It was an average day on Rokkenjima. The family conference was in a few days so preparations were being made. Everyone was running around cleaning, organizing and the like. It didn’t seem like a day that something tragic would occur.

“Wow Gohda. You really are the happiest when cooking aren’t yeah?” Jessica had been working for most of the evening so naturally she started to slack off and decided to go and check how dinner was coming along.

“Of course Jessica-sama! “ Gohda said while cutting a piece of venison “Why else would I have become a chef?” The kitchen was covered in a varying amount and types of food, most of them exotic. “I’m done over here Gohda-san” Kumasawa walked over towards the two. “To be honest, I have a feeling we may need to make more,” she said. Gohda looked up, his face almost one of shock. “There is no way! I got roughly the same amount of food as last year!” Kumasawa chuckled a bit before saying, “Well with Battler coming this year I expect this to be all finished in no time.” The Jessica and Kumasawa informed Gohda of how competitive Battler is and how he once tried to eat a whole pig. The two laughed with nostalgia.

Genji entered soon after. “Gohda, how is the preparations coming along? “ Gohda broke yet another smile, “Great Genji! I just need to throw out the trimmings and then I can start cooking” He said proudly. “Very good, however I can take the garbage out, you continue cooking” Genji said monotonically. He then turned to Jessica. “Jessica-sama, your mother would like to see you, she is currently in the garden. “ Jessica sighed; she knew it had to be about skipping the preparations. “Well might as well receive my judgment” Jessica said. With that last remake she left the kitchen.

When Jessica made it to the garden after taking one or two detours she noticed Natsuhi standing near the roses taking to Kanon. “Ah Jessica,” Natsuhi saw her out of the corner of her eye. “I’m not feeling to well, could you tell Kanon how he should be properly cutting the roses?” she said with enmity. Without waiting for a response Natsuhi walked away back to the mansion. Jessica tried to form a sentence, “Kanon, don’t take wha-“however Kanon cut her short “It’s alright milady” Kanon stood up. “I know now I’m not furniture, you have shown me this.” He picked up the trimmers and started working again. “I’m fine milady, go get ready to pick up Battler-sama, he is coming a day early after all”. Jessica didn’t know what to say, and simply did what she was told.

“So it’s this Kanon guy you are worried about?” Battler had arrived on the island and now him and Jessica were now walking up the winding path. For once Jessica felt like talking about her troubles to someone other than Shannon. “Well you should try to talk to him, maybe it will turn out differently than you think?” Jessica wasn’t convinced, so the topic was quickly changed to what Battler had been doing over the past few years.

As they walked into the mansion the two saw another pair coming down the stairs: Krauss and Doctor Nanjo. “My, is that Battler-kun?” Krauss and Nanjo walked over and they started doing the custom ‘I haven’t seen you in 6 years’ chat. Battler changed the subject “So how is gramps doing?” Krauss and Nanjo’s expressions changed quite a bit. Nanjo starts, “Well, you see-“but it is cut short by Krauss who decides to answers the question. “He is doing fine, although he is always keeping to himself up in his study. “ Krauss changes the subject “Well anyway, Dinner won’t be ready for a while so let’s go to the parlor.” Jessica quickly said that she would go soon after talking to her mom. Battler gave a quick thumbs up from behind the adults and then the three left Jessica in the main entrance.

Before going to her mom’s room Jessica decided she should talk to Shannon first. It was in the hope that she would be able to help more than Battler. As she entered the servant room she instantly saw Shannon. However Jessica noticed she was on the phone so she stayed quite. “So Puer correct? Very well.” Once she put down the phone she turned and greeted Jessica. And so the girly talk started. Oh my how it started. The amount of girly talk was so strong it was able to fit into such a small time frame that by the time Shannon had finished making tea Jessica was all out of breath and still had gotten her point across. It was then that Jessica noticed that Shannon was having trouble holding the kettle. “Shannon, are your hands alright?” Jessica asked timidly. “Oh yes, I’m just tired from all the preparations,” she says with a smile. “I had to wash almost all the clothing in the mansion” Shannon finished poring the water and looked back at Jessica. “I agree with Battler, try talking to her first. In fact we can do it right now” she said while holding up a tray with a cup of tea on it. “Your mother asked for this a few minutes ago, we can go together”. Jessica was unsure about this, but Shannon always had a way to convince her into doing things.

