Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 3
Status: Incomplete
65% completed (estimated)
3 - "The Invisible Intrusion"
The next day.
As I was rather reluctant to take action the previous day, I received a call from Chitanda early that morning. It was pretty much an order from our club president asking me to come no matter what. As I had no good reason to resist such a gently worded request, I ended up heading to school that day as well. Well, it's not practical to jump off a ship in the middle of its voyage, and I had no intention to.
As I exited my house, I noticed an international letter had been delivered to our letterbox. As it was addressed to my old man instead of me, I didn't bother to open it. I didn't even need to see to guess who the sender was: Oreki Tomoe, my older sister.
My sis was not content with just staying in the country, but desired to wander around the world. She should be somewhere in Eastern Europe by now. Time and again my sis has got me involved in all sorts of bothersome things. Though those bothersome things are on a completely different meta-level from the type that Chitanda gets me involved in. But as the letter this time was not addressed to me, this probably means I'm more swayed by the frank and honest Chitanda than by my sis, which isn't a bad thing.
...Or maybe not.
Anyway, we now come to the Geology Room.
We didn't particularly do anything prior to Eba's arrival. As per usual, I took a seat in the shade and started reading my paperback novel. Just because I watched a mystery movie didn't mean I would go out of my way to buy a mystery novel. It was just a normal novel bought from a regular bookstore.
Opposite me was Chitanda, who stood by the window, unbothered by the scorching summer sun while looking at the grounds below. She must have a resistance to heat, as she doesn't seem to be tanned at all despite standing under the sun for so long... She just stood there staring at the grounds below, or to be more precise, she may have found something to meddle in amongst the people preparing for the Cultural Festival. But it was just her curious eyes sparkling, meaning she too was bored.
Ibara, on the other hand, was far from bored. As the real person responsible for the compilation of the "Hyouka" anthology, she was busy writing notes about it this time as well. A while ago I asked her what she was writing when all that's left is just to publish the manuscript. She gave me a terrifying stare and said, "If the manuscript could be sent to be published right away, there wouldn't be any need to edit it!"
Well, keep up the good work then.
As for Satoshi, he was reading a paperback novel just like me. As his hands were covering the book cover, I had no idea what he was reading. Though smiling was his default expression, he doesn't do it when he's reading. Having said that, it was strange to see such an expressionless Satoshi for once.
As I was thinking that, his expression gradually returned to normal. Placing down his book, he lifted up his face and looked around.
"Say, how many detective novels have you guys ever read before?"
Ibara stopped writing upon hearing that question and turned her head around.
"Fuku-chan, what are you trying to say?"
"You know, after listening to Nakajou-sempai yesterday, it got me thinking. Though his method of deduction was quite like those seen in detective novels, it was still way off the mark. So I thought maybe I should read a few more detective novels to help us deduce this better."
Hmm. Indeed, while Nakajou's reasoning sounded innovative at first, after thinking about it overnight, it was no different from your average detective show on TV. It was not rare for Satoshi to make such connections in the strangest places.
"Hmm, for me I've only read a normal amount of detective novels,"
"So how normal is your amount anyway? That's why I'm asking," Satoshi said and smiled, to which Ibara also smiled bitterly.
"Well, for me, hmm, normal would mean having read Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, I guess."
Was that normal? Though I do know the authors' names at least... Satoshi tilted his head as well.
"Rather than normal, that amount of reading should be considered expert. Those are more like classics befitting of the Classics Club, aren't they? ...Is that all? What about Japanese authors?"
"Though there are many of them, it's not like I read much. I read a few railroad mysteries, but that's about it. While I may be somewhat interested in mystery novels, there are many authors whose works I can't seem to enjoy."
Well, it seems the more you read the more you're familiar with them, aren't you? You were the one who showed interest when you heard Class 2-F was making a mystery movie. I suppose amongst the four of us, Ibara was the most proficient in detective fiction.
"What about you, Houtarou?"
I closed the book I was reading and replied, "I don't read those,"
"Are you especially conscious about not reading detective stories in particular? You haven't got much honour in your reading methods, you know?"
Oh, leave me alone.
