Chapter Seven - Part One

As he waited in the trailer for everyone to arrive, Kamo glanced down at the green wine bottle.

It was the same bottle he'd filled with tap water and brought with him last night.

He checked that the cork was firmly in, then threw it in the drawer of a wardrobe in the back of the trailer.

The rain had subsided a bit, but the sound of it tapping against the roof of the trailer was still quite annoying. He opened the pocket watch, which he was still borrowing, and checked the time. 7:45. It was awfully dark for that time of day in summer, but with the curtains open, they didn't need lights.

When he looked out the window, he saw Ayaka and the others coming through the broken front entrance. He noticed how tense Ayaka's face was as she held her umbrella, but it was still clear they were all safe, so he sighed with relief.

Kamo made sure the end of the pendant's chain was still in his breast pocket before going to open the trailer door.

After arranging the food and drinks they'd brought from the kitchen, all five of them sat down side by side, using the bed as a sofa.

“...I was talking to Mr. Amamiya in the storage room earlier.”

Ayaka starting talking as soon as she sat down, costing Kamo his chance to control the discussion.

“What did you talk about?” Genji asked calmly.

“I was explaining the constraints of time travel to Mr. Amamiya. As we were talking, I started thinking... and it all melted away.”

“When you say 'melted', do you mean ice or something like that?”

Kamo had been thinking of the refrigerator in the storeroom. However, Ayaka shook her head.

“No, it's not that. I've solved the mystery.”

Kamo, without exaggeration, felt like he'd been punched square in the head.

From the beginning, he'd been saying that as long as the Deadly Tragedy of Shino was solved, he didn't care by who. That hadn't changed even this late in. He'd even thought it wouldn't have been strange if someone within the Ryuuzen clan managed to discover the truth before an outsider like him... But he'd never expected that Ayaka would be the one to claim the role of detective.

Kamo looked at the others. Genji and Tsukie stared at Ayaka in naked shock. Amamiya was the only one to nod seriously at her words.

“She hasn't told me what she's deduced yet. But... there's no doubt in my mind that the Young Mistress has discovered something important.”

Genji looked at Ayaka in confusion.

“Ayaka, is that true? Do you know who committed this horrible crime?”

Hearing the question, she closed her eyes in pain, took a deep breath, then, steeling her resolve, opened her mouth.

“From the night of the 21st to this morning, four major incidents took place. The first was the murders of Father and Mr. Koki and the discovery of their body parts. The second was the disappearance of Grandfather. His charred corpse later appeared in the pizza oven.”

So was so excited she spoke too fast and ran out of breath, so Kamo tossed her a life preserver.

“The third was Ms. Tonegawa's poisoning, and the fourth was the murders of Soujirou and Tsukihiko, right?”

“And what makes the first an impossible crime is that Father's head and Mr. Koki's torso couldn't have been transported outside.”

Kamo nodded in acknowledgment.

“That night, Soujirou and several others stayed up all night in the rec room. Certainly, under the circumstances, there was no way to take any body parts out of the villa building.”

“If it was impossible, then we need to turn our thinking around. The murderer didn't take the body parts out of the building... they brought them into the building.”

Genji didn't seem to understand.

“So the crime scenes were outside, not inside?”

“If you think about it that way, everything about Father's murder can be explained.”

“But my brother was in the villa that night. I forget the exact time, but he called Amamiya on the internal line.”

Amamiya hadn't forgotten.

“It's as Mr. Genji said, I received a call around 9:20.”

“That call wasn't from Father.”

“Eh?”

“The murderer made it look like Father was inside the building. I believe the truth was this: Father had a meeting with the murderer outside the building. This was a deception to kill him. Father, not suspecting anything, went outside immediately after dinner.”

“Immediately after dinner” was before Soujirou and his son entered the recreation room. Therefore, it would have been possible for Kyuichi to go outside without Soujirou and the others seeing him, as long as he left right at 7:00 P.M. Up to this point, nothing contradicted what Kamo knew.

“Then, Kyuichi was killed at the meeting place?” Kamo whispered.

Ayaka looked up at him and nodded.

“And, horrifyingly, the killer cut off not only Father's head, but also his arms and legs.”

