The moment everyone entered the music room, the door behind them suddenly slammed shut, echoing clearly in the silent space. Long Sen, who was at the back, immediately turned around to push the door, only to find that it wouldn't budge. He said helplessly, "We're locked in. It seems we need to find the password to get out of this room."
Qu Wanyue walked over and examined the door closely: "Why don't I see a place to enter the password?"
Old Mo also went to the door and carefully felt around, but found no trace of a switch or lock. He said to Xiao Lou, "It seems the combination lock isn't on the door. Let's look somewhere else."
Xiao Lou scanned his surroundings. The room was empty; the walls and floor were smooth, with no trace of hidden compartments. Besides the piano, there were no other cabinets to store clues.
Escape room games don't just involve entering a password to open the door; there are also various pressing, stepping, puzzle, and voice-activated mechanisms. For example, the first room has a voice-activated mechanism that can be unlocked with a Christmas carol. Since there's no combination lock on the door to this room, the key to escaping must be the piano in the center of the room.
Thinking of this, Xiao Lou said, "The piano in the middle of the room is likely connected to a hidden pressing mechanism. Only by pressing the corresponding key can this secret room be opened."
Ye Qi agreed, saying, "These kinds of push-button mechanisms are quite common in escape room games. If piano keys are connected to push-button mechanisms, the order of the keys becomes very important. Could it be related to some musical melody?"
Xiao Lou said, "Let's look for it."
He stepped forward and carefully examined the beautiful woman who had been murdered.
The woman was stabbed to death. She did not struggle before she died, but her face was full of horror. It must have been an acquaintance who caught her off guard. The murderer walked into the music room, came up to her, and suddenly took out a knife and stabbed her to death.
Xiao Lou said, "There's no doubt about the cause of death, just this stab wound to the chest. Her identity... could she be the lady of the house? Lucia's mother?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "That's possible. Ordinary guests wouldn't come to a place like a music room. She was sitting in front of the piano, about to play, so perhaps someone asked her to play a piece during a party on Christmas Eve."
Yu Hanjiang looked around and saw that there was no furniture except for the piano. It seemed that the piano was the only clue.
He crouched down to examine the area under the piano and was surprised to find a portable tape recorder, more than half a meter wide, hidden underneath, with a speaker on it.
Yu Hanjiang took out the tape recorder and examined it closely—an old-fashioned tape recorder that could be powered by batteries and contained a cassette tape. He used to listen to songs on this kind of tape recorder when he was a child.
Yu Hanjiang handed the recorder to Ye Qi and asked, "Do you know how to use it?"
Ye Qi nodded: "Yes."
At this point, the tape has reached the end, and the recorder will automatically stop playing.
Ye Qi pressed rewind, quickly returning the tape to the beginning, and then pressed play again.
After a few seconds of silence, a clear and melodious piano piece quickly filled the air. The familiar melody carried a touch of sadness, and many people had heard it but couldn't recall its name.
Ye Qi was forced to learn musical instruments by his parents from a young age, and he could recite the scores of famous pieces like this. As soon as he heard the beginning, he recognized the piece and said, "This piano piece is called ' Marriage Damour,' which was specially composed for the piano master Richard Clayderman by two famous French composers. There is also a touching story behind this piece."
Xiao Lou asked with interest, "A story? Tell me about it."
Ye Qi began to tell the story earnestly—
"One winter, on a snowy day, a boy came to the magic academy of the Dream Kingdom. He fell in love at first sight with the most beautiful girl in the school, who was the princess of the Dream Kingdom."
"The boy was of humble origin and knew he could never be with the noble princess, so he could only bury his love deep in his heart. Later, he could no longer suppress his feelings and confessed to the princess. After being rejected, he left the Dream Kingdom heartbroken. However, six years later, he still could not forget that love, so he returned to the Dream Kingdom to find the princess, only to happen to witness her wedding."
"The princess married the prince of the neighboring kingdom, and the entire Dream Kingdom celebrated for her. A man stood in the crowd and saw the princess, dressed in her gown, walking towards the church with the prince. Suddenly, he rushed out. The princess's guards, thinking he was there to harm her, immediately drew their swords. But to everyone's surprise, he not only didn't harm the princess, but instead opened his arms and threw himself in front of her, saying, 'I will protect you.' Then, people saw a sharp arrow pierce his chest from afar..."
