1. The criminal must be mentioned early in the story.

Have you ever seen a face where you oughtn't to? In a stain on the ceiling, or the wood grain on a wall, or even a scuff mark on a desk, perhaps?

...Hmm, you have, eh? That is certainly no surprise.

It is human nature to seek patterns, to find meaning and make connections, whether real or imagined.

To be quite frank, this is all a mistake. An illusion. A mismatch owing to human perception.

People inevitably favor their own thoughts and ideas over anyone else's. To be human is to be forever out of reach of true objectivity.

Now, let me tell you the tale of a curious group of people and their subjective mistakes.

This is a tragedy of two families...

...one that may have begun when bonds were mistakenly believed to exist among those attending a certain gathering.

This story has no real relevance to you, and might have taken place anywhere...

Are you okay?

？！

Did you hit your head or something? ...My name's Juliet.

Juliet Violet.

We go to the same college, remember?

We eat lunch together every couple of days? Hang out maybe once a week? You know, friends?

You ditched class so you could come with me on our four-day family trip. Remember?

Hmm, it looks like none of this is ringing a bell, huh. Do you even know what the date is?

Oh good, so you do have your head on straight. That's right. It's May 2019.

...Are you sure you're okay? You got the month right, but you're off by a whole year. It's still 2019.

？！

See, this is why head injuries are so scary. You appear to have a mild case of amnesia.

Well, then I shall introduce myself as well. My name is Hawthorne. I'm the Violet family's doctor.

I think I've been at this for about twenty years or so? I'm afraid my memory isn't what it used to be, much to my chagrin.

Is Fujimaru going to be okay, Doctor?

Their condition doesn't seem to be serious, but you can't take head injuries lightly. One can seem to be in perfect health one day, then collapse the next.

As a doctor, I'm afraid I can't give them a clean bill of health just yet. If they start to feel bad again, make sure you call for me at once.

Oh good, you're awake. Ahahaha, are you feeling all right now, Fujimaru?

Is that all you've got to say, Cain!? You're the one who hit them with that ball in the first place!

Oh yeah, I guess I did, huh? Sorry about that.

Everything good now that I've apologized? Great! Then I'm gonna get back to the game.

Ugh. I'm sorry about my little brother.

You'd think he'd finally grow up a little now that he's in high school, but nope...

Because he's still so childish?

...I know what you mean. We're all kind of worried about him...

If you say so. You know, for a moment there, you looked like you'd seen a ghost or something.

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Anyway...don't feel like you have to go easy on him, okay? He could've seriously hurt you.

It was bad enough that Cain kicked that ball into your face, but then it tripped you up...

...and you ended up tumbling down the nearby stairs like a barrel, remember?

I'm not sure what I would do to him if I were in your shoes.

But you just laughed it off with a joke about him becoming a pro soccer player someday. I couldn't believe it.

But then, that's one of your best qualities. You've always been good at finding the silver lining.

？！

Uh-oh... You might have it worse than I thought. This is the Kogetsukan.

You're here with my family on our

Oh good, you look like you're all right.

Hello, Eva.

I was so worried after I heard what Cain did. I'm glad to see you seem fine.

I see you're here too, Harriet. I must say, you both look especially beautiful today.

Hehe, maybe that's because I just got out of the bath.

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...That's my mom, and my little sister. I'd have thought that was obvious... Maybe there's not as much family resemblance as I thought?

Why don't you go take a bath too, Juliet? It's really spacious.

Maybe later.

Now, now, you mustn't let your appearance slide over something like this. Haven't you noticed your hair getting sticky from the ocean breeze?

Not really. It's not like I've been to the beach.

I must say, it's always fascinating to see twins with such...different personalities.

Can you all come with me for a moment?

Daddy?

What is it, Adamska?

Dorothy lost a valuable necklace, and...it's become a bit of a problem.

Well, if the lady of the Goldie family is in trouble, we certainly can't turn our backs on her. After all

No need to get into all that now. Come on, everyone, let's go.

WHY is my necklace missing? It couldn't have just walked away on its own!

We're doing everything we can to find it, madam. Please, just give us a little more time.

Over there. You can see for yourselves how it's turning into kind of a mess...

...That furious lady over there is Dorothy Goldie, and the man trying to placate her is Wǔ, from the Marble Company.

I'll wait for as long as I must for it to be found. That necklace is very precious to me...

Mommy, I'm hungryyy.

Be patient, Laurie. It'll be time for snacks soon, and Mommy's having a very important conversation right now.

Okay. I'll go play with Cain then.

What's going on here, Wǔ?

Oh, hey Sis. I'm afraid we've got a problem on our hands. You see...

That dignified-looking woman there is Ann, the vice president of the Marble Company. And the girl we saw earlier was Laurie Goldie.

I see. So Ms. Dorothy's necklace went missing in the bathhouse...

It took ten minutes for me to realize I'd forgotten my necklace in the changing room and go back to check on it. Someone must have taken it while I was out.

Weren't you standing guard over the bathhouse then, Wǔ?

Yeah, I was. I can promise you that no men went in or out while I was keeping watch. In fact, nobody went in at all after Ms. Dorothy left...

