Chapter 13: 11

“Remember how we were detained and interrogated by Tokizane? We were just a few minutes away from the 10:50 time limit.”

Junko’s recollection was stirred by Enomoto’s remarks.

“I remembered that Tokizane looked uncomfortable.”

“Speaking of which, he was moving back and forth between the dining room and the living room.”

Kawai seemed to have the same impression.

“Yes. In order to put pressure on us, he behaved in a way that suggested mental instability; however, he actually had another, more crucial goal in mind.”

Enomoto seemed to have already captured the audience’s attention.

“Tokizane created an atmosphere in which it would not have been out of place for him to be standing right around the boundary between the dining room and the hall. And where was the hunting rifle when Tokizane was actually standing near the border line?”

Junko closed her eyes and contemplated. The image of that moment came back to her vividly.

“I think he was holding it high. I remember being a bit relieved when I saw the muzzle had been lowered and was hidden by the wall because I was frightened it might fire.”

“Exactly. I, too, felt a sense of relief when the muzzle of the gun was temporarily hidden… However, when thinking back, I became aware that Tokizane’s posture was unnatural. It was as if he was trying to extend the barrel of the gun to touch something, wasn’t it? If that were the case, what would have been at the end of Tokizane’s outstretched gun?”

Kawai murmured, “A radio-controlled clock?”

“Yes, that would be reasonable. There is nothing else on the lower wall.”

Enomoto nodded.

Motojima asked puzzled, “But he couldn’t have moved the needle of the clock with the muzzle of a gun, could he? Isn’t there a glass cover, and I thought we were told that you can’t physically move the needle when you change the time on a radio-controlled clock?”

“He didn’t move the needle directly with the muzzle of the gun. Earlier, Motojima asked how the clock was fixed to the wall by rotating it two degrees to the left, right? I answered that the hook originally fastened to the wall could be used as a fulcrum, and the other part could be fixed with adhesive for wallpaper. There was a basis for that presumption. In other words, once the adhesive was removed, the clock should have been able to return to its original state.”

Enomoto glanced at each of them as if to make sure they understood.

“You mean the clock, which was tilted 72 degrees to the left, is now back to horizontal, right? Mm-hmm… And what happens when it does?”

Hikijii replied on behalf of all of them, “The paper dial with the numbers is not a concern, because the weights mean that the dial will always be down at six o’clock. It just overlaps the real dial exactly. The second paper dial… Hmm? There’s more than just the 6 degrees! If the whole thing rotates 72 degrees to the right, the hour hand will appear to have moved more than two hours. Wouldn’t that mess up the time?”

“I’m positive there was some effort made to make sure that wouldn’t happen.”

Enomoto smiled as if he had been expecting this question.

“On the back of the second paper dial with the fake hour hand, there must have been a paper or a glued-on object that was hooked onto the real hour hand to make it move, and to this object was tied an invisible thread used in magic tricks. Since the thread is extremely thin, it is not visible to us even when the lights in the room are on. The thread extends to the right through the gap between the clock and the glass cover with some room to spare, and is fixed somewhere on the wall.”

Enomoto once more took a sip from his glass of water to quench his thirst.

Everyone eagerly awaited the rest of the story.

“Tokizane, while feigning to listen to Motojima, who said it was an unfortunate accident, lifted the clock off the wall with the tip of his hunting rifle and pulled it away from the adhesive; the clock, which had been tilted two degrees to the left, rotated back to its original position, but the object was pulled off by the stretched threads. The second paper dial, from which the object was removed, now rotated counterclockwise under the weight of the fake hour hand, but the second object on the back of the fake hour hand caught on the real hour hand and stabilized it there.”

Enomoto lifted the clock again and showed it to everyone.

“This means it will look like this. The fake dial with the numbers on it is exactly on top of the real dial, and the fake hour hand on the second dial is right above the real hour hand. For the first time, the original time shown on the clock matched the time on the paper dial – the exact meaning of cleanliness is cleanliness.”

