Shirou and the Lost Armband / Shirou and the Mysterious Woman

"Thank you, that's all for now."

Shirou nodded to him, indicating that he could leave.

The maid hesitated for a moment.

"Sir, please forgive me, but I have a few more words to say. That elderly Chinese man is extremely agitated right now. He's going around shouting that he knows the truth of the matter and who the murderer is. He's making a huge fuss, and I'm even worried that his heart might give way, sir."

"In that case," Shirou smiled, "We'd better go find him."

"Sir, should I go and inform him? After a while, he kept insisting on finding someone in charge. The train conductor was trying to calm him down."

"Friend, please ask that Chinese old man to come over," Shirou said. "Let's hear what he has to say."

Chapter 1232 Shirou and the Lost Armband

Old Boss Li turned red with anxiety. He half-walked and half-ran into the dining car, arguing with the train attendant all the way.

"Tell me quickly, who's in charge here? I have something extremely important to say, really, it's incredibly urgent!"

"What? You can tell me? I only want to talk to the person in charge! This is a case involving lives, do you even have the authority to make that decision?!"

His shifty gaze moved back and forth between the three people. Shirou stood up and said to him:

"Please sit down. We're all here to hear what's on your mind. This is Mr. Frederick, the train's director. He has entrusted me with the entire investigation of this case. This is my assistant, Waver. Please speak slowly."

"Oh my, I've finally met you all! They kept stopping me. Listening to the old folks will only lead to trouble." Old Boss Li slammed down on his chair opposite Shirou.

"That's what I wanted to tell you. The murderer who committed the crime in the car last night happened to have stayed in my room."

He spoke slowly and deliberately, like a storyteller in a teahouse, with a touch of stand-up comedy.

"Are you sure?" Frederick asked, his eyes wide with surprise and his voice serious.

"Of course it's true, no mistake! I wouldn't lie about something like this that involves life and death. I'll tell you the whole story now. That night, I went back to my room, got into bed, and went to sleep. There was no one else in the room at the time."

But around midnight, I woke up. It was pitch black all around, but I sensed that someone else had joined me in the private room, which had previously been empty. I was so scared I didn't dare make a sound. If only you understood what was going on. I just lay there, thinking, "God, I don't want to die here."

I've read many stories of murders on trains and tales of outlaws from the Water Margin, where people are drugged or murdered while asleep. At that moment, I was thinking about saving myself; I couldn't possibly die in a place like this. However, I didn't know the train was stuck in place due to a blizzard. Otherwise, I might have thought, "Maybe I should just die here; I'm going to miss my flight anyway, and I can't even get a refund for my ticket."

"You can get a refund for the plane ticket, so please don't worry. Let's talk about the murderer instead," Shirou reminded the old man.

"Oh, oh, the plane has taken off! Can I get a refund for my plane ticket?" the old man asked.

"Old man, if you need anything, I can help you get home in London by using my family's plane. Now, can we talk about the case?" Mr. Frederick said helplessly.

Old Boss Li immediately beamed with joy and said happily:

"Eh? A private jet? Oh, I'm so sorry, but thank you anyway. I'll just consider the ticket gone. Where was I again?"

"Old man, you said there was a man in your room."

"Oh dear, I was lying there with my eyes closed, wondering what to do. I thought, 'Thank God, my daughter doesn't know I'm suffering.'"

Later, when I figured out what was going on, I had a sudden inspiration. I quietly reached for the bell and pressed it, hoping to get the train conductor to come. I kept pressing the bell, pressing and pressing, but there wasn't a sound.

I dare say my heart was pounding. 'God,' I thought, 'he's probably killed everyone on the bus.'

The car was parked and not moving, and the silence around me was unsettling. But I kept ringing the doorbell. Finally, I heard footsteps coming down the aisle, and someone knocked on my door. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come in!" I exclaimed, turning on the light at the same time. I opened my eyes and, believe it or not, there wasn't a soul in sight.

At this point, it seems that this is not the end of Old Boss Li's story, but rather just the beginning.

"Old man, what happened next?"

"So I told the visitor about this strange thing. He just wouldn't believe me, saying that I was probably dreaming. I told him to look under the bed, and he said that it was too narrow under the bed, and there was no way anyone could hide there."

