“We should have thought it was strange from the start. Why was the thief able to steal the club funds in the first place?”
At President’s words, all of us stare blankly.
“Um… well? Because the door wasn’t locked?”
“You’re being naive, Kadomi-kun. It’s true that the chemistry lab wasn’t locked. But even if the door was unlocked, would someone enter the chemistry lab without any purpose?”
…Well, no, not really.
Unless you’re someone like us, who uses this place as a hangout, no one would come here that often.
I mean, most students only use this place for classes, and even then, it’s not that frequent. Therefore, for most students, the chemistry lab is an unfamiliar place with no reason to enter!
“Wasn’t the purpose to steal something?”
“That’s naive too, Hagasaki-san. Think about it. Would you, Hagasaki-san, try to steal the wind ensemble’s club funds?”
“Huh? No, I wouldn’t.”
“Then let me ask you differently. ‘Could you steal it?’”
At President’s words, Hagasaki-kun hesitates. Then, reluctantly, he nods.
“…I see. ‘I couldn’t.’ Is that what you mean?”
“That’s correct. Hagasaki-san, the reason you couldn’t steal the wind ensemble’s funds is because you don’t even know where the funds are kept, right?”
“Well, yeah. I don’t even know if they exist.”
Ahh, that makes sense!
If you don’t know the location, you can’t steal it!
“I see. Indeed, theft is theoretically possible. But it’s hard to steal something when you don’t even know it exists.”
Yeah, theoretically, it’s possible. You could enter the chemistry lab, open every drawer, and check all the contents until you find the chemistry club’s funds! But, that’s not something you can actually do, right? Normally, you wouldn’t do it! I wouldn’t want to either!
“That’s the point… In other words, the ‘culprit’ is someone who knew where the chemistry club’s funds were stored.”
“…So that means…”
“Could it be an inside job?”
As the atmosphere grows tense, Kadomi-kun and Katori look noticeably uneasy, as if they’re troubled. Yeah, I feel troubled too.
“Well, that’s the most reasonable conclusion. After all, many students probably don’t even know that the chemistry club uses the shelves in the chemistry lab. But within the chemistry club, it’s easy to find the funds.”
“Wait a minute. So, you’re saying there’s a culprit among us?”
When Suzumoto asks with a serious expression, President nods without hesitation.
“Yes… Though, they’re probably not ‘here’ right now.”
…‘Here.’
Uh, what?
“And even though we say ‘culprit’… Well, it would be good to confirm, but I don’t think we need to worry too much.”
Uh, um?
“Oh, everyone’s gathered?”
With a loud bang, the door opens, and in walks Itoigawa-senpai. She’s one year ahead of us, effectively the head of the club. Well, she’s not the president, but rather the treasurer. Still, she’s the strongest. Yeah, to be honest, I might not be too fond of her. But she’s fun, and I don’t dislike her. As long as I’m not the target. Hahaha.
“Senpai, um…”
Just as Maito-san was about to say something, President stopped her with a hand gesture.
Maito-san probably intended to explain the incident, but President seemed reluctant to inform Itoigawa-senpai about it. I wonder why.
“Yes, we were just playing a little game. But what about you, Itoigawa-senpai? What’s with that book?”
Smoothly, President lied and shifted the conversation, focusing on what Senpai was holding.
Senpai was carrying a book inside a plain white plastic bag.
“Oh, this? It’s a reference book. There was a sale during lunch today, targeted at second-year science students. But since it’s for use next year, it doesn’t fit in my locker, and it’s too heavy to take home, so I thought I’d leave it here. Is that okay? I’ll just borrow some space.”
…A reference book sale, huh? I didn’t know about that. Well, I guess as you get older, exams get closer, so that kind of thing happens. Yeah. I didn’t know, though.
“I don’t mind. We use the space around here pretty freely ourselves.”
“Well, that’s true… By the way, you guys aren’t hiding any dirty magazines, are you? Sometimes I hear you chatting in the back of the lab about inappropriate stuff. I’m aware, you know. Oh, speaking of which, the other day—”
“No, we don’t have any such books. We don’t even use paper media.”
