Utter silence filled the room. The only sound that was heard was that if the ticking clock and the howling winds outside and the crackling of burning wood from the fireplace. After Tanaka-san passed away, his body was covered and brought to the wine cellar in the basement where Mizobata-san's and Nagasaki-san's corpses lay. Then they gathered in the common room, still with only the dim lights of the flickering candles and fire alight in the fireplace.
Finally Takahito Akita-san broke the silence with his loud whispers. "I'll be next!" Is what he kept repeating while facing his knees and shaking like a leaf. "It's time you tell us what this is about Akita-san. First Mizobata Jun-sanwas killed, next Nagasaki Sakura-san flipped out and kept saying she was next. Then Tanaka-san was poisoned and now you say you're next. What makes you so agitated? Tell us now!" Demanded the high school detective of Osaka Aburame Akihito-kun. "Please tell us" added Akira-san. Akita-san then looked up from Akihito-kun to Akira-san to Hinamori-san and to Hyungwon, and the latter nodded gently. He then sighed and said "Five years ago when the construction of the Great Orient express ship was completed and set sail, it caught fire on the sea and sunk. The contracter who took on the construction of the ship was me. There was a problem with the engines, I already knew it but I thought it wouldn't be a problem as it was a minor mistake, so I overlooked it and let it sail. That day many was aboard and many lost their lives. So I am thinking maybe it's someone's revenge plot, what if this is retribution from Providence? Nagasaki-san, Mizobata-san, Tanaka-san were all part of the part-time staff on board back then." Said Akita-san while sweating buckets. The detectives nodded to each other and thanked Akita-sa for his honesty and proceeded to the wine cellar to re-investigate the bodies.
"It's no coincidence that the staff aboard the Great Orient ship and the contractor himself are gathered here in one place. There must have been more staff but only a select few were chosen to be here. My guess is the rest of us here were all guests on the ship. Or at least our names being in the guest list. I was supposed to be on that ship myself but didn't go. Akihito-kun, Hyungwon-kun, Hinamori-san...what about you?" Asked Akira-san as they went down the stairs leading to the basement wine cellar.
"My brother was invited too. Fortunately he survived but he's still in a coma today." Was Hinamori-san's grim response.
"My father, the underling and right hand man of superintendent Hattori Heiji of Osaka was aboard for an undercover investigation. He survived the accident fortunately with minor injuries only. I actually attended this mystery gathering on his behalf since he's busy on another case." Was Akihito-kun's response.
"I have no idea. As I said I accompanied Emrald as substitute for her uncle who's a mystery novelist. Maybe he was aboard too or his name was on yhe guest list. I had no relation to Emrald and her family before her mother offered for me to stay at their place since the family that was supposed to take me in for the exchange student program suddenly moved out of their place and disappeared without a word. I was fending for myself and it was rather hard and since I got close to Emrald as I became her first friend, her mother was kind enough to make this offer. Now I can focus on my studies properly." Was Hyungwon's response.
After that they kept going down in silence. Only the soumds of their solemn footsteps echoing on the stone stairs kept them company. "I suggest we go inspect the crime scenes again. Firstly why do you think Mizobata Jun's throat was stuffed with a rose then hanged? Mayne it was to be flashy as Hinamori-san said. Is there any meaningful message behind the black rose?" Asked Akihito-kun.
"Maybe Giselle-san will have the answer as to yhe meaning of the black rose. Secondly Nagasaki-san's corpse was staked into the floor of the spherical room. But why was the stake pinned not only in her body but in the floor too and how did they create such a locked room mystery?" Pondered Hyungwon.
"Thirdly, how was Tanaka-san poisoned in this darkness? Akihito-kun, Yuriko-chan and Fumiko-chan were the ones who brought the tray with the tea cups... Subaru Eiji-kun brewer the tea and shared with everyone... Was the tea really poisoned? But we were all unaffected or did Tanaka-san touch something poisonous?" Thought Akira-sa aloud.
"And then there's the murderer's likely to be next target Takahito Akita-san..." Added Hinamori-san who did not want to feel left out.
