Gosick Episode 04

Synopsis
Kazuya's day seems to go for the worst, as he finds himself handcuffed by the same person whom he has been helping for two cases. Grevil reveals that he is arrested as a suspect for murder, and Kazuya drags him to the library of Saint Marguerite Academy to look for his only ally... Victorique.

At first, Victorique teases Kazuya for being handcuffed, much to Kazuya's shock, but since Victorique herself admits that she is bored and would like to solve a case to preoccupy herself, she asks Kazuya for clues that he saw. Kazuya reluctantly follows.

According to Kazuya, Sophie, the house mistress of the school's boys' dormitory, asks him to go to the market to buy some ingredients she needs. As he walks to the market, Kazuya mumbles to himself about how women can be slave-drivers at times, and also wonders if he can get a blonde as a girlfriend soon.

Soon, Kazuya hears the sound of a motorcycle as he approaches the intersection, and as the man goes closer to the intersection, Kazuya watches in shock as the motorcycle driver crashes into the stone wall on the side of the street, the driver thrown up in the air. He then sees a gruesome sight unfold: the man's head slowly detaches from the body as it descended to the ground.

Kazuya goes straight to Grevil to report about what happened, only to be handcuffed on the spot.

Grevil tries to shift the blame to Kazuya for what is going on, pointing out that it is only Kazuya present on the scene of the crime aside from the victim, which Kazuya does not deny. The inspector also shows Victorique a length of wire they discovered from the trees near the intersection, with the stain of blood clearly noticeable from it. Grevil and Kazuya proceed to argue, only to be interrupted by Victorique.

She declares that it is possible for a person to decapitate someone without approaching the motorcycle. She explains that the wire can be tied on two trees on either side of the road and can be left there until an unsuspecting victim falls prey.

With things clarified by Victorique, Grevil retreats once again, only to be told by Victorique that she forgot to tell him some more details. The culprit is a girl with blond hair, and one of that girl's fingers is wounded. Grevil is shocked by the additional clues, and out of frustration, screams as he descends.

Meanwhile, Kazuya is also puzzled as to what Victorique meant. Victorique asks him about why the culprit chose an elaborate method to perform the crime; this causes her to assume that the suspect is a woman or a child, as the victim might have been physically larger than the suspect. Victorique also points out that the suspect might have also injured herself, judging from the blood on one end of the wire.

About the color of hair of the culprit, Victorique points out that it is Kazuya's daydreaming that is responsible for her assumption, much to his embarrassment. However, Victorique is not teasing him based on his daydreaming; she assumes that his daydream is actually triggered by seeing a girl with blond hair, which he coincidentally desires for, thus making him an unexpected witness.

Victorique finds herself bored once again, and she asks Kazuya to give her something interesting in return. Kazuya then wonders if Victorique is annoyed by his comparison to the blond girl he was thinking about. This appears to infuriate Victorique, and she asks Kazuya to leave at once.

At lunchtime, Kazuya reads on the newspaper about the capture of a girl with blond hair while receiving an additional amount of food from Sophie after the commotion that he went into. However, it appears that his reputation as "the Dark Reaper" is worsened by his involvement in the case.

Soon, the students' ramblings are hushed when their teacher Cecile arrives with a new student to add to the class. Cecile introduces the new student as Avril Bradley, an exchange student from England. She is assigned to sit on an empty desk beside Kazuya, and Cecile gestures to him that it is his perfect chance to make friends.

Avril sits on her desk for the first time, and Kazuya offers a friendly gesture by helping pick up her bag.

As Kazuya does, however, he discovers that Avril's right hand is wrapped. This confuses Kazuya, because he knows that the culprit has been caught, yet he still holds thoughts about the case.

After the class, Avril is surrounded by her classmates who are interested to know more about her, which makes Kazuya feel somewhat jealous. However, she appears to be more interested with Kazuya, who appears to belong to the different urban legends sprouting in Sauville.

Near the fountain located in front of the school building, Avril begins to talk about her interest to ghost stories, including "The Curse of the Thirteenth Step". She also tells him that her father, Lord Bradley, is an adventurer, and he travelled the world until his disappearance.

