Faced with their curiosity and persistent questions, Leon Chen could only say that it was a principle of magic and couldn't be disclosed. Although a bit disappointed, no one complained; instead, they became more excited, eager to uncover the secret of Leon's magic.
"By the way, President, wasn't there a locked-room murder case you wanted to discuss once the Vice President returned?" Sandra Yue suddenly asked Luna Hu.
"Does the Detective Club have a new puzzle?" Leon asked, thinking the Detective Club had come up with something interesting again. After all, the biggest competition between the Paranormal Investigation Club and the Detective Club was in solving mysteries. Both sides often racked their brains to think of classic detective novel tricks, such as locked-room murders, perfect alibis, and impossible crimes.
"No," the witch replied decisively.
"Vice President, it's not something from a novel. It's a real locked-room murder," William Jiang adjusted his glasses. "A perfectly executed crime!"
"Impossible," Leon was skeptical. In this day and age, forensic technology has advanced rapidly, and thorough investigative methods make classic detective fiction scenarios difficult to believe in reality. If something can't even stand in a novel, how could it appear in real life?
"It's more than impossible. Even the King of Locked Rooms, Karl, couldn't think of such a method," Luna Hu scoffed.
Having just revisited Three Coffins, Leon's interest was piqued.
At this moment, Alex Zhu handed over a stack of documents.
"Vice President, these are the case files of several recent incidents at the central banks in Xi Jing."
"Detective enthusiasts worldwide are studying them."
Leon took the documents.
They included complete site maps, causes of death, times, and other details.
After reading them, Leon was also astonished.
The locked-room murder cases in Xi Jing surpassed his imagination. Initially, he thought it was the kind where the victim is found stabbed to death in their home with all doors and windows locked and no sign of tampering according to police. But after reading, he understood why Luna said even Karl would be ashamed.
Indeed, the three murder scenes all occurred in the vaults of different banks. The surveillance cameras inside and outside the vaults recorded no traces of anyone. In other words, not only was it a flawless locked room, but it was also somewhat baffling.
Leon carefully reviewed the entire case.
The more he read, the more alarmed he became.
The general scenario was that the camera found someone lying on the floor, and the vault manager, thinking it was a thief trapped inside, called the police. When the police arrived and opened the vault, they found a corpse.
The three murders occurred in the vaults of the Xi Jing Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank, and Huaxia Bank. The methods were identical: a body suddenly appeared in the vault without any flaws. The police couldn't find any fingerprints, footprints, or a single hair.
"What's intriguing is that there were witnesses who saw the victims within 24 hours before their deaths, yet the only door to the vaults' cameras showed no record of anyone entering or leaving," Luna Hu remarked. "How they got inside is a mystery."
"Did the police investigate the victims' backgrounds and relationships?" Leon asked.
"They did. There are suspects, but there's not enough evidence. First, the locked-room aspect of the vault can't be explained, so the case can't be taken to court," Sandra said. "The police think it might be an inside job by bank employees, but after investigations, everyone has perfect alibis. Plus, the incidents occurred in the vaults of three different banks with no clues linking them."
"That's absurd," Leon frowned. Locked-room murders are already outlandish, but happening in bank vaults is even more bizarre, especially with no surveillance footage showing any traces. It's an impossible scenario.
Leon felt something odd about the case but couldn't pinpoint it.
"The victims died around 1 or 2 AM, so the case is also called the Ghost Vault Murders. It's causing quite a stir in both the detective and financial worlds."
"Why the financial world?" Leon asked before realizing, "Xi Jing's banks must be on edge. This kind of strange occurrence in bank vaults can have bad repercussions."
"Exactly," Luna nodded.
"Are there any leads in the investigation?" Leon asked.
"The police have increased vault security and probably installed more cameras, but that's about it," Sandra said.
"Dear Leon, what's your take on this?" Luna asked.
"My take? It does seem like a ghost…" Leon muttered, "Could it be... that?"
