prof | Let's Play Umineko Chiru, Episode 8 Scene 13: The Purple Statements

<< | ^^ | >>

Talk about when you discovered the crime.

That's when I arrived. I recommended that he try unlocking the door, just in case.

When I unlocked the door with a master key, a terrifying sight awaited me inside...

Eva, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, and Genji, six people in all, were lying there, covered in blood...

A great tumult followed. Everyone gathered in the dining hall.

I don't want to remember it... the sight of all the sobbing children crouched over the corpses of their own parents...

There was a chance they might've been alive still. Everyone was shaking them desperately.

But it was no use... The death of each parent was confirmed by their own child...

Doctor Nanjo and I confirmed that Genji was dead.

It was such a terrible way to be killed... No one will mistakenly confirm a death, even those other than myself.

Looks like all of the victims died instantly. Kihihihihihi.

After inspecting the interior of the dining hall, we determined that all of the doors and windows had been locked, making it a closed room.

And nothing suspicious was found inside the dining hall.

Of course, there was no one hiding in the dining hall, either.

Naturally. All of us are here right now. It's clear that no one is hiding.

But dad, if that's true, it doesn't make sense... Six people were killed, and the dining hall's a closed room! How could someone have killed them and escaped?!

I'd rather not think of it, but perhaps the servants with their master keys are the most suspicious.

They killed the six, then left and locked the door with their master keys. It's a logical theory.

Th-That's absurd!

And, sadly enough, none of the servants had an alibi.

Then again, it wasn't only the servants. Everyone else lacked an alibi as well.

There you have it. Any other questions?

Shouldn't there be keys to each individual room in addition to the master keys?

Normally, those would exist. However, they'd make the game more complicated, so I've eliminated them. Red truth. In this game, we'll consider master keys to be the only keys that exist.

In other words, all of the locks that appear in this game can only be locked or unlocked by the master keys.

That's how it is. It really is a simple game.

In that case, we should now check the number of master keys and who holds them.

There are five master keys total. One is held by each of the five servants. The keys'll be managed by a particular method. The servants keep the master keys on their person at all times, so it is impossible for them to be stolen, handed over, or used by any human other than themselves.

What the heck. They're sounding less like keys and more like a fingerprinting system.

That's an interesting metaphor. In other words, in the world of this game, it isn't the master keys, but the five servants themselves that can lock or unlock doors.

This was the crime of the first twilight. The scene was the locked closed room of the dining hall.

None of the servants holding master keys have alibis. Then again, no one else has an alibi, either...

Was the mysterious culprit hiding away somewhere, planning to attack their next victim at this very moment? Or was the culprit in here with them, mentally sticking out their tongue and tasting their next prey?

None of them had alibis, and it was possible for any one of them to be a culprit...

Krauss and Natsuhi announced that they wanted to talk with each other alone and went up to the second floor. That was the beginning, and after that, everyone went their separate ways now and then, such as to head to the bathroom or gaze at the endless rain.

However, no matter how much time passed, Krauss and Natsuhi were the only ones who didn't return. Calls were sent to both Krauss and Natsuhi's rooms using the extension phone line, but there was no answer.

Something might have happened.

Madam's room was locked! It's just like the dining hall!

After getting everyone's permission, I unlocked the door...

Krauss and Natsuhi lay sprawled on the floor inside the room.

Doctor Nanjo checked their pulse. Then, he announced that the two of them had died instantly.

Correct. I confirmed both of their deaths. There can be no doubt that they died instantaneously.

I searched all over the room, looking for a clue! In the end, I found that the windows and doors were all locked, making it a closed room.

Another close room! And yet again, we servants who have master keys will be suspected!

B-But have no fear! After madam began to suspect us, we started keeping an eye on each other!

All of us servants were together the whole time.

All of us servants can prove an alibi for all of the other servants.

In the case of the first closed room, no one had an alibi. So, for this closed room, all of them have alibis.

In this world, the servants themselves become living master keys. Since those servants have perfect alibis, it was impossible to lock Natsuhi's room...

I'm sure the culprit left some sort of clue in this room! We made sure that no one would be able to enter or leave until the police arrived!

Then, we did the same to the dining hall. We also sealed the dining hall in the same way.

The game would get complicated otherwise, so I've simplified it. All of the windows had steel bars on them, so it is impossible to enter or leave by them. Therefore, We'll say that they can seal the whole mansion by sealing the two doors, the front one and the back one.

Got it. That makes it easy.

What do you think?

Actually killing the two people in Natsuhi's room would be easy. Someone just had to knock and get them to open the door. However, they couldn't lock it afterwards.

Only the servants can lock doors, but all of the servants have alibis.

Unless the servants are all in it together. More importantly, the first twilight has me suspicious.

You think that one of the six who died in the dining hall was actually alive and committed the crime?

It's because of Erika. I can't help but be suspicious when people are examining corpses.

So, you think that one of the first six victims was alive?

Yeah. And afterwards, they killed Krauss and Natsuhi. Then, they locked the door from the inside, hid inside the room, and found a good chance to escape.

Hmm, that theory does make logical sense.

I'll say it in red. The culprit of the first twilight really did kill six people.

Then I'll take a shot with the blue truth. Here is the true nature of this closed room. The culprit locked the door from the inside, then hid in Natsuhi's room. then, after everyone left, they found an opportunity to escape.

Sure, I'll deny that in red. The group sealed the room at the same time they left. No culprit joined the group as they left. Also, all of the seals on Natsuhi's room, the dining hall, and the mansion itself will not be broken.

Hehehehe. In other words, you can't use that trick where they hide under the bed and slip out later.

