The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro

"Iris Watson"

- "Case of the Haunted Lodging" ...Do you want to read it, Narudy? Episode 2: The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro is the second episode of Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Kakugo. The day after the events of The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō, on a visit to a now awakened Viridian Green, ends up defending Sōseki Natsume once again for the attempted murder of William Petenshy.

Crime
Sōseki Natsume has just been cleared of all charges regarding the stabbing of Viridian Green. But he becomes the prime suspect once again when his fellow lodger, Mysterious Man A, is poisoned.

Before Flashback

 * 7:28 AM

Ryūnosuke Naruhodō wakes up in Sherlock Holmes' attic, his new law office, to smell of Iris Watson's bacon for his hungry stomach. Holmes suggests that they mind exercise first and deduces Naruhodō is in shock due to his hair messed up and his third button was missing. But Naruhodō says his hair is always like this and Holmes got rid of his button when he was playing the violin last night after supper.

Nonetheless, Iris is right that Naruhodō is shocked. He got a letter from Susato Mikotoba from Japan. It says she stood as an attorney and won, everyone present is so proud of her. She said Sōseki Natsume was a witness, Holmes slightly remembers him as being a defendant of two cases. The letter also says that the second incident he was involved in, "The Case of The Haunted Lodging", is what Naruhodō must look over. Apparently Susato hearing was the real reason her father called her back, as he was never sick. He talked with Natsume about it when he was coming back to Japan but Holmes forbid it from being published. Anyway, she wants them to check on the second incident, Holmes is going out so he allows Iris to get out the documents of that second incident for her and Naruhodō to read, after all he's been banned from entering the courtroom.

"Meeting Viridian Green"

 * Main Article: The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro

The first incident happened half a year ago on a winter night. A young woman named Viridian Green was found collapsed with a knife in the back and on Briar road. Fortunately, she survived after a few days, but the culprit appeared to be invisible in the fog. Japanese exchange student, Sōseki Natsume, was passing by and was arrested by Sherlock Holmes for the assault. Fellow Japanese attorney, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō, defended him and revealed that the body was moved by a policeman and Natsume's landlady threw the knife accidentally hitting Green. Holmes then telegraphed Naruhodō and Susato Mikotoba to come to Saint Bartholomew Hospital to visit the recovered Green.


 * 5:30 AM

In the hospital ward, Holmes chews them out for making him wait. Viridian Green is there on the bed for them to greet. She is a budding painter and rather gloomy, she immediately wonders if the group was the one who stabbed her. Green is a student at Thorndike Arts School and lives in a flat on Brixton Street which is ten stops away via the tube from the hospital yet the school is only a minute away. Briar Road is filled with poor people, Holmes wonders what she was doing there in the first place. During the stabbing incident four days ago it was freezing and Green couldn't see through the fog, someone from Scotland Yard was going to explain it to her. Green blames herself for all the trouble she caused. Naruhodō finds a photo of a young man in the ward and wonders if he's Green's "fated other". Suddenly, a policeman comes in to deliver a note to Naruhodō, it's from Sōseki Natsume, Holmes snatches it, it says someone was killed in his house! Susato calls for a carriage.

"Sōseki Natsume accused again"

 * 7:18 AM

In the first floor of the Garrideb complex, the wigged, fancily dressed man from the other day is dead at the table. Natsume can't believe this after he just got acquitted and he still hates Holmes. Inspector Tobias Gregson arrives, he reveals the victim's name to be William Petenshy and doesn't want anyone touching the crime scene. Natsume and John Garrideb first discovered the "actor's" body, Petenshy lived a life of extreme poverty and had been in jail for fraud. Natsume was acting stranger than usual, the victim lives on floor down from him so they're basically neighbors, yet Natsume nervously said he didn't know him. Holmes gets an idea of what exactly happened, the victim tried to protect himself and was ingested with the scent of surrounding poison, Natsume gets really nervous so it must be true. Sherlock Holmes will now commence his Joint Reasoning!

