Lets Solve: The Decagon House Murders

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Lets Solve: The Decagon House Murders

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

I wonder how the murder occurred with the window and Orc's door being unlocked. When was the tile placed on Orc's door? If it was after the murder and the hand cutting, then the murderer could have placed the tile on the door and walked back to their room. Was no one really awake from 6 to 9 mulling about to have noticed someone placing the tile on the room? If the murderer was an outsider, how did they know about the tiles in terms of after they were taken off the table? Regarding the arm, if it was roughly cut off, I wonder if that's an indication of the killer's ability or lack of cutting tools in their vicinity.

Check everyone's room for a cut arm/hand!

# ? May 2, 2019 17:10

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 16, 2024 19:31

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

(sorry for the delay. i had family over for the weekend. also this section was a bitch)

quote:

4

"...Due to a drop in air pressure, the sky will be overcast from late tonight until tomorrow evening, with very infrequent breaks in the cloud coverage, but the weather will start to brighten up starting the day after tomorrow. Now for the weekly forecast..."

The voice broadcasting from the radio cassette Leroux had brought soon changed to a rambunctious woman DJ.

"Enough. Turn that off. I don't want to hear it," Agatha snapped. Leroux frantically flipped the power switch.

They had just finished eating a simple dinner in grim silence. Around the lamp-lit decagonal table, the six filled every chair except the one directly in front of Orczy's room. The "First Victim" sign was still affixed to the door. Apparently a powerful adhesive had been used, since they had tried to peel it off to no avail.

"Hey Ellery, show me another one of your tricks," Agatha said with a deliberately brighter tone.

"Hm? ----Oh, sure."

Ellery shuffled the cards he'd been silently fiddling with, then returned them to their case and put them into his jacket pocket.

"Wait, you're putting them away now, even though I just asked about it?"

"No, Agatha. I put them away specifically because you asked me."

"I don't get it."

"I'm doing a trick that has to start like this." Ellery softly cleared his throat, then looked directly into Agatha's eyes in the adjacent seat. "Alright Agatha, let's begin. Right now, I want you to think of a card, any card, out of the fifty two excluding jokers, and focus on it."

"Just think of one?"

"Yes. Don't say it out loud. ----Got one?"

"Okay. Yeah."

"Now...." Then Ellery took the deck out of his jacket and laid it on the table, still inside the case. They were red-back Bicycle Riders. "I want you to stare at this deck. And send the name of the card you thought of into the deck. Send it in with all your might."

"Alright. I just have to think super hard?"

"Yep. ----Cool, that's good." Ellery picked up the case and held it in his left hand. "Now Agatha, which was the card you thought of and sent into this deck?"

"I can say it?"

"Please."

"Queen of diamonds..."

"Hmm. Now I'd like you to watch these cards closely."

Ellery opened the lid of the case, then pulled out the deck with the cards facing up. He then started to fan them out gradually with both hands.

"Queen of diamonds, eh? ----Oh?" Ellery stopped spreading the cards, his attention caught. Among the face-up cards, a single face-down card stood out. "One of them is upside-down."

"I can see that."

"Why don't you take it and look at the other side?"

"Sure. ----No way." Agatha had reached dubiously for the card, then placed it on the table face-up. It was unmistakably the queen of diamonds.

"How?" Agatha was dumbstruck.

"Pretty crazy, right?" Ellery smiled, put the cards back into the case, and returned the case to his pocket.

"That was amazing, Ellery."

"Oh, he didn't show you that one, Leroux?"

"Never."

"That just now was one of my masterpiece card tricks."

"Maybe Agatha was in on it or something."

"Wrong, Leroux."

"Really?"

"I'd never pull a ruse like that. But while we're on the subject, no it's not a trick that depends on me making a gamble on the probability that Agatha would pick a specific card." Ellery lit up a Salem, then let out a steady stream of air. "Next, let's do riddles. I saw this one in a book. When you look up (上) it's below, when you're down (下) it's above, it passes through the mother's (母) chest and rests on the shoulders of children (子). ----What is it?"

"Say it again?" Leroux asked. Ellery repeated the exact same words.

"I''ve got it." Agatha clapped her hands together. "It's one (一). The kanji."

"Splendid!"

"----Ah, I see. The shape of it."

"So, next, how about this? If I write out 春夏冬二升五合, how do you read it?"

"What the heck is that?"

"Oh? You've never seen that on the window of small-town stores?"

"Now that you mention it, I might've seen that in a bank recently," Poe said, filling his wooden cigarette case with a new pack of Larks. "春夏冬 (spring summer winter) is missing autumn ("aki"). In other words, akinai (lit: no autumn). Since 二升 means two of 升 ("masu"), that'd make masumasu. And then 五合 (0.9 liters) is half of one 升 (pronounced "jou" as measurement), so it makes hanjou (lit: half a jou)."

"So then... akinai masumasu hanjou (lit: business is booming)?"

"Exactly."

"Wow. Talk about obscure logic."

"Well, I guess it's a type of secret code."

"Speaking of code," Ellery shoved his way back into the conversation. "Did you know that the first recorded use of code was in the Old Testament? In the Book of Daniel, I believe."

"It goes back that far?"

"I mean, there's stuff like that in ancient Japan too. Take the famous dialogue between Yoshida Kenkou and Ton'a the monk in the "Zoku Souanshuu" for example. Didn't you study it in highschool?"

"I don't know that. What is it?" Agatha said.

"Kenkou delivered a poem to Ton'a. The brisk night // awakens me for a spell // as wind cuts through the sleeve // of the arm I use to rest my head // reminding of autumn. ----If you take the first letter of each line (in Japanese), it reads "Give me rice" in classical language. Then when you take the last letter from each line and read up starting from the end, it says "I also want money". Cool, right?"

"That's sort of depressing."

"Ton'a replied with a poem of his own. The harsh night // and wearying world // will never fail // to visit us // and I am grateful. ----If we do the same thing with the letters of this one, it spells out "I have no rice, but a little money" and completes the hidden conversation."

"This is some really deep stuff."

"I'm pretty sure there was a different kind of famous poetic code in "The Harvest of Leisure" too. What was it again, Orczy?"

The group who'd been listening casually up until that moment simultaneously gasped in shock, and froze in their seats.

"----Sorry. Instinct." Ellery's face showed the expected amount of panic. He had made a completely uncharacteristic mistake.

Since the start of dinner, they'd had an unspoken agreement to avoid the topic of Orczy as much as possible, so Ellery's slip of the tongue had brought them back to their inescapable reality in a single instant. They were once again constricted by a sickening silence.

"Um, Ellery, was that all?" Leroux threw a lifeboat to Ellery, who'd stopped talking.

"Oh. Yes," Ellery said, barely keeping the usual smile on his lips.

Seeming to scoff at him, Carr struck the table. "Agatha, make us coffee." He glared at Ellery as if to say 'you should be ashamed of yourself', and shamelessly bared his lips. Ellery's knees twitched as he tried to say something in response, but Agatha was already taking charge.

"I'll go brew some." She stood up in a hurry and headed alone towards the kitchen.

"Listen up everyone," Carr said, looking each of the remaining four in the eyes one by one. "Tonight we're holding poor Orczy's vigil, aren't we? Let's stop pretending we don't know that, and be a bit more respectful."

＊

quote:

"There you go. Add as much sugar and milk as you like." Agatha set the tray containing six moss-green cups onto the table.

"Sorry for making you do this every time," Ellery said, taking the cup closest to him.

The others reached for their cups in turn. After taking one for herself, Agatha offered the remaining cup to Van in the next seat over.

"Oh. Thank you." Van took the cup, then put his half-smoked Seven Star in the ashtray and wrapped his hands around the decagonal cup as if to warm them.

"Are you feeling better, Van?"

"Oh, yes, I am. Thanks to you guys. ----Hey Ellery, we kind of forgot to discuss this, but you really couldn't find any way to contact the mainland before?"

"We did not." Ellery sipped his coffee black.

"There's a lighthouse over at J Cape, so we were thinking we could wave a white flag at night, but... In all likelihood, that lighthouse is unmanned."

"Yeah. It is."

"Then we thought maybe if one of us with the resolution to die could try swimming it...? Or we could make a sort of raft?"

"Those both sound impossible."

"We also considered lighting a fire, Ellery," Poe said. "But we figured a fire of pine needles wouldn't get noticed."

"Wouldn't it be more effective to set Decagon House on fire?"

"What? There's no way we could do that."

"Yeah, probably a bad idea. Too dangerous. ----Actually Poe, Leroux and I had a certain extra thing we were looking for besides a means of contact."

"What kind of thing?"

"Well, we didn't end up finding it anyway. Even though we searched most of the island... wait, hold on a sec."

"What's up?"

"Blue Mansion ---- Well, the remains of Blue Mansion, I mean." Ellery mumbled with a finger pressed into his forehead. "I wonder if it might have a basement."

"A basement?"

That's when it happened.

As if violently cutting off their conversation, a person suddenly let out an unsettling moan and collapsed onto the table.

"What's wrong?" Agatha screamed. "What happened!?"

They all stood at once. The table shook terribly. Amber liquid spilled from an overturned cup.

Like a broken automaton, his legs were flailing randomly, eventually kicking the chair out from under him. Before long, his upper body lying prone on the table was dragged painstakingly down to the blue tiles on the floor.

"Carr!" Poe shouted and rushed over. Shoved aside by Poe, Leroux stumbled and knocked his own chair over.

"What happened to Carr?" Ellery followed after Poe.

Looking closely into Carr's face, slouched on the floor, Poe shook his head. "I don't understand. Do any of you know of some chronic disease Carr has?"

There was no answer.

"----Oh crap."

Carr's throat continued to make a faint, hoarse whistling sound. Poe laid a thick arm firmly across his upper body. "Lend me a hand, Ellery. We should let him vomit. I suspect it's poison."

Carr's body convulsed violently, breaking free of Poe's hold. Eyes open desperately wide, he writhed on the floor, curled up like a shrimp. Then after a short time, another violent convulsion. Along with the repulsive noise escaping his mouth, brown vomit spilled out....

"He's not gonna die, right? Right?" Agatha implored Poe with terrified eyes.

"There's no way for me to know."

"Can't you help him?"

"I don't know the type of poison. And even if I did, there's not much I could do here. All we can do is pray this wasn't a lethal dose."

＊

quote:

It was 2:30am that night.

While laying in the bed of his assigned room, Carr drew his last breath.

----
Good lord, these riddles are murdering me. I'm genuinely sorry for how loving unreadable this part is. Hopefully it's at least... a tiny bit interesting to you? The scariest thing is that this might be prepping me to solve this poo poo on my own next time, and you guys probably can't help me with that part!

Potentially notable is that the answer to the first riddle is present in quite a few character names. It's the "ichi" in Kyouichi and Seiichi, and it's the "hajime" in... Hajime. gently caress if I know how that might be notable, but it could be??

I have no clue what Ellery is talking about with the Bible poo poo.

Ugh holy poo poo these wakas are giving me such a headache to even read. After some rigorous searching I found a bunch of blog posts about this specific dialogue, so that's the only way I was possibly able to translate it. I am *not* good at reading classical Japanese. Ellery I literally hate you, you have made this translation take SO much longer.

Final notes on the first bit: gently caress all that noise and I never want to think about it again.

Okay in all seriousness though, I do have thoughts on Carr's stuff at the end. It's noble of him to send Agatha away and keep his anger in check. Essentially he's practicing what he's preaching wrt respecting Orczy's memory. PLEASE DON'T DIE TONIGHT CARR!

By the way, in case that hyperlink was unclear, I wanted to draw attention to the fact that "sakura" was used to mean "staged audience member". Since there are sakura trees in the back yard, I mean. Listen I don't know what will be relevant later and that stood out to me!

Ellery, just goddamn finish your thought before trailing off into stream of consciousness please.

gently caress NO DON'T loving DIE CARR.

Carr has been compared to a lot of seafood lol. First crab and now shrimp. It's making me hungry.

Fuuuuuuck! :negative:

And then there were five...

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 07:34 on May 8, 2019

# ? May 7, 2019 15:54

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

Regarding the poems/codes, I wonder if there's a subtle clue that we're missing in the first/last letter of things because we're reading the translated version of the text.

It's curious that Carr asked Agatha to make coffee and the text states that Ellery was drinking tea. Given that no one else was mentioned to drink anything, Agatha and Ellery seem suspicious.

# ? May 8, 2019 05:23

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

gently caress DID I SAY TEA I MEANT COFFEE
(re: ellery)

# ? May 8, 2019 07:16

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

Mr. Steak posted:

Good lord, these riddles are murdering me. I'm genuinely sorry for how loving unreadable this part is. Hopefully it's at least... a tiny bit interesting to you? The scariest thing is that this might be prepping me to solve this poo poo on my own next time, and you guys probably can't help me with that part!

It is super interesting actually, but I love that kind of linguistic obscura.
The one thing I have a problem with is that I'm not quite sure who's speaking at some points in this passage:

quote:

Ellery: "I'd never pull a ruse like that. But while we're on the subject, no it's not a trick that depends on me making a gamble on the probability that Agatha would pick a specific card." Ellery lit up a Salem, then let out a steady stream of air. "Next, let's do riddles. I saw this one in a book. When you look up (上) it's below, when you're down (下) it's above, it passes through the mother's (母) chest and rests on the shoulders of children (子). ----What is it?"

Leroux: "Say it again?" Leroux asked. Ellery repeated the exact same words.

Agatha: "I''ve got it." Agatha clapped her hands together. "It's one (一). The kanji."

Ellery: "Splendid!"

Leroux: "----Ah, I see. The shape of it."

Ellery: "So, next, how about this? If I write out 春夏冬二升五合, how do you read it?"

???: "What the heck is that?"

Ellery?: "Oh? You've never seen that on the window of small-town stores?"

Poe: "Now that you mention it, I might've seen that in a bank recently," Poe said, filling his wooden cigarette case with a new pack of Larks. Also Poe?: "春夏冬 (spring summer winter) is missing autumn ("aki"). In other words, akinai (lit: no autumn). Since 二升 means two of 升 ("masu"), that'd make masumasu. And then 五合 (0.9 liters) is half of one 升 (pronounced "jou" as measurement), so it makes hanjou (lit: half a jou)."

