69novels Chapter 186 The most outrageous monster mystery, the purest and most classic solution.
Chapter 186 The most outrageous monster mystery, the purest and most classic solution.
Chapter 186 The most outrageous monster mystery, the purest and most classic solution.
After answering the first case, Mr. Y smiled and continued to ask me a question: "What if the murderer in the first case was Banno Yutaka?"
"So, in the second case, the murder of Banno Yutaka, who is the killer?"
I looked at Mr. Y and immediately said, "Let's use the simplest method of elimination."
"Kaneo Yoichi is already dead, and Banno Yutaka is the victim in the second case, so the only possible culprit is Shitani Motoharu, right?"
Did he also notice the diamond's presence?
Mr. Y nodded in agreement upon hearing my reasoning: "Perhaps we didn't notice it at first, but back in Kawamoto City, the TV presenter compared the stars in the night sky to 'jewels.'"
"Motoharu Shitani probably heard that, which is why he made the connection that there might be diamonds hidden in the meteorite."
Hearing Mr. Y's words, I continued to ask in confusion, "What about Ban Ye's stomach pain? If the monster wasn't hiding in his stomach, what was causing his stomach pain?"
Mr. Y readily provided the answer: "Fanno Yutaka is just an ordinary person. He must have had a great psychological burden after committing murder."
"And he doesn't have an alibi."
"He must have been worried about his crimes being exposed, so under immense pressure and the shock of the murder, Yutaka Banno developed a severe stomach ulcer."
"When the second incident occurred, Motoharu Shitani visited Yutaka Banno."
"At that time, Yutaka Banno had just finished painting an oil painting and had dinner with Motoharu Shitani."
"He ordered a curry rice and a fried noodle dish, but that doesn't mean he ate them all by himself."
"Especially since—Banno Yutaka was suffering from severe stomach ulcers at that time."
"A patient with severe stomach ulcers cannot possibly have such a good appetite."
Mr. Y paused for a moment before continuing his explanation: "After eating the fried noodles, Banno Yutaka's stomach ulcer worsened, causing severe abdominal pain, and he vomited up everything he had eaten."
"In the end, it even knocked over the table and fell to the ground."
"Shimotani Motoharu, who was lusting after the diamonds, was seized by murderous intent upon seeing this scene. He grabbed a bottle of liquor and smashed it hard against Banno Yutaka's head!"
Upon hearing Mr. Y's words, I exclaimed in surprise, "So, the blood on the bottle didn't come from Banno Yutaka's abdomen!"
"It's because it was used as a murder weapon and became tainted!"
Mr. Y agreed with my reasoning: "Motoharu Shitani forcefully swung the bottle and smashed it on Yutaka Banno's head, but Banno didn't die immediately. He wrote an 'X' on the carpet and then swallowed the diamond."
"Because the diamond was eight centimeters in size, it was the diamond that scraped Banno Yutaka's throat, leaving it covered in wounds."
Upon hearing Mr. Y's words, a helpless expression once again appeared on my face: "It seems the police have been completely misled by that guy Ota."
"I firmly believe that Monster X committed the crime. Considering that Banno Yutaka's stomach did indeed burst open later, I believe that those wounds are from Monster X entering Banno Yutaka's stomach."
"But—Mr. Y, what exactly does that 'X' mean?"
"And what exactly caused Banno Yutaka's stomach to burst open?"
Faced with such a thorny question, Mr. Y easily provided the answer: "The police have been speculating about what 'X' means, but actually, the character 'X' has no meaning whatsoever."
"Because in real cases, death messages are very far-fetched."
"Fanno Yutaka was hit on the head with a bottle of liquor and was almost dead. How could he possibly have time to think?"
The statement that "what X said" is an unfinished "part" is completely unfounded speculation.
"The police were completely misled by your friend Ota's thinking, which led them to firmly believe that there must be an unknown monster."
"But actually, the character 'X' isn't important; what's important is the position where the 'X' is engraved!"
"That carpet, he was directly beneath Banno Yutaka."
"Fanno Yutaka lay on the carpet, and he carved an X on it" was simply to indicate the meaning of "below".
Mr. Y paused for a moment before continuing, "Because Banno Yutaka swallowed the diamond before he died, and because he frequently ordered takeout, all the knives in his house were rusted and unusable."
"Thus, Motoharu Shitani discovered a way to open up Toyohana's stomach and get the diamonds without using a knife."
Hearing Mr. Y's words, a curious expression appeared on my face: "What is it?"
Mr. Y answered cheerfully, "It's an oxygen cylinder!"
