When The Snow Falls

Daniel stood up and looked outside the window. The sun had set so it was dark outside, but the lights outside showed that there were a group of Police officers right outside the lodge.

"I think the Police have worked it out as well. We did give them the shoe after all and they should know everyone's alibis…" he said. "Or they've come for a search."

"They have his fingerprints as well," Felix pointed out. "They could have found them somewhere backstage."

"Should we go downstairs and have a look?" Meredith suggested with obvious nervousness.

Daniel's curiosity won out. There was still a chance that the Police hadn't actually come to arrest or question Ethan or even do a search. He should probably also explain his theory to the Police.

"How would you rank Ethan's guilty conscience?" Felix asked him quietly whilst they filed down the stairs.

The way Ethan had run onto the stage the evening before came to mind.

"I don't think he realised what he had done until after," Daniel said and then remembered how Ethan had been visibly not paying attention during the play. "I think he's had a troubled upbringing and didn't realise the consequences of his actions or think through what he was doing properly."

Felix nodded.

"I think you've analysed him right. He was normal when we questioned him though and he didn't shrink away. I think he does realise what he has done now- you said the hiding of the shoes was sloppy- he seemed to be calm at dinner."

Daniel agreed with his boyfriend's opinion.

"I think he might actually confess if asked by someone with authority," he answered. "We'll see what the Police are here for before we start telling them anything."

When they arrived in the hallway the Police were talking to the event organiser quietly. Yamamoto paused when he saw them and held up his hand.

"Did you come up with a theory?" he asked them.

Daniel nodded and the Police officer at the front gave him a searching look.

"Did you come to arrest anyone or carry out a search?" he asked in his best Japanese.

"I really shouldn't say it, but what is your theory?" the officer asked.

Daniel cleared his throat. This really was going to be a test of his Japanese. Felix gave him an encouraging poke in the side and Daniel took that to mean that Felix would help him out if he needed it.

"The murder was committed by one of the school students, Ethan. He went across to the theatre at six and went through the back door. His intent was to cheat his way to winning the event. He stayed there long enough for the play to progress to the end and to learn the solution. Instead of leaving, he broke the safety cover off the knife to derail the play after realising there was a chance he wouldn't win and returned here just in time to avoid meeting our group in the hallway and met his own group."

It was the most complicated thing he had ever said in Japanese and he was sweating by the end of it. Judging by the lack of nudges from Felix and the comprehending look on the officers' faces as well as Yamamoto, he had been full understandable.

"...That is certainly an accusation to make," the lead officer said a moment later. "It does tie everything together though. We had a suspect in mind and came to make a search. Thank you for your input."

The officer walked past him followed by the rest of the officers. Daniel understood that lack of a positive response. He was a third party and wasn't associated with the Police.

"I imagine they did suspect Ethan and came to compare shoes sizes," Felix said once they were out of sight. "You did well there with no mistakes."

Yamamato clapped his hands.

"You lived up to my expectations and you didn't let me down," he said sincerely. "Thank you for that. I was beginning to worry that we would be stuck here for a while."

"It would have been better if Ethan had simply cheated and hadn't touched the knife after losing his confidence," Felix pointed out. "Daniel would have got the answer right anyway. He didn't need to do it."

"I think Ethan, despite his bl.u.s.ter, has very low self-esteem and saw it as a valid way to beat Daniel," Amien replied. "We'll have to see if they arrest Ethan."

They settled in the living room and Daniel kept an eye on the doorway so he could see what was going on in the hallway.

"Are we sure it's Ethan?" Meredith asked worriedly. "Imagine if we went through all that and found it was someone else from the other school."

"He was the only one with an unsupported alibi," Oliver reminded her.

Daniel considered everything they knew. Ethan had probably been reading in his room when he had second thoughts about their bet, that had led to him sneaking out to the theatre to find out the solution to the mystery, then he had tampered knowingly with the knife and sneaked back into the lodge. Ethan hadn't paid any attention during the performance as he knew what was going to happen.

It all added up, there was just one thing he wasn't happy with.

It was missing the psychological 'push'.

Something strong must have made Ethan tamper with the knife knowing he was going to cause injury to a person. Whilst Daniel's idea was that Ethan had wanted to end the play at the first half to make his deductions with no rival, it wasn't feeling like a strong idea after more consideration. Surely Ethan had realised he might actually give Nakajima a lasting injury.

Then again he wasn't too intimate with Ethan's past and personality. He only knew what Oliver had told him and what he had observed.

Potentially there was something in Ethan's past that had made him afraid to lose bets. The things the Earl had said the real Daniel were traumatising enough.

He should leave it to the Police to investigate. His part was done.

"Is there something bothering you?" Felix asked quietly in his ear.

"I'm not happy with the motive," he admitted.

"It's not the strongest," Felix agreed. "We don't necessarily know the stimulus though. You've done your work though."

"That's true," he replied and tried to relax.

