Mermaid Reef

"Are you all right?" Dr. Abel asked cautiously.

Because John was pale and sweaty, he looked worse than the corpse in the bathroom.

The detective rubbed his forehead with his hand, sighed and said: "The social car has no door lock, it almost killed me."

"Huh?" The doctor was confused.

John waved his hand without continuing to explain.

They were squatting at the door of the bathroom in the first-class car, looking at the dead body lying in it.

It was Banker Bauer's secretary. He had a bloody hole in his chest, his head was on one side, and he looked terrified.

"It was Mu Cang's murder. The worst thing happened." After examining the corpse, Dr. Abel said worriedly, "In addition to cursing the gold coins, there are also human beings who are making murders."

John wasn't feeling well, but his mind was still functioning.

"This lavatory is at the junction of the carriages. There are first-class sleeper carriages on one side and social carriages on the other. It can be concluded that only the staff on the train and passengers in the first-class carriages can pass through here."

John recalled the last time he saw his secretary.

Because the first thing to check was the secretary's luggage, and then the passengers in the first-class compartment returned to their compartments to check their belongings.

Except for the old earl and the noble lady, because they had servants to do it for them, they also stayed in the smoking room and ladies' salon of the social carriage during this time.

"The murderer's time is very tight. There are always people in the corridor of the first-class car. After the baggage inspection is over, there is only about 10 minutes before the conductor finds the body." John took out his notebook, checked his watch, and swiped Write down the time, "Go and check what the first-class passengers are doing during this time."

"Alibi, right?" The doctor cheered up, he could do this job.

John endured his headache and said, "By the way, these people don't need to ask."

Abel lowered his head and found that the first boxes were No. [-] and No. [-].

"Yes, it's Jason and the others?"

John looked at the doctor silently.

Dr. Abel shrank his neck and said awkwardly: "Okay, I understand. The old earl, the lady, and our poor train conductor don't need to ask. By the way, do you have any suspects?"

"Miss Vanessa," the detective replied.

"what?"

The doctor was shocked.

Although I don't know the opera soprano, I can see that Vanessa is indeed a well-bred lady, and Vanessa's nervous fragility doesn't seem to be pretending, she is really sick.If you want to ask who among the first-class passengers collapsed in this mysterious incident, Abel believes that Miss Vanessa must be the first.

Dr. Abel asked tentatively: "Could it be... she is the least likely to be the murderer, so you suspect her?"

John looked at Abel speechlessly, this is not a detective story.

"Look carefully, the bathroom is not a social car, it has a door lock, so the secretary opened the door and saw the person waiting outside the door. If you saw a lady waiting outside the door of the bathroom, what would you do? Sample?"

"Uh, sideways to avoid, and then look away, out of politeness will not look at her..."

"What about men?" John continued.

"Smile and say hello to him, maybe borrow a fire or something."

Doctor Abel slapped his head and came to his senses.

There were slight scorching marks on the clothes near the wound, which proved that the shooting range was very close. The secretary saw someone holding a wooden warehouse towards him, why didn't he notice it?

Although the rumble of the train moving was enough to cover the sound of the wooden warehouse, the secretary shouted desperately, if he resisted and fled, he would not die without struggle like this.

"No, maybe it's someone with a higher status? If I meet the old earl, I will take the initiative to avoid it." Dr. Abel raised a loophole.

John explained: "There will be servants around them, and they will not appear alone. The servants will clean up before they enter the bathroom. If the secretary opens the door and sees the old earl standing at the door, he will be surprised instead."

"So the murderer is a woman..."

Doctor Abel nodded, it really makes sense.

Coincidentally, the only passenger in the first-class compartment, apart from the noble lady and her maid, is Miss Vanessa.

John looked at the open bathroom window and said quickly, "The barn should have been thrown out the window, and with luck we might see it again."

"What did you say?" The doctor was shocked again.

As soon as the words were finished, he saw a small-caliber lady's wooden box with ivory decorations outside the window.

Doctor Abel was dumbfounded.

The train is going straight ahead!

"Hey, let me tell you a secret. We can't leave this train until all the gold coins are collected, and the train will never arrive at the station." John finished speaking in a low voice, and then patted the doctor on the shoulder hard.

Dr. Abel's face was pale and his legs were trembling.

"What do you mean you can't leave?"

"literal meaning."

"...I remember Pastor Conor said before, don't go to ruins or ancient temples casually, if you stray into a domain that does not belong to humans, terrible things will happen." Doctor Abel stammered. Listen to these as stories, but now I dare not.

"Not only will you encounter strange things, but you will also become a monster!" John thought of Rosa and Irene.

As beautiful as the transparent butterfly wings are, so terrifying are their faces.

Many things are not as simple as they seem.

"Be more careful when you investigate, the motive of this case may still be the gold coins of bad luck." John urged.

