Stormy Detective Summit -- An Arashi Fan-fiction
“It’s no good. No good at all.”
Katayama Yoshitaro looked up at the western-style mansion in front of him. Holmes, nestled comfortably in his bag, yawned in disinterest.
“Ishizu-san couldn’t come with me… Hiro-nii has to attend that writer’s seminar… Harumi was out with some guy and hadn’t come back home from last night… You’re the only one I can depend on, Holmes.” Yoshitaro gritted his teeth, determined, “This time, I have to go it by myself. I can’t keep relying on other people. I am a respectable detective. I can do this. Yosh!”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Policeman-san.”
“Eek!” Yoshitaro jerked forward, almost dropping Holmes in the process. The cat jumped out of the bag and hissed at the young detective in protest.
“Pardon me, I did¬n’t mean to sneak up on you,” said the very butler-like man with glasses. He looked mighty amused as Yoshitaro blinked at him owlishly. “My name is Kageyama. I see that you responded to our distress call pretty quick. Shall we proceed to the dining hall? Everyone’s waiting.”
Yoshitaro blinked, “Everyone?”
XXX
STORMY DETECTIVE SUMMIT
By: Ami
Crack. Happy crack mixing our five favorite fictional ‘detectives’. You know you want it.
All is fiction, nothing is real, I own nothing/nobody, and I make no money off this piece. Standard disclaimers apply.
XXX
On the far left side of the room, leaning on the wall was an oddball with odd clothes. Bright yellow long coat, bright yellow fedora hat and other stuff he wore that made him look like he had just jumped out of an old hard-boiled detective movie. When Yoshitaro tried to introduce himself, the man just gave him a nod from under his hat, mumbling that his name was Makabe Ryu.
Earphones on, a laptop on his lap, nimble long fingers typing nonstop, and a skinny man attached to his side was another strange-looking man with glasses. Yoshitaro kept trying to get his attention, but even the skinny man attached to his side who didn’t have anything blocking his ears deliberately ignored him. Kageyama helpfully supplied that the glasses man was called Enomoto Kei and his ‘dear friend’ was Take Seiji. And that the three people were the only ones in the house during the crime. Yoshitaro would ask what the crime was (while hoping that it didn’t include gore, blood or dead bodies), but first of all:
“Kageyama-san, why are you wearing bunny ears?”
“Ojou-sama was pretty upset with me this morning, this is her way of punishing me, which is honestly quite futile because I look sinfully adorable in these.” Kageyama cheerfully pulled one of the ear down and waved it at the dumbfounded police, “She does this sometimes, getting unreasonably mad when I tell her she has got the wrong suspect.”
Yoshitaro gulped nervously. “Kageyama-san’s ojou-sama is a police too?”
“Oh, you’re mistaken. I was talking about last night’s getsu-9 drama.” The butler smiled mysteriously, “Anyway, shall I show you the evidence?”
“Um, yes, please,” Yoshitaro lightly noted that Holmes was violently hissing and clawing at Makabe Ryu. He had never seen the cat actively attacking people before, so they must have gotten along really well. “Holmes, would you like to come with me?”
Holmes gave him a brief look before launching on Ryu’s back, earning a loud shriek from the man. Yoshitaro took that as a no.
“Makabe-san, I’m leaving him to you.”
“Why am I in charge of the cat?!!!”
XXX
As he was being led to the elevator to get to the basement where the crime scene was located, Yoshitaro couldn’t help being impressed at his surroundings. The mansion looked large from the outside, but from the inside, it seemed absolutely grand. The furniture are mostly western. Yoshitaro didn’t consider himself smart enough to know if it was tasteful, but they were arranged as such so it wouldn’t seem gaudy. When he looked up the ceilings seemed so far ahead. When he looked around, nothing seemed out of place. Well, maybe except for himself. He looked down at his checkers coat, then up at the butler’s perfect crease-less suit.
“From here, we shall go down two floors to the underground vault.” Kageyama kindly informed him as he pressed the elevator button open. He entered first, then Yoshitaro followed him obediently.
“This house is amazing.” The detective commented cheerfully, “Your ojou-sama must have been an amazing person, Kageyama-san.”
“Yes, indeed she is,” Kageyama chuckled, “This is not my mistress’ house, though.”
“I see this is not---WHAAAT??”
“I was just on my morning walk earlier, then I heard the fuss so I came in to assist those nice gentlemen.”
“Ee?? Wha---eee?? Seriously? But you---I just---I just assumed that you---“
“My mistress is still upset with me, but she might come around after a day. I have the time and I thought, why not? You see I’m the type of person who can just lay around doing nothing all day long…” Kageyama continued blissfully, “At 3 I will be taking a tea break though. You’re welcome to join me, Katayama-san.”
The elevator ping-ed and stopped smoothly. Kageyama stepped out. Yoshitaro was about to follow when the butler suddenly raised a hand and stopped him.
“Careful, Katayama-san. It’s a bit tricky from this point on.”
Before Yoshitaro could even take one step back, Kageyama was already standing upside-down on both hands. Then he leapt forward, landed on one foot, did some rounds of somersaults before doing the grandiose landing and straightening his suit.
“Do---do I have to do that too?”
“How could I let a guest do that? I’m disarming the laser sensors right now.” The butler bent down and slipped a hand around one pillar. A moment later, a few 'pew-pew' noises were heard and Kageyama declared the ground safe for Yoshitaro, who had never been so conscious about his mortality before.
"I intended to turn it off earlier, but I felt bad because Enomoto-san told me he had been busy setting those up all morning."
A few Indiana-Jones inspired traps later, Yoshitaro could finally breathe easy. They entered a room with a rather grand jewelry display in the middle of the room. You'd expect some super-fancy necklace on it, but it was empty.
"Um, is this the place? The crime scene I mean."
"Correct. A most valuable diamond, My Little Sparkly Venus, was missing from this place. And before you ask, its original name was in Arabic. The master bit his own tongue several times trying to spell it so he came up with that name on the spot during one of the press conferences."
"I... see..."
"Now, I shall leave you to collect fingerprints, footprints, DNA and whatnot," Kageyama took a bow with a big smile and exited the room elegantly.
Yoshitaro titled his head in confusion. "He sure knows a lot for someone who just passed by for a morning jog..."
XXX
"So, I have done a preliminary check on the scene... I have found nothing suggesting that everyone had touched the display, and no footprint inside the display room. Well, except for mine, and Kageyama-san's."
"Great, then the butler is the criminal. Can I go home now?" Makabe Ryu started to walk towards the front door.
"No, no, wait," Yoshitaro raised a hand to stop him, "I still need to have conduct an interview with each of you to assure your alibi. Then you should leave me your contact information."
"Wait a minute, am I a suspect? I didn't even step a foot in the basement!" The flashy-hat man protested, "I don't have time for this, I need to go back to my office or Toko-san is going to fire my ass."
"Not to point out the elephant in the middle of the room here..." the skinny man---Take Seiji, suddenly spoke up, "But that old man with bad fashion-sense is probably the most suspicious of us all. He doesn't even have any business to be here. Earlier I saw him tailing some lady with a male escort going down the block, then suddenly he came here running asking to use the toilet."