The pair slowly made their way to Natsuhi’s room. Shannon knocked on the door and they heard the sound of something moving out of bed. It got closer and the sounds of a chain and the main lock were heard. The door opened and Natsuhi is standing there in her nightgown, holding her head slightly. “Umm m-mom” Jessica starts. However Natsuhi quickly gives a response “I’m sorry Jessica I can’t talk right now, maybe during dinner,” and with that she takes the tea from Shannon and closes the door abruptly. The sound of the locks being set is heard once again. Jessica is frozen in place, shocked by the failure. Shannon leads her back and they both head to the parlor.

Dinner had started and Battler was the life of the party, everyone had a grin on their face and or was laughing. Everyone except for Jessica. Jessica was about to leave but suddenly then the phone rang which caught her attention. Over the laughter Krauss was able to ask Genji to pick up the phone. Genji did so and listened. He turned to the table as told the others to please be quite. It looked like something really quite was being said, and he had to listen hard to hear. Once everyone had quieted down he gave the phone another listen. His eyes open wide and he quickly put down the phone. He quickly looked around the room. Jessica also did the same, like usual Kinzo was nowhere to be found, however Natsuhi was also not at the dinner table! He turned to Krauss, “It’s Natsuhi-sama she is calling frantically for Nanjo.” Krauss could tell from the change in Genji’s usual clam demeanor that this was serious. They quickly jumped from the table to ran to the room. Jessica followed right behind them. Nanjo, Genji Krauss and Jessica make it to the door and Krauss instantly attempted to open it. However it was locked. “Genji! Quickly open the door!” Krauss yells. Genji does so and the door starts to open, however immediately the resistance of a chain lock is apparent. “Natsuhi! Natsuhi!” No response. The three men then start to break the door down, on the third attempt it gives way and room is revealed.

Inside the room Natsuhi is face down on the ground with her hand stretched out a few feet away from the telephone inside the room. Nanjo runs up and turns her around, while checking her pulse. He slowly stands up and announces that she is dead. Before Jessica is taken over by emotion she notices that on the table there is the key to the room and that the windows are all locked.

Knox’s 1st: It is forbidden for the culprit to be anyone not mentioned in the early part of the story

Knox’s 2nd: It is forbidden for supernatural agencies to be employed as a detective technique

Knox’s 3rd: It is forbidden for hidden passages to exist

Knox’s 4th: It is forbidden for unknown drugs or hard to understand scientific devices to be used

Knox’s 5th: (Omitted)

Knox’s 6th: It is forbidden for accident or intuition to be employed as a detective technique.

Knox’s 7th: It is forbidden for the detective to be the culprit

Knox’s 8th: It is forbidden for the case to be resolved without clues that are not presented

Knox’s 9th: It is permitted for observers to let their own conclusions or interpretations be heard

Knox’s 10th: it is forbidden for a character to disguise themselves as another without any clues

Again, anyone/everyone can attempt to solve this. Come try your first move.

I think I'll try this later if someone doesn't beat me to the punch.

Who was in the dinning room while everyone was eating? Did somebody left and return later?
Also: Go and cry a bit. After that inspect Natsuhi body for wounds or similar. Also bonus points if you make her scream and say she will kill the culprit.

>>5349
Nanjo concludes that Natsuhi died from strangulation.
Jessica checks the body and sees that there are indeed marks around her neck.
There are no other wounds on the body.

