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Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon
Can we assume that Battler didn't receive the head's ring, in that case?
Even so, BATTLER uses it as his wand, as I understand it...
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We can, but I find it far more plausible that Kanon just brought it in his pocket and gave it in public, having learned of Battler finding the gold. The others present agreed to lie about the letter to protect Kanon from possible repercussions by the other members of the phantom conspiracy, and since Battler is not burdened with staying factual in Ep5, he can join in on the lie. And I think it was you who calculated that Shannon has to be the Piece-known-as-Erika in the Ep6 thread.
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Still, I kind of wonder where it could have gone. As I recall, they searched the entire study, it's not as though Natsuhi could have dumped him in the courtyard where he'd be in full view of the family later, and it certainly wasn't burnt...
Which makes me think that yes, the body was stolen.
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Throwing the body out the window is by far the most stealthy way to transport it, as nobody ever looks into the courtyard (it's not pretty and exists mostly for lighting purposes for the rooms on the inner side, as Battler's narration remarks) and it does not require to drag it along corridors and down the stairs. It is far easier to accomplish alone, as well, which is why whoever removes the body, whether it's stolen or not, is very likely to have done this.
There is one important red about the Kinzo disappearance in Ep5 which I don't see remembered often, and that is the fact that
the window was never opened after it started RAINING. It doesn't just destroy Battler's blue about Kinzo jumping out of the window, it also prevents anyone from tossing his body out after a certain time.
We know that it starts raining before dark, which can be seen from backgrounds. We also know that
sunset of the 4th October 1986 in this timezone occurs at 17:22.
Therefore, the body has to have been removed before that moment.
If the body is stolen, it is in Natsuhi's interest to present the empty study to the 'public' as soon as possible and claim Kinzo's disappearance, as otherwise, she and Krauss are immediately culpable as the murderer if the body does turn up. If they claim that Kinzo vanished immediately as they discover the body is not there, they still have wiggle room when it turns up, unburned, by claiming that Kinzo hired an impersonator, who locked himself in the study, and then someone mysteriously killed him and kept the body around, and that impersonator is now missing. Nobody would put it past Kinzo! Whichever story they cook up, they can only disclaim liability for the body if they announce the disappearance, otherwise they are caught lying. If the body does not turn up they can deal with it and whoever stole the body later.
Which implies that if the body is stolen, Natsuhi probably doesn't know this happened.
Both keys to the study are shown to be securely in the possession of Genji and Natsuhi, and are never discovered to be missing. Therefore, only Genji, Natsuhi and whoever they opened the door
for and left inside for at least ten minutes unattended could remove the body. Therefore they very probably know who could have stolen the body at all if they didn't remove it themselves.
I'm afraid there isn't much room to steal it and then not just get strangled there and then, but there are very few people who can remove anywhere too.
...come to think of it, though, which floor is Natsuhi's room on, again? Isn't that the third floor? Well, maybe the body
is in Natsuhi's room! There's only ten meters to drag it along the corridor, which is risky, but reasonably safe if nobody's watching. Here's the scenario:
Panicked, Natsuhi decides the body needs to be moved, as breaking into the study is inevitable. But there's no forest of fake corpses to hide it amongst, as nobody died or 'died' yet. She still plans to use the body for some unknown purpose, so she pulls it out and drags it to her own room, the only secure place she can think of, as nobody goes there beside her and Krauss anyway, nobody has the key beside her and the servants, and the only servants remaining on duty who might go there are Shannon or Kanon, who are members of the conspiracy.
And yes, Natsuhi's bed is the place to put it, amusing as it sounds.