Head On Home...

5: The Code

1

A little over a month had passed since my escape from the secret mansion. We had fully settled into Ms. Mitsue's Western-style home.

“Yuriko, there's a letter from Mr. Harumi.”

Yuriko handed me the envelope Ms. Mitsue had handed her without even looking at it.

“Read that.”

“Yes, yes. I wonder what it is?”

Mr. Harumi occasionally wrote to inquire about our situation, as though he'd just remembered we existed.

His letters were always written in pencil, consisting of nothing but curt lists of bullet points. Still, the first time I'd seen one, all I felt was surprise that he'd deigned to write us at all.

• Someone resembling a detective has been sighted near me. It is no doubt one of Minoshima's minions. He is an annoyance, so resolve this quickly.

“So Count Minoshima is searching for us after all. His minions have been hanging around places close to Mr. Harumi. We need to be careful. And... oh...”

There was some unexpected news.

• On September 10th, the Dainichi Club will host a garden party to celebrate the 60th birthday of the current head of the Hasebe family. All members of the family will be in attendance.

“There's a garden party to celebrate Viscount Hasebe's 60th birthday. Since it's at the Dainichi Club, I expect there will probably be about 500 people in attendance.”

Why had Mr. Harumi gone out of his way to tell us this?

Yuriko had an answer.

“That garden party would be a good chance to find out about the code. I mean, everyone from Mr. Hasebe's family will be there, right?”

“You mean the code might come up in conversation? I see, you might be right.”

The Hasebe family were all trying to crack the code, but the Viscount and his family lived separately. They may have been planning to use the garden party as an excuse to exchange information, or to secretly extract information from more knowledgeable family members.

“Not just that. If they have the code, we could borrow it and make a copy.”

“Without permission?”

“Without permission.”

There was a possibility someone from the Hasebe family would have the code with them...

After thinking on it for a while, I nodded.

“You're right. This might be our only chance.”

I couldn't think of any other way for us to get the code.

Before, I might have hesitated to do something like that, but the situation had changed. Yoshihisa Kinukawa's imprisonment was all the just cause I needed.

“But how can we get into the garden party? We don't have invitations.”

“Perhaps they can hire you as waitresses?” Ms. Mitsue said with a smile.

“I'm a member of the Dainichi Club. I know the manager. Why don't I ask him to hire you on as servers for the day?”

Yuriko and I exchanged looks. I had no objections to her idea.

“...But Yuriko's manners aren't exactly suited to being a waitress. Mariko is the daughter of a viscount, so at least we can trust her to behave properly.”

“Yes, you're right.”

Yuriko had the skills to be an excellent waitress, but her sense of etiquette was appalling. She would turn doorknobs with her feet while carrying three trays, one in each hand and one on her head.

“In that case, perhaps we should give Yuriko a role she'll be more comfortable in. What if we have her hired as an acrobat for entertainment? We'll get her on stage as a young acrobat. Mariko can be a waitress. What do you think?”

“Yeah! That'd be great.”

It just might work. Having us go in separately as a waitress and an acrobat would increase our odds of learning more from the Hasebe family.

But there were still some problems.

“We met Ryujiro Hasebe in Ōme before. Won't he recognize us?”

“Mariko, you'll probably be fine. You already cut your hair, and you look like a different person. You don't have any close ties to the Hasebe family, do you? In that case, you'll be fine. The problem is Yuriko. If you do acrobatics, you'll definitely stand out.”

“I never told him I used to be in the circus, though.”

“I see. In that case, let's make sure to oil that hair down so you look less like... yourself.”

Since they were fighting over the treasure, Count Minoshima would be sure to keep the Hasebe family from learning that we were currently on the run. I wasn't afraid that they'd be searching for us.

However, I did have another concern.

“There are things we have to worry about more than Mr. Hasebe. What if Count Minoshima or someone related to him are at the garden party? That would be a major problem.”

Ordinarily, it would be natural for Count Minoshima to be invited, since it was a garden party to celebrate Viscount Hasebe's 60th birthday. However, since they were waging a secret war over the hidden treasure, the Hasebe family may well have chosen not to invite them, or the Count's family may decline their invitation.

We decided to check whether Count Minoshima had attended any of the Hasebe family's previous few events. If he hadn't, there shouldn't have been any problem.

“But even if the Count did come, it's not like he could grab us and tie us up in the middle of the garden party, right? We'd be able to escape.”

“Yes, that's true. But there's an even bigger problem.”

“Father must have also received an invitation. He'll definitely attend. Even if I change my hair and clothes, he'll definitely recognize me. What should we do?”

However, neither Yuriko nor Ms. Mitsue seemed to care much.

“Oh, how wonderful. Why don't you say hello? I'm sure he's worried about you.”

“I don't think Mr. Viscount would make a big fuss if he saw you, Mariko. Right?”

Yuriko was right. Father would never have had the guts to grab a waitress at a garden party and drag her home before everyone's eyes.

The thought of bumping into Father at the garden party filled me with a mixture of pity and elation. And so, the plan to obtain the code seemed suddenly to be complete, and, like a thundercloud, it began to grow.

After some research, we determined that the Hasebe and Minoshima families hadn't been seen at each others' events in a while. We wouldn't need to worry about running into the Count at the party.

Ms. Mitsue went to the Dainichi Club, which was close to the Imperial Theater, and asked the manager to arrange for us to be hired. However, when she returned from the negotiations, she wore a bitter smile, as though something unexpected had happened.

“How did it go?”

“Of course, I had no trouble getting you hired, Mariko. They appreciated the help. We didn't even need to ask Sir Hasebe's permission.”

That was good.

“What about me?”

“Yes, I also asked if you could appear on stage for a moment. I introduced you as the genius acrobat Asako.”

“And when the manager asked Sir Hasebe about it, he asked me to appear, too. He said he wanted me to sing. Yuriko, if your treasure hunt goes well, don't forget my share. I'll be wanting my performance fee.”

2

September 10th. The garden party celebration of Viscount Eigo Hasebe's 60th birthday was held under beautiful, clear skies. Countless chairs, tables, and stalls had been brought into the large Western-style garden. The servants, myself among them, had been preparing for the opening since the early morning. I wore the insignia of a hostess on my chest, and received instructions of courtesies to avoid disrespecting the guests, such as that a special chair had been prepared for a certain politician with a bad leg, or that a certain scholar hated to have his plate taken while there was even the tiniest bit of food still on it.

As planned, there were about 500 people scheduled to attend.

As the opening time of 2:00 P.M. approached, the number of guests already in the garden increased. As I prepared to serve the food, I kept sneaking glances out the window. I couldn't see all of the guests from there, but Count Minoshima was nowhere to be seen.

The party opened on schedule. First there was a speech from the Viscount, followed by a congratulatory speech from a member of the House of Representatives.

The Hasebe clan was quite large. The Viscount's father and mother were still alive, both retired and approaching 90. The Viscount had three sons and a daughter, and the eldest son and the daughter both had spouses and families of their own. The second and third sons were said to live in a dormitory. They were all surrounded by about a dozen servants.

As I flitted between the guests in the kimono and apron of a waitress, I casually listened to the conversations between the members of the Hasebe family. I wondered if they would talk about the code.

The only one I needed to be careful of was the second son, Ryujiro. Thankfully, he seemed to have no idea that the daughter of the Kabatani family was right beside him in the guise of a waitress.

After the speeches were concluded, the on-stage entertainment began.

When Ms. Mitsue, whose presence hadn't been announced, appeared on stage, the audience's reactions varied. Some of the guests cheered in an exaggerated, playful manner, while others frowned, and still others put on artificial masks of indifference. What was clear was that everyone present recognized the actress Mitsue Asama.

“Good afternoon, everyone! I'm so grateful to have been invited here. Of course, there are those of you who look annoyed with me, as though a giant parrot had wandered in and started talking to you. Wouldn't it be better if you all trained your faces a bit more?”

“The people in attendance here today are meant to be the hearts and minds of our entire nation, aren't you? If you show your emotions too easily, the world will take advantage of you.”

“Well, please bear with me for a little while while I sing to you as well as I can.”

Ms. Mitsue sang her first ever song, which she'd released a few years ago, and a song she'd released last year that had become popular. She was an actress and not a singer, but her bearing was so impressive that when she finished her performance, everyone had to applaud.

After the thunderous applause died down, Ms. Mitsue remained on stage.

“Well, after this, there will be another show for you all to enjoy, but since I'm already here, I'll introduce it to you. I doubt anyone here will recognize her, but she's the greatest acrobatic genius I've ever know. This is...”

Yuriko, who appeared on stage as “Asako”, was riding a bicycle. She wore a turban and what appeared to be traditional Indian clothing, and her face was covered in more powder than I'd ever seen.

Yuriko started off with handstands on the bicycle and jumping through the body of a moving car, then finally performed a trick where she balanced on the bicycle's back wheel long enough for her to remove the front wheel entirely. There was no live band providing backing music, but Yuriko's performance was smooth and elegant, fitting for a garden party.

As the entertainment went on, I never let my attention leave the Hasebe family.

With Ms. Mitsue advocating for us, I couldn't neglect my job as a waitress. I didn't get many chances to get up close to them.

The most noteworthy thing I could hear would be a private conversation between Viscount Hasebe and his sons. That would be the most likely circumstance when the code would come up.

With the performance on stage still ongoing, many people's attentions were diverted.

I saw the Viscount and his eldest son lean towards each other. Unable to come closer, I saw from a distance as the Viscount reached into his jacket and pulled out a pocket watch. He opened the lid and removed a piece of paper, which he unfolded and showed to his son.

It looked like a blown up photograph, but all I could see were strings of text, too distant to make out. However, it was a string of hiragana, just as Mr. Yoshihisa had said. There was no doubt. It was the code.

After her performance, Ms. Mitsue was swarmed with requests for meetings and handshakes, and she made her way from table to table, greeting everyone. As I passed her, I quietly said

“It's in the inside pocket of the Viscount's jacket.”

Ms. Mitsue completely ignored me. Which meant that she understood exactly what I meant.

But wouldn't actually getting the code like this be extremely difficult? Even an expert pickpocket couldn't get the pocket watch from a man's inside pocket without being noticed.

Regardless of my concerns, Yuriko came down from the stage still on her bicycle and rode around, handing out drinks from a tray without dismounting, to the audience's delight. After finally getting off the bicycle, she performed charming magic tricks for several tables.

Eventually, Ms. Mitsue and Yuriko set their sights on Viscount Hasebe, who was sitting by himself. The two of them approached him in a casual pincer formation. Naturally, I stayed as close as I could without drawing suspicion.

“Sir Hasebe, my earlier greeting was woefully insufficient. I simply can't thank you enough for inviting me here today. My meager performance must be below the standards of such a distinguished crowd.”

“Well don't say that, Madame, or I won't be able to justify inviting you next time! Everyone appears to have enjoyed your presence quite a bit. Next time, I'd like to have you on the guest list...”

“Oh, you honor me, sir. But I'm not worthy of being placed on the same level as these fine gentlemen. I think it's for the better if I keep on entertaining.”

“Come along and say hello, Asako. Sir Hasebe, please let this girl show you her magic act.”

“Oh? Magic tricks, is it? I don't see why not.”

“Okay! So, Mr. Sir Viscount, may I have your jacket?”

Viscount Hasebe hesitated for a moment, but handed over the jacket to Yuriko, pocket watch still inside.

