Chapter 91
Clop clop clop clop—
The sound of horse hooves coming this way wasn't just one or two.
At least seven.
It seemed to be Jett, Sophia, and other deputies.
Until they arrived, I had to think about how to clean up the aftermath.
The two corpses in front of me now were terrifying figures—Zodiac and a TKK member...
But on the surface, they were Joe and Liese.
Anyone could see they were innocent-looking people.
If I handled this wrong, I could be accused of being Zodiac.
"Kid!"
Unaware of my thoughts, Jett, at the head of the group, came galloping quickly, swinging his reins like mad.
And...
"Kid! What happ...! Ugh...!"
He immediately closed his mouth upon seeing the corpses beside me.
"...Joe."
"..."
The deputies following behind also immediately had blank expressions.
It was because of Joe's death.
Joe, who was always kind, sociable, and cheerful... was on good terms with most of Justice Town's residents.
While Sheriff Jett and the deputies were grieving, Sophia stepped forward.
"...Mr. Kid. Could you explain what's going on here?"
As she asked this, Sophia's hand was slowly moving towards her holster, as if preparing to draw her gun in case of emergency.
Seeing Sophia like that, I raised my hands in the air and said, "Obviously, I'm not Zodiac. And... I caught Zodiac."
"...!"
At the words that I caught Zodiac, everyone's eyes changed.
Especially Sophia.
"...As expected."
She said, looking at Joe's corpse as if she had already anticipated it.
"So Zodiac was Joe, Justice Town's only coachman."
"What nonsense...!"
The deputies shouted in disbelief at Sophia's words.
"Joe would never do such a thing!"
"Joe was on good terms with everyone!"
Only...
"Sheriff! Sheriff, please say something..., oh."
"..."
Only Sheriff Jett was looking down at the ground with a somber expression.
When Jett didn't say anything, the other deputies had to close their mouths too.
As it became quiet, Sophia started explaining why Joe was Zodiac.
"As you know, Joe was the only coachman in this town before Justice Town developed. Joe could travel all over Utah using his job as an excuse."
"..."
Now there were a few more people working as coachmen in town, but when the Zodiac incidents started, Joe was the only coachman in our town.
Other Justice Town residents rarely had reason to leave town.
"You said Aiden doesn't let his guard down unless it's someone he's known for a long time because he stutters. From that, we can assume Zodiac is one of the long-time residents of Justice Town."
"..."
"Joe was close with Aiden, right?"
At Sophia's question, one of the deputies hesitated and answered, "They were... close. Joe treated Aiden kindly, not minding his stutter at all..."
Hmph.
Sophia smirked as if she knew it and presented the final decisive evidence.
Swish—
It was an old notebook.
"Every coachman has a log where they record their schedule in detail. This is Joe's log that I just brought from his house while he was away, and it has all his schedules for the past 3 months."
Flutter.
Sophia spoke while flipping through the notebook page by page.
"From the murder in Mahican County 3 months ago... to the murder in Lincoln County 2 weeks ago."
"...!"
"All of these match exactly with Zodiac's actions and Joe's movements."
"...T-that's."
When Sophia finished her deduction, all the deputies had shocked expressions.
They looked surprised at the fact that Joe, whom they thought was just a kind and good person, was actually the terrible killer Zodiac.
Above all...
"...But Zodiac also killed Joe's sister Laura?"
"Joe was the first to discover Laura's murder. It's presumed that Joe killed Laura as well."
"...His own sister? What kind of devil...!"
Shock and horror appeared on their faces at the fact that Joe had even killed his sister Laura.
Soon, the deputies' gazes towards Joe's corpse were like looking at something terrible.
Amidst this, Sophia pointed at Joe and Liese with a grave expression and asked me, "Zodiac's target this time was the most beautiful woman in this town, right? I understand the corpse next to him is Liese, who recently moved to town."
"Yes, Detective. Liese is an employee working at the Deaf Man's Bar."
"Though still young, Miss Liese is beautiful. Enough to be Zodiac's target."
While the expression "most beautiful in this town" might be somewhat ambiguous, Liese was certainly beautiful.
"It seems Joe, that is Zodiac, killed the beautiful Liese, and then you killed Zodiac."
"..."
When I didn't answer, Sophia took this as affirmation and turned to shout to everyone:
"With this, we have a conclusion! The identity of Zodiac, who has been causing trouble throughout Utah for the past 6 months, was the town's coachman Joe, and the final victim of the Zodiac serial killings was Liese here!"
"..."
Sophia's deduction was perfect.
Above all, Joe's coachman log was too decisive.
Sheriff Jett and the other deputies also fully accepted Sophia's claim that Joe was Zodiac and hung their heads.
But...
"I'll report to my superiors based on the clues I explained to you earlier. With this, the case is closed..."
"No."
There was one voice that interrupted Sophia's confident declaration.
"Joe is not Zodiac."
...It was me.
"...Huh?"
"...Joe isn't Zodiac?"
"Kid! What are you saying!"
At my words that Joe wasn't Zodiac, Jett and the deputies rushed at me.
"...Mr. Kid. What do you mean? The evidence already fits so perfectly, if it's not Joe, who are you saying is Zodiac?"
Sophia also frowned and asked when I suddenly interrupted.
"Didn't you say you found Zodiac? If Joe isn't Zodiac... are you saying you're Zodiac?"