Holmes says Petenshy choked on bubbles of poison from the bubbles in his mouth. There is half a large bar of soap on a plate. The fork is his hand tells us he ate it for supper, which is not surprisingly considering he's poor. But since London soap is poor in quality, it resulted in the victim's death. However, was this really suicide? A single tea cup sits on the table. The lock on the door to the room is broken, so it was locked at the time of Petenshy's death, the only key was in the victim's pocket. So the victim was completely alone at the time of his death. Everyone is confused, but Holmes admits he also ate soap once to clean his stomach, he threw up, but since then he knew soap was dangerous if swallowed. It's time for the examination!

The other half of the soap is on the floor meaning it wasn't eaten. The teacup is empty so it's more likely that Petenshy drank the poison in red tea. But, there is another teacup in his hand, there is also a candle nearby meaning someone else was here. On another table, there are the three same books Sōseki Natsume had in the previous incident. This means only one thing, Natsume visited here right after his trial! Natsume can't believe Naruhodō and Holmes just accused him of being the culprit after he just got free. Nonetheless, Tobias Gregson takes him to Scotland Yard, Naruhodō promises to defend him again and feed his cat. He and Susato decide to investigate the scene while Gregson was gone and talk to John Garrideb later.

When regarding where Petenshy's soul will go, Naruhodō and Susato talk about the prayings between Japan and England. They find a torn piece of an envelope and a gas meter which gives people gas for coins so they can use gas lamps and stoves for two hours. The window is blocked by bricks to escape tax but it has a small opening with two aligned soap bars, one of them has something on it. There were two tea cups with red tea, but Sōseki Natsume didn't drink the poison. Tobias Gregson returns to cordon off the crime scene in five minutes. When Naruhodō suggests they see Natsume is his cell, William Petenshy suddenly gets up, he's not dead! He quotes Macbeth, with the help of Gregson, before passing out again.

Some time later on Briar Road, Naruhodō and Susato wonder what to do. They see the other mysterious man with the yellow clothes and huge chin peeking into Petenshy's flat. When Naruhodō tries to ask him something he just runs away.

"Interviewing John Garrideb"

 * "Some time later"

The two meet up with John Garrideb in his flat who thanks them for yesterday's trial. He says Petenshy wakes up every morning at five but he didn't light his candles today until a half hour after. That's when Garrideb knocked on the door with no response, Natsume begged him to break it down, that's when they found Petenshy unconscious. The victim was staying there for three months, he was poor just like everyone in Garrideb's complex. He was researching William Shakespeare, Britain's greatest classical playwright whose Japanese adaptions are called "Shao", this explains all the stage costumes in the flat. Anyway, Garrideb returned home around 6 PM but Petenshy wasn't there. He says that "joke of an actor" was surely alive until 1 AM as he returned around 8 PM, he knows because of the gas. This complex's gas is supplied through the pipes, meaning the flats of Garrideb, Natsume, and Petenshy all share the same pipe. If Garrideb turns on his gas lamp, the lamps in the other flats will dim for a moment. If his lamp is turned off, the others will turn on. Naruhodō wonders why John Garrideb is so fixated on watching his tenants lives.

"Interviewing Sōseki Natsume"

 * "Some time later"

In the Gaol, Sōseki Natsume is extremely upset with Sherlock Holmes for putting him in jail again. Naruhodō and Susato tell him about the victim briefly coming back to life but it doesn't cheer him up much. He reveals that he met with Petenshy the night before, after the trial regarding Viridian Green's stabbing, he visited Petenshy's flat for the first time around 9. After a discussion about Shakespeare, he had to go out, but before that Natsume served tea for them. But he didn't leave any poison and Petenshy was alive when he left.

Natsume says his life is cursed, he could never adjust to Great Britain. Garrideb's flat was cheap so he moved in, yet he says it's cursed because the previous owner died recently under mysterious circumstances. But, Natsume wanted to save all his money for his books. Then when he moved in he felt like he was being watched. He had nightmare about the ex-resident ghost strangling him. Regarding what happened when Petenshy was poisoned, Susato suggests Natsume moves out of the flat as soon as possible.

