According to Jobtran's memory, the second red pushpin on the channel line was located at the position of the ninth pushpin.
If these red thumbtacks are the murderer's murder notice, after a rough calculation, the specific time is still thirty-six hours.
"Paul, is there any equipment on board to notify all personnel on board?"
Joe Butron said with a smile that he had a good idea.
"Yes, there are alarm buzzers and horns that are usually only used when there is a shipwreck."
Paul replied.
"That's good, as long as we can notify everyone, it will be easy.
There is no time to lose, let’s go.”
Joe Butran patted Paul on the shoulder and said.
"Huh? Aren't you afraid of causing a panic?"
Paul asked in confusion.
"Two bodies that were no longer human, a water tank that had not been cleaned out, and the captain's disappearance, which one of these would not cause panic
In this case, let's just throw the jar into the mix.
Just downplay the authenticity of the story and people will believe it.
When people first hear some counterintuitive stories, they will doubt it at first, but after we downplay the story, no one will delve further into it except for a few complaints.
This is the logical inertia of human beings. "
Joe Butran said confidently.
"You mean lying? Lies are easy to be exposed, and will make people suspicious, right?"
Paul did not quite understand what Jobtran said and questioned him.
“No, no, no, we just watered down the story.
Just fade it down to the point where it's inconspicuous.
Only people with evil intentions will know the truth of the matter. If he needs to hide, he will naturally have flaws.
Don't worry, just wait and see what happens."
Joe Butran explained to Paul.
Paul raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, let's see your performance."
“Before the performance, we still need the actors to be in place.
I think Aldridge should wake up now."
Jobtran looked at his pocket watch and saw that two hours had passed quietly.
The two men walked to Aldridge's door, which was closed at this time. Paul went forward to open the door, but found that it was locked.
Paul turned and gave Jobtran a look, and both of their expressions became serious.
Because they both knew that they had not locked the door when they left.
"Aldridge, are you awake?"
Paul asked while knocking on the door.
But there was no response from inside the door, and Paul continued to bang on it.
Joe Butran held Paul's hand and shook his head.
He took out a paper clip from his pocket, straightened it, squatted down, fiddled with the keyhole for a few times, and opened the door lock.
"Don't be surprised, this is a skill that every private investigator must have."
Joe Butron said self-deprecatingly.
He recalled the conversation he had with Sif at that time, and it seemed a bit ironic now.
Jobtran gently pushed open the door, and what he saw was a mess, and Aldridge was obviously not in the room.
There were traces of a fight on the floor of the room. The sheets and quilts were twisted into a ball, and several glass cups were smashed into pieces on the floor.
There were still some bloodstains on the ground, and the most suspicious thing was that there seemed to be a deliberate mark left on the bedside table.
It was a letter left on the finger in blood - G.
Paul looked at Jobtran with suspicion and said,
"If you hadn't been in my sight just now, I would have suspected that it was you who did it."
Joet Brown frowned.
"There is always a loophole. I originally just wanted Aldridge to rest for a while, but I didn't expect the murderer to act in advance.
It was a provocation to us, but the question now is, where is Aldridge?"
"Does it matter where he is? Since the murderer has already attacked Odric, if it is one of the four major punishments, he can't live more than twenty-four hours."
Paul said sadly.
“No, no, no, we can’t follow his script.
We have our way, everything is going according to plan, it’s just a matter of taking a few extra steps.”
This is what Joe Butran replied.
"Paul, please go back and seal off this scene."
"No problem, shall we go to the communications room now?"
"Well, let's go."
Before leaving, Joe Butran memorized all the arrangements in the room, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"I received your provocation."
——
“Ding ding ding”
The alarm coming from the communications room could be heard throughout the ship. This harsh and continuous high-frequency noise caught the attention of everyone on the ship, and both crew members and passengers temporarily stopped their work or chores.
As the buzzing alarm sounded, people began to stick their heads out of their rooms.
"Hey! What's going on?"
"Who should I ask if you ask me?"
"Go to the deck, go to the deck, the ship's staff are instructing us to gather on the deck!"
"Oh, okay."
"What's the hurry? I'm still making coffee."
"What time are you still making coffee? This is a shipwreck alarm!"
"Ah? No wonder the boat stopped."
Several crew members in sailor uniforms were directing passengers at the end of each corridor, shouting,
"Passengers, please gather on the deck. Please be orderly and calm!"
People came out of their rooms, and crew members in each area checked to see if all passengers in each room had come out.
Passengers on the entire ship gradually came to the deck and found that there were staff members holding up makeshift wooden signs.
Each wooden sign corresponds to a floor on the ship, and the staff shouted,
"Please line up on the far right for passengers on the first floor, in the middle for passengers on the second floor, and on the far left for passengers on the third floor."
Under the guidance of the crew, the passengers lined up in three neat rows, and people were discussing what was happening.
“Ladies and gentlemen on board, this is Second Officer Paul, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to participate in our shipwreck drill.
Yes, this is a drill.”
Paul stood on the water tank on the right with a smile on his face and shouted loudly to everyone.
"What? You're calling us out for just an exercise? Time is precious!"
"Yeah, who's free to do drills with you?"
Paul put his hands in the air and gestured for silence.
"We were indeed inconsiderate in not notifying you in advance, but there were reasons and we had to do this. We hope that all passengers will forgive us."
After saying this polite remark, Paul put away the smile on his face. Even though his smile was fake to begin with, his stern expression made the passengers believe what he was about to say.
“Paul would like to apologize to everyone again. Our voyage has now entered the high seas, and we are likely to encounter pirate ships.
Our crew members are all fearless and brave, and we should have dealt with the pirates along the way in advance, but in order to avoid encountering some rogue ones, it is necessary to conduct a shipwreck drill.