I understood Yuriko's plan, and I was impressed.

The Viscount had already seen Yuriko perform similar tricks for several other guests. He knew that the jacket would just be used as a cloth, so he handed it over without much suspicion.

Yuriko's skills were truly impressive. She performed a trick where she draped the jacket over a glass on the table, then flipped it over to reveal the glass had disappeared. During the trick, she secretly took the pocket watch from the inside pocket, retrieved the paper with the code, and handed it over to me behind her back.

Taking it, I hid it under my tray and hurried away.

I was going to copy it down. We weren't going to steal the code itself; we'd return it before its absence was noticed. We didn't want to give the Hasebe family cause for suspicion.

It was a string of meaningless nonsense syllables. I couldn't get a single character wrong. I couldn't be seen with it. I didn't have enough time.

I was finished in about three minutes.

When I returned to the garden, Yuriko still hadn't returned the Viscount's jacket. I'd made it in time.

After I secretly handed the code back to her, Yuriko slipped it back in the pocket watch without him seeing. Then she placed the jacket over the Viscount's shoulders.

“There we go! Thank you for your patience.”

Yuriko bowed and released the Viscount.

I kept my face even and returned to clearing dishes.

We were lucky to have Ms. Mitsue on our side. The Viscount wouldn't have been suspicious of a girl introduced to him by a famous actress.

Our objective for the day had been accomplished. We had managed to obtain Viscount Kinukawa's code. All that remained was to complete my job as a waitress and keep an eye on the Hasebe family.

Just as I allowed myself to relax, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.

I turned around, surprised, and saw Father standing there with a deeply pitiful look on his face.

I hadn't noticed Father's presence before then. In the crowd of 500 people, he'd completely disappeared.

Even observing me up close, Father still struggled to recognize me as his daughter. He looked conflicted as to whether I, with my hair cut short, clad in an apron and carrying a serving tray, could actually be his flesh and blood, but he soon appeared to gain confidence.

“Mariko! That is you, isn't it? Why are you dressed like that? What are you doing here?”

“...Hello, Father. It's as you can see. I'm working to repay our debts. What are you doing at a time like this? Is everything okay at home?”

Seeing Father's troubled face, the feeling that I should just go home, which had remained smoldering somewhere in my chest, spread within me like the thick, black smoke from an old fire.

I tried to convince myself that Father wasn't actually worried about me. If he wanted to weaken my resolve and convince me to return home, that would definitely be the approach he'd use.

“I don't care about the debt! Don't you know how worried your family and I are!? If you're going to do something like this, then we can forget about Count Minoshima's proposal–”

Father clung to me as he spoke.

“Father, that's a lie.”

Even I was taken aback by how firm I sounded.

“...No, of course it's not. I don't doubt that you are worried about me. But if I return home, you'll focus on all your other concerns and forget that feeling. And then you'll beg me to return to Count Minoshima.”

“Father, I'd rather you stop this now than put us through that farce again. I'll be alright. I'm sure I can do it. I'll fix everything. Miss Yuriko and I will clear all of the Kabatani family's debts.”

Father looked around the garden.

“Where is that circus girl? Why are you here alone?”

Father hadn't realized Asako's true identity.

“I can't tell you that, Father.”

“You've been deceived. How pathetic. To be reduced to waiting tables...”

“There's nothing pathetic about that. The manager praised me for exemplary service.”

That was true, and I'd been happy with the compliment. But Father couldn't understand that. He just lamented that I had become a servant at all.

“I don't know what to do. I'll lose everything. I might even be forced to give up my title...”

“Everything? Are you afraid you'll lose me as well, Father? Or are you afraid you already have?”

Father didn't answer me.

“Well, if we really do get wiped out by debt, then we'll know.”

There was nothing more to say. I left Father behind and went back to work.

That was the first time I'd ever stood up to Father. For the first time in my life, I realized how much I loved that weak-willed man.

I wanted more than anything to talk to Yuriko, but the party was still ongoing. Feeling Father's gaze on me the whole time, I somehow managed to survive until the end.

As before, I kept a constant watchful eye on the Hasebe family.

As I observed them, I noticed something strange. It involved the second son, Ryujiro.

The family often talked among themselves between entertaining the guests. There were many times I suspected they were talking about the treasure.

However, Ryujiro always kept his distance from his relatives. Since I was afraid of being recognized by Ryujiro, I was thankful to avoid getting close to him, but I still wondered if there was something going on between Ryujiro and the rest of his family. Even if there wasn't, he appeared to be plotting something on his own. That much was clear from the way he blatantly ignored his family and smoked his cigarette alone in the corner.

The party had ended, and the guests and the invited entertainment had all left. And I unexpectedly discovered Ryujiro's intentions.

The only people left at the Dainichi Club were the Hasebe family and the servants. As we were cleaning up, the Hasebe clan gathered together in the garden.

And Ryujiro joined them.

I clearly heard him declare to the family:

“I'm telling you, I cracked the code! I expect I'll have the treasure to show you all soon.”

Having said what he needed, Ryujiro left his family and the Dainichi Club behind.

3

As soon as we returned to Ms. Mitsue's mansion, Yuriko washed the powder from her face and the oil from her hair, returning to her usual, coconut-y self.

I also changed into my usual outfit. Then I immediately told her what I'd heard from Ryujiro. He had cracked the code and knew where the treasure was hidden.

Yuriko tilted her head.

“I wonder if he's telling the truth.”

“I wondered that, too. But I don't know why he'd call his family over to brag about something he couldn't deliver on.”

It was almost midnight, but Yuriko and I were both wide awake.

We were too worried to be tired, despite how hard we'd just worked. If what Ryujiro had said was true, we had to act immediately.

“That Mr. Ryujiro guy looked pretty ambitious. He must have been trying to find the treasure before the rest of his family could. He had that look about him.”

“But if that's how it is, how was he able to decipher the code that only a member of the Kinukawa family could decipher? Did he find a clue somewhere? Maybe it was at the villa in Ōme.”

He had been traveling. Had he found the key to the code somewhere related to the Kinukawa family?

This was bad. If Ryujiro managed to find the treasure first, not only would I be unable to repay my family's debts, but Yoshihisa Kinukawa, who was being imprisoned, would be placed in danger.

At any rate, we had the code. It was obvious what we had to do.

We had to go see Mr. Yoshihisa again. We had to show him the code that only a member of the Kinukawa family could decipher.

Because we had to prepare food and other supplies for the journey, it wasn't until two days after the garden party that we were able to leave for Mr. Yoshihisa's prison.

Late that night, we once again descended into the courtyard of the hidden mansion. Mr. Yoshihisa wasn't surprised to see us.

“Are you alright? You weren't seen, were you?”

“No. We're fine.”

“You're in luck. For the past week, the younger man has been away quite often. Perhaps he's developed a gambling problem.”

We were able to go right into the courtyard as soon as we arrived. The younger man wasn't present. Since we were in a hurry, that was incredibly fortunate. As he'd said, it was an incredible stroke of good luck.

I immediately showed him the code and asked him to explain it. I slid the copy I'd made through the bars of his cell.

とじらちわゐなへゐだをむよゑたとえさせちゐむゑてゑたこゐたゑゑりいふるとにたてのひたさけゐゆわへたへやふへほあかろさごまるりあすめるくき寳ちきけなきたゑりのふとけふちこりなへゑむひゐだなよひもえよよな

“What? This is the code Viscount Kinukawa left behind? ...It's a copy you made, is it? I only ever saw it once, so I can't remember its contents. It's not the sort of thing a person can remember. But there's no doubt it was something like this. Yes, I remember that single kanji '寳' – 'treasure' – among all the hiragana characters.”

“This was from the piece of paper Viscount Hasebe had, wasn't it? What was the writing like? Were there any quirks in the handwriting?”

I thought back to the piece of paper I'd copied from at the garden party.

“Well, I guess it was a bit exaggerated. The strokes were quite large.”

I took out a pencil and reproduced the handwriting I'd seen on the back of the page.

Mr. Yoshihisa looked at it and nodded.

“...Yes, that's definitely my father's handwriting. There's no doubt about it. This code is real. It was stolen by the eldest son of the Hasebe family in the chaos following the earthquake.”

“Well? What do you think? Can you understand what it mean, Sir Yoshihisa?”

I knew he had a strong mind, so I held a vague hope that as soon as I showed him the code, he'd have a flash of inspiration and solve the mystery in an instant. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, and Mr. Yoshihisa just looked at the code in the light of his oil lamp, tilting his head.

“I don't have any ideas. I'm sure we have to convert the characters following some sort of pattern. That's what a code is.”

“Do you have any idea what the pattern is? It must be something only a Kinukawa would know.”

“Yes, I agree...”

“Wasn't there any sort of family motto passed down to you? Or a saying your father was fond of?”

“No, I don't think that's it. It's true that if it was, this would be a code that only the Kinukawa family could solve. The reason I disagree is because, since I've been imprisoned here, I've done nothing but think about that possibility. Count Minoshima has threatened me, asking if I knew anything. But for two years now, I haven't been able to come up with a single thing.”

“I'm sure I'm not that much dumber than average for a Kinukawa, so the key to deciphering the code can't be anything insubstantial like that.”

“So you think the clue has a physical form? Was it left somewhere?”

“You're getting awfully pushy. It's like a police interrogation...”

Mr. Yoshihisa suddenly threw in a sarcastic barb, pouring cold water on my enthusiasm.

I was trying to save him from his imprisonment, but I was also trying to save myself using his rightful inheritance. If we did find the treasure, Mr. Yoshihisa would be placed in danger. I realized that I'd grown so absorbed in searching for the treasure that I'd completely forgotten that, and a dark feeling of shame suddenly welled up within me.

“I'm sorry. You're in a much more difficult position than we are.”

I apologized, leaning my forehead against the bars.

Seeing my reaction, Mr. Yoshihisa stood silently in thought for a while. Then, he seemed to come to a decision.

His voice was even softer than before.

“I've decided to place my trust in you. If I don't, nothing will change. That said, this is just a guess on my part.”

“The clue to deciphering the code must be a physical object, and it's something unique to the Kinukawa family. Father said only a Kinukawa could solve it.”

“So what is it? I said earlier that I had no idea, but that wasn't strictly true. You already went to the villa in Ōme, didn't you? Do you remember what the wallpaper in the hallways was like?”

Come to think of it, the wallpaper in the villa had caught my eye.

The wallpaper was dark brown and appeared to have no pattern, but when I touched it, I felt it was uniformly wrinkled. The villa had been constructed in the middle of the Meiji era, but the wallpaper was newer than that.

“Really? There's no doubt that isn't just ordinary wallpaper. That wallpaper wasn't just used in the villa, but also in the main house in Akasaka. My father ordered the replacement himself. I've never seen wallpaper like that anywhere outside the Kinukawa family. It must have been specially made.”

“My father was an obsessive man, but I can't imagine he'd have chosen that pattern for no reason.”

“So if we combine the pattern of the wallpaper with the code, we'll be able to find the answer.”

“Yes. But it isn't just about combining it. You'll also need some sort of direction. Knowing my father's personality, I doubt he made it easy.”

“Besides which, I'm not sure what exactly to do with that wallpaper. I just thought the way it wrinkled was strange; I never traced its pattern. I didn't realize it might be the key to solving the code until after I was locked in here. So I suppose you'll have to check it for me.”

“I guess we will.”

But if that was our next move, the situation was urgent.

