Shirou and Old John / Shirou and Waver Examine the Wound ...

The young man's eyes suddenly lit up.

"That's a good question. Yes, Old John is a generous man, and we have a good relationship."

"Mr. Caules, please write your full name and address here." Shirou took out a banknote and handed it to the young German man.

Caules wrote down his full name, Caules Folvig, and provided an address in Germany.

"Let's stop here for now, Mr. Caules. Thank you for your cooperation." Shirou stood up and shook hands with him.

Chapter 1224 Shirou and Old John

Caules stood up, nodded to the crowd, and prepared to leave.

"Caules, I would be very grateful if you could keep the news of Mr. Old John's death a secret for the time being."

"Of course, but his servants will definitely find out," Caules said.

"He might already know," Shirou said in a low voice. "If that's the case, we'll have to find a way to keep him from telling anyone."

"That idea wasn't difficult. He was British, the kind of person who declared he 'never associates with anyone.' He looked down on Americans, and even more so on other countries and other ethnic groups."

"Thank you, Mr. Caules."

"So?" Mr. Frederick asked, "Do you believe what this German has to say?"

"He seemed honest and frank. He didn't feign affection for his master because he was entirely likely involved in the case. It's true that Mr. Old John hadn't told him he'd sought my help without success, but I don't really consider it a suspicious situation. I think Mr. Old John is the kind of man who would never reveal his intentions under any circumstances."

"Therefore you have declared at least one innocent," Mr. Frederick said cheerfully.

Shirou gave him an ambiguous look.

"I will remain suspicious of everyone until the very last minute," he said. "Of course, I must admit, I don't see how this serious, far-sighted Caules could lose his mind and stab the victim twelve or fourteen times. That's not consistent with his psychological characteristics."

"Hmm..." Mr. Frederick said thoughtfully, "Indeed, that kind of approach either stems from fanatical hatred of the dead or from a near-mad sadist."

If there were a madman here, that would make things easier. But everyone on the train is Magecraft, the only priest isn't a combat specialist, and that old Chinese man doesn't seem like that kind of person either. If it were Magecraft, they would need to possess a certain level of intelligence. Perhaps, as our friend, the train conductor, insists, the murderer is a woman?"

"I'll go check on the deceased's body first."

Accompanied by Waver, Shirou walked towards the Istanbul carriage, heading towards the victim's compartment. The train conductor came over and opened the door for them with his key.

The two went inside. Shirou turned to his companion and asked, "Was this private room always this messy?"

"Nothing was touched. I didn't move the body during the autopsy," Waver said calmly.

Shirou nodded and looked around. Because of the magic-suppressing field, most of the interior of the Mystic Train was similar to that of an old-fashioned steam train. Even the first-class cabin wasn't particularly luxurious; it simply had a large bed, a table by the window, and a folding chair. Luggage was placed in the corner, and the remaining space was cramped for two people to stand together.

His first impression was that it was extremely cold. The car windows were wide open, and had been open since around 1 a. m. yesterday, letting in a lot of cold air.

"Hah..." Shirou exhaled white breath. This was no place for a person to stay for long; it had practically become a freezer.

Shirou carefully inspected the window and its frame.

"No fingerprints were left; the window frame was carefully wiped clean by the inmate," Waver said.

"Teacher, you were right before," Shirou straightened up, closed the window, and said, "No one has ever left the carriage via this route. Opening the window was likely an attempt to lead people in that direction, but... Snow Spirit's rampage ruined the killer's plan."

!"

Shirou turned his attention to the motionless corpse lying on the bunk.

Old John lay flat on his back. His blood-stained nightgown armband was undone, Shirou carefully examined the knife wounds on it; he had been stabbed thirteen times in total.

"There are one or two very minor wounds, barely piercing the skin. On the other hand, there are at least three fatal wounds... Ugh!"

"What did you find?" Waver asked.

"Look at these two wounds, here, and here," Shirou pointed to the strange wounds. "They're all very deep, each one ruptured a blood vessel, but the edges of the cuts haven't split open, and there's significantly less bleeding than with other wounds."

What does this mean?

"This means that Old John was already dead when those stabs were made, and had been dead for some time. It's ridiculous."

Shirou said thoughtfully, "Unless our killer realizes he hasn't completed the mission well enough and comes back to poke around a few more times to thoroughly verify? Does he suspect Old John took a resurrection drug? Even Magecraft with injuries like that would be enough to kill him several times over."

There were too many contradictions. Waver rubbed his throbbing forehead and complained, "If there were such a mythical drug, he wouldn't have ended up waiting to die."

"Teacher, look at this wound. It's under my right armpit, near my right shoulder."

Shirou raised one of his hands and gestured, indicating that if someone were standing in front of him and holding the sword with their right hand, it would be almost impossible to stab this spot.

"Then you'd have to stab in the opposite direction, but what if you stab with your left hand..." Waver hissed.

