That is great! Thank you so much for posting this @Sylph! Looking forward to you joining us for the next story!
1 Like
Do I need to know what happened in the first two stories to keep up with the plot? (I suppose/hope not…)
Got an Email today that my books are going to be shipped between 13th and 18th of August. So, I hope to catch up to you all!
So excited 
3 Likes
Nah, only minor things are carried over, the last story is a stand alone story that can easily be read without having read the first two =)
5 Likes
@Toyger Thanks a lot!
My books got shipped today, so I might not have to catch up on so many pages
3 Likes
Still waiting for my book(s), but I will faithfully continue to lurk until I can join in properly. 
1 Like
Reading of the third story in the book にゃんにゃん探偵団 starts now! All questions and answers are welcome as we are here to help each other. This book club is for people of all levels. Please try to read along with the schedule in the thread title (which works out at two pages a day) and please put the page number at the top of your posts. Let’s have fun!
Discusssion of chapter three, カポネ対ミミッチーマウス, starts here!
Links:
3 Likes
Page 86
The first sentence of the story! I can see what it means fair enough, but don’t understand how the grammar works at all.
カポネの健康診断に行ったかえり道
カポネの健康診断に - from Capone’s health check
いった - 行った - went
かえり - return
道 - road
“we were on the road returning from Capone’s health check”.
“Go” + “return” I can just about cope with, but what about Japanese sentences ending in a verb? Or is she simply setting on the scene, as you might at the start of an similar story (like setting a play) in English?
“On the road back from Capone’s health check”
Page 86
I know that たすけてくれー is 助けてくれー.
助けて is the て form of 助ける, (1) to save (2) to assist.
And くれー must have something to do with ください, but can anyone tell me what? Is it just a short form? Any ideas?
Page 89
ところが チャイムをならしても たれも でてこない。
“Despite ringing the bell, no-one came [to the door]”, but what is that も after 鳴らして?
1 Like
I think there is a “null-copula” (“dropped だ”) at the end of this sentence.
EDIT: Also かえり道 is listed as “return trip” in Jisho.
Literally something like “It was the return trip on which we went from Kapone’s health check”.
(Nicer translation would be something like “We were on the way back from Kapone’s health check”)
Actually no, it’s from the verb くれる (to give). It’s an irregular imperative くれ. The final vowel is elongated because it’s being cried out, c.f. “Heeeelp”.
Forming an imperative with te-form + くれ is very direct, but as JSL comments (about たすけてー) “Politeness can be abandoned in such situations”.
EDIT: As a sidenote, くれ is the regular imperative of the classical Japanese verb くる (the predecessor of くれる; not related to modern 来る, which was く). It seems to be an example of an older form that got preserved in modern Japanese by virtue of being common.
It’s the も particle. In this context it means “despite”, just like you translated.
(も is quite a difficult particle in general…)
4 Likes
Page 90
I’ve been putting off asking questions as I now seem to be the only person doing so! Am I the only one who needs help reading this book? Or, worse, am I the only one still reading? Well, I know you are still reading aiju! Thank you!
Anyway, here goes:
あたしが 説明しているあいだも 「たすけてくれー」という声は つづいている。
“While I was giving an explanation, the voice [crying] “help!” continued”.
My question is that あいだも.
I’m guessing it is 間も, as I know that 間に means “while; during (the time when)”, but what about 間も, does it perhaps mean “also during”. You did say aiju that も is a very tricky particle!
1 Like
My books should be here next week, then I’ll be asking all sorts of questions, providing I get in before you!
1 Like
That is great news! Thank you! (And, though not wishing to go off topic, did you re-set your level Rowena?)
1 Like
Off-top
Summary
Yes, I did - 4 months of 0 reviews, 0 lessons for health reasons, and several of the levels that I had studied before that fell victim as well (my headaches were so bad that it was having a disturbing impact on my memory - for many WK items lvl Apprentice 4+ I had zero recollection of ever having learned them 
).
The good news is I am so much more organised now than last time around - I’ve spent much of today figuring MS OneNote out, and making weekly study plans that include graded readers, kanji writing practice, grammar, listening, etc in conjunction with WK.
Hey, I’ve just noticed that you’ve levelled up in the last day or so. Good on you!
1 Like
Page 90
My second question from this page.
「これは たいへんだ。とにかく 家のなかに はいりましょう。」
I’m reading this as “That’s awful. Somehow of other, lets get inside the house”.
Is my reading of とにかく as “somehow or other” (one of the options given at Jisho) correct do you think?
Edit:
off topic
Nice one Rowena! And I hope your health is better now too. Thank you!
2 Likes
Page 91
そういわれて、あたしは 家のはんたいがわに まわった。
そう - in that way; thus; such
いわれて、- 言う - to say, 言われる - passive, 言われて - te-form
あたしは - I + topic particle
家のはんたいがわに - to the opposite side of the house
まわった - 回った - past tense of 回る - 1. to turn; to revolve, 2. to visit several places
“after it was said like that, I turned round to the opposite side of the house”
“after [he] said that, I spun round to the other side of the house”
How’s that?
1 Like
Page 92
この家は 密室なのかしら？
この家は - this house + topic particle
密室 - room locked from the inside (while you are outside!)
なの - ???
かしら？- I wonder?
So Hanae is wondering if the whole house is locked up from the inside (do we have a locked room mystery here?), but the main mystery for me at the moment is that なの.
I don’t know if it is nominalisation (every time I see の these days I think nominalisation!) or if it is a female term for assertion/questions. And how could I tell which it is?
“even during” works better in English, but yes. It’s 間に -> 間も.
One reason も is tricky is that it has a voracious appetite and eats other particles, such as は, が, を, に and probably some others as well, which leaves you guessing which particle should be there.
3 Likes
とにかく = anyway; anyhow; in any case
fits most naturally here I think.
2 Likes