“Well, the reason I’ve gathered everyone is nothing else. My father’s will, which should have been in the safe, is missing.”
“Missing… oh, is that true, Eijiro-chan?”
Mukashino-san put his hand on his shoulder.
Eijiro-san nodded weakly.
“Yes, and you see, losing the will right after inheriting my father’s position would look bad, so…”
“Ahh, I see. You called a detective because you don’t want to file a police report. That’s a wise decision.”
With a meaningful smile, Mukashino-san looked at us intently.
“This little lady is the detective? In our era, the image was either a dandruff-covered man or a portly middle-aged man with a pipe. What good times we live in now. I thought you came from a concept café.”
“Mukashino-san, staring so intently is rude.”
When scolded by Adeno-san, Mukashino-san shrugged.
“Oops, sorry, sorry. Changing the subject, concept cafés are surprisingly good. Maids, shrine maidens, even ninjas! The shrine maidens distribute flyers while doing makeshift purification rituals… isn’t that admirable? I thought I’d like to go once.”
(What is this person talking about?)
It’s completely unrelated, but his storytelling manner makes both Koyomin and me impressed.
“…”
In contrast, lawyer Arima-san remained silent since his introduction. If you add them together and divide by two, you’d get just right—definitely divisible.
If this continues, Mukashino-san’s talk show will go on, so the considerate Koyomin brought us back to the main topic.
“By the way, Lawyer Arima put the will in the safe, but were there any suspicious points at that time?”
Lawyer Arima pressed his glasses with his right hand and quietly spoke.
“No, nothing in particular. I believe the situation at that time was recorded by that security camera.”
Arima-san pointed to the aforementioned security camera.
Following the security camera discussion, secretary Adeno-san prepared a tablet.
“We have the footage from a little before Arima-san stored what appeared to be the will envelope.”
Adeno-san carefully showed us the downloaded camera footage. Mukashino-san provided commentary like he was watching a baseball game.
“Oh, so this handsome fellow is me. I shouldn’t have touched the safe at all.”
“Yes, after that, until the president and I checked inside the safe together, the president, myself, and Mukashino-san entered and exited several times, but no one touched the safe.”
“Did anyone else appear in the security camera footage?”
“We couldn’t confirm that any other person was seen in the president’s office.”
I see, so that means…
(One of these three people is the culprit?)
What I was thinking in my head, Mukashino-san said out loud.
“Hmm, so the culprit is probably among us?”
Hey hey, this person says even difficult things straight out. This is also very much like a typical uncle.
While I was thinking somewhat prejudiced thoughts, the beautiful secretary Adeno-san called a halt.
“No, that’s not necessarily the case.”
“…What do you mean?”
Lawyer Arima asked while adjusting his glasses.
“Actually, I just heard about this. Two days before opening the safe, the surveillance camera was frozen for about an hour.”
“Froze?! The camera?”
When I quietly asked, Koyomin taught me with a “pathetic” expression.
“In other words, it couldn’t record, and the camera image remained stopped.”
“A still image? Wouldn’t that be noticed immediately?”
In response, Eijiro-san apologized and explained.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“Sorry, I forgot to mention it. I also just heard from the security personnel. Apparently, the security camera has gotten old, and once or twice a week, for about an hour, the screen would freeze and couldn’t record footage… According to the security guard, ‘Since people don’t frequently go in and out normally, we were slow to notice.'”
Eijiro-san operated the tablet and showed us the frozen screen in question. Yeah, at first glance it just looks like no one’s there. This is understandable to overlook.
Koyomin, who saw the screen, also nodded similarly.
“I see, this is understandable to overlook… However, if that’s the case…”
“Then the culprit might have timed the crime for that hour? There’s also the possibility of an external culprit!? Whoa!”
That would be troublesome—I want the culprit to be among these people! If it’s an external culprit, my job as a mind-reading detective would be almost nothing—actually, I’d definitely be baggage.
While I was agitated, secretary Adeno calmly explained the situation.
“That’s also possible. But only four people including the president can open the safe, so…”
“What time was it frozen?”
“Just last Saturday. Around this time.”
“I see. By the way, where were you all?”
Instead of me, who was flustered, Koyomin asked about their alibis. What a capable assistant—no, sister!
When checking alibis, some people get angry saying “Are you suspecting me?” but these three people kindly told us.
“That day, including myself, these four people were at a restaurant discussing the future. Management policy, personnel, the schedule for announcing the new system, and various other matters…”
Adeno-san told us their alibi while looking at her notebook.
(Schedule for announcements… maybe a press conference? Big companies are tough… no, more than that…)
This isn’t the time to be impressed—she said something quite significant.
“All four of you? Doesn’t that confirm it was an external crime?”
“Hahaha, that might be the case,” said Mukashino-san.
Normally, that would be the conclusion. But Koyomin seemed to notice something and whispered in my ear.
“Don’t be rash, Kanako.” whisper
“Rash? Who’s got a rash!?” whisper!?
“…”
I’m getting quite the stare, but I wonder why.
“There are no signs of the safe being forced open. Only these four people can open it. Then we should suspect some kind of alibi trick—isn’t exposing that your specialty?” whisper
Being whispered to so rapidly tickles my ear, but since she’s a cute sister, it’s okay. Oh, I completely forgot while indulging in pleasure.
(Ah, that’s right, I’m a mind-reading detective.)
I pulled myself together after remembering something important.
(Heh heh heh, well then, this is where I, “Mind-Reading Detective Oba Kanako,” make my entrance.)
That’s right, no matter how elaborate an alibi trick they’ve concocted, if I can read minds, I’ll know who the culprit is.
Moreover, this time it’s an easy job of “finding a note.” If I can just read where the will is hidden from the culprit’s mind, it doesn’t matter what kind of trick they used or whether there’s evidence or not. That is, if the culprit is among these people.
(I’m sorry. I’m sure you worked really hard, tampering with surveillance cameras and carefully executing your well-thought-out trick.)
To smoke out the culprit, I began speaking in my usual suggestive manner.
“Well, from what I’ve heard so far, I’m starting to understand.”
“What, you already know who the culprit is?”
Koyomin’s reaction was deliberately exaggerated. But this kind of response is important.
I let a smile play at the corner of my mouth as I paced around the president’s office.
“I haven’t reached a definitive conclusion yet. However, I’ll just say that you can’t hide anything from me.”
Of course, I don’t know anything about the culprit or the trick. But if I say it with such loaded implications, even innocent people would get anxious.
(And if they’re the culprit, even more so. Well then, let me start with Mukashino-san.)
Like listening carefully, I peered into his mind.
“Wow, as expected of a great detective.”
[Is the culprit here? But this is awfully fast. There’s a possibility it’s a bluff. But is there any need to bluff in this situation? I don’t understand, but I hope they find the will quickly.]
(Oh, he’s “innocent.”)
However, despite appearing carefree, he seems quite cautious and sharp. As expected of someone who worked at a major advertising agency.
There’s quite a gap, but I remained completely calm. Well, I’ve seen countless times where appearance and inner self are completely different – as a mind reader, this degree of difference doesn’t surprise me. Not to brag or anything.
(How many seemingly incompetent but actually capable people have I seen… Well then, next would be Adeno-san.)
I turned my attention to the beautiful secretary Adeno-san’s mind.
“Hmm, can’t hide anything huh”
[Could it be that she’s found out I’m actually sixty years old but lying about being thirty-four?!]
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
