Five minutes later, Wataru, Aria, Résistance, Alibaba, and Mira had assembled in the entrance hall. Wataru stood next to the maid’s corpse and shouted.
“Right! This is everyone! Let’s go over what we know!”
“Now then, Mr. Alibaba! Please, tell us about the victim and the time of the incident!”
“Yes, all right. First, the woman’s name is Rio. She was the mansion’s head maid. Several minutes ago, she let out a sudden scream, and Wataru discovered her here, collapsed on the floor. The front door, by the way, was still locked, so the criminal hadn’t escaped using that route.”
“I see...” Résistance nodded to herself, looking very solemn about the whole situation.
“Wataru, this has turned into something quite serious...” Aria said, concerned.
Wataru once again wore the expression of a Nio when he heard the worry in Aria’s voice. He opened his mouth to speak, and proclaimed: “Fear not, Aria! This is a difficult case... but I shall solve it!”
Wataru thrust out his chest and shouted this with complete conviction!
“I swear on my honor as a hot-blooded detective!!!!!!”
Here we have witnessed the explosive birth of Hot-Blooded Detective Wataru! Will he be able to successfully puzzle his way through the mystery of this case!?
“Now then, we must verify everyone’s alibis!”
Wataru shouted again as he looked carefully at the faces of everyone in the room!
“First! Mr. Alibaba! At the time of the incident, you were speaking with me in the drawing room!”
Alibaba trembled with fear as he nodded to confirm this! “Y-Yeah, that’s right.”
“Then we have Aria and Résistance! Both of you were of course sitting next to me at the time of the incident!”
The women both agreed to this statement! “Yes, I was.” “Obviously.”
“Lastly! Ms. Mira! At the time of the incident, where were you and what were you doing!?”
“Um... I was washing dishes in the first floor kitchen......” Mira managed to answer, despite her quivering fear!
”Huh, okay, okay...!”
It was at that very instant that Wataru realized something!!
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!? The only possible criminal here is Ms. Mira?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Indeed! At the time of the incident, Wataru, Aria, Résistance, and Alibaba had all been in the midst of their negotiations in the drawing room! They couldn’t have committed the crime! By process of elimination, the criminal was undoubtedly the alibi-less Mira! It was indubitably undoubtable!
But Wataru shook his head firmly from side to side!
Hold up! Hold up, me! A cute, pretty young lady like Ms. Mira would never kill someone! There’s gotta be another possibility here!
As always, Wataru remained a hot-blooded fighting teenage boy from Japan! There’s no way he could accuse a young woman of being a murderer!
Think! Magic exists in this world! Would it be possible to use magic and kill someone from outside the mansion!?
Having come up with this convoluted explanation, Wataru approached the corpse and began searching for the cause of death!
“Do you see anything, Wataru?”
“Hmmm... Well... Huh!? What’s this!?!?”
Wataru discovered two small puncture wounds on Rio’s neck!
Could this be... stab wounds from someone hitting her with an icepick, twice? No, the wounds are too small... These were made by teeth, or fangs, proving that she was “bitten”......! Likely a cat...... no, I mean, a snake!
While Wataru was racking his brain for an explanation, Aria unexpectedly started up a new conversation!
“Oh, by the way, Ms. Mira—you wouldn’t happen to hold any special qualifications now, would you?”
Why the hell would she ask something like that at a time like this???
Wataru was confused! Confounded! Con-combobulated!
“Um, well, I am actually licensed as a first-class snake charmer.”
Why the hell would she have such an incredibly specific license like that???
Wataru was utterly beside himself with bewilderment!
Uh, this clearly means it’s her, right!? Ms. Mira clearly controlled a snake and murdered the head maid, Ms. Rio, by having it bite her, right!?
But Wataru was still unable to accept this! He shook his head in total denial!
No, it can’t be! That was too simple! There’s no way figuring it out would be this simple! This must be a red herring! There must be another suspect!
“Well, young Wataru? Have you found something?” Alibaba asked Wataru, furrowing his brow!
“Whaaa!? Um, yeah......!”
What do I say!? Ms. Mira is clearly the killer! But how is that possible!? We’re barely a third of the way into Chapter Four, and we’ve already identified the culprit!? Surely we’re moving too quickly through the plot here!? Maybe I should prolong this whole scene, and then spend the next chapter describing how I solved the case!?
Wataru couldn’t help but feel that things were moving too fast, both in terms of the case and of the plot itself! He needed to slow things down! However, he was at his wit’s end trying to think of a way to draw out this scene!!
Yeah, this is too much of a pain in butt! I’m done thinking about this any longer!!!
“The criminal is! Ms. Mira!!” Wataru pointed directly at Mira, his face again contorted into that fearsome Nio scowl!
“What!? M-Me!?”
Mira looked completely shocked at this accusation and clapped one hand over her mouth in disbelief!
Alibaba was also surprised by this turn of events! “H-How can this be!? Young Wataru, you believe Mira is the culprit!?”
“Allow me to explain! At the time of the incident, Aria, Résistance, Mr. Alibaba, and I were all in his room, so we couldn’t have committed the crime!”
“Well, yes...... hm?” Alibaba was a bit taken aback when he heard it put so plainly, but seemed convinced! “Oh, I see! The only one who could’ve committed the crime at that point was Mira!”
Wataru gave him a firm nod!
“Yes! Only Ms. Mira is without an alibi! Further, on Ms. Rio’s neck, there are two puncture wounds, as if she was bitten by something!! This is likely proof she was bitten by a snake!”
Aria’s jaw dropped in shock as she recalled what Mira had just told her!
“Ms. Mira, you... you told me that you are licensed as a first-class snake charmer!”
“Huh. I get it. Mira controlled the snake, made it attack Ms. Rio, and she died... Excellent work, Wataru!” Résistance was thoroughly impressed by Wataru’s bold logic!
...Surely anyone could have figured that out!!
Wataru insulted everyone in the room! But only in his mind! And this is an isekai novel!! Everyone knows that all of the side characters have shockingly low IQs whenever the protagonist comes on the scene!!!
“Is that t-true, Mira!? Did you kill Rio!?” Alibaba demanded! He had broken out into a cold sweat!
Mira stared straight down, and her shoulders began to tremble!
“......Heehee...... Heh heh heh...”
“What’s so funny!!”
“AHAHAHA! To think that my crime would be discovered so quickly!”
Her head snapped up, and all could see she had an insane smile on her face! The sweet and pure persona she’d had just moments earlier was gone! No longer a pure young lady, now she was a pure villainess!
“Yes! It was I who killed her!” She showed not the slightest regret for her actions as she revealed all!
“Why would you do something like that!?!?”