Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 6: The Tip of the Iceberg of a Vast Strategy

Uyama Hideomi looked at the remaining dozen or so pages of manuscript paper in his hand.

A look of confusion immediately appeared on his face as he looked at Maishiro Kyosuke:

"Mr. Maicheng! The killer is among the six victims?"

"This...is this a mistake on my part? Or is it a typo?"

Uyama Hideomi looked puzzled, placed the manuscript in front of Maishiro Kyosuke, and pointed at it with his finger, asking a question.

Maishiro Kyosuke looked in the direction that Uzumaki Hinode was pointing, then smiled and shook his head:

"Mr. Yushan, you did not misread it, and I did not write it wrong either. The murderer is indeed among the six victims."

"Besides, didn't I write two reader challenges in the book?"

"All the details of the case are written in the book. Have you deduced the truth?"

Uyama Hideomi paused slightly upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's words, then smiled and said to Maishiro Kyosuke:

"Mr. Wucheng, you've really opened my eyes today. I've never seen anyone like you who has two reader challenges in one book before."

"However, it seems that I have lost, and lost completely."

"Even with your numerous hints in the book, I still can't guess the answer."

Upon hearing Uyama Hideomi's words, Maishiro Kyosuke handed the manuscript to Uyama Hideomi, his face radiating confidence:

"Since Mr. Yushan hasn't figured out the answer, please continue reading."

"I believe that when the mystery is solved, you will be amazed by the killer's elegant methods!"

Although Uyama Hideomi had long been captivated by Maijo Kyosuke's "Astrological Murder Magic," he exclaimed that it was "an unparalleled murder magic"!

But seeing Maijo Kyosuke's confident demeanor, Uyama Hideomi was still somewhat skeptical.

As the deputy editor-in-chief of the third publishing department of Kodansha's literary museum, I must have read at least tens of thousands of manuscripts over the years!

Unless it's a BAKA mystery novel where information is inherently unfair, in any pure classic mystery, Hideomi Uyama can guess the trick pretty accurately without even seeing a reader challenge him!

Thinking of all this, Uyama Hideomi reached out and took the manuscript back, but did not rush to read it.

Instead, he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and began to sort out the case using the pen clipped to the notebook.

Judging from this stance, he clearly wants to have a real showdown with Maijo Kyosuke!

Seeing this, Maijo Kyosuke also showed no fear.

After all, this isn't your average mystery novel; it's an astrological murder mystery!

It's the book that was later ranked among the top three Japanese mystery novels of all time, and ranked second in the world by The Guardian!

Uyama Hideomi scribbled and drew in his notebook for a long time, but he still couldn't figure out the core trick.

In the end, he could only gulp down a mouthful of sake and look at Maijo Kyosuke sitting opposite him:

"Mr. Mai, I've always had a question while reading about the Astrological Murder Mystery?"

Why did the killer divide the six bodies into shallow burial and deep burial groups?

"Could this be the key clue to uncovering the truth?"

Maishiro Kyosuke nodded seriously upon hearing Uyama Hideomi's words:

"Mr. Yushan truly lives up to his title as deputy editor-in-chief; he found a crucial clue in the case right away!"

Upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's words, Uyama Hideomi's face did not show any happiness; instead, he looked at Maishiro Kyosuke with a disappointed expression.

"But what about it?"

Seeing that Uyama Hideomi understood his implied meaning, Maishiro Kyosuke smiled and pointed to the manuscript on the table:

"However, Mr. Yushan, I have laid out a large number of complicated clues and a narrative that is half true and half false in this book."

"Therefore, simply recognizing the problems of the shallow and deep burial groups cannot touch the core trick, because it is only a link in the core trick, or rather, the tip of the iceberg in a huge trick."

Uyama Hideomi sighed and twirled the pen in his hand a few times, pointing to the drawing he had made and saying:

"If the killer is indeed among the six victims."

"Then it's quite obvious that the murderer can only be Tokiko, right?"

"After all, you can fool people about the body, but you can't fool people about the head, which is the most distinctive feature of a person, the face."

"In other words, a person without a head or face is the murderer!"

"Of these six corpses, only Tokiko's was faceless!"

Maishiro Kyosuke smiled noncommittally, leaving Uyama Hideomi somewhat bewildered. In the end, he could only helplessly spread his hands towards Maishiro Kyosuke:

"Mr. Maishiro, that's all I can guess."

"Because I truly have no idea, and I really can't imagine how you would explain how Tokiko came back to life?"

"However... speaking of coming back to life!"

Uyama Hideomi raised an eyebrow, looking at Maishiro Kyosuke with some surprise:

"Mr. Maishiro! Could it be... that Tokiko is the so-called perfect goddess Asode?"

"Using the missing parts of each person's body, a new timepiece was created?"

"Like Frankenstein's monster?"

Maishiro Kyosuke did not answer Uyama Hideomi's question, but replied with the same words as before:

"Mr. Yushan, the answers are all in the book."

"I believe that when the mystery is solved, you will be amazed by the killer's elegant methods!"

Seeing that he could not get any clues out of Maishiro Kyosuke, Uyama Hideomi could only pick up the manuscript again and enter the final chapter of the story!

-

It was almost exactly as Hideomi Uyama had predicted.

Based on the fact that Tokiko's body was headless, Kiyoshi Mitarai deduced that Tokiko was the murderer!

In order to make people understand how Tokiko came back to life.

Kiyoshi Mitarai also mentioned a criminal case involving the ability to conjure 10,000 yen notes out of thin air.

Simply put, you prepare 20 banknotes and cut them along the dotted lines.

The position of the dotted lines is easy to set. Divide the length of the banknotes by 21 and calculate the result by stacking the banknotes one by one. This will give you the distribution of the dotted lines.

Using this method, 20 banknotes can be cut into 40 smaller pieces (see picture).

Next, use the corner cut off from the first banknote to piece together with the second banknote.

The corner cut off from the second banknote is then joined with the third banknote, and so on.

Because of the staggered splicing, the banknotes will be about 1/21 shorter after each splicing.

After the pieces are successfully joined, use opaque tape to seal them together, leaving a small gap at the joint to prevent the shortage of banknotes from being discovered.

Once all the banknotes are successfully misaligned and pieced together, an extra banknote numbered 21 will be added.

The only thing to worry about is banknotes number 1 and 21, because the edges of these two banknotes are missing. However, you can just fold them up when paying and get away with it.

After all, banknotes with tears patched up with tape and paper are not uncommon on the market, and no one would think much of a missing corner.

Following this method, a very magical scene will occur.

Although 21 banknotes were put into circulation, there were actually only 20 banknotes.

The astrological murder mystery and this case of money appearing out of thin air are essentially the same...