In his speech, Shima Taiga told us not to hold onto our dreams.
“I wanted to become a sculptor. For that end, I practiced, studied great works, and sought the tutelage of others. So, was I chasing a dream? No, I wasn’t. Would you call practicing for interviews over and over, filling out multiple application forms, and having a suit tailor made to look for jobs chasing a dream? I, too, was searching for a job. Now, I am a sculptor, but who can say that is not a job? What you should hold on to are not dreams, but goals, and steps taken in the right direction.”
It sounded profound, but I couldn’t understand why it was a problem to call the thought of wanting to take on some profession a dream. The objet “Gaze and Shell, or Green Ball” was not mentioned once during the speech.
When the speech ended, someone mused.
“In the end, nothing happened.”
Indeed, no sabotage had been done during the speech, contrary to what the rumors had claimed.
As expected, we didn’t end up having to tidy up after the speech. When homeroom ended, I stood up and met eyes with Shimai-san, who seemed to be heave a sigh of relief. I nodded at her, saw her off, then sent a message to Osanai-san.
“We’re done with homeroom.”
As always, her reply was short.
“Entranceway.”
School had ended, so students were either leaving or going for their club activities. The entranceway was a little crowded, but I instantly found Osanai-san. She was leaning against a wall and idly kicking out with one of her legs. Just like everyone else, she was clad in her summer uniform. When she spotted me, she released herself from the wall.
“You can go home already?”
“I’ve got nothing else to do.”
“Let’s go, then.”
After changing our shoes, we exited through the school gates side-by-side. It seemed that Osanai-san had not arrived by bicycle today.
It was an unusually cool day for June. The skies were clear, and the winds felt pleasant.
Cars would occasionally come and go on the two-lane road. A little later and the road would be filled with cars on their way home. Ahead of us on the pavement was another pair of students also wearing the Funado High School uniform. We walked slowly so that we wouldn’t catch up to them.
In school, Osanai-san and I acted as if we had feelings for each other. But walking out of school side-by-side for no particular reason was a fresh experience, and quite an awkward one. I knew that she wouldn’t give me a proper answer, but asked anyway.
“Why are we heading back together today?”
I’d assumed that it was because she wanted couple cakes that were limited to one per person, but Osanai-san replied with a light grin.
“I wrote the reason, didn’t I?”
“That you’re being targeted by an evil organization?”
“Yup.”
Osanai-san had been abducted once during her third year of middle school, and once during her first year of high school, due to slight misunderstandings and miscommunication. Based on that, it was probably a trivial petit bourgeois joke. Realizing that there would be no point in continuing to pursue the matter, I changed the subject.
“The speech ended peacefully.”
Osanai-san shot me a resentful look.
“You told me that the objet was damaged, but it wasn’t.”
“No, actually…”
“You tricked me?”
“No, it was damaged, but got fixed.”
We approached the bridge. As usual, it was slightly swaying. I’ve heard that it’s for the bridge’s structure to not get degraded by the vibrations caused by cars passing through. The wind blowing across the rier felt a little cold.
Osanai-san tilted her head.
“It was fixed? Was the crack so small that it can be fixed just like that?”
“No, the plaster at the top of the sphere was broken such that there was a hole you can see through. Also, a large crack opened up.”
“There was no such crack in the objet I saw in the gym.”
“Therein lies the mystery.”
Osanai-san looked at my face, then frowned, apparently troubled.
“Kobato-kun, that line is usually followed by, ‘Though I have a hunch.’”
Come on, I didn’t even say that out loud. I look at Osanai-san square in her face. Before we knew it, we were walking up the bridge while staring at each other’s faces. The one who caved first was me. I averted my eyes with a smile and looked up at the pale blue sky.
“Fine, I’ll tell the truth. I do have a conjecture about the process in which the sphere got damaged and restored. However, no one asked me to solve the mystery, so I didn’t play the smart aleck. But Osanai-san, could you listen to what I have to say?”
Her answer was surprisingly straightforward.
“Sure.”
“Oh, really?”
She nodded amicably.
“We’re just walking, anyway. So, Kobato-kun, what did you figure out? And what’s the mystery in the first place?”
“The mystery is split into two big parts. The first is about the objet’s destruction, and the other is about its revival.”
Placing a hand on her mouth, Osanai-san chuckled to herself.
“Revival sounds like a bit of an overstatement.”
“I don’t know what I can call it besides that, though.”
“Hmm, me neither.”
“Yep. Anyway, I’ll start with the objet’s destruction.”
The objet appeared to be damaged as a result of the earthquake, but we’d come to the common understanding that that was not the case in last night’s exchange of messages. Meaning that the time-honored questions would prove to be useful.
“Who did it, and why and how was it destroyed?”
We finished crossing the bridge. A city-operated bus cruised past as we were stopped by the red pedestrian light.
Osanai-san spoke.
“If this is a fun story for the journey home, may I ask a question instead of you stating your preamble?”
