"It's a miracle they didn't lock me in a closet somewhere."
Kamo muttered to himself. Since he and Ayaka were the only ones in the dining room now, he was free to speak his mind. The time was 12:45 P.M.
Ayaka looked at him with eyes full of curiosity.
"Is that so? Last time, when I invited a magician to the house without telling anyone, there was a similar commotion, but I was able to convince everyone then, too."
Kamo couldn't take it. He burst into laughter.
"So you're a repeat offender? Well, in any case, it's thanks to you I was given permission to investigate the case. Thank you, Ayaka."
Taiga had accepted Ayaka's proposal, and Kamo had been given cause to investigate the incident. In the course of the conversation, he'd also been asked to search for the pearl tie clip, which had been missing since the day before yesterday.
However, the old man was no fool, so he also asked Genji and Amamiya to accompany him on his investigations. When Ayaka asked to accompany them as well, Taiga was reluctant, but he was unable to overcome Ayaka's will and eventually caved.
Genji had been summoned to Taiga's room, so now Amamiya was their only observer. However, Amamiya appeared to lack a sense of suspicion. Ayaka asked him to look for something, and he left them without a moment's hesitation, showing no suspicion that it could have been a ploy to get him away. And so, they were alone in the dining room.
Amamiya didn't come back for quite a while, probably diligently searching away. Growing tired of waiting, Kamo decided to ask Ayaka a question.
"There was one thing I was curious about. Taiga likes mystery novels, is that right?"
"By mystery novels, do you mean detective novels? In that case, then yes. At the main house, Grandfather has a library full of nothing but detective novels. I often borrow books from there."
Having his hunch confirmed, Kamo sighed.
"I wonder if anyone else here in this villa reads mystery novels..."
Ayaka looked at Kamo quizzically.
"Yes, Uncle Genji and Tsukihiko both read lots of detective novels. But that doesn't have anything to do with the case, does it?"
Kamo grimaced.
"Call me prejudiced, but I don't think mystery fans are the sorts of people who can just sit still while there's an incident going on nearby, especially if they're in a situation where the police can't intervene. They can't help but conduct their own investigations and try to make deductions."
A blush quickly rose to Ayaka's face.
"They weren't investigating out of curiosity..."
Seeing the sad look on her face, Kamo hurriedly clarified.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Taiga and Genji analyzing various aspects of the case, and Tsukihiko asking me all those questions, all of that was done to protect their family. Even in a situation like this, none of them lost their cool, and all their analyses made sense. But maybe that's the problem."
"What do you mean?"
Kamo lowered his voice even further, whispering so that only Ayaka could hear.
"In the future I come from, all three of them lost their lives. With three people like that on the scene, it wouldn't have been strange if someone had been able to identify the culprit and prevent further crimes from happening."
Ayaka murmured in shock.
"You mean the reason they couldn't is because the culprit is too cunning?"
"I do. The reason why the Deadly Tragedy of Shino is still unsolved now is because the police simply didn't have enough information to work with."
After the landslide, the search and rescue team only found fragments of Ayaka's diary. The villa was turned to rubble, and the bodies had been crushed near to powder beneath tons of earth. Not only that, but it took over a week to dig them out.
Since a majority of the bodies found were proven to have been murdered, the police investigated the case as a homicide. However, with so little evidence, there was little to do.
Kamo lowered his voice even further and continued.
"When a murder takes place, people panic. I had thought that the culprit took advantage of that and only got away with the crime by luck... but now that looks unlikely."
Ayaka was listening to him with wide eyes, but she didn't seem convinced by Kamo's story.
"How can you say that before you've even started the investigation?"
"Genji said this was an impossible crime. If the murderer did that on purpose, then we're dealing with a difficult opponent. No doubt they'll take plenty of measures to escape suspicion."
As he said that, Kamo reflexively took his smart phone out of his pocket. Ayaka quickly spoke up.
"Your radio's gone quiet. Is Hora gone?"
Kamo's shoulders slumped when he saw how low his battery had gotten.
"He's gone off somewhere. ...He probably planted a bug on this thing, anyway. He'll call me when he needs to."
Ayaka's eyes sparkled with curiosity, and she grabbed the hourglass on the end of the chain.
"It's so beautiful."
"Maybe it really is... the Hourglass of Miracles."
Ayaka's maddeningly sensitive ears perked up when she heard Kamo mumbling to himself.
"Hourglass of Miracles?"
At that moment, the door on the hallway side opened and Amamiya appeared.
"...Sorry I'm late."
In his left hand he held a magnifying glass. Ayaka had asked him to get it simply because it made her look more like a detective. He handed it to Ayaka, then turned to Kamo and smiled.
"That's an interesting name, isn't it? The Hourglass of Miracles."
Hearing that, Kamo could only give a forced smile. It seemed everyone in this house had sensitive ears.
"It's really nothing special... I'm going to start investigating now. Can you lead us to the Netherwood?"
Kamo and co. made their way to the recreation room next to the dining room. It was already almost 1:00 P.M.
The rec room was furnished with a leather couch and a billiard table. It was a larger than the dining room. After passing through the room, they arrived in the entrance hall, which had stained glass windows with geometric patterns.
Kamo was surprised to see that the entrance hall only connected to the outdoors and the recreation room.
...Guess if you want to go outside, you have to pass through this room. It probably doubles as a reception area.
When they went out the front door, they saw a neatly maintained lawn surrounding the building. The sky was clear and blue, but the wind was blowing hard.
A covered bicycle shed was about ten meters to their right, and next to it was the parking lot. Kamo didn't recognize the cars there; they looked like foreign models.
Amamiya began to explain.
"There are six cars... well, no, it's only five, now. Mr. Genji's went over the edge when they tried to cross Shino Bridge. So now there are five cars: the master of the house's car, the car used to pick up and drop off guests to the villa, Mr. Kyuichi's car, Mr. Soujirou's car, and Mr. Koki's car."
"What about the bicycles?"
"There are three of them. We all share."
Looking past the parking lot, Kamo noticed something standing beside it.
"A telephone pole... Do you get electricity out here?"
His comment was motivated by surprise that there was solid infrastructure so far into the mountains. He saw telephone poles lined up in regular rows along the road to the bridge.
Amamiya nodded casually.
"The Master talked with the power company and personally paid for the installation... By the way, the garden is back there."
When Kamo looked in the direction Amamiya had indicated, he saw a vast expanse of land that was far beyond the level of "a garden".
It was easily over 100 square meters, and unlike an average garden, it wasn't flat and level, but had some sections on dramatically higher ground than others. It was made up of many layers, each made up of a different type of plant, connected by wooden stairs. Just from what he could see from here, there was a fruit tree level, a Japanese garden level, an English-style garden... each level was unique, and yet they came together into a strangely balanced whole.
Their destination, the so-called Netherwood, was to the East, opposite the garden. As soon as they set off in that direction, Genji finally caught up with them. It seemed he'd gone looking for them after finishing his talk with Taiga.
As they made their way to the scene, Genji explained the incident.
"Tsukihiko, Tsukie, and Amamiya were the ones to find my brother's head. They make a habit of going on morning walks. That was when they found it."
According to Amamiya's explanation, the situation that morning went like this:
At around 7:00 A.M., the three of them were out on for a walk when they found the severed head and returned to the villa. As they were reporting to Soujirou and Genji, Ayaka appeared. When she learned of her father's death, she ran back to her room in a state of shock. Genji followed her, and Soujirou went to the Netherwood, following the directions of Amamiya and company.
And now, Kamo was being led into that same forest.
