novelraw Chapter 139 A Soul-Stirring Deduction: The Third Statute of Limitations
Chapter 139 A Soul-Stirring Deduction: The Third Statute of Limitations
Chapter 139 A Soul-Stirring Deduction: The Third Statute of Limitations
Maijo Kyosuke's fervent and orthodox declaration left the other eight people present stunned for a long time!
The first to react was Manji Gonda, who asked Kyosuke Maishiro in confusion, "The New Orthodox Mystery Club?"
"Ms. Mai, what exactly is this 'new orthodox' concept, and how is it related to orthodox?"
Upon hearing Manji Gonda's words, Kyosuke Maijo's face showed an expression that he had expected it, and he continued to explain: "The so-called orthodox mystery, although based on the five works created by Edgar Allan Poe, was popularized by Conan Doyle, Leonard Knox, and Van Dine, the three great masters of classic mystery, into the orthodox mystery of today."
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"But today we won't talk about the history of European and American mystery fiction, we'll only talk about the history of Japanese mystery fiction."
"I divide the history of Japanese mystery fiction into two parts. The first part is the first generation of orthodox mystery fiction, which began in 1887 when Kuroiwa Ruika introduced European and American mystery fiction, and was further developed and popularized by Edogawa Ranpo and Yokomizo Seishi."
"Then came the second season of orthodox mystery, led by Akimitsu Takagi, Takao Tsuchiya, and Tetsuya Namikawa."
"Following these two installments of orthodox mystery fiction, the Japanese mystery genre welcomed its third grandmaster, Seicho Matsumoto. Thus, Matsumoto's social realism mystery 'replacing orthodox mystery' gave rise to the terrifying 'Matsumoto curse'!"
"Simply put, Japanese 'orthodox mystery' has now fallen from its most glorious era to its lowest point."
"In order to revive the 'orthodox' mystery genre, I've named this third installment of the 'orthodox' mystery series 'New Orthodox'!"
"The reason I call it 'New Orthodox' is because I feel we should uphold the orthodox mystery philosophy of 'Master Seishi Yokomizo,' the grandmaster of orthodox mystery fiction, which is also my manifesto for New Orthodox mystery fiction."
"Deduction should leave the ground and soar into the sky!"
"We must absorb all the advantages of traditional orthodox crime fiction, but at the same time discard some of its shortcomings that are no longer suitable for this era."
"Our New Classic Mystery" still centers on "solving and setting up mysteries," but it no longer adheres to the traditional culprit-finding model.
"Instead, it introduces a large number of new elements, new settings, and new imaginative ideas, bringing readers a completely different and brand-new experience!"
"For example, my story 'The Convergence,' published in the second issue of 'Top Hat' magazine, is still inseparable from solving and setting up mysteries; the whole story is about finding the murderer."
"But does it really matter whether the killer is found or not?"
"Is finding the murderer really more satisfying than not finding the murderer?"
"Those who have read 'Convergence' probably already have the answer in their hearts."
"If anyone thinks that detective novels must follow Knox's Ten Commandments and Van Dine's Twenty Rules, then it only shows that he doesn't understand detective novels."
"Because both Knox and Van Dine were completely locked in by their own frameworks, unable to break free from them, they could only end up as authors whose sales declined."
"Similarly, if someone firmly believes that detective novels must adhere to Knox's Ten Commandments and Van Dine's Twenty Rules, then Agatha Christie should be the first to be excluded, since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a prime example of violating Knox's Ten Commandments and Van Dine's Twenty Rules."
"But if we don't acknowledge Agatha Christie's status as the 'Queen of Crime,' and are unwilling to admit that 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' is a masterpiece in the history of detective fiction, then there's no point in discussing detective novels at all."
"Because this is a betrayal of our heritage, a complete denial of the history of detective fiction, and a denial of its very existence!"
Kyosuke Maishiro paused briefly before continuing, "So, let's lift our feet off the ground and bravely soar into the sky!"
"Let this unique kind of romance in mystery, through our new orthodox mystery, shine brightly once again, illuminating the annals of time!"
A moment of silence fell over the scene.
Immediately, all eight people present stood up from their chairs in unison and applauded vigorously for Maijo Kyosuke's sincere and passionate new orthodox declaration!
Humans cannot predict the future; they can only look back on the past.
However, the eight people present were able to see the future of Kyosuke Maijo from the past masters' journey!
Regardless of whether the "New Orthodox Movement" succeeds or not, regardless of whether Maijo Kyosuke can break the "Seichō Curse" and become the third great mystery writer after Matsumoto Seichō.
All eight people present clearly understood that the "New Orthodox Mystery Club" was destined to leave an indelible mark on the history of Japanese mystery!
Even if Maijo Kyosuke fails to break the "Kiyo-Zhang curse" and fails to challenge the title of mystery writer, he will still be the strongest leader of this era!
The applause in the private room of the Chinese restaurant lasted for a full two minutes.
After everyone stopped clapping, he bowed deeply to Maishiro Kyosuke.
This is not due to Japanese etiquette, nor is it just politeness.
Rather, it was because everyone genuinely respected Maijo Kyosuke.
Because, judging from the current situation, apart from Tsumabuchi Awasaka, who emerged as a dark horse the year before last, there are no other notable figures.
Only Kyosuke Maijo is qualified to be a candidate to break the "Kiyocho Curse"!
