The first murder investigation meeting concluded.
The guests scattered like birds and beasts, separating to find new clues. For instance, Dan's bedroom and library, which were originally restricted private areas, were now open for access, and the butler, lawyer, maid, and other NPCs could be conversed with to obtain clues.
Jian Jing chose to chat with the butler, hoping to reconstruct the deceased's actions from the previous day as accurately as possible.
Liu Sau-chi, Valeriya, and Hiroto Ishikawa accompanied her.
The butler cooperatively provided the following information: "After the banquet last night, the master seemed fatigued and wished to rest, so I escorted him back to the lounge."
Jian Jing asked, "Is this his regular lifestyle habit?"
"Yes, the master usually naps in the lounge and only returns to the bedroom at night to sleep," the butler affirmed.
Liu Sau-chi pointed out, "But the corpse was found in the study."
"When does he usually use the study?" Hiroto Ishikawa inquired.
The butler replied, "There is no fixed time. He would go to the study when he needed to handle work."
"Would he choose to talk with people in the study?"
"The master preferred to meet people in the lounge. The study was his prohibited area where he liked to be alone. Even his wife was not allowed to enter freely."
Jian Jing asked, "When was the last time you saw the deceased?"
The butler pondered, then said, "The master enjoyed drinking a bowl of ginseng chicken soup before going to bed at night. Last night around 10 PM, I delivered the chicken soup to him, and he was fine."
"How did the deceased seem at that time? Happy, angry, or worried?"
"He seemed a bit anxious," the butler said. "I felt he was worried about something, but it wasn't serious—you understand, it was just an ordinary concern, not a major issue."
Hiroto Ishikawa asked, "Was it related to someone?"
The butler said, "I guess it had to do with his sons and daughters. As one grows older, one's greatest concern lies with one's children."
"Did he mention needing to discuss anything with certain people yesterday?"
"Yes, the master said that since his age was advanced, he wanted to take this opportunity when everyone was present to properly discuss matters regarding the future."
Jian Jing asked, "Do you know how he arranged it?"
"No, I'm not aware. The master didn't like to confide family matters to us."
The above was the information revealed by the butler in the first stage.
Next, while others sought more NPCs, Jian Jing returned to the crime scene.
A brief description of the cruise ship's room layout is necessary here.
The 7th floor housed the guest rooms, with the 15 guests' rooms evenly distributed across the entire floor. In the middle were the elevators and stairs, allowing access to other floors. The layout was as follows:
0102030405060708 (Room Numbers)
Dining Area Stairs & Elevators Conference Hall
09101112131415 Emergency Exit
The 8th floor was divided into two areas, separated by the central stairs and elevators. The bow section on the left was Dan's private domain, while the right side housed the conference hall, ballroom, banquet hall, and other public areas.
Dan's private area, which included his bedroom, living room, study, and lounge, was extremely spacious.
Observation Deck
Bedroom Walk-in Closet
Living Room Door
Lounge Door
Study
Balcony
As you can see, Dan's area was open at both the north and south ends, with large balconies on both sides. Additionally, two different doors separated his daytime and nighttime living spaces.
The living room was the living area connected to the bedroom suite. Generally, Dan would only enter through this door when going to sleep. The lounge and study were his daytime activity areas, where he would take naps in the lounge and work in the study.
The two areas were separated by walls, requiring passage through the living room to access the bedroom and walk-in closet, and through the lounge to enter the study.
"Any new discoveries?" Wataru Kojima sat in a chair in the lounge, looking at Jian Jing as she entered.
Jian Jing relayed the information she had obtained from the butler.
Wataru Kojima immediately seized upon the key point: "The deceased preferred to be alone in the study?"
"Yes, so the first crime scene might not have been the study," Jian Jing said.
Wataru Kojima examined the door separating the study from the lounge, which could typically be opened freely, while locking it required an extra twist of the lock mechanism.
"If the study wasn't the first scene, why would the killer move the body and decapitate him in the study?" Wataru Kojima posed the question.
Jian Jing shook her head, unable to provide an answer for the time being.
"And there's the phone..." Wataru Kojima fell into contemplation.
Last night, Jian Jing had already surveyed this area, but she feigned touring it again, heading straight for the adjacent bedroom suite.
There were people inside as well.
Raj, Linnaer, and Kumiko Terauchi were all searching the bedroom area.
Jian Jing casually asked, "Any discoveries?"
Linnaer said, "The old man's health was very poor; there were a lot of medications. And he couldn't, you know, Mrs. Terauchi?"
"Oh my, let's not discuss such private matters," Kumiko Terauchi waved her hand dismissively.
Linnaer shrugged and told Jian Jing, "I dare bet the old man knew she had a lover."
Jian Jing curiously asked, "Why?"
"I understand men very well, and I also understand women," Linnaer replied enigmatically. "No doubt about it."
Jian Jing: "..."
She then turned her gaze toward Raj. However, he nonchalantly shoved the item in his hand back into the distance, saying, "It seems there are no other clues here. I'll go check elsewhere."
With that, he left.
The competition had arrived rather swiftly. Jian Jing silently mused, yet she was in no hurry to search. Instead, she sat down on the single sofa in the living room and pondered.
The Chinese-speaking cameraman interacted with her, asking, "What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, can you talk?" Jian Jing was startled. She had always assumed the cameraman was merely a tool, just a lens following her around.
The cameraman replied, "Well, it's a live broadcast after all. You can also share your thought process with the audience. Did you just think of something?"