"I've read a few paperbacks with yellow book covers like this one, that's all."
Without being serious, I gave him a suitable response.
"Ahh... So that means, only Japanese authors, huh? You're kinda rigid, you know?"
He gave me an instant reply. It seemed like this answered his question well enough. As always, Satoshi possesses a wide range of knowledge for no particular reason.
Satoshi now turned to Chitanda, who shook her head slowly,
"I don't read any of those."
"Eh?"
He sounded surprised. Though it was also surprising for me as well, as based on her tendency to seek out an answer for every riddle she encounters, I would expect her to be pretty interested in detective fiction. Satoshi tried to make sure of that.
"Not a single one?"
"I think I'm probably not that interested in mystery novels after reading some. And it's been many years since I've touched one."
Rather than not having read any detective novels, she ended up rejecting them after reading them. To think that our lady would be weak at detective novels despite encountering situations not unlike those seen in detective novels. Sounds pretty contradicting. That would be like a businessman who dislikes reading business novels. But thinking carefully, that isn't entirely strange.
"Really? But Chi-chan, weren't you enjoying it yourself when we were watching the Class 2-F mystery movie?"
Chitanda smiled gently.
"I was just happy that Irisu-san had invited us to show us something she and her friends had made... It's not like I particularly enjoy watching mystery movies."
I see, that makes sense.
Well, that means there's just one person left. Everyone must be included, after all. I asked Satoshi, who looked as though he had understood everything and was nodding eagerly, "So, what about you?"
"Me?"
"I presume you've read all the detective novels around the world, past and present?" I asked jokingly, to which Satoshi flatly denied, "No, I haven't."
Hmm?
Ibara began to smile from the tip of her lips.
"Oh, I know what Fuku-chan likes to read,"
Satoshi hung his head in embarrassment. It would seem Chitanda's interest was piqued.
"Eh? So what is it? Fukube-san, it's not a secret, is it?"
In other words, if it's a secret, Chitanda would definitely not pursue it any further. I know this based on experience, that our lady does have some restraint on her curiosity.
Meanwhile, Satoshi was at a loss for words.
"Well, I..."
What? Just say it, already.
As I thought that, Ibara quickly spilled the beans.
"Fuku-chan's an avid Sherlockian!"
...Ah, I get it.
A Sherlockian is a fan who is passionate about Sherlock Holmes. While I'm not too sure of the details, I've heard these people have actually done research into the fate of the bulldog raised by Holmes' partner. It was a serious interest that was not to be treated as mere child's play or entertainment. Though for Satoshi, it was probably a bit of both.
"What's a Sherlockian?"
"Um, you see,"
As Ibara was trying to explain to an oblivious Chitanda, Satoshi corrected her quietly.
"An avid fan is not called a Sherlockian, it's Holmesian..."
What's the difference anyway?
Just as we were teasing Satoshi, Eba had arrived at the doorway and bowed her head courteously as usual.
"I'm sorry to inform you that we could not secure an empty classroom today, so we would request that today's meeting take place at the classroom for Class 2-F, if it would not trouble you too much, as it might be a bit messy."
I don't see why she finds the need to apologize for that.
"Well then, let's head to Round Two of our Deduction Meeting then,"
Upon hearing Satoshi's intentionally cheerful voice, we proceeded to exit the classroom. Though I think it's a bit too much to call it a Deduction Meeting.
Activities from the various clubs were just as lively today, as music combining instruments and people singing were heard. The tune sounded familiar. It turned out to be the theme song of Mito Komon[1]. It sounded elegant, but yet not quite.
As we were walking, Eba gave us a briefing in advance.
"The person you'll be meeting today is Haba Tomohiro, of the props division."
I looked at Satoshi, who shook his head. It would seem this Haba was hardly famous either. Yesterday it was the filming division, so today it's the props division, huh? We seem to be going on a trend here. Eba continued solemnly, "Though he wasn't assigned any specific role to begin with, he had decided to barge... actively involve himself in all sorts of fine details. Is there anything else you would like to ask?"
Ibara, noticing something specific, asked, "Umm, if this Haba-sempai was barging... actively involving himself in the making of the movie, why wasn't he assigned an acting role?"