"O--old man?! Me?!" Makabe Ryu hissed angrily as he tossed his bright yellow fedora away. It magically landed on the coat hanger next to the door. Kageyama looked very impressed, clapping his hands. Yoshitaro followed. "Take that back, brat! I'm not even 30 yet!"
And indeed he was. Young. And handsome. He might be even younger than the rest of them (Yoshitaro was not sure about Take Seiji, though).
“Well, well, I don’t want to point fingers, but those wires sticking out of your hat is kind of suspicious…” Kageyama mildly commented.
“Aa! You’re right!” Yoshitaro marched to grab the hat, a panicked Makabe Ryu on his tail. For a moment it seemed like Makabe Ryu was going to get the hat first, but apparently none of them was as fast as Holmes. The calico cat victoriously sat on his prize on the floor, looking very pleased with himself.
“Good job, Holmes!” Yoshitaro proclaimed loudly, before carefully removing the cat and taking the hat. Makabe Ryu looked officially pissed, knowing the ferocious cat might take his finger off if he even tried to sweep the hat off.
“It’s true! These are wires!” The policeman declared, pulling the wires out of the folds of the fedora, “And here’s the microphone! Someone is listening to us right now!”
“No wonder he refused to¬ take the hat and coat off even though I so graciously offered to hang them for him earlier,” Kageyama with an expression not unlike Holmes’ self-satisfied sneer, “If it’s alright, can I leave his arrest to you, Katayama-san? It’s almost 3 and I haven’t even begun to boil the tea and set the macaroons.”
“Yosh!” Yoshitaro grabbed his cuffs and Makabe’s hands, “Follow me to the police station!”
“Wait! Wait!” Makabe resisted, face turning just a bit pale, “I will tell the truth, don’t take me down to the station! I didn’t steal the diamond!”
“So you mean you haven’t been honest up to this point?”
“But of course my name isn’t Makabe Ryu! You must have all watched Shiritsu Tantei Makabe Ryu, right?! I’m disguising myself as him!” The young man slipped away from Yoshitaro’s grab and proceeded to take off his coat, revealing a pretty normal casual outfit, “My name is Tokita Shuntaro, I am a private detective working for Lucky agency! You can give my sachou a call!”
“Liar liar pants on fire,” Seiji mumbled with a loopsided smile, “Once a liar, always a liar. Don’t you agree, Enomoto-san?”
Enomoto looked up from his laptop and took one of his earphones off. It seemed that he had been paying attention, after all. “I can’t tell if he is lying or not, but I think Katayama-san can give him a full-body search to confirm.”
Seiji sneered, “You always say all the right things!”
“F---full body search---“
Normally Kageyama would consider it absolutely inappropriate to drink his tea while standing up, but the dining table was kind of far away, he had poor eyesight, and he didn’t want to miss a single scandalized expression on the young policeman.
“W-well, if it’s necessary---then---“ For a moment everyone thought Yoshitaro would spontaneously combust from the heat centered on his head, “I---I shall conduct a full-body search on y-you---“
“Fine! But if you find nothing at all, you let me go!”
Shuntaro started to unbutton his shirt and turned to glare at Kageyama, “Butler-san! Show us a room we can use!”
XXX
Yoshitaro opened his eyes slowly. Before his eyes were the elegant high ceilings. He grabbed the thin blanket that had been draped around him and slowly sat up, fearing the worst. On the other side of the (very comfortable) couch was Kageyama, with Holmes on his lap. Both looked up at him at the moment, eyes knowing.
“Did I---“
“You fainted.”
Yoshitaro fell back down on the couch with a pained yelp, “I screwed up again…”
“You’re so pure, I like that quality on people.” Kageyama continued to pet the purring cat calmly, “Anyway, I managed to convince the three of them to stay until you gain consciousness. Having excellent culinary skills helped a lot. They are now having the best western-style dinner I could dish out from whatever I could find in the fridge.”
“I see…”
“You should eat too.”
Yoshitaro looked to his side, on the coffee table was a tray of possibly the most mouth-watering meals he had ever seen in his life. It felt like his strength was refilled halfway already.
“Eat, then think again,” Kageyama stood up and grabbed the juice pitcher, filling up the policeman’s glass, “Because mystery-solving comes after dinner-time.”
XXX
“Alright, so… everybody’s here…” Yoshitaro took a deep breath. The three suspects were again seated in the dining room. They didn’t look too happy, but definitely less cranky after the fulfilling dinner. “I have thought this over… I’m not used to do this alone, so let’s cooperate to find who is the thief. Kageyama-san, please.”
Kageyama strolled inside with a whiteboard, on which several post-its and photos were attached.
“So, the first one to come to this place was… Enomoto-san.”
“I was requested by the master of this house to install security means to keep the diamond safe. I had an escort from the family, but he left right after letting me in.”
“Enomoto-san came at 8 o’clock in the morning. At the time, the diamond was presumably in the display room.”
“I saw it there, when I went to check the doors and the details of the room.” Enomoto acclaimed, “It wasn’t stolen yet.”
“So, at 8 A.M, the diamond was, inside the display room.” Yoshitaro scribbled the facts down on the timetable drawn on the board. “Then at around 10, Take-san arrived.”
“I’m with this guy,” Seiji circled an arm around Enomoto’s shoulders, “I specialize in computer and construction works too, so I decided to assist him.”
“Does anyone know if the diamond was missing at the time?”
“It was still there,” Seiji muttered, “I watched a show about it on tv, and I was curious. So I asked Enomoto-san to show it to me. He said he couldn’t let me inside the room, so I just took a peek from the door.”
“I’m sorry, but can Enomoto-san confirm Take-san’s story? Did you see it there too?”
Enomoto looked back at the police, expression impossible to read, “I didn’t see it, but I recalled Take-san taking a look at it from the door. I was next to him installing cameras.”
“Okay… so… you saw it there…” Yoshitaro turned back to write on the board again, when Holmes suddenly jumped him, taking the man stumbling down with him.
“Ow owowowow! Holmes! What the hell!”
Holmes jumped down from his head and glared at him. Then the two exchanged a look for a moment before Yoshitaro looked like he had had a struck of genius.
“Right! The cameras!” Yoshitaro launched himself off the floor, “Enomoto-san, you said you installed cameras?? Have they been recording??”
“Yes, I turned them on at around 11.”
“Alright!!!” Yoshitaro shouted gleefully before swaggering towards the elevator, “All! To the room where there are many monitors and you can control the movement of the cameras---you get the gist!”
Shuntaro rolled his eyes as the energetic police and his cat disappeared down the hall, “Does he even know where it is?”
“Did I somehow tell him where it is?” Enomoto looked around.
“No you didn’t.” Seiji deadpanned.
“I’ll come after him,” Kageyama declared, “He might accidentally entered the other treasury room. You know, the one with the anaconda and poison ivys.”
XXX
The control panel room was located on the first floor, in a hidden compartment behind the home theather panel. Enomoto seemed just a tad displeased when Shuntaro commented about the cliché, but Seiji came to his defense saying that the cliché was hiding it in the library behind a large bookshelf and the trigger to open the door was moving one of the thick encyclopedias. Yoshitaro ignored all the banters and went straight to ask Enomoto to rewind the recording to the earliest possible time.
