Murder At The Rainy Mansion ~The Never Ending 100 Tales~

Chapter 23: Are you going to say that line?

A while later, Shimizu came to the mansion after hearing the news from Tanimoto. When Ayano was talking to Tanimoto in the wide hallway in front of the entrance, she saw Shimizu entered the front door and took off his shoes.

Then Shimizu pulled a face while asking, “Hayase Ayano. Yesterday you said it was a locked-room murder. What’s next?”

Ayano: “It is not like I’m the perpetrator—”

“Maybe you’re not but you are the one who complicate things.” Shimizu hurriedly cut off her words.

However, Ayano remained calm and replied, “Shimizu-san. This is a place where the boundary between the living and the dead is ambiguous. You won’t be able to solve anything if you ignore the existence of spirits. You should know this better than anyone else.”

Shimizu was at a loss for words. Ayano continued, “But this time, I think even you might not be able to see the whole picture.”

Shimizu: “What do you mean?”

Ayano held out her hand while saying, “There is something I’m curious about. Can you show me the list of people who were inside this mansion when the incident happened?”

* * *

They went to the tatami room occupied by the investigation team. Ayano looked at the name list and muttered to herself, “Hmm. I see.”

“You are only allowed to see the names,” Shimizu reminded her.

Ayano flipped the pages and replied, “No problem. I only need to know the names.” She looked at the documents stapled together and nodded her head. “I see… Detectives—”

“Stop! Please don’t.” Shimizu cut her off hastily.

Ayano: “What’s wrong?”

Shimizu: “I know you are going to say that.”

Ayano: “Say what?”

“You are going to gather everyone here and then say the clichéd lines “Well then”, isn’t it? People like you always use the information from the police and then suddenly start to show off making deduction of the case,” Shimizu said in an angry tone.

Ayano returned the documents to Shimizu. “Hmm, okay. Let me think about this again,” she said before leaving the room.

If I really says “Well then” here, I think I might get killed, Ayano thought to herself while walking towards the kitchen. Suddenly, she stopped and returned back to the room.

Ayano: “No, I can’t. We don’t have time. Please gather everyone immediately.”

“What’s her problem?” Shimizu muttered under his breath even though he still accepted her request. “But it is impossible to gather every single person at this time.”

Ayano: “Oh, is it? Then you can just call Sudo Jiro-san to come here.”

Shimizu: “Uh-huh. I guess he is the murderer then.”