We finally got Mitsuhiko in the picture for real. A fair amount of what he said just feels like conjecture though… Also 3 criminals (including Ikeda)? That feels like a lot. Is it going to be that they gang-raped Yuko (and possibly Miyako) and the murders are trying to cover that up? If Yuko was injured and/or traumatized that could also be why they weren’t able to successfully escape from the guest house when the landslide happened. The interactions with the wife were weird. Also the discussion on the murderer having to have been very familiar with the train station. Isn’t Ikeda the most likely person to have suggested that? If Miyako called Ikeda to meet, then Ikeda called X and told X that Miyako wants to meet and X suggested that they set the train overpass as the meeting place, Ikeda would’ve then had to have contacted Miyako again to arrange that, and while Ikeda was lying that still seems a bit difficult to have done given the context and technology. It seems a lot simpler and cleaner if Ikeda arranged to meet Miyako in the overpass and then told X that.
EDIT: For Seihouji appearing in the prologue, as soon as it showed up in ch1 I was like “That sounds familiar” and looked up where it showed up, but also was kinda confused cuz why was her family’s book in this random bookshop? But now we have more context. Maybe they took the book when they assaulted Yuko/Miyako, then fenced it off to get rid of the evidence? Come to think of it, the talk about it being hard to dispose of the book was also bizarre. It’s a book. You can shred and/or burn it.
I wondered that, but I think this was specifically about the very short term. The killer grabs the book and leaves on the about to depart train – but none of the witnesses remember him as carrying a big bookshop bag or suspiciously book shaped object – he was just an unremarkable salaryman. So what did he do with the book?
That would require Ikeda to have immediately decided on murder when Miyako first called in order to pick this convenient “you can commit a crime without being witnessed” location for the meeting. Ikeda doesn’t seem like he’s the cool headed decisive type that way, and even if he was, would probably still want to take half an hour to think through a plan in case he came up with a better idea. But “X is more willing to commit murder than Ikeda and it was all his plan” feels more likely to me.
That makes a bit more sense. But considering the whole thing seemed to be premeditated, the killer could’ve just brought a bag, and would a bag really make a nondescript salaryman descript?
I agree that Ikeda immediately deciding to have X kill Miyako in the train overpass is a bit odd, but if Ikeda and Miyako only talked once it had to have been one of them who decided on the meeting spot. I guess Ikeda could’ve been like “hold on can I call you back real quick?” and gotten a call-back number of some sort and then conferred with X. I’m mostly interested in this point as a matter of logical rigor xP Is Mitsuhiko smart enough to tie this out, or will his (contradictory) conjecture just be right cuz he’s the series detective
Now that escalated quickly
As soon as we all agreed that Ikeda is very sus, he kills himself literally on the next page Or does he get killed? The fish scales on the rope are very fishy indeed. Is this a fisherman’s rope? That would kinda match Mitsuhiko’s speculation about a tall (or at least strong) man who killed Ikeda.
Also, finally Mitsuhiko makes his proper appearance and dumps a lot of speculations on our poor detective. While I can see his reasoning, it seems pretty much pulled out of thin air.
But at least he drops a few interesting details. His sister had sex around this incident 8 years ago when she died, apparently. Was she raped or was it consensual? Or was it after her death even? Also, Ikeda seems to have gotten the mysterious book from Miyako herself! Which means he may have received it directly from her? It must have happened before the landslide as all her belongings got very dirty and subsequently got thrown away. Was it also Ikeda who had sex with Mitsuhiko’s sister?
I had a good reading day and finished yesterday in a single day . To be fair the reading was way easier than the previous weeks.
A lot happened this chapter and many things escalated.
Yeah, I’m not really convinced by him. Nogami thinks he’s a genius, but if you ask me his conjecture that the murderer on the overpass and the murderer of ikeda have to be different people feels real out there. Also that ikeda coordinated via a call with person X is pure conjecture because he did a smoke buying run…
I feel like the sex before her death definitely has to play some role in the murders. Why bring it up otherwise. I do however hope it doesn’t go into the involuntary direction and is mearly a connection point between different people involved.
As a tangent. Nogami had my sympathies in the first chapter when it felt like a barrage of attacks at him for not doing his job properly. But after reading how he treats his wife I can’t feel that bad for that guy anymore. Seriously poor tomoko…
I tend to mentally classify this kind of thing as “salaryman wish fulfillment”, especially when it turns up in books from this 1970s-80s era. The whole “my wife doesn’t understand how hard my work life is and I can’t explain it to her, but if she ever did realize she’d really appreciate me” bit – I bet that went down well with a lot of guys spending long hours in the office and not so much time with their families.
Or does he get killed? The fish scales on the rope are very fishy indeed. Is this a fisherman’s rope? That would kinda match Mitsuhiko’s speculation about a tall (or at least strong) man who killed Ikeda.
. To be fair the reading was way easier than the previous weeks.
