Egami groaned. He was placing the two theories, both lacking in evidence, on the scale.
‘Well, that’s also a plausible scenario. But for now we haven’t the data necessary to decide which of them is right, or even whether something else happened.’
‘At the moment, we can’t say whether Hideto’s death was an accident or murder,’ said Maria, ‘but surely the murders that have happened now must be connected to the moai puzzle? Maybe we should go back to the reason why we’re here on this island in the first place and try to solve it.’
She pushed her conclusion firmly and awaited our replies. As I looked into her imploring eyes, I thought that Maria might perhaps feel it had been our destiny all along to solve the puzzle. But she was not begging us to help her. She was only asking for our cooperation. She was like that.
‘What kind of Mystery Club would we be if we ran away from a puzzle like this with our tails between our legs? Right, Alice?’ Egami showed off his white teeth as he said that.
‘Of course. Our Boy Detective Club has no little boys, so any trouble we get involved with, we adults can solve by ourselves. That’s our motto.’
‘That’s a pretty stupid motto,’ grinned Maria. ‘But if we really do solve it, it’ll be in the name of our Mystery Club.’
‘Even if we solve the puzzle, will we really find the diamonds?’ I posed the question. Egami who always finished anything he started, said: ‘We’re going to solve that puzzle precisely to find that out. If there was a fight when the diamonds were being dug up, then the hiding place might be empty. Be that as it may, we’re going to solve the moai puzzle.’
The original of the map I’d picked up had been left in Ryūichi’s custody, but each of us had a copy we’d made by hand on thin paper sheets—paper for use in a word processor we got from Kazuto.
‘I think it’s safe to assume this map does indicate the direction the statues are facing, but, as Egami said, it’s probably best if we confirm that for ourselves. We checked out five of the statues plus the big one on the observation platform two days ago, and they correspond exactly to the arrows on this map, but shall we go and check a few more?’
It was best to be sure. And if we were going to check them out, then we had to do so as soon as possible. There was still time before six o’clock, so we decided we’d investigate immediately. We decided to try and check out three or four more before sunset.
As we went downstairs, we saw Ryūichi and Reiko sitting in the chairs near the window. They were not talking, but simply sitting in the breeze staring out vacantly to sea.
‘Are you going out?’
Ryūichi’s voice rang out. We answered in the positive without going into details.
‘Are all three bicycles available?’ Maria asked Reiko. ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Kazuto is out for a walk to clear his thoughts, so nobody’s using them right now.’
‘Okay. We’re going to clear our thoughts, too, by cycling around the island.’
‘Be careful.’
With Reiko’s words in our ears we left Panorama Villa.
3
Before we climbed on to the bicycles, we discussed which of us would check out which arrows as we looked down at our maps.
We agreed that splitting up would be the most effective way of using the hour and a half we still had until sunset. I took the ones farthest away, near High Tide Cape. Egami was responsible for the centre of the island, which left Maria with the area near Low Tide Cape. I took the only compass; the other two would do their jobs by comparing the directions the moais faced with the arrows on the map.
We kept formation for about five minutes, before Maria cut out saying: ‘There’s one in the back here I’m going to check.’ Like Reiko, Egami and I saw her off with a ‘Be careful’ and then proceeded to ride on side by side.
After a while, we saw Kazuto strolling in our direction. He lifted his hand in greeting, and we stopped
‘Where are you going? Don’t tell me you’re going to Happy Fish Villa to investigate the crime scene again?’
‘No,’ replied Egami. ‘We’re going to check whether the map really does indicate the directions the statues face. Checking out ten of them is probably enough.’
‘Oh, that’s awfully careful of you. I’ve looked at the map as well and given it some thought. Suppose this is a map of all the moais, then what? How does it show the hiding place of the diamonds? Things like that. But I couldn’t work anything out. Who knows what it means if one statue is looking this way and another that way? Puzzles and I just don’t go well together. I’ll leave this one to you.’ He continued on his way to Panorama Villa and we went in the opposite direction.
We continued with the sea to our right, and after a while the road curved slightly inland to the left then continued straight for a while in the direction of the hill. We were getting close to where I’d found the map. I’d memorised the location of the tree I’d marked and stopped my bicycle when I saw the X on the trunk.
‘Mr. Egami, this is the place. I picked up the piece of paper—the map—here.’ Egami looked at the spot but remained on his bicycle.
‘So you found it around the roots of that tree? Then it couldn’t have been blown far by the wind, which has been blowing north-east since yesterday, so that’s why it’s been blown to this side of the road. But I don’t see anything suspicious here.’
‘Shall we go, then?’
‘Sure. But keep your eyes on the side of the road as we go. Even though I doubt the murderer was so careless as to have dropped anything else around here.’
We continued our cycling, eyes scanning both sides of the road. But there was nothing of interest by the time the road started to curve around the foot of the hill.
‘I’ll leave you here,’ said Egami and he got off his bicycle. ‘There are a couple of moais a bit farther north here, off the road. You still have some way to go, so don’t overdo it and make sure you’re back in time.’
‘Okay. I can’t check all the statues anyway.’
We separated there.
