The Mystery Clock

“If the footlights were independent power sources, then after the lights went out in the hall, someone could have disabled the security system by tripping the breakers and gained entry. But it seems I was overthinking it. I suppose tripping the breaker would mean that it would go unnoticed for only a brief moment until the footlights came on.”

An air of relaxation flowed through the room.

“So it was an accident, after all?” Motojima looked at Tokizane with expectant eyes. Tokizane seemed to be mulling something over.

“I have something to share with you all. Please take a seat on the sofa.”

The hunt for the perpetrator appeared to be drawing to a close. Everyone sat on the sofa except Hikijii, who was in a wheelchair. Even Natsumi and Ayaka sat in the corner with some discretion. Junko also occupied the same position as before. Although it was inappropriate at a time like this, Junko was craving alcohol after all the tension she had been under.

She hoped that once Tokizane’s narrative was over, everything would fall into place. It’s only natural, after what I’ve been through… Now I want a scotch. I think they have The Famous Grouse, by the way.

“While listening to your discussion earlier, I have been reminded of Reiko,” Tokizane began in a somber tone of voice. 

“She was a wonderful person… I still can’t bring myself to believe that I have to talk about her in the past tense like this. She was sensitive, tender, full of humor, with a keen sense of beauty,” Tokizane stammered out. Natsumi and Ayaka could be heard sobbing. Junko, too, was moved to tears unconsciously.

“To put it another way, she was not insensitive, obnoxious, or cruel.” 

Junko suddenly felt a change in his tone of voice.

“Above all, for the sake of the deceased’s honor, let me say this. That the person called Mori Reiko was by no means so careless as to forget that she was conducting an experiment and swallow the poison!”

Tokizane’s sudden rage sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

“Mori Reiko was killed twice tonight! Not only was she poisoned and savagely deprived of her life by someone she should have trusted deeply, but she was treated like a fool and ridiculed by the people who should have known and loved her better than anyone else!” Tokizane bellowed, holding his gun at the ready. “I owe Reiko an apology for almost buying such a bogus story. This is the conclusion. We all deserve to perish, whether her death was by poison or not!”

His voice was devoid of loneliness. Everybody was shaken by the abruptness of the situation, stricken with a hunched-over fear.

“…Though it seems one of you still exhibited sane judgment. Aoto. You said that there would be no way that Reiko could inadvertently swallow the poison in the midst of her experimentation. Does that judgment still hold true now?” 

Junko nodded repeatedly. She really wanted to declare that she stayed true to that, but she could not put it into words.

“Ironically, the only one who tried to protect Reiko’s honor was Aoto, who had only known her for a short time,” Tokizane said, looking down and sighing deeply. “But I can’t simply shoot everyone apart from Aoto.”

At worst, you could just make a deal with me to keep my mouth shut. No, God. Of course, I am kidding.

“The major reason is that it goes against Reiko’s style. She always said that if she had to eliminate someone in her novels, there must be a convincing and deep reason and procedure. For instance, she said that a novel that indiscriminately killed all the students in one class would be very intolerable to read,” Tokizane said, raising his head. “…The other reason why I am not starting a massacre right now is that this gun does not have enough bullets loaded in it to kill everyone. Well, it’s a shotgun pellet, so I might be able to kill a couple of people with one shot.”

Tokizane let out a chuckle. At the sight of his face, a chill ran through Junko.

She had a gut feeling that this man was not playing a joke at all.

“Therefore, I would like to have you all play the game again. It is a game with a much more valuable prize than the guess-the-price one.”

Tokizane peered around the room, expecting someone to ask a question, but no one did.

“Do you know what the valuable prize is? It is the lives of all of you.”

“Tokizane. That, we, nothing…” Motojima started to say something, but Tokizane ignored him.

“The rule is simple: Think back over the discussion so far and decide who you think is the most likely culprit. By my count in three, I will ask you to point to that person. Whoever gets the most votes is… I am truly sorry for your loss.”

This is out of control. Junko gasped. Is Tokizane really going to kill that person?

“What if it’s a tie?” Hikijii asked. 

Don’t tell me you’re already prepared for this?

“In that case, we’ll have a tie-breaking final among the top tiebreakers.”

“What if that doesn’t work?”

Tokizane said calmly, “I’ll cast the last vote.”

