Ch.203Prequel Episode 8. The Third Party

# A Booby Trap

It was a booby trap.

There was a white cord wrapped around the captain’s neck. When I unwound it to check, I could tell it was connected to the toilet lever.

It was a booby trap designed to kill by strangulation—when someone sitting on the toilet pushed the lever, a noose made from the toilet cord would catch around their neck and drag them to the wall until they suffocated.

“Who is it? Who the hell did this?”

“Allen.”

“There’s a sick bastard among us who was fiddling with booby traps while everyone else was drinking and laughing. Who is it, damn it?”

“Calm down, Allen. Based on the trap’s structure, all materials could be gathered and assembled inside the bathroom.”

“Then the culprit must be among those who went to the bathroom today. Who didn’t go to the bathroom?”

“……”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward Gustav.

Gustav had his hand raised high.

“I didn’t go. I only used the bathroom in my private quarters, not once did I use the navigation room’s bathroom today…”

“I didn’t see Gus go to the bathroom either.”

“Neither did I.”

“Then Gus is off the suspect list. The culprit is among the three of us.”

The sound of teeth grinding could be heard from Allen’s mouth.

Three people meant Allen, Gustav, and… uh…

“Wait. Three people? That includes me?”

“Of course.”

“But I have an alibi.”

“That’s an alibi for the first murder. Not for this incident. Besides, there’s no guarantee the booby trap was specifically set to kill the captain. Anyone who sat on the toilet and pushed the lever would have died. Maybe it’s the work of a psychopath unrelated to the parasite.”

“Oh……”

That made sense.

But why was he staring at me so intensely when emphasizing the word “psychopath”?

“Let’s do this then.”

“What?”

“Let’s cover the captain’s head. Ash, if you would.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Let’s split open his head and check if there’s a parasite inside. If there is a parasite, then whoever among us is the murderous psychopath did the right thing, right? If not, well, he’s just an unfortunate victim.”

“……”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Allen’s expression changed to something difficult to describe as he looked at me.

It was like the expression of someone who had encountered an incomprehensible otherworldly being and lost all sanity.

.

.

.

“Sigh……”

Silence fell over the medical room where everyone had gathered.

Under the bright lights, it was clearly visible.

Inside the split skull, a human brain full of wrinkles.

The captain was human.

Not an alien caught in some psychopath’s trap.

Though I had somewhat suspected it from when his pants were pulled up.

How could an alien possibly understand a human’s desperate effort to maintain dignity by pulling up their pants even while suffocating?

“So there’s still a parasite among us.”

“Hey, what the…! You split open the captain’s head and that’s all you have to say?!”

“Did I split it open? Ash did, didn’t he?”

“You told him to!”

“Come on. That’s enough, Allen. I feel a bit sorry for the captain, but it was a necessary process.”

“As far as I can tell, regardless of the parasite, that bitch Jin is clearly the murderer who set the booby trap. Damn it, I knew something was off when she started framing the perfectly normal captain as a murderer. She normally hides her psycho tendencies, but after drinking, she couldn’t control herself anymore!”

“I don’t think I’m hiding anything particularly…”

Allen was spitting as he cursed at me.

Among the three suspects, it obviously wasn’t me, so it had to be either Ash or Allen.

Seeing Allen throwing a tantrum while being such a captain fanboy, was the culprit Ash?

Or could an alien parasite really act that well?

I was getting confused.

“Wait a minute. Then why did the captain kill Ranger?”

“There you go again! The captain wasn’t a parasite!”

“Stop being a fanboy and get your head straight, Allen. You know that solar wind might burst LED lights but can never affect the control stick. What’s certain is that the captain knew the solar wind was coming, and while pretending it was the wind’s effect, he remotely manipulated the control stick to kill Ranger. I have no idea why though.”

“Grr……”

My head was starting to hurt.

Why did Ranger really die?

Could the captain have been a psychopathic murderer?

I didn’t dare say this out loud because Allen would obviously throw a fit.

Above all, the development of the captain being a psychopath would be an implausible twist that would get criticized if it appeared in a novel.

Huh? Why am I concerned about plausibility?

“Well… Let’s set aside unsolvable mysteries for now and focus on finding who set the booby trap. It’s much more likely that a murderous parasite did this than there being a psychopathic murderer besides the parasite.”

Gustav, who had been quietly watching from behind, spoke up.

Perhaps because he was a confirmed innocent, his attitude was overflowing with composure.

Originally, I was supposed to be off the suspect list too, but Allen kept insisting on the absurd notion that I might be a psycho murderer…

“Then for now! Let’s do this!”

“What is it, Jin?”

“Let’s sober up first while thinking. My head feels like it’s going to split. There were lots of cup noodles in the liquor storage, let’s eat those?”

“……”

Right now, I really craved cup noodles.

Hot, spicy cup noodles.

***

As our numbers dwindled, the two-person rule was abolished, and all four of us would go everywhere together.

Also, whether it was the bathroom, shower room, or private quarters, after someone came out, they would be searched for anything they might have brought out, and the room would be checked for anything that might have been installed.

Additionally, all private rooms were searched, including mine.

Ash did look inside my laundry basket but didn’t rummage through the towels, so the gun wasn’t discovered.