If the wallpaper in the villa was the key, then it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that Ryujiro, the second son of the Hasebe family, had solved the code. He had been in that villa with the code in his hand. If he found the treasure first, Mr. Yoshihisa's life would be placed in danger.

“...Miss Yuriko, don't you have any ideas? Can't you do something?”

“Nope.”

Yuriko had already decided she couldn't solve the code and ignored our conversation. She appeared to be inspecting the area around the hut, searching for a way to rescue him.

But no matter how hard she looked, there was no way to sneak him out of the hut.

“Miss Yuriko, if there really is no other way... The only person in the mansion right now is an old man who's hard of hearing, right? Is there anyway to restrain him? But he has a hunting rifle...”

“After we tie him up, we'd need to get him to tell us where the key is.”

“And the combination to the lock. Please don't do anything dangerous. It's not like you can threaten or torture him.”

When Mr. Yoshihisa said that, Yuriko put her hands on her hips.

“Hey! I could totally torture someone if I wanted to.”

She sounded angry.

But she decided not to take action right away.

“But still, safety first. Definitely before the treasure. So, instead of attacking the old man, let's try something else.”

“Like, what about writing Count Minoshima a letter?”

“A letter?”

Neither Mr. Yoshihisa nor I understood what she meant.

“That's it! We'll send a letter to the Count without telling him who it's from. It'll just say 'we know you're secretly keeping someone locked up in Kanagawa'.”

“Oh, I see.”

Yuriko wanted to keep the Count in check by sending him a mysterious communication from a mystery figure who knew about Mr. Yoshihisa's confinement.

That was the quickest and easiest way to protect him. In short, we would tell him we knew about his evil deeds, so he couldn't kill Mr. Yoshihisa.

However, that method would make the treasure hunt more difficult. The Count may have responded by tightening the security at the mansion, or even moving Mr. Yoshihisa elsewhere. In that case, we would have a much harder time meeting him to discuss the code, let alone rescuing him.

Should we do it? It wasn't an easy decision, but it also wasn't our choice to make. Mr. Yoshihisa's life was on the line, so we waited to hear his reply.

“It will depend on the contents of the letter, but it would make it harder for the Count to lay a hand on me, even if the treasure is found. It's a good back up plan, at least. Who will write the letter?”

“Mariko! Mariko's the smart one.”

Yuriko was just being selfish.

But Mr. Yoshihisa took her answer seriously and turned to me.

“I understand. I'm ashamed to have to rely so totally on you girls, but for now, let's go ahead with that plan. But what do you plan to do afterwards?”

“Yuriko? You seem like a clever girl. Do you have some plan?”

I thought the same thing. She may well have already thought further ahead than just some temporary protection.

Yuriko spoke confidently.

“I've been thinking about how to free you for a long time now, and I have an idea. It's really hard and requires a lot of preparation, so I can't do it right now. But with it, you'll be free no matter how prepared the Count is. So just leave everything to me.”

“I won't ever forgive the Count for what he's done. And I'll expose all the crimes committed over this treasure for everyone to see”

Yuriko declared that forcefully, which I found unbecoming of her. She was probably repeating a line she'd heard somewhere without understanding its meaning, as usual.

But Mr. Yoshihisa took her completely seriously.

“...I understand. I'll place my trust in you. Not that I have any choice, what with that young man from the Hasebe family threatening to take the treasure at any moment.”

“I'll leave everything in your hands. I know I'm repeating myself, but please, be careful.”

It was time for us to go. We said our goodbyes more politely than we had last time.

4

Despite Mr. Yoshihisa's warning, I wasn't careful enough as we left the mansion. On the path through the forest back to the shed, I fell down and sprained my ankle.

With Yuriko's help, I was able to get up on Katsuyo's back, and we made it back to Ms. Mitsue's home. However, it was immediately clear I would have difficulty walking for a few days.

Luckily, there was something I needed to do that didn't require leaving the house.

With pages of stationery in front of me, I sat racking my brain. I had to write the letter to Count Minoshima.

“It had to be carefully written. It has to convince the Count that I know his secret and leave him frightened... but not push him too hard, correct?”

“Yeah. And it also has to look like it wasn't written by you.”

As Yuriko said, the sender's identity must remain a mystery.

There were good odds he would suspect us as the senders of the letter. If there was anyone the Count would suspect knew of Mr. Yoshihisa's existence, Yuriko and I, who had escaped from the mansion, would top the list.

It was inevitable he'd hold suspicions, but it would be a problem if they became certainties. I needed to make the Count afraid that some unknown person knew his secret. No matter who read it, they couldn't believe I wrote it; no matter where they looked, they couldn't sense my presence. A letter full of malice – exactly what I'd been hoping to someday write.

“I never thought my talent would be put to the test like this. I expected I'd be submitting my work to a magazine or a writing teacher, not Count Minoshima.”

My debut work would be a threatening letter.

I bit the tip of my pencil as I mulled over my ideas. Then I gently pressed it to the paper and began to move.

Once I had finished writing, I called Ms. Mitsue from the upstairs to the living room. I asked her to look at the rough draft of the mysterious letter.

“Then allow me to read it.”

Ms. Mitsue gave a graceful smile and took the letter from the table.

Since Yuriko couldn't read it, Ms. Mitsue read it aloud in the voice called the greatest of her generation.

To the Count Masatoshi Minoshima,

From a wicked man in a poor place comes a letter to a wicked man in a rich place. Allow me to apologize for sending such a rude letter to a stranger. I do not speak in self deprecation; this letter conveys my rude desire to make a request of the Count.

In the event that you are not Count Minoshima, but his secretary, servant, concubine, or child, I ask you to say nothing and hand this letter to the Count immediately. If its contents upset the Count, do be sure to prepare something soothing. Perhaps his pacifier or a rattle.

Now, Sir Count, it is well known that you are appropriately arrogant for a member of the nobility, but I know that you've also been quite busy making yourself more money.

I know about the secret in the courtyard of your mansion in Kanagawa. And I wish to turn that intangible secret into something as tangible as money.

It is clear that your cooperation will be needed to perform this alchemy, and I believe that you will be able to turn this secret into quite the sum. I would like to visit you soon to perform this secret technique, but for now, I merely wish to say hello.

If you will forgive me for playing the meddlesome old woman, I also wish to give you some advice. I have already gathered the evidence of your misdeeds, so please do not waste time trying to destroy it. A man of your meager wisdom could never escape from my eyes.

If you insist on piling on further misdeeds and refuse to cooperate with my alchemy, I will be forced to use your secret and a journalist as my ingredients instead. This will result in less money for me and your complete ruination. For both our sakes, please do not be reckless.

I will contact you again soon. I hope you succeed in your hunt for the Kinukawa family treasure.

“How is it? Will this make the Count hesitant to move against Mr. Yoshihisa?”

Ms. Mitsue nodded with a smile.

“It's wonderful. It's written with such cunning and entitlement, as though it was pulled directly from the sludge accumulated at the bottom of the lowest man's black soul. No one could doubt that this letter's author is a lowlife scumbag who doesn't deserve to go on living.”

“Really! It's great! If I got a letter like this, I'd wanna go out and stab the author right in his stupid face.”

Ms. Mitsue and Yuriko both praised it, almost as though they were jealous of my skill. I thought they were going a bit far.

Ms. Mitsue spoke as she reread the letter.

“I'm not quite sure if you have the skill to write novels, but you clearly have a talent for gossip. If I ever need to blackmail my boyfriend, I know who to call.”

“You want me to become a professional blackmail letter writer?”

Ms. Mitsue gave a hearty laugh at my confusion.

Ms. Mitsue wrote her own transcription of my draft in her own elegant handwriting. On the envelope, she wrote only the Count's address. That made the mysterious letter even more mysterious.

Yuriko dropped the envelope in the mailbox at Count Minoshima's mansion in Hongo late that night. If it reached the Count's eyes safely, the worst case scenario would likely be averted even if Ryujiro beat us to the treasure.

That was one job complete, but I couldn't make myself rest.

Had Ryujiro Hasebe solved the code? I wondered if, at that very moment, he was searching for the treasure in a cave somewhere. What if he did find the treasure first and I was left with no way to repay the debt? Would I be disowned? Would I actually be forced to write other people's blackmail letters to survive?

I wanted to go to the villa and check the wallpaper right away. Mr. Yoshihisa had said that strange wallpaper was the key to solving the code. But I had to wait for my leg to heal.

Sitting on the bed, I looked over the code again and again.

I thought about asking Yuriko to go to the villa alone, take a picture of the wallpaper, and bring it back, but I decided against it. If Ryujiro really had already solved the code, there was no way we could catch up to him, even if we solved the mystery that exact second. Instead, Yuriko went out to see where Ryujiro had gone. If she could find out where he was and what he was doing, we might be able to plan some countermeasures.

But, things didn't go as expected. When Yuriko returned, she told me:

“Mr. Ryujiro hasn't returned to his dorm since the garden party. Nobody knows where he is. The people all said he wouldn't tell them where he was going, even if they asked.”

“He must be searching somewhere. This is troubling...”

I wondered if I'd be able to move again soon.

But before my injury had healed, an unexpected event put an end to my worries.

5

It was the morning of the fourth day since my injury. When I woke up, my ankle was feeling much better, and I expected that by the next day I'd be able to walk outside without any problems.

Ms. Mitsue was still asleep. Deciding it was about time I gave up the privileges that come with injury, I left Yuriko behind in the kitchen and took my place at the table in the living room, where I opened the morning paper. As soon as I opened it, I let out a cry.

“Oh my – This is terrible!”

“What is it?”

I read the article to Yuriko, who had just come from the kitchen with a pan full of fried eggs.

VISCOUNT HASEBE'S SECOND SON KILLED IN MOUNTAIN FALL

On the morning of the 18th, a local resident discovered the body of a 20 year old man at the base of a cliff in the mountains of Ōme in the Nishitama District. The body appeared to have been dead for two or three days, and a police examination of the deceased's belongings led to suspicion that the victim may have been a member of the Hasebe family, suspicions which were confirmed when the family identified him as second son Ryujiro. The cause of death is believed to be a slip and fall from the cliff.

Ryujiro Hasebe was dead! He, who was supposed to have solved the code and found the treasure.

Of course, the article made no mention of Viscount Kinukawa's hidden fortune. It was assumed the accident had occurred during an ordinary outing.

“I wonder what happened...”

“Hey, if it was in Ōme, that's near Mr. Kinukawa's villa, right?”

“You're right! The villa was around there! What could it all mean...?”

Was the place indicated by the code near the villa? Had he stumbled and fallen while heading for the treasure's hiding place? Then I thought of Viscount Hasebe, who had just celebrated his 60th birthday and politely praised Yuriko's magic tricks.

The article didn't tell us anything. We had no choice but to go to the scene ourselves.

The next day, we took the train out to Ōme.

Today wasn't like the picnic we had gone to previously. We were dressed in plain athletic clothes like a pair of pilgrims, carrying backpacks full of food and supplies.

Near the station, I asked an old man loading coal onto a cart if he knew where the young aristocrat had fallen to his death. After regarding us with suspicion, he pointed to a road stretching off to the north and said

“If you go down that path, you'll come to a river. Follow it upstream.”

After over an hour of walking along the road barely wide enough for a one horse carriage, we came to a bridge. The river flowed about five meters beneath it.

We left the road and climbed down to the river's steep bank. Then we walked upstream along the river.