"Because Yutaka Banno is a big fan of diving, he frequently uses an oxygen tank when diving!"
"Shimotani Motoharu made good use of that."
"Shitani Motoharu tightened Banno Yutaka's crocodile skin belt to prevent the air in his stomach from flowing elsewhere."
"Then attach the oxygen cylinder to the mask and press it against Banno Yutaka's face, plug his ears, and force a large amount of air into his stomach!"
"With a large amount of air trapped in his stomach, Banno Yutaka's belly swelled up like a balloon! Finally, unable to withstand the pressure, it burst!"
"As the gas poured out, the enormous diamond flew out along with it!"
"This explains why Banno Yutaka tightened his crocodile skin belt; it wasn't because of pain, but because Shimotani Motoharu wanted to prevent air from leaking out!"
"As for what your friend Ota saw outside the window, it was the entire process of Shitani Motoharu committing the crime. However, due to the obstruction of the curtains, Ota did not see Banno Yutaka's head, coupled with the shadow cast on him by the previous Kaneo Yoichi incident."
"Ota naturally assumed that the enormous diamond that flew out was Monster X from outer space!"
Shota Fukasaku opened his mouth wide, unable to utter a single word!
What is this answer?
This...this is possible?
The so-called monster X enters through the mouth and parasitizes the host.
The real reason was that he swallowed the diamond to prevent the other party from getting it.
The so-called monster crawled out of his stomach.
It was only because the prisoner used an oxygen tank to blow up Banno Yutaka's stomach!
Shota Fukasaku felt that this answer was unexpected.
But upon closer examination, it's clear that the tight crocodile skin belt, the two meals, the rolled-out liquor bottle, the location of the death message "X", the marks in Fanye Yutaka's mouth, the rusty knife he often ordered takeout from, the oxygen cylinder, and the curtains that blocked the students' view all contributed to the problem.
Almost all of the clues mentioned have been mentioned earlier.
All the unreasonable "blind spots" and clues were clearly explained!
It can almost be said that this is a very, very, very "orthodox" mystery novel with a strong foreshadowing element.
The foreshadowing is so extensive that it could easily support a super long novel!
Now, only the last case, that of Motoharu Shitani, remains unsolved!
Similarly, it is the most bizarre and the most difficult to answer among these three cases.
After all, what strange footprints, the four-meter-tall monster-like shadow, the mysterious disappearance of the murderer after committing the crime in the locked room, and the victim dying engulfed in flames—
No matter how hard Shota Fukasaku thought about it, he couldn't find any answer to this "outrageous riddle".
Especially—with both Kinao and Banno Yutaka dead?
If there were no monsters, then who killed Shimotani Motoharu?
Driven by intense curiosity, Shota Fukasaku opened the final answer chapter of "Object X from Space" —
After Mr. Y finished answering the cases of Kaneo, Ichi, and Banno Yutaka.
With a mischievous grin, he asked me again, "We've finally reached the last case. Guess who killed Shimotani Motoharu, the last one to survive?"
I find this very puzzling because everyone involved in the incident is dead.
The usual process of elimination is completely ineffective in this situation.
Mr. Y seemed to sense my distress and offered a suggestion: "You could consider the deceased."
Hearing Mr. Y's suggestion only made me more confused.
Seeing that I didn't answer for a long time, Mr. Y directly revealed the murderer of Shitani Motoharu: "The murderer of Shitani Motoharu is the second victim, Banno Yutaka."
I was surprised by Mr. Y's answer: "Was it Banno Yutaka, who was murdered by Shitani Motoharu, who became a ghost to seek revenge because of his resentment?"
Mr. Y suppressed a laugh upon hearing my words: "That's not the case, but let's put this issue aside for now."
"Let's talk about that four-meter-tall monster that appeared in Motoharu Shitani's house first."
"The monster trampled through the wooden floor, leaving strange footprints on it."
"The key to solving this problem is the ventilation opening in the entryway of Motoharu Shimotani's home."
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"That vent is ten centimeters high and twenty centimeters wide."
"Shimotani Motoharu took the diamond from Banno Yutaka's stomach. Perhaps because of panic or excitement, he tripped and fell on the steps in the entrance hall."
"The diamond accidentally fell into the ventilation duct, but there was no way to put an arm inside."
"But in any case, one thing is certain: the diamond is definitely in the floor."
"For an eight-centimeter diamond, damaging my own floor is such a trivial matter, there's nothing to hesitate about!"
"So Motoharu Shimotani took a shovel and began digging the floor."
