I really like how we get connections back to the other book and scenes we did not see there, like when Moe is at the police department or when the aunt meets Saikawa. (Oh by the way, it just occurred to me that this must be the aunt from the book that I skipped, right?) I also liked that we learned more about our case, eg. how the two killings took place. Interesting to see that Saikawa immediately had the same hunch that I had last week, namely that the whole kidnapping was staged. Strange though that a politician would be able to get away with two killings
I also wonder about the brother. Who is he with and why? Is he really mentally ill? Was he kidnapped or did he run away? And who opened the book on the correct page? And how does this connect with the family kidnap? At least we know now that he is still alive, if Tomoe recognized his voice correctly…
Yes that’s right! It was nice to see her again, she’s a pretty fun character ^^ Although it took me a little bit of time to realize who she was.
I wonder if the brother is really still alive or if it might have been a recording (maybe they had recordings of him reading his poems or something). I don’t think the brother is mentally ill, I think they just said that to keep the maid from trying to go to that room.
Oh that’s a good point! As he basically says nothing but that line.
But didn’t Tomoe mention this something that the brother did (?) - to her? - at some point, and then they basically locked him in to prevent him from doing something like that again? It’s all very nebulous up to now (or I missed something) but that’s what I inferred up until now…
Yeah, something happened, and after that apparently the brother asked to be locked up. But Tomoe seemed surprised by the mention of a mental illness. I don’t think that’s what that was.
Hm, ok, good point. I somehow had a hunch that maybe he (tried to) sexually assault her, or attack her in another way. And so I figured that they called this a “mental illness” in order to get a grip on it. But yeah, maybe this was just a fake label in order to shut him up… (But why did Tomoe say that she could not go to his room alone? That sounded to me as if he was still dangerous, which supports the “mental illness” or maybe “uncontrolled aggressivity” theory somehow?) This is all very dubious up until now
The dad said that it wasn’t the missing brother who told him to give the phone to Tomoe, but he could be lying.
IIRC the brother is the dad’s only biological child; the two sisters are step-kids. The dad might feel close to his son and be motivated to help him escape his mysterious confinement.
On the other hand, there’s probably a lot of pressure to succeed in this family - but the uncle and the missing brother both chose artistic pursuits instead of politics. There could be a connection there.
The older sister’s involvement with the book of poems also seems suspicious.
I should probably learn some of these characters’ names
The female criminal seems to have been shot, but the cops haven’t found traces of gunpowder or the bullet itself. Could something else have killed her?
Takes me back to the time when I read the book, and my thoughts back then.