“Who on earth could the culprit be?”
No way to tell! Elder Oh retraced several descriptions and circumstances, but he couldn’t find a single clue about the perpetrator.
What on earth did Jeong-gal Seol-rok see? Wouldn’t he tarnish the name of our ancestors? Elder Oh flipped the pages with a racing heart.
[Is anyone there?]
[Who are you?]
“Next day. Just a bit before noon. When I opened the door to see if Officer Jung had arrived, the one who showed up was someone completely different.”
“A huge guy with a bear-like body and wolfish eyes. He was so large that I felt small in comparison.”
“In a moment of intimidation, I lowered my head and noticed his slightly awkward right leg, which only someone like a doctor would recognize.”
[Could it be! Did you come to the medical hall?!]
“Finally, a guest! Excited, I pointed towards the medical hall, but a completely unexpected question slipped from the green-haired man’s lips.”
[Is this the medical hall?]
[…It seems you are looking for Jeong-gal.]
“Of course, that couldn’t be right.”
——
[Someone came quickly from the post office.]
[Young master, why not recruit some help? I’ve been guiding guests for already a month.]
“Of course, Jeong-gal’s guests weren’t that numerous, but guiding guests is something a servant should do, not a tenant.”
“Although there was a middle-aged woman of the Heo family managing the mansion, there were just too few people for the size of the place.”
“When I complained, the landlord glanced at me and chuckled softly before responding.”
[If the tenant brings in rent, I might consider it.]
[…For the time being, if guests arrive, just leave it to me.]
“I firmly resolved in my heart that until a specific word slipped from the landlord’s mouth, I must continue to show goodwill, even for the sake of the detective named.”
“Hehehe! Now I see why Jeong-gal Seol-rok smiles whenever he sees Kang Jun!”
[Hahaha! Tell the next guest not to wait and bring them right in.]
——
[Where’s the detective?]
“As noon struck, Officer Jung arrived at the mansion.”
[You didn’t come alone, did you?]
“Behind Officer Jung was an empty cart. No, it was Nak Ho-pil along with other Ho-pil and constables forming a line.”
[Isn’t it working hours?]
[Follow me.]
“I watched the endless stream of constables and resolved to ask them if they were hurt whenever I got the chance, leading them to the medical hall.”
[Officer Jung is also here.]
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok halted his conversation with the previous guest and gestured towards Officer Jung who entered the living room.”
[Did you have a prior appointment? Wait a moment.]
[No. I’ll just come later.]
[Sit down. It won’t take long to finish this discussion.]
[Then what…….]
“The living room wasn’t spacious enough to fit all the constables, but it was suitably wide for guests, so only the Ho-pil entered while the constables waited in the medical hall’s garden.”
[Officer Jung! This isn’t the time for that. We need to arrest and interrogate all related parties immediately.]
“Nak Ho-pil, likely unhappy about visiting a place repeatedly disrupted by Jeong-gal Seol-rok, frowned and whined to his superior.”
[Nak Ho-pil, be quiet. Detective. You’ve solved the problem? What does that mean?]
[I want to discuss the case.]
“No way! Have you found some clues?!”
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok nodded and sat beside the chairs where Officer Jung and the Ho-pil were sitting.”
[Think back for a moment. The culprit created an amusing situation to frame it as a robbery. Remember?]
“It was just two days ago. Officer Jung nodded as if that was obvious.”
[I’m not so forgetful. They splattered blood on the deck pretending to be robbed and scattered green hair everywhere.]
[Right. Bandits or robbers have green hair as a unique trait after mastering martial arts. It’s common to look for hair on a ship to verify if it was a robbery.]
[What! Do you think we’re that dumb?]
“Nak Ho-pil questioned, but it wasn’t a good choice judging by the frown of Officer Jung next to him.”
[Of course, the culprit knew that too, so they scattered the green hair at the scene. Those empty carts, lacking brains but making a lot of noise, would gather green hair by themselves.]
[You little!]
“The Ho-pil felt embarrassed after having his mistake pointed out, his face turning red as he clenched his fist, but was immediately stopped by his superior.”
[Nak Ho-pil! Enough! Detective, what else do you want to say?]
“Perhaps because he had just cut off someone’s words, Jeong-gal Seol-rok looked at Nak Ho-pil with satisfaction, then pulled something from his chest.”
[There’s a saying about killing two birds with one stone. The hair wasn’t just for camouflage.]
[What’s that you’re holding?]
[It’s the culprit’s hair I found in the captain’s cabin.]
“Green hair. The hair Jeong-gal Seol-rok pulled out was the green hair scattered all over the ghost ship.”
[Now, are you going to deny your own words?! Saying it was fake evidence the culprit left behind?!]
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok shrugged, displaying the hair to everyone.”
[Where it was located matters. This was hair found in the captain’s large wine jar.]
[The wine jar…?]
“Only then did I recall the identity of the hair. Something Jeong-gal Seol-rok discovered in the wine jar that he dismissed as nothing. It was indeed hair.”