Amamiya blinked, confused.

“That's strange, though. Mr. Koki was the one who had his arms and legs cut off. He was the one who became the torso of the tanuki...”

“The Nue imitation was just a ruse.”

“A ruse?”

“A deception, a misdirection intended to lead you down a false path,” explained Genji.

Kamo smiled cynically and also chimed in.

“Humans are strange creatures. When we don't know something, we look for an answer, but as soon as we think we've found one, we become satisfied and stop investigating further... The culprit was probably trying to confuse the investigation by leading us to believe that the bodies were being mutilated purely for the symbolism of the Nue.”

At that, Tsukie, who had appeared deep in thought for a while now, spoke softly.

“In summary, you're saying that the head found in the Netherwood, the torso found near Kuzu River, and the arms and legs found in the public bath all belonged to Mr. Kyuichi?”

“Yes, what we thought was Mr. Koki's torso was actually Father's.”

“That still doesn't explain it. We don't know how the culprit got the arms and legs into the building.”

“There's no need to use the front door if it's just the arms and legs. I didn't see them myself, but Father's arms were severed between the elbows and shoulders, and the legs below the knees, right? In that case, I think they could have been fit through the lattices of the bath windows.”

Even after hearing that, Tsukie still looked skeptical. Kamo, however, knew that her guess was dead on.

Ayaka continued.

“The bars of the bath windows have spacing of about 12 centimeters. ...The murderer wrapped Father's arms and legs in waterproof cloth, carried them to the basement garden, and slipped them into the bath through the window. That is my answer.”

Kamo looked down at his arms and legs as though his gaze were being controlled.

He stood nearly 180 cm tall, but he thought he could probably fit his arms or legs through a gap of 12 cm. If he had the arms and legs of Kyuichi, who was shorter and skinnier than him, it would be even easier.

“Come to think of it, Amamiya said this earlier, right? Kyuichi and Koki were both about 167 cm tall.”

As he said this, Kamo also remembered that Ayaka had written in her diary that Kyuichi and Koki looked similar in appearance. Genji nodded slightly.

“Yes... if they were mutilated that brutally, nobody would notice if their body parts were switched.”

Kyuichi and Koki had their heads placed in areas where they wouldn't get wet, but the rest of their bodies were immersed in water: by the riverbank, in the bath, in the bathtub in the room... That was probably a purposeful decision by the murderer. By water-logging the skin in areas other than the head, it would be harder to notice the replacements.

Ayaka continued calmly.

“I think the shampoo was applied to the headless body in Father's room... to eliminate the smell of Mr. Koki's cigarettes. They were using it as the body of Father, who doesn't smoke. Because of that, they had no choice but to replace the smell with something else.”

Her explanation was flawless. Kamo couldn't do anything but kick himself for not realizing. Eventually, Amamiya asked something.

“What exactly happened last night?”

Ayaka took a deep breath.

“First of all, I think the murderer slipped some of us sleeping drugs. Ms. Tsukie also said she felt extremely sleepy that night, right? There were also a few people not here now who mentioned feeling extremely sleepy and going to bed early: Grandfather, and Ms. Tonegawa.”

Genji touched his fingertips to his chin in thought.

“It seems like everyone was feeling sleepy except the four people in the recreation room and the victims, right?”

“The murderer was told by D. Cassiopeia who would be spending the night in the recreation room with Great-Uncle Soujirou. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of the crime being witnessed, they used sleeping pills... After making their preparations, the murderer summoned Father to the outside of the villa and murdered him.”

Kamo's facial muscles tensed as he imagined the situation.

In the light of the lantern, he pictured the murderer brandishing their axe and committing a brutal crime... They must have taken precautions to avoid being splattered with blood, such as preparing rain gear. Even if they got blood on their hands, the Kuzu River was right there. They could have washed them off before returning to the villa.

“The murderer placed Father's severed head next to the path. I think they did so in hopes that Tsukihiko and the others would find it the following morning. Then, they abandoned the torso near Kuzu River. They took off Father's clothes to obfuscate his identity, and...”

As the final step, the culprit had probably tossed their rain coat and Kyuichi's clothes in the Kuzu River. Kamo shuddered as he imagined the scene.

