In the corridor of the first-class carriage, Edrick was confronting Jim. Under the watchful eyes of the train attendants and the conductor, Edrick pointed his gun at Jim and began to lay out his crimes.
"You are a greedy thief. Seeing that Mr. Sodod was asleep in his compartment with the door unlocked, you harbored ill intentions and snuck in to steal from him. However, unexpectedly, Mr. Sodod woke up, and a struggle ensued between you two. In the midst of this, you ruthlessly killed him. Am I wrong?"
"...You're not wrong. If that guy had just stayed asleep, he wouldn't have died. He brought it upon himself!" Sitting on the corridor floor, Jim responded, a hint of malice in his expression. His words convinced everyone present that he was the murderer—an utterly ruthless criminal!
"Surrender. There's no escape. You must pay the price for your crimes, Mr. Jim."
"Pay the price? Hmph! It's not time for that yet!"
With a cold snort, Jim shot a vicious glare at the train attendants and the conductor. Then, he suddenly drew a small knife from his clothes and lunged at them, seemingly intent on taking hostages or dragging a few people down with him.
With a ferocious expression, Jim charged at the train attendants and conductor. The attendants were visibly panicked, but the conductor remained composed. Just as he reached for the gun at his waist, another gunshot rang out from behind Jim.
Bang!
Edrick had fired his gun, striking Jim and cutting his attack short. Jim collapsed onto the ground, motionless, lifeless. The train attendants and conductor turned to look at Edrick.
"A shame. It seems the law won't get to judge him. But compared to that, I believe the safety of all you gentlemen is far more important. As for Mr. Jim's cause of death, please report the details to the police later."
"Of course. Your sense of justice and marksmanship are truly admirable, Detective."
Holstering his gun, the conductor spoke to Edrick.
...
Afterward, the train attendants reassured the frightened passengers and dealt with Jim’s corpse. During this time, the curious conductor approached Edrick, who was smoking by the train window.
"Respected Detective, we are deeply grateful for your help in capturing this ruthless criminal. But I am very curious—how exactly did you identify him just from a bunch of train tickets? Could you explain your reasoning?"
The conductor asked Edrick with curiosity. Edrick, smiling, flicked his cigarette ashes out the window before answering.
"Of course, Captain. Please come with me back to the crime scene."
Saying this, Edrick walked toward Sodod’s compartment—the crime scene. By now, Sodod’s body had already been removed, leaving only the bloodstains on the floor.
Inside the compartment, Edrick crouched down and pointed to a particular spot near the wall.
"Captain, take a look at this bloodstain here—doesn't it seem a bit odd?"
Following Edrick's direction, the conductor looked over and noticed that the bloodstain did indeed appear peculiar.
Most of the blood splatter looked natural, but one small section had distinctly straight, rectangular edges, with a tiny red dot in the center. It appeared highly unnatural.
"This is…"
"The reason the bloodstain appears like this is because when the blood dripped down, some of it landed on an object. Part of the blood soaked into the floor, while the rest fell onto that object. When the object was later removed, it left this particular imprint on the ground.”
"Judging by the shape, this object was a small rectangular piece of paper with a punched hole in the center. Does that remind you of anything, Captain?"
Edrick smiled as he asked, and the conductor's face suddenly lit up with realization.
"A small piece of paper with a hole in the center… This is a train ticket! The hole was punched by the ticket checker! The murderer must have dropped their ticket while struggling with the victim, causing Sodod’s blood to splatter onto it. Later, when the murderer retrieved the ticket, it left this distinctive blood imprint.”
"That’s why you collected everyone's train tickets—you wanted to verify the bloodstain!"
The conductor spoke with newfound understanding, and Edrick nodded with a smile.
"Precisely. Since a ticket is required to exit the station, he had to retrieve it. He thought he could wipe away the blood and fool everyone, but he underestimated how stubborn blood can be. As a detective, I always carry a chemical solution that can detect whether an object has been stained with blood."
After Edrick finished explaining, the conductor continued nodding, marveling at the insight.
"Oh… I see! To be able to notice such a minute detail at the scene, make the connection, and reconstruct the truth—Mr. Edrick, you truly deserve the title of detective!"
“Of course. I personally staged the entire crime scene. I placed every detail myself, including this bloodstain—how could I not immediately notice it and connect the dots?”
In her own compartment, Dorothy thought to herself with amusement. This so-called "murder scene" had been entirely set up by her, with all these traces intentionally left behind to handle the conductor’s future questions.
"Now that you mention it… Once you confirmed the murderer’s identity by checking the ticket, why didn’t you immediately alert us to arrest him? Why go through the process of summoning each passenger one by one before finally calling the culprit?" the conductor asked.
Dorothy had already prepared an explanation for this.
She controlled Edrick to answer, "Because the murderer was extremely dangerous and was in the densely populated second-class carriage. If we had immediately confronted him, he might have panicked and harmed the other passengers. To prevent unnecessary casualties, I chose to lure him here instead. Summoning the other passengers first was a way to lower his guard."
After hearing Edrick's explanation, the conductor's eyes gleamed with admiration, and his gaze toward Edrick carried newfound respect.
"Oh… I see. So you were also considering the safety of the innocent passengers? How remarkable!"
"Mr. Edrick, your keen observation skills, sharp intellect, and sense of justice and compassion have truly opened my eyes today. You are an outstanding detective. I believe a man of your talent will one day become famous! When we arrive in Tivian, I’m sure the reporters will be eager to hear about what happened on this train tonight."
The conductor praised Edrick without reservation, to which Edrick replied with a graceful smile.
"I do not seek fame—only the pursuit of truth and the execution of justice."
At this point, Dorothy considered having Edrick pull out a small pipe to take a few puffs, but after reaching into her pockets twice and finding nothing, she gave up on the idea.
...
After explaining the "mundane version" of the case to the conductor, Edrick claimed he needed to rest. He used the excuse that his original compartment’s desk was inconvenient and suggested using the compartment where the interrogations had taken place. The conductor, now thoroughly impressed with him, readily agreed—he didn’t even bother checking for a ticket, allowing Edrick to switch compartments without issue.
And just like that, Edrick, who technically had no ticket at all, successfully evaded the fare.
Then, Dorothy shut Edrick inside the compartment for a while, intending to retrieve him later. Meanwhile, she herself sat at her table, sorting through the spoils of her little "detective game."