[○×△※──!!]
Whether he’s excited or not, he’s rattling off in his mind in Akita dialect at quite a rapid pace. He looks calm but is internally quite flustered.
If this were the old me, I would have lamented about these words in his mind: “What the heck is this?! What language is this?!” But…
(I understand! I can understand! I can understand Akita dialect too!)
Though I have a foreign language allergy, once I learned it was Japanese, my fear diminished, and thanks to Ugohonjo-sensei, having mastered Akita dialect, I can easily read his mind.
When Koyomin asked “How about it?” I gave her a small peace sign.
And so I began the full-scale deduction show, or rather, mind-reading show.
“Yes, first, about how the culprit tampered with the surveillance camera and stole the will…”
“That’s interesting. A master of disguise? Or a skilled hacker?”
I shook my head at Mukashino-san’s question.
“None of those. In fact, there’s no need to even think about it. Because…”
“Because? What?”
“Because the will was never put in the safe in the first place. Right, Lawyer Arima?”
“Eh?!”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Lawyer Arima at once.
Though he was trying to maintain composure, his pupils behind his glasses were moving restlessly.
“Don’t say such ridiculous things. You can see it in the camera footage, look.”
“Indeed, the part where he puts the will in is captured on the security camera,” said Eijiro-san.
However, being able to read minds, I can see through that trick as clear as day.
“I see, I see. Ahh, so that’s it.”
“I see?”
“Ah, I’m talking to myself.”
I was surprised by the unexpectedly simple method…
I revealed the information I got from Lawyer Arima’s mind as if I had deduced it myself.
“It’s a simple story. He just pretended to put it in the safe and took it home with him.”
“W-what?! No, but it doesn’t look like that…”
Yeah, I agree, Mukashino-san. It certainly looks that way to me too.
But–
[○×△※──]
Lawyer Arima seems to be concerned about the “flaw” in his own trick. I see, so that’s the inconsistency caused by the trick.
I immediately revealed the “flaw” of the trick I had obtained, as if I had found it myself.
“Look. The difference between the current Lawyer Arima and him in the camera footage. That’s the answer to the trick.”
When I prompted them, Adeno-san immediately noticed the inconsistency.
“First, the jacket is different – it looks like a jacket with a bit more room in the size.”
As expected of a beautiful mature woman, a sixty-year-old who’s sharp about fashion nuances.
“Hmm, the hand pressing the glasses is the left hand, so it’s reversed? Also, he’s pressing them the whole time… ah.”
Oh, Mukashino-san seems to have noticed.
As if to demonstrate that answer, I showed them by acting it out near the safe.
“It’s a simple story. First, he temporarily places the will inside the safe.”
“Aha, and then?”
Koyomin’s interjection – I can’t stand silence, so this is really helpful.
“Then, he half-closes the door, and the moment it becomes invisible, he slips the will envelope into the left sleeve of his jacket… it’s oversized with plenty of room, so it would fit right in.”
“What?!”
Good reaction, Eijiro-san, I can reveal the trick with good tempo.
“And to keep the envelope from falling, he keeps pressing his glasses, keeping the sleeve opening upward… closing the door with his free hand.”
“Indeed, he’s pressing his glasses unnaturally the whole time. I thought it was a habit, but usually he uses his right hand, yet in the footage it’s his left hand… and the sleeve, now that you mention it, it does look strangely thick.”
Mukashino-san, who has a good eye for people, points out the inconsistencies precisely. Lawyer Arima has gone silent.
“Pressing his glasses while closing the door with his dominant hand, then taking out the will somewhere without security cameras and putting it in his bag.”
Lawyer Arima starts making suspicious movements, pressing and not pressing his glasses.
“N-no, such accusations…”
“By the way, he confirmed the camera angles and blind spots when chatting with a security guard he was friendly with at the guard station… I suppose.”
“What?!”
“…I see, hearing that the camera freezes about once every week or two, he came up with this trick. After pretending to put it away, if he didn’t go to the president’s office afterward, he would almost never be suspected. If he was lucky, he could direct suspicion toward Mukashino-san or Adeno-san… I see~”
“You were thinking such things?!”
Adeno-san’s contemptuous gaze. That’s harsh.
Meanwhile, the sharp Mukashino-san supplements the deduction with his “realization.”
“Come to think of it, Arima-kun, after you put the will in the safe, you unnaturally avoided entering the president’s office.”
