Arakawa-san bowed slightly.
“I would like to visit the master’s bedroom in a moment. If you do not mind, would you please accompany me? I hope I’m wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this.”
Haruhi quickly gestured something to me with her eyes. What’s she trying to say?
“Maybe we should come along.”
Koizumi stood up without hesitation.
“Maybe he’s so ill he couldn’t get up. We may have to break the door down.”
Haruhi swiftly jumped up from her chair,
“Kyon, let’s go! I’m getting all uneasy. Yuki and Mikuru-chan, you two come along as well!”
In this moment, Haruhi revealed a hitherto unseen serious expression on her face.
Allow me to briefly go through what happened afterwards.
Keiichi-san’s room was located on the third floor, there was no response no matter how many times we knocked. Koizumi tried turning the doorknob, but the door still won’t open. The wooden door now stood like a wall, blocking our access.
Before going there, we also went to Tamaru Yutaka-san’s room. As Mori-san had described, the bedsheets were tidy, as though no one has slept on it. Just where did he go? Could both brothers be hiding in Keiichi-san’s room?
“The room is locked from the inside, that means there’s someone inside.”
Koizumi held his chin and gave a look of thinking deeply. He said in an unprecedented intense tone,
“Looks like we no longer have a choice. We’ll have to break down the door. Things are getting serious that lives may be at stake here.”
So we lined up together and rammed ourselves towards the door like a bunch of rugby players. The line-up included me, Koizumi and Arakawa-san. I trust Nagato would be able to push the door down easily with just her finger, but she decided her magic wouldn’t be appropriate here with everyone looking. Under the watchful eyes of the three SOS Brigade girls and Mori-san, the three of us bravely rammed the door many times, just as the bones in my shoulders were beginning to yell out in pain……
The door finally burst open like a spring.
Losing our balance, I, Koizumi and Arakawa-san all fell in towards the room with our momentum. And then……
Yes, we have now returned to the scene at the beginning. It took a long time to catch up. Now, back to the present.
………
……
…
After a lengthy flashback, I slowly moved my eyes away from Keiichi-san, whose chest has been stabbed with a knife, towards the door which has been burst open. This is a newly built mansion, even the doors looked shiny……I shouldn’t be thinking of totally irrelevant stuff now.
Arakawa-san bent his body and knelt down by his master’s side, touching his neck with the tip of his finger, then slowly lifted his head to face us.
“He has passed away.”
Perhaps it’s due to his profession, he sounded very sullen.
“Ah…ah……”
Asahina-san knelt on the ground looking worn out, this is understandable, because right now I felt like doing that as well. I even found Nagato’s wooden expression to be a salvation.
“Things have become serious.”
Koizumi went towards Keiichi-san and knelt by him opposite Arakawa-san, carefully handling Keiichi-san’s suit and examining his shirt.
The white shirt has now been dyed with some dark-reddish liquid, forming an irregular pattern.
“Huh?”
He made an exclamation. I looked at his hand and saw a notebook placed inside the chest pocket of Keiichi-san’s shirt. The blade seemed to pierce through the notebook and into the heart. The suspect must have possessed some formidable strength in order to do that. I don’t think it would be the girls here, though for Haruhi, it just might be possible with her incredible power.
Koizumi’s voice carried a tint of sadness,
“Right now our priority is to preserve the crime scene. Let us leave this place.”
“Mikuru-chan, are you alright?”
It’s not surprising for Haruhi to be so worried, since Asahina-san was close to fainting. She knelt wearily on the floor besides Nagato’s thin legs and closing her eyes tightly.
“Yuki, let’s carry Mikuru-chan to my room! You grab her other arm.”
Haruhi actually said something with common sense, maybe this means she is disturbed inside. With her arms grabbed by Nagato and Haruhi, Asahina-san was slowly dragged and carried away off the corridor.
After making sure they had left, I observed the surroundings.
Arakawa-san put his hands together and paid his respects to his master now lying on the floor, while Mori-san lowered her head with a sad face. Up till now Yutaka-san still remained missing while the storm outside continued.
“Now…” Koizumi said to me, “It seems we need to think about what has transpired.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. Koizumi’s normal smile suddenly returned to his mouth.
“Haven’t you realized? This is now a genuine closed circle.”
I already knew that long before.
“This looks like a murder.”
Well it doesn’t look like suicide.
“Besides, this room is totally sealed off.”
I turned and noticed all the windows were locked from the inside.
“How does the suspect commit his act and leave safely in a room that can’t be accessed at all?”
Why don’t you ask the suspect himself!?
“You’re right,” Koizumi agreed with me, “We’d better ask Yutaka-san about this.”
Koizumi asked Arakawa-san to call the police, then turned and said to me,
“Please wait at Suzumiya-san’s room first, I’ll be coming over as well later.”
That seemed like a good idea, since there wasn’t much I could do.
I knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
The door opened slightly, Haruhi peeked from inside. She then let me in with a perplexed look on her face.
“Where’s Koizumi-kun?”
“He’ll be here soon.”
