Touhou Project - Detective Aya Shameimaru

The Beauty of A Murder - Chapter 1

My name is Aya Shameimaru, a crow tengu, and a reporter for the Bunbunmaru newspapers that me and my other fellow tengus wrote.

There are less interesting stories these days, and I'm in the middle of flying, searching for one wild event for the newspaper.

But then, at approximately 12 PM, it started to rain, and I had to land down somewhere nearby, but below me is the Forest of Magic, and there are only 2 houses there. One belonged to Marisa Kirisame, the ordinary magician who wore clothes like that of a witch.

Marisa was not the best individual around, as she often steals things from her friends and called it "Borrowing". Many people are starting to get annoyed at this.

And there's Alice Margatroid's house. Alice is also a magician, and a Youkai. She has the ability to control dolls, and seems to have an obsession with them.

I looked down, and I found out that I was landing towards Alice's house. I knocked on the door, which she answered a few seconds later.

"Ah, Shameimaru Aya. Is there a problem?"

"I know this could be a burden to you, but umm, can I stay inside until the rain stopped? I can't fly with these wet wings."

"Sure. Come in, and feel free to look around. I'll make some tea."

I noticed that Alice is acting somewhat strange, and her appearance is a little frightening.

Her skin is pale as if she didn't see the sun for weeks, her eyes are dull and had bags under them. She looked more like a zombie as a result.

I decided to shrug it off, and walked inside, admiring the dolls she had in display.

"May I?" I asked, raising my camera.

Alice nodded.

I took pictures, of the dolls. There were many variations, but most of them were her combat dolls, and there are only a few just for decoration.

I continued taking pictures until I stopped in front of a large, life-sized glass display case with a doll inside.

"Huh... This looked familiar... Wait."

I widened my eyes, and opened my mouth as I tried to hold back from screaming.

"M...Marisa!? Why is she..."

It was indeed the Ordinary magician, but her eyes are lifeless and she doesn't appear to be breathing.

I raised my camera and took a picture. I don't know why, but this is probably going to be a big article... But first, I need to know what happened to her.

I looked around the display room, which is more like Alice's sitting room for clues. On the floor, I found a small bottle which is from Eientei.

I picked it up, and said "Empty... I wonder what's inside this before it got so."

I need to ask Alice about this. Coincidentally, she is already carrying a kettle of tea and sets it down on her table. I went over and took a seat.

"Alice, thanks for the tea... But, what happened to Marisa?"

"Oh, that? I found her like that this morning. It's horrible, you know.... Even more so, than this cold I'm having for the past few days!"

She sniffed.

"Where did you last time talked to her?"

"Yesterday we had a chat... And in the end I said goodbye. That's all you need to know."

"I see." I took out my notepad and pen from my satchel and wrote down her statement.

Now, about finding out her cause of death.

"Alice? Won't you mind if I take her to the Scarlet Devil Mansion? I think Patchouli might know what did this."

"Hmm? I don't know, Aya. But please, it's already obvious, we don't know who did it. It could be anyone."

"Nothing is unsolvable here in Gensokyo."

Alice broke down in tears. She really lost her...

I took this moment to sneak over to the display case and snatched her body, before leaving the house. Coincidentally, the rain stopped, and I flew with her body towards the mansion. I landed in front of the gate.

"Oh, Aya! How are you... Wait, is that Marisa!?" Meiling gasped.

"Yeah. She's been murdered, and I need to know what caused this."

"A... Alright then, I'll open the gates. Head on inside."

- A few minutes later...

I sat down in front of Patchouli's library, leaning against the door. I also lent my camera to her so she could later give me the results without me having to go inside.

"Hey, Aya. Come inside, if you want your results."

I went in, and asked her "So... What happened to Marisa?"

"She got taxidermied."

"Taxidermied?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Taxidermy. It's basically a method to preserve one's corpse, by cutting their body open and literally turning them into stuffed decór."

"I... I see..."

"Anyway, let's get to the point. I thoroughly inspected her body, and I found many bruises on it. It seems that she was beaten unconscious by someone."

"Then, what happened?"

"She woke up. That is, when the murderer taxidermied her."

"Wait, so you say that Marisa was taxidermied alive!?"

"Yeah. I estimated that she might have woken up from her unconscious state as she felt the pain of her body being cut open. By my observation, only a person who is a master in sewing can do this."

"So the murderer is a master at sewing? I'll have to remember this." I said as I wrote it down on my notepad.

Alice herself is a dollmaker, so it's obvious if she's amazing at sewing things up... But I couldn't believe that I had to make her a suspect since she's the one who found Marisa's body.

Moreover, I need to gather more clues... But then, Patchouli stopped me before I walked off.

"Wait, Aya. You also gave me that bottle. I knew what was once inside it. It's a medicine for colds, but Marisa herself doesn't have a cold."

"Then that means it belonged to the culprit." I noted this again, and yes, I remembered Alice saying that she had a fever for the past few days.

I left the mansion, and decided to go home to Youkai mountain, to rest a bit.

- The next morning...

Things went around my mind. Who killed Marisa? I mean, she had many people who disliked her thanks to her kleptomaniac behavior but should they do something as far as to kill her?

"Pardon me, Aya-San!" A girl with white hair and wolf ears shouted out.

"What is it, Momiji?"

"Patchouli wants to have a word with you. She says that she knew where Marisa was murdered!"

- To Be Continued