Casper stepped into the compartment, his eyes flickered around the place, observing quietly.
His gaze landed first on the floor — a trail of muddy footsteps led from the door to the far window, the prints smeared into carpet.
He crouched slightly, to examine the footsteps. He sniffed the air before turning his attention onto the briefcase laying on the seat.
It was old leather, scuffed and battered, with deep gouges around the lock — multiple frantic scratches as if someone tried to pry it open with a knife.
His eyes then locked on to the last clue — a wide red stain across the floor and a dark green bottle from where the spill originated from.
Casper stood and straightened his coat. "I just about have it," he muttered to himself.
The younger policeman — Werchest who was supposed to supervise him overheard his words and preemptively asked, "Did you find something that will lead us to the culprit?"
"Yeah. What we know at this point is that the victim is a jeweller from Backlund, Trevor Redwood. The culprit is a male who boarded the train at the terminus in Stoen. When his drugging-robbery went wrong, he knifed this man to death."
"Drugging?" Werchest questioned with doubt.
"Unmistakably," Klein declared, standing behind Casper who chimed in at the exact same time, "Isn't it obvious."
Werchest grit his teeth and touched his head in resignation, It's like talking to the same person.
He sighed before pleading helplessly, "Please, can you explain it to me?"
Casper shook his head before sitting on the seat. "I'm only going to explain this once so don't doze off." He said arrogantly.
"Look here. First, this compartment has two sets of men's footprints. One set from the victim which measures 10 inches and the other from the Stoen man, measuring 11 inches."
Werchest raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously, "How do you know he's from Stoen?"
"Look at our shoes," Casper replied.
The policeman narrowed his eyes and stared at their shoes, "It's wet?" He stated, unsure of his answer.
"Exactly, it's wet," Casper said with a proud smile before snapping his fingers. "It rained heavily in Tingen and Stoen. We both have mud on our shoes but our mud is dark, black even. Trevor too has the same mud… now the second footprint has a more reddish-brown mud to it like the soil at Stoen."
Klein picked up the wine bottle and took a whiff of it before turning to Werchest, "Additionly, this was what Mr. Holmes was talking about," he muttered, bringing the bottle to the rookie policeman.
"Wine. There's a faint lingering aroma of Chloral in it, it's a chemical when mixed together with alcohol it becomes a dangerous drug with soporific effects. It also leaves a distinct smell in the air. Someone must have laced his drink with it."
Klein declared seriously.
"Then why did the culprit resort to murder?" Werchest posed a simple question that had been bugging him since Klein started his explanation.
"Ah! That was because something happened which the murderer wasn't expecting. There's nothing more than that." He casually explained, waving his hand.
Klein then added on. "If the objective were to kill this man, there is no reason to do so on a train where a quick escape is impossible.
"It's more likely the culprit drugged the victim and despite his success in momentarily incapacitating him… the drug may have not been strong enough or his tolerance to it might have been high causing the man to awaken prematurely, that must have been unexpected.
"The weapon is a keen blade such as a knife according to the wounds. The marks left on the case indicate that he tried to pry it open with such a weapon."
Werchest then interrupted, deducing something himself. "I don't see a knife here… the killer must have left with it!"
"Yep," Klein nodded before continuing on with his explanation, "When the victim awakened, the killer panicked and there was a scuffle in which he stabbed him.
"There are indications that the killer held his hand over the wound and tried to stop the bleeding. Perhaps he was surprised by the amount of blood and tried to stop it."
Werchest intently nodded and gestured to the handle, "Yes that must've been the case. There's a bloody handprint here."
Casper soon took over the conversation, "The culprit panicked and forgot his objective. He ended up leaving the body here and the briefcase too remains. The only thoughts that entered his mind were probably to take the weapon and leave the room, locking the door behind him."
He judged quietly based on the scene.
After saying that, both Casper and Klein exited the room.
"You're done with inspecting the crime scene?" Werchest asked, slightly surprised. Throughout his time serving in the force, he had never seen someone inspect a crime scene as fast as the two of them.
Damn, geniuses. He cursed bitterly.
"There's nothing left to see." Casper said seriously. He then brought up his pocketwatch, "39 minutes remain." He mentioned, loud enough for Klein to hear.
Klein scoffed, before turning around to meet Casper's gaze and asked playfully, "Shall we continue with the game, Mr. Holmes?"