“Wait a minute! Are you serious? How are you going to get to the real culprit if you do that?” Kumakura exclaimed in a panic. Apparently, Kumakura was aware that he might be the most unlikable of them all.

“If we can’t find the culprit through logic, then we have to rely on everyone’s intuition. After all, if a lot of people find someone suspicious, isn’t it more than reasonable to assume that they’re the culprit?” Tokizane replied nonchalantly.

“Um… this game, I am excluded, right?” Junko asked with a ray of hope.

“No.”

Tokimitsu was indifferent.

“But, you see, I did not support the theory that Mori died by accident, didn’t I?”

Junko tried her best to argue, but Tokizane didn’t seem to hear her.

“I mean, earlier you started off by talking about killing everyone except me.”

When Junko noticed all eyes on her, she ceased speaking any further.

Tokizane went to the dining room and brought a chair. Looking up at the radio clock hanging on the wall, he placed the chair right under the wall and sat down.

“It is now 10:58 p.m. I will give you all a minute to think about it.”

Tokizane crossed his arms and watched everyone’s faces.

This is unbelievable. What an outrageous situation it has become.

Oh, shoot. I might have drawn glares from all of them for what I said earlier. In this situation, instead of wondering who seems to be the culprit, the idea would be to nominate someone they don’t like, so I, who sought to save only myself, might get at least one vote from someone.

No, that’s not it. Junko came to a realization. Then, the voting decisions are likely to be based not even on who they dislike, but on a reading of who is likely to garner the most votes. If they all colluded and made one person the scapegoat, the rest of them would be spared.

Not good. This is extremely inopportune.

I should not have been so conspicuous in a circumstance like this.

Had I not said anything, there would have been no chance that I would be ranked first. Even so, in the end, if there is someone else who is tied for first place, Tokizane holds the casting vote, so perhaps I can save myself by not saying anything negative about Mori Reiko…

“Alright, no further time. That’s it,” Tokizane said, signaling the end of their thinking time.

Ah. Junko was in a daze. She had no idea who she was going to choose.

“Then, may I? Please point at one, two, three. One, two…” Tokizane started the count as effortlessly as if it were a party game. 

Junko closed her eyes. What should I do?

“Three!”

Following Tokizane’s call, an odd silence dominated the room.

Junko kept her eyes tightly closed and waited for the pronouncement. But not a word was said by anyone.

Tokizane sighed.

“All of you are abstaining from voting?”

Junko immediately snapped her eyes open and looked at everyone. Not a single person pointed a finger at anyone else. In each of their expressions, she could discern a determination not to give in to threats and ensnare anyone.

Junko, who simply could not settle on who to choose, promptly adopted the same stern expression as they did.

“I see. That is a very admirable resolve and solidarity. But I, too, cannot just back down,” Tokizane added with a faint smile.

“Yamanaka, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to go to the kitchen and get me as many black garbage bags as you can find?”

Ayaka, who was suddenly spoken to, stood up with a startled expression on her face.

“B-Black garbage bags, right… I understand.”

With quick steps, she walked through the dining room and into the kitchen, and soon returned with new packages of garbage bags.

Everyone was handed a single black, 45-liter trash bag.

“First, I want you all to double-check your positions. Where is the person you suspect to be the culprit?”

Tokizane, without any hesitation, attempted to arouse everyone’s suspicions.

“Now, everyone, please put the bag over your heads.”

Everyone was aghast and hesitant.

“Tokizane, no matter what the circumstances are, this kind of thing is…” Motojima tried to protest softly.

“Then, let me declare the rule. Anyone who does not cover the bag until the end will be considered the culprit. Also, I warn you, this time you will have no chance to resist. At that time, the first person to put on the bag will be safe, and the last person to do so will be executed immediately.”

First, Kawai followed the instruction. Kumakura, Enomoto, and Motojima followed suit.

Junko, too, covered herself with a garbage bag.

She noticed that the plastic was thinner than she had expected, and the lights could be seen through it. Besides, she could hear quite distinctly from the old days.

The lights were dimmed. When this happened, she could hardly see anything anymore.

“I suppose you would be reluctant to accuse someone of being the culprit face to face. Perhaps the two parties had checked each other with their eyes earlier… but if they couldn’t see each other, they wouldn’t have cared. Please enlighten me as to what each of you has in mind.”

This man is the devil, Junko thought. He knew the art of striking at the weakest part of the human heart.