“Right… right… yes! There it is!” Yoshitaro cheered as the monitors displayed many angles of the front and the only entrance of the display room. Seiji was seen standing there holding a cellphone, looking up at one of the cameras. It seemed that Enomoto had asked him to move around to check if the cameras could have still captured him where he had stood.
“He made me stand there for a while to test the camera angles. We were separated at the moment, but as you can see, I was always captured by the camera.”
“Hmmmmmmmm,” Yoshitaro bit his lower lip, eyes swimming over monitors expectantly, “Enomoto-san, could you fast-forward it?”
With a press of a key, Enomoto complied. It looked lke Seiji hadn’t lied. He had been walking around the place, but there was no moment where the camera had lost him. After about 15 minutes, he too, had exited the area. From the moment on, up until Kageyama and Yoshitaro had arrived, there didn’t seem to be any other people coming or going out of the room.
“How could this---I don’t know---“ Yoshitaro mumbled incoherently, “How could it just go missing?? No one was there!”
Everyone fell silent for a moment, even Holmes.
“How about this,” Shuntaro started after furrowing his eyebrows for quite a while, “Here’s what we know for sure: there are three people who can pass through the dead-traps Enomoto-san had installed on the way towards the room. These people are,”
Shuntaro pointed at Enomoto, “Enomoto-san, that’s for sure. He was the one who had them installed. He could easily override them if he wanted to, I’m sure of it.”
“Then you,” Shuntaro looked at Seiji, who looked more interested in Enomoto’s moving fingers. “You said you were his friend, and you helped him with the set up. You could have manipulated the system so you could pass somehow without being known.”
“And the last,” the young detective turned to Kageyama, “From what I saw from the monitors earlier, you know exactly how to disarm the traps.”
“Kageyama-san wouldn’t do that!” Yoshitaro blurted out, earning two surprised looks, from Shuntaro and Kageyama himself.
“Why would you say that?”
“He is not the type of person who could do something like that,” the policeman insisted, although his face seemed clearly conflicted, “Isn’t that right, Kageyama-san? You wouldn’t do something like this, would you?”
Kageyama responded with a soft chuckle.
“As I said earlier, there are three people who can slip through the security, but, there are only two who actually had the chance to take the diamond. One,”
Shuntaro once again turned to Seiji, “You said you saw the diamond at 10 A.M, then the diamond was found missing later in the afternoon. You are the last person who saw it. It is true that you are always seen on the camera, but you actually arrived here before the cameras were turned on. This control panel room is actually quite far from the display room, so Enomoto-san might take 3 to 5 minutes to walk from there to here to turn on and check the cameras. Which means that during that timeframe, you were alone there.”
“Oh!” Yoshitaro nodded supportively, “That’s correct! Great deduction, Tokita-san!”
“And lastly Enomoto-san,” Shuntaro continued, “You have the most time to conduct the deed, you have access to every means to secure the place, you could have placed a fake diamond after taking the original one to trick Take-san. It isn’t uncommon for a jewel thief to prepare a fake prop to trick everyone. Most people don’t have the qualifications to distinguish a fake diamond from the real one. Even if Take-san happens to know how to place them apart, he had no way of doing it because he was only allowed to look at it from afar.”
“Meanwhile, Kageyama-san only came after the diamond was declared missing. I also happened to see him jogging around the neighborhood during my watch earlier in the morning, so I can vouch for his alibi. I don’t think he has nothing to do with it at all.”
Yoshitaro exhaled in relief before exchanging a meaningful smile with the butler.
“So it has come to two people.”
“It can only be one of you.”
Both Seiji and Enomoto fell quiet, looking down. Everyone knew it was the moment of truth. Shuntaro had lit the fire, soon the criminal would have to run out of the burning house. Just as Seiji suddenly looked up and opened his mouth to start talking, Enomoto stood up, turned around to face the rest of them and said with the most bland face.
“I did it.”
“Enomoto-san---“ Seiji was pushed back, startled, as Enomoto turned and gave him a look.
“It was me. I stole the diamond.”
“Enomoto-san…” Yoshitaro looked very terribly upset, “How could you… to your own client…”
“Don’t get me wrong. I never intended to take this home,” Enomoto reached inside his pocket and fished out plastic bag with a large pink diamond pendant, tossing it on the table, “It was a request from the master of this house. To test out the abilities of Tokita Shuntaro, as the representative of Lucky Detective Agency.”
“Wha---me?” Shuntaro’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
“Your task for the day was to follow a couple around to get evidence of the woman’s infidelity, correct?”
“That’s---right, but---“
“But the woman and her male friend, although they were together the whole time, never did touch each other, or showed any signs that they were more than just friends. You kept following them until you reached this area, then suddenly one of the woman’s bodyguards turned on you and chased after you, so you were forced to take shelter inside the house.” Enomoto explained, “Then just as you arrived, I told you about the missing diamond and called the police. Then you were confined inside the house, being suspected for your wires, and you realized that your only chance of leaving the house free of suspicion was to solve the case. As you just did.”
“The master of the house is, as you can say, a bit of an eccentric. He intends to use the service of your agency in order to find someone, but not before assuring himself that you are a better detective. You must also note that he considers himself a very good detective,” Enomoto looked up at the huge picture on the wall, which was apparently the self-portrait of the master of the house, a middle-aged man cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes. “So he asked me to steal the diamond to see if you can solve the case; which you should be able to, because as he put it, this case was supposed to be, quote, elementary, end quote.”
“That’s the end of my explanation.”
“But, Enomoto-san,” Seiji commented, “It is just a coincidence that this policeman was sent to us, you know. It could have been a more capable one, and he would have solved the case before Tokita-kun did.”
“I know, I’m not a capable detective… I even told Hiro-nii that so many times but…” Yoshitaro hanged his head, heart-broken. Holmes curled himself up on one of the chairs, looking infinitely unimpressed.
“The master of this house also happens to be in the force. I think he also arranged for Katayama-san to be sent here instead of the others,” Enomoto replied, “I’m sure that Katayama-san has far exceeded his expectations. We have come this far by your clues.”
“Goodness…” Shuntaro seemed both relieved and pissed, “I know I shouldn’t be saying this about a potential client, but what a prick… messing around with us like that… GODDAMN IT!”
Kageyama looked up at the Kazamatsuri family crest on the top of the shelf, smiling to himself. He didn't expect anything less.
“Then, I shall excuse myself. I need to notify the master of the house regarding this.” Enomoto informed everyone before heading out to the living room.
“The diamond… maybe we should place it back to where it belongs,” Yoshitaro nervously took the pendant and glanced to Kageyama, silently begging for aid.
“Sure. Let me escort you.”
“I really need to go back now, so I’m leaving first,” Shuntaro imparted to Seiji after the two people exited the room, “Please pass that on to Enomoto-san and the others.”
“Sure,” Seiji replied. He kept watching the other man closely until his figure disappeared down the hall. After making sure he was alone, he finally threw himself on the chair with a relieved sigh. A few moments later, Enomoto came back.
“The Lucky Agency guy has left, saying he has something else to do,” Seiji told him. Enomoto nodded in understanding. Then he sat down on the chair next to Seiji. At first Seiji thought he was going to return to work on his laptop, but the man turned to him instead. And he looked like he had something to say.
“Why did you come here?”
Seiji knew he was supposed to be very nervous at the moment, but his smile just surfaced before he knew it.
