Week 6: 容疑者Xの献身 - The Devotion of Suspect X 🌹

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容疑者Xの献身 - The Devotion of Suspect X :rose: Home Thread

Week 6

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Start Date: Feb 27th
Previous Part: Week 5
Next Part: Week 7

Reading:

Week Start Date End Chapter End Page Page Count
Week 6 Feb 27th [End Chapter 11] 224 36

Discussion Rules

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  • Don’t be afraid of asking questions, even if they seem embarrassing at first. All of us are here to learn.
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Proper Noun Readings

Previous Proper Nouns
Name Reading Notes Proof
石神 いしがみ (Week 1)
新大橋 しんおおはし
隅田川 すみだがわ
清洲橋 きよすばし
靖子 やすこ
米沢 よねざわ
小代子 さよこ
金子 かねこ
錦糸町 きんしちょう
美里 みさと
富樫 慎二 とがし しんじ
赤坂 あかさか
扇屋 おおぎや (Week 2)
湯川 学 ゆかわ まなぶ
草薙 くさなぎ
帝都大学 ていとだいがく
旧江戸川 きゅうえどがわ
岸谷 きしたに
間宮 まみや
篠崎 しのざき
山辺 躍子 やまべ ようこ
亀戸 かめいど
森下駅 もりしたえき (Week 3)
荻窪 おぎくぼ
江東区 こうとうく
錦糸町 きんしちょう
哲哉 てつや
工藤 くどう (Week 4)
大崎 おおさき
上野 実香 うえの みか (Week 5)
瑞江駅 みずええき
浜町駅 はまちょうえき
森岡 もりおか
汐留 しおどめ
工藤 那明 くどう くにあき
Name Reading Notes Proof
都営新宿線 とえいしんじゅくせん
品川 しながわ

That last part though…it was just a matter of time before someone did/ thought of something rash :laughing: and boy, they gone get it!
Even though 石神 knew there was a calculated risk in driving to sniff out 工藤, he still did it :roll_eyes:

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Wooow, chapter 11 was intense!

I was thinking whether he was planning on following 工藤 home and threatening / killing him directly, but this is much more interesting!

I really want to continue reading to see whether 石神 will confront her right there. He probably won’t, because he’s quite calculated and I don’t think that’s a risk he would take. But, you never know :woman_shrugging:t3:

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Daang! I was not expecting that! o_o Things are getting even more interesting. It seems to explain why he’s been calling her あなた (if I remember correctly)? I found it surprising since he was very polite at the beginning and that sounds quite rude/direct. But if the thinks he owns her, that makes more sense.

In other news, a couple of easy place names that I don’t think came up before:
都営新宿線 とえいしんじゅくせん
品川 しながわ

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Wait, am I the only one who feels like 石神 is trying to frame himself? Like, he has the weapon used to kill the victim. The message does not imply they are acting together and would immediately puts him as a prime suspect. He probably expects her not to show it to the police immediately, which would even increase the credibility of her innocence. She would just seem to be the victim of a stalker. Then he would get taken in, confess everything, and she would be free. Plus, if he plays his card right, she would not even feel bad about it and could resume her life without remorse. Truly, 容疑者X (since he was not known beforehand)の献身.

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Interesting notion. I was also wondering why he still has the kotatsu. But if he’s getting jealous and creating threats in his head, how is he going to let her go scotch free so that she can build a life with 工藤-kun? :eyes:

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My idea is that he doesn’t expect her to be able to be a good enough actor to act in a believable way if she knew about his plan. In particular, she would not agree on his sacrifice if she still thinks of him as an ally. That’s why (I think) he is asking himself if his message sounds threatening enough. She has to believe she is threatened or else she won’t be believable with the police.
If you are asking about the details, though, well, he has left a lot of breadcrumbs for the police to follow, leading to himself. Especially the bicycle and burned clothes. He got spotted on purpose at the other station (remember that there was a report about a “round man” with the clothes of the victim). That’s also why he stole a new bicycle on purpose, with, I assume his fingerprints all over it. Basically, he will probably say that he has been stalking her for a while, saw a man going for her apartment (冨樫) and killed him or something like that.

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I see what you’re saying. I never read his thoughts in that way. This is pretty interesting stuff!

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I thought Ishigami was just freaking out after I read the end of chapt. 11, but now that you mention it, it looks like the message is a calculated move. OK, so this changes everything.