The forest did have a trail, and if you didn't know any better, it could come across as a peaceful place, perfect for a morning stroll. About 50 meters in, Genji turned off the trail and pointed to the base of a camphor tree.
"It was here. That's where my brother's head was found."
"This is where Father was...?"
Ayaka's voice was soft. The base of the tree was still stained with blood. The amount of blood suggested that the decapitation hadn't taken place here.
"Mr. Kyuichi's remains have been placed in the underground warehouse back in the villa. Those were the Master's orders."
It was Amamiya who gave the extra context. Genji nodded and continued.
"I know we're supposed to preserve the scene, but I couldn't just leave my brother's body like that."
It was a normal response for a family member. No one said it out loud in Ayaka's presence, but if the head was left out here, there was a chance it could be savaged by wild animals.
Kamo immediately began to check the area around the tree for clues.
The path was paved with cobblestones, and the area was covered in fallen leaves sticky with mud. There weren't many footprints that could have belonged to the culprit.
As he did that, Genji continued his explanation.
"While Amamiya was heading for the forest, Tonegawa and I went to the Monkey Room. At the time, I thought there must have been some mistake. Surely my brother couldn't have been killed... But in the room, I found my brother's body, his head gruesomely cut off."
Ayaka bit her lip so hard she drew blood. But in her eyes she held no pleas for sympathy, but only a strong sense of determination.
"By the way, was there a key in the room? Was the door locked?"
Kamo asked because he suspected that the culprit may have created a locked room situation... But Genji shook his head.
"Every room in the villa has a lock, and my brother had a bit of a nervous disposition, so I think he usually locked it. But when we checked, it was unlocked."
Internally, Kamo berated himself. He felt like an idiot, having suspected that a mystery trope would just happen in real life.
Soon, Genji turned off the trail again, leaving Kamo to hurry after him. After they'd gone a few dozen meters, Amamiya spoke up.
"While we were searching the Netherwood, we found a severed torso near the Kuzu River. At the time, we thought it was part of Mr. Kyuichi's body, but... we had no idea there'd been a second murder."
The trees cleared and a small creek came into view. Genji pointed to one corner of the rocky shore.
"This is Kuzu River, as Amamiya mentioned. It was at that rocky point there they found Koki's body."
The water in the creek was brown with mud, and it was fast flowing. The rain must have risen the water level, as it was pooling in rocky areas that would normally be unaffected by the flow.
The color of the puddle Genji pointed out wasn't very different from the rest of the rocky area. The body must not have bled much, or the water level could have been higher last night and washed the blood away.
"So was it only the torso that was found?"
"Yes, the parts other than the torso... that is, the head, arms, and legs, were found inside the villa," Genji replied with a frown.
Amamiya, complexion pale, followed up.
"As soon as we returned to the villa, we heard that Mr. Kyuichi's body had been found in the Monkey Room. That caused a big fuss over whose torso we had found in the Netherwood. That was when we realized Mr. Koki was missing."
"We all rushed to Koki's room, but this time, it was locked. No matter how many times we called, there was no answer, and nobody answered the extension line, either, so we decided to break down the door."
Kamo nodded at Genji's explanation, then asked a question.
"Isn't there a master key?"
"No, there isn't anything like that. So we had no choice but to break down the door, but Koki wasn't in his room. ...I think Amamiya can explain this part better."
Amamiya nodded with understanding, then quickly picked up the explanation.
"We all split up to search the building. Ms. Tonegawa and I went to check the basement... where we found the rest of Mr. Koki's body in the bath."
Genji opened his mouth again.
"The villa's basement has its own hot spring, which we've had made into a communal bath."
"Come to think of it, there was one," Kamo muttered.
He remembered that was mentioned in the records on the Ryuuzen family. Genji and Amamiya exchanged a confused look, causing Kamo to realize the slip he'd made. He hurriedly changed the subject.
"You mentioned a Monkey Room just now, right? Does each room bear the name of an animal?"
He haphazardly tossed out the first question that came to mind, even though he already knew the answer. Then, as though happy they'd finally come to a question she could answer, Ayaka started talking.
"There are twelve private rooms in the villa, and each is named after one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. For instance, there's the Rat Room, the Ox Room, and the Tiger Room."
"Incidentally, which room was Koki staying in?"
"The Dog Room."
"I see... The body was found in the bath rather than his room, which means there's a possibility that Koki was attacked by the murderer while he was bathing."
Genji gave a sharp nod.
"I think that's highly likely. After Grandfather lost use of his legs, Koki became the main one to use the underground bath. I think Koki was the only one who used those baths, especially after dinner."
Amamiya agreed.
"Yes, no one else uses the bath that late at night. It gets hot here in the summer, and it's difficult to get to sleep if you warm yourself before going to bed."
Dismembering a body like that would have spilled a considerable amount of blood. Of course, the amount would be lessened if the body wasn't cut up until after the murder, but it still would have caused some bloodshed... The culprit may have deliberately chosen the bath as the scene of the crime to facilitate the clean up.
Satisfied with that conclusion, Kamo took another look around.
As expected, there weren't any footprints or other traces that he could see. Just then, he noticed something red growing at the base of a nearby tree with broad leaves. The something was shaped like a long, thin stick, and looked like a red finger jutting out of the dirt.
"...Kaentake?"
Kamo muttered the name as he looked down at them.
As a general education course in college, Kamo had once taken a course on fungi. It had been a fun lecture that incorporated fieldwork and walks around the university... But what had left the deepest impression on him was this mushroom.
Until recently, it hadn't been known that this mushroom was poisonous. However, several poisonings occurred, and in 2018 it was recognized as one of the most dangerous toadstools growing wild in Japan.
That was why, as Kamo finished up his search of the Netherwood, he stayed far away from the mushroom. Even touching it could be harmful.
Upon exiting the Netherwood, Amamiya chose to go around and enter from the back. Kamo wondered why.
"Is the bath in the back of the building?"
Amamiya turned back as though surprised, but he quickly regained his smile.
"Not really, but since I'm giving you the grand tour... I dunno, I figured it'd be good to show you the whole building."
The young man seemed to be surprisingly attentive.
There was more grass planted behind the villa, but unlike the lawn at the front, this one was muddy. Therefore, Kamo and company had to carefully step on areas where there was grass or where the ground looked solid.
"By the way, this villa also has an underground garden. Unusual, isn't it?"
When Amamiya called out to him, Kamo, who had been looking down at his muddy feet, looked up at the railing on his left.
"Is that part of the basement floor used as a garden?"
He was looking down on the garden from directly above. Most of the things growing there were moss and ferns, things that could grow in the dark.
Ayaka leaned on the metal railing as she spoke.
"Grandfather said he wanted to be able to see the garden from the bath, so he build one underground, just like this. It's just a small one, though."
She said that, but by Kamo's estimation, the underground garden was about 2 meters by 13 meters. Though considering that the garden to the west was over 100 meters, that may have been small for the Ryuuzen clan.
"You can go downstairs."
Caught by Amamiya's words, Kamo gazed at the stone staircase surrounded by sparse grass. He decided not to go for a walk in the garden and looked ahead. He saw a modest shed up ahead. It was about four meters square.
"What's that building?"
"It's a wood chopping shed."
"Doesn't this villa use propane?"
"Oh, the villa is properly equipped with gas cylinders. The Master likes new things like that. But... depending on the dish, sometimes we use firewood, too."
Kamo remembered that Tonegawa was a good cook. While he didn't know much about those sorts of things, he knew that there were dishes that tasted better when cooked over wood.
When they were about five meters from the back door of the main building, Genji spoke up.
"I want to draw your attention to the mud over there."
