The breakfast was held by just the same previous drugging dinner’s rule. It was also the women who would prepare the meals, and the men only need to wait while sitting on the chairs of the dining table. Why …? Maybe, because we didn’t want to further worsen the already worst relationship. But, the atmosphere was still utterly unchanged. The women were secretly glancing to the others on the entire progress of it, to see if any of them tampers with the foods or drinks. The men were also not so relaxed as before, occasionally peeked at how the cooking was made by them. The overall feeling was … extremely sullen and tense.

I deeply sighed. I was lucky to still be able to breath.

After the just randomly made breakfast had been completed and ready to serve, Kaede received one from the dispirited Elena before offering it to Kazuki. But, he didn’t hold his hand out. So, she just placed it on the table, in front of him. After a while, the refused man suddenly grabbed his portion, took it off to his room without excusing himself, and hard-slammed the door, making the entire atmosphere even more stressful. Clearly, he wasn’t in the mood to have it with us. We would just let him be for the moment. I understand his feeling. Though he is an easygoing person, but he is also easily aggrieved if someone didn’t trust on him, especially by his own friends. No, anyone would be. At least, I still faintly heard an apologize coming from that offended friend of mine as he was leaving. I would try to talk to him later. That is what a friend supposed to be, right?

Kaede still looked as though trying to be strong. But no one could, mostly.

The strained breakfast was so quickly finished because we just utterly ate it. Now, we were regrouping in the drawing-room again to continue the discussion of that leftover topic. I felt strange toward Fionna. Though she was also being suspected for not having any alibi at all for those two murders. She still showed no change in her countenance nor attitude whatsoever. Was she thinking that because she isn’t the murderer herself, she doesn’t need to be worried at all? Or that no evidence could proof her so?

No one could prove her existence after the dinner. She has even less alibi than Kazuki. She was the least one. Yet still ….

The discussion was leaded by the twins again with the help of Elena and ‘that’ Fionna. Even now, Megumi was also starting to blend in with them. I never know that this rich family daughter is so bold, and ever interested in this kind of mystery. Kaede, Chika, Ryouta and I just participated in the information provider supporting department.

I glanced at my wristwatch that had shown at around 9.15 a.m. Kazuki had gone for more than 1 hour already. I whispered to Kaede beside me that I was worried about him. She immediately agreed to come together with me. We, then, excused ourselves to fetch for our other gang member.

In the middle of our way to Kazuki’s room, Kaede weakly called me.

“Um, Yoru-kun?”

“What’s the matter?”

“You really … do believe in Kazuki-kun, right?” Kaede asked worriedly.

“Of course! He is also one of our glorious gang members, right? He-he. We have already known each other for so long that we are just like siblings. We will continue to trust each other until the end! Don’t think too much, Kaede-chan. He will be fine,” I smiled soothingly. In fact, even Kaede still has that weak side of her no matter how strong she usually is. We are humans after all.

“Yes, you are right. Thank you …. Thank you so much, Yoru-kun!” Kaede finally smiled. But, she also needed to wipe her tears away. I think to myself, all of these shouldn’t be happening to us, moreover in our reunion. But why? No matter what, we couldn’t escape from it anymore. We need to accept it. It had happened.

I slightly supported my powerless friend until we reached to Kazuki’s room. But, his door was already opened a bit, maybe by the previous slam. We don’t think of the need to call out for him anymore, and just straightly entered into his room. But what was being shown in front of us was truly never able to be imagined by us.

We found Kazuki collapsed on the floor, not moving at all. Foams were coming out from his still open mouth. And instead of bloods, there were so many tiny white pills scattering around him.

Kaede instantly screamed awfully. The others were summoned immediately.

“Extended bad deeds? Sniff, sniff,” smiled by the two of the most same ones in adorable rhythm.

Just like the last time again, the twins were dealing with this case with undisturbed manners. The police was searching around the inside of the room, and the doctor was examining around the outside of the body.

“Poisoned to death … in silence,” Kaigo was looking at the foams on the corpse’s mouth.

“Struggling so much … before too,” Ringo was looking at the scratches on the floor around the corpse.

“No …! It … can’t be …,” I was still extremely shocked, couldn’t believe at the fact that had really happened in front of my very eyes. I didn’t even have the strength to stand up anymore, and kneeled down on the same floor that my best friend was lying death.

My warm tears flowed unconsciously. My mouth had forgotten how to close.

Kaede was curling up on the floor, crying in horror. This time, it was Chika who was consoling her mind crumbled sister.

“By those medicines … in his coat?” Kaede asked while still covering her face with both of her hands.

“Maybe that is the case,” Ringo said as she was carefully flipping over the coat that Kazuki’s body was still wearing.