Interesting. Nice going, Bernkastel.

Thanks.

However, they couldn't do that without any breaks until the typhoon passed. Once again, their actions left a weak point open, and they were faced with yet another tragedy.

We found Shannon lying there in the rose garden. Oh poor, poor Shannon...

I prayed she was still alive. However, I was forced to acknowledge that she was dead...

Of course, I also examined her and confirmed her death.

When the two of them left, we were busy checking the locks around the guest house. So, not one of us has an alibi!

Me, kill her?! How could I have killed her?!

That's right. George couldn't kill her, uu.

Later on, we learned that George alone had an alibi. At least regarding Shannon's death, it was impossible for George to be the murderer.

To turn it around, anyone besides George could have killed her.

To prevent the culprit from using it for any mischief, we destroyed the master key Shannon had held on the spot.

Well I thoguht it'd be rude, so I kept quiet about it, but that's what happens when Shannon dies.

In other words, we can say that Shannon and Kanon were killed at the same time, even though we're missing a corpse?

That's right.

Hmm. Looks like the crimes are moving along.

However, several closed room murders had already occurred. Could locking themselves in a closed room do anything more than invite another tragedy?

Arguing fiercely in the cousins' room about finding the culprit, they decided that they should double-check Nanjo, Kumasawa, and Gohda's testimonies.

Like hell they could survive after this...! Gohda and Kumasawa are both dead!

Well, we have been busy, keeping a lookout and locking up and all that. Once again, none of us have an alibi.

That's not true. Look. Considering the way they were killed, the culprit would definitely get blood spatter on themselves.

But Doctor Nanjo and all of the cousins have no blood on them.

All of us, in other words, the four cousins and Doctor Nanjo couldn't have killed Gohda and Kumasawa.

In that case, it's clear that the culprit is someone other than us.

I guessed that someone might have snuck in, so I checked around, but the guesthouse was still completely locked up.

Perhaps the culprit has a master key after all...

That's impossible. No master keys exist any more except the two keys on the two people who lie dead here.

Since the two master keys that exist are here inside the guest house... that makes this guest house a perfect closed room!

Well, since someone's dead, it obviously wasn't perfect. Kihihihihihihihi...

H-He's dead... He's been killed...!

Even I... can say for sure that this was an instant death...

Everything is locoked up perfectly. How did it happen, if this is a closed room?

Then that means the culprit is one of us...!

Impossible! Judigng by the circumstances, Maria, Battler, George and I all couldn't have killed Doctor Nanjo!

In the first place, no one could kill Doctor Nanjo inside the guest house!

And look at this. Simply put, this is proof that Doctor Nanjo didn't leave the guest house!

She flew out of the guest house in a rage, searching for the culprit that she was sure hid somewhere outside. George, Battler and Maria hurriedly chased after her. Then, outside the building, they found Jessica lying on the ground.

It was, as anyone could tell by looking, a gruesome corpse...

The three of us were together the whole time! George, Maria and I couldn't have killed Jessica!

Yeah. The three of us couldn't have killed Jessica.

As if Maria could kill someone. Maria couldn't kill anyone.

Kihihi, thanks. George couldn't kill an adult. He could kill a kid, though. Kihihihihihi.

Ah, I don't understand it at all! What the hell is going on here?!

I agree there. You did a good job.

Well, the real work comes from taking this, Reading it, and making it worthy of proper theatergoing.

Still, I'm stumped. On the face of it, the culprit has to be some mysterious person outside the Ushiromiya family.

And that would be the same as acknowledging the existence of a witch... We can also suspect the existence of some accomplices aiding the culprit.

By the way, what was all that purple text about? A new rule?

Oho... Well, that's nice of you.

Then, are the purple statements as reliable as red truth?

Yes. You can think of the purple statements as having the same power as red truth... However, there's one exception. The culprit can tell lies with purple statements.

I see. To turn it around, anyone who isn't a culprit can't tell lies.

Purple statements... These seem to be the key to Lady Bernkastel's game.

Yeah, that's right. I'll explain the rules for my game.

That's all.

The definition of 'culprit' is 'one who murders'... Makes sense.

It is possible for a culprit to lie. That seams reasonable enough, too.

It is possible for a culprit to lie even before committing murder. No surprises there.

Characters who are not culprits only speak the truth. Wouldn't that be nice!

Characters who are not culprits may not cooperate with a culprit, right?

So, the culprit can't use any accomplices to create an alibi.

Damn. My guess was that someone had manufactured an alibi to cover for the culprit, but...

Aw, too bad.

A culprit must carry out all murders directly, by their own hands. In other words, there are no remote or indirect methods of murder, like traps.

A culprit must not die. In other words, they can't commit murder, form a closed room, then commit suicide inside it.

And doesn't it also mean that dead people can't be culprits?

Hmm. This is a fairly vital piece of information.

A culrpit must be among the characters appearing in the story. So, no mysterious strangers sneaking onto the island.

The appearing characters are the same old 17 people after Kinzo is removed. No one else appears in the story, so no one else matters.

Purple statements are as absolute as red truths. However, the culrpit alone may lie with purple statements. Now there's a troublesome one.

That could be the heart of this game. Is that all for the game's presmises?

Besides that, I guess there's only 'the Reader will tell no lies'. In other words, outside of spoken statements, there are no lies in the narration. I could've done that if I wanted, but it'd be a pain and make things complicated.

So, you willingly abandon a witch's privileges. You seem quite confident.

She probably plans to win despite that.

That's all from me. I don't intend to give you any more hints or answer any more questions.