When we speak of murders, seldom do we think we will bear witness to one.

Battler tapped his foot, eyeing his watch every now and again.

“Are you almost done, Jessica?” he called, tapping the door. He could hear some stumbling beyond the door, but his niece didn’t surface.

“I’m leaving without you,” he tried. The door swung open almost immediately, and Jessica glared at him.

“I said to wait a minute!”

“Well, this’s been more than a minute,” Battler pointed out. Jessica shrugged and bared a wide grin.
“You know how it is. Ladies take a little more time to get ready.”

Battler gave up with a sigh, and half an hour later Jessica was ready to join him, dressed in what he guessed to be some sort of cosplay.

It had been due to Natsuhi’s generosity that they were able to board this train bound for Tokyo. A family holiday with the cousins and their attendants.

Jessica had brought Kanon. George had insisted on bringing Furude Erika. Maria had brought along Sakutarou, while Battler had not asked anyone to join him. In spite of that, Garashi had joined him, insisting that “as the eldest of the maids”, it would be “her responsibility to ensure the Ushiromiya family befell no ill”.

Battler suspected she just really wanted to come along, but could not bear asking him; she was a prideful woman, after all.

Jessica and Battler now headed for George’s room, which was beside Jessica’s own. They knocked the door and tried to open, but the door was locked.

“George?”

“I’ll be over in a minute. Just give me some time,” their cousin replied from beyond the door. The door remained locked.

“Just what is he doing?” Jessica mumbled. “Guys aren’t supposed to take ages.”

“Well, you know…” Battler grinned. “Sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

“Ooooooh. He’s that age already?” Jessica grinned as well, then laughed. “All right, we’ll leave him to his ‘work’.” She banged the door. “Don’t take too long, George!”

They walked on to meet Garashi by the end of the car, already joined by Sakutarou, Maria and Kanon. Erika was nowhere to be seen, but if Battler knew her any, she was probably already snooping around the dining car.

“Uuuu… where’s George?” Maria asked.

Battler pointed. “Still in his room.”

The group decided not to wait altogether, as they were growing hungry. What’s more, Kanon promised he’d wait for George and head to the dining car together.

Like that, the group arrived in the dining car where, as Battler had guessed, Erika was already waiting for them. “You’re late, rival!” she called, and Battler thought she looked exceedingly happy.

The group made light talk as a waiter presented them lunch, and they ate without remorse. It didn’t take long, however, before Kanon burst into the car, a worried expression on his face.

“… There’s something wrong with master George,” he said timidly. The others rose as one, quickly returning to the Ushiromiya family car.

True enough, the door was still locked. Yet no matter how they banged, George would not respond nor open the door.

“I’d tried to call him, but there’s no response. I grew worried,” Kanon explained.

Garashi, thankfully, had a master key to the cabin, handily opening it. Only to find that the chain had also been set.

Battler kicked the door hard, then slammed against it, repeating until the chain broke. As the group entered the cabin, they found that George had, in fact, been murdered.

He sat slumped on the couch, eyes staring ahead, a knife planted firmly in his chest. He held a Knight in his hands, fitting for the chess game that lay on the table, unfinished.

The opened window blew a slight breeze into the room...

At this point in time, George's corpse has been discovered. It is, without question, the corpse of a dead person. It is also unquestionably George. With the chain set and the door locked, it is impossible to enter or leave the room through the door. There are no hidden passage ways, and it is impossible for a person to enter the room through the window.

Naturally, George was killed by a person, and not a trap, animal or poison. When George was killed, his murderer was in the same room!

Ok ! Here I go ! I just need to find the how and whodunnit right ? Seems simple enough.

I already have some theories but I lack information :

Can the chain only be set from the inside ?

Can the door be locked from the inside or the outside without any key ?

Is Garashi's key the only existing key that can open George's cabin ?

>>7464
The easy questions are most easily asked.

There exist but two keys which can open George's cabin: the cabin key and the master key. Garashi possessed one key and George possessed the other!

It is impossible to lock the door from outside the room without a key; it is possible to lock the door from the inside without a key.

It is impossible to set the chain from outside the room.

>>7465
Easy but crucial questions nonetheless...
I'll throw my first theory here :

The culprit, whoever it may be, entered George's cabin, or George let him/her in, probably before Jessica and Battler checked George'status,
They played a chess game and for some reason the culprit told to George not to reveal his/her presence.
Then, after Battler and Jessica's check, the culprit killed George with a knife, set the chain and escaped by the window
the door was already closed !


The culprit could be anyone who isn't Battler or Jessica : Be it Kanon, Erika, Garashi or even Maria !

So, what do you think of that ? Ihihi...

>>7466
How about a fundamental flaw?

It is impossible to leave the room through the window!

Eh ? You should have said it before...

Hmm so it is impossible to leave the room through the door.

and it is impossible to leave the room through the window!

And since I don't really think that the murderer still is inside the room...

These 2 reds can't possibly mean that Nobody could have left through the window or the closed door during up to the discovery of George's corpse ?

OK... If it does not, then the whole howdunnit is about the setting of the chain, right ?

If so, A string or some object of the sort was used to set the chain from the outside of the room, the string was linked to the chain and the outside of the room through the open window.

Not so confident with this one I must say.

>>7468
Of course, a Witch could teleport through the walls~

However, you are right that the murderer left the room after killing George.

Naturally, when the door is open and unlocked, it is entirely possible to leave the room through the door!

Are you blind? I clearly said that it is impossible to set the chain from outside the room! That means that there is no way that someone who was not fully inside the room would be able to set the chain!

