The Berlin Fried Bread Mystery (Part 4) | Contents | The Florence Cream Puff Mystery (Part 1)
“During the taste test, was there really a person who ate the Tabasco-filled agepan but hid that fact with malicious intent?
But the question I’d spared no effort to craft melted in the discord that enveloped the Newspaper Club room – or to phrase it differently, no one was listening. Even Doujima Kengo, who had brought the problem to me in the first place, wasn’t looking at me, distracted by Makishima-san’s and Doujima-kun’s quarrel.
I don’t like clearing my throat. It is an act that exists only to draw attention to oneself, which makes me dislike it on principle. But this time, I had no choice. Putting all my strength into my bronchial tube, I cleared my throat.
Kengo turned around.
“You okay, Kobato? Did you choke on some Tabasco?”
I’d unintentionally made him worry. Stifling the feeling of remorse welling up inside, I waved a hand and rephrased my earlier question.
“Ah, umm, so I was thinking, perhaps no one ate the Tabasco-filled agepan during the taste test?”
“What!”
Kengo roared, causing the other three to look at us.
“No way that could happen. Didn’t you go to the Home Economics Club and confirm that they did put Tabasco in one of them?”
“Yeah.”
“Yet you’re saying that no one out of us four ate the lucky agepan?”
“That’s right.”
“But that doesn’t make sense!”
I was happy that he’d reacted as I expected him to. Makishima-san, Monchi-kun and Sugi-san focused their sceptical eyes on me and kept silent, probably wondering what I would say next. I let out a short laugh.
“You’re right, it doesn’t make sense. But it makes even less sense that someone took the hit during the taste test. It’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Why, you say?”
Kengo might not be a person rich in imagination, but he shouldn’t be completely dense. Yet he’d asked such a question, but perhaps he was too preoccupied with the Newspaper Club’s future. I raised my voice and answered.
“There’s no way anyone can taste such spicy Tabasco, put on a calm face and pretend that they didn’t take the hit, right?”
Apparently really not having made that connection, a shocked expression appeared on Kengo’s face, even though he of all people had admitted that he couldn’t tolerate it.
Unexpectedly, Sugi-san threw out a rebuttal.
“Sure, the Tabasco was insanely spicy, but someone determined to withstand it could swallow the agepan without chewing, and by doing that they might be able to feign ignorance.”
I shook my head.
“That’s also not possible. Up till the point I went to the Home Economics Club to ask them about the situation, the only person who knew that one agepan contained Tabasco was the person responsible for it, or the Home Economics Club guy who put in the Tabasco. The four of you, and even Seba-senpai, were under the impression that the lucky agepan contained mustard. If someone prepared themselves for mustard which is not very spicy, but got Tabasco in their mouth instead…”
Monchi-kun nodded, seemingly convinced.
“They wouldn’t be able to take it. That’s impossible.”
On the other hand, Kengo raised his eyebrows.
“It’s like bracing yourself for getting slapped in the face, but getting punched in the gut. Now that you mention it, if someone took the hit, their face would naturally give them away… but what does this mean? Where did the lucky agepan go? Who ate it?”
Sugi-san murmured.
“When was it eaten? Monchi-kun was here the whole time.”
Monchi-kun tilted his head.
“In the first place, what did they eat? There were only four pieces of bread.”
They were all valid questions. There were a few walls before we could get to the obvious conclusion that no one ate the lucky agepan during the taste test. However, I didn’t consider those walls to be insurmountable.
The events that transpired seemed weird and inexplicable, but that was due to imperfect testimony. Silence, lies and consideration made the story more complicated than it should be. If we could gradually peel off the layers of imperfection from the testimony, the truth would naturally come to light.
I’d already thought it through. The question now was how to explain it in words.
“First, let us consider the opportunities for that to happen.”
I began while staring at the plate on the large table.
