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

Chapter 6: An incident befell them

When Shun was arguing with Takato while they went around from the entrance to the garden, Ayano had went out first through the side entrance and was looking at the corpse.

“Oh. Shun and Takato, you guys came too?” Ayano said in a calm tone without showing any sign of distress.

“What do you mean us too? Did anyone else come before us?” Shun looked around but couldn’t see anyone.

But Takato replied, “Yeah. There are a few.”

Ayano and several other ghosts were taking a look at the corpse. And then, the wife of the dead man had rushed over after quite a while later. The woman was screaming louder than the victim did.

Ayano was surprised because she had never seen this married couple get along well together before. But she could understand the woman’s feeling. The couple were plotting to take over the mansion, but now the husband, the one that used to be surnamed Sudo, had died.

“Who did this?!” the woman screamed.

“Let’s see…” Shun muttered to himself. He believed it was either an accident or a murder. Based on the man’s personality, Shun felt there was no way he would commit suicide.

At that time, Ayano looked up and said, “Ah- The murderer-”

Shun looked up at the rooftop terrace where they hang the laundry, but no one was there. “Where?” he asked.

Ayano replied, “No, no. I didn’t mean the perpetrator but-”

At that time, the woman who had her hand on her husband’s huge belly suddenly raised her head. She stepped over her husband’s dead body and ran towards them. “Sudo-sensei!”[1]

Shun was taken aback by her enthusiasm and felt like running away but the woman grabbed his arm and earnestly said “Sensei, I’ve something to discuss with you.” Then she tried to pull Shun towards the house.

You don’t care about your husband’s body? Shun thought to himself.

Ayano and Takato watched the greedy woman dragged Shun into the house with a pitying glance.

* * *

The ambulance and police arrived soon after.

Ayano first went to the altar room. Then she felt she would only disturb the others doing their work, so she decided to return to her room upstairs. As she walked through the hallway, she saw Toru went back and forth in the hallway nearby the entrance as usual.

Toru: “Ayano. What happened?”

Ayano: “Uncle Yamamura passed away.”

Toru: “How did he die?”

Ayano didn’t know how to answer. After thinking for a while, she replied, “He fell from the roof terrace.”

Toru: “Was it an accident? Or could it be a murder?”

Ayano: “I saw the ghost who was usually at the altar room on the roof terrace. It was the female ghost who always wanted to possess people to kill others.”

Toru: “Oh, the female ghost that was there for years. So, she killed him?”

Ayano: “I don’t think so. Ghost can’t kill human. But she can possess someone who has the intention to commit murder. She can make the murderous intent feel stronger or create a chance for the person to commit the murder.”

If I didn’t saw her on the roof, I’d think it was an accident, Ayano thought quietly.

Toru: “Maybe the ghost possessed him and made him felt depressed then commit suicide.”

Ayano: “But Uncle Yamamura didn’t look like someone who would commit suicide just because he was being possessed by a ghost.”

Yamamura Tatsuo was a very greedy man. He chose to be the adopted son-in-law of the Yamamura family for money but remained living in the Rainy Mansion because he wanted the property too.

“You’re right,” Toru said and shrugged his shoulders.

Ayano looked at the west side stairs behind Toru and asked, “Uncle Toru, did anyone come down from those stairs just now? You’re wandering around this hallway as usual, right?”

Toru: “You make me look bad saying I’m wandering around. Well, I was walking back and forth through this hallway. I think I didn’t see anyone.”

Ayano: “Then, did you see anyone went up?”

Toru: “No. Oh- Wait a minute. I saw Tatsuo went up. He was holding a cigarette so I think he went up for a smoke.”

Ayano: “If he fell down while smoking, the cigarette should fell too.”

She recalled the scene and thought that she didn’t see any cigarette.

Toru grinned at her. “Uh-huh. Ayano, are you playing detective now?”

Ayano: “It’s not like that.”

Toru: “You have to be careful. If you poke your nose into the matters related to this mansion, you might disappear. Just like your mother.”

Matters related to this mansion… But I’m a resident of this mansion too, Ayano thought to herself. She thanked Toru and left the hallway.