On behalf of the Cyclopes crew, I assure you that we will do our best to protect you during this journey."
"Ah? That's it? It doesn't sound like anything serious?"
There were some discordant remarks from the crowd, which was exactly what Jobtran had expected.
It is because of such people that the next step can be carried out well.
“Well said sir, pirates do not sound like a big problem.
This time I called everyone here because I have another piece of news to announce, a piece of news that could put our entire crew in crisis. Do you want to know?"
Everyone was shocked when they heard this, no one wanted their life to be in danger.
Paul stamped his foot and said,
"If there are careful passengers, you may notice that we were cleaning the water tank under my feet yesterday.
There are rumors about this water tank on the ship, and I want to tell you here that the water in this tank has been contaminated.
Our captain and security team leader were also seriously injured while tracking down the source of the pollution and are currently recuperating.
As for the damn pollution source, we have found it, but we cannot rule out the existence of residual pollution."
At this time, Paul took out the body of a mouse from the bag he had prepared in advance, and held the mouse's tail to show it to everyone.
“Yes, it’s a rat, but there seems to be a nasty virus in these rats that is contagious, and the symptoms are quite strange.
The infected person will have a black mark at the base of the foot. As the mark spreads, he will gradually start coughing and having a fever.
At present, we only know that this virus seems to be able to be transmitted through water sources, so the water supply in this tank will be stopped, and the daily fresh water supply will be changed from 24 hours to nine hours, until we go to Iceland and replenish the fresh water supply.
The staff will thoroughly clean the cabin and the rooms where the passengers live. This is a necessary measure to eliminate the virus that may still exist on the ship.
In addition, we are not sure whether the virus in this mouse is transmissible from human to human, so for everyone's safety.
Our ship's doctor, Mr. Joe Boutrang, will go to each guest room to conduct some basic checks and ask you some questions. I hope you can understand. "
After hearing this, Jobtran, who was standing right under the water tank, waved to the passengers and deliberately and inadvertently revealed a makeshift pendant made of pebbles that was hastily tied to his chest with a rope.
Sif saw Jobtran in the crowd, and Jobtran noticed Sif's gaze and winked mischievously in response.
Sif realized that Jobtran's action must have been in collusion with Paul, so she prepared to ask Jobtran what was going on after the crowd dispersed.
Paul's remarks were naturally arranged in advance by Jobtran, so as to downplay the seriousness of the problem and make it sound more convincing.
A possible plague is better than telling the public there's a serial killer on board.
Although people had complaints, they all understood that this was the best the crew could do.
Seeing that Paul's speech had ended, people left the deck in a hurry. No one wanted to stand next to this pollution source for another second.
In addition to Jobtran and his group, there was also an old man left on the deck.
The old man was wearing a neat suit, a black bow tie, a silver-plated cane, and a tall gentleman's hat.
He looked like a man of extraordinary appearance. He wore a pair of glasses and slowly walked towards Paul who had just climbed down the escalator.
Seeing this, Joe Butran walked towards the old man quickly and took the initiative to speak,
"Old man, how can I help you?"
The old man saw Joe Butran blocking his way, but he did not show any displeasure, but replied with a smile,
"I am a doctor. I wonder if I can be of some help to everyone on board?"
When Sif saw the old man's actions, she took a closer look at the enthusiastic old man.
She suddenly remembered that she seemed to have seen the photo of this inconspicuous and enthusiastic old man in the college newspaper.
"Excuse me, sir. Are you Robert Koch?"①
Sif walked forward and asked.
"Oh, it seems this young lady knows me?"
The old man smiled and took off his hat and put it on his chest.
"I am."
"Oh, Mr. Jobtran, I bet you need the help of Professor Robert Koch."
After hearing this, Sif turned to Jobtran and said,
"This person is a professor of hygiene at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin and a very famous microbiologist in the academic community."
After hearing Sif's introduction, Jobtran understood Sif's intention.
Perhaps the words that Paul said aroused the interest of Professor Robert, and it was obvious that I, a fake ship doctor, could not deceive the real expert in front of me, so Sif was reminding me to be careful by taking the initiative to introduce myself.
"Ha! It's the famous Professor Robert. It would be great if you could help me.
However, the mouse used for display was not the one carrying the disease, and the original one that was discovered had been destroyed.
Can we talk about the details for a moment?"
As Joe Butran spoke, he winked at Paul.
Paul, who was always cautious, had been observing the conversation between the two, so he stepped forward and said,
"If you two need a place to talk, you can go to my room."
"Ms. Sif, I'll find you later."
Joe Butran said.
Sif nodded and left tactfully. Only a few staff members who were cleaning the deck in the distance and Jobtran and his two companions were left on the deck.
"Professor Robert, please move."
Paul stepped forward and suggested.
"Oh, no. If it's a highly contagious bacteria or virus, it would be better for you to stay in a place with good air circulation.
I'll just get to the point, I want to see the patient and the mouse.
Oh, by the way, Mr. Joe Butran, the ship's doctor, since this happened, why didn't you wear a mask and gloves
Where are the corresponding sterilizers? Which university did you graduate from? "
Professor Robert said so.
Professor Robert's eyes were full of wisdom. This enthusiastic old man obviously saw through Jobtran's tricks and was not kept in the dark.
His professional knowledge allowed him to clearly perceive the logical loopholes behind the rhetoric, which was just empty talk uttered without professional knowledge.
After hearing this, Joe Butran thought for a while and shook his head.
“As you can see, I’m not a ship’s doctor, and you know the problem isn’t rats or a virus.
Under these circumstances, do you still want to know the truth? "
Professor Robert smiled after hearing this.
“The truth is that a person died in the water tank.
No matter how much disinfectant you use, you can't cover up the smell of blood.
Tell the truth, young man."