Volume 6 - The Wavering of Suzumiya Haruhi

by Tanigawa Nagaru

  What kind of setup?

  “Use your head for once! Listen, at what time did Shamisen’s alibi start?”

  From three o’clock till about four-thirty. The last time that I saw him would be around three, and he’s transported to the scene of the crime by four thirty.

  “Stop thinking about that period of time. Think back at events earlier than that.”

  Before three? Wouldn’t that be when we were roaming about in the villa? Wait, hold on.

  “Koizumi, when was it that you had the cat brought back here?”

  The easy smile on that handsome face seems to change to a more accented angle.

  “At just past two-thirty.”

  “Where did you get him from?”

  “The kitchen.”

  Koizumi gives a smile to Mori-san.

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  Mori looks at Shamisen with a smile.

  “When I was tending to clean-up work in the kitchen, this cat would not let go of the side of my leg. I couldn’t resist his begging, so I fed him with the leftovers, but he only got more underfoot… Koizumi-san came by just in time, and I asked him to bring the cat back here.”

  I remember now, Koizumi had said that he needed to talk about tomorrow’s plans and left his seat for a while.

  “That was at two-thirty?”

  Mori-san, the maid in plain attire, displays a brilliant smile that would have people take a few steps backward from its glimmer.

  “Err… I believe so. I did not look at the time so I cannot be sure of the exact moments, although it should have been around two-thirty or so.”

  “Starting when had Shamisen been staying there?”

  “About two. It was grooming its fur when I returned from the cabin.”

  That’s basically his whereabouts. After my calico escaped the clutches of my little sister, he went off to beg for food from Mori-san, and then got taken back here at around two-thirty by Koizumi. That’s no doubt why he was napping so soundly the moment he hit the futon by the heater.

  He simply sneaked back there, so that’s it. The calico roaming around the estate after having escaped the clutches of my sister, went begging for food from Mori-san and then he was brought back by Koizumi at two-thirty, which would explain why he had been napping the moment he got to the futon close to the heater.

  “With this, there exists an explanation for his whereabouts from two to three.”

  An alibi for an hour? What did Shamisen see going from here to the hut?

  “There is a scam here.”

  Haruhi squeezes her eyes and touches her throat. It is as if the clues will leap out just by her doing this move.

  “The only thing that we are sure of is the movements during that one hour, while everything else is sketchy, especially as to the whereabouts of the cat after three. The explanation for the cat’s absence, and how Shamisen fell to the culprit’s lap…”

  Haruhi shows an expression of contemplation, and I acted along with her. My sister looks on at us with a bewildered expression, Yutaka-san looks on with only a smile. He probably knows the truth already, given that he is the lead suspect.

  “Need more hints?”

  “A moment.”

  I halt Koizumi’s comments as I start to organize my thoughts.

  It was at around two that Keiichi-san headed off to the hut.

  The cat was last seen at three, and nobody had seen him from then till four-thirty when we found him in Keiichi-san’s room.

  If the killer sneaked off to the main building through the window, it had to be done early enough so that the falling snow can cover his tracks. The time of murder can be deduced to be around three to four.

  However, from three to four, all of us, including Yutaka-san were on the open floor and did not go out. It is only after four that Yutaka-san, Haruhi and Tsuruya-san had left.

  Hmm, all right. I nodded sympathetically.

  “Give us some clues.”

  Koizumi lifts his shoulders.

  “I thought that the first to have noticed would’ve been either you or your sister.”

  With that, he falls to silence.

  “What did you say?”

  What kind of a hint is that? For goodness sake, my sister and I aren’t nearly as sharp as Haruhi and Tsuruya-san.

  “Ahh, I got it!”

  A brightly lit Tsuruya-san raises her voice after Haruhi,

  “I know it now! Haruhi-nyan! The proof that the cat isn’t there is the alibi for the culprit being absent.”

