an inquiry, understood?” Edric indicated toward one of the tickets in his hand, and one of the attendants nodded in response.

“Understood, I’m on it.”

Saying this, one of the attendants walked down the aisle. At this moment, Edric turned to the other one.

“Could you please brew a pot of black tea for me? I’d like two cups. It would be much more pleasant to ask questions over tea.”

“Of course, Detective.” The other attendant also walked away. After successfully sending off the two attendants, Dorothy, who had been hiding under the cabin bed, crawled out and took out the magic box from her belongings. She opened it, enlarged the entrance, and placed it on the bed before covering it with a blanket.

Once all preparations were completed, Dorothy quickly slipped out of the cabin while no one was outside. She rushed back to her own cabin and closed the door.

“Phew… Now, let them come one by one.”

……

On the speeding steam train, inside the second-class carriage, the attendant entered and loudly addressed all the passengers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a case in the first-class carriage. A detective has found some leads and wishes to speak with some of you. Please cooperate. The first is Mr. Harry from seat 2 in row 3.”

After the attendant finished speaking, the whole carriage began to stir. The passengers started to murmur among themselves, while the man called Harry stood up.

“Excuse me, what happened in the first-class carriage? Why was I called? I’ve been here the whole time!”

The man said, his expression showing slight unease, and the attendant began to reassure him, just as Dorothy had instructed.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a simple inquiry. Follow me, please.”

Hearing the attendant’s words, Harry gathered his belongings and, somewhat apprehensively, followed him. Once they left the carriage, a man dressed in black, with a black hat and using the alias Kim, couldn’t help but stiffen.

“A case in the first-class carriage? What case? Was that guy’s corpse found? Or was it something else? And that so-called detective… where did he suddenly come from?”

……

The man named Harry followed the attendant into the first-class carriage. Inside Edric’s cabin, after he entered, Edric instructed the attendant to close the door and beckoned the somewhat anxious Harry to sit down.

“You’re the detective? May I ask what you need me for? I’ve been in my cabin all night, many can testify to that!”

“Please, calm down, Mr. Harry. I just need to ask you a few questions. I am well aware of your innocence; we can chat for a bit and you can be on your way.”

“First, have you seen this piece of jewelry?”

Edric then described the details of a piece of jewelry to him. After asking several questions related to it and engaging in some inconsequential chit-chat, he allowed Harry to leave.

After watching Harry exit the cabin, Edric summoned the attendant again and instructed.

“Please continue to call the next person. Also from carriage 7, this time it’s a lady named Karin from seat 3 in row 1.”

“Yes, Detective.”

After responding, the attendant left to call the next person.

……

Thus, passengers from carriage 7 and the adjacent carriages 6 and 8 were continuously summoned by the attendants to speak with Edric. Each person spoke for about four or five minutes before returning.

At first, the passengers in the carriage were a bit uneasy. However, seeing those who had been called for questioning return safely helped them relax, and they became curious about the detective’s purpose and what had happened in the first-class carriage.

After several conversed with one another, they concluded based on the hints dropped by the detective during the inquiries that this might be a case of jewelry theft. It was rumored that a witness had seen the thief running this way.

As the conversation spread in the carriage, the man using the alias Kim, upon hearing this, silently scoffed to himself.

“Hmph… a jewelry theft case? Seems that Black Dog really has gone missing and hasn’t been discovered yet. Of course, I couldn’t find that guy even relying on the Wall’s skills, so how could these ordinary people find him?

“Looks like there’s been another jewelry theft case in the first-class carriage, and now an ordinary detective is trying to solve it. How boring…”

As he was thinking, at that moment, the attendant at the entrance called out a new name.

“Mr. Kim, seat 4 in row 5, please accompany me.”

After several calls, the man finally heard his name. Without thinking much, he quietly gathered his belongings, stood up, and followed the attendant to the first-class carriage, to Edric’s cabin.

With a cold expression, he entered the cabin, and the door behind him closed.

Once inside, the man immediately began surveying his surroundings. It was an ordinary cabin; practically every spot was visible except for under the bed. There was nothing large lying beneath the blanket, so he checked the bed’s underside using the reflection from a nearby floor mirror and ensured there was no one hidden there.

Having confirmed there were no ambush conditions, he felt somewhat relieved and turned to the man sitting by the table—the detective whom the attendants had mentioned—who was now smiling at him.

“Please take a seat, Mr. Kim. I just have a couple of simple questions for you; it won’t take much of your time. I appreciate your cooperation in my investigation.”

Hearing Edric’s words, the man quietly sat down in front of him and replied coldly.

“Just ask your questions.”

“Well, I’d like to know, where were you around 8 PM tonight?” Edric asked, looking at the man, who slowly began to speak.

“I was in my cabin at my seat, I didn’t go anywhere.”

“Wrong. You were in the first-class carriage, and you brutally killed an innocent man with a kn*fe. You severed his fingers and pierced his chest and abdomen; he died from the poison on your weapon.”

With a serious expression, Edric revealed the truth to the man. The man was taken aback, then answered solemnly.

“Weren’t you investigating a jewelry theft case?”

“Ah, that was just a ruse, my friend. If I were investigating a m*rder case, would the murderer come knocking on my door?” Edric said with a laugh, pulling a handgun from under the table and aiming it at the man, who was less than two meters away.

“Don’t move, Mr. Kim. I have more than enough evidence to prove you murdered Mr. Sodod. You will be brought to trial to receive the Holy Father’s justice.”

Edric said this seriously, while the man’s expression froze. After a moment of silence, he resumed his natural demeanor and replied.

“Detective, how did you find that guy’s corpse… and how do you know I killed him?”

“It’s nothing, just a bit of luck and a little deduction. Surrender, Mr. Kim.” Edric continued, and the man chuckled in response.

“Deduction, huh… to deduce me, you really are an excellent detective. However, Detective, you’ve overlooked two things.”

“What things?”

“First, you think I’m an ordinary person, believing you can handle me with just a g*n.”

“What of it? Do you think you can move faster than a b*llet?”

“Second, for me, in this distance, a kn*fe is faster!”

As he spoke, a flash of viciousness crossed the man’s eyes. He swiftly drew a small kn*fe from his clothing and lunged forward, instantly piercing Edric’s chest with the blade while simultaneously knocking the g*n from Edric’s hand.

This was the speed of an Extraordinary Being from the Black Earth Tier, the “Shadow.”

“You’re too arrogant, mortal detective.”

Looking at Edric, who widened his eyes in shock, the man murmured coldly.

What surprised him was that Edric, despite being stabbed in a vital area, did not fall down. The fear that had once been on his face suddenly shifted, and he revealed a strange, sinister smile.

“You are the arrogant one, ‘Shadow’ assassin…”

“What—”

Suddenly, Edric reached forward, grabbing the startled man’s arm that held the kn*fe, preventing him from escaping.

At the same time, on the seemingly ordinary bed beside the man, the thin blanket suddenly bulged, and three hulking figures emerged, lunging toward him.