The Demon of the Lonely Isle by Edogawa Ranpo

Author:Edogawa Ranpo [Ranpo, Edogawa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

“Never. The boss ain’t a wrinkly. And the boss doesn't have a crooked back. You’ve never seen him I bet. He doesn’t come to the tent much, but he’s young like me; a bad case of rickets is all he’s got.”

Kitagawa was puzzled at this mention of rickets. Perhaps this was why the man had appeared so old.

“So he’s not your pa?”

“Our pa never comes here. He stays far away. The boss and our pa aren’t the same.”

“Aren’t the same, you say? So they’re two different people. But what exactly does your pa do?”

“How should I know, pa is just what we all call him. He’s got the eyes of the boss, so maybe he’s his real father. But I’ve said too much. I know you wouldn’t tell, but if pa found out I’d been talking, my life wouldn’t be worth living. I’d be back in the box for sure.”

This reference to a “box” made Kitagawa think of a sweatbox, the kind of torture instrument still in use in some institutions, but the detective was way off the mark. He later discovered the dwarf’s “box” was something several times more horrifying. All that aside, Kitagawa continued his questioning, his heart thumping in his chest. The dwarf had proved unexpectedly easy to deal with and was just getting to the most interesting part of his story.

“So, what then? On July 5th Tomonosuke went off with a friend of your boss and not your pa? Where did he go? I guess he never said.”

“Tomo was a mate of mine. So I’m the only one he did tell. He went to the beach and played in the sand and swam in the sea.”

“In Kamakura?”

“That’s it, Kamakura. Tomo was the boss’s golden boy, so he gave him treats like that all the time.”

This seemed to confirm Michio’s extraordinary theory (that Tomonosuke was directly responsible for the deaths of Hatsuyo and Miyamagi) but more thought was needed before making a move. Kitagawa could arrest the dwarf’s “boss” and get him to talk, but as a result he might let the ringleader slip through his fingers. The detective first needed to dig deeper into this shadowy “pa” character. He could be the one pulling the strings. And there was a chance this criminal case was more complex and more terrible than any double murder. Kitagawa was ambitious and decided not to report to the station chief until he’d wrapped things up on his own.

“Just now you said something about being put in a box. What kind of box? Is it really so bad?”

“It’s a hell that you lot know nothing about. Have you ever seen boxed humans? Squashed so tight their legs and arms go numb, well that’s how freaks like me are made!” the dwarf laughed grotesquely. Even though he was slow-witted and spoke in riddles he seemed to have retained enough good sense to say nothing more on the subject other than make jokes.

“I wouldn’t like to run into your pa. He sounds like a mean old devil.

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