I played the next video.
The long-haired man could be seen wearing a black rain coat. They were outside this time, and the area was dimly lit, and there was also a light drizzle as they walked.
“Sheesh,” the long-haired man said with a sigh. “Why do I have to do something like this?”
“Don’t complain,” the bearded man said. “We might be looking for Yui, but we also get to take a walk around the island.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t be complaining, but it’s raining. And how come you get an umbrella while I have to use the raincoat?”
“It can’t be helped. I won’t be able to use my video camera otherwise.”
“You’re still in the mood to record?”
“Yeah, it’s fun.”
“Ah, whatever, do what you want,” the long-haired man shrugged his shoulders in resignation. “Still, where could she have gone?”
“I don’t know, but she’s definitely in the island somewhere. The return boat isn’t coming back until the day after tomorrow.”
“I know that. I just want to ask if you have any idea where she might gone.”
“I’m as clueless as you, man. We’ve already checked the places she’s likely to visit, but… Well, the island is big. There’s plenty of places to hide.”
“Hide?” The long-haired man suspiciously asked. “Why would there be a need to hide?”
“Anyone would want to be alone sometimes. Maybe that’s the case for her too.”
“She’s not like you, man. She’s not so irresponsible as to gather everyone then leave.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? It almost sounds like you’re saying I’m irresponsible.”
“Exactly,” the long-haired man laughed.
The bearded man clicked his tongue. “Sheesh, everyone just keeps making fun of me.”
“It’s just a joke, man. Don’t mind. Anyway, we’ve already checked the nearby places, so let’s go back to the mansion for the time being. She might have gone back already.”
“We can just call and ask.”
“Oh, right.”
The long-haired man took out his smart phone from his pocket then made a confused expression when he saw the screen.
“What’s up?” The bearded man said. “Call them already.”
“…It’s weird. It’s saying I’m outside of the service area, but it worked just fine yesterday. Why’s it like this now?”
“Maybe the relay station just isn’t working right. Anyway, if that’s the case, let’s go back.”
“Alright,” the long-haired man put his smart phone back into his pocket. “Let’s do that.”
“So, what are you going to do with the money once you get it?”
“It just came up yesterday. I haven’t thought of anything yet.”
“You still haven’t thought of anything?” The bearded man asked with suspicion. “Really?”
“Really, man. What about you? Have you decided already?”
“Of course. I’m going to travel the world, and I’m going to buy Kaoru a car and June a house.”
“Everyone’s so quick to decide.”
The bearded man and the long-haired man’s casual conversation continued for awhile. Before long, the mansion came into view. By the entrance of the mansion could be seen the blonde woman standing.
The camera focused on her, and the bearded man said. “What’s she doing out there when it’s raining?”
“Who knows? I sure don’t,” the long-haired man replied.
As they approached the entrance, it became apparent that the blonde woman was slumped over, crying, while her shoulders shook. When the two men realized that, they immediately hastened their pace. They were probably running.
“Hey! What’s the matter?” The bearded man said. “Why are you crying? What happened?”
The blonde woman raised her head, and with red, swollen eyes looked into the camera. “…Hinako is dead.”
“…Huh?” The bearded man mumbled. “What did you say?”
“Hinako is dead. She hanged herself in her room.”
“That’s…,” the long-haired man said, confused. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking!”
The blonde yelled then fell into a crouch and continued crying.
The long-haired man too crouched and put his hands on her shoulder with concern, then he turned to the camera.
“Hey. Don’t record this.”
At that, the video ended.
I played the next video. The scarred man and the long-haired man were sitting on a sofa in the lounge arguing about something. It was pitch black outside the window, and the sound of heavy rain could be picked out suggesting that there was a storm.
When the two men realized that their video was being recorded, they stopped arguing and turned to the camera.
Surprise could be seen on the scarred man. “What are you doing at a time like this? Don’t tell me you’re recording.”
“I am,” the bearded man seriously said.
The long-haired man was in disbelief. “What’s wrong with you, man? Don’t you understand what situation we’re in?”
“I understand full well what situation we’re in and am very calm,” the bearded man’s voice grew louder. “It’s precisely because it’s this kind of situation that we need to leave behind some record. We’ll need as much information as possible when the cops begin their investigation. It would be a problem if we end up remembering wrong when the cops start asking us questions. We’re confused right now, but you understand what I’m saying, right?”
The scarred man scratched his head in annoyance. “Do what you want.”
“Anyway, let’s get the story straight,” the long-haired man said. “We need to figure out if this is an incident or an accident.”
“It’s obviously an incident!” The scarred man yelled. “Hinako was murdered.”