Jessica rages and swears to the heavens that she will find the culprit who killed her mother and make them pay!

>>5349
When Dinner started Nanjo, Battler, Jessica, Shannon, Genji, Krauss, Gohda and Kumasawa were in the room.
The only person who left from the start of dinner to when the phone rang was Shannon who never came back. Shortly after she left Kanon entered the dining room and stayed until the phone rang.

Natsuhi did not die of strangulation, she would not be able to make a phone call like that!
These marks were caused before of death! Maybe even before than Jessica went to Natsuhi room! The tea than Shannon give to Natsuhi is what did kill her, heck maybe she has been slowly poisoning her from a time ago, explaning her feeling down.

>>5352
The marks on Natsuhi's neck were made during dinner that very same day.

The tea is not what killed her!

>>5353
Let me add on.
The marks on her neck were not made before her death.

>>5353
>>5354
I see, that's how you plan to answer huh? Take this!
Yeah, it was not the tea what killed Natsuhi, it was what was mixed with the Tea! Heck maybe even the spoon or the cup she used to drink the tea!
About the marks ... I will ask you to elaborate that red. If Natsuhi did really die from being strangulated these marks would appear while she was alive, ergo conflicting with your red. So what, are you saying that These marks were done post mortem?

>>5355
Heh, you think it'd be that easy eh?
Nothing in the tea killed Natsuhi. Neither did something on the cup or spoon.

The marks on Natsuhi's neck were created while she was dying.

Right a simple question.
Are Kanon and Shannon different persons?

>>5358
Nope.
Shannon and Kanon are the same person.

Investigate Natsuhi hands and nails, do they look damaged or scratched? Also check the windows, how their lock work?

>>5360
Natsuhi's nails and hands are checked; they seem perfectly fine.

The windows can only be locked when they are fully closed.
Additionally they only lock from the inside of the room.

The marks on Natsuhi neck were caused by her own hands, she was in pain trying to regurgitate! Also Natsuhi was feeling down because of alcohol poisoning! The tea was to try to calm her stomach a bit!

>>5362
Natsuhi was murdered.
The marks on her neck were not caused by herself.
Natsuhi did not have alcohol poisoning.

However you are correct in saying that the tea was intended to relax her.

Kinzo is Alive.

>>5364
Kinzo is alive, but he is not the culprit

Give the room a good inspection! Under the bed, inside of the closet, behind stuff. There's any other thing off with the room?

>>5366
Jessica looks around the room more thoroughly:
The door is broken down behind her.
The two windows are locked.
Nothing is found under the bed.
The blankets on the bed seem to indicate that Natsuhi was sleeping at some point.
On top of the bedside table, the key to the room is there.
Natsuhi's corpse is in the middle of the room, half clothed and near the phone.
The phone is on it's cradle.
There is nothing out of the norm in the closet.
Jessica moves the furniture, nothing is found behind or under them.
Nanjo, Jessica, Krauss, Genji, and the dead body of Natsuhi are the only people in the room.

... There's anything in the room that suggest that Natsuhi could have been with someone else a while ago?

>>5368
If there was then they made sure not to leave any evidence of it.

Right, you can go to sleep now. But tomorrow it's another day.

you don't have to wait for me if you have a blue. I'll just get to it when I have the time.

Agh ... sorry Ozaki, kinda busy today. Why someone else not try this as well. Didn't you said you were bored Lion?

Oh, I just realized this wasn't obvious.
If you want you can also interrogate with the green.

>>5381
Well, I'll take a crack at it.

When the door was broken down, was it the chain or the hinges that gave way?

(Also, how does one produce green text on this board?)

>>5392
It was the chain that and one of the hinges that broken off.

Green text is pretty much the same as red and blue, just instead of "bl" and then "/bl" in the square brackets you'd put "green" and then "/green".

>>5393
Carefully inspect the remaining hinge for signs of tampering.