Asahina-san was left to sleep on one of the double beds. Her sleeping face was enough to compel any passing-by prince to come and kiss her. But from her pained expression, she should be in a state of coma; it’s such a pity.
Beside her sat Nagato as though watching over a coffin. Keep up the good work! Don’t ever leave Asahina-san’s side.
“Hey, what do you think?”
Haruhi seemed to be asking me.
“Think of what?”
“I mean Keiichi-san’s death. This is a murder incident, right?”
Objectively speaking, the answer’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? I tried to deduce. We burst open the locked door to find the owner of the mansion lying on the floor, with a knife stabbed on his chest. A murder happening inside a sealed room in an island trapped in the middle of a storm. This is just too elaborate.
“It seems like that’s the case.”
Time stopped for a few seconds, Haruhi then sighed deeply and sort of replied,
“Hmm……”
Haruhi placed her hand on her temple and sat on her bed.
“How can this be? I never expected things to develop this way.”
She quietly murmured. I should be asking you that. Weren’t you the one who was anticipating that something would happen?
“But, I never thought it would come true!”
Haruhi scowled, then changed her expression. She seemed to be troubled by what expression she should put on. I was kind of relieved that she didn’t seem happy about this, because I have no intention of playing the role of the second victim.
I looked at Asahina-san, who was sleeping with an angel face.
“She should be fine, I guess. She just fainted. Such a direct reaction, I’m envious of her. This is so like how Mikuru-chan would react. It’s better than going hysterical.”
Haruhi said thoughtle
ssly.
A sealed room murder incident on a lone island within a storm. What are the chances of that occurring in a trip? Then again, we are the SOS Brigade, not some Occult Study Group, or Mystery Novels Association. Searching for mysterious events is exactly the reason Haruhi founded the SOS Brigade, so in truth, encountering this kind of incident perhaps embodies the founding principles of the SOS Brigade. Of course, it’s a whole different story when we’re actually experiencing it.
Has this happened since Haruhi had been expecting it?
“Man, this is so frustrating……”
Haruhi leaped off her bed and paced around the room.
For me, she looked like a kid who wanted to pull a small prank on April Fool’s Day, but found out the prank went too far and was feeling troubled. She seemed to be taken completely by surprise, and this troubled me as well.
What should we do?
If possible, I’d like to lie down and sleep beside Asahina-san, but it’s useless trying to escape reality now. There’s got to be a way to deal with this. What does Koizumi intend to do?
“Hmm, after all, we can’t just stay here doing nothing.”
After all? Haruhi said that matter-of-factly and stood before my face. She looked at me seriously with her challenging eyes.
“I need to confirm something. Kyon, come with me.”
I really don’t want to just leave Asahina-san alone here.
“Yuki’s here as well, so don’t worry! Yuki, have the door locked, and don’t let anybody in, you understand?”
Nagato carried her calm demeanor and looked at me and Haruhi.
“Understood.”
She replied without even changing the tone of her voice.
Instantaneously, the pair of light filtering eyes made contact with my eyes. At this moment, Nagato nodded slightly in a way only I could notice, that’s what I think anyway.
I don’t think anything dangerous would happen to me and Haruhi, right? If something funny were to happen, it’s unlikely for Nagato not to intervene. I convinced myself, remembering what happened at the studio apartment of the Computer Study Group’s president.
“Let’s go, Kyon.”
Haruhi grabbed my wrist and stepped out towards the corridor.
“Just where’re we going?”
“To Keiichi-san’s room, of course! I didn’t observe it closely just now, so I need to check again.”
At the image of Keiichi-san lying on the floor with a knife stabbed on his chest, and the blood soaked on his white shirt, I hesitated. That was not a view worth appreciating.
Haruhi walked and said,
“Then, we need to find out where Yutaka-san is. He may be still in the building, besides……”
For something this serious, if Yutaka-san had nothing to do with this, then it doesn’t make sense for him to disappear. There could only be two possibilities for his absence.
I was dragged by Haruhi, who climbed the stairs and said,
“Either Yutaka-san is the killer and has escaped the scene; or Yutaka-san is also a victim……right?”
“Yeah, but if Yutaka-san isn’t the killer, then it’ll become troublesome.”
“No matter who did it, it’s all annoying for me……”
Haruhi looked at me diagonally,
“Kyon, in this mansion, besides the Tamaru brothers, there’s only Arakawa-san and Mori-san left, and the five of us. Could the suspect be one of them? I don’t want to suspect my own brigade, and I don’t want to hand them over to the police.”
She sounded very calm saying that.
I see, so you were worried about one of us being a murderer, huh? I never contemplated such a possibility. Asahina-san was out of the question, while Nagato would have done it in a more efficient manner; as for Koizumi……that’s right, Koizumi was the one closest to Tamaru-san. He said Tamaru-san was his distant relative, compared to total strangers like us, he certainly seemed much closer than us……
“No.”
I knocked my head softly.
Koizumi’s no idiot. He wouldn’t deliberately do such a thing under these circumstances. I do not believe that he would kill someone just to satisfy the conditions for a closed circle. He’s not that stupid.