Ayaka's expression looked even more pained as she continued her explanation.

“Then, the murderer wrapped Father's arms and legs in waterproof cloth and went down to the underground garden. If they'd prepared in advance by opening the bath's windows, they could have placed the package inside the bath at that time.”

Kamo had heard from Amamiya and Genji: not many people used the bath, and Koki in particular was the only one who used it in summer, especially after dinner. The murderer would have been in no hurry as they put the limbs into the bath. As long as they killed Koki, they could work at their leisure, without risk that anyone else would enter the bath and see them.

Ayaka continued in a low voice.

“Afterwards, the murderer returned to the villa and murdered Mr. Koki. I believe that the crime scene wasn't the bath, but the Monkey Room.”

“Why do you think the crime scene was Mr. Kyuichi's room and not the Dog Room?”

Tsukie had asked. It was a pertinent question. For the first time, Ayaka looked confident in her answer.

“I still don't know how, but I think the culprit lured Mr. Koki to the Monkey Room. They should have been able to steal the key.”

Amamiya looked up at her in surprise.

“The murderer used that key to enter the Monkey Room and strangled Mr. Koki to death in the bathroom, right? Then they stole the key to the Dog Room from Mr. Koki's body and changed him into Mr. Kyuichi's clothes.”

“Yes. Father had a habit of always wearing clothes that looked the same, so even if the culprit changed him into a different set of clothes than the ones he'd been wearing at dinner, nobody would notice. After changing his clothes... the culprit decapitated Mr. Koki, and poured shampoo on his body to mask the smell of cigarettes so everyone would think it was Father's body.”

Did the murderer have another set of rain gear prepared to avoid the blood this time as well? Or did they take a shower with the corpse to wash off the blood before leaving the Monkey Room? Both options made Kamo nauseous.

“And then the murderer wrapped Koki's head in something and brought it to the bath, right?” asked Genji.

Ayaka nodded sadly.

“I think they took Mr. Koki's clothes with them to the changing room of the bath... They had already put Father's arms and legs through the lattice. By placing Mr. Koki's head and the key to the Dog Room together with the severed limbs, they created the illusion that only Mr. Koki's torso was missing.”

That also explained why the cross sections of Kyuichi and Koki's necks had been destroyed.

There was simply no way the cut on Kyuichi's head would match the one on Koki's body, or vice versa. The culprit must have completely destroyed the area to ensure nobody could see that they were the wrong bodies.

As Kamo pondered the issue, Tsukie suddenly gave a small cry.

“Wait! Isn't there a limited number of people who could have done what you just described?”

Ayaka's face stiffened and turned pale.

“That's right. Because if the murderer was working alone, then the only people who could have committed this crime... are those who left and reentered the building that night.”

The trailer was silent save for the rain pelting the ceiling. Eventually, Genji spoke up, unable to hide his confusion.

“But there are only four people who meet that condition.”

“Tsukie, who smoked a cigarette outside, Amamiya, who went out to the wood chopping shed, Genji, who took a walk in the garden, and Tonegawa, who went out to clean early in the morning... those four.”

Ayaka nodded at Kamo's explanation.

“First off, it's obvious that Ms. Tonegawa isn't the murderer. After all, she was outside for less than 15 minutes.”

“That's true. There's no way it would be possible to kill Kyuichi and dismember his body in such a short time. Considering they'd also have to take care of the blood... the crime would probably have taken at least 30 minutes.”

As he said that, Kamo looked around at the remaining three suspects.

They were all looking back at Ayaka with pale faces.

“So the culprit is one of us?” asked Amamiya.

In response, Ayaka just lowered her eyes.

“I'd like to confirm just one more time... When did you start chopping wood, Mr. Amamiya? What time did you meet up with Great-Uncle Soujirou in the recreation room?”

He was at a loss for words for a moment, but Amamiya sucked in a breath and answered.

“I went out at 7:20 and stayed outside until almost 8:30. Then I immediately went back to my room until I returned to the recreation room around 9:30.”

“You were outside for an hour, and after you returned, you didn't have any alibi for another hour. It's unfortunate, but if you had that much time, it's possible you could have carried out the crime.”