“It seems that Kazuki has gotten an illness that requires him to take this kind of pill each morning to control it,” Kaigo said as he was carefully analyzing at one of the pills scattering on the floor.

All remainders were silenced, except the two persons who was working seriously inside the room, until Megumi suddenly exclaimed.

“I know who the murderer is!”

“What!?” Ryouta was shocked, and so do the others.

“Ho-oh? Another intriguing idea is coming from this Detective Megumi?” Kaigo grinningly asked.

“Ho-oh! It seems that is the case. Can’t wait for this Detective Megumi’s wild guess again!” Ringo grinningly answered.

The rich and fashionable detective pointed her right index to the one she accused.

“Sasaki Kaede, you are the one who had killed Kazuki!”

… what!!?

Everyone, except that emcee, had had their eyes wide opened, especially the twins.

The weeping young woman was, of course, utterly taken aback for what Megumi had so suddenly shouted at her. She automatically defended herself.

“Wha … what do you mean!? I don’t know what you are talking about! Why would I … kill Kazuki-kun, my … my best friend!?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The detective who was still discontented by the reaction of the one she accused as the perpetrator continued to charge on her, giving her reasoning out.

“When all of you were at beach from morning till lunch time yesterday, I didn’t join with you people because the weather at that time was too hot for me. So, I was only strolling around the garden until I saw you returned back into the mansion alone ….”

Kaede gave her excuse back as soon as she could, while she was still crying and confused.

“I was only going back … to get medicines for Elena-chan who was sick!”

The previous patient nodded, and still focused on their conversations.

But the witness ignored everything.

“But then, you weren’t aware my presence, and I also happened to want to get to the inside already. You could say that I had changed my mind, and followed you from behind instead, while also deliberately didn’t want to let you notice me. Because, I was so curious after seeing you sneakily watched around before entering through the main entrance. I followed you up secretly until you got into Kazuki-kun’s left opened room, which is this room, and watched you from the outside before entering into the room beside it that is coincidentally happened to be my room. I saw you tampering something on Kazuki-kun’s coat. That coat!!!” Megumi cruelly pointed at the newest death body.

Kaede went pale.

The blonde detective continued to corner her suspect further.

“I didn’t say much before because I don’t think of any malicious things would happen just from that small peculiar action. But now as I think of it, you are the only one who have the chance to replace the medicines, and poisoned Kazuki-kun. Also, connecting to the last night’s murders, just because you have the alibi for the first and second murder. You only have the highest crime level of suspicion for being the murderer’s partner. By using the other kind of drugs that you are so familiar with, you had made them unconscious at the dinner for easier kill afterward by the mastermind.”

Kaigo went on.

“Because Yamao is too strong to fight with alone in a normal situation.”

Ringo went on.

“Because if you just poison killed them at the dinner, it would immediately expose that the murderer is one of us.”

The accused young woman was too weak to defend herself anymore after all of those sudden shocks.

“I … I didn’t do … any ….”

“Then why did you say earlier … as though you know …,” Kaigo cut in, left something.

“… that those scattered pills were … from the victim’s coat,” Ringo cut in, filled something.

“While we really couldn’t … see it directly before flipping it over?” the twins finally finished their perfect reasoning, playfully.

“I … I just …!”

“Kae-nee … Kae-nee will never …!” Chika came forward, and defended her precious big sister. Ironically, it was exactly the same as when I was trying to defend this already lying cold and stiff friend earlier.

“For now, we need to lock her up. Is there a room that doesn’t have any windows? Just a locked door for its entry, if possible. The sturdier, the better,” Elena asked to the owner in cold manner.

“Elena!!” I protested at her. I was agitated for how cruel she was for behaving like that toward Kaede. She is our best friend since middle school. How could she bear to lock her up like … a criminal? We are … the gangs, right? The detective, the suspect, the victim, and me. It couldn’t be a fate, right?

I was hindered when I was trying to say another word.

“There is no other way, my Yoru-kun,” Ringo delicately covered my mouth with her hand so suddenly from my behind. When did she get there?

“My Yoru-kun, just look at your Kaede right now,” Kaigo said as he was delicately pointing at the suspect over my shoulder as well.

I looked at my other living gang member whom I was trying to protect so badly. Though we were still in the same room, it felt like there is an immeasurable distance between us. This was the first time I had ever had this kind of feeling since I know her. She looked like … another person, a never meet stranger, pale and trembling as she hugged herself. But, I still believe in her. She wouldn’t have kill Kazuki. There is no way she could kill our best friend. At least, she, would never be.

“Ryouta-kun?” Elena continued to ask for her previous request after she saw me calmed down a bit.

“Ye … yes, there is a room on the basement. A room for keeping miscellaneous things, the storage room,” Ryouta said reluctantly.

“All right, that will do,” Elena assented, but she still looked unfocused.

