[Okashira]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Spoiler for Story spoilers:

Honestly, I don't think so. Not because of what he thought at the end, though. I can't really decide if it was a cry for help, but it really depends on how you interpret her, "Not lying when she's serious," scenes [or whatever you'd like to call them]. I think she was telling the truth about not lying. The novel does a good job of making it ambiguous though, which is something I like.

Spoiler:

I agree that the novel does a good job at keeping the ambiguity of "did it or didn't", but eventually we come to the true realization that most of the "she didn't do it" arguments come from a subjective point of view, and not an objective one (something that Nonomiya himself pointed out within the story).

In the same case, the "cry for help" it's actually a strong argument on her being guilty instead of innocent. Because the "cry of help" that she supposedly felt wasn't heard at all, Yoko came to truly be into Nonomiya's radar because her father died, thus he "couldn't help her" at the point when the "cry for help" was made; in order words she was in that state with no one to confide in and no one to support her, only fueled with total indifference towards her own family.

Additionally, the conversation that she has with Nonomiya with the topic of "why do people commit murder" lampshades what Nonomiya would eventually deduct to be her motive; the novel doesn't go into the detail of "how would she commit the murder"; but rather thanks to Nonomiya it's more of an issue of "if she is suitable for murder or not", Nonomiya's deductions properly proved that Yoko not only was suitable to pull it off, but also she had absolutely no reason for not doing it, thus if you want to believe that the deaths aren't accidental, then she is 100% guilty. That conversation is really meaningful, and it really tells a lot if it is one's second reading.

Personally, to me the moment she asked him to check her dead father's room she pretty much declared herself guilty on the spot. "Storyline" wise that advice makes no common sense at all and "flow" wise it makes no sense from the emotional point of view, as the room of someone who died recently is a very delicate matter and touching subject (which she casually brings up to the table and even delegates to Nonomiya). Her attitude at the time felt more like she was sharing something with Nonomiya rather than asking him for help for finding about her mother; mentally I even felt like that Yoko was kid~like happy at the time telling him something like "look at what I did" as she showed him definite "proofs" of her mother's disappearance.

I'm soo looking forward to another novel with these characters.