Heh, I see. Indeed, such a person should have been standing in front of a camera. Eba turned to face Ibara and nodded.
"He was passed over."
"That means,"
"The roles were decided by a count of hands. He didn't get enough votes."
Now I get it. I finally spoke.
"And why are we meeting this person?"
In other words: Would someone who decides to barge... actively involve himself in a project accept the opinion of us outsiders? Eba showed an unusually troubled expression.
"I too have doubts about his selection... but it was Irisu that chose him, so she must have her reasons. If you ask me, it probably has something to do with him being the most proficient in mystery fiction amongst the entire crew. At least that's what he claims, himself."
As I could find no response, I decided to force a smile to her.
Still, Satoshi had emphasized "the Empress" Irisu being good at making people do her errands skillfully. If he was correct, then it would be as Eba has said, that Irisu does have her reasons for picking Haba. To begin with, this was just one of the matters that Irisu had gotten us involved in, so it's not like we hadn't suspected such a ploy from her. As I was thinking, Satoshi showed some dissatisfaction.
"Just where on earth has Irisu-sempai gone? She has totally not shown herself since."
Come to think of it, he's right. We haven't seen her since the day before yesterday. Though Eba answered our question right away.
"She said she would be looking for a replacement screenwriter while you figure out the 'correct deduction'. She's also having some difficulty on her end."
We came upon the corridor linking the Special Block with the General Block.
Before we arrived at the Class 2-F classroom, Chitanda opened her mouth gently.
"Eba-san,"
"Yes?"
"Are you close to Hongou-san?"
Eba looked briefly confused. Though she didn't look worried, I could feel she was struggling to find the right words to answer.
"... Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious," Chitanda smiled at Eba and said, "I couldn't stop thinking about what the person who wrote the script was like. She seemed like a very serious person,"
We now arrived before the Class 2-F classroom. Eba stopped her footsteps, turned around, and slowly said, "Hongou is a good friend of mine. She's sincere, attentive, and has a stubbornly strong sense of responsibility, as well as being kind and tender. But, is there something you would learn from me telling you this? ...Anyway, Haba is expecting you inside."
She then turned her back towards us and left without even introducing us to Haba.
It was just as Eba had described it—the Class 2-F classroom was quite untidy. There were the rucksacks seen in the movie as well as their yet to be shown contents lying everywhere. On the blackboard were some messy notes that seemed to be the filming schedule, with a long sentence written across the top in yellow chalk that read "Next Sunday = Absolute Ultimate Deadline!" The tables and chairs too were in disarray, and for the first time I realized how much of a crisis this class was facing with their project. As I wondered whether this was also part of Irisu's schemes in having us meet Haba here, we entered the messy classroom.
In the corner of the classroom where the sun didn't shine stood a male student. Bespectacled, he was rather skinny for his size. Upon seeing us, he raised his hands in a melodramatic way and said, "So you're the observers sent by Irisu. Pleased to meet you, my name is Haba Tomohiro."
Like yesterday, Chitanda once again introduced us starting with herself. Haba repeated our names many times as though trying to memorize them before gesturing us to take our seats.
While I have no idea how Haba would have behaved normally, he seemed to be in a good mood today. As he watched us take our seats with a satisfied expression, he nodded.
"I hear you guys are quite good with mysteries, at least compared to our class, where there's hardly anyone that's good with them."
It would seem the people of Class 2-F have been misinformed. Even Chitanda had noticed this and stated, "We're with the Classics Club."
Haba's eyes widened.
"Ah yes, the Classics Club. So you must be familiar with all the books from the Golden Age, then? Wow."
He seemed to be even more mistaken than before. Then again, as the Classics Club was a club engaged in unknown activities, it's not surprising that it would be mistaken as a club that is proficient with mystery novels.
As Haba was still muttering "Wow", he took out a piece of A4 sized paper and placed it on the table before him. It was the map of the theatre seen in the movie. On it were written the formal names for each room as well as the positions of all the windows, and an unintelligible designer name called "Nakamura Aoi" or something like that. Even the blocked passageway was well-marked.
