Chapter 37: The Witness from Twenty Years Ago

(Page 1/3)

“Actually, I see no reason to doubt that Miss Shino committed suicide,” Kiichi said. “Your reasoning is sound.”

Koshimizu Nanatsuki remained silent for quite some time before asking, “If that is the case, Inspector, what are you still investigating?”

“I am investigating what happened twenty years ago.” Kiichi made no attempt to hide it. “Perhaps Miss Satsuki mentioned something about it to you.”

“What happened twenty years ago?” Nanatsuki asked, bewildered. “What happened back then?”

Kiichi frowned. “You do not know what happened when Mr. Soichiro died twenty years ago—or that Miss Mana and the old butler, Masaro, disappeared?”

Nanatsuki shook her head.

“When you were investigating, Mr. Junya did not tell you about any of that?” Kiichi felt that something was wrong. Ichijo Junya was plainly the sort of person who told everyone he met.

“...” Nanatsuki was silent for a long while before asking, “Who is Mr. Junya?”

“...” Kiichi suddenly understood.

No wonder she knew nothing. The Ichijo family had moved back only after Nanatsuki had finished her investigation and left.

After he explained everything, Nanatsuki furrowed her brows. “So much happened after I left...”

“By the way, since you investigated the matter, do you know what drove Miss Shino to suicide?” Kiichi asked again.

“I only knew that Miss Shino’s mental state had always been very poor. According to Satsuki’s account, it would hardly be surprising for someone on the verge of a mental breakdown to choose such a desperate path...”

So even now, no one knew the true reason behind Shino’s suicide.

“From what you have described, do you also believe that Mr. Ogawa and Lady Takako were responsible for what happened twenty years ago?” Nanatsuki asked instead, turning back to the events of that time. “Could Miss Shino have discovered something, leading to everything that followed?”

“That is certainly possible.” Kiichi did not deny it. “I simply feel that the two matters may be connected somehow.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Nanatsuki seemed to recall something and turned to rummage through her luggage.

After a while, she pulled out a small booklet.

“Satsuki sent this to me some time ago. I did not know what it was, but I established that it had nothing to do with Miss Shino’s suicide, so I did not pursue it further. After hearing you mention what happened twenty years ago, I realized it might be useful.”

Kiichi reached out and took the booklet.

The pages had yellowed with age.

He carefully opened it.

It appeared to be a child’s picture book.

The first page showed a long, winding corridor.

Beside it, in crooked childish handwriting, were the words:

The king said the princess must not walk down that corridor.

She could only use the side with the carpet,

because it was quieter there.

Quietness was the rule.

Kiichi felt that the corridor looked very much like the one in the villa—the portrait-lined passageway he had walked through under Renzo Koya’s guidance. The only difference was that the corridor in the picture book had none of the Ichijo family portraits.

He continued turning the pages.

The second page depicted an old man lying in bed, a crown upon his head. On the table beside the bed stood a white teacup, while on a cabinet across the room was an empty medicine bottle, drawn conspicuously large.

The same crooked handwriting read:

One day, the princess secretly went downstairs.

Through a crack in the door, she saw the king drinking tea.

The teacup was white, and the medicine bottle in the room was empty.

After the king finished his tea, he closed his eyes.

Kiichi hurriedly turned to the next page.

There was no drawing on it, only the same crooked handwriting:

The princess did not go inside, nor did she call anyone.

She turned and went back upstairs. No one saw her.

The rain fell softly, its sound like a whisper inside her ears.

The following page, the fourth, contained only three brief lines:

The next day, the house was very quiet.

The king was gone.

The princess said nothing.

Kiichi drew a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

“I did not understand it before, but now that I think about it...” Nanatsuki said. “Perhaps this is a record of the murder scene from twenty years ago...”

“You believe Mana stumbled upon the truth by accident, then recorded it from a child’s perspective in the form of a fairy tale?” Kiichi asked.

Fortunately, this was the world of Conan—a place where almost anything could exist, except ghosts.

If this had been a different kind of story, holding such a picture book would have made him think he had wandered into a horror film.

Perhaps the more innocent and childlike the description appeared, the more terrifying its first impression became.

(Page 2/3)

“I think...” Nanatsuki lowered her head, and Kiichi could not see her expression. “Perhaps Miss Shino accidentally found the picture book Mana had left behind somewhere in the house. As a member of the family, she must have known about the rumor Junya kept repeating—that Lady Takako had murdered her own father, Soichiro. This picture book happened to confirm her suspicions...

“As their daughter, she could not accept the evil her parents had once committed. After struggling in agony, she ultimately chose to end her own life.

“And the events of twenty years ago seem quite clear as well. Lady Takako poisoned her own father, Mr. Soichiro. Then, after realizing that Mana had discovered the truth, she tampered with the car, causing Mana and the butler, Masaro, to plunge to their deaths over the cliff.”

Kiichi did not answer.

“That family really was just as selfish and self-serving as I had imagined...” Nanatsuki said through clenched teeth. “They did not care even about their own father, niece, or daughter, let alone a maid like Satsuki.”

Kiichi still said nothing.

“What do you intend to do, Inspector?” Nanatsuki looked up and stared at him. “But the statute of limitations has already expired. I am afraid there is probably nothing you can do, is there?”

“I am not certain yet.” Kiichi finally spoke. “There is still one thing I have not fully investigated...”

Nanatsuki frowned.

“Sorry, but I need to go out for a while.” Kiichi rose and left.

Nanatsuki was being irrational because of her friend’s death, but he was not. There were too many unanswered questions.

He had to be sure.

Nanatsuki felt that the expiration of the statute of limitations, allowing a murderer to go unpunished, was unbearable.

But at that moment, Kiichi found himself hoping that her reasoning was correct. If it was, then perhaps losing their daughter could at least be regarded as a form of retribution for the murderers. Even so, Satsuki’s death remained heartbreaking.

And if he was right...

Casting aside his distractions, he once again arrived at Doctor Tsuruta Kyuzo’s clinic.

The old man had just finished work and was coming out of the clinic.

Kiichi walked over and stopped the elderly doctor.

“Excuse me. I would like to ask what medicines you prescribed for Mr. Soichiro before his death, when you were his personal physician. I remember you saying that his health was poor—he suffered from severe glaucoma, for instance.”

Tsuruta hesitated visibly. After struggling inwardly for some time, he answered, “At that time, pilocarpine was gradually replacing the traditional treatments. I did the same, replacing the older medicine, which had more pronounced side effects, with pilocarpine to treat Mr. Soichiro.”

“If I remember correctly, the traditional medicine used to treat glaucoma was physostigmine, was it not?”

“...” Tsuruta Kyuzo hesitated for a long time. At last, his lips trembling, he answered, “Yes. That is correct...”

(Page 3/3)