The Detective is Already Dead

Chapter 25: Interlude 1

"...Uh, what exactly was that story for?"

Hang on. Especially that last bit; what was that?

I'd thought she was starting pretty far back, and then she'd busted out an especially embarrassing episode for me. Weren't these supposed to reveal the truth behind Siesta's death? This one had just been a trap to humiliate me...

"Oops, wrong one."

"That was absolutely on purpose!"

Siesta, who'd appeared on the screen again, lowered her head slightly. Her face was still expressionless.

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Seriously, don't set up ways to mess with me a year in advance...

...That said, thinking back, that was how Siesta and I had decided that it was in both our best interests to stick together before we set off on our journey.

"Rgh! Why did Ma'am choose an underhanded guy like Kimizuka instead of me?"

"Calm down, Charlie. That was four years ago; what's the point of getting jealous now? And don't insult me just because you can."

"Ghk! How come the two of you had already promised to get married years ago...?"

"Calm down, Natsunagi. Why would you be jealous, too?"

"Haaah, you really are a child, Kimizuka," Saikawa said. "You don't understand girls' feelings."

"Says the youngest one here."

Come on, this is turning into a routine—one person says something dumb, everybody starts in, and it doesn't stop until they all run out of material? I don't have the stamina to shut all of this down...

"All right, I really am going to show you an important incident that connects to the truth of my death next, but—before I do that, I'll give the four of you a hint," Siesta explained to us. "Don't misread individual pieces of information. Keep track of who's saying what at the moment. And always doubt what you're seeing. I want you to remember that from now on."

"Doubt what we see..." Natsunagi murmured softly. Then she glanced at me. "Huh? Maybe this isn't really Kimizuka...?"

"I know Siesta had that thing about forgetting what I look like if she hadn't seen me for two days, but you can let that one lie. You don't have to honor everything from her last wish."

And that is absolutely not what she meant by that, all right?

"Now that that's out of the way, I'll show the next clip," Siesta said. On the screen, the scene changed. "My assistant should still remember this part as well."

The screen showed the streets of London. Siesta and I were just entering a brick building. "I'm pretty sure this is..."

A little over a year ago. I recognized the building where we'd lived and had our office. And what had happened in this city—

"All right, here we go."

Siesta signaled that the story was about to move forward. "From this point on, try to uncover the truth of my death."