Chapter 32: 32

Chapter 32: Don’t be so naïve, Tanimoto-san

If it wasn’t a double suicide, then why did both of them die at the same place and at the same time?

Ayano crouched down beside the pond at the courtyard and watched the carp that seemed to be a little overgrown. It seemed if anyone dared to put their hand into the water, it might get eaten by the fishes.

Hmm… Did someone kill both of them and cover it up by making it looked like a double suicide? I can understand if someone has motives to kill Uncle Toru because of his bad habit of wasting money on gambling and having affairs with multiple women. But Matsuko-san was a person of good conduct, it doesn’t make senses to kill them together.

While Ayano was immersed in her thought, Tanimoto came up to her.

Tanimoto: “Ayano-san.”

Ayano: “If you’re looking for Hisami-san, she is not here.”

“I haven’t said anything yet. Even if her ghost is here, it is not like I can write a report for the ghost’s testimony,” Tanimoto said while scratching his head.

“At least her testimony can give you a lead so that you know where to look for the evidence,” Ayano stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt.

Tanimoto: “But that feels like playing game while looking at the walkthrough manual.”

Is it wrong to look at a walkthrough manual? Ayano thought silently. Then she said in a low voice, “But there is one thing that is different from a walkthrough manual. Unlike a manual, a ghost can lie.”

* * *

Tanimoto wandered around the courtyard feeling helpless because he needed to interview even the ghosts for cases that happened in this mansion. While he was lost in thought, he saw the same beautiful woman in kimono at the corridor connecting to the south annex. The woman stood still while watching the main building.

Tanimoto: “Ah, good afternoon. We have another murder case – Sudo Hisami-san has been murdered. Can I ask you some questions?”

“Oh, really? But I don’t think there is anything I can help you with. I’m just a living spirit,” the woman said with a smile.

Tanimoto was surprised that someone would say it themselves that they were a living spirit. He thought a living spirit had no awareness – just like what happened to Reiko a few days earlier.

Then suddenly he heard a muffled sound coming from the woman. It sounded like an alarm clock.

“Okay then, I’ll leave first. Say hi to Takato and Ayano for me,” the woman said before disappearing into thin air.

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A while later, Tanimoto bumped into Ayano when he was walking inside the mansion.

Ayano: “Tanimoto-san. What’s wrong?”

Tanimoto: “Uhm- I saw a living spirit just now.”

Ayano calmly replied, “You know how to identify a living spirit already? That is great.”

Tanimoto: “No, no. It was the woman herself who told me that she is a living spirit.”

“Don’t be so naïve, Tanimoto-san. She might be a living person – the actual murderer that pretend to be a living spirit.”

“What?!” Tanimoto exclaimed before complaining, “Why is everything in this mansion so troublesome?”

“That is why the police who handled the case in this mansion would say that none of the case can be solved,” Ayano explained without showing any expression as usual.

“Oh, right,” she added. “It is not really accurate to say that it can’t be solved. Sometime, a case would look like it was solved, but a part of it remains unsolved. Just like Uncle Yamamura’s murder case. Although Uncle Jiro is the one who pushed him off the roof, it was the altar room’s ghost who haunted him to do so. By right, the ghost is the main culprit but she has left this world and the police can’t really catch a ghost. Besides…”

Tanimoto: “Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing,” Ayano said with a sorrowful face.

Looking at her expression, Tanimoto felt it fit her character well and made her look more exquisite – like an ill fated beauty. But he wished she would smile too.

Tanimoto: “Uhm- If you don’t mind, can you show me some old photos of the people in this mansion?”

Ayano: “Sure. I think grandpa has them.”

Grandpa?! Tanimoto was taken aback by her words. “I- Is it the one that passed away recently?”

Ayano: “Yes. Grandpa Sokichi.”

Coincidentally, they were walking nearby Sokichi’s room. Ayano went into the room while calling “Grandpa—”

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