"Ii-chan, you're back." Kunagisa sat on her bed, her body wrapped in a pure white bathrobe. Hikari-san was on the sofa. Seeing that I had returned, she breathed a sigh of relief. Trying to handle a conversation with a bath-fresh, spunky Kunagisa was no task for an amateur, so I knew how Hikari-san felt.
"Ii-chan, look, I washed my hair. Compliment me, compliment me."
"It's cute."
Her hair had turned a pretty, cobalt blue. "It's not easy bearing recessive genes," she herself would often say.
"Are you gonna take a bath, too, Ii-chan? You might come up with a good idea in there, y'know, like Archimedes. And then run around the mansion naked, also like him."
"That would be… A problem," Hikari-san said in all seriousness. It was like she thought I would really do it. I had no intention of making myself the mansion weirdo. "But Archimedes really was a strange guy, wasn't he? All geniuses are, huh?" Hikari-san said thoughtfully. I wondered which person in the mansion she was imagining. It looked as if it could have been anyone or no one.
"Nudity wasn't so uncommon in those days, Hikari-san. I don't think he was being particularly strange."
"You're so wise, Ii-chan."
"Yes, I am. So Hikari-san, what was it you needed?"
"Oh, right. My mistress sent me to come to investigate what's going on with Kunagisa-san."
She was sure an honest girl. I told her there was no point if she went and told us that's what she was doing. She laughed embarrassedly.
"I know. Akari's really better at this kind of thing, but she'll be staying on the mainland tonight. She won't be back until tomorrow morning."
"She went to call on that detective, right?" I was a little bit interested, so I went ahead and asked. "So, what's this person like, anyway? Judging from the way you talk, it sounds like you've met before. Are you well acquainted?"
"Yes, I suppose so. Aikawa-san came to our rescue once before. There was an incident, and, well…" she vaguely trailed off. It didn't seem like it was supposed to be a secret, but maybe just an unpleasant conversation.
"Hmm, an incident, huh? On this island?"
"Yes. This was right after my mistress had been sent here, and before it had become this sort of 'salon.' So we called Aikawa-san here, and, well, the case was solved almost immediately," Hikari-san said with great emotion. "Aikawa-san has kind of a violent temper, you see. Cynical and emotional, like the entire world is an enemy. I think Aikawa-san's success in solving cases is fueled by rage alone."
"Huh…"
She seemed to be carefully choosing her words as she spoke, but not very effectively. I couldn't put together a concrete picture of this guy at all.
"So, pretty short-tempered?"
"Well, it's more like Aikawa-san is in a perpetual state of rage. Even if you catch a glimpse of a smile, there's always this sort of hostility hanging in the air, and… I'm sorry, it's kind of hard to describe. Anyway, it's like Aikawa-san has a grudge against the whole world."
"I see," I said, even though I didn't. "But all the detectives I've ever read about in mystery novels are all so cool and reserved. They're always saying stuff like 'Didn't you realize that?' You could replace eighty percent of their dialogue with 'What are you, stupid?' and it would still make sense. But based on what you're saying, this Aikawa-san sounds like some sort of hotheaded defender of justice with zero tolerance for criminals."
"Oh, well, it's not like that. It's not just zero tolerance for criminals, it's zero tolerance for the entire world. You know, always saying things like 'This world could be so much better! Why are you bastards all slacking?'"
He really was hotheaded. A rare type of person these days. It was such a contrast to me and my vague, passive babbling. It was almost beautiful.
"But despite all the anger and grouchiness, it just doesn't do any good to get frustrated with the laziness of others, so Aikawa-san would just give this cynical smile. Maybe you know the type. To say the least, it serves as quite a contrast from you and Kunagisa-san."
In describing this detective, Hikari-san seemed sort of gleeful. Like she was boasting about a close friend or something. Or more like a hero. It was just like when Iria-san had described him.
"Is that right? Well, that's probably the better way to be," I said, just trying to keep the conversation going. "Do you think Aikawa-san is reliable?"
"Yes, for sure."
"That's a relief. Even if we can't figure out the mystery in the next six days, we have a backup savior."
"Well, let's not count our chickens before they hatch."
"I'm cautious. Or maybe I'm a coward. Either way is good, I guess."
"Either way is good?" She gave me a confused look. "You know, this may be strange coming from me, but why is everyone able to stay so calm in a situation like this?"
"Well, that's a complicated question."