"And why did this Resencreuz invite three detectives? Of course he did not know Hyungwon-kun would be here as another amateur highschool detective..." Said Akihito-kun.
"What do you mean amateur? I'm the grandson of the great detective Dazai Ron. He was my mother's father, lived and worked in South Korea, married a Korean noble woman Sung Soo-ji. You can't tell me you never heard of Dazai Ron." Said Hyungwon a little annoyed yet with a perfectly calm demeanor. On hearing this the others were bewildered and Akira-san smirked then said "I see, if you inherited the great Dazai Ron's sleuthing abilities and wits, we may be able to solve this case very soon."
Hinamori-san scoffed and Akihito-kun smiled and nodded.
"I swear I will solve this case and not let another murder happen, afterall there's only one truth!" Said Hyungwon more determined than ever to solve the case.
In the kitchen the Midorikawa twins, Eiji and Emrald were busy preparing some snacks as they did not have their supper and it was rather late. Emrald was a rather good cook and prepared some chicken and vegetable gyoza, butter and cheese sandwiches, baked some black tea Madeleines and made some sweet pancakes with peanut butter icing cream spread. The others in the kitchen hurried about washing the dishes and helping here and there while brewing some Osmanthus tea to accompany the snacks Emrald made. Only now waiting for the four detectives to come back and for the Madeleines to be baked, while Akita-sa sat there solemnly in a corner at the kitchen table.
After inspection of the crime scenes in question and the teacups that was left in the dining room table as evidence, fatigued, the four detectives went to the kitchen where the others set the table and were waiting for them. Hungry as they all were, they stuffed their faces with the food despite some of them hardly having any appetite. The food despite being delicious went down their guts heavily and slowly. They ate in silence.
Munch munch munch was all they that could be heard as the chewing and swallowing sounds filled the air. And just then Hyungwon sprung up from his seat, sweat dripping from his forehead and spoke to himself rather loudly "This is it, why didn't I think of this before!" He then swallowed his tea in one go and rushed out the kitchen, followed by Akihito-kun and Akira-san.
A while later before the others decided to call it a night to go to bed as they were rather exhausted mentally and physically, Akira-san made sure to gather everyone in the common room. "What is the meaning of this Detective? We are all weary and wish to get some sleep." Said Eiji-kun and the Midorikawa twins nodded.
"We gathered you here because Hyungwon-kun here claims to know who the murderer is." Said Akira-san. And on hearing this, everyone was rather flustered and confused.
"Do you mean to say..." Started Emrald,
"Yes, Nazo wa subete toketa (All the mysteries have been solved!)" was Hyungwon's response.
"And the murderer is in this very room!" Added Akihito-kun.
"The culprit behind these gory and heartless inhumane murders is non other than you!" Said Akira-san pointing his finger towards Subaru Eiji. The latter was really flustered and said "Don't joke with me, bow can I kill people? I have an Alibi in all cases and why would I kill them? I was even paid by this Rosencreuz... That's right, the murderer is this Rosencreuz, you should focus on finding him. Didn't he come in through the window during tea time when Tanaka-san was murdered?"
"Hyungwon-kun, please explain your reasoning." Asked Akira-san.
"Naturally, you were Rosencreuz Eiji-kun. Firstly your motive is vengeance. Secondly you invited all these people here because they were somehow related to the great Orient ship. Emrald Kaizen's uncle was also on the ship but we came as substitute and this made you impatient and threw you off as except for Mizobata Jun, you did not know who your targets were. You pierced Mizobata's throat with an ice pick and stuffed a black rose in. A black rose meant "betrayal". Does the name Subaru Benine ring a bell? I suddenly remembered her as a victim to the accident of the great Orient ship while we were having snacks earlier. She was afterall a famous children's story book writer and her most valued work munch munch;the monster prince who ate a whole village. It was no secret that she was seeing someone who cheated on her, and that could have been Mizobata Jun. Next you gave us each a towel embroidered with different roses on purpose. You also instructed the maids to fill the baths with the roses named as Benine. The ones who threw the towels without using it and refused to bathe would have been your targets, however everyone went in the bath so you still did not know who else were your targets.