“A Tabasco-filled agepan existed, but it did not exist during the taste test. So, it must have been taken away from the plate before the taste test started. The plate of agepan was always there, and Monchi-kun was in the room. Could anyone have stolen it without being noticed by him?”
In a corner of the club room stood a table by the window. Monchi-kun had been writing an article there.
“Kengo did mention it earlier, but could you tell me again how you were sitting, Monchi-kun?”
He let out a dissatisfied sound, but stood up from his seat without much reluctance and faced the table in question. He pulled over a nearby chair and sat down, such that his body was horizontal to the room’s entrance.
The other three Newspaper Club members groaned.
“I wonder… the door was open, right?”
“So the question is whether he would notice someone approaching from the side, huh.”
“Under normal circumstances they would make a sound…”
With his arms folded, Kengo asked Monchi-kun.
“What do you feel? Would you be able to notice someone coming in?”
“Course I would.”
He answered, but his words were lacking in conviction. But perhaps that was to be expected, because he knew what had actually happened.
“Thank you.”
I said, prompting Monchi-kun to return to his seat. I placed a hand on the big table.
“By the way, do you remember what Monchi-kun said about Seba-senpai entering the room?”
The other three members nodded in unison.
“Alright. So, Seba-senpai’s plan was a complete success, and Monchi-kun was surprised… in other words, he didn’t notice Seba-senpai. The assertion that Monchi-kun would have definitely noticed someone coming into the room cannot be said to be valid. If someone creeps into the room it is possible that Monchi-kun wouldn’t notice, and even if they approach normally, he might not know, depending on the circumstances.”
Kengo immediately retorted.
“But the agepan was not yet in the room during the time period when only Monchi was present.”
He was right. Since Sugi-san entered the room as Seba-senpai was leaving, there was no situation where Monchi-kun was alone in the room with the agepan. However…
“If Monchi-kun didn’t notice a visitor, it isn’t weird to think that Seba-senpai didn’t notice either.”
“Jougorou, isn’t this line of logic irrational? It’s more natural to think that the probability of noticing someone would increase with two people rather than one.”
Sugi-san also piped up.
“Also, when I arrived and passed senpai at the entrance, he said, ‘I just arrived.’ The amount of time when only Monchi-kun and senpai were in the room should be very small. I was sitting in a chair next to the entrance, so it’s impossible for someone to approach the agepan after I got here.”
I could answer their doubts at the same time.
“Even if it’s just for a bit, a gap is a gap… but I don’t think it was that short a period of time. And Kengo, the two of them didn’t become more alert because they were together, but became less alert, don’t you think?”
Kengo and Sugi-san looked doubtful. I brought in front of my face the hand that I’d placed on the big table, and put up my index finger.
“Monchi-kun was writing an article here from half past three. As Kengo mentioned, it was ‘the three-paragraph article from last week’. That seems like a long time, so Kengo asked, ‘Were you having a hard time with it?’ To that, Monchi-kun replied, ‘Yeah, I had a bit of trouble with the writing style.’ and continued with, ‘But it’s finished.’ Basically, Monchi-kun was stuck on an article, but completed it just now. Seba-senpai came into the room while he was writing the article. What kind of person is he?”
In this case, I’d decided to completely trust Kengo’s words and actions. Kengo had spoken about it earlier.
“‘Whenever we’re stuck on writing an article, he’ll stop whatever he’s doing to advise us.’ Right, Kengo?”
Someone produced an “Ah”.
“Monchi-kun received Seba-senpai’s advice about the article’s writing style. During that time, the two of them were talking face-to-face. Do you remember Sugi-san mention that there were two chairs next to that desk? Just a conjecture, but I think Seba-senpai also sat down to help Monchi-kun with his article.”
I stopped to look at Monchi-kun. Kengo, Sugi and Makishima were also staring at him. Being at the center of attention, Monchi-kun brazenly shrugged.
“Yeah, I got advice from senpai. I didn’t say it because I thought it was obvious.”