But he’s smart enough to fool the detectives into thinking that both Yasuko and himself are innocent so why is he doing this to himself? I guess we’ll find out.

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I think he is starting to see that it doesn’t hold up, especially after learning that his friend has close ties with the police and got quite interested in the case.

Maybe he even planned something like this from the start, as a fallback option to rescue her? Why else would he keep the kotatsu?..

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If I understand you correctly, you’re saying that Ishigami has now gone to plan #2 since it looks like he’s going to get caught.

So Plan #1: Save Yasuko as well as himself.
If that doesn’t work, Plan #2: At least save Yasuko while he himself gets caught.

I think @Napthalene, if I’m understanding correctly, is saying that there was no Plan #1 but that it was Plan #2 right from the beginning. He had planned on getting caught but wanted things to happen in such a way that Yasuko wouldn’t forever feel badly for him. Is that right?

OK, well…

Ah, not exactly. I’m also thinking it was plan A: nobody gets caught and plan B: only himself gets caught from the start. It’s just that the current situation with 工藤 gave him some extra ideas for plan B.

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Oh, OK. You mentioned he left a lot of bread crumbs for the police to follow which all happened right at the beginning before anyone else knew anything so I thought you were saying that was part of his plan to get caught.

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Yes, kinda. The way I see it, he did it in a way to hide the connection to her. If the police doesn’t get anything, great, but even if they make progress, they would find the “easy” solution (his culpability) instead of finding traces leading to her. The idea was that, if there was no “easy” lead, the police would eventually find something inculpating her. It should not be too obvious either, otherwise it would be suspicious too. So, again, plan A: police doesn’t understand anything and eventually gives up. Plan B: they do make progress, but get tricked by his plan and find him to be the culprit. He planned for the worst while hoping for the best.

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Ah, OK I get it now.

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This thread makes me feel like I haven’t been thinking at all :sweat_smile:, just chugging along. To be fair I’m usually reading after 12 AM and it’s my first detective novel…

At first I took Ishigami writing that threat behind the photo at face value, but what you say makes perfect sense. Must still hurt seeing Yasuko with Kudou with those mixed feelings of love(or addiction?) and devotion. I’m starting to feel kind of sad for him.

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Don’t worry, I had not seen that either :sweat_smile: but it makes perfect sense. Also considering the book’s title.

Oh, you mean your first one ever? Wow! It’s one of my favourite genres, so I’ve read a ton of them already, but this is my first one in Japanese - if we don’t count the にゃんにゃん series :wink:

(If at some point you want to read a detective story that’s a bit closer to home, I can definitely recommend Sjövall/Wahlöö :upside_down_face:)

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I can’t really recall any detective books I’ve read. I don’t think Dan Brown counts, as it’s more of a thriller, albeit having some mystery elements. At some point years ago I tried to read Stieg Larssons “Män som hatar kvinnor” in Swedish, but it was a tad too difficult. Have to try it again at some point. Also a lot of Kepler in our bookshelf.

Went to the bookstore last week and I was basically forced to buy Max Seeck by the shop clerk :sweat_smile:.

Yeah! I’ve seen some of the TV Beck episodes. Also, my mom was obsessed with German detective series, so I’ve seen quite a few random episodes of der Alte and the like. Der Staatsanwalt also seems to be popular (it’s on the national public tv streaming site). I should try to read something in German at some point, studied it in school for 10 years, but haven’t used it for so long, it feels a bit of a waste :smiley:.

EDIT: I remember reading one Agatha Christie book in school, so I guess that does count.

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That last sentence. :scream:

Can’t wait to see how this all turns out. While I was skeptical knowing the details of the murder early on, that changed after Yukawa showed up. :anguished: I assume Yukawa, being Ishigami’s equal more or less, will see through Ishigami’s plans but will he tell Kusanagi or eventually lead him to the answer? Or did he get involved merely to solve the puzzle Ishigami created and be satisfied without turning him in? Also, just how far does Ishigami’s plan go and when did it start? :thinking:

I was starting to sour on Ishigami and question the reasoning behind some of his recent actions but @Naphthalene’s reading makes a lot of sense and makes him seem not as bad. Still creepy though. I’m with Yasuko all the way but still undecided on Ishigami vs Yukawa.

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Caught up with week 6! That last chapter especially pulled me along. Also, kind of sad to see 草薙 and 湯川’s grouchy friendship go astray into nearly adversarial awkwardness like this~

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