  Tsuruya-san continues with a look of sudden realization on her face:

  “Yeah, that’s it! That’s why the kitty cannot be elsewhere. Not just anywhere, and not in the hut, but rather it has to be in the public space that everyone is at.”

  I did not understand one word that came out of Tsuruya-san’s mouth. While Asahina-san and I are dumbstruck, Haruhi seems to follow, and shouts out at a high decibel level,

  “That’s it! That’s right, that’s it! Tsuruya-san, nice! Basically, within that one hour, the cat must be at a place that it can be seen by all, for if the culprit didn’t do that, his own alibi for not being there would be blown.”

  “Bingo!”

  Tsuruya-san makes a loud snap with her fingers.

  “Shami went missing not at three, but at two-thirty… no… rather within the thirty minutes between two-thirty to three… in other words, the time of murder should be at around two-thirty, am I right?”

  “Yep!’

  Hold on for a minute all right? Would it be too much trouble to explain to those of us that are lost what you two have come to realize? I can’t make head nor tail out of the current situation.

  “You’re slow. Kyon, for Shamisen to go missing from three to four-thirty, and then to emerge at the scene of the crime afterwards would puzzle who?”

  That would be us.

  “Well, who stands to gain from that?”

  Nobody.

  “As if it’s nobody! The killer was the one that whisked Shamisen away and locked him into the hut! There has to be a reason as to why the murderer would do that. Let me ask you again, which part would be the most beneficial to the murderer?”

  Haruhi’s eyes glare at me menacingly, as would the eyes of the culprit at the detective.

  “Ahh-” I say. “Shamisen would be at the hut… because of the culprit taking him there, so the moment that Shamisen vanished would be the time of the murder…”

  “That’s it?”

  Ahh? What’s it?

  “You still don’t get it! Everybody thinking this way is how the plot was to start. The killer wants us to think that the interval of time where Shamisen has no alibi for absence is the moment that the crime occurred!”

  “Everyone has an alibi from three to four.” Tsuruya-san picks up with the explanation. “However what about after two? Does the fact that we were told not to leave the scene mean that nobody had left?”

  “That is because the murderer must ensure that he has an alibi from two to three.” Haruhi continues. “So, he has to make it seem as if Shamisen never left here. Why is that? It’s because Shamisen, having gone missing from three to four-thirty, would actually establish the murderer’s alibi. That is because Shamisen cannot possibly be over here and at the scene of the crime simultaneously; so knowing when the cat was here leads one to think that the murderer couldn’t have taken him to the hut at the same time. But the last person to have seen Shamisen was you, and that was at three. The culprit wants us to conclude that he would have taken him to the hut at around three, so we fall into his psychological trap.”

  “With that, who the murderer might be is obvious. It would be the person that has no clear alibi at about two-thirty and who was close to the kitty before three!”

  Tsuruya-san chuckles.

  “Kyon, are you following this? Think outside of the box. We only have to find the person that can take advantage of the time when Keiichi-san entered the hut, at two, to four
-thirty, when we broke into the room. If you think about it, there can only be one person that could’ve done it. However, if you assume that the murder took place after three, he would have proof of absence from the scene. In summary, we made a wrong assumption on the moment of murder!”

  Haruhi, not to be trumped, shows a bright smile.

  “That’s right. Keiichi-san was killed before three. Shamisen was taken to the hut at that time as well.”

  “Hold on,” I start asking, “how can you account for the Shamisen that I saw at three then? How about the Shamisen who was napping that Asahina-san saw before three? Could Shamisen split himself?”

  “Kyon, you still don’t get it?”

  Haruhi shows a victory smile in stride.

  “I will now explain the actions of the murderer to you. First, since the creator of the game assured us that Mori-san and Arikawa-san are not the culprits and would not give false alibis, their testimonies are not important.”

  It seems that the only ones that don’t get it would be me, Asahina-san and my sister.