Eventually, we came to a spot where several bouquets of flowers had been left on the riverbank. Looking up, there was a slope much steeper than where the bridge had been, forming a cliff about 15 meters high.

“Is this it?”

“Yeah, no doubt about it.”

A week ago, the young man of the Hasebe who had been boasting about finding the treasure in the garden of the Dainichi Club had died here. His funeral would probably be held today.

Yuriko slowly picked a single bellflower from behind a rock and added it to a bouquet. She looked so innocent, I felt the need to do the same.

I took out a map and traced our path from the station, developing a rough idea of where we were.

“As I thought, Miss Yuriko, this spot isn't far from Mr. Kinukawa's villa. If you walk downstream from the bridge, you'll wind up behind the villa.”

Placing my finger on the map, I measured the distance to the villa. It was less than a full kilometer.

Looking around, I saw the opposite bank had a gentler slope than the one we were on, and was covered in lush greenery. It hadn't rained recently, so the river was crystal clear.

There was absolutely nothing unusual. It was a tranquil scene, untouched by the recent death. Of course, there was absolutely no sign of a treasure being hidden somewhere nearby.

We decided to go to the top of the cliff.

There were traces that the moss had been stepped on. Unlike Yuriko, I didn't have the courage to lean over the foreboding edge.

“What the heck happened? How did he fall from a place like this?”

It was hard to imagine someone falling by accident in the middle of the day. In the first place, there was no reason for anyone to walk close to the edge.

Had Ryujiro come here in the middle of the night? Had he not seen the cliff's edge in the darkness? If he was searching for the treasure, it would have been easier to do in the light, but perhaps he was afraid of being seen. Even if he had been in the daylight, it's not like the treasure's hiding place would have been obvious...

Or perhaps he was searching for something in this specific area. Was the location written in the code visible from here? Could he have been leaning over the cliff to look for it? That seemed possible.

“What do you think, Miss Yuriko? Have you thought of any possibilities?”

“Possibilities? Maybe someone pushed him.”

“Ah, you're right. That is possible. He had someone helping him with the treasure hunt, and they betrayed him and pushed him over the edge.”

“But Ryujiro Hasebe seemed like the type who worked alone, didn't he? I'm sure he would have wanted to do the most important part, collecting the treasure, with his own two hands.”

“I think so too. That's why he died.”

Yuriko still had on her face that, rather than making you wonder what she was thinking, led you to believe that she had no thoughts at all.

I didn't want to believe that Ryujiro had been betrayed and murdered. If he had, the culprit must have surely obtained the treasure by now.

In the end, the biggest question we had was whether Ryujiro Hasebe had solved the code correctly, or whether he had made a mistake somewhere. If we didn't know that, there was no way we could find the treasure, no matter how long we spent at the scene.

“Miss Yuriko, let's go to the villa. We need to check the wallpaper.”

“You're right.”

However, we only made it a few steps before Yuriko stopped me.

There was a figure at the bottom of the cliff. Yuriko and I strained our eyes.

“Oh! Isn't that someone from the Hasebe family? I think he's the eldest son.”

“Yes, you're right. His name is Ryuichiro.”

I recognized him at once, having seen his face at the garden party. The eldest son of the Hasebe family was wandering the place where his younger brother had died.

He was alone. The Hasebe family should have been busy dealing with the aftermath of Ryujiro's death.

“He's looking for the treasure. He must have abandoned his brother's funeral to come here.”

For the Hasebe family, there were things more important than mourning and condolences. If it had come to this, there was no choice but to find what Ryujiro had been searching for. That was what the family had decided, and Ryuichiro had been sent to search for what his brother had found.

That was what I thought, because the Ryuichiro who had appeared on the riverbank looked pathetic. His steps were unsteady, and he would wander aimlessly, stop, look around aimlessly, then release a heavy sigh. He acted like a man who'd been assigned a mission he didn't care for and had no idea what to do.

I was worried that Ryujiro may have left behind some instructions on how to solve the code, but judging from Ryuichiro's behavior, that didn't seem to be the case. But seeing how dire Ryuichiro's circumstances were made my sense of relief ache.

As we walked towards the villa, I spotted another familiar figure on the riverbank. This time, he wasn't very far away. I was afraid he might see me, so I quickly hid in the shade of a large beech tree.

“Miss Yuriko! That man is one of Count Minoshima's subordinates! He's the one who kidnapped me!”

A muscular man in his thirties with a deep tan. I thought I hadn't remembered him, but his figure and the unpleasant feel of his grip on my arm were seared deep in my memories.

“Want me to say hello?”

Yuriko was reaching for a weapon from her backpack.

“...No, let's not. I wouldn't want to greet him except with something sharp, heavy, or smelly.”

We hadn't re-investigated the villa yet. It was too early to make a scene.

It was only natural that Count Minoshima's men had returned to the scene following the sudden death of the Hasebe's second son. They must have wondered if the treasure was somewhere nearby. There was no way any of them could know that Ryujiro had declared that he knew where it was, but if a rival treasure hunter had died in the mountains, it could only be because he was searching for something. They couldn't ignore that.

However, he also seemed at a loss. He would disproportionately focus on the pebbly riverbank, look around restlessly, and do nothing in particular. He clearly hadn't found any clues.

It seemed there was no need to worry about them getting there first. However, there was the possibility that Count Minoshima would organize a full army and conduct a full search of the area. In the end, we still had to decipher the code as soon as possible.

For fear that someone would see me, we made our way through the forest instead of walking in plain view along the river. Fortunately, we were able to make it to the Kinukawa family villa without getting lost.

The villa hadn't changed much since our last visit. However, when I looked at the guest room window, I saw the number of footprints had increased.

After confirming there was no one else around, we went inside. It would be better if we weren't seen searching for clues to the code.

We left the guest room and went into the hall. The wallpaper in question was there.

“...I wouldn't have paid much attention if I hadn't been told, but now that I look at it, this wallpaper is strange no matter how I think about it.”

The wallpaper was a solid dark brown color, but when I rubbed it with my palm, I felt different parts of it were raised, as though the wall beneath had veins.

When I traced it with my finger, it had a large amorphous pattern. I couldn't understand the whole picture just by looking.

If this was the key left behind by Viscount Kinukawa, then it was no exaggeration to say that only a member of the Kinukawa family could decipher the code. If it hadn't been for the earthquake, there was no way an outsider could break in here, and someone merely invited as a guest wouldn't have had a chance to recognize the pattern's importance. And they never would have had a chance to copy it.

Perhaps I should peel off a portion of the wallpaper and take it home? The thought flashed through my mind, but I discarded it. The wallpaper didn't look easy to remove. Besides, if I did take a piece away with me, it could give away to anyone who came in after us that the wallpaper was the clue.

I took a large, thin piece of Japanese paper from my backpack. I tacked it down, aiming for the border of the wallpaper so the marks would be less noticeable.

I used a pencil to trace the pattern of the wallpaper.

Surely the same pattern must have repeated, that was why it was called a pattern. All I had to do was copy one instance of it without any mistakes.

That was what I thought, but the pattern was enormous, and I had to add more and more papers. When I finally had the entire pattern down, it covered almost half a tatami mat.

Yuriko left copying the wallpaper to me, and just played around, drawing pictures and looking around the room.

“Is that it? It's really big.”

“Yes. But I've been staring at this wallpaper for two hours now, and I still don't understand how it could be the key to solving the code. Is this really it?”

Just to be sure, we searched the villa again. However, other than the wallpaper, we still couldn't find anything that looked like it could be a key to the code.

We left the villa. There was one more thing we had to investigate that day.

It was about the disappearance of the treasure in 1911. I hadn't told Yuriko yet, but I'd come up with a theory about how Viscount Kinukawa could have made the treasure disappear. I doubted it was actually possible, but I couldn't help but want to check.

Just as I was about to bring it up to Yuriko, I noticed someone coming down the road towards the villa.

“Oh? Is that Mr. Kashida?”

It was indeed the ex-thief Kashida.

He looked surprised to see us at the entrance to the villa, but then he ran over to us as though he'd just remembered something.

“Oh, it's you lot. What's the matter? Your hair and clothes are all different. I barely recognized you.”

I could guess why he was here. He must have also been surprised by the news of Ryujiro Hasebe's sudden death.

“So, that arrogant Ryujiro guy fell off a cliff and died. I was curious what happened. Guess you two felt the same. Actually...”

Kashida hesitated.

“I just ran into a guy who claims to be Ryujiro Hasebe's brother. I don't know if that's true, but he was back on the riverbank. He thought I knew something, just because I was wandering near the scene.”

“That is Viscount Hasebe's eldest son. We saw him earlier.”

“Really? He was so angry, asking me if I knew anything about the treasure... I told him about the incident in 1911.”

Yuriko and I looked at each other.

The disappearance had been a vital clue that we had exclusive access to, but now the Hasebe family knew about it as well.

“I don't know how much of my story he believed, but he did give me 50 yen as a thank you. I told him I'd never told that story to anyone before, even though I'd already told you two. I gave him a fake name and told him it was a story I'd heard from a thief I once new, but you all know it was something that actually happened to me, Kashida. So...”

Kashida searched his pockets with clumsy hands unfitting of an ex-thief.

“I don't want you to tell him anything about me, so, will you take half of it? 25 yen...”

He took out five crumpled ten yen bills and seemed confused that he couldn't break them into 25 yen.

“It's fine. We wouldn't have spoken to him even if you hadn't asked.”

“Aw, why didn't you take it?” Yuriko asked.

She spoke in a casual tone that I hadn't heard from her before, and I realized she was scolding me for replying so condescendingly.

Realizing that I'd been arrogant, I suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Well, how about this? we'll give the 25 yen back in exchange for something from you, Mr. Kashida.”

“I want you to promise you won't tell anyone else about the treasure's disappearance from the villa. Especially not Count Minoshima. If you tell anyone else, you might wind up in danger.”

“Is that so? ...Alright. I understand. Of course. I won't tell anyone else. On my honor. I'll keep our secret.”

The timid, somewhat cowardly, strangely loyal ex-thief agreed to Yuriko's suggestion and put the bills back in his pocket.

“But do you know what happened to Ryujiro to make him turn up dead in a place like that?”

I told Kashida about how a few days before his death, he had declared that he'd solved the code.

“Oh! Really? Does that mean the treasure is near here after all?”

“Perhaps. It would explain why so many people are gathered here today.”

“I see. But...”

Kashida was deep in thought.

“There is one thing I was wondering. Let's say Ryujiro did solve that code. He still hasn't solved the mystery of the treasure's disappearance, right? He couldn't have solved a puzzle he didn't even know existed.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“Can you find the treasure without figuring out how it disappeared?”

Kashida asked as though he were embarrassed not to already know.

His question wasn't logical, but I understood where he was coming from.

Ryujiro certainly didn't know about the mystery of the disappearance. Wasn't it a mistake to try and find the treasure without solving all the mysteries around it? Somehow, Ryujiro's death made me think he'd been eaten by the Sphinx for failing to solve its riddles. Or, more accurately, that he'd fallen into a trap left by Viscount Kinukawa.

“What do you think, Miss Yuriko?”

“I agree. I don't think we can find the treasure without solving all the mysteries.”

I brought up the idea I was about to tell Yuriko. Having Kashida there was a good excuse to bring it up.

“The day we met, Mr. Kashida, we thought quite a bit about the treasure's disappearance, didn't we? We searched the entire villa for hidden passage, but weren't able to find a single one, which made it look impossible that the treasure could have been removed without leaving any traces in the mud.”