Three years ago, Hideto had probably used this same road while investigating the statues. The images of him then and myself now overlapped in my mind, but there was no ghost who appeared to lead the way.
He, who as an elementary school student had asked the artist about the Golden Mean. He, who had taught Maria to play the guitar when she was still a girl, and had been a bad singer. He, who had invited his beautiful fiancée to this island and had devoted himself to a treasure hunt for her. He, who had probably discovered the hiding place of the treasure. He, who had lost his life at sea during the night. He, who might have been murdered.
He was seven years older than Maria.
He could focus his mind on one single thing.
He was smart.
Hideto Arima, isn’t there anything you want to tell us? But even if you have, you can’t, can you? That’s all right. We’ll find out what it is you want to tell us. So please be patient. We’re taking the same road you took three years ago. I know we’ll reach you in just a little while….
I started to talk to him in my mind, a person I could now never meet. Yet I’d like to have met him, just once.
I hurried on my bicycle as if I was in pursuit of the setting sun and, by the time I got back to Panorama Villa, it was half past seven. Egami and Maria were sitting in the rattan chairs and discussing the results of their search.
‘How did it go?’
‘It’s clear.’ I sat down next to Maria. ‘I only managed to check out three of them, but they all corresponded with the arrows on the map. What about yours?’
‘Corresponded perfectly, too. Maria and I also checked out three each. If we add up the five we checked out two days ago, that’s fourteen out of the twenty-five which check out. I think we can trust these arrows to be correct. Thanks to this map, we don’t need to go over the whole island checking all the statues. It’s saved us a lot of time and effort.’
‘So now all we have to d
o is figure out what it all means. We know they point to the hiding place of the treasure, but in what way….? Physical labour might be over, but now we need to switch over to mental labour,’ said Maria with some satisfaction. ‘But we need to have dinner first. You can’t solve a puzzle on an empty stomach. I’m going to help Reiko, so you two can sit and think for a while.’
She headed for the kitchen. We rolled our sleeves up and were ready to solve the puzzle, when we realised we hadn’t any writing utensils.
‘I’ll get us something to write with,’ I said and I got up from my chair. Egami was already holding the map in his hands and wrestling with the puzzle.
I returned to our room upstairs and switched on the light. The curtains hadn’t been drawn yet and I could see the night stretching out beyond the window. I sat down on my bed, took my bag and put it on my knees and searched it. It was rather disorganised, so I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I considered throwing the contents on my bed.
When I finally found a mechanical pencil hiding at the bottom of my bag, I felt something strange and heavy around my right shin and ankle. First I thought my bed sheets had covered my leg, but it wasn’t that. I put my bag down by my side and took a look at my right leg. And on my jeans, around my calf….
For a moment, I thought it was an illusion, but when I realised what it was, my whole body was hit by shock and fear. A yellow-spotted pit viper had wrapped itself around my right leg.
My first thought was why a pit viper would be been hiding in my room. The snake had wrapped itself almost twice around my leg and had raised its head to complete its second turn. Its red, split tongue was flickering out of its mouth. It didn’t just look terrifying, it was also in possession of deadly venom. Shouldn’t forget about the deadly venom!
I tried lifting my leg to brush it away, but the snake wouldn’t let go. To make sure it wouldn’t be brushed away, it wrapped itself around my leg even tighter. I lifted my left leg and tried to kick the snake off my right leg, but it had already crawled up to my knee and I couldn’t reach it with my leg. My mouth was completely dry.
I had no choice but to stretch out my trembling right arm and grab the snake tightly around its head. The unpleasant, sticky, cold sensation made me feel sick. My fear and feeling of disgust had reached their limits. I was furious. I felt ashamed my heart had almost stopped beating because of this creature.
Taking no notice of it trying to wrap itself around my forearm, I stood up and walked to the window, which I opened wide with my free left hand. I swung my right arm down with everything I had, as if I was throwing something in the direction of the sea. The snake let go of my arm, leaving only a nasty feeling behind. I didn’t manage to throw it into the sea, as I heard the noise of it falling on the ground beneath the window.
I collapsed on my bed. There was still an unpleasant feeling in my right arm and sweat suddenly started to pour from my forehead. I just sat there in dumb surprise, wondering what the hell had just happened. The whole ordeal had taken a minute at most.
The snake had crawled out from under my bed. I suddenly jumped up, as the thought there might be more there crossed my mind. On the other side of the room stood another bed, so I ran to the door, lay down on the floor and, with fear in my heart, peeked beneath both beds. Nothing there.
I put my head to the floor and let out a deep sigh.
I wiped the sweat off my brow, closed the window and went down to the hall. Egami looked puzzled that it had taken me so long. But he noticed I didn’t look too well, or was acting strangely, so he put the map down on the table.
‘Hey, Alice, what’s wrong?’
With an effort, I managed to speak in a low voice.
‘There was a yellow-spotted pit viper in our room.’
‘A pit viper? As in the snake?’
‘Yeah. It was under my bed and it crawled up my leg. I grabbed it by its neck, whirled it around five or six times and hurled it out of the window. Oh man, that was a rather big surprise. What’s the matter with this place?’
