Iwahashi did not immediately name the owner of the gray blade.
He first confirmed how the investigator would use his answer.
"Will it be given to Shuichi?"
"The parts concerning his and his father's safety will."
"Will you ask him to judge whether I'm telling the truth?"
"We won't require you to meet."
"Can this get me permission to teach?"
"No."
That last answer left Iwahashi silent for a long time.
He nodded.
"That blade belonged to Kuriyama."
The name first went into the field for information awaiting verification.
It was not entered directly into the suspect field.
Iwahashi explained that the batch of short blades had come from an itinerant blacksmith near the border.
Of the seven of them, only Kuriyama had insisted on grinding an inward-curving notch into the guard, saying it would keep the blade from catching on his cuff when held in a reverse grip.
The triangle on the blade's spine was a forging mark shared by all the weapons in that batch.
The curve in the guard was the personal modification.
The last time he had seen Kuriyama was three days after the attack on Kiriya.
The two had parted at the Abandoned Waystations.
Iwahashi had later been arrested.
Kuriyama was not among the four whose identities had been confirmed.
The investigator asked separately whether he had seen the weapon and whether he had seen Kuriyama injure anyone.
Iwahashi confirmed only the former.
On the night of the attack on Kiriya, he had been carrying medicinal supplies at the settlement's main gate.
Kuriyama had entered from the rear.
He had heard someone shouting behind a house, but had not seen whom the blade struck.
"I knew something was happening back there."
Iwahashi spoke.
"I didn't go over, and I didn't tell anyone to stop."
That