Scientists and Sorcerers: Q.E.D. vol. 31-32 by Motohiro Katou

I closed out last month with a selection of favorite cases from the detective series of the 21st century, "The Hit List: Top 10 Favorite Cases from Motohiro Katou's Q.E.D. vol. 1-25," which was an attempt to highlight the rich, diverse and often downright original approach the series takes to telling a detective story – until personal tastes intervened. So the list ended up being slightly more slanted towards the more conventional detective stories ("Glass Room," vol. 15) and locked room mysteries ("Secret Blue Room," vol. 6) than the unconventional ("Breakthrough," vol. 3) explorations of characters and concepts ("Three Birds," vol. 18). On a whole, I think the list is a fair sampling of what makes Q.E.D. such a unique, often original series designed as a new kind of detective story for a new century.

In the previous Q.E.D. review (vol. 29 and 30), I outlined the plan to reach vol. 36 or 38 by the end of the year and begin sampling C.M.B. in January in anticipation of the crossover event (C.M.B. vol. 19 and Q.E.D. vol. 41). But cranking out that top 10 might have caused a tiny delay. Either it's going to take a little longer to get close to vol. 40 or you might see an uptick in Q.E.D. posts over the next two months. So probably an extra review and promised to revisit "Christmas Eve Eve" (vol. 24) in December, which can be reviewed together with "The Drama Murder Case." A one-shot extra to commemorate the TV drama and comments suggest the story is a special one. Something for Q.E.D. fans, all three of you, to hopefully look forward to. And for everyone, be patient, I'll return to the Golden Age presently.

The first of two stories from Motohiro Katou's Q.E.D. vol. 31, "The Devil in the Eyes," takes place in the United States and concerns Sou Touma's best friend, Syd "Loki" Green – who really needs some help. And not just him. Another one of Loki's friends, Walter Lucas, has been developing a new jet engine for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics under its director, Professor John Rosenfeld. Several years ago, Lucas made a breakthrough, "successfully increased the conventional engine output up to 25%," which was published in a thesis co-authored with Professor Rosenfeld. The thesis "send the world of science into an uproar" and funds came poring in to further his research, but several tests carried out based on the thesis failed to reproduce the results. So now Lucas has appeared at an administrative hearing demanding to see the original research data, or face the consequences of the hearing concluding the thesis must have been fabricated, but claims the data has been stolen. What's more, Lucas accuses the influential Professor Rosenfeld ("...one of the greatest scientists alive...") stole the data to get him out of the picture.

Funnily enough, a similar plot-thread about professors taking credit, "the professor makes history, while the poor assistant is pushed to the sidelines," can be found in Max Dalman's previously reviewed Poison Unknown (1939). Anyway...

Loki helped Lucas with the calculations on his thesis and has seen the real data, which is why has to give testimony at the next hearing, but it's possible Lucas only showed him "a certain set of numbers which would definitely show good results." If Loki testifies in Lucas favors, "it's the same as calling the professor a liar" ("...my research funds for next year will be put on hold permanently"). So asked Sou Touma and Kana Mizuhara to come to the United States to help him out of his precarious situation. At one point, Touma ominously announces, "the greatest weapon we can use to get closer to the truth is mathematics," but this is not math puzzle or even about what really happened to the original research data. It's all secondary to shining a light on the darker side of scientific research with its many pitfalls ("their obsession over getting results hangs like a sword over their necks and they begin to insist that their theory is true, which is when you the devil in their eyes"). Just as importantly is how Touma manages to resolve this tricky problem. A good and above all successful example of the character-driven, humanists detective stories that makes this story standout as something entirely different.

The second story, "Promise," goes back to the traditional whodunit with who-of-the-three style plot that would not have been out of place in Gosho Aoyama's Case Closed.

Three years ago, a pair of climbing buddies got into trouble on a snowy mountain peak when one got injured, cut the rope that tied them together and told him to keep going, but asked his climbing buddy for one last wish – namely murder. The wounded mountaineer asks his buddy to promise him to kill a man by the name of Komada Riichi ("please kill him so I can rest in peace"). This promise is overheard. Someone remembered the story of the strange, eerie promise when Komada Riichi dies there three years later in an apparent accident.