Junko was astonished. How could he have thought of this? Tokizane, with a minimal movement – floating the clock on the tip of a hunting rifle – instantly set the clock back to the correct time, even though it had appeared to be twelve minutes behind.

“But that leaves the radio-controlled clock with two paper dials, doesn’t it?”

Hikijii folded his arms and inquired.

“Yes. So the two paper dials, the threads, the adhesive on the wall, etc., had to be disposed of before the police arrived.”

“Oh, right! I get it now! That’s why he did that to us…”

Kawai suddenly raised his voice in agitation again.

“What’s wrong?”

Motojima, who was sitting next to him, stared at Kawai’s face in startlement.

“It’s that crazy werewolf game! We were forced to point out who we thought was the murderer, weren’t we?”

Kawai stood up and pointed his index finger at Tokizane.

“I can confidently point it out to you now! All that time was for this man to dispose of the traces of his deception left on the clock!”

Tokizane looked Kawai squarely and flatly back into his eyes.

“That’s right. The trick to disguise the time had already been accomplished, and all the clocks in the mountain villa were indicating the correct time. Despite this, Tokizane continued the act just to clean up the mess… Many of us probably thought that scene, in which you live or die, was the climax of the show,” Enomoto said self-mockingly. 

Even the man himself may have been deceived at the time.

“Tokizane had brought a chair right under the clock. After we put a bag over our heads, he climbed on the chair, lowered the clock, removed the glass cover, and took off the two paper dials. It would have taken three minutes, and there would have been plenty of time to do it. And all the while, we had a vicious drum roll on repeat and playing loudly to cover up the sound of what was happening.”

“Is that why he went to the trouble of making a fire in the fireplace?”

Kumakura said in a phlegmatic voice.

“Yes. The adhesive, the threads, and the two paper dials were all burned in the fireplace. If the adhesive is hydrocarbon-based, it will burn away without a trace, just like the paper.”

Enomoto gestured like a magician who made something disappear in mid-air.

“Incidentally, you have to be careful when burning paper. If you simply put it in the fireplace, it will rise up and fly down the chimney. It must be held in place with a piece of kindling before burning.”

Junko recalled how Tokizane looked at that time. She thought he was burning the fire with a lot of zeal, but wondered if that was all he was worried about.

“…The story was very entertaining, but it’s all in your head, isn’t it, Enomoto? I was amazed to hear now that there was such a method. I’ll use it as a reference for my future works.”

Tokizane coldly smiled, but his complexion was pale and his hands seemed to be trembling faintly.

“Of course, I never did anything like that, but it would be the devil’s proof to prove otherwise, wouldn’t it? The burden of proof should be on you. I wonder where is your evidence?”

“Indeed, there is no clear evidence. Other than a little circumstantial evidence.”

“Circumstantial evidence?”

Tokizane showed a perplexed expression.

“Yamanaka. At that time, you went to the kitchen to get the black garbage bags, didn’t you?”

Ayaka stood up with a tense countenance at the sudden mention of her name.

“Ah. Go ahead… Did you find the garbage bags right away?”

“Yes. I found them in the drawer where… the bags are usually kept.”

Ayaka slurred her words and frowned.

“I see. Do you usually use black trash bags here?

Ayaka shook her head repeatedly.

“We don’t use them.”

“Why is that?”

“I always take the garbage back to the station near the house and put it out, but the garbage truck won’t take it unless it is in a clear or semi-transparent bag.”

Ayaka finally seemed to relax and answered in a clear voice. 

“Then, what is the reason for buying the black garbage bags?”

“I didn’t buy them.”

So it must have been Tokizane who prepared the black trash bags as part of his plan.

“Is that the circumstantial evidence? Well, no, I can’t help but laugh now.”

Tokizane’s shirt, which was firmly buttoned at the top but exposed at the neck, was tugged at the base, where it gradually tightened, in spite of his brazen statements. He must have felt as if Enomoto was tripping him one after the other.

Even though Junko had no compassion for the murderer, just watching him seemed to make her feel suffocated.

