Chapter 58

It was the dead of night when the residents were fast asleep and the moonlight shone straight down on the apartment.

One person crept down the apartment stairs, carrying a bulging trash bag in their hand.

That shadow steadily approached the garbage collection area.

So I stuck my face out from where I'd been hiding at the garbage collection area and shone my flashlight on them.

And then I said to that person:

"If you're a resident, let's follow the apartment rules. Trash goes out Tuesday morning."

The other tried to bolt, but it was too late. The President, who'd been hiding in Room 101, burst out and blocked their path. Knowing who they were, he clenched his teeth and spoke in frustration.

"So it was you..."

Trapped between the President and me, the culprit tried to dash sideways, only to be stopped by Detective Chikage emerging from Room 102.

She scolded that shadow.

"By running away, you're admitting guilt, aren't you? That you're the culprit of this case!?"

Cornered by the President, Detective Chikage, and me, the culprit had nowhere to go and froze. Seizing that moment, I began my explanation of this incident.

"At first glance, this incident looks like an accident where Mr. Kamakiri, asleep, was stung to death by a hornet that wandered in. But we had doubts because of the threat the building manager's Grandma received."

"Eh..."

Hearing that, the culprit let out a heavy voice, broke into a cold sweat, and watched my next move.

"I thought: the culprit sent a threat saying 'don't kill the hornet' to make Mr. Kamakiri's death look accidental. Maybe this was another targeted accidental death."

Perhaps to show off her knowledge, Detective Chikage added to my words.

"But that would still count as murder under the doctrine of 'possible intent.'"

As if to drown that out, I raised my voice and continued the reasoning.

"Now, let me explain the trick for making it look accidental. First, you prevented Mr. Kamakiri from sleeping... Working at a black company, he was already mentally unstable, so you kept disturbing his sleep night after night. Right?"

I swiftly pulled a compact speaker from my pocket.

"Ah...!"

Besides streaming music from a smartphone, the speaker can record and replay; I pressed the button. What played were grating noises mixed with absurd phrases.

"kodokudokudoku...!"

The nonsense barrage made Detective Chikage plug her ears.

"What the heck...! Listening to this every night would drive you neurotic... Don't tell me you were playing this!?"

The President chuckled wryly and spoke.

"You can keep someone awake... Yeah, this was on the ceiling of 101, right, Hyoga?"

I nodded and stopped the playback. Taking the baton from the President, I resumed the reasoning.

"Exactly. Rooms 101, 102, and 202 were vacant. With no neighbors next to or below Mr. Kamakiri in 201, the crime was easy. You sneaked in under the pretext of cleaning and installed it in 101, right?"

"Ugh..."

The culprit only groaned, neither agreeing nor denying.

"No need to answer—I'll speak. After days without sleep, Mr. Kamakiri was exhausted. He worked Monday to Friday and finally had Saturday off. The culprit waited for this: the moment he'd seal himself in to escape the disturbance and the time hornets are active—daytime—so the accident scenario would work."

"Then? What next?"

Detective Chikage's reaction helped me weave the story.

"That's where it begins. You probably drugged a female hornet and a few horseflies and let them into the room. Could be from anywhere—worst case, you slipped them into his pocket. At bedtime, the hornet and horseflies started flying in his room."

"W-Why horseflies? Wouldn't just the hornet do?"

Another question from Detective Chikage; maybe imagining the insects, she grimaced.

I answered politely.

"Hornets don't attack unless provoked. If one stings unprovoked, it risks being killed in retaliation. So think: if, while trying to swat a horsefly with a flyswatter, the hornet thinks it's being attacked...!"

The President nodded in agreement.

"Exactly! To a groggy guy, a buzzing horsefly is public enemy number one. Without noticing the hornet that's ruining his sleep, he swings at the horsefly..."

I said, "That's it, President," gave him a satisfied smile, and continued.

"Since the President was trying to view my nonexistent porn history, I joked about 'attacking,' which made me think of this. But... what were you thinking? You watch, so others must watch too..."

That smile shattered; the President began shouting—probably info neither the culprit nor Detective Chikage should hear.

Detective Chikage's cheek twitched. With a complicated face she interjected.

"So that's how... but... wait? What about my reasoning? The spray-sealed room? The hornet dead from spray?"

Ah, there it is, I thought, and explained.

"Detective Chikage, that relates to the victim developing anaphylactic shock yet not calling for help or phoning a hospital."

"How? That dead hornet from the spray..."

"You simply threw in the hornet you'd sprayed earlier. The sealed room doesn't matter."

"Ugh..."

"Still a ways to go as a detective. By making a fuss about the sealed room, you missed that it wasn't truly sealed."

"...No comeback for that! So what gives? Why couldn't he call—ah!"

Detective Chikage seemed to grasp why the victim couldn't phone the ambulance. I voiced it.

"The victim couldn't move. A hornet lay right beside him. While suffering anaphylactic shock, every attempt to move was blocked by fear of that nearby hornet. He likely had no chance to check if it was alive... If he moved, he'd be stung. Thinking that, he couldn't call for help. Unable to tell anyone about the hornet that had stung him, he died."

After confirming with a "Right?" I declared, dropping all politeness.

"You're the culprit of this murder, the sender of the Choudou Manor threats! Kamezaki of Room 203!"

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