The next morning, after finishing breakfast, we went outside. Then Ebihara, Michimi's father from yesterday, appeared in an agitated state and declared that he couldn't keep his daughter's body in a freezer any longer and would hold a funeral.
But even with the villagers persuading him that Michimi had died as a result of a cri and that police investigation was necessary, Ebihara would not back down. In the end, the village head stepped in and offered to lend the community center, where the funeral would be held. With the family being so stubborn, there seed no other way.
For a while, the villagers were busy preparing for the funeral, and it was only in the afternoon that the funeral began. It was prepared quite quickly because when sothing like this happens in this village, everyone works together. Due to the island's nature, they seed accustod to handling things this way.
"What should I do? I don't have dark clothes..."
Ran was worried about funeral attire, and Kazuha said.
"Then I'll lend you the black knit I wore. That should be fine."
"Thank you, Kazuha."
Then Kogoro, standing nearby, said as if not to worry.
"We ca here as investigators, so it doesn't matter what we wear. Everyone will understand."
"That may be true, but I think we should wear dark clothes if possible."
Indeed, Ran was kind. I was actually just going to go as I was. I don't really like dark colors. But hearing Ran's words, I took a black suit out of my inventory and changed into it. This was my way of respecting Ran.
"Wow~ Jin, you even have a suit? You look great~"
Ran said I looked handso in the suit.
"Ah, this... doing Onmyōji work, I often have to attend funerals."
"I see. It suits you well."
As Ran smiled and complinted , I felt a bit bad for lying to hide my abilities.
Anyway, Heiji and Kazuha had brought their school uniforms, so they wore those. Haibara also chose dark clothes from what she had brought, changed, and ca out.
"Let's go now."
Following Kogoro, we went to the funeral hall. But inside the funeral hall was quite noisy.
"How dare you co here!"
"Good grief! I told you I'm not the culprit!"
When we quickly went inside to see what the commotion was about, Ebihara, Michimi's father, was angry at Benzo. It seed he had also heard that Benzo was a strong suspect yesterday.
Seeing this, Kogoro quickly stepped in to stop them.
"There's no evidence that Benzo-san is the real culprit. Nothing has been proven yet. So please calm down."
Now knowing that Benzo wasn't the culprit, and perhaps feeling sorry for having interrogated him yesterday, Kogoro actively defended him.
"Hoo... Damn... I must have been too worked up because my daughter died..."
Ebihara went outside to cool his head for a while, and Benzo bowed his head slightly to Kogoro and thanked him.
"Thank you."
"Hoo... If you had found the lottery ticket by the river and imdiately told people, this wouldn't have happened."
"..."
Benzo had nothing to say to that.
Thus the commotion ended, and after signing the guest book, we entered the condolence room prepared inside the funeral hall. There, Kimie, the shrine maiden, and Rokuro, who had helped move the body yesterday, were also present.
"Oh, you ca?"
"Ah, yeah..."
Kimie saw us and greeted us. Kogoro received the greeting a bit awkwardly.
Just then, a man's scream was suddenly heard from outside.
"Ahhhhh!!"
At the sound, everyone ran outside. There, Naoko, whom we had seen yesterday, was found dead, hanging from a fishing net. Ebihara, who had gone outside to get so air, was sitting there in shock.
"Oh no..."
Kogoro and Heiji quickly checked the body and took photos again.
"It hasn't been even an hour since she died."
After examining the body, Kogoro said this, and Heiji agreed.
"That's right. She was probably strangled to death, then hung from the net."
Heiji shone a flashlight on the sandy ground and continued.
"The footprints left in the sand are sandals and boots... The deceased Naoko-san would have been wearing the funeral hall's sandals, so these boots belong to the culprit."
I also helped collect evidence a bit.
"Look here. There are marks where soone stepped on a dugong arrow."
"Really. Was the culprit after the arrow that Naoko had? From the fact that it was stepped on with sandals, not boots, it seems she dropped the arrow during a struggle with the culprit, and Naoko herself stepped on it, right?"
Then Kogoro said.
"First, let's follow the boot prints. Then we can see where the culprit fled."
We shone our flashlights and followed the boot prints to where they led. They went behind the net and connected to the sea.
"They lead to the sea. What on earth..."
As Kogoro was flustered by that, Heiji noticed sothing and began picking it up from the ground.
"Th-This is... fish scales?"
"Boot prints disappearing into the sea, and fish scales... Were they trying to make it look like a rmaid was the culprit? But a rmaid wouldn't wear boots."
"That's right..."
This ti again, I decided to give more hints.
"Detective, take several photos of the boot prints too."
"Why, son-in-law?"
"The stride is strange. It's not an adult male's stride. And look at the depth of the impression in the sand. The depth isn't very deep for a man."
"Really?"
"Yes, as you know, I've trained a lot in swordsmanship, so I can easily tell such things."