“But by who? And for what purpose?”
“I don’t know who did it, but…” The scarred man’s voice dropped. “There’s definitely a reason for us to be killed by someone. Have you forgotten that incident? They tried to kill us then.”
“Stop it,” the bearded man shook his head. “I don’t want to remember.”
“It’s important. There’s a reason for us to be killed, and Hinako died. There’s no reason whatsoever for Hinako to kill herself, so someone else must have done it. Someone other than us, someone hiding in the island.”
“Wait a moment,” the blonde said.
The camera turned to her, and she could be seen sitting on the sofa. Two figures that appeared to be women could be seen standing behind her. They were cut off from the screen from the waist upwards, however, so there was no telling who they were.
“The door and windows to her room were all locked,” the blonde continued. “The key to her room was also left inside. The master key is with Yui, who also died, and the spare key has always been with Akira.”
“What do you want to say?” The scarred man asked.
“If this is an incident, it would be a locked-room incident. But how could someone enter the room with these circumstances? If someone really did kill Hinako, how did they achieve it?”
“Simple,” the scarred man said. “The culprit killed Yui, stole the master key, killed Hinako, then returned the master key on Yui’s dead body.”
“Wait a moment.”
The long-haired man said, and the camera turned to him, showing the two men on the screen once again.
“There might be a reason to kill us,” the long-haired man continued. “But there’s no reason to kill Yui.”
“She was probably killed just for the key then,” the scarred man’s fist trembled. “I don’t know who it is, but I’ll never forgive him. To think he actually killed Yui just so he could kill Hinako.”
“Calm down,” the bearded man interjected. “We still don’t know if Yui was really murdered. She could have just slipped and fallen off the cliff.”
“This is obviously a murder!” The scarred man yelled. “As soon as the body was found, the landline stopped working, and all our phones were suddenly out of range. Someone clearly doesn’t want us talking to the cops. Didn’t you say it yourself? That you can use a GPS Jammer to interfere with the reception service?”
“It’s just a possibility,” the bearded man said in a pacifying tone. “There’s no guarantee that it’s been used, and there’s also this storm. It’s more than possible that that has affected the relay station.”
“Even if that were the case, this coincidence is just too much.”
“I agree with him,” the long-haired man said. “There’s no way this is a suicide or an accident. It’s murder. The criminal must have come here by boat or something and waited until everyone was asleep. Then he pushed Yui off the cliff, stole the master key, used that to enter Hinako’s room, then strangled her with a rope. After that he hung her body from the ceiling to make it seem as if she committed suicide. He then closed the door, put the key back on Yui’s body, then fled the island.”
“And if he hasn’t left?” The bearded man said.
The long-haired man and the scarred-man turned to the camera with a puzzled look.
“What do you mean?” The long-haired man asked.
“What are the odds of the criminal not leaving the island?”
“None. It’s too risky for him to stay on the island after exacting his revenge on Hinako. It would be over for him once we found him.”
“What if he had a reason to stay on this island?”
The scarred man laughed in an ominous manner. “In that case, he’s going to die. Because I’m going to kill him just like that night.”
“No!” The blonde girl yelled sorrowfully.
The camera turned to her, revealing a frightened expression. Then in a somber tone, she said.
“We promised never to kill a person again. Have you forgotten the oath we made that day?”
Everyone became quiet. An eerie silence filled the room, then the sound of footsteps approaching resounded. The camera turned to the direction of that sound. There, could be seen a slender man walking toward the camera.
“How’s Akira-kun?”
The blonde said, and the camera turned to her, showing her back.
“Bad,” the slender man shook his head. “He’s locked himself up in his room since finding out that his mother died. He won’t respond either. It’s probably better to leave him alone until he calms down.”
“…I see,” the blonde said despondently. “Sorry, for making you do that.”
“It’s fine. I can do this much. I think I might be able to fix the landline, so I’m going to go look for some tools.”
“You can fix it?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s worth trying. Ah, but please don’t expect much.”
“Yeah, I got it. Good luck.”
The blonde saw him off, and the slender man left the scene, then the long-haired man spoke.
“Okay, everyone. Let’s just leave the rest to him and rest.”
As everyone’s footsteps scattered away, the camera turned to the scarred man and the long-haired man. They were in the middle of standing up from the sofa.
“Wait a moment,” the bearded man said. “There’s still something I want to ask. What if the culprit was one of us?”
“Can you quit it with the jokes already!?” The scarred man angrily pointed at the camera. “And stop recording! It’s annoying!”
After the scarred man glared, the video ended.
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