The Berlin Fried Bread Mystery (Part 3) | Contents | The Berlin Fried Bread Mystery (Part 5)
The two who went to get water returned, and I presumed the investigation would recommence, but Monchi-kun spoke up apathetically.
“Haven’t we had enough? It doesn’t really matter who got it, right? Even if we don’t kick up a fuss over a piece of bread or two, something strange happened. Why don’t we just say, ‘That’s weird’ and move on?”
He had a point, but Makishima-san who did the planning for the article wouldn’t keep quiet after hearing his suggestion. As expected, she sharply raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to make a rebuttal, but Sugi-san beat her to the punch, her voice loud and shrill.
“Don’t say that now! If you wanted to say something like that, you should have said it before we tasted the Tabasco! If we stop now, what did we go through all that for… that’s just absurd!”
Her eyes were red and her voice was shaking. Indeed, it was now too late to make a judgment to retreat. As the saying goes, if you’ve eaten poison, you should finish the plate.1 Now that everyone had tasted the Tabasco, we should find the truth. I questioned Kengo again.
“Who was the one to suggest writing an article about this agepan?”
I already knew the answer, but I’d only obtained that information during my one-on-one talk with Kengo, which might make the other Newspaper Club members feel uncomfortable, so I intentionally asked that question again. Sensing my intentions, Kengo did not say, “I told you just now, didn’t I?”
“It was Makishima. She found out that a German bakery recently opened near school and that it sells Pfannkuchen, so she brought it up during an editorial meeting.”
What I really wanted to ask was this.
“So why was Seba-senpai the one to collect the agepan?”
It might not be my place to say this, but I thought it a little strange that Seba-senpai, a second-year senior, was running errands for the freshmen’s plans.
“As you know, senpai didn’t take part in this project because he can’t handle spicy food. He apparently felt apologetic because he would become increasingly unable to show his face in club with his live performance soon approaching. He said to at least let him make up for that, and offered to pick up the Pfannkuchen for us.”
Makishima-san cut in.
“He might be a careless person, but he’s good at taking care of others. He’s always supporting us.”
Kengo nodded.
“Yeah. Whenever we’re stuck on writing an article, he’ll stop whatever he’s doing to advise us. We’ve been trained by him.”
I swept over the other students with my gaze, but neither Monchi-kun nor Sugi-san had any change to their countenance. Of course, I couldn’t say for sure, but they didn’t seem to harbor any antipathy towards Seba-senpai.
If so, I should check the details of the situation, step by step. First, let’s determine how the agepan were moved.
“Senpai went to the bakery after school and came back with the agepan, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Do we have anything to corroborate that?”
Monchi-kun retorted bitterly from the side.
“What do you mean, corroborate? If senpai didn’t collect it, how did the bread turn up here?”
“Well, it’s just to make sure. He could have received them yesterday, for example. I want to clarify whatever can be clarified.”
Kengo shook his head.
“Seba-senpai made an appointment to collect the agepan today. It’s a prototype, so the bakery won’t be making it every day.”
“Do the people at the bakery recognize Seba-senpai?”
“They know. When Seba-senpai, Makishima and I went to interview them, Seba-senpai told them that he would be coming over again to collect the agepan.”
So there was no room for doubt that Seba-senpai went to collect the agepan from the German bakery. They were packed in a paper bag, and that was placed in a plastic bag for ease of carrying. He went to the Home Economics Club’s room at four o’clock in the afternoon to get mustard into an agepan, as per his request, but it was filled with Tabasco instead.
In the Home Economics Club’s room, Seba-senpai moved all the agepan onto a plate. The paper bag and plastic bag that had been used to transport the agepan were discarded in the trash can. Senpai then brought the plate holding the bread into the Newspaper Club’s room, where it still sat atop the big table.
There was one point I didn’t get.
“…Why did Seba-senpai move all the agepan onto a plate? I don’t think it would have been that difficult to eat them from the paper bag.”
Kengo looked at me quizzically for a moment, then answered nonchalantly.
“So they were initially in a paper bag, huh. It’s probably for the sake of photography, then.”
Photography, huh.
“You took pictures of the agepan?”
“Yeah, of course, since we’re doing a report. Senpai considered that it would be difficult to get a good pictures when they’re all in a paper bag.”
“Did you take the pictures with a camera?”
I asked, and Kengo’s face fell.
“We really should have, since it’s a small column and our papers are monochrome. But instead we used a mobile phone camera.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier!”
That was a line I always wanted to say, and I certainly never expected that I would be able to say it today.
“Right, sorry, it slipped my mind. You want to see them?”
“Of course.”
Kengo retrieved his mobile phone from his pocket and put up some images on the screen.
The first image was of the large table that held the plate of agepan, the second depicted four agepan on a plate, while the third also showed the agepan, but taken a little more close-up.
Basically, the only photos were that of agepan.
“I thought… you know… there would be some that can be used as a clue… like the moment you ate the agepan!”
