“It turns out that detective novels can be written this way!”
Dezhi guessed the murderer while reading the novel, suspecting one by one, eliminating one by one, and guessing the motives and methods of almost everyone he thought was a suspect...
In the end, he was still tricked by Chu Kuang!
So when he saw Poirot say the name of the murderer, his hair stood on end and cold sweat broke out.
While being shocked, he cursed, thinking that this was an act of fooling the readers—
This is also true.
Chu Kuang is just fooling the readers!
The word "foolish" is not an exaggeration in any sense of the word.
But why did Cao Dezhi feel ashamed
Because this is not an April Fool's joke, but a crushing IQ!
Through the confession and the analysis of the case, it can be seen that…
Apart from some obvious leaks that had to be avoided due to the narrative method, Chu Kuang did not deliberately conceal any clues in the book.
In some places, there are even strong hints in the text!
This is what you will discover by comparing the confession and reviewing it.
Therefore, this book can be regarded as a fairly fair duel of reasoning between the writer and the reader.
This is where Cao Dezhi is depressed...
Obviously Chu Kuang had already revealed the identity of the murderer through numerous foreshadowings in the previous chapters...
However, Chu Kuang also took advantage of the readers' assumptions and created a blind spot in reasoning, so when the ending was revealed, Cao Dezhi found it so incredible!
Dezhi felt like he had stepped into Chu Kuang's trap with his head held high.
They have already shown the evidence, but I, as a reader, just didn't notice it.
You know, some detective novels like to hide the key evidence at the end, in the detective's head. In that case, it is understandable that readers cannot guess the murderer.
Because the author did not write down the key evidence.
But A-Po is a very authentic writer, and she rarely hides the evidence until the end of her novels!
She will give readers the opportunity to solve the case and let them challenge the detective's speed in solving the case. It depends on whether the readers can see the details she hides in the text.
"I've read so many mystery novels..."
Cao Dezhi muttered to himself, then suddenly slapped his thigh:
"No, it's useless to read as many mystery novels as you can, because the description method of this novel is groundbreaking. There has never been such a writing style in the mystery novel circle before!"
That's why I almost instinctively think that "I" am not the murderer!
Because Cao Dezhi is substituted for "me"!
who I am
Shepard!
If Cao Dezhi had watched a TV series called "Wulin Waijia", he would definitely understand a man named Ji Wuming at this moment.
"I... killed me?"
But who stipulated that “I” cannot be the murderer
There has never been such a rule!
I just subconsciously ruled out "me" as the murderer.
What Chu Kuang did was very simple.
Break the rules and redefine what "everything is possible" means in reasoning!
“This is a work that almost subverts the traditional writing style of detective novels!”
Dezhi is almost certain that after the release of this novel, it will surely be imitated by countless mystery writers—
Dezhi’s judgment was not wrong.
On Earth, with the release of Agatha Christie's "The Mystery of Roger Affair", many people have imitated this creative technique.
This creative technique has a unique name.
"Narrative Strangeness"
Just as the name suggests.
It is a narrative trick, which means that the author uses the structure of the article or writing techniques to deliberately conceal or mislead certain facts from the readers, until the truth of the case is revealed at the end, making the readers feel indescribable shock.
Grandma is the pioneer of narrative weirdness!
Otherwise, why do people say that Grandma is a veteran in the world of reasoning
Narrative weirdness is just one of the creative methods she developed. The trend she also developed is even more terrifying.
In fact, as far as narrative weirdness is concerned, there are tributes and imitations to later works such as "The Fall of Dong Dong Suspension Bridge".
“The opportunity has come!”
After feeling extremely shocked, Cao Dezhi felt that his whole step was a little unsteady: "This novel will definitely be a hit!"
Silver and Blue Library’s mystery novels are not good
That was in the past!
Now we have Chu Kuang!
At this time, Cao Dezhi recalled the depression and reluctance on Lao Xiong's face when he handed the novel to him, and he almost couldn't help laughing out loud!
hey-hey.
Chu Kuang is a treasure!
If Cao Dezhi were to send Chu Kuang back to the Fantasy Department now, I'm afraid Cao Dezhi's expression would not be much better than Lao Xiong's.
you do not say.
Who would be willing to let go of such a thick thigh
It's our good luck that this great guy actually came to our reasoning department!
All I can say is…
A big shot like Chu Kuang is a big shot wherever he goes!
…
There was no doubt that "The Mystery of Roger Affair" had to be published and it had to be adequately promoted, so Cao Dezhi held a meeting for this purpose.
"Come and read this novel!"
The editors of the mystery department looked at each other, and finally looked at Cao Dezhi: "Boss, is there any good news?"
The editors had never seen Cao Dezhi so happy.