"Because the area that the arm can reach is only about fifty centimeters, Motoharu Shimotani started looking for diamonds at fifty-centimeter intervals."
"Judging from the fact that more than a dozen holes were dug, the diamond must have rolled a long way under the floor, right?"
Upon hearing Mr. Y's answer, I shook my head incredulously: "Then—what about the monster's footprints?"
"Ota said that the monster's toes are twice as long as a human's, and its feet are only half the length of a human's!"
Mr. Y smiled and shook his head: "You, too, have been misled by what Ota said."
"Those monster footprints are traces left on the floor by Motoharu Shitani after he touched the floor underneath, leaving his hands dirty."
"Look at your own hands. Aren't your fingers twice the length of your toes, but your palms are only half the length of your feet?"
I spread my fingers and compared them to my feet, a look of defeat on my face.
Mr. Y continued his analysis of the Shitani Motoharu incident: "After finding the diamond, Shitani Motoharu was covered in sweat and was taking a shower when Ota, who was working as a deliveryman, rang the doorbell."
"This explains why Ota felt that Shitani Motoharu's hands were cold and wet, because Shitani Motoharu had just finished taking a shower at that time."
"And Motoharu Shitani's eagerness to get rid of Ota wasn't due to a bad attitude; it was simply because he didn't want Ota to see the hole in the floor!"
"Because if the hole is exposed, along with the unidentified object in the meteorite, the deaths of Kinou and Yuichi, and Banno, the police might suspect that I am involved in this series of events."
Mr. Y's answer was impeccable, but I continued to raise my doubts: "What about the four-meter-tall monster shadow?"
"That shadowy figure isn't stationary; it moves."
"How should this problem be answered, Mr. Y?"
Mr. Y had clearly seen through the whole truth long ago, and calmly said, "After receiving the package, Shimotani Motoharu took the diamond back to the living room, where he admired it under the lamp while drinking brandy."
"You probably guessed it, right?"
"The four-meter-tall monster-like shadow that Ota saw was the shadow of the brandy bottle under the table lamp!"
"Because the door was open, the shadow was projected onto the wall!"
"As for why the shadow moved? Why did it rush into the living room like a monster?"
"Of course, it's because when Shitani Motoharu was engulfed in flames, the table lamp and bottle fell off the table."
"Because both the light source and the object casting the shadow moved, it appeared to Ota like a four-meter-tall monster suddenly burst into the living room!"
When I heard Mr. Y's answer, I was speechless for a moment.
Because I remembered what Ota had told me: what had rolled onto the floor of Motoharu Shitani's house was a "long brandy bottle" —
"So—Mr. Y, how exactly did Banno Yutaka kill Shitani Motoharu after his death?"
Even after all that explanation, I still don't understand.
Mr. Y seemed to be painting in the air: "Do you remember? Banno Yutaka was not interested in oil painting at first, but why did he suddenly become so fond of painting?"
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"Because Yutaka Banno saw it in the studio—the solvent used to dilute paint in oil paintings!"
"Things like turpentine, those thinners are very volatile and also very easy to ignite."
"In order to obtain these thinners, Banno Yutaka pretended to love painting and began to use large amounts of paint to deceive others."
"But because he didn't know what to draw, that meteorite remained a source of anxiety for him."
"After all, he killed someone with his own hands because of what was in that meteorite!"
"In addition, meteorites are indeed easy to paint, you only need to paint ovals, so I painted a lot of meteorite paintings to consume the paint and collect the thinner."
I heard Mr. Y's explanation and seemed to understand something: "Yū Banno put a large amount of thinner into the box he mailed to Motoharu Shitani?"
Mr. Y nodded in agreement: "Remember? There were also liquor bottles at the scene of Banno Yutaka's death."
"It was Shitani Motoharu who killed Banno Yutaka by smashing him with that liquor bottle."
"The bottle of brandy is not important; what matters is the box that holds the brandy."
"Let's try to recall what was at the scene of Banno Yutaka's death."
"There are lighters, cigarettes, matchsticks, and unopened bottles of foreign liquor."
"These things seem ordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, something feels off."
"Why do we need matches when we have lighters?"
"And why is it a matchstick?"
"Everyone has used matches and knows very well that the use of matches is inseparable from the matchbox."
"Because lighting a match requires the friction material from the matchbox."
"So? Why were there only matchsticks at the scene of Banno Yutaka's death, but no matchboxes?"
Where did the matchbox go?
Hearing Mr. Y's words, it suddenly dawned on me: "It's in the brandy box!"
