Murder in the Crooked House

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Yoshihiko Hamamoto (19) — Keio University student, grandson of Kozaburo Hamamoto’s brother

Saburo Ushikoshi — Detective Chief Inspector, Sapporo City Police Headquarters

Ozaki — Detective Sergeant, Sapporo City Police Headquarters

Okuma — Detective Inspector, Wakkanai Police Station

Anan — Constable, Wakkanai Police Station

Kiyoshi Mitarai — fortune teller, psychic and self-styled detective

Kazumi Ishioka — Mitarai’s friend

In the village of Hauterives in the south of France, there’s a curious building known as Cheval’s Palais Idéal. For thirty-three years, a humble postman by the name of Ferdinand Cheval laboured completely alone to create his dream palace, finally completing his task in 1912.

The structure is part Arabian palace, part Hindu temple; its entrance is like the gateway to a medieval European castle, with a Swiss-style shepherd’s hut sitting next to it. The whole effect lacks unity, but there is no doubt that this is a perfect rendition of a child’s fantasy castle. Here in Tokyo people worry too much about style, economy, or how they will be judged by others, and that is how they end up with characterless rows of rabbit hutches crammed in together.

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