In front of the back door was 40 cm of cobblestone. The area around the stones was prone to water accumulation, and no grass had taken root for over three meters around the stones. Much mud had accumulated there, but there wasn't a single footprint.
Kamo crouched down on the spot and asked a question.
"The last time it rained was yesterday evening, right?"
"Right. It rained heavily between five and six that evening. It hasn't rained since."
Kamo touched the ground with a finger. The north side of the building seemed to have poor drainage and was still muddy. He wondered if it was possible to bridge the gap from the cobblestones to the grassy area and cross that way, but even if he laid down a ladder, it would bend in the middle as he crossed and leave a mark.
"So what you're saying is... no one has entered or exited through the back door since the shower yesterday evening?"
"That's what we think. Let's go inside. Be careful not to disturb the mud more than necessary."
Amamiya said that, then immediately started leaving footprints in the mud. He turned back and said what sounded an awful lot like an excuse.
"The weather forecast on the radio said it would rain again tonight. If that's the case, then there's no point in preserving the mud."
*
At the top of the staircase down to the basement... Kamo was a bit surprised to see a single large steel plate in the hallway on the first floor.
Rails were attached to the walls of both sides of the stairs, and the plate was set up to run along both rails. The staircase was probably also designed as an elevator for transporting goods down to the basement. It appeared to be electrically operated, as there were buttons and dials on the wall.
Kamo was curious, but his mind was focused on the mission at hand, so he didn't ask Genji any questions.
They hurried down to the basement and went straight to the warehouse.
The moment they opened the door, they were assailed by a smell none of them had ever smelled before. It was the smell of blood fresh from a body. The undertone of detergent only made it worse.
The warehouse was lined with shelves and lockers, which held miscellaneous items like tools, washbasins, towels, toilet paper, and waterproof cloth, all currently on the left side. On the right were two bodies, lined up with sheets draped over them.
Kamo and Genji were the only two in the underground warehouse right now. Ayaka was supposed to be waiting in the dining room, accompanied by Amamiya. What they were about to do was no sight for a middle school girl.
Even Kamo's legs were shaking a bit. He felt a chill down his spine, even though his head was burning and his hands were sweating in a pair of army gloves.
First, he crouched down next to the body in the back. Telling himself there was no other way to solve the case and save Rena, he reached out a hand.
After losing his grip several times, Kamo pulled the sheet away. He ground his molars together.
The head of a young man with a warped expression, a naked torso, and a set of severed arms and legs... His body was thin and bore no identifying marks. There was little blood except for on the neck, probably because the other parts had been found either by a river or in the bath. The skin of the body, again excepting the head, was bloated and swollen, pale and blotchy.
Contrary to what he'd imagined from hearing the story, the arms and legs weren't severed at their bases. When Kamo picked them up to examine them, he found the arms had been cut between the elbows and the shoulders, and the legs below the knees.
The part that was in the worst condition was the neck.
Compared to the arms and legs, the cross section of the neck looked like it had been fed through a shredder. Bits of flesh and the tattered remains of blood vessels hung loose. Kamo couldn't bear to look and turned away in horror. He managed to force down his nausea and opened his mouth.
"This body is Miyako Koki, right?"
Genji gave a slight nod. His face looked as though it had been carved from stone. Although he was starting to turn pale, he seemed focused on not missing anything Kamo did. Kamo continued to ask questions.
"Was there anything that could be a murder weapon in the villa?"
"There are axes and machetes kept in two places. The wood chopping shed you saw earlier was one; the axe and machete are both kept in a locked locker. The other is in this warehouse... it seems the axe and machete that were left here were used in the crime."
"I understand the wood chopping shed, but why is there an axe in a warehouse?"
"They were spares. After the bodies were discovered, Amamiya checked both the shed and the underground warehouse. Both the axe and machete from the warehouse were missing."
The Ryuuzen had already conducted their own investigation, moreso than Kamo had expected. He looked down at the corpse again before speaking.
"Other than the posthumous mutilation, I don't see any obvious injuries."
When he examined the arms and legs, he hadn't seen any defensive wounds.
"So in the end, we have to ask... what was the cause of death?"
"I think he was strangled."
Kamo explained using the knowledge he'd gained researching miscarriages of justice.
"Since the neck is severed, it's hard to tell, but if you look closely, you can see marks of skin abrasion and internal bleeding."
Genji checked Koki's neck, then looked back up in surprise.
"Is this mark from a cord?"
"I think so."
Kamo put the sheet back over the body, then clasped his hands together in a silent prayer.
He then went to examine the other body. This time he felt no horror, only a deep pain. Ayaka's face, eyes swollen with tears, appeared in his mind, then Rena's visage overlapped hers.
This was the head of Kyuichi, Ayaka's father. His eyes were closed, and his face was distorted in agony. The general shape of his face, especially around the mouth, resemble Ayaka's.
"...Kyu..."
Genji spoke softly, as though he'd forgotten Kamo was there.
Kyuichi's neck had also been shredded, and it was just as horrible. There were dirt stains and dead leaves on the back of his head, probably from when it had been tossed in the woods.
Kamo shifted his gaze down the body. While Koki's body had been naked, this one was fully clothed. His body shape was also thin. However, his skin was soggy and his clothes were damp.
When he approached the face, he smelled a strong scent of detergent coming from the body. Kamo, who had assumed the smell was fabric softener from the sheets, realized his mistake.
"What is that smell?"
"Liquid shampoo... My brother's body was found in the bathroom of the Monkey Room."
Kamo frowned. Nobody used shampoo with their clothes on. It's not like he was trying to save time by washing his hair and clothes at the same time. That meant someone had poured shampoo on the body.
His clothes were a pair of dark green tartan pants and an orange polo shirt. There was a bloodstain on his collar. ...His clothes seemed rather flashy.
"Are you sure these clothes belonged to Kyuichi?"
Genji gave a heavy nod. Genji's clothes were monochrome, so it seemed the brothers differed in personality as well as appearance.
This body also didn't have any major external injuries other than the severed neck. However, there was another slight abrasion mark on the neck and signs of internal bleeding, which led them to once again suspect strangulation.
After giving another silent prayer, Kamo stood up.
When he stepped back into the hallway, he heard voices. Kamo looked at the stairs to the first floor and saw Ayaka and Amamiya, sitting on the bottom step.
Genji asked "Why didn't you wait in the dining room?" Then he gave Amamiya a disapproving look. The other opened his mouth to apologize.
"I'm sorry. I thought this would be a good place to wait for you two."
Genji didn't pursue the matter any further. It was obvious Amamiya was protecting Ayaka, who had selfishly dragged him down into the basement.
At the end of the basement corridor, there was a door, and once they were through it, they were assailed by the stuffiness characteristic to hot springs.
There was a stone-lined washroom and a dressing room with wooden shelves able to hold many people's clothes at once, thoughtfully designed for such a large family. Right now, it only held a single pair of dark pants, a white polo shirt, a towel, and underwear. According to Genji, they were Koki's clothes.
A window on the northern side of the room afforded a view of the underground garden. Up close, one could see various ferns and tastefully organized rocks covered with moss. Kamo's eyes were fixed on the black lattice installed on the other side of the window. It only had vertical bars, making it look like they were in a prison.
"Are there similar lattices on the other windows?"
Ayaka answered.
"That's right. When we renovated the villa two years ago, we had them installed for security purposes."
Nodding along, Genji opened the door on the left side of the changing room and said:
"Actually, the main house in Tokyo has been burglarized and damaged more than once. Even for a villa deep in the mountains like this one, you can never be too careful... Please, leave your shoes on. It doesn't matter anymore."