I should be grateful to the captain who killed Ranger for this.

If Ranger were here, he would have made things difficult for me by asking about that gold-plated gun.

“Night. Haven’t you heard anything? Your microphone is good, right? Didn’t you hear any suspicious rustling in the bathroom?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any information that could help with your judgment.”

“Listen while I’m asking nicely, Night! Otherwise, I might pour cup noodle broth into your ears! Do you want to be deaf as well as blind?”

“I’m truly sorry I can’t be of help.”

“Hey. Why are you threatening a robot?”

Damn it, that Night.

He’s been completely useless since losing his eyes.

He’s always wandering around alone, which is suspicious.

“Could it be…”

“What now?”

“Could Night be the culprit?”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Ouch.”

I got a forehead flick from Gustav.

But doesn’t it make sense?

Even if androids are programmed to never harm humans, they could still assist in murder.

Like pretending not to hear someone setting up a booby trap.

Or remotely manipulating the navigation system to move the control stick precisely when the solar wind hits.

It makes perfect sense.

“Ah, damn… It’s suspicious. Can you actually see? Huh? Like with some third eye or something?”

“Jin! Stop bothering Night and come sit here. We’re gathering testimonies.”

“You’re lucky. Hey! Can’t you see?”

“……”

Seeing that he didn’t flinch even when I raised my fist, his camera really must be out of order.

I sat at the table, still not completely free of suspicion.

Gustav, Allen, Ash, and me.

Since Gustav couldn’t be a suspect in this case, he took on the role of gathering testimonies.

We would take turns telling Gustav everything we knew about the incident while the other two wore headphones to ensure complete anonymity.

Without this measure, the culprit could adjust their alibi based on previous testimonies.

If someone tried to force an alibi that conflicted with previous testimonies, Gustav would catch it.

If there were no conflicts, all testimonies would be revealed, and the four of us would put our heads together to solve the mystery.

“You’re first, Jin. The rest, put on headphones.”

“Hmm. Where should I start?”

“When you entered the bathroom, what you did inside, who went in after you, who went in before you, everything. I don’t think you’re the culprit anyway. What was it called? Confirmed innocent?”

“Confirmed townie.”

“Right. Confirmed townie. No matter how much of a rascal you are, I believe you’re not the type to commit murder.”

“Wow. I’m touched. If it weren’t for your skin color, I might have fallen for you, Gus.”

“Shut up and give your testimony…”

I spilled everything I knew.

I had gone in and out of the bathroom frequently, but I only used the toilet twice.

However, both times I only did number one, so I never pushed the lever.

The spaceship toilet automatically sucks waste into the purification tank when it detects foreign matter, but for number two, it sometimes sticks to the wall, so pushing the lever to flush it down with water is essential.

After my testimony, I put on headphones and watched Allen and Ash talk.

Allen was talking animatedly, and even though it was muted, I could guess what he was saying.

Look at that. He’s even pointing fingers at me.

He didn’t even try to hide that he was accusing me of murder.

How can someone accuse someone of being a murderer without any evidence?

In contrast, Ash was very calm.

He seemed to have a lot to say, judging by the busy movement of his lips.

What was strange was that, based on Ash’s busier-than-usual lip movements, he appeared to be speaking German, not English or Spanish.

That’s odd. Ash was definitely Mexican.

Gustav must know more about Ash, but he was listening quietly without showing any surprise, so Ash must have known German all along.

“Everyone, take off your headphones.”

“The results? Well? Huh?”

“There were no logical conflicts between the testimonies.”

“Sigh……”

We failed to catch the liar.

Even after revealing all testimonies and thinking together, there were no obvious inconsistencies.

We made a table of the order in which people went to the bathroom, but it was impossible to determine who set the booby trap at what point.

Everyone’s testimony flowed smoothly without logical conflicts.

After the time I claimed to have used the toilet, all three of us—me, Allen, and Ash—had gone to the bathroom at least once, but none of us had used the toilet for number two.

Among the three, no one had an alibi, and no one could be confirmed as the culprit.

“Aha! I got it!”

“What, what is it?”

“Ow, my ears. Jin, turn on your blinkers before you speak from now on.”

I just finished my deduction.

Am I perhaps a genius?

“From what I can see, Allen can’t be the culprit given how much of a captain fanboy he is. No alien could imitate such human madness. I’m obviously not the culprit. So by process of elimination, the culprit must be Ash!”

“Why are you subtly excluding yourself?!”

“I’m obviously not the culprit. Because I’m me.”

“That’s just your perspective!”

“Wow, Ash, are you raising your voice because you’re nervous?”

“Anyone would raise their voice hearing such nonsense, you fool!”

“Come on. Jin talking nonsense isn’t anything new. Let him go, Ash.”

I ended up getting grabbed by the collar by an agitated Ash.

Well, look at that.

Suddenly getting all worked up.

Must be Ash, right?

Eeeeeeee…!

Suddenly, red lights started flashing and a loud alarm sounded.

Could it be another solar wind?

-Intruder alert. Foreign object detected in the cargo hold.

A foreign object was detected in the cargo hold.

None of us had been to the cargo hold or opened the hatch…

Then what could it be?

We all froze with our mouths open.