“Ah great. It’s Shellin”, Amelia groaned.

“Do you know him?” I asked.

“Amelia and I know each other very well. We are both students of the legendary Ranpo Doyle. I was her senior student”, he answered.

“So Chrissy met you and wanted to interview you too?” Amelia asked.

“That’s right. After she found out that I was Ranpo’s student, I was invited to her house. However, I noticed that a lot of knights were in the mansion when I arrived. I managed to slip through and now I’m here.”

“I see. It must be great to meet someone you know, right Amelia?” I asked.

“Well... Yeah. But I’m not exactly thrilled that our first meeting in a long time is a murder”, Amelia replied.

“I couldn’t agree more. I find it funny how our killer murdered a person who had two detective guests”, Shellin added.

“With both of you working together, then the criminal is as good as caught”, I said.

Shellin and Amelia laughed.

“What do you say, Amelia? Shall we do it like old times?” Shellin asked.

“I accept your challenge. I’ll have you know that I’m still in the lead”, Ameliia answered.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“We are detectives and we take pride in our skills. It’s not every day that we would have a challenge like this and be able to compete with another detective”, Amelia said.

“She’s right. This would be a good challenge to find out how much we improved”, Shellin added.

Wait a minute... Were they seriously taking this as a challenge? Did detectives see murder that way?

“Let’s ask the suspects now, shall we?” Shellin looked at the three people.

“Agreed. Let’s interview them”, Amelia said.

The first one to be interviewed was Rex Talyonis.

“Okay... State your name, age, and occupation”, Shellin said.

“My name is Rex Talyonis, age 33. I am currently an office worker for a company.”

“Why did you come here today, Rex?” Amelia asked.

“I am a friend of Chrissy Agasa. Today, I have something to show to her.”

“And that something is the huge box near you?” Shellin asked.

“Yes. This one’s a magical tool that would have its insides to be cold. Chrissy is a fan of beer and I have an expensive beer from Yamato.”

Ameli and Shellin opened the box.

“This is odd. You have one huge box but its contents are just two small cans?” Shellin asked.

“Why would you carry such a heavy box if you’re going to just bring two cans of beer?” Amelia added.

“I prefer to have my beer cold and I don’t have other smaller boxes.”

Shellin rubbed his chin, “What time did you arrive?”

“I arrived three hours ago.”

“And you only stayed in the waiting room?” Amelia asked.

“Yes. I left the room to go to the restroom but aside from that, I never went anywhere else.”

Next to be interviewed was Hash Braun.

“Now then.. What’s your name and job?” Amelia asked.

“My name is Hash Braun. I am a retired member of the Westa Knight Order. I used to belong in the 5th unit.”

“And why did you come here today?” Shellin asked.

“Chrissy said that she thought of a murder trick and wanted to ask my opinion on it. I have experience in the knight order so I can say whether a trick is possible or not.”

“I see.... What time did you arrive?” Amelia asked.

“I arrived two and a half hours ago. The maid welcomed me and I was directed to the waiting room.”

“Did you see Rex leave?” Shellin asked.

“Yes... He left for around ten minutes and later returned. He said he needed to go to the toilet.”

After Hash was interviewed, it was Natasha’s turn.

“What’s your name and job?” Shellin asked.

“I am Natasha Yizma. I am an editor of Shuu Publishing House.”

“And why did you come here?” Amelia asked.

“Chrissy said that she has new ideas for a book and wants to run them through with me.”

“What time did you arrive?” Shellin asked.

“I arrived a bit after Hash. Amelia and her friend entered the room five minutes after I arrived.”

The last one to be interviewed was the maid.

“What’s your name?” Amelia asked.

“Justin Santana. I am one of Lady Chrissy’s maids.”

“So... Where are the other maids?” Shellin asked.

“They are on vacation. Lady Chrissy let everyone aside from me take a break.”

“I see... Why did she force you to work?” Amelia asked.

