The Decagon House Murders (14 page)

‘Only Carr, it seems. But that’s only if we look for obvious motives.’

‘What? Why me?’

‘Orczy turned you down, didn’t she?’

Carr gasped and clamped his mouth shut, biting his lip until blood started to ooze out.

‘But Ellery, if Carr was the murderer, he would never have arranged her body,’ Agatha cried out in a sardonic tone….

‘Carr’s the only one who wouldn’t have done that.’

3

‘Damn them.’

Carr sat down on the rocks and spat on the ground as he looked at Cat Island, floating in the sea before his eyes. Not caring to get his hands dirty, he grabbed some nearby weeds and tore off the leaves.

‘Damn them,’ he repeated angrily.

The leaves he had gathered were carried by the wind and danced out to sea.

They always go their separate ways, except when they’re out to get me, and only then do they work together. That Poe, too, with his pretentious talk….And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wanted to take a better look at Orczy’s body and the inside of the room.

Ellery in particular was all ready to investigate. Leroux, too. Van as well. We allowed Poe to do it all. Don’t they realise how dangerous that might be?

Even the tumult of the waves below started to get on his nerves. He spat on the ground once more, pursed his lips and hit his knee with his fist.

It’s all Orczy’s fault. I was turned down? I was just bored and had a little chat with her. Hmph. She thought I was serious and got all high-and-mighty… Stupid woman. Who did she think she was? Hmph. As if I would kill someone because of that….

Carr stared at the scenery in front of him, his whole being filled with anger and humiliation.

*

‘There’s not a boat to be found here. And we don’t have the tools to cut down trees and make a raft. Even if we could improvise one, I doubt we could make it all the way to the mainland—want a smoke, Van?’

In search of a way to communicate with the mainland, the others—except for Carr—had decided to split up into two teams and explore the island. Poe, Van and Agatha formed one team of three. They were exploring the area between the southern coast and the eastern coast.

Poe gave Van a cigarette, took one himself and then crossed his arms in silence.

‘The only thing we can do is to start a fire and hope they find us.’

‘Will they really notice something like that? Also….’

Van gazed up at the sky as he lit a cigarette.

‘The clouds don’t look so good. It might rain tonight.’

‘That’s bad. Why didn’t we think of a method of contact just in case?’

‘It’s too late now. Who would have thought something like this would happen?’

Van’s shoulders sagged.

‘And my fever had just dropped. Can’t believe this is happening….’

‘I haven’t seen a single fishing boat this whole time,’ said Agatha, plainly distressed.

The heavily overcast sky threw a dark shadow across the sea.

‘But a boat might come eventually. We’d better have someone on watch here. Teams of two, in three shifts.’

‘Poe, no!’ Agatha cried hysterically. ‘I don’t want to be left alone with someone who might be the murderer.’

‘Teams of three, then.’

‘Might as well come all together then, Van. The only time a boat will pass by here is probably when it leaves or returns to the harbour, so around dusk or dawn.’

‘But there’s a chance they might pass by at other times.’

‘I think that the chance of a boat finding us is very small, though. The old boatman told us that when we came here. The fishing grounds in this area are further south, so boats hardly come this way at all.’

‘But there’s not much else we can do. Do we have something we can use as firewood?’

‘That might be a problem.’

Poe looked back at the forest.

‘Just pine trees. They don’t burn well when fresh. We could gather dry, fallen pine leaves and burn them, but there aren’t that many, so they wouldn’t be able to see the fire from the mainland. The only thing we can do is wait for a boat to pass by.’

‘What will happen to us?’

Agatha looked at the two with fear in her eyes. She had become a shadow of her former radiant self.

‘We’ll be all right. Somehow.’

Poe placed his hand on Agatha’s shoulder and smiled awkwardly through his beard. But Agatha still remained frightened.

‘You may well say that, but for all I know you, or perhaps Van, might be the one who killed Orczy.’

Poe took out a new cigarette in silence.

‘Or Carr, or Leroux or Ellery….’

Agatha was deathly white and she was visibly trembling.

‘One of you killed Orczy. Killed her and then removed her hand.’

‘But you’re one of the suspects too, Agatha,’ Van said with a solemn look unusual for him.

‘It wasn’t me.’

Agatha turned back towards the forest and buried her head in her hands.

‘Aah, I can’t believe it. Is this real? Van, Poe? Is Orczy really dead? Is there really a murderer amongst us?’

*

‘You know, Leroux, I was thinking of another possibility.’

‘Another one?’

‘It’s obvious. There might be someone besides us on this island.’

‘What?’

Ellery and Leroux had first gone to the inlet with the pier, then the rocky area near the burnt-down Blue Mansion and were now walking along the little path through the grove. They were heading for the northern cliffs that overlooked Cat Island.

‘What do you mean, Ellery?’

Leroux stopped in his steps and asked again.

‘There’s a possibility the murder was committed by an outside party.’

Ellery looked back at Leroux and smiled.

‘Or do you prefer to think that one of us is the murderer?’

‘D—don’t make jokes about it. But who could be hiding on the island?’

I think it’s…’ Ellery said nonchalantly, ‘Nakamura Seiji.’

‘Oh!’

‘Why so surprised?’

‘But Ellery, Nakamura Seiji was murdered last year.’

‘And I think that a mistake was made there. Have you never considered it, Leroux? The body of Nakamura Seiji, which was found six months ago, was the textbook example of “a headless corpse.” And then there’s that gardener who disappeared at the same time.’