“Go ahead.”
“I heard a rumor that a threatening letter was sent to the school, telling them to cancel the speech. I think everyone in my class knew that. Kobato-kun, do you know if it’s true?”
I nodded.
“One of my classmates mentioned the letter to Koumura-sensei, and he said, ‘How did you know that?’ I don’t know its exact contents, but it was undoubtedly delivered to the school.”
“Thanks. So, the person who broke the objet and the person who sent the threatening letter are separate people, right?”
“You’re right,” I was about to say, but swallowed my words. I actually hadn’t put any thought into whether they were the same person. So those two were different people? Again, I tried to say, “You’re right,” but couldn’t. If I pretended to know something in front of Osanai-san, I would lose the only person in the world I could talk to while being true to myself.
There was no choice but to admit it. I’d tried to boastfully lay out my theory, but now I’d taken a pre-emptive strike. A weird expression must have been on my face, for Osanai-san glanced up at me and giggled mirthfully. I put up both my hands in the air.
“You got me. Why do you say that?”
It seemed that Osanai-san held more interest in this series of events than I’d expected, and had probably been looking forward to this chat on the way home. She lifted an index finger and waved it around.
“Because destroying the objet would be meaningless if it wasn’t made clear that that action was a warning shot for what could happen if the letter is ignored. But judging by what you’ve told me, the person who destroyed the objet used a plaster bust from a nearby rack, then placed it on the ground, as if they were trying to get people to think that it was caused by the earthquake. There is a contradiction, so the blackmailer and the vandal are two different people.”
Her logic made sense. Why had I not noticed that?
“True.”
“Now it’s your turn, Kobato-kun. Who destroyed the objet, why, and how did they do it?”
Before that, I had to inform Osanai-san that that the crime scene was not a closed room. So I told her about the entrances to the room.
The objet was placed in the Art Preparation Room.
The door from the Art Preparation Room to the corridor was locked.
And on top of the fact that the door to the Art Room was unlocked, the small window above that door had no lock.
The door from the Art Preparation Room to the Art Room had allegedly been locked, but it could be unlocked from the Art Preparation Room.
Osanai-san let out a troubled smile.
“How rigorous. Basically you’re saying that anyone who really wanted to get into Art Preparation Room could have done so, right?”
I also smiled wryly.
“Yeah, something like that. Anyone can go through the small window by stepping on a chair and enter the Art Preparation Room, though I suppose it might require a certain level of acrobatics. The culprit could use the same route to exit, but since the key knob is on the side of the Art Preparation Room, they would have just unlocked the door and walked out… but thinking about it now, that was a mistake on their part. If the culprit wanted to make it seem like it was caused by the earthquake, they should have left the door locked.”
“Perhaps there was nothing in the Art Preparation Room for them to step on?”
Hearing her mention that possibility, I thought back to what items there were in the Art Preparation Room. Plaster busts, a rack for art supplies… she was right, I had no memory of anything there that could be stepped on. In the first place, if the culprit had indeed stepped on something in the Art Preparation Room to get out, they would not be able to return it to its original position. In any case, if the culprit wanted to leave behind traces of the crime, it would be easier for them to simply open the door to exit the room.
I made a summary of the culprit’s movements.
“The earthquake struck during the sixth period. The culprit headed to the Art Room when lessons ended. They then entered the Art Preparation Room via the small window, and using a plaster bust, smashed the objet on the platform. They lay the bust horizontally on the ground to make it seem like it fell due to the earthquake.”
Osanai-san placed an index finger on her lip and gazed up at the sky.
“…It goes without saying that the earthquake was a coincidence. Isn’t it weird to link the crime to the earthquake?”
Of course. No one can plan around a natural disaster. Meaning…
“The culprit didn’t break the objet in anticipation of the earthquake. They went to do it because of the earthquake.”
“Ah, I see what you mean.”
Osanai-san immediately understood. If so, I didn’t have to continue with my reasoning, but I wanted to sort out the situation out loud.
“The culprit wanted to destroy the objet. After the earthquake happened, they thought that it might have been broken by chance, so they rushed to the Art Preparation Room to check. However, the objet was not damaged.”
“With a small earthquake like that, nothing would fall unless it was already quite unstable.”
“Exactly. The culprit was likely shocked to see that the objet was unharmed. ‘If only it was damaged…’ While having that thought, they had a realization. ‘What if I break it right now? Wouldn’t it look like it was caused by the earthquake?’”
In reality, it wouldn’t work that well. But the culprit didn’t rely on just the earthquake.
“This is probably what the culprit thought: ‘If it gets found out that it wasn’t the earthquake’s fault, won’t I get suspected? I don’t know who it was, but someone sent a threatening letter. If so… now’s my chance, right?’”
In the midst of the two-layered smokescreen of the earthquake and the blackmailer, someone else brought the plaster bust down on the objet.
Before I knew it, there was no one in sight, in front or behind. We were walking in a quiet residential area. Osanai-san spoke while looking ahead.