From beyond the door came the smell of sulfur, steam, and cypress.
Kamo's glasses fogged immediately. He gave up on them and put them in his breast pocket. His eyesight was about 0.4, so he should have been able to investigate a room without them.
The floor of the bath was covered in dark stones. There was a cypress bath and a rock bath in the back of the room, and both had continuous flows of hot water. The edge of the cypress bathtub had traces of dried blood, and the water had a faint pink tinge.
"Was Koki's head found where that bloodstain is?" asked Kamo.
Amamiya, who had found the body, nodded.
"Yes, Mr. Koki's head was placed on the edge of the cypress bath. His arms and legs were sank in the bath. I think the color of the blood in the water was a bit darker when we found the body."
"No one has been in the bath or changing room since the body was found, right?"
"We moved Mr. Koki's body, but other than that, everything is the same as when I found it."
Squinting to focus his vision, Kamo went to check the window. But before he got there, he noticed a glint at his feet.
An old key had fallen there. He crouched down and looked at it. There was a wooden netsuke carving tied to the key with string.
"...A dog?"
Even though it was wet, it was clearly recognizable as a stylized brown Shiba Inu, its little tongue sticking out. Amamiya searched his pants pocket as he explained.
"That's the key to the Dog Room. It was there when we found the body... By the way, every key in the villa has a netsuke like that. I'm staying in the Horse Room, so my netsuke is a horse."
Kamo approached to see what he'd taken from his pocket. It was a netsuke of a galloping white horse. Beside him, Ayaka had also taken out a key with a cute white mouse netsuke on it. She must have been staying in the Rat Room.
Kamo frowned as he compared the three keys.
"Just to be sure, we should verify whether this really is the key to the Dog Room. The keys all look similar enough that you couldn't tell them apart just by looking."
When he heard that, Genji gave a somewhat amused look.
"You think it's possible that the netsuke were switched, right? But Grandfather had us check for that already."
"And?"
Kamo was once again amazed by Taiga's mental dexterity. It was clear that he was more than just a fan of mystery fiction.
"And it was definitely the key to the Dog Room."
Kamo returned the key to where he'd found it, then went back to checking the window in the bath.
The underground garden was clearly visible through the frosted glass. It was a glass door more than large enough for a person to pass through, but there was another security lattice installed over it.
Kamo opened the window as far is it would go, then gave the lattice a firm shake. It was made of solid metal, and it seemed to have a surface that scratched easily. The gaps between the bars were wider than he'd expected, about 12 cm wide.
"Are the lattices on the other windows as solid as this one?"
Genji and Ayaka didn't have any answers for him, but Amamiya did.
"I think the spacing in the lattice in the bath is wider than the others. When I was cleaning the windows, I got the impression that the windows on the above ground floors are harder to clean... I think the spacing might be a bit wider so you can see out into the garden better."
"...This is no good, even I can't get through here."
Surprised by the voice that had interrupted them, Kamo looked down and saw Ayaka with her head through the window next to him. Considering her age, her head was probably the smallest of everyone in the villa, but even she couldn't fit through the bars.
Genji gave a chuckle.
"You don't have to do that..."
"Yeah, leave the confirmation to me."
Ayaka's actions seemed to have flipped a switch in Amamiya's head. Without even waiting for Genji to finish his sentence, he threw his shoulder against the bars.
"Mr. Kyuichi and Mr. Koki are both pretty skinny, and they're about 167 cm tall, right? I'm a bit shorter than them, but even I can't do it."
Amamiya was also significantly skinnier than the 32 year old Kamo. He could probably fit his arms or legs through, but for his head or torso, it was impossible no matter how you looked at it.
"Do you think so? I feel like you could fit through if you just try a bit more."
Kamo was startled to see Ayaka start trying to force his body through the bars. Genji rushed to stop her. Amamiya tried to get out, but the tip of his shoulder was caught in the bars and he couldn't escape on his own.
Perhaps it was because she'd been raised in such a sheltered environment that Ayaka lacked any consideration for others. Genji and Kamo worked together and managed to pull Amamiya free.
Genji's angry lecture left Ayaka thoroughly shaken, but Amamiya was deeply humbled when she apologized. Kamo tried to ignore how awkward everything had become as he spoke to Genji.
"It seems like its impossible to move the head or torso through the window. Even if they used some sort of lubricant, I don't think it'd change anything."
"Yes, which leaves us only two options: the front entrance, or the back."
For some reason, Genji looked uneasy. Kamo wondered about that as he spoke.
"We have evidence that the back door wasn't used, so that means the culprit used the front door... But you and Taiga have been aware of what I just deduced for a while now, haven't you? Not only that, you said this was an impossible crime. Could you explain why?"
"I'd rather not. I don't want to prejudice your investigation."
Perhaps he was being tested, or perhaps Genji had no intention of doing anything except what the master of the house told him to. With a shrug of his shoulders, Kamo gave up.
"Whatever the case, it will all become clear if we investigate everyone's actions from last night to this morning... Who knows? I might just come to a different conclusion from you all."
Genji smiled defiantly.
"Looking forward to it."
Perhaps sensing how tense the air had become, Amamiya suggested they go to the Monkey Room.
After going up the stairs to the first floor, they went down the hall across from the dining room, where they found the rooms. There were two rooms on the left, with metal plates affixed to the wall above the doors reading "Monkey Room" and "Sheep Room". There was another room at the end of the hall, but Kamo couldn't see its name from there.
On the right side of the corridor, there was a small, retro elevator for moving luggage and a space labeled "Machine Room", beyond which were plates reading "Boar Room", "Dog Room", and "Rooster Room". The door to the Dog Room had been broken off its hinges.
After a moment, Genji spoke up.
"By the way, there are six more rooms on the second floor. I'm staying in the Ox room upstairs."
Amamiya turned around and started explaining.
"Wouldn't it be better to explain everything now? The Boar Room first on the right side is empty, in the middle is Mr. Koki's Dog Room, and at the end is Ms. Tonegawa's Rooster Room... on the left, there's the Monkey Room where Mr. Kyuichi was staying, then the Sheep Room and Ms. Tsukie, and the room in the back, the Horse Room, is mine."
Kamo was a bit surprised.
"This might be a bit rude, but do you let Tonegawa, the servant, use the same type of room as everyone else?"
Genji replied with a wry smile.
"Tonegawa is officially a servant, but Grandfather trusts her and treats her like family. She's the one who keeps insisting she's just a servant, and Grandfather can't seem to break her of that."
Ayaka nodded and said:
"Grandfather hates old customs and traditions, so he'll do anything that goes against them."
Even after hearing that, Kamo wasn't convinced.
It seemed impossible that a servant could expect such good treatment anywhere on Earth, let alone in Japan. Since Ayaka was standing right there, he hesitated to say so out loud, but... it was possible Tonegawa was once Taiga's lover, or even that she still was. That would explain why she was receiving such good treatment.
"...When you put it that way, I'm really in the same position."
Hearing Amamiya mutter that self-deprecatingly, Genji shook his head.
"Your father was a relative of one of Grandfather's close friends. He helped out around the house from time to time, and Grandfather came to view him like his own son."
Hearing that, Amamiya fell silent with a bright red blush.
Even Kamo, who had confidence in his memory, was struggling to keep all the rooms straight in his head. So he decided to come up with some mnemonics.
The Rat, the smallest animal of the zodiac, was the room belonging to the youngest person, Ayaka. The herbivorous Sheep was for Tsukie, the silent woman whose voice he still hadn't heard. Tonegawa Tsugumi was in the Rooster Room, and "Tsugumi" was Japanese for thrush, a type of bird.
