Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Detective School Q Tantei Gakuen Q Fan Fiction ❯ Codename: Athena ❯ Showdown! The Cutthroat Who Crossed Through Time!! ( Chapter 2 )

SailorStar9: Chapter 1 goes up and no review. You guys don`t like me anymore. (Pouts)

 

Disclaimers: I own nothing.

 

Chapter 2: Showdown! The Cutthroat Who Crossed Through Time!!

 

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“Jack the Ripper.” Miss Katagiri noted.

 

“Dan-sensei, this is almost the same as the murder in the doubly-locked room by Jack the Ripper during the war.” she added.

 

Dan-sensei nodded.

 

“Murder by Jack the Ripper…” Kinta echoed.

 

“A murder in a locked room…” Kazuma repeated.

 

“It's not the same! What happened to the key that disappeared from the control room yesterday? If that key is used to lock the two doors from outside, it`s not a locked room.” Kyuosuke protested.

 

While Kyuosuke was arguing his case, Kyu was searching the place.

 

Finding something, he shouted, “Hey guys!”

 

“What is it, Kyu?” Kinta asked.

 

“Look at this!” Kyu exclaimed.

 

Right on top of the drain gutter, was the missing key.

 

“A key?” Kinta blinked. “Does it mean…”

 

“Kyu-kun, try locking the door with the key.” Dan-sensei instructed.

 

“Yes sir.” Kyu nodded and proceeded with the request.

 

When the key turned, Kyu gasped, “It worked.”

 

“What on earth is going on?” Hayato asked.

 

“The lost key was found inside the room, which means…”

 

“A murder in a completely sealed room.” Ryu finished the sentence.

 

“The locked murder scene that was recreated just for the investigation has become a real crime scene, right Dan-sensei?” he asked.

 

“Katagiri-sensei, please call Shintarou-sensei.” Dan-sensei requested.

 

“Since he's a doctor, I need him to examine the body.”

 

“Yes sir.” Miss Katagiri nodded and ran out.

 

“All of you, go back to your rooms.” he ordered the students.

 

The students nodded and exited.

 

Megumi went over to the wall, her hand over her mouth. It was obvious that Saburomaru's body had affected her.

 

“Megu, are you alright?” Kyu asked.

 

Megumi said nothing and threw her arms around Kyu.

 

“I'm okay. If I get discouraged every time I'm at a murder scene, I won't be able to become a detective.” she replied.

 

“I'm okay.” she assured him.

 

As the rest of the group walked out of the scene, Kazuma commented, “People with a photographic memory will never forget a scene they saw even once. Something like that terrible scene we just saw…”

 

“I feel sorry for her.” Kinta added.

 

***************************************************************** ****************************

Back in the classroom, Class A and Class Q were split into two groups.

 

“I didn't like Saburomaru that much, but I can't believe something like that happened to him.” Kinta confessed.

 

Aside, Megumi sighed.

 

Then, Kinta noticed the glares Class A was giving him.

 

Still typing on his laptop, Kazuma remarked, “Kinta, you're so rude. Megu is from the same National Ability Development Institute as Saburomaru.”

 

“Oh yeah.” Kinta nodded.

 

“But I wonder who on earth would do such a thing.” Megami commented.

 

“It's a detective's job to investigate that, right?” Kazuma replied.

 

“Don't say that, you're just messing around with your computer.” Kinta rebuked.

 

“Excuse me!” Kazuma scolded.

 

“What have you been doing all this time?” Kyu asked.

 

“I'm trying to find the criminal by using this detective software that I developed.” Kazuma announced proudly.

 

“If you input the crime scene data, it gives you possible tricks that could have been used.” he explained.

 

“Wow.” Kyu blinked in awe.

 

“Is it for real?” Kinta asked, somewhat skeptical.

 

“Well, just wait and see.” Kazuma retorted.

 

“Aren't you mistaken about something, Kazuma-kun?” Ryu asked.

 

“Mistaken? What do you mean?” Kazuma exclaimed.

 

“You're the one who's being rude, aren't you?” Ryu added.

 

“This is neither a class nor a game, but a real murder case.”

 

“I know that!” Kazuma protested.

 

“You sound so clam when you say that, huh Amakusa-kun?” Shishido asked.

 

“He may be a stranger to you, but Saburomaru was our friend. And he got killed. A person in out school just died! Isn't it alright to be just a little agitated?” he pressed.

 

“Is this the time to be agitated?” Ryu questioned back.

 

“What?” Shishido frowned.

 

“Can you look outside?” Ryu requested.

 

Everyone's eyes turned to the window.

 

Outside, a storm was brewing.

