RBCT Chapter 146 The Underrated Top-Tier Trick
Chapter 146 The Underrated Top-Tier Trick
Chapter 146 The Underrated Top-Tier Trick
Gonda Manji glanced at the words written by Kasai Kiyoshi, a look of great admiration in his eyes: "A stroke of genius?"
"Xiao Jie, it seems your recent battles with those Japanese mystery writers have given you a lot of experience in criticism."
"To think they could write such a concise and fitting review of 'The Third Time Limit'!"
"Excellent, very excellent!"
Gonda Manji turned to look at Maishiro Kyosuke and Eri Miri opposite him: "Mr. Maishiro, Ms. Eri, I think you don't need to consider it anymore."
Gonda Manji reached out and patted Kasai Kiyoshi's shoulder forcefully, saying with a smile, "The spot for the waistband in the next issue of 'Top Hat' magazine will be reserved for me and Kiyoshi."
"Don't underestimate Xiaojie's comment; it's only four words long, but it's worth a thousand words!"
"Because Mr. Wu Cheng's 'The Third Statute of Limitations' truly uses the simplest language to depict the diverse lives of people in the police force!"
"Being described as 'capturing the soul in a single stroke' is truly an apt description!"
Jiang Liu Meili and Mai Cheng Jingjie exchanged a glance, both showing happy expressions.
Because "The Third Statute of Limitations" is actually just a short detective story.
Normally, no writer or critic would be willing to write reviews for a magazine cover or a short mystery story.
Similarly, the publishing house's magazine department did not have the funds to hire people to write reviews.
So, Eri was already quite happy to hear that Kiyoshi Kasai was willing to write a review for "The Third Time Limit".
Unexpectedly, Manji Gonda was also willing to write a piece for "The Third Limitation" this time!
Thinking of all this, Jiang Liumei nodded excitedly, looking forward to what kind of evaluation Quan Tian Wanzhi would give to "The Third Time Limit"!
Upon hearing what Manji Gonda said, the other members of the "New Authentic Mystery Club" all turned their attention to Manji Gonda.
After all, Manji Gonda is currently the most prestigious and well-known mystery critic among the members of the "New Orthodox Mystery Club".
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Quan Tianmanji didn't keep them in suspense and went straight to a detailed analysis of "The Third Limitation of Time": "Everyone has already shared their thoughts on 'The Third Limitation of Time,' and Ms. Jiang Liu even brought out a six-dimensional reasoning table," giving a detailed score to "The Third Limitation of Time" from six dimensions.
"However, I have a few points I'd like to add."
"Firstly, Xiaojie's line is so captivating," Mai Shiro-sensei truly is a top-tier master of character creation. This level of character development is something only masters like Matsumoto Seicho and Morimura Seiichi possess."
"The entire narrative is clean and decisive, without any unnecessary details. The character portrayals are also concise and vivid, bringing the characters to life with just a few words."
"What is even more commendable is Ms. Wucheng's control over the story. Whether it is the characters or the story, the details are well-balanced, and the blank spaces are just right."
"For example, in the fifteen-year transition between Chapter One and Chapter Two, Ms. Maishiro easily connected the case from fifteen years ago with the present time by using only the keyword 'taxi driver murder case.'"
"For example, the seven-day transition from Chapter Seven to Chapter Eight is also described in just one sentence: 'Time catches up, surpasses, leaves those standing still behind, and moves forward alone, turning everything in the world into an unchangeable past.' This allows the story to proceed smoothly."
"This ingenious technique of leaving blank spaces can not only significantly shorten the story's pace but also prevent the storyline from becoming too long."
"It can also serve as a foreshadowing of a false answer and a title, misleading readers into believing that 'timeliness' is extremely important."
Gonda Manji took a sip of water and continued, "Similarly, in the character section of 'The Third Term,' Ms. Maishiro also used a lot of white space techniques."
"For example, why does Nanami hate women? The book doesn't offer any explanation, only listing Nanami's various ruthless acts." Is this because Ms. Maishiro didn't want to write about it?
"I suspect this was something Teacher Wu Cheng did on purpose."
"Because this is a very advanced technique of using negative space. The point is to use this technique to portray Nan Jian as a terrifying, beast-like person who will stop at nothing to solve the case!"
"Similarly, the same goes for Mori Takahiro. In the first half of the story, Mori Takahiro and Akiko's relationship was belittled to nothing by Nanami. Akiko was even called a slut by Nanami, which made the readers worry about Mori Takahiro and Akiko's relationship."
"In the end, Takahiro Mori gave a very touching confession, which not only made the story more complete but also elevated Takahiro Mori's character."