“I’m pretty sure we have never met before,” Enomoto continued, “Why would you tell them all those things?”
“I like you, Enomoto-san,” Seiji very much enjoyed the gleam in Enomoto’s normally vacant eyes, “When we worked together earlier, I had so much fun.”
“I wasn’t covering for you, though.”
“I like installing all those security stuff with you, too.”
“Even though you’re a thief?”
“You mean this?” Seiji stood up, walked towards the knick-knacks counter next to the couch and brought back an old clay tea bowl. “It looks so out of place in this western mansion, don’t you think?”
“So that’s where you’ve been hiding it,” Enomoto remarked, “That Hamada Shoji tea bowl. You must have seen it on TV during one of the interviews. It was the perfect target. Everyone’s attention was on the diamond. It would take some time until someone realizes it is missing.”
“You’re thinking too much. I decided on this one because one of a kind diamond is rather hard to sell.” Seiji’s eyes were still fixed on the beautiful small flowers pattern on the bowl, “How long have you known about my intention anyway? I know you’ve been keeping a close watch on me.”
“I didn’t know about your intention. That’s why I had let you stick around. I guess my curiosity got the better of me.”
“I’m glad it does.”
“Is Take Seiji even your real name?”
For a moment, Enomoto could see that glimpse in the other man’s eyes. A glimpse of darkness, sadness and loneliness. It was a sad, sad reaction for someone who had been reminded of his own name.
“You should go." Enomoto stood up, facing the slightly taller man. "But you have to leave the bowl."
"What if I told you no?"
"Then I can't let you leave."
"Fair enough," Seiji moved up to the counter and placed the precious clay tea bowl down before taking a step back, raising both hands, "There, you have it."
Enomoto walked up to his bag, retrieving a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a magnifying glass.
Seiji smiled wryly, "I thought friends were supposed to trust each other."
Enomoto remained quiet as he inspected the clay, while Seiji was visibly sulking.
"You know, I didn't lie when I said I liked you, Enomoto-san."
"I know." Enomoto pushed his glasses up, carefully turning the tea bowl around, examining every its crook and bump, "Earlier when everyone turned on me, you were about to give yourself up. Even though you didn't steal the diamond."
Seiji looked up at the older man, astounded.
The security specialist continued to inspect the bowl in silence for possibly the longest five minutes in Seiji's life. When he finally put down the artifact, took off his gloves and packed his bag, Seiji approached him, looking wary.
"How about it?"
"I'm not exactly in the appraising business, but I think it is the real."
Enomoto turned around to face the younger man, belatedly noticing how close they were to each other. Trapped between another body and the counter, he barely had any chance to protest when suddenly Seiji's arms were around him, his chin pressed against the detective's shoulder.
"It is time to say goodbye, then," the thief whispered. Enomoto could only hope that his shiver wasn't so visible.
"Just because you said it, doesn't mean that we'll never see each other again."
"Last time I had to part with the people who I love, I didn't get to say goodbye... so..." Seiji slowly moved away and took a step back, smiling, "I don't know, maybe your deadly curiosity will lead us to meet again next time."
All it took was one swift moment. As a loud noise was heard from behind him, Enomoto turned around to find Holmes knocking his bag off the counter. Bending down to retrieve it, he looked back again to find himself alone in the room, aside from Holmes. For a moment he thought the precious tea bowl would also disappear, but it was still there where he had left it. The young detective quietly collected his scattered things. Kageyama and Yoshitaro returned not long after.
"Are you leaving Enomoto-san?" asked Yoshitaro.
"No, I still need to work on the security system for the entire house."
"Must you get it done today? It's almost midnight, you know."
"I have another appointment for tomorrow," Enomoto took a glance at his cell phone. On the screen was a missed call notification from Aoto.
XXX
Sagi stood quietly at the harbor that night, leaning against the wall while regularly checking on her watch.
"So late, so late," she mumbled impatiently, craning her neck to see if the person she had been waiting for was coming. "He told me he'd be done by the afternoon and it's past midnight already! How could he let a lady wait for him for hours?! Geez!"
"Aren't you too old to be throwing a tantrum?"
The girl turned around to find the man she had been waiting for.
"You are late!" she complained loudly.
"Yeah, sorry, sorry, I got in to trouble," the man remarked, not looking apologetic at the slightest.
"Here it is."
Sagi took the small bag and opened it to reveal a tea bowl.
"Whoa... is this the real thing?"
"Yes, yes, the Hamada Shoji tea bowl from Kazamatsuri mansion. Just as I promised." The man sighed. Sagi would have berated him more if he didn't seem so exhausted.
"Were you caught? How did it go?"
"In fact I almost did," he said, crossing his arms, "I swept this off at the last minute and replaced it with the prop from you, using... distraction."
"Really, why do you keep doing this anyway," she put the bowl back in side the bag, "Taisuke-san and Shii-chan would skin me alive if they ever find out about this."
"As I promised when we first started, I'll tie them down to a chair to buy enough time for you to run to Canada."
"Axel! I'm serious!"
"Look," The man said seriously, "I honestly don't know how this all started. I didn't even have a good reason to."
Sagi looked back at him, wary.
"But after today, I think I have found the perfect moment to stop." He looked at the small bag thoughtfully, "Someone will catch me. And he will make me stop. Then I will run off to Canada to avoid the authorities."
"What's with you and Canada anyway?"
"Just leave it, okay? I just like the sound of it." He scowled, "I need to prepare Ariake for tomorrow. Are you coming with me, or are you going to jump off the dock?"
Sagi rolled her eyes, "But of course I want to come with you."
"Then come."
"But I want to jump off the dock too."
"Then jump."
"Axel you're going to be the death of me!! Why would you be cruel enough to make me choose between following you and jumping of the dock?!! You very well know both are very, very, very precious to me!"
Koichi sighed loudly, as rubbing his tired and sleep-deprived face with both palms. "Jump off the dock, then come back here."
“Great! Because I have prepared pink lights effect this time and I like the color very much!” Sagi yelled before running away and flinging herself off the dock.
XXX
THE END
EPILOGUE
“Enomoto? Is it Enomoto? Enomoto where are you? Where are you right now!”
“At the airport.”
“Airport? Are you going somewhere?”
“Yes, since I had extra income.”
Kazamatsuri had been really generous to him.
“Um, where are you going?”
“Saa,”
“When will you be back?”
“Saa,”
“It’s time for my flight. I must go.”
“Ah, w-wait! Please wait a moment!”
“If you’ll excuse me.”
Enomoto disconnected the phone, put his earphones back on, and grabbed his passport and tickets.
”A liar will always be a liar.”
It was the biggest and most significant hint.
He recalled all the troubles he had gone through, combing through news and reports regarding thef, false identities and fraud. Various faces of captured criminals who had just been released later, he still had had no luck. So he had broadened his search timeline. Going back one year. Going back two year. And finally there it was. The potrait of the person he had been hunting for.
From afar, he could see a certain thief approaching with two bottled orange juice.
Enomoto smiled to himself.
XXX
Note:
Ohno Satoshi - Kagi no Kakatta Heya
Ninomiya Kazunari - Freeter/Ryusei no Kizuna
Sakurai Sho - Nazotoki wa Dina no Ato de
Matsumoto Jun - Lucky Seven
Aiba Masaki - Mikoneko Holmes no Suiri
Katayama Yoshitaro looked up at the western-style mansion in front of him. Holmes, nestled comfortably in his bag, yawned in disinterest.