 

“It'll start raining soon, judging by those clouds. The waves will get rougher. Do you think we can leave in a weather like this?” he posted a question.

 

“That means…” Megami begun.

 

“We can't leave this island for a while.” Ami finished her sentence.

 

“Right, the island where the unidentified murderer, Jack the Ripper is.” Ryu added.

 

“Saburomaru-san was also a student in this school and he was killed. The next victim could be someone in this room. He might be sliced up the same way.” he prophesized.

 

“We can't really say if it was done by an outsider.” Hayato commented.

 

“Hey.” Kyuosuke hushed him up.

 

The door opened and Dan-sensei was wheeled in.

 

“All of you, thank you for waiting.” he begun.

 

Everyone, minus Megumi stood up.

 

“Dan-sensei, Maki-sensei.” Kyu chorused.

 

“What happened to the ship?” Kinta asked.

 

“Unfortunately, we can't launch the ship in this weather. And because of the storm, the radio of the ship isn`t working properly.” Mr. Shintarou announced.

 

“Looks like we're totally stranded. We`re also puzzled by this incident. Even though you`re DDS students, I don't want you to be forced into this. If you don`t want to investigate this case, I`ll prepare a safe place for you. Normally, this extracurricular class would be cancelled. Knowing that, I ask you: among you is there anyone who wants to solve the mystery of this case with us and try to unmask the terrible Jack the Ripper?” Dan-sensei asked.

 

“Class A will do it!” Kyuosuke offered.

 

“Even though we only know him for a short time, our friend Saburomaru is dead. We can't just let this go!” Sakurako agreed.

 

“Yeah, just leave it to Class A.” Hayato nodded.

 

“Class Q should hide in a safe place.” he added.

 

“But you need to leave your school badges and notebooks here.” Kyuosuke remarked.

 

Kinta hissed at the arrogant Kyuosuke and Kyu turned to the principal.

 

“I'll do it, Dan-sensei.” he offered.

 

“Please let me help too!” he begged.

 

Megumi's eyes softened, “Kyu.”

 

“All right! I`ll do it too!” Kinta whooped.

 

“Kinta!” Kyu beamed.

 

Slapping Kyu on his shoulder, Kinta added, “If I got scared of something like this, my ancestors would cry in shame.”

 

“Let me help too.” Megumi added, coming forward.

 

“I'll do it as well, of course.” Kazuma nodded.

 

Turning to the remaining two, Kyu asked, “Ryu-kun, Ami-chan, the two of you would join us right?”

 

“Yeah.” Ryu let out a smile.

 

“Naturally.” Ami replied.

 

Just then, Miss. Katagiri ran in.

 

“Dan-sensei!” she shouted.

 

“What's wrong, Katagiri-sensei?” he asked.

 

“Something terrible has happened in the kitchen.” she reported.

 

When they arrived in the kitchen, the group found it in a terrible mess.

 

“This is…” Kazuma blinked.

 

“What a mess.” Kyu noted.

 

“This is awful.” Megumi agreed.

 

“Hey mouse, go away!” Kinta shouted.

 

“I wonder if someone tried to eat all the food.” Hayato pondered.

 

“That means there's someone else beside us on this island.” Kyuosuke remarked.

 

“I don't see how though.” Megumi admitted.

 

Kyu noticed that her eyes had begun to scan the scene.

 

“I see.” Kazuma noted, after some typing.

 

Shutting his laptop, he walked forward, “That means…”

 

Then, he noticed a measuring weight under his feet.

 

“I see! They used this.” he exclaimed.

 

“Kazuma, what are you mumbling about?” Kinta asked.

 

“I solved the mystery of the murder in the doubly-sealed room by Jack the Ripper.” Kazuma announced.

 

“Are you serious?” Kinta blinked.

 

“Really?” Megumi asked.

 

“I can demonstrate if you want me to. I can recreate the doubly-sealed room just as t he criminal did at the murder scene on the rooftop.” Kazuma declared.

 

“On the rooftop…” Kyu echoed.

 

***************************************************************** ********************************

Once arriving at the rooftop, a strong wind was blowing.

 

“Such a strong wind.” Kinta remarked.

 

“Ah!” Megumi breathed.

 

“Hey Kazuma, are you sure you can do this?” Kinta asked.

 

“Of course.” Kazuma replied.

 

“I didn't think I'd need to tag along for a grade school kid's experiment.” Kyuosuke scoffed.

 

“Are you annoyed or something? Because I solved the trick before Class A did?” Kazuma quipped.

 

“What? Our classmate got killed! Don`t talk nonsense!” Kyuosuke replied.