Your search results in nothing. Jessica concludes that the hinges were never tampered with.

Of course this is excluding when the door was broken down by Nanjo, Krauss, and Genji.

>>5395
Look for the teacup that Natsuhi took from Shannon earlier. If it isn't in the room, ask the servants whether any of them retrieved it.

This looks pretty hard on closer inspection. I guess I'm just stating the obvious here but if the room is closed strangulation is unlikely. It would have to be some remote method.

With just the chain I think this room becomes really hard. Maybe the room can be entered or exited by at least someone even when the chain is set? If the chain is set from the outside then it doesn't matter. Can you repeat that the chain was set from the inside?

>>5396
The empty tea cup is on the bedside table. By just looking at it nothing appears odd.

>>5397
Nobody can enter or exit the room when the two windows and the door are locked.

The chain can only be set from the inside

>>5398

Alright. But I didn't mean when the door is locked but when it's open and unlocked and the chain is set. Can anyone enter/exit through the door then?

>>5399
Ah, I see. The answer is no.
For the purposes of this game When the chain is set it is impossible to enter/exit the room through the door.

>>5401

Hmm. But if they left through the window, Natsuhi would need to close it for them.

Sure is hard for the death to be strangulation. Can you repeat that Natsuhi died before they broke in? Not that I doubt that.....

>>5402
Sure.
When the group broke down the door Natsuhi was already dead.

Nanjo, you know my mother was feeling ill earlier right? Do you know what was wrong with her?

Also may I request an approximate time-line for Jessica's actions today.

Hm, I think I'm getting a vague idea.

Demand to know what Krauss and Nanjo were hiding about Kinzo earlier, since Kinzo is the only one on the island without an alibi.

>>5406
Nanjo tells you that because of high amounts of stress Natsuhi has been getting headaches. He adds that since she hasn't been able to talk to Kinzo lately, she doesn't have an outlet for the stress, or at least something to calm her down efficiently enough.

As for Jessica's movements I'll just give you a simple version.
-Kitchen scene : Morning (8am-9am)
-Garden scene : Morning (9am-10am)
-Battler Arrives : Afternoon (12am-1pm)
-Nanjo/Krauss chat : Afternoon (1pm-2pm)
-Shannon/Natsuhi chat: Afternoon (2pm-3pm)
-Jessica waited in the parlor until Dinner.
--Dinner started at 6pm and the phone call happened at around 7:30pm.
They got to the room in about 5 minutes and then you know the rest.

>>5419
Nanjo confesses that Kinzo has started to lose his mind. The only people he will allow inside the study are himself and Genji.

>>5434
Oh, and Jessica can interrogate the people who were in the dining room when the phone rang, not just the ones who went to Natsuhi's room.

Genji, what exactly did my Mom say when she called you? How did she sound? Did you hear anything else besides her voice?

>>5436
Genji says all he heard was a female choking, and then the sound of something hitting the ground. He says since Natsuhi was the only female not in the room at the time he deduced it was her.

>>5437
The culprit is Shkanon. However, they had an accomplice. Kinzo. Whether or not he was an intentional accomplice is irrelevant, as he is the one who constructed this closed room!

Shkanon left at some point during dinner! That's when they went to murder Natsuhi! However, at the time she was busy in her room...with Kinzo! They were having some "fun", roleplaying and such to their hearts' content! The old man had lost his mind long ago, and forced Natsuhi to undergo various acts of BDSM, hence the phone call for help. It was all an act!

At some point during this silly play, Shkanon showed up with intent to murder! She easily killed the half-dressed Natsuhi, then escaped before Kinzo could do anything about it. Perhaps he was distracted for a certain amount of time, Devil's Proof! But once he noticed Natsuhi was dead, he set the chain to the room and hid under the bed or some other place! Once the room was broken into, he escaped while no one was looking!

>>5438
Interesting (and slightly disturbing) theory.
However, The second before the door was broken down, the only person who was in the room was Natsuhi, who was dead.

