The dim lounge felt like a prison to the train attendant.
No, rather, it really was a prison.
"Ah..."
Sitting in his chair, the attendant sighed helplessly.
How could I be this unlucky?
Now he regretted it. He regretted it terribly.
Whether he regretted giving in to greed or committing the crime on a train with a famous detective aboard, only the attendant himself knew.
"Patter, patter, patter..."
Fat raindrops struck the window, their noise irritating him to no end. At the next station, he would surely be handed over to the police, then tried... executed... At that thought, the attendant sprang to his feet.
No, I can't just die like this. I have to survive!
With that thought, the attendant went to the window and tried to push it open. He had already made up his mind: he could sneak off the train now, then leave while nobody was watching. Perhaps he would be caught later, perhaps not. But at least this way, he still had a fighting chance! Whatever happened, it was better than sitting here waiting to die!
"Heave, heave!"
The attendant tried to open the window, but unfortunately, the lounge window was fixed in place and extremely narrow. No matter how hard he strained, he could not budge it an inch.
If all else fails, I'll smash it!
At this point, the attendant no longer cared whether the noise would attract anyone. He glanced around, grabbed the chair he had been sitting on, and raised it high toward the window-!
"Click, click, click."
Just then, the lights throughout the room suddenly flickered, and a dark figure appeared behind the attendant in the flickering light.
"Who's there?"
The attendant turned and looked behind him, but there was nothing there except the locked door.
Was I imagining things?