"Wait, did you say this ship had 1000 passengers on board when it first set sail?" questioned Shaun, whose question Blythe nodded in affirmation. "Then, this tiny cabin with only one bed certainly wouldn't be able to fit everyone."
"Your logic definitely makes sense," answered Jeffrey. "But what I don't get is: this ship doesn't look that big from the outside - how can it hold so many rooms?"
"Exactly!" answered Shaun. "So, there must be other hidden rooms in order to accommodate this many people. Perhaps, if the decorations crew have yet to discover these secret rooms, we'll still be able to get an idea of what the late passengers of this ship were like to help us identify to whom that ghost shadow belongs."
"Aaaah!!! Who said 'ghost shadow'?" Tiffany suddenly woke up from a shock after hearing the word 'ghost'. She kicked her feet in her fright, sending one of her high heels soaring into the air. Her shoe hit the wall on the opposite side of the room with a loud thud and fell to the floor.
"Great job, Tiffany!" To the bewilderment of the others, Shaun suddenly praised Tiffany. "If I'm not mistaken, that was a hollow sound. Hurry, there must be something behind this wall." After Shaun's words, Blythe and Jeffrey immediately started knocking and touching the wooden wall in search of a hidden mechanism to activate a secret passage behind the wall.
Not surprisingly, Shaun's hypothesis was proven correct. After Blythe has moved a wooden barrel on the side, the wooden wall suddenly slid open to reveal a secret entrance to a flight of steep stairs leading downwards.
"Aha! Now, I get it!" said Blythe. "They reason why they could accommodate so many passengers in such a small ship was because they put all the passenger rooms below the deck. This is also probably the reason why it did not overturn in the thunderstorm - because the ship's centre-of-mass is really low."
"Bravo!!" clapped Jeffrey. "With this amount of knowledge in physics, I'm sure you'll have no problem getting into the university you want."
"Thanks for the praise, Jeffrey," replied Blythe, smiling modestly. "But, somehow, I don't remember you being one of the examiners in my interview!" Everyone laughed at this response, except for Tiffany, who was sulking at the back, reluctant to explore further, but also not wanting to be left behind.
Descending the steep flight of steps, the group reached a narrow corridor, at the end of which was a wooden door. The hinges of the door squeaked deafeningly like some animal being slaughtered as Shaun pushed open it, revealing a medium-sized bedroom furnished with two Victorian single-beds, a large wardrobe in one corner and an Oriental screen. On the side of the room was another wooden staircase.
"Wow! This looks very old-fashioned, indeed," exclaimed Jeffrey. "I'll bet that, this time, they're the original furniture of the ship."
Suddenly, Shaun caught a glimpse of his watch, displaying the time and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! It's midnight already! How time flies when we're doing investigations."
"It's too late to head back home and there doesn't seem to be any hotels nearby," said Jeffrey thoughtfully. "Looks like we'll have to sleep here tonight."
~To be Continued~
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