“And to conclude the series of tricks, we have the Grandfather Clock and the flip clock. Could everyone please move to the dining room?”

They all rose from the sofa and moved in groups with the camera following them relentlessly.

Once everyone was seated at the dining room table, Enomoto spoke up.

“To begin with, what was strange was that there was a flip clock next to the Grandfather Clock. Tokizane told us that he used the flip clock to check if the Grandfather Clock was running correctly, but that didn’t make any sense to me at all.”

Enomoto stood in front of the Grandfather Clock.

“By the way, it makes sense when you consider that this was set up for a trick. These two clocks operate according to completely different principles. If the times they show coincide and continue to show the same time over time, anyone would assume they were correct.”

“So both clocks were incorrect?”

Kawai looked as if he could no longer believe anything.

“Yes. The radio-controlled clock’s trick had us convinced that the time, which was off by twelve minutes, was accurate. However, we were already led to the right time at 10:56, which was close to the conclusion of the private court session. After a game of werewolf, I received my watch back at 11:06 p.m. Since then, to this day, we have always lived on the correct time.”

Enomoto let out a laugh.

“That means that during the time we found the body and were discussing it, we were misled into thinking time had gone more swiftly than it actually had. It was probably between 9:56 and 10:56. In fact, an hour has passed, but we were made to think that 72 minutes had passed, from 9:44 to 10:56.”

Kumakura then asked, looking flabbergasted, “But, as mentioned earlier, I believe I asked you the same question earlier but isn’t the human sense of time not so easily fooled…?”

“I see that you seem to have figured it out. This time, Tokizane again employed the same psychological technique. The time we spent under the threat and pressure of life seemed longer than it actually was. Being held at gunpoint, and falling into each other’s trap of doubt and suspicion, we were exhausted, and the sixty minutes seemed many times longer than it was. When we were told that it was seventy-two minutes longer than it actually was, we wondered if it had really been that short.”

Enomoto’s voice was full of assurance.

“The two clocks had both been sped up? I don’t think there was anything unusual about either of them at the dinner party… When did this happen?”

Motojima asked.

“I remember that the dinner ended at exactly 8:00 in the evening, and Tokizane was the last one to leave the dining room, which is when I worked out the times on the two clocks. A quick calculation revealed that the Grandfather Clock must have been set back a little over 7:25 p.m., and the flip clock to 7:39 p.m. The Grandfather Clock immediately began to advance at 1.2 times its normal rate, while the flip clock was still running normally. For this reason, the flip clock was ahead, but the Grandfather Clock was closing the gap rapidly and caught up with it around 9:08 of Tokizane time. By this point, both clocks would have indicated around 8:47. Before long, the flip clock speed was also accelerated by a speed of 1.2, and from then on, both clocks ran together at a 1.2 times speed, so that by 10:01 of Tokizane when we were gathered in the dining room, both clocks were showing 9:50.”

Junko had no idea what he was talking about. How in the world could the clock go forward 1.2 times faster than the original pace? Nor did she know how the acceleration of the flip clock would be achieved afterwards…

“Wait a minute! Aside from the flip clock, I now know how the Grandfather Clock managed to do it!”

Hikijii exclaimed triumphantly.

“Well, he tampered with the pendulum, didn’t he?”

“You’ve guessed it.”

Enomoto imitated a clap.

“The pendulum? What kind of trick could have done that?”

Having no notion, Junko had to inquire.

“It’s an extremely classic trick. The speed at which a pendulum clock ticks is determined by the period of the pendulum, which is proportional to the square root of the length of the pendulum. In other words, the longer the pendulum, the slower the clock ticks, and the shorter the pendulum, the faster it ticks.”

Enomoto explained in a matter-of-fact manner as if he were a physics teacher.

“In reality, it is not the length of the pendulum itself that is changed, but the weight attached to the pendulum that is rotated to make it go up and down.”

Junko was astounded. She had never given the pendulum’s location any thought. How could she have been so easily duped by such an easy trick?

