"OK, what's going on?" Keitaro asked as he, Phillip and Kitsune came across the entrance of the dining hall. The double doors were locked and standing in front were George, Jessica, Battler, Maria, Beatrice and Rosa.

"Someone locked the door," Battler said.

"I can see that," said Keitaro. "Did you get anyone to open it?"

"I sent Genji-san to get the key," said Rosa. Genji returned with the master key and unlocked the double doors. When the doors were opened, those assembled were treated to a grim sight.

Krauss, Eva, Rudolph and their spouses were sitting in their chairs with their throats slit.

Phillip recalled one of the lines of the riddle, "At the first twilight, you shall lift up as sacrifice the six chosen by the key."

The Urashima Brothers now had seven murder victims in total. As Rosa held Maria close, averting her eyes, Keitaro's eyes narrowed. The killer had struck again, this time right under their noses. Three of the Oyashiro children were dead along with their spouses and Kinzo. He looked at Ryuji who was comforting Kotonoha, holding her close and preventing her from seeing more of the grim scene. Then, he gazed at Rosa and Maria. The woman had more to benefit from this murder.

However, how had she done it. He examined the lock. It seemed the key only worked on the outside. The door could only be locked from the inside. Meaning, the killer could not have gotten out.

This was a Locked Room Murder.

Screams of horror came out of the children of the murdered couples.


LOVE HINA/DOUBLE TROUBLE

Chapter 53: Murder on Rokkenjima (Part 3)

By: Kamen Rider Chrome & Ten-Faced Paladin


The bodies of the victims were moved to the taxidermy room where the lone Doctor Nanjo on the island could confirm how the six adults were killed. Keitaro was stunned how all six of Battler's relatives including his parents could be killed in one night, much less in their own rooms and then transported to the dining room.

The survivors all relocated to the sitting room, Battler slumped over with his head in his hands. Beatrice was trying to comfort him, but she was obviously terrified. Kitsune was practically vacuum sealed to Keitaro while the man himself looked stoic. Rosa kept Maria firmly in arm's reach, not wanting to lose her daughter. Kotonoha was likely the most terrified of all, being unused to seeing such scenes.

"H-h-how could this have happened?" questioned Rosa.

"I don't know," said Keitaro firmly, "But I'm going to find out."

"Me too," said Battler as he lifted his head, his voice strained with anger and determination. "This just got personal."

"Battler..." Keitaro began worriedly.

"I know what you're gonna say, Keitaro. I know I shouldn't take these cases personally, but my parents just got killed. I'm gonna have to tell Ange what happened. Before that though, I'm going to find out who did this and make them pay," swore Battler.

Keitaro stared Battler in the eye. Were it any other kind of case, Keitaro would have welcomed Battler's sharp intellect and quick thinking. Still, Battler was going to have emotional ties with the case and would himself get too emotional. Still, this case was shaping up into one of the most important he ever dealt with and he was going to need all the help he could get.

"Okay," Keitaro nodded. "But keep your temper in check at all times and remember that I run the show here. We don't need anybody going crazy when there's so much on the line already."

"You got it," Battler agreed.


Meanwhile, back in the dining hall, Phillip was investigating the scene. There were no drag marks on the carpet so the victims couldn't have been brought to the dining room. He had also checked the rooms where the couples stayed; their children stayed in different rooms except for Maria who slept with her mother. There were no signs of a struggle nor were there any blood stains.

"They were not killed in their rooms," he had concluded. That meant they were killed in the dining room. However, the killer would have needed to be very fast to slit their throats. One or two people being caught off guard by such an act was one thing, but there were six adults in the room, a dining room of all things. No one would have missed even the first kill in such proximity. The notion made Phillip frown, "Unless...they were incapacitated prior to having their throats slit."

The only answer was that there were probably drugs in their systems. Someone had drugged them before killing them. Dr. Nanjo would be able to confirm or deny that theory hopefully when he was done with his examination. The only question was, how had the killer gotten in and out without leaving a trace of where he went? The answer: a secret passage.

