After an intense conversation, it had eventually been ascertained by the three in the cabin that none of them had plugged the lamp back in. The question, then, was who did it and why?
"Do you think it was the culprit who plugged the lamp back in?" asked Susato.
"If it was, then to what gain...?" Holmes pensively stuck his pipe in his mouth as John Phoenix suddenly stood up.
"I know exactly who plugged the lamp in!" he announced.
"You do?! It's only been 45 seconds!" Susato was shocked at John Ryuunosuke's seemingly lightning-quick thought process.
"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. That's what Grandfather always says."
"I've never heard Holmes say that?" Susato glanced at Holmes, who shrugged.
When Susato looked back, John Ryuunosuke was gone! She ran outside and found him at the window at the end of the hallway, standing in the frame.
"John Ryuunosuke, wait, don't jump! The solution can't be that bad, can it?"
"Aunt Susato, I haven't time to explain my reasoning. If I am right, which I am, then time is of the essence!"
John Ryuunosuke jumped out the window and into the sea! Susato screamed and ran to the window, but saw to her relief that he was fine and he was swimming away somewhere.
"(Wait! This is nothing to be relieved by!)" Susato slapped herself and ran back into the cabin.
"Holmes, Holmes, John Ryuunosuke just jumped into the sea!" she ran over to Holmes who was still laying on the bed with a depressed expression.
"He'll be fine," said Holmes. "I taught him how to swim before we set off just in case he fell overboard."
"But we gotta help him!"
"What help am I to anyone? I'm a fraud of a detective who can't even solve a simple murder like this." Susato stared pityingly at the man, so he added "Go. As you can see, I am but a work of fiction and am therefore not real."
On that note, Holmes covered himself in his blanket to pretend he wasn't there. Seeing no way to help Holmes out of his depression, Susato decided to take him at his word that John Ryuunosuke would be safe and left him to himself. She decided to go outside to the deck and get some air, but as she crossed the hallway, the door out of the hallway opened and two large men came in.
"(Oh, great, it's Kuraudo Ooishi again...)"
"Good day, Mikotoba!" Ooishi loudly greeted her with a broad and obnoxious grin. "And what a fine day it is indeed! I just found myself some MORE evidence of young Naruhodou's guilt!"
It was after this announcement that Susato noticed the jacket Ooishi was carrying under his arm. It was mostly navy in color, with some out of place splotches of red. It looked unfamiliar at first, but when Ooishi waved it in her face, she recognized it as one of the jackets Naruhodou got for himself last time they were in London! Moreover, it was covered in blood!
"This item was found stuffed away in the closet of your cabin! Am I mistaken in believing it belongs to our prime suspect?"
Ooishi stared Susato down, his gaze demanding an answer out of her.
"H-Hold it!" Susato shouted. "Naruhodou was wearing his school uniform all day yesterday! You even saw him wearing it yourself! So why would that be covered in blood?"
"Your Naruhodou has a strange preference in everyday clothing. Nfu fu fu fu," Ooishi chuckled. "But it's really not that hard to wrap your head around it. He just threw this on over his clothes while he was killing your partner! It'd keep the blood splatter from getting on his uniform. Then he made a pathetic attempt to hide the jacket before I showed up!"
Susato glared at the detective who was grinning like Spark Brushel at his own logic.
"No, all of this is wrong! When Naruhodou ran into the crime scene, he wasn't wearing that jacket! And if he killed her before then, why wouldn't he just throw the jacket out the window?"
Ooishi stopped grinning, but continued gazing at Susato in a manner that made her uncomfortable.
"Is that what you say happened? Then it's as I thought," said Ooishi. "You... and I bet the boy's cabinmates too... are all in on it! It's clear as day!"
Susato was taken aback. She had imagined this as a possible argument he could make, but she didn't expect him to jump to it immediately.
"Out with it, then," said Ooishi. "You lot decided to smuggle that Murasomething lady onto this ship, and you did it all to kill her. Your testimony just now makes you look just as suspicious as the Naruhodou boy, what with the jacket and all."
He stated his case so casually, too, as if he'd intended on this from the beginning.
"Ooishi... I'm actually thinking the one who's really suspicious here is you."
"...Hoh?" For the first time, Ooishi dropped his smug expression in place of a glare, with his mouth cracked open. "Now why would I be suspicious? It's not my jacket that's covered in blood like so."
Ooishi flashed Ryuu's jacket again, and some drops of blood splattered on Susato's face. She wiped them off and continued making her case.
"I've been wondering about that... when exactly did you find that? You didn't have it when we spoke in your cabin."
"Nfu fu fu, silly girl. That's because I found it afterwards! I went back to the crime scene and found it then!"
"Didn't you walk away from the crime scene when we were done talking?"
Ooishi gaped in surprise, probably not expecting to be called out on this.
"Ooishi." Now it was Susato pressing him for an answer.
"Ah, what's the point of this? So what if I'm a forgetful old man? It's not like I coulda killed her just cause I forgot when I found this old thing!"
"Oh, no you don't!" Susato pointed at the man like she did in court during that one trial she lead one year prior. "You're really understating your involvement in this case. While it seems to be true that only people with access to the first class area could have done it, you also had access to it. In fact, didn't one of the sailors mention you did come here last night? You could have just done it then!"
"NA HA HA HA HA HA!" Ooishi cackled suddenly, making Susato jump. "Care to chime in, Meatloaf?"
Ooishi stepped aside, and the man behind him came forward.
"Dah. First class passenger is clueless!" said Stroganov. "Mitrov saw policeman use door to first class three times last night."
"Meatloaf here was standing by the door the whole night, see," said Ooishi. "And he saw nothing suspicious. I'm sure you'll agree that me being covered in blood would raise some alarm bells in even his head!"
Mitrov stared blankly at Ooishi as he chuckled at his last remark. Susato considered raising the possibility that Ooishi just wore Ryuu's jacket himself, but as if reading her mind, Ooishi snapped his suspenders again, showing off how much bulkier he is than Naruhodou. Instead, she turned her questions to Stroganov.
"So you saw Ooishi use the door three times...?"
Stroganov nodded.
"Dah. One when he found crime scene. Two when he leave to report to captain. Three when he go to investigate. And nobody else use door that whole night!"
Ooishi pat Stroganov on the back in reward for his perfect testimony, but to Susato, the contradiction in this testimony she'd heard before finally clicked.
"OBJECTION!" she shouted. "Nobody else entered or left the first class area that night? But that can't be right. When Ooishi left the crime scene, he was carrying Naruhodou under his arm!"
"Bwah?" shouted Stroganov. "Mitrov not see that!"
"THIS MEANS..." shouted Susato. "It means, uh..."
"It means Beef Boy here's mistaken, obviously!" Ooishi butted into the argument. "He just didn't see the boy since he was so small compared to me, that's all!"
Susato scowled, but it was true that she didn't actually fully understand what this contradiction meant.
"(Could it really be that sim-)"
"What is you say?" yelled Stroganov. "Mitrov see all! Mitrov make no mistake!"
"Oh? Mitrov want to fight on that?" Ooishi cracked his knuckles as the two men stared each other down. Susato could tell things were about to get violent, so she took two steps back, only to hit something soft behind her. She turned around and saw Sherlock Holmes, hanging upside down from the ceiling!
To be continued!