“Before we even had time to be surprised, Jeong-gal Seol-rok continued speaking.”
[Those who plot a crime need to consider variables. Even if attacked while the crew sleeps, what if any alert postmen, who weren’t killed in one blow, become agitated? How could mere crew members confront postmen of the terrifying post office?]
[Does that mean there was an accomplice! But there were only postmen and crew on board the ship carrying the cargo!]
[The captain might steer the ship, but all items onboard are managed by the postmen. However, there’s someone who commands respect even from those postmen.]
“Among those sitting, no one would fail to know who Jeong-gal Seol-rok was speaking about.”
[…The captain.]
[Correct. Items entering the captain’s quarters aren’t checked even by postmen. It wouldn’t have been difficult for someone who could easily deal with the postmen to toss a body into the wine jar that the captain always kept filled.]
[Could it truly be hair from the culprit?]
“There wouldn’t be anyone to put hair into that wine jar. The identity of that hair’s owner was glaringly obvious.”
[Ha! Are you telling us that just identifying the color of the culprit’s hair is all you had us gather for? If that was it, why didn’t you just say it earlier instead of keeping it hidden?!]
[What would happen if hair were found in the empty cart?]
[…….]
“The hair of the culprit was the same color as that of the postmen. Do you know what could have happened, even Nak Ho-pil couldn’t speak.”
“[Pretending to be attacked by the robbers, all to hide his own hair color? Right. Anything more to tell?]”
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok shook his head.”
“The ghost ship with the vanished corpse. There’s nothing more to know. Indeed, it seems even he couldn’t derive anything further. As a small despair crossed the faces of the Ho-pil, he responded with a smile.”
[A ghost ship where even the body has vanished. There may have been a small error, but no decisive clues appeared. Unless the culprit makes a significant blunder later.]
[Did you find something!!!]
[There was a fight in the guest room.]
[A fight? In the room where the captain died?]
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok nodded as he began unraveling the answer to the problem.”
[The captain and the culprit drank together. The captain prepared the culprit’s cup, but he didn’t fully trust him. After all, he had a dagger hidden in his sleeve. As the alcohol flowed, emotions ran high, and for whatever reason, an argument ensued.]
[How do you know that?]
[I saw an item thrown in the corner of the guest room.]
[An item?]
[People have a tendency to throw items at each other when angry.]
“I didn’t want his answers to stop, so I geared up to support him instead of anyone else.”
[That’s it! In the end, the captain met his demise. Up to this point, it doesn’t matter much. The culprit likely didn’t think too much about it. The problem occurred next!]
“Maybe thanks to my timely support. Or perhaps, Jeong-gal Seol-rok was finally uninterrupted. His voice began to rise with anticipation—the thrill of someone who found an answer to a question. Overjoyed like someone who barely fitted through a narrow needle’s eye.”
[Mistake?]
[He didn’t clean up after himself. Oh no! I seem to be keeping the postmaster waiting too long.]
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok paused in his excitement, glancing at the guest as if the story would drag on.”
[It’s fine. You can carry on, really.]
“The guest waved away the concern, slowly preparing to stand up.”
[Pay the advance first. Here. Take this purse of money.]
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok shook the purse shimmering with golden light before tossing it toward the postmaster.”
“Perhaps he was too excited. The speed of the thrown purse seemed too fast, and the direction didn’t appear right.”
“If he didn’t catch it, it would smack against the wall. The contents inside would burst out and scatter chaotically on the ground.”
“Fortunately, that disaster did not happen.”
[Don’t go overboard with jokes.]
“The startled guest rose on his uncomfortable leg and deftly received the purse, glaring at Jeong-gal Seol-rok with a look of rage.”
“No matter how much of a landlord he was, he needed to apologize for this. All eyes in the living room turned to Jeong-gal Seol-rok, but the landlord’s expression showed no sign of regret.”
“No, rather, he wore a face of immense satisfaction as he stared at the guest’s left hand gripping the purse.”
[Thanks to that, I could figure something out. The culprit is left-handed.]
[What?]
[I found the traces of a left-handed person on the banquet table the culprit failed to tidy up. The captain is definitely right-handed.]
[…….!]
[A practitioner of light body movement who isn’t skilled leaped down from the fourth floor. Leaving a huge footprint. And they slightly injured their leg.]
[Their leg?]
[He injured his right foot. I could see the imperfect print left behind during the landing. A tall man with large feet injured his leg, how obvious would that be? Wouldn’t you agree?]
“Jeong-gal Seol-rok directed his gaze towards the person gathering attention.”
“Could it be?!”
“We followed his gaze, confirming the distinctive features of a single person starting from the top.”
“Green hair.”
“Tall stature.”
“Left-handed.”
“A man with an injured right foot.”
“When our gaze landed on his large feet.”
[Allow me to introduce you. The postmaster of the Black Green Post! Ah! Also the culprit of the ghost ship incident!]
[…….]
“A silence deeper than surprise and horror settled upon us.”
[What are you doing? Stop and catch him already!]
