"With the corpse wrapped up in a sleeping bag, it didn't get dirty even when we buried it. After we left the burial site, Shinya-san dug Kanami-san's body back up. Then, with body in tow, he headed for the storage room window. From the outside, I mean. He knocked on the window and Akane-san opened it from the inside. In went the body, and they made the switch. That's basically it."
Taking a look over the crowd to see their reaction, especially Shinya-san's, I continued.
"It was strange. When we went to bury Kanami-san's body, Shinya-san brought a sleeping bag along. It was a coffin. But hold the phone there a second. Why would he have a sleeping bag? Maybe if this was a camping trip, but nobody would bring a sleeping bag when they've been invited to a mansion. So maybe it was already at the mansion, to begin with? See, that's what I had thought. I thought Iria-san had offered it to him for the sake of the burial. Certainly, in a mansion like this, a mansion that offers beds with canopies even in the guest rooms, it's a little unnatural for there to be sleeping bags lying around, but it's not impossible. So that's what I thought. But the second time, when Akane-san's corpse — actually Kanami-san's corpse again — was discovered, Hikari-san brought us a stretcher. Is there some reason you would offer a sleeping bag for the first person but not for the second? Not likely. Even if there was a reason, Hikari-san would've told me. And so one assumption crumbles. There were no sleeping bags here, after all. Shinya-san must have brought one himself even though this isn't camping. It's as if he knew from the start he would need something in which to bury a body. He knew that he couldn't let the body get dirty."
"So he… Recycled the body?"
"Bingo, you've got it. Shinya-san and Akane-san murdered Kanami-san and from her created a new, 'phantom' corpse. That's basically it."
"But there was blood in the storage room," Iria-san said. "If that body was a day old, there wouldn't have been so much blood."
"There was no way for us to determine whether or not that was Akane-san's blood. Maybe the police could have. Indeed, if the police were here, this crazy incident never would have happened. But you didn't want to call the police. Understandable. Due to certain circumstances, you couldn't call them. Knowing that, Akane-san was free to assume that even if there was another incident, the police wouldn't come. The blood could have been from a blood bank or even from an animal. We'll have to ask Akane-san or Shinya-san to find out."
But Shinya-san remained silent, refusing to answer. I let it be and continued. "In the same sense, if the police had been here, they could have told us that the body was a day old already. But we're not professionals. All we know is the difference between dead and alive. Maybe after ten days, we'd be able to discern the age of the corpse, and maybe a little faster in the summer, but this isn't the summer. This is the season of blooming cherry blossoms."
"So they changed the corpse's clothes?"
"Yes. Akane-san called Hikari-san to her room in the middle of the night just to show her what she was wearing. Kanami-san's body was already in the room at that time. That room has an inward-opening door, so all she had to do was hide the body in the shadows behind it. As long as she came out to greet Hikari-san, Hikari-san wouldn't enter the room. This was likely the riskiest part of the whole ploy. If there was ever a point that proved Akane-san was going out on a limb, it was this scene. But she had to go out on a limb. As I said before, she did it so that she could make us all think Kanami-san's body was hers. Also, to narrow down the time of the murder and to give her accomplice, Shinya-san, a solid alibi."
That night, Shinya-san was with Maki-san drinking the whole night. Maki-san had invited him, but supposing she hadn't, he probably would've invited her. Or it's even possible that he would have invited us instead of Maki-san. Of course, now that all was said and done, that was just a trivial detail.
"That's also why they smashed Kunagisa's PCs. The PCs and digital camera contained images. Images of Kanami-san's corpse. If we carefully compared those images with Akane-san's corpse in the storage room, there was a chance that we would realize they were in fact the same body."
"Actually, that's true," Kunagisa said. "Something had been bothering me. The hands, or the fingers or something. Yeah, that's it, huh? It's not like Kanami-chan and Akane-chan have the same fingerprints."
She let out a sigh. It seemed she was disappointed in herself for not noticing right off the bat. Everyone else probably thought she was joking, but I knew she probably wasn't.
For crying out loud.
"But why would they do such a thing?"
"There are altogether too many possibilities as far as that's concerned, but in my opinion, she was trying to 'erase her existence.' Akane-san created a phantom 'thirteenth person' by using the same body twice, and in so doing, succeeded in erasing her own existence. There are plenty of hiding places around here. It's a huge mansion, and many of the rooms aren't locked. And there's always the possibility she was outside the mansion."
"Why would she need to erase her own existence?"
