Though Hime Eri had learned martial arts and fighting from Hayashi Shuichi, as the saying goes, no matter how skilled, one fears a kitchen knife.
Unarmed, she dared not confront Mrs. Togo, who wielded a sharp axe.
Seeing Fujimine Yukiko and Reiko frozen in fear, Hime Eri grabbed them and ran toward the inn's entrance.
Mrs. Togo ignored the girls. The inn was in the deep mountains; three kids who couldn't drive wouldn't escape far. She'd deal with Moriyama Kenta and Ootomo Hiroki first, then find them.
Moriyama Kenta, terrified, fled to the second floor. Mrs. Togo shifted her target, chasing Ootomo Hiroki.
In his panic, Ootomo Hiroki tripped over Akita Keito on the floor.
Mrs. Togo stood over him, grinning eerily, raising the axe to strike his head!
At the critical moment, a voice shouted from the entrance, "Don't you want to know who really killed your son?"
"…What did you say?" Mrs. Togo whipped around, glaring ferociously at the boy in the doorway. "Isn't Akita Keito the one who killed Ryu?"
"He's been framed," Hayashi Shuichi shook his head. "The real killer is someone else."
Akita Keito, lying on the floor, didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Being cleared of murder was good, but Mrs. Togo had spared him only to "honor" her dead son. Now that he wasn't the enemy, she might kill him on the spot!
Ootomo Hiroki, beside Akita Keito, stayed still, fearing the axe would turn on him.
"Who killed Ryu?!" Mrs. Togo roared, waving the axe.
"It's a long story," Hayashi Shuichi said, smiling as he entered the living room, the three girls trailing nervously. "Where's Moriyama-san? He can't be left out."
Hearing this, Mrs. Togo assumed Moriyama Kenta was the killer and glanced toward the second floor where he'd fled.
Seizing the moment, Hayashi Shuichi lunged, kicking Mrs. Togo hard in the stomach.
Caught off guard, the innkeeper collapsed.
Before she could rise, Hayashi Shuichi kicked the axe away and pinned her to the floor.
"Get rope!"
"Use mine, use mine!" Akita Keito blurted. "Hayashi-kun said I'm not the killer!"
The girls ignored him, thinking Hayashi Shuichi's words were just to distract Mrs. Togo.
Seeing them still searching for rope, Hayashi Shuichi sighed, "Untie Akita-san. He's really not the killer."
"You sure?" Hime Eri asked, doubtful, but crouched to free the tightly bound Akita Keito.
"I told you I didn't kill anyone," Akita Keito said, stretching his limbs.
With the girls' help, Hayashi Shuichi tied up Mrs. Togo. He noticed Ootomo Hiroki, who had quietly stood and reached the entrance.
"Ootomo-san, where are you going?"
"I don't want to see that woman go crazy again—she nearly killed me!" Ootomo Hiroki shouted, shaken. "I'm leaving now!"
"Mrs. Togo is tied up," Hayashi Shuichi said meaningfully. "Are you in such a hurry to leave that you don't want to know who really killed Togo Ryu?"
"I…" Ootomo Hiroki opened his mouth to speak.
Just then, Moriyama Kenta charged down the stairs, yelling and brandishing a mop.
Seeing Mrs. Togo bound, he scratched his head awkwardly. "Oh, you've already taken her down. I was coming to save you."
"Ootomo-san?" Hayashi Shuichi pressed. "Don't you want to know the real killer?"
With all eyes on him, Ootomo Hiroki gave a dry laugh and returned. "Let's hear Hayashi-kun's reasoning."
"We thought Akita-san was the killer because we assumed Togo Ryu was attacked on the cliff, and only Akita-san had the time," Hayashi Shuichi said. "But what if Togo Ryu never went to the cliff?"
"Impossible," Hime Eri countered. "We all saw him heading there. Could we all be wrong?"
"First, it was raining heavily. We saw a figure heading to the cliff, and we assumed it was Togo Ryu because of the clothes," Hayashi Shuichi explained. "Second, were we really all together then?"
"Weren't we?" Fujimine Yukiko frowned. "I thought we were."
"…No, one person wasn't," Hime Eri said, looking at Ootomo Hiroki. "Ootomo-san wasn't with us. He was the last to come out of the cherry blossom forest."
"What's wrong with that?" Ootomo Hiroki said, scratching his left palm. "I fell in the forest and got my clothes dirty."
"Was your clothes' dirt really from a fall?" Hayashi Shuichi said with a half-smile. "In the forest, besides Togo Ryu's women's clothing, I found a fist-sized rock with blood on it!"
He had Reiko bring in the women's clothes from the entrance.
"That's right, those are the clothes Yukiko… Togo Ryu wore when we arrived!" Moriyama Kenta nodded firmly. "Why were they in the forest?"
"When we realized Mio-san, Kaho-san, and Ono-san were the same person," Hayashi Shuichi explained, "Togo and his mother needed to divert our attention to prevent us from uncovering the truth."
"So Mrs. Togo suddenly said someone intruded in the cherry blossom forest. Her goal was to have Ono Yukiko appear again, so even if she vanished later, we wouldn't link her to Togo Ryu."
"Am I right, Mrs. Togo?"
"…Yes," the innkeeper replied, her face dark.
"Moriyama-san chased out first. When we were leaving the inn, Togo Ryu said he'd get umbrellas," Hayashi Shuichi continued. "But besides umbrellas, he grabbed women's clothing."
"In the forest, as we split up to search, Togo Ryu went deep to change into women's clothing to make Ono Yukiko reappear. He didn't notice someone following him."
"That person saw Togo Ryu changing and realized everything. In a rage, they picked up a rock and struck him down."
"Thinking they'd killed him, they schemed to pin the crime on someone else."
"As the rain worsened and we gave up searching to return to the inn, that person noticed."
"They put on Togo Ryu's men's clothes and headed toward the cliff."
"After we saw their figure, they went a bit further, then used the rain and trees for cover to return to the forest."
"They changed back into their own clothes, hid Ono Yukiko's outfit in the cherry blossoms, dragged Togo Ryu, now in men's clothing, to the pond, and dumped him in, then rejoined us as if nothing happened…"
(Chapter End)
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