The Illusion of the Duplicate Statue
The investigation into the third letter and the missing plaster statue in the art club warehouse dragged on for a while, but it ultimately yielded nothing. Neither the art club members nor the Paranormal Investigation Club could uncover any decisive clues.
"I'm sorry... We couldn't find out anything."
"We must have gotten your hopes up, only to disappoint you... I'm truly sorry."
"At this rate... we won't be able to solve it."
The Paranormal Investigation Club students apologized dejectedly. The art club members insisted it was fine, but their efforts to hide their disappointment were obvious.
With the warehouse search concluded, the students began filing out one by one. Lily secretly breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them go, stroking her chest when no one was looking.
Now's the perfect time.
Once more than half the students had left, I casually tossed a question at the relieved-looking Lily, as if asking about something utterly mundane.
"By the way, Lily. How's the plaster statue repair coming along?"
I asked with a slight smile. Lily flinched in surprise but soon replied with a timid smile of her own.
"Y-yes... It's almost done."
"That's a relief. But how do you plan to get that plaster statue back into the warehouse, Lily?"
I stared straight into her eyes as I asked.
"That's what I've been worrying ab— Ah!"
Only then did Lily realize her slip-up. The blood drained from her face.
But it was too late to take it back. The students exiting the art club warehouse had overheard and stopped in their tracks, all turning to stare at her.
Art club president Gain looked back and forth between Lily and me with a rigidly tense expression.
"What does this mean? What was that about repairing the plaster statue?"
"Th-that's... Ah, uh..."
Under the president's gaze, Lily's face twisted as if she were on the verge of tears.
I felt a pang of sympathy for her, but there was no helping it. Covering for her mistake would mean the rumors surrounding the plaster statue would never truly fade. No—in fact, they'd only multiply. And someday, that statue might become a real ghost story.
As Lily froze without a word, I stepped forward in her place. All eyes from the art club turned to me.
"It's simple. The missing plaster statue was just a commotion caused by one timid girl's desperate attempt to cover up her mistake."
The art club members erupted in confusion and shock, murmuring among themselves.
"Lily...!? She was suspected at first, sure, but..."
"Someone confirmed the statue was still fine in the warehouse right before school ended on the day she was on duty!"
"But she confessed herself..."
The whispers grew louder. The Paranormal Investigation Club students stared at me in bewilderment, clearly puzzled by my actions.
I flashed a relaxed smile and addressed the group.
"I'll explain the full story of this incident."
All eyes focused on me again, and the murmurs filling the hallway quickly died down.
In the heavy silence, I began.
"The sequence of events is straightforward. Last Monday, after club activities ended and the other students had gone home, Lily stayed late in the art room to finish some work, just as she said. Since she was also on cleanup duty, you could call it killing two birds with one stone."
I glanced briefly at Lily.
"The discrepancy between her testimony and reality is that her task didn't take as long as she claimed. Specifically, she had enough time to pull the plaster statue out of the art club warehouse, hide it somewhere out of sight, and even perform a little trick to avoid detection."
The art club president stepped forward.
"So Lily is the one who stole the plaster statue?"
"Not stole—hid it to cover her mistake. I don't know the exact details of what happened during cleanup, but Lily accidentally knocked over and broke one of the displayed works. To hide her error, she smuggled the plaster statue out of the warehouse. It wouldn't have been too hard. Unlike the central club building, the old annex is rarely visited except for storage, and club activities ended early that day, so no other art club members were around. Moving a massive plaster statue alone isn't easy for a girl, but if it was already broken into pieces, and she had enough time, it was doable. That's how Lily removed the statue from the warehouse."
The president immediately countered.
"That's the first hypothesis every art club member thought of. But Muchia disproved it with his testimony, didn't he? He clearly said the statue was still intact in the warehouse right after Lily left school. Ah... Don't tell me Muchia was lying..."
"No. Muchia's testimony is true."
I cut him off.
"He did see the plaster statue still in the warehouse after school."
The president looked even more baffled.
"But doesn't that contradict what you just said?"
"It doesn't. Because the statue Muchia saw was an entirely different one from the one Lily broke."
"...A different plaster statue?"
A chorus of confused voices rose from the art club students.
"Lily must have panicked after breaking it. She knew she'd get in trouble—maybe even kicked out of the club or forced to pay damages—for destroying a senior alumnus's work. Quite unlucky, you could say."
Lily hunched over, unable to lift her head.
I feel bad making her look like I'm bullying her. Sorry. But if you think about it, it was your fault for breaking the statue.
"But she got lucky too. The art room was empty, and she had time before the end of the school day. Plus, as an art club member, she had decent crafting skills. That's when she got the idea: to cover her mistake, she could just make another plaster statue that looked just like the broken one."
And with that, I delivered the conclusion.
"Fortunately, she succeeded in crafting a second plaster statue before the end of the school day. That's the one Muchia saw."
Some students let out admiring gasps, nodding in understanding. But the art club president spotted another inconsistency lurking in my explanation.
"But that's still weird. We needed a second statue to explain the first one's disappearance—so where did that one go? Nothing's resolved!"
"Exactly. Introducing a second statue to explain the first one's vanishing changes nothing if it's identical. But what if the second statue was completely different from the first?"
"...Completely different?"
Instead of answering, I abruptly turned to face the Paranormal Investigation Club students. Elaine, Rone, and Aurora blinked at me in confusion.
Then I asked,
"Have you all heard of optical illusions?"
The art club president frowned, clearly lost as to why I'd bring that up.
"Optical... illusions?"
In contrast, Elaine and Aurora's eyes widened as realization dawned.
"Yes, optical illusions. Before we resolve that question, let's address another mystery. If the story holds, one of the two spots with scattered plaster dust in the warehouse is explained: the original statue's position. It's only natural for dust to scatter if it fell and shattered. But there's another spot with plaster dust, right?"
This, even the president could answer.
"...The warehouse entrance."
"Correct. Besides the statue's original spot, plaster dust was at the entrance too. Why?"
The president shook his head.
"...I don't know."
...Looks like the art club president isn't much of a scholar.
Elaine and Aurora answered in his stead.
Good. These two have the real academic drive.
"Because there was a plaster statue at the entrance too..."
"That's where the second plaster statue had been placed..."
They spoke almost in unison, voicing their insights.
I smiled.
"Perfect score."
Rone muttered with a creeped-out shiver.
"Eek. A kind teacher? That's weird."
This girl...
I ignored Rone's antics in front of the others and continued.
"Exactly. The position of the second plaster statue... right here."
As I said that, I pointed to the spot...
...the warehouse window frame.