Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

……

During the rehearsal, Toru Watanabe sat on a chair below and watched the performance on the stage quietly.

In addition to Bandai Lingjiang, the director of the drama troupe, there are actresses Fumitsuki Karen, Ichikawa Mako, actors Ichikawa Tamasaburo, Yamazaki Naoki and screenwriter Sakata Onto, a total of six people.

The police officer who did not oppose Bandai Ryoe was the police captain of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Mihira Fuwa.

After rehearsing a scene, Bandai Lingjiang looked at Wenyue Hualian and said, "Hualien, you performed very well just now. There was real hatred in your performance."

"That's true." Vermouth commented, "The characters are very well-developed."

After receiving praise from the two seniors, Wen Yue Hua Lian quickly bowed and said, "I will continue to work hard."

Screenwriter Sakata Onto came over, patted Fugetsu Karen's shoulder, and gave her a meaningful smile. "The last scene was almost perfect. I'm very happy for you, too."

Wen Yue Hua Lian smiled stiffly and nodded.

Sakata Onto added, "Then let's rehearse the last scene of Act One again."

"it is good."

However, this time, Wen Yue Hua Lian made a major mistake. Bandai Ling Jiang, who had previously warmly praised her, suddenly turned gloomy. He threw the script in his hand at Wen Yue Hua Lian and scolded her, "What are you doing? How can you perform on stage with such a performance..."

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Wen Yue Hua Lian quickly apologized and bent down to pick up the script on the ground.

"Throw this stuff away immediately." Bandai Lingjiang looked down at her. "Rather than that, hurry up and prepare the medicine. Isn't it time to take the medicine?"

"Yes." Wen Yue Hua Lian responded weakly.

"Also, your acting skills are nothing." Bandai Lingjiang turned to the actor Yamazaki Naoki and scolded him, "It's because your acting skills are only at this level that your loan is snowballing."

Yamazaki Naoki turned his face away, looking angry but unable to speak.

Watanabe Toru didn't expect that the atmosphere at the scene would change like the weather in June. It was very harmonious before, but now it was full of tension.

He glanced at Vermouth. She still had a faint smile on her face, looking calm and composed.

……

The play officially begins at eight o'clock in the evening.

The story takes place in a family in the old times and revolves around the issue of inheritance. There is an old lady with a huge fortune and a niece who serves her. The old lady is jealous of her because of her youth and beauty. The old lady's only daughter was once kicked out of the house, but she returned home because she wanted to get the property. There is also a clown who failed in his career and was exploited by the old lady, a puppeteer who is bullied by the old lady, and a novelist who wants to turn the huge fortune into his own together with the old lady's niece. Among these people, everyone hopes that the old lady will die soon.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared on the stage.

Watanabe Toru was stunned and was about to look for a light source when the character played by Bungetsu Karen came over pushing a cart with five glasses of red wine on it.

"The smell of death surrounds this building, and within your hearts lies the ugly desire to kill. Well, let's drink to this deepest darkness. If one of us is going to die, there's no night like tonight."

Following Bandai Lingjiang's words, several people picked up their red wine glasses and drank them in one gulp.

Snapped……

The crisp sound of a wine glass breaking echoed in the quiet environment...

366. Stage accident

On the stage, Bandai Lingjiang suddenly looked painful. She covered her neck and made hoarse and rapid breathing sounds. Slowly, she became ferocious and reached out to grab the sofa, but it was no use. Her whole body was limp and she slowly fell on the stage.

"oh!!"

The guests below were shocked by Bandai Lingjiang's superb acting skills and applauded and cheered.

At the same time, the stage curtain slowly rose.

"It seems something happened." Watanabe Toru looked at Vermouth: "I remember the script said that it was the Joker who drank the poisoned wine."

“That’s exactly what happened.” Vermouth nodded slightly. “It seems the death prediction has come true.”

There was no trace of anxiety on her face, as if the person in trouble was a stranger who had nothing to do with her.

.......

When Toru Watanabe and Vermouth came to the stage from the backstage, the place was already in chaos. Fuwa Mihei had already arrived and was squatting on the ground, checking on Bandai Lingjiang's condition.