"That's simple. Isn't it obvious? If she became a victim, if she herself was murdered, she would no longer be under surveillance. She would be free to move about, beyond the confines of thought and reason, like some kind of invisible woman. In which case, breaking Kunagisa's computers, for example, became a simple task. Even causing a fourth incident, such as another murder, would have been simple. But again, we won't know for sure what they had planned unless we ask Akane-san or Shinya-san."
"We were going to kill everyone."
This time he was gracious enough to answer. He spoke with a coldness that told of his complete surrender. He spoke with indifference.
"Everyone on this island. But to do so, she had to remove herself. It became apparent that her ability to move around would be cut off, either by the forming of teams or by having everyone stay together in one place, so she had to remove herself from everyone."
And once she was on the outside, she would just start picking people off one at a time, starting with the easiest prey. Shinya-san let out a weak chuckle. "And here she did such a good job of removing herself from the party. I never would've thought she wouldn't even be able to kill a single person. I thought she'd at least get through half of you."
"Shall we have you explain the rest then, Shinya-san?"
"No," he shook his head weakly. "I'll leave it all to you. That's your role here. It's your job."
I nodded without saying anything. "Well then, I don't think I need to explain the first sealed room at this point, do I? That was just a trick to distract us. They just needed to buy time until the second incident. It might not have been specifically planned to go down that way, but rather just a coincidental product of the Law of Great Numbers. Maybe the earthquake just happened to occur and she thought of it right then. Of course, she was planning the murder all along, but maybe she only decided on a specific plan once the earthquake occurred. Supposing that was the case, it was some incredibly quick thinking. You can't help but be impressed. Anyway, there was an earthquake. Then Shinya-san called. However, it wasn't Kanami-san on the other end, but Akane-san. Then Akane-san killed Kanami-san. Shinya-san said Kanami-san had said 'the paint spilled,' but that, too, was a trick. He used vague wording so that even if the trick was exposed, he could weasel out of it. Even I was tricked by that."
"Heh heh," Shinya-san laughed. "That's simply a coincidence."
"Well, I can't speak as to that, but anyway, Akane-san killed Kanami-san. Then she put together that 'sealed room.' By intentionally spilling the paint. Well, at least I wasn't wrong when I originally said she was the killer. That's right, Iria-san. Certainly, it was a high possibility. But that's all it was. Because Akane-san had created that sealed room, we couldn't say for certain. Of course, that was the whole point of the sealed room. To put herself under the 'perfect level of suspicion,' she placed herself in a position where she was the prime suspect, but where nobody could prove that she did it. Then she was locked in the storage room. Granted, I was the one who had suggested it, but even if I hadn't said anything, Shinya-san surely would have. There were only so many rooms with locking doors, so it would have been easy for them to guess where she would be held, and there had already been plenty of time for them to get to know the mansion. Of course, we can only speculate here, and if you don't feel like talking to Shinya-san about it, we'll never know the true answer."
On that note, it seemed to me that Akane-san's big tiff with Kanami-san was also done to intentionally show their sour relationship. Akane-san had wanted to put herself in that risky position.
You know, for later on.
I didn't know whether the fact that Akane-san was the only one without an alibi (well, actually Rei-san, too) was pure luck, or whether she had figured out a whole strategy. But it was probably just a coincidence.
That's what I thought.
"So then she switched with Ibuki-san's body?" Iria-san asked. "And then showed herself to Hikari-san in the middle of the night, put the clothes she had been wearing on Ibuki-san, escaped, and… Then she hid away somewhere in the mansion, right? Then during dinner, she was hiding right by the dining hall listening in on Sashirono-san's hysteria. She overheard her saying she was going to lock herself up in her room. So she turned back and hid in Sashirono-san's room. There's no lock, after all. Then there was the setup. Hmm, so that means Sashirono-san's breaking down and accusing Hikari was all a ruse you set up, doesn't it?"
"Yes," I nodded. "We could've just found her at that point if we had searched the whole mansion, but it's so huge. It just seemed like it would be a big hassle, so we set a trap instead. It was risky, though.
"The amazing thing about you is that you were able to just write that off as 'risky.'"
I didn't know who was speaking for a second, but it turned out to be Maki-san. It was the first time she had given me a compliment without a hint of sarcasm. I was just a little bit pleased.
"But hang on a second." Iria-san placed a hand on her own head and remained like that for a moment. "Something still seems off," she said. "Hmm, what is it? Something seems strange to me."
"Are you wondering how Akane-san got out of the storage room?"
