What exist in the mind does not exist in the others. What the eyes sees will never see by others. What the will wants would never understand by others.
It was the end of Christmas and it was now almost new year. Riko didn't want me to get rid of the Christmas tree yet, she fell in love with that tree since she spend many of her hours decorating it after engaging in the battle of wits with her fellow lawyers.
She was sitting in the couch, scrolling through her phone. She was bored since she has nothing to do and it was weekend at the time. Luckily, someone offered us to go and take a vacation. It was a ship and sailing to Barcelona Spain, it said that the ship has some histories in there like a captain dying in there because of something that I don't even wanna know. I just turned the TV on, I just watch whatever was in that channel. It was just a news about the raise of finances, another problem in this world to fix.
It was in my pocket and it was 2 tickets. Color purple and it says in Kanji characters "JOIN ME AND SAIL TO SPAIN" I never had any reason to deny the invitation since apparently it was Riko's friend who invite us there.
I told Riko that the sail will start at 11:00 am and it was 8:30 at the time. Riko suddenly panicked and quickly went to the bathroom to shower. I just changed my clothes to look perfectly well. I wore a tuxedo suit and a black jacket since it was extremely cold at the time. Riko was done and she wore a dress and a jacket as well and then we went outside to fetch a cab and take us to the ship.
While on the cab, I texted Yuri if he wanted to go and join us since Riko's friend doesn't mind at all as long as they're safe and peaceful. Yuri says he's not going, since he was invited to keep an eye on a certain person worth of 700,000 yen. It is quite a prize just to keep an eye on a person. Could it be a person from the government? I have no idea.
We arrived at our destination and it was a private ship. A private cruise ship. It was massive and bright. Suddenly, my phone rang through my pocket and I picked it up.
"Hello?" said I
"Hey Naoto, It's me Yuri"
"Yeah. What's up?"
"Would you mind turning around real quick?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Just do it for me"
I turned to my left and saw him there, grinning like a prankster. He has a big luggage on his left and waving his hand to me. Me and Riko quickly approached him.
"What are you doing here?" asked I
"What are you doing here?" asked Yuri
"Me and Riko are invited to go on vacation"
"I was consulted by a man"
"What a coincidence this is!" cried Riko
"A coincidence indeed Ms. Riko"
We quickly went to the ship and we saw a man wearing a dark and massive cloak and his arms open wide to welcome us.
"Ahhh Riko and Naoto! You're here!" said the Man
"Hiroshi! You're here it's been a long time!" said Riko
"It is indeed. Nice to meet you Mr. House. I am Hiroshi Shirogane, Riko's friend back in high school. What a handsome man you picked here Riko"
"No, no please. Thank you" said I
"No, you are indeed. Oh Detective Rizuna, you've arrived!"
"Of course. You consulted me on a matter of an importance. I will come if needed"
"I am glad to hear that. Shall we proceed to your rooms?"
We then proceed to the rooms we are signed in to and we took care of our clothes in the closets and we just lie down. Yuri was in the other side, quiet and unbothered. I smelt the scent of her perfume and it was relaxing for me and beautiful
We rest there for at least half an hour until the servants told us that the food was ready. We saw a servant knocking repeatedly on Yuri's door. Yuri then went outside and thanked the servants for telling him. I don't exactly know why.
We went to the dinner table and we saw some few people in there too. Two women and two men. All of them are in a luxury suit and have some luxury things. The woman who was red head and has a luggage with another big bag in her shoulder quickly approached Riko.
"Riko! It's been a long time!" said the woman
"Sayaka! You're here too?"
"Yeah. I've been invited by Hiroshi as well"
"I see"
"Did you try out the perfume I gave you?"
"Yeah. It was good to be honest. Anyways, what's with all of the heavy bags?"
"Oh you know, just wanna bring many stuff, since I'm having a vacation and very far away from those stressful students"
"Hey don't be like that" said Riko, laughing
"No, I mean it, it was stressful"
"Yeah, you have long nails!"