???: "So then... akinai masumasu hanjou (lit: business is booming)?"

Ellery?: "Exactly."

???: "Wow. Talk about obscure logic."

Ellery?: "Well, I guess it's a type of secret code." Except this line can't be Ellery because...

Ellery: "Speaking of code," Ellery shoved his way back into the conversation. "Did you know that the first recorded use of code was in the Old Testament? In the Book of Daniel, I believe."

It looks like Poe has solved the riddle, but it reads as so pat and definite, especially following his vague "I might've seen that" that I wondered if it was actually Ellery explaining the answer?

I think you did a pretty loving stellar job of actually explaining how the riddles work though, FWIW.

# ? May 8, 2019 10:25

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

The_White_Crane posted:

It looks like Poe has solved the riddle, but it reads as so pat and definite, especially following his vague "I might've seen that" that I wondered if it was actually Ellery explaining the answer?

I was sort of puzzled over that too (obviously I need to figure out who's saying each line besides ones like "a basement?" or whatever).

My final judgement was that Poe just solves it weirdly fast, and then also is the one who says "exactly" after either Agatha or Leroux (probably Agatha) puts it all together. Since the text says Ellery is jumping back into the conversation with his random fun facts, I figure he didn't speak since giving the hint.

# ? May 8, 2019 11:19

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

Unrelated to that, Carr's poisoning.
Possible vectors are:

1) The coffee, made by Agatha.
- Unlikely, because it's far too obviously linked to her personally, unless that's what she wants people to think.

2) The milk and sugar, which everyone added on their own.
- Unlikely, because only Carr was poisoned, and unless we know that he's literally the only person who takes milk or sugar, that's improbable.

3) Carr's cigarettes.
- I think it's improbable that one could somehow treat cigarettes with a poison that was absorbed when someone smoked them without quite a bit of time and preparation. That said, we don't know what kind of cigarettes Carr smoked; I think the only time we see him smoking is when he bums one off Poe.

4) Carr's whiskey flask.

quote:

After a time, Carr threw his half-smoked Lark into the ocean. Then he sat on a nearby rock and removed a whiskey flask from his jacket. He violently opened the top and took a large swig.

- Pretty sure it was this. Something only Carr drinks from, it'd be easy to pour a little bit of something deadly in there if you could get your hands on it.

quote:

"Agatha, don't tell me Ellery made you into a guinea pig for his tricks, did he?"

"Oh, you knew he did magic tricks, Leroux?"

"Heh, I knew alright. I was basically his sleight of hand punching bag for the past month. He told me to keep it a secret until he was good enough. He was surprisingly childish about it."

"Hey, watch it, Leroux."

Why look, someone who can perform feats of legerdemaine!
*Narrows eyes at Ellery.*

# ? May 8, 2019 11:59

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

5

Everyone was already exhausted beyond talk. No, perhaps rather than fatigue, it was closer to numbness.

Unlike Orczy's case, this time they had seen a person suffering, collapsing, and dying in front of their eyes. For such an actively traumatic upheaval of their normal life, the group seemed more like their nerves had been dulled.

Agatha and Leroux staring dumbly into space. Van resting his chin on his hands, sighing incessantly. Poe looking towards the skylight, not even reaching for his cigarette case. Ellery, eyes closed, face frozen in a blank expression.

There was no moonlight from the skylight.

Occasionally the darkness outside would brighten from the lighthouse beam. The light of the lamp shook as if there were a life inside it. The sound of the waves coming near, moving away, then coming near again....

"Let's settle this. I'm tired," Ellery said drowsily, eyes half open.

"----I agree." Poe's answer came a beat late, and brought the other three back to upright postures. "All I know is that, basically, some kind of poison was used. I can't be specific about the type of poison."

"Can't you make an educated guess though?"

"Let's see..." Poe brought his eyebrows close together. "Judging from how fast the symptoms came on, it must have been quite a strong poison. Considering the labored breathing and spasms, it's likely a neurotoxin. Thinking of the main poisons that applies to, that'd be potassium cyanide, strychnine, and atropine. Nicotine, arsenic, or arsenic acid are also possible. Except, atropine and nicotine both cause dilation of the pupils, which there was none of. And any compound with cyanide famously stinks of almonds. There was nothing like that either. Therefore, I think it's most likely strychnine, if not arsenic or arsenic acid."

On the table, those six cups remained from earlier, half drank. Agatha, who had been staring at Poe for the length of his explanation, suddenly let a giggle slip out. "For this one, you're gonna say the culprit has to be me."

"Probably," Ellery responded dispassionately. "So did you really do it?"

"If I say no, would you even believe me?"

"Definitely not."

"I know, right?"

The two managed to joke around quietly. Everyone ---- including those two ---- were undoubtedly feeling the effects of their shock out of normalcy.

"Quit it, you two." Chiding them in a subtly stern tone, Poe placed a cigarette in his mouth, then held out the wooden case to Ellery. "This is the time to think seriously."

"I understand. If we all just fool around, we'll get nowhere." Ellery rejected Poe's cigarette case, pulling a pack of Salems out of his shirt pocket. He took one out and started packing the leaves in by hitting the filter against the table. "First, let's start confirming information," he said. "The one who asked for coffee in the first place was Carr himself. Agatha left for the kitchen, and during that time the rest of us were right here. She boiled water, brewed the coffee, put the cups on the tray, then came back out here, about fifteen minutes total. Agatha put the tray on the table. If I recall correctly, the tray contained those six coffee cups, some sugar cubes, a bottle of powdered milk, and also seven spoons on a little plate, one of which was for the milk. Did I get that right, Agatha?"

She nodded meekly.

"What was the order we took the cups in?" Ellery continued. "I know I was first. And next was...?"

"Me," Leroux answered. "Carr basically took his at the same time."

"I think I was next," Poe said.

"Then I took mine and passed the tray to Van. Right, Van?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, we've confirmed it. The order was Me, Leroux and Carr, Poe, Agatha, then Van." Ellery held the cigarette in the corner of his mouth as he lit it. "Now let's think. Who had a chance to slip poison into Carr's cup? Of course, the first was Agatha."

"Then the poisoned cup could've come around to me. And besides, there's no way I could've induced Carr to pick the poisoned cup." Agatha delivered her rebuttal in a cold voice. "If I was the culprit, I would've gone around handing everyone their cups after poisoning one."

"Now that you mention it, you've always gone around handing the drinks out, up until now. Why did you neglect to do that this time?"

"I just wasn't in the mood."

"Ohh? Well, Agatha, I unfortunately have to point out that the culprit surely wasn't just targeting Carr. Assuming the culprit's goal is to murder us all, they wouldn't actually care who the "Second Victim" is."

"You're saying Carr just got unlucky?"

"That's the most logical way to think of it, yes. The spaces on both sides of Carr were empty. So nobody could have slipped the poison into the cup after he chose it. In that case, you're the only answer."

"But it could've been put in the milk or sugar too."

"Oh oh? But you used milk in your own coffee, did you not? Sugar's out too. Carr doesn't put anything in his coffee, same as me. Of course, he didn't use the spoon either."

"Wait a sec, Ellery," Leroux cut in. "I was watching Agatha the whole time she was brewing coffee. The kitchen doors were left open and my seat was directly facing it, so I could see her movements really well from there. There was even a candle lighting the counter, but there wasn't a single suspicious action."

"That's valuable, but it's not conclusive evidence. Who knows if you missed something in the distance between the table and the kitchen counter? There's no way you were monitoring her then too."

"I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize."

"No, that's not what I meant. The truth is, I have been monitoring Agatha."

"Leroux?" Agatha looked at him in surprise. Leroux looked down and repeated "I'm sorry" in a timid voice. "But, I mean... why not? The culprit who killed Orczy this morning is somewhere on the island, and I thought maybe it could be Agatha. That's why I was really nervous at dinner about the crackers, the canned food, and the juice. It's embarrassing, but I was nonchalantly waiting for you to eat them first, Ellery."

"I see. "Ellery's lips turned in a faint smile. "So then Leroux, can you say with certainty that Agatha is not the culprit?"

"Well..."

"The reality is Carr died. And someone poisoned him. Unless of course you want to claim he killed himself?"

"That's..."

"Ellery, this what I was talking about before. If I was the culprit, how would I avoid the poisoned cup? I drank my coffee just like everyone else."

Ellery was blinking his eyes slowly as he stubbed out the butt of his Salem in the decagonal ashtray. "The number of cups was six. It wouldn't have been difficult to memorize the position of the poisoned cup. After you took your cup, you handed the last one to Van. If by chance the last two contained the poisoned cup, you'd be able to intentionally pass it over. Even in the worst case where you got the poisoned cup, you simply didn't have to drink it."

"It wasn't me." Hair disheveled, Agatha shook her head repeatedly. Her white fingers clutching the table were trembling slightly.

"Ellery," Van said quietly. "In you think about it though, if Agatha were the culprit, why would she intentionally choose a method that places the most suspicion on her specifically? Agatha isn't that stupid. Poe, what do you think?"

"I agree," Poe answered, then set his eyes on Ellery. "The hall was lit only by a table lamp. And on top of that, I'm sure nobody was paying close attention to other people taking their own coffee."

"What are you trying to say, Poe?"

"Ellery, you were the first to take a cup. While you did that, you could have been consealing a drug that you slipped into the next drink. What do you say, Magician?"

"Haha, you flatter me." Ellery sounded much more sardonic than pleased. "All I can do is claim I didn't do anything."

"I can't just accept that either. But there are still other possibilities. For example, Carr could've been made to drink the poison prior to the coffee."

"A delayed-release capsule, you mean?"

"Exactly."

"In that case, the most suspicious would be you, Doctor. I mean, in the first place poisonous substances like arsenic and strychnine are hard for a normal person to get their hands on. It'd be way easier for you in the medical department, Van in the science department, or Agatha in the pharmaceutical department. Leroux and I are in the humanities. Entirely disconnected from labs with strong chemicals and poisons."

"If we assume it was stolen, anyone could have stolen it. The management of our university's study rooms and laboratories is extremely lax. They let agriculture or engineering students use them too, so if someone looking like that shows up, nobody would pay it a second thought. Besides, didn't one of us have a relative in O City who runs a pharmacy? That was you, Ellery, if I recall correctly."

Ellery let out a small whistle. "Impressive memory."

"In short, arguing over who had a way to obtain poison is pointless right now." Poe leaned forward slowly. "I'd like to bring up another possibility regarding the application of the poison. Maybe it was somewhere we couldn't notice. What I'm thinking is, the method where the poison is smeared on one of the cups in advance. In that case, everybody had the chance to do it."

"Of course they did," Ellery said, brushing hair away from his forehead with a smile.

Agatha glared at him bitterly. "You already knew that, Ellery?"

"Naturally. I'm not an idiot, you know."

"That's rude then, treating me as the only possible culprit before."

"I was planning on bullying the others too, in turn."

"So you're testing my nerves?"

"Regardless, these are abnormal circumstances we're in. I wouldn't demand that anybody behave normally in this situation."

"That's..."

"By the way Agatha, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it this time?"

"Just confirming something. Did you happen to wash the cups before pouring the coffee?"

"No I didn't."

"When was the last time you washed them?"

"When we came back from searching the island, we had tea. After that I washed the cups and put them on the counter..."

"Including the seventh cup, that Orczy had been using?"

"No. I put Orczy's cup away in the cabinet. It was really painful to leave it like that, but..."

"Hmm. That's enough to make the possibility of prior cup poisoning much more likely. Anyone could have poisoned one of the six cups during the evening. Everyone had the opportunity to do so."

"But Ellery..." Leroux said. "If the culprit did that, how would they distinguish the poisoned cup from the rest? All of us drank our coffee, after all."

"There was surely some kind of mark."

"A mark?"

"Yeah. Like if that one had faded coloring, or a small crack." As he said that, Ellery reached for the moss-green cup that Carr had used.

"Well, is there anything there?"

"Hold on a sec. ----Oh? That's weird." Ellery inclined his head inquisitively. Then he handed the cup to Leroux. "Take a look for yourself. To me it's indistinguishable from the rest though."

"Really?"

"Not even a tiny imperfection?" Agatha asked.

"----There's none anywhere. Maybe I'd find one if we used a magnifying glass."

"Stop joking around. Show me." Agatha was handed the cup. "----You're right. There's nothing at all that you could call a mark."

"So basically, this negates the theory of prior poisoning?" Ellery brushed down his hair with an unsatisfied expression. "Then the possibilities are down to the three from before. Either Agatha is the culprit, I'm the culprit, or he ingested a poison pill earlier from an unknown culprit."

"Regardless, it seems we can't get any more specific about the method or the culprit at this point," Poe said.

Ellery took the cup again from the table, where Agatha had set it, and looked down at it. "Even if there's no distinguishing mark, an outside culprit wouldn't care at all."

"What are you saying, Ellery?"

"Eh, nevermind..." Ellery took his eyes off the cup. "Anyway, I've been worried about motive. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say the one who killed Orczy and Carr is the same person who made those signboards. In that case he, or she, is determined to kill five of us. When I say five, I'm assuming the "detective" won't become the sixth victim."

"That's gotta be a big motive..." Leroux mumbled and weakly shook his head.

"Indeed," Ellery said confidently. "We should assume they're a significantly twisted individual."

"They're insane. Completely bonkers," Agatha said in a shrill voice. "We can't understand the thoughts of a lunatic."

"Lunatic, huh...?" As if spitting the word out, Ellery lifted his left arm to look at his watch. "It's almost dawn already. What should we do?"

"We can't afford to stay up. Discussing this with tired heads won't get us any answers."

"I agree, Poe. I'm almost at my limit." Rubbing his eyes, Ellery swayed to his feet. He then wordlessly headed to his room, hands on his hips.

"Wait, Ellery," Poe called out. "It'd probably be better if we all sleep in the same place."

"No. I don't want that," Agatha said with frightened eyes. "What if the person next to me is the culprit? He'd just have to reach out and strangle me. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it."

"It'd be impossible to kill the person sleeping next to you. Because they'd get caught instantly."

"Can you really assert that they won't though? Poe, before the culprit gets caught, I'd still be murdered." Seeming about to cry at that point, Agatha stood up so hard her chair fell over.

"Wait, Agatha."

"No. I can't trust anyone."