Was that really so? I could feel pride from each word he said. Could that pride have gotten in the way, and stopped him from mentioning that he got help from a senior when he was unable to write his article? That was just a conjecture and did not have any bearing on finding the truth, so I decided to keep quiet about it.
Now for the important point.
“In other words, the word ‘just’ from the phrase Sugi-san heard, ‘I just arrived’ didn’t mean a few seconds ago, but a rough expression for the few minutes it took to advise Monchi-kun with his article… So, how long was it actually?”
I asked Monchi-kun, but he responded in a slapdash manner.
“I dunno. About five minutes, maybe?”
“Both you and Seba-senpai might not have noticed anyone coming into the room during those five minutes. Is it fair to say that?”
That was quite a mean-spirited question to ask. Since it had already been pointed out that Monchi-kun had not noticed Seba-senpai’s entrance, he couldn’t answer that he would have noticed someone else walking in.
“Senpai was earnestly giving me advice, so I was earnestly listening. You can think whatever you want of that.”
He answered in a disgruntled tone.
Thus, it was proven that there existed a period of time during which the agepan were not paid attention to.
“Now, about the quantity.”
I said, then looked at the plate that held the agepan.
“The Home Economics Club member inserted extra-spicy Tabasco into one agepan. Seba-senpai was the one who put this lucky Tabasco-filled agepan on the plate, and the Home Economics Club member did not see how many agepan there were on the plate at that time. On the other hand, there were four agepan on the plate during the taste test, and the lucky one was not among them.”
“But…”
Makishima-san was about to say something, but fell silent. I continued even as I felt sorry for her.
“Basically, we can only consider that senpai did not receive four agepan. He received at least five… but based on the information we’ve gathered thus far, five is the most probable number.”
“I know what you’re trying to say.”
Kengo said sullenly.
“There’s one more first-year Newspaper Club member, Iida. If his share was included, senpai would have received five agepan. But Seba-senpai should have known that he wasn’t participating. You’re saying it was a simple mistake?”
“The chances of that are not zero, but before we get to that, your phrasing is a little imprecise. All you saw was that an email to Seba-senpai saying that Iida-kun wouldn’t be taking part in the taste test was sent. That doesn’t equate to Seba-senpai knowing about it. The email could have been dropped, or he could have decided to read it later.”
“Hang on.”
Sugi-san spoke out in a small, sharp voice.
“Makki… Makishima-san should have gotten a reply from senpai.”
“You’re right, she did say something like that.”
She’d mentioned that she received a one-word message saying, “Understood” from Seba-senpai. However… I was about to make a rebuttal, but it was a little hard to say aloud. I scratched my cheek and looked in another direction.
“But no one saw that reply except for Makishima-san.”
Makishima-san’s face turned red in an instant.
“Hey, what are you saying! You mean, that I…”
I could only feign ignorance here.
“Did you perhaps mistake someone else’s email for that one? It happens all the time.”
Not giving her a chance to reply, I pressed on.
“If you mistakenly thought that an email from Seba-senpai from arrived, but he hadn’t actually read your email, the situation would be simple. Seba-senpai thought that in the off chance that Iida-kun showed up, it would be sad for him to not have an agepan, so he asked for five of them. Tabasco was inserted into one of those agepan, and it disappeared during the time before the taste test.”
“…Right!”
Makishima-san abruptly exclaimed.
“Right, at that time, I was also communicating with my older brother. I asked him to do some shopping, so that ‘Understood’ might have been his reply!”
“Seba-senpai was also probably nervous since it was right before his live performance. He can’t be blamed for not noticing an email. We could have checked if you had your mobile phone. What a shame.”
“You’re right. Ah, I messed up.”
With those words, Makishima-san hung her head weakly.
Great.
