Recap for chapter 1.3 :
We start to get some explanation about the setting : The room Grete Danneberg died in is actually the same room where all previous deaths occured. There seems to be an atmosphere of paranoia at the manor since the death of 算哲. The night before the murder, all the members of the family took part in a séance involving a Hand-of-Glory that was among the occult artifacts 算哲 brought back from England. Grete Danneberg was singled out, or thought she was singled out, and chose to seclude herself in the room, that had before then been sealed.
She received food and drink, had them tested as she usually did because she thought someone could be out to poison her, and finally locked herself in. The other family members slept peacefully, and she died from cyanure poisoning after eating the blood orange. Impossible as it may seem, clues point to the Therese mechanical doll as the culprit; Therese was considered an evil spirit of the manor, and hated (probably feared too) by Grete Danneberg. Various ominous and occult signs are also to be found in the room; and Shizuko reveals a prophecy, by which all six members of the household will die horrible deaths. Grete Danneberg has died, as the prophecy announced, “in the light of glory”…
Thoughts on the chapter
For the moment, this is shaping out to be more of a gothic horror story, though I imagine that, somehow like the Hound of the Baskervilles, there will be a human twist at some point. I really liked the back and forth between 法水 and 鎮子. And I was wondering why Grete Danneberg chose to seclude herself in this room. After all, she has been living in the manor for the past 40 years, she must have a bedroom of her own. I’m not absolutely sure that hiding in a closed room where 3 suspicious deaths took place is very wise if you think someone or something is out to get you, but I have probably seen more horror movies than poor Grete ! I’d also like to know how 鎮子 came to have the drawing of the prophecy…
Apart from the story itself : I had to read several times the explanations about the carpet to understand how it worked (same as with the mechanical doll last week). This is not so much a japanese problem as a mechanics problem… and this book is very much european-centric. Somehow I think some references might actually be slightly less difficult for western readers. I wonder what the average japanese reader makes of it…