And then there was Genji, the Ox. An animal that usually lazed around and slowly chewed grass, but could explode into a ferocity that had claimed the lives of many bullfighters. Exactly like Genji. Right now, Genji was amiably walking alongside him and helping with the investigation, but Kamo wasn't ashamed to admit that the man's inscrutable nature terrified him.
And that was about as far as he got. Kamo couldn't come up with any link between Amamiya and his assigned animal. There was nothing about the man that brought to mind a horse. At a stretch, his slim build could be called similar to a lean racehorse?
"This is my brother's room, the Monkey Room."
Genji's voice brought Kamo back to his senses. He quickly looked up.
Inside the room was a luxurious looking wooden bed, a writing desk, a chair, and a sofa sized for one. It was the bare minimum for furniture. The room had a separate bath and toilet, like a luxury hotel room.
A change of underwear, a pair of socks, and a bottle of hair conditioner were scattered on the bed. On the desk was a key with a small monkey netsuke on it. Genji confirmed that it had been there since he and Tonegawa had entered the room, and that it was the key to the Monkey Room.
A black telephone was on the back of the desk, and a book that looked half read was in front of it. Kamo picked it up and looked at the title. "The Precipice", by Inoue Yasushi. Kamo had never heard of it, but for all he knew, it could have been a best seller at the time.
A blue trunk was under the bed, already open. Whatever had originally been in it had already been removed. It was empty.
Next, Kamo opened the wooden door to the closet. What he saw made him blink several times. Neatly lined up were multiple pairs of dark green tartan pants and orange polo shirts, each identical to the ones the corpse had been wearing.
"...The hell?"
Ayaka looked at the floor with a mixture of sadness and embarrassment. Genji bore a painful smile as he opened his mouth.
"My brother had a habit of buying clothes he liked in bulk and wearing the same thing for an entire season. He always said picking out clothes was too much of a hassle."
Kyuichi may have, in his own way, been an aficionado of fashion. Kamo felt bad, like he'd been digging into another man's private life.
He quietly shut the closet and moved to the bathroom.
"Mr. Kyuichi's body was found in that bathtub..."
When he looked where Amamiya was pointing, Kamo saw that the white ceramic of the bathroom was stained a dark red.
The smell of shampoo mixed with a faint scent of blood hit Kamo's nose. It was the exact same smell that had been on the corpse. Other than a bottle of liquid shampoo (lavender, if you were curious), which as far as they knew had been applied by the culprit, there were no other clues that could lead them to the culprit.
Kamo searched the room again and found no signs that it had been searched or that the culprit had forced their way in.
"...Let's check the Dog Room as well."
Kamo stepped out into the hall and looked at the door, which had been forced clean off its hinges and been leaned against the wall. Each room had doors the color of mahogany. The wood looked old, so they were probably the same doors from when the villa was first built.
The Dog Room was laid out similarly to the Monkey Room. However, the differences said a lot about their owners.
Koki's room was cleaner than Kyuichi's. In the closet were a few plain short-sleeved shirts and dark pants. In the sink were a shaving set and a few other items for personal grooming.
Paper cigarettes and a lighter were neatly arranged on the table, and a few cigarette butts lay in the ashtray. The room still smelled faintly of smoke.
"So Koki was a smoker. Does anyone else here smoke?" Kamo asked as he examined the ashtray.
Genji replied "Just Koki, me, and Tsukie. Nobody else smokes."
Kamo was a bit surprised that Tsukie, who seemed so reserved, smoked cigarettes.
He then shifted his gaze to a Boston bag left on the chair. It was black and had a practical design. Inside, Kamo found the horse racing section of a newspaper and a picture frame among the travel goods. Judging from the notes scrawled on the paper, it seemed that Koki was into horse racing.
"He was a gambler," Genji said. "He got in too deep pretty often. Grandfather often worried about him."
Next, Kamo turned his attention to the framed picture. It was a black and white photo of a Shiba Inu.
"...What's this?"
"It's Mr. Koki's dog. If I remember correctly, his name was Raccoon."
Ayaka said that, straightening up to see the photo.
Kamo knew the English word "raccoon" from a certain American comic book. Why Koki had named his Shiba that was a mystery... but Kamo didn't have the energy to laugh.
Whatever the case, it seemed Koki was a dog lover. That would make remembering he was in the Dog Room easy, at least.
*
"Can you tell us what you were doing from last night until this morning?"
Kamo asked this to all the members of the Ryuuzen clan, who he had gathered in the recreation room.
The members of the Ryuuzen clan answered him with identical faces that said "Not again, we already went over this with Taiga."
After leaving the Dog Room, Kamo, Genji, Amamiya, and Ayaka, the designated investigators, went around and checked all the windows and the ground around the villa for any abnormalities.
They only had permission to enter the rooms of the three investigators and Tonegawa, so they were able to check the lattices for those four rooms from the inside. However, Taiga hadn't given them permission to inspect the other private rooms, so they had no choice but to check those lattices from the outside of the building. Kamo borrowed a stepladder from the wood chopping shed for the second floor rooms.
As a result, they had managed to confirm that all of the lattices were firmly in place, that none of them bore noticeable scratches, and that there were no blood stains on the ground outside.
That had taken some time, so by the time they had started to dig into everyone's alibis, the clock on the wall read 4:37.
Inside the rec room, there was a sofa, a billiard table, a table with a chessboard, a black telephone, two chairs, and a shelf stocked with liquor bottles. A page-a-day calendar read August 22nd.
But all of them were pushed from the mind by the most eye-catching thing in the room: a large oil paining hanging on the north wall. It was about a square meter in size, and bore the signature of "Yachō", written with the characters for "Night" and "Bird", in the bottom right. Kamo had never heard of the artist.
At any rate, it was an unusual painting.
All Kamo could make out was an unusual creature barking. It had a red face with a stubby nose, and its tail ended in a snake with its tongue hanging out. Its body was covered in gray-brown fur, but its limbs were striped yellow and black like a tiger.
While they were asking for everyone to arrive, he'd asked Genji what the painting was called. Apparently, the answer was "Chimera".
"...Also, if you met with Mr. Kyuichi or Mr. Koki at any time last night, could you please tell us what happened?"
Kamo added that on at the end. He got the feeling he was on the clock, as nobody actually wanted to talk to him. Taiga glared at everyone who remained silent, then spoke himself.
"Shall I answer for you all? Everyone, including Tonegawa, was in the dining room or the kitchen until the end of dinner at 7:00 P.M."
"Does 'everyone' include Kyuichi and Koki?"
"It does. I'm certain. ...We split up at 7:00 P.M. and I returned to my room. I believe I was the first to leave; everyone else was still in the dining room."
"Do you usually return to your room at that hour?"
"No, I usually relax in the dining room and return to my room around 8:30. However, that day, I felt a bit heavy. I returned to my room early and fell asleep right away. I didn't see Kyuichi or Koki."
"I see. Did you hear any unusual noises while you were in your room?"
"I don't recall. All of the rooms are soundproofed, so even if there had been a noise, I easily could have missed it."
"By the way, which of the rooms is yours, sir?"
"The Dragon Room."
Kamo stared at the old man's wheelchair, remembering that there was no room by that name on the first floor of the villa.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to ask this... You said earlier that you went to your room on your own, but how did you get to the second floor?"
The old man smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.
"I'm the sort of person who isn't satisfied unless I do everything myself."
Kamo was a bit surprised. He remembered the rails and the steel plate on the stairs to the basement.
"Was that thing on the stairs..."