“So, when did the pendulum get back to its original position?”

“When we all left the dining room to try booting up Mori’s computer, I suppose. Tokizane was in the very back of the room and was pushing us away. As soon as we were all out of sight, he must have opened the lid of the Grandfather Clock and put the pendulum back in place. A couple of seconds would have sufficed if he had marked the position of the weights with tape or something.”

“I see… Then how did he do it with the flip clock?”

“To explain that, the conversation would have to backtrack a bit.”

Junko did not like to backtrack the story. Why was it necessary to hear about past events in order to solve the current case? Enomoto seemed to know this and often made them retrace the story on purpose, even though there was no need to do so.

“How far back?”

Did he intend to tell the story of the early times to the fullest? At the most, she would like him to limit it to about ten years ago.

“Up to the year 1887.”

You must be lying. Junko was about to open her mouth, but then she noticed that the camera was looking at her and made a charming face in a hurry.

“…Your great-grandmother wasn’t even born yet, so what in heaven’s name happened in that year?”

“The first electric power supply in Japan began in the 20th year of Meiji. In the beginning, it was DC current, but in 1889, it was changed to AC current. This was because it was difficult to transform the DC current. AC current has a frequency, but in the initial years, the frequency varied from power plant to power plant, which caused various problems. This led to a growing trend towards unifying frequencies. Tokyo Electric Power Company adopted a generator manufactured by Allgemeine in Germany, so the frequency was set at 50 Hz, the same as in Germany.”

What in the world is this man talking about? Junko broke into a smile of annoyance.

“On the other hand, Osaka Electric Power Company had installed a 60 Hz generator manufactured by General Electric Company of the United States. Consequently, to this day, two frequencies coexist in Japan: 50 Hz in eastern Japan and 60 Hz in western Japan.”

“You know… I don’t want to hear about the history of electricity, I want to hear about the trick of the flip clock?”

Junko’s voice was piercingly sharp.

“Here, please recall the ringlet that was in Mori’s study.”

Enomoto ignored Junko’s protests and addressed them all.

“The ringlet… Is that the clock Tokizane gave to aunt to keep her from booting up her computer?”

Kawai racked his brain.

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“The flip clock in the dining room and the ringlet in Mori’s study have something in common. They are both electric clocks.”

Enomoto glanced at Tokizane after saying this.

“Is it important that they run on electricity?” Kumakura asked.

Junko vaguely recalled that the power cord was connected to an electric outlet on the wall. It might stop if the power goes out, but what else does it mean?

“Electric clocks are not only powered by electricity, but they also count the frequency of alternating current and keep time based on that frequency. 50 hertz means that the plus and minus switch 50 times per second. Therefore, we can determine that 50 times equals one second.”

This was the first time she had heard that.

“I didn’t know that,” Hikijii murmured. “It advances seventy-two minutes every sixty minutes. When I heard that, I immediately remembered the frequency. It was a phenomenon that used to occur when electric clocks from the Kanto region were brought to the Kansai region. I see… That’s the difference, so it was twelve minutes?”

“That’s right. Of course, if you set up the clock in detail, you can create a difference of ten minutes or fifteen minutes, but for the culprit, the easiest to calculate would have been twelve minutes.”

Junko was irritated because she did not understand their conversation.

“I’m sorry. Please explain more clearly.”

“In eastern Japan, the electric clock is based on an electric current of 50 hertz, so when a positive and a negative value change 50 times, it is considered to be one second. In western Japan, however, the current changes 60 times per second. Then, the clock judges it as 1.2 seconds. As a result, the clock moves forward 72 minutes in 60 minutes.”

“You mean to say that the flip clock and ringlet were designed for the Kanto region, and were only for 50 Hz?”

“Right. Or, if the model could switch the frequency, it would be enough to set the switch to 50 Hz.”

Indeed, the calculations seemed to be correct… No, there is something wrong with the story.

“But this is not western Japan. Isn’t Iwate at 50 hertz, the same as Tokyo?”

Enomoto shook his head silently.

