SailorStar9: This is Chapter 36. Read and review.
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except the pairing, I hope.
Chapter 36: Village of the Traitor
"It's late." Megumi broke the silence.
"We're going back to our room." Ami gave Megumi a look, and the pony-tailed girl nodded.
"We'll go too." Kinta added. "Let's go, Kyu."
"Yeah." Kyu replied and got up. "Night."
"Good night." Kazuma told the four who had gotten up to leave.
"Ugh," Kazuma said and covered his eyes when Ami leaned over to Ryu to give him a good night kiss, "Please no PDA. Please no PDA. Please no PDA."
"I second that motion," Megumi spoke up and raised her hand.
"Don't worry, Kazuma. I promise we won't do anything that will taint your 'innocent' mind." Ami chuckled when she broke off.
In Goura's room...
Goura turned to find his assailant knocking him on the temple with the covered hammer.
"What?" he gasped as the attacker raised his hammer again. "No way, it was you who killed Takatobi?"
He barely managed to get his sentence out when the aggressor swung the hammer on his head again. Sprawling across the table, Goura knocked his tea cup off.
In the corridor...
"Ouch!" Kinta whined. "That really hurt, Megu!"
In Goura's room, the assailant switched off the lights.
In the corridor...
"It wasn't that bad!" Megumi remarked.
"You hit us with solid wood!" Kyu pointed out.
"It's because you were peeking." Megumi snapped. "Jerks."
Just then, Kyu stopped in his footsteps when they walked past Goura's room.
"That's Goura's room." he noted.
"Yeah, so what?" Megumi asked.
"The light are off." Kyu remarked, the attacker behind the door tightening his grip on his weapon.
"It's not all that strange, seeing as it's past 11." Kinta pointed out.
"But..." Kyu protested.
"Well, whatever." Kinta waved his concerns aside. "Let's go to sleep."
"Yeah." Megumi agreed, the four splitting up.
In Goura's room...
The assailant slid the door shut, his eyes widening at the moaning Goura. Realizing that his target was not dead, the hammer went down on his head once more, scattering the fax on the table.
The nest morning...
"It's all swelled up..." Kinta whined, looking closely in the mirror. "Look at what you did, Megu!"
"Whoa, it really swelled up bad." Megumi laughed nervously.
"It's your fault for doing something stupid." Kazuma chided.
"You're right, I agree!" Kyu concurred.
"Don't say that." Kinta snapped. "Especially you, Kyu! You did the same thing!"
"Good morn..." Hitsuki stopped in her greeting and chuckled. "Oh my, your face..."
"Don't laugh!" Kinta protested.
"Yuri-san." he paused.
"It's okay." Megumi teased. "He brought it upon himself."
"I believe it." Hitsuki replied as Kinta turned into stone.
"Everyone, breakfast is ready." Muzo declared. "What happened to your face, Touyama-san?"
"Well," Kinta started. "There comes a time when a man cannot speak of personal matters..."
"Obviously, you couldn't speak about that" Kazuma pointed out, earning him a punch on the head by Kinta.
"Don't hit me, Kinta!" Kazuma whined.
"Shut up!" Kinta barked.
"That's not fair at all!" Kazuma complained as Megumi and Hitsuki chuckled.
"This could take a while." Ami noted amusedly.
"So, where's my 'good morning' kiss?" Ryu joked, his arm snuggled around her waist.
"Fine." Ami sighed, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Happy?"
"Very." Ryu grinned.
"What are you doing?" Hongou-sensei broke the tender moment. "You shouldn't be causing commotion this early."
"Sorry, just..." Kinta apologized, our favorite blue-haired pair breaking apart, just as they heard Obana's scream.
"It's coming from over there!" Hongou-sensei barked, rushing off, everyone else following closely behind.
"What's wrong?" Hitsuki asked.
Muzo was shocked to find Goura's corpse on the ground before she broke into a scream.
"How awful." Obana gasped at the headless corpse, a bloodied knife in Goura's hand.
"What a mess." Ryu added.
"Could this be a Hitobashira?" Hitsuki stammered.
Their attention was caught by several light flashes as Jinnai took pictures on his camera.
"He was burned by the flames of Maya-hime?" Jinnai inquired. "In a town built with so many Hitobashira, this makes sense."