"Sorry. But you know, it's like, even though someone was killed, everyone is so… What can I say…?"
"Maybe they're just used to it."
At least, that was my case.
I didn't really know the difference between "used to" and "numb to," though.
"Yeah, but Shinya-chan and Yayoi-chan seemed to react pretty naturally," Kunagisa said.
"That's right, but hey, Hikari-san, you and your sisters seem pretty calm, too. What about that?"
"Well, we've been trained to maintain composure." She sounded a little sad about it.
Her twenty-seven years of living probably hadn't been much of a cakewalk.
"Oh, right," she said, breaking the awkward silence with the snap of her fingers. "My mistress told me to make sure I ask you this. Earlier you said something about understanding so much that you don't understand, right? But really, you must know something, right?"
About that space enclosed by a river of paint.
Hmm…
That "mistress" of hers must've been sharper than she was worldly.
"Nothing to brag about, really. Any mystery novel fan would've been able to solve it easily. But you know, when you're approached with a mystery like this in real life, it proves to be pretty perplexing. I guess the answers get a little drowned out by the smell of blood, the taste of death."
"Hahaha, weird, Ii-chan," Kunagisa laughed.
It was an innocent, vulnerable laugh.
It made my head spin a little.
Did I want to be chosen?
By her?
My sudden silence drew the quizzical gaze of Hikari-san, but a moment later she turned to Kunagisa. "Um, Tomo-san? If you do know, I hope that you'll tell me."
"Sure, why not? It took a while to pin it down, but I finally figured it out," Kunagisa nodded. "Erm, where should I start?"
"Um, well first, if you wouldn't mind… Could you tell me what you meant earlier? About knowing so much you don't know?"
"It is like the difference between bottom-up and top-down," I cut in, lacking faith in Kunagisa's ability to explain it. "Like, say, for example, that table is a sandbox and you want to make a mound of sand as high as possible. What would you do?"
"Start from the sides and push all the sand together into a mountain."
"Right. So would I. But Kunagisa wouldn't do that. She would take a whole bunch of sand and just dump it on the table. The resulting mountain of sand would be just like the one you and I built. You and I would gradually build-up to the final product, little by little. Kunagisa dumps everything out altogether. That's how her mind processes things. Right, Tomo?"
"I don't really get your analogy."
Big surprise there.
At any rate, Hikari-san seemed to get me, and she nodded along.
"Okay, so will you tell me the secret behind that paint room?"
"Sure, if you'll answer my question, Hikari-chan."
Hikari-san stared blankly back at her as if she didn't understand the question. Kunagisa, paying no mind to that, turned back to her computer. She pointed to the screen on the computer I had been using.
"Okay, first, let's review the scene of the crime. Ta-daaa. The atelier."
She used an image viewer program to display all of the pictures. That stream of marble like the Sanzu River. The headless body on the other side. Images that actualized our memories of the morning. Oblivious to such notions, Kunagisa began her explanation.
"The primary puzzle is this river of paint. The earthquake happened at 1 a.m., causing the shelf to fall over, which resulted in what you now see. That much is clear. The river is too wide to jump. If we suppose the murder happened after the earthquake, the killer's means of entry are a mystery. Or at least, the means of exit are. You with me so far?"
"Yes. So far."
"At this point, it's easy to pin the crime on the monster Ashinaga Tenaga, but the answer isn't that simple."
Hikari-san gave a strange laugh. Either she didn't know who Ashinaga Tenaga was or she was just giving a strange laugh.
"So you're forced to think that the murder happened before the earthquake. If that were the case, it would've been easy for the murderer to get in and out. No footprints, no blocked passages. In which case, it seems like Akane-san must be the killer since she was the only one who didn't have an alibi. But that's where Shinya-san's testimony comes in. He confirmed that he heard Kanami-san's voice when he called her after the earthquake. This means that Kanami-san must have been alive at least for a few minutes after the earthquake. So, Hikari-san, what do you think?"
"Well, I, uh…" She tilted her head to the side. It was pretty adorable. "I guess the killer must've come through the window. It's the only other way. But the window is locked, so…"
"From the window, huh? There is that possibility. Glass is fundamentally closer to a liquid than a solid, after all, so a lock might not necessarily do much good. Or they could have dug a tunnel as well."
Yeah, right.
"Well, you must've figured it out by this point, right, Kunagisa?"
"Not even a little."
