“Looking at the information provided by the two people and the data from the constables, it seems the suspect list is narrowing down.”
Since last night, no one has left the mansion where the murder took place. If Miss Im Ha-yeon and Miss Zhuge are to be believed, the culprit must be an insider.
“I, I don’t think we can narrow it down to one person…”
Miss Zhuge frowned while skimming through the materials brought by the constables.
“Thank you for filtering out the suspects, though there’s no need to apologize.”
There was no need for her to feel sorry. I thanked Miss Zhuge, who seemed needlessly apologetic.
“I’m in a bit of a pickle trying to figure out how to find the fake Shadowless Thief.”
Seriously, where did they even get a paper crane? If we can’t catch the culprit today, it’ll become a case of the less-than-heroic Shadowless Thief instead of a heroic one.
As the frustrating atmosphere lingered, I cautiously stepped inside the crime scene.
What happened at midnight? Is there no way to catch the culprit? It’d be nice if I could find even a small clue.
Like the two women, I am neither a martial arts expert nor a thieving expert. All I can do is… Aha.
Just then, a thought flickered through my mind.
“I am the culprit….”
In the middle of the crime scene, I closed my eyes and murmured quietly.
“W-wait! You mean Master Kang is the culprit?!”
Miss Zhuge gasped in surprise and asked me.
“N-no. That’s not what I meant. It’s a method of investigation in Joseon. If you immerse yourself in the position of the culprit, you might uncover unexpected evidence.”
I’ve become quite skilled at immersive acting. If there’s an easy deduction method I can do, it has to be imagining myself as the criminal.
“Hehe! The way of Joseon is quite unique.”
“Anyway, I’ll give it a try. Please wait outside so I won’t be disturbed.”
“Y-yes.”
The two women nodded and quietly observed me from outside the doorway.
When they look at me with such eager expressions, it puts pressure on me. But what can I do? I said I would try, so I have to go through with it.
“I am the culprit… I am the culprit… A rookie thief with no martial arts skills. Sadly, while trying to rob the safe, I ended up running into the homeowner, and a disaster ensued….”
I acted as if I were indeed a thief, suddenly turning to the door with a surprised expression.
“It feels incredibly realistic!”
“O, sister. I think Master Kang has many talents!”
It’s like I’m not doing deduction anymore but rather acting. Well then, whether it’s method acting or deduction, if being in front of people breaks my immersion, I wouldn’t be Kang Yoon-ho.
I began to concentrate again.
I already knew how the victim died.
What I needed to uncover was the information about the perpetrator. Let’s follow the series of events where a rookie thief commits a heinous crime.
Maybe it’s slightly funny or pitiful how unfamiliar this deduction method feels; Miss Zhuge and Miss Im Ha-yeon continued to watch me silently.
Did I miss something?
I imagined the whole process from when the culprit dealt the final blow to the victim until they became a cold corpse, but nothing came to mind.
Was it all in vain after all?
I’m not some detective stumbling onto a case while off on vacation, nor am I some brilliant sleuth where murder follows me everywhere—there’s no way I could come up with a deduction.
As a last-ditch effort, I tried to imitate the perpetrator’s lingering footsteps, but all I got was that the culprit’s foot was male.
“Have you found anything?”
Miss Im Ha-yeon asked me from outside.
No. I didn’t uncover anything. I felt like I had taken myself too seriously. Embarrassed, I stared intensely at the blood-stained footprints, then raised my head.
“Nothing particular is coming to mind. After all, if even experts like Miss Im Ha-yeon and Miss Zhuge can’t find anything, how could I…? Huh?”
When I looked up, I saw the two women wearing disappointed expressions outside.
Wait a minute. Could this be…?
I double-checked just in case.
“What’s wrong?”
“I-is there something wrong?!”
Not replying to the two women, I once again moved my body according to my reasoning.
Indeed, my guess was correct. There was something we had missed.
“I know who it is.”
Among the narrowed suspect list, one perpetrator comes to mind.
“Really?!”
“Miss Ha-yeon, I’ll be stepping out for a moment. Please help me with my request.”
To uncover the culprit, I needed Miss Ha-yeon’s assistance.
“Sure. It’s not too difficult a request. So, is that person the culprit?”
“I’ll leave that as a surprise for when I return.”
I told the constables that I was stepping out briefly and hurriedly left the mansion.
—
“Master Ho Pil! You’re back!”
Ah, the perks of power are wonderful. After stepping out briefly from the mansion, the constables greeted me with far more disciplined faces than before.
“Where is everyone?”
“Everyone has been gathered in the inner chamber.”
“M-Master Kang?!”
Miss Zhuge approached me with a pale face.
“Miss Zhuge, are you unwell?”
“Hehe. T-there are too many people…”
“I must have underestimated things. If you’re feeling uncomfortable, would you like to go back to the inn first?”
“N-no. I-I said I’d stay with you. And, you know, Miss Ha-yeon is right next to Master Kang.”
Miss Zhuge gestured towards Miss Im Ha-yeon, who had followed behind her, fiddling with her fingers. There really was no need to force yourself.
Miss Im Ha-yeon looked concerned about what was going on and said to me with a grave expression.
“It went just as you predicted.”
So, there shouldn’t be any problems. I nodded with satisfaction.
“Everyone, it might be difficult to mingle with the crowd, so please stay back. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Y-yes.”
“Got it.”
“Please step this way. Master Ho Pil is entering!”
Following the constable’s guidance, I approached the gathering of people in the inner chamber.