  “The murderer left this public space some time between two and three, took Shamisen from the kitchen and whisked him off to the room in the hut where Keiichi-san was at. It is not important whether or not the room was locked. At any rate, the murderer went into the room, assassinated Keiichi-san, and locked the door from the inside, leaving Shamisen off to the side, and snuck back into the house from the corridor empty-handed.”

  “Wait,” I further inquire, “what about the Shamisen that I saw? Where did the Shamisen that was sleeping by the futon over the heater come from?”

  “In short, that cat would not be Shamisen.”

  Haruhi glanced at Tsuruya-san. Having assured herself that Tsuruya-san’s expression is in total agreement-

  “To conclude, based on the scenario, there can be only one murderer, and that culprit could’ve only done it by himself within the window of a few minutes at around two-thirty, while everyone else would not have had the chance to have gone back and forth between the main building and the cabin. Regardless of any alibi, that person would be the culprit. I have already disproved his alibi. Assuming Shamisen really did go missing at around two-thirty, then there is no other explanation than that the Shamisen you saw was a fake.”

  Tsuruya-san stretches her neck.

  “Let’s put it this way, Kyon-kun, lemme ask you. Was the Shami that you saw from two-thirty till three, the real Shami?”

  I am flabbergasted with her asking me that. It’s true, I only saw the back of the cat, both as it was brought in or as it slept over the futon. I did not see it from up close.

  But then, a fake? Where’d the copycat come from? Could it be that clones of Shamisen have been secretly engineered somewhere?

  “How would I know that?” Haruhi answers in a delighted manner. “I tell you, all that is irrelevant speculation. The calico that was dozing off from two-thirty to three on the futon was not Shamisen, and could not have been Shamisen. Be it a clone, a doll, or a similar cat… it would not be your calico.”

  “Haruhi-nyan, everyone should know by now who the killer is, so let’s just announce his name already. We can’t move on if we don’t do that.”

  Tsuruya-san happily offered this opinion. Haruhi lightly nods in agreement.

  “Yeah, especially for Kyon, for if we hold it back any longer, he will probably be pondering about this throughout the entirety of the winter break. Ready- do it together?”

  “Sure. The culprit of this murder case is-”

  The two smile at a certain individual and as partners performing in unison, they name the murderer in one synchronized breath…

  The two smile at a certain individual and as partners performing in unison, they name the murderer in one synchronized breath…

  “Koizumi!”

  Koizumi lifts his hands like a wanted suspect being arrested by famous fortune hunters with dual Winchesters.

  “That’s right.”

  He continues with a slightly bitter smile, as if defeated:

  “I am the murderer. I would have liked to have everyone think about this for a little longer, but I still fell victim to the combined minds of Suzumiya-san and Tsuruya-san.”

  Haruhi’s mouth is sticking out with her laughter,

  “Why didn’t you give us free time at around three instead of four? That way, figuring out who the murderer is would have taken more time.”

  “That’s right, that would have made it more difficult to determine who the culprit might be,” Koizumi starts to explain. “Should one of you have left, that is, to have taken more than five minutes away around three’o clock - the five minutes being the time from the hut to the house - it would be difficult to remove the person from the list of suspects. In other words, it would make it rather easy for the murderer to be misidentified. Instead of risking that happening, I made it so that nobody could possibly be a suspect; otherwise the game would become too difficult to play.”

  Could it be that the thought simply didn’t occur to you, seeing as you are talking up a storm over this?

  “Where did you hide the double for Shamisen?”

  “In my room. I had Arakawa-san ship it into the room beforehand, so as to not have him be an accessory to the murder. From the view of the scenario, I was the one that brought the double in.”

  Koizumi’s facial expression looks like a slave student part-timer that is getting off work.

  “I took the cat out of my room after having done the murder. Everything that followed would be obvious to you all.”

  So Koizumi brought a double in at two-twenty. But-

  “Where is the cat?” I ask once more. “Where’d the fake go? Where would that fake Shamisen whom I’ve never seen up close have gone off to? It would be more than a coincidence if it had disappeared as well.”