Satoshi raised his voice without even thinking.
"Sempai, what is this!?"
"Hmm? Were you not shown this before?"
Without saying a word, Satoshi took out his own self-drawn map.
Haba groaned, "...This makes things easier,"
"Umm, where'd you get this map?" asked Ibara, to which Haba replied, "This building was built by the Furuoka Town government, after all, so I only needed to look it up in their town hall. The deduction can only be done with this map,"
He then smiled.
On Haba's map were marked the position of the body, as well as where everyone else was scattered before. Him being this enthusiastic wasn't a bad thing, as I too would want to know such information.
Haba looked even more excited as he went on, "Still, for a mystery writer or reader, a mystery written by an amateur like Hongou wouldn't be enough to satisfy them,"
He sounded pretty confident. Chitanda asked, "Was Hongou-san not proficient with mystery stories?"
"Yup. She had never read any before the making of this movie."
"But I heard she did do some research,"
Haba raised the corners of his lips to form a smile.
"They're all old stories. Look over there, those are the things she went through overnight,"
He pointed to a corner of the classroom with his chin, revealing numerous volumes of books piled up together. A glance at them showed they were all paperbacks. Chitanda leaned over and asked, "Umm, would you mind if we had a look at those?"
Haba looked troubled at Chitanda's interest being directed to such unexpected places. I too was wondering what she was up to, though our lady's curiosity was easy to read. Without waiting for a reply, she got up out of her seat and went to pick up a book.
Looking at the mountain of books beside the map, Satoshi said in an intrigued voice, "Ahh, the Nobahara translated version... And it's the new edition as well."
They were the Sherlock Holmes stories that we were just talking about a while ago. The covers were well embossed with a handwriting-like font printed on a white shiny paper, enticing the reader to start reading the Sherlock Holmes stories right away upon buying. Ibara gazed at the books and said coldly, "So she only studied Holmes as research?"
Haba replied, "Yup. That's why I said she's an amateur."
...So people who read Holmes are only amateurs, huh? Quite a bold statement he's making here. And he's saying it in the presence of Satoshi, a Sherlockian (though he prefers to call himself a Holmesian). Yet Satoshi smiled without seeming too bothered.
"Well, I get that a lot."
Hmm.
Taking the first book from the top of the mountain of books, Chitanda began flipping through the pages. We really should be getting back on topic... I had no idea whether she noticed my anxiety or not; most probably not. Chitanda's hand stopped at one of the pages.
"Oh,"
"What is it?"
"There are some strange markings in here. Look,"
She showed me the page she was on, and I instantly knew it was the Table of Contents without even reading the words. Indeed, there were markings before the title of each short story. Though I did not think of those markings as "strange" as Chitanda had.
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes
|
"And this one as well,"
The Case-Book of Sherlock Homes
|
Upon seeing those, I quickly dispelled Chitanda's concerns.
"What's so strange about those? They're probably just marking notes used by Hongou."
"Is that... so?"
Though she didn't seem too convinced, she decided to let the matter rest for now. During this time, Satoshi seemed to be muttering something, as I was about to ask him, he met my gaze and gave me a gesture that said he wouldn't know either, and turned his attention back to the map.
"Let's leave that aside,"
Tapping his fingers on the table, Haba spoke.
"Rather than that, let's begin with the deduction,"
Sigh. Seemed like he couldn't wait to start with his own deductions already. Then again, I too wanted to hurry up and get this over and done with. So I grabbed Chitanda's hand to stop her from picking up another book, and she only then realized that Haba was waiting, and reluctantly placed it back on the mountain-like pile.
"I'm sorry. Please do begin."
Haba gave a nod, and took a ballpen out of his chest pocket. Probably an item needed in order for the lecture to proceed, so pay attention, folks.
"All right. The way I see it, this mystery isn't that difficult. In fact, it could be classified as an easy one."
He paused to watch our reactions. I didn't give any, by the way, and I had no idea what reactions the others were giving either.
"First, this murder was unpremeditated, or rather, it was only half-premeditated. So it's not one of those 'Just as planned' cases. It just so happens that the conditions were right for the killer to carry out his plans. Are you following me?"