Then Heiji also closely observed the boot prints.
"It really does seem that way. Wait a mont."
Heiji walked beside the boot prints, making his own prints to compare.
"You're right. The depth and stride are different. These are a woman's."
At that, Kogoro began taking photos of both Heiji's prints and the boot prints presud to be the culprit's, side by side.
Just then, several n suddenly ca running from the side.
"Hey! What are you doing over there!"
To that, Kogoro replied.
"What else? Investigating a cri."
"That's our job as police!"
"Oh? Then does that an boats can co in now?"
The waves seed to have cald down, making boat operation possible.
"That's right, but co to think of it, you are... I've seen you sowhere before..."
"Ahaha, I'm Detective Mori."
Kogoro was now famous enough that the police recognized him.
"Oh, what are you doing here..."
"Well, you see..."
Kogoro explained everything that had happened to the police.
"I see... But from now on, we'll take over here. This is police work."
The police here were sowhat uncooperative. So we watched from a bit of a distance to avoid interfering with the investigation, then returned to the funeral hall. The people who had been in the funeral hall were gathered, murmuring and watching.
Curious, Kazuha imdiately began asking questions when we returned.
"What? The culprit's footprints disappeared into the sea?"
Heiji answered her question.
"Right. The police are now taking plaster casts of the boot prints and investigating them. And fish scales were also found along the footprints."
Ran and Kazuha seed quite surprised at that.
"What? Fish scales? Then does that an the culprit is a rmaid?!"
"No. A rmaid wouldn't wear boots. It's a setup to make people think that. The culprit probably called Naoko to where the net was before the condolence visits began. Then strangled her to death, scattered fish scales on the sand, walked to where the waves break, and escaped along the coast. The waves would have erased the footprints."
"Phew~ I thought it was a rmaid..."
As Kazuha sighed in relief, Kogoro asked the people.
"By the way, did anyone see Naoko leave that room?"
At that, people murmured and talked, but no one seed to have seen her. Then Kimie, the shrine maiden, said.
"Well, when I ca, she wasn't in the room..."
Hearing that, Heiji tapped and quietly said.
"Hey, is Kimie-nii-san the culprit again this ti?"
"Yeah..."
"Hah... This is crazy..."
Heiji pressed his forehead, as if his head hurt.
"Oh! Wait a minute, the vengeful spirit is talking to ?"
"What???"
I temporarily drew an Onmyō circle on the sandy ground, pretended to chant a spell, and pretended to listen to the air while looking up. As I did so, Kogoro also looked at .
"Jin, what are the vengeful spirits saying?"
"Follow ."
I took Heiji and pointed to a pair of sandals under the back corridor connected to the funeral hall.
"The vengeful spirit was pointing at these."
"Really?"
At that, not only Heiji but also Kogoro ca and examined the sandals. On the sole of one of the sandals, there was a clear indentation mark as if sothing had been stamped into it. Discovering this, Heiji quickly said to Kazuha.
"Kazuha, you have the dugong arrow, right?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah... Here."
Heiji compared the tip of the dugong arrow Kazuha handed him with the indentation on the sandal's sole. Like a key fitting, the mark matched perfectly. Kogoro, who had been watching from the side, instantly grasped the situation and quickly said to Ran.
"Ran! Go bring the funeral guest book!"
"Ah, okay."
At that, people murmured. To those people, Kogoro called out.
"The culprit is inside this room. Please don't leave and wait for a mont."
The people seed surprised at that.
"What? The culprit is here right now?"
"No way..."
anwhile, Ran brought the guest book and handed it to Kogoro.
"Dad, here it is."
"Good, thank you."
Kogoro took the guest book and said to the people.
"We discovered an indentation where a dugong arrow was stepped on by a sandal at the beach where Naoko died. At first, we thought Naoko might have dropped the arrow during a struggle with the culprit and stepped on it herself. But the fact that the sandal that stepped on the dugong arrow was found here ans that among the people who ca to the funeral hall, there is a culprit. The culprit probably changed into the boots nearby after committing the murder in sandals to create false footprints."
The people murmured again in surprise.
"That can't be..."
"Then that ans the culprit calmly committed murder and then ca to the funeral hall?"
"I just got goosebumps..."
Then Kogoro continued his explanation.
"So now I'm checking the guest book. Naoko also ca to the funeral before she died and signed the guest book. I will call out the nas of the people who signed the guest book before the body was discovered. When your na is called, please step aside."
Kogoro called out the nas of those who signed after Naoko.
"Um... so... after Naoko cos Benzo, Kimie, Rokuro, and then us."
Then the villagers who were listening whispered and pointed at Benzo, but Benzo was not present.
"As expected, it's that man!"
Hearing this, Heiji said.