At that, Agatha disappeared into her room as if running away. After silently watching her go, Poe let out a long sigh.

"She's pretty far gone, that one."

"I think it's normal." Ellery spread both arms in a wide shrug. "To be honest, I feel the same way as Agatha. I'd prefer to sleep alone."

"Same here," Leroux said. The eyes under his glasses were completely red. Van stood up after him.

Poe scratched noisily at the side of his head and said, "Make sure to lock your doors, everyone."

"We know," Ellery answered, glancing toward the double-doors that lead to the entrance hall. "I don't know about you, but I'm afraid to die."

----------
END OF CHAPTER 5!

I really love how they're starting to just cut to the chase with the analysis, and I love how the in-universe explanation is that they've become numbed to the tragedy.

@White Crane: Holy poo poo I didn't even think about the whiskey flask but that's super likely. Especially after this chapter where none of the characters (even Poe) seemed to remember it lol. Does that make Poe suspicious? We'll see.

We got a lot of great details in this chapter to help us figure out who poisoned Carr. Me? I'm too stupid to think of any leads right now, besides the flask.

On that subject, I don't know if this book has an explicit "at this point you should be able to solve the mystery" disclaimer, but once such a time comes, or it seems like it should be saying that, I *will* be, like, stopping for a bit to get more in-depth trying to solve it before the book tells us.

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 11:17 on May 10, 2019

# ? May 10, 2019 10:24

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Alright, from my thinking right now, I'm sure Ellery is the culprit. I have no clue about motive or anything like that, but he definitely had the chance to commit both murders. But most of all it's the way he has behaved in all of chapter 5. He's seeming very suspicious as I'm looking back over everything.

1) Ellery randomly appears inside Orczy's room to give Poe the key. It just nonchalantly throws that in there, but that makes him seem like a sneaky bastard kinda. (I also feel this sort of plays into the way he's been compared to a cat a bunch)

(Maybe this is too tinfoil-hat but the way Ellery says "Poe's right [about not examining the body], I'm sorry to say." sort of seems like a "riddle-master" killer type attitude.)

Something I only noticed while rereading with a biased eye, but the way Ellery says the line "No one would flat out admit they killed her" in the original text, it started with the words "I killed her" followed by a comma. It was a tiny fake-out early on but now it seems like potential irony if he's the culprit...

2) Ellery NEVER reveals new information to the group. He acts very eager to get all the information he can, but it's always him asking tons of questions and then making arguments based on that, which are always beneficial to him.

Cases against the theory:

The support for "outside culprit" theory. Or rather, the way he hasn't really pushed the idea very hard except maybe to Leroux. It's hard to believe he's acting when he just glances at the entrance hall doors/front door (which don't have locks) when even if they all noticed it, it's so subtle that only Leroux would even understand what it meant. He did talk about the idea a tiny bit before, but I don't know....

# ? May 10, 2019 12:50

Lord Zedd-Repulsa: Jul 21, 2007; Devour a good book.

Posting so I have a convenient place to toss a link about Japanese medical schooling when I'm on my laptop and it isn't 6:45 AM.

# ? May 10, 2019 13:47

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

Chapter Six
Third Day - Mainland

quote:

Nearly dusk.

Sea beginning to darken. The shadow of an island melting into the distance, as Kawaminami looked out at it from his position on the wharf. Several strides further to sea, Shimada's lanky body was stooped over playing around with a kid who was trying to fish.

Finally the two had come here ---- to S Town.

Could Nakamura Seiji possibly be still alive? Today, they were planning to search for clues regarding that theory they had concluded the previous night, by visiting the town itself. He was also just plain curious to see the famed Horned Island with his own eyes.

However, they'd spent half a day talking to all the locals and fisherman and such, but all they'd gathered was a bunch of ordinary ghost stories. After obtaining nothing to substantially make progress with, they'd come to this area slightly apart from the harbor to rest their tired bodies.

Kawaminami put a cigarette in his mouth, sat down where he was standing, and stretched out his legs.

While listening to the sound of the waves, he watched Shimada from behind, the man clad in bluejeans and an olive green jacket. The way he helped the kid hold his fishing rod, and his carefree voice, they totally didn't look like someone in his late thirties.

Such a weird man, Kawaminami thought. Suddenly recalling how there'd been such an awkward atmosphere between Shimada and Morisu last night, he sighed.

Shimada and Morisu had contrasting personalities. If Shimada was the yang, Morisu would be the yin. If forced to put it into words, from the perspective of overly serious and introverted Morisu, Shimada's aloofly direct pursuit of his curiosity and interests came across as a gross bastardization of the investigative spirit. Importantly though, Shimada was much older than the two of them. That's probably why they aggravated each other so much. Shimada was embarrassed to be told off by this goody-two-shoes kid.

"Should we go soon, Shimada?" After a time, Kawaminami called ahead.

"The way back will take over an hour."

"Oh really?" Shimada handed the kid his fishing pole back, and waved goodbye. With his long legs, he ran up in a single bound.

"You like kids, do you?"

"Err, I guess so," Shimada answered without blushing. "I mean, being young is great."

The two went down to the coastal street, then walked side by side.

"In the end, we found nothing huh..."

"Oh? Really?" Shimada was grinning wide. "We picked up a ton of ghost stories though."

"Those were rumors you'd hear anywhere. Any time someone dies under strange circumstances, you get ghost stories like that."

"Not so. I think they have an unexpected truth lurking within them."

A dark-skinned youth was repairing a net on the side of the road with skillful hands. He was likely less than twenty years old. In his serious focused expression, a boy's innocence still remained.

"Know what I think, Konan?" Shimada said. "I should perform a prayer for your friends --- or, ex-friends --- so they don't get possessed by a ghost."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, the true form of the Horned Island ghost is undoubtedly Nakamura Seiji. Seiji is alive just like we thought, and is still on the island. Meanwhile your ex-friends are visiting the place unknowingly."

"But that's..."

"Excuse me," came an unfamiliar voice, suddenly. They turned in surprise. The voice had come from the boy with the net. "Do y'all... know those students who went to the island?" The young man asked loudly, holding the net in both hands.

"Yes we do." Shimada answered without a moment's delay, then walked up to the boy. "Do you know them too?"

"Those folks went with me and Pop to the island. On Tuesday we're going back to get them."

"Is that so?" Shimada replied enthusiastically, stooping down next to the boy. "So kid, did you notice anything weird about the people you took?"

"Not really. They were very lively. I have no clue why they thought the island would be fun though." Though his words were blunt, the boy's eyes shone with a friendliness towards Shimada. Pure white teeth poked out from his thick lips, as he scratched his short-cropped hair. "Are y'all investigating the ghost stories?"

"Yep, that's right. Well, basically. So hey, have you ever seen the ghost?"

"No. It's just a rumor. I don't believe in monsters."

"Monsters and ghosts are different though, right?"

"Um, are they?"

"Do you know whose ghost it is?"

"They say it's Nakamura Seiji. And his wife too."

"So then, you don't believe that Nakamura Seiji is living on the island?"

The young man blinked in bewilderment. "Living? That man died, don't you know? That's why he's a ghost."

"Maybe he's not dead though," Shimada said in a deadly serious tone. "For example, maybe the rumor about lights being lit in the Decagon House was actually Seiji lighting the lamps. Isn't it way more realistic to think people saw Seiji actually alive, rather than a ghostly mirage? There's also the rumor of nearby boats getting sunk. Maybe that was Seiji being truly seen, and so he killed the fisher and sunk their ship. How about that?"

"You're... an interesting man." The youth smiled as if he found something amusing. "But what you said about the boats is totally wrong. Because I've... seen one get capsized."

"What?"

"Since the waves were strong that day, and I happened to be around, I told it to stop. I said the only fish there were small-fry, but it left without listening. It departed from here and then before even reaching the island, it was taken by a huge wave. The old men talk about how a ghost sunk it, but that was just an accident."

Kawaminami, who'd been listening to their exchange from the sideline, accidentally burst into laughter.

Shimada pouted childishly. "Fine, we'll just cancel the part about the boats. But anyway yeah, I still believe Seiji could be alive."

"By alive you mean... living on the island, right? What about food?"

"He's got a boat. He's hiding it somewhere, and sometimes he comes here to shop or whatever."

"Hmm." The boy tilted his head.

"You think it's impossible?"

"Let me think. If he comes around to the other side of J Cape during the night, it wouldn't be impossible at all. That side doesn't have too many people about. Then again, if he tied his boat to a dock, it would get seen eventually."

"There's gotta be a hiding place there. Anyway, as long as the waters aren't stormy, is a motorboat fine to come and go between the island and here?"

"Yeah. With the weather like it is now, there'd be no trouble on anything with an engine."

"Hm hm," Shimada puffed in satisfaction and stood up energetically. "Hey thanks a lot, kid. Yeah. You've told us some good stuff."

"I did? You really are interesting."

Shimada waved to the youth, then walked briskly to his car parked up the street. After being flustered for a moment, Kawaminami caught up to him.

"How about it, Konan?" Shimada said, grinning. "Big harvest, wasn't it?"

He wasn't sure how "big" the harvest just now had been, exactly. He was still hesitant about the conclusion, but he couldn't deny that there was no evidence to the contrary of Nakamura Seiji's present existence.

"Right," he said. In any case, Kawaminami thought as he looked out at the darkening sea across the wharf. Why'd it have to be them of all people who went to that super problematic island? Well, I guess this kind of thing isn't rare for them.

As twilight encroached, the black shape of Horned Island seemed to dissolve in silence.

---------------
END OF CHAPTER SIX!

Huzzah for short chapters! We are now about 53% through the book. I expect the second half to contain all the crap crashing down in an absolutely bonkers way. Don't let me down, Ayatsuji.

-I love the juxtaposition between "we got nothing, just ghost stories" and "woo, we got a ton of ghost stories". It's almost like 'how in-universe characters should think' vs 'how the reader should think'.

-That is definitely the fisherman's son from chapter one. I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of those characters, but there's no way they're involved in murder right??
(Yeah I knew it was him lol)

-The boy is friendly because Shimada is also dark-skinned? Question mark?

-Oh no, this testimony about the sunken ship is gonna be relevant. BOY'S ACCOUNT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE TRUTH BULLETS SECTION OF YOUR HANDBOOK

I would like to repeat, any time I wrote "Konan" in narration or "Kawaminami" in Shimada's dialogue, it was a mistake. Don't look for clues there lol. I tried to make sure I was consistent but just in case I messed up, yeah.

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 07:48 on May 11, 2019

# ? May 11, 2019 01:18

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

I'm wondering if I should hold off posting the next update (I may or may not be obsessively reading) so that people have actual time to like form opinions etc... Maybe I'll wait until I have the entire chapter 7.

# ? May 11, 2019 07:58

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

I would post more as I'm reading but I don't want to shitpost in this thread.

So they abandoned talking to Kou all together?

Regarding the flask, since it is on Carr's person, specifically his jacket, how would one be able to poison him through it? They'd have to snatch it , mix in the poison without Carr knowing and they would have to know that he had this flask on him. The only mention of it was when he drank from it in Poe's presence.

Just out of curiousity, I wonder why Poe as a fourth year medical student, doesn't check on Van who's sick when everyone arrives to the island and as a medical student, he may have access to the poison needed to kill Carr, right?

Regarding the boy and Shimada's conversation...so there was a boat headed towards the island but it capsized? Given that there's nothing of value near the island...I wonder who was on that boat. Did no one think to call in the cops to help recover any possible dead bodies from the wreckage?

# ? May 11, 2019 08:55

TalkLittle: Jun 23, 2004

This Shimada guy is too happy about the whole situation. He's obviously hiding a huge secret.

Wonder if it's something crazy like, Nakamura Seiji was dead before even the 1985 murders, there was another person masquerading as him--Shimada. No witnesses to say otherwise.

# ? May 12, 2019 02:52

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Okay, I'm impatient. I'll update half the chapter now and the other half tomorrow.

quote:

Chapter Seven
Fourth Day - Island

quote:

1

He could hear people talking.

But it was not as loud as that. Nor as near as that. A familiar tone. A familiar air. From behind, ringing out like a sound effect, the sound of water. ----Waves? Yes. The sound of waves....

He was scooped gradually out from sleep. And before long----

The instant he opened his eyes, he shot up in the dusty bed with a creak.

Fumbled for his glasses, then lay face-up. His sharply corrected field of vision showed a white ceiling. He sighed weakly.

(...This is Decagon House.)

His temples were pounding. In addition to that, various sights he didn't want to remember pounded away inside his heart.

As if handling a delicate object, he shook his head, got out of bed, and dressed himself in sluggish movements. He walked to the window and unfastened the belt tied tightly around the handles. Then he undid the latch and opened the window and the exterior shutters.

That weather-worn lawn. Lurching pines. Sky looking like pale, faded ink.

He stretched his heavy arms, and took a single deep breath. After thus replacing the stale air stagnating in his body, he closed the window, returned the latch to its original position, tied the handles with the belt like normal, then exited his room.

The ones talking in the hall were Ellery and Van. Agatha and Poe were already awake, and in the kitchen.

"Morning, Leroux. We're glad you're safe," Ellery said without a hint of a joke, pointing diagonally behind Leroux.

"Huh?"

Leroux turned to look, and instinctively adjusted the frame of his round glasses.

This was Carr's door. At around eye level, in the same place as Orczy's, one of those signs was stuck over Carr's nameplate.

"Wow, what a reliable culprit. They've gotta be pleased to get this far." Leroux retreated away from that spot, sat cross-legged in his chair, and looked up at Ellery. "Were the rest of the signboards in that drawer still?"

"Yep. Not that it did us any good."

Ellery gathered the boards from the table, and slid them over to Leroux. Specifically, there were six boards.

"Wait, but..."

"It's exactly what it seems. The "Second Victim" sign is in there too. Exactly identical. Naturally, the killer knows they'd leave some sort of mark on those first plates when they're actually used for a murder. So they'll probably just keep making exact copies for all of them.

And this next part is a secret from Agatha...." Ellery lowered his voice and beckoned Leroux closer.

"What do you mean, secret?"

"I'm afraid to put this in a way that upsets you. Before she woke up, I was talking with Van and Poe, and we agreed to hide it from her."

"Wait, what happened?"

"Guess."

"Umm..."

