A/N: I really have no valid excuse for this chapter taking so long... To be perfectly honest, I lost interest in it a little bit which got me really stuck, obviously, so... Yeah. You've waited long enough, though, so I won't make this note long.

Let me just say that if you've been paying attention up until this point, you will probably know the answer to the mystery by the end of this chapter. That being said, this story is actually NOT almost over. I have a few chapters after they solve the mystery planned and ready to go! So, without further a do,

Have fun playing detective. And Good Luck!

Previously:
Houtarou is fed up with all the secrets and rebels, calling Satoshi who then gets the girls involved. Then, after school one day, Satoshi discovers the new math teacher very secretively looking through Houtarou's file on the computer. Satoshi is suspicious of the man's explanation and, once again, tells the girls. Together, they connect the man Chitanda saw outside of the Oreki home with the new teacher. They decide that they need to let Houtarou know and send him a secret message!

~He was completely alone, sitting in the late-summer grass along the shore of Kagoshima Bay. Slowly his eyes were drawn to the black mobile lying innocently next to his school bag, the screen lit with the message of an incoming text. He stared sourly at the device for scaring him half to death before his conscious reminded him that it was probably his fault that sound was set for message alerts. (Regardless, he would have to plot his revenge on Yoshino-san at a later date – even if it was his own fault that his friend had gotten his hands on his phone…) Picking up the device, he unlocked the screen and opened the message.

His sour expression quickly turned to one of confusion as he stared down at the three-word message.

Judge Lawrence Wargrave

He didn't know how long he stared at the simple name before his eyes wandered to the sender – a number he didn't recognize.

Judge Lawrence Wargrave, he silently mused, fingers absently straying to his bangs. What is that supposed to mean?

Chapter Six
Locked Doors

After receiving an ear-full from his sister for coming home so late and making her worry, he was finally able to retreat to the quiet solitude of his bedroom. Flipping open his laptop, he impatiently waited for it to warm up and give him his log in screen. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he finally entered his password and finally brought up the Internet browser and finally made it to a search engine, all the while tapping his foot impatiently and silently cursing the slow speed he had to work with.

But it was worth the wait; the first result of his search told him everything he needed to know – well, almost everything. Judge Lawrence Wargrave. The instigator and murderer of Christie's famous novel, And Then There Were None. No one ever found out he was responsible – at least not in time to stop him from killing nine people and then himself.

He frowned. Why would someone send him a text message with only that name? Perhaps it was a wrong number…? His fingers strayed to his bangs as he contemplated the possible answers for this strange message. It was either a wrong number or someone wanted to get a message of some kind to him discreetly…

For now, at least, he would assume the latter – he had somewhere to go with it this way instead of yet another dead end. Besides, it would make sense if the sender had been Ibara or Chitanda-san; they had found his note in that exact novel, so if they were trying to get something to him discreetly, using that novel as a reference would be as good a way as any.

But what did they mean by it then? Wargrave had been the one to gather everyone together… He had somehow known about all of their crimes… He had pursued them, gotten to know them well enough that he would be able to bring them all together… He had been responsible for discreetly killing them, one by one, without anyone truly knowing what was happening… In the end, he rigged it in such a way that no one would ever know – an eternal mystery…

His frown deepened. Did that mean they were giving up because it was hopeless?

Yet, it wasn't an eternal mystery. In the end someone did find out. The fisherman – did he even have a name? – knew. He found a note – the whole letter-in-a-bottle thing.

His parents knew. His sister knew. Whomever it was they were running from obviously knew.

His eyes widened. He was being pursued. Did this mean they had somehow found who it was and that someone knew where he was now? Was that the message behind those three words?

He opened the message again, staring at the sender. It was a risk, he knew, but it may well be worth it. He hit the 'OK' button to reply, but hesitated as to what he should say. After his call to Satoshi, his parents (and sister when they weren't around) were closely monitoring his phone usage. If one of them walked in and wanted to see his message history, he would be burnt toast. So, after pondering his response for a moment, he decided on what to say.