Jian Jing said, "I'm thinking about what kind of person Dan was."
The cameraman offered, "First of all, he's a man."
"A man who values bloodlines and favors sons over daughters," Jian Jing added. "He possesses immense wealth, but his most prized eldest son cannot reproduce. His daughter, however, is pregnant, his third son caused his wife's death, his talented nephew shares half his bloodline, and his accomplished nephew is not even of his surname."
The cameraman prompted, "So?"
Jian Jing asked, "If you were Dan, how would you resolve this issue?"
The cameraman considered for a moment, then cooperatively replied, "Have another child?"
"Linnaer just said he might not have the ability anymore. Even if he could have a test-tube baby, would he live long enough to see the child grow up?" Jian Jing pondered aloud. "His vast fortune requires an heir, but who would be the most suitable choice?"
The cameraman did not respond.
"In theory, the eldest son has the greatest motive. If Dan is dead, he will not be stripped of his inheritance rights," she analyzed to herself. "But I believe Dan would still choose the eldest son—this is the deep-rooted belief of the older generation, especially since the eldest son's flaw is just a child. To Dan, whether the grandson is born to the eldest son or not is of little importance..."
--
On the livestreaming platform, in the comments section:
[A great drama in the manor, a palace intrigue mystery!]
[My kingdom is falling apart...]
[Is Professor Jian's thinking wrong? Shouldn't we be looking for suspects now?]
[There's no absolutely accurate direction, everyone has their own focus for the investigation]
[If you want to watch the evidence gathering, go to a different livestream, why bother my wife?]
[Evidence gathering doesn't really matter, the producers will only give out the motive for the murder, not determine the killer]
[That's right, everyone could be the killer, the key to pinpointing the suspect is still at the crime scene]
[Really curious who did it]
[I want to know, where did the head go?]
[Why is Professor Jian trying to infer Dan's thoughts?]
...
"What is Professor Jian trying to do?" Before they knew it, it was already past 5 PM. Lao Gao and Ji Feng had returned from the crime scene and started watching the livestream.
Ji Feng opened his meal box and said, "She has no choice, the guests' personalities differ from their characters, and they approach it with a mindset of playing a game, so their input on the case has no reference value. But the victim is different, his actions are the most reliable evidence."
Lao Gao asked with concern, "Will it work?"
"Not sure," Ji Feng broke apart his disposable chopsticks. "This isn't about someone being randomly assigned as the killer. The participants' true personalities revealed may not match their assigned roles."
"I hope Professor Jian wins, that's a million US dollars," Lao Gao smacked his lips, then added, "What do you think of that painter guy?"
Ji Feng replied flatly, "Not much."
Lao Gao glanced at him and struggled to hold back his laughter.
--
Morning stage performance and crime scene visit, afternoon evidence gathering and meeting, followed by another tour of the crime scene.
Jian Jing was exhausted and decided to lie down.
She was the first to arrive at the restaurant and was delighted to see the sumptuous buffet spread. She immediately filled her plate with steak, chicken wings, fried eggs, seafood fried rice, and didn't forget to get a bowl of goji berry and black chicken soup.
The cameraman was astonished, "You're eating that much?"
"Don't worry, I won't waste any," Jian Jing grabbed an iced cola and began eating.
The deduction game turned into a live food show.
She first sipped the black chicken soup, the delicious warm broth warming her stomach, then had a few bites of the fried rice, as carbs were essential. After that, she started on the meat and protein.
"Jing Jing..." Jiang BaiYan dejectedly sat down with his salad plate, "you're so arrogant."
Jian Jing feigned sympathy, "Dieting again?"
"Ah..." He listlessly put lettuce leaves into his mouth, indulgently cutting a small piece of tuna, chewing it slowly, unable to swallow it all at once.
Jian Jing cut a piece of steak and waved it in front of him, "Want some?"
"No," he lowered his head and munched on the lettuce heart.
Jian Jing lifted her cola cup, the straw making a crisp "gurgling" sound.
"Sorry," she pretended to realize afterward.
Jiang BaiYan warned, "...If you bully me again, I won't share the clues with you."
Jian Jing immediately straightened up, "What clues?"
He took out a small notebook, "I asked the NPCs on the ship, and they provided me with some clues."
"The lawyer said that in the past three months, Dan had repeatedly mentioned his will to him, as if worried about his heirs. He also had someone investigate the third son's whereabouts and the women he had been involved with.
"The chef said Dan had almost obsessive requirements for his diet. All the menus were designed by a nutritionist, and he had to eat many expensive supplements every day. But they were never prepared by the chef, always cooked in secret by the old servant woman. The eldest son's wife and second daughter also liked to eat fertility-boosting supplements like bird's nest and deer antler.
"The cleaning lady said she had seen Dr. Raj secretly enter the deceased's room before.
"One of the crew members said that last night, while he was smoking outside, he overheard the second daughter and her husband talking, mentioning something about 'property' and 'inheritance'."
Jian Jing commented, "You're quite efficient."
Jiang BaiYan humbly said, "Not really, the clues don't have much value, and many of them overlap with our evidence gathering results."
"That's not necessarily the case," Jian Jing remarked. "Dan's actions are valuable."
In her view, the other evidence might not be related to the case, but only Dan's actions directly concerned the reason for his death.
She stirred the ice cubes in her cup and smiled, "The case is more complicated than I thought, this is getting interesting."