“So I got to thinking, and...”

“Mr. Kashida, I realize this is a strange question, but are you sure this villa is the same as the one you saw in 1911?”

“Huh?”

Kashida seemed to need a minute to comprehend what I'd just said.

“You mean, this isn't the villa Akihiro Orihara and I snuck into?”

“Yes.”

Kashida slowly moved his gaze from the villa's pointed roof down to its base.

“It was the middle of the night, so it looked different than it does under the sun. But it looks the same to me. Well, the area around it has changed due to landslides after the earthquake, too, so there are some areas that look a bit different.”

“In that case, isn't it possible that there were actually two identical buildings?”

I had thought of two possibilities.

The first was that the villa Kashida and Orihara had broken into in 1911 and the one we were looking at were different buildings.

Both villas had been built in exactly the same way in similar areas. However, the one built in 1911 had a secret passage, and this one didn't. In that case, we couldn't solve the mystery by searching this villa.

“I haven't been here for over ten years, so that's why I didn't notice it was a different building, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, Viscount Kinukawa would have had two identical villas. This one was definitely built several decades ago.”

Kashida pointed up at the moss-covered roof of the villa.

The second possibility was that in 1911, the two had left one building, and returned to a different one.

After breaking his lockpick in the lock of the treasure room's door, Kashida had left to Hachiōji and returned later. At that time, had they gone to a different villa than the first time?

The treasure was kept in the first villa, not the second. Viscount Kinukawa may have recreated the footprints and other traces they'd left in the first villa in the second while they were in town. When Kashida and Orihara returned, they mistakenly thought they were in the same villa, sans treasure.

“You and Mr. Orihara must have used the guardhouse as a landmark to find the villa, right? In that case, isn't it possible you made a mistake the second time you came here?”

Kashida thought for a moment.

“So you're saying there were two guardhouses. It was Akihiro who was driving the car, and it was nighttime, so as you say, it's possible he could have made a mistake. If they'd just covered the first guardhouse in bamboo, we never would have noticed. That would certainly solve the mystery of how the treasure disappeared.”

“But, young lady, you're thinking that there's a second villa in this area that's exactly the same as the first, right? A villa that also has the same guardhouse and surrounding scenery.”

“I haven't searched around here yet, so I can't say it definitely doesn't exist, but if it does, who built it, and why? Was it to trick the two of us? In that case, Viscount Kinukawa would have to have known about Akihiro's plan beforehand. I don't think that's possible, though I can't prove Akihiro didn't let something slip.”

“But Akihiro hired me to help him out a month before we went. Well, Akihiro may have started planning before that, but even if he did, it wasn't the sort of plan that would take years to come up with. So even if the Viscount had found out about the plan to steal the treasure, there's no way he could have built an entire villa in time.”

“No, it isn't even about building the villa. That day there was a sudden rainstorm. It wasn't mentioned in the newspapers' forecasts. It was unexpected that the ground was muddy after the heavy rain, making it impossible to secretly enter or leave the villa. There's no way Viscount Kinukawa could have predicted we'd sneak in after a rain shower.”

That was exactly it. There was no way the Viscount could have prepared that trick in advance.

“But Mr. Viscount was a paranoiac, wasn't he? He might have suddenly gotten worried about his treasure and gone over to catch you and your friend stealing it, Mr. Kashida.”

I was surprised Yuriko knew a word like “paranoiac”.

“Of course, that is possible. But if that's what happened, then the disappearance was something made up after he arrived. Is it possible to come up with such an impossible feat of magic so suddenly?”

“Ahh, I still don't get it. I still don't understand why he didn't call the police after seeing the evidence of our break-in instead of doing this trick.”

“It was a complete accident that I broke my lockpick, which is the only reason we went back into town. If that hadn't happened, we would have opened the iron door and left with the treasure. What would have happened then? It would have been stolen, and that would be the end of the story. Why did he make it disappear in front of us without reporting the theft? Did he want to surprise us? Just the two of us?”

“You have a point. There's no reason to put on a show just for the two of you.”

It was another complete coincidence that we learned about the treasure's disappearance. If the earthquake hadn't happened, it would have remained a secret held between Kashida and Akihiro Orihara forever. There was no reason for Viscount Kinukawa to have done such a thing.

In the end, I thought about the mystery a lot, and only managed to make it more confusing.

“...Well, maybe we should look for a second villa. If we find one, that'd explain everything.”

Kashida acted as though he felt he'd refuted me too hard and was trying to reconcile with me.

“I also thought we might search to be sure. But it has been over a decade, so it may well have been demolished to destroy the evidence.”

“Nah, he couldn't have erased all traces of it. If you look at the shape of the land, you should be able to tell where a building used to be. So, what now? We don't have long until nightfall, so we should start right away...”

The three of us decided to search while it was still light out.

If there was a second villa, it would have to be nearby, at the end of a road, next to a river. With those conditions, there weren't many places it could have been.

We headed back to the river behind the villa. We decided to walk downstream along the riverbank, looking for signs that a building had once stood next to the river. We had already seen pretty far upstream on our way over. It there was a second villa, it would be downstream.

Ryuichiro and Count Minoshima's henchman might still have been wandering the area, so we had to be careful of our surroundings. We walked along the river with modest steps and few words.

However, after about a kilometer of walking, the river widened, and finally, the forest ended and we arrived in a village.

“That's it. There wasn't a single thing, was there?”

“...You're right.”

If there had been a second villa, the forest would have been cleared to make room, leaving behind something like a field. But the river was surrounded by a deep forest of trees that looked tens, if not hundreds of years old. There was no doubt human hands had not touched it since ancient times.

“But it has to be on the river, so it can't be anywhere further from here. There's no way Akihiro would have gone to a different river on the other side of the forest by mistake, and I would have noticed if he had.”

“So, young lady, does that mean there is no second villa?”

Kashida didn't sound too disappointed.

I had known from the start the second villa theory was unlikely.

Still, the reason I couldn't ignore it was because Ryujiro Hasebe, who had deciphered the code, had died nearby. Could the second villa, or its remains, have been the treasure's resting place? That would solve the mystery of the treasure's disappearance and that of Ryujiro's death in one fell swoop.

But the mystery had only grown deeper. I couldn't think of any other possibilities.

The sun was going down. We parted ways with Kashida and got on the train back to the city.

As the sun set over the train, I made sure none of what few passengers there were were paying attention to us, then I asked

“Miss Yuriko, are you sure it's okay to leave without understanding anything? I'm glad we were able to get a trace of the wallpaper, but other than that, wasn't today a complete waste of time?”

“No, it isn't. I'm sure we're almost at the end.”

Yuriko looked satisfied. Had anything we'd seen or heard today solved things for her?

I suspected that girl already knew how the treasure had disappeared. How else could she be so calm about all this?

Even if she did, though, she was in no hurry to share with me.

“I don't know about the code, though. But I'm sure we'll be fine.”

Yuriko was genuinely uninterested in the code. Because solving it was my job.

6

As soon as we returned to Ms. Mitsue's mansion, I spread the vast clue of the tracing on the floor of the servants' room. Leaving the maid work to Yuriko, I alternated looking at Viscount Kinukawa's code and the copy of the wallpaper pattern I'd brought.

...It was harder than I'd expected.

I let out a sigh.

Count Minoshima had said he needed me to get the treasure. I didn't know why, but the fact had stroked my pride. I had thought that if I gathered all the necessary clues, I'd surely be able to solve the code.

However, my confidence wavered in the face of the abstract, unattractive pattern of the wallpaper. How could I place my faith in something that looked like broken tiles or sloppy constellations?

Based on my knowledge of Poe and Ranpo (who'd I'd secretly read behind Father's back), I had come up with a few ideas about the code.

First off, the important thing was that the code was exactly 100 characters long. I was sure that each character represented one character, and the final message would also be 100 characters long.

That meant it would take about 100 characters to accurately describe the location of the treasure. While there were ciphers that used multiple characters to represent individual letters, this code used all hiragana with the exception of a single kanji. Considering how complex the wallpaper that served as the key was, it seemed more likely that this was a simple rearrangement cipher.

So, how were the characters rearranged? There were, roughly, two types of simple ciphers.

The first was a transposition cipher: all the correct characters were there, but their order had been changed via some rule to make the text illegible. They were like anagrams, and if that were the case, all the characters in the solution would still be there in the cipher.

The alternative was a substitution cipher, where characters were shifted forwards or backwards in the alphabet. For example, the English word “Secret” shifted forward one letter became “Tfdsfu”, or in Japanese, “ヒミツ” became “フムテ”. Though in Japanese, the sound of the original word was often similar due to the structure of the Japanese alphabet, so it was usually better to use iroha instead of alphabetical order, or to use larger shifts.8

I figured the code was more likely to be a substitution cipher. It had an unusually large number of rare characters like “ゑ”, which I thought were likely to be substitutions of more common characters. Of course, it was also possible that they were meaningless characters designed to confuse the reader, but if that were case, it would have been more effective to use more common characters.

So the code must have been a substitution cipher. And it couldn't have used a simple rule like shifting every character the same number of spaces forwards or backwards. If it had, it would be possible to solve it via trial and error, without the clue of the wallpaper.

So I had to find the rules for how to rearrange the cipher from the pattern on the wallpaper. They were no doubt complicated enough as to appear completely random.

For example... did the zigzag shape tell me whether to go backwards or forwards, be it in the Japanese or English alphabets? Perhaps the angle of the line indicated how far to go. But there was no indication of where to start or how to interpret it.

When I looked at the wallpaper, the first thing that came to mind was that it looked like puzzle pieces, but even if they were, it didn't mean anything if I didn't know what shape to make. And when I tried to fit the pieces together, they didn't come together neatly, so I concluded it wasn't something to be assembled after all.

I tried a few other random ideas, but of course, I couldn't make a sentence that made sense.

Just after ten that evening, Ms. Mitsue took a look into the servants' room.

“Oh, Mariko! You're such a hard worker. You must be exhausted.”

Ms. Mitsue squatted down next to me as I crouched on the floor studying my copy of the wallpaper, as though I were a child playing with craft paper.

“What a strange pattern. Can this really help you decipher the code?”

“Yes. Miss Yuriko also agrees this must be it.”

“I see. If Yuriko says so, it must be true.”

The great actress had absolute confidence in Yuriko. I was the one she treated like a child.

Ms. Mitsue's arrival had broken my concentration. I decided to take a short break.

“What is Miss Yuriko doing?”

“She's changing the curtains on the first floor. With her toes.”

I was sure that was a sight to see.

But there was something I wanted to ask Ms. Mitsue while Yuriko wasn't around.

“Um, Ms. Mitsue, if you know, can you please tell me?”

“Why can't Yuriko read? She's a genius. I understand she probably wasn't taught when she was with the circus, but I'm sure she could learn if somebody taught her now.”

“I'm thinking about teaching her to read and write myself.”

Ms. Mitsue looked like she'd been expecting the question.

“Mariko, you're a sweet girl. I'm not surprised you'd think that.”

“Actually, many people before you have tried to teach Yuriko to read and write, but not one of them has succeeded.”

“Yuriko must have a unique brain structure. You know, Dr. Einstein, who came to Japan a few years ago, struggled to make it through school because he had trouble reading and writing.”

I'd heard that before.