"So you noticed? It's my wheelchair lift."
The old man affectionately stroked the armrest of his wheelchair.
"This wheelchair possesses multiple features for ease of use. It can collapse and expand at the press of a button, and the breaks are highly sensitive to both activate and release. With proper training, I can move anywhere in a building or get in and out of bed by myself."
"So it's a custom made wheelchair."
"It would be inefficient if there were only one, so I keep a spare at this villa. There are several more at my home and in the office..." The old man chuckled. "I was surprised, too. There's an eccentric in the company's R&D department who's always coming up with interesting new inventions. This wheelchair and the lift are both his doing."
Just like Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight, it seemed Taiga didn't design his own gadgets.
Kamo wondered if they were just teasing him because it was their first meeting, so he looked at Ayaka and Genji. Judging from the looks on their faces, and the old man's toned arm muscles, he was probably telling the truth.
Kamo had once seen on TV the world's oldest gymnast, an 89 year old, performing on the parallel bars. Apparently, Taiga was one of those super long lived types.
"...And what did you do this morning?"
Taiga rubbed his legs under the knee rest. Compared to his strongly built upper body, they looked like twigs.
"I believe it was around 7:00 A.M. when I met Tonegawa and Ayaka in the dining room. While we were eating, we received the report that a body had been found. Is that right, Tonegawa?"
Tonegawa, who had been standing unobtrusively next to the billiard table this whole time, obediently answered.
"It is as you say, sir."
"Then please explain your actions last night, Tonegawa."
After saying that, Taiga seemed to get thirsty and took a sip of coffee. Tonegawa turned to Kamo and promptly began her explanation.
"Before 8:00 P.M., I had finished dinner and cleaning up, and I returned to my room."
"And what did you do from then until morning?"
"I felt unusually tired yesterday, so I went straight to bed and woke up at 4:00 A.M., where I went back and forth between the kitchen and the laundry room, preparing breakfast and doing the laundry. Around 5:00 A.M., I went outside to clean the front entrance."
Did you hear anything unusual?"
"I'm afraid I don't recall... I was serving the master's meal around 7:20 A.M. when I received the report that a body had been found."
Tonegawa closed her mouth, her expression not having changed once in her entire report. Kamo blinked several times, feeling overwhelmed.
He had thought it would make him uncomfortable to have an inhuman flesh-robot like that hovering around all day, but seeing her being so dutiful and maintaining her professional demeanor actually made him less nervous. Maybe it was for the better.
Ayaka was next. She was the only one with a cup of cocoa in front of her.
"After dinner, I went back to my room and read a book. But I was so sleepy that day that I fell asleep early. That was why I didn't see Father or Mr. Koki."
Kamo gave a small nod.
"Then may I ask about this morning?"
"I think I left my room around 6:30. By then, Ms. Tonegawa was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast. I left the dining room after finishing my meal."
Her story was consistent with the contents of her diary.
"Then you went to the recreation room and heard from Tsukihiko that a body had been found."
"...Yes."
So far, Taiga, Tonegawa, and Ayaka all had "no alibi". That was within Kamo's expectation; it was normal to not have an alibi for something that happened in the middle of the night.
Tsukihiko nudged his sister with an elbow and whispered to her.
"It's better if the people with more information go later. Shouldn't you be the next one to speak, then?"
His nudge was so hard that she nearly spilled the coffee she'd been about to drink. Without looking at her brother, she began to speak expressionlessly.
"Shortly after dinner, I went out to the front porch and smoked a few cigarettes, but I was back in my room by 8:00. I fell asleep right away and didn't wake up until my brother came to wake me up at around 6:40. I didn't see anyone or know anything about what had happened. ...I was out walking in the Netherwood with my brother and Amamiya when we found the body."
Her voice was husky for a woman, possibly because she was a smoker. Her emotionless speech reminded Kamo a bit of Hora, but she didn't have his combination of politeness and rudeness.
Kamo thought for a while, then asked a question.
"If that's true, it means you were asleep for almost 11 hours."
"That's normal for me, and yesterday I was exceptionally tired."
Soujirou, who still had his hunting rifle, spoke up.
"Tsukie, you must speak more femininely. Even the good detective is surprised by you."
Kamo actually thought it was significantly weirder that Soujirou had brought a gun to a family meeting, but the man in question seemed quite serious.
"...I'll be more careful from now on, Father."
Tsukie's voice had grown even colder. Soujirou, who didn't even notice the change in his own daughter, nodded with satisfaction, then turned to Kamo.
"Now, I'll give you my story."
"That's fine, but... Just how long are you going to keep holding that gun, Soujirou?"
It was Taiga, who spoke sharply. Soujirou looked confused.
"Eh? There's a murderer present, I have to protect everyone."
"I know you're a skilled hunter and skilled with a gun. But put yourself in someone else's shoes. Having that thing at your side 24/7 will only make people nervous."
"It's not loaded right now."
"...As soon as we're done here, return that hunting rifle and the bullets to the lockers in the underground warehouse."
In the face of Taiga's authoritative voice, Soujirou had no choice but to promise he would. Then, as if trying to shake off the awkward atmosphere, he took a sip of tea before beginning to talk in a loud voice.
"So, you were going to ask about my alibi, right? After dinner, Tsukihiko and I moved to the rec room. We had an appointment. We were going to place a bet after dinner."
Kamo leaned forward, having finally gotten some information that wasn't in Ayaka's diary.
"A bet, you say?"
"Yes. Tsukihiko wanted a villa in Karuizawa. I told him I'll buy him one after he graduates, but he just wouldn't listen."
Crossing his longs legs as he sat on the sofa, Tsukihiko took a classy sip of his tea and interrupted.
"You can't blame me for wanting it now. It's not like it's a big purchase or anything."
Listening to the two of them, Kamo began to feel foolish for having worked so hard all his life. With the Ryuuzen family's wealth, even a whole building looked cheap.
Soujirou chided Tsukihiko for his attitude, then continued his story.
"That was why the boy asked me to play chess. He promised that if he lost, he'd give up on the villa, but in exchange, if I lost, he wanted me to buy the villa within a week."
When he heard that, Tsukihiko stared at the chessboard on the table.
"I said that, but I didn't expect him to take me up on it. Usually when I ask him for things, he just ignores me and that's the end of it."
Taiga smiled.
"Usually you don't offer him such good terms."
Seeing that he'd startled Tsukihiko, the old man elaborated with clear amusement.
"You didn't know? Soujirou has been a chess prodigy since he was a child. By the time he was in college, he was good enough that he could have competed with the Japanese champion at the time."
"That was a long time ago."
Soujirou seemed annoyed as he ignored the praise. Tsukihiko muttered sarcastically.
"So he only took me up this time because it was a fight he couldn't lose. That's real nice of you, Dad."
Soujirou ignored him and turned to Kamo with a sly smile.
"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I let this salesman talk me into a bet. That's why I spent all night in this room."
That was such an important point that Kamo couldn't speak quickly enough.
"To get to the front door, you have to pass through this room. That means... you saw everyone who entered or left through the front door, right?"
"That's correct. From here, it would be quicker if Tsukihiko, Genji, Amamiya and I all explain what we saw last night at once."
As he said that, he looked at the three people. Tsukihiko spoke first.
"At 7:00, Dad and I went to the rec room and started our chess game. We took plenty of breaks while we played, so I think it took about three hours to get it over with."
"And? Who won?"
It was an obvious question, and Tsukihiko turned red with anger.
"Not me. But I'm sure people came in and out of the villa while I was in the rec room."
"One of them was Tsukie, right?"
For some reason, Tsukihiko curled his lips into an amused sneer.
