Chapter Text
In a corner of that small, dark room, Sholmes and I waited with bated breath. In time, there came from the ventilator a hiss and a soft, almost growl-like sound. Suddenly, Sholmes sprang into action, lashing furiously with his cane at a point in the darkness.
“You see it, Wilson?” he yelled, his tense voice reverberating through the air.
I raised my dark-lantern’s shutter, and the room slowly came into view. Sholmes was staring intently at one particular corner when he started whispering to me, “The victim's most perplexing, final words — “the speckled band” — I believe this is the terrible coil to which she referred, Wilson!”
In front of us was an enormous adder, its fangs bared as it threatened to strike. It was the most terrible ‘speckled band’ I had ever seen.
.
.
.
9th January, 6:37 a.m.
On Board the Steamship Burya
“So then, let’s unravel this mystery and discover what events led to this curious murder,” a person said, their strange goggles lighting up. He turned and walked toward the door, leaning down to see the metal contraption. “Pray do excuse me. The cabin door was bolted shut from the inside when the man was killed.”
His goggles zoomed in on the lock. “No marks suggest the bolt was tampered with in any way,” he concluded before moving on. “So this would appear to be a locked room mystery.”
He stepped back, kneeling down to where the body laid while turning a gear on his spectacles. A hand was outstretched with a half-way written phrase underneath it. “In his final moments, the victim scrawled a message on the floor.” A shutter snap. “Hm, almost certainly from this upset bottle,” he hummed as he glanced at the spilt ink bottle beside.
A photo was printed from his bag and he snatched it while walking to the other side of the room. “So the victim was a Russian man, then. And the letters are well-formed, suggesting he was compos mentis at the time.”
The person put down the photograph.
“Hm, this is the most extraordinary script,” he remarked, staring at the wardrobe.
It was slightly opened, a paper tag fluttering on its door. “And evidently… not penned by the same hand as this message. In fact, I deduce it was written by someone of a different nationality.” As he spoke, his hands flew into action. He quickly put a vial of pink substance into the gun and clicked it into place. He started spraying pink smoke on the closet. Hand prints all over it were soon revealed when he finished.
“This paper seal was placed prior to the incident… by the person right over there, I would venture.” An amused smile made it to his lips. “Well what do we have here?”
Silence followed.
It was shortly interrupted as a bulky sailor growled. “Who are you and what do you think you are doing here!?” he demanded, face full of anger.
“Да! Да! No one must touch before maritime police come!” another one agreed. “We must wait!”
“Shh!” the man interrupted, looking back at them. “That won’t be necessary. You see, there could only be one true killer in this murder. And I shall be revealing them to you in less than ten seconds from now on.”
Everyone gasped.
“D-don’t be absurd!” the first sailor said. “We need to first identify who this person is! We have never seen him! And in cabin locked from inside!”
“Ah yes, the locked room. But that mystery is paper thin.”
“You, you don’t mean… the culprit is him?” Susato stammered.
The man simply nodded.
“Wh-who are you and where have you come from?” the third sailor interrogated.
“I’m a Great British consulting detective. The only one in the world,” the man said. “Herlock Sholmes. I presume… you must have heard of me.” With that, the detective named Sherlock pulled off the blanket from the bed.
✣
When Kazuma woke up, the first thing he noticed was the terrible headache. It made his head spin. Ugh… my head, he thought. It’s throbbing badly.
He paused.
...What’s going on? Something’s not right here.
He felt trouble in the air.
Slowly, Kazuma opened his heavy eyes.
The light was blinding and he nearly shut them again. He was still in his cabin, that was for sure. Everything was still in place. Nothing was out of the blue. But he couldn’t really see anything other than blurry objects. One thing at a time, he told himself. He had boarded SS Burya to travel to Great Britain for a study tour. And he boarded it with Susato and—
The memories hit him and he jolted in place.
“Kazuma-sama, you’re awake!” a voice exclaimed.
“Susato-” Kazuma started.
“Hmph. so, you wake up now, hm?” a gruff voice cut in. Kazuma slowly turned to see a blonde sailor with a stern face. “We had to drag you out of bed. I do not believe how you could not wake up. You truly are a true cold-blooded man.”
Kazuma blinked. His gaze trailed to the open wardrobe and his mouth dropped slightly. He licked his lips. “Ah… I see. You’ve found out about my secret.”
“Indeed.”
“This is sudden news,” Susato said gravely. “There’s been a murder in the first class.”