“How long do you plan to keep us here? Are you really treating us like murder suspects?!”
“My cousin’s friend’s father works in the government! I will make sure to remember this!”
It’s quite chaotic. It seems everyone’s dissatisfaction is apparent on their faces.
“It’s already well past noon! You can’t possibly intend to hold us until sunset, can you?!”
“Detainment will be over shortly.”
Skillfully utilizing the Small Wheel Mental Image Technique, I spoke in a serious tone that resounded throughout the inner chamber.
“Who?”
“I am the Head of the Right Guards, Kang Yoon-ho, who has been entrusted with full authority over this Shadowless Thief incident.”
I declared my identity to the assembled people.
“Is that the black-haired Ho Pil?”
“Ah! He’s the one the constables were talking about, the black-haired Ho Pil!”
“Who is he?”
“Don’t you remember the ghost ship incident from a while ago?”
“Are you talking about the Lush Green Post Office incident? The one that the famous Ho Pil solved? Oh my! The renowned Ho Pil is here!”
Just how much are the Joseon person associations bragging about this? It’s to the point where everyone seems to know me.
It must have spread well due to the shocking nature of the incident, but resolving one case has made me feel like a famous detective.
“I feel embarrassed by the small fame.”
I humbled myself while projecting an air of authority as Ho Pil. It was time to officially start the investigation; I surveyed the surroundings with a firm gaze.
“Why did you gather us?”
“Exactly! If you’re tasked with handling the Shadowless Thief incident, then shouldn’t you be solving that instead?!”
“The Shadowless Thief murdered a person, yet how long do you plan to detain us?!”
I’m declaring that I’m going to solve this case now. Do you really need to shout that everyone currently moving is a culprit for it to sink in?
“Be quiet! Isn’t Master Ho Pil about to speak?!”
Fortunately, thanks to the new status the victim’s wife gained after just a day, the crowd quickly quieted down.
“Before unveiling the truth of this incident, I’d like to clarify the biggest misunderstanding surrounding it!”
Should I dive into the detailed explanation now? I took a small breath before looking at the audience and began to speak.
“Misunderstanding?”
“This incident was not carried out by the Shadowless Thief.”
I proclaimed it with a resolute expression like a judge announcing a verdict.
“What do you mean?! No evidence of the Shadowless Thief was found!”
“This incident is a copycat crime! Even if the Shadowless Thief’s reputation was used to kill someone, it was a crime intended to lead us away from the real culprit.”
“What do you mean by that?”
I didn’t plan to list every piece of evidence for them. I looked over to Constable Jung, who had been gazing at me with a blank expression in one corner.
“Constable Jung! Please stay still over there.”
“Wh-what? Understood.”
“Last night! The thief rummaging through the safe! Met the homeowner by chance upon hearing a noise, resulting in a gruesome turn of events! The distance of these two people during the confrontation was this much!”
“And so?”
“I will now replicate the First Action the thief took against the victim last night!”
Starting by clearing the accusations.
I’ll show them, just for 5 minutes, to make sure they believe me.
“You mean copy it?”
I demonstrated the act of rummaging through the safe, the surprise of seeing the homeowner walk in through the door, and quickly moving to approach the homeowner with a dagger taken from my person.
Reaching five steps to stab!
“Ugh!”
Constable Jung, I’m not actually stabbing you. I didn’t expect that degree of acting! Constable Jung hunched over as if he had actually been stabbed.
“It’s quite realistic! So what does that prove about the Shadowless Thief?”
“It has a significant bearing. Do you know how many steps I took from where I stood to where Constable Jung was?”
I took five deliberate steps back so they could count.
“Five steps?”
“Exactly. According to traces at the crime scene, the culprit approached the victim in just five steps.”
“What does five steps have to do with the Shadowless Thief?!”
Oh, it has a significant bearing.
I gather my energy into the Yongcheon point. There’s no need for it to be Shadowless Thief. I can do it well enough.
“If I were the Shadowless Thief!”
“Huh! In one step!”
Just one step. It only took one step to reach Constable Jung.
“I’m also trained in the light body technique, so I can manage this level. However, if a thief leaps over a wall several times taller than a person and then decides to kill someone, how would they have moved?”
“Truly!”
“That’s right! When fighters engage, they move in an instant!”
“Is the Shadowless Thief a fake?”
“The countless hints remaining at the scene point to the perpetrator as a rookie thief, a male without martial arts skills! And since no one has left this house since last night…”
I deliberately paused, adopting a heavy tone as if I were a seasoned detective, scanning the crowd.
“Wait, no way?!”
What could my actions mean? People began to catch on without needing to ask.
“Yes. The culprit is among us.”
I shouted a line that sounded like a famous last line where at least someone falls to their demise.
“One of us is the culprit?!”
“Do you know who the culprit is?!”
I nodded towards the crowd.
“Wh, who is the culprit?!”
“The culprit is…”
I passed by the main wife and moved beside the Head of Guards, glancing at the concubine with a wound on her neck, and moved next to the trembling servants.
Ah, they can sigh in relief; they’re not the ones. I approached the group of people standing before me.
“Huh?”
There stood a young man with a sturdy build, lurking quietly among the crowd like a hyena waiting for his time to strike.
If I hadn’t pointed him out, the people would hardly have noticed he was even there.
He shouldn’t have been so forgettable, but circumstances had made him so.
I pointed my finger at him.
“The victim’s son. Eom, it’s you.”
