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umiscripts2012-01-29 10:39 pm
endlesswitch) wrote in umiscripts2012-01-29 10:39 pm
legend of the golden witch; chapter 14 (boiler room)
Sun, Oct 5 1986 -------
"......At any rate, we'll lock this room and leave everything as it is until the police come. ......Any problems?"
Natsuhi proclaimed it as though she didn't care whether we agreed or not.
...If anyone had a right to object, it would have been George, ...but he looked as though he had shed enough tears.
George nodded slightly, still facing away from us, and when he stood up, everyone else agreed too.
The letter in the head's western-style envelope that Natsuhi had picked up still hadn't been opened.
...But now that we had decided to leave this room, she had decided to unseal it in the parlor, where everyone could watch.
As soon as we walked out into the hallway to head back to the parlor, .........some of us immediately felt something out of place, ...or maybe sensed something strange.
"............Uu-. ......Stinks?"
"Ah, ...did you notice it too, Maria? ...What is this stench, ...it smells awful..."
When everyone sniffed the air, ...they did notice a horrible burnt smell drifting through the hallway, one that none of us had smelled until then.
"......I will go quickly to check the kitchen... I'm sure I turned the flame off......"
After noticing a burnt smell, it was natural that Kumasawa, who had just been using the fire in the kitchen, suspected that her own clumsiness had caused it. Kumasawa hastily dashed away.
"......Kanon, go with Kumasawa. Do not let her be alone."
"Y, yes...!"
After nodding at Genji's order, Kanon followed after her.
...He wasn't running, but as he followed her, he tried to search for the cause of the smell in other directions as well.
"...Uu-. Stinks. ......Uuu--."
"It truly is......a stench that makes the nose wrinkle. ...However, that doesn't mean we can just open a window for ventilation..."
Natsuhi was reluctant to open the windows in a situation where self-defense was so important.
"......Let us run the fan. I do not believe there will be any need to open the windows."
"...George-aniki. ......Is it okay if I talk to you?"
"......If it's about finding the culprit, then I have no problems."
It seemed that George still hadn't climbed out of the abyss of his sorrow.
...All that filled his chest now was the quiet flame of hatred towards the culprit who had stolen the lives of his beloved parents.
"...The chain for this room was set. ...From what I could tell by looking at it, I'm positive that it couldn't be opened from the outside. ......In other words, this was a perfect closed room."
".........That makes sense. In the case of the rose garden storehouse, they might have sneaked the shutter's key out of the servants' room, or maybe they had a duplicate key. ...I can imagine many ways they could've done it. .........But this chain is different. Among generally used locking techniques, a chain is the simplest one to create a closed room with."
"Only a chain will block everyone coming from the outside as long as it isn't physically broken. So does this mean that the culprit couldn't have gone in or out through the door...?"
"......That's interesting. Just a few hours ago, I seem to remember everyone making a fuss over how to enter a room without using the door."
Back then, everyone had been making a fuss over how Grandfather had disappeared from his room.
Because of the receipt that Eva oba-san had stuck in the door on a whim, it was revealed that the door had remained sealed, and since Natsuhi oba-san had been the only person to enter or exit during that time, she had been under suspicion.
Eva oba-san had proposed a theory about how Natsuhi oba-san might have thrown Grandfather out the window, and left by the door herself.
But this door is much simpler.
It was sealed from the inside by the door chain.
The window had also been closed from the inside, and the bodies had been in the room.
......This time it really had been, without exaggeration, a true closed room.
...That's right. If you include Grandfather's disappearance, three cases have occurred, and all three times, the door has been the point of interest.
The first was the shutter.
There was a key in the servants' room, and if we assume someone knew about that, this can't really be called a closed room.
The next was the door sealed by the receipt.
However, since Natsuhi oba-san had entered the room, then if Grandfather had left through the window or been thrown out, she would have been able to lock the window before escaping.
Or, like my theory, he could have hidden until the receipt was gone, and left the room later. ......Basically, this door can be defeated with a handful of desperate tricks.
In that sense, you really can't call this one a closed room either.
And now, we have the door sealed with the door chain.
...Finally, we have to give up.
The window, the door...everything had been locked. It was a perfect closed room.
The first hadn't been a closed room because everyone could be suspected.
...The second hadn't been a closed room because Natsuhi oba-san could be suspected.
...But this time, no one can be suspected!
This room was a perfect closed room because everyone had been sealed outside just as completely as everyone else because of the door chain...!
"......In that case, did the culprit carry out the crime without entering the room...? Some method from outside the room...?"
"Well...because of the chain, even though it can't be opened wide enough for a person to fit through, you can open it a small crack. Did the culprit knock on the door to make them peer out before attacking them...? Wait, ...is that naive...?"
"Yeah, it is. .........If Eva oba-san's body had been lying right next to the door, then it might have been possible. But she was on the bed in the center of the room! And Hideyoshi oji-san was even in the bathroom. Looking from the crack in the door, you couldn't even see them, and you couldn't reach them with your hands either. ......Damn it, it's all useless. I don't have a clue!!"
......Something was tugging softly at my sleeve. ...It was Maria.
"............Uu-. Satisfied?"
"What do you mean 'satisfied'?"
".........Kihihihihihihihihihihihihi. ...Battler, since you didn't want to doubt any of your relatives...you made a wish, saying that you wanted the culprit to be Beatrice, right?
Well, Beatrice granted that wish. ...Just as you said, she 'did something that was completely impossible for a human to make you believe in the witch'. ............And even so, you're so selfish. Kihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi. O-uch."I tapped Maria, who was laughing unpleasantly, on the head with my fist.
"Sure, thanks for granting it. In return, let me teach you about not laughing at times like this. More importantly, tell me. There was another mysterious scribble on the door to Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's room. Was that another magic circle?!"
"......Kihihihihihihihi. That one had a really memorable and characteristic design, so I'd hoped you'd at least know what it was. O-uch."
"I don't know, so I'll give you all the credit. Quit whining and explain."
".........You sure are violent, Battler. I won't tell you if you're too mean, get it......? O-uch! Uu-......, I'll say it, I'll say it, stop hitting me. .........That's the first magic circle of the moon."
"What does it mean? What is this magic circle's benefit?! What does the Hebrew writing mean?!"
"The words are from the Old Testament, Psalms 107 verse 16. ......'For he has broken gates of brass and cuts through bars of iron'. ......This magic circle has two effects. First, it can open a door regardless of which method has been used to lock it."
"That sure is convenient magic. ...So you're saying that they're trying to make it look like they're a witch because this closed room has a door that can't be opened without relying on magic...?! And the other effect?!"
"When you are blocked in every direction, it finds an unopened door and opens it. ......By using it in a difficult situation, it gives you a solution you hadn't even thought of until then. To put it simply, you receive the power of observation and the power of discernment, inspiration and intuition. ............Kihihihihihihihihihi. Beatrice is trying to provoke you lowly humans, since she thinks there's no way you could figure out how this door was opened. Kihhihihihihihihihihihihihihihi, O-uch."
"Alright, good work, so shut up. ......Sounds great, I'll accept this challenge from the witch!"
"......Maria-chan. ...Things like witches and demons don't exist in this world. ...Someone killed Father and Mother! I don't know whether that was someone I know or not. But either way, it was definitely a human...!!"