Natsume then says that Garrideb might be interested in the cursed flat as well, he was probably using the gas lamp to make sure his tenants are safe. Suddenly, Tobias Gregson appears with good news and bad news, which apparently must be said in that order. The good news is that William Petenshy is expected to make a full recovery. The bad news is now he is suing Sōseki Natsume for trying to poison him. Naruhodō is determined to defend him is court and remove his curse.

Before the Trial

 * 9:23 AM

The next day, in the defendant's lobby of Old Bailey, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō nor Sōseki Natsume expected to come back to court in just two days. Susato arrives, after a conversation and hesitation, she announces that Barok van Zieks is the prosecutor for the trial. He's the prosecutor known as a Reaper, that's because all of his defendants who get Not Guilty verdicts somehow die, Cosney Megundal being one of them. In the last trial where Viridian Green was stabbed, Naruhodō got Natsume acquitted and he hasn't died yet. But today, it seems like the curse of van Zieks and Natsume is going to come into effect, yet Natsume assures that he is innocent which Naruhodō believes. Susato wonders where Sherlock Holmes is, but Naruhodō says it's best if he doesn't come since then they'll need to rely on his help.

Opening

 * 9:40 AM

As the trial starts, Barok van Zieks, who took a leave of absence from prosecuting, immediately insults the Japanese. The jury is the exact same group from Natsume's previous trial as he just got acquitted, except that Garrideb is replaced with a woman in fancy yellow clothes. Juror 1, Oscar Fairplay, knew Natsume was never innocent, 2 says this is worse than her decisions of straightening her hat, 3 wishes he was to be killed by people like the defendant, new 4 wants this trial to end quickly because she has an executive meeting at ten, 5 says he'll be dead meat if he doesn't prepare fifteen shillings by today, and 6 prays that the "lost lambs" get their proper verdict.

Van Zieks gives the opening statement. Two days after Sōseki Natsume was found innocent for stabbing Viridian Green, he tried to kill his fellow lodger, William Petenshy. The prosecutor removes his cape and demands the defendant and detective in charge to testify. Tobias Gregson takes the stand with Natsume. The judge is very disappointed that he didn't keep his oath from the last trial about becoming a defendant again.

"Cross-Examining the Defendant and Detective"
Gregson then explains the case. On the first floor of John Garrideb's complex, the man living there, William Petenshy, was found poisoned by strychnine and unconscious. Natsume admitted that he visited his room, the next morning Garrideb broke down Petenshy's locked door and discovered the crime scene. Petenshy survived but he was almost killed. Gregson admits that he was present at the incident and submits a photo of Petenshy unconscious to the court as evidence. Natsume says the boarding house is cursed by an evil spirit because the previous owner of his flat died, Green was stabbed just outside, Petenshy was poisoned, and he is the defendant twice. He claims he lit his gas stove after he left Petenshy's room before going to bed to keep himself warm, but in the middle of the night the flame went out and he almost died. Van Zieks then announces Petenshy's immediate accusation towards Natsume putting the poison in the black tea. Naruhodō wonders why Petenshy is accusing Natsume if he is really innocent, Natsume says he served tea because the water pipes were frozen.

Gregson and Natsume begin their testimony about the incident. Natsume visited Petenshy's room with tea around 9 PM, had a discussion about literature, and left for his own room at 11. He says the tea was harmless and Petenshy locked his door. Gregson adds that strychnine is slow reacting poison that doesn't bring instant death, so it was possible for Petenshy to lock the door. Susato correctly guesses that the investigation was not complete, van Zieks and Gregson say there was no tea left at the crime scene, besides England doesn't have the technology to detect poison yet. Alas, the victim drank nothing else, the jury is already silently thinking about voting Guilty, but Naruhodō is not giving up.

