Not a detective

Page 208

Tamamo no Spring: Chapter Seventeen Locked Up Everywhere

This red letter caused Asukai Shi to hesitate briefly in his thoughts.

But she didn't stop. After a few seconds of silence, she issued a new declaration of attack:

"Senior, this secret room was never meant to be."

[Blue text: The murderer committed the crime yesterday, and the room wasn't truly locked when they left; it had already been disturbed. Did the three visitors today reshape the locked room environment?]

Asakawa Riku understood what she meant.

If the murderer, like the previous "superhuman who could change temperature and condense liquids," entered the room beforehand to commit the crime, then this locked room has a flaw.

After the murderer committed the crime and left, the room was not yet a locked room. But what if the "wife" came to pay her respects the next morning and entered the room without noticing that it was unlocked?

After that, the "servant" and the "doctor" would take turns visiting, and the room would return to its secret state once the doctor locked the door at the end.

When the police came to investigate, the locked room was confirmed, but no one knew what the circumstances were when the murderer committed the crime, as the locked room had already been destroyed.

Similarly, this method can also be applied to the previous case.

But this time, Asakawa Riku intends to seal it off completely:

[Red text: When my wife entered the room early this morning, she confirmed that it was locked and completely sealed off.]

"Furthermore, it has already been confirmed that there are no other entrances or exits in the room. Also, the autopsy showed that the murder occurred today, not yesterday."

He pressed on relentlessly, determined to lock down every possible place where Asukai Shi could land.

For the first time, a hint of seriousness appeared on that cute little face, and the curve of her lips seemed a little stiff.

"...That doesn't necessarily mean the crime was committed today, right? There are other ways to deceive an autopsy besides changing the temperature."

"Let me clarify again. What I said earlier about 'there is no technology superior to the current level of science and technology' includes medicine and biology; there is no drug that can change the time of death."

Asakawa Riku anticipated Asukai Shi's attack direction and stopped her in time.

After all, drugs like "miracle cures" are too exaggerated and are essentially no different from superpowers.

The moment this answer appeared, the "solemnity" instantly transformed into "confusion".

Asukai Shi fell silent.

She squatted on the chair, her body as light as a dancer's, but she was so focused on the papers on the table that she didn't notice how strange her movements were.

This is indeed a very difficult mystery to solve.

Did the murderer commit the crime in advance, or did they commit it today?

It seems unlikely that the crime was committed in advance, but if it were to be committed today, it would be met with obstacles everywhere.

The wife, the servant, and the doctor—only three people entered and exited that room, but none of them had the murder weapon on them, not even inside their bodies. This has already been confirmed in scarlet.

It's impossible that the three of them committed the crime, and it's also impossible for anyone else to have entered or left the area. Therefore, the investigation must go back to yesterday.

But the body was clearly murdered today... Is there any way to completely deceive the autopsy results without changing the room temperature?

My first thought was that the murderer broke into the room beforehand, poisoned the wealthy man, and then left. But that last sentence completely negates the existence of a "good poison."

In reality, poisons cannot be used to precisely control the time of death, ensuring that the victim dies suddenly at a specific point in time.

...not to mention the corpse was torn to pieces.

[Blue text: The killer made the wealthy man ingest a small, timed bomb; a day later, the explosion tore his body to pieces.]

[Red text: Such convenient small bombs do not exist in reality.]

The smile shifted to Asakawa Riku's face. He knew that if Asukai Shi suggested more of these absurd methods, it meant she was being pushed very hard.

Nothing can make someone die in such a dismembered state.

How did the murderer commit the crime?

The murder weapon is relatively easy to find; just use 3D printing to make an ice skate. It's a classic method: melt it down after the crime. 3D printing isn't exactly a product of modern technology.

Shimi Asukai had already figured out how to dispose of the murder weapon, but she was still stuck on the "murderer" part.

The murder weapon can turn into water and disappear, but the murderer can't; it's been confirmed that he [no longer has superpowers].

How can one slip away silently from this room without being noticed by others?

[Blue text: I need to confirm one thing: Could it be that the murderer slipped away the moment the police opened the door to search?]

[Red text: It wasn't such a boring trick; the moment the police opened the door, they only saw a corpse in the room.]

Asakawa Riku's answer relieved her. If it were really such a boring trick of "sneaking away," she would have been furious.

But without a doubt, this further shrinks their living space.

The disappearance of the murderer has become a problem that we have to consider now... The previous red text also included: "There is no place in the room where a person can hide" and "No murder weapon was found in the room".

Asu's thoughts unconsciously drifted to the perspective of the "murderer." She wondered how she could escape if she were the murderer.

It seemed like there were dead ends everywhere, and walls everywhere were sealed off.

She couldn't just open a portal to leave, nor could she turn into a gust of wind and slip through a crack. She couldn't become invisible, nor could she teleport. She felt trapped in a dilemma.

[Blue text: A rotating blade wheel is hidden in the ceiling of the locked room, linked to the gears of an antique clock. The murderer pre-sets the clock's trigger time (such as chiming on the hour), and the blade starts spinning at high speed to cut the body when the clock strikes. After it finishes, the blade wheel retracts into the ceiling compartment.]

[Red text: Such a complex mechanical mechanism does not exist.]

[Blue text: The killer used piano wire soaked in a highly corrosive venom to wrap around the joints of the corpse. The venom gradually corroded the bones and muscles, creating a "dismemberment" effect. The wire broke as it corroded, and the remaining parts dissolved in the venom, leaving only slight burn marks on the floor.]

[Red text: Venom doesn't exist that conveniently.]

