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| Original Title | 冗談に殺す |
|---|---|
| Author | 夢野 久作 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | A jaded police journalist, hardened by years of dissecting gruesome crimes, scoffs at the notion of "perfect murders"—until a chance encounter upends his convictions. One frigid midnight, a masked taxi driver lures him into a shadowy world: she is a vanished actress, cloaked in male disguise, who has stalked him obsessively since their first meeting. Drawn into her secret life, he discovers her horrifying proclivities—cruelty masquerading as artistry—and resolves to end her monstrous existence. Their twisted bond becomes a lethal chess game, each move calculated to erase evidence and exploit loopholes in justice. But as he executes his meticulously planned crime, an unexpected mirror reflection fractures his icy composure, exposing cracks in his flawless design. Paranoia tightens its grip when detectives circle, probing his altered routines. What begins as intellectual mastery spirals into a psychological duel where guilt and reason collide. Can any crime truly vanish without trace—or does the mind itself become the ultimate witness? |