Part 93: Super High-school Level Update #83

INVESTIGATION START





First, I should check the Monobear File.



The victim is Sakura Oogami... The time of death was around 12 at noon...
The body was found at the recreation room on the 3rd floor of the school area.
There are signs of a blow to the victim's head. It appears the head was struck hard. There are no other visible external wounds on the body.
Additionally, there are signs the victim violently vomited blood.






This case... is a complicated one, isn't it.
Why do you say that...?



The only way out of the recreation room is the door we came in from...
That door was shut from the inside, thanks to the chair that was wedged under the doorknob.
If those are the facts, how did the culprit exit the room after they used the chair to seal it?
I see... the only door was blocked from the inside, and no one could enter or leave until I broke that window...
They had no way to escape...



In other words, this is a locked room murder.
A...a locked room... murder?

I've seen them on television and in manga, of course...

But I never imagined they can happen in real life... in front of my very eyes!



Do you want me to explain to you what exactly a locked room murder is?
I'd be grateful...



Broadly speaking, there are four patterns for locked room murder mysteries.
The first one is that the room was locked after the murder took place.
The culprit seals the room after committing the crime.
It usually involves some kind of trick with the lock...
There's the old way of using a thread and cogwheels to turn the key... and there are many other ways to lock a room mechanically.

If there's a lock trick involved, I should check the door for clues...



The second pattern is that the room was already locked when the murder took place.
Already locked...?



In other words, the culprit manages to target the victim from outside the room using spacial tools or methods.
Pushing a button to trigger a gun to fire, shooting a small arrow through a crack in the door...



I don't believe that fits what happened here, though.
There are no firearms like guns or arrows in this school, and the door looked completely sealed...

She's right... I think we can exclude this pattern.



The third pattern is that the culprit is inside the room at the time it is unlocked.
...Do you mean they were hiding somewhere?



They then take advantage of the confusion at the scene to slip out and pretend to have come from outside.
...That sort of thing.

I guess it's not impossible that's what happened here.



The fourth and last pattern is that it wasn't a locked room after all.
It wasn't a locked room...?
I mean, there is a second exit from the room.
You often see it in detective novels, but it doesn't happen a lot in real life.
So... should we exclude this possibility as well?



...We might as well.
And with that, my explanation is over.
So that's how it is... Four patterns...
Hey, Kirigiri-san. Which of these patterns fits the current situation?



...I wonder. That will become a critical point in today's trial.
But at this point in time, I can't say anything.
I see...

What method did the culprit use to seal this room...?

As long as we don't discover that, the truth behind this murder can't be made clear.
It's certainly a difficult mystery. I should concentrate on the investigation.

For Oogami-san's sake as well!



This room is packed with clues, but first, I'm sure Kirigiri has at least one more piece of wisdom she hasn't shared yet, so let's bug her some more.



When all is said and done, managing to kill someone like Oogami-san...
She wasn't someone who could be killed so easily, was she.



It wasn't easy, without question.
She was a "Super High-school Level Wrestler", possessing extreme physical and spiritual strength...
How could the culprit kill such a person?
Or maybe I should ask... how could she let her guard down for them to manage to...?
Maybe... they took her by surprise...?



It's true that if she had faced a direct attack, it would be impossible to kill her...



Being the good detectives that we are, we'll start investigating the murder by looking at the dead body.



Oogami-san sits still on the chair, her body leaning forward...
As expected, there are signs of a strong blow to back of her head...

Usually, I'd think that's the cause of death, but...
...But according to the Monobear File, Oogami-san also vomited blood...



Checking closely, I can see traces of blood near her mouth.
...But what caused the vomiting?

The Monobear File says there are no other external wounds on her body, after all...






Could it be... that the blow to the head caused her to vomit blood...?



That's very unlikely.
T...Togami-kun...



You did come upon something interesting, though. I can at least applaud you for that.
...Interesting?



Isn't it, though? Don't you think so too?
I wouldn't call it... interesting...

But it is puzzling...

The reason Oogami-san vomited blood is undoubtedly related to her death.



Next, let's see what's up with that blood over there by the magazine rack.



There are traces of blood in front of the magazine rack.
It's probably Oogami-san's blood... but that's a little strange.

Why is it so far away from the body?






Also suspicious is the piece of paper on the floor next to the body.



This is... some kind of wrapping paper...



Ah, that's...!!
Asahina-san... do you know what that is?



I... gave it to her...
There was candy inside...
After Genocider attacked me this morning, Sakura-chan was really angry, right?
I thought it would calm her down a little, so I gave her some candy right after we left the infirmary.
And this was the candy that you gave her...?



I found them in the storage room at the dorms. I really like that type of candy...
So right after that storage room opened, I took the entire box to my room.
There was only one box, and I wanted them all for myself...
You like them that much...?



I thought Sakura-chan would like to taste the sweetness of that candy too, so I gave her some...
But she can't taste it anymore, can she...
Asahina-san...






Next, this locker isn't quite in the same condition as we have last seen it.



Huh? The locker door is open... And inside it...



Are those... hand prints?



Why are there hand prints in a place like this?



There's a lot of dust on the inner side of the locker door, so touching it leaves a mark...
These hand prints look new.
It's possible that someone hid inside this locker recently, and left those hand prints then.
Oh, I see! In that case...!
Couldn't the culprit have been hidden inside this locker until we opened the door?
And then... they took advantage of the confusion and slipped away...!



Unfortunately, that's not possible.
...Eh? Why?



Try to remember. Before we opened that door, we peeked through the window into the room.



I see... at that time, the locker was already open...



In other words, it was impossible for anyone to hide in it until the room was unlocked.

Hmmm... In that case...

What's the meaning of the hand prints in that locker?






There's something behind Sakura's body. It's red, so it can't be more blood.



There are some glass shards scattered next to the chair Oogami-san is sitting on.



The shards are red... and in addition...
This part looks like the mouth of a bottle... and that one like the bottom?

In other words, the glass shards come from a red bottle.






...Hm? There's a strange object next to the glass shards.
A single figure just small enough to fit in the palm of my hand...

It's a Monobear figure...






Speaking of bottles, that reminds me of something else that was in this room.



On top of the cabinet, four red bottles stand in line.



There's a single Monobear figure inside each and every one of them...

How were these figures inserted into the bottles in the first place...?



It's just like a ship in a bottle...
...Eh?
It's a craft where the model of something like a sail ship is placed inside a bottle with a mouth smaller than it is.
...Have you never seen one?
Um... I think I have...



In other words, this is the Monobear version. A Monobear in a bottle.






I think I understand at least a little about what happened...



The Monobear bottles on top of the cabinet...



The Monobear figure lying on the floor...



The red glass shards that look like they came from a red bottle...



Putting it all together, it seems like Oogami-san was hit on the head with a Monobear bottle.
The figure and the shards scattered on the floor tell the entire story...

In other words, a Monobear bottle was the murder weapon!

Next time: more brilliant detectiving.