Afterward, all of us were really going down to the basement through narrow stairs, leaded by Ryouta from a usually locked door. It is one of the secluded areas of the first floor that is also the location of the mysterious door which had been drawn on Takuma’s map. He turned on the light switch on the side of the wall to shine up the entire dark tunnel with an over bright fluorescent lamp as the sunlight really couldn’t reach this hidden space. Chika and I supported Kaede to remain stand up. She was still so heavily shocked that she couldn’t even say a word, looked very distracted, and just barely walking toward her cell inside the mansion of our reunion by her very so-called friends.

The basement is just as it is called, doesn’t look as clean and elegant as the first and second floor. An almost completely different world. Because, as Ryouta had said before, the main purpose of this floor is just for keep things inside the storage room. But, there are three doors in front of us, and all of it were closed at the moment.

The leader stopped in front of the center door that is made of heavy metal with just a little barred space to look into the inside. He said without facing at us, weakly.

“This one is the storage room.”

The twins nodded satisfyingly.

Ryouta, then, proceeded to unlock the intended door with the same key which he had used for the basement’s door just earlier. After its heavy clink was heard, Ringo nonchalantly gave an opened hand to him, beckoning to ask for that most crucial thing. She got it as she wanted, and Ryouta really looked unconcerned anymore. He must be feeling extremely guilty and heavily responsible as he is the one who arranged this party, which had become the horrible scenes of all those murders even though it really isn’t in his control at all. And even now, his mansion was being used as a quarantine instead for one of our ex-classmates in that reunion. This really is a real tragedy, and a totally hard blow for an honest and straightforward man like him.

Furthermore, everyone should have been suspecting him the most for his current position. But, why would he destroy his own mansion’s reputation, then? Right, I would just reply like that if someone ever asked out loud.

“The key for the door that leads to the basement and these three rooms in here is the same.”

“Thank you,” Ringo said.

“Very appreciated,” Kaigo said.

The inside of the room was dark, and its air was warm and damp. All remainders of us entered into the room after the leader had turned on the old and dim orange light from the little switch on the wall, just beside the door. The room is, in fact, pretty big. But, everything stored inside was too messy, and untidily stacked together, randomly. There were many irregular tall racks that were filled with so many mixed things and cardboards, which made it looked like a maze that covered everything except on its narrow path. These really are the things which shouldn’t be seen by the guests like generators, water supply system, tools for the gardening and repairing, and so many other household utensils and spares. This basement is also partly used as a wine cellar.

Elena suddenly said.

“We must supply her with a phone.”

“As if there is something will happen to a murderer like her,” Megumi scorned.

But Elena was serious, and Ryouta assented.

“Yes, we should do that. There are two other rooms besides this storage which are used for female and male servant room. Though they aren’t fully renovated yet. But I think its phone should have already worked.”

“Which one should we take?” I asked impatiently.

“No different really. Just take the left-side room’s phone then. Because the storage door is nearer to it.”

The permission had been granted, and even the owner of the mansion himself had helped me to wreck the phone out of its housing in the left servant room. Then, we carefully arranged its wire, and lined it to the storage room through those two doors’ narrow bottom space against the floor. It was barely long enough to put the phone near the back side of storage where Kaede could actually sit down, and lean against the wall. Ryouta had also left her with a note containing every places’ intercom phone numbers, including our rooms, beside it. We tried to memorize it, or even write it down on another piece of paper also from his small book, in case it is also needed by us. Lastly, Chika insisted to support her subconscious sister alone to rest on there, with very much effort because of her smaller and weaker body. But, our muted friend still didn’t say of anything.

These numbers are … just like a code of the list of prey, easy.

“Please call us if you ever need anything, Kaede-chan.” Elena further reminded her.

We were now exiting the storage room, and I was slightly concerned that I couldn’t even see her anymore from the door, blocked by the things stored in those big and tall racks. I had done everything I could do for her at this moment. None of us are allowed to stay behind with her. Chika and I could have persisted. But, after we saw the indescribable loneliness and unwillingness in Elena’s almost teary eyes, we changed our mind. She must have had her own reasons.

But, what could it be? Is there really any?

“One last thing … before we left the convict …,” the twins suddenly asked seriously to the mansion owner.

He turned to them, everyone too.

“There really is … no CCTVs around here, right?”

He answered weakly.

“No.”

When Ryouta did manage to answer this time, it was the twins who were in quiet right now. But, I could read from their relieved silence. They were just offering their gratitude to someone. Would it be … just too easy for them?

I wanted to ask them for more information, but my other-self had said otherwise.

Then, the room was locked up by the blue twin with the key that the red twin had previously confiscated from the master of this mansion. Now, we really exiled the convict alone in that humid and isolated just made prison underground.