"Stop it." Obana protested as Jinnai proceeded to take another picture. "No photos!"
"Aww, come on." Jinnai chided. "A tragedy caused by the hatred brought about by the dam's construction. This is good material for a dramatic article."
"You've become truly rotten, haven't you?" Hachiya hissed, cutting Jinnai's laughter short. "I can't believe you once tried to bring this village back to life with my brother!"
"How am I supposed to bring back a village about to be drowned by a lake?" Jinnai asked.
"What did you say?" Hachiya barked, jumping onto Jinnai.
"Hey, cut it out!" Kinta pulled the child off.
"DDS will secure this crime scene." Hongou-sensei took over.
When the police arrived...
"What's the estimated time of death?" Mine asked.
"Last night, between 11 pm and 12 am." an officer replied. "The cause of death is blood loss, from the lacerations on his wrists."
"The criminal most likely knocked him uncontentious via a blow to the head or something similar." Ryu concluded. "He would have then shoved the torso in there, and cut his wrists."
"I see..." Kyu mused. "Leaving ash in his lungs to make it look like a suicide."
"It doesn't 'look like' a suicide." Mine corrected. "It is one."
"Do you have any proof?" he asked. "If not then, please be quiet. Where's your teacher anyway?"
"He was here until just a second ago..." Kyu blinked.
"More importantly, you were speaking of 'proof'." Ami pointed out.
"Whatever, come with me." Mine scoffed.
In Goura's room...
Mine pressed a button on Goura's laptop and a message appeared.
"'The curse of Maya-hime compels me; I shall become a Hitobashira myself along with Takatobi'." Ryu read.
"This was written before he dead?" he asked.
"That's correct." Mine replied. "Obana-san, was there any indication that the two victims were worried during this time?"
"Now that you mean it, Takatobi-sensei was worried that he may have been cursed." Obana replied. "He was actually a fragile person, he asked Goura-san to be very thorough and have a priest ward off evil spirits."
"Wait, Detective Mine." Kyu cut in.
"What?" Mine demanded. "Do you have anything else to say?"
"Do you really think something as deliberate as this is authentic?" Kyu asked, pointing to the message. "Considering the state of the bodies too, I don't think that's natural behavior for a suicide."
"What of it?" Mine pressed. "People who commit suicide are already acting unnaturally."
"So you think it's strange too?" Kyu insisted. "Then what about your evidence to support it being a suicide?"
"It's impossible." Mine replied. "The police investigated the sealed room crime scene thoroughly too. You also determined that it was impossible to demonstrate any type of murder took place."
"You are saying that because murder must be impossible no matter how strange their deaths were, suicide was your only conclusion?" Kyu exclaimed.
"Exactly." Mine replied. "There was a body in a locked room with no way out. Murder is impossible. So we think it's suicide."
"That's what the police think indeed." Hongou-sensei cut in.
"Ah, so you understand, Sensei." Mine was glad that someone took his side.
"But isn't suicide impossible too?" Ryu pointed out. "He shouldn't have been able to move that hue block of concrete himself."
"It's not impossible." Mine corrected. "We'll show that ourselves later. If you doubt me, fell free to watch."
"The reason we can't solve the mystery is because we're missing something important." Hongou-sensei reminded the students. "I leave it in your hands."
"What do you mean?" Kazuma asked as Hongou-sensei walked off.
In the hall...
Hongou-sensei walked past Jinnai, giving the photographer a glance before exiting completely.
In Ryu's and Kazuma's shared room...
"Hey, what do we do?" Kinta asked. "At this rate, that arrogant detective is going to write this off as a suicide."
"Even though this situation makes no sense." Kazuma added.
"Just like Hongou-sensei says, I really feel like we're forgetting something essential." Kyu remarked.
"There's something that's been bothering me this whole time and I can't figure it out!" he complained.
"Then let's clarify that!" Megumi told him. "I'll help you, Kyu. You can ask me anything! I remember everything that I've seen clearly since we've arrived here."
"Megu..." Kyu looked at her.
"All right, I'll check things out too." Kazuma added. "The victim may have left a dying message that has yet to be found"
"Then, I'll work with Kazuma." Ryu offered.
"OK, leave questioning people about the motive to me." Kinta whooped.
