Chapter 82: Kagome Hall (10)
Chapter 82: Kagome Hall (10)
Butler Saeki brought rather bad news; Hirakawa Shun had vanished from his own basement.
“You said he’s missing? Did he perhaps already escape before that?”
“Impossible… Young Master Shun closed the door himself when he entered the basement. Afterward, this old servant was in the Back Room. I felt he should still be in the basement, yet when we opened the door, no one was inside.”
“And Old Man Qiao is gone too. This is truly troublesome now.”
“Might they have left the main hall?”
“Deep into the night like this, how would those two leave Kagome Hall?”
Everyone started talking at once.
Finally, Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi imposed his view, suggesting they all go search the basement Collection Room again.
Hearing they could enter the basement Collection Room, Fang Jing naturally volunteered. For him, this was naturally a good opportunity; with some luck, he could get right up close to the Collection Room’s treasures.
Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi did not refuse either. It was decided that Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi, Utsumi, Toriumi Kotaro, Madam Esumi, and Fang Jing would go to the basement, while everyone else stayed inside Kagome Hall.
When the five of them went around to the Back Room of Kagome Hall, they found a room with white-painted plaster walls and wooden floors.
The room was decorated simply, yet rather tastefully, though it felt quite enclosed.
The main door opened from the triangular side. It was said that it stood directly opposite the room where Mr. Tsurutada lived on the other end, allowing viewing of any movement at this “door” from Tsurutada’s room.
“Also, there’s mud on the door’s steps. Like traces left by soil stuck to someone’s shoes.”
Fang Jing noticed this point the moment he entered.
“The basement is right here… everyone, be careful coming down. The lights inside are a bit dim.”
As Butler Saeki stepped down the suspended wooden ladder, he warned everyone.
Fang Jing moved closer and saw everyone else heading towards the wooden ladder leading into the basement entrance.
The lighting inside was indeed dim, and the suspended wooden ladder had no handrails. Missing a step would definitely be dangerous.
After following them down the ladder, Fang Jing found it to be quite a nice place.
The basement lighting was dim, yes, but the furnishings were rather luxurious: a large sofa that could serve as a bed, a desk, a leather chair, a television, and a small refrigerator.
According to Butler Saeki, the basement had its own ventilation ducts, heating and cooling too, so they didn’t need to worry about the temperature inside during either winter or summer.
Everyone looked around but found no trace of a person. Butler Saeki’s words were true—Hirakawa Shun was not here. Where could he be then?
A question mark floated in everyone’s mind.
“Hey! Can anyone else smell rust?”
Toriumi Kotaro asked a strange question.
“Rust?”
Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi noticed nothing unusual since coming down to the basement, and certainly no smell.
“Exactly. There’s a very faint stench.”
Fang Jing also sensed the abnormal odor. His intuition told him it was likely the smell of blood.
“It’s coming from this door. The smell is faint, but I can still catch it.”
Toriumi Kotaro wrinkled his nose.
“The smell is a bit nasty… Could it be the smell of blood?”
“What?”
Butler Saeki pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Toriumi-kun, you can’t joke about such things,”
Utsumi cautioned him.
“Sorry! I don’t think I’m mistaken.”
Toriumi Kotaro gave a somewhat bitter smile. Due to his profession, he was very sensitive to such smells, though he didn’t voice this last part.
“Mr. Saeki, is there any way to open this door?”
Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi frowned.
“We have to check… The worst possibility is that Mr. Shun locked himself inside this room.”
Upon hearing this, Butler Saeki broke out in a cold sweat and seemed unable to make a decision for a long time.
The Collection Room was a vital place in the house; it couldn’t be opened casually.
Weighed down by responsibility, Saeki hesitated internally, conflicted.
“Everyone, please open the door… Above all, we need to see if someone is inside,”
Utsumi-Mad suddenly spoke up. The old woman had maintained a calm expression throughout, and now took decisive action in the old butler’s place.
“However, the key was taken by the second young master. So, we’ll need another way to open this door.”
“Alright.”
Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi stepped up to the door, attempted to pry it open, but found he couldn’t do it alone.
“Forget it… Utsumi-san, can you help? Together, we should be able to force it open.”
Utsumi nodded. He looked middle-aged and seemed fairly fit. At Fujimatsuri’s request, the two of them stood side by side and rammed against the door several times.
“Thud!”
The combined force hit the door, producing only a dull thud; the door itself remained firmly shut.
“This is too sturdy! It’s a thick plank door! Damn, way too hard.”
Utsumi rubbed his numbed shoulder.
“It was built as a security measure. But I didn’t expect it to be this sturdy…”
Kagome Hall’s basement Collection Room had been constructed for security; it was incredibly solid. The door seemed fused with the room structure itself; the ramming produced no effect.
“…Let me.”