"To be honest, Tsukie left before we entered the rec room. So I didn't see her leave."
Kamo thought about whether Tsukie could have brought the head and torso outside.
"...It wouldn't be possible. Tsukie couldn't have moved the head or torso."
When he'd come to his conclusion, Tsukihiko nodded seriously.
"Yeah, Kyuichi and Koki were still alive when dinner ended at 7:00. After that, there was only enough time for us to walk to the rec room. There's no way she could have killed two people, dismembered their bodies, and washed off the blood that quickly."
"When did Tsukie come back inside?"
"I think it was around 7:40."
Soujirou nodded in agreement.
"She was only carrying a small handbag containing her smoking paraphernalia, so I assumed she'd just been out for a smoke."
"I see. Did anyone else go outside...?"
As Kamo asked, Tsukihiko raised a finger and pointed at Genji. Genji had been looking out the window with coffee cup in hand, but he eventually spoke.
"It's true. I went for a walk in the garden."
"Even if it is summer, it must have been getting dark after 7:00 P.M. What were you doing outside at that hour?"
Genji gave a troubled looking smile.
"The truth is, I just wanted an after-dinner cigarette... It's true that it was dark by the time I went outside at 8:00. However, there were flashlights and lanterns in the entrance hall. I borrowed one when I went out."
"And where specifically did you go?"
"I went to the garden, paid a visit to the shrine, then came back."
"The shrine, you say?"
Genji looked at Kamo with a quizzical expression.
"We call it Kojin Shrine. Is something the matter?"
As Kamo thought, he was referring to Kojin Shrine. It was the first time anyone had mentioned that the only building to survive the landslide... was in the garden. When Kamo had visited Shino on his research trip, the shrine had already been demolished, so he hadn't been able to see it.
Shaking his head slightly, Kamo got back on topic.
"Nothing... What time did you come back inside?"
"I think it was around 9:00."
"That means you were in the garden for almost an hour."
That was definitely suspicious, but it wasn't enough to conclude he was the culprit. Seeing Kamo's reaction, Genji gave a mysterious smile.
"Do you suspect me?"
"That's not it. But you must admit, an hour is a long time just to smoke a cigarette."
Genji looked sad as he shook his head.
"I'm not a murderer. If you'll let me make an excuse, I was empty handed when I left the villa, and I was still empty handed when I came back in."
Kamo looked to Soujirou and son for confirmation. They both said they remembered when Genji had passed through the rec room clearly, and he had definitely been empty handed.
"There's no way to carry a head and torso while empty handed," Genji said provocatively.
Looking at him, Kamo wasn't sure who was supposed to be the detective anymore.
However, he wasn't upset someone had stolen his role. To begin with, the role of "Great Detective" wasn't something he had wanted in the first place, and as long as it prevented the Deadly Tragedy of Shino, he didn't well care who did it.
"...You're right. What happened after you came back inside?"
Hearing Kamo's calm reply, Genji seemed surprised that he hadn't lost his temper. Genji's smiled turned to a tired one as he replied.
"I went straight back to my room. Of course, I didn't see my brother or Koki."
"I get the impression you didn't go right to sleep. What happened next?"
"I think it would be best to hear Amamiya's story first."
Amamiya, who was now the center of attention, looked uncomfortable. He placed his coffee on the table before speaking.
"You might have guessed this already, but I also went outside after dinner."
"Why?"
"I went to the wood chopping shed and chopped wood. Oh, and I was also empty handed when I went out. I think it was around 7:20 when I left. Ms. Tonegawa and I had talked about making an oven-baked pizza within the next few days, so I thought I'd prepare for that."
"What, you guys even have a pizza oven?"
Kamo was shocked by how decadent the rich truly were. Amamiya, who appeared to be a fellow commoner, gave a small nod of sympathy.
"The Master had it custom made."
According to his explanation, Taiga had an old Italian friend who had personally taught Tonegawa how to make pizza.
"By the way, when you looked earlier, you couldn't see it because the shed was in the way, right? There's actually a large stone oven behind the shed."
Even after hearing Amamiya, Kamo still wasn't convinced.
"Why did you decided to chop wood at night?"
"The hut is well-lit with lanterns, so you can work at night without any problems. Well, I had other reasons, too."
He cracked his knuckles before continuing.
"I've been putting off chopping the wood for a few days now because it's been raining. I also find that chopping wood at night helps to clear my mind and help me get a good night's sleep."
Kamo looked thoughtfully at the young man, who had answered without hesitation.
It seemed Amamiya was quite adept with the axe and machete. In that sense, it could be said that he was suspicious, though this wasn't conclusive, either.
"In that case, could you tell me more about the axe in the wood chopping shed?"
Amamiya suddenly lowered his head, looking frightened.
"Since I'm in charge of chopping wood, I'm also in charge of the tools. The axe and machete are kept in a locker in the shed, and I keep the key with me. I went to check on them this morning. There was nothing unusual about them."
He was suddenly cut off by Tonegawa, who sent him a lifeboat.
"I was with him when he confirmed it. The axe and machete were in the locker, and chopped firewood was piled in the shed."
Amamiya bowed at her in thanks, and the corners of Tonegawa's lips lifted slightly. It wasn't much of a change, but it communicated how fond she was of Amamiya.
"What about the spare axe and machete in the warehouse?"
Amamiya glanced at Tonegawa, then answered.
"They've disappeared. I thought the culprit took them."
"That seems likely... How were the axe and machete in the warehouse managed?"
"They weren't a secret or anything. I think everyone here knew where they were stored. The basement wasn't locked, so I think anyone could have gotten their hands on them."
Kamo was a bit disappointed. He was hoping he could narrow down the suspects to those who knew where the weapons were, but it seemed that didn't actually narrow down anything.
He smoothly moved on to the next question.
"You said earlier that you entered and exited through the front door. However, the wood chopping shed is closer to the back door, so I think it would be normal to use the back door when doing work there. Why did you use the front door?"
Amamiya looked a bit embarrassed.
"It's not something I'm proud of, but... the area around the back door was all muddy, right? If I'd gone in and out the back door, I would have gotten mud all over the cobblestones and the hallway and it would have been a real pain to clean up."
Kamo completely agreed with this explanation. No one wanted to spend the night cleaning carpets and pavement. As he thought that, Amamiya continued.
"Besides, we always set a lock on the back door after dinner."
"For crime prevention?"
"Yeah. ...But when I go out to work at night, someone always assumes I just forgot to lock the door and locks me outside."
If it happens every time, isn't it possible you're just being harassed? Kamo thought that, but he didn't say so. Amamiya, who didn't seem to have considered the possibility, laughed.
"That's why I always use the front entrance when I go out at night. That way, I'll be safe as long as I take my key with me."
"I see. And how many keys to the front door are there?"
"The only ones with their own keys are the Master, Mr. Kyuichi, me, and Ms. Tonegawa. In addition, when we have guests over, we try to keep a key in the rec room. It's in a drawer on that shelf there... I'm sure everyone uses that key when they go out for night walks."
As he'd been told, Kamo opened the drawer on the shelf with the bottles of alcohol. A key with a wooden netsuke of a house was inside. It was a different type of key from the room keys, much larger.
Putting the key back in the drawer, Kamo resumed asking about alibis.
"Okay, what did you do after that?"
"I got absorbed in chopping wood, and by the time I got back inside, it was almost 8:30. When I got back to the rec room, Mr. Soujirou and Mr. Tsukihiko were playing a game of chess. I also play chess, so I was a bit curious, but I decided to go back to my room."