Ye Qi sighed softly at this point, saying, "The man actually saw someone in the crowd drawing a longbow, intending to assassinate the princess, so he rushed forward to protect her. Before he died, he dreamed that the princess, wearing a wedding dress, walked into the church with him, smiling and saying she was willing to marry him. This piece tells a tragic story; the man's marriage damour can never be realized."
Upon hearing Ye Qi's account, the teammates reacted in various ways.
The mournful piano piece " Marriage Damour " still echoed in the room. Qu Wanyue couldn't help but whisper, "This man is quite devoted. He would give his life for the princess. It's a pity that their social statuses meant they couldn't be together in the end."
Shao Qingge joked, "Xiao Ye, you're quite the storyteller."
Ye Qi looked at Xiao Lou and said seriously, "I thought the story behind this piano piece might be related to a murder case, which is why I told everyone about it."
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a glance.
Could the unfulfilled marriage damour be related to the murder?
The piano music on the cassette tape had finished playing, and the room became quiet again.
Yu Hanjiang whispered, "From Lucia's diary, we can infer that there were many people attending the party on Christmas Eve. The lady of the house went to the music room to play the piano and was murdered. The murderer used a prepared piano piece to cover up the truth of the lady's murder. This shows that the murderer must have known what piece the lady of the house could play, otherwise he would have been exposed."
It's a simple principle: if the woman says, "I'll play 'Für Elise' for everyone," but the tape recorder plays " Marriage Damour " instead, it will naturally arouse suspicion. Since the piano piece on the tape recorder matches the piece the woman was going to play, it proves that the murderer was prepared in advance.
Xiao Lou speculated, "Perhaps the murderer suggested playing ' Marriage Damour '."
There are many piano pieces, so why play a sad piece like "The Return of the Gift in a Dream" for such a joyous holiday as Christmas? Unless someone deliberately suggested it, giving a reason like "this is my favorite piano piece" to get the lady of the house to play it.
Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi: "Xiao Ye, can you play this piano piece?"
Ye Qi nodded: "Okay."
No mechanisms or combination locks were found inside the house, and the door could not be pushed open. The only option was to try unlocking it with the piano.
Having understood Xiao Lou's meaning, Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and calmly moved the body aside to make room for Ye Qi.
Ye Qi braced himself and sat down where the corpse had just sat. He stretched out his slender hands and began to play the piano piece " Marriage Damour " from memory. However, as soon as he finished the first section, the door that had been locked suddenly opened!
Ye Qi exclaimed excitedly, "It really is unlocked with a piano!"
The piano keys are connected to a hidden combination lock in the room. Pressing the correct key will open the door, proving Xiao Lou's prediction correct.
There were no other clues left in the house. The group exchanged glances and immediately walked out the door.
The cat outside the door was nowhere to be seen, and there was no light in the pitch-black corridor. Yu Hanjiang picked up the luminous pearl, led everyone a few steps, and saw another door.
The group entered through the door.
Just like before, the door closed behind me, and I need to find the password to this secret room to unlock the clues.
Everyone spontaneously began searching around.
This is a study, decorated in a cool black and gray color scheme.
In the middle of the room was an office desk with a photo frame on it. The photo was a picture of a family of three. Xiao Lou picked it up and saw that the bottom right corner of the photo read, " A photo of Wells, Shirley and their daughter Lucia on their 10th birthday."
The man was handsome and dashing in a navy blue suit; the woman was beautiful and sexy in a white evening gown; and the little girl was lively and adorable in a pink tiered dress. The scene of the family of three standing together was especially heartwarming.
Xiao Lou looked at the woman in the photo and said, "The one who just died was indeed the mistress of this house, named Shirley."
Next to the picture frame was a globe. Xiao Lou picked it up and looked at it, but found nothing unusual, so he put it back for the time being.
Ye Qi crouched down and searched the drawer under the bookshelf, finding a stack of printed invitations. He handed the invitations to Yu Hanjiang and said, "These should be invitations to the Christmas Eve party; they're very well made."
Yu Hanjiang scanned the name on the invitation.
There were five people invited to the Christmas Eve party: Dr. Simon, Mr. Jack, Ms. Karen, Ms. Martha, and Ms. Susan.