It couldn't be clearer; that person had definitely slipped away. There was no doubt someone had been in the room. But what was most unbearable was the train conductor. He kept trying to persuade and coax me, it was maddening! Why are foreigners so distrustful?

"But I'm not the kind of person who overthinks things. Oh, by the way, kind sir with a private jet, may I ask your name?"

"This is Mr. Frederick, a director of the Mystic Train operating company," Shirou introduced them to the old man for the second time.

"I believe it's a pleasure to meet you all," he said absentmindedly. Then he resumed his monologue with focused attention.

"I don't want to pretend to be incredibly clever, but I knew perfectly well that it was the man next door, the poor man who got killed. I asked the train conductor to check the door between the two rooms. It was clearly not latched; I saw it immediately. So I made him latch it right in front of me. After he left, I got out of bed, grabbed a suitcase to balance on, and only then did I finally feel at ease."

"Old Boss Li, when was that?"

"But honestly, I can't say for sure. My mind was in complete turmoil at the time, and I wasn't paying attention at all."

So what's your opinion now?

"I dare say it's crystal clear. The man in my room is the murderer, so who else could it be?"

"You mean that person went back to the room next door?"

"How would I know where he went? My eyes were closed the whole time. What if the murderer found out I saw his face and came back to cover it up?"

"He must have slipped out the door and run into the hallway."

"I can't say for sure. You know my eyes are closed."

Old Boss Li sighed deeply.

"Good heavens, I'm terrified! What if my family finds out..."

"Grandpa, have you ever considered that those sounds might actually be footsteps coming from the room next door, or from the victim's room?"

"No, that's not it. I'm telling the truth, young man. We're both Asian, you have to believe me. The murderer did come into my room. Besides, I have evidence."

He smugly picked up a cloth bag and started rummaging inside.

He took out two clean, wide cloths, a pair of reading glasses, a bottle of cold medicine, a bottle of shiny green herbal oil, a bottle of gastrointestinal medicine, a bunch of keys with a nail clipper attached, a box of half-eaten mung bean cakes, several very ordinary photos of children, several postcards, and several strings of oriental Buddhist prayer beads.

There was also a small metal trinket... an armband...

"Have you ever seen a little thing like this? This isn't mine, and it's not on my clothes. I found it this morning when I got up. Is it a badge?"

The old man placed the armband on the table. Mr. Frederick leaned over, examined it, and his eyes widened in surprise:

"This isn't a badge; it's an armband worn on the train conductor's uniform."

Chapter 1233 Shirou and the Mysterious Woman

'Is this evidence of the perpetrator's crime?' Frederick's eyes flickered as he silently questioned Shirou. He certainly didn't want the murderer to be an employee of his own company.

"There's a very reasonable explanation for this," Shirou said, turning politely to the Chinese old man.

"Sir, this armband probably fell off from the train conductor's uniform. Did he drop it when he checked your compartment, or did he drop it last night when he made your bed?"

"I simply don't understand what's wrong with you people. It seems like you don't believe anything I say, and you always have to doubt and refute it, right? Can't you do something else worthwhile?"

Listen carefully, last night before I went to bed, I read a magazine. Before turning off the light, I put the magazine on the small box, which is on the floor near the window. Do you understand?

Shirou and the others nodded.

"That's right. The conductor glanced at my pass at the door, then came in and bolted the door connecting to the next room, but he never went near that window. This morning when I was getting my magazine, this... armband fell down from above. I'd like to know, what do you call it again?"

"Madam, we call this evidence," Shirou said.

Old Boss Li was very satisfied with Shirou's answer.

"You're the only one who's smart enough to believe me. If you still don't trust me, I'll go crazy."

"You have provided the most valuable evidence," Shirou said reassuringly. "Now, may I ask a few questions?"

"Yes, go ahead and ask," said Old Boss Li, clearly pleased.

"Since you're so afraid of Old John, why didn't you bolt the door connecting the two rooms beforehand? What's going on?"

"I bolted it!" Old Boss Li immediately retorted.

"Hmm, it's bolted on?" Frederick looked surprised.