".........Yeah, but......how? How did they reach them through that crack in the door? It couldn't have been more than ten centimeters wide...!"
"At any rate, I can hardly stand this stench. ......What in the world could it be...?!"
Before they even reached the kitchen, Kanon and Kumasawa, who had gone ahead, realized that the smell wasn't coming from there.
That was because, on their way to the kitchen, they realized that an even thicker wave of stench was rising up from the stairs leading to the basement.
".........The boiler room..."
"......I wonder if there's something wrong with the boiler again..."
Those stairs led to the underground boiler room.
The mansion's boiler was old, and in poor condition.
Both of them had witnessed problems with the boiler on several occasions, but they had never smelled the boiler belching out a stench like this before.
*slam*.
"Wh, what was that sound......?!"
The sound that they had heard from the basement had definitely been the sound of a door closing.
......Kumasawa tried to speak, as though asking a question, but she had already realized that the sound couldn't have been anything else.
Kumasawa was so surprised at that sound that her knees gave way yet again and she cowered...
......Because, at that very moment,・・・・・・・・・
no one could have been in the boiler room・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・.
Just a few seconds ago, everyone had been crowded together around Eva and Hideyoshi's room! So who caused the sound of a door closing just now?!
"........................!"
"Kanon-san...!!"
After taking a second to sort out the situation, Kanon ran down towards the basement...!
Since they had heard the sound of a door closing just now, and there was no trace of someone climbing the stairs, it meant that the person who had closed the door was now inside the boiler room.
If the boiler room had been a dead end, Kanon wouldn't have rushed in so hastily.
...But Kanon was a servant, so he knew.
There were two entrances, one that opened to the mansion and one that opened to the courtyard.
If he didn't chase them now, they might slip away...!
Kumasawa reached the same conclusion long after Kanon did.
...But she couldn't let him go alone...!
If the thing in the boiler room was the culprit, ...an opponent who had easily killed six adults in the first murder, then no matter how Kanon confronted them, he wouldn't be a match.
...Of course, with this argument, even if Kumasawa joined him, it wouldn't change anything...
At any rate, after a delay, Kumasawa decided that she mustn't let Kanon go alone, and she dashed down the stairs...!!
At that time, Kanon was already in the boiler room.
The boiler room's characteristic damp heat tormented him.
...It had always been an unpleasantly smelly and hot place.
And on top of that, the room was full of that horrible stench...which made Kanon feel like he was going to be sick.
......There was no doubt that this room was the origin.
In that case, Kanon should have been searching for where the smell was coming from.
However, Kanon kept gazing straight forward as he grabbed a hatchet from a tool shelf just off to the side of the door.
......He hadn't stretched out his hand because he'd wanted a hatchet.
...He had wanted to grab a weapon, any weapon. ......Why?
".............................."
Kanon gazed into the darkness where the naked light bulb couldn't pierce.
......Then, he answered・・・・.
"..................In roulette, you bet on a number or the colors red or black, vying for a payoff. However, low risk bets like black and red only offer a similarly low payoff."
The words coming from Kanon's mouth...were swallowed up by the darkness.
That darkness suddenly started to swirl, glittering...
It was, ......a very fantastical scene...
Golden sparkling butterflies that hid in the shadows all over the boiler room...flapped their wings, twinkling beautifully, ...and gathered in the darkness, disappearing...
Kanon continued speaking, directing his words at the darkness as it swallowed the butterflies up.
......But as the butterflies gathered in the darkness, they.........perhaps...probably...no, they must have......laughed.
...But Kanon continued to speak without faltering in the slightest.
"...On the other hand, if you bet on something of a lower probability, you receive a payoff proportional to the risk. ............The Master called succeeding despite an astronomical risk a 'miracle', and called the astronomical payoff gained as a result 'magic'.
............I have no interest what kind of 'magic' you and the Master were seeking when you spun that roulette...... But you forgot something. ......You forgot that roulette has a pocket that is neither black nor red."
Roulette has a special pocket called '0', which means that the house takes everything in certain variants of the game. This means that all of the coins bet on the table will be swept up, just as though everyone has forfeit...
".........I set my heart on one thing. ...I decided that if, .........Shannon were to be killed, and I was left alive, .........I would bring this roulette of yours to ruin even at the cost of my life...!"
"............This isn't one of the Master's rules, ...and it certainly isn't one of yours. .........I made this rule myself. .........I'm not furniture anymore. .........I'm the zero on your roulette...!"
...Kanon's face was twisted with humiliation.
.........It was clear that his self-restraint was being ridiculed somehow.
Kanon's brow creased even further, ...and a furious expression that Kanon had never shown anyone appeared on his face.
......The hand grasping the hatchet was shaking. ...His sweat became drops which slid down...
It was clear that the emotion causing Kanon's hand to shake was not anger alone.
...However, Kanon suppressed that emotion...
"I won't let your words lead me astray again. .........This is the end of the roulette of demons. ...W, ......wait another thousand years in hell for your next summoner, Beatriiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!"
When Kanon swung the hatchet upwards and tried to dive into the darkness, the darkness definitely sneered.
It sneered at that courage as vulgar, lazy, futile, and meaningless.
......Kanon, his hatchet still held aloft, .........couldn't take another step after that...
With a *clang*, the hatchet that Kanon had been grasping fell and rolled on the floor...
And following that, with a pair of thuds, Kanon's knees hit, ...left, then right...
That hand, which looked like it was trying to catch the sky now that the hatchet had been dropped, gradually lowered, ......landing on his chest. Then, the other hand did the same.
......Right there, a handle with a demon-shaped design was buried into his chest.
The same type of weapon that had been stabbed into Eva and Hideyoshi's foreheads...was in Kanon's chest......
"...............u.....................ghh, ............"Kanon was curled up in anguish, fresh blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth...
...It was...makeup over Kanon's white skin...
Around this scene, the glittering gold butterflies danced through the darkness, mesmerizing...
It was a beautiful, beautiful dance...a funeral march of tribute, ridicule, and contempt for single boy's self-sacrifice.
...Kanon had already been prepared for his own death, ......but although he could do nothing but accept the death he had received, he attempted one last measure of resistance.
...He grasped the handle of the weapon sticking into his chest with both hands, ............and gritting his teeth with an acute, unearthly pain............, ........................he pulled it out.
For only a moment, a bright-red spray gushed out.
......It made an unpleasant *bloop* sound.
It probably resembled the sound of Kanon's soul as it was sucked into the swamp of the dead...
"............Kanon-san?! Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!! S, someoooooooone!! Eeeeeeeeekkk!"
Kumasawa screamed at the incomprehensible sight in front of her.
Kanon was lying in a pool of blood...
...Kumasawa's heart was a complete mess.
Aah, what a horrible fate!
He wouldn't have been killed if I had been with him!
Aah, what incredible luck!
If I had been with him, I might have been killed too!!
As she screamed, her expression was filled with complete confusion, and all of the muscles of her face were pulled up, almost as though she was smiling while crying... No one own would ridicule an expression such as this...!!
"What is it, Kumasawa?!! Answer me, Kumasawa!!!"
The first one to dash in was Natsuhi, holding the rifle.
Battler and Genji dashed in after her.
Normally, they probably would've started discussing the origin of that violent stench filling the boiler room.
