Chapter Text
Ranpo stood at the edge of the room again, staring at the dead body of Seishi Yokomizo. The others had retired to bed, even Poe telling him to rest. But Ranpo couldn’t sleep. Not with the case unsolved and the murderer still loose.
The expression on the man’s face looked peaceful, untouched by worries or strife, a stark contrast to the scene around it. By now, his wounds had soaked through the covers, creating a growing patch of carmine on the quilts. It was obscene.
Seven stab wounds. Seven weapons. Killed by none.
There had to be more to this. What was he missing, what was he not seeing?
Ranpo paced up and down the carpeted floor. Just as Yosano had said, there was froth around the man’s mouth. Hmm… if Yokomizo died via pills, then the pill bottle would have to be around here. He glanced at the bedside table. It was a dovetailed drawer, the handle smooth against his hand as he pried it open. It looked worn out from the exterior, yet its contents were covered in a thin layer of dust. Ranpo coughed as he emptied it out on the floor and began sifting through the layers of letters and trinkets.
No pill bottles in sight.
Yet one particular coffee-stained letter stood out to the detective. “My dearest Seishi, why did you not tell me about your illness sooner?” Ranpo read aloud, “I will request your mother’s blessing at once so we can get married before the disease truly starts taking a toll. Love, your perfect crime.”
Yokomizo’s perfect crime? How melodramatic. Yet oddly endearing. It reminded him of something Poe would write in one of his novels. Ranpo could imagine it, the ravenette hunched over with a pen and paper scribbling a similar note to this, the tips of his hair shining in the candlelight, biting his tongue in concentration. The man’s nose would probably scrunch up adorably when the ink blotted- and he should probably stop thinking about his fellow detective like that-
Ranpo shook his head, whatever fluttery feelings that had accompanied could wait for later. He picked up another letter.
“My darling Seishi, I regret to inform you that asking for your mother’s blessing went terribly wrong and she has forbidden me from seeing you. Don’t fret, I will sneak in somehow. I am your perfect crime afterall-”
Star crossed lovers, huh? It wasn’t uncommon for people to kill themselves after being forbidden to marry, but that still didn’t explain the gashes. Ranpo reached to open the next letter-
“What are you doing?” A soft voice squeaked in outrage. The maid stood at the door, face red as she stomped over and snatched the letters away from his hands. “Don’t you know it’s rude to go through a person’s belongings?” She berated him. “Shame on you-”
Ranpo blinked. “He’s dead. I’m investigating.” The maid tutted and pushed him out of the room despite him digging his heels in the carpet. Ranpo huffed in defeat as she shoved him out the doorway and watched her lock the door. What an idiot, that just made her look more suspicious. What was she hiding?
The detective harrumphed loudly. Never mind, he had seen what the third letter had said. “Dear Mr. Yokomizo, here are the tea leaves you requested, I hope you enjoy them! At your service, Haruno.”
Haruno. That must be the maid’s name. Hm… tea leaves… interesting.
As he made his way back to the guest room a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Two shadows gathered at the corner of the hallway, muttering something to each other. How peculiar, didn’t everyone say they were going to bed? The two figures seemed to be arguing about something. Ranpo quietly crept over, tiptoeing to avoid alerting them. It was too dark to tell who it was, but the voices carried over easily.
“You did this to him! I found this bottle in his room, with your name on it-” A voice whisper-yelled. A man’s voice. “It’s your fault Seishi is dead.”
Ah. Ranpo thought. So that’s where the pill bottle went.
A woman’s- no, his sister's voice- Ranpo realized with a shock, responded coolly, “I prescribed him the bottle with clear instructions, only one a day. How was I supposed to know he would take the whole thing in one shot?”
Ranpo’s blood went cold. Oh Yosano, what have you gotten yourself into-
The man scoffed. “Nevermind, what’s done is done. You keep my secret and I’ll keep this from the investigators.”
“Deal…”
As the footsteps faded away, Ranpo let out a breath he didn’t even know as he was holding. Crap. Yosano was involved. And who was that man?
He was in way over his head. It was time, Ranpo sighed dejectedly, to ask Poe for assistance.
The ravenette blinked blearily, soft pink lips forming a small pout at the detective as Ranpo pushed his way into the other’s room. Every so often he would yawn, slender fingers reaching up to politely cover his mouth each time as Ranpo caught him up on the events of the night. At the end, Poe rubbed his eyes as he queried, “So Yokomizo passed away from an overdose and Yosano was the one who gave him the drugs.The maid won’t let you investigate and everyone is acting weird.”
Ranpo nodded vehemently.
“I think the most suspicious person at the moment is Mushitaro-” Poe offhandedly said as he stretched and lay back down on the bed. His chocolate curls spread out from beneath him like a halo. Angelic. That’s what he looked like. Without thinking Ranpo reached over to smooth the other’s hair out, but the ravenette didn’t seem to mind much. Instead he absent-mindedly leaned into the touch. Yeah they should probably get back to work-
Ranpo sat up suddenly, “Wait, the man in the hallway called Yokomizo, Seishi- just like how Mushitaro does!” He stopped in his tracks. “Something about his secret… he’s hiding something. And Yosano knows what it is-”
Pulling the other detective along, Ranpo stormed into the room Yosano was staying in. She gasped at the intrusion, crossing her arms over her nightgown. Ranpo ignored the outburst and immediately demanded, “What’s Mushitaro’s big secret?”
Yosano groaned and gestured for the two detectives to join her on the bed. As he sat down, Ranpo couldn’t help but notice her signature butterfly hairclip had been taken out. That’s odd, she never went anywhere without that token.
“I should have known you were snooping around,” She grumbled.
Ranpo simply rolled his eyes. “Yeah obviously. Let me guess, he and Yokomizo were lovers? He’s Yokomizo’s perfect crime.”
The first name basis, big secret, all pointed to the obvious answer. Mushitaro was gay.
Yosano's jaw dropped but she quickly recovered. “Yes. They were. Mushitaro used to accompany Yokomizo to his hospital visits so I got to know him as well.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It was the strangest disease I’d ever seen, it just kept getting worse with no cure.” Yosano shivered. “Eventually all I could do was prescribe him painkillers. And now look how that ended up-”
A muffled shout in the hallway caused all of them to turn their heads towards the door. “What was that?” Poe said, looking like a deer in headlights. The three of them immediately scrambled to the door, peeking out to witness the scene in front of them.
Ranpo’s own father, grey hair and everything, holding a gun to the maid’s head.