The Decagon House Murders (十角館の殺人)

The plan is already in place.

All that's left is to wait for them to fall into the trap.

I'll make them realize it, one by one, slowly...

...and painfully.

The agony of death.

Sorrow.

Pain.

Terror.

This is judgment.

A judgment called revenge...

But I know.

A person cannot become God.

That's precisely why I will entrust the final judgment to something beyond human.

To this sea...

...all of the plan that is about to unfold...

Soon, they will arrive.

Without any suspicion...

...or fear...

...into the trap that will capture...

...and judge them...

...this decagonal trap.

A mystery novel is, after all, just an intellectual game.

It's an exciting logic game between the reader and the great detective...

...or rather, between the reader and the author, using the form of a novel.

Nothing more, nothing less.

An office lady gets killed in her apartment...

...and a worn-out detective finally catches her boss, who was her lover, after much effort.

Spare me.

Corruption, political scandals...

...tragedies born from the distortions of modern society—none of that, please.

What suits a mystery is, after all, a "great detective," a "grand mansion,"

"suspicious inhabitants," "bloody carnage," "impossible crimes,"

"outrageous grand tricks"...

Fiction is perfectly fine.

The point is to enjoy yourself within that world.

Intellectually, of course.

How pretentious.

Mr. Ellery.

Not every reader is as intellectually...

...gifted as you are.

That's not the point.

I'm not talking about being smart or stupid, Carr.

It's about how intellectually you can enjoy the game that is mystery fiction.

What matters is having the composure to do so.

It's truly deplorable that there's someone in this club who doesn't even understand that.

I know very well that characters like you...

...are the type who get killed off at the beginning of the story.

That's enough, both of you.

We're going to be stuck together for the next week, whether we like it or not.

Let's try to get along.

What Ellery-san says isn't realistic.

Hey, Lulu.

How so?

In this day and age, with advances in forensic science...

...it's no longer possible for the police to be merely bumbling sidekicks.

In the mystery novels of the future...

...the room for a great detective to shine, as Ellery-san desires,

...is steadily being lost.

That's exactly right.

Which is why the quickest way to resolve that dilemma...

...is the "locked-room mystery."

Isn't that precisely the island we're heading to?

Is that Tsunojima?

Hmm, it's got atmosphere. Hey, Orczy.

You all sure have some strange nicknames~.

Ah, those are just nicknames...

We all call each other by the names of famous mystery writers.

Huh? I don't really get it, but...

...you better be careful.

There's something on that island, you know.

What is it?

A ghost.

You know, that man who was killed at the Aoyashiki on that island... Nakamura, or whatever his name was...

No use, old man. Trying to scare us with that won't work.

It'll only make them happy~.

Well, it wouldn't be surprising if there was a ghost.

Not after an incident like that.

"The Mysterious Quadruple Murder Case," huh?

Just getting off a night shift? That's tough.

Yeah, I'm a struggling student, you know.

Liar! You were playing mahjong, weren't you?

Lost and blew your allowance from your parents, didn't you, you good-for-nothing?

How did you know?

The smell of cigarettes, the smell of alcohol, that gloomy look...

I've seen hundreds of dropouts like you.

Why don't you quit being a landlady and become a detective?

A detective? That's not an honest profession.

Haha, yeah, I guess not.

Just because you lost at mahjong doesn't mean I'll wait for the rent.

Oh boy...

Ah~, heave-ho.

If this is a grudge, please spare me.

Ah~...

Seiji Nakamura...?

Found it.

An accusation from the dead...

Is this the Higashi residence?

Ah, my name is Konan from K University...

Is Hajime-kun home?

Hajime is out.

I see...

Ah, um... I have a somewhat urgent matter...

Could you tell me if a letter addressed to Hajime-kun has arrived?

Yes, from a person named Seiji Nakamura.

Ah, yes, it has indeed arrived.

Is that so?

What time will Hajime-kun be back?

Well, he said he was going on a club training camp and wouldn't be back for about a week.

Are you sure you don't need me to come back at all?

Your phone will be disconnected too, you know.

Don't worry. We're used to this kind of thing.

If you came by too often, it would ruin the mood of our deserted island experience.

Heh heh, right?

Ah... yeah, I guess so.

Hey, let's hurry up and go!

Alright then, see you in a week.

Next Tuesday, I'll come pick you up at 10 AM.

Hey, is this really the right way?

It should be...

Isn't there a better path?

There isn't. It's a deserted island.

But someone lived here until six months ago, right? The Aoyashiki residents.

I heard Seiji Nakamura, who was killed, was called a genius architect.

The house he designed and lived in himself...

...that's the Aoyashiki's annex...

...this Decagon House.

I'd heard about it, but it really is shaped like this.

Van-senpai?

Sorry I couldn't greet you properly.

What's wrong? You look pale.

I think I caught a cold.

Sorry to be like this at a time like this.

I should be the one apologizing.

Sorry for leaving you to handle the preparations when you're not feeling well.

I left most of the hauling to the movers...

...and it's nothing serious. I'm sure I'll be better soon.

Don't push yourself. We can't leave the island for a week.

It's reassuring to have a future doctor around.

Are you really... really going to be okay?

Yeah, thanks for worrying about me, Orczy.

Is it okay to leave your shoes on?

Yeah.

Is it okay to leave our luggage here?

Everyone, feel free to choose any room you like.

Well, it doesn't really matter which one you pick.

A decagonal building, a decagonal hall.

Even the table is decagonal.

Your uncle must be quite eccentric too, buying a place like this.

Apparently, he was practically forced to buy it at a bargain price.

I bet. No one else would want a place like this.

But thanks to him, we get to have this training camp.

Make sure you thank your uncle for us.

Yeah, I will.

Hey, Van, is there any alcohol?

We agreed not to drink alcohol during this camp.

Lulu, put up name tags so we don't get our rooms mixed up.

Huh? Do it yourself~.

You brought plenty of paper and pens, right?

That's for writing manuscripts!

See you~.

Can't defy the queen, can we?

Let's rest a bit and then explore the island.

Why did Seiji Nakamura build such a house?

The burned Aoyashiki mansion...

...was said to be painted blue everywhere—ceilings, furniture, everything.

Aoyashiki, huh...

He must have been an artist-type with unusually strong obsessions.

Seiji Nakamura...

Come to think of it, they still haven't caught the culprit, have they?

Maybe he's still hiding somewhere on this island... Haha...

Stop joking!

Ah...

Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that much...

She's been like that for a while now...

Don't worry about it. She's enjoying herself in her own way.

Experiencing the atmosphere that something might happen on this isolated island...

...and using it in her own work.

That's the whole point of this training camp, after all.

If that's the case, fine.

But what if... just what if...

...the culprit from the Aoyashiki incident was still somewhere on this island...

Wouldn't that be perfect?

Sigh... I knew you'd say that.

When I heard Van's uncle had bought this place, I felt it was fate.

God is telling us...

...to unravel the mystery of the Aoyashiki quadruple murder.

Are you Kojiro Nakamura?

Yes.

I apologize for...

...calling you so suddenly earlier.

My name is Konan.

You said you were a friend of Chiori's.

Yes, we were in the same Mystery Research Club at university.

I've since quit, though...

When I asked at the boarding house where Chiori-san lived...

...they said you were the only blood relative other than her grandfather.

What did you want to ask about?

Chiori-san's father...

...in other words, your older brother, Seiji Nakamura.

I actually have a guest right now.