Do you think your theory can still work despite this Kinjo?

>>5439
Deny it. Kinzo set the chain. And by Kinzo, I mean Natsuhi, as they are one and the same!

Kinzo and Natsuhi are seperate people.

However I cannot deny that Natsuhi set the chain ,you are correct.
Natsuhi was the last person to set the chain.

I have a different idea.

The culprit murdered Natsuhi while she was inside the room with the chain set. S/he knocked on the door, and strangled Natsuhi when she answered. The culprit then locked the door. Genji is an accomplice and faked the phone call.

>>5442
Very interesting, very interesting indeed... however
Natsuhi's body was found in the middle of the room, a little bit from the bed. If the culprit killed her like that then how could the body get to where it is now?

Additionally, how exactly could Genji fake the phone call?
For this game; A phone can only ring if another phone calls it.

Kinzo made the phone call.

During the struggle, Natsuhi ran away from the door, hoping the culprit would drop his/her weapon. However, the culprit's cord/rope/etc. was long enough that he/she could continue strangling Natsuhi. She eventually died. The culprit was able to retrieve his weapon by simply pulling one side of it.

Genji recieved a call from someone other than Natsuhi. However he was ordered by someone to report that Natsuhi was struggling in order to conceal the time of death. This call can be from anyone, Kinzo, Eva, hell even Erika.

>>5443

Maybe he didn't fake it?

What if the culprit recorded Natsuhi's voice. Then called with it. Or an accomplice or culprit called from another phone. Or it was a normal phone call but Genji pretended it was from Natsuhi? The real caller might have just been saying normal stuff.

Maybe Natsuhi was killed at the window and closed it to get the culprit out then died. Or stumbled away from the door? Maybe the phone cord strangled her. Still it's hard for her to walk around while dying.....

>>5444
>>5445
>>5446
Correct
Kinzo made the call. Genji pretended it was from Natsuhi.
After all, the phone was on it's cradle when they broke into the room. If Natsuhi really had made the call then it should have been lying on the ground.

However we are not done yet~

The culprit did not killed Natsuhi through the gap that is made when the door is open but only the chain is locking it.

Natsuhi never touched the windows.
The phone cord was not used to kill Natsuhi.

Hopefully Shannon isn't MIA

Have Jessica recall everything about her mother's appearance when she saw her last, if nothing interesting shows up, track down Shannon and ask her to recall Natsuhi's appearance (anything out of the ordinary)

>>5448
When Jessica last saw Natsuhi it was through the crack in the door. Her hair was slightly ruffled and was most likely trying to sleep. She was wearing her nightgown which covered most of her body. Her eyes had bags under them.

Other then that everything seemed normal about her.

>>5447
Ah, thought so. Then this closed room was constructed by coincidence.

During dinner, Natsuhi went to Kinzo's study to talk to him, but he fell into a fit of madness and ended up almost strangling her before she escaped. She fled to her room and locked and chained the door. However, she had been poisoned by Genji earlier in the day, and she expired inside the closed room before she understood what was wrong. Meanwhile, Kinzo regained his senses and tried to call someone in the dining room to check on Natsuhi. Genji realized that Natsuhi wasn't present, concluded that the poison had taken effect, and took advantage of the situation to create an alibi for himself. Just as he planned, Nanjo put the strangulation marks together with the fact that Natsuhi had asphyxiated and mistakenly concluded that strangulation was the cause of death.

Recall the nature of the nightgown, was the neck visible, also, what does "half clothed" mean when referring to the state of Natsuhi's corpse?

>>5450
Natsuhi was never poisoned.
Kinzo never touched Natsuhi for this game.

>>5451
Yes the nightgown covered her neck.
"half clothed" would be that the top half of her clothing was ripped. Nanjo ripped the clothing once he entered the room as standard CPR procedures.