Makishima-san was not a person with good acting skills, so the other three might have understood the situation. Basically, Makishima-san’s email was ignored by Seba-senpai. I didn’t know if the preparations for his live performance made him too busy, or if there was some kind of conflict between Makishima-san and Seba-senpai. However, as someone who acknowledged herself to be a childhood friend of Seba-senpai and took on the role to liaise with him, that was probably something she didn’t want others to know about.
Earlier, she’d suddenly blurted out that she could be the one who had taken the hit. Could she have done that because she’d noticed a possible reason for why no one admitted that they took the hit was that there were five agepan? If the investigation continued, the number of agepan would eventually come into question, and her testimony that she’d received a reply from Seba-senpai would come under doubt. Was her confession for the sake of bringing that problem to a close?
Makishima-san had, without a second’s thought, jumped onto my suggestion that the supposed existence of a reply was due to a common mistake. Was her perceived closeness with Seba-senpai that important to her?
In any case, I didn’t have much interest in the complexities of human relationships.
“Well, anyway…”
Pulling myself together, I continued on.
“We should assume that there were five agepan.”
“There were five agepan, and there was a period of time during which they were not guarded. So, who ate it?”
Kengo folded his arms, while Sugi-san peeked at the others’ expressions. Monchi-kun sulked and kept silent. Makishima-san’s face was still slightly red.
I’d been asked by Kengo about who had eaten the lucky agepan. The investigation up to this point was just prep work to answer that question.
“Even if Monchi-kun and Seba-senpai were completely focused on the manuscript, it is definite that the two of them stayed in the room during that time, though they did not see the person who ate the agepan, or at least took it away from the plate. In other words, he or she acted without calling out to either of the two.”
I paused for a moment so that everyone could digest my words, before carrying on.
“By the way, the four of you here knew that the agepan were to be used in a taste test for the purpose of writing an article. However, it makes no sense that either of the two people in the room secretly ate a piece without saying anything just because there were five on the plate. It is not impossible, but it is very illogical for them to do so.”
I’d postulated that the culprit had some reason to their actions. It was also difficult to imagine that Sugi-san or Makishima-san would stealthily snack on one behind Monchi-kun and Seba-senpai’s backs.
…But to be precise, Makishima-san had a motive for such an action. Everyone would notice the breakdown in communication between her and Seba-senpai if there were five agepan, so she could cover up that bit of carelessness by hiding one piece. However, if she’d done that, she would have instantly recognized that the hidden agepan was the lucky one when no one admitted to taking the hit during the taste test. At that point, she would have had to pretend that she’d taken the hit to conceal the truth. Yet she’d only tried to confess long after the taste test, proving that she had not hidden one agepan before the taste test.
“That certainly doesn’t make sense.”
Kengo said gravely.
“Have you noticed it, Kobato?”
“Noticed what?”
“There are no more suspects.”
I knew he would say that.
“What about Iida?”
Monchi-kun muttered without confidence.
“It can’t be him. I was talking with him for a while in the classroom. The timing makes it impossible.”
That suggestion was dismissed by Kengo.
But did it mean that there were no more suspects? No, that wasn’t so.
“Kengo, what state was the plate of agepan in after it was placed in this room, during the five-minute gap when Monchi-kun was consulting Seba-senpai about his article?”
Kengo raised his eyebrows in surprise, then unfolded his arms and pointed at the plate on the big table.
“It was like this. That plate was not moved since the taste test started. Of course, there were Berliners on it during the time period you’re asking about.”
“That’s wrong.”
“…Huh?”
I slowly moved towards the fridge.
“The plate of agepan only reached that state after the five-minute gap. That is because Sugi-san, who passed by Seba-senpai on the way in, cleaned up the table for the purpose of taking a good photo of the agepan.”
As her name was mentioned, Sugi-san trembled.
“Eh? Did I do something wrong…”
“Of course not. You did nothing wrong at all.”
It certainly wasn’t wrong, but her casual act had complicated the situation. I picked up the small tray filled with candy and caramels resting atop the fridge and returned to the big table.
“During the five-minute gap, before Sugi-san cleared the table, the plate of agepan was like this.”