"And I'm going with you." Ami added.
"Why?" Kinta challenged.
"To make sure you don't get too side-tracked." Ami smirked.
"Hey!" Kinta protested, as everyone else laughed.
"While we can't do this alone, together the six of us can solve it!" Megumi declared. "If we all work together, I'm sure we can do it."
"That's right." Kinta agreed. "We can still do this without Hongou-sensei!"
Companions... Ryu mused.
"All right!" Kyu beamed. "Now I'm motivated! Get our DDS badges and move out! DDS Class Q! Let's go!"
"I thought I was class rep. Who died and made you leader?" Ami joked, pinning on her badge.
With Ryu and Kazuma...
The two had re-entered Goura's room to search for a dying message.
"Leaving a message before your death, huh." Ryu mused.
"Goura-san may have been attacked here." Kazuma noted. "So I was thinking he may have tried to leave a message behind before he lost consciousness."
"But won't the police have checked that?" Ryu pointed out.
"If it's here, it may be hidden as some kind of code." Kazuma replied. "It wouldn't be surprising if they missed it."
"This is the fax he received before he was killed?" he sat at the table, looking at the paper stack in his hands.
"Huh?" he blinked as Ryu scouted the room. "The pages are all out of order. Why could that be? These black markings..."
"Could it be?" he gasped, flipping through the pages.
"I knew it!" he exclaimed, tidying up the paper stack.
"What's wrong?" Ryu asked, examining a lamp.
"Look at the markings on the paper's edge." Kazuma told the older teen who had sat down.
"That's not from the fax." Ryu blinked.
"Yeah, I think Gouda-san may have written something here." Kazuma agreed. "In other words, the victim wrote something on the edge without attracting the murderer's attention. He then scattered them to stop the murderer from noticing the writing."
"Let's line up the fax pages in order!" Ryu decided.
After rearranging the papers, the pair stacked the paper together.
"It's done." Kazuma tidied the pile. "Lemme see."
"What's this?" he blinked. "Kashiya?"
"This doesn't help!" he sighed. "Look at this, Ryu-kun! This fax is from Kashiya Design's office... he probably only wrote this to organize his papers."
"But why is only the 'ya' written in hiragana?" Ryu asked. "Just a mistake?"
With Kyu and Megumi...
"Then where do we begin, Kyu?" Megumi asked.
"Let's start with last night when Goura-san was killed." Kyu started. "Now that I think about it, we walked in front of his room. What time was that?"
"Wait a moment." Megumi replied, shutting her eyes to recall her memory. "10:45."
"Megu, did you take a look at the fax that came for him?" Kyu asked.
"Yes, of course." Megumi nodded.
"Then, do you know what time it arrived?" Kyu asked.
"Let me think." Megumi replied, recalling her memory. "It said 10:30."
"I see." Kyu mused. "If they sent it that late, it must be a pretty important document, right?"
"I think so too." Megumi agreed. "He would've probably been looking through it that night."
"Right?" Kyu added. "But when we passed by there, the lights were off."
"Hey, the criminal may have been there during that time." Megumi pointed out.
"I see." Kyu realized. "That's right! Then we can explain it! The incredibly unnatural actions that a certain person took."
"Then you know who the criminal is?" Megumi asked.
"But the motive isn't certain yet." Kyu replied.
Megumi sighed.
With Kinta and Ami...
The two had found Hitsuki in the cemetery paying her respects to someone.
"What are you doing?" Kinta demanded, having blocked Hachiya's attack with an arm.
"Touyama-san!" Hitsuki gasped.
"You're Musashi!" Ami blinked at the angry child.
"Let me go!" Hachiya struggled against Kinta's grip, the older teen having taken the stick out of his hands.
"Swinging sticks around like that is dangerous!" Kinta scolded.
"Shut up!" Hachiya fumed, as Kinta twisted his arm back, the stick being thrown off. "Like I care!"
"What did you say, stupid kid?" Kinta demanded.
"Stop it!" Hitsuki shouted, before Kinta could land a finger on the child.
"Yuri-san, he tired to hit you." Kinta protested.
"I'm the one at fault." Hitsuki corrected.
Seeing his chance, Hachiya bit Kinta's hand, forcing the older teen to drop him.