Hearing Ayaka's conclusion, Genji smiled bitterly.

“Guess I'm in the same boat. I went out before 8:00 and wandered around in the garden until a little before 9:00. Even after I returned to the building, Amamiya didn't come to my room until 10:00, and I didn't actually get an alibi until 10:15.”

“Yes, Uncle, you were outside for an hour, and didn't get an alibi for your actions inside for almost another hour and a half.”

Tsukie seemed to give up and took a breath.

“I left before 7:00 and came back at 7:40. If we follow that same logic, I was out for about 35 minutes, and I don't have an alibi for any time after I returned to the villa.”

She was out for a shorter period of time than the others, but it wasn't short enough to declare that she wasn't a suspect. Ayaka closed her eyes and continued her explanation.

“Finally, the murderer took one last step. They made a call on the extension line to make it seem like Father was still inside.”

Kamo nodded.

“That call was made around 9:20 P.M., so all three of them were in their own rooms at the time, right?”

“Yes, so any of them could have faked it... Mr. Amamiya's story about receiving a call from Father may have been a lie, or Uncle or Ms. Tsukie could have made the call from their own rooms and imitated Father's voice.”

Her words held no mercy. Amamiya's eyes overflowed with despair, and he immediately began to protest that he wasn't lying, and Tsukie insisted again and again that there was no way she could have imitated Kyuichi's voice. Only Genji sat silently gazing down at the bed.

However, Ayaka showed no signs of letting up on any of them. She lifted her head and fired her next salvo.

“The culprit's identity will become obvious after we solve the second incident, when Grandfather disappeared and his burnt body reappeared, and the fourth incident when Great-Uncle and Tsukihiko lost their lives.”

Tsukie and Amamiya, who had been arguing their innocence, fell silent as though the thought terrified them.

Ayaka hadn't mentioned the third incident.

Even Kamo knew why... That incident wasn't an impossible crime. Anyone could have poisoned Tonegawa. As a result, it would be difficult to pinpoint the murderer.

If they knew who the culprit was, they could work backwards to determine when they mixed the poison into the medicine, but for the time being, they could only follow Ayaka's lead and speculate about the second and fourth cases.

Ayaka looked to Genji, Amamiya, then Tsukie, then opened her mouth.

“Unfortunately, the remaining two cases are still impossible no matter how you look at them... unless the culprit used D. Cassiopeia to commit the crimes.”

Genji's eyes went wide. It seemed he understood her meaning.

“You aren't saying that time travel was used in the crimes?”

Before she could answer, Amamiya was already arguing the case.

“That's weird, though. At the very least, time travel couldn't have been used in the second incident. Didn't we already agree that the four constraints of time travel proved that?”

Kamo agreed with Amamiya's assessment.

If they'd tried to time travel from somewhere indoors, the area of a three meter cube would go with them, and there was no way they could avoid taking a section of either the floor or the ceiling with them. On the other hand, if they tried to go to the inside of a building, the error in the point of arrival would cause problems.

Tsukie also raised her eyebrows and joined Amamiya in a rebuttal.

“It's the same for the fourth case. Even if we assume the murderer was one of us, saying they time traveled doesn't solve anything.”

Genji drummed his fingers on the bed for a moment before nodding.

“Tsukie's right... They had to break down the door to get inside, then killed two people and cut off Soujirou's arms. It would have taken at least an hour.”

“Yes, probably about that long.”

Ayaka accepted it without the slightest fear. Genji kept going with equal calm.

“However, in order to get the time needed to commit the crime, there's no point in time traveling to the future. If the murderer time traveled two hours into the future... they'd pass it in a second, but the rest of us would still be there for two hours. They'd just lose those two hours.”

“That's right. If they wanted to get time to commit the crime, they'd have to go back to the past. But we can't time travel to the recent past... right?”

It was Amamiya who asked, lacking confidence.

But it was as he said... As Hora had explained, traveling to the recent past caused two of the same person to exist at the same time, creating a time paradox.

However, Ayaka simply gave a gentle shake of her head.

“No, it was possible to use time travel to buy time... because the one who traveled through time wasn't the murderer. It was us.”

 

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