Not a bad opening speech. No, to be honest, that's not exactly what I was thinking. I see, now that he mentions it, no matter what technique the movie employs, it won't be able to portray an elaborate plan without it not making sense. As for the reason,
"...What's the reason for that?"
Chitanda just asked something incredible. Haba looked rather displeased that he was interrupted so soon after starting, but quickly replied with a cheerful expression, "The reason being that if everything was planned, Kaitou would be asked to go to the right side of the theatre. Instead, what we saw was that he picked the key at random and went off to that side on his own. So I believe the killer merely made good use of this condition. Well, it shouldn't be too far from the truth, since there are many such examples in murder mysteries."
Though there are many instances of a trickster making a person pick the exact card that he wants to be picked, it didn't seem to be the case this time. So Haba's making sense so far.
Haba continued by pointing his ballpen at the Right Stage on the map, the room marked "body found".
"As you all know, this is a sealed room murder. The only exits available at the scene are here, here, and here. Two of them are sealed off and unusable, while the other was locked when the body was found. There are also two windows, with one sealed off while the other was covered by tall vines on the outside, which showed no signs of anyone treading past them. In other words, Kaitou's killer did not escape via normal means,"
He'd now reached the point where Nakajou had stopped, to which he smiled.
"That said, the killer was no longer in the room after Kaitou was killed, a typical sealed room situation. While you may not have thought of this before, a sealed room situation is usually established the moment the body is found. Or to be more precise, when everyone else has entered the room and found the body. Now, how is this established? One only has to think along the lines of detective fiction writers past and present.
"Let's start with the simplest method. The killer may choose to take the master key and use it to enter the scene of crime, and then return the master key to where it was.
"But this is totally uninteresting. There would be an uproar if that was actually the casse. Not even an amateur like Hongou would choose such a method. So let's have a look at the facts.
"The keys were found in the theatre office. In order to get to the office, one has to go past the lobby. And anyone passing through the lobby would be seen by Sugimura in the second floor equipment room, or would at least attract his attention. So if the killer had wanted to get the master key, he would have had to hope that he didn't get seen by Sugimura. It just doesn't make sense for a killer to take such a risk.
"Now, what if it were Sugimura that was the one to take the key? That wouldn't do either, as he too would have to risk being seen by Senoue, Katsuda and Yamanishi."
Hmm, he's quite prudent with his deductions, isn't he? Now if only he could do the same with his attitude.
"Now, this fact that the lobby cannot be entered without being watched is quite important, as it means not only the Right Stage, but the entire corridor cannot be entered by the killer from the lobby. Do you now know the meaning behind this?" he asked as he lifted his face from the map. Like a teacher waiting for a student to answer his questions, he looked at us one by one.
...Oh! Ibara noticed his gaze meeting hers.
After a brief silence, she gave a short reply.
"The killer used some sort of physical trick?"
A momentary glimpse of disappointment was shown on Haba's face.
Though he soon returned to his upbeat manner.
"Exactly."
What's his problem anyway? Was he getting upset about someone guessing his questions correctly? He seemed rather lacking in prudence and blunt about it.
"Indeed, if the killer used some sort of string to lock the door from outside the room. But that doesn't make sense either. As the killer would not be able to come out of the right corridor, which is effectively a second 'outer sealed room'. In other words, it was not possible to create a sealed room from the outside.
"One may argue that this sealed room is made by none other than the victim himself. Perhaps the victim wasn't killed instantly, and decided to lock himself inside to run away from the killer, and ended up dying in there. But that doesn't change the fact that this 'outer sealed room' still exists.
"Then, what other possibilities are there available? These include the killer not being present when the victim was killed, or the murder still taking place when the victim was found. To put it simply, the victim was killed by some mechanics, or he was quickly killed without anyone else knowing. Do you get it now?"
Translator's notes and references
- ↑ a Japanese period drama, Mito Kōmon - Wikipedia
| Back to 2 - "The Murder in the Abandoned Village of Furuoka" | Return to Main Page | Forward to 4 - "Bloody Beast" |