  Koizumi gave a quick glance at Haruhi, as if defeated, and then our very own chief steps up and strides to an end of the floor where the heater is located.

  “Kyon, just think back to the scene carefully. Wasn’t Koizumi-kun right beside the cat as it slept on the futon when you saw them? Koizumi took out the Sugoroku from the backpack and handed them to you right? With that, you took the Sugoroku game to the hearth, which had all of our attention. Koizumi used this break to stuff the napping cat into the backpack. Therefore…”

  Haruhi grabs the backpack standing by the wall while the heater blows warm air through the area.

  “It should be in here.”

  Saying this, she tips the open bag upside-down and a ball-like shape falls from within.

  “Shamisen?”

  This cat really resembles Shamisen a great deal, to the point that I can’t help myself but to blurt that out. Whether it’s the physique or the expressions, this is a one-to-one copy. The largest difference is that this cat’s a female. Male calicos are rare finds in the world, you could go ask your biology teacher as to why that is so.

  The fake Shamisen at first sat still on the floor. Then, raising her tail, she heads over to sniff noses with Shamisen who my sister is still holding onto. My cat stares at the female with his round eyes, and then he frees himself from my sister’s hands. The cats’ noses take aim at each others’ rear ends. Following that the two start to chase each others’ tails, going round and round. After about ten seconds though, the female gets hit on the nose.

  “Oy! Shami!”

  Shamisen, who was now groaning and complaining from his throat, gets picked up by my sister; after staring around for the longest time, the female jumps onto Nagato’s lap for no apparent reason and sits there.

  “…”

  Nagato lowers her expressionless gaze, coming face-to-face with the kitten that is looking straight back at her. Eventually she carefully extends her hand.

  The copycat seems to be very satisfied with Nagato’s stroking, as she closes her eyes and curls up in a ball. The two cats are very similar, although with a hint of difference. I for one have spent two months living with Shami
sen, making it rather easy for me to tell my own cat apart from this other cat’s face-

  “So that’s why you said that you assumed that I or my sister should be the first to notice that something seems off?”

  “Exactly. I was breaking out in a sweat when you came to me. Had you already discovered the truth, I would’ve told you the whole story secretly and dragged you along with me. However, after examining your expression, it seemed that you did not notice anything at all.”

  So sorry. That would be to Shamisen.

  “The hardest part was to find that cat.”

  Below is the supplemental explanation from Koizumi, the lead.

  “I only found out that an identical cat to Shamisen does not exist after physically going out and searching for one. I thought that all calicos are the same at first, but it turns out that I am too naïve. I only found a similar stray after having gone across the country, but the match is not one-hundred percent. The only way to go was to dye parts of the fur on the cat. However, the preparation work didn’t end with that, as training was required for the cat.”

  What trick did it need to learn?

  “The most common trick taught to dogs- ‘wait.’ All would be for naught if it started to walk all over the place, therefore I needed to teach her to pose herself asleep until I give her instructions. If she moved during the thirty minutes on the futon or during the hour in the backpack, it would lead to major trouble.”

  Koizumi shakes his head as if he is reflecting on on the affair. This cat might have the potential to be a show cat given how it was able to learn such a trick. It might actually be easier to teach Koizumi on how to hypnotize cats instead.

  “I have named the cat as Shamisen the Second, Shami-ni in short, as I couldn’t think of a better name.”

  With that puzzling excuse out of the way, Koizumi cleared his throat:

  “The detective game has come to an end. Suzumiya-san and Tsuruya-san have both made the correct deduction, so both deserve the prize. I will present the prize shortly.”

  Koizumi gives a bow gracefully.

  “This concludes the event. I thank everyone for their support, especially Tsuruya-san for lending the guest house, Tamaru Keiichi-san for posing as the dead and Yutaka-san as the misleading character, and of course for the great help from Arakawa-san and Mori-san. I give you all my deepest gratitude. Thank you for your supporting roles from the opening till the end.”