“Ishizu-san couldn’t come with me… Hiro-nii has to attend that writer’s seminar… Harumi was out with some guy and hadn’t come back home from last night… You’re the only one I can depend on, Holmes.” Yoshitaro gritted his teeth, determined, “This time, I have to go it by myself. I can’t keep relying on other people. I am a respectable detective. I can do this. Yosh!”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Policeman-san.”
“Eek!” Yoshitaro jerked forward, almost dropping Holmes in the process. The cat jumped out of the bag and hissed at the young detective in protest.
“Pardon me, I did¬n’t mean to sneak up on you,” said the very butler-like man with glasses. He looked mighty amused as Yoshitaro blinked at him owlishly. “My name is Kageyama. I see that you responded to our distress call pretty quick. Shall we proceed to the dining hall? Everyone’s waiting.”
Yoshitaro blinked, “Everyone?”
XXX
STORMY DETECTIVE SUMMIT
By: Ami
Crack. Happy crack mixing our five favorite fictional ‘detectives’. You know you want it.
All is fiction, nothing is real, I own nothing/nobody, and I make no money off this piece. Standard disclaimers apply.
XXX
On the far left side of the room, leaning on the wall was an oddball with odd clothes. Bright yellow long coat, bright yellow fedora hat and other stuff he wore that made him look like he had just jumped out of an old hard-boiled detective movie. When Yoshitaro tried to introduce himself, the man just gave him a nod from under his hat, mumbling that his name was Makabe Ryu.
Earphones on, a laptop on his lap, nimble long fingers typing nonstop, and a skinny man attached to his side was another strange-looking man with glasses. Yoshitaro kept trying to get his attention, but even the skinny man attached to his side who didn’t have anything blocking his ears deliberately ignored him. Kageyama helpfully supplied that the glasses man was called Enomoto Kei and his ‘dear friend’ was Take Seiji. And that the three people were the only ones in the house during the crime. Yoshitaro would ask what the crime was (while hoping that it didn’t include gore, blood or dead bodies), but first of all:
“Kageyama-san, why are you wearing bunny ears?”
“Ojou-sama was pretty upset with me this morning, this is her way of punishing me, which is honestly quite futile because I look sinfully adorable in these.” Kageyama cheerfully pulled one of the ear down and waved it at the dumbfounded police, “She does this sometimes, getting unreasonably mad when I tell her she has got the wrong suspect.”
Yoshitaro gulped nervously. “Kageyama-san’s ojou-sama is a police too?”
“Oh, you’re mistaken. I was talking about last night’s getsu-9 drama.” The butler smiled mysteriously, “Anyway, shall I show you the evidence?”
“Um, yes, please,” Yoshitaro lightly noted that Holmes was violently hissing and clawing at Makabe Ryu. He had never seen the cat actively attacking people before, so they must have gotten along really well. “Holmes, would you like to come with me?”
Holmes gave him a brief look before launching on Ryu’s back, earning a loud shriek from the man. Yoshitaro took that as a no.
“Makabe-san, I’m leaving him to you.”
“Why am I in charge of the cat?!!!”
XXX
As he was being led to the elevator to get to the basement where the crime scene was located, Yoshitaro couldn’t help being impressed at his surroundings. The mansion looked large from the outside, but from the inside, it seemed absolutely grand. The furniture are mostly western. Yoshitaro didn’t consider himself smart enough to know if it was tasteful, but they were arranged as such so it wouldn’t seem gaudy. When he looked up the ceilings seemed so far ahead. When he looked around, nothing seemed out of place. Well, maybe except for himself. He looked down at his checkers coat, then up at the butler’s perfect crease-less suit.
“From here, we shall go down two floors to the underground vault.” Kageyama kindly informed him as he pressed the elevator button open. He entered first, then Yoshitaro followed him obediently.
“This house is amazing.” The detective commented cheerfully, “Your ojou-sama must have been an amazing person, Kageyama-san.”
“Yes, indeed she is,” Kageyama chuckled, “This is not my mistress’ house, though.”
“I see this is not---WHAAAT??”
“I was just on my morning walk earlier, then I heard the fuss so I came in to assist those nice gentlemen.”
“Ee?? Wha---eee?? Seriously? But you---I just---I just assumed that you---“
“My mistress is still upset with me, but she might come around after a day. I have the time and I thought, why not? You see I’m the type of person who can just lay around doing nothing all day long…” Kageyama continued blissfully, “At 3 I will be taking a tea break though. You’re welcome to join me, Katayama-san.”
The elevator ping-ed and stopped smoothly. Kageyama stepped out. Yoshitaro was about to follow when the butler suddenly raised a hand and stopped him.
“Careful, Katayama-san. It’s a bit tricky from this point on.”
Before Yoshitaro could even take one step back, Kageyama was already standing upside-down on both hands. Then he leapt forward, landed on one foot, did some rounds of somersaults before doing the grandiose landing and straightening his suit.
“Do---do I have to do that too?”
“How could I let a guest do that? I’m disarming the laser sensors right now.” The butler bent down and slipped a hand around one pillar. A moment later, a few 'pew-pew' noises were heard and Kageyama declared the ground safe for Yoshitaro, who had never been so conscious about his mortality before.
"I intended to turn it off earlier, but I felt bad because Enomoto-san told me he had been busy setting those up all morning."
A few Indiana-Jones inspired traps later, Yoshitaro could finally breathe easy. They entered a room with a rather grand jewelry display in the middle of the room. You'd expect some super-fancy necklace on it, but it was empty.
"Um, is this the place? The crime scene I mean."
"Correct. A most valuable diamond, My Little Sparkly Venus, was missing from this place. And before you ask, its original name was in Arabic. The master bit his own tongue several times trying to spell it so he came up with that name on the spot during one of the press conferences."
"I... see..."
"Now, I shall leave you to collect fingerprints, footprints, DNA and whatnot," Kageyama took a bow with a big smile and exited the room elegantly.
Yoshitaro titled his head in confusion. "He sure knows a lot for someone who just passed by for a morning jog..."
XXX
"So, I have done a preliminary check on the scene... I have found nothing suggesting that everyone had touched the display, and no footprint inside the display room. Well, except for mine, and Kageyama-san's."
"Great, then the butler is the criminal. Can I go home now?" Makabe Ryu started to walk towards the front door.
"No, no, wait," Yoshitaro raised a hand to stop him, "I still need to have conduct an interview with each of you to assure your alibi. Then you should leave me your contact information."
"Wait a minute, am I a suspect? I didn't even step a foot in the basement!" The flashy-hat man protested, "I don't have time for this, I need to go back to my office or Toko-san is going to fire my ass."
"Not to point out the elephant in the middle of the room here..." the skinny man---Take Seiji, suddenly spoke up, "But that old man with bad fashion-sense is probably the most suspicious of us all. He doesn't even have any business to be here. Earlier I saw him tailing some lady with a male escort going down the block, then suddenly he came here running asking to use the toilet."
"O--old man?! Me?!" Makabe Ryu hissed angrily as he tossed his bright yellow fedora away. It magically landed on the coat hanger next to the door. Kageyama looked very impressed, clapping his hands. Yoshitaro followed. "Take that back, brat! I'm not even 30 yet!"