In the cross-examination, Gregson says that strychnine takes a half hour to kick in and paralysis, spasms, and the inability to breathe will occur. With Petenshy able to lock the door after Natsume left, it's possible for him to do it. The detective presents the diagnosis record from the doctor who worked on Petenshy as evidence. Naruhodō presents the medical report that says the victim ingested the poison at 1:30 AM, two and a half hours later after Natsume left. If the prosecution is claiming he is guilty, then that's a clear contradiction. But Barok van Zieks says the victim simply drank the tea alone after the defendant left. Naruhodō says there's another possibility but it looks like he's got nothing. He nervously says maybe another guest came after Natsume or Petenshy poisoned himself. Van Zieks dismisses the suicide theory because the victim said he didn't try to kill himself, Naruhodō responds that he could've been lying. Van Zieks goes silent as if a horse and carriage road through the courtroom, then he announces that the "principal" has arrived...

Suddenly, Macbeth is heard again, the victim William Petenshy has entered the courtroom! Van Zieks has invited him as a witness much to Natsume's anger and the judge's excitement. He allows the "victim's" testimony to the court.

"Cross-Examining the Mysterious Men"
Petenshy is now at the stand with the mysterious man who Naruhodō and Susato encountered yesterday, they wonder who he is. After Petenshy poetically announces he will be the next William Shakespeare, Mysterious Man B's name is revealed to be Decargo Mieterman, and he is an employee of the Altamont Gas Company at the East End Sales Office. Van Zieks got permission from the doctor for the victim to give testimony. Susato notes that the jury may have that "angel's taste of east". Van Zieks brought Mieterman to crush Naruhodō's other theories. The judge offers a testimony to the two formerly mysterious men about the winter night tragedy to which they agree to do.

Petenshy says Natsume visited his room with red tea. When the latter left the former fell on his desk after drinking the bad tea, which was the only thing he drank that evening. Mieterman was watching through the semi-bricked window and assured the court that Natsume was the only person that night. Mieterman has some "circumstances" with Petenshy, who simply dismisses it by saying it's not relevant to the case. This leads to a small argument for van Zieks to break up. He and the judge agree that all that matters is what happened that evening.

During their tea, Natsume thought Romeo was stronger in Jujutsu, while Petenshy went with Juliet. As to explain the medical report contradiction, Petenshy says he didn't drink the tea until 1 AM due to all the talking they did. Petenshy reveals in pressing that he only eats a single meal each day, so only the tea could've been poisoned. What's weird is that the window was supposed to be open only a little, Mieterman says Petenshy didn't leave the room, he only peeked because he had a "mission". The police investigated the flat and found no poisonous containers, so Natsume must have taken it, the suicide theory is crushed. Mieterman couldn't see the dark room clearly but Juror No. 1 has heard quite enough, he and the rest of the jury are ready toss fireballs in the scale above for the verdict: Guilty! It seems like it's all over for Natsume but Susato encourages Naruhodō to do a closing argument, find contradictions in their thoughts and make the jury change their verdicts.

Closing Argument
Juror 1 sees victims as good, believable people, 2 thinks that the attractive Petenshy wouldn't lie, 3 says Natsume did because he's Japanese and has a funny mustache, 4 points out the evidence points to Natsume and not Petenshy, 5 isn't deciding on another thing sooner, and 6 doesn't know what's blank in three hours. Apparently, the jury is voting Guilty just because they like William Petenshy. Nonetheless, Naruhodō proceeds with his closing argument.

Naruhodō says that poor people can still lie, but Oscar Fairplay says Sōseki Natsume is one of them since the tea was Japanese, Decargo Mieterman doesn't seem to be lying. Unless Petenshy is proved to be lying, Fairplay won't change his verdict and asks the mail jurors for agreement, Juror 3 agrees but 6 can't hear and 5 just wants this trial to end. Juror 4 isn't speaking much sense to Naruhodō, she reveals herself to be the wife of Valve Altamont, president of the Altamont Gas Company, much to the judge's surprise. She and Mieterman say their gas is the best in the world, he was sent by her to see if Petenshy was stealing gas. Petenshy assures Mrs. Altamont he is innocent, to which she reluctantly admits that there isn't any evidence yet. However, Naruhodō presents being a gas thief as a reason to lie for Mr. Fairplay. A promise is a promise, the honest gentlemen jurors toss fireballs into the white scale to vote Not Guilty, except 5 because he's in a hurry so 4 does it for him so the trial will continue.

