Chapter 189: Chapter 188 The Giant Wheel Murder Case
On deck, Nancy raised her voice towards Richard, “Whether the sailor’s death is an accident or not depends on the point of view. Originally, the death of the first sailor the day before yesterday was treated as an accident. At that time, the body was found under the mast in the early morning, with a neck twisted out of shape. Many speculated that the victim had drunkenly climbed the mast at night and accidentally fell to his death. So they simply cleaned up the body without giving it much thought.”
“Is that so,” Richard nodded.
Gro choked on his saliva, coughing violently, “Cough cough cough!”
“Do you have a problem?” Nancy finally cast a rare glance at Gro and asked with curiosity.
“No… no… cough cough cough!” Gro blushed, waving his hand.
“That’s good.” Nancy nodded and turned away from Gro, looking back at Richard and continuing, “The body of the second sailor who died yesterday was also found under the mast in the morning. It looked like he too had fallen from the mast, but unlike the first sailor, he had broken his back and his body was bent in half, which must have been more painful.
As for the third sailor who died today, his body was still discovered under the mast in the morning, with people gathered around it. I just looked at it, and it was worse than the previous two, probably because he climbed too high up the mast and broke all his bones when he fell.”
“So, this is not an accident at all, right?” Richard said as he looked at Nancy.
“Anyway, I don’t think it’s an accident,” Nancy earnestly remarked. “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is absolutely premeditated. I don’t believe that all sailors who got drunk would imagine themselves as birds capable of flight and then strenuously climb the mast, only to jump down with their arms outstretched afterward. This is definitely premeditated murder!”
“If it is murder, then who could the killer be?” Richard asked.
“This…” Nancy hesitated for a moment, her expression one of confusion, “This is exactly what I can’t figure out. There are only so many people on the ship. If the Master Wizard wanted to take action, he wouldn’t need to go through such trouble. If it were a Wizard Apprentice who wanted to harm a sailor, what would be the motive?
They hardly interact with the sailors. Similarly, we students have very little contact with them too, it’s virtually impossible for us to harbor any grudges against the sailors, one can’t just kill without reason, right?
So, it seems likely that a confrontation among the sailors themselves has prompted the killings. But then, why use such a method? If you really want to kill someone, why not just throw them overboard at night? That way, not even a body would be found, and no one would suspect anything.
Is the killer getting the victims drunk, carrying them up the mast, and then throwing them down? Isn’t that taking things too far?”
Nancy finished speaking and looked at Richard. Richard’s eyes flashed, he agreed, nodding, “Indeed, you make a good point.”
From Nancy’s perspective, the situation was indeed baffling. However, Richard thought much more deeply than Nancy and knew to look at the entire event from outside the current constraints. Yet the thoughts he had, he kept to himself and did not disclose:
Someone had died, and it was clearly a homicide.
In a homicide, why must one fixate on the killer and ascertain the killer’s identity right away?
If one wanted to understand the whole affair, finding the killer and interrogating them would surely be the most straightforward way. But when the killer could not be pinpointed, changing the perspective, for example, by putting oneself in the shoes of the killer, might be better.
The killer, hmm, an assassin whose build, face, and even gender were uncertain, had killed three sailors on the ship for three consecutive days. Why?
Was it truly killing out of rage? Not necessarily.
The killer might just be using the murders to fulfill some purpose.
And what purpose might that be?
The method was foolish, yet it could also be seen as sinister. After all, throwing someone from the mast, each time higher than the last, causing increasingly terrible falls—it was easy to spark surprise, suspicion, concern, fear, and terror.
Who knew if the next person to be thrown would be oneself?
This was likely a deliberate creation of a terror atmosphere to lay the groundwork for a series of upcoming events.
It was very likely that this was just the beginning… What would come next…
Richard halted his thoughts in time, opting not to go further. Lacking sufficient information, delving too deep into speculation could lead to fallacy. It was better to maintain an open hypothesis and observe how things would unfold.
And if the current hypothesis was correct, the killer would likely continue to murder, escalating the methods. But how far would the killer go?
Then again, if things were taken too far, perhaps it would alarm the four Wizards. At that time, if the four Wizards intervened, then…
Wait, could that be… the killer’s goal?
A guess suddenly dawned on Richard, but he displayed no change in his facial expression, as the speculation was far too outlandish and lacked sufficient evidence. He would need to watch how the situation unfolded to make a judgment.
Turning his head, Richard looked aside and suddenly spoke out to Nancy and Gro, “Someone is coming.”
“Huh?” Nancy and Gro followed Richard’s gaze and indeed saw someone was coming.
It was a skinny Wizard Apprentice named Potter, one of those tasked by Wizard Dempsey to maintain order on the great ship.
He was a direct disciple of Dempsey, a genuine Third-level Wizard Apprentice at the peak of his powers, much stronger than Siv’s disciple Demi, and even surpassing the late Hua’er, to say nothing of the uninitiated Luther.
His strength ranked highest among the Apprentices on the ship, and with Dempsey’s instructions, he was vaguely positioned to lead everyone. However, his personality was not as overbearing as Dempsey’s; he was rather savvy in his dealings. Even when giving orders to other Wizard Apprentices, he did so in a consultative manner that avoided any overt resentment or opposition. With regular students, he did not speak harshly or punish rashly.
Yet this did not mean he was genuinely amiable. The few times he did lose his temper, it was no small matter, and those who offended him did not end well.
Therefore, everyone held a mix of respect and fear towards him, and he wielded considerable authority among them all.
In Richard’s view, given time, Potter’s achievements might exceed even those of Dempsey. Of course, that was assuming he could survive the cutthroat Wizard World.
With these thoughts, Richard saw that Potter had already joined the crowd.