"Wait...! Sophia, be quiet for a moment! Kid is trying to speak now!"
As Sophia sneered at me, Jett, who was in a hurry, silenced her.
"Huh."
Though Sophia let out a hollow laugh, she closed her mouth for now at Jett's scolding.
"Now, Kid. Tell us. If Joe isn't Zodiac, who is?"
"Yes, I'll tell you. Zodiac is..."
Everyone's gaze focused on my mouth.
They all had expressions of curiosity about what I would say.
It was the same for Sophia.
After looking at everyone's faces one by one, I continued, "It's Liese, right next to Joe."
"...What?!"
As soon as I finished speaking, there were reactions from people as if it was nonsense.
"...What do you mean?"
"How could that small child..."
The atmosphere was that no one could believe that Liese, with her young age and pretty appearance, was Zodiac.
Step.
Anticipating their reaction, I approached Liese's corpse.
And...
Swish—
I pulled down Liese's top a little.
Everyone tilted their heads at my incomprehensible action, but...
"...Huh?"
Soon, when a tattoo with “K” appeared on Liese's shoulder...
"...Gasp."
"W-wait, that's...!"
Their faces were colored with shock again.
Fond of wearing white masks and having a “K” tattoo somewhere on the body...
The worst gang in the West, infamous throughout America.
"This child. She's a member of TKK."
"...!!!!"
I revealed to everyone that Liese was TKK.
"Joe and I were chasing Zodiac separately. As you all know... Joe lost Laura to Zodiac."
Then Jett and the deputies focused on me as if they had forgotten all about Sophia's deduction just now.
Only Sophia was looking at me with detestable eyes.
Ignoring Sophia's gaze, I continued speaking.
"Soon realizing this child Liese was Zodiac, I prepared an ambush, but... Liese acted first. Without our knowledge, she had loaded dynamite onto Joe's carriage."
Swish.
When I pointed to Jo's carriage shattered by explosives, Jett and the deputies nodded.
Only Sophia was raising objections.
"Wait a moment. How did you know in advance that Liese was Zodiac?"
"I'm close with Bob, the owner of the Deaf Man's Bar where Liese works. When I went to Bob's house, I 'accidentally' saw Liese's bag... there was a white mask and gun inside."
"Accidentally? What a convenient word. As if you're making excuses in a hurry."
"Kid is speaking! Be quiet for a moment and don't nitpick!"
While Jett silenced Sophia again, I presented evidence one by one, just like Sophia had done earlier.
"Check with Bob later. The day Liese came to our town is the same day the first Zodiac murder happened in our town. When the second murder victim Laura died, this child Liese was at the scene too."
"Then what about when Aiden and Finn died? Aiden, who is wary of others, let Zodiac in even after seeing Zodiac's face. Zodiac was clearly an acquaintance..."
"Everyone, think about it."
I focused everyone's gaze on Liese's face and said:
"On a cold winter night... if this young girl came to your house... what do you think you would do?"
"..."
Liese's appearance was just that of a cute, small girl.
If such a girl came to the house at night... especially on a cold day with biting wind outside, one would think of letting her into the warm house first rather than being wary.
"Aiden has a kind heart. If it was Aiden, he would have immediately let a girl shivering in the cold into the house."
"...That's right."
When the deputies agreed, I immediately made a gun shape with my hand.
"Then as soon as she sat on the sofa, she drew her gun and bang bang."
"..."
"Zodiac wasn't an acquaintance. But... she was a young girl with a cute appearance that made people think there was no need to be wary."
"...Ah."
"But that girl's true identity was a young killer raised by TKK. I had a hard time... without Joe's help, I wouldn't have been able to kill her."
When I admitted that I, who always dealt with outlaws without problem, had a hard time, Jett and the deputies let out small sighs.
The atmosphere had changed.
Everyone was already enchanted by my words and convinced that Liese, not Jo, was Zodiac.
Swish.
Meanwhile, I looked down at Joe and Liese's corpses for a moment.
In fact, Joe was Zodiac and Liese had nothing to do with Zodiac.
Nevertheless... I had no choice but to make Liese Zodiac.
— ...Kuu family.... I have to take care of my family... family...
With this, I've repaid the value of all the free carriage rides I got from Joe.
I closed my eyes for a moment, recalling Joe's last words.
That was when it happened.
"Don't be fooled, everyone! Evidence doesn't lie!! Zodiac is Joe!"
Sophia shouted at Jett and the deputies as if she absolutely couldn't believe my words.
It was understandable for Sophia to act like this because the evidence that Liese was Zodiac was hastily fabricated by me and thus quite flimsy, while the evidence that Joe was Zodiac was too certain.
But sometimes emotion could overpower reason.
"Everyone, in your view, is Joe a heinous killer who murdered dozens of civilians, including his own sister?"
"No."
"Joe is definitely not that kind of person."
Firm answers flowed from Jett and the deputies to my question.
"What outlaw in the world has 'outlaw' written on their face! Look at this coachman's log! Just looking at this..."
Sophia belatedly tried to appeal the evidence that Joe was Zodiac again, but...
"...What is she saying, really. Just suspecting an innocent person."
"...What does she know about Joe to accuse him of being a murderer? We almost fell for it."
"...Did Pinkerton get in through connections?"
The deputies' gazes towards her were already cold.