The Case-Book of Kakashi Hatake

The Murders of Silver Blaze {Part 7}

"This proves nothing expect that Silver Blaze headed in this direction. Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Hatake stated drolly as his eyes slid over to observe my overly smug expression.

I held my tongue, biting down the urge to point out that since the horse's tracks led to the Wagarashi's house, it added to the theory that they were behind the turmoil happening in Kuromoor.

Another part me was quietly whispering that Hatake was probably much more intelligent than I, and that trying to prove him wrong might just be a fool's errand.

Cutting across the moor to the road, Hatake began to make his way towards the Wagarashi's front door. Unlike the Wasabi's more oriental styled house, this was an imposing three stories of soft brown bricks. The country manor cast a long shadow in front of it, darkening the ground at our feet and giving it an ominous aura. I almost audibly gulped as Hatake rapped the knocker once forcefully.

There was shuffling on the other side of the door, and an elderly man opened the door slowly. His shoulders were bowed with time, the traditional suit of those in service hung loosely on his skeletal frame. He led us into a large parlor, and Hatake and I remained standing as we waited for Kyuuroku Wagarashi.

My flatmate turned to me with an unreadable expression, "You know, while I greatly enjoy your company, there are some things that I have to do alone."

I was utterly flabbergasted; that had seemingly come out of nowhere. "Huh?"

"Have you ever played shogi? It's a type of chess, and I've found that the surest way to victory is entangling your opponent in a trap before they even know it's been laid. Crime solving is like shogi. Do you understand?"

Before I could respond to the cryptic declaration, the room was occupied by a man of about fifty with a black mustache gracing the top of his lips and short hair of a matching color. His suit was finely made and of the darkest green, and there was something slightly off-putting about how he carried himself and the ferret-like way that his eyes appraised our appearances.

He and Hatake introduced themselves, and the consulting detective turned to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and curved his eyes up into the semblance of a smile, "Dr. Watanabe, would you mind going to Inspector Gai for me and informing him that I found Silver Blaze? Also, ask him to procure a list of all the wagers placed on the next race; I'll join you at the inn after I'm done here."

I opened my mouth to express my growing confusion at the situation when the hand on my shoulder squeezed slightly, telling me to just go with it. I schooled my expression and nodded, "Of course."

Hatake led me past the frozen Mr. Wagarashi to the door, but stopped me right before I could leave, gesturing subtly with his head to our host's noticeably paler face and winked. I smiled and blinked to indicate my sudden understanding of the situation before walking out the way we entered.

Outside it was lightly raining, and as I headed down the road quickly, I had an epiphany of sorts about my eccentric, silver-haired friend. He liked assured wins. Just like how he played shogi, he like to set up events to unfold in his favor before his opponent even knew what was happening. He unsettled Ichiro Moya and rattled him to his core simply to make it easier for him to glean the information he needed. And Hatake did it again with Wagarashi by sending me off to the Inspector while the other man was in the room. The consulting detective could have sent me on the errand at any time, but he waited until the suspect was within hearing distance, knowing that it would throw him off. Sneaky bugger, that one.

The rain had picked up noticeably as I walked into the small building in the center of the cramped town next to the inn and across the street from the pub, the police station. To the immediate left of the entrance was a desk with a bored looking constable sitting behind it, and he directed me to the door across from him when I asked for the Inspector.