‘Of course there was a reason for going back, but I’ll return to that later. For now, just focus on the question of whether those are the only circumstances under which a tyre mark could’ve been left on the map. Okay?’
‘No, it’s not okay at all,’ I said rather forcefully. ‘I can think of other cases. For example, if there were multiple accomplices. Suppose there are two of them. Murderers A and B head out on the bicycles to Happy Fish Villa to kill Mr. Hirakawa. After the murder, and having got their hands on the maps, murderer A ties them to their bicycle’s carrier and starts back to Panorama Villa with B. And on their way, one of the maps falls off A’s carrier and B, who’s riding behind A, doesn’t notice it and runs over the map. That’s also a possibility.’
‘No, it’s not okay at all.’ Egami copied me. ‘Alice, remember what everyone testified about that night. What you, Maria, the doctor, Mr. Makihara, Kazuto and I said. You and Maria saw that all three of Panorama Villa’s bicycles were here until a quarter past twelve. Shortly before one o’clock, Doctor Sonobe and Maria saw two bicycles parked on the terrace by the French windows. Junji Makihara and I saw the same when we looked down through the hallway windows at twenty past one. And from two o’clock until four o’clock, Kazuto and I were in the hall and witnessed all three bicycles standing outside.
‘Do you see? At twelve fifteen, before one, at one twenty, after two... there are witnesses to the fact that during the period when the crime must have been committed, there were always at least two bicycles here at Panorama Villa. Between twelve fifteen and two o’clock, the bicycle parked by the entrance has no alibi, but the other two bicycles do.’
I understood what Egami was telling me. If murderers A and B had taken two bicycles to go to Happy Fish Villa after Maria and I had gone to our rooms at twelve fifteen, then the earliest they could’ve returned was one fifteen, given that one way takes thirty minutes. But around one o’clock, Dr. Sonobe and Maria had seen two bicycles standing next to each other by the French windows. The two bicycles had also been witnessed by Egami and Junji at twenty past one. If, on the other hand, murderers A and B had started on their trip after that time, then the earliest they could have returned would have been twenty past two, yet Egami and Kazuto had testified that all three bicycles were at Panorama Villa at two o’clock. Hence it was impossible for two bicycles to have gone back and forth between the two villas together.
‘Okay, I get it. I agree. The murderer must have used one bicycle to go between Panorama Villa and Happy Fish Villa twice.’
Egami shook his head. ‘Wrong.’
Did I say something odd?
‘You’re wrong, Alice.’
2
‘Did I just say something odd?’
‘Think about it logically. If you think about it carefully, you’ll see it’s not possible for one bicycle to go and come back twice. Maria and you saw all three bicycles at quarter past twelve. Kazuto and I saw all three bicycles at two o’clock. There’s only one hour and forty-five minutes between those times. If one way takes thirty minutes, how could you go back and forth twice?’
‘No, it’s you who’s wrong. The murderer had some reason for returning to Happy Fish Villa. But couldn’t the second trip have been made after two o’clock?’
‘After two? Kazuto and I were in the hall until ten past four. At five o’clock, Reiko and Mrs. Inukai saw all three bicycles. Reiko and Dr. Sonobe also testified they saw all three bicycles just before six o’clock. Those testimonies, each made by multiple witnesses, show that none of the bicycles was gone from Panorama Villa for more than an hour.’
He was right. I realised I had indeed made a mistake. But what could this mean? All I could do was continue to listen to what Egami had to tell me.
‘I’ll go back to before your refutation. How was the tyre mark made on the map? The murderer dropped it on the way back from Happy Fish Villa to Panorama Villa, and then later ran over it on the way from Panorama Villa to Happy Fish Villa. Now my story has arrived at an unexpected place. It’s clear that someone from Panorama Villa used a bicycle on their way back after they’d committed the Happy Fish Villa murder, and that they also used a bicycle when they went back to Happy Fish Villa a second time, for whatever reason. But if so, how did the murderer go from Panorama Villa to Happy Fish Villa the first time? And how did they get back from Happy Fish Villa to Panorama Villa the last time? And, before you answer: it wasn’t by bicycle.’