“I ate at the same time as everyone else. How do you expect me to take a photo of that?”
“You’re absolutely right, but…”
It can be said that those photos allowed us to confirm that there were four agepan on the plate, and that it was difficult to tell which agepan contained Tabasco just by looking at it, but those were facts that we already knew.
“When did you take these photos?”
“Right before the taste test.”
Seba-senpai had already left at that point in time.
Was there something else that happened until “right before the taste test?” The next course of action would be to check what the four Newspaper Club members were doing.
“Who was the first to enter this room?”
I asked, and Monchi-kun replied in a contemptuous voice.
“You should know, it was me. I was the first to arrive, so I unlocked the room, and I was here the entire time writing an article.”
“Yes, you did say that. What time were you here from?”
“Past 3:30, I think.”
Homeroom would usually end at that time, so that meant Monchi-kun came here right after his classes ended for the day.
“You also met Seba-senpai, right?”
“Yep.”
A slight grin drifted onto Monchi-kun’s face as he leaned back against the folding chair.
“I was surprised when he suddenly tapped my shoulder.”
“What time was that?”
“I don’t remember. I didn’t look at the clock while writing my manuscript.”
“Seba-senpai was holding the plate with the agepan, right?”
“…No, the plate was already on the table. He pointed at it and said, ‘I’ve brought them.’”
Kengo asked.
“You were working on the three-paragraph article from last week, right? Were you having a hard time with it?”
“Yeah, I had a bit of trouble with the writing style, but it’s finished.”
I wanted to ask, “Is there anyone who can testify that you were always in this room?”, but Monchi-kun’s alibi wasn’t a problem, and I could see that there would be a commotion if I posed such a question. I decided to let it slide.
“Who was the next to enter this room?”
Sugi-san raised her hand slightly.
“Me.”
“Do you remember what time it was when you came in?”
“Exactly 4:15.”
I did ask that question myself, but how did she know…
“You remembered the precise time?”
“That’s what I’m good at.”
For the first time, Sugi-san let out a smile.
“I also met Seba-senpai. We passed each other at the door. I said, ‘I didn’t know you were coming.’ and he said, ‘I just arrived.’”
“Did he say anything else?”
“He also said, ‘I’ll be going to the live performance. Sorry that I can’t stick around.’ That’s all.”
Kengo cut in.
“That would be right after he talked with Monchi-kun, right?”
“Probably. After that, I noticed some survey responses in the collection box on the table, so I took some of them from the top and sat down to read.”
I asked, just in case.
“You sat down at the chair Kengo is currently sitting down in, right?”
It was the chair closest to the entrance.
“Yes, over there.”
“Thanks. After that?”
Sugi-san nodded.
“After skimming through the responses for two or three minutes, I noticed the Pfannkuchen, so I cleared the table to make it better for a photo.”
“You didn’t take a photo at that time?”
“No. I thought it would be better to wait for everyone to be here.”
So the first to enter the room was Monchi-kun. After that, Seba-senpai arrived, followed by Sug-san, and Seba-senpai left. What happened next?
“The next person to enter the room was…”
“Me.”
Makishima-san answered in a somewhat dissatisfied tone.
“Do you remember at what time you arrived?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
It was a negligent way of speaking, but not remembering the time could be considered to be normal. If I had to choose, Sugi-san’s clear answer was the strange one.
“Monchi and Sugi were in the club room, but I didn’t see senpai.”
That was consistent with all the testimony so far.
“Did anything happen after you entered the room?”
“Hmm…”
Makishima-san mulled over my question for a while.
“A short first-year girl came over to hand in her survey response, and I received it. That’s all, I suppose.”
…Could that be Osanai-san?
“I thanked her and said that we were giving out snacks, but she said she didn’t need any.”
“Not her, huh.”
“Eh? What?”
“Sorry, just talking to myself. What did you do with the sheet of paper?”
“Sugi moved the collection box away, so I passed it to her and asked her to put the response in.”
I looked at Sugi-san, and she gave a light nod. Was there really a collection box somewhere in this fortress of paper? Kengo had told me to place my class’ answers anywhere, but was that really fine…
“Where is that box now?”
I asked Sugi-san.
“It’s behind Doujima-kun.”
She replied. Kengo hurriedly whirled around, and picked up a box casually sitting atop a pile of documents resting against the wall.
“So that’s where it was.”
The term “collection box” made me think that it had a lid, but it seemed more like a repurposed cardboard box for Japanese confectionery. It was relatively big but not very deep, and the survey responses within looked close to overflowing.
“Did anything else happen?”
Makishima-san shook her head to answer my question.
“The last one to arrive was Kengo, right?”
I asked just to be sure. Kengo stopped looking around and nodded.
“Yeah.”
“What time was it?”
“I remember it being a few minutes before 4:30. I don’t know the exact time. When I arrived, the other three were already in, and the plate of agepan was on the table. I took some pictures, and then we ate them.”