......But after they saw Kanon, who was lying on the ground as if he were drowning in an ocean of his own blood, the stench wasn't important any more.
"Kanon! Answer me!! ......Genji, bring Doctor Nanjo here!!"
Natsuhi realized that even though Kanon was on the verge of death, he was still conscious, so she sent Genji to get the doctor.
...Natsuhi, holding the rifle aloft, faced the darkness in the center of the boiler room and shouted!
"......Who is hiding over there?!!! Come out quietly!! If you don't come out from there, I'll shoot without mercy!!"
"A flashlight! Oba-san, let's light them up!!"
Battler, thinking quickly, took a large flashlight from the tool shelf alongside the door and used its light to cut through the darkness Natsuhi was glaring into.
But the light only shone on mechanical-looking piping and a door.
The door had been left open a small crack, and it was obvious that someone had left through there in a hurry.
"......Natsuhi oba-san, where does that door go?!"
"G, Genji...! Where does that door lead to?!"
"...The, the courtyard...!"
"L, like hell I'd let you get away, you damn bastaaaaaaaard!!!"
Battler let out a war cry as he slammed into the door.
Cool air from outside suddenly rushed in.
...There were some thin, rough stairs leading up.
...Battler ran up them, shouting!
"Wait, Battler-kun!! It's dangerous to be alone!!"
Natsuhi was also rushing up the stairs, chasing after Battler.
They were in the courtyard.
...The courtyard of the mansion had been built strictly for lighting purposes, so it wasn't a very elegant place.
Because it was surrounded on all sides, the air was calm and completely undisturbed, even though they could hear the sound of strong winds.
There was only the gentle, sorrowful rain...
As he ran through the cold and scattered raindrops, dashing up the stairs into the courtyard, Battler looked in every direction.
......Of course, the odds of him finding a suspicious silhouette just standing around nonchalantly were pretty much zero...
Battler turned around, looking in all directions. He turned again and again. He kept spinning until he almost lost his sense of direction. He prayed that he would see the culprit somewhere in this scenery...!
But there was no chance.
All he saw as he spun was more and more of the mansion's heartless walls and windows...!
Furthermore, there were two entrances into the mansion from the courtyard, and neither of them were locked.
Because the courtyard couldn't be entered from outside the mansion, the doors had been built without locks.
......He didn't know which one they had left through! He had to give up.
Battler pounded the wall with his fist, swearing...
"......Battler-kun!! You mustn't run ahead by yourself!! ..............................Battler-kun......?"
Battler put his head against the wall, and scratched at it with his fingernails as he cried......
".........Damn it, ......damn it, damn it!! Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san! And now Kanon-kun!!! You killed a full six people!! And that wasn't enough, so you had to kill three more!! Are you kidding me, are you fucking kidding meeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san were always kind and fun as an aunt and uncle...!! I just met Kanon yesterday, but I'm sure I'd have gotten along fine with him! Why did you kill them?!! Why, why...?!!! You know, when people die, they don't come back to life again, right?! They aren't gonna quickly sprout up again like bamboo shoots, you see?!
.........Why did you kill them?! Why..., why...?!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...!!"
...Battler was a boy who could understand the feelings of pain and regret in a person's heart. ...So he cried. With all his strength.
Natsuhi, who had always thought of Battler as a frank person, was a little surprised to find that he had this delicate side, ...and at the same time, understood how easily hurt the heart of a young person could be, so she held him.
"..................It's alright. ...I will definitely protect you, George-kun, Maria-chan, and Jessica. .........As a mother, ...and as the representative of the Ushiromiya family...!"
"......WhaaaaAAAAaaaAAAAA!! AaaaaaAAAAAAAAhhh!!"
Battler, after sobbing into Natsuhi's chest for a while, wiped his tears with a bitter smile, as though he had been like that the whole time, and tried to appear as though he had cried more than enough already...
"Anyways, let's go back down for now. ......Protecting ourselves is a higher priority than finding the culprit. Tomorrow, the boat will arrive. After that happens, the police will come, and everything should be brought to light. .........There's no way the culprit can escape this island, no matter how much they struggle...!!"
"......That's right. ...When the police come..."
When the seagulls cry, the crime will be solved.
But, ...for some reason, Battler felt a slight sense of uneasiness...as if the seagulls would never cry again.
......That couldn't be true.
When the typhoon passes, the lively seagulls should return to the harbor again......
I returned to the boiler room along with Natsuhi oba-san and told everyone weakly that we hadn't found anything.
Doctor Nanjo and George-aniki carried Kanon-kun to the servants' room.
The servants' room had a first aid kit and a sink, and could apparently function as a nurse's office.
Kumasawa-san and Jessica accompanied them.
...Stains from Kanon-kun's blood remained on the floor.
Judging by the large amount of blood lost and the ruthless shape of the weapon that had fallen carelessly to the ground, ......I figured that Doctor Nanjo's treatment would probably end in vain...
That weapon was doubtlessly the same type that had been stuck in Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's foreheads.
......But wait, isn't the demononic design on the handle a little different...?
There seemed to be some small differences in that part.
Still, as far as their overall shape was concerned, the weapons were all of the same type.
In Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's case, it had been a little brutal, but since we had wanted to preserve the crime scene, we had left the weapons sticking into them.
Though it had seemed brutal, we'd left the weapons that had been stuck into Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san to preserve the crime scene.
...So this was the first time we were able to have a perfect view of the entire weapon.
As we had expected, the weapon was not bladed like a knife, but shaped like an icepick, ...or rather, a thin stake.
And also, ...it had a spiral-shaped pattern that might have been like a drill.
...It looked like something that might be driven into the hearts of human sacrifices in some demonic ritual...
Including the handle, it was 25 centimeters long. Half of that was the stake shaped part, which was stained with deep red blood.
......The length of the blood-stained part made it clear just how deeply it must have penetrated into Kanon-kun's chest...
But Natsuhi oba-san and the rest didn't even look at the weapon, and instead stood in front of the incinerator, where the horrible stench was emanating from.
They had probably pulled out 'that', which had been burnt up in the furnace.
...'It' was still smoking, and kept sending out dense waves of that awfully unpleasant smell...
Genji-san and Maria stared down at it.
Natsuhi oba-san probably couldn't stand to look directly at it. ...She kept shaking her head, her back to it.
".....................Uu-...!"
...I'd thought that after everything that had happened, nothing could surprise me anymore, but, ......this was, ......, gghh...!
I stood there for a while, moaning, with a rising urge to vomit...
.........The true form of that unearthly stench, .........which came from the burnt insides of the incinerator, was the smell of a charred corpse......
The clothes, the surface of the body, and the hair were all hideously burned. That grotesque corpse was in a state where not the face, nor the age, nor even the gender could be even guessed at...
But when I thought about it calmly, I realized that a corpse appearing at this time could only be one person.
.........It was Grandfather, who had disappeared that morning, and whose whereabouts had been unknown.
".........I believe, ...it is most likely the Master."
"............I, ...agree. .............That he would pass away in such a state...............It's heartrending..."
"...But, ...is there any proof that this corpse really is Grandfather...? It's burnt so black, you can't even tell what sex it is..."
"Battler-kun, ...look at the feet."