‘On foot?’
‘No. Mr. Hirakawa was alive until past midnight. Suppose the crime happened at midnight. By the time the murderer had walked back here it’d be half past one. Even if they’d jumped on a bike immediately, they couldn’t have made it back again to this house by two o’clock. Perhaps they wanted to avoid being away from Panorama Villa too long, or they were afraid of being bitten by a snake. In either case: it wasn’t on foot.’
I finally understood what Egami was getting at and I let out a short sigh.
‘They swam, didn’t they?’
That was the only answer left. The only means of transportation on the island are the bicycles and the boat. Maria and I had rendered the boat useless earlier in the night—at around half past ten—by overturning it.
‘We’re almost at the finishing line, so can you still stop my horse?’
‘Sorry, it’s been a rather one-sided discussion so far.
‘I’ll continue.’
He smiled faintly.
‘The murderer acted as follows. They swam from Panorama Villa to Happy Fish Villa. After the murder, they climbed on a bicycle to get back to Panorama Villa. And then they hurried back once more to Happy Fish Villa by bicycle and finally swam back to Panorama Villa.’
‘I can’t see the reason for all those movements. Having committed a murder, did the killer decide to train for a triathlon that night?’
‘Stop being facetious. What you need to pay attention to is which bicycle the murderer used. The one they used to return to Panorama Villa after they’d swum to Happy Fish Villa was, of course Mr. Hirakawa’s red bicycle. And now you know the reason why they had to go back to Happy Fish Villa again. It was to return his bicycle.’
‘Mr. Egami, it all sounds so convoluted.’
I paused for a moment. I remembered how Egami had laughed at Maria and me just before we discovered Hirakawa’s body. The problem of how we could go back and forth between Panorama Villa and Happy Fish Villa: The Kashikijima Island Puzzle.
‘Your story makes no sense. Why go pedalling like crazy to return a dead man’s bicycle? They could simply have left the bicycle here at Panorama Villa and gone to bed. People might’ve been surprised at finding it here in the morning, but even if we’d realised the bicycle had been used in the murder, there’d be no way for us to work out who’d used it.’
‘But that wouldn’t do. I admit it’s a bit convoluted, but be patient and stick with me. What would’ve happened if Mr. Hirakawa’s bicycle had been left at Panorama Villa after the murder? People would have reasoned as follows: “The bicycle from Happy Fish Villa is here. The murderer used that to return here. So the murderer swam to the other side. We can rule out the boat because it had been overturned. So that means that the murderer must be someone who can swim….” This is not good for the killer. Why? They’d planned to put the blame for all the crimes on Kazuto and kill him. The murderer couldn’t let it be known that the culprit was someone who could swim, because that would show Kazuto was in fact innocent.’
It was convoluted, but that wasn’t why I disagreed. There were some other fundamental points to Egami’s deduction I had trouble understanding.
‘Mr. Egami, I still think there are some odd points to your theory. I accept that the murderer swam to Happy Fish Villa. It’s faster than going by bicycle, so it’s only natural. But why didn’t they also swim back? I don’t see any reason for going through all the trouble of using Mr. Hirakawa’s bicycle to come back here, then turn around and go back to Happy Fish Villa on it, and then swim b
ack here again. What was the trip back and forth in the middle for?’
‘There was a reason. Try imagining what was going on at the time in practical terms and you should realise what it was. The killer wanted to bring back the diary, the maps and, most important of all, the rifle without getting them wet. If, the following day, we’d discovered Mr. Hirakawa had been murdered and realised it was part of a string of murders, it would’ve been impossible to move around with a rifle anymore. The killer needed to bring the rifle back to Panorama Villa before the night was over.’
‘Without getting the things wet….Aha, a diary, maps and a rifle. All things you don’t want to get wet. I see….’
‘So, Alice, are you satisfied with my explanation so far?’
Egami asked me once again to be sure. I said yes.