I didn’t need to ask what happened next. The four of them glanced furtively at each other with bated breath to see who would declare that they took the hit, but no one did so. Soon after, I arrived.
Now, I’d asked all that I could about the Newpaper Club members’ movements. But what did it all mean… As I fell silent, Kengo let out a small groan.
“Doesn’t seem like there’s anything out of place.”
Was that really so?
I considered for a moment, then said to no one in particular.
“Is it possible to get in contact with Seba-senpai?”
For some reason everyone turned to look at Makishima-san, and she answered.
“It should be impossible now. He turns off his phone before a live performance.”
“Is that so…”
“Did you want to ask him something?”
“It would be great if I could ask him some questions, but more importantly, you seem to know Seba-senpai well, Makishima-san.”
I said, and she smiled shyly.
“We live nearby. I’m usually the one to contact him.”
“Something like childhood friends, I suppose. So, you usually don’t address him as ‘senpai’?”
“Yes, but… is this related?”
I waved my hand.
“No. Sorry, I didn’t mean to ask such an intrusive question.”
Given that we couldn’t obtain Seba-senpai’s testimony, I had no choice but to make a deduction based on the materials gathered in this room. My intuition told me that it was not an impossible task. The key probably lay in the hands of Iida-kun, the other first-year student.
“Seba-senpai knows that Iida-kun wasn’t participating, right?”
Iida-kun was a first-year ghost member of the Newspaper Club who might not even show up once a week. Kengo had consulted him on whether he would be participating in this project, and he had answered in the negative. Makishima-san replied in a strangely eager manner.
“Yup, he knew. I sent him an email about it.”
“Just to confirm, you sent an email to Seba-senpai saying, ‘Iida-kun will not be taking part in the taste test, so you can just get four agepan.’ Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Was there any transmission error or something like that?”
“That normally doesn’t happen.”
No, no, it does happen. That was what I wanted to say, but Kengo supplemented her statement.
“I was also there, and she asked me to look through her email before sending it. I forgot the exact wording, but Makishima did send an email saying that Iida wasn’t participating. This club room also has good reception, and we’ve never had a transmission error sending an email from a mobile phone here. There’s no doubt that the email reached senpai.”
I’d decided to assume Kengo’s declarations to be true regarding today’s incident. I nodded silently, and Makishima-san continued.
“He even replied, though it was at night.”
“What did he say?”
“Understood.”
“Is that it? Was there anything before or after that?”
Makishima-san frowned.
“I don’t know, I can’t remember, and I can’t look at it now because I left my phone at home. Is the wording important?”
Was it? Was the contents of Seba-senpai’s email important, or not?
…No, there were other important points.
I kept silent, causing Makishima-san to display her ire. With her face red, she opened her mouth, but against my expectations, she averted her gaze.
“…By the way, it might be a little late, but can I say something?”
Those words were not directed at me, but at the other Newspaper Club members. Monchi-kun asked, “What?” in a perplexed manner, and Makishima-san murmured.
“Actually, when I was eating that, I spaced out because I was thinking about something. I’ve kept quiet about it because it was difficult to bring up, but I might’ve been the one who took the hit… or rather, since everyone else didn’t take the hit, I was the one who got it, I think.”
That was quite the sudden confession. Sugi-san and Monchi-kun let out cries of surprise, but as expected, Kengo stayed collected.
“That can’t be, Makishima. Weren’t you the one who wrote the most detailed description of the taste just now? It doesn’t make sense that you were spaced out.”
“That’s…”
Monchi-kun sent a frightful glare towards the stammering Makishima-san.
“It’s because she’s eaten it before. That’s exactly what I thought!”
Makishima-san looked down and didn’t say anything, but Sugi-san stepped in.
“You don’t know that. Makki, explain properly!”
“It’s no use, I knew she was suspicious from the beginning.”
“What are you talking about? The suspicious one is you! Didn’t you want to destroy Makki’s plans?”
“Why would I do something like that? Are you stupid?”
It was a development that Kengo feared. It may have just been a traditional German game involving agepan, but the conflicts lurking under the surface of the Newspaper Club had reared their ugly heads. Would I be in time now? If I could point at whoever took the hit, would I be able to answer to Kengo’s expectations and prevent the Newspaper Club from disintegrating?
…But truth be told, I didn’t have much interest in what happened to the Newspaper Club!
I’d gathered all the information I thought I would need. So, who ate the Tabasco-filled agepan?
Was it Doujima Kengo?
Or Monchi Jouji?
Makishima Midori?
Sugi Sarako?
Iida?
Seba-senpai?
The Home Economics Club member?
Or Jougorou Kobato? To set things straight, I did not.
Or did some mysterious being that came from nowhere in particular eat it?
I could determine the truth behind this case.
Anyone with the same information on hand should be able to solve it as well.
The Berlin Fried Bread Mystery (Part 3) | Contents | The Berlin Fried Bread Mystery (Part 5)
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