 

“Okay.” Kazuma waved the comment aside.

 

When Miss. Katagiri opened the door, Kazuma explained, “That very back room where Saburomaru-san's body was found was surely a sealed room, with two locked doors. There's a small window facing the cliff, but a person can't enter or exit from there. But it's not just the criminal who could freely enter and exit this room. For example, there are rats around here.”

 

“Rats?” Kyu echoed.

 

“Excuse me, could you close the door?” Kazuma asked.

 

With the door shut, Kazuma continued, “Please look around. There has to be a place where light comes in.”

 

Megumi looked around and spotted a hole at the bottom of a wall.

 

“There it is, beside the front door. It`s a mouse hole.”

 

“And then,” Kazuma continued as he took out a measuring tape.

 

“The space below the back door is 6.8 centimeters. In other words, the back room where the dead body was found was not a doubly-sealed room. There was a small space where anything the size of a rat could get through.”

 

“Hey, don't tell me the culprit had a rat carry the key.” Shishido commented incredulously.

 

“No, what I'm saying is that the key to this storage room is smaller than a rat.” Kazuma replied.

 

“That means…” Kinta prompted.

 

“The criminal put the key back into the room through the mouse hole or the space below the door after he got outside using the key he stole.” Kazuma announced.

 

Kyuosuke snorted, “Is that so?”

 

“In other words, you mean something like this, right? I`m called the Puzzle King. I already thought of a trick like that.” he said, revealing a stringed coin.

 

Going over to Megumi, he knelt down.

 

“Hey, Gouda-san, what are you doing?” Megumi asked.

 

“Let me borrow your leg.” he replied.

 

“Let's suppose this 5 yen coin is a key. First, put a string through the key and hang on something close to it destination. Then, just keep pulling the string, and when it gets to its destination, pull only one side of the string, and collect the string.”

 

“I see.” Kyu noted.

 

“But when Kyu-kun found the key, it was in the corner of the room and there was nothing like her leg you could use it to hang on.” Sakurako pointed out.

 

“That's right. You can't do it without something to hang the string on.” Kyuosuke replied, standing up.

 

“We could make something to hang it on.” Kazuma remarked.

 

“What?” Kyuosuke questioned.

 

Kazuma produced the weight he had removed from the kitchen.

 

“You can use the weight from the kitchen. First, put the weight with the string attached at the destination, and close the door. Bring the key into the room by using the key as a fulcrum. Once the key gets to the destination, collect the weight by using the string attached to the weight. Then, the doubly-sealed door is complete.” Kazuma declared in triumph.

 

Getting outside, Kazuma prepared to demonstrate.

 

“Now, pretending this 5 yen coin is a key. I'll put it back in the back room.. Pull the string slowly.”

 

After a while, he met an obstruction.

 

“Huh? What's wrong?” Megumi asked.

 

“It seems to be stuck.” Kazuma replied.

 

Turning around, he requested rather sheepishly, “Can I do it again?”

 

Once again, Kazuma repeated his experiment, only to find the string was stuck, again.

 

“Again? Oh man!” Kazuma moaned.

 

“It's not going very well. It`s supposed to work. Strange.”

 

Finally, Kazuma managed to pull the string out.

 

“It took 30 minutes at least.” Kinta complained.

 

Excitedly, Kazuma ran into the room.

 

“The 5 yen coin is in front of the back room where we put the weight.”

 

To his disappointment, the coin was not there.

 

“The 5 yen coin is right here.” Shishido said, picking up the coin.

 

“It's actually closer to the entrance.” he added tossing the coin the younger boy.

 

“Looks like the weight shifted a little, but it was generally a success right?” Kazuma beamed nervously.

 

“We could put it back into the locked room, so…” his sentence was cut short by the disbelieving looks everyone gave him.

 

“Kazuma-san, there's one tiny problem.” Ami pointed out.

 

“And that is…” Kinta prompted.

 

“How can you string the key when the key doesn't have a hole in the first place?” she asked.

 

Kazuma blinked.

 

“Oh man, I thought it would be like this.” Hayato remarked.

 

“This is about as good as Class Q gets.” Shishido smirked.

 

“Let's go back.” Kyuosuke commented.

 

“Yeah, it's a waste of time.” Shishido agreed.

 

“Kazuma...” Kyu begun.

 

Getting no reply, Kyu, Megumi and Kinta went out.

 

Sniffling, Kazuma accidentally dropped the coin and it rolled first towards the direction of the door, before rolling back.

 

Both Ryu and Ami noticed the strange behavior.

