Cracks in the Alibi
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Seems like it.”
“...What were you talking about before I got here?”
When Ophelia asked that, pulling her gaze away from Ariel’s corpse, the two girls who had been whispering quickly averted their eyes. I spoke up before they could fumble for an answer.
“We were going over alibis for the time Ariel was killed and possible methods of murder.”
“Alibis and murder methods…”
“...Ophelia, I’d like to hear your account too.”
At my suggestion Ophelia gave a quiet nod and began to speak.
“I was in Room E.”
“Room E?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you separated from Ariel? You weren’t together from the start.”
I nodded at Leah’s question. It was true—when we first met, Ariel and Ophelia had already been moving separately.
“...We argued a little after I used magic. Still, we ran into each other later and started traveling together again.”
“Then why were you apart just now?”
“We got separated when the rooms shifted.”
Leah nodded, apparently satisfied.
“Then am I next?”
“Yeah. Terin, you said that when you left me you also left Leah, right?”
“Right. I checked every room I could and looked for anywhere else I might be able to enter.”
“Where exactly?”
“Room D!”
The moment she said “Room D,” Leah and I exchanged glances. The conversation we had been having until now made the answer land like a stone in still water. Room D, connected to Room C. The culprit who had stabbed the victim there. Something felt wrong. Leah didn’t seem to notice the inconsistency, but I did. Before I could point it out, Terin glanced around cautiously and spoke.
“Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Terin widened her eyes in perfect innocence. Leah answered in a low voice.
“...I really don’t want to say this, but—”
“Terin, are you the killer?”
“Maria!”
“Why drag it out? If there’s a murderer we should pin them down immediately. It’s already been thirty minutes.”
At Maria’s razor-sharp tone Leah glared at her, but the most startled person was Terin. Clearly unprepared for such a direct accusation, she stared at Maria with a dazed expression.
“...Why? Did something I said sound strange?”
“You said you were in Room D.”
“I did.”
“When the device activated, this room was connected to Room D.”
“...What?”
Terin looked at us blankly. Her eyes held a trace of panic, but mostly raw indignation.
“W-wait. That was only when the device was running, right?”
“...Yes?”
“When the device activated, Room D was sealed!”
“...Huh?”
This time it was Leah who looked shaken. In the first place, the crucial alibi wasn’t for the moment of Ariel’s death but for the moment the device had activated.
“She’s right, Leah. If Rooms C and D had been connected, they would have been cut off from the outside.”
“...True.”
“And Terin. Where did you go after you split from Leah?”
“The device happened to reset right then… so I went into Room D?”
“You didn’t see anyone come out of Room D?”
“No!”
Terin’s crisp reply made Maria press a hand to her forehead.
“...That doesn’t add up.”
“It’s not completely impossible.”
“What?”
“We have to consider the time gap.”
Ignoring Maria’s piercing stare, I laid out my theory.
Before the device activated, the killer was in Room D and Ariel was in Room C.
When the device started, the killer in D opened the door and moved into C.
Ariel, already in C, paid the newcomer no special attention. She probably just greeted them and returned to her journal—the bloodstained notebook lying on the floor proved that much.
The killer stabbed Ariel in the back while she was turned away.
Ariel died instantly. The killer then waited for the device to reactivate.
Once the rooms reset to their original positions, the killer confirmed the area was empty and slipped out.
“How could they know the area was empty?”
“Sound.”
The rooms here were poorly soundproofed. Footsteps carried clearly. If the sound of walking outside stopped and you heard a door open and close, it was obvious no one else was around.
“If the killer checked that no one was there before leaving, then Terin’s story isn’t contradictory.”
“I see…”
Leah nodded, but soon furrowed her brow.
“The murder method makes sense. But who is the killer? Everyone has an alibi.”
“We can’t take every alibi at face value.”
“If we start doubting them, any of us could be the culprit.”
I nodded at Maria’s sharp observation. That was exactly why this was so difficult. There were six suspects besides myself, and every one of them had an alibi with no witnesses to confirm or deny it.
“Couldn’t it be Ophelia?”
“Why?”
“She can’t use magic.”
“...They used a knife. What does magic have to do with it? Besides, we already established that magic wasn’t involved.”
I glanced at the girls. Sure enough, overlooking basic details was exactly what you’d expect from children. I had already thought of several suspicious points and was about to voice them when—
The body was discovered one hour ago. All students, please gather on the first floor.
I repeat. The body was discovered one hour ago. All students, please gather on the first floor.
It was the dorm mother’s voice. The girls hurried outside in confusion.
“...We should go, right?”
“Yeah.”
When the girls nodded, Leah took the lead. She was the only one who still looked composed, so there was no other choice. Maria appeared calm on the surface, but her hands had been trembling for a while now. And Clarice—I could never tell what she was thinking. Did she even care about catching the killer?
When I glanced at her, Clarice stared back at me with a blank face. Then she suddenly slipped into Room A and came back carrying her doll.
“You really like dolls, don’t you?”
At Terin’s question Clarice nodded. Terin smiled softly and walked beside her.
“I like dolls too. What kind do you like, Clarice?”
“All of them.”
Clarice’s curt reply left Terin momentarily speechless.
“I… I see.”
Even Terin couldn’t draw more than a few words from Clarice. I gave a small smile and followed Leah down to the first floor.
The first floor had changed. Everything else looked the same, but the lobby had been transformed into the interior of a courtroom. In the judge’s seat sat the dorm mother.
“...What is this?”
“Come, come, everyone take your seats.”
She gestured toward the jury box rather than the defendant’s or plaintiff’s stand. We had no choice but to sit.
“Why here of all places?”
“From now on you are simultaneously jurors, defendants, and plaintiffs.”
The absurd statement left me speechless. While I stared at the dorm mother in disbelief, Evangeline timidly raised her hand. It was such a tiny gesture it was almost invisible, yet the dorm mother noticed immediately.
“You may speak, student Evangeline.”
“Um… what are jurors, defendants, and plaintiffs…?”
“...Hmm.”
How old was Evangeline again? Fifteen? That was young enough not to know such terms. Come to think of it, I probably hadn’t known them at that age either.
“They’re roles used in a trial. Simply put, the defendant is the one being accused, and the plaintiff is the one making the accusation.”
“And the jury…?”
“They listen to the case and advise the judge.”
Evangeline nodded. The dorm mother nodded as well. So she really hadn’t known. That golem. Beside me, both Maria and Terin were nodding too. Wait—why them?
“...Honestly, I’ve never been interested in trials.”
“Why would I need to know that stuff?”
Thinking about it, trials in this world—in this era—were probably far more exclusive than I had assumed. The very concept of a formal lawsuit would be unfamiliar to most commoners. Most of them were farmers; disputes were usually settled privately rather than taken to court. Merchants existed, but even they rarely pursued official trials. To reach that stage you would need to be at least bourgeois. On top of that, proper legal frameworks were still lacking.
When I nodded in understanding, Maria shot me a glare. What now? The moment our eyes met she glared even harder. The dorm mother cut in.
“Now, now. That’s enough of the staring contest.”
“So why did you call us down here?”
At Leah’s question the dorm mother smiled.
“Why are you narrating your own expression out loud…”
“The reason I have gathered you all here is—”
“Is…?”
“It will be revealed in sixty seconds.”
The line sounded like something from a 21st-century variety show. Maria marched straight up to the dorm mother and kicked her.
“Ugh!”
“I am a golem. That level of impact causes me no pain.”
“....”
Maria ground her teeth and returned to her seat. The dorm mother spoke again.
“Just kidding. I’ll tell you.”