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Dreadful Things Occur on the Staircase’s Thirteenth Step – Part 03

Translator: Kell

“The body found in the crypt was identified as a man by the name of Maxim. He was an alumnus of the academy, although one full of mystery. He would suddenly return around spring, stay for a while, and then leave again. Rumor has it that he was quite the miscreant, extorting people, stealing. He had enemies everywhere. That’s probably what got him killed. His physical characteristics and the time of his disappearance matched perfectly. He was quite the lady-killer, apparently. Well, anyway, he returned to the academy eight years ago in spring and stayed around for a few weeks, but suddenly disappeared, leaving his belongings in his room.”

The inspector sighed. “But the question remains. Who killed him? Why was he killed in that place? The last time the crypt was used was eight years ago. According to Ms. Cecile, a female student who had been sick for a long time passed away. Since then, no one has opened that iron door. But apparently before the funeral, the key to the crypt was stolen, so they replaced the lock with a new one and kept it in a secure place. Not like there’s anything valuable inside the crypt. There’s only corpses in there.”

The inspector chuckled to himself, then returned to his serious look.

“The lock was rusty too,” he added. “Incidentally, the mortician this time worked on the funeral eight years ago, so I talked to him. Maxim was not there at the time of the funeral. Neither inside nor outside the crypt. Since the mortician checks the inside, their testimony is solid. After they checked inside, they placed the remains of the schoolgirl and locked the crypt. For the next eight years, no one has opened the iron door. So how on earth did Maxim get into the crypt? And why?”

His expression turned bitter.

“Why was Maxim dressed as a medieval knight? And what does the bundle of primrose on his chest mean?” He paused, and dropped his voice low. “The main issue is, unless Maxim entered the crypt himself, this is a murder case. Someone locked him up alive. A murder that occurred eight years ago. The murderer must still be in the academy, living here nonchalantly, thinking no one knew about what he did. This is an inexcusable crime.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the inspector stared into the void, wearing a frown. His pointy hair glowed gold in the sunlight streaming through the skylight.

“Hmm.” Victorique lifted her head.

Oh, what’s this? Kazuya wondered. Victorique’s face had a tinge of red. A while ago, she seemed bored and weary, but now there was a bit of life in her face. Did this mean she gained a bit of interest in the case?

“Did you figure something out?” Kazuya asked.

“This is quite the chaos. Although, a not-so-complicated one.” She reached for a kaminari-okoshi, brought it to her mouth with both hands, and munched on it. “The truth is quite simple. My Wellspring of Wisdom toyed with the fragments of chaos and reconstructed them to stave off my boredom. And the answer is terribly simple.”

She yawned.

When she noticed Kazuya and Inspector Blois waiting impatiently for her next words, she said wearily, “But there is one fragment missing. And you can blame your negligence for that, Grevil.”

“What?!”

“If you want to know the truth, go gather the last fragment.” Victorique turned her back on them. “Go to the mortician and ask him if there is one less body in the crypt.”

Kazuya and the inspector exchanged looks.

“Damn it. Always acting so high and mighty,” Inspector Blois grumbled as they walked down the road to the village. “This is why I hate Gray Wolves.”

“Gray Wolves?”

The inspector did not reply. His face was twisted not just in anger, but in fear.

“I’m busy with another case,” he mumbled.

Apparently, there was a rumor that an infamous thief was coming to the village, and the police station was busy dealing with the situation.

In any case, the inspector, his two subordinates, and for some reason, Kazuya, visited the funeral parlor on the outskirts of the village. After asking them what Victorique told them to ask, the morticians rushed back to the crypt and inspected the inside.”

“There’s definitely one less body,” the younger mortician said, pointing to the back. “They’re arranged in chronological order, but there’s one empty bunk in the back.”

“That can’t be,” the older one said, surprised. “We put them in the right order. I checked eight years ago.” He pushed the younger one aside and went deeper into the crypt. “You’re right! There’s one less body! That’s weird… What’s going on here?”

The mortician and the detectives exchanged glances.

On the way back to the academy, the inspector kept mumbling to himself about the missing body and the bundle of primroses. Occasionally he would groan about Gray Wolves, and every time he did, Kazuya wondered what he meant by that.

As they walked down the campus’s white gravel path that led to the library, the leather swinging door opened, and Kazuya spotted a familiar girl scurrying out. Avril Bradley. He gasped.

Inspector Blois raised his head. “What is it?”

“Uh…”

Remembering the trouble he went through the other day when he was mistaken for the killer, Kazuya could not bring himself to tell the inspector about Avril on suspicion alone.

“It’s nothing.”

