The Moai Island Puzzle

by Alice Arisugawa

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that. But what do we do now?’

  The door to the left opened. Sonobe’s face appeared.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Egami explained the situation and the doctor grimaced.

  ‘Sumako has no chronic diseases, so there should be nothing to worry about, but still….’

  He expressed his concerns like the physician he was, imagining the possibility of Sumako having collapsed because of some hitherto unknown disease, not able to stand up or raise her voice.

  ‘Hey, Sumako. Answer me. Sumako!’

  Overcome by anxiety, Junji pounded on the door relentlessly, shouting his wife’s name loudly. Still no answer from inside, but from the door on the right a surprised Toshiyuki Inukai appeared, as did Hirakawa, who had been sleeping in Sonobe’s room on the left. Junji continued shouting.

  ‘This is strange. Shall we go outside and use a ladder to look through the window?’ suggested Toshiyuki, but doing that in the rain and wind seemed too dangerous to me. Sonobe probably thought the same.

  ‘No, we should just break the door open. Kazuto, do you have any tools here?’

  ‘We have a hatchet. Err, was it in the storage…no, I left it somewhere near the back door. I’ll go and get it.’

  He rushed to the staircase in the back and ran loudly downstairs. Those remaining could only wait. The door outside banged again.

  Kazuto came back up the stairs with a small hatchet in his hand. Ryūichi, Reiko and Maria followed him, all dressed in their pyjamas. All were sober again.

  ‘I’ll just open a hole near the latch. Then we can get our hands inside and open it.’

  Kazuto took aim at the door with his hatchet and the blade made a dull sound as it buried itself in the door. Four, then five times. Splinters flew in all directions. Eventually, he opened a hole in the thin door large enough for an arm.

  Kazuto inserted his right arm and felt for the latch.

  ‘Urrgh, it’s really stiff,’ he groaned, to which Reiko, who’d been standing back, replied: ‘Of course it’s stiff. The latch of that room is broken….’

  Obviously, a lock that would need so much effort to open and shut would be utterly useless. The broken latch had been forcibly locked somehow.

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  Satomi Inukai had finally woken up and come out of her room. She had probably been in a very deep sleep because of her sleeping pills. She frowned as her husband explained what was going on.

  Eventually a metal click could be heard and the door was unlocked. Kazuto had been leaning on the door with his upper body, so the door swung open inwards. We all tried to look inside together.

  A noise something like ‘Whaaa….’ escaped from Sonobe’s throat.

  For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what had happened in the room. My eyes registered the scene perfectly, but my brain was unable to process it.

  I realised that two people were lying, one on top of the other, in a pool of blood near the window. Red stains reached all the way to the door. The person on the floor was Kango Makihara. On top of him lay Sumako.

  7

  Sonobe went straight towards the two, followed by Junji and Egami. The others remained frozen near the door.

  The doctor checked the pulses of the two victims and remained speechless for a moment.

  ‘…It’s too late for either of them.’

  ‘You mean she’s dead!?’ Junji yelled. Maria, too, cried out that it couldn’t be true.

  ‘What do you mean, dead? Wha—what happened?’

  ‘Just stay calm now,’ Sonobe told Junji, wiping the beads of perspiration from his forehead.

  ‘Sumako! What happened? Sumako!’

  Junji knelt down and feverishly shook the hand of his deceased wife. The scene, set beneath a starless window, reminded me of the finale of a tragic play. But this was not a theatre performance.

  ‘A double suicide of parent and child.’

  It was Toshiyuki who mumbled those words. A double suicide of parent and child. Was that what had happened? Was that really it?

  ‘Doctor, what did they die from?’ asked Egami, as Sonobe placed his hand on Junji’s shoulder. ‘I need to check.’ Junji staggered to his feet, and Reiko walked over to him and took his hand. She sat him down on the bed and told him gently to get a grip on himself.

  The doctor separated the two bodies and examined the origin of the pool of blood. He removed Kango’s pants and exposed Sumako’s chest. Both of their faces looked relatively calm, and the expression on Sumako’s face, in particular, made it appear as if she was resting in peace.

