The Lying Counselor’s Eloquent Reasoning - Chapter 39
The three of them then ransacked James’ room further, but still managed to uncover nothing that would offer a clue to the password.
“… So, here’s what we’re going to do, Ms. Kiyokawa. Would you mind leaving this laptop with me for the night? I’ll use special software to analyze the password.”
“You can do that? I would really appreciate it.”
Sayuri’s reply was swift. Doesn’t she have doubts regarding the dubious job description of the suspicious man?
After that, Uroma wandered off towards the kitchen. Tomomi followed in haste, but found nothing in particular out of place. The kitchen was clean and tidy, and the cabinet of seasonings was loaded with herbs and spices. Under the sink, there were cans of tuna and chicken soup, and next to the refrigerator, there was a pile of empty macadamia nut cans.
“This was Jimmy’s staple food.”
“These macadamia nuts?”
“Yeah. Jimmy was on a carbohydrate restriction. So he would eat this instead of rice or bread.”
“Oh, I know that, I know that! Sugar restriction is good for weight loss, isn’t it?” As the topic was of interest to her, Tomomi quickly interjected. “That means Mr. Hirose was on a diet, right? Oh, maybe it wasn’t effective and he was having trouble??”
“No, it’s not that he was trying to lose weight.” Once again, Sayuri rejected the great detective Tomomi’s theory. On the spot.
“Jimmy said that his sugar restriction was purely for his health.”
“Mr. Hirose is not fat in the first place. Didn’t you see his picture, Tomomi? Did he give you the impression that he needed to go on a diet?”
“N-No, not really…”
Yet again, Tomomi was gritting her teeth. How come this man is so keen on catching up with people when their deductions prove inconclusive?
“But doctor, is there such a thing as not eating rice or bread for health reasons?”
“It exists. This is a relatively well-known health method in the West. It’s called ketogenic diet. Well, even scholars are divided on whether it’s truly beneficial to one’s health.”
“Hmm? That’s the case in overseas, I see…”
Tomomi felt a slight awareness of the vastness of the world.
After that, the three of them left the kitchen and looked around the living room. Even there, everything seemed to be in order. In the center of the living room, by the wall, stood a large flat-screen TV, with a low table and sofa set in front of it, and shelves next to it for storing video tapes and DVDs.
“Is this Mr. Hirose’s collection?”
“Yes. It used to belong to Jimmy’s grandfather. His grandfather passed away right after he enrolled in university, so he acquired them as a parting gift.”
“It was sent all the way from America?”
“Yes. Jimmy used to watch these films frequently during his childhood, and he was fond of them. On the day of the funeral, I talked to a friend of his from university, and he revealed that Jimmy often watched this film with his Japanese friends back in his school days.”
“Oh. They are quite connoisseurs, aren’t they? These are old works.”
Uroma suddenly opened the glass door of the storage cabinet and brought out a videotape from inside. It seemed to be an old Japanese animation film. It was produced in the early Heisei era. On the packaging, an illustration of three people who might be the main characters and a robot were depicted.
“Doctor, is that a robot animation?”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not. The robot in this work is merely the hero’s transformation device and vehicle. This is a work in which the hero transforms into a hero, rides on the back of a robot, and wields a lance to fight. In other words, the genre is a hero story.”
“You know a lot about it, don’t you…?”
“Well, this is a famous work. It’s like general knowledge. Besides, I like the first series better than this one. The Afro-headed alien coworker was a real catch. It’s a shame that the series was discontinued after six months, probably due to lack of popularity. The mascot character that appeared in the middle of the story as a kind of leverage wasn’t adorable at all, and I suppose that was the factor behind the loss.”
“No, you don’t have to explain that far.”
What’s up with this guy, suddenly chattering on and on about old anime. Gross.
“On the morning of Jimmy’s death, it was one of the videotapes that triggered an argument. I have no idea of its value, but is it after all very valuable?”
“No, not to that degree. The one you have here is probably a rented out VHS, but since it was a hit movie, the market has a huge number of them; therefore, it’s possible that later DVD and Blu-ray sets will be released. If I stepped on one and ruined it, I don’t imagine that would be a motive for suicide. No matter what kind of fanatic they are.”
“I-Is that so…”
Even Sayuri seemed slightly taken aback by Uroma’s enigmatic knowledge.
“By the way, Ms. Kiyokawa, have you and Mr. Hirose ever watched this movie together? I see that you have not only the VHS but also the DVD and Blu-ray versions here.”
“Actually, I once asked Jimmy to watch it together when he was relaxing here. It’s been on display for a long time, so I was intrigued to learn what it was all about. But he refused at that time. He said that the artwork was too complicated to view, unlike today’s anime.”
“Well, it is true that the artwork is highly unstable. I was even told that the characters’ faces were different every time. There were often compilation episodes.” Laughing lightly, Uroma explained.
Subsequently, the three of them continued looking around Sayuri’s room, the washroom, and the rest of the house, but they failed to identify anything that would serve as a link to the cause of James’ death.
“Ms. Kiyokawa, I would like to confirm one more time that Mr. Hirose was not at home for work the day before he passed away, correct?”
“Yes. Jimmy didn’t come home until dawn.” Sayuri answered Uroma as they wandered around the house.
“At dawn? I heard that it was supposed to be Sunday that day, did he work until dawn on such a day?”
“Jimmy’s work was very hectic at that time. So it was not unusual for him to work on weekends and holidays, and he would return home from work at irregular hours. Of course, after working on weekends and holidays, he would get a day off in lieu, and I believe the day he passed away was also a day off…”
“I see. That must have been a tough life.”
Eventually, Uroma left Sayuri’s house with Tomomi. He said he would check James’ laptop and inform Sayuri that he would be back tomorrow.
“Doctor, it looks like that’s the only clue we have, but can you really figure out the password overnight?”
On the way back, Tomomi asked Uroma about it. He was carrying a nylon bag containing a laptop.
“This seems to be the only clue? What on earth are you talking about, Tomomi?” Uroma smirked at Tomomi and replied.
“After examining their house, I believe I already have a pretty good idea of what’s going on.”
“Eh, what?”
“This, that, and so on.”
“As if I can tell with that phrase!”
In the first place, he is likely only taking snacks from people’s rooms and showing off his useless knowledge of anime, this guy.
“In fact, if you already figured out the cause, why did you bother to take Mr. Hirose’s laptop home to examine it? Why don’t you simply tell Ms. Kiyokawa about it right now?”
“That’s just not possible, you see.”
“So, what do you mean?”
“Well, I’ll share the details with you tomorrow.”
In the end, he didn’t enlighten her with anything more that day.