A crime scene photograph was evidence in Ryunosuke Naruhodo's investigation into an incident involving Kazuma Asogi during his time on the SS Burya.
A Russian's final message[]
- Main article: The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band
On January 9, a little past midnight, Nikolina Pavlova visited Asogi's cabin, which was next door to her own, to retrieve her cat Darka. Asogi helped Pavlova find her cat, but also recognized her, causing her to admit that she had run away from her ballet troupe, Novavich Ballet. Pavolva grew fearful that Asogi would call on someone else and expose her secret, and pushed him in a panic. As he was falling, Asogi grasped one of Pavlova's earrings, breaking off part of it, and slipped after stepping on a bell worn by Darka, breaking it in two, leaving a dark stain. He fell to the floor and was knocked unconscious.
Bif Strogenov heard the noise and headed to the cabin, where Pavlova explained what had happened. Finding the sleeping Naruhodo inside the wardrobe, Strogenov decided to alter the scene to frame the stowaway. Among other things, he upset Asogi's ink bottle and wrote "ГАРДЕРОБЪ" (the Russian word for "wardrobe") on the floor, making it look as if Asogi had written it before dying. Strogenov's efforts worked, as Herlock Sholmes, a detective on board the steamship, gave no apparent thought to the fact that the message had been written in Russian, or that Asogi had apparently written his killer's location rather than his name, concluding that Naruhodo and Asogi were both Russians and that the former had assassinated the latter.
Nonetheless, Naruhodo was able to investigate the cabin, and eventually encountered Sholmes, who gave him a photograph that he had taken before Asogi's body was taken away, depicting Asogi and his supposed final message. He later investigated Asogi's closed fist and discovered the earring piece that had been broken off. He joined Naruhodo, who was able to piece together various clues indicating the presence of a third party around the time of the incident. Because of a postmortem report by the ship's doctor indicating that Asogi had died instantly, the message written by Strogenov ironically became crucial evidence of crime scene tampering, and an ink stain on Strogenov's shirt gave him away.