Event Story – House of Mystery: They Know All! ch.9

[kozvme]

Gray: The incident takes place exactly at 11 o'clock... The master, who is in the study, gets stabbed with a knife by someone, and turns into that...

At that time, there are 4 other people in the house besides us... I suspect that these people might be the ones we're looking for...

Ren: You didn't see the master getting stabbed when you were in that room, did you?

Nico: I didn't. I got inside just as Akira was kicking the door down.

By the way, why did he kick the door down?

Gray: Because it was locked...

Nico: Locked?

Gray: Yes. It was locked from the inside...

Ren: On top of that, the only one who had the key to that room was the master who was stabbed.

Nico: ...? But shouldn't there be another way to get in and out besides that door?

Ren: No.
That's basically what they call a locked-room mystery.

Gray: Ah...! That's why you checked the door!

Ren: Yeah.

Akira: ? What even is a locked room?

Ren: ......

Nico: Explain, Ren.

Ren: ...... It's a situation where you can't get in or out.
At that time, only the master had the key, and the door was locked from the inside. So, it stands to reason that the culprit had to be in the room.
But no one was there. This kind of thing is called a locked-room murder... or sometimes an impossible crime.

Akira: Wasn't Nico in there?

Nico: I was, yeah.

Ren: T- This time is different. Up until now, no one was in there.

Gray: That's why we moved here. In that situation, Nico-san would have ended up being the culprit...

Nico: Makes sense.

Ren: I still don't know what this has to do with the substance, but I believe solving the case will be the key to our escape.
So, there has to be some sort of trick in that locked room.

Akira: So, all we gotta do is solve it, right?

Ren: It's not that simple...

Nico: So, who are these suspects?

Gray: The master's secretery and butler, then there is his sixth son and... uh, an old friend, I think...
All 4 of them have rooms in this mansion and are living here.

Nico: Motives and alibis?

Akira & Ren & Gray: ......

Nico: What's with those faces? Don’t tell me they don’t have any?

Akira: Wrong, it's the opposite.

Nico: The opposite?

Akira: They're all hella sketchy.

ー Interrogation of the first suspect.


The master's son: What? You wanna talk to me?

Just so you know, I'm dealing with a lot too, given what happened to my old man... it's mostly about the inheritance.

 Nico: Inheritance?

The master's son: Yeah, I'm planning to buy some land overseas with the old man's inheritance, build a big house, and get a private jet.

Nico: He's totally ready to run away.

Akira: You're the sixth son of the master here, right?

The master's son: ... Yeah.

Ren: How's your relationship with your other siblings?

The master's son: Everyone's a total smartass, just like my old man. They moved out and are now holding top positions at the old man's company and its branches.

Akira: What about you?

The master's son: Me? They say I can't do my job, so they won't let me work! Seriously, just because I'm out having a good time, they treat me like I'm useless!

Gray: Oh, um... I heard from the secretary that last week there was a bit of a disagreement with the master about that...

The master's son: Of freaking course! The old man's refusing to give me any cash to enjoy myself, and is threatening to cut me out of the inheritance! If that happens, I'll lose my chance to have my fun!

Gray: Did you know there's a lawyer coming today to change the will?

The master's son: W- W- W- W- What the hell!? I don't know anything about it!
Oh, since it hasn't been modified yet, the existing inheritance still holds, right? Right?

Ren: Ask the lawyer who's coming later.

Akira: Anyway, you're not the one who killed the master, right?

The master's son: N- No way, I haven't done anything!! He's my own father, you know?? There's no way I'd do something like that!

Nico: ... Last question. What were you doing in your room during the incident?

The master's son: I was napping. I can't really prove it, though.



Nico: Isn't he the culrpit?

Akira: After hearing his side of things, it's tough not to feel that way, right?

Nico: You see that kind of thing happening within the family all the time...

Ren: However, he's not the only suspicious one.

Gray: I'll go call the next person...

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