The Moroccan Crystal Mystery

***The Moroccan Crystal Mystery*** (モロッコ水晶の謎, *Morokko Suishō no Nazo*) is a collection of Japanese short stories by Alice Arisugawa in his Himura Hideo series, which is also the eighth collection of the *Country* series.

## Plot Overviews

"**Ransom of Associate Professor**" (助教授の身代金, *Jokyōju no Minoshirokin*)

     (First published on *Shōsetsu Gendai*, September 2004 special issue Mephisto)

When actor Yukio Shima, who was nicknamed "Assistant Professor" in a movie he was cast in, was kidnapped, a phone call reaches his wife Erika, who has just returned from a business trip. Erika prepares for a ransom as per the phone call's instructions, and, while police were on guard, Erika gets on a train to drop the money off. However, the culprit did not appear and her communication was cut off. The next day, the body of Yukio was found in a hidden room in his home, seemingly having died shortly after the abduction. In other words, the kidnapper made an inexplicable act of calling Erika after killing Yukio and not accepting the ransom despite demanding for it.

Was the purpose of the kidnapper not money but the Associate Professor himself? Speaking of suspicions around Yukio, the only people aware of the situation are his wife, Erika; Erika's father and company president who has been in disagreement with Yukio, Atsuko Udagawa; and the business associate of Yukio and the Shima family, Homare Kido. Though the culprit's fingerprints were traced from the weapon found at the murder site, Hideo Himura believes there was a conspirator in the crime.

"**ABC Killer**" (A (エイ) B (ビー) C (シー) キラー, *Eibīshī Kirā*)

     (First published on *"ABC" Murder Case*, November 2001)

A man with an initial "A" was shot dead in the place name with the same initial, as if imitating Agatha Christie's *The A.B.C. Murders*. On the same night, a woman with initial "B" was shot dead in a town with the same initial. The striations match, and the murder weapon turns out to be the same handgun, but no contact is found between the two victims. Later, in the same manner, a man with an initial "C" was shot dead in a town of the same initial. After the crime, the police in their respective jurisdictions receive a document suggesting a serial murder from A to Z. Aside from the police, Alice Arisugawa and Himura raise various possibilities as to the crime, but it was as if the culprit could not be seen. Finally, when the "D" murder occurred, Himura says he was the first to have contact with the victims and the people around him. He claims there were three perpetrators, but only one could be arrested.

"**Inference Battle**" (推理合戦, *Suiri Gassen*)

     (First published on mobile site, "Yukito Ayatsuji × Alice Arisugawa J-Mystery Club", October 2002)

While senior authors Sayoko Asai, Himura, and Alice were drinking, Himura shows off his inferences regarding Asai's recent actions. In return, Asai also speculates that Himura is probably repairing his Benz. Alice, who could not keep up with the conversation, goes to the town where Asai, which Himura pointed out, went.

"**The Moroccan Crystal Mystery**" (モロッコ水晶の謎, *Morokko Suishō no Nazo*)

     (First published on *Shōsetsu Gendai*, January 2005 special issue Mephisto)

At the birthday party of Hatano Shorin president Hiroshi Hatano, Izumi Ae suddenly suffers and dies shortly after a toast. The participants of the party were Hatano; Hatano's wife, his daughter, his son, and his daughter's lover; the victim, Ae; Hatano's subordinate at work, Oikawa; Minae and her niece Akemi, who live away from the Hatano family and are treated like family; their housekeeper; and Alice.

The latter was invited to the party to give advice to Hatano's son Hirotoshi, who was planning to be a writer someday. In the midst of the conversation with a crystal fortune teller Minae, he was unable to do anything to help the struggling Ae. Only one of three orange juices prepared for the minors Hirotoshi, Akemi, and Ae, who cannot drink alcohol, contained lethal pesticides. No one knows who took which glass, and, according to the officials, there was no opportunity to poison the glass he picked up. Himura says that if he was going to indiscriminately kill, all three glasses should have been poisoned. Who on earth could have poisoned only Ae's glass?

## See Also

* "Ransom of Associate Professor": The episode adaptation from the drama based on the eponymous short story from this collection.
* "ABC Killer": The episode adaptation from the 2019 drama special 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」『モロッコ水晶の謎』あらすじとほんのりネタバレ感想 — I Want to Solve All Mysteries (Japanese)