Xiao Lou leaned over to look at the stack of invitations, noting down the names of the five people as he analyzed, "Two men and three women. Apart from Simon being a doctor, the identities of the other four are still uncertain. To be able to attend a private party, these four must have a very close relationship with the host and hostess."
Qu Wanyue found many books in the bookcase, took them out and said, "Could the mistress Shirley be a pianist? Or a teacher at the Music Conservatory? There are many professional books on piano in the bookcase."
Ye Qi was rummaging through his desk drawers when he found a printed form and an exquisite wooden box. He picked up the form, glanced at it, and exclaimed excitedly, "Shirley is indeed a pianist, and a very famous one at that! I found a schedule of her tour!"
He spread the form out on the table, and it read—
November 25: Tokyo, Japan, concert.
December 7: Oslo, Norway, piano performance.
December 12: Frankfurt, Germany, piano performance.
Xiao Lou said knowingly, "No wonder Lucia mentioned in her diary that her parents have been too busy lately and haven't spent much time with her. It turns out her mother has been busy performing abroad." He walked over and asked, "What's in the wooden box?"
Ye Qi opened the wooden box and found a number puzzle inside. The numbers were filled in all around, except for a few in the middle. There was also a note next to it: "A Christmas present for Shirley. You can get it by completing the puzzle. Love, Wells."
Ye Qi handed the wooden box to Xiao Lou: " Professor Xiao, this number puzzle is a bit strange. Can you tell what the password might be?"
Xiao Lou took the wooden box and looked at it. This number puzzle was not the Nine Palaces Grid. The entire puzzle was 6x6 with a total of 36 squares, of which 24 squares were already filled with numbers, leaving 12 empty.
Missing. The filled numbers show no pattern. Addition and subtraction don't work in either the horizontal or vertical arrangement, and the Sudoku method for numbers 1-9 doesn't yield an answer either.
Xiao Lou stared at the jigsaw puzzle, deep in thought. Since it was a gift from a husband to his wife, the 12 missing numbers were likely related to her. He glanced at Shirley's schedule for her overseas performances this month, then at the globe on the table.
Xiao Lou's eyes suddenly lit up: " Liu Qiao, find a few places where Shirley performed on the globe!"
Liu Qiao happened to be standing next to the globe. Upon hearing this, he immediately spun the globe and found Tokyo, Japan; Oslo, Norway; and Frankfurt, Germany.
Xiao Lou said, "Check the latitude and longitude of these cities."
Liu Qiao quickly looked up the results on the globe and said, "Tokyo, Japan is at 35 degrees north latitude and 139 degrees east longitude; Oslo, Norway is at 59 degrees north latitude and 10 degrees east longitude; Frankfurt, Germany is at 50 degrees north latitude and 8 degrees east longitude..."
Xiao Lou filled in the latitudes 35, 59, and 50 of the three locations into the six blanks in the first row, and then filled in the longitudes 139108 of the three locations into the remaining puzzle blanks.
Sure enough, a soft "snap" sounded in my ear, and the hidden compartment of the mechanism box was opened.
Ye Qi couldn't help but exclaim, "So a globe is used to check latitude and longitude!" When he first saw the globe, he was wondering if he had to spin it around a few times to unlock it.
Xiao Lou noticed that the hostess's performance schedule had detailed place names, and there happened to be a globe on the table. This led him to realize that the city's latitude and longitude likely corresponded to a number puzzle. This kind of "associative thinking" is one of the most important skills in escape room games.
Beneath the box's inner compartment lay a sapphire necklace and a greeting card.
The greeting card read—
"My dearest Shirley, we've been married for ten years now. You've been very busy all these years, often traveling around the world for performances, and I've been very busy with my company too. We haven't been able to spend much time together. But please believe me, wherever you go, my heart is with you."
After Christmas this year, shall we all take a break for a while?
Taking my precious daughter on a trip around the world. I think that's the best gift I could give Lucia.
After reading the greeting card, Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang: "This family is very wealthy. The husband is a company owner, and the wife is a pianist. They live in a luxurious villa, but because they are both too busy, they don't have time to spend with their daughter. During her illness, she was cared for by a nanny and a family doctor."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "The man's original plan was for the whole family to travel around the world after Christmas, so he invited a lot of people to his house for a party on Christmas Eve. But he never expected that Christmas Eve would turn into a night of death."
The woman's body was found in the music room, but what about the man?