“Please remember, this mountain villa is not supplied with electricity by the Tohoku Electric Power Company but generates its own power. I looked at the DC-AC inverter in the box, and it has a switch to change the frequency so that it can be used in both eastern and western Japan. This means that it can be set to either 50 Hz or 60 Hz. If you moved from Tokyo, you would have normally set it to 50 Hz, but by switching the switch to 60 Hz, you could make two electric clocks in different locations advance at one or two times the speed, without touching them.”

“Won’t that affect other appliances?”

“Most of today’s home appliances can automatically respond to either frequency.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Kumakura mumbled in dismay. Many of those present would have felt the same way. Any homicide may be subject to impeachment, but it was inexplicable to have the guts to pull off a trick like that so dispassionately.

“But don’t the power switches have to be turned off once in order to change the frequency of the inverters?”

Only Hikijii seemed to genuinely enjoy the guessing game.

“That’s right. Tokizane consequently had to shut down the building’s electricity twice. The first time happened when we were engrossed in a game of predicting the sequence in which the table clocks’ prices would appear. Do you remember there was a time lag of two or three seconds between when he turned off the lights in the room and when the footlights on the display tables came on? At that time, Tokizane was out in the garden, talking on his satellite cell phone. After seeing the lights in the room go out, Tokizane turned off the DC-AC inverter, changed the frequency from 50 Hz to 60 Hz, and turned it on again. The time was a little after 9:08. From this point on, the flip clock and ringlet ran at 1.2 times faster than before. Incidentally, the time on the ringlet must have been changed after the crime to match that of the flip clock.”

“That’s mere speculation.”

Tokizane mumbled listlessly.

“That’s right, but I have supporting evidence. As some of you may remember, a faint electronic beeping sound came from somewhere at that time.”

“Oh, I remember hearing it.”

Kawai raised his hand followed by Natsumi nodding.

“The power went out for a second, and some electronic device must have triggered an alarm. It was most likely the sound of the uninterruptible power supply that Mori had connected to her computer.”

The UPS must have been very loud if it could be heard this far away.

“So, let’s say the frequency was set to 60 Hz to speed up the electric clock. When was the last time the frequency was set back to 50 Hz again?”

Hikijii asked.

“Tokizane said he wanted to verify something when he came down to the hall and went out into the yard and tripped the breaker. I think it was then. Tokizane excused himself by saying that he thought the footlight might be an independent power source, but there was no way he could have not known about that.”

Junko suddenly realized what was going on. She recalled hearing the same electronic beeping sound at that time as well.

“By the way, an electric clock with a digital display, using a Nixie tube, would have worked, but it was useless since it would have reset the time when the power was turned off. A flip clock would start going forward again from the time it stopped.”

Enomoto meticulously traced the folds of Tokizane’s sequence of actions. Perhaps he was trying to convince Tokizane by demonstrating that he could discern all the details of the story.

“…I see. That seems to make a certain amount of sense. Assuming I had done all the tricks you just told me, perhaps the crime could have been committed.”

He was actually feigning, but his voice no longer had any impact. Apparently, the camera zoomed in on him as he leaned closer, getting a close-up of his expression.

“But there is no proof that these tricks were performed. If that’s the case, you can’t say that I did it, or that the culprit was no one but me. For example, Yamanaka doesn’t have a clear alibi, does she? Is there anything odd if she was the murderer?”

Ayaka was pointed at, and for a split second, her countenance looked frozen.

“However, in that case, there is a clear contradiction. Now then, everyone, please move to the hall once again.”

Enomoto returned to the hall, retrieved the tablet, and touched the screen. A woman’s voice came on. It was a recording of the FM broadcast ‘From Ihatove’ that they had heard earlier.

“…I thought at the time that the design was similar to something else.  Ah, yes, that’s right. It reminded me of a Mystery Clock.”

“We heard that earlier, too. What in the world is it?”

Tokizane’s voice was almost hysterical.

