“He said it was just a pet!” said Chihori when she returned to Mito’s room. “Apparently, there was a mistake, and the spider ran away.” She shook her head sadly. “He said it shouldn’t be a problem, since pets were allowed on the cruise, and I wasn’t able to say anything back… I’m not sure what it says in the contract, exactly. So I contacted the captain and told him.”
“If people are allowed to bring pets like that on board, how can anyone relax?!” Mayuka cried, rubbing her eyes. Kobayashi heartily agreed.
“This voyage has just been one thing after another,” Chihori wailed.
“O-oh, how did your request go, Mito?” Hinata asked. Mito was gazing at the sea from the balcony. “What did Mr. Soga say?”
At that, Mito came back into the room in a huff and exploded into anger. “He completely refused. I’ve never met such a horrible, cruel person!”
She gave the side of the bed a powerful kick. Everyone else ducked their heads.
“He has another fine violin called a Guarneri and another Stradivarius on board,” she continued. “He was bragging that he’d have a Russian violinist use them. He pulled them out of a large storage case and showed them off to me…but said that if I want to play one of them, I have to bring back the stolen Stradivarius. But if I still had that one, I wouldn’t need to borrow another…”
“That’s it!” Chihori said, her face brightening. “I was so focused on Mr. Soga that I forgot. This ship has its own musicians on staff. They play at theater shows and fancy dinners. We should ask them if they’ll let you borrow a violin.”
Mito’s face clouded over. “But they’re professionals. If they lend me an instrument, it will affect their own work and practice.”
“I see… You wanted to borrow one of Mr. Soga’s instruments because no one’s using them…” Chihori’s shoulders drooped.
Then Hinata stood up from petting Chris. “I-in that case, we just have to find the missing Stradivarius. I wanted to ask you something, Chihori… If someone really did put a sleeping drug in the pomegranate juice last night, who do you think would’ve had the opportunity to do it?”
She blinked, then looked at the others in turn.
“It wasn’t me,” she said. “Will you believe me?”
Everyone nodded firmly. Kobayashi crossed his arms and said, “If we can’t trust you, Chihori, then all hope is lost…”
“Th-thank you… I took the order on my smartphone and headed to the restaurant. By the time I arrived, the juice had already been placed on the counter. Thinking back, the kitchen was very busy, so anyone could have walked up to the juice without suspicion. I didn’t suspect a thing; I checked the receipt, grabbed the juice, and came straight to this room. It was only one deck away, so I took the stairs. I didn’t see anyone…”
She stopped short and mulled this over.
“Actually, now that I think of it, I believe I passed that man—the tarantula owner—on the stairs…”
The rest all looked up and gasped.
“But I don’t think we were close enough for him to slip anything into the drinks. Also, I believe Ms. Hasekura flagged me down when I was leaving the restaurant. She was full of praise for your performance, Mito. But she uses that cane for support, so I don’t think she could have tampered with anything.”
“Indeed,” Kobayashi said, folding his arms and tilting his head in thought. “Then it was probably added while the drinks were still on the counter…”
On a whim, Hinata asked, “Chihori, when Miss Touko stopped you last night, did she smell like perfume?”
Chihori looked at him, mystified. “You know, I didn’t notice. That probably means she didn’t, right?”
“Isn’t that what I said before?” Mito snapped.
The intercom rang, and a voice said, “This is the captain.”
Chihori opened the door. The captain, who was very tall, ducked down so he could fit into the cabin.
“Pardon me… Chihori, I visited the room of Mr. Numata, the tarantula’s owner. We agreed that the spider should be kept at the kennel with Liz. If left with Mr. Numata, it might escape again. I’m sorry that you all had to endure such a fright. You have my apologies.”
“And…and Liz is fine with the…uh…spider?” Chihori asked, her eyes wide.
“She rushed over excitedly and said the word ‘cute’ at least a dozen times.”
“I see, I see,” Kobayashi said, nodding to himself. Hinata agreed that it sounded like the sort of thing Liz would say.
The captain continued, “I also noted that Mr. Numata’s room is kept quite warm. Hot air spilled out of it when I opened the door. He claims he gets chilly easily, but…”
“Oh, that’s right!” said Chihori. “When I went to talk to him, I thought it seemed stuffy inside. But I was so preoccupied with the tarantula that I didn’t take much notice of it…”
“We can’t have a guest overusing the AC or the heater, and it could cause health issues for him, as well. Please check in on him later.”
“I will,” Chihori agreed.
With that out of the way, the captain turned to Mito next. “Now, excuse me, Mito, but I have a different matter to discuss with you…”
“What is it?” she asked, looking him right in the eyes.