"I am sure that it was his wife, and they spoke for several minutes," she said. "Whether it was for three, four or five minutes I am not sure."
Inspector Zhang nodded. "Then we can assume that it was indeed Mr. Wilkinson that she spoke to," he said. "I cannot believe that a wife could be fooled by an imposter. So we therefore know that Mr. Wilkinson was alive just five minutes before the waiter arrived at his door. Yet we know for a fact that no one entered the room prior to the arrival of the waiter." He drew himself up to his full height of five-feet seven inches and looked in turn at the faces of everyone in the room. "That means that what we have here is what we detectives refer to as a Locked Room Mystery."
He paused for several seconds, nodding wisely before continuing. "As I was explaining to my colleague earlier, there are basically seven explanations as to how a body can be found in a locked room. Explanations provided by the talented mystery writer John Dickson Carr. I think it would be helpful to run through them. The first possibility is that the murder is in fact not a murder, but a series of coincidences or accidents that give the impression that a crime has been committed. A man stumbles and hits his head on a piece of heavy furniture, for instance. Then we have a body, but no weapon and no killer." Inspector Zhang paused to make sure that he had everyone’s attention before continuing. "In this case, an accident is unlikely, considering the nature of the wound and the fact that the body is lying down. Plus the blood is only on the bed. If he accidentally stabbed himself on for instance the lamp on the bedside table, we would see blood on it. There is no blood anywhere but the bed, so it is safe to say that it is on the bed that he died."
He turned to look out of the window and linked his fingers behind his back. His spine clicked as he straightened it, and he sighed. "The second explanation is that it is indeed a murder, but a murder in which the victim is compelled to kill himself. Or herself. A mind-altering substance can be used, a gas or a pill, LSD for instance. Mr. Carr suggested that a man might become so bewildered that he could strangle himself with his bare hands, but of course we know that is impossible."
"You think he was drugged?" said Mercier. "Or gassed? How could gas get into the room, we have central air conditioning and the windows are sealed."
"If he was drugged, the Forensics Department would know," said Sergeant Lee. "They could perform tests."
"He did not stab himself to death," said Inspector Zhang quickly. "If he did, the weapon would be in his hands. Or on the bed. There is no knife; therefore he did not kill himself. And I see no evidence that the victim consumed food or drink in this room."
He went over to the mini-bar and opened it. It was full. "You see, nothing has been taken from the mini-bar, and there are no unopened bottles in the room."
He looked over at the room service waiter. "Mr. Wilkinson was dead when you got here? He was dead on the bed and you saw the blood?"
The waiter nodded.
"So he did not consume anything that the waiter brought into the room. We can rule out poison or drugs." He went back to the window. "It is the third explanation that creates some of the most fascinating fictional locked room mysteries," he continued. "That is where it is murder, and the killer uses some sort of mechanical device to carry out the killing. A gun concealed in a phone, for example. Or a knife that springs out of a suitcase. Or a pistol that fires when a clock is wound, or a weight that swings from the ceiling, a chair that exhales a deadly gas when your body warms it." He waved a hand at the bedroom. "In this case we would be looking for some way of stabbing Mr. Wilkinson and making the knife vanish." He smiled at his Sergeant. "What do you think, Sergeant Lee? Do you think there is a mechanical device hidden in the bedroom?"
"It is unlikely," she said quietly, as if she feared giving him the wrong answer.
"I agree," said Inspector Zhang. "It is a hotel room, like any other." The Sergeant smiled with relief.
"It is a suite, one of our best," said the manager.
Inspector Zhang nodded, acknowledging the point. "But nothing in the room has been changed, am I correct? Everything is as it should be?"
"Other than the body on the bed, yes."
"Then we shall move on to the fourth explanation. Suicide."
"Suicide?" repeated the Sergeant. "But if he stabbed himself, where is the weapon?"
"The point of the suicide is to make it look like a murder," said Inspector Zhang. "Either to throw suspicion on someone or to defraud an insurance company. I assume that a wealthy person such as Mr. Wilkinson would have a lot of insurance. Perhaps he has an incurable condition. Cancer perhaps. So he kills himself in such a way that his wife can still claim the insurance."
"Perhaps that’s it," said Mercier. "Surely you check to see if he had any policies."
"But where is the weapon he used?" asked the Sergeant. "If Mr. Wilkinson took his own life, where is the knife?"