"It's the post hoc fallacy, Hikari-san," I said, coming to her rescue. I had been holding out so long because she was so cute when she was confused, but in the end, I couldn't help but feel bad for her.
Kunagisa nodded.
"Yup. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. In Japanese, that's 'mistaken cause and effect.' It refers to a misinterpretation of the Law of Syllogism. You know, like false assumptions. The world isn't so neatly organized."
"I don't understand Latin."
"Hey, but you knew it was Latin."
"That's because you said ergo"
Cogito ergo sum, huh?
Hikari-san was sharper than she looked.
"For example, imagine I've got a hundred-yen coin and I say 'It's going to come up heads.' I said it, okay? And then I toss the coin. Okay, it's heads! What do you think? You think it was a coincidence, right? That's normal. But some people don't get it. They figure I said I would throw a heads and it was heads, therefore I must have some kind of special power to control the coin."
For the record, it was a trick coin.
"I drank some alcohol and my cold went away, therefore alcohol cures colds. I turned on my computer and a visitor showed up, therefore computers summon visitors. A man looked at a woman, and she happened to be looking in his direction, therefore she must have been interested in him. A catfish was dancing, and then an earthquake happened, so the earthquake must have been the catfish's fault. None of that makes much sense, right, Hikari-chan? In other words, just because B happens after A doesn't mean A and B have a cause-effect relationship. The sequence and timing of two events is no reflection of cause and effect. So let's think about this case now. There was an earthquake, then a river of paint was formed, therefore the earthquake created the river of paint. Is that right?"
"Oh."
Oh. That.
It finally dawned on her.
"So that river wasn't caused by the earthquake?"
"Well, the shelf itself probably really did fall over because of it. And it probably did cause a little bit of paint to spill out. Kanami-chan even said so on the phone. But I doubt it would've caused such an incredible amount of paint to spill everywhere. The paint cans probably rolled around and let a few drops out. If you think about it, those paint can lids are relatively strong, so it's not likely that just falling over would've caused them to spill all over the place like that. But even if was just a little bit, Kanami-chan was confined to a wheelchair, so for her, it was impossible to leave the atelier."
"Oh, I see where this is going," Hikari-san said. "That makes sense. So then the killer snuck into the room and murdered her. Then, on the way out, purposely spilled paint around the room, little by little. If you did it slowly, little by little, you could make a river like that without leaving any footprints." She appeared to be imagining the killer walking around with a can of paint as she talked.
Yup. We had all assumed that the earthquake had caused the river of paint. But in reality, it didn't take a major disaster or even a major artist to make something like that. It could've been the work of any amateur.
No artistic talent required.
It wasn't a very demanding task, to say the least.
"But why would the killer do that?"
"Probably to make us think it happened because of the quake," I said. "They mustn't have known that Kanami-san talked to Shinya-san on the phone. So they figured by making the river, people would naturally assume it was caused by the quake."
"So this means…"
"Yup. It means," I said, clapping my hands together once and then spreading them out wide, "the suspect list just got way longer."
There were only four people with post-earthquake alibis: Iria-san and Rei-san, and then Maki-san and Shinya-san. The remaining people were no longer cleared of suspicion.
"So then there's no point in keeping Sonoyama-san locked up, right?" Hikari-san said cheerfully. "I mean, right? She's not the only one under suspicion anymore."
She must have been feeling pretty guilty about how we had treated Akane-san. It seemed she wasn't much of a mathematical thinker. It was quite a contrast from the rational Sonoyama Akane herself. I decided to tell her.
"Akane-san already knew about the paint trick, too. She's just pretending she doesn't know."
"Why?" Hikari-san asked, looking honestly baffled. "Isn't that strange? Why would she do something like that?"
"Probably to preserve this safety situation we've got here. That brain of hers sure keeps busy."
To create the best possible circumstances for everyone else, she didn't even have any reservation about putting herself in the worst possible circumstances. It was almost an inhuman way of thinking, but extremely admirable nonetheless.
"So we should keep this a secret then, huh?"
"Yeah. The killer is still at large, so I don't think it would be good to upset the situation any further. I suppose Iria-san has a right to know, though. As far as that goes, do whatever you like."
I wasn't going to be that much of a roadblock.
Hikari-san let out a moan. "But it's so… I mean, that thing about the river not really being caused by the earthquake… It's so simple. Like I should've seen it a long time ago."