Then YOU must have taken my necklace! Well? Let's have it!

PLEASE calm down, Ms. Dorothy...

Ugh, could you keep it down? I was having a great nap until you woke me.

Oh Morris... Can't you be a little more polite?

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Huh? Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like we're buddies or something? You want a piece?

I'm sorry about that. They're still a little loopy.

Hm? Oh, right, you brought them here... Eh, not bad. I guess you pass.

You're one to talk, seeing how you slept most of the way here.

What do you expect? I was busy living it up all night. So what is this person to you, anyway?

...They're a friend from school. I wanted someone outside our families to be here, so that I didn't end up suffocating.

That so. All right, I'll let it go this once, outta respect for you. But there won't be a next time.

Are you all right, Morris!?

Oh, Mr. Aaron.

I'm fine, Pops.

Good, good. For a moment, I was worried something had happened to you.

...That's Aaron, the head of the Goldie family. And you've already met Morris, his son.

You're such a worrywart, old man. Don't worry, I'll be taking over soon. Just relax and enjoy that whisky you've been saving.

I can't say I approve of the way you disappointed your bride, though.

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...I'm sorry, but I don't want to explain it again. You'll see soon enough.

Wǔ, may I have a word?

What is it, Doc?

I'm not saying this just to clear my own name, but...the three of us have airtight alibis.

Juliet, Fujimaru, and myself were all in the same room. We can all vouch for one another.

Since there's no question of their guilt, why not let the two of them handle the investigation?

Well, I guess that'd be better than me looking into it, since Ms. Dorothy obviously doesn't trust me anymore.

As long as I get my necklace back, I don't care who finds it.

Now that that's clear, I will leave it up to you two for now.

But if it still doesn't turn up, then I'll take matters into my own hands. In our line of business, trust is everything, after all.

Are you sure you'll be okay, Juliet?

You're such a worrywart, Daddy. I told you, I'm fine. ...Now what's the big idea, Doctor?

Oh, just a little unorthodox treatment.

I thought it might be a good way for Fujimaru to rehabilitate their memory, you see.

You know...that's a good point.

All right, tell me, Fujimaru.

How is your memory doing now that you've met everyone from both families?

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Hmm... Not so well, I see. They're some of the most famous people in the business world.

It's even said that any contract they're present for will never, ever be broken.

The Marble Company doesn't just own the Kogetsukan, they even own the island it's on. So you never have to worry about unwanted visitors out here.

Of course, that also means if they DID steal the necklace, we would have no hope of getting it back.

I think we can trust them, don't you? Trust IS everything for them, after all.

I'm sure that necklace wasn't cheap, but it couldn't possibly be worth ruining their reputation.

？！

They have clients all over the world, so that DOES give them a lot of power. Neither of our families could hope to match them, even if we combined forces.

Of course, we wouldn't have asked them to be here otherwise.

While we're on the subject, Ann is the company's second in command, and despite his young age, Wǔ is one of the top five most powerful people in the company.

With people that high up in the company here, just shows you how seriously they take all this.

...But never mind that now. Let's go talk to them.

Yes, I knew that everyone would be tired thanks to the early departure, so I opened up the women's bath first.

I think we got here a little after noon, and yeah, we were all pretty tired. I'm glad that at least my mom and sister were able to freshen up.

What about you, Wǔ? Did you ever take your eyes off the bath's entrance?

Psh, what do you think? Yeah, I was sitting right there the whole time, but I was busy peeling vegetables. We're short on staff right now.

But even if I couldn't keep an eye on it the whole time, I would've noticed if any lechers had tried to get in.

From what I remember, Ms. Harriet and Ms. Eva went in first.

Then Ms. Dorothy and Ms. Laurie went in just as Ms. Harriet and Ms. Eva were leaving.

I'm pretty sure nobody else went in after Ms. Dorothy and Ms. Laurie came out.

Though I sure didn't expect to see Ms. Dorothy back again so soon. Especially not looking like she was ready to carve me up.

So if my mom and my sister couldn't have taken it... then who possibly could? There's no other viable suspects.

True. A woman may have been able to make it past Wǔ without drawing suspicion, but there don't seem to be any women who could have done it...

Oh? Did something occur to you, Fujimaru?

So we're just supposed to believe you've got an alibi, huh?

I mean, hypothetically speaking, couldn't twins swap places to pull this kinda thing off? Just sayin'.

...No way. No one would get them mixed up like that. I know I wouldn't...

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...Sure, that's possible. But only if there was anyone like that here.

Hah! Cross-dressers here in the mansion? Gimme a break.

...Huh? Why're you looking at me like that? You think I stole it?

Hey! No fighting!

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Of course Morris is a man.

This punk friend of yours is calling me a woman!

Stop it, Morris! I told you, they're

I don't care if they're your guest anymore! You and me, outside! Now!

I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Mr. Morris.

Oh, hey Chris. Thanks for Wait, NOW you show up!?

You wanna stop me, Chris? Fine, I'll just beat your ass first then. Bring it!

Then it seems you leave me no choice. My apologies!