"No. Benzo-san ca to the funeral hall, signed the guest book, had an argunt with Michimi's father Ebihara-san, and then went straight ho."
Then Ran and Kazuha confird that.
"That's right. After arguing, he thanked the detective for stopping him and went straight ho."
"Right. I saw it too."
After Ran and Kazuha's testimonies, Heiji continued.
"And we have solid alibis. We ca by yacht, so we've been together the whole ti."
Then the people looked at the remaining people. The remaining people were Kimie and Rokuro. Then sothing unexpected happened.
"It was . I killed Michimi and Naoko."
Suddenly, Rokuro sighed and confessed to being the culprit.
"The truth is, our parents arranged for Michimi and to marry since we were children. But I loved Kimie. So I had no choice..."
Hearing that, the enraged Ebihara, Michimi's father, grabbed Rokuro by the collar.
"You dog! You killed my daughter for that reason!!?? We've been so good to you since you were a child!!"
Then Kogoro stopped Ebihara and said.
"It's not him. At the ti Michimi was killed, Rokuro was with Naoko at the waterfall. And this murder wasn't committed by a man. We examined the boot prints closely. The depth and stride could not have been made by a man."
Heiji also added.
"That's right. This is also why we confused the sandal print with the culprit's. The depth of the culprit's sandal print was almost the sa as Naoko's. So we thought they were made by the sa person. That ans the culprit is also a woman. In other words, the culprit is you, Kimie!"
Listening from the side, Kogoro looked disappointed.
"Ah... That was my line... Damn..."
Kogoro seed to have wanted to point out the culprit himself.
At any rate, realizing there was no way out, Kimie finally sighed and confessed.
"Hah... This is it... Yes, that's right. I killed them. And I also killed the missing Saori. Her body is in the shrine warehouse."
The people seed greatly shocked by that. Rokuro, standing beside her, was also flustered and asked Kimie.
"Why did you do that? The three of them were your close friends. And I..."
"Sorry... Rokuro. I had to play the role of Manshin-sama for this village. My mother did it before . So I couldn't accept your feelings."
In the original, Rokuro suggests to Kimie that they leave the island and go to the mainland together. But Kimie refuses imdiately, for this very reason.
Hearing that, Heiji, as if finally understanding, clapped his hands and said.
"Ah! So it was you, Kimie-nii-san, who was disguised as Manshin-sama."
"Yes. It was hard because I had to tie up my legs to adjust my height and walk, but I'm used to it now. My mother had that role before ."
Then Kogoro asked Kimie.
"Then why did you kill those three? Was it revenge?"
"Yes, that's right. Three years ago, those three were angry because they didn't receive arrows at the festival. Drunk, they set fire to the shrine warehouse. They said they wanted to test if my mother, disguised as Manshin-sama, who was in the warehouse, was really immortal."
As expected, it was the act of despicable human beings. So I could have saved them, but I didn't. I didn't want to bother using my power to save such people. And the reason the leg bones weren't found at the ti of the fire was probably because of the leg-tucking disguise.
"A week ago, I never dread of such a thing until I heard it from Saori, who had lost her arrow and was trembling in fear."
Rokuro also asked Kimie.
"Then why didn't you tell us after the fire? That the person who burned to death was your mother."
"That's because... in the flas, my mother called on her phone. She asked to take care of things. She said she loved this island, so please don't let Manshin-sama die..."
Kimie continued, sobbing.
"But... Saori, who had lost her arrow, said this to : 'If you won't give another arrow, show where the rmaid's grave is. The grave where the rmaid bones Manshin-sama hid in the warehouse are buried. I want to beco like Manshin-sama. An immortal who can survive even engulfed in flas.' So I killed her. Michimi and Naoko too... It was easy to lure them out. I told them that if they won arrows at the festival, I would show them the location of the rmaid's grave. Both of their eyes changed. That place is my mother's grave, known only to ..."
Hearing this, the village head suddenly prostrated himself and apologized to Kimie.
"I'm sorry, Kimie. Almost everyone except the young people of the island knew. That the person who burned to death in the warehouse three years ago was your mother. After the fire, I tried to end the festival... but when I saw you disguised as Manshin-sama greeting us, I couldn't say anything. The village elders decided to just help you as long as you continued to play the role of Manshin-sama."
Then the village head and several elders began prostrating themselves and apologizing to Kimie. It seed quite a few people besides the village head knew the truth.
"For the sake of the island, but still, I apologize for not being able to tell you. I'm sorry. Please forgive us, Kimie..."
Hearing that, Kimie shed tears.
"Then why didn't you tell sooner..."
Just then, Kogoro said.
"Because of the villagers' greed. As long as Manshin-sama is alive, they can earn inco from tourism. This entire village was just dreaming the nightmare of immortality."
Kogoro was right. If the villagers had spoken the truth sooner, they might have been able to stop their own greed.
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