Petenshy just calls gas awkward angering Mieterman again. The judge seems to think Natsume is the culprit, but he takes side with the jury with the theory that Petenshy might be a gas thief despite van Zieks trying to say this is a waste of time. Mieterman says that the Altamont gas doesn't lie so the judge orders a testimony about the Altamont Gas Company survey. Juror No. 4, Mrs. Altamont, would like to take the stand with Mieterman as a supervisor!

"Cross-Examining the Altamont Gas Company"
In their testimony, Decargo Mieterman says his job is to inspect gas collecting meters with measuring instruments. If you insert a three pence coin into it, you get gas to use for two hours. But Mrs. Altamont says there were no coins in Petenshy's meter. Mieterman had the only key to the meters, so that means Petenshy is stealing. Barok van Zieks insists that they focus on Sōseki Natsume and the poisoning but Naruhodō is sure that the gas theft has a link. The same thing was happening to the meter for several weeks. Altamont had to order a new meter with a lock that couldn't be broken but gas still gets stolen. When it was brought back to the office the company couldn't find any evidence, that's why their salary is now reduced by five shillings. Mieterman has the gas meter right now and it's submitted as evidence.

Upon expecting it, Naruhodō and Susato find a tiny hole at the bottom. When presenting it to Altamont, Naruhodō learns that the gas meters only take the required coins as it measures the sizes and thicknesses equally. When Altamont adds that statement to her testimony, Naruhodō and Susato notice a two centimeter diameter depression in the soap found in Petenshy's flat, that's the length of a three pence coin. After Naruhodō presents this to the court, the judge asks someone to put a three pence coin in the soap slot, it fits perfectly. But everyone agrees that soap mold would melt when inserted into the meter but there wasn't any liquids in it. Naruhodō notes the hole in the meter and says the fake coins were made of ice since the soap was placed at the window. The hole in the meter is used to get rid of the water in it. Mrs Altamont is getting mad that the company's meters can be tricked so easily, she demands evidence. So Naruhodō presents the picture of William Petenshy unconscious and gives attention the big puddle of water under the gas meter. Then he remembers how the victim had utensils and soap with him on his table when he was found, he must have been making fake coins when the Strychnine kicked in.

Barok van Zieks has had enough, Petenshy being a thief and liar has nothing to do with him being poisoned. The facts are that the police couldn't find any poison but Sōseki Natsume was the only person with the victim, so he must be the culprit. However, Naruhodō says the situation has changed, he suggests that the poison wasn't in the black tea. He presents the soap and, remembering the red things in it when he found it, says that the ice used to make the coins wasn't just any ice, it was frozen tea! Sōseki Natsume said the water pipes were frozen so Petenshy couldn't have used water for the coins. Naruhodō demands an examination of the puddle under the meter for poison. The judge agrees and sends a police officer to the crime scene. The trial ends here today much to Naruhodō's relief.

Investigation, Day 2

 * 1:11 PM

Later that day in Holmes' attic, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō is exhausted from barely making it through the trial. Susato Mikotoba was admired by his very misguided defense. The two of them can't believe how the victim appeared in court like today and how he was a gas thief. William Petenshy went back to the hospital, it's the same hospital as Viridian Green. They wonder how Petenshy was poisoned if it wasn't Natsume's tea and if Tobias Gregson examined that puddle yet. Then Naruhodō remembers Kazuma Asōgi, his late best friend who was also a lawyer. He helped clear Naruhodō's name when he was a suspect of murder. Naruhodō has a flashback of a conversation with Asōgi on the S.S. Alaclaire until Susato snaps him out of it. She remembers Asōgi only wish was to change the Japanese judiciary. Naruhodō believes his true mission had something to do with "Karuma", his katana sword. He reveals to Susato that Asōgi told him Karuma was down through generations of the Asōgi house and that he must do something in London no matter what. Naruhodō is determined to find out what that mission was and do it, but right now the two need to focus on freeing Sōseki Natsume.