"Poe's the one who found it. He'd just woken up at a little past noon, and while washing his face, he got spooked for some reason and peered into the inner bathroom. That's when he saw it."

"Something was there!"

"Yes. In the bathtub was a single bloody hand."

"Whaat?" Leroux put a hand to his mouth. "W, was it... Orczy's?"

"No. It wasn't Orczy's hand."

"Then... whose?"

"Carr's. His left hand got cut off at the wrist and then put there."

"What the hell..."

"The killer must have done it this morning, around the time we went to sleep. Carr's door wasn't locked, after all. Anybody could have snuck into his room and sliced off his hand. The timing makes it probable that Agatha did it too."

"Where is the hand now?"

"We put it back on Carr's bed. Right now, we're no longer hoping for police. And we couldn't just leave it there."

"But, why...?" Leroux said, temples pounding. "Why did the killer do that?"

"Why indeed."

"Another "copycat" play? But wait, that doesn't check out...."

A short while later, Agatha and Poe walked out from the kitchen and started setting for a meal. Spaghetti, bread pudding with cheese, and potato salad with soup.

Leroux checked his watch as he sat in his chair. It was already three in the afternoon.

He hadn't eaten a single meal in the past day. As his stomach had shrunk to an alarming degree, he hardly had an appetite.

"Leroux, Poe was standing guard the whole time, so go ahead and eat. I even washed the silverware beforehand. Or do you really think Poe and I are accomplices?" Agatha retorted with much sarcasm. She tried to smile, but her eyes were unnaturally stiff.

She must have not gotten much sleep, as the pallor of her fatigue showed through the fine makeup on her face. Her rose colored lipstick seemed much more faded than usual.

Oh no, suddenly Leroux is interesting too?? Great, I bet he's gonna die next now.

quote:

2

After their late lunch, all five of them went to the remains of Blue Mansion.

That three hundred square yard stretch of land, which supposedly once supported a building, was covered black by ash and debris. Surrounding it, the dark-green pine forest. A wood of withered trees, mixed with brown. The sea darkening as the clouds hung ever lower....

A darkness so deep it made you want to dump white paint over everything; a visible gloom.

The cliff to the west of the ruins, facing J Cape, was not as tall as the rest. The trees surrounding the grounds broke off at a point, where a short path was made, and a slender concrete staircase leading to a rocky area below.

Standing at the top of that cliff, they had started looking for approaching ships, but soon one of them had broken off and started walking around in the ash and rubble. It was Ellery. He stepped across the debris, sometimes poking one with his foot, sometimes crouching down.

"What are you doing, Ellery?" Van asked in a loud voice.

Ellery raised his head and smiled. "Looking for something."

"Looking? For what?"

"I sort of mentioned it last night. A basement. I think there might be one."

The four atop the cliff glanced at each other dubiously, then headed in the direction of Ellery, stooped over some rubble.

"----Oh?" Ellery mumbled, grasping a soot-black scrap of lumber. Its size was about a meter in all directions. "There's evidence this has been moved."

It was probably part of a burned wall, as there were still blue tiles scattered in several places. Putting his entire strength into it, Ellery shockingly managed to lift the debris just barely. ----At that very moment...

"There!" Ellery cheered in delight.

Right in front of him, a square hole opened up into darkness. Thin concrete steps lead down into black. This was none other than the entrance to the surviving basement.

Ellery pushed the debris to the side. Producing the flashlight he'd prepared in advance from his jacket pocket, he walked into the hole impatiently.

"Careful. It might collapse," Poe called out in concern.

"I know. I'm..." His response suddenly cut off. At the same time, Ellery's body reeled forward. Accompanied by a scream of "Uwah", Ellery collapsed into the darkness, disappearing as if consumed.

"Ellery!"

"Ellery?"

"Hey, Ellery!"

"Ellery, are you okay?"

The four of them screamed simultaneously. Van leaped forward to follow after Ellery.

"Wait, Van. It's dangerous to rush in." Poe held him back firmly.

"But Poe..."

"Let me go first."

Tossing away the cigarette between his fingers, Poe felt around in his jacket pocket and took out a small pen light. Shining it carefully into the hole, he began descending the stairs.

"Ellery," he called, but no answer. His upper body felt constricted so he hunched over and advanced two steps. There, he stopped abruptly.

"This is..." Poe groaned. "A thin wire's set up here. Ellery must have tripped over this."

It was at around the height of an adult's shin. Tied between two pipes running along the walls, in a way that you could barely see when straining your eyes.

Poe delicately stepped across it, then moved forward a step. In the darkness below, he could see a yellow ring of light. Ellery's portable flashlight.

"Van, Leroux. Come down. Watch out for the tripwire. ----Ellery?" Ellery was collapsed at the very bottom of the stairs. Poe picked up the dropped flashlight and then, shining at the feet of the two who were following, he said "Yo Ellery, are you alright?"

Sprawled on the concrete floor, Ellery answered faintly, "I'm okay." But then he moaned and held his right ankle. "I think it's sprained."

"Was your head hit?"

"----I don't know."

Shortly thereafter, Van and Leroux entered.

"Give me a hand," Poe ordered them, taking Ellery's arm.

"----Wait a sec, Poe," Ellery said, sitting up with effort. "I'm fine, so let's go check out the basement."

Leroux took the flashlight from Poe and shined it all around the room.

The basement was, in the measurement of tatami mats, more spacious than ten. All the walls and the ceiling were bare concrete, and innumerable pipes ran overhead. There was only a power generator further in, and nothing else of note. Only scraps of wood and sticks, filthy bottles and cans, buckets, rags... Just a bunch of junk scattered around.

"Well as you can see there's nothing here, Ellery."

"Nothing?" Ellery mumbled, as he stood leaning on Poe and Van's shoulders, and following the beam of the flashlight. He seemed to be piecing it together.

"Are you sure there's nothing, Leroux? Look at the floor."

When he heard that, Leroux once again shined the light on the basement floor. "Oh, that's..."

Near the stairs where they had entered this room, an arc was drawn with a radius of two meters. ----And within that section, not a single piece of junk was scattered anywhere. Even stranger, the ash and dust which should have been present were hardly visible within the arc either.

"What's with that? It's so unnatural. Almost like it's been swept daily."

Ellery let an awkward smile rise to his face. "There must have been something here."

quote:

3

"It's nothing major. Seems you didn't hit your head," Poe said, treating Ellery's ankle. "Nothing more than a sprain, some bruising, and light abrasions. You should leave the compress on it overnight. You got real lucky. If you'd fell a little worse, your life might've been in jeopardy."

"It's not like I employed the art of falling on my way down." Ellery chomped on his lip. "It was honestly pathetic. I was careless. In retrospect, I literally walked right into his trap."

The five of them had returned to the Decagon House hall.

Ellery leaned against the wall, legs out in front of him on the floor, receiving treatment from Poe. The others watched on, too anxious to even take a seat.

"We should tie the hall doors with cord. And absolutely do not go outside, especially after sundown. We're being targeted."

"But Ellery, I'm not buying it." On the way back from the Blue Mansion ruins, Agatha had suffered Ellery's rant about the Nakamura Seiji = culprit theory, and this pushed her over the edge. "Nakamura Seiji is still alive? You really think that's true?"

"The condition of that basement seemed to prove it. Or at the very least, someone has been lurking there recently, without a doubt. That person must have predicted that we'd find the basement and try going inside. That's why they set up the tripwire. If I wasn't lucky, I'd probably be the "Third Victim" right now."

"Okay. You're good, Ellery." having finished bandaging the leg, Poe gave Ellery's knee a pat. "Don't do a lot of walking tonight."

"Thank you, Doctor. ----Oh? Where are you going?"

"I just want to confirm one thing." Poe walked briskly across the hall to the entrance hall doors, and disappeared through them. Then, before even a minute had passed, he returned and said "It's just as I thought. Sorry about that." He spoke in a sturdy voice.

"What is it?"

"That wire from before, it looked like something from my luggage."

"Yours? What do you mean?"

"Fishing line. The day we came here, I left my tackle box in the entrance hall. One roll of my thickest line is missing from there."

"I see." Ellery stood his left knee on the ground, then held it with both hands. "The entrance hall doesn't get locked. Therefore, Seiji or anyone else could come and go as they please. Stealing some fishing line would be no problem."

"Alright, but listen Ellery," Poe said, sitting in a chair and lighting a cigarette. "What makes you so sure Seiji lived and is the culprit?"

"You disagree?"

"Well I don't think the possibility is nonexistant. But right now, we're still deciding if an outside culprit in general is a viable possibility, so I object on those grounds."

"Hmm." Ellery looked up at Poe's bearded face from the same position against the wall. "Poe, you seem eager to make killers of us."

"I'm not trying to make anything. But unfortunately, doubting each other is much safer right now. On that note, I now propose that we conduct a thorough search of everybody's rooms."

"You want to examine our belongings?"

"Exactly. The killer surely has another set of signboards, Orczy's severed hand, some kind of sharp object, and also maybe some leftover poison."

"That's a reasonable perspective. But Poe, think about if you're the killer, and you have stuff in your room that mustn't get found. You'd hide it really darn well, wouldn't you? There are any number of hiding spots we could miss."

"But, just in case...?"

"Hey Poe," Van said. "Doing that would also be dangerous probably."

"Dangerous? Why?"

"Because assuming one of us five is the culprit, we'd be taking the killer into the rooms too. That'd give them all the information they'd need to break in later."

"Van's right," Agatha declared. "I don't want anyone coming into my room. It's also possible for the killer to hide stuff in someone else's room. So it wouldn't even be reliable."

"Leroux? What do you think?" Poe asked with a scowl.

"More important than that, I don't want to stay in Decagon House at all." Leroux cast his eyes downward as he shook his head repeatedly. "I think one of us said it the other day. That these walls mess with your eyes. Well, it's not just my eyes. They're sort of messing with my head too...."

Stuff is getting really exciting now!

Note: This is one of those sections where I translated rather quickly (I was excited to read, okay!) and I'm insecure about the quality in places so just keep an eye out for horrendous writing and let me know lol.

By the way, I don't mind shitposting at all. I'd love to talk casually about the plot or whatever, it doesn't all have to be super detailed investigative work.

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 06:26 on May 19, 2019

# ? May 12, 2019 06:03

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

4

"If you're looking for the salt, you left it over there earlier," Van said timidly to Agatha, who had just tasted the soup and then started looking around with a plate in one hand.

"Wow, you've got a good eye." Agatha turned around and looked him in the eyes. "You'd make a fantastic jailer!"

For all the sarcasm in the response, her voice didn't have any spirit behind it whatsoever. The shadows around her eyes were hard to miss.

The Decagon House kitchen.

Agatha preparing a meal by the dim light of a lamp they'd brought from the hall, and Van watching over her from the side. The other three were in the hall, and could see well enough what was going on in here as well, through the open double doors.

Agatha had been throwing herself from one task to the next, as if trying to expel all thoughts of the incidents from her head. However, that strategy had proven to be useless. They'd been trying to find something on her for a while.

"The sugar's right over here," Van said eventually. Agatha jumped, then glared right into Van's eyes.

"I know that already!" Placing both hands on her scarf-tied hair, Agatha raised her voice to a shrill pitch. "If you're so suspicious of my cooking, then go take some canned food and make whatever you want with it."

"Agatha that's not what I meant..."

"I've have enough!"

Agatha lifted a small plate and threw it at Van. The plate grazed Van's arm, then hit the refrigerator behind him and broke. Shocked by such a sudden loud noise, the other three rushed in from the hall.

"I know full well I'm not the culprit!" Agatha wailed, clutching herself with both hands and flailing wildly back and forth. "The culprit is one of you! What's with all this keeping watch crap, when I'm definitely not the culprit!?"

"Agatha!" Ellery and Poe screamed in sync.

"What? All this standing guard over me, when even if someone did die after eating my cooking, that wouldn't make me the killer anyway! You're all just ganging up and making me the culprit."

"Calm down, Agatha," Poe said forcefully, taking a step toward her. "None of us are trying to do that. Let's all take a deep breath."

"Don't come any closer!" Agatha's eyes flashed as she retreated a step. "Stay back. ----I knew it. You guys are all in cahoots. You four teamed up to kill Orczy and Carr. And now it's my turn?"

"Agatha, just hold on for a second."

"If you want me to so bad, I can become the culprit for you! Yes. If I become the "Killer", that means I can avoid playing a "Victim" and survive. ----Ohh, poor Orczy. Tragic Carr. Yes. That's right. I'm the culprit. I killed those two. And now I'm going to kill you too!"

Agatha, who had lost all sense of calm and began flailing her limbs violently, was pinned down by the remaining four, dragged out to the main hall, and forced into a chair.

"No, this is the end. This is... the end...."

Agatha slumped her shoulders, staring with hollow eyes into the air. Finally, she slumped over onto the table shivering dramatically, and said "Take me home. Please. ----I'm tired. I'm going home."

"Agatha?"

"I'm leaving now. I'm going home. I'll swim there...."

"Agatha, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath." Poe tried to calm her, holding her back with a large hand. "Listen, Agatha. None of us are trying to make you into a killer. And nobody's going to kill you."

As if she were a stubborn child, Agatha kept her head down and repeated "home" "home" incessantly, until apparently breaking off into silent sobs.

A long time passed. After a bit, she suddenly lifted her head up. Then she said in a distant, monotone voice, "I have to... make dinner."

"No, you're fine. Someone else will do it. You take a rest."

"No!" Agatha shook off Poe's hand. "I'm not the culprit."

quote:

5

During dinner, not a single word was spoken.

If they opened their mouths, the conversation would inescapably be drawn back to the incidents. Silence was one way of escaping their treacherous reality. Or possibly it was due to concern for stimulating Agatha's nerves further while catatonic.

"Agatha, it's fine. Get some rest," Poe said sweetly. Agatha had been smoking despite being in front of others, lazily watching the smoke rise. She looked at Poe expressionlessly. "If you're not tired, there's medicine for that. I'll get some for you, so take it, okay?"

At that moment, her eyes went red with alarm. "Medicine? No way!"

"Don't worry. It's just sleeping pills."

"No. Absolutely not."

"I understand. Then how about this? Pay attention, Agatha."

