Chapter 24: 24

Chapter 24: Ayano’s reasoning

A few minutes later, Jiro was called to the altar room by the police on Ayano’s request.

Ayano: “Everyone, thank you for gathering here today.”

“Everyone? There are only you, me and the polices here,” Jiro said while drinking the tea prepared by Nobuko.

Ayano immediately replied, “Nobuko-san is also here.” Then she saw Nobuko giving her a sharp glare. “No. I don’t mean to say you are a suspect.” Ayano hastily explained herself. The housekeepers had been such a big help to the residents so Ayano felt so indebted to them.

Ayano: “The incident that happened this time is actually a very simple case.”

“I think the case would be less complicated if you didn’t make a fuss about the locked-room murder,” Shimizu interrupted with a sour face.

Ayano: “Well, I thought maybe I should think about other possibilities for a bit more but I can’t because today is Wednesday.”

Shimizu: “Why do you need to rush if it is Wednesday?”

Ayano: “I will explain that later. Anyway, we all know Uncle Yamamura fell from the rooftop yesterday and passed away. Regarding this matter, actually I can’t really say that Uncle Jiro is the sole culprit.”

Then she muttered in a low voice, “But the altar ghost is already gone after all.”

Ayano: “There is a possibility that you had been set up by the altar ghost but I’m pretty sure the perpetrator is you. Uncle Jiro, you didn’t get along with Uncle Yamamura, right?”

“No one in this mansion get along well with others,” Jiro grumbled.

Ayano: “This morning, the toilet bowl in the toilet near the entrance went missing. Uncle Jiro, do you know that the toilet bowl is possessed by a ghost named Sudo Satoshi-san? He is a young man and dressed up like a student houseboy.”

Jiro: “I don’t know him.”

Ayano: “No. I’m pretty sure you know about him. Because at this moment, beside me and Takato, there is only you who can see Satoshi-san in this mansion.”

“What?!” Jiro raised his head.

Ayano: “Yesterday was the same too. Actually, you are the only person who can see ghost in this mansion. So, the person who can kidnap Satoshi-san is only you.”

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Both Shimizu and Jiro gave her a perplexed look.

Ayano: “The Rainy Mansion is haunted. The residents of the Rainy Mansion live together with ghosts. People might tend to get a false idea due to these rumors, when actually not all the residents here can see ghosts.”

Ayano pointed to the documents in Tanimoto’s hand and said, “In that list, you can see a row of names of people surnamed Sudo. Majority of the spouses[1] of Sudo family members are not psychic. On top of that, some of the family members themselves are not psychic such as Shun and Hisami-san.

Of course, it is also possible that either me or Takato was the murderer. But both of us do not have any motive to kill Uncle Yamamura. Although there is inheritance dispute going on with regard to the Rainy Mansion, I’m not that desperate to stay here that I would kill someone for it.”

Ayano took the document from Tanimoto’s hand, who was reviewing the list of names again, and shoved it at Jiro. “Uncle Jiro, just because there are many residents in the Rainy Mansion surnamed Sudo, you shouldn’t underestimate the situation. I know some of them must also resented Uncle Yamamura for remaining in the mansion even though he had become the adopted son-in-law of Yamamura family. But inside this list of people, the only person who could notice Satoshi-san’s existence is only you.”

Jiro: “How can that be…?”

Ayano: “Uncle Jiro. I guess you must have found out about Satoshi-san when I was talking to him that day. I was emotionally unsettled yesterday so I went to talk to him at a time that is outside my routine.”

Takato had come back to the mansion yesterday and caused her to be agitated.

Ayano: “For some reason, Satoshi-san doesn’t wish to be noticed by the member of the Sudo family so I didn’t tell anyone about him. Of course, if other people had noticed him in the first place, then the rumour would surely spread like wildfire.

Besides, even if someone without psychic ability saw me talking to Satoshi-san, they wouldn’t be able to confirm if Satoshi-san was there or not. If they peek through the toilet window after I left the place, they won’t be able to see anything anyway. They can only guess that I was talking to someone.”

Jiro: “… Even if that is the case, there are other people too. Oh, right! Reiko! Wasn’t Reiko here? I saw her.”

Ayano: “It is true that Reiko-san know about Satoshi-san. After all, her psychic power is quite strong. But it is impossible for Reiko-san to kill Uncle Yamamura.”

Jiro: “Why?”

Ayano: “Because Reiko-san is not here.”

Jiro: “Huh? What the hell are you talking about?”

Ayano: “The Reiko-san that you saw yesterday was her disembodied spirit[2], Uncle Jiro.”

[1] Unlike China and Korea, Japanese woman usually change their surname after marriage. 

[2] Ikiryo: Disembodied spirit of a living person, kind of similar to Doctor Strange’s astral projection. 

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