"As for the story that follows, Mr. Mai didn't write it realistically, partly to allow readers to fill in the gaps in their own minds."
"Secondly, whether Mori Takahiro and Akiko are together or not is not important. All we need to know is that Mori Takahiro is willing to adopt Arisa and is willing to fight for love."
"For a busy detective, that's enough."
After finishing his speech, Gonda Manji looked at Maijo Kyosuke, his eyes brimming with admiration: "That was my evaluation of the story and characters of 'The Third Statute of Limitations.' Now, let's talk about the tricks in 'The Third Statute of Limitations.'"
"Just now, when everyone was commenting on 'The Third Time Limit'..."
"Aside from Ms. Jiang Liu giving 'The Third Statute of Limitations' a perfect score for its trickery."
"The rest of you are more focused on the reading experience and have overlooked the tricks used in 'The Third Statute of Limitations'."
"As a mystery critic, I want to offer a clear, fair, and objective evaluation here!"
"Mr. Mai Shiro truly lives up to his reputation as a genius of classic mystery! The tricks used in 'The Third Time Limit' have been severely underestimated!"
Gonda Manji paused for a moment, then continued, "First, let's talk about the use of foreshadowing in 'The Third Statute of Limitations'."
"The story of 'The Third Statute of Limitations' does not have the massive amount of foreshadowing found in 'The Mystery of the Death Row Inmate,' but there are many foreshadowing elements that are worth explaining one by one."
"For example, Yukie calls Takeuchi's nickname 'Little Girl'."
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"In Yukie's testimony, there are some very absurd statements about how composed married women are."
"Arisa's unusually large earlobes."
"Xuehui had two abortions for some reason, underwent psychological counseling, and fell into self-blame and regret."
""
"And, three years ago, Takeuchi Toshiharu called Yukie, and Yukie reported Takeuchi Toshiharu. At the same time, someone provided the information to a reporter, which led to the failure of the police's arrest operation."
"And most importantly, there's the 'statute of limitations' repeatedly mentioned throughout the story, and Takahiro Mori being sent to investigate the judge."
"After reading the story of 'The Third Statute of Limitations,' when people see these foreshadowing elements, the thought that Yuki is the real murderer will immediately come to mind."
"But everyone should remember that before Yukie confessed, all these clues and foreshadowing actually pointed to another answer."
"That is, the truth of the case that Mori Takahiro and the other detectives have always believed. Yukie is worried that if they capture Takeuchi Toshiharu, Arisa will find out who her biological father is."
"It is precisely because of the interference of Arisa's storyline that everyone has overlooked the various inconsistencies in Yukie's character in the story!"
""
"So, to put it simply, Mr. Mai Cheng used his masterful writing style to create two storylines in 'The Third Time Limit'!"
"These two lines, like the concept of 'Convergence,' are both perfectly valid until the mystery is fully revealed!"
"Only when the mystery is fully revealed do people realize that there is a mystery beneath the mystery, and the riddle itself is a narrative trick in a different way!"
"It's just that this narrative trick was used so well that many people didn't even notice it!"
Uyama Hideomi, who hadn't said much until now, looked enlightened upon hearing Gonda Manji's words: "After Mr. Gonda's analysis, it seems that's indeed the case!"
"In the story of 'The Third Time Limit', Teacher Wu Cheng set up two storylines in total."
"Route A: Yukie is assaulted by Takeuchi Toshiharu, who then kills Yukie's husband. Yukie, to protect her daughter and prevent Takeuchi from being caught by the police, waits for the statute of limitations to expire."
"Route B involves Yukie having an affair with Takeuchi Toshiharu, murdering her husband, and in order to escape punishment, letting Takeuchi Toshiharu escape, hoping the statute of limitations will expire and she can escape legal responsibility!"
"If it were written like other writers, they would definitely use these two storylines to create a dual narrative, thereby confusing the readers and concealing the mystery."
"But Ms. Maishiro took a different approach. Instead of using a dual-narrative structure, she jumped directly out of the two storylines and adopted the police's perspective to re-examine the case."
"Then, without a second thought, they cut out storyline B, choosing to use the storyline A to cover up the outcome of storyline B!"
"In other words, the 'third statute of limitations' that Teacher Wu Cheng talks about throughout the entire piece actually has nothing to do with the final mystery!"
"The riddle presented and the solution provided are on two completely different storylines!"
Upon hearing Uyama Hideomi's words, Gonda Manji snapped his fingers: "Mr. Uyama, you truly are a veteran editor. After I mentioned it, you immediately understood the method of this trick!"
"The so-called A-line concealing B-line, this unique structure is not the first of its kind by Mr. Mai Cheng. In the long history of European and American mystery novels, there are many masterpieces with this structure."
