3
‘Who are those three?’ asked the inspector of a nearby police officer. He had just returned from investigating the crime scene over on Tsunojima.
He had been told by a local real estate agent, Tatsumi Masa’aki, the person currently in charge of the building on the island, that students from K—University had been staying in the burnt-down Decagon House. They were friends of his nephew and he had given them permission to stay there a week starting last Wednesday.
Tatsumi had a list of names of the club members who had gone to the island and the police used that list to inquire of the university and to contact family. Some of them were living far away from their parental homes in boarding rooms, so not all families were present. But thanks to the identification process they had just held, they had managed to get a good idea of which body belonged to whom. The inspector had started to question the families of the deceased, but had obtained little information from any of them.
‘Eh? Which three?’ The officer returned the question and the portly inspector pointed towards the window.
‘Those three over there.’
‘Oh, they’re friends of the deceased from the same university club. They’ve been here all afternoon to ask about the case.’
‘I see.’
The inspector cocked his large head. The two young men leaning against the window were talking with each other. Next to them stood a lanky man in his thirties looking out of the window, his back to the police.
The inspector pulled his hands from his coat pockets and walked over to the three men.
‘Excuse me. You’re members of the same club as the deceased students?’
The two younger men looked up quickly.
‘I’m from the police. I’m—.’
‘Ah, hard at work, I see.’ The lanky man who had been looking outside the window turned around to the inspector, who clicked his tongue.
‘So it was you. I had a feeling the sight of your back looked awfully familiar.’
‘What a coincidence. I had hoped it would be you, though.’
‘Mr. Shimada, do you know this man?’ one of the young men asked in surprise.
‘I told you, Conan, that I knew people with the police, right? Let me introduce Police Inspector Shimada Osamu of the First Investigation Division of the Prefectural Police.’
‘Shimada? Ah, so you’re—?’
‘As you have correctly guessed, this man here is the second son of our temple family.’
‘Aha.’
Inspector Shimada coughed loudly once and glared at the nonchalant face of his younger brother, whose physique was the complete opposite of his own.
‘And why are you here?’
‘I’ve been with these two here this last week for a certain reason. It’s a long story, so I’ll just keep it to myself.’
Shimada Kiyoshi then turned to the two young men.
‘This is Morisu, a member of the K—University Mystery Club, and this is Kawaminami, an ex-member.’
‘Hm.’
Inspector Shimada turned to the two with a perplexed expression.
‘I’m Inspector Shimada. These are really very tragic circumstances to meet under,’ said the policeman formally as he dropped into a chair nearby. ‘Mystery, so detective fiction, I assume? A club for that, eh? Hm. I used to read mystery fiction a lot when I was young, too. What do you usually do at your club?’
‘We have a reading circle for mostly mystery novels and some of us write.’ said Morisu, as a plainclothes policemen arrived and gave the inspector a report several pages long. He flipped through it and nodded.
‘It’s the report from the medical examiner,’ he said to the two young men. ‘Just a preliminary one though. A thorough examination will be held later.’
‘If it’s not against regulations, could you perhaps tell us more?’ Kawaminami asked. ‘I want to know what happened to them, however little it may be.’
The Inspector glanced once at his brother and pursed his lips.
‘This guy will come and ask me questions later anyway, so I might as well tell you myself.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Based on the remains—all of them in bad shape—it appears that all of them, except for one, had already been dead before being burnt in the fire. Very likely homicide. The remaining body was also burnt to death, but this one appears to be suicide. He had poured kerosene over his own body and the fire probably also started in his room. We can’t say for sure, but this man might have killed everybody and then committed suicide. Please keep this information to yourself. The deceased, his name was….’ The Inspector stared at the report in his hands. ‘Ah yes, Matsu’ura. Matsu’ura Junya. You know him, of course?’
Morisu and Kawaminami gasped and nodded.
‘Was it really suicide?’ Shimada Kiyoshi asked in a rather surprised tone of voice. The Inspector wrinkled his nose and scowled at his brother.
‘I just told you we can’t say for certain at the moment. I’m still waiting for the reports with more details on the cause of death of the other victims.’