Avril’s face as she walked away had the same shadowy, sinister look that he found odd. She didn’t seem like an innocent girl. What if her cheerful side was just an act, and this was her real face?

Kazuya entered the library, perturbed. He looked around, wondering what Avril was doing inside. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the same library.

Maybe I’m just reading too much into it…

Inspector Blois took the elevator up to the top floor.

Several minutes later.

When Kazuya finally made it to the conservatory, breathing hard, he found Victorique and the inspector alone, quiet.

The foliage swayed in the breeze coming in through the skylight.

“So Kujou,” the inspector began. “There was definitely one less body.”

“I know. I was with you until moments ago.”

“Who did it?”

“Stop talking to me and ask Victorique.”

“You promised to tell me the name of the culprit if I gathered the last fragment.”

“Inspector!”

“What was the name of the female student who died of an illness eight years ago?” Victorique asked without lifting her head from the book.

The inspector jerked. “Millie Marl. What about her?”

“That’s the name of the culprit.”

Victorique placed the pipe in her mouth and raised her head.

The conservatory was suddenly quiet. Kazuya and the inspector gaped at Victorique, who remained calm and composed.

“…What?”

“Millie Marl is the culprit.”

“How is she the culprit, Kujou? Millie was already dead at the time of the funeral!”

“I said stop talking to me.” Kazuya turned to Victorique. “What do you mean? Don’t tell me she was pretending to be dead or something.”

“No, she was most likely dead already. Which means this was a murder committed by the departed.”

A wisp of white smoke rose to the ceiling.

Victorique removed the book from her lap and stared at them both. Her eyes were strangely clear. She seemed neither cold nor pretentious. She wasn’t a wicked girl, just very mysterious, Kazuya decided.

“I can only imagine how,” Victorique began, “but Maxim was chosen by Millie Marl to be her companion on her journey to the afterlife. After all, a knight is supposed to accompany and protect his lady.”

“Is that why he was wearing that outfit?”

“That’s not all. I present three fragments of chaos. First is the medieval knight outfit. The second is the stolen key. And lastly, the missing body. These fragments can be reconstructed this way: Millie Marl put Maxim to sleep with a sleeping potion and dressed him in a knight’s outfit. Then, using the stolen key, she entered the crypt and replaced the remains of a long-dead knight with the sleeping Maxim. Then she passed away. When the mortician placed Millie Marl’s remains in the crypt, Maxim was still sleeping inside, unaware that he was about to join her in her journey to the afterlife. The same goes for the mortician. In the dark crypt, he didn’t notice that the body that was resting there for ages was replaced by a fresh human wearing a costume. Thus, Millie Marl was buried, and the doors of the crypt were closed tight. When Maxim woke up, he found himself in darkness, with only corpses around him. Perhaps he found the dead girl and realized what happened. Or he remained in the dark, oblivious to the truth. Unfortunately, the iron door was firmly shut.” Victorique closed her mouth.

Kazuya’s face turned pale with horror. He glanced beside him and found Inspector Blois hanging his head, his face white as a sheet as well.

“I can’t believe it…”

Victorique was staring into the distance with moist, glasslike eyes, as if gazing at the shore of human emotions, good and evil, fear and joy.

She’s a mysterious one, all right, Kazuya thought.

Victorique opened her mouth to speak. “There’s no proof, of course. This all happened eight years ago. But it makes sense.”

The conservatory was wrapped in a heavy silence.

Suddenly, there was a rustling noise.

Kazuya looked up to see Inspector Blois hurrying to his feet. He turned around and started walking briskly toward the elevator. He didn’t say a word to either Victorique or Kazuya.

“You should thank Victorique,” Kazuya said. “She solved the case for you.”

The inspector spun and shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just came here to talk to a witness, you. Adieu!”

The steel cage closed.

“What the—”

Victorique glanced up. “Grevil,” she called listlessly.

The inspector turned around. His face was contorted in a displeased frown. But in his eyes was a hint of fear.

“…What?” His voice was shaky.

The atmosphere between them changed again. The inspector regarded Victorique like a frightened child, while the little girl returned his gaze coolly.

It was a strange scene, as though the positions of adult and child had switched.

“You should look into Maxim’s and Millie Marl’s relationship. You mentioned that he was quite the lady-killer. But the girl’s motive for the murder lay hidden in the bundle of primroses.”

Kazuya remembered the bundle of primroses that had adorned the corpse’s chest. Dried out, it turned to dust and scattered to the wind as the corpse fell to the ground.

“Primroses signify being with someone for eternity. See you around, Grevil.”

Clang!

Inspector Blois’ confused face slowly disappeared as the steel cage descended.

Right before he vanished below, Kazuya saw his features twisted in frustration.