“From a psychological perspective, that makes perfect sense. So there’s one thing I don’t get… Why did the culprit want to destroy the objet?”
“They were hoping that the speech would be canceled if the objet gets destroyed.”
Osanai-san looked up at me intently. But you know that isn’t true! Feeling such criticism from her eyes, I shrugged.
“…But that can’t be it. As you said, the blackmailer and vandal are two different people. Also, this is in hindsight, but the speech was not canceled.”
“Actually, I think I kind of know why they did it.”
With respect, I gestured for her to go ahead. She didn’t beat around the bush.
“If you want to hide a stick, you’d hide it in the forest, right?”
It might be a cliché, but that proverb still holds value.
“I believe so too.”
If you want to hide a crack, hide it in a bigger crack.
Shima Taiga’s objet was already broken. It was not unavoidable, but was due to negligence. The culprit wanted to destroy the objet to hide the part that was already damaged.
“It was probably not just a tiny scratch. I think that the culprit had accidentally opened a hole in the objet.”
Though it had no direct connection to this case, Osanai-san and I had been involved in an incident where we learned that Shima Taiga’s objets were generally designed to be easily broken or destroyed. They were all made of plaster, so even gentle tapping could cause a hole to open up.
Osanai-san gave me a quizzical look.
“What if the crack was already there when it reached the school? Or if it formed when it was being displayed?”
I considered that for a short moment.
“In the case of the former, the couriers who delivered the objet would be the ones responsible. In the case of the latter, the students who went to view the objet would come under suspicion. But both of these cases are hard to imagine.”
“The idea that the couriers would consider breaking into the Art Preparation Room just to hide a crack is certainly a stretch.”
“Furthermore, I already checked beforehand that the objet had no scratches or cracks before moving it to the Art Preparation Room.”
A tolerant smile rose up onto Osanai-san’s face. Thankfully, she didn’t tell me that I should have mentioned that earlier.
“So why can we rule out the students who went to see the objet?”
“Because if a student wants to view the objet, they would have to express their interest to Koumura-sensei. He would then unlock the door to the Art Preparation Room and accompany the student during their viewing.”
“…Come to think of it, I heard something along those lines during homeroom.”
It seemed that she’d heard that announcement, but forgot about it. With a grin, I added.
“There’s one more thing that’s natural for you not to know. The school clerks received the objet as a package and left it in the office.”
Osanai-san immediately understood the situation with just that bit of information.
“So someone had to move it from the office to the Art Preparation Room, right?”
“It was me. Because I was on class duty that day, I was made to move it.”
Still walking, Osanai-san pointed at me.
“We’ve found the culprit.”
I’m innocent!
“There were four of us on class duty that day. Me, and Shimai-san from my class, as well as Sawami-san and Aotagawa-kun from your class. The culprit went to the Art Room and snuck into the Art Preparation Room as soon as the sixth period ended yesterday, so they weren’t in their own classroom. By the way, Shimai-san was in my classroom.”
Osanai-san nodded as if to say that it all made sense to her now.
“So that’s why you told me about it. It was so that you could ask me if there was anyone in my class missing during homeroom yesterday.”
“That wasn’t the only reason, I just wanted you to listen. But of course, I’d be even happier if you can provide testimony. Osanai-san, was there anyone not in homeroom after the sixth period ended?”
Frankly speaking, I didn’t need to hear her testimony, and I already knew who the culprit was.
The culprit had been listlessly tapping on the white sphere while Koumura-sensei and the others were discussing the proper location and direction of the objet. They’d also strongly declined my offer to help them move the sphere back onto the platform. By artfully placing it such that the crack was facing down, they’d managed to avoid being exposed as having damaged the objet.
Osanai-san replied.
“I didn’t notice that he was missing, but our homeroom teacher Hirata-sensei asked where Aotagawa-kun had gone to.”
The culprit who had smashed the objet with a plaster bust was Aotagawa-kun.
I actually sympathized with him.
He’d been roped into moving the objet simply because he was on class duty, even when it had nothing to do with him, and had tapped on the sphere out of boredom, causing a crack to appear. It would be easy to criticize reckless behavior, but breaking whatever that was supposed to be – something that we couldn’t imagine the value of – must have made his blood run cold.
In the two weeks leading up to the speech, Aotagawa-kun must have been on pins and needles, wondering if the crack would be discovered. After all, any students seeing the objet had to be accompanied by Koumura-sensei, so he couldn’t insist that one of those students did it. If the crack was discovered, it would only be a matter of time for Aotagawa-kun to be identified as the culprit.
When the earthquake struck during the sixth period yesterday, Aotagawa-kun must have had a glimmer of hope that the objet was destroyed by the earthquake. However, after seeing that the sphere had not suffered any damage, he must have thought that it was all over.
Simply imagining the despair he must have felt made me feel a little sorry for Aotagawa-kun.
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Editors (Tier 2): Dedavond, Pearl H Nettle
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