Chapter 23 Chapter Six

"Sorry to bother you, did you forget to mention the ninth reason?" Grandma's sudden answer surprised Ryoko.Grandma, who used to clean up the dishes in the kitchen, has been standing beside us for some time. "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on the conversation of the guests. When I overheard the conversation in the kitchen, I thought it was very interesting, so I accidentally said it..." "It doesn't matter, what's the ninth reason you mentioned?" The Chamber of Secrets Collector asked incredulously.Grandmother smiled softly and said:

"It's for the reason of calling the guest—the Collector of the Chamber of Secrets. As long as the Chamber of Secrets incident occurs, the Collector of the Chamber of Secrets will definitely show up to solve the puzzle, right? Maybe the prisoner is here to meet the Collector of the Chamber of Secrets. For this reason, Prisoners lead to locked room murders." "—To see me?" A rare—surprised expression appeared on the face of the Chamber of Secrets collector. "Why do you want to see me? I have no value that people want to see." "No, there are plenty of people who want to see you. For example, I am."

Liangzi opened his mouth wide and said, "Oh? Why does grandma want to see the Collector of the Chamber of Secrets? Does Grandma know the Collector of the Chamber of Secrets?" The Collector of the Chamber of Secrets stared at his grandmother with a smile on his upright face. "I remembered. You were from that time——the witness of the secret room incident that happened at Liuyuan High School for Girls in Kyoto in the 12th year of the Showa era. Your name is Ayuta Chizuru, right?" Grandma flushed.A momentarily shy grandmother with a certain girlish vibe. "—Yes. You remember. I am already so old, but you still haven't changed at all..."

"Oh, what do you mean? Grandma has seen the Chamber of Secrets collector before?" "Well. Forty-eight years ago, in the 12th year of the Showa era. In the girl's school I was studying, a music teacher was murdered in the secret room. At that time, the secret room collector appeared, and the incident was resolved in a short while. .” Forty-eight years ago, that was when my grandmother was sixteen years old.Ryoko recalled the conversation in "Goldfish Soup" a few days ago. Grandma said that the first person she found handsome was when she was sixteen.That man is very clever, and he can solve puzzles that no one can solve at once.He is the Chamber of Secrets collector.

Then, Ryoko was taken aback.If the incident was resolved in the 12th year of the Showa era, it would not be surprising that the Chamber of Secrets collector is now over seventy years old. However, no matter how you look at his appearance, he is around thirty years old. "That incident was the same as this one. A pistol was used as the murder weapon. The secret room is a 'locked secret room', right? By the way, it was your uncle who directed the search of that incident. How is he now?" "Showa 45th, the year the Osaka World Expo was held. He passed away. He missed you very much and kept saying that he wanted to see you again."

"Really, he has passed away... He trusted me very much and was a very considerate person. It's a pity that we can't see each other again." Ryoko had heard that her grandmother's uncle was a policeman.Ryoko had met him a few times when she was a child, and he was a straightforward and unconventional person.Ryoko remembers that when meeting him, he often sighed, "It looks exactly the same as Xiao Qianhe when he was a child." Although Ryoko had passed away when he became a policeman, Ryoko felt some kind of incredible bond from choosing the same profession.That person has seen the Chamber of Secrets collector before.

The grandmother looked at the Chamber of Secrets collector and said, "What do you think of the ninth reason? For example, someone wants to see you again as much as I do, so what's the reason for creating the Chamber of Secrets and calling you here?" "What do you mean 'like me'? Don't say such weird things, Grandma. Make it look like you're a prisoner." "Oh, maybe it's true." Grandma laughed mischievously.Ryoko looked up to the sky and sighed, "Please don't pretend to be good at this time, grandma", while detective Fujimoto was speechless.

The Chamber of Secrets collector said with a smile: "Unfortunately, I think the ninth reason has also been denied. The tricks used in the Chamber of Secrets this time are extremely ordinary, and they were solved by the police before I arrived. In this way, we There is no reason to come here. If the prisoner really wants to call me over, he must at least create a difficult decryption room that will not be unlocked by the police before I arrive. Judging from the elimination of the secret room, the prisoner is right to some extent. There are researches on the secret room. So of course the prisoner knows that this time the secret room is an extremely common trick."

"However, even if the police unlocked the secret room, you still came here, didn't you?" Detective Fujimoto interrupted. "That's because the police solved the mystery of 'how to create a secret room', and the mystery of 'why to create a secret room' is still there, so I came here. As long as the mystery related to the secret room still exists, I will show up However, the prisoner should not be able to expect me to come here for this reason. Therefore, if the prisoner wants to see me, it will definitely make the trick in the secret room more difficult to solve. However, this is not the case. Therefore, the ninth reason was denied. In the end, What remains is the eighth reason—the behavior accompanying the process of creating the secret room is the real purpose of the prisoner. So, what is the real purpose of the prisoner? This is what we are going to discuss now.”