Natsuhi oba-san, with her handkerchief over her mouth and her eyes averted, pointed and told me to look at the burnt corpse's feet.
..................?
"......Notice how there are six toes on each foot."
"Huh? ...............Ah, ......you're right........."
Just as Genji-san had said, there were six toes on each foot.
Each of the toes had been arranged so normally that I hadn't noticed...
"......Since the Master was born, both of his feet have had six toes. ...Consequently, the Master was entrusted with the revival of the Ushiromiya family."
"I have heard that since long ago, cases of polydactyly were common in the Ushiromiya family. ...It's probably hereditary."
Polydactyly literally means 'many fingers'.
Because of a little mistake by god when the person is born, one of their toes or fingers splits into two, and the total number increases.
But a big deal isn't usually made of polydactyly in the world at large.
That's because it isn't a disease, just something people are born with.
So while they are still babies, at about the time they turn one year old, they can be taken to the hospital and given surgery to make them normal.
Even a child with polydactyly can be treated before they become aware, so they might not even remember it themselves.
By the way, it seems that there is a possibility for this to occur in one out of every two thousand babies, so even though it's not usually seen, it isn't that rare at all.
Speaking of which, I think Hideyoshi oji-san mention something to me long ago. ...Something about how even Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man who unified Japan at the end of the Sengoku period, had possessed six fingers on one hand...
According to Natsuhi oba-san, among the many Ushiromiya family heads, the ones praised most for their wisdom had all possessed polydactyly.
......Because of that, when Grandfather was born, his relatives were all excited at the thought that he might become another wise leader. And, when the leading relatives all died in the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was apparently argued Grandfather should be the one to restore the family because of the auspicious sign of his birth.
If Grandfather hadn't disliked his position as the head overly much, this sixth toe must have been pretty lucky for him.
......Come to think of it, I think I've heard about some country where it's believed that people with polydactyly should be treated as gods and revered...
This is beside the point, but it's fairly common in mystery novels for a corpse to be burned to hide whose body it is.
......But I guess that in Grandfather's case, just being toasted wouldn't be enough to hide the proof of his identity...
And, ......Grandfather's body was not simply burnt.
......Just like Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san, ...one of those things that had been stuck in Kanon's chest, one of those 'demon's icepicks', ...was stuck into his forehead......!
"............The 'ring of the head' is not on his finger."
"...So everything is as the letter last night said. ..................Father, ......would probably be horribly disappointed......"
Natsuhi-san let her head droop and closed her eyes tightly...
......This room had also become a vital crime scene for us to hand over to the police.
......It was decided that we would leave Grandfather's corpse here and lock the room, sealing it.
It isn't clear when Grandfather's corpse started burning in the incinerator.
Since, according to Genji, the strength of the flames hadn't been that strong, the body must have started burning a long time ago, so that stench could slowly creep out of the furnace and fill the room bit by bit, eventually pouring out and climbing up the staircase.
......Putting aside whether he was rare or well-done, Grandfather had been brought out, killed, and burned...even though he had started out locked away in the closed room created by his auto-lock. ...There's probably no doubting this...
However, according to Genji-san, the boiler room is usually locked.
......The possibility that someone outside our group had snuck in and committed the crime was overwhelmingly high, and there was also a good chance that this person was walking around with something like a master key.
...After all, the doors and windows throughout the mansion had been checked.
But despite that, the culprit was able to strut around the mansion freely.
After this latest crime, can we be sure that a 19th person exists?
They haven't shown themselves once, and yet someone's trying to tout their existence.
Along with Kyrie-san's chessboard theory, I've been using this contradiction to deny the existence of a 19th person.
...By flipping the chessboard over once more, the very fact that this crime makes it perfectly obvious that a 19th person exists...means that the existence of the 19th person is even less possible. As long as that 19th person doesn't show themselves in front of us...!
......If the culprit could get Grandfather out through the door sealed by the receipt, if they could kill Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san from the other side of a door sealed by a chain, ......then is it possible for them to even create a fictional 19th person through strange tricks and devices...?!?!
If we still want to believe that the culprit is among us, ......then the list of suspects is very short.
The four of us kids, Natsuhi oba-san, Genji-san, Kumasawa baa-chan, and Doctor Nanjo. ...One of these people has to be the culprit!
Wait, we can't be sure of that.
......Just a second ago, we started doubting whether the corpse here was actually Grandfather's, right?
Maybe we can think of the other bodies in the same way.
For example, the first six all had their faces horribly smashed.
......Some of the bodies had kept enough of their faces for us to confirm who they were, but that old bastard, for example...had lost his entire face, as though it had been peeled off...
We had only figured out which body was which by their clothes and surroundings...
Had the culprit prepared a fake body beforehand and disguised it to make it look like they'd died...when they'd actually hid somewhere after committing the crime...?
...It sounds ridiculous, but that doesn't mean it's an impossible trick.
......It's too early to give in to this 19th person, ......no, this witch......!
"Maria-chan, you mustn't stare so fixedly anymore. Come on, Battler-kun too. I am worried about Kanon's condition, and I don't want to stay in a place like this any longer than I have to. Let's go back."
"......Uu-."
Maria hadn't gone out with everyone else, but had remained in the boiler room.
The thing she was staring fixedly at was probably not Grandfather's body, but the 'demon's icepick' that was sticking out of his forehead.
...She was probably barely able to contain her enthusiasm.
I tapped her on the head.
"Hey, Maria. ......What's Beatrice after? Is it all of our lives...?"
"......Kihihihihihihihi. Beatrice will revive very soon. ...At that time, none shall be left alive. ...Kihihihihihihihi."
"How can you laugh at something like that? Do you think you're the only one who's safe? Why don't you feel like you're in danger? Why aren't you scared?!"
"......Beatrice promised me. ...She said that she's going to take me to the Golden Land. .........It's a wonderful place where you have no obligations, everyone's always together, and everyone is always nice to everyone else.
.........I'm looking forward to it. That time will come, very soon now. ...Kihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi..."
...Just what kind of person is Maria...?
.........I only know what Maria was like six years ago, when she was three. She had been pure and obedient...a good kid.
This new Maria six years later and the Maria I knew, ...didn't seem to fit together.
......Just who are they...Maria and the one who claims to be a 'witch'...?
To Maria, who obstinately believes in the witch, ......this series of unsolvable crimes is proof that the witch actually exists.
Every time something occurs that would be difficult for a human, it becomes a little harder for the rest of us to not believe in Beatrice.
It must be an 'intense pleasure' for Maria to see her relatives, who once firmly denied the witch's existence, start acknowledging that witch's existence one by one...
......Is that why she's in high spirits...?
".........Maria, let me ask this one more time. You'll probably answer the same anyway, but I'll ask just once more."
"Uu-...?"
"...Yesterday, you were given a letter in the rose garden. ......Who gave it to you...?!"
"Uu-. ...Like I said, Beatrice. You still don't believe. Uu-."
Maria only repeated what she had already said.
......Maria had met with the 19th person, the witch.
Had that really been a 19th person, or had that been one of the 18, who told her to say otherwise?
All that's certain is that Maria has been with the rest of us constantly, has always had an alibi, and hasn't done anything that would put her under suspicion.
She's simply overjoyed at being made Beatrice's messenger, and there certainly isn't a 19th person...
...............Supposedly.