“…It’s the kind of clock that the ‘Eternal Boy’ would have liked, as I have mentioned many times on this program. Wouldn’t it be perfect if Peter Pan had one in Neverland? The feeling of being detached from the real world, from the mundane? A feeling of not wishing to be in the filthy world anymore? I feel as if such a feeling has been crystallized into a work of art called Mystery Clock.”

Enomoto stopped the playback.

“Thanks to this recording, the identity of the note scribbled by Mori was discovered, and the text on the computer about the idea of poisoning was revealed to have been faked by the murderer. It is true that Reiko wrote the note after listening to the radio. But maybe it was written by the culprit on her computer afterwards?”

Tokizane was still determined to fight back.

“I see. Indeed, it is possible to make such a strong argument. But at the same time, this recording reveals a more fundamental fact. The question is, what time was it broadcast?”

“…What time was it?”

Junko asked in a low voice. She had a hunch that was conclusive evidence.

“The program was properly recorded from the beginning, and the exact time at which the current nonsense was played was ascertained. It was 9:37.”

Everyone stayed quiet and made an effort to collect their thoughts, with the exception of Enomoto and Tokizane.

Even Junko was desperately trying to think. First of all, the time was inconsistent with the update time of 9:34 on the “Mystery Clock,” but there was something even stranger than that.

“…There’s not enough time.”

Motojima muttered, seemingly horrified.

“Mori listened to the broadcast at 9:37 and wrote that memo. That means she was alive at least until around 9:38. If she swallowed the poison immediately afterwards, it would take several minutes for her to die, no matter how fast-acting the aconitine was. In other words, she must have still been breathing until around 9:42. However, Sasaki Natsumi found her corpse approximately one minute after 9:39, when the clock price-guessing game ended – probably around 9:40. No matter how you look at it, the time doesn’t match.”

“So this proves that the time on the radio clock at 9:39, the time on the ringlet at 9:44, and several other clocks were false – some kind of deception was involved.”

Hikijii murmured in a low voice.

Tokizane could have disposed of the memo. However, the keyword “Mystery Clock” must have tempted him to leave it as it was, perhaps because it could be used as a theory of the accident.

A shiver went down Junko’s spine.

The note from Mori Reiko was now, like a witch’s curse, taking control of Tokizane’s life.

“The police have already found a number of circumstantial pieces of evidence for the current scenario. For example, the radio-controlled clock hanging there, but fine paper fibers have been found on the dial. Traces of adhesive were also detected on the lower wall of the hall. It also supported the fact that you purchased three identical radio-controlled wall clocks at the Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku Nishiguchi flagship store and the black trash bags at the Soradonki Haneda Airport store.”

Enomoto turned to Tokizane.

“What is fatal, however, is that your paranoid time-trick backfired and the times are inconsistent, irrespective of who else we assume was the culprit other than you. Simultaneously, the possibility of suicide or accident has been completely eliminated. The only way to explain the discrepancy is to assume that the clock trick was performed, and Tokizane, you are the only individual who could have pulled it off.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on Tokizane.

“I had no motive to kill Reiko. I was in love with her.”

Tokizane murmured in a superior voice.

“Your motive was probably money. You, an unsuccessful writer, were able to live a luxurious life thanks to Mori, and you should be grateful to her… Perhaps you wanted to spend your money more freely, or perhaps you wanted to own Mystery Clock or both. In either case, it is of no concern to me.”

The irrepressible rage that permeated Enomoto’s tone quickly spread to everyone.

“Also, I probably don’t need to comment on this, but I find it extremely difficult to believe that you had feelings for Mori. Even before you murdered her, it is evident from the one thing you did, which was to mercilessly take Bastet away from her.”

Bastet… is Mori Reiko’s beloved cat. Junko was taken aback.

“Wait a minute. So Bastet was killed? By this man?”

Motojima asked, as if in disbelief.

“Bastet’s remains were discovered by the police after being buried in a grave in a yard corner. He probably didn’t give it much attention, but he ought to have properly disposed of it later. The cause of death was confirmed to be aconitine.” 

