"The resolution chapter isn't over yet. Yūhain-san's case hasn't been explained. Didn't he also die in the end? What happened to him, let me hear your reasoning."
"...Right." Kirigiri brushed the hair from her cheeks. "The incident began after Kadomi's body was found this morning. Yui-onēsama and I were ordered by Yūhain-san to be locked in our room. Then I... lost consciousness. I drank sleeping pills. There were drugs mixed in Yui-onēsama's thermos."
"But that doesn't prove that I mixed it. It could be Yūhain-san who put it in yesterday."
"Yes. In any case, it's a fact that I was drugged unconscious. The question is, what happened in the meantime?"
"Why was the hall on fire?"
"Yūhain-san used an impermissible method to get the inheritance as soon as possible. He took out the banknotes from the rooms of the dead and burned them. As a result, he finally succeeded in taking out the box from the ice pillar. Inside the box– there was probably only the black card. But for him, there may be some important data stored there. Then he noticed that the handcuffs could be taken off with that card. After that is when he was killed."
"The left eye looked like it was stabbed by an arrow."
"Yes. Judging from the situation, we can assume that he was attacked with the arrow from the front."
"So it was an arrow shot, but... there was no bow anywhere."
"Yes. However, while I didn't find any arrow when I explored the building. I think it was brought in from the outside disguised as something else. For example, a ballpoint pen could have been used as a shaft, and the arrowhead could have also been hidden in an eraser..."
"You mean I brought in the disassembled arrow mixed in with the stationery?"
"Just one possibility."
"What about the bow? Kirigiri-chan, you have seen the items in my backpack many times. You know there was nothing in it that could have been used as a bow, right?"
"Yes, I admit that."
"Then how did I manage to kill Yūhain-san?"
"If you don't have a bow, you can always just attack the victim directly with the arrow in hand... But it's obvious that no matter how much of an opening you had, he would have resisted, he
wouldn't have allowed you to approach him in the first place, since he locked us up to keep an eye on us while he monopolized the inheritance."
"Then it's impossible for me to kill him."
"...If only that's the case." Kirigiri murmured. "Rather, it was only after witnessing his death that I began to suspect that Yui- onēsama might be the culprit."
"...Why?"
"Looking at the body that was shot by the arrow, the first thing that came to my mind was the murder case at the 'Takeda Haunted Mansion'. In that incident, the technique used was to create a big bow and arrow where there was no bow and arrow. The same thing happened here."
"How could... are you saying that I reused the techniques used in the past?"
"If it is an effective killing method, it is not surprising to be used many times."
"Even so......"
"In that technique, the double door was used instead of the bow. Rubber bands were used to connect the left and right doorknobs— although there were no doorknobs here, the bow can be created by using the chains. Place the arrow on them, and if you draw the bow from the direction of the door opening, from inside the room, you can shoot the arrow into the hall."
"Is it really possible to do that? Is it possible to create a bow that is powerful enough to kill a person like that?"
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"If venom was applied to the tip of the arrow, even if it's just a scratch, it can temporarily paralyze the opponent. It is possible to kill a person as long as it connects."
"No, but... do you want to say that I shot that bow? Next to the unconscious Kirigiri-chan?"
"Yes. After all, the only person who can come up with the idea of such a bow is someone who have experienced the 'Takeda Haunted Mansion' murder case."
"Even if that technique was repeated, does that immediately mean I'm the criminal? Wouldn't that be the same technique because it was provided by the Crime Victims' Relief Committee in both cases? Also... aiming to the hall at Yūhain-san from my room is impossible! Because, there was the ice pillar in the center of the hall, and that was an obstacle. Yūhain-san fell on the opposite side of the pillar, didn't he?"
"Up until yesterday, it was indeed impossible. Since the arrow can only fly straight, it would've only hit the ice pillar no matter what, but it was possible this morning. To answer how, because we chipped off the ice pillar to take the black box out, the ice pillar was dug deep enough towards the center that a channel was formed for the arrow to pass through."
"N-not true! I drank black tea from the thermos and passed out with you. What evidence do you have to prove that I'm the murderer?"
"Evidence—"
Kirigiri touched her hair uneasily.
Her right hand is still a little red, which made my heart ache. "The evidence is, the string on that bow."
"String?"
"Something that wouldn't be discovered by anyone. It can be brought to this observatory without looking unnatural, and is long and strong enough to replace a bowstring. Something only Yui- onēsama can prepare."
"Only me—?"
"It's the ribbon."
Kirigiri touched the ribbon tying her hair.
It was a pair on the left and right, but now only the left one is still there.
"If you think about it— when did the organization start to consider using Yui-onēsama, when did Shinsen start to formulate this plan... Even the seemingly unrelated series of events with Johnny Arp and the sniper battle may have also been preparation for purchasing the ribbons."
"Wait a minute, wasn't you the one who chose these ribbons?"