  ‘I can’t believe it…this is horrible.’ The doctor looked up with a pained expression. ‘It’s a gunshot. They were both shot to death.’

  ‘Shot to death?’ repeated Egami. Everyone remained silent in utter amazement.

  ‘Kango was shot here once,’ said the doctor, pointing to the right thigh of the deceased. He pointed at Sumako. ‘Sumako has a gunshot wound here on the left side of her chest. It’s a large wound. Not a pistol. And not a shotgun… She was shot by a rifle.’

  ‘You can’t mean they were shot by my rifle? It can’t be….’

  ‘Of course it was your rifle,’ growled Ryūichi at the bewildered Kazuto. ‘How many of those things do you think we have lying around in the house? Look at what happened because of your rifle.’

  ‘After our target practice this afternoon, you put the rifle back in its usual place, didn’t you?’

  Kazuto nodded in response to Egami’s question.

  ‘Alice, go and check.’

  I flew straight out of the room without stopping to answer. When I reached the attic room and looked at the spot next to the door, I saw the rifle wasn’t there. An unpleasant sensation filled my mouth.

  When I returned to the room and reported the absence of the rifle, a horrified expression appeared on Kazuto’s face.

  ‘My rifle…they died because of my rifle….’

  ‘Isn’t the rifle here in the room?’

  Sonobe’s question had us looking all over, but we didn’t see it. Egami and I pulled the bed sheets away, peeked inside the closet and dropped to the floor to look beneath the beds, but there was no rifle anywhere.

  ‘But that’s strange. Then this can’t be a double suicide. If it were, the rifle should be here somewhere,’ Maria said, dissatisfied.

  She was right. It didn’t make any sense for the rifle not to be in the room.

  ‘No, it could still be a double suicide. One of them could have shot the other, then themself and thrown the rifle out of the window. There’s nothing but sea outside,’ mumbled Ryūichi. Was that possible? My eyes automatically went to the window.

  ‘The window’s locked.’ Egami pointed to the aluminium sash crescent lock. ‘See?’

  ‘What are you implying?’ asked Ryūichi irritably. ‘The person who shot the other probably threw the rifle away through the window and locked it with their last ounce of strength. Sonobe, is that possible?’

  ‘Wait,’ Reiko interrupted. ‘Please stop talking about this in front of Mr. Makihara’s and Sumako’s remains. Let’s put them on the beds and cover their faces.’

  Sonobe, Ryūichi and Egami looked at each other. They appeared to have been caught off-guard, but eventually Egami opened his mouth.

  ‘You’re absolutely right. We can discuss what happened here in detail downstairs. But before we put their remains to rest, there’s something I think the doctor should do first, so we can clear up what happened here. A medical examination.’

  Reiko agreed. ‘Well then,’ said the doctor and he kneeled down near the bodies and resumed his examination. He gave a muttered commentary about all he saw, felt and noticed.

  ‘Death occurred between two and four hours ago. It’s two thirty now, so the estimated time of death is between ten thirty and twelve thirty. As for the cause of death, Kango died of blood loss. I can’t say for certain about Sumako.
There’s little loss of blood in her case, despite being shot in the chest, so it might’ve been pericardial tamponade…I can’t say without an autopsy. Both have only one rifle wound. Kango was shot through an artery in his thigh, that’s why he lost so much blood. Both wounds are penetrating gunshot wounds, so the bullet didn’t pierce completely through the bodies. And…yes, Kango was hit hard on the back of his head. Did he hit his head on the floor? No, it was the night stand next to this bed. He hit his head when he fell to the floor after being shot in the thigh. You, please check.’

  In response, Egami took a look at the corner of the night stand.

  ‘There’s some hair stuck here.’

  ‘Yes? Then that’s it. He hit his head here and lost consciousness. His thigh went on bleeding and he died.’

  ‘What’s the cause of Sumako’s death?’ asked Egami.