“What on earth did he do that for?”

Motojima’s voice was trembling. The reality that Tokizane was a murderer, rather than the fact that the cat was killed, seemed to be finally sinking in.

“He must have conducted a test to determine whether self-purified aconitine would work..”

Enomoto’s voice was chilling.

“It would have been risky to take the toxic substance out of the lab, so it was necessary to procure the animals used in the experiments as close at hand as possible.”

Tokizane was as motionless as a statue. It may have been only a few seconds, but to Junko it seemed like a long time.

Tokizane eventually closed his eyes. His larynx rose and fell slowly.

“…Enomoto. It seems that inviting you to the dinner party was the biggest mistake I made.”

The camera was apparently following Tokizane’s expression as it changed angles.

Tokizane opened his eyes again. His façade of restraint crumbled, revealing the vicious psychopath’s visage. The sanpaku eyes directed at Enomoto were glowing with unfathomable animosity.

“…But how did you know? There is no way you could have seen through that clock’s complex trick without a clue.”

Enomoto looked over at Tokizane with quiet eyes.

“You were supposed to use the five clocks at your disposal to create a solid alibi. However, the existence of a second unmarked clock turned out to be deadly.”

“The second clock…?”

Tokizane’s eyes widened as if he did not understand.

“That too, it’s a clock that has stopped. You know, that Mystery Clock. Without it, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the radio-controlled clock trick. In that case, of course, the rest of the tricks would have gone unnoticed.”

“What do you mean? Enomoto.”

Junko urged on. Unfortunately, she had no idea what he meant.

“A Mystery Clock’s dial, which has a bare front and back, is like a circular sighting device. Furthermore, it is fortunate that it is stationary. The hand fixed at ten o’clock-nine, the hour hand, pointed to the truth, to the trace of the trick you had pulled.”

When Tokizane opened his mouth in amazement, he turned around and looked at the radio-controlled clock that hung on the border of the dining room. A look of regret flashed across his face.

“Please explain it more clearly!”

Junko couldn’t help but shout out loud.

“When I looked at ‘Model A’ ⑥ from the back, I could vaguely see that radio-controlled clock at the tip of the decorated hour hand. It was shaped just like an arrow, so it left a deep impression on me.”

Enomoto’s voice was hushed.

“After the police arrived, I explained the situation to them and looked at the clock through the same way, but the clock had been moved to the lower-left diagonally, hidden by the hour hand. Oh, this was the original position.”

“But, doesn’t that change even if you just move the clock’s head a little?”

Junko’s intrusion caused Enomoto to shake his head.

“I thought so, too, and tried to move the radio-controlled clock so it would come to the tip of the hour hand, as it did when I first saw it, but I had to bend over in a terribly unnatural position to do so… There were no distinguishing marks on that wall. If it hadn’t been for the Mystery Clock, I wouldn’t have known that the radio-controlled clock was working.”

“Enomoto, did you deduce the whole crime from that?”

Motojima’s tone was incredulous.

“In a short time, the radio-controlled clock had been moved out of position. If the killer did it, what was the reason for it? That was the starting point of my reasoning. It would not make sense to move it in parallel. Then it occurred to me that he might have shifted the clock using the hook as a fulcrum and changed the angle.”

Tokizane reclined back onto the sofa and let his vacant gaze stray.

“Tokizane Genki. Please accompany me.”

Tokizane was touched by Sergeant Yaegashi’s hand on the shoulder, to which he slowly stood up.

As they left the room being accompanied by uniformed police officers, the cameras followed them.

“That was it huh. Mori’s… ‘Model A’.”

Natsumi covered her eyes with a handkerchief as she said something along those lines.

The Mystery Clock, which Reiko Mori said she had never stopped loving, had uncovered the crime.

To Junko, it was as if she could hear the laughter of a beautiful witch.

T/N:

This is part of the Kei Enomoto series. For those who didn’t know, part of the Kei Enomoto series, Kagi no Kakatta Heya has been adapted into a drama.

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