‘You mean that Seiji was the murderer and the body thought to be his was actually the gardener’s?’

‘Precisely. A simple switch.’

‘And that’s why Seiji is still alive and has now come to the island.’

‘A possibility. Though perhaps he actually lives on the island.’

‘He’s living here?’

‘Remember the story the old fisherman told us two days ago? That sometimes the lights of the Decagon House are on? Seiji might’ve been the one who lit the lights.’

‘You can’t believe all those ghost stories. During the period the police and media were on this island because of the case—and even now—where do you suppose Seiji is hiding?’

‘That’s why we’re exploring the island now. We just took a look at the little boathouse in the inlet, but there was nothing suspicious there. Even though our first priority is to find a way to contact the mainland, I think we should also look for traces of someone living on the island somewhere. That’s also why I said we need to take a look at Cat Island.’

‘But still, I can’t believe that Seiji’s the murderer.’

‘Really? Did you know the window in Orczy’s room wasn’t locked? Isn’t it reasonable to suppose she forgot to lock her window and that someone came in from outside?’

‘Then why was the door also unlocked?’

‘The murderer opened it from the inside after the murder. To get into the hall and glue the plastic plate on the door.’

‘But that doesn’t make sense. How could anyone from the outside know that you’d placed the plates in the kitchen drawer?’

‘The one who left those plastic plates could have been someone from the outside in the first place, couldn’t he? The lock of the front entrance is broken, so anyone can go in and out as they please. Yesterday morning Seiji could have left those plates on the table, waited until we got up and probably observed us through the kitchen window. Or someone among us might be working with him.’

‘That’s impossible.’

‘I’m just discussing theories. Leroux, you may be a big fan of mystery fiction, but you’re not showing much imagination.’

‘Ellery, mystery novels and reality are two different things. Anyway, what motive could Nakamura Seiji have for wanting to kill us?’

‘Who knows?’

They had reached the end of the path and come out on the cliffs where Carr was standing. Having noticed them, Carr stood up and looked the other way.

‘Hey, you’d better not go off alone all the time.’

Ellery was speaking to Carr, who had not said a word. He ignored Ellery and walked off into the grove.

‘Difficult guy.’

Ellery clicked his tongue lightly.

‘Everybody’s on edge right now. I’m afraid I might’ve said too much also. But he seems to be holding a grudge against me personally.’

‘I think I know what’s bothering him,’ said Leroux and he glanced to where Carr had vanished.

‘Ellery, you always—even at a time like this, you always remain so calm, as if you’re observing us normal people from a place far away.’

‘That’s how I appear to you?’

‘Yes. I’m not sure whether it’s praise, but I do feel some kind of respect for you for that. But Carr is the opposite. I think he’s jealous.’

‘So that’s all it is?’

With a disinterested look, Ellery walked in the direction of the sea.

‘Just shrubberies. Not a good place to view the island.’

He was talking about the island in front of them, Cat Island. Leroux stood next to Ellery and said, while paying attention as to where he put his feet: ‘It does seem like two or three people could hide there. But then there’s this cliff.’

‘He might have a boat. It’s not far, a rubber boat is probably enough. Leaving from the rocky area over there and then…Hey, look, Leroux.’

Ellery pointed.

‘That slope on the island, do you think it’s climbable?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

Staring at the dark Cat Island floating on the white waves, Leroux tried to make sense of all the thoughts inside his confused mind.

True, the possibility of another party present on this island, as pointed out by Ellery, could not be dismissed altogether. Someone else might be hiding on the island and be after their lives. But to assume that person was Nakamura Seiji would be jumping to conclusions. What were the chances of Nakamura Seiji still being alive? Even if he were, why would he want them dead?

It’s just impossible.

Leroux slowly shook his head.

It’s just impossible, he thought.

But there was something in his memory that nagged at him. There was something he needed to remember.

The waves washing the cliffs at his feet also washed his mind. Every time a fragment of memory appeared, the waves immediately took it away.

Leroux gave up thinking and looked at Ellery next to him. Ellery had nothing to say anymore and was looking coolly at the sea.

The wind brought the scent of dusk.

4

‘…Due to a low pressure trough, the sky will become cloudy over a large region, starting tonight and lasting until tomorrow night, but it will stay dry. The weather will recover, starting the day after tomorrow. And now, the weather forecast for each area in Kyūshū.…’

Eventually, the voice coming out of Leroux’s radio cassette player was drowned out by a loud female DJ.

‘I’ve had enough. Switch it off, Leroux, I don’t want to listen to it anymore,’ said Agatha irritably. Leroux hastened to turn the radio off.

Their simple dinner had been conducted in a heavy silence, illuminated by the oil lamp. The six were sitting around the table, all avoiding the spot directly across from the door of Orczy’s room. The plate with “The First Victim” was still on the door. It appeared to have been stuck there with strong glue, and they couldn’t get it off.

Agatha said in a deliberately cheery voice: ‘Hey Ellery, show us another of your magic tricks.’

‘Hmm? Oh, sure.’

Ellery, who had been playing with his cards in silence, did a riffle shuffle, gathered the cards into a case and put the deck in his coat pocket.

‘Why are you putting them away when I ask you to show me a trick?’

‘You’re wrong, Agatha. I put them in my pocket because you want to see a magic trick.’