Shirou looked at the irregular wound and said, "That's right. This stab was quite powerful; it was definitely done with the left hand, and by a left-handed person."

"But these other wounds were clearly inflicted with the right hand," Waver said, pointing to the wound on the right side.

"One is left-handed, one is right-handed...we're back to the two-person setup," Shirou murmured. He suddenly asked, "Was the light on before?"

"It's hard to say. It's said that the train attendants turn off the lights around eight o'clock every morning."

"The switches will tell us the answer," Shirou said, checking the switches for the overhead light and the bedside lamp, both of which were off.

"Okay," he said thoughtfully. "Now let's assume there are two murderers here: the first murderer and the second murderer."

The first murderer stabbed the victim with a knife, then turned off the lights and left the room. The second murderer entered in the dark, not seeing that 'his' or 'her' task was complete, so he stabbed the victim's body a couple more times. Teacher, what are your thoughts on this?"

Waver smiled politely and said:

"Heh, to me, this sounds more like nonsense. Can you come up with a more reasonable explanation?"

Shirou's gaze was fixed on the corpse as he pondered seriously, saying, "I've been thinking about this. Is there a coincidence or something else with the evidence we found here? Are there any contradictions? Have we been influenced by the idea that two people committed the crime, and therefore missed some important information?"

Chapter 1225 Shirou and Waver examine the wounds

"Some of the knife wounds reveal the killer's characteristics, such as the few grazing cuts. They suggest weakness, lack of strength, or a lack of confidence."

But that cut here, and that cut here, those two cuts required a lot of force. They pierced through the muscle."

"These stab wounds, in your opinion, were inflicted by a man, right?"

"Absolutely certain."

"Couldn't it have been done by a woman?"

"Without magical enhancements, only a muscular female athlete could possibly stab someone like that, especially when she's extremely agitated. But for the ladies in my carriage, it's absolutely impossible."

Shirou's mind drifted back to the faces he had encountered on the dining car: Rin and Olga Marie, both young ladies, still quite young and not yet fully grown. Accompanying them were also delicate and slender young ladies, and then there was the red-haired lady, who was also petite.

"Now things are starting to become crystal clear!" Shirou said jokingly. "The murderer is a very strong man, who sometimes becomes weak and powerless; the murderer is also a woman, who is right-handed but also left-handed; hmm! This is completely a joke!"

"So what did the victim, Old John, do throughout this whole ordeal? Did he scream? Did he struggle? Did he defend himself?"

Shirou reached under his pillow and pulled out an automatic pistol, the very Old John had shown him the day before yesterday. He took out the magazine, which was still full of bullets.

They looked around. Old John's clothes from the daytime hung on hooks on the wall. On the washstand were various items: dentures soaking in a glass of water; an empty glass beside them; a bottle of mineral water; an ashtray containing cigar butts and some charred paper; and two lighters...

Shirou picked up the empty glass and sniffed it. "It smells like some kind of medicinal wine. It contains some kind of herb and has magical properties."

"That explains why the victim didn't react at all," Waver said in a deep voice. "Under the cover of the anti-magic field, the magic power in the human body is also affected and becomes sluggish. If someone is drugged in this state, it is indeed not easy to recover."

"Old John was probably killed while he was in a coma."

Shirou nodded. He picked up the two lighters and examined them carefully.

"You've found another clue?" Waver asked.

"These two lighters are different styles," Shirou said, handing one to Waver, who was smoking. "This one is the common one, and the other is obviously much more exquisite. Can you tell?"

Waver took it and looked at it, saying:

"These are supplied on the train. You can ask the train attendant for them. They're all like this, red with advertisements printed on them."

Shirou's eyes scanned the private room. His eyes Gil, sharp as an eagle's, making it seem as if nothing could escape their search.

He let out a soft gasp and bent down to pick something up from the floor.

This is a small square of fine cotton handkerchief with exquisite embroidery. Shirou has only ever seen it on Luviagelita Edelfelt before. Such a small piece of fabric is considered a work of art because of the masterful embroidery on it, and can fetch a price several times higher than that of a designer handbag.

The most crucial detail is the initial letter, A, embroidered in the corner.

"A lady's handkerchief," Waver said, "So...there's a woman involved in this case. How many ladies are in this car?"

"One, two, three... five, teachers. A young English lady, Lady Olga Marie and her governess, and Monarch Rin El- Lord El-Melloi and her maid."

"Ugh..." Waver let out a groan, as if he wanted to burp, but he forced the sound back down.

"And there's an 'A' at the top, so finding it is incredibly easy. For example, Lord El-Melloi's family name, Archizorti, or something like that," Shirou said with a smile.

Waver clutched his chest, feeling a stomachache. Could it be that without his help to repay the debt, his adopted sister had finally resorted to murder for money?

"Just kidding, teacher. You can't stay calm when it comes to things related to yourself. These clues are too obvious. It's like the criminal left their own handkerchief here for us to find. We're so lucky! Another new clue!"

