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Chapter 2: The Case of Lost Mother

The Basis of Deduction

I sighed so much deeply.

It has been a week since Keiko’s house burned down. My sigh still echoes in the office today. I just want to dissolve into the air and disappear, like the steam rising from the mug that trembles with my sighs.

"Are you still feeling down?" Detective said.

"Of course. Two people died because of me."

"It’s impossible for you to solve that case."

"I know, I know."

"Just do these documents."

"Okay, okay. What’s this? An adoption?"

"You failed to solve the case and ended up with three orphans. What the detective is helping to resolve people's anxieties. These are your words."

"Yes, that’s true..."

"I’ll cover the expenses, so don’t worry."

"Well, thanks."

I signed the foster-mother section with my own pen.

"Also, sign here."

"What?"

It was a marriage registration form. All the necessary fields except the blank for my name were already filled out.

"Are you kidding?"

The detective dipped a Tiffany fountain pen in his ink and handed it to me.

"Before the ink dries."

"Why do you have to marry me?"

"If you become my dependent, you won’t have to pay taxes."

"...I see."

Well, that may be true? He seems to have quite a bit of assets, he’s good at cooking, and the coffee he makes is so much delicious. He has a lot of knowledge but doesn’t flaunt his intelligence. He might be a good man? Though, his habit of showing off his wealth, which seems typical of nouveau riche, might be something not-so-good... Reluctantly, I signed the documents with my own pen.

"Alright, now you’re my family. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you too."

"Now, let’s get to the issue."

The detective placed the completed adoption and marriage documents into a file and put it in the drawer of his desk before continuing.

"The case of Kono's family isn’t over yet."

The detective sighed so long as if he had just finished a big job, and the he took out this morning’s newspaper from another drawer. An article on page 10, in the local news section, was circled with a black pen.

【One week ago, at the site of a fire in a residential area in Tokyo, one corpse was found with charred paper stuffed into its mouth. The body remained unidentified for a while, but DNA testing confirmed it was Yukio Kono.】

"Less than two body was found. You said two people died, but that’s not true according to this news." Detective said.

"I see."

"By the way, what do you think the paper stuffed in the mouth might be?"

"I think it's that flyer."

"What’s the basis of that?"

"On that day, I was asked to return the flyer."

"It explains why she had the flyer, but it doesn’t directly explain the flyer was stuffed into his mouth."

"Then what do you think it is?"

"Probably a flyer."

"Then ain't I correct?"

"Almost completely yes, but it’s not truth."

"Isn’t it good enough to be true?"

"No. You’re rushing to conclusions. That’s your problem. It’s the same reason you ended up going in circles in the last affair investigation."

The detective pointed to the circled article in the newspaper again.

"What can be definitely truth in this article?"

"The body is confirmed to be Yukio’s."

"It also means it’s not Otsuko’s. Where do you think she has gone?"

"I think her body just hasn’t been found yet. She was nearly beaten to death and bedridden. She wouldn’t have been able to escape if she got caught in the fire."

"Stop. That’s not true."

"Why? What’s not true enough?"

"Closely accurate reasoning can be ruined by a tiny bit of delusion. The hypothesis that Otsuko died in the fire is a baseless delusion. You haven’t observed the scene."

"But, then did she escaped and survived?"

"Don’t rush to conclusions."

The detective put the newspaper back in the drawer.

"A boy born on February 3rd, 2015, an actor. Try to guess who he is, with basis of this information."

"A boy born under Aquarius, who is 5 years old this year. ...He might be a relatively yonger child actor."

"Additional information. He has been adored by Mitsuaki Iwago and has published a photo book."

"Eh, ah, eh?"

"The correct answer is Bacon, an American Shorthair, and an actor cat."

"That’s unfair! It's cheating! It’s not fair!"

"It is you that rushed to the conclusion and assumed the answer was a human. That’s your mistake."

After sipping on his not-hot coffee, the detective suddenly began speaking more animatedly.

　You’re catastrophically bad at distinguishing between reality and hypothesis, and your perspective is despairingly narrow. In short, you’re not suited to be a detective. Solving that case is beyond your capability. You are in lack of the ability.

　You haven’t observed the scenes where Otsuko was escaping the fire, dying in the flames, stuffing paper into Yukio’s mouth, or being beaten and close to death. All of these are merely hypotheses. They are just delusions.

　Conversely, whatever strange, the phenomena or the objects you have observed are all truth. You have to observe the truth thoroughly, or you end up untrue reasoning, like that cat guessing quiz.

　There are too many mysteries that cannot be solved with the currently observed information. You have to take many things into account. And bad detectives gather their own hypotheses and create delusional stories.

　Even Holmes has failed for several times due to that, so actually he is not so much great detective. Of course, his observational skills, and his ability to find evidence are remarkable. But the detective has made the worst mistakes repeatedly.

　We are in lack of information. Therefore, we have to gather more that. In the meantime, we mustn’t rush to conclusions. We shouldn’t try to solve the mysteries right in front of us too quickly. The reasons are what I’ve explained.

　You must accept yourself who don’t know what is truth. Otherwise, any reasoning you make will be pseudo-deduction. The most important thing for detectives is patience to face and keep observing the mystery as mere a mystery.

Ding-dong. Someone pressed the intercom.

"It seems someone’s here."

"Who’s come?"

"My little sister."

Before my respond, the door suddenly swung open. In sneakers as black as night, she silently appeared next to me and extended her right hand. Her mouth was forming the shape of “a, u, i, o” in a flow.

"She’s asking you for a handshake." Detective said.

"Oh, I see."

I extended my right hand. The detective’s sister began speaking energetically since the moment I had shook her hand.

"So you’re my brother’s bride nice to meet you. I’m his sister, Kana. Looking forward to getting to know you. By the way, you are so cute, Yuka. It’s no wonder my brother fell for you." The girl is so much talkative.

"Yeah, it's no wonder, so please deliver this file to the office for me." Detective said.

"Understood! What’s inside?"

"Adoption papers and so on."

"Okay got it. Marriage registration and so on. Roger, roger."

"Also please take her with you."

"Okay sure, got it."

"Thank you."

With the sudden appearance of the detective’s sister, Kana, grabbing my arm, I was taken to a public office without any words from my mouth.