"He's right, this guy showed up in the rec room, made a face like he didn't want to go, then disappeared into the hallway."
It was Tsukihiko who'd interjected. Amamiya responded with a bitter smile.
"I was all sweaty, so I decided to take a shower before bed... Come to think of it, I got a call from Mr. Kyuichi right when I finished my shower."
"From Kyuichi?"
When Kamo asked the question, he was answered by a firm nod.
"Yes, I think it was around 9:20 I got a call on the extension line. He said he wanted to discuss something with me and asked me to meet with him tomorrow after breakfast."
"Do you have any idea what Kyuichi wanted to discuss with you?"
Amamiya's brows furrowed in thought.
"I didn't think much of it at the time, but to tell you the truth, I have no idea what he wanted."
"Is there any possibility that it was someone else calling you and imitating Kyuichi's voice?"
"I don't know. It was a bit far away, but it certainly sounded like Mr. Kyuichi's voice."
"I see."
"Then I thought I'd go to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about that chess game. So I decided to go back to the rec room."
"I think it was around 9:30 when he met up with us again. That was less than an hour before Dad and I finished the game."
That was Tsukihiko again.
"What did you all do after the game?"
As Kamo kept asking questions, Soujirou, who had been wondering when to join the conversation for a while now, finally spoke up.
"He wasn't satisfied with the result, so the boy said he wanted to play billiards. Tsukihiko's good at billiards."
Tsukihiko didn't seem to like being treated like a child in front of everyone, so he got up off the couch and glared at Soujirou. Standing, he appeared to be taller than his father, about 175 cm. Soujirou, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned and kept speaking.
"I couldn't sleep that night, and the boy was persistent, so I decided to give him another whuppin'."
"Of course, Dad's a coward. He forced me to agree to the condition that we'd play with teams of 2-vs-2. He knew he couldn't take me in a fair fight."
Kamo could already guess that Tsukihiko had lost this game as well. Amamiya sounded amused as he picked up the story.
"So that's why I went to the Ox Room and brought Mr. Genji down with me... as Mr. Soujirou's helper, of course. It must have been about 10:45."
Kamo finally began to understand the flow of the story.
"So you started a billiard game, Tsukihiko and Amamiya vs. Soujirou and Genji?"
Genji, who had been silent up until then, nodded.
"We went to the billiard table and started at 11:00. I think it was around 2:00 A.M. by the time the game ended."
Soujirou gave his son a look that mixed pity and scorn.
"As soon as the game ended, the boy ran back to his room like a scalded dog... From there, Genji, Amamiya and I drank and played cards until morning. I wasn't originally planning on doing that, things just kinda worked out."
In response, Tsukihiko turned away and muttered to himself.
"Because of that, I don't have an alibi for after 2:00 A.M. If I'd known this was going to happen, I never would have left this couch."
Kamo ignored him and asked another question.
"The three of you who stayed in the rec room were together the whole time, right?"
Soujirou gave a deliberately exaggerated nod.
"Yep. There's a bathroom in this room, so we never had to leave... Ah, I remember Amamiya went to the Ox Room to call Genji around 10:45, but he was back within five minutes."
"I see. Did anyone pass through the rec room after the billiards game?"
"Tonegawa came through around 5:00 A.M. and came back within 15 minutes. Then, around 6:45, Tsukihiko came from the hallway to invite Amamiya on their walk. Amamiya went back to his room to prepare, and five minutes later, Tsukihiko, Tsukie, and Amamiya went outside."
"Of the people you just mentioned, were any of them not empty handed?"
"Tsukihiko and co. were all empty handed, of course. Tonegawa had a broom and a dustpan, but nothing she could have kept a head or torso in."
Kamo hummed as he organized the information in his head.
"So to summarize... Kyuichi called Amamiya on the internal line around 9:20."
Everyone in the room nodded. Kamo continued, counting on his fingers as he went.
"The person with the strongest alibi is Soujirou. You have a perfect alibi from after dinner until 7:00 A.M. On the other hand, Tsukihiko has an alibi from after dinner until 2:00 A.M. It's been confirmed that you were empty handed when you went outside to discover the body... Tsukie went outside after dinner, but due to time constraints she couldn't have moved the bodies at that time. And just like Tsukihiko, she was empty handed when he found the body, so she couldn't have transported it then either."
Kamo paused for breath.
"Amamiya appears to have an almost perfect alibi from 9:30 P.M. onward. He was also empty handed from 7:20 to 8:30 P.M. and when he discovered the body... Genji has an alibi from the moment he entered the rec room at 11:00 P.M. He was outside from 8:00 to 9:00 P.M., but like Amamiya, he couldn't have carried the bodies. The same goes for Ms. Tonegawa, who was out for about 15 minutes starting at 5:00 A.M."
"So what is your conclusion, then?"
Taiga tossed the question out casually. Kamo shook his head and sighed.
"Except for Mr. Soujirou, who has a perfect alibi, any of them 'could' have done it in terms of time... However, as for whether they could have taken the body parts from the villa to the Netherwood, I have to say that it's impossible."
"Is that a confession that you're incompetent?"
Kamo turned to Tsukihiko, the owner of the voice, more than a little annoyed.
"What was that?"
The young man bowed his head, but it looked mocking. His voice was sharp.
"I'm sorry if I offended you. I just wondered what the point of calling yourself a detective was if you came to the same conclusion as us amateurs."
"Tsukihiko, don't be rude."
Even Taiga's sharp scolding couldn't make the young man panic. He merely sank deeper into the sofa.
"I'm only telling the truth."
The old man stared at his grandson. He bore no expression, but his eyes were the frigid glare of someone who had completely given up on another. It was very different from the way he looked at Ayaka or Genji.
Diary of Ryuuzen Ayaka
August 23rd, 1960
Another terrible thing happened.
Being alone is scary, but being with others is even scarier. I don't know who I can trust. I feel as though everyone around me looks suspicious.
This morning, Great-Uncle Soujirou didn't arrive for breakfast... He'd been killed in the Tiger Room. Both his arms were cut off. The bed was covered in blood, and blood splatters went all the way up to the ceiling■■■■■ (This section appears to have been deliberately stricken out with paint).
I couldn't possibly describe such a horrid scene.
When Grandfather finally fell asleep from stress and heartache, I realized how important he had been to keeping order in this turbulent time. Immediately, we all fell apart.
Tsukihiko accused Mr. Amamiya of being the culprit, simply because he wasn't a blood relative. Even Ms. Tonegawa and I were accused of being accomplices when we tried to defend him. He was so angry that I cried, but no matter who was accused, Tsukie acted as though she had no idea.
Ms. Tonegawa looked at Tsukihiko with terrifyingly cold eyes. I've never seen her make such a scary face before. Why does everyone have a side of themselves that they hide from me?
When I talked to Mr. Amamiya, I saw fear in his eyes. I think he suspected me of being the culprit. ...Everyone, what's wrong? But that's not it. I'm pretty sure even I've changed.
Uncle Genji worries about me. But when I see him looking the same as normal in spite of all the terrible things happening around us, I feel more scared than relieved.
Everyone in the villa looks suspicious.
Today once again, nothing happened during the day, and now night has fallen. Something will happen again today. Maybe I'll be next.
August 24th, 1960
Ms. Tonegawa was killed. Her throat was slit. There was nothing we could have done. Everything is pointless. The murderer is mocking us, I'm sure of it.
As usual, the days are perfectly uneventful. The silence is all-consuming.
Why am I writing this? I might not live to see tomorrow. Even if I do, I have no future. If I'm the last one left alive, will I have the courage to face the killer? (The remainder is illegible.)