Poe opened his cloth bag which was hung on the back of his chair, and revealed a small pill bottle. He dumped two white tablets from inside into his palm. He then clearly separated them into halves, grabbed half of each one and placed them in Agatha's hand. "Here. I'll take these two right here in front of you. Then you don't have to worry."

Agatha sat quietly for a while, staring at the pill in her hand, and eventually nodded her head.

"Alright. Good girl." An unrefined smile rose to Poe's bearded face as he took his pill. "Everything's fine. Go on, Agatha."

"----I won't sleep, no matter what."

"That's understandable. Your nerves have been pushed to the limit."

"When we went to bed this morning, my ears were full of Carr's voice which wouldn't go away. And then right when I finally started drifting off, I thought I heard a weird noise from Carr's room."

"I get it. But trust me that if you take this, you'll sleep like a baby tonight."

"----Really?"

"Yeah. You'll get sleepy real quick."

Agatha finally put the pill in her mouth, then closed her eyes and swallowed.

"Thank you..." She gazed at Poe with lifeless eyes.

"Kay, goodnight Agatha. Make sure your door's locked tight."

"----Okay. Thanks a lot, Poe."

When Agatha disappeared into her room, it felt like a sigh came from all four of the boys.

"Such professional behavior, Poe. You'll be a great doctor." Gesturing with the cigarette held between his slender fingers, Ellery chuckled. "Gee, she just couldn't bear it anymore, that Agatha. When tomorrow comes, I wonder if any more patients will appear."

"Quit it, Ellery. You're joking around too much."

"Maybe I want to joke around." Ellery shrugged. "It was being too serious that got us into this mess. I almost got killed today, man."

"And what do you think of the theory that you were acting?"

"That I what...? Well, I guess it makes sense for you to suspect that. So then naturally we can't rule out that Agatha's whole thing could be acting too."

"With an interior culprit, everyone receives equal suspicion," Van said, biting his nails. The only one you can be sure isn't the culprit... is yourself. When all is said and done, we can only look out for ourselves."

"Aah... Why? Why is this happening?" Leroux threw his glasses down on the table and held his head.

"Hey. You better not be going all hysteric too."

"I don't have the energy for that, Ellery. ----I'm just wondering why in the world the killer started this insane series of events. Whether it's one of us, or Nakamura Seiji... What the hell is the motive?" Leroux's beady eyes were wide on a face brimming with indignation.

"Motive, huh..." Ellery mumbled. "There's got to be something..."

"That goes against the Seiji=culprit theory, in my opinion," Van said, annoyed. "Ellery, it was your idea that Seiji's still alive, right? But even if that was true, it's just like Leroux said. Why would Seiji be killing us? This isn't a game."

"Seiji...?" Whenever he heard or spoke that name, Leroux felt a bizarre sense of unease. That had been the case ever since yesterday, when he'd heard Ellery bring up the possibility that he was still alive.

Light from the lamp's fire reflected in the glasses on the table, wavering randomly. As he stared at that image, something from the depths of his unease (...This must be... a memory) pulled at him. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember. Then, it got mixed up in a memory of something much more recent, which made him want to grind his teeth for some inexplicable reason.

(What was that?) Leroux kept asking himself inside his head.

The recent memory was undeniably from after they'd come to this island. As if he'd seen something while unconscious, which was of tremendous importance....

"Hey Poe?" The headache he'd suffered since this morning was still throbbing. Leroux figured he'd just give up and get some sleep. "Um, could you give me some of that medicine too?"

"Oh, sure thing. It's just barely past seven. You sleeping already?"

"Yeah. My head's been hurting."

"I'll do the same then." Poe gave Leroux a pill from the bottle, then stood up slowly with a cigarette in his mouth. "The one I took is starting to take effect."

"Poe. If it's alright, could I have one too?" Van said, rising gradually to his feet.

"Sure. Just one pill is enough. They're really effective. ----Ellery?"

"I don't need it. I can sleep on my own."

Then after a short time----

The table lamp was extinguished, and the decagonal hall fell into darkness.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN!

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 22:42 on May 12, 2019

# ? May 12, 2019 21:47

Lord Zedd-Repulsa: Jul 21, 2007; Devour a good book.

I'm enjoying reading this even if I can't seem to find anything to say consistently. Will anyone live to tell the wider world about what happened here? I hope so if only to give the victims' families some sort of closure.

# ? May 12, 2019 22:27

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Alright, here's my thoughts on chapter 7 now that I'm not feverishly reading it too fast to take notes.

1
I absolutely love how Leroux tying his window shut with a belt is just glossed over so casually. I also love the bits of his character we got in this part. We know from his past actions that he's terrified (or at least acting it), but in contrast with Agatha, he channels it into trying to maximize his chance for survival, like for example not eating. Instead of freaking the gently caress out like Agatha.

By the way, that "dream" sequence at the start was my first clue that the "thing he absolutely must remember" isn't just the fact that Chiori lived there. (Also, because I had assumed it was just teasing Chiori, I completely forgot about that moment until now, lol.)

Oh I almost forgot the discovery of the hand lol. It's only a huge loving deal and all. But well, I don't have anything to say about it. The only detail we really have is Agatha's later claim that she heard a noise from Carr's room.

2
Holy crap, this novel gets a lot of stuff done in a small wordcount sometimes! The drama in that scene with Ellery really loving got me, like I was all "holy poo poo don't let Ellery die!" Mostly because if he did, then I'd have no clue what to think lol. Now that he survived though, obviously my first thought is how did he fake it? Though to be honest, this whole scene is definitely working to push me ever so gradually away from the Ellery=culprit side. Agh, I'm so excited to find out who did it and why!

The supposedly missing semi-circular "thing" in the basement is puzzling too. What would have a radius of 2 meters and is also movable? Let alone the idea of taking such a thing up a "slender staircase" is... well I can't imagine what it could be. If the dust is even less inside the arc area, then it had to have been moved quite recently, right?

3
The fishing gear comes back! And also they bring up the "search everyone's rooms" comment that TV Zombie said earlier, heh. I really like how we were shown Leroux's secret room stuff prior to this discussion, because it gave us a glimpse of what kind of stuff the innocent students might be worried of the culprit seeing in their rooms. I find it interesting that Leroux never actually weighed in on that point though.

4
Somehow, starting the section with salt makes me think of that foreshadowing-bait line Ellery said about salt being involved in murder. I'm probably overthinking it lol.

So yeah, here's where Agatha gets all hot and bothered. My main thinking is, what use would there be for a killer to act like that? But the devil on my shoulder is like, she's probably just gonna die next anyway.

5
The pill poo poo makes me really nervous because it's so explicit that there's gotta be someone dead by poison tomorrow or something.

The poo poo about Leroux's memory worries me just because I'm thinking... what if Leroux is some kind of unknowing split-personality killer? Like, I don't want to outright say that would be stupid, because I guess it could be done well, but let's just say I'm hoping for a lot more out of that. Other than that concern though, this subplot interests me immensely. Urrgh, the suspense is too much.

# ? May 13, 2019 05:19

TalkLittle: Jun 23, 2004

Mr. Steak posted:

The pill poo poo makes me really nervous because it's so explicit that there's gotta be someone dead by poison tomorrow or something.

This part is really strange because here's a house full of mystery buffs, who know these are copycat murders, and they know about the sleeping pills involved in the original murders. Yet most of them play along without uttering any form of objection.

Originally I was theorizing that no murders have actually happened yet, and some of these club members are coordinating a ruse to out one of them for a crime involving Chiori. But Carr is certainly dead assuming a reliable narrator: "While laying in the bed of his assigned room, Carr drew his last breath." (Hopefully that's not just wordplay saying that's the last time he drew breath on the bed, or that he changed identities to stop being Carr.)

However, rereading Orczy's death scene it now becomes highly suspect. Poe really really does not want anyone to see Orczy's body. It doesn't mention what they did with Orczy's corpse. The narrator never refers to Orczy's body as a corpse nor says she is dead; it's always said in character dialogue. The closest is "Orczy's body, which could no longer move nor feel shame" which could mean she's unconscious. After Carr's death there are 2 severed hands which someone pointed out: "Another "copycat" play? But wait, that doesn't check out...." since that's one too many hands. I believe Orczy is alive and probably still has her hand.

TalkLittle fucked around with this message at 08:23 on May 13, 2019

# ? May 13, 2019 08:06

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

Chapter Eight
Fourth Day - Mainland

quote:

1

"Are you sure it's okay for me to come?" Kawaminami asked just in case, while on the road from Kamegawa to O City.

Shimada, gripping the steering wheel, nodded over and over while facing the road, and said "Not a problem. You're the one who knew Chiori after all, and you were also a victim, as it were, of that suspicious letter. I'd be a fool to even think about leaving you behind."

"Right. I guess that's true...."

Morisu's advice from two nights ago was stuck in his mind and wouldn't let go.

The issue of whether they should be invading other people's privacy to satisfy their own curiosity.

As far as Kawaminami and Morisu were concerned he was on great terms with Koujirou, Shimada had said. He'd also said that Morisu was being a bit overly rational in his attitude and way of thinking.

Kawaminami understood Shimada's feelings on the matter. For Morisu, who had initially seemed completely on board with participating in a game of deduction, to suddenly make a display of moral purity like that, had been an unpleasant surprise for Kawaminami as well. But nevertheless, even as he was approaching Koujirou's town again after just three days, he couldn't help feeling a strong sense of hesitation and guilt.

"If you're really feeling that shy Konan, let's just say we've become good friends over the past three days. And so I'm dragging you along against your will. How's that? Sound good?" Hearing Shimada say that with such a serious tone, Kawaminami thought how utterly strange this man was.

This was not merely an overactive curiosity. That man surely has a much more powerful sense of observation and insight than the likes of me, Kawaminami thought. Even when Morisu had introduced the theory that Seiji is still alive, Shimada had acted like he'd already reached that conclusion long before.

The definitive difference between Morisu and Shimada was that Morisu was, in a sense, strangely conservative in his realist views, while Shimada was a sort of romantic, like a young boy filled with dreams. And when it came to real life incidents that interested him, any satisfying possibilities that his wild imagination could deduce... became another one of those "dreams". That's pretty much how it seemed. Therefore----

It seemed that Shimada was merely double-checking whether the "dream" he had concocted would reflect their observable reality.

The car exited the highway, coming out into a familiar townscape.

The wind blowing in the half-open passenger window carried with it the hot springs' characteristic stench. It was often described as stinking of rotten eggs, but Kawaminami didn't actually hate the smell of hydrogen sulfide much.

When they arrived at Koujirou's house, it was just past three in the afternoon.

"He's gotta be home today," Shimada mumbled, standing in front of the gate. "His school's been on break, so it would've been fine to come on a school day, but it's Saturday so he's definitely in. That guy's not the type to go out in his free time...."

"Wait, you didn't phone in advance?" Kawaminami asked, to which Shimada casually agreed.

"Kou's the kind of guy who loves surprise visitors."

"Hmm."

"Might be weird though. Especially since I brought a plus one. We'll just say you're a new friend," Shimada said, winking.

The garden that Yoshikawa Seiichi had travelled from Ajimu to tend looked the same as ever, flowers in full bloom. Behind the roof, they could see branches of white sakura buds ready to burst open at any moment. While they walked the stone path to the door, minuscule petals of the yukiyanagi fluttered onto their shoulders.

When they rang the doorbell, the response was immediate.

"Oh, Shimada? And you were Kawaminami, correct?"

Koujirou was dressed stylishly today as well. Black slacks and a similarly black striped shirt. And a thin, coffee-colored Aran cardigan.

Showing absolutely no suspicion at the presence of Kawaminami, he lead the two of them into the same tatami room as the other day.

Shimada plopped into the wooden chair at the veranda. Kawaminami waited for Koujirou's invitation, then sunk deep into the sofa.

"What's up?" Koujirou asked while preparing black tea.

"I want to ask you something." Shimada leaned forward in the rocking chair, placing both elbows on his knees. "But first, what were you doing two nights ago?"

"Two nights ago?" Koujirou looked at Shimada puzzled. "I'm at home every day, since school is out."

"Really? Two nights ago, on the seventeenth, I came by but you wouldn't answer the door."

"I have to apologize for that. Deadlines were approaching, so I decided to ignore all calls and visitors for two or three days."

"That's no good. You won't make friends that way."

"Sorry. I would've answered if I knew it was you." Koujirou handed cups to the two of them, then sat in a sofa opposite Kawaminami. "What did you want to ask? Since you brought Kawaminami with you, I'm guessing it bears some relation to those prank letters from someone impersonating my brother."

"Indeed. But that's not exactly why we came today." Shimada took a single breath, then continued "Truth is... we wanted to grill you a little about poor Chiori."

Koujirou froze with the cup partway to his mouth. "About Chiori?"

"I'm gonna ask some mean questions, Kou. If you don't approve, feel free to punch me." Shimada then cut straight to the point. "We wonder if perhaps, Chiori was your daughter."

"Absurd. What are you saying all of a sudden?" Koujirou answered right away. However, Kawaminami could see the blood drain from his face in an instant.

"Am I wrong?"

"Obviously."

"Hmm..." Shimada stood up from the wooden chair and sat next to Kawaminami. Koujirou was folding his arms indignantly. He continued, staring straight into Koujirou's eyes. "I'm aware that was rude. I get that you're angry. But Kou, I just really wanted to confirm it. Whether Chiori was a child born from a union between you and Kazue."

"You're spouting nonsense. On what basis are you claiming this?"

"I don't have definitive proof. But, I heard of some certain affairs through the grape vine."

"Stop it."

"Day before last, I went to Ajimu with Kawaminami. There, we met with the wife of that missing gardener Yoshikawa Seiichi."

"Yoshikawa's wife? Why her again?"

"We figured we'd get some details by prompting her with that suspicious letter. And from that, we reached the conclusion that Nakamura Seiji is still alive, and he was the original killer."

"That's ridiculous. My brother is dead. I saw the body."

"A completely scorched body... right?"

"What are you..."

"That was Yoshikawa Seiichi's corpse. Basically, Seiji committed all the murders, meaning Kazue and the Kitamura couple as well, and then burned Yoshikawa as a substitute for himself, so he could keep on living."

"Your imagination is as robust as ever. So that robust imagination of yours has joined me and my sister-in-law together, has it?"