Waver remained silent, his face grim. Things seemed to be getting increasingly complicated. Just when they thought they were getting close to the truth, a new clue would emerge, disrupting all their previous assumptions. Eventually, the number of suspects grew to the point where it was no different from blind guessing.

Shirou lay down on the floor and groped under the bed, pulling out a slender wooden object— Old John's cane. Shirou then used a little magic on the cane to sweep it inside, revealing a cigarette butt.

"Yes! It's quite obvious. And the timing of its disappearance was very opportune. But note that this is a male lead! We can't complain that this case has no leads. Now we have plenty. By the way, what did you do with the murder weapon?"

There's no trace of the murder weapon. The killer must have taken it with them.

"I want to know why," Shirou said, leaning forward and groping in the pocket of the deceased's pajamas. He then pulled a gold watch from the pocket on the deceased's chest. The watch case was dented, and the hour hand was stopped at 1:15.

"It matches my guess. Between midnight and 2 a. m. The gold watch shows 1:15 a. m. now, which is likely the time of the crime."

"Yes, that's possible, or at least it's quite close to the actual time."

"Yes, either before 1:15 or after 1:15, it won't be more than forty minutes before or after," Waver nodded.

"Clearly, the murderer is presenting us with a puzzle. For example, when a woman's handkerchief is found, did a woman throw it away? But perhaps it was a man who committed the crime, thinking: 'I want to make it look like a woman did it. I want to stab my adversary unnecessarily a few times, some stabs should be so weak and ineffective, and I should throw this handkerchief where everyone can find it.' That's one possibility."

There's another possibility. What if a woman killed him and deliberately left behind a cigarette pack that only men smoke, making it look like a man did it?

"Rather than these obviously deliberately left pieces of evidence, let's look at what the culprit was trying to cover up." Shirou leaned over the small table, carefully examining the charred pieces of paper, muttering to himself.

Chapter 1226 Shirou and Darnic the Thousand Tree

"Regardless of the veracity of this evidence, shouldn't we seriously consider whether these two people—a man and a woman—are completely unrelated, or whether each carelessly overlooked clues to their identities? Yes, there are too many coincidences! We need to suspect that they are trying to mislead us. However, this also means that within the chaotic clues, there is information they are trying to conceal."

"What are you planning to do?" Waver asked.

Shirou picked up the cane, ran his hand over the golden patterns on it, and said:

"These clues, such as the watch stopped at one o'clock and one quarter past, this handkerchief, this cigarette, they may be real or they may be fake. I can't say for sure yet."

However, here is a clue that I believe is not false.

I'm referring to this piece of paper, which I believe was burned by the murderer to conceal his identity, not by Mr. Old John. It was the burning of some crucial document that would have exposed the crime.

Perhaps it's a notebook. If so, there must be something in it—some mistake, some crime—that might have left a clue for the enemy. Now I must try to reconstruct it so I can find out what it is."

"The criminal certainly didn't expect that someone could use Magecraft..."

As he spoke, the Power Gemstone fragment in Shirou's arms glowed, and Shirou released crystalline powder from his hand, sprinkling it onto the charred paper residue in the ashtray. The ashtray was then filled with flames.

Waver stared intently at the ashtray, and the piece of paper began to glow red. Then, some faint writing appeared. Slowly, it formed several words, glowing words. It was a tiny piece of paper, showing only a few words:

"To avenge Kaineth El..."

"I understand!" Shirou exclaimed with delight, "I know the deceased's real name now. I know why he had to leave his hometown!"

What's his name?

"Darnic."

"Darnic." Waver frowned. "This reminds me. It's been many years, hasn't it? The one who caused the death of the previous Lord El-Melloi, Kaineth El-Melloi Archibald, in that place, isn't it?"

"Yes..." Shirou said, "Darnic, Darnic Preston Yggdmillennia. He is Grand Mage from Romania. He is also the initiator of the Sub-species Holy Grail War, who transferred the Greater Holy Grail from Fuyuki City to Europe."

Shirou had no intention of dwelling on that. He looked around and continued, "We'll discuss that in more detail later. Now, let's first make sure we've seen everything we should have seen here."

He quickly and skillfully examined the deceased's pockets again, but found nothing of interest. He tried to open the door connecting to the next room, but it was bolted on the other side.

"There's something I don't understand," Waver said. "If the murderer didn't escape through the window, if the other side of the door to the next room was bolted, and if the door to the hallway was not only locked from the inside but also chained, then how did the murderer leave this room?"

"This is what the audience would say when a person with their hands and feet bound is locked inside a box and disappears."

"You mean...?"

"If the murderer wants us to believe that he escaped through the window, he would naturally have to make the other two exits appear impossible. Just like the 'invisible man' in a Magecraft box. It's a deception. And it's our responsibility to expose this deception."

He locked the door connecting the two houses on their side.

"Just in case, that Old Boss Li suddenly felt like showing off to his grandson that night, so he came in and ruined the scene."

"It's really hard to say."

Shirou looked around again.