"Yep. Just to make sure I'm still a woman. You look good girl"
"Don't tease me Sayaka"
"No, I'm serious. Your boyfriend?" said the woman pointing at me
"Yeah. This is Naoto House, a neurosurgeon"
"Nice to meet you ma'am" I extended my hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you Naoto, I am Sayaka Tsubaki. Riko's friend in high school. I am now a chemistry teacher, teaching in Tokyo University"
"A chemistry teacher? That is very nice to hear"
"Thanks"
We sat on our chairs and waited for the food to be served, while eating, a woman and a man introduced themselves. Mr. Hiroshi lead Sayaka to the location of her room.
"I guess your invited as well. What a lovely couple" said the man with glasses.
"Thanks. I am Naoto House and this is my girlfriend Riko Ayanokoji" said I
"That is very nice. I am Kiyotaka Tomonari. I'm a businessman and Hiroshi's business partner and this is also my girlfriend Ami Karishima" he pointed to the girl with glasses beside her as well. It kinda reminds me of the two.
"Really? That is nice and great"
Kiyotaka approached me and whispered in my left ear.
"Be quiet, but I have a plan to propose now" said Kiyotaka
"That's great!" said I, my voice raised a little.
"Shh. Be quiet"
"Oh okay"
"Is that your friend over there?" asked Kiyotaka pointing to my left
I turned my gaze to where he was pointing at and saw Yuri in there standing, viewing the sea and the place.
"Yeah. That's Detective Yuri Rizuna, my friend"
"A detective? That is interesting"
"Indeed"
Yuri approached us. He started greeting the two couple as well and joked around. He reached into his pocket and it was a joker card. As expected for a man like him, he did a magic trick, he made the card disappear and reappear to Ms. Karishima's purse. We clapped, loudly and he bowed like a gentleman. The other two went to the dinner table and they were a married couple. They were Masaru and Hinata Akiyama, they wore simple clothes but you have to keep in mind that in order to get in this ship, you would either get invited by the host himself or pay 400,00 yen and they manage to get in here even though Mr. Hiroshi only knew them now. They were sweet and kind as well and even gave us some tips about our relationship.
"You two should have more fun together, alone" said Mrs. Akiyama
"That is what are we doing. We sometimes play chess or play online games that's all" I replied
"Well that is great! You two look good together"
Me and Riko looked at each other and we blushed for a second, and then. The lunch was now served and it was pretty delicious. I had a good time with the people in there while eating and Riko decided to go inside the room since she was bored and tired. I agreed and I just stayed there for a half an hour once again. While Yuri keeps the two young couple laugh and smile. What a classic Yuri it is.
"I presume that you are a writer" said Yuri to Kiyotaka
"Precisely so, but how could you know that?"
"I have observed that you keep rubbing your index and middle finger to your thumb, a classic handle when holding a pen"
"You are quite remarkable, Mr. Rizuna"
I asked the servants for a coffee and it served me right away. It was pretty good and it was now 1:00 pm. But, when I stood, I feel a little bit of dizziness. I manage to walk still but I was in the front of the ship.
When I was there. I probably saw one of the most traumatizing things in my life. I first heard a voice, a very deep and calm voice.
"🎵Touch me once. Then kiss me twice. Then kiss me once again. It's been a looooong, looooong tiiiiiiime🎵"
I went to investigate the noise and I saw a man in a clown suit. His face was pale as a snow, his forehead is huge, and his make up, a red lune running from the corners of his mouth all up through his eyes and forehead and he was riding in a unicycle holding red balloons. Maybe 5 of them. His appearance looked similar to what I've watched in the TV recently, it is a clown that appears in a cycle just to cause harm and fear to the small city.
"Hello, Naoto House" said the man
He then laughs nonstop and chased after me with his unicycle. I kept running and running and the laughter was getting louder and louder in my head as he said the words.
"Come play with me House!" said he repeatedly
I kept running and running and my knees are getting tired. Then while I heard the noise and kept running, I suddenly bumped into Yuri.
"Woah! Naoto! Are you okay?" asked he
"Someone's chasing me" said I, pointing to the direction where I am being chased.
