One Hour?!
With barely any time left, the girls spiraled into panic. “One hour?!” “It’s over, it’s all over—” “No, we can still do something.” “Who is it? Who?!”
I felt my own thoughts accelerating. We had no proper evidence. This world had no forensic science, so the culprit could only be identified through circumstantial evidence alone. Asking girls who had only just become adults—or in some cases hadn’t even reached adulthood—to handle something like that was bound to trigger panic.
“The time limit is way too tight!”
“There is no other choice. Originally, the moment a murderer appeared inside the Rose Pavilion, it should have incinerated everyone present.”
“…What?”
“The reason I managed to secure a three-hour grace period is solely because the Rose Pavilion trusts me.”
The headmistress’s words made it sound as though the building itself possessed a will. One might dismiss it with a thought like What kind of building has a consciousness? but perhaps it was because of the research documents I had seen on the 3rd Floor. Even considering that possibility felt dangerous.
“Girls. Let’s all try to calm down first.”
At Terrin’s single sentence, the room fell silent. When six pairs of eyes turned toward her at once, Terrin looked momentarily flustered and glanced at me, but she quickly continued.
“Let’s think calmly from the beginning. All right?”
The girls, now somewhat composed, each sank into their own thoughts. I too began to slowly piece together the identity of the culprit. In situations like this, the most useful tool was the process of elimination—a fundamental technique of both reasoning and logical proof. And the most effective way to apply it was to work backwards.
First: Ariel’s death. She had been stabbed in the back and killed instantly. That much was obvious to anyone. There were no defensive wounds. The room where Ariel had been was Room C, where the medicine was stored. However, none of the medicine had been opened. Even after thoroughly searching the room, there were no signs that any of the bottles had been touched. The fallen log suggested she had died while reading it. Ophelia was the one who discovered her. The estimated time of discovery was roughly ten minutes after the device activated. Since I had gone all the way to Room F and returned, it must have happened around then.
There were two main things the culprit needed to conceal. The first was their own movements. The murder that utilized the connection between Rooms D and C had clearly been planned. After all, they had already taken the weapon from Room B the night before. Though it was possible they had checked the weapon in Room B while confirming the device in Room A. Still, there had been no motive for murder last night, so that remained only a hypothesis.
Anyway—the culprit most likely returned to Room D after committing the murder in Room C. If they had stayed in Room C until the device ended and someone entered, they would have been caught red-handed. That would have rendered the creation of a “locked room” meaningless.
After returning to Room D, the culprit checked the hallway to ensure no one was there before slipping back into their own room. They probably changed out of the blood-stained clothes at that point. There was no need to prepare identical replacements; the Rose Pavilion’s closets already contained about three spare uniforms each. I had been surprised when I discovered that on the first day—wondering why we were only given three sets.
Having changed, the culprit went back up to the 3rd Floor and entered an empty room. That part wasn’t difficult. The 3rd Floor had poor soundproofing. If necessary, they could have stayed in Room D, but since it already had an occupant, they must have chosen any vacant room instead.
The rooms Clarice and Evangeline had entered before the device connected—Rooms A and B—along with Room C, which now contained Ariel’s body. And…
Wait.
“Hold on, Terrin. You said you went straight to Room D as soon as the device ended, right?”
“Huh? Yeah!”
“…You didn’t see anyone inside?”
“Um… no?”
“Any strange smells?”
“Oh? Yeah, there was something. A fishy scent mixed with perfume? Ah—wait, was that the smell of blood mixed with perfume?!”
She had noticed the smell but only now realized something was off? My head throbbed, but I pressed on.
“…You entered right away, correct?”
“Huh?”
“This is important. Can you answer me properly?”
“….”
Terrin stared at me for a moment, then let out a sigh.
“…Actually, I didn’t go straight in. I looked for Lea first because I couldn’t remember how to operate the device.”
“Ah, that’s right. You did.”
How could you leave out something so crucial until now, you bunch of flower-brained girls? I swallowed another sigh and continued piecing the scenario together.
The presence of the bloody smell confirmed the culprit had been in Room D. The culprit must have known that too, which was why they tried to reach it first. But Terrin was already inside, so they couldn’t enter. That left the four rooms across the hall as possible hiding spots.
Wait. Something didn’t add up.
“Maria, Lea, and Ophelia.”
“Yes?”
