Chapter 9.5
All was known,
All was found.
3, 2, 1,
The final stage,
Game, Set and Match.
"The exhibition's looking great!"
Professor Miyagi looked upon the various exhibits that were allocated around the hall.
He nudged his colleague-Hiroki Kamijou in the arm.
"Kamijou," he tossed Kamijou a proud glance, "Pretty awesome, riiight?"
"It's good. You're saying it like you're the one doing all the work... Just remember who the one is doing all the paperwork for the exhibit arrangement."
The pair of Japanese literature professors was conducting an inspection on the exhibit that was to be officially open the next day.
"Ah, thanks a lot for that~"
Kamijou couldn't help but sigh at his merry attitude. The grin on Prof. Miyagi says everything about him-easygoing and cheerful.
Yet when it came to serious matters, he was able to go the other way around.
"Prof. Miyagi, the police requested for you. They're in front of the hall right now." A student scurried towards him, looking nervous.
"Understood." the grin on his face dropped, turning into a serious and solemn mien.
"Kamijou, take care of it for me,"
Kamijou gave him a small nod and continued to walk around the hall, ticking items and writing notes on the clipboard he was holding.
"Inspector, how can I be of assistance?"
Miyagi greeted, approaching Megure and Shinichi who were having a conversation by the patrol car.
"Ah, Mr. Miyagi, I hope we're not of any trouble. But, do you mind if we ask you some questions?"
"Certainly." Miyagi returned Megure's request with a small nod. "I suppose the meeting room would be a good place to talk,"
"That's a good idea." Shinichi agreed.
They followed as Miyagi led the way.
"So, a student of yours, Takahashi Misaki helped with the setup of the exhibition 2 weeks ago, right?"
"Yes Inspector, he did help with the setup, Ah...but he was a student of my colleague-Kamijou Hiroki."
"Can you tell me more about the day he helped out? The day the truck went missing." Shinichi asked.
"He was one of the last ones to leave the school, along with another few students. Before he left, he helped carry in a larger exhibition item. That was the last thing left in the truck, according to him."
"What was the exhibit item like?" Shinichi continued to pursue.
"Well, let me think,"
Kamijou walked around the hall, checking every exhibit item, making sure the precious artefacts were safely and securely placed in the glass display cases.
Walking past a wooden framed glass display case, he couldn't help but notice the misalignments of the displayed items.
The items consisted of a torn scroll with a poem written on it, and a few other writing materials that the poet-Bashou, seemed to have used.
The odd part of it, was that the scroll was a bit shorter than it was first seen.
It was an incomplete poem, since the end of the scroll was never found. Hiroki could have sworn it had more verses than what it was shown on the scroll itself right now.
Moreover, the misplaced item: the brush placed in the inkpot's spot, it could only mean one thing.
Someone's opened up the glass casing-When they shouldn't have been able to be opened in the first place.
"This way."
Miyagi led the inspector and Shinichi to the exhibit item he was talking about.
"Ah, where was it~?" he looked around for the exhibit, when suddenly he spotted Kamijou waving at him, signalling for him to come over.
"Prof. Miyagi! Come look at this!"
His colleague exclaimed.
"Oh! Anything interesting?"
Approaching Kamijou, he immediately noticed the problem his friend had with the exhibit.
"'-the soothing breeze that surrounds itself around me, the crimson streaked sky that resembled my feelings of-'...Yeah, I see the problem here..."Miyagi's voice trailed off, his words accompanied with a disappointed sigh.
"'-melancholy, that only the souls floated amidst would know. I yearn dearly, for the time to come: the time that the mask of truth to come afloat, amongst the lies that blinded the world. The soul that lies behind the-'" Shinichi muttered, before looking at his company, "that should be on the scroll-"
A look of amazement appeared upon the latter's face as Shinichi produced a clear plastic packet from inside his coat pocket. There were scraps of paper in the packet, which undoubtedly resembled the material of the scroll.
"Found at the crime scene...I thought I might find a match for it here." He gave the packet to Miyagi, who took it with trembling hands.
"Well, that's one artefact destroyed." Kamijou added, not sparing a disappointed look as well.
"Not completely, good thing the most of it are still unscathed. These scraps are quite useful." Megure commented.
"By useful, you mean-?"
"Yes, the culprit has been identified, Mr Miyagi. All we need now is for him to show up himself."
Miyagi and Kamijou looked at the detective, who proceeded to suggest.
"If we could ask for your assistance, Mr Miyagi, Mr Kamijou."
"Certainly, if it brings the vandal to justice." Miyagi was only too relieved to hear that.
"Trust me, they aren't just any ordinary vandals…" Shinichi grinned.
The exhibition received an extraordinary reception from the public, as thousands of visitors swarmed in everyday to take a look at the treasures beyond the century.
Of course, the damaged exhibit was fixed and adjusted, with the intention to be delicate and careful in mind.
Soon enough, the exhibition ended its 5 day run. The amount raked in from the sale of tickets was impressive, more than enough to compensate for the ruined scroll.
Whilst the clean-up of the exhibition has yet to be done, the plans to retrieve the treasure for the criminals were soon underway.
(A/N: For those who had not read or known about Basho Matsuo, the poem I wrote there IS NOT a Basho work. It was written right on the spot, so if it sounds crappy, I sincerely apologise. Other than that, tell me what you think about the chapter…
It's coming to an end, so….
I've planned and written a sequel for the story! It might be done in quite some time, so I'll just put this here. Stay tuned! Comments are most welcome. :D )