Phillip took that answer and ran with it, knocking on the walls, listening with his ear. A hidden door would cause an echo in the passage they were hiding. He tried wide portions of walls and where large portraits were hung. When he tapped another portion at the far end of the room, he blinked. He rapped it again, hearing the noise echo.

"It's hollow," he frowned. He was familiar with the sound as Hinata-Sou also had a series of hidden tunnels and passageways as well. In the time he'd spent living there, he'd uncovered and explored them.


Keitaro and Battler immediately began their own investigation. They started with the staff since they had the most access to all of the rooms in the house and next to Kinzo, knew it best. However, that didn't lead to anything conclusive, forcing the detectives to move on to the more obvious suspects: Kinzo's family. Since Rosa had been the last one to see her siblings and in-laws alive, she was logically the first person that the pair of detectives went to talk to. With Battler taking the lead, they began to question the survivor of Kinzo's four children.

"Aunt Rosa, you were the last person to see them alive?" asked Battler.

"Yes," said Rosa. "Krauss-niisan called us for a meeting late last night. He wanted to talk about the inheritance. To be honest, I was disgusted, so I decided to leave the meeting and go back to sleep. Maria needed me."

Keitaro and Battler had both gone to question the staff, the former making sure the latter was calm and collected. Keitaro could understand that Battler might lose his temper seeing as his parents had just been murdered. So far, he was staying cool and calm, but dealing with his relatives would be the acid test to see how professional he could be.

"So you were with Maria-chan all night?" asked Keitaro.

"Of course I was!" Rosa frowned. "She just saw her grandfather hung and stabbed! Of course I would be with her instead of my greedy brothers and sister!"

"Aunt Rosa!" Battler frowned, clenching his fists. "I know you are upset but remember that MY FATHER AND STEP-MOTHER were among those killed!"

Keitaro tensed, ready to move to stop Battler in case he began to lose his temper, but the man managed to control himself. Rosa was panting, obviously angry at being suspected but likely also angry at the rest of the situation. She took several breaths before she managed to calm herself down again. Enough to be civil anyway.

"You're right," she sighed. "I'm sorry Battler. I'm just so...angry at being considered a killer that I forget about some of the details. Krauss-niisan, Rudoulph-niisan and Eva-neesan were my siblings. I shouldn't let our differences between us affect my temper or disposition about them. Rudolph was your father just as much as he was my brother."

"It's understandable," Battler nodded. "Now please, Aunt Rosa. In detail."

"Right," Rosa nodded. "Okay, after we were all to retire to our rooms, Krauss-niisan came to my room as I was preparing for bed and asked me to meet him in the sitting room to discuss important issues."

"Was it just Kinzo's children or were their spouses with them?" asked Keitaro.

"Hideyoshi-san, Kyrie-san, and Natsuhi-san were there too," Rosa nodded. "Krauss began by saying how that with Otou-sama dead they needed to pick out an heir to the Ushiromiya since with Otou-sama murdered there was going to be a lot of mess to clean up and things to prepare. Naturally, he argued that as the eldest he should be chosen."

"And how did everyone take that?" asked Battler.

"Well, Eva-neesan certainly called him out on that and Rudolph-niisan backed her up," Rosa sighed. "They kept pointing out how he could barely keep his personal home life together, instead relying on Natsuhi-san to do everything while he paid attention only to his business. If he couldn't keep his home life together, how could he watch over all of the affairs of the Ushiromiya family?"

"Did Krauss-san have problems keeping his home life together?" asked Keitaro.

"Yes," Rosa nodded. "If it didn't have anything to do with business, it seemed to fly right over his head. He's missed several important dates in his family's lives like Jessica's birthdays and graduation not to mention his own wedding anniversary, several times. Natsuhi-san got distraught every time and called me up a few times to cry about it or complain about Krauss-niisan. That's how I know for sure what Eva-neesan and Rudolph-niisan said was true."

"Okay. So what happened next?" asked Battler.

"Eva-neesan suggested herself next," Rosa continued, trying to remember every detail. "She claimed that she had a much more solid foundation in her life so she could keep an eye out for all of the Ushiromiyas' affairs. Krauss-niisan shot her down, stating she had nothing and the only positive to her standing was bringing Hideyoshi-san into the family. She had no real qualifications to show she could be the head of the family aside from the same schooling we all received."