  ‘Pericardial tamponade? I don’t dare say for certain without a detailed examination, but basically, she didn’t bleed on the outside, but on the inside. Blood flows inside the pericardium and stops the pumping of the heart. That’s why she lost so little blood.’

  ‘She didn’t die immediately?’

  ‘It would have taken a little while.’

  ‘And the wound on Mr. Makihara’s head was made by the corner of this night stand? He wasn’t beaten by a club or anything like that?’

  ‘To be honest, I can’t be completely sure. That’s what I conclude from my preliminary examination.’

  ‘Doctor, just one more thing.’ Egami raised his index finger. ‘Do you know which of them was shot first and which of them died first?’

  The doctor grimaced.

  ‘There’s no way to check for that now.’

  ‘Thank you for all your answers.’

  There was a short silence. Finally, Toshiyuki spoke out hesitantly: ‘Shouldn’t we leave the remains as they are until the police come? Or have I been watching too many crime dramas?’

  ‘But that would be too horrible,’ objected Reiko, carefully. ‘Even if Kazuto is able to report this to Amami right away on the wireless transceiver, no boats or helicopters can reach us now the typhoon is near. That’s why I think we shouldn’t leave them like this.’

  We agreed with Reiko and carried the two bodies over to the beds. We put our hands together after we placed white cloths over their faces and then went downstairs to the hall.

  8

  We placed the table with the glass top and the rattan table together in the centre of the hall and sat around them. Reiko and Maria made some hot, strong coffee and brought it out. A tea party at three in the morning....

  ‘What happened in that room?’ Egami’s voice was the first to ring through the hall. It was followed by the sound of spoons being stirred wearily in cups, and it took a while before anyone answered his question.

  ‘Mr. Egami, you are the most clear-headed of us all at the moment. Won’t you please lead the discussion?’ said Sonobe, massaging his own neck. Being suddenly asked to become the master of ceremonies, Egami answered first with simply a vague ‘Oh.’ But then he continued:

  ‘So what happened in the room upstairs? To quote Mr. Inukai’s initial reaction, it looks like some sort of double suicide. Is that possible, Doctor?’

  ‘Hard to say,’ the doctor replied, this time massaging his shoulders. ‘I can’t think of any reason why the two of them would want to commit suicide. No, even if I ignore that and bring it down purely to a matter of whether it’s possible from a medical point of view, even then I have my doubts. One shoots the other, and then shoots themself. Then they throw the rifle out of the window, lock it, collapse and finally die. Just like that. It is not impossible. And if that’s indeed the case, who did what becomes clear as well. Sumako was lying on top of Kango, so she would’ve been the one to shoot him first, and then herself in the chest….’

  Sonobe stopped himself. He had realised the contradiction in his own story.

  ‘But, Doctor, that would be odd.’

  ‘I know, I know, Mr. Egami. That would be impossible. Sumako couldn’t have shot herself. Her wound showed no sign of gunpowder burns. She only had a penetrating gunshot wound. That wound could only have been made from a distance of fifteen centimetres or more. Sumako didn’t commit suicide.’

  ‘And if the roles were reversed? Mr. Makihara shoots Sumako first, then himself in the thigh and then throws the rifle away?’

  ‘That’s very unlikely.’

  ‘Because he was also shot from more than fifteen centimetres?’

  ‘No. Well, yes, his wound is like that too, but remember, he was shot in the thigh, not the chest. You’d have to take an unnatural pose, but it might be possible to shoot yourself in the thigh from more than fifteen centimetres away. And the wound entrance was—I mean the bullet also entered his body from high to low, so that would also fit. And the cause of death was blood loss from the wound in his thigh, so opening the window and throwing the rifle away would’ve been easier for him than for Sumako, a woman shot in her chest. However—.’

  ‘Yes. However, if that was the case, why was Sumako lying on top of Mr. Makihara? It should have been the other way around.’

  ‘Precisely….’

  The two of them fell silent and Toshiyuki raised his hand.