“Eh, ah, that was… because I was busy…”
“Not knowing when it might freeze… you avoided going near the president’s office to be extra careful not to have suspicion directed at you.”
The cheerful old man character faded, and serious mode Mukashino-san emerged – this is probably his true self.
Cornered by the supplementary explanation, Lawyer Arima, with beads of sweat on his forehead, argued back.
“No, that’s not true! D-do you believe such accusations?!”
“So you insist you put it in the safe?”
And then Lawyer Arima started shouting as if giving up.
“Y-yes, that’s right! I-in the first place, I have no reason to steal the will! There’s no motive, no motive!”
Lawyer Arima repeatedly shouted about motive. His serious, stern expression was nowhere to be seen – anxiety seeped through his expression, and he was sweating and breathing as if he had been running… it would be impossible not to suspect him.
Having come this far, just one more step. I decided to corner Lawyer Arima relentlessly.
“Arima-san, we have also grasped your motives.”
“Wh-what did you say!?”
Of course, I hadn’t grasped anything. I was going to confirm it by reading his mind from now on.
(Now then…)
I peered into lawyer Arima’s mind. As usual, it was full-throttle dialect, but thanks to Ugo-Honjō-sensei’s lessons, I could understand it as clearly as reading a book.
“Hmm, I see, this is…”
“I see?”
Mukashino-san questioned the words I had unconsciously spoken aloud, so I smiled slightly and deflected.
“Oh, my apologies… However, what a pathetic motive this is.”
“Pathetic? What have you grasped, detective-san?”
As usual, I drew things out dramatically before voicing the motive I had just read from him.
“Arima-san, you’re in debt, aren’t you? Quite considerably, too.”
“Wh-why do you know that… ah.”
Oh my, that reaction could be taken as a confession.
Furthermore, the cold stares from everyone around pierced through him. Yeah, it’s like being on “pins and needles,” though I don’t know what kind of castle “mushiro” is.
I delivered another blow to him as he shrank back, revealing the reason for his debt.
“You got into debt from horse racing, and to pay it back, you got involved with underground casinos.”
“Ehhh! N-no! That’s completely false!”
“In desperation to raise money, you remembered that there was a memoir or something in the will that former president Keitarō had entrusted to you, with instructions to ‘only show it to my son.’ You broke that promise and looked inside, hoping there might be a scoop you could sell to a weekly magazine…”
“Wh-wh-what!? No way!?”
“By chance, there must have been content written that couldn’t be made public. When you saw that, you thought to use it as blackmail material or sell it as a scoop to a rival company at a high price. In any case, to clear your debts… wait, it would sell for that much? Wow.”
“…Kanako, your impressions are leaking out.”
Oops, that’s not good. I was surprised both by the amount of debt and by the price rival companies would pay for scoops about accounting fraud.
Like that, I spoke as if I had investigated, while actually translating information I had gathered from Arima-san’s mind, full of Akita dialect… This work is like simultaneous interpretation in a way.
“Um, the highest price would be when the public’s attention is focused. You were planning to sell to rival companies or weekly magazines at the timing of the new president’s official inauguration and the announcement of the new structure. Until then, you would hide the will and, while giving advice to Eijirō-san, conveniently—”
Lawyer Arima, realizing that everything was exposed even without understanding the reason, lost his temper and shouted “Shut up!”
“That’s… such a thing is nothing but wild delusion! This is merely armchair theorizing! Wh-where’s the evidence? Do you have evidence!?”
Lawyer Arima’s dialect was starting to come out—he must be quite flustered. But evidence, huh.
As if this was within my expectations, I grinned wickedly.
“There is no evidence.”
“What!?”
Since I boldly declared “there isn’t any,” everyone except Koyomin was taken aback.
I continued with an fearless attitude.
“It’s true this might be armchair theorizing, but the request is merely to find the will.”
“Wh-wh-what…”
“However, lawyer Arima, since you clearly stated you ‘put it in the safe,’ if it turns out to be in your bag or room, that would be solid evidence of theft… of course, it’s not there, right?”
“O-of course not.”
I pressured him, cornering him into a situation where he couldn’t make excuses.
“We got his word,” said Koyomin.
I let a smile play at the corners of my mouth, pleased that things were going well.
(Well done, Kanako! After cornering him this much, lawyer Arima must be thinking about where the will is hidden!)
Now for the climax. I would read lawyer Arima’s mind and find out where the will was hidden.
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