"However, Western reasoning is heavily constrained by the rules of Knox's Ten Commandments and Van Dine's Twenty Rules, and always cares about so-called feasibility and rationality."
"This leads to them being limited by these rules and regulations, preventing them from making the story more exciting."
"But Ms. Maishiro is different. When she just announced the 'New Orthodox Mystery Club' declaration, she clearly stated her position."
"Maki-sensei doesn't want any realistic reasoning; she'll always uphold Yokomizo Seishi-sensei's ideas!"
"The future of classic mystery novels should be to soar into the sky!"
"It's precisely because Ms. Maishiro wants to elevate mystery novels to new heights that she boldly presents the unfair clue of 'the mystery's surface and its answer being out of sync,' a combination of narrative tricks!"
"Ultimately, the mystery was revealed: all the clues pointed to storyline A, but the answer was ultimately revealed as storyline B—a truly astonishing structure!"
"Therefore, I've always believed that this story structure and plot twists have been severely underestimated!"
"Because the tricks in 'The Third Time Limit' can be described as not only deceiving the characters in the story, but also misleading the readers outside the story!"
Upon hearing what Manji Gonda said, Kiyoshi Kasai's mouth dropped open in shock, and he was speechless for a moment!
The others were just as shocked as Kiyoshi Kasai, because they had previously sensed the power of "The Third Statute of Limitations."
She was already excellent, but I never imagined she would be this excellent!
Kasai Kiyoshi seemed to have thought of something, and a look of excitement, as if a flash of inspiration had appeared on his face, led him to pick up a pen and start writing quickly on the paper.
Less than five minutes later, Kiyoshi Kasai put down his pen, smiled at everyone, and said, "Mr. Gonda's analysis of 'The Third Limitation of Time' was very insightful. It suddenly gave me a sudden realization and made me think of a very short story."
"After I finish telling this story, you'll probably understand the brilliance of the police novel 'The Third Time Limit'!"
Seeing that no one objected, Kiyoshi Kasai spoke directly: "I have roughly extracted some keywords and plot points from the story of 'The Third Time Limit' to serve as the core of the story."
"These words refer to a mother (woman) with a daughter, the husband of a murdered woman, and a man who takes the blame for a woman's crime."
"This plan to fabricate guilt was flawless and a complete success."
"However, there is a god-like detective in the story who is unable to use the evidence to arrest women."
"Therefore, the detective used the sophisticated method of psychological reasoning to ultimately break down the woman's psychological defenses, causing the entire plan to fail."
"This ultimately led to both the male and female prisoners being imprisoned."
After finishing speaking, Kasai Kiyoshi tore the notebook into countless pieces, rearranged them, and then looked at the remaining eight people present, laughing, "Listen up, everyone, what follows is the story of how I scrambled and rearranged 'The Third Time Limit'!"
"A mother with a daughter accidentally killed her ex-husband because she could no longer bear his harassment. The murder was discovered by a male neighbor next door."
"The male neighbor, motivated by a desire for redemption or love, decided to help the woman escape legal punishment."
"So the man smashed his ex-husband's head, destroyed his fingerprints and teeth, dumped his body somewhere, and then made a detailed alibi for the mother and daughter."
"But what's interesting is that the mother and daughter didn't need to lie at all to create a perfect alibi."
"What exactly is the reason for this?"
Kiyoshi Kasai kept everyone in suspense, pointing to a blank piece of paper and writing the word "vagrant" on it. He then smiled and explained, "This actually utilizes the method of asymmetrical puzzle and answer in 'The Third Statute of Limitations'."
"The male neighbor only needs to kill a homeless man and disguise the homeless man's body as his ex-husband's body to give the mother and daughter a perfect alibi."
"In summary, in the story, two people died in total: the homeless man and the ex-husband. They died in different timelines, which is why the mother and daughter were able to provide a truly perfect alibi."
"And the police have been using the homeless man's body to hunt down the murderer who killed her ex-husband."
"Just like in 'The Third Limitation of Judgment,' Yukie kept using her daughter's earlobe as a pretext to cover up her murder, which resulted in all the police officers being deceived!"
"But because of the cold-blooded detective, Sergeant Kusami, who wanted to arrest Honma Yukie from the very beginning, Takeuchi Toshiharu's third statute of limitations was completely irrelevant!"
After hearing Kiyoshi Kasai's repackaging of the case, everyone present understood the power of the "Third Limitation" trick!
Because the structure and techniques of this trick are perfectly capable of supporting a long epic!
But why does Ms. Maijo only use such a powerful trick in her short stories?
This left everyone quite confused about Maijo Kyosuke's actions. Was it simply extravagant spending, or just a display of talent and unbridled spending?
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