...
The reason the Xi Jing Ghost Vault Murders didn't cause a bigger stir was due to deliberate suppression by the police and some media maneuvers by the banking industry. However, the lid couldn't be kept on for long. Two more similar incidents occurred in Xi Jing, this time at Citibank and HSBC.
This not only mocked the police's incompetence but also greatly criticized the security of bank vaults.
For a while, "Ghost of the Vault" caused widespread panic and uproar.
The World Detective Research Organization even labeled this "unprecedented vault locked-room case" as the most incredible mystery of the century, calling on enthusiasts worldwide to solve it. The seven major banks issued a million-dollar reward for catching the culprit.
Xi Jing once again became the focus of the world!
The entire city's police force was mobilized but found no clues. The pressure on the Xi Jing government was immense.
During this period, Leon received the Best Couple Award and Best Newcomer Host Award from Huada University. The latter was a special internal award from the student council, a significant acknowledgment from Emma Su to Leon. However, compared to the world's attention on the case, this event was negligible.
Amidst this tense atmosphere, Huada's club recruitment event officially began.
"After all these days, we still have to use that psychology question from the witch for the recruitment test," Leon scribbled on paper.
Sandra chuckled. "There's no choice. Everyone is trying to solve the 'Ghost Vault' case."
Leon pondered, "The Ghost Vault…"
"The most urgent task now is to find three new members," Sandra said worriedly.
Although the student council gave clubs that didn't meet the requirements a month's grace period, student clubs were an important part of Huada. Some clubs could earn credits or add impressive points to future resumes. Small clubs like the Paranormal Investigation Club found it tough to recruit members.
"Let's take it as it comes. The witch said that even if the student council disbands us, we can still operate without an activity room or funding," Leon smiled.
"The President isn't here yet?" William looked around.
"She said if we could solve the Ghost Vault case, the Paranormal Investigation Club wouldn't be disbanded," Sandra said.
"The witch thinks things through thoroughly, but that's not something ordinary people can figure out," Leon muttered to himself.
"Vice President, do you know the method?" Other members looked at Leon curiously.
Leon shook his head.
Compared to the bustling recruitment activities of other clubs, the Paranormal Investigation Club's corner was desolate. Even those who came to inquire fled after seeing the coin question.
Some played cards, some read, others took notes—everyone seemed quite relaxed.
"If a coin lands heads ten times in a row, assuming the coin is fair, I guess it's equally likely to land heads or tails on the eleventh toss." Suddenly, a voice rang out.
The club members looked up to see a handsome young man arrogantly approaching their stand.
"This is known as the 'Gambler's Fallacy' in psychology, also called the Monte Carlo Fallacy. It's a mistaken belief that the probability of a random event is influenced by previous occurrences of that event, meaning that the chance of a particular outcome increases as it hasn't occurred in recent trials. For example, repeatedly flipping a fair coin, if it lands tails several times in a row, a gambler might mistakenly believe that the chance of landing heads increases… Is this the kind of beginner-level question your Club asks?" The young man sneered maliciously. "Leon Chen, senior!"
Leon was momentarily stunned, then laughed. "So, it's the junior who escaped during the card trick at the party. Hmm, your explanation sounds as if you've memorized it from a textbook."
Initially surprised by the junior's accurate judgment, the others couldn't help but laugh after Leon's comment.
He probably did look it up on the internet.
"Hmph." William snorted, "I wanted to join your club, but such questions make me doubt your competence."
The other club members glared at William disapprovingly.
Leon smiled. "Junior, are you confident in your reasoning?"
"Of course."
"Then let's try another beginner-level question," Leon smirked. "How can you remove an apple twice the size of a bottle's opening without breaking the bottle?"
William's pupils contracted, and he scoffed, "What kind of question is that? Is it another magic trick?"
Leon's smile was meaningful. "It's not a magic trick. I can tell you this: if you can't answer this simple question, you shouldn't be so self-assured."