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Chapter 386: Speculations About the Key
Chapter 386: Speculations About the Key
Unfortunately, the villa's lawn offered no obvious clues, as it was covered with false Bermuda grass. This plant thrives during summer and autumn, with dense runners and strong regenerative abilities. Footprints wouldn’t linger long on such terrain unless deliberately pressed in.
Feng Bu Jue glanced upward at the windowsill and villa exterior walls but found no traces there either. However, he felt no frustration—patience was key to uncovering the truth…
“While there’s still daylight, I’d like to survey the villa’s perimeter. Would you like to join me?” Feng Bu Jue asked Scofield through the window.
“Oh! Of course.” Scofield seized the chance to learn from the renowned detective. “Just a moment,” he replied. Before finishing, he turned and left the window, heading to the room’s entrance to exchange words with the guarding officer. He then returned to the window, mimicking Feng Bu Jue’s method to climb out carefully, avoiding the bloodstains on the windowsill to preserve evidence.
Once outside, Scofield followed Feng Bu Jue on a patrol around the villa.
“Mr. Feng, you mentioned… a secret room earlier. What did you mean?” Scofield asked.
“Have you read Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue?” Feng Bu Jue countered.
“Er… Not really,” Scofield admitted. “I rarely read fiction.”
“Well then… a secret room murder is one of the so-called ‘impossible crimes.’” Feng Bu Jue skipped literary debates, explaining directly, “When we entered, did you notice the key inserted in the door?”
“Yes, I did.”
“This door has two locking methods. First, someone inside can twist the copper cap-shaped bolt counterclockwise to lock it after closing. Second, someone outside can use the key to rotate it twice to lock it externally.” Feng Bu Jue clarified, “Madam Carol discovered the corpse because the locked room showed no response to her knocking, forcing her to use the key to enter.”
Scofield pondered, nodding. “So when the body was found, the room was sealed from within.”
“In a confined space with only the deceased and no signs of suicide, the murder method becomes a ‘secret room’ mystery,” Feng Bu Jue said.
Scofield hesitated. “Wait—if the killer had a key?”
“Before you arrived, I already questioned everyone about this,” Feng Bu Jue replied. “Each room has two keys: one primary and one backup.
The backup keys are chained together and guarded by Butler Henderson. I’ve seen them—secured on a fixed iron ring, making individual keys impossible to remove. It’s like a medieval dungeon key set…
Since Henderson collapsed from illness, Lord Kolston temporarily holds the backups.”
“The primary keys are separate,” he continued, pulling a key from his pocket. “This is mine, found in a drawer of my room. The maid cleans unoccupied rooms regularly, so their keys are left inside.”
As they reached the villa’s rear, Feng Bu Jue turned a corner, adding, “Since Carol holds the murder room’s primary key, there are three killer scenarios: one, Butler Henderson himself; two, the killer stole the backups, locked the room, then returned them; three, the killer replicated a primary key.”
Scofield asked, “You suspect a secret room—so you think all three are unlikely?”
“Exactly,” Feng Bu Jue confirmed. “First scenario: Henderson as killer? Near impossible. After seeing the corpse, he had a cardiac arrest—near death. I was beside him, with a doctor present. If it were an act, he’d win an Oscar, and Dr. Powell would be his accomplice.
A remote possibility: schizophrenia. A split personality committing the act unknowingly to the host.”
“I see…” Scofield nodded.
“Second scenario’s probability is equally negligible,” Feng Bu Jue continued. “Stealing the backups risks detection during theft or return—exposing the crime. Henderson could notice the missing keys during the critical period, rendering the ‘secret room’ meaningless post-investigation.”
Before Scofield responded, Feng Bu Jue moved to a tree, scanning upward. “Third scenario is more plausible… but Dennis Couple visits sporadically, with no fixed rooms. Madam Carol’s seasonal preferences mean the killer couldn’t predict their accommodation.
To create a locked room, the killer would’ve replicated keys for all unoccupied rooms—a staggering effort. The motive remains unclear.”
“This does seem far-fetched,” Scofield agreed.
“Technically feasible, low risk,” Feng Bu Jue admitted. “But highly unlikely. Now…” Circling the tree, he glanced at the second-floor window before proceeding, “Assuming no key access, how else could a secret room be staged?”
His tone turned didactic, but Scofield, fifty and seasoned, asked earnestly, “Is it related to those bloodstains on the windowsill?”
“A simple method: a sturdy string. With one or two experiments, any windowed room here could be manipulated.” Feng Bu Jue gestured toward the villa. “I’ve finished outside. Let’s go in—I’ll demonstrate.”
(End of Chapter)
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