"Oh, my point of view was rejected, what a pity." Grandma said gently.The Chamber of Secrets collector smiled and continued: "What I care about is the simplicity of the tricks actually used in making the chamber of secrets. Put a string over the handle of the crescent lock, and use the paper feed roller of the word processor printer to roll the string to pull up the handle of the crescent lock—this Although the only 'using a word processor as a power source' in this extremely mundane trick is trendy, it is not worth trying to eliminate the mystery to challenge the police. Eliminating all kinds of mystery in advance shows that the prisoner has confidence in his trick. Have absolute confidence that the police will never be able to solve the riddle. That's why the prisoner eliminated the possibility of using cheap solutions to solve the secret room. However, the tricks used by the prisoner are almost as cheap as those other solutions Yes. In order to complete this trick, will the prisoner do everything possible to eliminate the ambiguity? The prisoner has two actions to eliminate the ambiguity. The first is to threaten the victim to swallow the key. The second is to let the police become the body finder. Not to mention the second point, the first point is quite difficult. To make someone swallow the key, you must point a pistol at the other party and threaten the other party to swallow it. It is also necessary to confirm whether the victim has actually swallowed it, and let him Open your mouth to confirm. After all, there is no guarantee that the other party will swallow it honestly, so this process may take quite a long time. The actual secret room is obviously a simple trick, but it is the first time to eliminate this trouble. I feel very unnatural about it. In addition, after comparing the elimination of the first place and the second place, I found that the effects of the two are actually repeated.”