"But that is the point exactly," said Inspector Zhang. "To make it appear to be a murder and not a suicide, the weapon must disappear. Mr. Carr suggested a knife made of ice. The ice would then melt leaving only water behind. Or a gun could be attached to a length of elastic which would then whip the gun up a chimney or out of a window."
"There are no chimneys and as Mr. Mercier has already pointed out, the windows in our rooms are all sealed," said the manager.
"And I think ice is unlikely as he would have had to carry it in from outside and the Singaporean climate does not lend itself to carrying ice around," said Inspector Zhang. "And if Mr. Wilkinson wanted us to make it look like he had been murdered, I don’t think he would have positioned himself on the bed. The floor would be a more likely place. Plus, there is the matter of room service. He spent time with the fragrant Miss Lulu, then ordered a meal. Hardly the actions of a man who was about to take his own life." He folded his arms. "So, that leads me to the fifth type of scenario discussed by Mr. Carr. A murder which derives from illusion or impersonation, where the victim is already dead but the murderer makes it appear that he is still alive."
"How would that work in this case, inspector?" asked Miss Berghuis, frowning.
"If for instance it was the prostitute who killed Mr. Wilkinson and she then arranged for someone else to make the call to room service," said Inspector Zhang. "That would give her an alibi when in fact Mr. Wilkinson was already dead when she left the room."
"Do you think that’s what happened?" asked Sergeant Lee.
"That’s simply not possible," said Miss Berghuis. "When a call is made to our Room Service section, the number flashes up on the phone. An order would not be accepted if it came from outside the hotel."
Inspector Zhang nodded thoughtfully. "And of course he spoke to his wife after he had ordered from room service so I do not think that Ms. Lulu was the killer. So, that then brings us to number six on Mr. Carr’s list. One of the more complicated of his explanations for a locked room murder, and one of the most successful in works of fiction. In such a situation we have a murder which although committed by somebody outside the room nevertheless appears to have been committed by someone inside the room."
Mercier scratched his bald head. "That doesn’t make sense," he said.
"Oh Mr. Mercier, it makes perfect sense," said Inspector Zhang. "Take for instance the icicle dagger that Mr. Carr spoke of. Suppose it could be fired through an open window or through a hole drilled into the door. Or a knife thrower in a room opposite the building who throws a knife through an open window but has it tied to a length of string so that he can pull the weapon back. It thus appears that the killer was inside the room when in fact he was outside all the time."
"But the windows are sealed and there are no holes in the door, and besides the main door opens into the sitting room, there is another door off that to the bedroom," said the manager. "The ice dagger would have to turn through ninety degrees and pass through two doors."
Inspector Zhang sighed. "Madam, I am not suggesting for one moment that Mr. Wilkinson was killed by a weapon made from ice."
"Well you are the one who keeps mentioning it," said the manager, flashing him a withering look. "And if the knife didn't melt, where is it?"
"Exactly," said Inspector Zhang. "You have put your finger on the crux of the conundrum. Where is the knife? If indeed it was a knife."
"Do you know?" asked Mercier. "Why are you asking us if you know?"
"I was being rhetorical," said Inspector Zhang. He took off his glasses and began to methodically polish them with his handkerchief. "I am not sure where the murder weapon is, but I have my suspicions. However, let me first finish Mr. Carr's list of explanations with the seventh, which is effectively the exact opposite of the fifth."
Everyone frowned as they tried to remember what the inspector had said was the fifth method. They all looked around, shrugging at each other.
Sergeant Lee walked over to Inspector Zhang and whispered in his ear. "Inspector Zhang, I need to talk to you," she said.
"Sergeant Lee, I am in full flow here," he said. "Can’t it wait?"
"No Sir, it can not," said the sergeant.
Inspector Zhang sighed with annoyance then nodded at the door to the bedroom. "This had better be important," he said.
They went through to the bedroom and stood at the foot of the bed. "What is it, Sergeant Lee?" asked the inspector. "You seem concerned."
"Sir, we really should be calling in the Forensic Department," she said. She looked at her watch. "It will soon be midnight."
"Not yet," said Inspector Zhang. "I think we can solve this case without resorting to science."
"But it’s procedure, Sir. And we have to follow procedure."
"Sergeant Lee, you know that I speak Japanese, don’t you?"
She nodded. "It came in very useful when we were working on the case of the sushi chef who ran amok in his restaurant," she said.
"Exactly," said Inspector Zhang. "But do you know why I studied Japanese?"