Chapter 373

"Yes." Jian Jing admitted frankly, "That was my first reaction. Is the body really Dan's? Could someone be hoping I'd testify that Dan was already dead by 12:30? So the time of the crime would be before that, when in fact it was the opposite - he was still alive then, and the killer acted after I did."

"But according to the witch's diary, the ritual had to be performed at midnight," said Zhang Xue'er.

Jian Jing: "That's a clue we only got this afternoon. Now I've basically ruled out Kojima's suspicion."

She sat up straight, stretched, and continued.

"There's also the seventh point, which I mentioned earliest - perhaps the killer left clues on the head, so they had no choice but to decapitate. And cutting off the witch's head was to cover up this fact."

Wu Lie asked, "So which do you think is most likely?"

"Witchcraft concerns, concealing clues, showing off skills - all three make sense," she pondered. "So, to doubt the first point, we need to analyze each person's situation specifically. The second point requires returning to the scene, and the third point depends on how well we understand each other."

It was now 7 PM, with 3 hours left until the 10 PM vote.

Jian Jing: "Let's not waste time. I plan to go check out the scene. What about you all?"

Min-cheol Park: "I want to chat with everyone individually."

"My head is about to explode. I'd better go to the deck for some fresh air," Liu Sau-chi said with a wry smile. "Everything's a mess right now."

Connor Lee: "Alright, let's each do our own thing."

The group dispersed.

――

Liu Sau-chi arrived on the deck. It was already dark, with a starry sky overhead.

He sat at the bar by the pool and ordered a martini.

The waiter brought over the tray, blocking the camera with his body as his lips moved silently a few times.

Liu Sau-chi nodded imperceptibly.

-

Hiroto Ishikawa walked to the end of the corridor and waved at the cameraman.

The cameraman understood, temporarily pausing the live broadcast to switch to commercials.

Hiroto Ishikawa entered the bathroom and ran into a staff member.

"Mr. Ishikawa, I'm a huge fan of your performance," the staff member said enthusiastically. "Could I get your autograph?"

Hiroto Ishikawa was a bit surprised but quickly agreed: "Of course."

The staff member handed over a prepared pen and paper.

He took the pen, suddenly noticing a line of text on the paper. He froze for a moment, but within a second, he signed his name as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you," he said.

Staff member: "I'm Japanese. I hope my country wins."

Hiroto Ishikawa: "I'll make sure of it."

――

At the buffet.

Min-cheol Park nodded: "Perhaps the evidence isn't sufficient, but I have another reason for focusing on you. Throughout the entire investigation, you've had very little presence. Although you seem to have been actively participating, you rarely express clear opinions, just following others' speculations. Earlier, you even tried to clear your name by making us think the suspect was one of the vessel candidates, diverting our attention from those closest to them."

Valeriya pressed her lips together: "Everyone has their own way of playing."

"True, but my instinct tells me the killer is hiding very deep," Min-cheol Park said.

The air was quiet for a moment.

The next to speak was Hiroto Ishikawa.

He said, "Unlike Park's idea, I think we've overcomplicated the case. The situation is very clear now. Dan wanted to reincarnate into someone else's body to achieve immortality but was killed instead. Think about it, everyone. The ritual was scheduled for midnight, and the butler said Dan usually rested at that time. If he called someone over, wouldn't they be suspicious? Especially the third son, given their strained father-son relationship.

"Considering that choosing a female is unlikely—his wife isn't blood-related, his daughter has a different surname, and it would be strange to call the eldest daughter-in-law in the middle of the night—I believe the only person who would go see him without suspicion is his nephew. Think about it: Dan knew he was going to die, and he saw so many relatives before his death, but not his nephew? He's lying."

Hiroto Ishikawa spoke the last few words with particular certainty.

Jian Jing couldn't help but glance at him, noticing confidence emanating from every hair on his head.

She frowned.

Jiang BaiYan said, "You say I'm lying, but do you have any evidence? You think Dan would see me, but have you considered that I had already talked to him before the dinner? Besides, he saw others because they had problems, which I didn't. Moreover, Dan knew he would reincarnate into someone else, so was there any need to give last words to everyone?"

Hiroto Ishikawa shrugged, not arguing further, but also not changing his mind.

The next to speak was Andrei.

He said frankly, "You've all said what I was thinking. Either the third son or the nephew is possible. I need to think more about which one specifically, but it's definitely one of you two."

Kumiko Terauchi: "I'm sorry, but I might have a different perspective—the witch's diary never mentioned that the vessel must be present at the scene. If I were Dan, why would I call the vessel over? What if they resisted? The safest approach would be to let them stay in their room, unaware, waiting for the ritual to complete."

Several people looked thoughtful.

She continued, "So, the nephew saying he didn't go there not only isn't a lie but actually proves that he was Dan's chosen vessel. However, he's not the killer."

Kumiko was beautiful, gentle, and graceful, appearing at first glance to be an ordinary Japanese woman. But after spending some time with her, one could easily discover her intelligence and attentiveness, often noticing small details.

Therefore, everyone listened attentively to her speech.

"I believe the killer is his father. Although Mr. Wu said he went there at 10:30, that's just his side of the story. Perhaps he wanted to borrow money from Dan but accidentally overheard everything. To protect his only child—remember, the original child was seriously ill and wouldn't live long—and to transfer Dan's assets to the child, he decided to kill Dan."

Kumiko Terauchi calmly continued, "Most importantly, there's that phone call. I've been wondering for a long time why the killer would call the dining room. I couldn't figure it out until I looked at the phone book and suddenly realized I was wrong. The call might not have been made by the killer, but by Dan."

"Why would Dan call the dining room?" everyone wondered.

She said, "Dan wanted to make the killer think he had hastily dialed the wrong number in an attempt to call for help but failed, so the killer wouldn't be suspicious."

"Ah," Wataru Kojima exclaimed, as if suddenly enlightened, "It's the internal extension number."

Kumiko Terauchi nodded: "The dining room has an automatic answering system. We all heard, 'Hello, this is the dining room, connecting your call'... The killer breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing that the dining room's internal extension number is—56."

"56, Wu Lie," Zhang Xue'er gasped, suddenly understanding.

Wu Lie objected: "Anyone could have made that call. Why couldn't it be the killer trying to frame me?"

"I don't have conclusive evidence," Kumiko admitted frankly. "I'm just filtering based on possibilities, and you fit the profile best. If someone were to give you a hint, the killer must understand Chinese."

Jiang BaiYan: "The pronunciation of Arabic numerals is similar in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, you know."

"The possibility of it being a Chinese person is still higher," Ran-er Kim argued.

Andrei and Valeriya exchanged glances, both feeling less suspicious: numbers aren't pronounced that way in Russian.