Murder At The Rainy Mansion ~The Never Ending 100 Tales~

Chapter 30: In a sense, it is a well-prepared mansion

It was supposed to be the funeral ceremony for Yamamura Tatsuo, but now another dead body had appeared.

Ayano looked at Hisami’s grimace face before turning to Tanimoto. “Why did you open this door?”

Tanimoto: “I was looking for cushions.”

Ayano leaned her upper body forward into the damp storeroom. A moldy smell pierced her nose. “The murderer was brilliant. Normally, no one would open this door. It is a very good place to hide a dead body. Even if there is a screaming sound from inside this room or blood oozing under the door, the residents would most probably just ignore it.”

Shimizu crouched down and stared at the dead body. “Sudo Hisami…”

There was no light in the storeroom, so Shimizu used his smartphone’s flashlight to illuminate the inside of the room. Shimizu frowned when he saw the grimace look on Hisami’s face projected clearly under the light. He felt weird hearing the Buddhist monk chanting the sutra in the altar room located nearby the newly found dead body.

At that time, they heard a screeching sound coming from under the storeroom’s floor.

“Oh my god, this ghost is really—. You won’t stop scratching even when there is a dead body on the floor? Do you think causing psychic phenomenon is your job? So insensitive!” Ayano said annoyingly.

“Uhm. Don’t you think your housekeepers are insensitive too?” Shimizu said while looking at Kana and other housekeepers that was busy walking around engrossed with their tasks.

Shimizu wanted to inform Toru about what happened to Hisami. Normally Toru would walk back and forth through this hallway, but now he was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Tanimoto: “The cause of death was strangulation.”

Yeah, it was quite obvious from the way it looks, Ayano thought to herself. She had stayed behind while Reiko and Kana went to accompany Hisami’s dead body.

Tanimoto: “The estimated time of death was two days ago between 2am and 4am. Can you think of anything that might be related to this case?”

Ayano: “I’m not sure. I’m not close with Hisami-san. But—”

Tanimoto: “Yes?”

Ayano: “It seems Hisami-san didn’t really like me that much.”

Tanimoto: “Oh. You don’t have to say things that would be a disadvantage to yourself.”

Taira from Mihara Police Station was looking at Tanimoto with eyes that said:  What the hell were you saying?