But suddenly Nagasaki-san saw something and reacted to it, so you knew she was your next target."
"Hold on, how? How could I have killed Nagasaki-san? We were looking for her together remember? And how did I get out of the room?" Asked Subaru Eiji all panicked.
"Patience, I'm getting to that. The floor of the spherical room can act as a turntable as the floor is rotated if a stake in implanted in the middle. That's why you hammered the stake in all the way in the floor after laying down Nagasaki-san's corpse and decorating it. After rotating it till the roses seemed ro block the entrance, you locked the door, creating the perfect locked room murder. Nagasaki-san was murdered before noon, when everyone were scattered to look for her. The AC was on to delay thw rigger mortis therefore tampering with ghe real time of death. After she ran off, you called her using a handwritten message pushed through her room's door. Akihito-kun retrieved the paper on which you wrote the message in the fireplace. Of course it's not very readable but one can make out that someone asked her to meet up in that abandoned hallway. Akihito-kun!" Said Hyungwon and Akihito-kun proceeded to show him the charred piece of paper.
"Then how do you explain Tanaka-san's poisoning? We all drank that tea I brewed!" Exclaimed Eiji-kun.
"Yes, the tea was poisoned. But yhe antidote was in the cake we had after having the tea. The order wouldn't have mattered as the antidote would have neutralised the poison. If we look inside the dining room, you will notice that in Tanaka-san's seat, the cake was untouched. That was because Tanaka-san had diabetes and couldn't handle sweet things. You baked that cake yourself Eiji-kun as well as brewed the tea. It was only possible if you did it!" Exclaimed Hyungwon.
"Evidence, you don't have any evidence! Can you confirm this was my handwriting? Prove it all!" Exclaimed Eiji-kun.
"Eiji-kun, when you went to call the police is when you had the chance to cut the phone wires, you were flustered and once the police arrive here, your fingerprints may be found on the phone wires. And besides Tanaka-san, you were the only one with the key to the drawer in which our phones were kept. You made some mistakes here and there that gave you away, afterall there's no such thing as a perfect crime." Explained Hyungwon.
Subaru Eiji-kun's pupils dilated, his limbs grew numb as he fell to the floor on his knees and screamed at the top of his voice while giving the floor repetitive knuckle sandwiches. "Subaru Benine, my sister. I learnt she could have survived as she was on a life saving boat but these people... Her ex who cheated on her Mizobata Jun, Nagasaki Sakura-san who once used her as her ghost writer when Benine was her apprentice, Tanaka-san who had tried to lay his filthy fingers on Benine when he was drunk but failed at the night party on the ship... They pushed her out of the boat just so they could save themselves. And Takihito Akita san, the contractor for the ship who let it sail despite knowing there was a mistake in the engine... You all deserve death. That night before killing Mizobata, Tanaka, Mizobata and I were having a drink in Mizobata's room. I made sure to get them drunk and that's when they both confessed about these to me. Mizobata had an affair with Nagasaki and told Benine to go hang herself once she found out. That's when she wrote the children's story book that became an instant hit... I became blinded by the thirst for vengeance... I know I should not have killed them but the law won't punish them accordingly... The law only protect criminals, not the victims. The law only make us think the criminals aren't at fault and the victims are the ones at fault... What a twisted world we live in!"
After that ordeal, they were able to call for help from Tokyo police hq using Subaru Eiji's spare phone that he kept hidden and he was arrested as soon as the police arrived.
"I think what Subaru Eiji said isn't wrong. The part about the law protecting criminals..." Said Emrald as they were back home. "I agree, this world is unfair in many ways. Some criminals openly commit war crimes while being protected by the so called law. But still he didn't have to resort to this, though I can understand his anger... It was unfair for these things to happen to Subaru Benine too... Well this was rather taxing, I hope we don't encounter or come across any tragedies like this again." Said Hyungwon while gazing at the sky and Emrald nodded, also looking up at the sky.