"And...Dad?" asked Battler, choking slightly on the word.

"He suggested himself of course, stating that he was a proven successful businessman as well as having a good balance of his home life and affairs," Rosa sighed. "Krauss-niisan argued that his business was mediocre at best while Eva-neesan brought up the impropriety of marrying his secretary and the feud you and him had over that," seeing Battler wince, she did the same, "Sorry."

"No...no...it's okay," Battler sighed. "It's...in the past now. We made up. That's the important part."

"What about you Rosa-san?" asked Keitaro. "Did you nominate yourself for the head of the family?"

"I wanted to, but I'm not delusional," Rosa sighed, looking downcast. "Not only am I the youngest, but right now I'm in something of a financial downfall. My business is weak thanks to a bunch of my designers screwing up my ideas and my co-investors are expecting a return in their investments or at least their money back. I blame myself though. I should have paid more attention to what was being brainstormed in my offices instead of mooning over the latest man in my life. Both my business failures and fumbles in my personal life would have had my brothers and sister shoot me down in a blaze of glory," Rosa rubbed her temple. "Would I like to be the head of the family and receive the inheritance? Yes, of course. Am I capable of claiming it? Not even now with my siblings...dead would I be able to do it. Otou-sama insisted that only the one who solves that damn riddle can claim it. He even had his attorneys set it in writing. It doesn't matter if I'm the last Ushiromiya. If I can't solve the riddle, I don't get anything."

"Hmm," Keitaro nodded, making a mental note. It seemed that Kinzo was dead serious about the heir to his estate needing to solve the riddle. Was it to prevent infighting and possible attacks from his children against each other? Relatives did fight a lot over money sometimes and in normal inheritance issues if the primary beneficiaries weren't able to receive it, then the benefits would be passed on to the next person in line. People would kill to be that next person sometimes. If Kinzo created his riddle to avoid that though, it obviously didn't work.

"So how were the spouses acting during the fight?" asked Battler.

"Natsuhi-san looked ashamed when Eva-neesan brought up her home life," Rosa answered. "She hates the fact that she can't seem to have her husband actually involved in family life and it never leaves her alone. Kyrie-san seemed resigned, being considered a scandalous element in our family. I never minded since she made Rudolph-niisan happy, but Eva-neesan knew how to poke old wounds. Hideyoshi-san merely tried to get everyone to calm down and talk like civilized people."

"And what happened after Rudolph-san made his suggestion?" asked Keitaro.

"That was when I had enough," Rosa muttered. "I stood up, shouted at all of them saying they were horrible people for dancing on Otou-sama's grave like they were and left to my room and Maria," Rosa sighed mournfully. "I wish I hadn't called them that..." Her siblings were dead and the last time she had called them were horrible people. She really wished she could take it back now.

The questioning was halted when the second Urashima came into the room, the door creaking slightly as he entered. "Keitaro," Phillip called. "I've just examined the room and I found something that might interest you."

Keitaro looked to his adopted brother expectantly, "Really?"

Ryuji, hearing this, got interested. However, he really couldn't do anything right now. Kotonoha had just seen six dead bodies. Including Kinzo's murder, that meant that she'd seen seven people die in less than two days. The girl was upset and needed comfort. Also, once Ryubee learnt of Kinzo's death, he'd be upset.

Ryuji decided he was going to let the detectives do the legwork before he would catch the killer himself and make them pay.


Dining Hall

"Right here," said Phillip as he tapped a portion of the wall at the far end of the room. "It's hollow. Like parts of the Hinata-Sou, this mansion has a secret passage."

"So, how do we get it opened?" asked Keitaro. Phillip smiled and took hold of a wall lamp before pulling it down. The portion of the wall slid open to reveal a tunnel. "That's cliche."

"Yes, but convenient. Though, when I examined the tunnel, I discovered that it was too narrow for a full grown adult to use," said Phillip.

"You think a child did this?" Keitaro asked, surprised at what his brother was insinuating.

"Or someone very slender," said Phillip.

