Chapter Three - Part Two

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 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 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.

 

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