We don’t need anyone else to have such a thinking pattern. We already have Haruhi.
Outside of Keiichi-san’s room on the third floor stood Arakawa-san with his legs apart.
“I’ve called the police, and they’ve instructed me not to let anyone in.”
He lowered his head. The door remained as it was when we burst it open, I could barely see Keiichi-san’s finger just behind Arakawa-san’s shoulder.
“When are the police coming?”
Haruhi asked questioningly, Arakawa-san replied politely,
“Once this storm subsides. According to the weather report, the weather would improve by tomorrow afternoon, so I guess they’ll arrive by then.”
“Hmm.”
Haruhi occasionally glanced into the room.
“I have something to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Did Keiichi-san and Yutaka-san get along well with each other?”
Arakawa-san’s usual butler expression changed slightly.
“To be honest, I’m not sure myself. Because I’ve only started working here a week ago.”
“A week!?” Both Haruhi and I exclaimed.
Arakawa-san nodded without wincing.
“Yes, I am indeed a butler, but I’ve been hired as a stand-in contractual butler. My contract stipulates that I would serve this mansion for two weeks during summer.”
“So does that mean you only work in this mansion and have not been by Keiichi-san’s side before?”
“Yes.”
So Arakawa-san is a stand-in butler hired by Keiichi-san. If that’s the case, maybe……
Haruhi asked the same question I was about to ask,
“Is Mori-san also the same? Is she also a stand-in maid?”
“You’re absolutely correct. She has also been hired for these two weeks.”
Such a lavish way for Keiichi-san to hire a butler and maid just for two weeks during the summer. I felt he may be a bit casual with how he spends his money, but to hire a butler and maid like that……
As I nearly revealed my thoughts, I immediately held them back again. I cautiously examined Arakawa-san’s face. He looked like an old gentleman wearing a clean armour. He does seem like that sort of person, but……
I didn’t say anything, and had that little thought buried deep within my heart. I’ll ask him later when I see him.
“I see, so there are permanent and contractual servants, I’ve really learnt something new today.”
How is that knowledge new? Haruhi nodded as though fully understanding something.
“Since we can’t enter the room, there’s nothing we can do here. Kyon, let’s go to the next place.”
She pulled my arm and strode forward.
“Now where’re we going?”
“Outside, to see if the boat’s gone.”
I really didn’t want to wander purposelessly with Haruhi under this stormy day.
“I only believe what I see with my eyes. Information that gets passed around usually gets mixed up with unnecessary noise. Listen, Kyon, the most important observations are first-hand ones. Second-hand information from the eyes or hands of other people is not to be believed.”
Well, from a certain point, she was right. But does that mean besides those that enter our field of vision, we can’t believe anything else?
As I pondered about the effectiveness of the information medium, Haruhi had brought me to the first floor, where Mori-san was standing by the base of the stairs.
“Are you two going outside?”
Mori-san asked me and Haruhi, Haruhi replied,
“Yeah, I want to see if the boat’s still here.”
“I don’t think it’s here anymore.”
“Why’s that?”
Mor
i-san replied with a smile,
“I saw Yutaka-sama last night, he seemed to be in a hurry as he left the entrance hall.”
I exchanged glances with Haruhi.
“You mean Yutaka-san had stolen the boat and left the island?”
Mori-san smiled softly and slowly moved her lips,
“I only passed by Yutaka-sama in the corridor, I didn’t actually see him go out. But that was the last I saw of Yutaka-sama.”
“What time was it?” Haruhi asked.
“I guess around one in the morning.”
That was when we were getting drunk and sleeping very soundly.
Does that mean Keiichi-san fell on the floor during this time as well?
Once the door was opened, the raindrops fell onto our bodies. We spent quite some time just trying to open the door, which had become very heavy due to the strong winds. In a few seconds, Haruhi and I were soaked wet from head to toe. If I had known, I would’ve prepared a swimsuit.
The dark grey clouds extended towards the horizon, this reminded me of the Sealed Dimension we were trapped in before. I don’t think I’ll ever like seeing such a monotonous world.
“Let’s go!”
Though her hair and T-shirt have been soaked so wet that they stuck to her body, Haruhi still bravely walked forward in the rain. I had no choice but to follow her, as she was still tightly grabbing my wrist.
Though her hair and T-shirt had been soaked so wet that they stuck to her body, Haruhi still bravely walked forward in the rain. I had no choice but to follow her, as she was still tightly grabbing my wrist.
The wind was so strong that if we had wings, we would be blown off easily. Braving the heavy rain, we finally managed to come to a spot where we can see the pier. If we were not careful, we could fall off the cliff. No matter how brave I got, I started to feel that things were getting bad. I think I would turn in my grave if it was only me that fell off, so I grabbed Haruhi’s hand in return. I felt my chances of survival would be higher if I fell with her.
We finally came to the top of the stairway.
“You see it, Kyon?”
Haruhi’s voice scattered across the wind, I faced her and nodded,
“Yeah.”
The pier was nearly covered in water, the only activity by the seaside were the large waves splashing upon them on the shores.
Volume 3 - The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 17