The Kindaichi Case Files: The Doll Pavilion

Three years after Gengosuke's death, his grandson Kindaichi is sorting through his belongings when he finds a letter from thirty years ago. Yukiri Kiryu had asked Gengosuke to go to Ba Island in the Seto Inland Sea and investigate the truth behind the fire at the Gekkakuza puppet theater. The letter was never sent. Three days after writing it, Yukiri died in childbirth. On the back of the envelope, Gengosuke had left a single line: "This case was never resolved." That same day, Inspector Kenmochi receives a joint request from Ba Island's three great families. Kindaichi, Miyuki, and Kenmochi set out for the island. The Gekkakuza theater stands on a hill, puppet strings hanging everywhere. Every autumn equinox, the caretaker, Granny Aru, makes a puppet by hand and places it in the Buddhist altar hall to honor Aotsuki, the puppeteer who died in the fire thirty years ago. On the first night of the autumn equinox performance, Sotaro Hamamura, head of the Hamamura family, never wakes from his seat. Beside him lies a crude little puppet, its eyes gouged out with nails. A typhoon cuts off the island. Granny Aru discovers that someone has replaced her puppet. The imitation's stitches run in the opposite direction, and its stuffing is newspaper instead of cotton. She goes alone to find the copycat, but never returns. Kindaichi discovers that Granny Aru was accidentally killed while trying to talk the copycat into stopping. Setsuyuki Ba, a descendant of Aotsuki, is the copycat, turning the memorial ritual into a signature for her murders. Beside each victim is a puppet made in Granny Aru's style, and subtle differences give away Setsuyuki's identity. Seven lives, two killers, thirty years of silence. Kindaichi opens the Gekkaku puppet Aotsuki left behind. Its double-layered design hides a miniature scene inside, recreating what really happened thirty years ago: Aotsuki was pushed down from behind. The one who pushed him was Yosan Ba, who later took poison and died. The puppet makes no sound. But it remembers every truth.