Thanks! Couldn't have finished this without your help. He was the one who pursued them, and found them, and only a few people after the fact knew what happened. Just goes to show you should be careful whom you trust, huh?

Taking a deep breath, he hit 'send,' and prayed to any deity that might be listening that he would get some sort of reply.

She jumped as the incoming text message tone sounded on her phone. Upon seeing the sender, she gasped lightly and quickly opened the message. Her brow furrowed as she read it – he was being cryptic just like they had been. Standing to her feet, she crossed the room and picked up the landline, dialing a familiar number as she did so. The other end rang once before someone picked up. "Mayaka-chan?" she spoke so hurriedly the other girl couldn't get a word in edgewise. "I just got a text from Oreki-kun! I'm not sure what he's saying though… I'm thinking it was a good thing we didn't tell him outright if he's being secretive too! – ."

Mayaka cut her off. "Chii-chan! Slow down, and tell me the message already; maybe we can figure it out together."

"Oh! Hai! That was why I called in the first place…"

After hearing the message, Mayaka sighed. "I think it means he got it – he knows someone is after him."

"What do we do now though?"

"Not much we can do, Chii-chan." Both parties were silent for a moment. "But I wonder if he's figured that strange call into the theory he's probably already forming at this moment…"

"Should we mention it somehow?"

"Hm. Maybe…" Mayaka thought for a moment before a light clicked on. "I've got it! At the end he said something about being careful whom you trust, right?"

"Hai…"

"Then here's what you should say back…"

A few long moments passed before his prayer was answered. Unlocking the screen, he opened the message.

So true! Especially someone you aren't even speaking with face-to-face or someone who claims to know you even though you've never heard of them…

His eyes widened slightly. Now this was a message that didn't take any decoding. So it was connected after all…! There was no way it couldn't be.

Figuring out how and why it fit together,on the other hand, was a different story entirely.

It took him a moment, but he finally rummaged up a blank sheet of paper and a (working) pen. Being careful to remember everything he knew, he quickly scrawled out a rough list.

Man claiming to be uncle calls.

Sister acts strangely about call.

Parents announce sudden move; explanation is clearly a lie; all contact is cut off.

Something happened 16 years ago? No explanation.

Chitanda sees strange man outside old house.

He frowned at the list; there still wasn't exactly an abundance of information to work with, but, he supposed, he had probably worked with less before… Fingers absently straying to pull at his bangs, he read over the list again before realizing he had left one very important piece off: He was the reason for moving twice over the course of his short life. He was the piece that connected all of the others… But how?

An uncle…

A phone call…

Moving with no notice…

Something he was, apparently, better off not knowing…

He felt like pulling his hair out. With so little to work with, it was impossible for him to figure out what they were hiding, but he was unlikely to get any additional information either. He still couldn't shake the feeling, either, that he was missing a piece that was simply buried in his own memories; there was something there that would be the key to the locked door, but no matter how hard he searched he couldn't seem to locate it.

He wanted to give up; was it really worth all of the stress? And yet… Yet he knew he couldn't. It seemed hopeless, but if he didn't work to solve this mystery, he knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life. But that realization didn't make it any easier to solve. He was still stuck with the same information, running circles inside his brain, never reaching any conclusion. It was maddening – simply madding.

He leaned back in his desk chair, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. All of this running in circles was starting to give him a headache. He sighed. What was he so obviously missing?!

Memories from the first town they had lived in…

Memories of a strange man…

Memories of Kamiyama…

He couldn't think anymore. All he could see were his friends – Satoshi and Chitanda-san and Ibara – and that last day he had spent in the club room with them. Her words echoed like thunder in his mind now; "You don't know your extended family well… that seems odd to me. … Hmm, no wonder you don't really know your extended family, if you don't even see your own parents much…" How well did he even know his own parents? Obviously not as well as he would have liked to think in the past. What did they have to hide? He didn't know…

Memories from the first town they had lived in…

Memories of his family…

Memories of a strange man…

Memories of Kamiyama…

"Aneki," Houtarou muttered, pulling at his sister's sleeve. "I think there's someone following us…"

Tomoe raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Why do you think that?"

