A towering black shadow stood among the strangers.
My mind was entirely focused on that shadow.
“I suppose you know me from the police station the other day, but this is likely your first time meeting everyone else.”
The detective introduced me to the people with a nonchalant face.
“This is the detective hired by the victim’s guardian. Was the name Hei?”
“It is Hays.”
“Right, Detective Hays. And these people are, in order: the warden of this dormitory.”
“A pleasure.”
An old man with a stubborn impression.
“The student who used the room next to the victim’s.”
“P-P-Please look after me…!”
A restless, timid young man with shaggy hair.
And—.
“The first witness of the incident.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Detective. Please, clear Allen’s name.”
A smooth voice coming from the black shadow.
The detective spoke as if displeased.
“I actually called one more person, but it seems he is running late because he is being unnecessarily stubborn. Do not worry. Even if it takes a while, I will make sure to bring that fellow here one way or another.”
“Yes, I understand.”
To be honest, the detective’s words barely registered in my ears.
The culprit was standing right in front of me, so what did it matter whether other witnesses came or not?
“Nice to meet you, witnesses.”
I looked around at the three witnesses and gave a thin smile.
“May I hear your testimonies?”
The thought that I shouldn’t interrogate witnesses at the scene had already flown far away.
The culprit was the most powerful clue to obtaining the lead for this case.
I couldn’t miss the opportunity to interrogate him.
I didn’t intend to arouse suspicion by focusing solely on the culprit from the start. I spoke to all the witnesses.
“First, please tell me your names and your relationship with the victim.”
The witnesses answered in turn.
“I am Squong. I am the warden of this dormitory. I didn’t have much interaction with that boy Allen.”
The first witness, the dormitory warden.
“If you are the warden, you are the one who opens and locks the dormitory room doors.”
“That is correct. Additionally, I was on night duty in this hallway all night long.”
In that case, he might have witnessed something. I nodded and looked at the next witness.
“I-I am Jaffard Sail. Please just call me Jaffard. I use the room next to Allen’s.”
The second witness, the student in the neighboring room.
“With Allen…, well…. We weren’t very close….”
Speaking hesitantly with his head bowed, he seemed very timid in one way, and in another way, it looked as if he were hiding something.
I nodded again and moved on to the next testimony.
‘And finally…’
Just as I was about to turn my head to the culprit, Lure, who was sitting next to me, suddenly burst out in admiration.
“Wow, he’s really handsome.”
“Lure.”
“Ah. I’m sorry, Master. That was inappropriate for the situation.”
Lure bowed her head with an embarrassed face. It wasn’t appropriate, but that made it feel more sincere.
‘Surely she doesn’t mean that warden or the shaggy-haired student who won’t even show his eyes is handsome.’
It seemed the face inside that black shadow was a handsome man who caught one’s eye at a glance. My favorability toward the culprit, which was already low, dropped even further.
“Haha. Is that a compliment? Thank you.”
The black shadow laughed sociably and reached out a hand that was literally pitch black.
“It is a pleasure. I am Edward Burr. I am the second son of the Burr family, but I do not have a title yet, so you can treat me comfortably.”
“Ah, I’m Lure Poiren! I’m Detective Hays’s assistant.”
Lure shook hands with the suspect, and then that unpleasant hand naturally approached me as well.
“Yes, well… You heard my name earlier, right?”
Even if I didn’t want to take it, there was no proper excuse to avoid it.
With a reluctant face, I grasped the pitch-black hand where shadows flickered.
‘Ugh!’
A sudden chill ran down my spine. The sensation, for a human hand, was somewhat cold and slimy…
“Ah, my apologies. Is the sensation a bit strange? I know it is not polite to shake hands while wearing gloves, but I recently developed an unsightly rash on my hands.”
Was it the sensation of leather gloves? I was startled. Since he looked like that and even felt like that, I really thought I was touching some kind of tentacle.
“But, you said an unsightly rash appeared on your hand?”
I pulled myself together and repeated the culprit’s statement.
A physical abnormality that appeared on the culprit’s body?