As they continue on their tour around school, they pass by the school's library tower, which causes him to think about Victorique and the dangerous side he never knew until their argument. However, thinking of her past allows him to think things through. Kazuya then wonders what "not boring" thing can he do for Victorique...

...which is then interrupted by Avril, much to his surprise. Avril thinks that he is thinking about a girl, which Kazuya reacts with embarrassment, and she slings her hand on Kazuya's arm, pulling him on a detour. The thoughts of Kazuya's ideal girl soon enveloped his mind, until he decides to asks Avril about her wound on her right hand.

That question startles Avril, who reluctantly answers: "I fell."

That tense moment is then immediately replaced by a more joyful mood when Cecile approaches them and hits Kazuya repeatedly on the back (presumably to congratulate Kazuya for making a friend). There, she reveals her true purpose for coming. According to Cecile, the caretaker has recently passed away, and they need to prepare for his funeral.

Upon reaching the cemetery, they are faced with two men who are struggling to open a rusted door. Kazuya offers help, and upon pulling the heavy metal doors open, a corpse of a man wearing a Templar Knight's attire with a bouquet of flowers on his chest falls down on Kazuya. The scene causes Cecile to faint, and Kazuya tells the two men to call for police while he takes care of Cecile. Meanwhile, Avril heads inside the crypt and picks up a book.

As the sun sinks into the horizon, the rumours of the Dark Reaper echo into the night.

Meanwhile, Kazuya heads to give Victorique what she demanded from him; he gave her an origami of a crane and a box, several glass balls, and a snack called kaminari-okoshi. As Victorique struggles to eat Kazuya's snack gift, Kazuya proceeds to ask about Avril. Moreover, he wants to ask her about the book that Avril picked up earlier and the reason for her sudden change of attitude upon being asked about her injury.

Victorique recalls about the corpse found in the crypt earlier, who might have been trapped there, and the fact that the crypt has not been opened for eight years.

Soon, they are joined by Grevil, who announces to them that the corpse is identified as Maxim, a graduate from Saint Marguerite. Grevil describes him as an eccentric, returning to the school every Spring and leaving until that Spring eight years ago. Maxim is also linked to several cases of theft as well. The crypt being closed for eight years is apparently linked to the illness of a certain Mille Marl. The key to the crypt is also reported to have stolen, so a new lock is installed and the key is kept in strict custody.

There are many questions to be asked on this case, which interests Victorique. She asks for the kind of flower on Maxim's bouquet, and Grevil replies to it as primrose. Victorique then tells them that she needs one more piece to the puzzle. To look for that missing clue, she asks them to look for a missing corpse in the crypt.

Upon further inspection inside the crypt, they discover that Victorique's hunch might be true: there is a missing corpse, and it is not Millie Marl's.

Grevil is dumbfounded by the corpses linked to the case, and he is even more shocked by Victorique's declaration: that Millie Marl killed Maxim.

Victorique then lays out the clues and retells the events that happened.

Millie Marl put Maxim to sleep using a drug and dressed him with the clothes of a medieval knight. She then stole the key to the crypt. To conceals Maxim's position, she swapped an old corpse with Maxim himself. Then, Millie died.

She apparently performed the deed knowing that her days are numbered as a person with an illness, and her motive is revealed by the flowers that she gave to Maxim: "you and I together for eternity" in the language of flowers.

As Grevil descends aboard the library's elevator, he mutters, "A gray wolf tells me?"

Soon, Kazuya confronts Victorique about another clue left unnoticed: the book that Avril picked up inside the crypt. Victorique points out how Kazuya drives away her most hated thing - boredom - yet brings with him her second most - commotion. Kazuya is determined to know the truth because he believes in Avril.

Victorique runs off in response... running down to the stairs, where she could find out the "salvation for his troubled soul".

As Kazuya pursues her, he wonders yet again who Victorique is... a golden fairy... and a gray wolf?

Adapted from
This episode is an adaptation of the GosickS Volume 01. This volume is also adapted into the first chapter of the manga.

Characters
(In order of appearance)
 * Grévil de Blois
 * Kazuya Kujō
 * Victorique de Blois
 * Cécile Lafitte

New Characters

 * Sophie
 * Avril Bradley
 * Millie Marl
 * Maxim

Quotes

 * (By Victorique) "If you're a gentleman, maybe I'm a goddess."