Chapter 79

"They said a threat letter arrived at the professor who's the adviser for the circle's house. Addressed to this stage. Ah, it's a secret just between us. I was going to keep it hidden from you too because of confidentiality, but if I'm seen through then it's not a secret anymore, is it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I asked the people on SNS, but I got no answers back. Let me hear how you reason it out as my rival."

"Uh—...where did your confidentiality duty go!?"

"Now, now...listen to what the threat letter said. It's a serious story."

She pursed her lips and made a disappointed face. The words that spilled out from there stabbed into my heart again and again.

An incident really is about to happen.

Someone is bringing malice onto this stage.

"All right, all right...so, what was written? Something like, 'If you don't stop the performance someone will die'...?"

I imagined a line straight out of a suspense story. Probably printed by computer, or else cut out from a newspaper—one of those two kinds of letters would decorate the threat.

That's what I thought.

Mid-sentence, she lifted her right cheek and laughed in a strange way. Just as I wondered "What?" the punch line arrived.

"It doesn't say that someone will die...and apparently it's not the kind of threat you often see in mysteries."

"Eh? Um? What did it say?"

"Ah, sorry. I only heard about it from Reira-chan; I didn't actually get the text...but what's more important than the wording is the...atmosphere."

"The atmosphere?"

"The message read, 'I will burn the stage.'"

I swallowed and echoed the wording.

"'I will burn the stage'...?"

"It was all written in hiragana, with lots of animal pictures drawn around it, like a little kid's doodle with markers."

"...Huhh!? Huh!? Hawa!?"

So startled, I let out a strangely Americanized "Whaa!?" There's no tension at all for a threat letter.

From the information I could imagine the letter. A childish message might instead stir up the reader's fear.

If that's the case, writing it seriously on a computer would be better. A ridiculous text is less likely to get demands met. You hear all the time about bomb threats closing universities. While I was thinking that, Detective Chikage fired off new information.

"Ah, by the way, there wasn't any direct demand like 'Stop the performance,' she said."

"None...so the culprit wanted to convey it indirectly?"

"Maybe. But well, the culprit's demand won't be granted; I've already started investigating indirectly."

What startled me from Detective Chikage's words was that even though the culprit sent the threat, the performance was about to begin.

Even though there might be danger, the school hasn't taken any counter-measures. Only one student brought along a smartphone-addicted detective as a friend.

Do they think it's a complete prank and don't believe it?

Or perhaps they already caught the culprit long ago, and Detective Chikage and Reira-san are just being kept in the dark?

Using the former idea, I voiced the theory that came to me.

"Hmm...maybe someone laughed it off. Isn't there someone insisting we do the play by force?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"It's just an idea, but maybe the letter was sent by someone who wants to brag later, 'Even though such a weird threat came later, I laughed it off and bravely and boldly finished the play'?"

"Ah...so that means this threat...!"

The instant she realized it, a tremendous roar echoed from the nearby wall. Turning to look, Reira-san was standing with her hair bristling, having punched the wall.

Without pause she asked Detective Chikage to confirm if the reasoning was correct.

"That's true, isn't it!? Chikage!? Really! Truly, truly, truly!?"

Perhaps wanting to escape Reira-san's pressure, Detective Chikage nodded—while pointing at me.

Wait, if it's wrong, is it going to be my fault?

To deny it, I called out to Reira-san: "That was just my own random idea."

"W-wait a minute. There are other possibilities, you know?"

I hadn't expected anyone to take my imagination seriously. I tried to convey my intention, but she wouldn't hear it.

"Possibilities are fine! Misora, who stole the lead role—that girl is definitely the culprit!"

"Why are you so sure...and when you say she stole the lead role, that's just about ability...isn't that just jealousy?"

Ignoring my protests she beckoned curtly for us to come toward the stage.

"Noisy, noisy, noisy! Come here! Look at this situation!"

Dragged forcibly to the wings, Detective Chikage and I saw the scene and she almost stealthily pulled out her smartphone, so I stopped her.

With trembling hands I prevented Detective Chikage from secretly filming Misora-san and the others, but my eyes wouldn't stop. My gaze was drawn irresistibly to Misora-san embracing the man in front of the stage.

"D-Detective Chikage...please stop. Don't spread it on SNS and make a fuss."

"I-I get it, but...a famous stage professor having an affair with a student—I can't overlook that."

"Eh...um...it's an affair?"

Unfamiliar with seeing a scene where love had progressed this far, I was flustered. Reira-san, assuming I was confused for lack of information, kindly explained.

"That's right. Professor Shishido has a wife. Yet he's secretly nurturing a romance with the student Misora."

"...Hah."

"So you can't defy her. You can't defy Misora. That's why every important role is hers. She'll listen to anything you ask. And since Professor Shishido is a famous stage director, everyone has to do what he says. Even the lunch break before it starts, the stage is reserved for Misora. Everyone else really wants to do final checks on stage, you know."

"Reserved for lunch break..."

"I know. She's definitely going to do what the threat letter said inside there. Set something on fire and burn it...and even while it's burning, perform her role so well that the audience won't notice the accident, ad-libbing...She'll show that she's not scared of any threat, create buzz, and become more popular than ever. I know her personality better than anyone."

"Ah...so that's the idea. You suspect Misora-san...but doesn't she look lively?"

At my question Reira-san, holding her smartphone, grinned. While displaying the affair scene between the professor and Misora on the screen, she laughed loudly.

"I mean, we caught them so openly. I thought maybe they were up to something...but I never imagined it'd go this far. Fufufu...looks like I can do something nice. Professor Shishido and Misora...are both in the palm of my hand."

Detective Chikage gave Reira-san, carried away like that, a warning.

"Don't do anything strange, okay?"

"I know. I won't do anything that'll cause trouble."

Reira-san's thin smile was utterly untrustworthy. I could only pray she wouldn't do anything terrible.