"But there is no one there? What are you talking about?" said he
My eyes widened and I immediately looked at my back. Yuri was right, there was no one there. I quickly went to the place he was chasing me and looked for him but there was no one there.
Yuri approached me and asked what was wrong. I explained what happened and Yuri was curious as well. Yuri told me to stay in the room and just wait for dinner while he was investigating.
It was dinner and I just ate every food in my plate and drank water with Riko. I started to have headache once again and told Riko that I will sleep. While going to the room, I saw him again. Standing in the hallway with his head unnaturally titled to the left, his eyes opened wide and they were pure white, his mouth also opened, very wide with the inside hollow. He then turned to his left and walked away. I quickly opened the door and slammed it close and locked it and quickly went to bed.
I thought it was over but I saw his shadow to the window and he was staring at me with his tilted to the left once again. He then waves widely with his left hand as more balloons began to float to his side and started to talk.
"Why won't you play with me Naoto? I thought we were friends. Come out, come out wherever you are" said the man
I quickly hid my head under my pillow and tried to resist the voice who is echoing through my head. And then the lights went on.
I jolted awake and was panicking but it was Riko. Riko was shock to see me acting like that and quickly approached me.
"Hey, hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah I think I am"
"What was it?"
I explained everything to her and she immediately went outside to investigate as well. She was away for more than 10 minutes and then I saw her running and went to the room, breathless.
"What happened?"
"I saw a man with a knife in there. He was a tall man but I couldn't see his face"
After hearing those words, we heard some footsteps and humming, we quickly locked the door and covered ourselves with our blankets due to our fear of getting caught.
The sun rises and I woke up feeling better, but I couldn't forget about what happened that night. I quickly went to the lobby and started to drink coffee in there. I stared at the servants while he gave me the coffee and I tested it first, luckily I didn't have the same feeling as yesterday and was feeling great. And then I heard a scream, it was a woman's voice and I immediately ran to investigate.
It was just next to our room and saw young Ami outside the room, covering her mouth and her legs curled a bit.
"Ms. Karishima? Are you okay?"
She just pointed to the room and when I took a look I was shocked. I saw Kiyotaka sitting beside his bed, his eyes half opened, blood drooling from his mouth and a knife on his chest with a small piece of paper in it.
Some few people came in and they were shocked as well. Yuri arrived and ordered me to come with him and investigate. I looked at the body and now performing a hand made autopsy.
"Any leads?" asked Yuri
"He died 2 hours ago. The rigor mortis is slowly performing" said I
Yuri took a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly removed the knife on the chest and picked up the note. Yuri's eyes half closed when he read that note, I presumed it as a cipher to solve. Yuri looked carefully in the note and then looked once again towards the dead man.
"What was in the note?" asked I
Yuri showed me the note and I read it, as I expected it was indeed a cipher. A limited and short cipher.
"L.A.C"
I have no idea what those words means, but I am sure I will figure it out as well with them. Yuri quickly went outside with the note. I followed them while Ms. Karishima approached the dead man and cried, loudly. I felt bad and a tear even fell from the corner of my eye but I continue to go. Later, the others went as well, most of them in their pajamas still.
Riko came in as well and she went inside. She looked all over the place and then went outside to approach me.
"Autopsy doctor?" asked Riko
"He died 2 hours ago"
"Okay"
"Still wearing that perfume?"
Riko nodded and touched me in the shoulder and stand beside me to witness the tragedy of an innocent man. Then Hiroshi came in, screaming and asking about what is happening.
"Hey! What is going on here?" asked Hiroshi
"A dead man" replied Mr. Akiyama
"What? What are you talking about?"
Hiroshi parted the red sea and went inside to check. He saw the young lady Karishima still hugging her dead boyfriend, crying. Hiroshi gasped, his eyes wide. He quickly leaved the room with his footsteps, fast and heavy.
Everyone tried to comfort Ms. Karishima and even tried to get her off of the body. Her grip was tight and she didn't want to let go, she cried and cried and every cry it gets louder and louder with the words screaming
"KIYOTAKA! NOO!! KIYOTAKA!!"