“So, you're saying she's the world's most extreme example of that phenomenon?”

“Maybe. Even though we struggle to accept it, Yuriko understands that her brain can't absorb letters. She really is a strange girl.”

Yuriko's past was a total mystery. It seemed many people liked and trusted her, but she was haunted by an inner loneliness. But I thought that, if she had been loved more in her life, she might not have grown up to be so skilled and intelligent.

She must have spent her whole life fighting something, all alone. I didn't know what it was, but something must have happened to her to turn her into such a strange girl.

For someone like me who relied on stories to live, the loneliness of not being able to read was a terrifying thought. Perhaps that had had something to do with why Yuriko ran away from the circus?

I was tired of the code, so I followed Ms. Mitsue downstairs to watch Yuriko's performance.

7

Early the next morning, Yuriko suggested we go to the library.

She said she wanted to know more about Viscount Kinukawa. She was particularly interested in whether or not there were any articles about him in the newspapers around the time of the treasure's disappearance in 1911.

I was stuck in my process on the code, so I welcomed the break. The Viscount had probably created the code around that time, so there may have been a clue.

The local library, which had burned down in the earthquake, didn't seem to have any old newspapers, so we decided to go to the Ueno library.

We paid the admission fee and entered the library. We went upstairs to the women's borrowing area.

“How long before should we start looking? Maybe a year before the incident?”

“Sure. Just go through each one in order.”

She handed me a bundle of old, bound newspapers. I took it and headed to the reading room. Luckily, that early in the morning the room was empty.

Naturally, I was the only one doing any research. I spread the heavy bundle on the table and started looking through headlines to see if Viscount Kinukawa's name came up. Yuriko fidgeted, played cat's cradle, and did her usual doodles. I was a bit nervous she'd get us scolded.

“How is it? Anything there?”

“Give me a moment.”

She looked like she was waiting for a pastry to finish baking. It seemed she was expecting something specific. She wasn't just aimless searching for “secrets”.

I turned the pages of the newspapers, ignoring the noise of Yuriko's restless motions beside me.

I didn't even make it to January.

“Oh, here's an article about Viscount Kinukawa.”

It was an article from October of 1910. In an account of the visit to Japan of a British watch dealer named Richard Rockwell and his visits to shrines and temples and his meetings with various people of note was written:

“...Mr. Rockwell visited the Tokyo residence of the Viscount Yoshinori Kinukawa. It is said that the Kinukawa family is known for its large collection of calligraphy, paintings, and antiques, which may have been what attracted the attention of Mr. Rockwell, a famous art collector in his own right.”

That was the only mention of Viscount Kinukawa. His name wasn't even in the headline. I was surprised I'd caught it.

“It was in October of 1910, so exactly one year before he began talking about hiding the treasure. He met this watch dealer at his villa.”

“It was right after that Mr. Viscount started talking about hiding the treasure. That's what Grandpa Harumi told me.”

“...You're right. I wonder if there's a connection there?”

Apparently, the Viscount had started talking about hiding the treasure around the start of 1911, so it must have been around February.

Could it be that he'd consulted Mr. Rockwell about hiding the treasure? And then, when the preparations were complete a year later, he put it into action. In that case, we couldn't ignore this article.

“But it will be hard to research this 'Richard Rockwell' now. That was a long time ago.”

“Yeah, it'd be hard, so we don't need to do it. Just knowing is enough.”

Yuriko was satisfied and went back to playing cat's cradle. I had no choice but to resume mechanically flipping through the newspapers.

Soon, Yuriko brought out a complete collection of children's books from somewhere. She looked through them, looking at the pictures.

It seemed unlikely I'd find anything important. Nonetheless, I was the sort of person who couldn't leave a book unfinished no matter how boring I found it, so I let my eyes slide across the pages.

Making my way through the dates, I eventually arrived at October of 1911. After a while, I found an article about the murder of the guard at the Kinukawa family's villa.

The details reported exactly matched what we'd already heard. However, a few days later, there was another article about the incident.

“Oh? Miss Yuriko, there's an update on the incident.”

“What's it say?”

I read it out loud for her in a low voice.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN MURDER OF KINUKAWA SECURITY GUARD

Recently, the guard at the Kinukawa Villa, Hajime Karube, was found murdered in the surrounding mountains, but while the culprit remains unknown, it has come to this reporter's attention that another guard at the villa, one Genzo Ono, has gone missing. He had been an irregular visitor to the villa from his home at the foot of the mountain, and police are investigating to determine if it is possible that he is the culprit behind the murder of his coworker.

So Hajime Karube was the name of the guard who had accidentally been killed by the Orihara family's eldest son, Akihiro.

The follow up report contained information we hadn't known before: at the same time the treasure had gone missing, another guard, Genzo Ono, had also disappeared.

Kashida hadn't told us that, but it seemed he hadn't known himself. At the time, Kashida must have been too distracted by the murder and the disappearance of the treasure to keep up with the news.

But what could the disappearance mean?

“This Ono person wasn't in the villa on the night the treasure disappeared. That's what Mr. Kashida told us, at least.”

“If he disappeared, did he do so of his own accord? Or did someone take him away?”

Either way, it seemed unlikely that this wasn't related to Viscount Kinukawa's hiding of his treasure.

Yuriko's eyes dropped to her hands as she replied.

“But if it is related to hiding the treasure, it seems unlikely the guard would have disappeared on his own.”

“I agree. So someone must have done something to him. Who? Viscount Kinukawa, perhaps?”

“Probably.”

“Then is it possible the guard's presence caused Viscount Kinukawa trouble? For example, perhaps the guard knew some secret that would have interfered with keeping the treasure hidden.”

“Mariko, you're so smart. That's probably it.”

Yuriko looked at me with a knowing expression.

It seemed this was the article she'd hoped to find. I tried to figure out what she was putting together in her head, but her look of comprehension faded away and she returned to her vapid-looking self.

“Hey, can you tell me a bit more? So, if Viscount Kinukawa wanted to hide his stuff, it would have been better for him if there wasn't a guard?”

“I suppose.”

“So then, was it lucky for him that the guard was killed by that young guy from the Orihara family?”

“My god, you're right! That might just be it. The Viscount didn't want the guards to give away his secret.”

“But, Mariko, you don't need to worry about stuff like that. Just leave all that to me. You just think about the code. The code's the bit I don't understand.”

“Yes, that's alright, but if that is the case, Miss Yuriko, you should be much more worried. I don't think I can crack that code. It will probably take me years.”

“Don't worry, Mariko. I'm sure you can do it.”

Yuriko was very skeptical of the things she doubted, but when she chose to believe in something, she believed in it with zero hesitation. There was no longer any point trying to convince her of how difficult the code was. All I could do was also believe I could solve it.

When we returned from the library, I holed myself back up in the servants' room with the copy of the wallpaper and the text of the code.

The more I looked at it, the less sense the pattern of the wallpaper made. It looked like a statistical tablet that had been haphazardly cut to pieces and stitched back together. I couldn't sense any human intent behind it at all.

It might have been some mathematical tool. In that case, I had even less faith that I could solve it.

No matter how I looked at it, surely there was a limit to how little I could be asked to start with? I stared and I stared, but I couldn't see anything that could be a clue. Surely I needed more than just the knowledge that “the wallpaper was the key” – I needed some knowledge that only the Kinukawa family possessed, didn't I? It would be difficult to show this copy to Mr. Yoshihisa, but...

Feeling tired, I gave a stretch just as the door opened and Yuriko stepped in.

“Are you finished today's work? I'm sorry I didn't help you.”

“I finished drawing the bath, so that's it for today. Let's have a midnight snack.”

On a spectacular Meissen plate decorated with gold leaf, Yuriko carried a pile of steamed sweet potatoes and bananas.

“What a crude midnight snack.” I smiled at her. “Thank you very much. I'd love some.”

As I sat upright on the floor and picked at the food on the plate, Yuriko began getting ready for bed there in the small servants' room, trying to avoid stepping on the copy of the wallpaper. She hopped around as she changed into her pajamas, and before I knew it, she was on the top bunk of our double bed.

“Wait, are you going to bed already? Whatever. Miss Yuriko, can you help me think? I really don't think I can solve this.”

Having left everything to me, Yuriko hadn't even looked at the wallpaper yet.

“Really?”

Even though she'd just laid down, Yuriko's voice was already heavy with sleep.

“...That pattern's probably got a bunch of unnecessary stuff mixed in with it. It's like when you cover up bits of ripped clothes. It might look random, but there's a pattern there. Once you know what the important bits are, the rest is easy. Probably.”

Yuriko answered me without looking down from the bed. As soon as she was done, she began to snore.

...Don't act like you know what's going on, cheeky girl. That was the first thing I thought, even though I was the one who'd asked her.

Thinking about it, what Yuriko had said was a basic rule of code solving. There wasn't any guarantee that every part of this complicated pattern had some meaning. Perhaps the necessary parts were hidden within random noise. In that case, all I had to do was find out which parts I needed.

Yuriko had said there was a pattern, but had she found it? Was it something so obvious that someone with a keen eye could recognize it at a glance?

I struggled with the wallpaper for about two hours, moving my face closer to the page, then further away, turning it vertically, then horizontally.

Then, something clicked.

At a glance, the pattern looked like a random assortment of lines, but on closer inspection, the corners were evenly spaced.

The two lines that made up each corner were of different lengths. However, the corners themselves were all same length, resulting in various angles.

I carefully copied each corner onto a separate piece of paper.

“Oh my.”

Yuriko was right. It had been a simple chart that didn't require any complex calculations.

As the sky began to grow light, I couldn't wait any longer and shook Yuriko's shoulders in her bed.

“Miss Yuriko, wake up. I've solved the code. Well, half of it.”

“Really? That's amazing.”

Yuriko woke up even quicker than she'd fallen asleep. She pushed the blanket off as though she hadn't slept in the first place and jumped off the bed.

“Why only half?”

“I'll explain. It's–”

“Wait. Hold up. I'm going to go wake up Ms. Mitsue.”

“Oh? Already?”

It was only 4:30 A.M. Ms. Mitsue had only just come home from a late night rehearsal for a play.

Regardless, Yuriko went and knocked on Ms. Mitsue's bedroom door.

I did want Ms. Mitsue to hear my explanation, if possible. There wasn't much point in explaining everything to Yuriko, who couldn't read.

Ms. Mitsue came into the servants' room with Yuriko holding the hem of her nightgown. She had a smile on her face, but the specific type of dignity she was radiating today made it clear she was both sleepy and grumpy.

“Oh, Mariko, in the future, I'd appreciate it if you kept your code solving to the daylight hours.”

“Yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry, Ma'am.”

“But, since you've already figured it out, please, do tell. How were you able to solve it? After all the times you said you didn't know.”

“Yes. Actually...”

I showed Ms. Mitsue the code and explained that I thought it had been made by turning the correct letters back and forth like the dial on a safe.

“So, I had to find the correct pattern in this wallpaper.”

“That 'pattern' looks like a broken piece of tableware. I have no idea how to read it.”

“There are many unnecessary lines added to confuse you. If you ignore them, the pattern is obvious.”

As I repeated what she'd said, Yuriko looked at me with a smile.

“...So after Miss Yuriko told me that, I looked carefully and I finally noticed. Look closely, you can see how there are corners at regular intervals both horizontally and vertically, right? Here.”

I used a pencil to draw circles on the copy of the wallpaper.

“Oh, you're right, they definitely form a regular pattern. But what do we do with them?”

