Kirigiri Novel Book 1

Chapter 3: Murder at the Sirius Observatory 2, part 3

The van went up a snowy mountain road with no buildings in sight, let alone any people.

"Hey, you. Can we talk for a sec?" I asked in a low voice to the girl sitting next to me. "Do you know why we're in this car?"

She just barely tilted her head as she turned towards me. "Are you a detective?" She nodded.

"Really? I sure haven't heard anything about any middle school detectives going to my school..."

"I only recently transferred to my current school," she said, opening her mouth for the first time. She looked up at me with wide eyes that stared right through me. Though her skin was pale, the cold had made her cheeks slightly red, as if she were wearing blush. It was cute.

"Oh, okay, a transfer student... But wait, a middle school detective from the same school as me getting the same request as me... That's a weird coincidence."

"A strange coincidence indeed," the drunk old man said, turning around to face us as soon as the car started driving.

"Hey Uncle Badtouch, quit making passes on little girls when you're drunk. And don't give me any 'jokes' about cops owing favors to detectives. You don't even deserve to be a detective," the man in the suit interrupted forcefully. "Sheesh. Honestly. Drunkenly creeping on kids... I can't believe we're in a white van right now. Is this some kind of knockoff candid camera show?"

"Look who's talking, greenhorn." The drunk old man's expression suddenly became serious. "I've been a full-time detective for twenty-five years. I'm not just some loudmouth drunkard."

"Oh, well, maybe you should look at this. This might sober you up." The man in the suit pulled out some kind of photo ID card from an inner jacket pocket, and showed it off with a smirk.

Eigo Amino: DSC #367

"My name's Eigo Amino. My Detective Shelf Collection number is 367—so what's yours, old man? Don't tell me you're not even registered."

"Hmph," the drunk old man snorted, before starting to rummage around for something, sticking his hand in different pockets. Finally he found the card he was looking for, and showed it to Amino.

Kou Inuzuka: DSC #943

"N-Number 943...? You... No, you couldn't be... Number 9, Class 3? R-Really?"

"This ain't no fake ID," the man called Inuzuka said, taking a swig from his bottle.

"I-I'm so sorry! I had no idea that you were so high-class... Please find it in your heart to forgive my many transgressions!" Amino suddenly bowed his head.

It kinda felt like I was getting a glimpse of the sordid adult world here. Still, I never would have guessed that that drunk old man would be Class 3, either. They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover...

"What's Class 3?" the girl next to me asked. "You don't know?"

"No," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Is it that remarkable?"

"As far as us detectives go." I took out my own Detective Library membership card from my wallet to show her.

Yui Samidare: DSC #888

"You don't have a card like this?"

"I only recently registered." She took a notebook out of her bag, and slipped a card out from between the pages.

Kyouko Kirigiri: DSC #919

"Whoa, you're Number 9 too. Number 9 in middle school... You've really got your work cut out for you there," I said in surprise.