And indeed he was. Young. And handsome. He might be even younger than the rest of them (Yoshitaro was not sure about Take Seiji, though).
“Well, well, I don’t want to point fingers, but those wires sticking out of your hat is kind of suspicious…” Kageyama mildly commented.
“Aa! You’re right!” Yoshitaro marched to grab the hat, a panicked Makabe Ryu on his tail. For a moment it seemed like Makabe Ryu was going to get the hat first, but apparently none of them was as fast as Holmes. The calico cat victoriously sat on his prize on the floor, looking very pleased with himself.
“Good job, Holmes!” Yoshitaro proclaimed loudly, before carefully removing the cat and taking the hat. Makabe Ryu looked officially pissed, knowing the ferocious cat might take his finger off if he even tried to sweep the hat off.
“It’s true! These are wires!” The policeman declared, pulling the wires out of the folds of the fedora, “And here’s the microphone! Someone is listening to us right now!”
“No wonder he refused to¬ take the hat and coat off even though I so graciously offered to hang them for him earlier,” Kageyama with an expression not unlike Holmes’ self-satisfied sneer, “If it’s alright, can I leave his arrest to you, Katayama-san? It’s almost 3 and I haven’t even begun to boil the tea and set the macaroons.”
“Yosh!” Yoshitaro grabbed his cuffs and Makabe’s hands, “Follow me to the police station!”
“Wait! Wait!” Makabe resisted, face turning just a bit pale, “I will tell the truth, don’t take me down to the station! I didn’t steal the diamond!”
“So you mean you haven’t been honest up to this point?”
“But of course my name isn’t Makabe Ryu! You must have all watched Shiritsu Tantei Makabe Ryu, right?! I’m disguising myself as him!” The young man slipped away from Yoshitaro’s grab and proceeded to take off his coat, revealing a pretty normal casual outfit, “My name is Tokita Shuntaro, I am a private detective working for Lucky agency! You can give my sachou a call!”
“Liar liar pants on fire,” Seiji mumbled with a loopsided smile, “Once a liar, always a liar. Don’t you agree, Enomoto-san?”
Enomoto looked up from his laptop and took one of his earphones off. It seemed that he had been paying attention, after all. “I can’t tell if he is lying or not, but I think Katayama-san can give him a full-body search to confirm.”
Seiji sneered, “You always say all the right things!”
“F---full body search---“
Normally Kageyama would consider it absolutely inappropriate to drink his tea while standing up, but the dining table was kind of far away, he had poor eyesight, and he didn’t want to miss a single scandalized expression on the young policeman.
“W-well, if it’s necessary---then---“ For a moment everyone thought Yoshitaro would spontaneously combust from the heat centered on his head, “I---I shall conduct a full-body search on y-you---“
“Fine! But if you find nothing at all, you let me go!”
Shuntaro started to unbutton his shirt and turned to glare at Kageyama, “Butler-san! Show us a room we can use!”
XXX
Yoshitaro opened his eyes slowly. Before his eyes were the elegant high ceilings. He grabbed the thin blanket that had been draped around him and slowly sat up, fearing the worst. On the other side of the (very comfortable) couch was Kageyama, with Holmes on his lap. Both looked up at him at the moment, eyes knowing.
“Did I---“
“You fainted.”
Yoshitaro fell back down on the couch with a pained yelp, “I screwed up again…”
“You’re so pure, I like that quality on people.” Kageyama continued to pet the purring cat calmly, “Anyway, I managed to convince the three of them to stay until you gain consciousness. Having excellent culinary skills helped a lot. They are now having the best western-style dinner I could dish out from whatever I could find in the fridge.”
“I see…”
“You should eat too.”
Yoshitaro looked to his side, on the coffee table was a tray of possibly the most mouth-watering meals he had ever seen in his life. It felt like his strength was refilled halfway already.
“Eat, then think again,” Kageyama stood up and grabbed the juice pitcher, filling up the policeman’s glass, “Because mystery-solving comes after dinner-time.”
XXX
“Alright, so… everybody’s here…” Yoshitaro took a deep breath. The three suspects were again seated in the dining room. They didn’t look too happy, but definitely less cranky after the fulfilling dinner. “I have thought this over… I’m not used to do this alone, so let’s cooperate to find who is the thief. Kageyama-san, please.”
Kageyama strolled inside with a whiteboard, on which several post-its and photos were attached.
“So, the first one to come to this place was… Enomoto-san.”
“I was requested by the master of this house to install security means to keep the diamond safe. I had an escort from the family, but he left right after letting me in.”
“Enomoto-san came at 8 o’clock in the morning. At the time, the diamond was presumably in the display room.”
“I saw it there, when I went to check the doors and the details of the room.” Enomoto acclaimed, “It wasn’t stolen yet.”
“So, at 8 A.M, the diamond was, inside the display room.” Yoshitaro scribbled the facts down on the timetable drawn on the board. “Then at around 10, Take-san arrived.”
“I’m with this guy,” Seiji circled an arm around Enomoto’s shoulders, “I specialize in computer and construction works too, so I decided to assist him.”
“Does anyone know if the diamond was missing at the time?”
“It was still there,” Seiji muttered, “I watched a show about it on tv, and I was curious. So I asked Enomoto-san to show it to me. He said he couldn’t let me inside the room, so I just took a peek from the door.”
“I’m sorry, but can Enomoto-san confirm Take-san’s story? Did you see it there too?”
Enomoto looked back at the police, expression impossible to read, “I didn’t see it, but I recalled Take-san taking a look at it from the door. I was next to him installing cameras.”
“Okay… so… you saw it there…” Yoshitaro turned back to write on the board again, when Holmes suddenly jumped him, taking the man stumbling down with him.
“Ow owowowow! Holmes! What the hell!”
Holmes jumped down from his head and glared at him. Then the two exchanged a look for a moment before Yoshitaro looked like he had had a struck of genius.
“Right! The cameras!” Yoshitaro launched himself off the floor, “Enomoto-san, you said you installed cameras?? Have they been recording??”
“Yes, I turned them on at around 11.”
“Alright!!!” Yoshitaro shouted gleefully before swaggering towards the elevator, “All! To the room where there are many monitors and you can control the movement of the cameras---you get the gist!”
Shuntaro rolled his eyes as the energetic police and his cat disappeared down the hall, “Does he even know where it is?”
“Did I somehow tell him where it is?” Enomoto looked around.
“No you didn’t.” Seiji deadpanned.
“I’ll come after him,” Kageyama declared, “He might accidentally entered the other treasury room. You know, the one with the anaconda and poison ivys.”
XXX
The control panel room was located on the first floor, in a hidden compartment behind the home theather panel. Enomoto seemed just a tad displeased when Shuntaro commented about the cliché, but Seiji came to his defense saying that the cliché was hiding it in the library behind a large bookshelf and the trigger to open the door was moving one of the thick encyclopedias. Yoshitaro ignored all the banters and went straight to ask Enomoto to rewind the recording to the earliest possible time.
“Right… right… yes! There it is!” Yoshitaro cheered as the monitors displayed many angles of the front and the only entrance of the display room. Seiji was seen standing there holding a cellphone, looking up at one of the cameras. It seemed that Enomoto had asked him to move around to check if the cameras could have still captured him where he had stood.