When Maijo Kyosuke saw the eight people bowing to him in unison, he quickly waved his hand and said, "You don't need to bow to me. All my thoughts are the result of two whole days of exchanges with Professor Yokomizo Seishi and Professor Tsuchiya Takao."
"The reason I want to establish the New Orthodox Mystery Club is not only for myself, but also to help Seishi Yokomizo fulfill a dream."
"Therefore, I plan to appoint Mr. Seishi Yokomizo as the honorary president of our 'New Orthodox Mystery Club'."
"This way, we can both allow Seishi Yokomizo to witness the revival of 'orthodox mystery' and give our 'New Orthodox Mystery Club' a legitimate legacy!"
Apart from Eri Ryumi, the other six people all showed expressions of shock when they learned that Maijo Kyosuke and Yokomizo Seishi had met!
Because Seishi Yokomizo is considered a "master of orthodox mystery" who is almost on par with Edogawa Ranpo, and has successfully written works such as "Gokumon Island" and "The Honjin Murder Case", he has become a top literary figure with admirers even in Europe and America.
His health has naturally been a major focus of attention in the mystery fiction community.
As everyone already knew, Yokomizo Seishi's condition was critical, and even when Edogawa Ranpo ascended the Dragon Award, Yokomizo Seishi was unable to attend.
In this situation, it would be almost impossible for anyone else to meet Seishi Yokomizo!
But now, Maijo Kyosuke casually mentions that he, Yokomizo Seishi, and Tsuchiya Takao have been communicating for two whole days.
This special meeting, and the two-day exchange, almost meant that Yokomizo Seishi had high hopes for Maijo Kyosuke and wanted to entrust all his unfulfilled ideals to him!
Not to mention, Kyosuke Maijo wants Seishi Yokomizo to be the honorary president of the "New Orthodox Mystery Club"!
If this really comes to fruition!
That would practically mean that Maijo Kyosuke would have a legitimate lineage of deduction skills!
This line of reasoning not only comes from Seishi Yokomizo, but also from Edogawa Ranpo!
Thinking of all this, all eight people present were extremely excited!
Because if Seishi Yokomizo really did become the honorary president of the "New Orthodox Mystery Club" —
That would not only make the "New Authentic Mystery Club" an instant sensation, but it might also quickly become a well-organized and large-scale association!
Under these circumstances, the first batch of members will inevitably benefit and become figures etched in history books!
Seeing everyone looking at him excitedly, Maishiro Kyosuke smiled and waved his hand, "Alright, regarding the matter of Yokomizo-sensei serving as the honorary president of the 'New Orthodox Mystery Club,' I'll inform everyone after I've reached an agreement with him."
"After all, as everyone knows, Yokomizo-sensei's health—"
"So, it's time to get down to business today."
Maijo Kyosuke reached out and grabbed the manuscript in front of Jiang Liu Meili, waving it in front of everyone: "Please read my article, 'The Third Validity Period,' which will be published in the fourth issue of 'Top Hat' magazine."
"I hope everyone can give me some advice. After all, this is the first police novel with psychological reasoning that I wrote at the request of President Noma, with a change in style."
Although everyone was surprised that Maijo Kyosuke had just said that he was considering inviting Yokomizo Seishi to serve as the honorary president of the "New Orthodox Mystery Club".
But this matter is still far from being finalized.
So what everyone wants to know most right now is what kind of work Maijo Kyosuke will bring this time.
With such anticipation, everyone neatly opened the manuscript of "The Third Time Limit" and entered the story created by Maijo Kyosuke—
"I'm so sorry, I was too flustered yesterday."
"I'm a little calmer today, so please allow me to recount what happened yesterday in detail."
The story begins with a woman reporting to the police about an incident that happened the day before: "Because of the recent heatwave, I wanted to hire someone to install an air conditioner in my house, but I was surprised to find out that the worker who came was my elementary and junior high school classmate, Toshiharu Takeuchi."
"I got along well with Takeuchi. He was short in school and always got bullied, so I called him 'Little Girl' and never treated him like a man."
"So even though my husband is a taxi driver and wasn't home yesterday afternoon, I didn't think much of it and invited Takeuchi to come and install the air conditioner—"
"However, after the air conditioner is installed, I want Takeuchi to help me adjust the TV and VCR. I'll get him some fruit as payment."
"As a result, when I returned to the living room with a fruit platter containing apples and a fruit knife, I remembered that the indecent videotape my husband had rented was still in the VCR."
"As soon as the TV was turned on, indecent images started playing!"
"I just felt it would be awkward to turn it off immediately, so I wanted to show Takeuchi how composed a married woman can be, so I just said, 'That's how men are,' and sat down."
"As the images on TV became more intense, the atmosphere on set started to become tense. I heard Takeuchi make a few gurgling sounds in his throat, and by the time I tried to turn off the TV, it was too late!"
"I wanted to fight back, but he had a knife. I had never seen anything so terrifying, so I could only let him do whatever he wanted. I cried and prayed that it would all end soon."
"When it was all over, Takeuchi said sorry and started getting dressed, and that's when my husband came home."
"As soon as my husband saw me lying on the bed crying, his eyes immediately reddened, and the two of us started fighting. I was so scared that I didn't even have the strength to stand up, and all I could do was shout, 'Stop fighting! Stop fighting!'"
"Later, when her husband tried to grab a baseball bat, he was stabbed in the back by Takeuchi and collapsed to the ground—"
"I've said it several times already—, officer, I don't remember what happened after that, I guess I was just crying and screaming for help—"