GOSICK 5

With the closure of the Avril Bradley arc, we got to know more about the Golden Fairy and the truth about the Grim Reaper, which wasn't actually referring to Kujo at all. As a bonus, this time we're all given more screens of Victorique's blushing face.



This time, Victorique didn't just used her brains to solve the mystery but had also took physical actions to rescue Kujo as she deems him as her important servant. It turns out that the ghost stories that everyone was talking about in the school, were important masks to the depth of the mystery and indeed, Avril Bradley was the culprit, but it was the Avril that we got to know the previous episodes, which wasn't actually the genuine Avril Bradley. With the impostor Avril Bradley showing interest in a book in the warehouse previously, Victorique was certain that the book was hidden in the library with the concept of "hiding a leaf in a forest" and successfully sieved out the exact book that "Avril" had previously hidden.



The "i will now piece for you the fragments of evidence together to solve the mystery" kind of eyes seems to have taken the norm for Victorique whenever she's about to solve the mystery or that to disclose the details to our blank-headed Kujo.

With regard to fishing out the book from its "forest", Victorique uses the myth of the 13th step to heaven.



By using the ladder's 13th step, Victorique managed to pull out the exact book that "Avril" was hiding. For a non-knowledgeable man like Kujo, Victorique did not allow Kujo to read the contents with her, most probably knowing that he wouldn't know much anyway. Coincidentally, the book contained the story of the Golden Fairy at the top of a tower, who would grant the wish of an individual in exchange for the individual's soul. The main importance wasn't the book however, it was a hidden postcard addressed to Avril Bradley by Sir Bradley. Holding the postcard by her side, Victorique dumps the book back to Kujo and returns to her garden.

Kujo, still trying to decipher something from the book, spots the inspector being troubled and mocks him about his attitude towards him and Victorique. Amazingly, the inspector didn't really realise he was always going "Oh! Baby squirrel!"


...

Anyways, from the inspector, the 2nd generation phantom thief Kuiaran has been rumoured to be heading to their town right now. Dear Kujo seems to be concerned about the ghost in the warehouse as well and while attempting to investigate it further, he got hit from the back of his head and was knocked out. Waking up in the infirmary, "Avril" was sitting beside him and claimed that she had spotted him laying on the floor near the warehouse and asked if he was attacked by the ghost. Kujo, who realises that the book he was previously holding on to wasn't around and had suspected "Avril" to be the one who had attacked him and took precautions against her. Now now, having the book disappearing and a suspicious person sitting beside you when you are knocked out just proves that "Avril" wasn't really that smart of a criminal anyway. That is just so suspicious =X

To "Avril" and the rest of the people in the school, none of them have ever spotted Victorique and were calling her the Golden Fairy of the library. However to Kujo, he definitely knew that Victorique exists but "Avril" still does not believe so. Returning to the warehouse to search for the missing book, Kujo discover it in his teacher's hands and while wondering why was it with her, the duo hears "help me.." from the inside of the warehouse and got freaked out. Well, anyone would, considering how powerful the rumour had spread throughout the school...

"Avril" did went to look for Victorique but before she could lay her hands on the postcard in the book, Kujo interrupted her search in the garden and she was forced to leave empty-handed.



While munching on the "dog-poop-lookalike" sweet that Kujo had brought her, Victorique discloses that "Avril" was the 2nd generation Kuiaran. Not that i was surprised about this, but from this, it would mean that the beheaded motorist was not killed by "Avril", so that case's closed then i suppose? And then, VIctorique started piecing everything together:

1. The 1st generation Kuiaran was actually Maxim and had always returned to the school in spring to, most probably, hide the things that he had stole.
2. The Grim Reaper that arrives in spring was actually Maxim and not Kujo since every time Maxim returns, something bad would likely happen since he's the Kuiaran.
3. Before being able to hide the book, he was sealed in the tomb and lost his life. Coincidentally, "Avril" was also looking for the same book.
4. The "ghost" in the warehouse was most probably the real Avril Bradley and the impostor had used the various ghost stories in the school to cover them up.

Just as how Victorique had solved the mystery, the real Avril Bradley was tied up and left in the warehouse. Leaving Avril with the inspector, Kujo heads back to the garden to confront "Avril Bradley".


"I'm Kuiaran the Second!"

Now that, doesn't seem cool. Revealing your identity so quickly before defending it just seems to cliche. What "Avril" was really after wasn't the book itself and had thus left it untouched when she knocked Kujo out. But was really after the postcard inside the book that had the Penny Black, the world's 1st stamp, attached to it. Victorique might have realised it, unlike Kujo, and had taken it with her. To "Avril", VIctorique does not exist and rebukes Kujo with his delusions. Surprisingly, Victorique accumulated a pile of books and dropped them onto "Avril" to knock her out, while asking her to get away from Kujo, who was her precious servant.



For Victorique, she'll always be hiding in the nearby cupboard, with her snacks all stuffed in it, when someone she doesn't know appears in the garden. But she didn't explain to Kujo why she didn't conceal herself when Kujo first appeared in the garden. To Kujo, he believes that Victorique, if she was the Golden Fairy of the library, was always waiting for a soul that would never leave her to appear and someday, that soul would appear.



That concludes the Avril Bradley arc but they didn't really conclude the beheaded motorist case didn't it. It just felt like it was discarded after hinting that "Avril" could have injured her hand while tying the wire up at the road instead of being injured by the real Avril Bradley while she's swapping positions with her. It was quite a good arc though i still prefer the ghost ship's more. Perhaps the criminals shouldn't be so full of themselves and acknowledge their identity in such a hurry? ==