"Repeat the effect?" Ryoko tilted her head in puzzlement. "The prisoner used the key to lock the door, and quietly put the key back when the body finder left the scene in a panic—in order to eliminate the above mystery, the prisoner made the victim swallow the key. This is the first behavior to eliminate mystery. The prisoner hid At the scene, take advantage of the time when the discoverer of the body left the scene in a panic and leave quietly—in order to eliminate the above ambiguity, the prisoner asked the police who would not panic to be the discoverer. This is the second act of eliminating ambiguity. The second elimination The premise of incomprehensible behavior is that the police must remain on the scene all the time. If the police remain on the scene, the prisoner will not be able to quietly put the key back. That is to say, as long as the police act as the discoverer, the prisoner will quietly put the key back. Putting it back', the first kind of interpretation is automatically denied. As long as the second action of eliminating other interpretations is carried out, there is no need to specifically perform the first action of eliminating other interpretations." "...From what you said, it is indeed true." "From the above analysis, we can see that the behavior of eliminating ambiguity in the first place is quite laborious and extremely unnatural, and it can be said that it is completely unnecessary. Why does the prisoner have to do this kind of behavior? Here, I try to put the thinking Thinking in reverse: 'Since the first act of eliminating ambiguity is unnecessary, it means that the prisoner has not actually performed the first act of eliminating ambiguity', how about thinking this way?" "—didn't the prisoner perform the first act of disambiguation?" "Yes. Try to think that the prisoner never threatened the victim to swallow the key." "So why was the key found in the victim's stomach?" "Since the criminal did not threaten the victim to swallow the key, the victim swallowed the key himself." "—the victim swallowed the key himself? Why did that..." "There is only one reason that can be imagined. That is, the denunciation of the prisoner—the so-called 'death message'." "—dying message, does it mean the important message before dying?" "When the victim was pointed at by the prisoner, in order to inform the prisoner, he immediately swallowed the key. As long as the forensic autopsy finds the key in the victim's stomach, the police will soon know that the victim swallowed the key to inform the prisoner. Yes, then you should be able to lock the prisoner. The prisoner should have understood the victim's behavior at the time, but he couldn't stop his crime. If he doesn't kill him now, the victim will definitely report to the police. So, even if the victim is known Swallowing the key, the prisoner still pulled the trigger. After killing the victim, the prisoner thought about how to deal with the death message remaining in the victim’s stomach. It was impossible to reach into the mouth and take out the key in the stomach, and It is impossible to remove the key by dissection. The answer that the prisoner thought of was to create a secret room. In this way, the police can think that the prisoner used the key to lock the door and quietly put the key back when the body finder left the scene in a hurry. This incomprehension is what made the victim swallow the key. In order to hide the fact that 'the act of the victim swallowing the key is a message of death', the prisoner gave that behavior another meaning, which is 'the criminal's act of eliminating incomprehension' .In order to make the fiction of "prisoner's deranged behavior" more real, it is better to eliminate more than one kind of deranged behavior. Therefore, the prisoner decided to make an anonymous phone call to act as the Metropolitan Police Department, so that the police thought that the prisoner was trying to eliminate' Hiding at the scene, taking advantage of the time when the discoverer of the corpse left the scene in a panic, leaving quietly. This is why the police acted as the discoverer. In the process of creating the secret room, the real purpose of the prisoner is to eliminate the incomprehensible behavior, so it is said that the prisoner The reasons for creating the Chamber of Secrets fit the eighth reason." "So, who is the news of the death reported to? Who can be reported by swallowing the key?" "Death news is something that can be interpreted in multiple ways. From absurd to plausible, it can be interpreted in any way. Locking prisoners based on death news alone is equivalent to building a house directly on soft soil without laying a foundation. So, I want to continue reasoning without considering the meaning of the death message itself. After the result of the reasoning is locked on the prisoner, I can confirm the name of the person indicated by the death message in the form of an answer. Okay, let’s start When the victim was pointed at, he swallowed the key immediately. Where was the key originally placed? The place where the key was kept——the wooden box on the side table next to the entrance door, right? Like that If the victim is pointed at the gun, then he goes to the porch to get the key. However, the prisoner cannot allow the victim to do that kind of action. If the prisoner finds that the victim has taken an unexpected action, he will definitely It should be stopped immediately, so that the victim's action of taking the key should be prevented. Then, we can imagine that the key was already in the victim's hand before he was robbed. Therefore, the victim can When he was robbed, he quickly swallowed the key into his stomach." "—is the key already in the hands of the victim?" "Yes. Then why is it already in the hands of the victim? Generally speaking, it is not right to walk around with the key at home. There is only one possibility that can be imagined. The victim was preparing to go out at that time, or the victim was killed The victim has just returned home, so the key is in his hand. If he is about to go out, the situation is that the victim has just opened the door with the key when the prisoner arrives and points a gun at him. Another possibility, if In the case of returning home just now, the criminal also entered the entrance at the same time and pointed the gun at the victim. If not at the same time, the victim should put the key back in the box in the safekeeping place before the criminal pointed the gun at himself That's right. Then, which of the two possibilities is the most likely? In the latter case, the question of "Why did the prisoner point the gun at the victim immediately when the victim entered the entrance?" It is better for the prisoner to walk into the cafeteria and point a gun at the other party with his back turned to him. It is easier to threaten the other party with a gun than to let the victim face his back. So there is no reason for the prisoner to urgently Be nervous and watch the victim point the gun at him as soon as he enters the entrance. Then, if the victim does not point the gun immediately when he enters the entrance, the victim will put the key back in the wooden box on the side table and walk into the cafeteria , when the criminal pointed the gun at the victim, the key was no longer in his hand. That is to say, the victim could not swallow the key. Another possibility, the former, the victim was about to go out, and the prisoner tried to prevent the victim from going out , it’s not surprising to point a gun at the victim at the entrance. The prisoner came here with the determination to kill the victim, and he probably didn’t want to postpone it because the victim went out. Thinking