| 1.Introduction
I am Tom. I work as Mr.Brunt’s assistant. He is a great detective. Mr.Brunt has solved many cases. One day, we were going to Ash Island to investigate the murder case which happened there.
I was in a cabin in the ship. A few hours ago, engine of the ship had broken down. Rescue will come tomorrow, so passengers were forced to spend the night in their cabins. There were seven people in this ship, including captain. We had listened to captain’s explanations. After that we had introduced ourselves.
Fortunately, everyone had their own spare clothes, cosmetics and so on.
It was ten p.m. I had taken a shower and changed my clothes already. I laid on the bed and closed my eyes. But I couldn’t stop thinking about this situation. It’s a “closed circle”. I hoped to happen nothing tonight...
I fell asleep soon. But as a result, my wish didn’t come true.
2.Conversation
I was waked by alarm of my smartphone. It was seven a.m. I washed my face and changed my clothes. I left my cabin and went to the dining room. When I opened the door, there were two people. Mr.Brunt and captain.
Mr.Brunt was so tall and had beautiful blue eyes. Contrary to him, I was short. Mr.Brunt was drinking a cup of coffee. I guessed he had already had his breakfast. Mr.Brunt said,
”Good morning.”
Captain’s name was Benjamin. He was listening to the radio. He looked back at me and said,
“Good morning, boy. Would you like to eat a can of salmon?”
I said,
“Please do not treat me as a child. I’m eighteen years old.”
Actually, I was seventeen.
“Oh I’m sorry.”
Captain said and laughed.
Then Johnson came in the room. Johnson was a doctor who was working in Ash Island.She talked about operations which she managed to do yesterday.
“Good morning, everyone. Captain, when will the rescue come?”
Captain said,
“I think the help will come until noon.”
“I see. By the way, where is Koo-ko?”
Mr.Brunt answered,
“He hasn’t come here yet.”
The door opened at that time. Koo-ko was standing there. Koitawa ———we call “Koo-ko” or “He”——— was a Japanese comedian. This is a stage name. According to Koo-ko, there are many comedians who have strange names in Japan. However, “Koitawa” was too difficult for us to say. He was traveling all over the world. I saw Koo-ko’s gag yesterday. To be honest, It was not so funny.
“Good morning” Koo-ko said.
“Talk of the devil...” Mr.Brunt murmured.
“I couldn’t sleep well last night due to seasickness.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I’ll give you a medicine.” Johnson said.
“Thank you,Ms.Johnson.”
Then Ms.Hunt came in the dining room. Ms.Hunt was a tourist. She was going to spend her vacation in Ash Island. Ms.Hunt looked over fifty and too fat. Of course I never say.
“Good morning, everyone. I am hungry. Captain, is there something to eat in this ship?”
“Yeah, I have some canned foods. Everyone except Mr.Brunt hasn’t had breakfast yet, so I will wake up Ms.Emily and eat breakfast together.”
“Yes, let’s.” Ms.Hunt agreed.
“I’ll go her room and wake up her.” Captain said and left the dining room.
Ms.Emily was a singer. She was going to Ash Island to hold a show.
But a few seconds later,we heard captain’s scream.
We ran to Ms.Emily’s room. Captain was standing in front of the room. He said,
“Look!”
The door was opened. We could see inside of the cabin. I saw “it”.
“Tom, come on.” Mr.Brunt told me and put on his gloves.
“Yes,sir.” I said and took a pair of gloves from my pocket.
We entered the cabin. Bathroom was on my left side. A shelf, a desk and a chair were on my right side, and Ms.Emily was lying in front of the bed. Mr.Brunt touched her throat and said,
“She is dead.”
I looked at Ms.Emily’s head. That was so strange. Her head was wrapped in a plastic bag.
3.Investigation
The transparent plastic bag was knotted around Ms.Emily’s neck tightly. Mr.Brunt took a pair of scissors from his pouch and cut the bag. Ms.Emily was opening her eyes. There was a deep wound on her forehead.
Ms.Emily was wearing a white one-piece. Some blood stains were on the chest of her one-piece.
I found a bloody radio on the floor.
“Mr.Brunt, is it a deadly weapon?”
“I think so too. Look at Ms.Emily’s suitcase.”
A small suitcase was under the desk. It was full of many goods, but there was a space of a radio in it. Mr.Brunt investigated the suitcase. There was one clothing which Ms.Emily was wearing yesterday. Ms.Hunt said,
“Ms.Emily said that she has only two clothes on this journey.” Ms.Hunt’s voice was shaking with fear.
“I heard so too yesterday.” Johnson agreed.
“When she got on this ship, she had only this suitcase.” I said.
“I saw it too.” Mr.Brunt said. And he asked,
“Whose is that plastic bag?” No one answered.
“I think it is the murderer’s.” Mr.Brunt said. The plastic bag was printed nothing.
Mr.Brunt stood up and said,
“We did all we can do here. Let’s go back to dining room.”
“Don’t you...don’t you put her on the bed?” Koo-ko watched Ms.Emily’s thin body and asked.
“We shouldn’t move the things if we can.” Mr.Brunt told.
“I see.” Koo-ko said faintly.
We left Ms.Emily’s room and went back to dining room without any words. Six people sat on the chairs.
Mr.Brunt said,
“What did you do last night, everyone? I was sleeping through the night and woke up at six.”