That's right, I wonder what's written in the letter we picked up in Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's room... Natsuhi oba-san should still have it with her...
"......At any rate, we'll lock this room and leave everything as it is until the police come. ......Any problems?"
Natsuhi proclaimed it as though she didn't care whether we agreed or not.
...If anyone had a right to object, it would have been George, ...but he looked as though he had shed enough tears.
George nodded slightly, still facing away from us, and when he stood up, everyone else agreed too.
The letter in the head's western-style envelope that Natsuhi had picked up still hadn't been opened.
...But now that we had decided to leave this room, she had decided to unseal it in the parlor, where everyone could watch.
As soon as we walked out into the hallway to head back to the parlor, .........some of us immediately felt something out of place, ...or maybe sensed something strange.
"............Uu-. ......Stinks?"
"Ah, ...did you notice it too, Maria? ...What is this stench, ...it smells awful..."
When everyone sniffed the air, ...they did notice a horrible burnt smell drifting through the hallway, one that none of us had smelled until then.
"......I will go quickly to check the kitchen... I'm sure I turned the flame off......"
After noticing a burnt smell, it was natural that Kumasawa, who had just been using the fire in the kitchen, suspected that her own clumsiness had caused it. Kumasawa hastily dashed away.
"......Kanon, go with Kumasawa. Do not let her be alone."
"Y, yes...!"
After nodding at Genji's order, Kanon followed after her.
...He wasn't running, but as he followed her, he tried to search for the cause of the smell in other directions as well.
"...Uu-. Stinks. ......Uuu--."
"It truly is......a stench that makes the nose wrinkle. ...However, that doesn't mean we can just open a window for ventilation..."
Natsuhi was reluctant to open the windows in a situation where self-defense was so important.
"......Let us run the fan. I do not believe there will be any need to open the windows."
"...George-aniki. ......Is it okay if I talk to you?"
"......If it's about finding the culprit, then I have no problems."
It seemed that George still hadn't climbed out of the abyss of his sorrow.
...All that filled his chest now was the quiet flame of hatred towards the culprit who had stolen the lives of his beloved parents.
"...The chain for this room was set. ...From what I could tell by looking at it, I'm positive that it couldn't be opened from the outside. ......In other words, this was a perfect closed room."
".........That makes sense. In the case of the rose garden storehouse, they might have sneaked the shutter's key out of the servants' room, or maybe they had a duplicate key. ...I can imagine many ways they could've done it. .........But this chain is different. Among generally used locking techniques, a chain is the simplest one to create a closed room with."
"Only a chain will block everyone coming from the outside as long as it isn't physically broken. So does this mean that the culprit couldn't have gone in or out through the door...?"
"......That's interesting. Just a few hours ago, I seem to remember everyone making a fuss over how to enter a room without using the door."
Back then, everyone had been making a fuss over how Grandfather had disappeared from his room.
Because of the receipt that Eva oba-san had stuck in the door on a whim, it was revealed that the door had remained sealed, and since Natsuhi oba-san had been the only person to enter or exit during that time, she had been under suspicion.
Eva oba-san had proposed a theory about how Natsuhi oba-san might have thrown Grandfather out the window, and left by the door herself.
But this door is much simpler.
It was sealed from the inside by the door chain.
The window had also been closed from the inside, and the bodies had been in the room.
......This time it really had been, without exaggeration, a true closed room.
...That's right. If you include Grandfather's disappearance, three cases have occurred, and all three times, the door has been the point of interest.
The first was the shutter.
There was a key in the servants' room, and if we assume someone knew about that, this can't really be called a closed room.
The next was the door sealed by the receipt.
However, since Natsuhi oba-san had entered the room, then if Grandfather had left through the window or been thrown out, she would have been able to lock the window before escaping.
Or, like my theory, he could have hidden until the receipt was gone, and left the room later. ......Basically, this door can be defeated with a handful of desperate tricks.
In that sense, you really can't call this one a closed room either.
And now, we have the door sealed with the door chain.
...Finally, we have to give up.
The window, the door...everything had been locked. It was a perfect closed room.
The first hadn't been a closed room because everyone could be suspected.
...The second hadn't been a closed room because Natsuhi oba-san could be suspected.
...But this time, no one can be suspected!
This room was a perfect closed room because everyone had been sealed outside just as completely as everyone else because of the door chain...!
"......In that case, did the culprit carry out the crime without entering the room...? Some method from outside the room...?"
"Well...because of the chain, even though it can't be opened wide enough for a person to fit through, you can open it a small crack. Did the culprit knock on the door to make them peer out before attacking them...? Wait, ...is that naive...?"
"Yeah, it is. .........If Eva oba-san's body had been lying right next to the door, then it might have been possible. But she was on the bed in the center of the room! And Hideyoshi oji-san was even in the bathroom. Looking from the crack in the door, you couldn't even see them, and you couldn't reach them with your hands either. ......Damn it, it's all useless. I don't have a clue!!"
......Something was tugging softly at my sleeve. ...It was Maria.
"............Uu-. Satisfied?"
"What do you mean 'satisfied'?"
".........Kihihihihihihihihihihihihi. ...Battler, since you didn't want to doubt any of your relatives...you made a wish, saying that you wanted the culprit to be Beatrice, right?
Well, Beatrice granted that wish. ...Just as you said, she 'did something that was completely impossible for a human to make you believe in the witch'. ............And even so, you're so selfish. Kihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi. O-uch."I tapped Maria, who was laughing unpleasantly, on the head with my fist.
"Sure, thanks for granting it. In return, let me teach you about not laughing at times like this. More importantly, tell me. There was another mysterious scribble on the door to Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's room. Was that another magic circle?!"
"......Kihihihihihihihi. That one had a really memorable and characteristic design, so I'd hoped you'd at least know what it was. O-uch."
"I don't know, so I'll give you all the credit. Quit whining and explain."
".........You sure are violent, Battler. I won't tell you if you're too mean, get it......? O-uch! Uu-......, I'll say it, I'll say it, stop hitting me. .........That's the first magic circle of the moon."
"What does it mean? What is this magic circle's benefit?! What does the Hebrew writing mean?!"
"The words are from the Old Testament, Psalms 107 verse 16. ......'For he has broken gates of brass and cuts through bars of iron'. ......This magic circle has two effects. First, it can open a door regardless of which method has been used to lock it."
"That sure is convenient magic. ...So you're saying that they're trying to make it look like they're a witch because this closed room has a door that can't be opened without relying on magic...?! And the other effect?!"
"When you are blocked in every direction, it finds an unopened door and opens it. ......By using it in a difficult situation, it gives you a solution you hadn't even thought of until then. To put it simply, you receive the power of observation and the power of discernment, inspiration and intuition. ............Kihihihihihihihihihi. Beatrice is trying to provoke you lowly humans, since she thinks there's no way you could figure out how this door was opened. Kihhihihihihihihihihihihihihihi, O-uch."
"Alright, good work, so shut up. ......Sounds great, I'll accept this challenge from the witch!"
"......Maria-chan. ...Things like witches and demons don't exist in this world. ...Someone killed Father and Mother! I don't know whether that was someone I know or not. But either way, it was definitely a human...!!"
".........Yeah, but......how? How did they reach them through that crack in the door? It couldn't have been more than ten centimeters wide...!"