“If you extract only the lines that make up the corners, it's immediately obvious.”

I showed Ms. Mitsue the paper where I'd coped out the lines from the corners.

“Ah! They're clock hands!”

“Exactly. This is an image of several clocks sitting in rows, showing different times.”

The clocks were arranged in five horizontal rows and ten vertical columns. However, the second and fourth clocks from the top of the eighth column (read, as in traditional Japanese, right-to-left) and the third clock of the tenth column had hands of the wrong lengths, not forming clocks.

Once you understood that, it was easy to figure out how to use it.

“...This is a gojūon table. You compare the character in the code with its associated clock on this table and read the character that's as many spaces ahead as the time indicated on the clock. For example, the clock for 'あ' – 'a' – indicates 7:00, so you move seven letters ahead to get 'く' – 'ku'.9 'た' – 'ta' – indicates 4:00, so it becomes 'と' – 'to'. 'き' – 'ki' – is in the midnight position, so it remains as 'き'. The ones that don't properly form clocks are 'yi', 'ye', and 'wu', all of which are not currently in standard use due to overlap with characters from the first column.”

If you read the characters of the code:

とじらちわゐなへゐだをむよゑたとえさせちゐむゑてゑたこゐたゑゑりいふるとにたてのひたさけゐゆわへたへやふへほあかろさごまるりあすめるくき寳ちきけなきたゑりのふとけふちこりなへゑむひゐだなよひもえよよな

like this, they read:

まづゑはあかなりかどおれることますにてはかれこのことしかとこころえようまひとのみもとにたからありとりゐよりほくせいにじゆうろくちやうさき寳はきたなきところみよまたよはしろなりこれもかどなるもわするるな

Perhaps that was the correct reading.

“First, we is red. Break the corner. Measure it with a square. You should understand that is the case. The treasure is kept by a nobleman. Sixteen blocks northwest of the torii gate, the treasure is a filthy sight. Then, yo is white. Do not forget that it is also a corner.”

“I see, it's certainly coherent Japanese. Amazing.”

Ms. Mitsue rubbed her eyes with the back of one pale hand.

“But this doesn't make any sense. The only thing that sounds like it could be a clue to the treasure is 'sixteen blocks northwest of the torii gate'. But there are countless torii gates all over Japan.”

The rest of the text was a series of phrases that sounded like riddles or incantations.

It was a double code. Even if you could decode it and turn it into coherent sentences, you still had to figure out what they meant.

“So I've only solved half of it. I have to think all over again to solve another code. But I was so excited to have gotten this far that I ended up interrupting your sleep, Ms. Mitsue. I'm sorry.”

“I see. Well, you should have some warm milk and get some sleep yourself, Mariko. Your eyes are so dark you look like a criminal.”

Ms. Mitsue ran a finger over my eyelids and went back to her bedroom.

When I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, I looked like I'd just committed a murder. I washed my face and went to sleep as instructed.

9

A month and a half had passed since my life as a fugitive in Ms. Mitsue's Western house began.

My self-image as a maid was growing stronger. When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was put on an apron. Whenever I saw rubbish in the hallway, I immediately picked it up and put it in the wastebasket, and every teatime I carefully wiped down the living room table. I cooked rice according to Ms. Mitsue's schedule, which changed every day. Although I was still thinking about how to solve the code and the whereabouts of the treasure, it had become natural for me to always be concerned about any inconveniences Ms. Mitsue faced.

I thought I would continue living like that until we managed to find the treasure. That time may have been just around the corner. I had already solved half the code.

However, unexpectedly, the day I was forced to leave Ms. Mitsue's home came before I found the treasure.

In the evening, as I was preparing dinner in the kitchen, Yuriko called me upstairs.

“Come here for a sec.”

Yuriko peeked through the gap in the curtains in the hallway window.

“Look, there's someone on the far side of the wall, right?”

“There is? ...Oh! Isn't that one of Count Minoshima's henchmen?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Standing in the dusky street, spying on the mansion, was the muscular man in his thirties who'd kidnapped me.

During dinner, we held an emergency meeting.

“But how do they know I'm here?”

“I think it's Mariko's dad's fault. You saw him at the garden party, right?”

Yuriko thought that Count Minoshima had heard about my presence at the garden party from Father. If he'd asked the manager of the Dainichi Club, he could have found out that I'd been hired through Ms. Mitsue, and from there guessed that she was hiding me.

Yuriko didn't seem particularly worried. It seemed she already had a plan.

“We'll have to run away and hide somewhere else. Do you have somewhere in mind?”

“Yeah, I've already decided where we'll go next. It's a bit out of the way, though.”

There was nothing we could do, since we'd already been found. Fortunately, since the mansion was in a residential area, they couldn't openly surround the mansion, and they wouldn't be able to do anything unless we were alone. And moreover, judging by the man's behavior, he may not have been certain we were actually here.

“In that case, why don't you and I sneak out the back gate tonight?”

Ms. Mitsue, who had been silent up until now, suddenly spoke up.

“Mariko, you can't sneak out.”

“Why not?”

“If you do, Count Minoshima's men might not realize you're gone and hang around me, waiting for you to show up. That would be such a bother.”

“So please leave as dramatically as possible, both of you. You need to make sure that the Count's men know Mariko isn't with me anymore.”

At noon the next day, Ms. Mitsue delayed her departure long enough to see us off.

“Thank you for all your help. I am sorry to have troubled you.”

“'Kay, bye. Take care.”

That was all the farewell we gave. We openly left the mansion, large bags on our backs. We were headed to our new hideout.

First, we went to the hotel stable and took Katsuyo out.

If we looked around too openly, we'd make the enemy worry. I whispered to Yuriko, who was walking by my side.

“Are they watching us?”

“Yeah, I'm sure.”

The Count's men must have been following us. Up to that point, everything had gone according to plan. The only thing was that I hadn't been told what the plan beyond that point was.

10

...Where was I?

A gentle hill. The grass under my feet was so vibrantly lush that I felt sure if I touched it my finger would turn green. On either side of me was a cedar forest, with a clean cut straight ahead leading to the ranch I'd wanted to visit.

I stood as tall as the fence. Through the gaps in the fence, I saw dozens of horses grazing and galloping freely, neither fighting nor acting clingy with each other.

Ayako was next to me.

“How about it, Mariko? I'll let you ride if you ask. I'll even give you lessons.”

“No, thank you, I'm already learning from Miss Yuriko, so I'll be fine for now.”

“Oh, that sounds fun.”

Ayako placed a hand on my young self's head.

We were in Karuizawa. The whole family had come here to visit the home of a German acquaintance of Father's.

There was something I needed to tell Ayako.

“Ayako, I've had a falling out with Father and Noriko.”

“I see. That is a problem.”

“Because I ran away, Father was crying and didn't know what to do. I'm sure Noriko is furious with me as well.”

“Mariko, aren't you going to apologize to them?”

“Even if I apologize, it won't help anything. That's why I can't see Father and the others yet.”

“You aren't going back home, are you?”

“No. Not yet.”

“That's alright. Are you bored? Let's go over there for a bit.”

“Okay.”

Ayako gently took me by my left arm as she walked ahead of me. We walked alongside the ranch's fence.

After we'd walked for a while, Ayako picked something up from the side of the road.

“Mariko?”

My sister's voice sounded unusually mischievous, and when I stopped, Ayako pelted me with something that had fallen from a horse, as though it were a snowball.

“Sister, no!”

Ayako laughed, so I picked up something else that had fallen and took my revenge.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that, because I'd slept in a bad position, my entire body was now covered in straw.

...Whenever I changed beds, I dreamed of Ayako, apparently.

No matter what I asked, my sister never told me anything new. But her image within me just grew more refined.

As I sat up and brushed the straw from my hair, the vivid image of Ayako in my mind faded away.

“Good morning!”

Yuriko squatted in the corner of the hut, doing something or other.

“Good morning. I see you're in as good a mood as ever.”

The hut was full of the musty smell of dead grass and old compost. It wasn't built to be lived in, so there were gaps everywhere.

We were in an abandoned ranch in Tama. This was the place Yuriko had chosen for us to go in the event of an emergency. We'd been hiding here ever since we'd left Ms. Mitsue's mansion a few days ago.

After that, we'd been chased by Count Minoshima's henchmen for a while. Yuriko did all sorts of things, like throwing Katsuyo's droppings in one of the henchmen's faces, but we'd eventually managed to shake them off and escape here.

We had duly followed Ms. Mitsue's instructions and made the most spectacular escape we could, but my memory of that incident had connected itself with my memories of Ayako and made us do something inappropriate. Of course, the real Ayako and I had never thrown manure at each other.

The soup was salt and miso paste. It was delicious.

“Not to complain, but it seems our life on the run has finally, properly begun. We're living like guerrillas.”

“I know, right? It's so much fun!”

Yuriko seemed used to living like this, but even though I'd been treated like a maid, I still had some attachment to Ms. Mitsue's elegant Western-style house.

However, it wasn't Yuriko, but Katsuyo who was most happy about our new life in this ranch.

She was used to spending her time doing whatever she wanted in the garden of Mr. Harumi's mansion, which measured 1,000 square meters. Katsuyo, who had been frustrated with being made to live in a cramped hotel stable for a long time, now spent all day running around the ranch grounds and eating grass.

“But I don't want to have to hide out here for months. We should do something, quick...”

The day before, we'd gone deep into the mountains of Kanagawa to check if my letter had had any effect.

Spying from the forest, we saw that the secret mansion, which had previously been guarded by two men, was now staffed by four.

The lights in the mansion were on all throughout the night. It appeared they were watching in shifts.

It was only natural, after I'd threatened the Count with my knowledge of Yoshihisa's imprisonment. He'd grown more vigilant of intruders.

In other words, my debut as an author of threatening letters had gone as well as I'd hoped, but I couldn't bring myself to be happy. It was a move we'd made for safety in case Ryujiro beat us to the treasure. Now that he was dead, the increased security around Yoshihisa was just a nuisance.

In truth, I wanted to show him the code I'd partially deciphered. Surely, only a member of the Kinukawa family could decipher the riddle of the message? It hadn't even occurred to me that the code might be double layered.

“In the end, it was totally unnecessary. Of course at the time it was the best way to protect Mr. Yoshihisa's life, but all I've done is make it harder for us to rescue him.”

“Not really. He's in the same place. If he'd been moved somewhere else, then we'd have to rethink the plan. But all Count Minoshima did was increase the number of guards.”

Yuriko climbed up a nearby cedar tree to see into the mansion's courtyard. There was indeed still a figure in the hut in the courtyard, so there was no doubt Mr. Yoshihisa was still there.

Considering how easy it would have been for the Count to have moved him somewhere else, the current situation may not have been so bad.

“Say, Miss Yuriko, you said you already had a plan to rescue him, right?”

“Yeah, but I don't know when we'll use it. It'll make a huge racket, way worse than when you left. We need to make sure there's solid evidence of Count Minoshima's crimes before we do something like that.”

Evidence of the Count's wicked ways certainly existed. But it seemed we would need to struggle quite a bit to obtain that evidence.

“In that case, I suppose I should solve the code.”

“Yep. Guess so.”

There was no guarantee that Mr. Yoshihisa would be able to make sense of the code. And it would be better for everyone if we learned of the treasure's location before carrying out Yuriko's rescue plan. But we couldn't risk letting the opportunity pass, so Yuriko told me that she was going to free Mr. Yoshihisa as soon as she could.

