When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 24

"Wh-what do you mean? Why would the culprit......!? What grudge could they possibly have against Senior Kanbara?"

Senior Urakawa gave no verbal reply to my words. He simply shook his head. The president seemed to trust him too, holding her head and saying, "No way anyone'd hate this guy."

I folded my arms and thought. Why did the culprit hold a grudge? And how did Senior Urakawa know that the culprit hated him?

Seeing that reaction, Senior Urakawa spoke once more.

"So, monk wants to ask...... right? Why would the culprit want to pin the crime on......"

"Ah, yeah...... monk again...... whatever. That's right. I wasn't directly ordered or told anything by the culprit, right?"

"Of course not. You saw the body...... and that thing that was dropped too."

"Y-yes"

"......the thing that was closest among the items that had fallen"

Hearing that, a single object surfaced in my mind. I let out an "Ah!" and the president beside me shook my shoulders, urging, "What, what! Tell me!" She seemed about to get drunk.

"I-I'll tell you! Please calm down! It's that, right! The ball! Do you remember a ball falling too, president?"

"Ah...... come to think of it, there was...... what's so special about that......"

The president isn't trying to think. Seems she's leaving it all to me. If I don't explain, she'd just urge me again. Reluctantly, I let out a sigh and began my explanation.

"Considering the other werewolf-related items that were dropped in that situation, that ball. I think it might be a substitute for the crystal ball."

"That crystal...... um, the seer, right? Am I correct?"

"Yes. Just as the president says. So, who does the seer indicate?"

"Divination...... Urakawa Naiki. Aaaah! Divination...... ka! So...... what would happen by leaving that at the crime scene......"

"The police would probably consider that a dying message. In other words, Senior Urakawa thinks the culprit is trying to frame him as the culprit!"

We were talking so loudly that the surrounding stares were intense. But I couldn't afford to care.

Inside the gym. As we walked toward the archery range, we continued our conversation.

The next to speak was the president, suggesting that perhaps the current flow of conversation was mistaken.

"But, would the culprit really think it's Urakawa? There's no immediate link between Urakawa and divination, right?"

This time, not me, but Senior Urakawa denied it.

"No...... that's not it"

There were circumstances. I too now knew those circumstances.

Senior Urakawa was undoubtedly a person associated with the seer. Since Senior Urakawa denied it and wouldn't speak, the president's sparkly eyes turned to me.

"Hmm...... president, please notice. The names of the PC Club members......"

"Huh?"

It was troublesome, but she was the president so it couldn't be helped. I'll explain.

"First, the most obvious one is Fox. Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor. And another...... ah, I'd like to explain using written characters"

When I said that, Senior Urakawa silently handed me the memo pad and pen he had in his pocket.

That was very helpful. From today onward, I want to make him our president.

Setting aside such unnecessary thoughts, I continued the explanation. In front of the president, I wrote one male member's name in hiragana.

"'murayamahitoshi'...... ah! So Murahito becomes villager. And Urakawa is the seer. Hmm. Anyone who knows this connection would definitely associate Urakawa with the seer......"

Satisfied with the information, the president then asked Senior Urakawa to hand over the notebook. When I obediently handed it over, he began writing the name of the senior who was killed.

I too watched with wide eyes as I read it.

"Kanbara Mahiru. So Mahiru is read like this. Ah...... Today and God, Kyojin, so the madman?"

Whether as affirmation or not, he continued writing information in the memo pad. Perhaps as an afterthought, he even created a character chart for me.

Murayama Hitoshi is the villager.

Urakawa Naiki is the seer.

Kitsunesaki Yayoi is the Fox.

Kanbara Mahiru is the madman.

When the president asked if there weren't any werewolves, Senior Urakawa asked, "Do you remember the white cat?"

Then he began writing an English word.

The white cat Lop that had died at the crime scene was "Loup". A name derived from the French word for wolf. In other words, the werewolf was the cat. The werewolf had already been killed.

When I muttered, "That should be it, right?" he replied, "There's still more." To have such name associations up to this point - was it coincidence? Or perhaps fate?

The remaining person was someone we had yet to meet.

Kanou Reita is the Medium. And the vice-principal.

He handed me the memo pad like that. It seemed he had written it so I could easily review it multiple times. I bowed slightly to express my gratitude.