"Not in so many words." Shimada kept up the banter without a shadow of guilt. "If Seiji was the killer, what brought his mental state to such an extreme that he had to murder? ----I remember you saying something like this once. About how your brother's passion for his wife was bordering on obsessive. And how moving onto an island with her was originally his plan to keep Kazue from leaving his side, in other words a plan to trap her on the island, right? For a man who loves his wife that much to kill her by his own hand, there could be only one motive: jealousy."

"In what way precisely does that tie me and my sister-in-law together?"

"We heard this from Yoshikawa's wife. Apparently Seiji wasn't too fond of his own daughter. Considering the fact that he passionately loved his wife, if the two of them actually conceived a child, especially a girl like Chiori, he'd be sure to dote on her. That's a contradiction. This means that Seiji had at least some cause to doubt whether he was Chiori's father."

"My brother was just weird."

"He may have been weird, but he loved his wife. When a man like that rejects the daughter born from his own wife, I'm forced to assume something's up." Shimada continued bluntly. "From there, assuming my hypothesis is correct, the next question becomes who is Chiori's real father? ----There are several circumstances which implicate you for that, Kou. A wife locked away on an island. And a young man with opportunity to contact her. And the sibling relationship deteriorating around the time of Chiori's birth..."

"This isn't even worth responding to. That's enough, Shimada. All I can do is deny it. Those things never happened." Koujirou responded aggravatedly, then removed his horn-rimmed glasses. "Besides, I keep telling you, my brother isn't alive. He's dead. ----And I have nothing to do with that incident."

Though he spoke with a resolute tone, he couldn't meet Shimada directly in the eyes. His hands were also clearly shaking as they rested on his knees.

"Okay, so there's one more thing I wanna ask, Kou," Shimada said. "It's about last year, September nineteen ---- The incident on the day before the Blue Mansion fire. Remember? Even though you hardly ever drink, you called me out of the blue that night. Said you wanted to go have a drink. We went hopping to I don't even know how many bars, and you got super drunk. I'd never seen you so wasted before."

"----Yeah? What about it?"

"In your drunkenness, you eventually started crying on me. You probably don't remember. I brought you home and we both slept on this sofa. Back then when I was trying to sleep, you kept mumbling to yourself in a haze.

Kazue, forgive me. Please forgive me ---- over and over."

"Th, that's..." Koujirou's complexion visibly changed.

Shimada continued even more. "At the time I didn't think about it too deeply. I was also quite drunk, after all. Even after hearing about the incident on Horned island, I was too wrapped up in my own issues to remember one detail from a drunk night. But thinking back on it now..."

Shimada paused for a breath. "On September nineteenth, you already knew that the Horned Island incident had occurred. Isn't that right?"

"What? How..." Koujirou was looking straight down. "How would I know such a thing?"

"You were informed directly by the culprit, aka Seiji." Shimada glared at Koujirou with sharp eyes. "Kazue's corpse was missing its left hand. Seiji cut it off. Kou, he had that hand sent to your address, didn't he? And the day you received it was the nineteenth. Unable to go to the police for fear of a scandal, you were stuck drinking your worries away."

"I... I..."

"I don't know the particulars of your relationship with Kazue. I have no intention to ask. And nobody has a right to condemn you for contributing to Seiji's insanity. However, if you had reported the incident to the police on the nineteenth, you might have been able to prevent the deaths of Yoshikawa and the Kitamura couple. For that reason, I consider your silence on that day to be a crime in and of itself."

"A crime?" Koujirou mumbled, then suddenly stood.

"Kou?"

"Alright, Shimada. That's enough." Then he broke eye contact with Shimada, and headed toward the veranda with belabored steps. He pointed to a wisteria overhanging the garden. "That was planted the year Chiori was born."

Sounds like the start of an exposition if I've ever heard one... Stay tuned for next time! lol

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 14:15 on May 13, 2019

# ? May 13, 2019 14:07

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

2

Kawaminami still wasn't home, apparently. The lights were off in his room.

He checked the time on his watch. Ten ten. He couldn't be sleeping already at this hour....

After parking his bike outside the complex, Morisu Kyouichi went to the coffee shop across the street.

This was a store that was open until midnight. At this hour it would normally be packed with students from the housing nearby, but possibly because it was spring break, the crowd was sparse.

He took a seat at the street-facing window.

While sipping the coffee he ordered, Morisu thought that if he didn't return before he finished his cup, then he would go home. It wasn't like he absolutely needed to meet with him. He could always just call later.

(Just like always, he's quick to boil and quick to cool off. I bet he already got bored of playing detective and stood me up.)

Morisu pondered, cigarette in his mouth.

The thing that set Kawaminami's curiosity on fire in the first place had been that "letter from a dead man". Of course, with only that, it likely wouldn't have been enough to keep his passions aroused. Once he discovered that the rest of the club went to the island though, he naturally became all the more fixated. Even going so far as visiting Nakamura Koujirou in Beppu, and consulting me for advice. Though, to be fair, that kind of random excitement is normal for him. On the other hand...

Shimada Kiyoshi's face appeared in his mind.

That was not mere curiosity. He was a truly sharp-witted individual. However, he was bizarrely inconsiderate and unpleasantly nosy, just doing and saying whatever he deems acceptable. Morisu couldn't help but feel animosity towards him.

He would obviously be interested in the suspicious letter. And then launching into an investigation of last year's incident is natural for a mystery lover. However...

Even now, he regretted ever suggesting they visit Yoshikawa Seiichi's wife. He wasn't himself that night. He wasn't thinking carefully at all when he made that proposal. That poor Yoshikawa Masako, visited by strangers randomly, have her missing husband accused of murder, and asked a bunch of probing questions... he could only wonder how she truly felt.

After hearing their report the other night, Morisu had proposed a theory that Nakamura Seiji had survived, but thinking realistically, there most likely wasn't anything that crazy going on. That theory had been nothing more than one last freak theory from a mystery junkie.

Even so, Shimada had run with it and started coming up with a motive about Kazue and Koujirou, until concluding that Chiori was Koujirou's daughter. And then he had wanted to go ask Koujirou himself....

The smoke burned his throat. In a bitter mood, he sipped his bitter coffee.

Thirty minutes passed, and he was just about to bail, when a car stopped in front of Kawaminami's apartment building. A red Familia. When he saw the figure leave the car, Morisu stood up.

"Kawaminami," he called from the store.

Kawaminami waved with a "Yo! I knew I'd seen that bike before. So it was you. There's no one in this building who rides a 250cc off-roader."

Among the various dirt-splattered bikes parked on the curb, he saw it ---- the Yamaha XT 250.

"Did you come here just to see me?"

"Nah, I was passing through," Morisu answered, patting his backpack, and pointing his chin toward the canvas-holder in his bike's rear carrier. "I went to Kunisaki again today. I'm on my way back."

"How far along is the painting?"

"I won't have to visit any more after tomorrow. I'll let you come see when it's done."

"Ey, Morisu," Shimada said, getting out of the driver's seat and grinning without a care.

Morisu replied in an instinctively stiffened voice, "Evening, Shimada. Where did you go today?"

"Oh, we just stopped by Kou... I mean, we took a drive to Beppu. Yeah. Turns out Konan and I get along swimmingly. We were actualy just about to go drink a little in his room."

Lead by Kawaminami, Shimada and Morisu went up to his room. He hurriedly cleaned up his futon from the middle of the floor, then took out a folding table and started preparing the drinks. "Morisu? Want a drink?"

"No I'm alright, thanks."

As soon as he entered the room, Shimada went straight to the bookshelf and started looking over the densely-packed spines. As he watched Kawaminami put ice into the glasses, Morisu asked, "Well? What happened with the thing?"

"Oh, that," Kawaminami answered in a considerably lukewarm tone. "We went all the way to S Town yesterday. We could see Horned Island from the shore, and also we heard a ton of sketchy ghost stories."

"Ghosts?"

"Yeah, a bunch of gossip about Seiji's ghost potentially appearing on the island."

"Hmm. And today? I'm sure it wasn't just a drive."

Kawaminami's lips curled in embarrassment. "Ah. Well, actually..."

"So you went to Koujirou's house after all, huh?"

"Yeah. Sorry we didn't follow your advice." Kawaminami stopped his liquor preparation to hang his head in shame.

Morisu sighed and leaned so that he was looking diagonally into Kawaminami's eyes. "Well? What were the results?"

"We pretty much understand the incident from last year. Koujirou told us everything. ----Shimada, I finished making your drink."

"So you're saying you know the truth behind the incident?" Morisu asked in surprise. Kawaminami nodded and gulped down his drink.

"That's crazy."

"In the end, the incident was a murder-suicide planned by Seiji."

And Kawaminami began his story.

quote:

3

"That was planted the year Chiori was born." Koujirou's voice was vaguely shaky.

"The wisteria tree?" Shimada asked inquisitively. "What about it?" he said, but then immediately murmured "Oh, I get it" to himself. He looked over to Kawaminami who wasn't understanding it, and said "The Tale of Genji, Konan."

"Genji?"

"Yeah. ----Right, Kou?" Shimada said, facing Koujirou on the veranda.

"Yearning for his father's consort Fujitsubo [whose name has "wisteria" in it], Hikaru Genji spent a single night connected with her. However, from that one night she became pregnant, forcing them to continue a series of betrayals to husband and father both."

Perhaps Koujirou was likening his brother's wife Kazue with Fujitsubo from the story.

Chiori, child born from sin. As a way to pay tribute to his lover, so close and yet so far, he had planted that wisteria tree. Fujitsubo never forgot the crimes she committed with Genji as long as she lived, and she never forgave herself for them. Perhaps this was even posing the question... of whether Koujirou's love would feel the same.

"I used to really like that Genji story. That's how I knew what he meant..." Shimada got up from the sofa and approached Koujirou. "Seiji must have found out then?."

"No. He was suspicious, but that's all. I think he was half suspicious, and half desperately in denial," Koujirou answered while facing the garden. "My brother may have possessed a celebrated genius, but he was also missing a vital piece of being human. He loved my sister-in-law very deeply, to an extent that I'd probably call an insane protectiveness, and a twisted love, laser-focused on the thing he wanted. Even I could see that.

My brother knew it deep down, I bet. He was surely cognizant that he couldn't be a good companion to his wife. Which is why he always felt inadequate and suspected her. When Chiori was born, he was wrapped in an emotion quite like fear, I suppose. Even so, he tried his best to believe that Chiori was his own ---- probably just wanting to believe it. That half of his brain in denial is what barely kept his marital bonds alive for twenty years, and held his emotions in balance.

But then, Chiori died. From the death of the final link between them, the daughter he tried so hard to believe in, my brother fell into the worst phase of his mistrust. He would say that his wife didn't love him ---- and even more, that his own brother had forsaken him. He was completely distressed, anguished, and insane... until finally he took her life with his own hands."

Without even a twitch of movement, Koujirou continued staring out at the boughs of wisteria. "The Horned Island incident ---- It was a murder-suicide."

"Murder-suicide?"

"Yes. That day ---- The nineteenth, in the afternoon, it was just as you said, Shimada, I received a package from my brother. It was a vinyl bag with a bloody hand inside. That hand was wearing a wedding ring that I recognized. I immediately figured out the situation.

I called Blue Mansion. Eventually my brother picked up. I couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying, but he basically said this. That Kazoe would forever be his. And that he was going to kill the Kitamura couple and Yoshikawa as well. That their trip to the island would be their final departure.

All I could think was that he was completely insane. He wouldn't even listen to me, just rambling on about how he was aiming for a higher stage, and the blessing of a vast darkness, and stuff like that. He went on unintelligibly for a bit about what to do with the hand, and then just hung up.

So no, my brother is not alive. Even if the physical evidence allows for it, his psychological state makes that impossible. He killed my sister-in-law and then himself. He wouldn't possibly be able to continue living, if he's to stay with her forever."

"But, Kou..."

"Shimada, Kawaminami... Nakamura Seiji is dead. He killed himself. After killing her and in the days before he died, he sent me her hand as revenge and then succumbed to his despair. To tell the truth, I'm positive he spent some of that time while he was still alive clinging to her body."

On that note, Koujirou stopped talking. Seeing him from the back he somehow seemed to have aged several years, like he had gotten smaller.

Kawaminami began to wonder what in the world the man saw in that wisteria, staring out at it completely motionless.

Maybe the figure of his murdered lover. Or the face of his dead brother. Or perhaps the visage of his daughter, tragically deceased.

So in the end, just as Shimada had predicted, Chiori was Koujirou's real daughter. If that was the case, then the one with the biggest reason to hold a grudge against the students who let her die is...

"Kou, I'll ask you one more question, kay?" Shimada broke the heavy silence. "What did you do with Kazue's hand? Do you still have it?"

Koujirou gave no answer.

"Hey, Kou..."

"I get it. You just want to know the truth. Because I didn't feel like telling it to the police. ----I get it, Shimada." Then Koujirou pointed to the wisteria again.

"It's there. Her hand is sleeping under that tree."

＊

quote:

"I think I agree with what you said, Morisu." Kawaminami had downed an unknown number of drinks. "I know it was rude of Shimada, but we ended up asking stuff we shouldn't have, I'm thinking. This doesn't feel all that great."

Morisu was smoking a cigarette silently.

"Koujirou asserted that Seiji is definitely not alive. I'm thinking that's probably true. The rest of our questions come down those weird letters."

"What do you think about the location of the missing Yoshikawa?" Morisu asked, as if he knew the answer.

"Shimada's still a bit tangled up in that question, but I think he must have just fallen into the sea and got swept away by the tide."

After answering, Kawaminami took a sidelong glance at Shimada, sitting against the wall. Either listening to their conversation or not, he was reading a book from the shelf, holding a glass in one hand.

"Anyway..." Kawaminami clapped his hands, face thoroughly red from alcohol. "I am officially done pretending to be a detective. When they all come home on Tuesday, I'll be able to figure out who's behind the suspicious letters."

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT!

Phew! I'm finding it hard to stop reading, heh...

e: by the way, chapter 9 is simply called "Fifth Day" and is significantly longer than the other remaining chapters. just a heads up.