about it this way, the former situation is more likely— —When the victim picked up the key and just opened the door, the prisoner came to visit and pointed a gun at the victim in order to prevent the victim from going out.” Ryoko was at a loss.The Chamber of Secrets collector is like a magician who catches a rabbit out of a hat, directing his reasoning to unexpected places. "So, where is the victim going? Here we need to focus on the victim's sweater and cotton trousers instead of a jacket. Why do you go out wearing only a sweater on a December night?" "Was the victim wearing the jacket when he was shot and did the inmate remove it afterwards?" "That's impossible. The front part of the victim's sweater was stained with gunpowder scattered from countless muzzles, right? If he was wearing a jacket when he was shot, the fine gunpowder should have stuck there, and the sweater shouldn't be there. There will be a lot of traces of gunpowder left." "Ah, yes..." "The victim was ready to go out wearing only a sweater on a December night. From this, it can be known that the victim planned to drive a car with heating to go to a warmer place." "—a warm place? Where is that?" "Sentou." "—Sento?" "Yes. It is said that the victim liked to go to the Sento for bathing, and he often took a car to the Sento of "Goldfish Soup" five minutes away from his home. When going to the Sento, it is understandable not to wear a jacket. After all, entering the Sento It’s very warm, and as long as you’re driving on the road, you don’t need to wear a jacket. More importantly, you must keep your clothes in the closet when you go to the Sento to take a bath, and a bulky jacket will hinder storage.” Ryoko recalled the cramped closet in "Goldfish Soup". "Sento said there were other supplementary clues. The wallet in the victim's belt contained only 1,000 yen and some small change, but the 10,000 yen and credit cards that a wealthy victim would naturally put in were not in it. The other On the one hand, five 10,000 yen bills and credit cards were found from the drawer of the victim's desk, and it is conceivable that the victim himself moved them from the wallet to the drawer for unknown reasons. However, if the victim intends to go to the Sento If so, you will know the reason why you moved the 10,000 yen bills and credit cards to the drawer. After all, the wallet is kept in the Sento closet with the clothes, and the Sento closet is a shoddy thing, and it is easy to be opened. .The victim put the minimum amount of money in his wallet because he was worried that the money would be stolen.” "I see. If you plan to go to the sento, the wallet problem will be solved. But what does it mean that the victim is going to the sento?" "What time does "Goldfish Soup" close?" "At midnight," Ryoko replied. "It takes five minutes for the victim to drive from his home to "Goldfish Soup". If you think about taking a bath in the Sento for at least 20 minutes, at least twenty-five minutes before "Goldfish Soup" closes—11:30 At 15:00, the victim had to go out from his home. And the prisoner arrived when the victim was about to go out, so the time when the prisoner arrived was before 11:35. Because the estimated time of death of the victim was After 11 o'clock, the crime time can be reduced to 11 o'clock to 11:35. Among the three suspects, the person who does not have an alibi during this time period is the prisoner. Before 11:40, she spent time with the cadres in the company, and then took a taxi and returned home at 11:40. Before 11:40, her alibi could be issued by the company cadres and The driver came to confirm. Toshiro Shibayama was going to perform emergency surgery, and he was in the operating room until eleven o'clock in the evening. After that, he held a summary meeting with the nurses, and took a taxi back home at half past twelve. Half past twelve In the previous time, his alibi could be confirmed. On the other hand, Takagi Tsuki went home after attending the Metropolitan Assembly at nine o'clock in the evening, and spent it alone after that. During the critical time period, she did not Alibi. Therefore, she is the prisoner. Takagi Tsuki came to the victim's house between 11:00 p.m. She said, "Since I have to go out and come back another day", Takagi Tsuki, who was determined to kill, did not intend to postpone it. She pointed the pistol she brought at the victim and forced the victim into the room. Then she asked the victim to open the safe and snatch the victim. Threatening information. The victim felt that his life was in danger, so he could tell the criminal even if he was killed and swallowed the key in his hand. Takagi Tsuki probably understood the meaning, but she couldn't do it anymore. The crime was stopped and the victim was shot. After that, she began to carry out covert work. First, put the bath products carried by the victim back in their original places, and put the car keys back in the wooden box on the side table at the entrance to hide the victim Preparing clues to the sento. Then, in order to invalidate the victim's denunciation, she used the printer of the word processor to create a secret room. Although this is a very common trick, it has the ability to pretend that the victim used words before being killed. The false appearance of the processor, the advantage of concealing the fact that the victim intends to go out. Finally, at 10:30 the next day, she made an anonymous phone call to the Metropolitan Police Department to declare the crime, pretending to be "the elimination of incomprehensible behavior in the secret room." Ryoko, Detective Fujimoto, grandmother, and uncle all applauded in unison. The Collector of the Chamber of Secrets has beautifully locked the prisoner by examining the grounds of the Chamber of Secrets. The grandmother said with great emotion: "Since I heard your reasoning in the 12th year of Showa, I have been hoping to hear your reasoning again for the past 48 years. It is not in vain that I have waited for so many years. Really Great reasoning." The Chamber of Secrets collector nodded deeply. "Thank you for your compliment." At this time, Ryoko noticed that she still had a question. "However, why was the key left in the stomach able to report on Takagi Tsuki?" "Try to fit the word 'key (key, kagi)' inside the word 'stomach.'" "—Oh? Put it in? How do you put it in?" "The word 'stomach' is decomposed into 'field' and 'month'. Let's put 'key' in it. The prisoner's name should surface." Ryoko drew those words in her mind, and couldn't help crying out. "Field", "key" and "month" - takagituki. Finally, the translator would like to apologize to everyone. In order to allow everyone to "just read this article without looking up the dictionary" to solve the puzzle, the translator deliberately changed the name of one of the irrelevant characters, that is Ryoko One of my cousins, the one named "Ruoyue" in the text.In the original text, she is "Atsuko (atuko)". The reason why she changed her name to "Tuki" is that everyone should already know the reason, right? It is inappropriate to modify the original text without permission, but I have my own translation ideas, please understand. In addition, in the text, the annotations of "key" and "key" are deliberately made to achieve the same purpose. In order not to make everyone feel strange, I deliberately reserved the original text for the word "sento" that can be translated. I made annotations to distract everyone from the sense of disobedience to the annotations. There are also several places where the annotations are not necessary. It can be said that it is the translator's "notes with no inside story"! Finally, thank you all for reading this far.thanks for watching.