Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 455 - 406 Eye Contact

"You’re right. Even if the murderer managed to break into the locked room, they had to figure out how to restore it before anyone else noticed."

Li Ang said, "Without using Spiritual Power, it’s nearly impossible to screw a loosened nut back onto a bolt through a thick layer of wood. Therefore, the murderer thought of a method: replacing the bolt."

"What?"

Su Xinghuo exclaimed in surprise, "What’s the point? If the nut can’t be tightened, it just can’t be tightened."

"The murderer didn’t need to actually tighten it," Li Ang explained. "They just needed to make the bolt *appear* as if it were tightened."

He smiled. "Firstly, the murderer used Alien Species Mussels and vibrations to dislodge the nut. Due to the angle, the nut would inevitably fall onto the soft, flat bed and wouldn’t roll away into some corner.

"The murderer then pulled out the bolt, tied a vertical magnet to a string, and sent it down through the bolt hole to attract the nut on the bed. Next, the murderer inserted a tightly coiled spring into the hole. This spring looked like a bolt but was actually hollow on the inside.

"With the interior hollow, the murderer could use a bent needle or tweezers to pass through the spring and prop up the nut, slowly lifting it and fitting it onto the spring.

"Afterwards, the murderer took a thin iron rod of similar diameter and length and inserted it inside the hollow spring, making it fit snugly. From the outside, it was indistinguishable from an ordinary bolt."

Li Ang finished speaking, and the room fell silent.

Guard Sikong Ji from the Prince Mansion took a deep breath. "Evidence?"

Li Ang stepped onto the bed, pinched the bolt on the upper left corner, and pulled hard.

BUZZ—

What seemed like a solid bolt stretched out under the pull, revealing its true nature as a spring and exposing the thin iron rod hidden inside.

"No wonder."

The captain had a sudden realization. "I had previously tried all the bolts on the ceiling, but since this one wouldn’t budge, I didn’t notice anything amiss. Turns out, there was an iron rod hidden inside."

"That’s right," Li Ang nodded. "It was only after hearing what Dai Fu Master said just now that I understood all of this. Dai Fu Master mentioned that yesterday afternoon, the couple staying in Room 5 upstairs returned unexpectedly to the SS Sea Charm to retrieve a personal item and accidentally heard a faint scraping sound.

"That must have been Chen Qiwei using the Alien Species Mussels to replace the bolt.

"As for why he waited until yesterday to act, Alien Species Mussels are a specialty of the island and could only be obtained once the ship docked. Additionally, most of the passengers had gone ashore to sightsee. Even the Heir Prince, who was usually afraid of the curse and often stayed in his cabin, couldn’t bear the solitude and went up on deck in the afternoon to gaze at the bustling island. Changing the bolt at this time was least likely to be noticed.

"After replacing the bolts, Chen Qiwei waited for nightfall. There were strong winds and high waves that evening, so the Heir Prince would inevitably use straps to secure his blanket, meaning his position while lying down could be predicted.

"Chen Qiwei first pulled out the thin iron rod from the spring. Then, using tweezers, he repeated his earlier trick, unscrewing the nut bit by bit. This process didn’t require Alien Species Mussels, so it wouldn’t make noise that might awaken the Heir Prince or the occupants of nearby rooms.

"When the nut was almost completely unscrewed, he used a magnet tied to a string to hold it and lower it slightly. Then he pulled out the spring, exposing the bolt hole. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"That was when the murder weapon made its entrance."

Su Xinghuo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "...A thin sword."

"Exactly."

Li Ang nodded. "The thin sword in Chen Qiwei’s room was heavy, flat, and sharp, with a diameter that just fit through the bolt hole. If I’m not mistaken, Chen Qiwei had disassembled the blade from the hilt in advance and used Surgical thread to loop around a groove at the end of the blade, creating a structure similar to a meteor hammer.

"Afterward, he inserted the thin sword through the bolt hole, let it hang down, and began to swing it. Doctor Su, could you lend me a scalpel and some Surgical thread?"

Su Xinghuo took out a scalpel and Surgical thread from his medicine box.

Li Ang received them, quickly wound the Surgical thread around the handle of the scalpel, tied a secure knot, then lifted it high above the bloody puddle at the head of the bed, holding the thin line and shaking it left and right.

"The weight of the thin sword, the length of the rope, the amplitude of the swing... all these factors combined," Li Ang continued. "When the blade’s swing reached its apex, the murderer suddenly released more of the thread, causing the falling blade to precisely kill the Heir Prince lying on the bed.

"The blade, still carrying momentum, struck and damaged the cabinet clock next to the wall, which is why the clock stopped at 1 a.m. As for the water on the floor, the murderer poured it down the bolt hole to clean the blood from the blade."

"Why not pull the sword up and clean it?" Singer Shi Yajing asked subconsciously.

"Blood leaves traces," Li Ang said. "If, while pulling the Longsword back up, blood had splashed onto the ceiling, he would’ve been exposed instantly. Thus, he could only use this method. Chen Qiwei himself is a Sword Dancer, and passengers on the ship could request him to perform specific sword dances. He was worried that the thin sword might get damaged during the assassination of the Heir Prince, and that later another passenger might ask him to perform a thin sword dance, risking his exposure.

"So, he decided to go all out: well in advance, he pretended to be injured to avoid having to perform any more sword dances during the voyage.

"The entire process was a series of interconnected steps, each one laden with murderous intent.

"When the captain and crew discovered the Heir Prince’s murder, their first suspicion naturally wouldn’t fall on him, as he had never been down to that deck of cabins. Instead, they would suspect those residing in rooms seven through fourteen.

"Through continuous interrogation, the last person to enter Room 9 was considered the prime suspect. Everyone unwittingly fell into his logical trap.

"If the door of Room 9 hadn’t been so tightly closed, which negated the possibility of an ice blade mechanism, and if not for the fortuitous chance that the couple in Room 5 upstairs accidentally heard Chen Qiwei using Alien Species Mussels to loosen the bolt, he would have escaped suspicion and punishment this time."

Li Ang clenched the nut with one hand, slowly twisting it off the spring bolt. Then, he extended his finger to the bottom of the bolt and pushed it upward.

The entire process met with no resistance. With a CLICK, the bolt fell onto the floor of Room 3.

Li Ang’s eyes, looking through the bolt hole, met the gaze of Chen Qiwei, who had been lying on the floor all along, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation below until that very moment.