When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 25

Is it true? If it is, I could prove that the brutality of the culprit in this case is also present in him. He would be viewed as a suspect.

But why is she smiling?

Is this story completely made up, and she just wanted to tease me? Normally I would have snapped back, "Don't joke around."

The girl who told me the story had a clouded look in her eyes. An unusual intensity radiated from her. It felt as though she was more focused on enjoying the gossip than on Kanbara-senpai's death.

She felt different from an ordinary person. No—that's not quite right. It wasn't only her. The rest of the drama club also had a different atmosphere. Even though someone had died, no one was mourning. There were only suspicious looks directed at outsiders.

I held my breath as I looked at her and asked, to confirm whether her words were a joke or something that came straight from the bottom of her heart.

"Um... how can you act so normally? Shouldn't Kanbara-senpai's death matter more right now than criticizing someone's wrongdoing?"

If she had answered, "You're right. This isn't the time to say things like that," everything would've been normal.

But of course it didn't go that way.

"So what if she's dead?"

"Huh?"

She answered with terrible boredom. That feeling made my body tremble.

"So what obstacle does her death pose for us... huh?"

"W-well, surely you have some thoughts... right?"

When I asked in a halting voice, she merely loosened her cheeks in a smile.

"Ah... I guess I'm kind of glad—maybe?"

"G-glad!? Glad!? About what? Huh?"

"I mean, let's be honest—she was the ringleader of the bullying group. The ringleader. The de-facto leader. A princess who always acted high-and-mighty, who couldn't be satisfied unless she was number one. Honestly, she was in the way."

Something inside me snapped. The absurd logic of "She was in the way, so it's fine that she died" cut straight through the composure I'd been barely maintaining.

I didn't act on it, but I was breathing hard as I shouted.

"In the way—what does that even mean!? In the way—what is—!"

She held out her hand in front of me, palm open.

"Don't yell. Honestly, I'm just glad she's dead. And I'm not the only one... yeah. Remember the female teacher who made a big show of being shocked when she saw that woman's miserable state?"

"W-what about Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor?"

I pressed my hand to my chest, trembling with anger, and asked, expecting she'd just bad-mouth her.

"She's probably the one in the whole school most grateful to the culprit. She'd be crying, rubbing her forehead against the ground."

"P-please don't spout nonsense."

"It's not a lie. Kitsunesaki's boyfriend was killed by that greedy woman, you know. Legally."

I didn't understand at first. But the moment I mentally replaced "boyfriend" with "boy," it all clicked.

All my anger and sorrow at the truth turned into excitement driven by shock.

"Wait a minute. There was talk about a male student at this school who died in a traffic accident. Was Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor dating him?"

"Yep. Well, strictly speaking, he was driven to the point of death, so it's more suicide than accident. Or rather, practically murder. She never missed a day of harassment and hidden violence, and she gloated, 'Perfect crime succeeded!'"

All sorts of information tangled inside my head. I was confused for a moment.

I began to organize it, one piece at a time.

Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor had been dating a certain male student.

But that male student was bullied to death by Kanbara-senpai. And Kanbara-senpai, despicably, rejoiced at his death.

It would be no wonder if Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor's killing urge exploded and she carried out the crime. With that much anger, it's even possible she'd kill the cat she'd adored, under the logic of "hate the monk, hate the robe."

Or perhaps after she slashed the white cat Lop, she killed Kanbara-senpai when she saw her despair.

Just then, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. Startled, I yelped, "Hyaa!" and shoved the person away.

"Ah... sorry!"

"Oi... you—"

"Ah..."

I'd completely forgotten the president was there. I looked around, wondering if the suspicious Senior Urakawa was nearby too.

"So after whispering with a girl, you ditch me... shall I burn you to ashes with the flame of jealousy?"

"S-sorry! More importantly, what about Senior Urakawa?"

"They've called all the teachers together. They're canceling today's club activities, saying it's dangerous."

Wait—wasn't the girl I'd been talking to just now about to start drama-club activities? While I'd been looking away, she'd been happily bad-mouthing Kanbara-senpai with another girl.

There's no point staying here any longer; it's making me sick.

"Understood. Sorry. I'll go. I've finished what I wanted to investigate here."

I grabbed the president's hand. His cheeks reddened. Letting go, I ran toward the field.

"Hey, wait! Why're you leaving me!?"

"Because you got turned on just from a guy holding your hand! Do you even realize what you just did?"

"I-it was a joke! A joke!"

That's the kind of banter we have. No matter what the president does to me, if he disappeared it would still be sad.

So why do none of the students at this school harbor negative feelings? The moment I wondered that, a bad feeling washed over me.

Is it only the students?

"President, we're going back to the crime scene. The police must be there by now. Let's tell them everything we know and all the evidence. Before some other detective messes it up."

"Right. We'll tell them what we've gathered..."

Do only the students truly feel nothing about death?

I had thought that for a moment.

A hoarse-voiced man with a shaved head was speaking to a red-framed woman holding a notebook. Cops surrounded them. Meanwhile, the students were lined up on the field.

I figured someone at the school must have gathered the information and relayed it to the detectives.

My guess was right.

Yet at the same time I wished it weren't. Because of what the hoarse-voiced man said.

"Kanbara-san, who was killed, was an exceptionally gifted student with no trouble at school or outside. A model student. Yes... yes... Resentment, or anything like that, is unthinkable."

A female detective repeated his words in a soft, lilting tone.

"Um, so, that's... right? There's no resentment... at all? That's... what you're saying?"

"Yes. But there were locals who didn't like her good reputation. Perhaps the culprit is an outsider with dangerous ideas. That's all I can think. Ah... may we have the students back? They're in shock, saying incomprehensible things, and they'll only get in the way of the investigation."