[Blue text: The locked room is actually two overlapping rooms separated by a rotating wall. After committing the murder in room A, the killer activated a mechanism that caused the wall to rotate 180 degrees, transferring the body to room B for dismemberment, before rotating it back to its original position. When witnesses entered, they only saw the complete locked room; in reality, the dismemberment was completed in the other space.]

[Red text: Very interesting, but the rich man only has one room.]

Even if you use classic detective techniques to deduce the truth, it will soon be ruthlessly rejected by simple red letters.

Asu-i Shi bit her fingernail.

[Blue text: The killer disassembled sharp parts from metal bed frames, chair legs, or picture hooks to use as makeshift murder weapons. After dismembering the body, the killer reassembled the furniture, wiping away bloodstains and putting them back in place. Upon inspection, the furniture appeared intact, and bloodstains were mistaken for splatter residue. Alternatively, the killer removed the high-strength steel wire used to secure curtains, strangled the victim, and then repeatedly cut the joints of the body using the serrated edge of the wire. Afterward, the wire was reinstalled in the curtain track, bloodstains were wiped away with water, and worn areas were coated with silver paint for camouflage. Another possibility is that the killer used a specially made belt with a retractable blade hidden in the metal buckle. After dismembering the body, the blade retracted into the buckle, the belt was worn normally, and bloodstains were concealed by wiping or clothing. Due to the extremely thin blade, the wounds appeared as fine, linear cuts.]

Asakawa Riku put down his pen and stared at her expressionlessly.

"You're quite impressive as a novelist; all three methods are feasible, and I can reject them all. But the murder weapon isn't the core of this mystery, so there's no point in continuing the discussion."

"You know, there's no escaping it. How did the murderer disappear?"

Asukai Shi was instantly speechless.

She deeply felt that the puzzle posed by her predecessor was not one that could be easily solved...

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Tamamo no Spring: Chapter Eighteen - Death

Yes, Riku Asakawa is right. It is possible to find countless murder weapons in the room and to turn things that were not originally murder weapons into murder weapons.

Even if there was no place to hide the murder weapon in the room, if Shimi Asukai were cunning enough, it could be argued that the murderer's strength, fingernails, and hair were enough to dismantle the body with his bare hands.

After all, Asakawa Riku has such abilities, but it can't be said that this is a "superpower".

But such a question-and-answer session is meaningless.

All they did was engage in a back-and-forth struggle, with Asukai Shi proposing new techniques, which Asakawa Riku rejected one by one, resulting in a waste of paper and ink.

What used to be just red and blue writing on a single sheet of paper has now been replaced with several new sheets.

But Riku Asakawa knew what his greatest weapon was, and Uta Asukai couldn't possibly be unaware of it either, so they decided to simply avoid the tug-of-war over the "weapon."

The core issue lies in the "disappearance of the murderer," as this is the biggest point of suspicion.

Without breaking through this defense, Shimi Asukai will never be able to reach the truth.

"yes……"

The girl sighed, kicked her legs, and slumped into the chair: "As expected, I can't escape it."

She was well aware of this, and the methods she had just come up with were merely a way to buy time for further thought.

"Should we admit defeat?"

Asakawa Riku twirled his pen, feeling a slight sense of pride.

To be honest, he came up with this puzzle by chance when inspiration struck, and he was quite surprised by it himself.

It also contains wordplay, and it's quite cunning. It's perfectly understandable if Shiki Asukai can't figure it out.

Seeing the girl's distressed expression, his anger completely vanished. He had taught her a lesson enough; there was no need to push her too hard.

"If you sincerely call me 'President,' I might be able to tell you the truth~"

He imitated the guy's speech.

"...Give me five minutes, my last five minutes."

Asukai Shi snorted angrily, then began to think with her head in her hands.

As she spread those red-lettered sheets on the table and scanned the contents of each word over and over again, Asakawa Riku was not worried.

He didn't think anyone could spot the flaw in five minutes.

Even if you could see through it, it would be impossible to fully understand the entire modus operandi.

He simply waited quietly.

Before I knew it, it was already dark outside. I checked the time and it was already past six o'clock, which was usually past the time for club activities.

It seems the two were so focused that they forgot how much time had passed. Asakawa Riku stood up and went to turn on the light.

This game seemed quite interesting at first glance, but I never expected it to become so brain-teasing in the end.

As the one who "sets the problem," Asakawa Riku is relatively fortunate. He can't believe that if he were on the "solving the problem" side, he could come up with so many solutions.

Even though he won this last round, he had to admit that Shika Asuai was really good.

"Getting this far has already been quite an achievement—"

"and many more."

However, he was interrupted by the girl raising her hand as soon as he said that.

The moment she raised her head again, Asu's eyes shone with an extraordinary brilliance, and she wore a smile a hundred times more confident.

In that instant, Asakawa Riku sensed something was wrong.

"Senior... I'm going to propose a method now. If it's wrong, then I'll consider myself to have lost."

"you say?"

Instead of answering immediately, Asukai Shi tore off a new sheet of paper and quickly wrote down a line:

[Blue text: The moment the police opened the door, they only saw a body in the room. But does this mean there was only one body in the room from the beginning?]

"..."

Asakawa Riku subconsciously took a step back.

His breathing became rapid.

Asukai Shi leaped up, like a fox hunting its prey, and approached with nimble steps in the cramped activity room:

[Blue text: No murder weapon was found in the room after a search. But does this mean that the murder weapon was definitely not in the room, or that it was absolutely not there?]

"..."

Her blue letters, one after another, were like death knells, about to kill the wealthy man trapped in the secret room.

[Blue text: No murder weapon was found in the doctor's body, nor in the other two. But does this suggest that the murder weapon might be hidden in someone else's body?]