Saikyou Series Volume 3 s4Chapter 2

Battle of Wits with the Digital Detective - Chapter 2

Jinrui Saikyou no Tokimeki,

Nisioisinp. 130-134

As a practical

issue, the nature of a case, the nature of a crime, and the nature of

a detective all vary with the times and level of technological

development.

To give an easy

example, the format of a mystery will be completely different

depending on whether it’s set before or after the popularization of

cell phones.

It’s

getting harder and harder for a story like Arashi no Sansou

(1) to exist in reality; long gone are the times when heavy rainfall

could isolate an estate from the outside world.

Automobiles.

Bullet trains.

The internet.

Whenever

innovation occurs in human society, the world of mystery innovates as

well.

And

so, for humanity’s strongest contractor Jun Aikawa to have a

“contest” with a digital detective—even if it’s not that

kind of opportunity—may have been something she had to confront at

some point, a wall she would eventually have to overcome.

“Good morning.

I look forward to working with you today.”

In front of the

mansion that had been arranged to be today’s “crime scene”, the

head researcher at the Kandou Development Lab, Taeka Kandou, bowed

her head with exaggerated courtesy to Jun Aikawa and her attendant

Sasaki Sasa.

Although Kandou

was grinning cheerfully, Sasa could detect no friendliness in her

smile, nor any respect for “humanity’s strongest”—well, that’s

to be expected, she thought.

In Kandou’s

view, as the one responsible for the development of the digital

detective, Jun Aikawa was an opponent upon whom she had declared

war—and in response to that declaration of war, Jun Aikawa had come

here to return the challenge in full force.

There’s no way

the atmosphere would be friendly.

All that

remained to be seen was whether or not they could be adults about it.

“Right. Let’s

do it!” …Jun Aikawa said in a relaxed tone, as if the atmosphere

were actually friendly, extending her right hand toward Kandou.

She was not

being an adult in the least.

“…Yes.

So…”

Kandou ignored

that right hand and tried to continue the discussion. Well, if you

were to call that behavior rude, then surely, in Kandou’s eyes, Jun

Aikawa was even more rude for soliciting a handshake on the field of

battle; you couldn’t really blame her for it.

“Is there

anything you would like to add to the rules of the contest,

Aikawsan?”

“Nope,” said

Jun Aikawa, withdrawing her hand.

Normally, if she got called “Aikawsan”, she would have said, “Don’t call me by

my last name. Only my enemies call me by my last name,” but in this

case, Kandou was indeed her enemy, so she did not attempt any

correction.

Instead, she

began reviewing.

“Before the

day is over, I’ll have committed a murder inside this mansion. Let’s

define ‘before the day is over’ as any time within the next

twenty-four hours. After that, this digital detective or whatnot that

you’ve developed will have the next twenty-four hours to do its

deduction… or investigating, or whatever. If it’s able to solve the

case… that is, if it’s able to prove that I’m the culprit, then you

win. If it can’t, then I win. Those are the rules.”

“……If I

might add something…”

Sasa cut in from

the side.

Those rules

would sound rather dangerous if you went by what Jun Aikawa said—much

too free and unconcerned with morality.

They mustn’t

forget that this was nothing more than an experiment… or rather, in

this case, a detective game.

“This mansion

was generously lent to us by contacts in the Akagami Foundation; it

is currently uninhabited. For the purpose of this game, several of us

from the Kyoto Prefecture Police will pretend to live here, and play

the roles of your hosts: the master of the house, his wife, the

eldest son, the second eldest son, the eldest daughter, the maid, the

butler, the cook, and the master’s retired father. These nine people

will 'live’ in this mansion. Please imagine Jun Aikawsan as the

master’s friend who’s come to visit. Those are the assumptions.”

“Indeed.”

Kandou listened to Sasa’s words, and began clattering away at the

keyboard of the small notebook computer she held in her hand. Her

typing was almost insultingly smooth. “That’s fine. I have already

finished inputting this scenario—well, the basis of Model SH-43’s

analysis is data, so it is somewhat unfavorable when that data

is based on a false premise; however, this is within the acceptable

parameter for a handicap.”

“Is your

digital detective installed on that laptop?” asked Jun Aikawa,

seemingly unbothered by Kandou’s insulting tone.

Kandou laughed

through her nose.

“Of course

not. It is highly unlikely that the program would be able to run on

such a meager machine. This laptop is simply transmitting to the

supercomputer at the lab—that is why I brought a broadcasting van.”

This deep in the mountains,

she continued.

A

broadcasting van, huh, Sasa thought.

Even

though their location was outside of cell service range, that really

made her realize that something like Arashi no Sansou just

couldn’t exist in modern times…

“……Of

course, as this is an experiment, a game with rules, so to speak, Jun

Aikawsan will not actually commit a murder. She will simply pretend

to kill one of the residents of the mansion; whomever Jun Aikawsan

kills out of the nine residents is entirely her own discretion.”

“In

other words, it will be impossible to make deductions based on

motive.”

Sasa

nodded to Kandou. “Yes. Please make deductions based solely on

evidence and logic, if you would be so kind.”

She

realized that her tone had become as exaggeratedly courteous as

Kandou’s, but it was not worth correcting.

“So,

let’s get started,” said Jun Aikawa. “Right now it’s 8:55am…

how about we start the game off at nine, then?”

“Right.

Let’s agree to that. Jun Aikawsan can commit the murder anytime

within the next twenty-four hours. Kandou-san will be waiting outside

the mansion grounds; please let her know immediately after it has

been done. Concealing the fact that the murder has been committed

will be deemed foul play—well, for a real crime we would not have

that luxury, but this is only an experiment…”

“Got

it.”

Jun

Aikawa nodded, and doggedly entreated Kandou for a handshake—however,

she was ignored once again.

She

withdrew her hand, grinning wryly.

“Now,

let’s play ball,” Jun Aikawa murmured.

As

if her biological clock was more accurate than a machine, that murmur

of hers occurred precisely at nine o'clock—and, just after, an

explosion rocked the rear side of the mansion.

Footnotes:(1)

Arashi no Sansou is a

closed-circle mystery novel written by Touichirou Kujira and

published by Kobunsha in 2006.