Kirigiri Novel Book 7

Chapter 4 Part 3- Samidare Yui

I already left behind the coldness of the ice and snow touching my skin, and the sound of the flames burning behind my back. The only thing I'm worried about is– her lips are quivering slightly.

"Let's go to a place with a roof for now? Building B isn't far from the main building, we won't have to worry about fire there..."

"No, I won't take long. Listen to me, and if you think I'm wrong about something, please tell me."

Kirigiri did not move from the snow.

I can feel the cold and firm will from that small body. I nodded in agreement, that's all I can do.

"So far, we have seen several locked room murder cases in the 'Black Challenges', yet the conditions of this case are particularly difficult even among them. The windows were locked from the inside of the rooms, and all the doors were locked... there was no sign of anyone going in or out from outside on the snow, and there were no footprints on the floor in front of the door. I watched the hall when the first killing happened, and I can confirm that no one used the door to get in and out."

"Thinking back on it... I still feel it's impossible for the people inside to commit the crime. In addition to the locked room conditions at the crime scene, everyone was handcuffed and chained together. If anyone tried to approach the crime scene from the outside, they wouldn't have been able to because of the chains."

"Yes. The presence of the handcuffs and chains makes the mystery even more difficult, so we have to put that matter aside and consider it later."

"So then, how are you going to unveil this locked room mystery?" "The key to solving the mystery was lying around in plain sight." "Lying around?"

"It's the PET bottles, that was the only clue left at the scenes."

"Yes, but... the person who denied the method of creating a locked room by clamping the PET bottles on the handles of a windows was you, right?"

"Yes. If the PET bottles were used to create the locked rooms, it could have fallen under the window, but in the second locked room, the bottle wasn't inside."

"Then, why are you saying that's a clue?"

"The PET bottle was showing us what happened that night."

"...What happened that night?"

"It was originally in the refrigerator, and Yukimura-san drank half of it. The lid was tightly screwed on, so she may have planned to drink it later. In this case, what would you normally do with the PET bottle?"

"Put it back in the fridge?"

"Yes. Or– if you want to drink it quickly, you would put it nearby, or maybe you just think it's a hassle to put it back in the refrigerator, so you just put it close to you. Like the headboard of the bed, on the dresser. In any case, don't you think it's strange that the PET bottle was near the entrance of the room?"

"Umm... well, if you ask me... I think it's hard to imagine that Yukimura-san herself had some kind of intention in leaving it lying around there."

"If that's the case, who moved the PET bottle near the door of the room. And for what purpose?"

"The perpetrator who invaded the room didn't notice the bottle on the floor and kicked it off, or something?"

"Of course there is that possibility. But that would mean the perpetrator had already invaded the locked room. How did the perpetrator get inside?... The mystery can't be solved like that."

"Who else but the perpetrator can knock over the PET bottle?"

"The bottle fell on its own. If you think so, you can see through the mystery of the locked room."