He knew that Vanessa was a very popular opera actress in London, but now she became thin and nervous, and Vanessa was the first to shout "curse" in the dining car before.

"She may be the only passenger in the first-class car who came from London like Mr. Bauer and the secretary. There is always a reason to kill someone, especially if you take the risk to kill someone on the train."

Doctor Abel hadn't recovered yet, and said in a daze, "But, shouldn't our focus be on finding all the gold coins? The murder case can wait until the train leaves this weird space."

John asked seriously: "Can you guarantee that you are still alive, I am still alive, and the murderer is still alive by then?"

The soul questioning from the detective almost made Abel faint on the spot.

John accurately stretched out his hand to support the doctor whose legs were weak and his whole body was sliding down.

"Be strong."

Abel thought that John would say later, "You are the only doctor on this train", but the detective said, "How can you say that you are also a person who has experienced the resurrection of the ancient gods, don't be so useless."

The doctor wanted to curse, wanted to throw John's head into the toilet with an overhand fall.

"I'll take over the work of finding the gold coins, and leave the work of solving the case to you. Is it okay?" John stared at Abel, and if you are not satisfied, we will change the posture of the task.

Abel: "..."

Forget it, he can't beat the detective at all, he has seen John's skills in Black Lagoon.

John watched Dr. Abel leave slumpedly, the smile on his face disappeared suddenly, and he looked down at the gold coin in his hand.

That's right, gold coins.

It just came out of Dr. Abel's vest pocket.

Abel was not a first-class passenger, so it stands to reason that gold coins would not "find" him.

But when the doctor stretched his head to look at the car window just now, John keenly felt a sudden cold all over his body, as if something terrible was coming.

The detective dares to swear by his own experience in dealing with evil gods, this is the feeling of "being watched by a mysterious person"!

John immediately checked his clothes without any trace, and he soon found a round thing in his pocket.

gold!

John couldn't help thinking about why he was being targeted, and then his eyes came to the secretary's body.

Is it blood?

Or a fresh heart?

Are gold coins attracted by these things?

John's scalp was numb. He observed the doctor while talking, patted his shoulders and supported him, and quickly "checked" the doctor's pocket.

The detective who passed the theft skill easily touched the gold coin.

——Since it has been targeted by gold coins and cursed, there is no need to touch it through things, it is useless!

John heaved a long sigh.

What a tragedy. During this journey on the Orient Express, he originally thought that he could book a first-class ticket through Mrs. Caroline, so that he could enjoy a two-day luxury train trip in Europe. In the end, he got involved in this kind of survival game.

***

Gemil looked at the carriage from a distance, turned back to Jason and said, "It seems that we are very lucky."

"Ok?"

"Someone died."

Gemil said softly.

He didn't remember Bauer's secretary-general, so he didn't know who the deceased was.

He doesn't care who killed this human being, the ants' cannibalism is not worth watching.

But ant corpses are useful.

"...Mr. Detective's luck is also very good."

Gemil paused for a second, with admiration for the extraordinary pearl in his voice.

Jason followed his gaze, and his eyes could also see that dark red smoke was gathering.

This is something that humans can't see at all, the will of the doom gold coin will form an invisible monster.

Attracted by the fresh sacrificial heart now, the invisible monster couldn't resist peering at the corpse.

Jason watched John stand motionless in the bathroom, as if waiting for something.

"Follow up, we can't let Mr. Detective die." Jason stepped forward.

"I'll do it." Gemil pressed Jensen's hand and said seriously, "Although it's just a shapeless dependent with insignificant strength, we haven't seen the antique box with our own eyes, and we don't know about the gold coin that inspires bad luck. How deep is the connection between his power and the Burning Sun God, so I come."

Gemil looked at Jason and said softly, "I also know Tonatiu, the God of Burning Sun, better than you."

As the dark red smoke formed, screams came from all over the carriage.

Humans can't see these things, but they are affected. Some people choke on drinking water, some people have seizures, chefs cut their fingers, and conductors trip over carpets.

These are "little" bad lucks, and the real malice will be directed at the detective closest to the body.

This was also the original intention of the detective. Standing there, he was using himself as a bait, waiting for the monster to take the initiative to attack.

The detective believed that either Gemil or Jensen would come to the end, and he just had to struggle to survive as hard as he could and run as fast as he could.

***

The air in the bathroom became stagnant and weird.

The cigarette in John's hand suddenly extinguished automatically in the absence of wind.

He bit off the cigarette, and grinned at the growing monster in front of him.

—Yes, John was right, too much willpower allowed him to see this guy.

Still can maintain reason, do not panic mad.

On this train, only the detective is the bait most likely to escape the hunt.

John could only and would only choose to do so.

John picked up the dagger and made a shallow cut on his chest through the shirt, only a little blood oozing out, and then he slammed the dagger at the monster.

"Come on, you idiot!"

John turned and ran.

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