Back at Petenshy's flat, detective Gregson meets up with them. He allows them to search the crime scene as long as they don't ruin it. Barok van Zieks ordered him to find some new evidence. The fact that people pay for gas makes it really hard for poor people in the winter, but Susato says it's the same for rich people. They admit that William Petenshy making ice coins was pretty impressive. John Garrideb has a fireplace instead of a gas lamp.

Back in the Gaol, Sōseki Natsume says he's a cat in solitary and doesn't know anything about this case. He also says he doesn't have name, but this was all just an act. He still believes there are curses everywhere around him. Natsume thanks Naruhodō for the trial today and says he drunk the tea he and Petenshy had first during their conversation that night. He can't believe Petenshy used it for gas. Natsume says his flat was cheap sicne it was considered curse by an evil spirit of a "Death row prisoner".

At St. Bartholomew Hospital, dancing William Petenshy seems to be scaring Viridian Green with something about "Gokai" and poisonous death. They notice Naruhodō and Susato and about Natsume and today's trial.

Holmes invented a kind of fingerprinting spay. There are a lot of handprints around one part of the floor, which has a secret compartment but Gregson demands to investigate it first, and on the wall which a photograph is taken of. But there's nothing behind that painting apparently, just a plain wall. After one unsuccessful attempt by Holmes to appeal to Gregson, Gregson does let them hear about three items he found in the hiding place. The first is a newspaper article on a death row inmate named Selden. He's said to have a stash of one thousand pounds of stolen money somewhere, but it hasn't been found yet. Selden apparently died of illness recently. The second is a photo of John Garrideb and another man who looks just like the man in the picture in Viridian Green's ward. The third is a small empty tin.

In the Gaol, Sōseki Natsume takes a look at the newspaper and reveals that Selden used to be a tenant at the Garrideb flats. He used to live in the apartment Natsume now does and was the one who is said to have cursed that apartment as the next person to live in it also died. The cause of that person's death was asphyxiation from gas. Naruhodō and Susato decide to meet John Garrideb again.

When they present the photo of Garrideb and the other man to him, he reveals that the man is that previous tenant, a student named Duncan Ross. He moved into that room after Selden's arrest, but later died in a mysterious gas leak, Garrideb blames the curse. Also, right after Selden died, Petenshy came to Garrideb demanding to rent that very flat. It was already occupied by Ross though so Garrideb offered him flat on the first floor instead. John Garrideb then remembers one thing: before Duncan Ross died, he wrote a love letter. The letter is addressed to Viridian Green!

Naruhodō and Susato go back to the hospital to see Green about to drink something from a blue bottle. Green faints when presented the picture of Ross, knocking over the bottle she was holding. The pink contents spill out, and a rat dies drinking from it. Viridian Green was just about to kill herself when they walked in! Green has a card that says something like "I know details about Duncan Ross' death. Meet me at the pub on Briar Road". This explains why she was there where she got stabbed.

"Before the Trial"

 * 1:11 PM

"Beginning of Day 2"
According to Gregson, they found traces of Souseki's tea left in the soap. However, there were no traces of strychnine found, so the poison wasn't in the tea. Van Zieks is calling William Petenshy to the stand, apparently he's going to testify about something that'll make Natsume look guilty.

"Cross-Examining Petenshy (Again)"
Petenshy says he may be a criminal, but the court should really punish the Japanese Natsume for trying to poison him. In his testimony, he's saying Natsume only put poison in his teapot, not his own. After he left, he left his teapot behind and Petenshy used the leftover tea in that teapot to make the fake coins. That's why no traces of poison was found in them.

"Second Closing Argument"
He says that if you blow hard into the end of a gas pipe, it'll extinguish whatever's on the other end. Naruhodō presents this to Juror 6 claiming someone put poison on the tip of the gas pipe. Then he presents the fingerprint photo as proof that Petenshy may have touched the lamp's gas line. But van Zeiks says that Holmes experimental chemicals aren't admissible evidence. However, Susato convinces three jurors to withdraw their votes anyway, while the fourth is convinced when you point out that, while there's no evidence that Petenshy touched the gas line, Natsume should be able to confirm it.

