The White Rabbit Runs Away

***The White Rabbit Runs Away*** (白い兎が逃げる, *Shiroi Usagi ga Nigeru*) is a collection of Japanese short stories by Alice Arisugawa in his Himura Hideo series.

## Plot Overviews

"**The Proof of Absence**" (不在の証明, *Fuzai no Shōmei*)

     (First published on *Jarro*, Winter 2001)

A snatcher named Kajiyama witnesses a novelist, Toshiya Kurosu, enter a building seen from the construction site while fleeing. Kurosu was suspected of murder, as his twin brother was killed in the building. One room in the building that became the site was the work room of Yoshie Minoda, a translator. Kuroso has an alibi: at the time of the crime, Kurosu was visiting Shōdoshima on a coverage trip and had an iron-clad alibi with witnesses. Moreover, a minute after the time of the incident, Minoda returns home from the building.

"**Execution in the Basement**" (地下室の処刑, *Chikashitsu no Shokei*)

     (First published on *Jarro*, Fall 2001)

When he saw one of the wanted criminals of the Shangri-La Crusade, a terrorist group derived from a new religion, Osaka Prefectural Police Detective Morishita was attacked from behind while following said criminal. When he came to, he was restrained in a basement somewhere. The terrorists declared there would be an execution: Morishita was prepared to die, but it was Saga, a member who was told to see him, who was to be executed. He was pointed with a gun at blank range, but, as soon as he drinks some wine as a last request, he suffers and dies. His death seems to have been unexpected for the terrorists. Morishita, who was left in the basement while being held with a man and woman who prepared the wine, managed to escape the room and contact the Osaka Prefectural Police. The cause of Saga's death was potassium cyanide, and a capsule containing poison was found in the sugar bowl in the room where the wine was located. Which one was the culprit, the man or the woman?

"**Unparalleled Divine Moment**" (比類のない神々しいような瞬間, *Hirui no Nai Kōgōshī Yōna Shunkan*)

     (First published on *Jarro*, Fall 2002)

When the calendar was about to enter the 21st century, Hatsune Uejima, a critic who appears on television, was murdered in his office apartment. The first to discover him were his secretary Naoya Kinjō and his editor Masako Īboshi. The cause of the death was blood loss due to a stab, but there was a dying message written in blood that could be read as "1011", which the victim most probably wrote. Meanwhile, Hideo Himura visits people concerned about a person named Akashi, but he did not find any. Alas, Himura's last case of the 20th century was carried over to the 21st century without solving it. A few months after the incident, a homeless man was found dead. His name was Akashi Takao, and, for some reason, he died holding a new ¥1,000 bill.

"**The White Rabbit Runs Away**" (白い兎が逃げる, *Shiroi Usagi ga Nigeru*)

     (First published on *Shūkan ASCII*, 29 July 2003–18 November 2003)

Reina Shimizu, a poster actress of the small theater company Warp Theater, is afraid of her stalker named Hachiya. Along with senior actress Makiko and screenwriter Kamei, she has decided to launch a game based on Kamei's initiative against Hachiya, who was once defeated but did not seem to be discouraged. Reina plans to go to Tottori, but she makes Hachiya think she is going to Hokkaido. On the morning of the following day, Reina left home and saw Hachiya following her, and fled desperately as planned. The game seemed to be successful, but a few days later, Hachiya's body was found in the elementary school grounds. The crime occurred just when Reina and the others were playing the game.

## See Also

* "Execution in the Basement": The episode adaptation from the drama based on the eponymous short story from this collection.

## References

1. ↑ 作家アリスシリーズ — Wikipedia (Japanese)
2. ↑ 有栖川有栖「火村英生（作家アリス）シリーズ」『白い兎が逃げる』あらすじとほんのりネタバレ感想 | 謎はすべて解きたい — I Want to Solve All Mysteries (Japanese)