Returning to the main topic, the culprit had tried to frame Senior Urakawa, the seer, as the culprit.

Was that really possible? Was that the culprit's purpose?

When I thought about it, I understood in an instant.

"Senior, please don't worry. The culprit has no such intention."

"Huh......"

Senior Urakawa expressed surprise aloud. It seemed he had been quite worried. Knowing that was unnecessary must have greatly unsettled him.

Thinking it rude to keep him in suspense, I conveyed my thoughts.

"First. If the culprit truly wanted to frame Senior Urakawa, there would be one major obstacle."

The president was the first to make a strange prediction.

"Obstacle? Well, if Urakawa had a girlfriend, that'd be an obstacle to our friendship."

Just having her...... what a cruel thing to say. Using that statement, I revealed what was truly the obstacle.

"Senior...... let's set aside jealousy for now. Well, a girlfriend might be an obstacle to the culprit too. She could prove an alibi."

"Ah, an alibi! Right, if you're at a different place than the crime scene during the incident, that's proof you're not involved, right?"

Finally, the president seemed to catch on.

Senior Urakawa too widened his eyes and nodded several times in succession. Seeing their reactions, I continued.

"Yes. So what the culprit must do is eliminate Senior Urakawa's alibi. However, just as I first heard from Senior Urakawa, he received no instructions whatsoever from anyone suspected to be the culprit. The only evidence he thinks shows the culprit tried to frame him is the ball left at the scene."

Then the president raised a question.

"Then, conversely, what would the culprit have needed to do if they wanted to frame Urakawa?"

"Ah. They would have needed to lure him to a place where he would definitely be alone."

"Ah...... and you mentioned a first point, is there a second?"

Urged by the president, I raised two fingers on my left hand.

"There is. The second is name-related. The one who named the white cat Lop was Senior Kanbara, right? If Senior Kanbara named it, then isn't it common knowledge that this werewolf's name existed by chance?"

"Ah...... ah......"

Since Senior Urakawa's reaction confirmed my words as correct, I gained confidence. I'll proceed with the deduced story.

"Then it's strange. While showing a planned crime by gathering fox masks, bows, and books to avoid suspicion at night school, it's odd to leave such a dying message. Normally, if there's a dying message pointing to oneself, the culprit would remove it, right?"

The president boasted, "If it were me, I'd definitely remove it quickly."

"Even if Senior Urakawa himself were the culprit, if he knew the ball related to his name, he would have removed it from the scene."

Then finally Senior Urakawa voiced his objection.

"But...... the culprit might not have...... thought of that......"

I smiled and said "No" to that too.

"First, the culprit knew the internal affairs of the werewolf group, and the equation 'Ball equals Senior Urakawa' held true. The culprit calculated leaving almost no evidence while wandering around during the crime. The assessment was quite planned. Yet only the dying message was sloppy - that bothers me."

"I see"

"If it's a culprit who would fail at such a point, there's no problem. They probably left plenty of evidence...... well, there's evidence here though."

I pointed to the battered door in front of the archery range. It seemed someone had forcibly opened what wouldn't open.

Here and there, small bloodstains were attached. Undoubtedly, the culprit took the bow from this room.

"I see. Thanks"

Finally, I thought. Finally, I could hear Senior Urakawa's voice filled with emotion. I couldn't say to such a person.

That I still suspected him.

That he might have deliberately led the deduction to make himself seem not to be the culprit, to confuse the investigation.

"......what's wrong?"

When I stared intently, I was stared back at.

"No, it's nothing"

I acted as if nothing had happened. From there, I learned that the drama club room door was also broken. When I tried to ask the drama club members, for some reason a female student told me to come to the gym stage alone.

"Sorry for a moment. I want to talk where the other two aren't around. That guy over there seems close with Urakawa."

"Wh-what is it?"

"I want to tell you it's better to stop dating Urakawa. Do you know what he's done?"

"Wh-what......?"

The short-haired girl let her bangs down, looking exactly like a ghost. Was she trying to scare me like that?

She spoke something terrifying.

"Just between us, but that guy. Suddenly during self-study class...... he was swinging a knife around in front of girls."

"Huh?"

"Unbelievable, right? But he won't say anything, but he's definitely looking down on small kids like you. If it hasn't been long since you met, you should cut ties quickly. Well, surely... surely... it was him who killed Mahiru too."