Chapter 33: A Seemingly Standard Plot Unfolds

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“May I ask why you came here, Inspector?” Junya Ichijo asked again.

“To investigate the case,” Kiichi replied.

Are you seriously asking me that? Did you think I came to tour a private residence?

“Oh, I see. I thought the police had already decided that Shino was killed by the maid.” Junya’s attitude was completely different from that of everyone else Kiichi had encountered at the villa.

He did not seem the least bit worried about being suspected. Instead, he made no effort to hide his delight at their misfortune.

“You don’t seem sad at all,” Kiichi said bluntly.

“Why should I be sad?” Junya laughed. “Isn’t this the punishment they deserve?”

“Punishment?”

“I wonder whether, twenty years ago, when they forged the will and poisoned my father, they ever imagined that they would one day suffer all this.” Junya grew more animated as he spoke. “They went to such lengths, and in the end, it all came to nothing. What belongs to me will always belong to me!”

“Are you saying that, twenty years ago, Mr. Toshiyuki and Mrs. Takako killed Mr. Soichiro?” Kiichi considered this for a moment before asking.

“They didn’t just kill my father. They killed Mana as well.” Junya gave a cold laugh. “They tampered with the brakes, causing the car to lose control and plunge off a cliff while Masao was taking Mana out. That is hardly a secret.”

“If Mr. Soichiro was murdered for the sake of his inheritance, then why did they target Mana?”

“To issue a warning, of course!” Junya shouted. “Do you really think my younger brother and I would believe that so-called ‘new will’? They targeted Mana as a warning! Otherwise, why do you think we gave up so easily?”

Kiichi remained silent.

“While Father was alive, Mana was the one he loved most. At the time, that woman Takako was still unmarried, and the only children in the family were Shuhei and Mana. We all lived in the villa.” Junya spoke at length. “Father sent Shuhei to a school nearby, yet because he loved Mana so dearly, he kept her at home to be taught privately by a tutor. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Miss Mana never went to school?” Kiichi asked in surprise. It had happened twenty years ago, but even among the wealthy, a purely private education was unusual—especially when Shuhei, her contemporary and equal in age, attended school.

“There was no helping it. Father spoiled Mana excessively. We even used to joke that he was unwilling to let her out of his sight for so much as a second.” Junya replied, “I think that was also why they targeted Mana after Father’s death: to warn my younger brother and me that Father’s era was over.”

Was that really the case?

“But I heard that the person old Mr. Soichiro loved most was Miss Takako.”

“That is a lie! A lie they fabricated!” Junya roared as though someone had set him alight. “They invented it to make their inheritance of the estate seem legitimate! If you don’t believe me, ask Shuhei. He lived in the villa with Mana too. Ask him how well Father treated her while he was alive!”

Shuhei, dressed in a thoroughly rebellious style, did not immediately respond to his father. Instead, he sat quietly to one side, uncharacteristically subdued.

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At that moment, Renzo Koya and the other servants wheeled in dinner.

“Mr. Toshiyuki and Mrs. Takako aren’t joining us?” Kiichi noticed that Junya’s family had already begun eating. Wasn’t it customary to wait for the master of the house?

“The master and madam will eat in their room,” Renzo explained.

“Don’t bother with them. They’re probably afraid someone will try to harm them.” Junya sneered. “In their eyes, everyone is probably just like themselves.”

Kiichi fell silent again.

After dinner, Kiichi prepared to leave, but a violent thunderstorm had begun outside. It was rather troublesome; he had not brought an umbrella.

Just as he was about to ask the butler, Renzo Koya, to lend him one, Mrs. Takako appeared in the hall.

“If you don’t mind, you may stay here tonight.”

“…”

A thunderstorm. An isolated villa. A divided family. An outsider from the police…

Every element was in place. It would almost be embarrassing if no one died that night.

Even so, Kiichi agreed.

After all, if things truly followed the usual pattern, he was invincible at the moment.

And from a practical standpoint, he did not want to get soaked. Besides, the events surrounding the villa genuinely intrigued him.

It was not merely the young lady’s case. What, exactly, had happened twenty years ago?

So he agreed.

Renzo Koya took Kiichi to a guest room on the second floor.

Shuhei’s room was right next door.

After settling in briefly, Kiichi knocked on the eldest grandson’s door.

“Is there something you want, Officer?” Shuhei asked impatiently.

“Forgive my curiosity,” Kiichi began politely. “I’m still very interested in what Mr. Junya said about old Mr. Soichiro’s care for Miss Mana.”

“Hmm…” Shuhei gave a vague acknowledgment.

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“You and Miss Mana both lived here back then, correct?”

“Yes.” Shuhei’s answer was brief, and he seemed somewhat impatient.

“Did old Mr. Soichiro really care for Mana that much?”

“Grandfather wouldn’t let Mana go to school, and he wouldn’t let her go out and play with us either.” Shuhei had, technically, answered the question.

“Wouldn’t let her?” The phrasing was intriguing.

“Or perhaps Mana simply didn’t want to play with us.” Shuhei thought for a moment before offering another possibility.

A child who did not want to play with others her own age?

“What makes you think Miss Mana didn’t want to play with you?”

“Because Mana wasn’t interested in those things at all. She would wander through the villa alone like a ghost. You never knew when she might suddenly appear behind you and stare at you intently.” Shuhei continued, “Then she would write and draw in the notebook she always carried with her.”

Kiichi frowned.

“I suppose Mana was playing some sort of treasure hunt, building secret bases around the villa and hiding her precious things inside them.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because sometimes none of us could find Mana. Of course, that didn’t include Grandfather or Uncle Masao.” Shuhei looked rebellious, but as he recalled his childhood, he gradually became more willing to share his memories. “So I suppose Grandfather really did care for Mana very much after all…”

“Do you remember what happened when old Mr. Soichiro died?” Kiichi thought for a moment before finally asking.

“I remember.” Shuhei nodded. “After Grandmother died, Grandfather’s temper wasn’t very good. Many people in town thought he was strange, so there were hardly ever any guests at the house. But around that time, Toshiyuki came to visit for the first time as Aunt Takako’s boyfriend.”

“That was Mr. Toshiyuki’s first visit?”

“Yes. Aunt Takako had just graduated from university and suddenly brought her boyfriend home. I remember everyone in the family being shocked.” Shuhei reminisced.

“How did old Mr. Soichiro treat Mr. Toshiyuki?”

“I remember Grandfather was very happy that evening. He even made an exception and drank alcohol, and he ended up arguing with Uncle Masao over it.”

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