“He made me stand there for a while to test the camera angles. We were separated at the moment, but as you can see, I was always captured by the camera.”
“Hmmmmmmmm,” Yoshitaro bit his lower lip, eyes swimming over monitors expectantly, “Enomoto-san, could you fast-forward it?”
With a press of a key, Enomoto complied. It looked lke Seiji hadn’t lied. He had been walking around the place, but there was no moment where the camera had lost him. After about 15 minutes, he too, had exited the area. From the moment on, up until Kageyama and Yoshitaro had arrived, there didn’t seem to be any other people coming or going out of the room.
“How could this---I don’t know---“ Yoshitaro mumbled incoherently, “How could it just go missing?? No one was there!”
Everyone fell silent for a moment, even Holmes.
“How about this,” Shuntaro started after furrowing his eyebrows for quite a while, “Here’s what we know for sure: there are three people who can pass through the dead-traps Enomoto-san had installed on the way towards the room. These people are,”
Shuntaro pointed at Enomoto, “Enomoto-san, that’s for sure. He was the one who had them installed. He could easily override them if he wanted to, I’m sure of it.”
“Then you,” Shuntaro looked at Seiji, who looked more interested in Enomoto’s moving fingers. “You said you were his friend, and you helped him with the set up. You could have manipulated the system so you could pass somehow without being known.”
“And the last,” the young detective turned to Kageyama, “From what I saw from the monitors earlier, you know exactly how to disarm the traps.”
“Kageyama-san wouldn’t do that!” Yoshitaro blurted out, earning two surprised looks, from Shuntaro and Kageyama himself.
“Why would you say that?”
“He is not the type of person who could do something like that,” the policeman insisted, although his face seemed clearly conflicted, “Isn’t that right, Kageyama-san? You wouldn’t do something like this, would you?”
Kageyama responded with a soft chuckle.
“As I said earlier, there are three people who can slip through the security, but, there are only two who actually had the chance to take the diamond. One,”
Shuntaro once again turned to Seiji, “You said you saw the diamond at 10 A.M, then the diamond was found missing later in the afternoon. You are the last person who saw it. It is true that you are always seen on the camera, but you actually arrived here before the cameras were turned on. This control panel room is actually quite far from the display room, so Enomoto-san might take 3 to 5 minutes to walk from there to here to turn on and check the cameras. Which means that during that timeframe, you were alone there.”
“Oh!” Yoshitaro nodded supportively, “That’s correct! Great deduction, Tokita-san!”
“And lastly Enomoto-san,” Shuntaro continued, “You have the most time to conduct the deed, you have access to every means to secure the place, you could have placed a fake diamond after taking the original one to trick Take-san. It isn’t uncommon for a jewel thief to prepare a fake prop to trick everyone. Most people don’t have the qualifications to distinguish a fake diamond from the real one. Even if Take-san happens to know how to place them apart, he had no way of doing it because he was only allowed to look at it from afar.”
“Meanwhile, Kageyama-san only came after the diamond was declared missing. I also happened to see him jogging around the neighborhood during my watch earlier in the morning, so I can vouch for his alibi. I don’t think he has nothing to do with it at all.”
Yoshitaro exhaled in relief before exchanging a meaningful smile with the butler.
“So it has come to two people.”
“It can only be one of you.”
Both Seiji and Enomoto fell quiet, looking down. Everyone knew it was the moment of truth. Shuntaro had lit the fire, soon the criminal would have to run out of the burning house. Just as Seiji suddenly looked up and opened his mouth to start talking, Enomoto stood up, turned around to face the rest of them and said with the most bland face.
“I did it.”
“Enomoto-san---“ Seiji was pushed back, startled, as Enomoto turned and gave him a look.
“It was me. I stole the diamond.”
“Enomoto-san…” Yoshitaro looked very terribly upset, “How could you… to your own client…”
“Don’t get me wrong. I never intended to take this home,” Enomoto reached inside his pocket and fished out plastic bag with a large pink diamond pendant, tossing it on the table, “It was a request from the master of this house. To test out the abilities of Tokita Shuntaro, as the representative of Lucky Detective Agency.”
“Wha---me?” Shuntaro’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
“Your task for the day was to follow a couple around to get evidence of the woman’s infidelity, correct?”
“That’s---right, but---“
“But the woman and her male friend, although they were together the whole time, never did touch each other, or showed any signs that they were more than just friends. You kept following them until you reached this area, then suddenly one of the woman’s bodyguards turned on you and chased after you, so you were forced to take shelter inside the house.” Enomoto explained, “Then just as you arrived, I told you about the missing diamond and called the police. Then you were confined inside the house, being suspected for your wires, and you realized that your only chance of leaving the house free of suspicion was to solve the case. As you just did.”
“The master of the house is, as you can say, a bit of an eccentric. He intends to use the service of your agency in order to find someone, but not before assuring himself that you are a better detective. You must also note that he considers himself a very good detective,” Enomoto looked up at the huge picture on the wall, which was apparently the self-portrait of the master of the house, a middle-aged man cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes. “So he asked me to steal the diamond to see if you can solve the case; which you should be able to, because as he put it, this case was supposed to be, quote, elementary, end quote.”
“That’s the end of my explanation.”
“But, Enomoto-san,” Seiji commented, “It is just a coincidence that this policeman was sent to us, you know. It could have been a more capable one, and he would have solved the case before Tokita-kun did.”
“I know, I’m not a capable detective… I even told Hiro-nii that so many times but…” Yoshitaro hanged his head, heart-broken. Holmes curled himself up on one of the chairs, looking infinitely unimpressed.
“The master of this house also happens to be in the force. I think he also arranged for Katayama-san to be sent here instead of the others,” Enomoto replied, “I’m sure that Katayama-san has far exceeded his expectations. We have come this far by your clues.”
“Goodness…” Shuntaro seemed both relieved and pissed, “I know I shouldn’t be saying this about a potential client, but what a prick… messing around with us like that… GODDAMN IT!”
Kageyama looked up at the Kazamatsuri family crest on the top of the shelf, smiling to himself. He didn't expect anything less.
“Then, I shall excuse myself. I need to notify the master of the house regarding this.” Enomoto informed everyone before heading out to the living room.
“The diamond… maybe we should place it back to where it belongs,” Yoshitaro nervously took the pendant and glanced to Kageyama, silently begging for aid.
“Sure. Let me escort you.”
“I really need to go back now, so I’m leaving first,” Shuntaro imparted to Seiji after the two people exited the room, “Please pass that on to Enomoto-san and the others.”
“Sure,” Seiji replied. He kept watching the other man closely until his figure disappeared down the hall. After making sure he was alone, he finally threw himself on the chair with a relieved sigh. A few moments later, Enomoto came back.
“The Lucky Agency guy has left, saying he has something else to do,” Seiji told him. Enomoto nodded in understanding. Then he sat down on the chair next to Seiji. At first Seiji thought he was going to return to work on his laptop, but the man turned to him instead. And he looked like he had something to say.
“Why did you come here?”
Seiji knew he was supposed to be very nervous at the moment, but his smile just surfaced before he knew it.
“I’m pretty sure we have never met before,” Enomoto continued, “Why would you tell them all those things?”
