Kirigiri Novel Book 2

Chapter 6- Part 2 An Offering to the Detective

"Uuu... he- he's dead?"

Mifune asked in a muffled voice.

Nanamura and Kirigiri entered the room and walked towards Toyano'oh. The two detectives acted quickly as expected. After putting on her black gloves, Kirigiri touched Toyano'oh's body to confirm his death. The two of them skillfully carried out the work of confirming the conditions of the crime scene.

"A few hours have passed since his death, and the cause of death was neck strangulation."

"Same as Chage-san..." I whispered.

"He was already dead when I entered the room last night." A voice said from behind.

I looked back, and Minase is standing in the corridor with his arms folded.

Mifune is obviously hostile towards him and glared at him fiercely. No wonder, since despite her desperate cries for help, Minase, who had the 'Detective Rights', did nothing.

"I heard strange noises from next room, and I felt a little concerned and came to take a look, partly because I wanted to try the master key. The time was... about 3 AM, I opened the door and saw that gramps has died. Nothing has changed since then, and the doll was already placed here. After that I went back to my room to sleep."

"Strange noises... like, something being dragged?" I asked.

"That's right... maybe. No, what made me more concerned at that time was the groaning sound."

A groan!

Speaking of which, I think I remember hearing that myself.

My room and Minase's room sandwiched the room where the murder scene is. In other words, the strange noises Minase heard was likely the same as the one I heard.

Then could it be the groans of Toyano'oh's when his neck was being strangled...

I suddenly felt scared when I thought about it.

Was the rustle sound that of the body being moved? The position of the corpse is exactly the same as Chage's. From this point of view, it's very likely that the murderer had deliberately arranged them this way.

Why was it necessary for the criminal to deliberately position the bodies like this... It's a real mystery.

"Minase-san." Kirigiri suddenly said. "When you entered this room, did you see anyone else's footprints in the hallway?"

"Footprints...? No, didn't notice at all."

The only traces of footprints on the corridor were the ones that went back and forth between Minase's room and Toyano'oh's

room. Considering Minase's testimony, we can only assume that these are Minase's footprints.

Apart from that, there were no other footprints, which proves that no one else came out of their room last night.

"Minase-san, are you the murderer?" Yozuru offered to say.

Sooner or later someone would have say this sentence out loud. "W-why me?"

"Because you're the only one who got in and out of room '302'."

"Wait, it's true that I have a master key from the 'Detective Rights' in my hand. But I'm not the only one who has a master key, the murderer also has it, right? It was the murderer who killed gramps."

"And where did that murderer come from?" "How should I know!"

"Last night I spilled water on the corridor with my Kirigiri-chan." I interjected in the conversation between the two of them. "If someone had walked down the corridor last night, they would've definitely left footprints. However, the only footprints that were left were the ones Minase-san left when he went to Toyano'oh- san's room and when he went back, that's all."