"Ask her why!" Hachiya called as he ran off.
"Yuri-san, what's going on here?" Ami asked.
"Musashi-kun's older brother was leading demonstrators against a dam being constructed downstream." Hitsuki replied. "During this time, he was suddenly caught in an avalanche and was killed. That dam was also a project forced through by Kagaki Construction and Diet Member Takatobi. Musashi-kun's brother, Yamato-san, along with Jinnai-san, tried their best to protect this village and the nature state of the river."
"Wait." Kinta stopped her narration. "Yuri-san, aren't you Takatobi's secretary and in favor of..."
"No!" Hitsuki protested. "Yamato-san and I were lovers! And this was the town I was born in! I became his secretary to try to stop the construction of the dam! Takatobi didn't budge when Yamato and Jinnai started their movement. I thought I'd try another way. But even as his secretary when I tried to question the need for a dam, he laughed and said this; the dam, you see, is necessary. Not for the locals, but for the construction companies that support me, along with myself."
"What a jerk!" Kinta hissed.
"I'm an idiot." Hitsuki snorted. "In the end, not only was I unable to stop him from constructing the dam, but ironically, I ended up helping create it as his secretary."
"Yuri-san..." Kinta started.
"All I can do for him now is visit this small grave." Hitsuki looked at the tablet. "I hated those two, Takatobi and Goura. No, not only me. Everybody hated them. Musashi-kun who lost his brother. Jinnai-san who lost his friend. Nastumi-san, who lost her father to an accident at the same place Yamato-san lost his life. I'm sure of it, they all hated Takatobi and Goura enough to kill them. The flames of hatred from all the people who were made miserable for a useless dam. Yes, the flames of a Hitobashira that burn more violently than Maya-hime. That was what burned them."
"Then, turn that hatred into strength." Ami started.
"What?" Hitsuki looked at her.
"Turn that hatred into the strength to live on; not only for yourselves, and also in memory of those who died." Ami told her.
Unknown to them, Jinnai was leaning against a tree behind them.
That's Athena for you. The disguised Nanami-sensei noted.
In the inn...
Muzo looked at her family photo.
"Every one of them had a motive." Kinta told the rest of Class Q their findings.
"And the person who took the unnatural actions..." Megumi added.
"Cheer up!" Kinta chided a sighing Kazuma.
"Just one more step. If only we had definitive proof, we could identify the criminal!" Kyu decided.
"It's time for Detective Mine to show us his idea of how the suicide occurred." Ryu looked at the clock which had then crimed 3.
"At this rate, we'll end up losing to the criminal's trick!" Kyu remarked.
"But to catch them, we need to solve the mystery of that locked room." Megumi pointed out. "The police have given up on solving the mystery, can the six of us do it alone?"
"The police may have given up if it's impossible." Kyu decided firmly. "But we're detectives. If a detective gives up, the case will never be solved!"
Back at the warehouse...
"Then I'll begin." Mine started. "Look closely."
"You three move it." he instructed.
"Three people?" Megumi echoed. "Takatobi was alone..."
"Shut up and watch." Mine barked. "After he resigned himself to suicide, he hired three people to move the concrete block for him, paying them a large amount to money to silence them."
"One, two..." the three officers chanted as they tried to lift the block. "This is heavy!"
"Why would he have to do that in order to kill himself?" Kyu asked.
"In order to eliminate any possibility that his death would be seen as murder." Mine replied. "That way, the people in the village who opposed the construction of the dam wouldn't be suspected."
"Did he look like such a nice guy, that politician?" Kinta whispered to Kazuma.
"I don't think judging by his looks is a good idea..." Kazuma noted.
"What's wrong?" Mine looked over at his struggling officers. "Even with three people, you can't move it?"
"No, it's just a little difficult to move in here." one of the officers replied. "One, two..."
"All right, we got it." he choked, finally managing to lift the block.
"Wait, Detective Mine." Ryu cut in. "Even if they did carry it there, the block would now be blocking the door from closing.."
"We know." Mine told him. "So they put it in the room. They then closed the door and he moved it."
"He moved it alone?" Ryu asked.
"Of course he did it alone." Mine replied.
"And there you go." Kinta snorted. "He couldn't move it himself, could he? That's a huge concrete block!"