‘Then the next step is our final destination. One person will emerge as our murderer.’ Egami paused for a second. ‘I guess you couldn’t stop my horse getting to the finishing line.’
What was he trying to tell me, saying things like “Can you stop my horse,” and “You couldn’t stop me.”? But what if? What if the identity of the murderer in Egami’s mind was unbearable to us? Perhaps he wanted me to drag it out of him. The deduction he couldn’t get out of his mind….
‘It was most of all the rifle the murderer wanted to bring back here without getting it wet. You could’ve put the diary and the maps in a small plastic bag and swum back. You could perhaps even have casually brought them back with you the following day, without anyone noticing.
‘But because the murderer wanted to keep the rifle dry, they had to make a very dangerous and troublesome extra return trip on the bicycle. Of course, if the boat hadn’t been overturned, they would’ve used that to get to Happy Fish Villa and back.’
‘Mr. Egami…,’ I said.
‘... And here is my final question. I will answer it myself. How then did the murderer bring the rifle along with them when they swam to Happy Fish Villa to murder Mr. Hirakawa?’
‘Mr. Egami.’
I called his name once again, but he didn’t allow me to interrupt him and started to speak faster.
‘If the murderer had had something to keep the rifle waterproof, they could’ve returned here using that same thing a second time. So, obviously they didn’t have anything to keep it dry. Of course, there had been no time to prepare anything like that. It was only when the murderer came down to the beach on Low Tide Cape that they discovered the boat that should’ve been there was gone.’
‘Mr. Egami, what about Maria?’
‘Do you understand what that means? It means the murderer didn’t bring the rifle along with them on the night of the murder. They’d already brought it over to somewhere close to Happy Fish Villa—to High Tide Cape—beforehand, sometime in the afternoon.’
‘Why didn’t you ask Maria up here too? She’d probably make better objections than I.’
‘The murders of Kango and Sumako Makihara were committed the previous night. There had also been a storm raging that night. Everyone remained inside Panorama Villa even after the rain had stopped. The three of us were the exception, as we visited Happy Fish Villa and talked for a long time on the observation platform. And there—’
‘Mr. Egami, Maria—’
I felt something hot creeping up from within the depths of my chest, as well as the feeling of wanting to cry out.
‘I saw it from the observation platform. You did too. I’m sure Maria saw it as well. The rowing boat heading from Panorama Villa to Happy Fish Villa. The person who was on that boat was the only person who could’ve brought the rifle to High Tide Cape that afternoon.
‘No….’
‘The murderer can only be Reiko, who was on that boat.’
Both of us fell silent. Through the window, I could hear the tide wash in the silence. I let my head hang and stared at the toenails of my right foot, my mind blown away in disbelief.
‘That’s why you didn’t ask Maria….’
That was all I could finally manage to say. Now I understood why Egami had looked so sorrowful.
‘What are we going to tell Maria?’
First I thought it was somebody else mumbling, but then I realised that those words had escaped from my own mouth. My eyes moved to the toenails of my left foot, but my head stayed motionless, looking down.
After a while I raised my head. I somehow felt afraid of meeting Egami’s eyes, so I turned my head to look at the window. As always, there was a deep darkness filled with stars. If I could reach out, the world would end there and it would lead to nothingness….
I peeked at our club president. He was still leaning against the wall, also looking at the window. Neither of us had anything to say.
Then it happened.
There was a knock on the door. Both of us turned at the same time.
‘Sorry to disturb you.’
A voice came from beyond the door. My heart leapt.
It was Reiko’s voice.
3
Egami got up and opened the door. There she stood.
‘You don’t mind me disturbing you?’ asked Reiko, and Egami beckoned for her to enter.
‘Come inside. Please sit down.’
She slid silently into the room and sat down on the chair near the window. She rested both hands on her knees as she looked up at us.