"Where does this thing lead to?" Keitaro asked as he cautiously peered into the tunnel.

"I sent my Spider Shock ahead to plant a tracking device. Yours should be able to track the signal," Phillip said. Keitaro nodded and checked his watch. The signal of Phillip's Spider Shock was strong, meaning the storm hadn't caused any interference.

"I wonder..." Keitaro murmured.

"Are you considering going?" Phillip asked.

"It's a clue," said Keitaro.

"Then you will need these," said Phillip as he pulled a raincoat and umbrella out of nowhere. Keitaro blinked and sighed.

"You're always prepared, aren't you, Aibou?" Keitaro asked. Phillip shrugged. Keitaro took the items and asked, "Phillip, I'm gonna need you to question the staff Battler and I hadn't gotten to yet. Maybe we'll find out something."

"Well, we can exclude Maria Ushiromiya from the list of suspects," said Phillip. "That leaves George Ushiromiya, Jessica Ushiromiya, the maid Shannon, the young butler Kanon, head butler Genji Ronoue, head cook Toshiro Gohda and part-timer Chiyo Kumasawa."

"I already questioned Rosa-san," added Keitaro. "And Battler's questioning his cousins." He slipped on the raincoat. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," smiled Phillip.


Usually, Kitsune would be drinking right now to drown her troubles. However, recent developments had curbed her need for alcohol. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't craving a drink right now. The number of western alcohols sitting on a table nearby were almost singing to her, but she was just too unnerved about events to try tasting them. She had seen enough horror movies to know what happened to boozers when they let their guards down.

"Not the romantic getaway you had in mind, huh?" asked Beatrice as she sat down on the couch next to Kitsune.

"No," sighed Kitsune. She looked at the other couple in the sitting room with them: Ryuji and Kotonoha. "Guess we're all upset about all this."

Ryuji was comforting Kotonoha who had seen too much death in a very short span of time. "Koto-chan, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I only wanted to take you on a short vacation. You shouldn't have had to see all that."

"I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen, Ryuji-kun," Kotonoha said. "I just feel sorry for the people here who lost their parents. Like you did." Ryuji frowned. The subject of his parents' death was always a negative one for him. It hadn't been long since they had died and he ended up living with his relatives, the Sonozakis.

"Kinzo-san was my uncle's friend," said Ryuji. "I hope they find out who did this to him and his children so they can pay for their crimes." He was also thinking, 'If not, then I will make them pay for their crimes.' The Phobia Memory in his pocket seemed to be resonating with his dark thoughts. The killer needed to be punished and Ryuji Sonozaki would be glad to be the executioner.


"Damn, what a storm," muttered Keitaro as he walked through the forest situated on the island. He was following the signal his Spider Shock was leading him towards. "OK, I should be close to its location." He pushed a branch aside and when he exited the bushes, his eyes widened as he saw another mansion before him. "Another mansion?" His eyes narrowed in curiosity as he stepped towards it. He had a feeling that this mansion could hold clues.

He went up the steps to the front door and took hold of the handle. The door wasn't locked. Carefully and slowly, Keitaro pushed the door open and entered the mysterious mansion. There was a sign above its door dubbing it the Kuwadorian. It was dark since there were no lights so Keitaro turned on his flashlight. As a detective he was always prepared for any occasion. There was no telling when a case might pop up. Friends of his, Hajime Kindaichi and Shinichi Kudo, often claimed that murders took place in their presence.

Slipping inside, Keitaro had been half-expecting a dusty and cobweb-ridden area. Instead, what he got was a clean mansion which looked like it was ready to be moved into. Everything was polished and cleaned, making it look almost as impressive as the Ushiromiya family mansion. Keitaro briefly had to wonder if he was inside a guest house or something.

He walked through another hallway, trying to see if there was anyone actually living in the house or not.

"Drat! Now where are those flashlights?"

Keitaro blinked before a door opened and almost hit him in the face. Stumbling back, he let his light land on a person coming out of the room. The light briefly landed on a rather effeminate young man with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. His features made him to be half or three-quarters Japanese. He wore a magenta suit which didn't enforce his masculinity in any capacity, but something Keitaro's eyes did notice was the Ushiromiya Family crest marking on his left leg.