Egami was not sure what part of my story to believe. He probably wasn’t convinced that a pit viper had been hiding beneath my bed.
‘Mr. Egami, it really happened. But it’s not there anymore, so we can go back up to our room safely now.’
‘Sit down.’ He pointed to a chair with his chin. I sat down and he lit a cigarette. ‘That’s a curious story. I don’t think a snake would climb the walls and crawl through our window, which you told me was closed, I think? So how and when did it get inside?’
I became sullen. ‘How should I know? It was really there, you know. Do you want me to exterminate the termites under the floorboards as well, while I’m at it?’
‘What’s wrong, Alice?’ Maria came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. ‘I thought you were trying to solve the riddle and now I see Alice complaining about something. What’s the matter?’
‘A snake…Just having the word in my mouth makes me feel sick. A long, thin reptile was in our room, Maria. Has that ever happened before? A snake hiding underneath your bed?’
‘Never,’ replied Maria in surprise. ‘You’re not pulling my leg, I hope? I just can’t believe it. Sure, there are snakes around the house, but they’ve never gone upstairs. Was your window open?’
‘No. It was a yellow-spotted pit viper. I tremble at the thought of being bitten…. Doc Sonobe might be here, but if a serum were necessary, there’d be no way to get our hands on it and I’d be dead by now….’
I had almost died. But, as Egami and Maria had said, it was very curious that a snake had found its way to a room on the first floor. A room whose door and window had been closed. So did that mean the snake could only have been brought there by some person? If so, that person had perhaps tried to kill me or Egami, with the snake as their living weapon.
‘But who do you suppose would try to assassinate you using a pit viper? You’re overthinking things, Alice. Paranoia, perhaps?’
When I voiced my ideas out loud, Maria laughed and denied it completely. I wasn’t really happy with the sinister idea either and I couldn’t think of a reason why anyone would want to wipe me out. I had posed the theory without much thought, but there was no evidence to disprove it.
‘It might be paranoia, but it might also be a failed attempt at murder. Both are possible, so it can’t hurt to be careful from now on. The person behind it couldn’t also be the one responsible for all the other murders, could they? Or could they?’
It was time for dinner, and everyone appeared from outside or the floor above and gathered in the hall. They were all about to go into the dining room when Egami gently stopped them. He wanted to tell them the details of the adventure I’d had with the pit viper. Egami told them everything from the beginning, but didn’t touch upon the question of whether this was simply a rare incident, or an attempt at murder and finally concluded with a warning to be careful, both inside and outside the house. Everyone looked shocked while they were listening to him, but the individual reactions afterwards were varied.
‘How could that snake have got in? That’s scary,’ Satomi said to her husband, frowning. ‘From now on you go inside our room first to see if it’s safe.’
‘If it was a normal snake, okay, but we’re talking about a yellow-spotted pit viper here. Don’t just leave it all up to me. Think a little about my life too.’
The Inukai couple were still joking. But Toshiyuki was not happy with it, all the same.
‘And how do you suppose a snake found its way inside? Was it some kind of sick prank? If not, then it was attempted murder. This time it was just a snake thrown into their room while they were gone, but we’d all better be careful with locking up if you don’t want a venomous snake being brought into your room at night while you’re asleep.’
Ryūichi, too, looked dark. ‘Never before has a snake crawled inside the house. I ask everyone to be careful.’
‘A snake crawling beneath the bed is indeed a bit difficult to believe,’ said Son
obe calmly. ‘But we don’t need to claim that everything was an attempt at murder either. It could’ve been a prank gone wrong, don’t you agree my dear Mr. Egami?’
Egami scratched his head. ‘Doctor, I am not that mean. I know very well Alice hates snakes, so while I might sneak an African elephant into our room as a prank, I wouldn’t do it with a snake.’
‘I think both a prank and an attempt at murder are rather unbelievable.’ Kazuto had been silent, but was now glaring at me with a suspicious expression. ‘Was there really a snake?’
‘You think I’m doing some kind of monkey performance because I’m oh-so-lonely and need all of your attention?’
‘Okay, that’s enough,’ said Toshiyuki.
Why should I be accused of lying by Kazuto? What benefit was there for me to make up a story and cause a fuss about it? I really disliked the illogical accusation he had made so thoughtlessly.
Reiko appeared in the hall to say dinner was ready.
4
Back in our room. The hands of the clock had gone past eleven o’clock.
The ashtray was overflowing with the fifteen Cabin cigarette stubs that had fallen victim to Egami’s chain smoking. The ashtray, the exam sheet (the map), a couple of notes, three empty juice cans and the rustling of the cookie bag plus some cookie crumbs on the night stand were proof we were in the middle of a difficult struggle.
We had made some progress. It hadn’t taken us long to draw lines extending all the arrows and discover that each moai statue was looking towards another one. We drew one continuous line between all the statues. The line started at a solitary moai in the north of the island, and ended at the slightly different moai statue on the observation platform. The line zig-zagged and crossed over itself in a seemingly random manner, enclosing triangular and quadrilateral shapes with no discernible theme.
The Moai Island Puzzle Page 19