Author's note: Warning: Major character death.
The Testimony of Dr. Akiko Yosano, Questioned by a local Police Investigator.
Yes, Officer. My coworker Kunikida discovered the body. He ran into my office and told me what he found. The body? He seemed to have been dead for three hours. He had a thick rope around his neck. How do I know this officer? I'm a doctor. Kunikida told me in a frantic manner that he was looking for him all day, and then, yes, he found his lifeless body. It was hanging up on a tree outside the office building, yes officer, any passer by could have seen it. Did he exhibit suicidal tendencies? He exhibit suicidal behavior often. It was a sort of joke for him, trying to commit suicide anyway her could. I don't expect him to actually manage to do it. No one did, Officer.
The Testimony of Doppo Kunikida, Questioned by a local Police Investigator.
Dazai was always a pain in the neck, but when it came to certain cases in spite of it all, he was a good coworker. How long have I known him? Four years. We've worked together for that long as well. I found the body at 9:33AM, I was carrying some files I received from the police station. As we are a detective agency, we communicate with the police often,and cover cases no one else wants to or has the resources to. I was so absorbed in my task, at first I didn't notice it. Once I've seen Dazai, hanging lifeless from the tree I nearly dropped all of the files. I couldn't believe my eyes. Dazai had always been prone to, and desired to commit double suicide, but for him to actually achieve his goal was astonishing. I didn't waste any time, I put the files down and approached the body, Dazai was dead, it was the fact of the matter. I knew I had to call for Doctor Yosano, and I did exactly that. I thought, perhaps, she could revive him as her ability was used to heal wounds. But unfortunately she could not do anything. No one could. No sir, we could not have predicted such an outcome. No one even thought of such an outcome.
The Testimony of the Tanizaki's under Questioning by the Police Investigators
Daza-san worked there longer than me or my sister, we can't say much. Do we think something happened to have caused it? Why no… Dazai-san always tried to commit suicide. Though my sister says that she's seen someone from the Mafia nearby on that day, but foreign fingerprints were not found on Dazai-san's body. Me and Naomi? We were in the office doing work, when Kunikida-san ran in like a hurricane and into Dr. Yosano's office. Everyone else? Officer? Atsushi was helping Kunikida-san with paperwork, Kenji-kun was doing some other work, investigating a case. Where was our boss? He was in his office. I don't think he was aware yet, he rarely leaves his office.
The Testimony of Atsushi Nakajima, Questioned by a local Police Investigator.
It's really awful about what happened to Dazai-san. It was a big shock to all of us. No one expected this to happen. No one could have predicted it. No officer, Dazai was coming back from an errand. He was sent alone, as this was one of the smaller missions. Me officer? I was… running an errand for Kunikida-san. He asked me to carry reports back to the police station, and to thank them for their hard work and help. The usual stuff. When did I arrive? Right after the body was taken down and carried inside. The body? No, rigor mortis did not set in yet, but from Yosano-sensei's face I could tell that she could not do anything about it. She looked both angry and upset. The others seemed very upset as well, especially Kunikida-san. Kinikida-san? He and Dazai worked together for a few years. The first time i met them Kunikida-san was yelling at dazai for going off on his own and jumping into the river carelessly. Did he worry about Dazai? Perhaps he did. I have not known Kunikida-san for very long, so I cannot tell how he feels about Dazai entirely. How did they act? Dazai would often play jokes on Kunikida-san and annoy him. Bit when you get down to it, they worked well together as a team.
The Testimony of Ranpo Edogawa, Questioned by a local Police Investigator.
Dazai was a good detective. Not as good as me, of course, but still good. If we think about this logically, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It's sad, yes, but not completely unexpected. He was bound to succeed one of those suicide attempts. Yosano did a good job examining his body thoroughly. From what she found his neck snapped under the pressure of his body, he suffocated under his own body weight, that's how it happened. He found a strong rope, it didn't snap. As to why he went outside to do it, perhaps it had something to do with the day. It was a nice day outside, perhaps he wanted to end it all on a nice day.
The conclusion, Presented to Yukichi Fukuzawa:
The Doctor and Ranpo confirmed that Dazai indeed committed suicide, though it is still unclear as to why. He did not leave a suicide note or told anyone anything out of the ordinary. The Nakajima boy cried throughout most of the questioning, and the rest of the members were all oppressed by the emotional weight by the turn of events. The siblings cried in each other's arms. They had a lot of respect for the man, that was clear. Kunikida muttered something about not being able to save him. We are sorry to lose a member of the detective agency as well.
The Epilogue, Dazai's spirit watching over his funeral:
I did it. Who would have thought. Everyone's gathered down there, at my funeral… I seemed to have burdened everyone. So much for a clean suicide. Yosano... she's looking grim, so unlike her. I hope she's not too mad at me for this, i'd hate to make her mad.
I've never seen Kunikida like this, he seems very depressed, I guess he'll miss me too huh. I can't tell if he's crying or not, but he seems upset. Atsushi on the other hand, is crying. He doesn't conceal his pain, that boy. He let's it all out. Even the president is a lot more grimmer than usual. Everyone is sad. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to be a burden to them.
I'm being lowered into my grave, hah, goodbye everyone, this is my funeral after all.