This looked very suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
“Could you show me?”
“Ah, it is embarrassing… but if the detective wants to see, I suppose I have no choice.”
As the black shadow fumbled, sounds of surprise were heard from here and there.
“This is severe.”
“Ed…. When did your hand become like that?”
“My goodness. How unfortunate. Such a handsome man…”
Judging by the reactions, it seemed to be a truly severe rash.
“Since when did that appear?”
The culprit put his gloves back on and laughed as if embarrassed.
“It is nothing much. I got a plant rash while helping the warden pull weeds.”
“A plant rash?”
“We pulled poison hemlock. I have the same marks.”
The warden cut into the conversation and held out his own hand. It wasn’t very noticeable, but if you looked closely, you could see faint reddish marks.
“It ended with just a bit of itching for me, but it seems Ed got a severe reaction. Tsk, what a foolish fellow. I told you there was no need to help with that. When the son of a Count tries to do manual labor he has never done before, trouble follows.”
His words were grumbling, but the warden’s stubborn face was clearly filled with pride.
“Haha, how could I just watch while Mr. Squong was working so hard alone?”
“Hmph, the other kids watch just fine. You are the unusual one.”
‘The reason is clear and there is a witness. It will be hard to ask more about the rash.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly with regret, but regardless, the atmosphere on the surface was warm.
“I thought he was just handsome, but his personality is great too.”
Lure also showed a favorable reaction toward the culprit.
‘High status, handsome appearance, and even a model student with a seemingly good personality…’
“Lure.”
“Yes, Master?”
“While I interrogate the witnesses, could you investigate other areas?”
“Huh? Investigate other areas? By myself?”
“I would appreciate it if you could.”
If the culprit was specialized in winning people’s favor, there was no reason to leave my assistant to be played by him. It would hinder the investigation, and she would be shocked later when the culprit was revealed.
It seemed better to entrust her with investigating other places instead.
“Hmm, it’s a bit of a burden, but that would save you some time, Master! I understand. I’ll do my best to investigate!”
Lure nodded enthusiastically.
“Hmph! I can’t trust the detective, so I certainly can’t let an assistant wander around the scene as they please. My subordinates are outside investigating traces of intrusion, so if you want an external investigation, why don’t you join them?”
“That would be good.”
I only turned my gaze back to the culprit after confirming Lure had left the room.
Now was the time for a serious interrogation.
“Mr. Edward Burr. You didn’t properly answer my question earlier. What was your relationship with the victim like?”
“Ah, my apologies. We were very close friends. He was a bit sensitive, but he would always yield to me.”
“A bit sensitive? Ed, I know you are kind, but Allen wasn’t sensitive; he had a foul personality.”
The warden chimed in.
“Please do not speak like that. You know Allen went through a lot of hardship.”
The black shadow replied that way and then snapped his head toward me.
“Detective. Allen went through many difficult things at this school. Many people ignored him or laughed behind his back because of his background. Because of that, Allen might have acted a bit sensitively. But Allen was fundamentally a good-hearted friend. He never did anything bad enough to earn someone’s resentment.”
“Ah, yes.”
I nodded half-heartedly. I didn’t particularly want to listen to his loathsome words.
“Rather than that, I would like to hear about the incident in detail. When was the last time each of you saw the victim alive?”
“It was at roll call.”
“It was roll call for me as well.”
“I-I-It was roll call for me too! To be precise, a little before that!”
Everyone saw him last at roll call.
“Good. Then could each of you testify about what happened during roll call?”
The culprit spoke first.
“Nothing special happened. I visited Allen’s room and had a light conversation. I had dozed off a bit during class that day, so I asked Allen if I could borrow his class notes. Allen was very good at his studies.”
“Hmm.”
“Allen readily told me he would organize them well and lend them to me tomorrow morning. I said thank you and went straight back to my room to sleep.”
“By any chance, was it you who discovered the victim’s body the next day…”
“Yes. I went to borrow the notes and found him. It was a truly horrific experience.”
Oh, I’m sure it was.
“I…! I also heard the two of them talking.”
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