At first, I thought it was an insignificant incident.
“Why does this Utu person live in such a remote place? He must be a really strange man,” Lure grumbled, a spiderweb sticking to his face as we made our way to Mr. Utu’s house.
“Isn’t he just an introvert? Or maybe he’s from a different ethnic group and felt uncomfortable with discriminatory looks,” I replied, my answer even-tempered enough to be considered carefree.
While a letter consisting only of numbers was certainly strange, it wasn’t as if it were a murder case or anything of that sort.
It looked like a cute request that would end once the true nature of the letter was revealed.
However, it was soon proven that I was wrong.
“Ugh! Finally found it! That must be the house!”
A fairly respectable two-story country house came into view.
‘I thought he might be living in some shack since they said he lived in the remote woods…’
This was a decent enough home.
Perhaps because it was in such an isolated location, though, it did have a bit of an eerie atmosphere.
“Let’s try knocking.”
“It probably won’t open right away. I heard he hates outsiders.”
“Still, we have to knock. We’re here to solve the postman’s dilemma, not to interrogate a suspect.”
*knock knock*
“Excuse me. Is Mr. Utu home?”
I politely knocked on the door of the cabin. I waited for a voice from inside to ask who it was, but—
*creak*
The door swung open after only that single knock.
A man with a bushy beard poked his head out, saw us, and grinned.
“Well, well, looks like some new suspects have made an appearance.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by—”
But the man didn’t seem to have any intention of explaining the situation. He turned his head away from us and shouted toward the interior.
“Hey! Pal! Look at this! I told you I wasn’t the only suspicious one! There are new suspects! Two of them, even!”
‘What on earth is going on?’
Amidst my confusion, we were practically dragged into the house by the man’s hand.
“Just what happened here?” I found myself forced to ask.
It was only natural, as the house was filled with an aura that anyone would find suspicious.
The faces of those gathered there alone told the story.
“*sob*… *hic*… *waah*!”
There was a young woman sitting on the living room sofa, weeping incessantly.
“Shh. Mrs. Posha, please calm down. Now is not the time for sorrow. We must resolve this injustice first!”
Next was a middle-aged woman who seemed occupied with trying to soothe her.
“Pal! Say something! If I’m a suspect, then these people are suspects too, aren’t they?”
And then there was the middle-aged man with the bushy beard who had been acting rudely toward us since we arrived.
Finally…
“…How interesting.”
Sitting in an armchair with sparkling eyes was a person whose age was difficult to guess. Was it a woman? Or a man?
‘Judging by the voice, he seems like a man…’
But with the baggy clothes that hid his frame and his long hair, it was very confusing.
Even his features were extremely androgynous.
In any case, including this mysterious person—
‘Are there four people in total?’
Quite a crowd had gathered in the home of someone who supposedly hated people.
What was even more shocking was that none of them appeared to be the owner of the house, the ethnically different man named Mr. Utu.
“Um, you’ve been saying things like ‘suspect’ for a while now…” Lure asked, his face looking a bit frightened by the sudden turn of events.
“Did some kind of incident happen in this house?”
“If you could call it an incident. The owner of this house, Mr. Utu, has been murdered,” the person in the armchair said.
Unlike the soft voice, the shocking content was not soft in the slightest.
“Murdered? Mr. Utu? Who is the culprit?!”
“Well, it could be anyone. Mr. Utu died after being pushed from the stairs on the second floor. Coincidentally, these three individuals were all near Mr. Utu, but they testified that they did not witness the circumstances of the incident. Therefore, any of the three could have murdered Mr. Utu.”
“So, what I’m saying is, there aren’t three candidates for the killer anymore—there are five!”
The man who had moved behind me before I noticed gave our backs a rough shove. I didn’t budge an inch, but I was highly displeased that Lure was pushed forward.
“You said I was a prime suspect just because I happened to visit this house at this hour? You acted all high and mighty, saying the culprit always returns to the scene or whatever! Then these guys are obviously candidates too! They’re guests who came to see Utu as well!”
“What… what kind of logic—”
I was thoroughly flustered as I grasped the situation.
“I’m sorry, Renner,” the person in the armchair said with a slight smile before I could even offer a rebuttal.
“It’s not those people.”
“What? I’m a candidate, but they aren’t? Why? What’s the basis for that?!”
“Why, they are people who have only just arrived in this village by carriage from the Grand Duke’s Castle. It would be chronologically impossible for them to have committed a crime in this remote location. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that distinguished guests who enjoy the favor of His Grace would be involved in such a sordid crime.”
“What…? Do you know us?” I asked in bewilderment. Everything he said was the truth, yet I had never seen him before.
How could he recite my personal information like that?
“It is simply the result of natural deduction,” the opponent answered casually.
“The pocket watch tells everything.”
“The pocket watch? My watch?”
Currently, there was a pocket watch inside my vest’s chest pocket.
It was a gift given specifically to me by the Grand Duke after all the incidents had concluded, when I mentioned how inconvenient it was not knowing the time in a corridor without any windows.
‘But what about the watch?’
“There is a watch chain tucked into your vest’s buttonhole, sir. In a neat Single Albert style. However, the watch that should be hanging on the other end of that chain is not there; it’s in your chest pocket.”
“And?”
“Such an arrangement isn’t for checking the time, nor for fashion, nor for changing the chain. Didn’t you move the watch to your chest pocket because you were worried it might be damaged by the vibrations of a rattling carriage?”