“Before Ariel’s body was discovered—after the device had returned to normal—you three were all in Rooms E, F, and H, right?”
“Yes.”
“Wait, no. I was in the hallway. It felt weird just standing around waiting.”
“…What?”
This didn’t make sense. If Lea had been watching the hallway, how had the culprit gotten past her and gone down to the second floor? Had my hypothesis been wrong from the very beginning?
As I pondered this, Lea noticed my darkening expression and spoke up.
“Terrin asked me to explain the device, so I briefly stepped into the nearby Room F with her… Is that important?”
“It’s very important!”
You should have said so from the start. Still, this worked. My theory could continue. While Terrin and Lea were momentarily inside Room F, the culprit had slipped out.
Then who was it?
Suddenly, Clarice’s earlier words echoed in my mind. Fixed ideas. Rigid thinking…
Until now, I had completely ruled out both Ophelia and Evangeline. Ophelia was Ariel’s friend. And Evangeline simply didn’t seem like the type who would commit murder.
But what if I was wrong?
Ophelia’s reaction had been the perfect image of someone who had just lost a dear friend. Evangeline, however, had remained completely silent the entire time, merely observing the situation.
When I glanced at Evangeline, she was watching us with an anxious expression. When I looked at Ophelia, she was biting her nails and glancing around uneasily.
Who, then?
Maria and Lea both had flawless alibis and movements. But it wasn’t them. I had already excluded both from the start and had only been listening to their accounts.
Should I hear more?
“Hoo…”
“Lea?”
“I really don’t want to do this… but time is running out.”
Lea, who had just confirmed less than fifty minutes remained, glanced at Evangeline.
“Prosecutor Lea. I request the defendant be Evangeline.”
The moment those words were directed at the headmistress, the room fell deathly quiet. Evangeline’s face began to drain of all color.
“Wh-why me?!”
“Because it’s suspicious.”
Lea faced Evangeline directly. The two moved to their respective positions. Lea stared at Evangeline with a deeply furrowed brow, while Evangeline glared back. Looking at the two of them, I thought, This isn’t right.
I didn’t sense that distinctive aura of a murderer from Evangeline. That was exactly why I had hesitated to name her. One might call it mere intuition, but in a situation like this, intuition mattered.
“S-so… why do you think I’m the culprit…?”
“When I was standing in the hallway.”
“…Pardon?”
“You came up.”
At those words, Evangeline stared at Lea in a daze. Ah, there was a witness. Then the suspicion wasn’t unreasonable.
“As I said before, the culprit would have needed to dispose of the blood-stained clothes.”
“….”
“That means they definitely went down to the second floor. And on the second floor, there’s my private room that no one else can enter.”
Other rooms wouldn’t work—there was too much risk of being searched. In fact, both Lea and Maria had searched the other rooms before coming down. But the second-floor room was safe. According to the rules, no one else was permitted to enter.
Of course, I had entered Clarice’s room. Hmm. Good thing I’m still alive. I really had grown desensitized since reincarnating into this world.
“S-so because I came up to the hallway at that time…”
“Exactly. That means you’re the culprit.”
“B-but that’s strange.”
“How so?”
“Just like you said, Miss Lea… I went straight up to the 3rd Floor after the device ended.”
Evangeline’s hands trembled as she continued defending herself.
“But that was… because I heard a strange loud noise and was scared to be alone on the second floor.”
“Isn’t that an alibi no one can verify?”
“No. …Sister Terrin.”
“Huh?”
Terrin, suddenly called upon, looked at Evangeline in confusion.
“You said you smelled something strange while you were in Room D.”
“Yeah. How should I describe it? A fishy smell mixed with perfume.”
“I don’t wear perfume…”
That was true. From the first time I met her, Evangeline had never carried any scent of perfume. Among us, the four who did wear perfume were Ariel and Ophelia, along with Clarice and Lea.
Me? The natural scent of a beautiful girl is perfume. Why would I need to spray anything?
“…Hmm.”
After hearing the answer, Lea lowered her head. Then she apologized to Evangeline.
“Sorry. I was too hasty.”
“It’s all right…”
As the two returned to their seats, I quietly spoke.
“Headmistress. Change the positions. The prosecutor will be me.”
The moment I said that, all six gazes snapped toward me. Their eyes were filled with a mixture of anxiety that they might be named the culprit and hope that this time we might actually find the right person.
“The defendant is…”