Marble || Edogawa Ranpo

Case 4

The man flinched from his spot where Ranpo was pointing. Obviously, he didn't think he can see through the meticulous plan that he had carefully plot.

"What are you saying? I'm just a bystander in this." The man protests. "What does it have to do with me?"

'Shit! They can't possibly know, right? I didn't involve myself directly in this!'

"You already know when exactly this man will come every single day and mapped his pattern of habit, such as the route he will take to leave. So, you let this information to the lady there, because she was so adamant in getting her revenge without getting your hand dirty." Ranpo glaze over his gaze at the scene. "Why would you do that? There's no better reason. You were in love with her, but she already got married to someone else. So you plot it, first, you already know that man has a nasty fetish and let him know about her daughter. His husband ended killing himself because he couldn't accept the fact his daughter passed away in such a horrible way, he ended up leaving her wife widowed and depressed. Then, to make her feel better and take the chance, you coax her that you will help in getting her revenge. She might have disposed of the evidence, but you are the one who buys the poison for her. I'm sure if we check your purchase history, we can find the proof." He finishes deducting.

"But, why wouldn't he involve himself directly if he is was an accomplice to her?" You inquired.

"It's simple. So that the woman would depend on him for her entire life now that he's acting like her pillar of support. Even when the morale was wrong, having someone by her side is enough." He adds and looks sharply at the other perpetrator, "And to add for my conjecture, the pictures and hidden surveillance camera inside your room is enough to verify your obsession toward this lady and the incriminating evidence of your plan. You have been monitoring her ever since you know her, that alone breach her privacy and then you manipulate her as a caring neighborhood. Who, in the end, become her lover now that no one is a hindrance."

What? You were stunned for a moment. How did he come to that conclusion? You look at the man and his terrified face and can confirm that it is, indeed, the truth. Given how his mind is running to think about a lie right now.

"That's not right! I would never do that!" The man protests loudly, "I don't know that man!"

'As if that was enough to say I did!'

Ranpo sighs, "Then let me add, you plan on disposing of the victim because he had been blackmailing you for some time now, threatening you to tell the truth to this lady if you don't give him money to keep his mouth shut every week he came. As if delivering a newspaper is enough in this kind of economy, right? We can check your email history and found your contact with him occasionally. Your transaction from the bank. There's also data that can be detected to your place, evidence that you sell quite a nasty picture on the dark web. Her daughter might as well be one of the collections that you sell. I'm sure that was a profitable business."

Since he was not under witness, you overlooked him as another bystander and this woman, who believed what she was doing was right and carried it alone, didn't spare her thought on him. Even with your ability, it has a limit to discern a certain truth. If Ranpo didn't probe him then you would never know, since he has committed a perfect crime without leaving a trace by a suggestive method.

But how... can he deduce to that extent?

His mind was running with many extraordinary information that he didn't disclose. Like reading a complicated data from a computer, you were looking into an endless boundary of reasoning inside of his deciphering labyrinth. There's so much of it at once, the more you read him the more it seems how fickle was your knowledge so far.