Sage, Clown, Jester

A man was murdered last night. Two people–X and Y–saw what happened, and when the police came to investigate they both came forward.

Here is what X (a convicted felon) told the detective: Two men were arguing and shouting at each other and the one pulled out a knife and stuck the other one in the stomach a bunch of times. Then he ran off.

Here is what Y (a good person) told the detective: I saw a man and woman walking together. They both looked drunk. The man shouted at the woman and slapped her in the face. He looked like he was going to hit her again but she pulled something from her purse and stabbed him several times in the stomach. He fell over and she kicked him in the face. I didn’t see where she went.

The detective was at a loss. That night he went home and read his favorite story by Akutagawa Ryûnôsuke until he fell asleep. When the detective woke up in the morning the murdered man was sitting at the foot of his bed.

Here is what the murdered man told the detective: The details of what really happened are inconsequential now.