  ‘This is just a thought, okay? I doubt it actually happened, but… First Sumako shoots her father in the thigh. And then something happens and Mr. Makihara gets hold of the rifle. He shoots Sumako from a distance and then opens the window—.’

  ‘And throws it away. Can’t agree with that.’

  Kazuto shook his head, a cigarette in one hand.

  ‘Why are you discussing this like you’re writing some play, ignoring this one little point: whether they shot each other with consent, or it was a forced suicide from one side: there’s not a single reason why they should throw the rifle away through the window.’

  He was absolutely right.

  ‘Yes, I understand that,’ replied Egami calmly. ‘I’m of the opinion the double suicide theory won’t hold water. I’ve also considered the possibility that, having shot each other, they fought over the rifle until one of them got their hands on it and threw the dangerous weapon out of the window. But that doesn’t make sense either. It wouldn’t be necessary to use their last bit of strength to lock the window afterwards. The double suicide theory only leads us into a dead end.’

  ‘I think we understand what you’re implying.’

  Egami nodded to Toshiyuki. ‘Yes. This was murder. What happened in that room was homicide. The police investigation will probably bring forth more evidence for that. Forensics can test for gunshot residue, for example.’

  Not everyone might have known about gunshot residue, so Egami explained. When a gun is fired, gunpowder is blown out both forwards and backwards from the muzzle. This gunshot residue clings to the hand of the shooter. By looking for such traces, the police can determine who the shooter was. In this case, the right hands of both Makiharas, parent and child, would be the focus of such a test—but there was no way for us to check that today.

  Kazuto stood up suddenly. He kicked over his chair and headed for the corridor.

  ‘Kazuto, where are you going?’ Reiko asked and, with his back still turned to her, he answered: ‘Calling the police.’ He was going to go in the rain to his room in the annex to use the wireless transceiver.

  There was a heavy silence. After a while, we heard the faraway noise of Kazuto opening the back door and going outside. Bang. The storage room door banged again.

  ‘This is a really serious situation,’ Hirakawa said as he slowly brushed his cheek. ‘Mr. Egami, your mind is still clear, I hope? Do you fully comprehend the situation? I’m sure you haven’t forgotten, but that door was locked from inside. Do you know what that means?’

  What a roundabout way of talking. There was no way Egami hadn’t noticed that.

  ‘I understand. You mean the room was completely sealed. Yes, I know. But I think it’d be wrong to say that,
because of that, no murder could have taken place inside that room.’

  ‘Was the murderer still hiding somewhere inside the room when we broke in….?’

  The idea Maria had set out to float, however, sank immediately. Right before the door was opened, Satomi Inukai had woken from her deep sleep and shown herself. Everyone on the island—save for the two victims—had been gathered anxiously in front of the door. So who would have been hiding inside? Suppose, for argument’s sake, that an unknown person was on the island and that this X was the murderer. Even then, X couldn’t have been hiding in that room. The only places where a person could have hidden were inside the closet and beneath the beds, but we’d checked there when we were searching for the rifle and we didn’t find even a single rat.

  ‘Mr. Egami, you’re fond of detective novels, aren’t you? I once read a story about a similar situation. Something about a woman crying out in a blue room or a red room….’

  ‘That’s The Mystery of the Yellow Room, Doctor. That was one of the classics you read.’

  There was the sound of the back door opening and closing. Because the storage room door had stopped banging, I guessed Kazuto had perhaps shut that door as well.

  ‘That was fast,’ Ryūichi noted as Kazuto reappeared. He sipped his coffee, which by then was completely cold.

  Kazuto stuck his right hand out. In it, he held a bundle of what appeared to be wires.

  ‘The cables were torn out. The transceiver itself is also a mess.’

  Several of us cried out....

  9

  An unbearable silence.

  The howling gale.

  ‘This has turned out for the worst,’ the artist murmured.

  ‘It really was murder. The murderer has cut off the only method to call for help....’ So saying, Toshiyuki asked Kazuto for a cigarette. I didn’t know he smoked. Had he given up smoking previously?