Just as he was about to take his gaze off the doorway, he heard footsteps in the hallway and the Police officers walked past with Ethan in tow. They locked eyes and Ethan stared at him without malice.

"I'm going to guess that he is under arrest now," Amien said. "With that, we can relax now."

Daniel didn't loosen up until he heard the door close. He had solved his third case in this life. It wouldn't have been possible without the other members of the Mystery Club.

"Well done Daniel," Oliver said and pulled him in for a hug. "I don't know how you do it, I'm just glad that you became a member of the club so I could witness all of this."

Daniel remembered how reluctant he had been to join the club and elected to not mention that. Judging by the knowing look on Felix's face, he was remembering the same thing.

"This trip would have been much more fun without the murder," he reminded Oliver. "Additionally, if I wasn't here, the bet wouldn't have been made and Nakajima would still be alive."

It was a sobering thought. His presence on the island had caused the murder. He realised Felix was looking at him in concern.

"Don't think that. Remember that Ethan could have challenged anyone and experienced second thoughts over it. In your absence it could have been me or someone like Amien."

Daniel found himself wondering yet again how he had managed to persuade Felix to like him. His boyfriend always had the right thing to say.

"Or me," Oliver added.

Amien snorted loudly.

"We'll leave the list at Felix and myself. He is correct, this would have potentially happened without you being here. Ethan has been taken away and will not have the opportunity to do the same thing again."

***

The next morning the Police arrived to inform them that they could all leave the island and the guilty party had been arrested. Judging by the fact that Ethan hadn't returned and the actors had come to join them for breakfast, Daniel knew that Ethan really had been arrested.

The lead investigator took him to the side and bowed. Daniel awkwardly bowed back.

"We were close to finding it was him based on the evidence, but it was your theory that cemented it. We did find his fingerprint on the knife and those were his shoes. Everything matched what you said. I would like to thank you for it and I'm sure everyone who was under suspicion will be thankful as well."

"There is no need to thank me, I am sure that he would have been found out soon," Daniel replied hastily.

He was always very uncomfortable in moments like this.

"He confessed very quickly after we asked him. Please don't mention that I told you all of this by the way, it's not very professional," the lead investigator requested.

They packed their suitcases as the boat was coming to take them back to the mainland. As they were waiting in the living room to be told that the boat had arrived Oliver nudged Daniel.

"Did you ever work out that those keys we found in our rooms were for?"

Daniel cast a glance at the event organiser who was talking with Felix and saw him smile. He hadn't put much thought into the key mystery as it had soon been overshadowed by the murder. Yamamoto's smile indicated that the keys were his doing.

The cuckoo clock came to mind and he began to get an idea of the intent behind it.

"Oliver, hand over all the keys," he requested.

Oliver took them out his pocket and Daniel took the smallest one. He approached the cuckoo clock and ran his finger along the ornate pane lwork. As he was expecting there was something that felt like a keyhole. He pushed the key in and turned it.

A door shot out of the clock bearing an arrow pointing to the left. Daniel smiled. He would have loved this part of the event.

"Where's it pointing to?" Harry asked.

Daniel turned around to see that he had the attention of the whole Mystery Club and the other Mystery Club were in the doorway.

He followed the arrow to the grandfather clock in the corner and matched it to one of the other keys. Daniel soon found the keyhole and turned the key. Another door shot out with another arrow pointing to the fireplace.

The fireplace didn't seem to have a keyhole as far as he could tell from the cursory search he did.

"Are you stuck?" Yamamoto called out.

Daniel took a step back and looked at the fireplace analytically. There had to be something he was missing. Above the fireplace was a mantlepiece with several figurines and above them was a large mirror.

The mirror caught his attention. There was no indication that the arrow referred to the fireplace, it could be the mirror. He could see the arrow from the clock in the reflection and its direction was reversed.

Daniel followed that direction instead and saw a low table with a small box on top. He picked it up and saw a keyhole immediately. He turned the key and nothing happened for a few seconds. A panel slid out and he frowned. Something had to go in there. He retrieved the other keys and placed them in there.

Then he heard a cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound from inside the box and the top opened.

Inside was a box of chocolates and a note congratulating him on teamwork.

Yamamoto clapped his hands very enthusiastically.

"Congratulations. It's something I added to see how well you all worked together."

Vincent spoke up.

"It was a test of teamwork. I found one key in my room and Ethan said to not mention it so he could solve it by himself."

"That's right," Yamamoto acknowledged. "The puzzle doesn't work with only one key, it needs all of them and to get them it requires a connection between people. I tried this before on a different school group and they all kept quiet about the keys and came down here separately and didn't get far."

Daniel looked around at his Mystery Club. He had come to appreciate them over his time in Japan. It was a shame that they would be parting soon forever.

"Please come here again in the future," Yamamoto requested. "I'll make sure the plot of the event is much harder to challenge you all."

Daniel exchanged glances with Felix.

"We'll come here again," he promised.