"You don't know, that foreign monk told everyone a lot of terrifying stories about vampires last night. It was the first time I'd ever heard of it. Romania is the birthplace of vampires! At first, I didn't take it seriously, but there were quite a few scary stories, so I was worried that a vampire might break in. That's why I locked the doors and windows before I went to sleep."

"Yes, back then, that old man even opened the door and cursed at the foreign monk."

"Old John?"

"Yes, he seemed upset and didn't want to be nagged, so he told us that there were no vampires on this land, and even if there were, they wouldn't need our dry blood. The foreign monk's face turned red; it was hilarious."

"Is that so? Then the time to see the deceased will have to be postponed again." Shirou noted the key points on the paper.

"But I didn't expect him to be killed. Could it be that he was killed by a vampire?"

How could you think that?

"My room was freezing cold, yes, I woke up from the cold! I had all the doors and windows tightly shut, but a cold draft blew in, just like sleep paralysis. Yeah, that's right! The culprit was a vampire! Otherwise, how could it have walked through the walls and escaped!"

"Didn't you say before that you didn't open your eyes?" Mr. Frederick said helplessly.

"I felt it! That kind of cold could never be caused by a snowy day," Old Boss Li retorted confidently.

"After that, did you hear any noises coming from Old John's room?" Shirou asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

"Hmm... it's hard to say."

"Madam, what do you mean by that?"

"That's right." He paused. "He's snoring."

"Oh, Darnic snores when he sleeps?"

"It's so loud! It kept me up all night the other night. So I went to bed early last night, and I hit it back, to make it as noisy as possible!"

"Have you never heard him snore since that man scared you in your room?"

"How could that be? Isn't he dead?"

"Hmm, hmm, that's true," Shirou said.

He seemed a little confused.

"Old Boss Li, have you ever heard of Darnic?" he continued.

"I know, of course I know. I've heard he's a bad guy, good at fighting but also stirring up all sorts of wars."

"Cough cough..." Waver coughed a few times because he was choked, but he knew that he couldn't explain it to an old man like this, so he could only turn his head away in frustration.

"Yes, that's the person. He's dead. He died last night."

"You mean...?" Old Boss Li asked excitedly, leaning forward from his chair.

"Yes, just as you guessed, Old John is Darnic."

"Old Boss Li, you've helped us a lot, really a lot. Perhaps you'd be willing to tell me your full name?"

"Of course, Li Ao Zhi."

"Could you write down your address?" Shirou handed him a pen and paper.

Old Boss Li spoke as he wrote.

"I can't believe it, Darnic is in this carriage, Mr. Shirou. I had a feeling from the beginning that he wasn't a good person, didn't I?"

"Yes, sir, that's true. By the way, did a woman in a red cloak enter your room last night?"

"That's really strange. Why would a woman come into my room in the middle of the night when she should be sleeping?"

"That's right. A woman wearing a bright red cloak came to either your private room or Mr. Old John's private room last night. As you just said, all the doors were closed then, making it difficult to figure out which room it was."

"But no one wearing a red cape has ever been to my private room."

"They must have gone to that old bastard's private room."

Old Boss Li pouted and said fiercely, "That's not surprising at all."

Shirou leaned closer.

"So you heard a woman's voice in the next room?"

"I don't understand what you're thinking. Is any of this related to the case? But... well, actually, I did hear it."

"But just now I asked you if you heard any noises next door, and you said you only heard Mr. Old John snoring."

"Absolutely true. There was a period when he was snoring, and the rest of the time..." Old Master Li chuckled somewhat lewdly, "Hehehe, I knew that old man died a philandering ghost."

When did you hear a woman's voice?

"I can't say for sure. I was only awake for a short while when I heard a woman talking. It was obvious that she was there. I was even thinking to myself, 'This old man is really capable at his age, isn't he afraid of having a stroke?' Then I fell asleep again. If you hadn't dug so deep, I wouldn't have remembered it myself."

"Did this happen before or after that man scared you?"

"You're absolutely right! But let me ask you this: how exactly can a dead man talk to a woman?"

"Please forgive me, it's a silly question, but I still want to confirm it." Shirou laughed self-deprecatingly, easing the awkwardness.