Fang Jing frowned slightly. If they couldn’t open this room, he’d lose his chance to see the collection inside.
Without waiting for anyone else’s approval, he kicked forcefully upward. The door emitted a tremendous clang as the top section cracked with a loud “thud”, and over half of the door panel flew off.
“Sorry… The door didn’t seem that sturdy. Might have loosened it earlier.”
Under everyone’s stunned gazes, Fang Jing shrugged his shoulders.
“Hmm… That smell is intense!”
As the now-broken top half of the door was pushed aside, Toriumi Kotaro recoiled several steps, covering his nose. To him, whose sense of smell was far keener than an average person’s, the stench emanating from the Collection Room was truly overpowering.
“It’s the smell of blood!”
Utsumi too smelled the unusually strong, metallic tang of blood drifting out from the fully sealed Collection Room into the outer area.
Butler Saeki, trembling, picked up a flashlight. In its shaking beam, they saw a corpse — Old Man Qiao’s body.
…
“The time of death is estimated to be last night. Rigor mortis had set in, with slight lividity on the body.”
“Cause of death was major blood loss after having his throat cut.”
“However, the windpipe might have been severed, leading to blood aspiration and asphyxiation.”
It was hard to make a definite determination based solely on external wound observation.
But several points merited attention. One of them was that both of Old Man Qiao’s eyes had been removed; they were not found at the scene.
Furthermore, someone had drawn a small hexagram in blood on the skin of the old man’s forehead.
Toriumi Kotaro found the actual cause of the old man’s death, and what might have motivated the killer to commit this crime, very intriguing.
This was also part of a detective’s professional interest.
“Nishizuka, do not touch anything at the scene. We need to preserve it to avoid contamination before the police arrive,”
The voice of Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi came from behind him.
“Sorry, but this seems to be the wooden carving I brought earlier,”
The young man named Nishizuka Tsukasa offered an apologetic laugh.
“Well… Mr. Nishizuka, your wooden carving should be in the other Collection Room.”
Butler Saeki’s face was deathly pale; the sight of the body had visibly shaken him too.
Fang Jing examined Old Man Qiao’s body. After noticing the abnormalities on the corpse, he also became aware of certain issues.
However, he hadn’t forgotten his main purpose in being here.
“Five Growth Value points acquired.”
With a light touch of his fingertip, he absorbed another strand of Yin Energy from the wooden carving collected by Hirakawa Shun.
Blood splattered profusely inside the Collection Room, staining many treasures… Cleaning it was impossible; this place was an active, serious crime scene.
Numerous treasures filled the Collection Room, but he couldn’t conveniently touch them one by one to slowly absorb Yin Energy from them.
Why was Old Man Qiao murdered? His body also exuded an air of a “ritualistic killing.”
“Alright… everyone should go back upstairs. There’s nothing more to see here.”
Utsumi seemed unable to bear it; he said this and was the first to leave the basement.
Fujimatsuri and the others moved towards the wooden ladder. Fang Jing glanced back as he walked. He saw a small trace of yellowish mud on the floor beneath the chair by the desk.
——————————
Back inside Kagome Hall, although heavy-hearted, Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi explained the basement situation.
“…Qiao Weng is dead,”
Shikatori’s voice was hoarse, his eyes wide.
“Yes. His body is in the Collection Room. He was murdered.”
He scanned the agitated group slowly, then placed both palms on the table.
“Furthermore, my uncle, Hirakawa Shun, is also missing. Not a trace of him remains. Also, beforehand, he took the key to the Collection Room.”
“No… That can’t be! Don’t tell me Mr. Hirakawa…”
Fuyuko seemed to have an idea, quickly realized its unpleasant implication, and covered her mouth.
“It’s not possible! Young Master Shun would never do such a thing! Besides, he returned at one in the morning. This old servant saw him enter the basement with my own eyes…”
“But Mr. Saeki, you also said earlier that you later fell asleep in the Back Room… And the time we met you, Mr. Saeki, your phone showed it was nearly quarter to ten.”
Watanabe sighed, recalling the earlier situation, and said quietly, “Based on Mr. Hirakawa Shun’s usual conduct, I also think he is a person of high character. He doesn’t seem like a murderer… but Mr. Saeki, on this point, your testimony doesn’t actually prove much either.”
The implication was clear: Hirakawa Shun returned at 1 AM. He could have easily killed someone, moved the body to the first-floor room, or Saeki was his accomplice, and they killed Old Man Qiao together.
Saeki remained speechless, at a loss, only standing stunned.
“That’s irrelevant now. This isn’t the time to discuss these matters,”
Fujimatsuri said, his tone tinged with sorrow as he addressed the group.
“For some reason, all our communications are down. That means we can’t call for help. We need to send someone out to find assistance.”