"Yeah, that's it!" Iria-san said with a clap of her hands. "That's it. You haven't explained that yet. Did Shinya-san pull her up? Did she literally switch places with the corpse?"
"Nope. Shinya-san was only outside the mansion when we buried Kanami-san's body in the mountains. At that time, he did drop the body into the storage room, but he didn't pull Akane-san out. Hikari-san saw her the following night at 2 a.m., right? Plus, Shinya-san had an alibi that night as well. So he couldn't have pulled Akane-san out. That much is certain."
"Then did he drop a rope ladder down there or something?"
"That's not it, either. A rope ladder would've left a hole somewhere. I suppose it would've been possible if the rope was long enough, but Hikari-san saw that the window was closed at two a.m. Akane-san couldn't have tied the rope outside from the inside of her room. She would've needed an accomplice, but as I said, Shinya-san was busy at the time creating an alibi for himself with Maki-san."
"Then it's impossible," Iria-san pouted. "My head is spinning in circles. I feel like I've got cyanosis here."
"You must mean vertigo."
"That's the only kind of thing you ever explain, huh?" she grimaced. "Well? You must know the answer, right?"
"Yup," I nodded.
"She was locked in a room with a door that can only be unlocked from the outside, and a window that opens freely, and she wanted to get out. Iria-san, what would you have done in that situation?"
"I can't possibly imagine."
Spoken like a true princess.
"Well, what about you, Akari-san?"
I had already explained it to Hikari-san and Yayoi-san, so I asked Akari-san. I could've asked Teruko-san, Rei-san, or even Maki-san, but Akari-san was my favorite, after all, and I was hoping to break the awkwardness lingering from the morning's events.
"I… I guess I would stretch my arms up and jump."
"Right. But even if you jumped, you wouldn't reach the window."
"We're talking about the storage room, right? If I was locked in there, and jumping didn't work… Next I would try standing on a chair, stretching my arms up and jumping."
"Even then you don't reach."
"Then it's simple," she said with a forced cheerful expression. "I'd give up."
"That won't move this conversation anywhere."
"Well, it's over, right?"
Wow, she was blunt. Maybe it wasn't awkwardness, maybe she just plain hated me. Well, whatever. Time to change the channel.
"Akari-san says she would have used a chair. That's basically what anybody would do, right? Like a monkey trying to reach a high-hanging banana."
"Are you calling me a monkey?" she screamed, her face bright red. "Aren't you rude! You don't know the meaning of the word delicacy, do you? Are you trying to infuriate me?"
My mistake. It seemed I had changed the channel in the wrong direction.
"No, that's not what I meant. And you don't have to get so angry. Monkeys are adorable."
"I've never been so insulted in my entire life." She cast her face away from me. "From now on, you and I don't know each other."
Her disdain for me was unquestionably clear. I was a little bit shocked. Dammit, Kunagisa, what about impressing her with my smarts? It was the exact opposite outcome.
"Um, that's not good. Anyway, you stand on a chair. Just like anyone would. You jump, you stretch your arms out. You still don't reach. So what now? It's simple. You just get on a taller chair."
"There's only one chair in that room."
"Well, 'chair' is just a metaphor. It could be anything. So what was in that room?"
"Nothing. Books? The futon? A lamp and table?"
"There was something else, wasn't there? Something we all saw. It was practically all we saw."
A silence fell over the crowd. Maybe they couldn't think of it, maybe they had thought of it. Either way would've warranted such a reaction.
It was Iria-san who finally answered.
"It was Ibuki-san's corpse, wasn't it?"
"Bingo," I nodded.
What else needed to be said?
"Rigor mortis reaches its peak at around the first twenty-four-hour mark — well, depending on your sources. It was about 2 a.m., give or take, so almost exactly that much time had passed since Kanami-san was killed. Her body was probably stiff as a pole. I'm sure getting those clothes on her was no cakewalk, but there were merits here as well. I guess it had an upside and a downside."
"No cakewalk? It was a suit, for crying out loud. How do you get that on a stiff corpse? Maybe her joints were still moving, but still…"
"Then she could've brought two pairs of the same outfit. That way she could get it on the body while it was still relatively loose in the afternoon. Maybe Kanami's removed dress was hiding behind the door," I continued without pausing. "I arrived at this train of thought based on her reason for cutting off the head. That was, of course, so that Kanami's body could play the role of two people. Her face was a hindrance. But I believe there is one more reason she cut off the head. She may be the only person to have ever cut off someone's head for this reason. Yup. To flatten her shoulders."