“I like you, Enomoto-san,” Seiji very much enjoyed the gleam in Enomoto’s normally vacant eyes, “When we worked together earlier, I had so much fun.”
“I wasn’t covering for you, though.”
“I like installing all those security stuff with you, too.”
“Even though you’re a thief?”
“You mean this?” Seiji stood up, walked towards the knick-knacks counter next to the couch and brought back an old clay tea bowl. “It looks so out of place in this western mansion, don’t you think?”
“So that’s where you’ve been hiding it,” Enomoto remarked, “That Hamada Shoji tea bowl. You must have seen it on TV during one of the interviews. It was the perfect target. Everyone’s attention was on the diamond. It would take some time until someone realizes it is missing.”
“You’re thinking too much. I decided on this one because one of a kind diamond is rather hard to sell.” Seiji’s eyes were still fixed on the beautiful small flowers pattern on the bowl, “How long have you known about my intention anyway? I know you’ve been keeping a close watch on me.”
“I didn’t know about your intention. That’s why I had let you stick around. I guess my curiosity got the better of me.”
“I’m glad it does.”
“Is Take Seiji even your real name?”
For a moment, Enomoto could see that glimpse in the other man’s eyes. A glimpse of darkness, sadness and loneliness. It was a sad, sad reaction for someone who had been reminded of his own name.
“You should go." Enomoto stood up, facing the slightly taller man. "But you have to leave the bowl."
"What if I told you no?"
"Then I can't let you leave."
"Fair enough," Seiji moved up to the counter and placed the precious clay tea bowl down before taking a step back, raising both hands, "There, you have it."
Enomoto walked up to his bag, retrieving a pair of gloves, a flashlight and a magnifying glass.
Seiji smiled wryly, "I thought friends were supposed to trust each other."
Enomoto remained quiet as he inspected the clay, while Seiji was visibly sulking.
"You know, I didn't lie when I said I liked you, Enomoto-san."
"I know." Enomoto pushed his glasses up, carefully turning the tea bowl around, examining every its crook and bump, "Earlier when everyone turned on me, you were about to give yourself up. Even though you didn't steal the diamond."
Seiji looked up at the older man, astounded.
The security specialist continued to inspect the bowl in silence for possibly the longest five minutes in Seiji's life. When he finally put down the artifact, took off his gloves and packed his bag, Seiji approached him, looking wary.
"How about it?"
"I'm not exactly in the appraising business, but I think it is the real."
Enomoto turned around to face the younger man, belatedly noticing how close they were to each other. Trapped between another body and the counter, he barely had any chance to protest when suddenly Seiji's arms were around him, his chin pressed against the detective's shoulder.
"It is time to say goodbye, then," the thief whispered. Enomoto could only hope that his shiver wasn't so visible.
"Just because you said it, doesn't mean that we'll never see each other again."
"Last time I had to part with the people who I love, I didn't get to say goodbye... so..." Seiji slowly moved away and took a step back, smiling, "I don't know, maybe your deadly curiosity will lead us to meet again next time."
All it took was one swift moment. As a loud noise was heard from behind him, Enomoto turned around to find Holmes knocking his bag off the counter. Bending down to retrieve it, he looked back again to find himself alone in the room, aside from Holmes. For a moment he thought the precious tea bowl would also disappear, but it was still there where he had left it. The young detective quietly collected his scattered things. Kageyama and Yoshitaro returned not long after.
"Are you leaving Enomoto-san?" asked Yoshitaro.
"No, I still need to work on the security system for the entire house."
"Must you get it done today? It's almost midnight, you know."
"I have another appointment for tomorrow," Enomoto took a glance at his cell phone. On the screen was a missed call notification from Aoto.
XXX
Sagi stood quietly at the harbor that night, leaning against the wall while regularly checking on her watch.
"So late, so late," she mumbled impatiently, craning her neck to see if the person she had been waiting for was coming. "He told me he'd be done by the afternoon and it's past midnight already! How could he let a lady wait for him for hours?! Geez!"
"Aren't you too old to be throwing a tantrum?"
The girl turned around to find the man she had been waiting for.
"You are late!" she complained loudly.
"Yeah, sorry, sorry, I got in to trouble," the man remarked, not looking apologetic at the slightest.
"Here it is."
Sagi took the small bag and opened it to reveal a tea bowl.
"Whoa... is this the real thing?"
"Yes, yes, the Hamada Shoji tea bowl from Kazamatsuri mansion. Just as I promised." The man sighed. Sagi would have berated him more if he didn't seem so exhausted.
"Were you caught? How did it go?"
"In fact I almost did," he said, crossing his arms, "I swept this off at the last minute and replaced it with the prop from you, using... distraction."
"Really, why do you keep doing this anyway," she put the bowl back in side the bag, "Taisuke-san and Shii-chan would skin me alive if they ever find out about this."
"As I promised when we first started, I'll tie them down to a chair to buy enough time for you to run to Canada."
"Axel! I'm serious!"
"Look," The man said seriously, "I honestly don't know how this all started. I didn't even have a good reason to."
Sagi looked back at him, wary.
"But after today, I think I have found the perfect moment to stop." He looked at the small bag thoughtfully, "Someone will catch me. And he will make me stop. Then I will run off to Canada to avoid the authorities."
"What's with you and Canada anyway?"
"Just leave it, okay? I just like the sound of it." He scowled, "I need to prepare Ariake for tomorrow. Are you coming with me, or are you going to jump off the dock?"
Sagi rolled her eyes, "But of course I want to come with you."
"Then come."
"But I want to jump off the dock too."
"Then jump."
"Axel you're going to be the death of me!! Why would you be cruel enough to make me choose between following you and jumping of the dock?!! You very well know both are very, very, very precious to me!"
Koichi sighed loudly, as rubbing his tired and sleep-deprived face with both palms. "Jump off the dock, then come back here."
“Great! Because I have prepared pink lights effect this time and I like the color very much!” Sagi yelled before running away and flinging herself off the dock.
XXX
THE END
EPILOGUE
“Enomoto? Is it Enomoto? Enomoto where are you? Where are you right now!”
“At the airport.”
“Airport? Are you going somewhere?”
“Yes, since I had extra income.”
Kazamatsuri had been really generous to him.
“Um, where are you going?”
“Saa,”
“When will you be back?”
“Saa,”
“It’s time for my flight. I must go.”
“Ah, w-wait! Please wait a moment!”
“If you’ll excuse me.”
Enomoto disconnected the phone, put his earphones back on, and grabbed his passport and tickets.
”A liar will always be a liar.”
It was the biggest and most significant hint.
He recalled all the troubles he had gone through, combing through news and reports regarding thef, false identities and fraud. Various faces of captured criminals who had just been released later, he still had had no luck. So he had broadened his search timeline. Going back one year. Going back two year. And finally there it was. The potrait of the person he had been hunting for.
From afar, he could see a certain thief approaching with two bottled orange juice.
Enomoto smiled to himself.
XXX
Note:
Ohno Satoshi - Kagi no Kakatta Heya
Ninomiya Kazunari - Freeter/Ryusei no Kizuna
Sakurai Sho - Nazotoki wa Dina no Ato de
Matsumoto Jun - Lucky Seven
Aiba Masaki - Mikoneko Holmes no Suiri