They managed to get her off but she was still in her room, depressed and sad about the death of her boyfriend. Mrs. Akiyama is taking care of her in her room, I quickly went to the lobby and saw everyone in there, frozen, lost in thought, still shocked about what happened. The servant named Haruka Hajime, the one who served me tea and coffee earlier, served them as well. They all drank while they're still lost in thought.
"Who would do such a thing to a man?" asked Mr. Akiyama
"It is clearly for revenge" replied Hiroshi
"It is seems very logical but what kind of revenge?"
"That is what we don't know"
I stared at Yuri, who was observing the sea. I approached him and stand beside him while his arms are on the bars of the ship.
"Connect the dots yet?" asked I
"No. Not yet. I almost theorized that it was a suicide" replied he
"Suicide? Why?"
"The knife was in a sword grip. Mostly when someone died and it is in a sword grip, most likely it is a suicide since that's how they hold the knife when they're killing themselves. But, in Kiyotaka's case, it isn't, due to the cipher in his chest. So, my theory, is that the culprit was smaller than the victim since the culprit needs an amount of force to stab the victim"
"That is an intriguing fact and theory"
"It is indeed"
"I feel bad for Ms. Karishima"
"I am as well"
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I am completely fine, you don't need to worry about me. I should be worred for you and Riko"
I nodded and I quickly went to check on Riko. But when I did that, my head began to numb once again, and I'm dizzy once again. The world is turning upside down, but I can still walk properly. Is this the tea again? The numbness was gone but when I look up to look straight at the direction I'm walking, I saw him once again. The clown, waving at me.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" asked I
"I just want to play with you Naoto" replied the clown, that voice was loud and it echoed to my head.
He quickly ran towards me while opening his mouth, showing his sharp teeth and jaw. I quickly ran away but I slipped due to the wet floor. I saw him coming closer to me, his mouth drooling with saliva, I just closed my eyes and accept my faith but someone touched my shoulder from behind.
"Mr. House? Are you okay?" asked the voice, it was a soft and feminine voice
I turned around and I saw all of them. Sayaka was the one who tapped me in the shoulder and asked me if I was okay and the rest are just looking at me, with curiosity. I turned to the direction where I saw the clown and once again, there was no one there.
I just stood up and apologizes to them and quickly went to my room. As I close the door, I leaned at it and made a deep breathe. I went to my bed and lay down, asking myself what in the world is going on. I was in there for nearly an hour and heard another scream to the other side of the ship. I quickly get out of the room and went there to investigate. I saw Mrs. Akiyama running, towards me. We bumped into each other and I saw her panicking, her hands trembling and her eyes keep looking at the direction she ran into.
"Mrs. Akiyama, are you okay? What happened?"
"I saw a dark figure like pure dark black, I couldn't s-see his face but he was t-tall and he came after me, holding a kni-knife!"
My body froze as soon as I heard those words, I quickly went to that direction, but I saw no one there. But once again, there was no one there. But, I saw something in the ceiling, it was made out of red paint spray.
"See You Soon J"
My breath began to go fast as I panicked and called out everyone. They all came in and was shocked to see the message in the ceiling as well. Suddenly, my head became numb once again but it wasn't just me, it was all of them but they were able to restrain it. Unfortunately, Mrs. Akiyama faints due to the shock and headache. Yuri quickly went to the center and started to talk, steady, loudly, seriously.
"Everyone! You all stay in the lobby and I will ask each of you some questions"
We all agreed and we just went to the lobby. Mr. Hajime served us some food while Yuri is outside staring at the sea once again, waiting for Mrs. Akiyama to wake. We all ate our food and Mrs. Akiyama finally woke up. Yuri then came in and started asking Mrs. Akiyama what she saw.
"Tell me ma'am, what did you saw?" asked he
"I just saw a shadowy figure, he just chased me down"
"You said, he was holding a knife, correct?"