“So it's up to me to crack the code by then.”

“That's right. Do your best, Mariko.”

Yuriko still had no doubt that I could solve the code.

Yuriko went out to Hachiōji station almost every day.

It seemed she mostly went to make phone calls. She called Mr. Harumi and several others, asking about the movements of Count Minoshima and the members of the Hasebe family.

I stayed at our “home” in the ranch, staring at the code, unable to make any headway. When I wasn't doing that, I'd read books in search for inspiration, cook, and take care of Katsuyo.

Yuriko left Katsuyo behind, traveling on foot. She left her as an emergency escape route for me. If, by any chance, I was found by our pursuers while I was alone, I could get on Katsuyo's back and escape.

I practiced my riding quite often. After washing her, grooming her hooves, and thanking her several times for her service, I felt that Katsuyo had finally opened up to me. I practiced to the point where I could ride her by myself. I didn't think I'd ever be as skilled an equestrian as Yuriko, but I could confidently trot and even gallop. I felt that, as long as I had Katsuyo, I could travel anywhere in Japan.

Katsuyo was a large, divinely beautiful horse, just as I'd thought when I first laid eyes on her. However, as we lived together, I began to realize that her personal life was unbecoming of her appearance. When we came across a patch of dirt, Katsuyo would roll around in it like a child throwing a temper tantrum. She farted in her sleep, she would sniff her own droppings, and generally, she did whatever she wanted.

Yuriko had told me to keep an eye on Katsuyo and make sure she didn't damage the crumbling walls of the stables, so naturally, we spent a lot of time together. She licked me all over whenever I grew sweaty from the sun, so my clothes were permeated with the smell of her saliva, but Katsuyo ensured I never felt lonely.

Yuriko always returned home in the evening, having bought food on her way. It was a long walk to town, an hour each way.

The potatoes, bread, and sausages she bought were skewered and cooked over fire. Skewer, heat. That was our every meal.

As we ate, Yuriko would tell me what she'd heard over the phone.

“Apparently, something about the treasure appeared in the newspaper.”

“In the newspaper? What do you mean?”

“Someone from the newspaper wrote that there was a rumor that the Kinukawa family had a hidden treasure somewhere.”

Viscount Kinukawa had personally spread the rumor of his hidden treasure while he was still alive, so it wasn't surprising that a reporter had heard about it somewhere.

The reason it was making headlines now was because of Ryujiro Hasebe's death. He had died near the Kinukawa villa, and articles had begun to come out speculating that he had been searching for the treasure.

“So now, the whole world's in a frenzy over the treasure. Everyone's talking about it.”

“Yes. It is a bit of a problem.”

I was sure many amateur treasure hunters would soon turn up. If the area grew too crowded, it could interfere with our plan.

“Yeah, but the one who's really sweating right now is Mr. Hasebe. He's all embarrassed because people are saying that his kid died while searching for the treasure.”

“Of course. They're a noble family. It's disgraceful to die while engaged in some treasure hunt.”

“Although, come to think of it, if I were to die right now, people would say the same thing. I'm doing the exact same thing as Mr. Ryujiro. I'll have to be careful not to die in an accident.”

“Yeah. Be careful.”

With that pointless chat, we went to bed early. We only had the one oil lamp, and we couldn't waste oil. I could no longer waste the evenings away reading.

The next day, after Yuriko left, I returned to the code with a renewed sense of urgency.

If the public was beginning to pay attention to the treasure, I couldn't afford to be complacent. If the code really was something no one outside the Kinukawa family understood, there was no point to be trying to decipher it, but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

I also couldn't forget the confident expression on Ryujiro's face back at the garden party. That face left no doubt; he was certain his interpretation of the code was correct.

Of course, he may have made a mistake, fallen into a trap left behind by Viscount Kinukawa. But even so, Ryujiro had found an answer that made sense. If he, who had no ties to the Kinukawa family, could do it, surely so could I.

So, where should I begin? The 100 character message was made up of several sentence fragments. Some of them had clear meanings, but others were vaguer, and some didn't even look like proper Japanese.

The clearest part was “Sixteen blocks northwest of the torii gate, the treasure is a filthy sight.” That sounded an awful lot like the location of the treasure. What the “filthy sight” was remained a mystery, but I was sure I'd understand when I saw it.

“Break the corner.” “Measure it with a square. ” “You should understand that is the case.” “The treasure is kept by a nobleman.” “Do not forget that it is also a corner.” These were all at least proper sentences, but their meanings were difficult to interpret. What corner should be broken, and what should be measured with a square?

The parts I completely failed to understand were “First, we is red” and “Then, yo is white”. Did they refer to the same thing? Were they to be read as “First, something is red, then it's white”? Other than the references to colors, I had no idea what they meant.

Looking at the message as a whole, it was totally incoherent. “From the torii gate” was a clear reference to the location of the treasure, but the rest of the message, before and after, was full of suggestive words like “red”, “white”, “corner”, “measure”, and “kept by a nobleman” that didn't seem to fit together into an answer even if you read it as a riddle.

The only part of the message written in kanji was the 寳 - “treasure” - in “寶はきたなきところみよ” - “the treasure is a filthy sight” - which was even more puzzling because the same word in “うまひとのみもとにたからあり” - “the treasure is kept by a nobleman” - was written in hiragana. It would have made sense to leave both in hiragana, which made we wonder if the “寶” kanji had some special meaning.

But the more I thought about it, the more I thought the strangest part of the entire message was “You should understand that is the case.” I was trying to understand the message without needing to be told. There was no point writing that in the code.

Now, what was I to do?

I wondered if the easiest place to start would be with “red” and “white”. I felt like that would be the starting point for solving the whole mystery. I tried to think of red and white things associated with the Kinukawa family.

One day, Yuriko procured a whetstone from somewhere.

As soon as we were finished with dinner, she spread out all her blades on the floor of the hut. The crescent sword, two thin knives, and dozens of throwing knives. By the dim light of the lamp, Yuriko began to sharpen them, one by one.

It didn't seem like routine maintenance. She was sharpening her blades like I'd never seen her before: careful, focused, with clear purpose.

“Are you going to be using them soon?”

“Yep! I need them.”

“I see. How scary.”

As I watched Yuriko at work, hugging my knees as I sat on the straw bundle, watching her hands carefully move the whetstone back and forth, I suddenly had an idea.

“Ah! Miss Yuriko, do you know what the Kinukawa family mansion in Akasaka was like?”

“Nope.”

“I believe it was made of brick. Can you check?”

“I'll ask Grandpa Harumi tomorrow. He probably knows.”

The next day, when Yuriko returned from town, she told me that the Kinukawa family mansion which had collapsed in the earthquake had in fact been a Western-style brick building.

“I knew it! Then it must be just as I thought. I was trying to think of what the red and white things that appeared in the code could be. When I saw your whetstone, it occurred to me that the 'red' may have referred to the bricks of the Kinukawa family home.”

“Then the 'white' would be the villa. It was fairly dirty, but the walls of that villa were made of white plaster, weren't they? Doesn't it make sense if the code is referencing those two buildings?”

I still didn't know what “First, we is red” and “Then, yo is white” meant, but was it possible that the two sentences referred to the two buildings owned by the Kinukawa family? After all, the sentences were meant to indicate the hiding place.

Yuriko nodded in agreement with my theory.

“I think that makes sense.”

“Right? We've made a little progress.”

I said “a little”, but I felt in my heart that I was close to cracking the code.

The code, which referred to the two buildings by their colors, seemed to have been written as a rather childish puzzle. We were only one more flash of inspiration away from finding the treasure?

Dawn broke.

After breakfast, Yuriko left for town much earlier than usual. I didn't have a watch, so I didn't know the exact time, but it must have been around 7:00.

I left the hut and stood near the fence, tending to Katsuyo, muttering two sentences over and over.

“まづゑは赤なり、またよは白なり. First, we is red, then, yo is white. What does it mean?”

As I brushed her, Katsuyo narrowed her eyes and wiggled her nose. Taking advantage of the lack of potential eavesdroppers, I chatted away to myself.

“Why is it written in hiragana? It's a pure syllabic language, so it's quite ambiguous. Does the 'よ' mean 'night' or 'world'? I assume from the context 'ゑ' means a picture. The whole thing is completely strange. Do 'picture' and 'night' have anything to do with the Kinukawa household?”

“There is no connection between 'picture' and 'world' or 'night'. The message should have been written in kanji. Nobody can understand it the way it is. That means it's impossible to figure out where it leads. Doesn't it?”

As I combed her mane, Katsuyo whinnied.

I dropped the brush, and, as expected of a circus animal, Katsuyo picked it up with her mouth.

“Oh, thank you. 'Treasure' was written in kanji, so that makes sense. Doing that keeps people from being confused about what it represents...”

As I said that, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Perhaps there was a clear meaning behind the hiragana. Yes, one that would make the message more confusing were it written in kanji. The hiragana characters “よ” and “ゑ” – “yo” and “we” – had something in common everyone could recognize.

“In that case, it makes sense that 'treasure' was written in kanji. Maybe...”

I looked back at the code.

As I traced the text with my finger, my suspicion grew into a certainty. The text may as well have peeled off the page and fallen in line, and everything was clear.

“I've got it! Miss Katsuyo, I've cracked the code!”

I patted Katsuyo on the back. Perhaps sensing my excitement, she attempted to lick my face.

“But this isn't enough to find the treasure by itself. I need a map...”

I hadn't brought a map with me. When we'd fled Tokyo, we had nothing to guide us but Yuriko's memory.

I anxiously waited for Yuriko to return.

That afternoon, Yuriko came running back to the ranch. As soon as she entered the hut, I immediately said

“Miss Yuriko, I solved the code!”

“Oh, wow! Cool! What's it say?”

As she asked, Yuriko left me by the door and started packing. She picked up her weapon and stuffed it in her leather backpack.

Like myself, Yuriko was buzzing with excitement. It seemed her plan was also on the verge of completion.

“I need to check the code on a map. Where can we get a map?”

“A map? Well, nothin' doin'. We need to go now! Mariko, you get ready too!”

She didn't seem to care about the treasure. I asked, confused:

“Where are we going?”

“We're going to take down Count Minoshima! Everything's ready. We have to hurry; it'll happen this evening. We can worry about the treasure after.”

Yuriko put on her backpack with a jingle and called for Katsuyo.

It seemed it was time to enact her special plan. I had nothing on me but the clothes on my back and my copy of the code, but, at Yuriko's urging, I climbed onto Katsuyo's back.

8. The traditional system of alphabetization in Japanese, gojūon, orders characters in a 5x10 table, ordered by pronunciation in a strict pattern: each consonant is followed by the five vowels -a -i -u -e -o , in order, then the next consonant in the order is done the same way. For example, the first 15 characters in gojūon order are あ い う え お か き く け こ さ し す せ そ – a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, si, su, se, so. Thus, if a Japanese word were shifted one or two letters in gojūon, each character, unless it were at the very end of its row, would still begin with the same consonant sound, resulting in a similar sounding word. Iroha is a poem of unknown authorship from the Heian period (794-1179) which features every character in the Japanese alphabet exactly once, resulting in it often being used as a way of ordering Japanese, including in the ordering of subsections in the Japanese legal code, the categorization of car classes of the former Japanese National Railway, and in the notes in an octave.

9. Again, あ い う え お か き く – a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku