The Malayan Railway Mystery

***The Malayan Railway Mystery*** (マレー鉄道の謎, *Marē Tetsudō no Nazo*) is a Japanese detective mystery novel by Alice Arisugawa in his Himura Hideo series, which is also the sixth collection of the *Country* series.

In 2003, the novel won the 56th Mystery Writers of Japan Award.

## Synopsis

Alice Arisugawa and Hideo Himura enjoy a leisurely trip to The Lotus House, a guest house in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia run by their mutual friend from college, Ōtatsu Mamoru. They encounter fellow Japanese travelers in Kuala Lumpur also en route to Cameron Highlands. Judging from their clothes, Himura deduces that they came from the victim memorial service for the rear-end train collision that occurred in the Malay Railway the other day. Upon Alice's and Himura's arrival at Cameron Highlands to meet Ōtatsu, they stop by a café, where they encounter two people having a disagreement.

### First Incident

The two people are Wataru Tsukui and Wangfu, the latter of whom suspects the other of seeing Sharifa in town to follow her. Alice and Himura mediate between the two, eventually settling the situation.

The following day, the two wander around the town and help a Japanese woman, who had trouble with her car tyre. She introduces herself as Junko Momose and invites the two to Harimao Cottage for tea.

There was a trailer house nearby Momose's house, with her looking for someone to buy it. As they were drinking tea, an interested buyer named John comes to visit, but he claims that there is something strange inside: there are blood marks on the floor and the doors cannot be opened without the keys. Apparently, it is taped from the inside. Forcibly opening the door, Himura and Alice discover the bloodied body of a man with a knife stuck in his chest from a cabinet in the corner of the room — it was Wangfu.

### Second Incident

The investigation by local police begins, but it is not clear whether it was suicide or murder.
If it were murder, there was no way or reason to make a locked room out of tape; and, if it were suicide, there was no reason to enter into the cabinet. It would also be unknown why Wangfu, who lived alone, would choose a trailer house as a place for suicide.

At Wangfu's home, a will is found addressed to his sister Sharifa, but the content was too abstract to be understood. However, what was clear was that he hated someone unacceptably. The police then search for Tsukui, with whom Wangfu was fighting with at the café, but he left his money and passports at a hotel, leaving them no idea where to look for him. About a week ago, Mizuho Hioki, a lover of Wangfu, testified that the victim had gone crazy. It coincides with the time when Mizuho lost her father in the Malay Railway accident.

Because the fingerprints on the tape did not match Wangfu's, Himura believes it to be murder. He works in the field until he came to Malaysia, but his limit to return back home was approaching. At that time, a second incident occurs: the body of the missing Tsukui is found in an empty house barn. He had hidden cannabis.

### Third Incident

The person that Wangfu could not forgive was Tsukui, who brought cannabis to Malaysia, an act punishable by death penalty. The police, therefore, speculate that Wangfu had killed Tsukui and later attempted suicide. However, the investigation shows that Tsukui had died later than Wangfu. Furthermore, the gloves used by the culprit during Tsukui's murder, as well as traces of the tape used during Wangfu's speculated murder, were found in the location where Tsukui was found.

Besides Himura and Alice, a British writer named Alan Gladstone becomes interested in the case independently, having been to many places around, causing him some discomfort. Though he dismisses Himura's inferences, he asks Alice to discuss the mystery of the trailer house later that night. However, Alan does not come to The Lotus House at the appointed time. As Ōtatsu checks outside to look for him, he discovers Alan lying dead on the garden, seemingly to have been beaten up. Alan has left a dying message that revealed the culprit's identity, but Alice and Himura reject this.

Alan made a completely incorrect guess and should not have been a threat to the culprit, but he was nevertheless murdered. When he realizes this, Himura ties the mystery of the trailer house to the culprit's identity. In the end, Himura corners the culprit, but eventually chooses to escape. Nonetheless, it was either "staying in a jungle so as not to be caught but risking being attacked by a tiger", or "getting out of the jungle safely but needing to flee away until death".

## Characters

* Hideo Himura (火村 (ひむら)  英生 (ひでお) ): A 32-year-old clinical criminologist and associate professor at his alma mater, Eito University School of Sociology. With a course on criminal sociology, his desire to kill someone made him interested in the field. Born in Hokkaido, he eventually moved from place to place due to his father's transfer. He has lived alone in a boarding house in Kita-Shirakawa, Kyoto, where he has lived since he was a student. His parents passed away and has a good relationship with his elderly landlady, a relationship similar to a parent and child.
* Alice Arisugawa (有栖川 (ありすがわ)  有栖 (ありす) ): A 32-year-old mystery writer and Himura's friend since they were students at Eito University. Born and raised in Osaka, he currently lives in a 2LDK apartment in Yuhigaokacho, Osaka. He worked as a salesman for a printing company until he was 27 years old and made his debut after winning the Golden Arrow Award. He has been writing mystery novels since he was a student.

### The Lotus House

* Ōtatsu Mamoru (衛 大龍): A college friend of Himura and Alice, he is the owner of The Lotus House.
* Oscar (オスカー): An employee at The Lotus House.
* Akihiko Ikezawa (池沢 晶彦): A guest at The Lotus House.
* Alan Gladstone (アラン・グラッドストーン): A British writer and a guest at The Lotus House.

### Cameron Highlands

* Torao Momose (百瀬 虎雄): A restaurant owner who lives in Harimao Cottage.
* Junko Momose (百瀬 淳子): Torao's wife.
* Fumichi Ōi (大井 文親): Torao's secretary and driver.
* Shizuo Hioki (日置 静郎): Torao's partner who died in the Malay Railway accident.
* Mizuho Hioki (日置 瑞穂): Shizuo's daughter.
* Sharifa (シャリファ): A woman helping the Momose family.
* Wangfu (ワンフー): Sharifa's older brother.
* Dr. Lim (リム先生): A town doctor and the father of Sharifa and Wangfu. Two years ago, he died after falling off a train.
* John (ジョン): The owner of the Distant Valley café.
* Wataru Tsukui (津久 井航): A backpacker. He found The Lotus House expensive, so he stayed at a cheap guest house after checking out. He seems to have been following Sharifa.

## Trivia

* Alice Arisugawa's *Country* series is a series in which foreign countries are included in their titles, but the cases occur only in Japan. *The Malayan Railway Mystery* is the first novel by Arisugawa to actually be set in its title's foreign country.

## Notes

1. ↑ A 2LDK apartment consists of two rooms in addition to a living, dining, and kitchen area. "L" stands for *living*, "D" stands for *dining*, and "K" stands for *kitchen*. The number "2" indicates that there is one room in addition to the main living area.

## References

1. ↑ 作家アリスシリーズ — Wikipedia (Japanese)
2. ↑ 2003年 第56回 日本推理作家協会賞 長編及び連作短編集部門 — Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. (Japanese)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 有栖川有栖「火村英生（作家アリス）シリーズ」『マレー鉄道の謎』あらすじとほんのりネタバレ感想 — I Want to Solve All Mysteries (Japanese)
4. ↑ 46番目の密室 — Wikipedia (Japanese)