"A knife? Wait, knife? Oh, yes, indeed"
"Well that's all I wanted to hear"
Yuri then approached Mr. Akiyama and asked him dome questions.
"Where were you Mr. Akiyama?"
"I was in my room, my wife told me that she will go outside to look on Ms. Karishima and then I just heard her scream after that, she can vouch for me"
"Is that so?"
"It is indeed so"
"Well, thank you for your cooperation"
Yuri then talked to Ms. Karishima, who was still depressed.
"Tell me Miss. Where were you?"
"I was just in my room, waiting for Mrs. Akiyama to come"
Yuri just looked her at both ways and then slowly nodded and bowed at her. Yuri then approached the last 3. Ms. Tsubaki, Mr. Hiroshi and Mr. Hajime. I just kept following him as his assisstant.
"Hello. I would like to ask you three, where were you at that time?"
"We three were just here in the lobby" said Hiroshi
"He is correct, detective. We were just in here" said Hajime
"Yeah we didn't do anything wro-wrong. Achoo!"
"Bless you madame"
She just nodded and Yuri quickly sat into his chair and began to ate his served food. We were just in table, comforting each other. Riko was just there sitting, quietly.
"Hey, you okay?" asked I
"Yeah. Just shock"
"Any leads yet Attorney?"
"No, not at all"
Then, something happened. Mr. Akiyama started choking, he was struggling and then suddenly dropped dead.
"No! Masaru!!" screamed Mrs. Akiyama
Then, from the window, we saw that shadowy figure once again. He was standing still, staring at us. He raised one hand and he was holding a knife, and our heads began to ache once again. He keeps waving with the hand that had the knife and someone stood up.
"Screw this!" cried Hiroshi
He raised a revolver in his hand and shot the man. The man dropped to the floor, I quickly lowered Mr. Hiroshi's hands and took the gun from him, we came to check but...
It wasn't a man. It was Mr. Hajime, he was lying dropped dead and he was still in his uniform, he was holding something, I picked it up and it was a ring, an engagement ring, it has a sapphire on top and it was reflecting. Yuri came in, and from that moment he suddenly walk to the front, where the paint was discovered. I quickly followed him. He was pressing both of his fingers on the side of his forehead.
"Yuri? Are you okay?-"
"Just... Shh... I need to make sure"
It was about 30 seconds and that his shoulders went low and he raised his hand.
"Say Naoto..."
"Hm?"
"If my theory is correct, can there be a thing to trick a human mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean"
"Oh. I think so yeah. Wait..."
"Then that might be it" said he with his scarlet framed glasses glowing and reflecting the moonlight.
He knelt down to his knees and picked up a small fabric. Like a cloth and it was light blue from what I observed.
I quickly return to the dinner table or room. And I immediately ordered everyone to stay still since Yuri will begin to make his deduction show. Yuri came in and then approached the counter where the wine and beer.
"Will you please excuse me, Ms. Sayaka?" asked Yuri
"Yes sure" replied Ms. Tsubaki
Yuri reached from the wine and it was red grape wine. He filled his glass full and then went to the center. Yuri raised his glass and started drinking it slowly, and then he stopped.
"When, we were on our first day and it was nighttime, a few people started to have hallucinations, and that was Mr. House and Ms. Ayanokoji. They saw a clown and the shadowy figure. Then, earlier this morning, we saw Mr. Kiyotaka and Mr. Akiyama got murdered and it started once again. Mr. House and Mrs. Akiyama experienced the hallucinations and we saw a message from the culprit. Here is my theory and this is a theory only. The culprit might've used a type of serum that can affect people's thoughts and imaginations, then, the culprit used a costume or mask to become that hallucination and then later threw them in the sea to dispose of the evidence."
"But, why did we saw Mr. Hajime as the figure?" asked Ms. Tsubaki
"It is more likely that when Mr. Akiyama was choking to the poison, all of your mind state was already thinking of the man. So, that's why Hajime was the figure in front of you all"
"Then, where could the serum be?" asked Hiroshi
"It is more likely that it was in the tea and in the paint spray. The culprit was a chemist. And also in the dying message, the message L.A.C is actually translated backwards which is C.A.L and in the english word it can form the word physical or chemical. I think that the chemical is the good choice to pick here due to the hallucinations we have been experiencing, isn't that right, Sayaka Tsubaki?