"AAHHHH!" the young man screamed, leaping back from Keitaro. Scrambling to a desk, he lifted a vase to hurl at him. "Who are you?-! Don't come any closer! I'm warning you!"

"Wait! Wait!" Keitaro shouted, pulling back his hood. "I'm not here to hurt you! My name's Keitaro Urashima! I'm here investigating the murder of Kinzo Ushiromiya and members of his family!"

The young man who was so ready for a fight before suddenly stopped, his eyes widening, "Ki-Kinzo's...dead?"

"Unfortunately," Keitaro nodded. Seeing the man trembling and taking the news so badly, he decided to try and figure out who the blonde man was. "If you have the crest on your clothes, you must be a member of the family. Who are you? How are you related to the Ushiromiyas?"

The man set the vase down, his eyes staring into space as grief struck him, "I...I am...Leo Ushiromiya. Kinzo was my father...and my grandfather..."

"Huh?"


"Battler, what's wrong?" asked Phillip. "I thought you were questioning your cousins."

"I was, but after I interviewed Jessica, I went to find George," said Battler. "He's not in his room." They spotted Genji coming towards them. "Genji-san?"

"I need help looking for those two youngsters, Shannon and Kanon," said the man, his face set in a frown.

Phillip and Battler shared a look of concern. A killer was on the loose and George, Shannon and Kanon were nowhere to be found. If they ended up running into the killer...

"Let's go find them," said Battler immediately.


Keitaro blinked at the blonde effeminate young man whom he had stumbled onto. He was silent for a moment before he found his voice again, "I'm sorry...could you repeat that?"

"I'm...I'm Leo Ushiromiya. Kinzo's son...and grandson," Leo replied, looking at the ground in shame.

Keitaro blinked, opened his mouth, shut it, and then opened it again, "Okay...I'm going to need something of an explanation for this. Is there anywhere we can sit?"

"Yes. Follow me," Leo nodded, gesturing Keitaro to follow him. The pair moved through the halls of the noticeably smaller mansion before entering a sitting room where a tea set was out, a pot of it ready to use. "I had brewed some for an evening of reading. Fortunately I bring more than one cup in case I have company."

"Yes, lucky," Keitaro nodded, taking a seat across from Leo. He slung his raincoat over a chair as he focused entirely on Leo who was preparing tea. "Now, I don't mean to be rude but I would really like an explanation behind how you introduced yourself."

"I'll do my best," Leo nodded, passing a cup to Keitaro. "Well...I suppose that how I came to be started back in World War II."

"Really?" Keitaro blinked.

"Yes," Leo nodded. "Back then, this whole island was a secret base that the Japanese and the Italians used to store supplies, restock, or as a waypoint for transporting munitions, supplies, funds, and that sort of thing. Father...I mean, Kinzo was naturally involved in this considering that the island belonged to the family. One day, an Italian ship came to dock and on board was my grandmother Beatrice," Leo pointed to a familiar portrait hanging in the room. Keitaro's eyes narrowed slightly, once again the Italian woman was playing a role in things.

"What was she doing on the ship?" asked Keitaro, slightly confused as to what a woman was doing on a military ship back then.

"She was the captain's daughter and she was brought along with him," Leo answered. "Unfortunately, her father died at some point during the trip so she was cast adrift so to speak. She and Kinzo met, him being the only Japanese soldier there that could speak Italian and herself who had a basic understanding of Japanese. They had to deal with each other a lot so the two sides could speak to one another."

"And they fell in love?" asked Keitaro.

"Yes," Leo nodded. "Although they kept the affair secret since Kinzo was already married at the time. It was doubly important that they kept it a secret because neither the Italians or the Japanese were getting along very well. Tensions were very high and scuffles would break out now and then. If it was found out that a Japanese man was having relations with an Italian woman..."

"Nothing good," Keitaro nodded. "Mussoulini's policies since he allied with Hitler probably didn't help the tensions any, did it?"