"At any rate, I can hardly stand this stench. ......What in the world could it be...?!"
Before they even reached the kitchen, Kanon and Kumasawa, who had gone ahead, realized that the smell wasn't coming from there.
That was because, on their way to the kitchen, they realized that an even thicker wave of stench was rising up from the stairs leading to the basement.
".........The boiler room..."
"......I wonder if there's something wrong with the boiler again..."
Those stairs led to the underground boiler room.
The mansion's boiler was old, and in poor condition.
Both of them had witnessed problems with the boiler on several occasions, but they had never smelled the boiler belching out a stench like this before.
*slam*.
"Wh, what was that sound......?!"
The sound that they had heard from the basement had definitely been the sound of a door closing.
......Kumasawa tried to speak, as though asking a question, but she had already realized that the sound couldn't have been anything else.
Kumasawa was so surprised at that sound that her knees gave way yet again and she cowered...
......Because, at that very moment,・・・・・・・・・
no one could have been in the boiler room・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・.
Just a few seconds ago, everyone had been crowded together around Eva and Hideyoshi's room! So who caused the sound of a door closing just now?!
"........................!"
"Kanon-san...!!"
After taking a second to sort out the situation, Kanon ran down towards the basement...!
Since they had heard the sound of a door closing just now, and there was no trace of someone climbing the stairs, it meant that the person who had closed the door was now inside the boiler room.
If the boiler room had been a dead end, Kanon wouldn't have rushed in so hastily.
...But Kanon was a servant, so he knew.
There were two entrances, one that opened to the mansion and one that opened to the courtyard.
If he didn't chase them now, they might slip away...!
Kumasawa reached the same conclusion long after Kanon did.
...But she couldn't let him go alone...!
If the thing in the boiler room was the culprit, ...an opponent who had easily killed six adults in the first murder, then no matter how Kanon confronted them, he wouldn't be a match.
...Of course, with this argument, even if Kumasawa joined him, it wouldn't change anything...
At any rate, after a delay, Kumasawa decided that she mustn't let Kanon go alone, and she dashed down the stairs...!!
At that time, Kanon was already in the boiler room.
The boiler room's characteristic damp heat tormented him.
...It had always been an unpleasantly smelly and hot place.
And on top of that, the room was full of that horrible stench...which made Kanon feel like he was going to be sick.
......There was no doubt that this room was the origin.
In that case, Kanon should have been searching for where the smell was coming from.
However, Kanon kept gazing straight forward as he grabbed a hatchet from a tool shelf just off to the side of the door.
......He hadn't stretched out his hand because he'd wanted a hatchet.
...He had wanted to grab a weapon, any weapon. ......Why?
".............................."
Kanon gazed into the darkness where the naked light bulb couldn't pierce.
......Then, he answered・・・・.
"..................In roulette, you bet on a number or the colors red or black, vying for a payoff. However, low risk bets like black and red only offer a similarly low payoff."
The words coming from Kanon's mouth...were swallowed up by the darkness.
That darkness suddenly started to swirl, glittering...
It was, ......a very fantastical scene...
Golden sparkling butterflies that hid in the shadows all over the boiler room...flapped their wings, twinkling beautifully, ...and gathered in the darkness, disappearing...
Kanon continued speaking, directing his words at the darkness as it swallowed the butterflies up.
......But as the butterflies gathered in the darkness, they.........perhaps...probably...no, they must have......laughed.
...But Kanon continued to speak without faltering in the slightest.
"...On the other hand, if you bet on something of a lower probability, you receive a payoff proportional to the risk. ............The Master called succeeding despite an astronomical risk a 'miracle', and called the astronomical payoff gained as a result 'magic'.
............I have no interest what kind of 'magic' you and the Master were seeking when you spun that roulette...... But you forgot something. ......You forgot that roulette has a pocket that is neither black nor red."
Roulette has a special pocket called '0', which means that the house takes everything in certain variants of the game. This means that all of the coins bet on the table will be swept up, just as though everyone has forfeit...
".........I set my heart on one thing. ...I decided that if, .........Shannon were to be killed, and I was left alive, .........I would bring this roulette of yours to ruin even at the cost of my life...!"
"............This isn't one of the Master's rules, ...and it certainly isn't one of yours. .........I made this rule myself. .........I'm not furniture anymore. .........I'm the zero on your roulette...!"
...Kanon's face was twisted with humiliation.
.........It was clear that his self-restraint was being ridiculed somehow.
Kanon's brow creased even further, ...and a furious expression that Kanon had never shown anyone appeared on his face.
......The hand grasping the hatchet was shaking. ...His sweat became drops which slid down...
It was clear that the emotion causing Kanon's hand to shake was not anger alone.
...However, Kanon suppressed that emotion...
"I won't let your words lead me astray again. .........This is the end of the roulette of demons. ...W, ......wait another thousand years in hell for your next summoner, Beatriiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!"
When Kanon swung the hatchet upwards and tried to dive into the darkness, the darkness definitely sneered.
It sneered at that courage as vulgar, lazy, futile, and meaningless.
......Kanon, his hatchet still held aloft, .........couldn't take another step after that...
With a *clang*, the hatchet that Kanon had been grasping fell and rolled on the floor...
And following that, with a pair of thuds, Kanon's knees hit, ...left, then right...
That hand, which looked like it was trying to catch the sky now that the hatchet had been dropped, gradually lowered, ......landing on his chest. Then, the other hand did the same.
......Right there, a handle with a demon-shaped design was buried into his chest.
The same type of weapon that had been stabbed into Eva and Hideyoshi's foreheads...was in Kanon's chest......
"...............u.....................ghh, ............"Kanon was curled up in anguish, fresh blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth...
...It was...makeup over Kanon's white skin...
Around this scene, the glittering gold butterflies danced through the darkness, mesmerizing...
It was a beautiful, beautiful dance...a funeral march of tribute, ridicule, and contempt for single boy's self-sacrifice.
...Kanon had already been prepared for his own death, ......but although he could do nothing but accept the death he had received, he attempted one last measure of resistance.
...He grasped the handle of the weapon sticking into his chest with both hands, ............and gritting his teeth with an acute, unearthly pain............, ........................he pulled it out.
For only a moment, a bright-red spray gushed out.
......It made an unpleasant *bloop* sound.
It probably resembled the sound of Kanon's soul as it was sucked into the swamp of the dead...
"............Kanon-san?! Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!! S, someoooooooone!! Eeeeeeeeekkk!"
Kumasawa screamed at the incomprehensible sight in front of her.
Kanon was lying in a pool of blood...
...Kumasawa's heart was a complete mess.
Aah, what a horrible fate!
He wouldn't have been killed if I had been with him!
Aah, what incredible luck!
If I had been with him, I might have been killed too!!
As she screamed, her expression was filled with complete confusion, and all of the muscles of her face were pulled up, almost as though she was smiling while crying... No one own would ridicule an expression such as this...!!
"What is it, Kumasawa?!! Answer me, Kumasawa!!!"
The first one to dash in was Natsuhi, holding the rifle.
Battler and Genji dashed in after her.
Normally, they probably would've started discussing the origin of that violent stench filling the boiler room.
......But after they saw Kanon, who was lying on the ground as if he were drowning in an ocean of his own blood, the stench wasn't important any more.