"What?!"
"You were the culprit from the very beginning. I don't know half of the motive but I am sure it is about love. There is also one more thing that the serum might into and it was the perfume you gave to Ms. Ayanokoji"
"What are you talking about?! How can you say I'm the culprit?! How can I kill both of them?!"
"For Kiyotaka, you approached her in the room. You fought with him once Ms. Karishima went outside, you used the knife and stabbed him and then left a message as well. For Mr. Akiyama, you already poisoned her food to begin with. The food was already served before the hallucination of Mrs. Akiyama even happened. You sneezed while I am interrogating you, so, I theorize that you accidently touched a pepper salt in your hand"
"Hold on, you can't just accuse me?! Where is your evidence?!"
"Three things, one is the engagement ring, your motive has something to do with Kiyotaka and Ms. Karishima's relationship and you stole it and you accidently dropped when you were retrieving some evidence which was the thing that Mr. Hajime found. Two, is the fabric on the floor, it was from a surgical gloves and from what I observed you have very long fingernails which might be the reason of that fabric. And three is this" Yuri showed a paper.
When Tsubaki saw that paper, her posture changes and her eyes and mouth were widened all of a sudden.
"Let me read it for you... Hal 222, a serum that can affect a human's mental state and make it their worst fears or some scary things that they've discovered recently. It can effect at any time, it is usually have an unpredictable effect, it usually activates based on the person's energy and heartbeat. Researched by: Dr. Sayaka Tsubaki. How was it?"
"Where did you even get that?"
"From your pocket of course, when I reached into the wine, I secretly pickpocket you. And this is what I saw"
"This is trap! This whole thing is a set up! This was all of part of Yuri's plan to frame me! Please trust me everyone! I'm not the culprit!"
"Give up, Sayaka. You are indeed the culprit" said Yuri
Everyone became silent in that lobby and they all stared at Sayaka who was feel cornered now. Sayaka dropped to her knees and then:
"He deserved it. She didn't deserved that woman to begin with. I'm much better than you" said Sayaka, she looked at Ms. Karishima with grudge.
"You little-" said Ms. Karishima
She approached Ms. Tsubaki, aggressively. Ms. Tsubaki backed off and reached for the gun in Hiroshi's pockets. She aimed it at us.
"Back off! Back off!" cried Ms. Tsubaki.
"Then what is the reason for you to kill my husband?!" asked Mrs. Akiyama
"It's probably have to do with framing and confusion just to avoid suspicion. She knew that once Mr. Akiyama died, everyone will start to hallucinate" said Yuri
"Precisely so. You're too good detective! If I will die then we all should!"
"Stop, Sayaka" said I "There are no bullets in there anymore"
"What?!"
"I anticipated that something like this would happen, but I didn't know you'd be the one to do it"
I raised my fist and opened it and many bullets fall from the ground. One. By. One. Ms. Tsubaki dropped the gun and started crying. Mrs. Akiyama and Ms. Karishima looked at her with grudge, but in that look there's forgiveness.
"You gotta understand Ms. Tsubaki. Love isn't a thing to get by using force. Love is all about faith. You just have to wait for it. Love is the one of only things that can't disappear in this world. But you have to keep in mind, that it takes time" said Yuri
The ship turned around and we returned to Japan and report about what happened. The police dept. took care of it and we all just went back home. We were just in our house once again, silent. And then my phone buzzed. It was Yuri.
"Yo! Are you free right now?" asked he in the message
"Yeah why?"
"I just got 3 tickets to fly to United Kingdom. Wanna go too?"
"Wait really?"
"Yeah"
"Of course!"
"Meet me at my apartment"
I told Riko about this and she was thrilled. She quickly went to shower once again and changed her clothes. I changed as well, ready once again. I just hope nothing bad happen like what just happened earlier.
END CHAPTER