722 Death Poll

 

The hotel entrance was closed, so everyone should be there already. Everyone sat around the dining table and examined the dead body.

“The killer is among us. I hope he won’t make a meaningless struggle. Surrendering is beneficial to everyone. If he’s captured, the punishment is going to be more severe.” The officer placed his hands on the table. He was the only person standing. He looked down on others as if showing his superiority.

“How can you be sure that the killer is among us?” The scriptwriter asked. “Perhaps the murderer has escaped after committing the murder.”

“Impossible.” The weak boss shook his head. “Ever since the hotel was enveloped by the black mist, you could only enter and not leave the hotel. Everyone who tried to leave would be killed by something in the mist. I have no idea what it is. We call them Unknown for now.”

“Then, let’s think about this from a different perspective. Why would the killer kill him? What is the connection between the victim and the killer? What is the motive? Why would the killer take away the victim’s brain?” The scriptwriter stood up. When no one dared to challenge the officer, he stood up and provided a second voice.

“Perhaps we can check the victim’s clothes and his room. We might find something.” Han Fei or Mad Laughter said. He seemed to know the scriptwriter.

“Okay. I was thinking about that too.” The officer examined the victim’s effect before everyone. “The fatal wound is on the head. He might have been hit by a blunt object, and then the killer gouged out his brain. This is a very unique mo. The killer might be a madman who likes to collect human organs.”

“That can’t be.” The scriptwriter interrupted. “If they like to collect human organs, they wouldn’t have attacked the head because it’d ruin his collection.”

“You sound like a professional.” The officer’s tone was normal, but his smile was uncomfortable.

“The man is wearing the theme park uniform. Perhaps the killer did this to take revenge on the theme park.” The scriptwriter was openly challenging the officer. He walked to the dining table and ‘assisted’ the officer in examining the body. This small action made the atmosphere tense. But the scriptwriter didn’t mind it. He seemed to be doing this on purpose.

After a while, the officer and the scriptwriter found a theme park work id from the victim’s pocket. The id had no photo, and the body was blurred out. But the silhouette didn’t look like the victim.

“This is not the victim’s id.”

“Then why is it in his pocket? Did the killer place it there?”

Trying their best not to destroy the evidence, the officer and the scriptwriter found half of the theme park entrance ticket, a will, a bloody lollipop, and a broken knife on the victim.

“A will? Has the victim predicted his death?” The officer picked up the will to read, “If I die before nightfall, please don’t investigate my death. Consider that I’ve committed suicide. Don’t be suspicious of each other. That is the best way for more people to survive. You have already obtained what you need. Please don’t touch anything that you shouldn’t, or the next one might be you.”

“How can it be suicide when the brain has been taken away? The killer must have left this note behind.”

“Not necessarily.” The scriptwriter was deep in thought and stopped touching the body.

The officer didn’t think much of it. He undid the victim’s jacket. He found a poker card inside the victim’s sleeve, and it was the joker.

“A poker card? The magician?” He glanced at the magician and continued his search. The victim didn’t struggle before his death. His hands were unbruised and there was no dirt under his nails. There were no scratches or other wounds on his body either. He was probably killed by someone he knew.

“What is that?” Mad Laughter pointed at the victim’s neck. The man was wearing a strange necklace. It was two bloody flowers bound together, rooted in the same grave.

“Just a necklace.” The officer answered and then removed the victim’s jacket. He wanted to examine the victim’s back. As the victim was turned around, a sound came from the victim’s head. Everyone turned to the hollow back of the head. A ball of bloody paper came out. It touched the black box.

“Nobody move!” The officer ordered sternly. He carefully opened the paper. The message was pasted together from various newspapers and magazines. It looked like a ransom note.

“I’ve built a hotel inside my own brain. There are ten tenants inside. There is the thief, the bandit, the ambitionist, the child, the family, and the person I want to be.

“Each of them has a distinct personality. I’ve been watching them until the despair in my mind overwhelmed everything. I fell into deep water, and I was drowning. I was forced to reach out to them, but no one was willing to help me. They only saw themselves. I died in my own brain, and my spirit was gone. Even my memory was shattered into pieces.

“Thick black mist rolled in from the sea of despair. Once the sticky water covers the hotel, the new me will be reborn among the tenants. However, there are ten tenants and one me.

“Every soul is equal. I’ll let you choose who will be the new me.

“Drop the name of another tenant into the black box. The tenant with the least amount of vote will become part of the black mist.”

Han Fei had a bad feeling. The killer meant that there would only be one survivor among the ten. However, the selection was done through the process of elimination! They would see the person beside them die until there was only one remaining.

“I think I understand the meaning of the victim’s will now. As long as we choose one person each, then we’ll all survive with a tie.” The woman was kind and gentle.

“You’re right but don’t forget that the killer is among us! He will not do that. If we pick each other, the killer will not pick the person he’s supposed to, and one of us will die!” The officer said firmly.

“So, the problem now is still to find the killer.” The scriptwriter frowned deeply. He didn’t think the game was that simple.