 

Ami frowned slightly and mentally gasped, Could it be…

 

“Kazuma-kun, your deduction may not be as wrong as it might have looked.” was Ryu's last comment before he walked out.

 

Ami smiled at the younger boy, “Just think from a different direction. I'ts almost raining. Let's go back.”

 

Kazuma nodded and followed the older girl.

 

“I'm sorry I burst your bubble.” Ami apologized.

 

Kazuma shook his head, “No, it was lucky that it was one of us that pointed out the flaw, and not one of the Class A students.”

 

Exiting from the elevator, Kazuma was surprised to see Kyu, Kinta and Megumi waiting for him.

 

“Don't be disappointed.” Kyu told him.

 

“Yeah, you were doing pretty good there.” Kinta agreed.

 

“Let's all just try our best.” Megumi encouraged.

 

Overwhelmed, Kazuma hugged Megumi.

 

Even though he acts strong, he's just a kid after all. Megumi thought.

 

“78 centimeters, B cup.” Kazuma muttered.

 

“Huh?” Megumi blinked.

 

“You're bigger than you look huh?” Kazuma asked, cheekily.

 

Megumi blushed hard.

 

“Hey, Kazuma! How dare you!” Kinta protested and started to chase the younger boy.

 

“Are you jealous?” Kazuma teased, as he ran away.

 

Curious, Kyu asked, “Are you a B cup?”

 

“Huh?” Megumi blinked.

 

Kyu begun to laugh nervously, “I thought you were an A cup.”

 

Deeply embarrassed, Megumi had slapped Kyu across the face and stormed off.

 

“Stupid!” she scolded.

 

“Hey, wait up Megu!” Kyu called after her.

 

“Don't ask me!” Megumi shouted.

 

Ami shook her head and sighed.

 

“Kids these days.” she muttered.

 

“Guess I'd better rescue Kyu before Megu kills him.” she added and took off after the pair.

 

Ryu stepped out of his hiding place as he looked on.

 

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“Maki-sensei will give the autopsy report.” Dan-sensei said, once everyone was settled in.

 

“Okay. First of all, the cause of death. He died due to hemorrhaging caused by a stab wound to the heart with a sharp, knife-like object. He probably died immediately. It seems that the criminal ripped Saburomaru-kun's body apart with a powerful tool, like a chainsaw, before he died. The chainsaw that seems to have been used by the criminal was missing from the equipment room. The estimated time of death is late last night. Considering the digestive state of his dinner, it was probably around 2 am. The right half of Saburomaru-kun's body had not been found yet.” Mr. Shintarou reported.

 

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That night, Kyu was awakened by a knock on his door.

 

Opening his door, he looked around and noticed footprints on the floor in front of his door.

 

“What big footprints.” he commented.

 

“Someone was actually here!”

 

His eyes trailed outwards as the footprints led away.

 

“They head that way. What should I do? I wonder if I should call someone.” Kyu noted.

 

Then, he shook his head, “No. If I ask for help with something like this, I can't become a real detective. All right then, I`ll go alone!”

 

Grabbing a torchlight and a broom, Kyu followed the footsteps which eventually led to the staircase.

 

Climbing the staircase, Kyu was puzzled, “What on earth?”

 

Shining the torchlight on the footprint trail, Kyu found that it led to a door.

 

“Did he go in there?” Kyu wondered aloud.

 

Determined, he shouted out, “All right! If you want to kill me, come on, Jack the Ripper!”

 

Then, he faltered, “Maybe I should've have asked Kinta to come along.”

 

Feeling something behind him, Kyu turned around and was struck out his broom which was caught by Kinta.

 

“Kinta…” Kyu gasped.

 

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?” Kinta asked.

 

Kyu heaved in relief, “You came out of nowhere, so I thought you were Jack the Ripper.”

 

Kinta chuckled, “Did you also follow the footprints after hearing someone knocking on your door?”

 

“Huh? You too?” Kyu blinked.

 

Kinta nodded, “Yeah. These muddy footprints certainly aren't ours, so… they head into that room huh?”

 

Breaking the broom, Kinta walked forward, “Let's go, Kyu.”

 

“Yeah…” Kyu nodded nervously.

 

Kinta opened the door, only to find the window open.

 

“Che, he escaped through the window.” Kinta snorted.

 

Then, his eyes widened.

 

“What's wrong Kinta?” Kyu asked.

 

When he saw what Kinta saw, Kyu was shocked.

 

Then, he let out a scream.

 

Megumi's voice was heard next.

 

“The upper half of Shishido-san's body was on the bed. As if he was killed in a deep slumber his face looked like he was calmly sleeping.”

 

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SailorStar9: Whoop! And another chapter goes down.