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it, either. But you know, any trick seems simple once you figure it out. By now, I've seen tons of tricks that were even stupider."
"But who could've possibly thought up such a trick right after the earthquake?" She was still unconvinced. "I mean, what were the odds there was even going to be an earthquake? It's all too much of a coincidence."
"Well, that brings us to the Law of Great Numbers, Hikari-chan."
"What is that?" Hikari-san gave Kunagisa a sideways glance. "The Law of Great Numbers?"
"It means that something looks like an amazing coincidence, but when you sit down and think about it, it's not really so amazing after all. Like, for example, if you saw someone win the lottery, wouldn't you think it was amazing? You're less likely to hit the jackpot than to spot a tear in the ocean. But if you think about it, that's only true if the guy only bought one lottery ticket. Practically nobody who plays the lottery only buys one ticket, one time. If you have a group of twenty-three people, there's a fifty percent chance two of them will have the same birthday. Even still, it seems incredible, right? That's the Law of Great Numbers. The earthquake just happened to come today, but it wouldn't have changed anything if it had happened tomorrow instead. Plus, it's not likely that the killer was counting on this earthquake trick alone. They probably considered a whole variety of ideas. It's the same concept."
"Do you mean like multiple means to one end?"
"Yup yup, you got it. And it all relates back to that misunderstanding of cause and effect," Kunagisa said, poking Hikari-san with her index finger. "Now, Hikari-chan. It's time for my question."
"Oh, that's right. We made a deal," she righted her posture and nodded. "Go ahead, ask me anything."
"Why is Iria-chan here?"
It was a question that immediately changed the entire atmosphere.
Here.
This island.
Wet Crow's Feather Island.
Why was Akagami Iria here?
In a single instant, Hikari-san's usual cheerful demeanor went completely stiff. She was clearly trembling. It wasn't confusion, but utter fear, pure and simple.
Was it really that bad?
"Um, uh, well…" her voice wavered, unable to put the words together. "Well, um, that's…"
"You can't answer?"
"Just that one question—please don't make me, Tomo-san." She hung her head as if she might even collapse. Her posture went limp as if she were ready to pass out. "I'll answer anything else, just not this."
Hikari-san looked truly pitiable. It was like we were the devil trying to get her to do something wicked. Give us your soul. Your most precious thing belongs to us now. What an awful bunch of nonsense.
"No, it's okay, we don't mind," I said, breaking into the conversation. "Right, Tomo?"
"Yup. No use trying to force it out of ya." For all her selfishness, Kunagisa was being uncharacteristically sensitive. "Sorry, Hikari-chan."
"No, I'm sorry. You were just asking a question."
Hikari-san stood up. "Sorry I bothered you." She started to leave, but then paused and looked back. "Oh, by the way." She sounded like Detective Columbo or something, except much cuter so it wasn't creepy. She was even smiling. "This has nothing to do with my mistress. I'm asking you personally… Do you really believe Himena-san has special powers?"
Did we believe it?
Maki-san's ESP?
The ability to know all.
After thinking for a moment, I answered. "Right now, there's no particular reason not to."
"I don't really care if she has 'em or not," Kunagisa chimed in.
"Oh, yeah, you're probably right." Hikari-san gave a convincing nod, then left the room. My eyes stayed on the door for a while as I thought about her bizarre reaction to our question about Iria-san.
"Well, whatever."
It probably didn't have anything to do with this incident. It seemed highly unlikely that Iria-san's exile here had any influence on Kanami-san's death. Just then Kunagisa's workstation emitted a strange boyoyon boyoyonnn noise. I looked over at it to see Kunagisa had once again started doing something on it.
"What's up?"
"Mail, I got some mail. From Chii-kun. He's a fast one. People used to always say he ignores the theory of relativity like it was a traffic light."
She had just asked him to run a check this afternoon, so he sure wasn't slow—not to mention the fact that he was incarcerated.
"Wow, Himena-san's real name is Himena Shinari. Wow. That's a much better name. I wonder why she uses a fake one."
"Her real name? Hey, this guy even tracked down trivial stuff like that?"
"Yep. He was supposed to see how everyone was connected, but, man, he sure has a lousy personality. Seriously, he doesn't understand how to communicate with people at all. Oh, wait. Here it is. Hey, Ii-chan, we've got a connection."
I went over to her, but everything on the screen was in English, so I didn't understand it.