Derp, my mystake.

Well, it looks like I need some more information.

Was it really George who answered to Jessica and Battler's call ? Was George alive at the time of Battler and Jessica's call ?

Are the door and the window the only means of entry and exit to George's cabin ?

Is the culprit acting solo ? Which is to say no accomplices, be it willingly, unwillingly or even unknowingly ?

Is the culprit still alive ? Apply to accomplices if they exist.

Are the cousins and their attendants the only ones related to the murder ?

My, my, George certainly is stupid to have brought Erika instead of Shannon, it's as if
he wanted a murder to happen and brought a detective... Ihihi !

>>7470
Blue must deny the Witch, my opponent! Questions do not deny the Witch, and so I refuse to answer all of them. I will give you these, however:

Not once during the story did Battler mistake the voice of George! Moreover, dead people cannot speak! And Battler definitely heard George speak, did he not? Well, a Witch could mimick his voice flawlessly with magic, or make the dead speak...

The culprit is named in the story. The culprit is definitely alive. There is but one culprit, without any accomplices, unwitting or no!

Well, you gave me the ones I needed. Sorry for my misuse of the blue, but all of these were linked to theories I was just to lazy to type out entirely.
But I'll please you I think, with these little nifty theories I made :

Nowhere in the red is it stated that if only the chain is set, it is impossible to get through the door, the only specification is about the door locked and the chain set, thus, the culprit got inside of the cabin, killed George, stole his keys, set the chain, got out of the room and then locked the door.

Obviously, I need to know the location of thee at the moment of the discovery so that everything will match up, but I already have a theory :
If George's key is in his pocket at the moment of the discovery, the culprit tied a string in George's pocket, that got through the window and on which he placed the key, so that he could replace the key from outside of the room.

There also the much simpler solution that Garashi is the culprit and she used her own key or Garashi's key has been stolen by the culprit and then replaced back in her pocket after its use.

Another theory : The chain lock has been tampered with, for exemple the culprit set it from inside, cut it, got out of the room and then glued it back together from outside.

About George's voice : A recording device could have been used to record George's voice and then play it back at a given time, or on remote control.

Oh and one last silly theory : A wall is missing. A wall was broken. The door was removed and then replaced. The window was removed and replaced. The ceiling was removed and replaced. Any part of the room which could have allowed the culprit to get in the room was removed and replaced.

In the end, I have a question : does this gameboard follow any set of rules ? Specifically Knox's 8th.

>>7496
Of course, your first blue is possible, for a thin enough person. However, Kanon was watching the hallway the entire time Battler was eating! He did not see anyone leave or exit the cabin, and if someone had left the cabin through the door, they would definitely be seen!

Exactly how would the culprit lock the door from the outside if the key is on the inside, even with the method you described?

After George's death, the key in Garashi's possession was never used to lock the door! What does the voice matter? Are you suggesting George was already dead? Even then it doesn't explain the locked room!

Naturally, on a moving train, it is impossible to remove any part of the room's walls, doors, windows, floor and roof without anyone noticing! And no one noticed any such thing!

>>7497
Funny, these answers were pretty unexpected.
It's funny how you didn't deny each of my theories too. The last one was just for fun ~

Now, about your first red, I've got three theories :

Kanon is the culprit. Thus the murder can occur without any contradiction to the red Herp derp.

The murder occurred before Battler and Jessica's check : the culprit used one of the methods I described to create
the closed room after killing George and then left a recording device with George's voice on it, which he triggered at the time of
Battler and Jessica's check

The murder took place in another room that in George's cabin : after creating the closed room and set the recording device, the culprit killed George in, for exemple, Jessica's room, the corpse was then carried into George's cabin through the window.
I checked and it doesn't contradict this statement : When George was killed, his murderer was in the same room !

I see no problem with the method I described, since the culprit locked the door from outside of the room with the key, and then used the string-thingy to get the key back in the cabin.
Still, you didn't say anything about the possibility that the chain lock was cut and then glued back.

Nothing about the location of the keys at the moment of the discovery nor about the rules this gameboard follows.

I also need to know who, among all the persons in the story, is thin enough to pass through the chain locked door, or will you brush it off as well ? Ihihi !

>>7499
You'll have to forgive my brief lack of response, I was just so baffled by the sheer blue.

Kanon is not the killer! Kanon not once took any actions that would result in George's death! Out of all people in the gameboard, I can assert that Kanon is innocent!

... as for the rest, I concede defeat, as the culprit did indeed tamper with the chain, and the murder did indeed occur prior to the start of this tale. It seems I should weave a more intricate plot to truly have a chance, here.

Heh ? I was right ?... Great !
Well it was a bit short but it was fun nonetheless, I do not regret having played this game with you, I now have enough data to make a game of my own, and I'll look forward to playing with you again of course, but it better be harder this time ! Ihihi~

So what is the exact truth ? I'm pretty curious about this I must say.
So the recording device and what not really was used ? The stringy-thing too ?
Oh and the culprit is Erika right ?
It was really fun making these theories too.

>>7567
Naturally, that daughter of a whore Erika killed George, then with her lewd lubricated swimsuit squeezed through the door opening! The door was locked using Garashi's key, and George was murdered before the story.

>>7568
... What ?

After George's death, the key in Garashi's possession was never used to lock the door!

>>7569
Did I ever say Garashi's key was the key she possessed? As an additional trick I had prepared, Garashi and George's keys were swapped, so George had Garashi's master key and Garashi had George's cabin key.

>>7570 Oh ! Excellent !

I wouldn't have found it quickly I think. You may have given up a little easily there ~