The twittering birds and some crows singing their voice out near Rook's room window alarmed him to wake up. He was on his pajama and night slippers when he opened the window. He saw the sun's light trying to penetrate the dark part of his room from the window. He guarded his face by his right hand as his left held on the open window.
"Go away crows! Your wails are annoying me now!" he shouted. The crows seem to have understood his words and flew away. He wanted to return to bed and sleep more. Cases are getting on his nerves and he is totally stressed by the questioning clients about certain records, certain cases, and consulting him for some ways to prevent a stalker…all of which made him stressed.
Rook yawned. He gazed at the ticking clock beside his pillow. His stressed eyes and crestfallen face appeared on the mirror he faced.
There was a knock at the door. He let it knock three times before he opened it. It was Tatsumi. His blond hair was gone. Now it was black. Rook wondered and asked him. Tatsumi smiled and jived into a question to escape the true reason why.
"Have you heard?" Tatsumi asked.
"What?"
"It seems that someone is going to build a large house next here. A new neighbor."
Rook thought for a second. The lot near them was empty for about three years already. He remembered that Raone told him that the lot was already sold quite a long time by a family but they planned to stay abroad first before building up the house.
"Yeah, officer Raone mentioned me about it. Do you know the name or the family name of which who will stay there?"
"Uh-huh. I was walking near the lot when I spoke up with the engineer. The family name is Kawashima."
Rook speechlessly looked out from the window and thought what could the Kawashima family look like.
Rook went to the market to get some ingredients for ramen and soup. Tatsumi was the one left at the agency to look up at the clients. It is his lucky day, the agency is silent and without a case. He sat on the sofa and turned on the compact disc player. The song hyped his morning up, the first track is his favorite song, 'I am nothing to You'.
Tatsumi relaxed himself on the sofa and lied down there. "Now this is the day to relax…!" said he and closed his eyes. The song rejuvenated his feeling but the melody is pulling his energy to be awake. It wanted him to be asleep.
He was about to get asleep when the phone rang so loudly it even dominated the music. He turned the player off and answered the phone.
"Kazuki Detective Agency, who is this?"
"Tatsumi-pon…?" the voice uttered. Tatsumisilently listened to the voice for a second. The voice is very familiar. His detective senses knew it was someone he knew.
"Tatsumi-pon?" the voice repeated.
"H-Hana?" replied Tatsumi, when realizing it was his best friend Hana.
"How are you now?" he asked.
"I am leaving Malaysia and going there to Japan…I want to see you!"
"W-what? What for?" Tatsumi asked, with the sweat drop face expressed.
"I want to see you and I also want to ask something to you and Detective Rook…"
"Is it about a case?"
Hana stopped replying. Tatsumi herd a plane ready for its flight on the phone line.
"I'm sorry Tatsumi, I have to go, I'll be there in Japan in no time…wait for me..!"
"Wa-wait!" he declared, but the phone was cut.
He knew Hana is ready for her flight. He heard the planes on the phone. He deduced, only he will hear those in two consequences, when someone plays it in a certain player to deceive a receiver or the person is in the airport…and it is evident, Hana is on a Malaysian airport, going to Japan.
He sat on the sofa and excitedly thought for it a second. Hana was his first friend when they were in high school, except Rook and Knight, who already were his friends. They were close that many even mistaken them as love birds.
"Hana…how are you right now? Will you be the Hana I met when we were still in high school?"
The door of the agency opened, as it gives way for Rook, who held three large bags of fruits, ingredients and a large box. Tatsumi helped him to carry it and place it on the floor. The ingredients and the fruits were taken aside on the kitchen by Rook.
"Hey Tatsumi, you want to hype up the day? Open that box will ya…" Rook asked, returning from the kitchen.
"What's this anyway?"
"Who knows, the delivery met me in the road and gave it to me. He said it was for us, I looked up at the name and it was from Hana. I've heard of that name before but I don't remember quite well who is that…"
"She's my friend. Remember, the one I told you about before, when we were in case at the seventh hotel of Hyogo?"
"Ah, I remembered Tatsumi, she was your first best friend in the high school days."
Tatsumi was speechless. Before Hana comes, she already had a gift. He inspected the large box first and saw the Malaysian stamp on it. He was about to remove the tape of the box when Rook stopped him.
"Let's play a game of deduction, to detect what is inside this box within three moves" Rook suggested.
"I agree. Me first."
Tatsumi first carried the box again. He wanted to know the weight of the box. It was a little bit heavy. He shook it round two times and heard sudden rolling inside the box. After the rolling thing, he heard a sudden noise of a cellophane or a plastic cellophane container inside. Lastly that he inspected was the bottom part of the box. He was sure it was some kind of board or a wood.
"Your three moves is over, Tatsumi. So, what's your guess what it is?"
"Basing on my inspection, this is a board game set. The noise I heard are probably the pieces. Although the noise was not loud and simple, I believe this board game set is a snake and ladder board game."
Rook smiled. "You have mistaken, Tatsumi."
"Why so?"
"There are four underlying hints. First, the one who delivered it to you is your best friend. She knows what interests you, that is, everything you like. Second hint, the sound of the rolling thing inside the box is a plastic dice. The plastic dice's sound is heard to contact the wood on the bottom of the box. Third, the plastic cellophane sound. Probably, those are the other pieces to be installed on the board game.
Fourth, the sound of the rolling dice, when you rolled was not continuous, meaning it stopped somewhere when it hit the other pieces inside. Therefore, the board of the game set has something installed on it."
"Meaning…?"
"The box contains an interesting board game…the board game Cluedo…"
Tatsumi was interested on the given hints and opened the large box. Rook was one hundred percent right! Although he deduced it was a board game, he never knew that it was the board game Cluedo!
"Amazing Rook, amazing! You deduced it better than I do…and you even haven't made your three moves to deduce it."
"Ah…interesting…" replied Rook and placed the game board on the table of the office. "Here we go, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, and Professor Plum. The game we always wanted to play other than chess…am I right, Tatsumi? Hana, your friend, has deduced your long time wish to play…"
Tatsumi was amazed. "Certainly true…"
He looked at the board set and grinned. It was a long time wish to own a board game like that.
Rings from the phone alerted Tatsumi and answered it. It was Hana.
"Hana! Thank you for the gift! I have been wishing to own a board game like this one…"
"Yep! I know, because I know you're bored of playing chess with Rook because you always lose..ha-ha!"
He glanced at Rook who was listening to their conversation and laughed at him silently. He was teasing him because Hana knew Tatsumi can't win in chess with him. Tatsumi's crestfallen face gleamed in Rook's eyes.
"Well I can't win. Anyway, have your trip enjoyed."
"Bye-bye Tatsumi-love!"
"Bye.."
The agency opened early in the morning. Rook and Tatsumi challenged their greatness in elimination and deduction in the board game Tatsumi gave. Tatsumi looked at his cards on hand, they are the last of which he think are the luck which will bring him to victory. His cards were the Knife, Col. Mustard, and Conservatory. Rook has three cards as well, Dining Room, Ms. Scarlet and Rope. He thought, there is one last card which is not eliminated on hand. If Tatsumi will give him a place card, then it is evident that he will win…on the contrary, if he waits for the right time for Tatsumi to change a move, then he loses and might give the situation for him to lose the cards he has.