"Why don't you understand English, Ii-chan? Where were you studying all that time? The South Pole? Mars?"
"I forgot it, that's all. If you don't use something, it only stays with you for three or four months, y'know? Besides, my reading and writing were always worse than my conversation."
"Didn't the ER program entrance exam require English, Russian, and Chinese? How'd you get in? Backdoor?"
"It's like I'm tellin' you, I used to know it."
"Sounds like a lie to me. Anyway, I'll translate it. It says: 'Ibuki Kanami and Sonoyama Akane were spotted having lunch in a Chicago café.' About half a year ago. It's an eyewitness account. Hmm… 'lunch together.' I wonder why. Don't those two hate each other?"
"They had lunch together?"
As suspected, they had a connection. But why were they doing something like that? Akane-san had lived in the States, and Kanami-san was a world-traveling artist, so it wasn't that implausible that they could've met over there, but they sure weren't the sort of pair to be having lunch dates together.
"Yup, and it wasn't just a lunch date, either. It was at a super-secret club."
"Secret club?"
Speaking of sounding like a lie.
"Yup," Kunagisa nodded. "That's right. Those places really do exist. Even in Japan, there are some, though, not many. All sorts of politicians and celebrities and their families go there. Maybe 'high-class clubs' would be a more accurate description. The security at those places is out of this world."
Which raised the question of how this guy got the information, but I sure wasn't about to ask. Sometimes it's better not to touch the other end of the tunnel.
"Is that definite?"
"Chii-kun doesn't lie. But sometimes he doesn't tell the truth, either. I guess that makes him like you."
"Eh… I lie plenty."
I'll just let that say what it says.
So Sonoyama Akane and Ibuki Kanami had a connection. Whether or not it was important information, it was certainly something to be concerned about. I decided it was probably best to confirm it with Akane-san tomorrow. It never occurred to me that this would turn out to be impossible.
"There's some other stuff here about how everyone's doing recently. Natchan's doing about the same, huh? Ah, Satchan seems to be having some rough times. Hii-chan's gone missing. That is so him. The Admiral found a job… Wow, a nice job. Atchan, too. Everyone else is doing well. Chii-kun, too. That's a relief. Have to admit, I was feeling a little guilty."
Feeling a little left out as she immersed herself in memories of the good ol' days, I rolled over on the sofa. "Let's get to sleep already," I said. Since Akane-san was in the storeroom now, I was stuck sleeping here.
"Okeydokey." She finished checking her mail, switched off the workstation, and dove off the revolving chair into bed. Then she rose to her knees. "Ii-chan, let's sleep together tonight, for sure."
"Pass."
"It's so cold at night. If you sleep over there, you'll catch a cold. This bed is a king-size. Lotsa room."
"Pass."
"Come on, I won't do anything! We'd just be sleeping together, that's all. I won't even touch you. You can even sleep with your back to me. Come on, that's not so bad, right?"
"Pass."
"Please? I'm lonely over here."
Damn this girl.
She was really digging at this time.
I got up from the couch and looked her right in the eye.
"You swear you won't do anything?"
"Yes."
"You swore. I'm gonna believe you."
"No sweat," she nodded. "I won't let you down."
And so that night I slept on a real bed for the first time after so long. A very long time. Not that I was expecting anything, but she really did keep her promise, and I could hear her sleep-breathing behind me. But since I had my back to her, I didn't know if she was really sleeping.
I remembered.
The old days.
Way back then.
Years ago.
Wow, was it really so long ago?
"Ii-chan."
She always used to call my name like that, with that sense of familiarity in her voice.
Her heart was just as open to me now, like we had never been apart.
Wide-open, no façades.
I really don't like meeting up with people from the past.
Whether they've changed or not, it's a lonely experience for me.
Nevertheless, Kunagisa's house was the first place I went to when I came back to Japan, before even going to my own home, and I did so without hesitation.
The blue-haired femme.
She still looked exactly the same.
Like those years had never happened.
I closed my eyes.
Surely this was the first time we'd slept side by side in a long while.
Just take her, Akane-san had said.
If you want to be her one-and-only.
If you want not to be loved, but chosen.
"Nonsense…"
What if…
If I told Akane-san I had already tried that before, would she have held it against me?
It hadn't been out of love, but out of a desire for destruction.
But Akane-san.
It didn't mean anything.
Really.
Really, it meant nothing.
So then what?
Then what should I do?
Please tell me.