Kazuma’s heart dropped. “You got in my cabin and saw Ryunosuke, right? I promise that I was the one who dragged him into this idea so please. I need you to-”
“Kazuma-san.” Susato’s voice was very gentle. Like she was talking to a child or handling something that could break easily. There was no trace of humor in it. “The murdered victim was none other than Ryunosuke Naruhodo.”
Huh?
At that moment, everything seemed to tilt. Kazuma felt like he was in water. He was certain he would never breathe normally again. “That can’t be right. H-he was… He would’ve woken me up if there was a problem…”
“I’m truly sorry, Kazuma-san,” Susato said. She bowed down.
Kazuma felt sweat trickling down his neck.
“It’s someone else. It has to be-”
As he tried to defend himself, his hand suddenly couldn’t reach far. He looked down to see handcuffs restricting him. His blood ran cold.
“...Don’t tell me I’m the prime suspect.”
“Да. We found you,” the sailor nodded. “And now you pay… kriminal!”
“Yes, you are the prime suspect,” Susato echoed. “The body was discovered in your room.”
Kazuma followed her trail of sight and saw the familiar white line around a body on the floor. His stomach churned and he became nauseous.
“His, his body…?”
“Please do not try to tell us you were doing this terrible thing in your sleep!” the sailor said.
His voice sounded distant.
“Ryunosuke’s dead…?” Kazuma repeated. “But… he can’t be… he was supposed to be with me…” His hands went slack like his body. Thoughts were running inside his mind, leafing through the memories, going too fast for him to understand or grasp to remember. Everything felt unreal. Like he was watching a play. None of this was supposed to happen.
Why?
Why could this happen?
“...! ...fault…! Please!”
Susato is saying something… Kazuma noticed.
I can’t hear her.
What is she trying to say?
He stared at his hands. The handcuffs leered back at him like it was taunting him.
A reminder that he failed to protect a dear friend.
Yes, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have… brought him with me. If only he stayed back in Japan, he wouldn’t have been killed. What had I been thinking?
“...dare… silent…!”
Kazuma let the sailor grab his shirt and be forced to his feet. Susato yelled in panic. “Why did you go all silent, huh?” the sailor demanded, shaking him. “Oh I know. Cat’s got your tongue, isn’t it? You are really the killer!”
“-unish me,” Kazuma mumbled.
“Huh?”
“Whatever you’re going to do with me… please punish me. I’ll take it,” Kazuma said monotonously.
It’s all my fault.
“Kazuma-sama! Don’t say that! We’ll get this fixed!” Susato tried.
We can’t. Ryunosuke is already dead.
“Ohoho. So Eastern student wants to find out how cold the ocean is, eh?” the sailor asked.
Silence.
“Tch. Answer me, you kriminal!” he snapped.
“Stop it!” Susato said.
“It’s very rude to ignore someone, don’t you know!?”
Something cold had settled inside Kazuma’s stomach. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Uneasiness, perhaps? Or maybe fear. He doesn’t know. It churned within, hungry for destruction, and he knew it was too much for him to handle.
With a guttural scream, he shoved at the sailor and sent them falling down hard.
“Shut up, won’t you!?” he snapped harshly. He grabbed the man’s uniform as he was kicked into the gut. He gritted his teeth, aiming a punch at their face. A loud grunt sounded from them. He gave them another hit.
Kazuma didn’t have his sword, which was fortunate. Because at that moment, he was sure he would’ve killed someone in cold blood for real.
“You little… девиантный!” the sailor cursed.
“It’s all your Russian crew’s fault! It’s your duty to make sure nothing happens!” Kazuma yelled, not even bothering to slow down in Japanese. “He was my best friend! If you cared for your passengers more, this wouldn’t have happened! Where is God in this? How dare God let this happen!”
What he saw was in red.
Nothing could fuel him stronger than this.
He was trembling.
He was spitting curses more than his entire life. And most importantly, he wanted to cry. This was his fault after all. He was supposed to be punished.
“Он в своем уме! Остановите его!” the sailor howled.
Kazuma nearly couldn’t register the hard blow to his mouth, leaving a burning pain.
“Someone help!” Susato begged.
Kazuma was getting pulled off now, strong hands gripping him, holding him in place, holding him back. He let them take him. The pressure of the raging sea of anger was tearing away at his sanity. Sooner or later, he would definitely say things he doesn’t mean or reveal what he doesn’t want.
Once upon a time, Kazuma wouldn’t be able to see this happening. If he went back in time and told his younger self, they would laugh it off. But now reality was in front of him.
.
.
.
It was just two short weeks ago. Everything had been alright then.