"Kanon! Answer me!! ......Genji, bring Doctor Nanjo here!!"
Natsuhi realized that even though Kanon was on the verge of death, he was still conscious, so she sent Genji to get the doctor.
...Natsuhi, holding the rifle aloft, faced the darkness in the center of the boiler room and shouted!
"......Who is hiding over there?!!! Come out quietly!! If you don't come out from there, I'll shoot without mercy!!"
"A flashlight! Oba-san, let's light them up!!"
Battler, thinking quickly, took a large flashlight from the tool shelf alongside the door and used its light to cut through the darkness Natsuhi was glaring into.
But the light only shone on mechanical-looking piping and a door.
The door had been left open a small crack, and it was obvious that someone had left through there in a hurry.
"......Natsuhi oba-san, where does that door go?!"
"G, Genji...! Where does that door lead to?!"
"...The, the courtyard...!"
"L, like hell I'd let you get away, you damn bastaaaaaaaard!!!"
Battler let out a war cry as he slammed into the door.
Cool air from outside suddenly rushed in.
...There were some thin, rough stairs leading up.
...Battler ran up them, shouting!
"Wait, Battler-kun!! It's dangerous to be alone!!"
Natsuhi was also rushing up the stairs, chasing after Battler.
They were in the courtyard.
...The courtyard of the mansion had been built strictly for lighting purposes, so it wasn't a very elegant place.
Because it was surrounded on all sides, the air was calm and completely undisturbed, even though they could hear the sound of strong winds.
There was only the gentle, sorrowful rain...
As he ran through the cold and scattered raindrops, dashing up the stairs into the courtyard, Battler looked in every direction.
......Of course, the odds of him finding a suspicious silhouette just standing around nonchalantly were pretty much zero...
Battler turned around, looking in all directions. He turned again and again. He kept spinning until he almost lost his sense of direction. He prayed that he would see the culprit somewhere in this scenery...!
But there was no chance.
All he saw as he spun was more and more of the mansion's heartless walls and windows...!
Furthermore, there were two entrances into the mansion from the courtyard, and neither of them were locked.
Because the courtyard couldn't be entered from outside the mansion, the doors had been built without locks.
......He didn't know which one they had left through! He had to give up.
Battler pounded the wall with his fist, swearing...
"......Battler-kun!! You mustn't run ahead by yourself!! ..............................Battler-kun......?"
Battler put his head against the wall, and scratched at it with his fingernails as he cried......
".........Damn it, ......damn it, damn it!! Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san! And now Kanon-kun!!! You killed a full six people!! And that wasn't enough, so you had to kill three more!! Are you kidding me, are you fucking kidding meeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san were always kind and fun as an aunt and uncle...!! I just met Kanon yesterday, but I'm sure I'd have gotten along fine with him! Why did you kill them?!! Why, why...?!!! You know, when people die, they don't come back to life again, right?! They aren't gonna quickly sprout up again like bamboo shoots, you see?!
.........Why did you kill them?! Why..., why...?!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...!!"
...Battler was a boy who could understand the feelings of pain and regret in a person's heart. ...So he cried. With all his strength.
Natsuhi, who had always thought of Battler as a frank person, was a little surprised to find that he had this delicate side, ...and at the same time, understood how easily hurt the heart of a young person could be, so she held him.
"..................It's alright. ...I will definitely protect you, George-kun, Maria-chan, and Jessica. .........As a mother, ...and as the representative of the Ushiromiya family...!"
"......WhaaaaAAAAaaaAAAAA!! AaaaaaAAAAAAAAhhh!!"
Battler, after sobbing into Natsuhi's chest for a while, wiped his tears with a bitter smile, as though he had been like that the whole time, and tried to appear as though he had cried more than enough already...
"Anyways, let's go back down for now. ......Protecting ourselves is a higher priority than finding the culprit. Tomorrow, the boat will arrive. After that happens, the police will come, and everything should be brought to light. .........There's no way the culprit can escape this island, no matter how much they struggle...!!"
"......That's right. ...When the police come..."
When the seagulls cry, the crime will be solved.
But, ...for some reason, Battler felt a slight sense of uneasiness...as if the seagulls would never cry again.
......That couldn't be true.
When the typhoon passes, the lively seagulls should return to the harbor again......
I returned to the boiler room along with Natsuhi oba-san and told everyone weakly that we hadn't found anything.
Doctor Nanjo and George-aniki carried Kanon-kun to the servants' room.
The servants' room had a first aid kit and a sink, and could apparently function as a nurse's office.
Kumasawa-san and Jessica accompanied them.
...Stains from Kanon-kun's blood remained on the floor.
Judging by the large amount of blood lost and the ruthless shape of the weapon that had fallen carelessly to the ground, ......I figured that Doctor Nanjo's treatment would probably end in vain...
That weapon was doubtlessly the same type that had been stuck in Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's foreheads.
......But wait, isn't the demononic design on the handle a little different...?
There seemed to be some small differences in that part.
Still, as far as their overall shape was concerned, the weapons were all of the same type.
In Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's case, it had been a little brutal, but since we had wanted to preserve the crime scene, we had left the weapons sticking into them.
Though it had seemed brutal, we'd left the weapons that had been stuck into Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san to preserve the crime scene.
...So this was the first time we were able to have a perfect view of the entire weapon.
As we had expected, the weapon was not bladed like a knife, but shaped like an icepick, ...or rather, a thin stake.
And also, ...it had a spiral-shaped pattern that might have been like a drill.
...It looked like something that might be driven into the hearts of human sacrifices in some demonic ritual...
Including the handle, it was 25 centimeters long. Half of that was the stake shaped part, which was stained with deep red blood.
......The length of the blood-stained part made it clear just how deeply it must have penetrated into Kanon-kun's chest...
But Natsuhi oba-san and the rest didn't even look at the weapon, and instead stood in front of the incinerator, where the horrible stench was emanating from.
They had probably pulled out 'that', which had been burnt up in the furnace.
...'It' was still smoking, and kept sending out dense waves of that awfully unpleasant smell...
Genji-san and Maria stared down at it.
Natsuhi oba-san probably couldn't stand to look directly at it. ...She kept shaking her head, her back to it.
".....................Uu-...!"
...I'd thought that after everything that had happened, nothing could surprise me anymore, but, ......this was, ......, gghh...!
I stood there for a while, moaning, with a rising urge to vomit...
.........The true form of that unearthly stench, .........which came from the burnt insides of the incinerator, was the smell of a charred corpse......
The clothes, the surface of the body, and the hair were all hideously burned. That grotesque corpse was in a state where not the face, nor the age, nor even the gender could be even guessed at...
But when I thought about it calmly, I realized that a corpse appearing at this time could only be one person.
.........It was Grandfather, who had disappeared that morning, and whose whereabouts had been unknown.
".........I believe, ...it is most likely the Master."
"............I, ...agree. .............That he would pass away in such a state...............It's heartrending..."
"...But, ...is there any proof that this corpse really is Grandfather...? It's burnt so black, you can't even tell what sex it is..."
"Battler-kun, ...look at the feet."
Natsuhi oba-san, with her handkerchief over her mouth and her eyes averted, pointed and told me to look at the burnt corpse's feet.
..................?
"......Notice how there are six toes on each foot."