"She's been dead for 20 years."

Fuwa Meihe shook her head and stood up.

"How could this be?"

Everyone had an expression of disbelief. Who would have thought that a murder would happen during a performance?

Fuwa Mei looked around at everyone, finally settling on Fugetsu Karen: "Bandai suddenly collapsed after drinking, right?"

"Yeah." Wen Yue Hua Lian nodded nervously.

"Where was the wine glass placed before that?"

Wen Yue Hua Lian thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be on both sides of the stage."

"So, who were there?"

"Everyone," replied screenwriter Sakata Onto. "Everyone here is preparing on both sides of the stage. In addition, there are also staff members."

Fuwa Mei pinched her chin and said, "So, everyone present might have been poisoned."

Sakata Onto didn't seem to care about this. He scratched his hair helplessly and said, "Now the person who was killed has changed. We have to change the script as soon as possible."

"What are you talking about?" Fuwa Mei frowned at him.

Sakata Onto said with a matter-of-fact expression, "If we only perform the murder story and not the solution story, the audience will not accept it. Are you, the police, going to bear the loss?"

Unbreakable beauty and speechless.

……

Toru Watanabe and Vermouth's room.

"Sure enough, my premonition was right." Watanabe Toru lazily lay on the bed, looking at Vermouth standing by the window, gazing up at the night sky: "But, are you so indifferent? Isn't that Bandai your good friend?"

Vermouth turned around and didn't answer Watanabe Toru. Instead, she asked, "What I'm more curious about is how the murderer poisoned Bandai. How could he be sure that Bandai would pick up that glass of poisoned red wine?"

"A one in five probability is indeed not high." Watanabe Toru nodded: "But what if the murderer's target is not Bandai Lingjiang?"

Vermouth was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "You mean, the murderer killed randomly?"

"Do you remember the words we saw on the wall of the prop room? At the climax of tonight's play, one of these people will die. Judging from these words, the murderer cares about someone dying, not who the dead person is."

"That makes sense." Vermouth nodded slightly. "Then is this clown in this drama troupe?"

"I don't know about that." Watanabe Toru said lazily, "But I have a feeling that things won't end like this."

……

Watanabe Toru's premonition was correct. Half an hour later, news came that the body of screenwriter Sakata Onto was found in the courtyard of the Ijinkan. On the body was a card with a picture of a clown.

"Does this guy called Joker want to kill everyone in the drama troupe?" Fuwa Meihe's face was extremely solemn. Two murders occurred in just one day. This was something she had never encountered in her career.

Actor Yamazaki Naoki was on the verge of a mental breakdown and shouted, "What a joke! I didn't do anything, why should I be killed? You police officers, please think of a solution!"

"that……"

At this moment, the hotel owner said with some difficulty: "In fact, that clown has been to the hotel before."

"What!!"

The boss's words surprised everyone.

Fuwa Mei stared at the boss and said, "You said you've seen this clown?"

"Yes." The boss nodded. "He first came here ten years ago. I remember it was a snowy night. The guest was wrapped from head to toe in a clown costume. He left a box of money at the front desk and asked me to rent him room 315 for ten years."

"Ten years?"

"Yes, he's been staying in that room since that day. But strangely, he rarely leaves. He stays in his room all day. If he ever talks, it's only when he's on the phone." The hotel owner's face grew grave. "However, one day a year ago, when the maid went to clean the room, she found him dead."

"Dead?" This result surprised everyone again.

"Yes, at the time the police said the cause of death was drug-induced death. Because there were traces of drugs on his wrist and the door was locked from the inside, the police concluded that it was suicide and closed the case."

"That's right."

After listening to the hotel owner's story about the clown, everyone felt emotional but also a little disappointed. After all, the clown was dead, so the clues were naturally gone.

The next day.

When the hotel guests learned of Sakata Onto's death, the performance naturally could no longer go on. After the hotel owner apologized, the guests left one after another, leaving only the actors of the drama troupe and Watanabe Toru still there.