"You mean because if she hadn't done that, if the shoulders weren't flat, she couldn't have used them as a step? Because Kanami-san wasn't a sturdy stepping stool?" Akari-san asked weakly, as if stricken with fear, or else hoping for some other answer. "Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes," I nodded. "Not just a step, but a 'staircase.' First she placed the chair, then stood Kanami-san's body up next to it, letting it lean against the wall a little. Then she used the chair as her first step, the body as her second, and made a final leap. Like a hop, step, and jump maneuver. Then she stretched out her arms and finally reached the window."
Kanami-san was always confined to a wheelchair, so I wasn't sure of her exact height, but considering Akane-san had thought to recycle the body that way, she was probably about as tall as Akane-san. And that was none too petite. Even without the head, she was at least five feet tall. If you added Akane-san's own height, it was a little over ten feet. Plus she was extending her arms. Plus she jumped. As long as her hand made it to the window, all she had to do was pull herself up. The impact from the jump probably caused Kanami-san's body to topple over, but that was all the better. It would be hard for anyone to tell the body had been used as a step.
And that's exactly why the head had been lopped off from the very base of the neck.
"It couldn't have been that easy. I mean, come on…"
"She didn't have to succeed right away. I mean, she could have tried any number of times. It's not the type of thing you can do in one or two tries, but eventually, she succeeded and knocked Kanami-san's body down in the process. To be greedy, she probably wanted to close the window, too, but you can only do that from the inside, so she probably just gave up on it. When we went and examined Akane-san's — by which I mean Kanami-san's — body the next day, the peak of the rigor mortis had already passed, and the body had become somewhat loose again. Of course, I'm no specialist, so I can't really say for certain."
"That's…" Akari-san was turning blue. It was the same broken-down Akari-san I had encountered this morning. Infuriated, or deep in despair. "It's too terrible. It's too terrible. I can't forgive this. To kill a person, and on top of that, cut her head off, and then dig up her buried corpse, and on top of that, disguise it as the body of someone else… That alone is unspeakably foul. But to then use the body as a chair, as a staircase, as a stepping stool?"
"'It's difficult to sit on a living person. To sit on a living person for nearly thirty minutes is nearly impossible. But I wouldn't say sitting on a dead person is very hard at all,'" Shinya-san recited. "The words of Oe Kenzaburo. Don't you know it, Akari-san?"
Still blue in the face, Akari-san shook her head with a look of disgust. She looked like a small frightened animal. Like she wanted to deny reality.
I couldn't help but sigh.
A corpse is something that's been thoroughly spent, with no sentience or personality or even a spirit remaining inside it, just as it no longer has a will or an essence. It is nothing more than a "thing." And the owner of that "thing" utters no complaint as to what might become of it, and even supposing it wanted to, he or she was in no place to do so.
There was a headless body. She recycled it as her own body.
There was a headless body. She used it as a staircase.
So what?
When you die, that's the end. The fact that you lived is irrelevant. It's nothing more than a fact. Everybody has a different idea about it, and that's their right; you can't complain about what others believe.
I let out another sigh.
"So that's it, Iria-san. The minor details are a pain to explain, so please think about them for yourself. I'm sure there's an easy answer for everything else. Unfortunately, I'm not a nice enough guy to explain it all. Please reason things out on your own."
"The minor details, huh?" Iria-san asked rhetorically. "What about the motive? I don't think you can write that off as a trivial or minor detail."
"You'll have to ask the murderers directly."
I repeated the same line I had already said a number of times by this point, and looked over at Shinya-san. So did everyone else. With a look of capitulation, Shinya-san prepared to give an answer, when a voice came from behind my back.
"You don't have to answer that, Shinya."
I looked back. Standing in the entrance to the dining room was Akane-san. She was supposed to be resting in the bedroom. How long had she been there? How much of my nonsense had she heard?
Her arm was in a brace, but she still wore a fearless expression as she looked down upon the crowd sitting at the round table.
"Akane-san…"
ER3 system, Seven Fools, Sonoyama Akane.
Akane-san, who had claimed that she would never complain, no matter who, when, why, or how she was killed. But did that just mean she would forgive herself no matter who, when, why, or how she killed?
"Hah," she laughed. "Motive? Motive, you say? How silly. What a meaningless thing that is in a world this big. It hurts my brain to think about why you would even care about such trivia. I don't get it at all." She gave a sardonic smile as she continued. "I was just trying to eat those brains of yours."