When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 26

I felt like my face was about to twist beyond recognition. I was so dumbfounded it could have contorted.

The female detective's story is completely absurd. It's totally different from what I heard, and for a moment I felt like I was going crazy.

Still, I can guess that what he's aiming for is related to this high school's private system. So if I think calmly, what this man wants to do becomes clear.

The murder case will be reported on the news and the public will find out. Once they hear a high-school girl was killed, all sorts of people will focus on the method and motive. If the culprit then claims "I wanted to stop bullying at this school" or "It's revenge for a child killed by bullying," the school will be in trouble.

Bullying did exist at this school. No one wants to send their child to a school where bullying happens. A private school can't survive without donations from parents. So they want to avoid letting current or future sponsors suspect bullying exists.

To that end, they only need to say a deranged outsider came in and attacked the student. If they insist the school has no problems, they can escape the crisis of being closed down.

And there's conveniently perfect evidence: the white cat that was killed. Strange tools meant to make it look like a werewolf are scattered on the pool of blood. They probably think they can pin that on the lunatic too.

I understand what the man wants to do with this theory. But I can't accept it. That would play right into the true culprit's hands. It would make it impossible to pursue the truth of Kanbara-senpai's death.

I approached the men, ready to strike with my sense of justice.

"Excuse me! Isn't that strange?"

The moment I said it, the man turned a terrifying face toward me. He glared at me with upturned eyes. Naturally, he shouted.

"Didn't I tell the students to go home together?!"

The president who'd been next to me had ducked behind a nearby storage shed. Even with that much strength, I won't flinch.

Because I know this man is the one who's strange. I believe I'm not wrong. It may sound odd coming from me, but a strong sense of justice was supporting me.

"Excuse me. First of all, the person hiding over there and I aren't from this school."

At those words, the man shook his head while bringing his harsh face closer.

"What... If you're from another school you shouldn't be here right now."

He had identified us as the most troublesome presence.

Threats like "I'll lower your grades" or "I'll keep you out of a top university" won't work on us; we're undeniably the worst possible convenience for the school.

So I won't yield to his strange look either.

"No. But yesterday I felt something really suspicious about Kanbara-senpai. I have something I'd like to tell the detective over there."

"It's bound to be some weird rumor, right? Detective! They've been fed nonsense from people outside. Just ignore them."

"No. It's definitely a clue to the culprit. Not a rumor—information about Kanbara-senpai."

When I said that much, the bespectacled female detective gently caught sight of me. With red cheeks and fingers intertwined, she began speaking in a cute manner.

"Um... regarding this... I'd like to know more. May I question him too...?"

She's a detective with gestures that seem to mock you. If this weren't an official setting, she'd probably be getting yelled at. Still, the man who looked like a public servant couldn't push back hard against the police.

The mad dog suddenly turned as meek as a puppy drenched in rain.

"Ugh..."

"That's fine, isn't it? Vice-Principal Kanou?"

Thanks to the detective's words, I realized it: this bald head was Kanou Reita, whom Senior Urakawa had mentioned.

Being called Vice-Principal added even more weight to what I'd been thinking. Within the school he's the next person after the principal and vice-principal who must worry about public appearances.

In that drama I saw once, the one who denied bullying saying "We have nothing like that" was probably this kind of vice-principal.

After directing my hostility at him, I turned to the female detective and began explaining the situation.

"Um. It's more accurate to say I saw her—yesterday during the day, I came for club activities and met Kanbara-senpai."

"I see. So why are you here today when other students...?"

"Some members of the same club as her told me they were worried she hadn't come home."

"Hmm. Then she must have been killed at night... and the suspicious person you mentioned?"

"Let's rewind to yesterday at noon. When I met her, a suspicious person was tailing both Kanbara-senpai and me."

"A suspicious person? On the day she was killed, tailing that child... how odd."

Just as I was about to explain, someone next to me scratched his head and interrupted. It was Vice-Principal Kanou.

"I-it's your imagination. No one would be so rude as to follow her around...!"

I slammed the truth at him.

"But there was. Kanbara-senpai said it was nothing unusual and not to worry. Since it's routine, probably the other club members know which teacher it was."

At the word "teacher," the female detective's shoulder twitched in response.

"T-teacher?"

"Yes. Kanbara-senpai said it. If it's routine, the other club members probably know. Vice-Principal Kanou, I know it's forward, but could you bring that teacher here to explain?"

I stared hard at Vice-Principal Kanou, who was shrinking from intimidation. Stepping forward with one foot, I showed how serious I was.

"Ugh..."

"If Vice-Principal Kanou won't say, I'll ask the people close to Kanbara-senpai. Which teacher it was."

"I-it was me..."

"Eh?"

The Vice-Principal answered. He himself was the one who'd been following Kanbara-senpai. Still, while glancing nervously around, he denied it was intentional.

"I-it's a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding. I'm also the assistant adviser for the PC Club, so I often go to the computer lab. I'm her math teacher too, and she's the math class representative. Naturally I'm often nearby. I just happen to be close a lot... wait."

"Wait?"

Faced with my reaction, he rattled off more words whose truth I couldn't tell.

"Kanbara-san is a bit... overly cautious, so she jumped to a strange conclusion about me... H-hey, this has nothing to do with you, right? Got it? Go on, go home!"

He waved his hands as if shooing me away. But I won't lose. I can't let him force through the claim that it's an outsider no matter what.

"W-wait a minute. How can you say it's unrelated? You were at the crime scene, right? Even if an outsider went out of their way to kill the cat, I don't see why they'd leave a bow, books, balls, and a fox mask in front of the body!"

That tiny remark. The female detective reacted to the statement that would contradict pinning it on an outsider.

"That's right... Vice-Principal Kanou, do you have any idea about that?"

"N-no idea! B-but an outsider..."

"Exactly."

Just as I relaxed at this turn of events—

The betrayal walked in. Step by step.

"That's right. Unless we understand that, we absolutely can't say it's an outsider..."

"What do you think, detective?"

"Huh?"

Thinking the female detective had suddenly asked me, I almost denied being a detective. But she wasn't paying any attention to me. She was speaking to someone behind me.

There's another detective.

No way—Azuma? That worst possible detective?

With every fiber of hatred, I focused murderous intent on where the detective was.

Yet there was no man there. Instead, a woman with fluffy chestnut hair waves, holding a smartphone.

A detective who spouted deductions in a high voice.

"I will solve this case, so rest assured. The inexplicable items that were dropped have already revealed the truth. A fox mask and an occult book. From these I derive a curse. Yes, this truth means nothing to you detectives. What matters is who tried to cast that curse. And that would be—the victim herself! In other words, the items that fell were simply Kanbara Mahiru's belongings. Which proves this crime could have been committed by an outsider!"