The judge's asks who the real mastermind behind this case is and Naruhodō responds with Viridian Green.

Recess
Sherlock Holmes comes to deliver the bottle Viridian Green had in the hospital, it tested positive for strychnine. Gregdon delivers files on the death row inmate Selden.

"Cross-Examining Viridian Green"
Naruhodō presents a scrap of Viridian Green's envelope as to why Petenshy went to the pub that night. It contained a letter telling him to meet at the pub that night regarding Duncan Ross' death. Gren claims that letter was addressed to her, not him, and wants to testify about it.

She says that letter has no relation Petenshy, but Naruhodō reveals that there was a scrap of it found in his room.

"The Contradictory Letter"
William Petenshy says he went to the pub, when no one showed up for an hour he went back home, then the Natsume came and the letter disappeared. Viridian Green insists Petenshy is the real bad guy, and is lying about getting the letter because it came to her house. She claims she has nothing to do with what happened, but that contradicts her bottle of strychnine. Green entered Petenshy's room to poison the lamp gas pipe! It's because of Duncan Ross, the previous owner of the "cursed flat" who was asphyxiated to death. Except Naruhodō doesn't think his death was an accident, Petenshy murdered him! And Green, being his fiance, wanted revenge.

Green claims she want to Petenshy's room for other reasons. She seems to know about the hiding place under the floor of his apartment too. When she got there, she found a key that's currently around her neck, apparently it's Petenshy's. That key means something big. Naruhodō says he has to think back on all the evidence, and everything he found for something that connects the two cases, that's the Selden files. Selden committed eighteen counts of Grand Larceny and six counts of murder. His stash of 1000 pounds of stolen treasure still has yet to be found. But according to the files, there was one other prisoner who was there at Selden's deathbed, he died of illness before he could be executed. This key must be the key to wherever he hid the loot, he gave it to that other prisoner and the loot is hidden in Petenshy's apartment!

Petenshy starts wandering around the stand like a madman arguing that there is no proof of the treasure's hiding place. It seems Holmes needs a sample from something, either evidence or a person. The one who has a sample from the death row inmate is Viridian Green, it's the key she has around her neck. With a sample of his prints from the key, it should be clear what Selden touched in that room! Defeated, William Petenshy dances around while confetti and jewels burst from his chest.

Petenshy says he never meant to kill anyone. He just wanted to get Duncan Ross out of that room. And after they were done investigating his death, Natsume had moved in. Viridian Green tells him "To be, or not to be. That is the question." Then she says he doesn't deserve to be. Green confesses to her crime as well. She ran into Natsume one day and he said the apartment was cursed and the gas lamps went out, that's when she realized that Ross' death might not have been an accident. So she bought strychnine on the black market and poisoned the gas pipe in Petenshy's apartment. She says if Petenshy was really innocent, nothing would happen. He'd only poison himself if he blew into the gas pipe.

Aftermath
Later, the gang search Natsume's apartment for the stolen treasure. They find it, it's a jewel encrusted dog collar with a B on it. There also appears to be blood stains. Holmes says not only is it really important, but Iris must not write about it in a novel.

References to Other Cases

 * This case is a direct sequel to The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro.
 * This is the second time the real criminal tried to poison the defendant.

References to Popular Culture

 * Here are all the William Shakespeare quotes in the case.
 * Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 5: "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more."
 * Hamlet: Act 1, Scene 5: "One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
 * Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 2: "What a piece of work is a man."
 * Hamlet: Act 1, Scene 2: "Frailty, thy name is woman."
 * Julius Caesar: Act 2, Scene 2: "A coward dies a thousand times before his death."
 * Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 1: "To be, or not to be. That is the question."
 * Petenshy also quotes verses from the Bible:
 * Jeremiah 5:21: "Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not."
 * "Because we are human, God gives us disadvantages."
 * After the first closing argument, Petenshy covers his ears then eyes like the three wise monkeys.