“What you need to do is the same as before. In my count of three, point out the person you think is the most suspicious. Before you do that, this time I will give you three minutes to think.”

Tokizane was silent again. But instead, there was a sound emanating from the speakers on the ceiling.

What is this? Junko was astonished. It is a drum roll…

It must have been the background music that had been prepared for the announcement of the results of the price-guessing game. But Tokizane’s nerves were so abnormal that he would play such a sound effect at a time like this.

Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye. The sound of drums faded away, and silence prevailed once more.

Tokizane’s voice resounded in the darkness, depriving the group of their vision.

“Now then, this is your last chance. This time, those who do not point to anyone will be counted as pointing to themselves. So, are you ready? One, two…” 

Junko clenched her rear teeth.

“Three.”

She waited, but never heard from him again. Tokizane didn’t say anything.

She can hear him walking around the room. And then came the sound of rummaging around and setting heavy things down. Through the garbage bag, she could see a faint flickering light. Then came the sound of wood exploding.

“Everyone, you can take those bags off now.”

Tokizane was kneeling in front of the fireplace, creating a fire that had been nearly extinguished.

“What happened?” Motojima inquired.

Tokimi answered casually, “It’s a very touching ending.”

“So you mean the result is the same this time too?” Hikijii asked vacantly.

“Yes. Not a single one of you has ever accused anyone else baselessly.”

Tokizane, his hands clad in fireproof gloves, laid out new wood on top of the burning wood and the fire pit. His voice was calm, as if he were a different person from before.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Motojima questioned apprehensively.

“Right… It’s 11:05 now, isn’t it?” Tokizane looked up at the radio clock on the wall.

“After such a long delay, the police will be furious, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

There was a stir. Will he let them free this time?

“Does this mean it’s over now?” Kumakura looked skeptical.

“Yes. I apologize deeply for making you all feel uncomfortable and dreadful,” Tokizane said in a mysterious tone as he stood up and bowed profoundly.

“Of course, it was a lie that the culprit was decided by majority vote. I genuinely just wanted to check if anyone could point to anyone else.”

“You mean the person who pointed at someone else is the one you suspect?” Motojima had a look of understanding on his face.

“That is right. A person who is willing to frame others in order to save themselves is a criminal, or at least someone with a psychopathic mentality. Yet, there was no one like that here.”

“If there had been, would you have shot them?” Kawai asked, half-jokingly.

Tokizane showed everyone his hunting rifle, folded in half, with no bullets in the chamber of the gun.

“As you can see, the gun was unloaded when it was stored in the gun safe. From the very beginning, it was impossible to shoot you all.”

In other words, there was no possibility of destroying the Mystery Clock that had been left out by firing in the hall.

Junko felt her doubts being cleared up. While she was uncertain to what extent Tokizane would respect the lives of the invited guests, at least she was sure that he would never endanger the Mystery Clock.

“…Give me a break! I seriously thought I was going to be shot to death.” 

Behind Kawai’s playful attitude, there was a sense of heartfelt relief that he had survived.

“I was more than half convinced. But at the end, I couldn’t be sure that it was really an accident, so I acted outraged,” Tokimitsu sighed deeply.

“If Reiko had been killed, I really wanted to apprehend the murderer with my own hands. Of course, this is just my own excuse. If you all insist on suing me, then I will admit my guilt and atone for my crime.”

“No, I understand how you feel about Reiko,” Kumakura said in a more understanding tone than ever before.

“We feel exactly the same way,” Motojima added.

“Well, it was a very thrilling experience, but still, it was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have had in a long time. Personally, I have no intention of suing you,” Hikijii said, apparently with genuine feeling.

“Thank you very much. Then, I will call the police… Ah, but before that…”

Tokizane grabbed his satellite-based mobile phone and headed out into the garden before returning to the display table. 

“I’ll give you all back your watches.”

He opened a drawer in the display stand and retrieved a tray with everyone’s watches and rings on it.

“Did they stop or anything? If your watch is broken, I will compensate you. Please tell me right here and now.”

Junko, while putting on her watch, checked the time according to Tokizane’s words.

It was 11:06 pm. Compared to the radio clock on the wall, it was not off by a single minute.
She looked at Enomoto and was taken aback. She’d been wondering why he’d been so quiet for so long, but the stern expression on his face as he turned his head and slid his G-Shock onto his wrist stood out so starkly against the rest of the group.