The hotel restaurant was much quieter than yesterday. Watanabe Toru was eating breakfast while listening to the conversation between Vermouth and Fumitsuki Karen.

"It's really surprising and sad that Ms. Bandai and Mr. Yamazaki encountered such a thing. However, with you here, Miss Hualian, the drama troupe should be fine." Vermouth comforted Wen Yue Hualian, who was feeling a little depressed.

Wen Yue Hua Lian shook her head gently: "No, I want to give up being an actress."

"Huh?" Vermouth was taken aback.

367, suicide note

Wen Yue Hua Lian whispered, "I'm not good at showing myself in front of people."

"Then why did you join this drama troupe?" Vermouth asked curiously.

Wen Yue Hua Lian was silent for a moment, then put down the spoon in her hand. "That was for someone very important to me, but time has changed him. I was originally an orphan, and was picked up and raised by Teacher Bandai. Since then, I have always regarded her as my own mother. Although some people have said bad things about her, she was actually a very gentle person. Now that she has been killed, I don't know the point of me staying in the drama troupe..."

As she spoke, she seemed to be unable to control her emotions. After saying sorry, she left the restaurant.

"I advise you not to believe her." After Wen Yue Hua Lian left, actor Ichikawa Tamasaburo came over and seemed to remind Vermouth: "She is an actress with superb acting skills. Even if she is laughing in her heart, tears will still flow down her face. No one in the troupe knows where that woman is and what she does every day."

"What do you mean?"

Fuwa Mei, who happened to be passing by, heard this and stopped in her tracks: "I heard that you and your sister, Miss Mako, were adopted by Bandai since you were young. Do you know who will benefit after Bandai's death?"

Ichikawa Tamasaburo chuckled, "Sorry, I don't know that."

After saying that, he left the restaurant.

"This guy really has nothing to do with Bandai's death." Vermouth held her cheek and watched Ichikawa Tamasaburo's back as he left.

"That's normal," Ichikawa Tamasaburo's sister, Ichikawa Mako, came over. "My brother and I were bullied by Bandai since we were young, to the point of cruelty. My brother was very young at the time, so the trauma has always been with him."

"In other words, you two siblings..." Fuwa Meihe looked at Ichikawa Mako, thoughtfully.

Ichikawa Mako seemed to see through Fuwa Meihe's thoughts and said bluntly, "Are you doubting me and my brother? However, we are not the only two who hate that woman..."

She looked at Yamazaki Naoki, who was sitting alone in a corner eating breakfast. "That man once borrowed a large sum of money from Bandai and Sakata. Because of this, he was often manipulated by Bandai like a puppet."

"that……"

As they were talking, the hotel owner suddenly came over and said to everyone, "I suddenly remembered something. Actually, when the clown was still living here, Ms. Bandai and Mr. Sakata often stayed here. What's more, they always specifically asked to stay in room 316, which is next to the clown's room."

"In other words, the two of them know the Joker?" Fuwa Meibing asked quickly.

The innkeeper shook his head: "No, no, because I have never seen any communication between them, so I don't think they know each other."

Unable to break the beauty and feel disappointed.

……

After breakfast, Toru Watanabe and Vermouth returned to their room.

"Things are really getting more and more interesting." Vermouth took out her lipstick and began to touch up her makeup: "Everyone is a suspect, including..."

"Including that police officer." Watanabe Toru took over her words.

Vermouth put down her lipstick and turned to look at him: "Do you think so too?"

"Yeah." Watanabe Toru smiled: "She looks very nervous."

"So, what's the reason?"

"I'm afraid she also knows that clown, and even has some ulterior motive with the deceased Bandai and Sakata."

Vermouth nodded slightly: "But how can we prove it?"

"Perhaps we can start our investigation from Room 315, where the clown lived."

At this point, he suddenly fell silent, then said self-deprecatingly, "After being around that confused detective for too long, I can't help but analyze every murder case I encounter."

Vermouth chuckled and said, "Why not just solve the case? I also want to know who the murderer is."

Watanabe Toru was uninterested: "This is the police's job. I'm just an eight-year-old kid."