“It’s because I was her loyal maid for almost 5 years already. Since I had the seniority, I volunteered to stay behind.”

After interviewing the four suspects, Amelia and Shellin talked to each other. A knight walked towards them and gave them a cloth that had blood. It seemed that the knights were leaving the investigation to the two detectives.

“What do you think?” Amelia asked.

“We don’t have an idea on what the murder weapon could be and there are a lot of strange points in this case”, Shellin answered.

“Strange points?” I asked.

“For starters, there’s this bloody cloth. Why would the murderer wipe the weapon? Was it necessary in order to hide the weapon?” Amelia replied.

“There’s also the fact that the heater of the room was turned up to the maximum. Why was the room hot?” Shellin added.

“And there’s the strange puddle of water. From how Chrissy died, there doesn’t seem to be any resistance. If my hunch is correct, she was drugged and put to sleep before the murderer killed her. So why was a puddle of water there?” Amelia asked.

“This is getting nowhere. Hey, maid! Can you show us Chrissy’s room?” Shellin asked the maid.

“I don’t really mind... But why?” the maid asked.

“We have to see any possible motives. Her room is a clue”, Amelia answered.

We then went to the author’s room. It was an elegant room with a king-sized bed, two bookshelves, a desk, and a painting.

“Does Chrissy keep a diary?” Shellin asked.

“Yes.. I think it should be around here”, the maid walked towards the bookshelf and we followed her.

She raised her right arm and was about to take out a book but she then put it down, “What year do you need? If we look for diaries that are more than a decade old, they are in another room.”

“For starters, how about this year?” Amelia asked.

The maid raised her left arm and took out a book.

“This is her diary for this year”, she gave the book to Shellin.

After a few hours of investigating the room, we couldn’t find anything noteworthy. We did find a hidden box underneath the bed which had pictures of Chrissy in her teenage years along with a blonde woman.

The knights knocked on the door.

“The suspects want to leave the house already. It’s almost night”, the knight said.

“I guess it is impossible to solve a murder case in just a day. That kind of thing only happens in novels”, I said.

“No. I know who the criminal is”, Shellin told me.

“What a coincidence. I also know who killed Chrissy”, Amelia said.

“Gather everyone in the living room. We’ll be having a deduction show”, Shellin said.

Everyone was in the living room. The knights excitedly talked among themselves saying it was the first time they would see a deduction show. Even Rex and Hash were excited to see one.

“Who’ll go first?” Amelia asked.

“I’ll boldly take the first deduction”, Shellin said.

He stepped forward.

“There are three strange things in this case: the heater, the puddle, and the cloth with blood. Judging from the wound on Chrissy’s neck, she was pierced with a sharp object that had no blade like an ice pick.”, Shellin said.

“So we’re looking for an ice pick... We didn’t find anything like that which had traces of blood”, a knight told him.

“That’s right. The ice pick is gone already. It already went up to the atmosphere after changing forms”, he replied.

“Change forms? What are you saying?” Hash asked.

“I wondered why the heater of the room was on and why there was a puddle of water. What is something that turns into water when it is hot?”

“Don’t tell me...” Natasha and the others began to realize what he was trying to say. Even I knew what he was talking about.

“That’s right! Ice! The murderer used ice as a weapon! It was formed in a way that it would have a sharp point like an ice pick. The ice was then used to stab Chrissy and after wiping the blood away, it was left in the room. With the heater being on, it would eventually melt and would leave no traces. Hence, the perfect murder.”

“By wiping the blood on the ice, there wouldn’t be any blood in the puddle left. That’s why the murderer had to use a cloth to wipe it. It was to hide its traces”, I said.

“That’s right! And there’s only one person capable of that. I checked the mansion’s refrigerator and it wasn’t cold enough to form ice. However, there was one person who brought an unusual item. Something that was really huge even if it contained two small cans.”

We all looked at the one person who brought a magical tool that kept things cold.

“The culprit is you, Rex Talyonis!” Shellin pointed at the mystery fan.