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 00:26 on May 17, 2019

# ? May 13, 2019 21:03

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

Chapter 7

What could take up a radius of two meters? Also, Ellery commenting on something being moved in the ruins of Blue Mansion gives me the feeling that someone went to that location since the last time Ellery checked out Blue Mansion(Didn't someone go with Ellery to check out Blue Mansion earlier?) I wonder about the trip wire on the stairs...like was that made with the intent of killing any intruders, if they happened to fall the wrong way? Given how Orc was killed by strangulation and Carr was killed with poison, I think that the killer is rather intentional and that he/she wouldn't want someone to die in a clumsy manner like falling down the stairs.

In terms of the items in the killer's arsenal like the sharp tools and the poison, I wonder if they are hiding in plain sight. Maybe Poe should look at the pantry and see if any of the food items could be used to hide a poison or see if any of the knives could be used to cut bone. Hiding things in plain sight as it were. As for the signboards and Orc's hand..I'm at a loss where they could be.

# ? May 14, 2019 00:56

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

From 5,

Huh, so Poe has sleeping pills.

Poe you seem real quick to drug Agatha instead of asking her what she thought she heard. SUSPICIOUS!

Leroux remembers something unconciously? The magician of the group...surely he must dabble in hypnosis as well, right? Maybe Leroux caught the killer magician in the act and the magician had to hypnotize him to make him forget.

Why is Kou pointing to a plant, when he's being accused of a crime. That's one hell of a deflection...Ah ok, I read more posts that explain this. If Kou's explanation is correct...then Kou has the biggest grudge against the students that killed Chiori since: 1) they killed Chiori, his daughter, 2.) cause his brother to sever ties with him and his wife 3.) kill the one with whom he had a type of love with (seiji's wife). ..but then how does he travel to and from the island to make his kills?

This is a bit ridiculous but would a canoe or a small kayak have a radius of two meters?!?edit: when it's put on its end.

I'm getting so confused about Shimada, Kawaii, and Morisu's characters in terms of trying to identify them as individuals.

TV Zombie fucked around with this message at 19:42 on May 14, 2019

# ? May 14, 2019 01:23

Metis of the Chat Thread: Aug 1, 2014

Still really enjoying this thread, although I don't have much to say. There's obviously a lot more to the Seiji story than what we know, what with the specificity of a severed hand, the identity of that couple, and this line:

quote:

He wouldn't even listen to me, just rambling on about how he was aiming for a higher stage, and the blessing of a vast darkness, and stuff like that.

Maybe there's some kind of occult involvement going on?

Anyway, it's a lot of fun, and thank you for translating it!

# ? May 14, 2019 13:19

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

Chapter Nine
Fifth Day

quote:

1

He felt like he'd had bad dreams all night. He didn't remember the content of the dreams, but they had certainly been terrible nightmares.

The blanket lay beside the bed where he kicked it off. He wore a crumpled shirt, disheveled from sleep. ---- He had slept in his clothes. His whole body was sticky with sweat, but his mouth was completely dry. His lips were cracked to the point of hurting.

He sat up, wrapped both arms around his body, and sat there for a bit massaging his head back and forth.

His headache had somewhat weakened. But in exchange, the core of his mind was numbed, as if in a daze. His consciousness had a mist flowing through it. He felt things happen around him with a certain distance, a separation between them. His sense of reality was almost nonexistent.

A faint light shone through the window shutters. It alerted him that the night was over.

Leroux languidly reached his arm out, picked up his blanket, and set it on his knees.

A square screen was descending on his foggy mind. A darkness hung over the four corners like a film, while the center glowed white. That screen showed scene after scene from the island four days ago.

Ellery, Carr, Van, Agatha, and Orczy. ----seven people including himself, had each come here expecting a fun adventure. At the very least, Leroux had felt that way. It was a situation where they were free to do as they wished on an uninhabited island. The intrigue of the past incident was vaguely thrilling. ----Even if strange and troubling events occurred, he would have considered that a successful stimulus, and thought the week would fly by in a flash. However...

That short, simple hair. The wide eyes under a thick brow. Those red freckled cheeks. The image of that face swelled up in purple, then wavered, warped, and straightened out. The thin cord that wrapped her thick neck... slithered like a black, venomous snake.

(Ahh, Orczy, Orczy, Orczy....)

Leroux formed both hands into fists, then whacked his head several times. He didn't want to remember any more. ----However...

As if powered by a volition from elsewhere, the film projector continued to turn. He couldn't make the screen disappear.

One side of his lips pulled in a crooked smile. Those deep-set sanpaku eyes. ----This one was Carr. His broad body contorting in pain. The clattering table. The chair kicked over. The violent convulsions, and vomiting, and....

"Why...?" He mumbled in a low voice. "Why is this happening?"

Ellery's body tumbling into the darkness of the basement. Poe's frantic voice. Van's pale face. Agatha's hysteric behavior....

A murderer remained among his surviving friends. Or else, maybe there was some outside killer lurking on the island.

Ellery had said that Nakamura Seiji was still alive. Apparently, he was killing a bunch of kids he'd never met, nor ever seen before.

The screen in his mind showed a sillhouette. That figure, only the outlines visible, wavered indistinctly like water were flowing over it.

Nakamura Seiji ----The man who'd built Decagon House. The man thought to have been burned to death inside Blue Mansion. If he was still alive, that would make him the killer in that incident.

(Nakamura Seiji ---- Nakamura... Nakamura....)

"...Eh?" Leroux unconsciously spoke aloud. "Nakamura?"

The shadowy figure suddenly began to solidify. Tugging him ever so slowly towards the center of his dazed consciousness, the thread of memory finally took the shape of a single girl, short and fair-skinned.

(No... This is...)

Perhaps this was a continuation of his dream. That girl, Nakamura Chiori, was extremely likely to be the daughter of Nakamura Seiji.

Leroux hit his head again with fists.

Nighttime town. Bustling. Chill wind. The bar the party had lead them to. Glittering glass. The clink of ice. The smell of booze. Shouts. Drunk. Cheers. Debauchery. And in the end... The comedy show turned to sudden tension. Confusion. A siren that ground salt into his wounds. That piercing, rotating red light....

"It never happened, it never happened."

He intentionally rose his voice slightly. He was trying to drown out the disturbing clamor rising in his ears. However...

Far from diminishing, the din swelled ever louder, ever more turbulent. Unable to withstand the assault of anxiety and panic, a cold sweat stung at his whole body. The spinning light flooding everything in red, and its incessant shriek, clawed sharply into his soul.

Leroux was holding his head in his arms. He couldn't bear it any longer, and was just about to scream... ----When it happened.

All of a sudden, another image appeared on the screen, breaking off the bright light and sound instantaneously.

(Aah... What now...?)

Leroux's thoughts were distant, as if this were somebody else's dream.

Huh? Where is this? ----The sea. I can hear the waves. Really close too. Salty smell. The water is active. It climbs up the black rocks, leaving behind a thin white thread as it retreats. Where... is this...?

(...Yesterday.)

Leroux pushed aside the blanket on his knees. As if the action had drawn a thick curtain across a part of his heart, the fear dissipated.

This was a scene he had witnessed yesterday. Standing on the cliff by the ruins of Blue Mansion, looking for boats with everyone. He had been gazing down at the rocky area below. Speaking of which, the day prior to that he and Ellery had gone down to that area. That also definitely felt like...

Something was haunting him.

As long as he didn't let his consciousness fully awaken, he could sort of understand. Leaving on your own is dangerous, came a stray thought for an instant, then quickly sunk again into the fog obscuring his mind.

Leroux lurched out of bed.

＊

quote:

Agatha opened her door a crack, and peered into the hall.

Nobody was there. No sign that anyone was awake.

Thanks to Poe's medicine, she had managed to get to sleep peacefully. Up until she opened her eyes just now, she'd slept like a corpse. She did not remember dreaming. Despite the dreadful circumstances, it had been a strangely refreshing sleep.

She felt like all of her exhaustion had been lifted from her body. Her high-strung nerves had slackened a bit as well.

(First, I should thank Poe.)

Agatha slipped stealthily into the hall.

She made her way to the washroom along the wall. All the while keeping a careful view of her surroundings, and listening closely.

Though the morning light shined in, the decagonal hall still appeared bizarrely warped. All those fine shadows sprawled across the white walls and caught her eye, but then resisted close observation.

Indeed, nobody appeared to be awake. All she could hear was the unceasing sound of waves. After entering the washroom, she left the door halfway open. She didn't forget to check the inner bathroom and showers for safety either.

She faced toward the countertop and peered into the mirror. She looked at herself in the dim lighting, wearing a white sundress.

The shadows around her eyes had softened up. However, compared to when they'd first arrived on the island, her cheeks were clearly more gaunt, and her complexion had worsened. Dry, lusterless hair framed a face that made her wonder if it was really her own.

As she brushed her hair, Agatha took a deep sigh. Maybe it was perfectly natural in cases like this, but when she thought back to her shameful performance last night, she could only sigh.

Always beautiful, and always brave ---- That mantra was constantly in her thoughts. Always ---- no matter the time, no matter the place. The fact that she was a woman who could do that had always been her greatest pride.

But, looking at her face again in the mirror after washing it....

She couldn't find anything beautiful about it. And not a trace of bravery.

She felt helpless.

(I need to do my make-up extra bright) Agatha thought as she opened her cosmetics bag. Unfamiliar events, unfamiliar circumstances, unfamiliar locations... and a newly-insane unfamiliar reality. For a woman, make-up was at least a small diversion from that. (I'll go with red lipstick today instead of pink.)

At this point, she didn't care about getting attention from anyone else. She was only conscious of one thing; her own eyes reflected back from the mirror.

-----------

The day starts off not with a murder, but with a pair of very strange mornings and very strange thoughts. I think it's clear that these kids are pretty much all totally hosed up (either from the murders or beforehand), so I'm really looking forward to potentially getting details of why exactly they're like this? Also basically whichever one is the culprit will have an interesting motive I think.

Oh my god is hypnosis actually gonna be a part of this...? I think I want the answer to be no, but also to be honest the image of magician Ellery going around hypnotizing people is really fun lol. Seriously though, Leroux's stuff is like... dangerously close to being Ellery-induced hypnosis.

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 01:16 on May 15, 2019

# ? May 15, 2019 01:08

Metis of the Chat Thread: Aug 1, 2014

Poe was the only one who actually examined Orczy's body, right? So if Leroux is actually remembering the sight of Orczy's corpse (and not just imagining it, I'm unsure from the writing), that means he must have seen it at some other time. Suspicious!!

# ? May 15, 2019 03:08

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

Ellery examined the ruins of Blue Mansion with Leroux? Also, Leroux "rememberances" of Orc and Carr's deaths is mighty suspicious.

# ? May 15, 2019 05:04

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

TV Zombie posted:

Ellery examined the ruins of Blue Mansion with Leroux? Also, Leroux "rememberances" of Orc and Carr's deaths is mighty suspicious.

Hmm... well the signboards allow two people to survive. Maybe that's Ellery and his hypnosis slave puppet Leroux? lmao I simultaneously hope that's the answer because I love that image, and also hope it's not because that's kind of ridiculous.

# ? May 15, 2019 14:18

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

So, I want to bring up this point I've been thinking about since the weird Leroux poo poo. I don't think that whatever's happening to him is *just* happening to him. The whole half-remembered scenes from the island thing isn't completely new. It reminded me of this scene in chapter 3-1, which was from Orczy's perspective.

quote:

Amid those ruminations, she had eventually fallen into a light sleep. For some reason, she felt like she'd had a series of dreams that jumbled reality with fiction. The settings of those dreams were exclusively snapshots of the island she had viewed yesterday.

In hindsight, doesn't this sound like the same thing Leroux's going through? (also the term used in the text was more like film "cuts" than "snapshots" which ties together with the film reel comparison in Leroux's scene)

What could this mean...?

# ? May 16, 2019 23:32

Lord Zedd-Repulsa: Jul 21, 2007; Devour a good book.

They're all being drugged? :tinfoil:

# ? May 17, 2019 05:56

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

Lord Zedd-Repulsa posted:

They're all being drugged?

Being drugged or have been drugged? What if they were all involved in something on Horned Island once before? Something that someone didn't want them to remember?
I forget, is it ever mentioned where the drinking party with Chiori happened?

# ? May 17, 2019 10:01

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

The_White_Crane posted:

Being drugged or have been drugged? What if they were all involved in something on Horned Island once before? Something that someone didn't want them to remember?
I forget, is it ever mentioned where the drinking party with Chiori happened?

this quote strongly implies that it took place at a bar.

quote:

Nighttime town. Bustling. Chill wind. The bar the party had lead them to. Glittering glass. The clink of ice. The smell of booze. Shouts. Drunk. Cheers. Debauchery. And in the end... The comedy show turned to sudden tension. Confusion. A siren that ground salt into his wounds. That piercing, rotating red light....

Also, way back in chapter 2 Kawaminami says this about the party:

quote:

Kawaminami had left the restaurant early, after which the "accident" had happened.

...which didn't explicitly say "restaurant" but that was the safest bet at the time. But it definitely took place at a public place where they purchased alcohol.

I love your first theory tho.

# ? May 17, 2019 10:08

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

2
Van's wristwatch alarm woke him up.

(...10 am? I should get up.)

His shoulders were terribly stiff. Many of his joints hurt as well. ----He hadn't slept as well as he'd wanted.

He lightly pressed a finger into the upper lid of each puffy eye. He felt a faint nausea.

(I wonder if everyone else is still asleep.)

He sat up and lit a cigarette while listening for any movement. When the smoke reached his lungs, it made him intensely dizzy. He understood full well how the mind and body act together as one.

(I wonder if I'll ever go home.)

He stared off into space and reflected.

To be blunt, he was scared. The fear was overwhelming. If it were possible, he would bawl like a child and run away as fast as he can....

Van's body shuddered, then he put out his cigarette and stood up.

As soon as Van entered the main hall, he noticed that the door three rooms to the left was ajar. It was the washroom door, just before the kitchen.

Someone must be awake already, Van thought.

(----But they're being really quiet if so. Maybe someone used the toilet and then forgot to shut the door.)

The door's opening was pointed towards the kitchen. Van headed in that direction, rounding the table on its right side. No sound could be heard.

He dragged himself along with his left hand by pulling at the blue backs of the table's chairs one by one. His heartbeat was suddenly pounding in his ears. As he walked forward, the interior of the room gradually came into view. And eventually...

