Chapter Three - Part One

“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.”

 

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