Cao Dezhi usually has a sad face because the company holds meetings every once in a while. As the editor-in-chief of the reasoning department, Cao Dezhi gets scolded in every meeting. How can he be happy after so many days
"You'll know after you read it!"
Cao Dezhi said smugly, "There are still three hours until the end of the shift, which is enough time for you to finish reading."
"That would be great."
Everyone is happy about it. The editor-in-chief said that they can put down their work and read novels here. How comfortable is that
Um.
It's really comfortable...
Some people lean on their chairs, some cross their legs, take a sip of tea from time to time, and read detective novels comfortably. This is the editors' ideal life!
Cao Dezhi did not criticize either.
Anyway, there is nothing big happening in the department. Since I have decided to make "The Mystery of Roger Affair" the focus of my work, I naturally have to let my subordinates know about it.
He also took this opportunity to re-watch "The Mysterious Case of Roger Affair".
Because he knew the ending and searched consciously, Cao Dezhi saw many details this time that he had overlooked when he read it for the first time.
For example, when he saw the third chapter...
"It turns out that the ending was foreshadowed as early as the first encounter. When Poirot first appeared, he accidentally dropped the pumpkin, and it hit Sheppard accurately."
Cao Dezhi laughed.
This reminded him of some metaphors in movies, but people who read it for the first time would never have such rich associations.
Then, after reading the description of Poirot in the book, Cao Dezhi felt that he liked this character even more.
also.
Re-examining Sheppard, Cao Dezhi felt somewhat emotional.
Poirot said in the book: Everyone has some evil thoughts latent in his heart. If he does not encounter any specific environment to stimulate him, he may live a decent life; but if he is tempted by something and the evil thoughts overcome his willpower, then he will be doomed.
Dr. Sheppard is the latter.
He is not a bad person by nature.
Imagine if he had told the truth about the cause of Fra's death and did not seek the windfall from that life, he could still live his life as an ordinary country doctor, which might be poor but decent; however, his obsession with money and desire for wealth ruined everything. He told a lie and had to use all his efforts to make up for it. What's more terrible is that he went further and further on the road of extortion, gradually went crazy, and lost self-control.
He was lost in a world of desires, longing to gain but afraid of losing, and finally he was doomed to failure.
But does he have any underlying remorse
Perhaps this manuscript is the best proof.
He still cherishes his reputation, so when the truth is about to be revealed, he does not hesitate to kill Roger.
An adventurous and decisive approach.
His confession was both a futile self-justification after committing murder and an alternative confession of constantly looking for other people's faults in order to find relief and comfort. Otherwise, he would not have chosen suicide to end his life.
He didn't want his sister to know the truth.
Although my sister is smart enough to guess that I want to commit suicide.
The sentence at the end of the novel is very interesting:
If only Poirot hadn't retired here to grow pumpkins.
This is Shepard's attachment to life.
By the time Cao Dezhi finished reading it for the second time, it was already getting late, and the editors had also read to the end.
"puff."
The editor on Cao Dezhi's right took a sip of tea and spit it out. He didn't bother to wipe it off and blurted out: "The murderer is Shepard!?"
Swish, swish, swish!
The other editors who had not yet finished reading immediately stared at the speaker with murderous eyes, their minds shattered.
"I kill you!"
“Why spoilers!”
“I haven’t finished watching it yet!”
"Although I've almost seen this... But I hate you so much!"
"… "
Many editors were angry.
But after venting their anger, everyone's expressions collectively fell into a state of astonishment and shock. It was obvious that they, like Cao Dezhi, had not guessed the truth.
And in shock.
Suddenly someone else shouted, "The murderer is Shepard!"
Everyone looked at this person with strange expressions: "Yes, didn't I just say that?"
"ah?"
The man scratched his head and said, "Sorry, I was so engrossed in watching that I didn't hear you."
How fascinating...
Everyone complained in their hearts and rolled their eyes. He said it out loud even though he didn’t hear it. He’s another spoiler!
certainly.
What followed was inevitably a discussion among the editors with lingering fears:
"Who wrote this novel? It's a bit perverted!"
"Boss, you're not going to poach Teacher Carter, are you?"
"The case is not top-notch, but the ending is simply amazing!"
"It completely overturned my understanding of detective novels..."
"If someone hadn't spoiled it for me, I would have been so shocked that I couldn't speak."
“This novel is going to be a hit!”
"Ah, I guessed Shepard before, but then I changed my mind. I didn't expect..."
"I guessed it in the fourth to last chapter, but I'm not sure... The murderer is actually not completely unpredictable, but it's too incredible. This is the first time I've seen such reasoning!"
“Who wrote it?”
"… "
Cao Dezhi met everyone's gaze and smiled faintly: "It's Chu Kuang."
The author of this novel is Chu Kuang—
Chu Kuang's fame in the mystery world started from this small editorial department!