“I went to bed at twelve and waked up at seven.” Captain answered.
“I went to bed at eleven but I couldn’t sleep well last night. And came here at seven fifteen.” Koo-ko replied.
“I fell asleep at ten and woke up at seven.” I answered.
“I don’t know when I went to bed. I woke up at seven too.” Johnson said.
“I read a book until midnight and fell asleep. I woke up at six thirty.” Ms.Hunt replied.
“I guess Ms.Emily was killed at about two o’clock from her body. Is there a person who has an alibi for last night?” Mr.Brunt asked. No one answered.
“Alright. Next, please let me investigate your cabins.”
Ms.Hunt and Koo-ko objected, but finally they agreed.
We investigated all cabins, but we couldn’t find any suspicious things. Johnson had some goods for surgical operations, but it was natural. I saw a surgical knife for the first time.
After that, we came back to dining room again.
“Did you find the murderer?” I asked Mr.Brunt.
“Not yet but I will find it soon. Please give me a bit of time.” He answered.
“I think the plastic bag is the key. If I can understand why it was used, I can find who is a criminal….” Mr.Brunt murmured.
And five minutes passed. Suddenly, Mr.Brunt shouted.
“Oh, Jesus! I understood!”
Mr.Brunt smiled and said,
“I found who killed Ms.Emily.”
4.Resolution
Everybody turned to him.
“Really? Please tell us!” I said.
“Alright. I will charge the person who killed Ms.Emily.” Mr.Brunt said aloud, and started the explanation.
“The key of this case is the plastic bag. Ms.Emily’s head was wrapped in it. I’ll call the murderer X. Why did X do that?” Mr.Brunt looked around us.
“Remember, there is a wound on her forehead. X covered it with a plastic bag.”
“But why?” I asked.
“What do you think, Tom?”
“Well...how about this? X didn’t want to see blood.” I replied.
“No, it is transparent. Also, there is a bloody radio too.” Mr.Brunt said.
“Oh. What do you think, sir?” I asked again.
“X wanted to prevent blood from sticking.”
“Stick?” I couldn’t understand well.
“I will explain what happened last night.” Mr.Brunt said. He started talking.
“X killed Ms.Emily by the radio. Then Ms.Emily’s blood was scattered a little, and stuck to X’s clothes.”
“Clothes? Why do you think so?” Captain asked.
“You will understand everything when I finish talking.” Mr.Brunt said and continued speaking.
“X was puzzled what to do. If someone see this blood, He or she will realize that I am a murderer! So X had to remove this blood stains. How about changing my clothes? But if this blood-stained clothes are found by someone, it’s same thing. X came up with a good idea. Changing the clothes with Ms.Emily. “
We were very surprised.
“Clothes that Ms.Emily is wearing now is not hers?!” Johnson said.
“That’s right. There is a blood stain, but it is strange to stick blood on the chest from the forehead.” Mr.Brunt explained with gestures. Then Ms.Hunt said,
“But if X throw the clothing away into the sea, we can’t find it.”
Mr.Brunt replied,
“I think X had only two clothes, and X had already taken a shower then. If X wears a clothing that X wore yesterday, it’s suspicious. X wanted to avoid it.”
“I see.” Ms.Hunt said.
“I guess Ms.Emily was wearing a T-shirt when she was killed. X had to take it off. But...”
“There is a wound!” I shouted.
“That’s right, Tom. X must not stick blood on T-shirt, so X wrapped the wound in the plastic bag. That plastic bag has no features, so X used it. This is the reason.” Mr.Brunt said proudly. His story took our breath away.
“X knotted the plastic bag tightly and changed the clothes. However, X knotted the plastic bag so tight that X couldn’t untie a knot.” Mr.Brunt took a breath and said aloud,
“Remember, the plastic bag was the murderer’s. So, X wanted to throw it away if X can. There is a very big trash box we call sea. But X didn’t. Why? Because X couldn’t do that. It means X didn’t have any edged tools like scissors.”
We were surprised again, and we felt nervous too. Someone is going to be charged as a murderer soon.
“If X could cut the bag, X would cut and throw it away. As X didn’t have scissors or something like that, X left it in Ms.Emily’s room.” Mr.Brunt took a deep breath.
“For those reasons, I can find who is X.
X is the person who had one-piece which Ms.Emily’s body is wearing now.
X is the person who didn’t have any edged tools.”
Resolution is going to the end. I felt so.
“For first condition, X is a woman. However, Ms.Emily’s clothes are too small for Ms.Hunt. So Ms.Hunt is not X.”
Ms.Hunt looked up to the ceiling and sigh deeply.
“For second condition, X has no edged tool. But Ms.Johnson has a surgical knife. So, Ms.Johnson is not X.”
Johnson closed her eyes silently.
Mr.Brunt said,
“So you are X!”
Mr.Brunt pointed at a person who is a woman and doesn’t have any edged tools.
5.Conclusion
She ———He Koitawa——— hung her head. And started crying.
“E-Emily stole my fiancé...b-but I said that to her last night, she didn’t remember! So, I-I...”
Koo-ko cried aloud. Other people were silent.
Suddenly, we heard a sound of engine.
“Rescue is coming soon.” Mr.Brunt murmured.
We went to the deck. We saw a ship coming here. The sun was high and shiny. The tragedy had ended.
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