Komada Riichi came to the district to climb a mountain with three friends, Hodaka Noboru, Asou Shizuka and Kita Morio, but bad weather forced them to setup their tents on a ledge. Komada went into the tent to take a rest, but suddenly came out looking dazed and simply stumbled over the cliff, which looks like an unfortunate accident. But rumors of "the murder brought about by the promise" forces the local police to take a closer look. And evidence of murder is quickly found. The autopsy revealed traces of a strong sedative and an impression of bloody, circular shape on his right hand palm. Like a shirt button. Komada Riichi was still holding it after the accident and "then that round object was removed." Sou Touma and Kana Mizuhara are on a school hiking trip in the area when the murder-disguised-as-accident happened, but they don't get involved until the local policeman, Sakadaru Shosuke, comes to Tokyo to ask Inspector Mizuhara for advise.

This is a story full of interest. Firstly, the murder is essentially an impossible crime as nobody was close enough to have pushed Komada Riichi to his death. While the trick relies on a chance occurrence and the crime scene, or circumstances, wouldn't immediately suggest it, the solution is firmly in the Chesterton-Carr tradition of impossible crimes (SPOILER/ROT13: erneenatrzragf va fcnpr naq gvzr). And not a bad impossible crime story at that. Secondly, Touma sits on the sideline and primarily acts as an armchair detective who listens and weighs the facts gathered and brought to him by Mizuhara and Shosuke. Even more important than the tricks or whodunit proved to be the question of motive and the burden of responsibility that can come with making a heartfelt promise. Simply a great and excellent story to close out a strong entry in the Q.E.D. series.

The first of two stories from vol. 32, "Magic & Magic," has a good shot of making the future top 10 favorites from vol. 26-50 as it's now one of my favorites.

Sou Touma and Kana Mizuhara attend a show of a famous illusionist, Kurohoushi Manto, who dazzles the audience and Mizuhara keeps bugging Touma to tell her how all the tricks works. Touma has brought a book on the subject, Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring, which he bought from a secondhand store. Manto notices not only Touma explaining his tricks to Mizuhara, but the book as well. So takes the book and tells them to come see him after the show. Manto explains to the two that "a magician is an actor who plays the part of a wizard" and "the most important element in a magic show" is always surprise, but has seen Touma is not a kid who's easily hoodwinked. What the magician does is put down a challenge: if he can surprise Touma with "magic the world has never witnessed before," he gets to keep the book (“...it does nothing to surprise you”). A challenge roping in the owner of a magic shop, Kubikiri Fujio, who once misappropriated some of Manto's tricks and now, shortly after making the bet, intends to settle that old debt – demanding to be taught "the trick nobody has ever seen." This challenge to surprise the teenage detective culminates with the book impossibly disappearing from a locked safe, guarded by Touma and Mizuhara, while Manto performed his illusions for a live audience.

Grand as it may sound, the locked room-trick has a fairly simple, surprisingly straightforward explanation, however, the locked room and magic tricks are not the crux of the plot. It's all about Manto trying to surprise Touma. There's a small, but essential, difference between surprising and fooling someone, which is exactly what makes the ending to "Magic & Magic" so great. Great in a very small, modest way. One of those small things that matter the most ("...that's my special magic performance"). Bravo Katou! Simply as an impossible crime story, minor as it is, “Magic & Magic” is a story fans of Clayton Rawson, Tom Mead and the Jonathan Creek series will likely enjoy and appreciate. Particularly the opening with all the magic tricks and explanations. Such as how Manto disappeared from a chair with flour spread across the stage to show the audience no trapdoors are being used. Just an enjoyable story all around!

 

 

Regrettably, the second and last story of vol. 32, "Red File," is one of the most boring, completely forgettable stories in the entire series. I have already forgotten most about the story except that involves a dead accountant, a missing file, a disgraced journalist and another person from Touma's days in the United States, Chris Flyer, but somehow, the story simply failed to grab my attention. So an uncharacteristically poor, uninteresting story and a downer to end on after three great stories. But three out of four ain't bad.

So, all in all, not a bad score at all for these two volumes with only “Red File” severely under performing and the other three representing some of the very best the series has to offer. I just think "The Devil in the Eyes" and "Magic & Magic" should have been put together in a single volume, because I liked how their scientific and magical themes contrasted with how they tackled plotting, storytelling and characterization. But other than that, I look forward to the next two volumes and especially to "The Detective Novelist Murder Case"!