"Huh? ...............Ah, ......you're right........."
Just as Genji-san had said, there were six toes on each foot.
Each of the toes had been arranged so normally that I hadn't noticed...
"......Since the Master was born, both of his feet have had six toes. ...Consequently, the Master was entrusted with the revival of the Ushiromiya family."
"I have heard that since long ago, cases of polydactyly were common in the Ushiromiya family. ...It's probably hereditary."
Polydactyly literally means 'many fingers'.
Because of a little mistake by god when the person is born, one of their toes or fingers splits into two, and the total number increases.
But a big deal isn't usually made of polydactyly in the world at large.
That's because it isn't a disease, just something people are born with.
So while they are still babies, at about the time they turn one year old, they can be taken to the hospital and given surgery to make them normal.
Even a child with polydactyly can be treated before they become aware, so they might not even remember it themselves.
By the way, it seems that there is a possibility for this to occur in one out of every two thousand babies, so even though it's not usually seen, it isn't that rare at all.
Speaking of which, I think Hideyoshi oji-san mention something to me long ago. ...Something about how even Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man who unified Japan at the end of the Sengoku period, had possessed six fingers on one hand...
According to Natsuhi oba-san, among the many Ushiromiya family heads, the ones praised most for their wisdom had all possessed polydactyly.
......Because of that, when Grandfather was born, his relatives were all excited at the thought that he might become another wise leader. And, when the leading relatives all died in the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was apparently argued Grandfather should be the one to restore the family because of the auspicious sign of his birth.
If Grandfather hadn't disliked his position as the head overly much, this sixth toe must have been pretty lucky for him.
......Come to think of it, I think I've heard about some country where it's believed that people with polydactyly should be treated as gods and revered...
This is beside the point, but it's fairly common in mystery novels for a corpse to be burned to hide whose body it is.
......But I guess that in Grandfather's case, just being toasted wouldn't be enough to hide the proof of his identity...
And, ......Grandfather's body was not simply burnt.
......Just like Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san, ...one of those things that had been stuck in Kanon's chest, one of those 'demon's icepicks', ...was stuck into his forehead......!
"............The 'ring of the head' is not on his finger."
"...So everything is as the letter last night said. ..................Father, ......would probably be horribly disappointed......"
Natsuhi-san let her head droop and closed her eyes tightly...
......This room had also become a vital crime scene for us to hand over to the police.
......It was decided that we would leave Grandfather's corpse here and lock the room, sealing it.
It isn't clear when Grandfather's corpse started burning in the incinerator.
Since, according to Genji, the strength of the flames hadn't been that strong, the body must have started burning a long time ago, so that stench could slowly creep out of the furnace and fill the room bit by bit, eventually pouring out and climbing up the staircase.
......Putting aside whether he was rare or well-done, Grandfather had been brought out, killed, and burned...even though he had started out locked away in the closed room created by his auto-lock. ...There's probably no doubting this...
However, according to Genji-san, the boiler room is usually locked.
......The possibility that someone outside our group had snuck in and committed the crime was overwhelmingly high, and there was also a good chance that this person was walking around with something like a master key.
...After all, the doors and windows throughout the mansion had been checked.
But despite that, the culprit was able to strut around the mansion freely.
After this latest crime, can we be sure that a 19th person exists?
They haven't shown themselves once, and yet someone's trying to tout their existence.
Along with Kyrie-san's chessboard theory, I've been using this contradiction to deny the existence of a 19th person.
...By flipping the chessboard over once more, the very fact that this crime makes it perfectly obvious that a 19th person exists...means that the existence of the 19th person is even less possible. As long as that 19th person doesn't show themselves in front of us...!
......If the culprit could get Grandfather out through the door sealed by the receipt, if they could kill Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san from the other side of a door sealed by a chain, ......then is it possible for them to even create a fictional 19th person through strange tricks and devices...?!?!
If we still want to believe that the culprit is among us, ......then the list of suspects is very short.
The four of us kids, Natsuhi oba-san, Genji-san, Kumasawa baa-chan, and Doctor Nanjo. ...One of these people has to be the culprit!
Wait, we can't be sure of that.
......Just a second ago, we started doubting whether the corpse here was actually Grandfather's, right?
Maybe we can think of the other bodies in the same way.
For example, the first six all had their faces horribly smashed.
......Some of the bodies had kept enough of their faces for us to confirm who they were, but that old bastard, for example...had lost his entire face, as though it had been peeled off...
We had only figured out which body was which by their clothes and surroundings...
Had the culprit prepared a fake body beforehand and disguised it to make it look like they'd died...when they'd actually hid somewhere after committing the crime...?
...It sounds ridiculous, but that doesn't mean it's an impossible trick.
......It's too early to give in to this 19th person, ......no, this witch......!
"Maria-chan, you mustn't stare so fixedly anymore. Come on, Battler-kun too. I am worried about Kanon's condition, and I don't want to stay in a place like this any longer than I have to. Let's go back."
"......Uu-."
Maria hadn't gone out with everyone else, but had remained in the boiler room.
The thing she was staring fixedly at was probably not Grandfather's body, but the 'demon's icepick' that was sticking out of his forehead.
...She was probably barely able to contain her enthusiasm.
I tapped her on the head.
"Hey, Maria. ......What's Beatrice after? Is it all of our lives...?"
"......Kihihihihihihihi. Beatrice will revive very soon. ...At that time, none shall be left alive. ...Kihihihihihihihi."
"How can you laugh at something like that? Do you think you're the only one who's safe? Why don't you feel like you're in danger? Why aren't you scared?!"
"......Beatrice promised me. ...She said that she's going to take me to the Golden Land. .........It's a wonderful place where you have no obligations, everyone's always together, and everyone is always nice to everyone else.
.........I'm looking forward to it. That time will come, very soon now. ...Kihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi..."
...Just what kind of person is Maria...?
.........I only know what Maria was like six years ago, when she was three. She had been pure and obedient...a good kid.
This new Maria six years later and the Maria I knew, ...didn't seem to fit together.
......Just who are they...Maria and the one who claims to be a 'witch'...?
To Maria, who obstinately believes in the witch, ......this series of unsolvable crimes is proof that the witch actually exists.
Every time something occurs that would be difficult for a human, it becomes a little harder for the rest of us to not believe in Beatrice.
It must be an 'intense pleasure' for Maria to see her relatives, who once firmly denied the witch's existence, start acknowledging that witch's existence one by one...
......Is that why she's in high spirits...?
".........Maria, let me ask this one more time. You'll probably answer the same anyway, but I'll ask just once more."
"Uu-...?"
"...Yesterday, you were given a letter in the rose garden. ......Who gave it to you...?!"
"Uu-. ...Like I said, Beatrice. You still don't believe. Uu-."
Maria only repeated what she had already said.
......Maria had met with the 19th person, the witch.
Had that really been a 19th person, or had that been one of the 18, who told her to say otherwise?
All that's certain is that Maria has been with the rest of us constantly, has always had an alibi, and hasn't done anything that would put her under suspicion.
She's simply overjoyed at being made Beatrice's messenger, and there certainly isn't a 19th person...
...............Supposedly.
That's right, I wonder what's written in the letter we picked up in Eva oba-san and Hideyoshi oji-san's room... Natsuhi oba-san should still have it with her...