“…That’s correct.”
Every time the carriage jolted, the watch in my trouser pocket would rattle and bump around, so I had taken it out for fear that the gift might break.
The accuracy of the deduction was enough to give me goosebumps.
‘But what’s the evidence that I’m the Grand Duke’s guest?’
He could tell even that much through a watch?
“The fact that you gave up on pulling the chain from the vest hole and instead detached the pocket watch from the chain means that you, sir, are someone indifferent to fashion and unaccustomed to pocket watches. However, that pocket watch looks to be at least five or six years old. While it’s a high-quality item that has been managed with great care, it is clearly a second-hand item that once had a different owner. Therefore, that watch is a gift you’ve only just received.”
This was becoming more and more interesting. I wanted to hear more of his deduction, so I asked to test him.
“Well. Couldn’t I have purchased this watch second-hand?”
“Watches become less accurate as they age, but at the same time, high-quality items like that retain high decorative value even when old. I don’t think someone as indifferent to fashion as you—someone who would detach a pocket watch from its chain and shove it into a chest pocket—would choose to buy a similarly priced antique watch over a more accurate new one. Since it doesn’t seem like you run a pawnshop or are in the money-lending business either, that item has to be a gift.”
It was a truly precise analysis of character.
“To think someone would unfasten the old watch they were using and give it as a gift, despite its high quality… The giver might have come from a well-to-do family, but they themselves are a person of modest means. A person who would gift such an item and lives within a distance where one could arrive here by carriage early in the morning… The only person who comes to mind is His Grace, Grand Duke Kalan, who lives in the Grand Duke’s Castle atop that cliff.”
Not only was the information accurate, but it also included details I hadn’t known.
‘I see. It’s not like the Grand Duke has watches to spare, so he must have gifted me the one he was using. My goodness, I’ve gone and taken a watch from a child.’
“How is it? My deduction?”
“It was a magnificent deduction with no flaws.”
I clicked open the cover of the pocket watch to show the seal of the Grand Ducal house engraved inside.
“It’s a pleasure. As you deduced, I am Hayes, who was a guest of the Grand Ducal house.”
“I’m Lure!”
By this point, I could guess the other’s identity as well.
“Are you a detective investigating Mr. Utu’s death?”
“I originally visited for another purpose, but… yes. It has turned out that way. I’m Walter Bell, a detective.”
‘If it’s Walter… then it’s a man.’
Having finally learned his gender, the man smiled at me with a kind face.
A strange feeling washed over me once again.
Another detective besides myself.
‘Of course, I ran into one at the Grand Duke’s Castle too, but let’s just pretend that guy doesn’t exist.’
This person was, by any standard, a proper detective.
“Well then, Mr. Hayes. And your companion.”
Walter Bell smiled and extended his arm, pointing directly toward the exit.
“Would you please head back now?”
“……”
“As I mentioned, a murder has occurred in this manor. It’s a crime anyone could have committed, and there is neither proper evidence nor any witnesses. We’re in a situation where no one can tell which of the three suspects here is the killer. I don’t know why you visited this place, but you don’t seem to have any connection to the case. Wouldn’t it be better for you to leave now rather than getting needlessly involved in something unpleasant?”
“Hmm, let’s see…”
I let my voice trail off as I scanned the scene once.
‘Found it.’
Having discovered what I wanted, I hid a triumphant smile and intentionally spoke in a mysterious tone.
“Isn’t it the same for you, Mr. Walter? You have no connection to the case either.”
“Yes. Of course that’s true, but I am a detective. Since I happened to stumble upon this crime scene, I intend to solve this case myself, if only to fulfill my duty as a detective.”
“That’s quite a coincidence. Actually, I’m a detective too.”
“Pardon? You are, Mr. Hayes?!”
For the first time, I saw a surprised expression on his face.
“But you don’t look the part at all…”
Well, that was a bit much.
“That’s rude! He’s a great detective!” Lure got angry at Walter on my behalf.
“He might not have the intuition to see through people at a glance like you do, Mr. Walter… but that doesn’t mean he’s not a detective! He’s already solved several incredible cases!”
“Ah, I’m sorry,” Walter apologized with an awkward face.
“I tend to see most things plainly. I also tend to believe everything I see exactly as it is. I was certain you were a soldier… It seems it was merely my overconfidence.”
“There’s no need to apologize. However, as a fellow detective who happened to step into this crime scene, I’d like to do my part in solving the case.”
I threw back the very words he had used.
“That’s…”
“Above all, I have something you don’t, Mr. Walter.”
“Pardon? Something I don’t have? What is it?”
It was, of course, the eyes that see the culprit.
When I looked around the scene earlier, I had seen it.
Until I heard the words “Mr. Utu was murdered,” I didn’t see the shadow—the appearance of the culprit—but now it was visible.
‘Of course, even if I blurted out the killer’s name right now, it would be impossible to join the investigation.’
In that case, all I had to do was provide another excuse.
I smiled broadly and pulled the watch chain on my vest.
Something was pulled out of the connected watch pocket.
Contrary to what that detective named Walter thought, the other side of my watch chain was not empty.
Tucked there, instead of a pocket watch, was the suspicious letter I had received from my client.
“Did you say there was no evidence? I have a strong candidate for a piece of evidence.”
A letter sent early this morning to the victim who was murdered.
This bizarre letter, which had no recipient or text inside and consisted only of numbers.