Why had the subject of our talks appeared with such perfect timing? I’m sure Egami had only asked me to come to our room later. Perhaps she had no special reason for her visit. Perhaps she’d only come to see how Egami was, to tell him: “Your dinner is ready, won’t you come down and eat?” No, that wasn’t right. If that had been the case, she wouldn’t have sat down on a chair in the back of the room. What could she be here for? I thought furiously about that.
‘I wanted to hear about the case.’
That was all she said, and she looked at Egami and me, then back to Egami, who was leaning casually against the wall.
‘We’ve been talking about nothing but that between the two of us. Right before you knocked on the door, we’d concluded that the murderer of Kango and Sumako Makihara, Mr. Hirakawa and Kazuto was... you.
‘I’ve talked a long time with Alice about how I arrived at that conclusion, but he wasn’t able to counter my reasoning. Yet I’m not satisfied I’ve solved everything, merely because he wasn’t able to come up with reasonable counter-arguments. There’s still a lot I don’t understand, and we haven’t any physical evidence either. It means the jigsaw puzzle we made is still full of holes. I’d like to fill in the holes and complete the puzzle now, if you’d be so kind as to help us.’
My eyes remained fixed on Reiko as she listened to Egami. When she was told she was the murderer, her shoulders trembled slightly, but other than that she was just as she always was. She didn’t act pathetically like a cornered small animal. As I gazed at her, I felt her beauty and brilliance growing.
‘You say I’m the murderer? And you want me to help you solve the case?’
Egami nodded in response to her question.
‘Yes. Could you please answer one question clearly before everything else? You’re the one who killed the four victims, am I correct?’
Even Reiko couldn’t help gasping and looking away. Then she quietly let out the single word: ‘Yes.’
‘I managed to work out that you were the murderer based on all kinds of trivial details. But, as I just told you, there are still things I don’t understand. Some I might learn if I ask you, some even you might not know the answer to. Anyway, shall we start?’
‘Yes,’ she repeated.
‘First I want to establish your motive. May I assume it was revenge for Hideto?’
‘Yes.’
‘Mr. Hirakawa’s diary is rather brief, so it’s difficult to infer the complete picture of what happened three years ago, but I think it happened as follows. In an impulsive act, Kazuto killed Hideto, who had solved the moai statue puzzle. Mr. Hirakawa and Sumako happened to witness the murd
er and Mr. Hirakawa demanded the diamonds the brothers had dug up to keep quiet. Kazuto did as he was told and Sumako, who was in love with Mr. Hirakawa, also followed the artist’s orders and kept silent. They came to an agreement. The three of them carried the body of Hideto to the bay to the north and left it there. And they tried to forget about the crime they’d committed that night. Somehow you came to learn about it. Kazuto was the one you hated the most because he had committed the actual murder, but you couldn’t forgive Mr. Hirakawa and Sumako, who had kept silent about the crime, either. So you decided to do the murders, starting with Sumako and Mr. Hirakawa and ending with Kazuto. You planned to put the blame of the first two murders on Kazuto, and then kill him and make his death appear to be suicide.’
Egami’s last sentence hadn’t been a question, but Reiko still answered: ‘Yes.’
‘I don’t know how and when you came to know the truth about Hideto’s death. Right after it happened, a year after, two years after, or perhaps only when you came to the island this year. I don’t know. But, no matter when you found out, it was necessary for the island to become the stage for the murders. Kazuto was living under the same roof as you, but you could only meet with Sumako Makihara and Mr. Hirakawa—especially Mr. Hirakawa—on this island in the summer. You decided to begin your revenge with Sumako. And, fortunately, a storm arrived.’
While Reiko was listening intently to Egami, she slowly rubbed her left shoulder, exposed by the sleeveless shirt.
‘Everyone had a lot to drink that night. The door of the storage room in the annex was banging frequently and would hide the noise of the gunshot. Junji Makihara was lying dead drunk in the hall and Sumako went upstairs. You decided to commit the crime there and then, and when nobody was looking you slipped upstairs to get the rifle—’
‘I went upstairs after I’d gone back to my room with Maria.’
This was the first time Reiko had interrupted Egami.
The Moai Island Puzzle Page 26