I put down the tray.
It was near the plate, and still had the note attached to it.
“So that’s why!”
Kengo exclaimed.
“Exactly. The tray with this note was next to the plate… Kengo, could you pass me the survey collection box?”
“Sure.”
After receiving the box, I placed it next to the tray.
That caused a stir among the other three, though they were a beat late.
“Not only Newspaper Club members come into this room. For example, I came here, and Makishima-san met another female student. Both she and I entered this room for the sake of handing in responses for the survey you distributed. And there is no reason to believe that only two people would do such a thing.”
Written on the note was this – “Please place your survey response into this box. Feel free to take these sweets as thanks.”
“While Monchi-kun was talking about his article with Seba-senpai, someone came into the room to hand in their survey response, but found it difficult to call out to them because they looked busy. They looked around to see the note telling them to place their survey response into the box, and did exactly so.”
Sugi-san said that she had cleaned up the table, while Makishima-san mentioned that Sugi-san had moved the collection box away. In other words, the collection box was on the table before Sugi-san cleared it.
Pasted to the tray of a sweets was a note instructing students to put their survey responses into the collection box. This meant that the tray and box were close to each other, and had to both be on the table.
While Monchi-kun and Seba-senpai were in the midst of their discussion, on the table were the survey collection box, the tray of sweets with its affixed note, and the plate of agepan.
“That person read, ‘Feel free to take these sweets as thanks’, so they freely ate – one of the agepan next to the message, that is. The culprit was an outsider.”
At the beginning, when I was about to investigate the possibility of the culprit being someone from outside the Newspaper Club, I was met with three opposing reasons from the members of the Newspaper Club. First, that there was always someone in the room. Second, that there were only four agepan. And third, that an outsider eating an agepan without permission defies common sense. However, after listening to testimony and doing further investigation, those three reasons had collapsed.
Monchi-kun’s silence, Makishima-san’s lie and Sugi-san’s consideration had distorted the situation bit by bit, turning it into a complex mystery. After sorting them all out, the truth behind what happened became clear.
“…Oh my god.”
Kengo murmured.
“So an unrelated student got their hands on the Tabasco-filled Berliner. Isn’t that too unlucky? It’s a one in five chance.”
“Yeah, he or she was unlucky. This was an accident.”
“Even if you call it an accident… oi, what will we do?”
That last question was not directed at me, but at the other Newspaper Club members.
“W-What should we do?”
“What if we make a school-wide announcement? Tell them not to eat it.”
“It’s too late, isn’t it? That was an hour ago.”
With a sideward glance at the Newspaper Club, who were, in their state of panicked frenzy, displaying a solidarity I hadn’t seen from them before, I thought about the unknown outsider. What a pity, when they’d just come to submit their survey response. It was probably a person who hardly drew attention in class, just like me. They caught sight of the agepan, but did not eat it there and instead brought it home. It would be great if they hadn’t eaten it yet, but if they had…
They must have gotten quite a shock. They would undoubtedly have had no idea what hit them at the start. After a bout of choking, they would have run to get water. Their lips might have gotten red and swollen. If so, they would have opened a window to get some air and try to relieve the swelling. Their speech would be slurred for a while. And just perhaps…
“Ah.”
“What, you figured out something?”
Kengo asked, his countenance the very definition of solemnity. I hurriedly waved my hands.
“No, it’s nothing. Nothing at all. Just that the person who came to hand in their survey response…”
“What about them? Spit it out.”
Instinctively, I swallowed my saliva. The person with their voice slurred would have stood silently in front of a window, and…
“…They were probably in tears, I think.”
“What nonsense.”
Kengo muttered, a frown on his face.
The Berlin Fried Bread Mystery (Part 4) | Contents | The Florence Cream Puff Mystery (Part 1)
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Editors (Tier 2): Suleman, Dedavond, Egi Pratama, Pearl H Nettle
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