“Oh, really? That’s a shame.”
It seemed like sparks were about to fly at all of us, but President intercepted, saving us. Yeah. That was a close one!
“…I never expected to hear that word from you, Tsuge… ‘use.’ ‘Use’…”
Ah… Yeah. Now that you mention it, that is a bit surprising.
Seeing President silently looking like he just made a slip of the tongue was pretty refreshing. Well, even President makes mistakes sometimes. Haha.
“…By the way, Senpai, may I ask you something?”
“Oh, changing the subject? I don’t mind.”
Please do change the subject. If this keeps up, our mental strength will be drained!
“…Uh, well, how much was the reference book you bought today?”
“1600 yen. Why?”
“I see. Then… were there any other seniors in the chemistry club besides Itoigawa-senpai who purchased the reference book?”
“Yes, we bought them together… Oh, now that you mention it, Kumada was fussing about forgetting his wallet… I wonder if he managed to buy it in the end?”
After the storm that was Senpai left, our pace was completely thrown off, but for now, at least.
“There were several seniors who purchased the reference book besides Itoigawa-senpai, and the price of the reference book was ‘1600 yen.’ The mystery is solved.”
President had already regained his composure. Back to his usual self.
And the case is solved. Completely and neatly!
“The missing 2000 yen was probably ‘borrowed’ by one of the seniors who forgot their wallet on the day they needed to buy the reference book… most likely Kumada-senpai.”
See? This explanation makes sense, and it’s easy to accept.
It also makes sense that someone in the chemistry club knew where the club funds were if the culprit was from within.
And if the 2000 yen was missing specifically for buying the reference book, there’s a clear reason.
Considering the risk of ‘theft’ is too high, it makes more sense to think of it as ‘borrowing’ rather than ‘stealing.’
Yeah, thinking about it, it was actually pretty simple.
“So, Maito-san, please wait until tomorrow to update the accounting notebook. If you just put the club funds and the notebook back in the drawer, I believe the ‘culprit’ will return the 2000 yen.”
“Y-Yeah, right…”
Maito-san let out a deep sigh of relief, collapsing onto the desk.
“Thank goodness… I mean, it’s not really good, but at least the club funds weren’t completely gone…”
Yeah. Maito-san was really panicking, almost like she was going to faint. It’s a huge relief.
“Your poor management isn’t something to be thankful for, though.”
“You’re absolutely right… Honestly, it scared me to death. I’m reflecting on it.”
“Well, if you look at the outcome, this turned out fine. It might be a good opportunity to rethink how we manage the club funds. You could consider using a small safe or putting a lock on the tin can.”
“A lock on the tin can…?”
“It might be difficult to get a safe, so that’s probably the most practical solution. Having a lock would serve as a psychological deterrent as well.”
“Wait, uh… a lock on a cookie tin…?”
…And so, the case of the missing 2,000 yen came to an end! All’s well that ends well!
“So, should we continue from where we left off?”
“We were in the middle of a match, after all.”
And with that, everyone returned to their duel.
“…So, Hariu, did you finish your homework?”
“…Oh.”
Looks like I’ll be resuming my homework in the lab! I totally forgot! Ugh, I just want to stay in this good mood after solving the case! But homework doesn’t just disappear! Ugh! If only homework could disappear instead of the 2,000 yen!
—
+Today’s Record+
We thought 2,000 yen was missing, but it turned out Senpai just borrowed it.
Homework didn’t get done!
PS
Checked the tin can, and the 2,000 yen was safely returned. Phew!
Now Maito-san can update the accounting notebook without any worries!
PS 2
We were going to let it slide, but it looks like Itoigawa-senpai found out what happened. Apparently, Kumada-senpai confessed, and he got scolded pretty badly. Hopefully, this will make things easier to manage from now on.
PS 3
After working hard with Toriumi and Katori, we ended up with a ridiculously sturdy cookie tin. It’s like the “Sealed Cookie Tin” now. Maito-san was pretty freaked out and said it’s “hard to use,” but nothing beats security and style, so she’ll just have to deal with it!