"Eep!"

Van let out a muffled shriek, as if he were being strangled. A shudder went through his whole body. He was petrified.

Inside the washroom, something white had fallen over.

A white dress with silky lace. Thin arms splayed feebly. Black hair spread out delicately on the floor. Devoid of all the movement of a living thing, this was Agatha's body.

"Oh..... Oh....." Pressing his right hand into his mouth, Van stood paralyzed. His desire to scream and urge to vomit were at odds. He tried screaming but it wouldn't come out right.

He grabbed onto the back of a chair and doubled over. Then, he desperately forced his trembling legs to walk toward Poe's room.

＊

quote:

Poe leapt up at the violent sound of something hitting his door with all its might.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

The drowsiness wore off in an instant. He pushed his blanket aside, rolled out of bed, then charged toward his door.

"Who's there? What happened?"

No response.

The knocking stopped, and was replaced by a faint moaning sound. Poe hurriedly undid the lock and turned the doorknob. However, something was obstructing the door and it wouldn't move.

"Hey, who is it? Who's there?"

Putting his weight into it, Poe shoved the door open with a shoulder. Through the crack he'd managed to make, he finally slipped into the hall.

The thing pushing against the door was Van. He was crouching with both hands pressed over his mouth, and his back heaved like he was in pain.

"What's wrong, Van? Are you alright?"

When Poe put a hand on his back, Van lifted one arm, keeping one hand firmly over his mouth, and pointed to the washroom next door.

"----Hm?"

The door was ajar. The inside was not visible from where Poe stood.

"Is something in there?"

"A, Agatha...."

Understanding the meaning of Van's words, Poe shouted "Whaat!?" and removed his hand from Van's back. "Agatha!? Van, you're okay though, right?"

Though he continued to take painfully ragged breaths, Van nodded. Poe rushed to the washroom in a single bound. Then he peered in through the door opening.

"Ellery! Leroux! Wake up, you two! Wake up!" Poe screamed loudly.

＊

quote:

Ellery was awoken by the sound of someone hitting a door.

It wasn't his own door. He thought something must be going on, and in the very next instant he heard a deep voice shouting.

(Poe's voice. That means...)

He gracefully got out of bed and pulled on a cardigan. His bandaged right ankle had practically no pain remaining from the injury.

Poe's voice continued. He seemed to be talking to Van. Soon, he heard a conspicuously loud shout of "Agatha!?"....

Just as Ellery had put a hand on the doorknob to leave his room, Poe's voice resounded again, calling for Leroux and himself.

"What's wrong?" Ellery said as he opened the door.

Van was on all fours in front of Poe's room. And just to the right of that, the washroom door directly facing Ellery's room, at this point flung wide open. The one lying face down on the floor inside must be Agatha, he thought. Poe was at her side, kneeling on the floor and bending over her.

"Was Agatha killed?"

"Seems that way," Poe answered Ellery. "Van's hurting. Go help him vomit."

"Understood."

Ellery ran up to Van, helped him up, then lead him to the kitchen.

"You didn't take any poison or anything, did you?"

"No. I just felt like this suddenly, after seeing Agatha..."

Van dropped his face into the sink and started hacking. Ellery rubbed his back and said "You should drink some water. Your stomach's empty right now. You gotta put something in for something to come out. C'mon, Van."

"----It's fine. I'll get it myself. Go help Poe."

"Roger that."

Ellery turned heel, left the kitchen, and hurried over to Poe's side.

"She dead, Poe?"

Poe nodded, eyes closed. "Poison again. Seems like cyanide this time."

Agatha's corpse was now, thanks to Poe, facing up. Both eyes open disturbingly wide, and her mouth frozen partly open, her expression seemed closer to fright than suffering.

Once Poe gently touched her eyelids and closed her eyes, however, it turned into a shockingly peaceful, innocent face. She had apparently completed her makeup. Her cheeks were colored in a way that made Ellery second-guess whether she was still alive. Her lips so red they could leap into motion at any time. A vaguely sweet smell hung in the air, the basis of Poe's opinion.

"Hm..." Ellery frowned down at the body. "This must be that almond smell you mentioned."

"Exactly. Anyway Ellery, help me carry her to her room."

When Poe placed his hands on Agatha's shoulder to pick her up, Van came stumbling out from the kitchen. He leaned his slender body against the wall and looked over the hall with an exceedingly pale face.

"Hey, where's Leroux? We forgot about him."

"Leroux?"

"Oh yeah..."

At that moment, Ellery and Poe both looked towards Leroux's door for the first time. Then, they both shouted "Aah!"

Another one of those red-lettered plates was affixed to the door as if mocking them.

---
Beginning of section: "Huh, I wonder why they split up the scenes of everyone waking up after two of them."
1 minute later: "Ohhhhhhh. gently caress."
End of section: "Wait wtf nooo why!!"

And finally the door-swingy-directions on the floorplan become relevant! lol

So, what the everloving gently caress is going on here anymore? We've got 30% of the book left, which I guess isn't much when you figure we have to entirely solve the case, but still we're suddenly down to 3 drat students on the island!

ninja edit: her lipstick was poisoned..?

edit: lol i forgot to put the actual image for the signboard. fixeda

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 23:25 on May 21, 2019

# ? May 19, 2019 12:15

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

So we never know what Leroux remembers, if he is dead.

Given Agatha's outfit with white lace...is that the same as a sundress? Would a sundress have lace? Given that Agatha decided on red instead of pink, it would seem as if she preferred to use pink but just happened to use red at the time of death. Did the murderer plan that out or hope that she would use red lipstick eventually?

So we know the poison but don't know where the poison is coming from, conclusively (Carr, Agatha).
Why was one of the student's hands cut off while the others were relatively unmolested?
We don't know how they cut the hand off.
We don't know who was living in the ruins of Blue Mansion.
We don't know if the gardener or Seiji Nakamura is alive or dead, conclusively.
We don't know if there is an outsider on the island.

Why aren't those dudes on the mainland boating over to come and help us!

With all these mysteries, I'm so lost.

# ? May 23, 2019 02:36

Kitala: Sep 2, 2012; Not Some Opera Floozy

Thanks for posting these, I just caught up with the thread.

For Agatha, I feel like the lipstick should be a red herring. While the text seemed to put extra emphasis on it, the fact that it�s not her preferred color makes it an unknown as far as murder weapons go.

One thought that I can�t remember if it was brought up by anyone yet. Someone in the novel mentioned Seiji loved mechanisms like hidden passages and secret rooms and the blue mansion was full of them. I was thinking the decagon house might be similar, though I don�t know how that�d play out yet.

# ? May 25, 2019 18:42

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

Regarding the lipstick, I think that it may have to be considered because of previous mention of how the author's writing style seems to be concise in that details would not be included, without some intention.

# ? May 25, 2019 21:12

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

TV Zombie posted:

Regarding the lipstick, I think that it may have to be considered because of previous mention of how the author's writing style seems to be concise in that details would not be included, without some intention.

true but the "intention" could always be to lead us astray.

(also sorry for the delay with the next part. its half written)

# ? May 25, 2019 21:58

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Kitala posted:

For Agatha, I feel like the lipstick should be a red herring.

A herring as red as her lipstick!

Also, the fact that it's not her preferred color could have just been a way for the murder to be on a "time-delay", as in the red tube could have been poisoned on the very first day, or even before they came. The fact that the text went out of its way to describe Agatha's lips as pink every single day makes me think something like that is likely.

edit: I'm also wondering about Agatha's reason for switching the color. I think it might be relevant because of the way the text specifies that she wasn't doing the makeup to look good for anybody else. That leaves room for interpretation that her choice of lipstick was more than just aesthetic.

Mr. Steak fucked around with this message at 22:22 on May 25, 2019

# ? May 25, 2019 22:20

Mr. Steak: May 9, 2013; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

3

�What the hell? So then Agatha is the fourth? ----Leroux!�

Ellery leapt to Leroux�s room in a frenzy. �Leroux, Leroux! ----No good. It�s locked. Van, is there a spare?�

�What? This isn�t a hotel.�

�Guess we have to break it down. Move, Ellery.�

�Wait.� Ellery held up a hand to stop Poe�s determined advance. �The door opens outward. So even if we ram it, it probably won�t crack that easily. It�ll be faster to go around and break through the window.�

�You�re right. I�ll take a chair. Let�s go.� Poe turned to face Van. �You come too.�

�Guys, look,� Ellery said after heading towards the exit. �See? The cord is undone.�

He pointed to the set of double-doors leading to the entrance hall. Yesterday, they had tied the handles together with cord, but it was now unfastened, one end hanging down loosely.

�That means someone went outside,� Poe responded, lifting a chair onto his shoulder. �So then Leroux...�

�We don�t know yet,� Ellery snapped, shaking his head indignantly. �Just hurry up. We won�t get anywhere before checking inside the room.�

＊

quote:

Poe swung the chair and struck the window with all his might. After that had been repeated several times, the window to Leroux�s room broke.

The sturdy-looking shutters tore off from their hinges and smashed through the window pane inside. From there, it was quick work to reach in an arm and undo the latch. However, removing the belt tied between the window's interior handles was much more difficult.

The window was situated at about the height of Van's chest. Poe, who was taller, used the chair he threw as a step-stool to leap into the room, with a grace surprising for his gruff stature. Ellery followed after. Van,who had been clutching his stomach with both hands, leaned in wearily, supporting himself on the bottom of the window.

However----

Inside the room, Leroux was nowhere to be seen.

He had left, never to return.

＊

quote:

The air was warm, and seemed to stick to their skin. Apparently, it had rained a bit last night. The lawn under their feet was still soft with moisture.

After jumping down from the window, Poe and Ellery heaved with heavy breaths.

"Let's split up and search. Maybe he's still alive," Ellery said, bending one knee to rub his bandaged right ankle.

"You alright? How's the leg?" Poe asked. The back of his right hand had been grazed by flying glass when the window broke.

"I'm fine. I can even run okay." Standing up, Ellery looked at Van. He was crouching on the lawn and trembling. "Van, stay by the entrance until we call for you. Get some rest, and try to calm down."

Still catching his breath, Ellery calmly delegated tasks. "Poe, you check the inlet first. I'll check near the building and then search around the Blue Mansion ruins."

＊

quote:

After Ellery and Poe ran off in opposite directions, Van swayed to his feet and headed for the front door.

The bitter, vinegar-like taste of the bile he'd vomited earlier stained his tongue and wouldn't go away. His nausea was starting to go away, but his chest still hurt as if a lump of clay were stuck there.

The sky was a dark gray. There was almost no wind, and it wasn't cold at all, but his sweater-clad body wouldn't stop trembling since before.

Walking at a sluggish pace, he finally reached the front doors, then sat on the rain-damp steps and curled himself into a ball. He breathed deeply over and over again. Eventually the thing stuck in his chest came loose, but his body continued to tremble intermittently.

For a time he sat still, staring at the melancholy scenery of shadowy pines.

"Van! Poe!" came Ellery's voice from a distance. It had come from his right, in the direction of the Blue Mansion ruins.

Van stood up, and though his legs were weaker than he would have preferred, he headed towards Ellery at a light trot. He could see Poe running up from the inlet. The two of them joined up at the gap in the row of pines surrounding the ruins.

"Poe, Van, over here."

Once they emerged from under the arch of pine branches, they saw Ellery with the cardigan over his pajamas, standing near the middle of the front lawn and waving his arms. It was a location that when viewed from Decagon House, was perfectly blocked from sight by the pines.

They rushed over to him. Then, when they saw the thing at Ellery's feet, they stared breathless and unable to look away.

"He's dead," Ellery spat out, shaking his head weakly.

Leroux was face-down on the ground. Yellow shirt, jeans, and a denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Both of his arms appeared to be reaching desperately toward Decagon House. Half of his face was sunken into the black mud. At the end of his right hand, those round glasses he loved so much had fallen.

"Beaten to death. They probably used a nearby rock or piece of debris," Ellery said, pointing to the dark red split on the back of Leroux's head.

Van made a sound like he was sick, and put a hand over his mouth. The nausea that had been steadily dying down came back again in full force.

"Poe, examine him for us. I know it's hard, but please."

"R, right."

Poe batted hair out of his face and crouched next to the body. He gently lifted Leroux's head, which was covered in blood and dirt, and leaned in to examine his face. His round eyes were open wide to a bizarre degree. His tongue fell limply from between his lips. Whether from fear or agony, his entire expression was significantly warped.

"There's some lividity," Poe said in a subdued voice. "But it goes away once I press with a finger. Rigor mortis is... yeah, really pronounced. It's hard to tell how the temperature affected things, but, alright, the time of death is five or six hours ago. In other words...." He peered at his watch. "He died between five and six this morning. At least, that's what I think."

"At dawn..." Ellery mumbled.

"Anyway, let's take him back to Decagon House. Leaving him like this would be too cruel," Poe said, then grabbed onto the corpse's shoulders.

"Is your foot good enough to help carry him, Ellery?"

Despite being called by name, Ellery showed no reaction at all. He was staring silently at the ground, both hands in his cardigan pockets.

"Yo, Ellery." he called again, at which Ellery raised his eyes.

"Footprints..." he murmured, pointing at the ground.

Leroux was collapsed near the center of the yard, more than ten meters from the pines toward Decagon House. In that area, the entire surface of the ground was covered in black ash. However, perhaps from the rain last night, that ashen ground was exceedingly soft, in a way which would retain any number of footprints.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said eventually, stooping to grasp the corpse's legs. "Let's go. I'm kind of cold."

The two of them turned Leroux face-up, then lifted him. The waves roared like a funeral procession for the deceased.

Van picked up Leroux's filthy glasses. Then, holding them to his chest, he followed Ellery and Poe back the way they'd come.

Note: They never actually tied that door cord on-screen. Well whatever, I guess it wasn�t important until now lol

(I'm assuming there were no footprints. Curious...)

# ? May 26, 2019 01:29

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 16, 2024 19:31

TV Zombie: Sep 6, 2011; Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

The doors are locked from the inside right? So how was Leroux's room locked?

If he was heading towards Decagon House, where was he coming from?

Can we check on the bodies to make sure that they are all dead?

# ? May 26, 2019 05:44

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Lets Solve: The Decagon House Murders

«‹›6 »