"You, the big stupid one." Mine sighed. "Are you familiar with how the pyramid were constructed?"
"The pyramids are made of giant blocks piled on top of each other." he added, as Kazuma hid a chuckle. "The same way they moved those huge blocks."
"Oh, I get it!" Kazuma realized what Mine was getting at. "They used rollers."
"Yes. Just like the elementary school kid says." Mine replied. "It would be easy to move the concrete block if it were placed on rollers. Well, getting it on the dirt floor would be a little difficult, but he could've managed it."
"OK, try it." he instructed.
"I wonder if the wooden floor can bear the weight of the block." Ami mused as the three officers dropped the slab.
"Watch out!" one of the officers warned, the floor breaking apart, fleeing as the block caved in.
"The floor broke!" Kyu gasped.
"Impossible." Mine was stunned. "Was it weakened by the fire?"
"Nope." Kinta corrected as he peered in. This floor's just made out of scrap wood. A heavy block like this would not be supported by this floor."
"It looks like suicide has become impossible then, Detective mine." Ryu noted.
"I can't believe it." Mine gaped. "Suicide and murder are both impossible.
"It can't be. A perfect locked room." Ryu was shocked. "The mystery's become even more complicated!"
"No way." Megumi gasped. "Could this be a curse? The cursed flame of Maya-hime the Hitobashira herself who protected the village, is what killed them. "
Just then, Ami noticed something.
"Ames!" Ryu blinked at his lover who had knelt by the fallen block.
"Ryu, Kyu, look at this!" Ami remarked. "A vinyl sheet is stuck to the bottom of the concrete block."
"You're right." Ryu agreed. "There's burnt vinyl on the dirt floor too."
Ami smiled, "i think I know how the block got here."
"This is a great hint!" Kyu gaped. "It's all falling together now. There's no doubt! This locked room isn't the curse of Maya-hime. It's a trick!"
Upon returning to the inn...
"We're back." Kyu declared.
"A fax is here for Amakusa-sama..." Muzo informed them.
"It's the autopsy report I asked for." Ryu replied as he hurried to get his fax. "Everyone, you can go back to your rooms!"
"Hey, let me come too!" Kazuma followed after him.
"It's still on page 5." Ryu noted as the fax came in. "There's quite a bit."
"That's page 6." Kazuma added, another page being fed in.
"Wait a minute." Ryu gasped, realizing their mistake.
"The later pages come out on top!" Kazuma blinked. "This, this fax is in reverse, which means..."
"That's right!" Ryu looked at the younger teen. "That scribble was..."
"A dying message!" Kazuma finished his sentence.
In Kyu's and Kinta's shared room...
"You solved the mystery of that locked room?" Kinta was stunned.
"Really, Kyu, Ami?" Megumi asked.
"Yes, I did." Kyu replied as Ami nodded in concurrent.
"And we've got solid proof of who the criminal is." Ryu cut in, entering with Kazuma.
"Just as I thought, it was there!" Kazuma added.
"Look." Ryu handed the two the stack of papers. "This is the dying message that Goura-san left."
"Amazing!" Kyu remarked, looking at the stack's edge. "This is conclusive!"
"Kyu!" Ryu noted.
Ami nodded, "Let's get ready and everyone together. We're going to face the real criminal!"
Later in the inn's lobby...
"Uh, DDS members, what exactly are you going to do?" Obana asked. "I need to get ready for the diet member's funeral."
"I'm going to miss my train too..." Hitsuki added.
"Have you found the criminal?" Jinnai asked. "That sounds fun. Quite a scoop."
"Didn't Takatobi-sensei and Goura-san commit suicide?" Muzo inquired as Hachiya growled.
"No, their deaths are clearly murders." Kyu corrected as Mine and his officers entered.
"Hey, kid." Mine barked. "Who gave you permission to put out this little play?"
"We've found it!" Kyu informed him. "The criminal's identity, and proof to support it. And the answer to the trick that made that perfect locked murder possible!"
"What?" Mine gasped.
"There are 3 hints." Kyu held out three fingers. "The first is the unnatural actions that a certain person took. The second is the order the faxes arrive. The third is the vinyl sheet under the concrete block.."
"There's only one answer!" he declared.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.