He turned back to the two young men.
‘What kind of person was this Matsu’ura Junya? I’d like to hear what you think of him.’
‘What kind of person?’
It was Morisu who answered.
‘He would have been in his fourth year at the faculty of law this April. Excellent grades, intelligent and eloquent, but he can be a bit peculiar.’
‘Thanks. And another question, Morisu.’
‘Yes?’
‘Was this trip to Tsunojima some sort of camp organised by your Mystery Club?’
‘I guess camp might the right word. But it wasn’t an official activity of the Mystery Club.’
‘Then I assume they were a group of particularly close friends within your club?’
‘Yes. Well, yeah. They got along quite well, I think.’
The same officer returned and whispered something in Inspector Shimada’s ear.
‘Okay. Got it.’
The Inspector stuck both hands in his coat pockets and slowly got up out of his chair.
‘I have some other business now, but I think I might need to meet with the members of your club in the near future. Kawaminami, if you could make it, I’d like you to come down, too, as an ex-member.’
‘I understand,’ replied Kawaminami obediently.
‘Well then, goodbye.’
The Inspector gave his brother a glance and started to walk away, but then turned back to Morisu and Kawaminami as if he had suddenly remembered something.
‘Suppose this Matsu’ura Junya is indeed responsible for this, do you have any ideas about a motive?’
‘Hmm,’ answered Morisu, cocking his head. ‘I just can’t believe it. To think that Ellery would do that.’
‘Who?’
‘Oh, I’m talking about Matsu’ura. Ellery was something like his nickname.’
‘Ellery…could that be related to that writer, Ellery Queen?’
‘Yes. It’s like a custom of our club. Members call each other by names taken from famous foreign writers.’
‘Oh, all members?’
‘No. Just a select group.’
‘All of those who went to Tsunojima were members with nicknames like that,’ explained Kawaminami. An interested twinkle appeared in Inspector Shimada’s eyes.
‘Kawaminami, did you also have a strange name like that when you were still in the club?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘What was your nickname?’
‘It is a bit embarrassing. I was Doyle. Conan Doyle.’
The inspector laughed.
‘Haha, one of the masters. Then I guess that Morisu here is Maurice Leblanc?’
The Inspector asked the question amusedly.
Morisu frowned slightly and muttered a “no.”
A self-deprecating smile appeared on his lips for a brief moment and, with lowered eyes and voice, he answered:
‘I’m Van Dine.’
✦ ✦ ✦
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE SEVENTH DAY
Tuesday, April 1st, 1986. From the morning edition of the A—Newspaper.
✦ ✦ ✦
Another Massacre in Decagon House on Tsunojima
In the early morning of March 31st, the bodies of six university students were discovered in the remains of the burnt-down Decagon House on Tsunojima, S—Town, Ōita Prefecture. The students were camping there.
All six deceased were students of K—University: Yamasaki Yoshifumi (age 22, 4th yr. Medical), Suzuki Tetsurō (22, 3rd yr. Law), Matsu’ura Junya (21, 3rd yr. Law), Iwasaki Yōko (21, 3rd yr. Medicine), Ōno Yumi (20, 2nd yr. Literature), Higashi Hajime (20, 2nd yr. Literature). They had been scheduled to stay in the Decagon House for one week from Wednesday, March 26th.
Investigations have revealed the possibility of murder regarding five of the six deceased before the fire broke out. The massacre and subsequent fire are considered to surpass even the quadruple murder that occurred last September in the Blue Mansion on the same island and (…)
From the evening edition of the A—Newspaper (same day):
✦ ✦ ✦
Body Discovered in Cellar of Decagon House
(…) Subsequent investigation led to the discovery of a body of a man who met with an unnatural death in a room beneath the Decagon House.
The body was partially skeletonised, with time of death estimated at four to six months earlier. Age at death is estimated at mid-forties. Wounds suggests the man had been beaten on the head.
The existence of the underground room was discovered after the fire. It has been suggested that the body is that of the missing gardener Yoshikawa Sei’ichi (46), who disappeared after the incident on the island in September of last year. Efforts to identify (…)