He glanced backwards. "That guy in the tan coat has been about a block away ever since we left the store."

Tomoe glanced back casually and, as soon as she found the man her little brother was talking about, her eyes grew wide. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him into a nearby bakery. As the shop keeper greeted them, she politely responded before turning to Houtarou. "Pick anything you want. It's on me today."

He gave her a quizzical look. "You're not usually this nice to me, Aneki…"

"Oh, just hurry and pick something before I change my mind!" As he scurried off, with a look of absolute glee on his eleven-year-old face, Tomoe pulled out her cell phone. The other end of the line rang once before the person answered. "Okasan? It's me. Can you come get us? There's this guy following us …Yeah, I think he has. …We're at the bakery on 11th Street. …Yeah, I'll make up some reason for him. Ja."

It had never occurred to him then that the man he saw on the street could be the real reason for his family's sudden departure only days later.

"Get off my property before I call the police."

Houtarou had to admit he was a little scared; he had never seen or heard his mother quite this angry before – not even when, a few years earlier, he had broken a very expensive vase while horsing around with one of his friends. And he couldn't help but wonder why those were the first words out of her mouth as soon as she had seen the person at the door. Who was this man that had managed to instantly make his normally calm mother so angry?

"Oh, come now! Is that any way to great your –."

"If you think I'm kidding, Kohei, you've got another thing coming. Leave. Right now. And never darken our door ever again, or I will call the police."

The man frowned. "I've simply come to take back what's rightfully mine."

She glanced down at Houtarou who was still standing right behind her on the step. "Houtarou, dear, would you go help your sister finish lunch for me?"

He slowly nodded before retreating towards the kitchen, but he never made it that far. Ducking into the living room and hiding just around the corner, he was still enough within earshot to hear part of the conversation.

"– never belonged to you! You never cared an ounce for – … – leaving it all to us!"

"Which is why I came back – to take responsibility for my mistakes."

"Like I believe that! What you've seen is all you will ever see of –. Now get out off of my property."

He heard the door slam, his mother giving a relieved sigh. Not caring that he would get in trouble for eaves dropping, he poked his head back around the corner. "Okasan… Who was that? What did he want?"

"He's… your uncle. Don't you pay it any mind, Houtarou. Go help your sister please."

After all, when you're only eleven, you don't think about such things. You're still innocent enough to think that your parents wouldn't lie to you…

"Houtarou, don't look now, but I think that guy is following us…"

Houtarou turned his head slightly to see behind them. "I think you're just paranoid, Satoshi."

"No, I'm serious. There's a guy behind us a little ways, and he's been following us since three rides back."

Houtarou raised an eyebrow. "And you're sure it's the same guy?"

"Positive. It's kind of creeping me out, Houtarou…"

"Look, let's get in line for this ride up here. Then it'll look less suspicious for you to point him out to me." He dodged into the nearest line which, fortunately for them, involved a ramp that led upwards. When they had spiraled up high enough to clearly see above the heads of the people passing by, Houtarou spoke again. "Okay, so who is the guy you think is stalking us?"

Satoshi turned his back to the railing after finding his target. "See that food stand behind me?"

"The one with the giant ice cream cone on the top of it?"

"That's the one! Now look to your left of that stand. He seems rather out of place, doesn't he? With that jacket and hat this time of year. He's not really doing a good job of blending in with the crowd if he really is following us."

Houtarou had no trouble picking the man out; Satoshi was right – he stuck out like sore thumb. He felt his heart drop into his stomach as he continued to stare discreetly at the man out of the corner of his eye. He didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling.

"Maybe we should call your sister, because that guy is seriously creeping me out…"

"My phone's dead, remember?"