Can you go further in depth with the "marks on the neck"? Are they bruises, and if so, what shape/how thick, etc?

>>5453
Sure.
The marks on Natsuhi's neck don't look too deep. They look almost in the shape of a band. Nanjo says that it was probably just enough to cut of the air supply.

>>5454
to add on the the description of the marks it would be like a thick large rubber band

Shannon has opportunity to commit murder! She "washed all of the clothes in the house," so she has obviously been into Natsuhi's room once or twice. She could easily have set a trap in the room!

>>5456
Shannon never placed a trap inside Natsuhi's room.

That red's riddled with holes!
Shannon was able to get Natsuhi to open the door so she could commit murder, using the guise of bringing her clean laundry!

>>5458
Shannon already delivered the laundry a few minutes before Jessica walked in on her while she was talking on the phone.

>>5459
Then there is no need for Natsuhi's call to Shannon to request tea! She could have asked Shannon a few minutes ago for the tea, ergo, Shannon was not on the phone with Natsuhi when Jessica walked into the room

>>5460
>Then there is no need for Natsuhi's call to Shannon to request tea!
Exactly, because she didn't.

You are correct in that logic.
>Shannon was not on the phone with Natsuhi when Jessica walked into the room
She was on the phone with someone.I'll save you the trouble of interrogating.
Shannon was on the phone with Genji.

>>5457
This red doesn't deny a trap killing Natsuhi.

>>5462
Oh?
Knox’s 8th: It is forbidden for the case to be resolved without clues that are not presented .
Is there something you have in mind?

>>5463
Constrictor snake, I think that falls well within the realms of "exotic foods." A truly good chef would kill the food himself to ensure the freshest meat. If not, devil's proof.

>>5464
I see. You are almost there, however not just yet.
Nothing alive was used to kill Natsuhi.

Honestly this may require some extra knowledge to solve(ie violate Knox), but you're close enough so lets see if you can get it.

>>5465
Natsuhi was strangled by the turtle-neck nightgown. If it was somehow made out of pure cotton (Shannon could have sabotaged it this way), then if it came in contact with any liquids it would shrink. Doing something to the tea such as making it taste bad, etc could cause Natsuhi to spill the tea accidentally, thereby causing it to hit the nightgown's neck, shrinking it and choking her!

>>5466
The nightgown itself did not shrink.

>>5467
Her scarf, her necklace, her tie, HER NECKWEAR

>>5468
None of those were used to killed Natsuhi

Genji is the culprit. He may or may not have been aided by Shannon. The method of murder is a trap involving the fur of the deer that Gohda was mentioned to have earlier been cooking. A thin strip of it could be sabotaged into the neck portion of Natsuhi's nightgown which would constrict and cause her to be suffocated.

>>5472
It's close enough. Like it said, the last part required knowledge not normally known and couldn't really be deduced. If the police would have come they would have figured it out pretty quickly. Or if you specifically checked the area of interest.

How much do you know about raw hide? Basically you soak the hide and mix it with lime and after a while it becomes real soft and was used to make drums and rattles by Natives. When it drys it slowly shrinks. Genji took the trimmings of hide from Gohda and soaked it with lime. He then put a strip of it inside the collar of Natsuhi's nightgown and threaded the ends together. Later on in the day Natsuhi called Genji to request some tea, Genji made sure to spike the Puer tea with muscle relaxants so he only had to call Shannon and she would deliver it unaware of the crime. Natsuhi drank it and when to sleep while wearing the trapped clothing: thus left to slowly suffocate her to death. Kinzo was an accomplice, he was basically reduced to a child with his mental problems so he did what Genji said, thus the call during dinner.

This is the answer.

It defiantly wasn't simple, and the last part wasn't so easy either. I had fun though. Good game to all the players.

Oh my, good one Rudolf.

Nicely done, Ozaki.

>>5473

That is a nice trick. You got me. Good job Rudolf!