Mr. Y continued, "That's right. Fanye Yutaka used transparent tape to stick the matchsticks to the opening of the brandy box, and then attached the 'rubbery' material from the side of the matchbox—composed of red phosphorus, antimony trisulfide, and adhesive—near the head of the matchstick."
"Once Motoharu Shimotani receives the package and opens the brandy box, the matches inside will come into contact with the leatherette," thus igniting the large amount of thinner inside!
"The scene that followed was exactly what Ota had seen."
"Shimotani Motoharu was engulfed in flames and ultimately burned to death in a dry pond!"
I was utterly shocked when I heard Mr. Y's answer.
However, two or three questions remained unanswered: "Mr. Y, did Banno Yutaka choose to kill Shitani Motoharu by making his own ignition device because he didn't want to share the huge diamond with Shitani Motoharu?"
Mr. Y shook his head, pondered for a moment, and continued, "Fanno Yutaka didn't know that Shimotani Motoharu also guessed that there were diamonds in the meteorite."
"His reason for killing Motoharu Shitani is very simple."
"The main reason is that Banno Yutaka did not have an alibi in the case of Kaneo Kazuya's death."
"In order to clear themselves of suspicion, coupled with the police's habitual thinking, they will naturally assume that a series of cases are usually committed by the same person."
"So Banno Yutaka made his own ignition device, intending to kill Shitani Motoharu remotely."
"If I had an alibi when Motoharu Shitani was murdered, even if I didn't have an alibi when Yoichi Kanao was murdered, I wouldn't have been treated as a prime suspect!"
"But Banno Yutaka never expected that he would be killed by Shimotani Motoharu shortly after he sent out the ignition device."
I cannot refute this motive for murder.
Because in the case of a series of murders, suspecting that the killer is the same person is almost a matter of habitual thinking, but—
"If it really was a remote killing, then it means that Shimotani Motoharu was alone at home at the time."
"Under these circumstances, why would Ota hear Motoharu Shitani shouting 'No! No!' from inside the house?"
Mr. Y spread his hands and shrugged: "Shimotani Motoharu wasn't shouting 'iyada! iyada! No! No!' at the time."
"It's 'daiya! daiya!' Diamonds! Diamonds!"
Hearing this explanation, I couldn't help but laugh out loud, and I felt even more helpless for my friend Ota.
It's all this guy's fault. With his extraordinary imagination, he turned an ordinary case into something so mysterious and perplexing!
If it weren't for his bizarre testimony, which seriously misled the police's investigative approach...
This kind of case will probably be solved very quickly, right?
"Mr. Y, there's one last question."
"Where is that enormous eight-centimeter diamond? Where did it go?"
Mr. Y seemed a bit tired of talking and yawned as he said, "In the end, diamonds are also crystals made of carbon, and they can be burned by a fire."
"Especially if Motoharu Shimotani's house were also burned down, the center of the fire would emit a lot of heat."
Hearing Mr. Y's words, I didn't feel there was anything to regret.
Because that was a terrifying stone that took three lives.
If it still existed, it might bring unexpected disasters to others.
From a certain perspective?
That diamond really is a "monster from outer space x".
After watching "Object from Space X", Shota Fukasaku's expression changed from surprise and speechlessness to shock and admiration. His previous disdain and contempt for Kyosuke Maijo vanished like a burning diamond!
This is the most outrageous mystery puzzle in history, bar none!
In a puzzle that seems almost unsolvable, Kyosuke Maijo combines foreshadowing to offer readers a fascinating and classic solution. To call "Object X from the Universe" a "heavenly riddle" seems to underestimate its value.
This should be like its title, "A Riddle from the Universe"!
This terrifying mystery, along with its dense foreshadowing, is truly unprecedented throughout history!
Almost every sentence is a foreshadowing! Every paragraph is a red herring!
Such a wonderful riddle, and such a reasonable solution, if written by another author...
This bizarre case could absolutely be the subject of an 800-page novel!
However, Kyosuke Maijo did not choose to do that. Instead, he condensed this idea into an exquisite short mystery novel!
That alone is enough to make Shota Fukasaku admire him wholeheartedly!
There's only one reason why such a great idea could be used in a short mystery novel.
That's because Kyosuke Maijo has an even better idea than this in his long mystery novels!
Just thinking about these things...
Originally standing on the opposite side of Maijo Kyosuke, Fukasaku Shota suddenly felt a strong sense of anticipation!
Because Shota Fukasaku really wanted to see what kind of "hard-boiled mystery" Kyosuke Maijo would come up with to challenge "King of Hard-boiled Mystery" Toshiyuki Nishimura!