"I can call her on my mine."

"I don't know her number. I hardly ever have cause to call her cell phone, and when I do I call from my cell phone. I never bothered to memorize the number."

"We don't meet up with her for another hour yet, though."

"We'll just have to deal with it until then. I don't know what else to do."

Satoshi glanced up at his friend. "It freaks you out, too, doesn't it?"

"Just a little." Though he couldn't pinpoint why that was – he felt like it was more than just the fact that someone appeared to be following them; he felt like there was more to it, but he didn't know what it could be.

They spent the last hour in the park in the busier areas hoping to lose the man that was, very obviously by this point, trailing them. Finally the time came for them to meet back up with Tomoe and her friend from Tokyo. (Said friend was the whole reason they were able to spend a day in Tokyo Disney Sea – a 'generous gift' as Tomoe had called it should not be allowed to go to waste! – and thus Houtarou and Satoshi found themselves there as well.)

"I don't see them yet, do you?"

"Well, we are a few minutes early, Houtarou." They stopped by the entry gate to wait. "I don't like sitting still, though. It makes us easy targets…"

Houtarou ran a hand through his hair. "I just hope we're both being paranoid and this really isn't anything…"

"Hm. Maybe you're right. I don't see him anymore."

"Nani?" Houtarou's heart almost stopped.

"Guess he decided we weren't worth targeting?"

"Maybe." He stood up and took a few paces away from the bench where Satoshi was still perched, searching for some sign of his sister and her friend. Without meaning to – and before he even realized anyone was there – he knocked into someone's shoulder. "Ah! Gomen'nasai!" As he spoke his hurried apology, he glanced up to see whom he had bumped into – and his heart nearly stopped. Standing right beside him was a man in a tan jacket and wide brimmed hat, staring down intently at him. Time seemed to stand still at that moment, cold green eyes holding his own gaze. At the same moment, he heard someone calling out his name. He turned his head to see his sister coming towards them at a hurried pace.

"Sorry for making you wait, little brother!" she called as they neared.

Houtarou turned back to face the man.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

He should have realized something was up when Tomoe gave Satoshi her cell phone number after they told her about what had happened. Back then, he had just brushed it off – she was just as paranoid as he and Satoshi were.

"Oreki residence."

"Oreki, huh? So I finally got it right!"

"Uh…"

"I don't suppose I could be fortunate enough to be speaking with Houtarou-kun?"

"Uh… I don't mean to be rude, but who is this?"

"Ah! Sumimasen! I shouldn't have expected you to recognize my voice – it's been a long time since we've seen each other, after all! You were just a little thing still… I'm your uncle – Uncle Kohei!"

Houtaro stared blankly at the wall opposite him. "Never heard of you… Gomen."

"Somehow I'm not surprised. You're mother and I don't exactly get on very well. But no matter! I'm going to be passing through Kamiyama soon and thought I might stop by." A pause in which Houtaro could hear sound in the background – an announcement of some kind? "I have to be going now, but you'll let your parents know I called, right?"

"Uh… Yeah, I guess…"

Another pause. "Actually, let's just keep this between you and me, eh? We'll make it a surprise for the rest of the family!"

"Uhm… Okay."

"That's a good lad! I'll be seeing you soon!"

Houtaro continued to stare blankly at the phone after the line went dead. "Strange…" Shrugging, he put the hand-held back in the cradle and returned to his breakfast. He'd have to hurry a little now to keep from being late for school. He sighed. Just who was that anyway? He may not interact much with his extended family, but he thought he knew most of the names of his aunts and uncles, at least… Quickly downing the rest of his food, he decided to keep it from Chitanda at least – she would be too curious, and he really had no way to solve a mystery like this one at the moment.

Even then, he never would have thought that the four men were the same person – the one he spoke to on the phone, the one in the park, the one at the front door, and the one on the street. He should have known; he should have remembered right then.

He should have seen the key right in front of him.

~The Answer's in the Memory~