novelraw Chapter 57 The Convergence of World Lines
Chapter 57 The Convergence of World Lines
Using his powerful reasoning skills, McCarteau eventually deduced the identities of the three victims.
They are Yoko (165cm), Uchino (175cm), and Hiroshi Sekiya (185cm).
The conclusion was that the perpetrator was 10 centimeters shorter than the victim.
If the 185cm tall Hiroshi Sekiya is the victim, then the murderer is Uchino (175cm), who is 10cm shorter than Sekiya.
If Uchino, who is 175cm tall, is the victim, then the murderer is Yoko and Aoyama (165cm tall), who are 10cm shorter than Uchino.
If Yoko, who is 165cm tall, is the victim, then the murderer is Terao, who is 155cm tall and 10cm shorter than Yoko.
However, this is in conjunction with the brooch that Aoyama left at the scene.
That means she doesn't intend to kill anyone tonight, because if she did, she wouldn't do something so foolish as to arouse suspicion.
Her real purpose was to arrange a meeting with the victim tonight.
A person with strong suspicion of murder cannot move around freely, so the murderer, Qingshan, is ruled out.
Mei was stunned by McCarteau's terrifying reasoning ability and realized that as long as she knew who was killed, she could pinpoint the killer's identity—a closed logical conclusion.
But who exactly is the person to be killed by the murderer tonight?
Upon hearing the question from the beautiful bag, McCarteau frowned deeply and gave a startling answer:
"No matter how many times you ask me, I will say the same thing."
"I don't know which of the three will be killed. I only know that one of the three is the victim tonight, and each of them has an equal chance of being killed."
"The sanctuary is now like a box with a cat inside."
"The specific phenomena cannot be observed by others."
"However, we don't need to worry. As long as we open the door to the sanctuary tomorrow, the whole truth will be perfectly revealed."
Mercator tried to explain this using quantum mechanics, but it didn't satisfy Mibuy.
Because the cat in the box has a 50% chance of surviving.
But someone in the sanctuary will surely die a horrible death tonight!
McCartney... he was planning to stand by and watch others die!
Mei Dai could no longer tolerate McCato's behavior and angrily accused him of watching others being killed without offering any help, calling himself unworthy of being called a human being!
But McCarteau just stretched lazily toward Mikado with a mocking expression, claiming that he was going to sleep.
Because tomorrow is an important day, whether it's Little Needle or another victim, if they're lucky, they can be resurrected using the Katrina Sutra.
After mocking Meidai, McCarteau specifically reminded her not to interfere any further.
But Mibuki was clearly fed up with McCarteau's indifference and planned to rush out to the Sanctuary to stop the incident from happening.
He also declared that once he left the island, he would definitely cut ties with that bastard McCato!
Unexpectedly, just as Meidai stepped out of the room, she heard McCartney's voice behind her:
"I'm warning you, the killer was armed."
"If he finds out his plan has been exposed, he'll definitely go berserk."
"And you, you can only face him bare-handed. I'm cheering you on from the start!"
When Mikado heard McCartney's words, she became somewhat immobile. Even though she wanted to go to the Sanctuary, the thought of the other party having a gun made her feel afraid.
"What? You're really not going?"
Mercato said leisurely from behind:
"To be or not to be... I am now like Hamlet, no, more like the plank of Carneades."
"Of course I could choose to save the victim, but because the other party has a gun, I, as a detective, would be shot dead by the enraged murderer."
"To save my own life, I can choose to go and save them, or I can choose not to."
"Just like the 'caneades' plank, if A must kill B in a moment of crisis to save himself, then it is self-defense."
"No matter what, I was just trying to save my own life. What crime have I committed?"
Mei Dai didn't know how long she had been standing at the door. When she came to her senses, her back was completely soaked.
Because another act of dishonesty will be added to his resume.
"I'm going back to my room to sleep."
Meidai left McCarteau's room dejectedly.
They didn't even have the courage to turn back.
Because Mibukuro is aware of her own incompetence, she wishes this whole thing never happened.
I just hope that everything will come to an end when tomorrow comes.
Jiang Liumei looked at the last line on the last page of the manuscript in her hand, and a rare, somewhat distorted expression appeared on her face!
So? Before tomorrow arrives? The killer remains undetectable?
In other words, only after a murder has occurred and it is known who died can the identity of the murderer be deduced.
so?
The three consecutive shooting incidents at the beginning of the story did not occur.
Or perhaps they exist, but are not continuous?
To be more precise, did the three shootings at the beginning of the story take place in a parallel universe?
If tomorrow doesn't come, then all three shootings could happen!
But once the timeline reaches tomorrow, the doors of the sanctuary are opened, and everything is observed, then everything will converge into one point!
Jiang Liumei gasped as she thought about all this!
My entire brain felt like it had been electrocuted by a million volts of electricity!
Everything went blank in an instant!
When Jiang Liumei regained consciousness, she realized that she may have witnessed history and a miracle!
Because Maijo Kyosuke's short story "Conclusion" seems to have broken free from all the rules of detective fiction since Edgar Allan Poe published "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" in 1841, which laid the foundation for the detective fiction system!
It's a true leap out in the fullest sense!
Because of the past 139 years of detective fiction history.
In most detective novels, the detective is on the side of justice, even if the detective's role is evil.
Ultimately, the author will use "direct judgment" at the end of the work to tell the readers who the real murderer is!
However, Maijo Kyosuke's "Convergence" is completely different, because "Convergence" creates a detective named McCato who has a bad personality, is greedy, and refuses to help those in distress.
As a detective, McCarte foresaw that someone would commit murder in the Sanctuary, yet he chose not to save the person who was destined to be killed!
Instead, it presents a "hypothetical judgment":
If B is the victim, then A is the murderer; if C is the victim, then B is the murderer; if D is the victim, then C is the murderer.
This method involves deducing the identity of the murderer based on the victim's death.
But until the timeline comes to a close, no one knows who the victim is.
Therefore, the logical relationship is that no one knows who the murderer is.
It is something that has never existed in the 1390-year history of detective fiction!
As Jiang Liumei thought about these things, a smug smile appeared on her face.
Because "The Convergence" surpasses all Japanese mystery writers.
Even if you brought over the Ellery Queen brothers, the "Kings of Logic" at their peak, they still wouldn't be able to beat Kyosuke Maijo!
For the past 139 years, all detective novels have been adding to, subtracting from, multiplying, and dividing Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"...
However, Kyosuke Maijo's "Convergence" succeeded in breaking free from all the frameworks of "The Murder in the Rue Morgue" and truly achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1!
If Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" created a system of detective fiction that influenced countless people afterward, then...
Then Maijo Kyosuke's "Convergence" completely reconstructs the entire system of mystery novels!
Once Maijo Kyosuke's "Conclusion" is published, the Japanese mystery literature scene will enter a completely new era!