“Are you sure about this? Won’t we get caught?” Ryunosuke asked nervously.
“Ha ha ha hah!” Kazuma laughed. His dear friend, always finding a way to be worried over something. “Don’t you find it fun being a stowaway? Besides, how else could you come to England with me to study?”
“It really was something else when they brought your luggage in here earlier, though. The way that the Russian crewman just crudely tossed your travelling case onto the floor… I thought I was going to die!” Ryunosuke said.
“Yes, I still can’t quite believe that.” Kazuma glanced at where his suitcase was. “I really didn’t think you’d be able to fit inside my trunk. You must be even less of a man than you look!”
“Hey!” Ryunosuke exclaimed. “Honestly, I thought I’d break every bone in my body!”
Kazuma tried to stifle the laughter he had. Ryunosuke’s face was a little red from embarrassment, hands waving in an indignant manner. He opted for a smile instead. “Well, it’s about fifty days until we dock in Great Britain. But if you confine yourself to my cabin here, I don’t expect anyone will discover you.”
“Ugh, I hope not! I get the feeling those Russians wouldn’t be very forgiving of a stowaway…”
“They’re a sturdy bunch, that’s for sure,” Kazuma said, folding his arms.
“What I want to know is, why do we need to keep it a secret from the young lady?” Ryunosuke asked.
“From our faithful Judicial Assistant Mikotoba, you mean?”
“From your close friend, more to the point. Surely we could confide in her, couldn’t we? I don’t believe she’d give me away.” Ryunosuke rubbed his neck.
“No,” Kazuma agreed, “but if she knew what we’d done, that would make her guilty by association. It’s best that only you and I know about this.”
“Hm, I suppose so…”
Kazuma then glanced at the door. He could hear soft footsteps outside in the corridor. “Anyway, it’s about time that the steward is supposed to come and clean the cabin,” he said thoughtfully. “I know it’s cramped, but you’d better get in there, I think. It won’t be for long. And anyway, compared to hiding inside my travelling case, it’ll be a breeze.”
“Yes, but what if the steward decides to open the wardrobe for some reason?” Ryunisuke asked.
“Stop worrying,” Kazuma scolded lightly. He gestured at the writing table in one corner. “I tell you what. Why don’t you write ‘Keep out’ or something on this piece of paper?”
“What?”
“Then I can stick it over the wardrobe doors once you’re inside,” Kazuma said.
“I don’t know. That seems…”
We’ve only been at sea for about fifteen days. How can this have happened? Ryunosuke and I were supposed to be going on this adventure to England together.
This can’t be happening.
He shouldn’t have…
“We leave you at next port. Stay quiet until then. Don’t make more trouble for yourself, murderer!” the sailor ordered steely. A bruise was blooming underneath his eye. “Another fight and we’ll toss you overboard!”
Kazuma nodded, as if in a trance. Susato was pressing a cold towel to his split lip.
“No. Kazuma-sama is not a murderer,” she said with the same firmness in her voice.
“Да! Student boy said before! He said he admits everything about his crimes!” the sailor said.
“That isn’t right.” Susato pulled away to face the seaman. “I mean, yes, he did stow away his friend on this ship, but… surely he wouldn;t kill his dear friend.”
“No one else could’ve done it. Admit the truth!”
Susato started to get up.
“Stop it, Susato-san,” Kazuma said, putting a hand before her body. Susato was a firm person with a strong sense of justice. She was not one to yield easily. He knew from her eyes she was ready to take down the sailor for the accusations against him. “It’s alright. I’m at fault. I’ll take whatever punishment they have.”
“Kazuma-sama that isn’t true-”
“I could’ve stopped his death,” Kazuma interrupted. His head rang and he massaged his temple. “Instead, please tell me what happened. I need to know.”
“...”
Susato closed her eyes, nodding. “Very well.”
This nightmare was getting worse by each second. Kazuma felt terrible just from hearing Ryunosuke’s death. But at the very least, he had to take responsibility.
“Ryunosuke… he, he really has been killed, hasn’t he?” Kazuma asked. “This isn’t a bad dream?”
He lifted up his shackled wrists.
Susato’s lips pulled into a thin line. “When they found him, the cabin was locked from the inside. There’s no access to the cabin via a porthole window, and the bolt on the door can’t be operated from outside. In other words, after the… crime,” she swallowed, averting her eyes, “the culprit couldn’t have escaped these four walls. Or to put it in another way, the culprit could only have been somebody inside this cabin.”
(to be continued/edited on later)