"No," Leo shook his head, sipping his tea. "Things were tense, but stable up until a discovery was made. The Italian ship was responsible for transporting funds for the Italian war effort. Ten tons of pure gold bullion were on the ship."

"Pft!" Keitaro choked on his tea. "T-ten tons?-!"

"Yes," Leo nodded. "Naturally when that much gold was discovered, the Japanese soldiers were very eager to get their hands on it just as the Italians were to keep it. The worst fight of all broke out and both sides ended up killing each other over the gold, trying to be the ones who would be able to claim it. Only Beatrice and Kinzo were the ones to survive with the knowledge."

"Oh my god," Keitaro gaped. This was the secret. This was the secret to Kinzo's fortune! He didn't come into money or invest wisely, he just took the gold bullion that the Italians were secretly transporting for himself! "But...didn't the Italian military come looking for the gold?"

"Mussoulini was overthrown not too long after," Leo shook his head. "In the chaos, lots of things got lost. Secret orders for gold no one was supposed to know existed likely never saw the light of day again."

"So Kinzo got to keep his gold and no one knew what happened," Keitao nodded. "What about him and Beatrice?"

"Well, they continued their affair and Kinzo built this mansion for her away from where anyone would see it. She eventually got pregnant and sired a daughter, but Beatrice suffered an accident and died. Mourning for her, Kinzo named his new daughter Beatrice as well. My mother."

"So then, why-?" asked Keitaro, wanting to get to the issue of Leo's origins.

"My mother had an uncanny resemblance to her mother," Leo sighed. "Growing up isolated like she was, she was...naive to many things. Kinzo, still mourning over the loss of his mistress just one night couldn't take it anymore and with mother's uncanny resemblance to Beatrice he..."

"Say no more," Keitaro grimaced. Man, just when he thought he couldn't hear of anything more twisted... "So then you came around."

"And my mother died at childbirth," Leo sighed. "I was raised here and if it weren't for the mother of my half-brother and sister demanding an education for us 'secret' children I may have ended up as naive and easily manipulated as my mother."

"Oh," Keitaro nodded, but then his eyes widened as a fact revealed itself. "Wait...you have a half-brother and sister?"

"Yes," Leo nodded. "Sayo and Yoshiya. They work as a maid and butler at the main house. I'm sure you must have seen them."

"Sayo? Yoshiya? I don't know anyone by those names," claimed Keitaro.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. They're also known as Shannon and Kanon," said Leo. That was when Keitaro's eyes widened as his mind started to connect the dots.


Shannon and George were in the island's chapel which wasn't very far from the main mansion. The two had used an umbrella and raincoats to keep themselves dry in the middle of the storm so that they could reach the building. The chapel was, as always, unlocked, so they didn't find any trouble entering.

"Thank you, Sayo-san," said George as he smiled at the maid who smiled back at him.

"You told me you just had to come into the chapel," said Sayo. "I suppose, because of these dreadful events, you must want to speak with God."

"Yes, I do," he confessed, "But I also wish to speak with you." He put his hand into his pocket. "Sayo-san, I've always loved you."

"And I you, George-san," Shannon replied, smiling. He then pulled out a velvet box and opened it. She gasped as she saw the diamond ring inside. "George-san, this is."

"I know I shouldn't say horrible things about my mother, since she's gone and all, but she wouldn't have let us be together," George said. "But now nobody can stop us, not her and especially not Grandfather." Tears were forming in her eyes and George assumed that they were tears of joy. She looked up at George then saw something lunging for him from behind.

"George-san, watch out!"


KAMEN RIDER CHROME: Looks like we've just stumbled into a family secret. So, who is the killer? I'm sure all the clues have shown you the path to the truth. Sorry we have to end this here, but a suspenseful cliffhanger is something I can't resist. I sure hope you can sit at the edge of your seats while you enjoy this story and I hope I can present a climax you guys deserve for being patient.

TEN-FACED PALADIN: We're closing in on a killer and uprooted some of the dirty secrets of the Ushiromiya Family. What happened to George and Shannon? Why was Rosa spared when her siblings received death? Does Leo had something to do with this crime? Is it about the gold, or has someone come seeking revenge for the massacre which happened on the island? The answers are coming!