Don't forget to read the first or previous part if you haven't!
In the last part, we hypnotized our main witness to verify the truth of his statements, which claim an oni kidnapped a boy, but they didn't change even under hypnosis, however, the mind of a child can easily confuse reality with fiction, right? Either way, our contact tells us of the history of onis and the particular rumors that refer to this specific entity. Despite all this, we haven't made much actual progress in the investigation, but that may change today. Let's begin, shall we?
The next day, I arrived at the office at the usual time and met Mr. Kogure's gloomy face at the entrance. It was behind schedule for him.
I wonder how many days have passed since we started the investigation. We can't even give each other cheerful greetings knowing that Yuusuke-kun's perilous situation grows worse by the hour.
[Phone rings]
As if to reprimand me for such a dreary morning meeting, my cell phone began to make a racket.
It's Doumyouji's number. I wonder if any progress has been made.
"Yes, hel..."
"Sir! It's horrible! Please come to the Saitou's house immediately!"
"What happened?"
"Something strange's been sent here. It's hard to explain in words, so please come anyway. Superintendent Innami is not here right now." The call ended one-sidedly.
I told Mr. Kogure what had happened and we promptly rushed to Saito's house.
Unlike Doumyouji's dire condition, Ms. Saito's house was ostensibly calm.
There were only a few detectives, and from the outside, it did not appear as if the place was packed with police.
"Sir, I've been waiting for you." As soon as I passed through the gate, Doumyouji called out to me.
"What happened? And, about that strange thing you found..."
"At any rate, let's go inside. I want you to see something before Superintendent Innami arrives."
In the living room was the mother, Ms. Yukari. She was ordered to stand by in case a call came in from the perpetrator.
On the couch beside her sits a worker who is to record and issue tracing instructions.
His face showed signs of fatigue, perhaps because he had been under tension for so long.
So far, they don't seem to be aware that we are outsiders. "So, what did they send?"
"A fax. We were sent a fax a while ago. Can you take a look at it?"
The staff member who was packed next to the phone showed me the fax after prefacing it with, "You aren't allowed to take it out of here until you get Superintendent Innami's permission."
It was odd at first glance. Written on it was only one letter...
It was writing like nothing I had ever seen before. What was written was a large scrawled Kanji.
At first glance, it looks very similar to the character for oni. However, there was no "、" on the top, which should have been there.
What does this mean? 'Oni' without that stroke gives off a very strange feeling.
It doesn't seem likely that they made a mistake and forgot to write it down. If they forgot, they would certainly notice.
"This is... oni, is it?" Mr. Kogure asks Doumyouji.
"I don't know. Even mom here doesn't seem to recognize this letter." Yukari nodded with a puzzled look on her face.
"I wonder if the culprit sent this? What about the display at the top of the transmission?" The staff member replies to my question.
"It doesn't exist. The display was cut off."
[Quick explanation: Faxes are connected by phone lines, once a transmission is sent to another fax and accepted, it immediately prints it on a piece of paper. The top of the transmission contains the date and phone number that sent the fax.]
"Is that so...?"
It's not yet possible to determine if this was sent by the perpetrator.
But if we assume it was from the culprit, what does that signify?
If the culprit is an oni like Ryou-kun said, then the act of sending this fax would be nonsensical.
As expected, it seems that the possibility of this case not being the work of an oni but of a {human} is high.
But still, why would the kidnapper send us a cryptic character, even if it was somehow meant to be a ransom demand, and risk giving us more clues?
The words "pomegranate seeds" that she said on the first phone call, this "oni" Kanji, and too many other actions that make no sense for the culprit to do.
Is there some kind of definite intention behind these actions...?
As I was pondering this, Doumyouji approached me apologetically.
"I'm sorry, sir, but Superintendent Innami will return soon."
"...Got it." We are outsiders. We shouldn't stand out just yet.
Doumyouji then whispered in my ear. "I'll make a copy of this fax and send it to the Archival Office."
"Please do so, Mr. Doumyouji."
"Likewise, please track down this oni character." And so, we left Mr. Saito's house as if running away.
That afternoon---
We were in the Police History Archival Office, groaning in exasperation.
"Uuuuuhn?"
"Aaaaaaaahn?"
[Brief show of the fax]
The thing that's making us groan is the copy of that aforementioned "oni" character.
We tried holding it up to the lights and turning it sideways, but we couldn't decipher any information.
I asked Ms. Yuuka about it over the phone, and she answered confidently, "I've no idea!"
She added that she would look into it, but didn't want me to get my hopes up.
"...Why would the killer send something like this?" This question, which I repeated over and over again, was reiterated once more.
"If the culprit was the oni that Ryou Kobayashi-kun saw, there'd be no need for her to send this at all..."
"The fact that they went to the trouble of sending something like this, does that mean the culprit is someone who took advantage of the oni rumors...?"
That's right. Maybe they're trying to confuse us by making it seem like the work of an oni.
"But, sir. Was it necessary for her to go so far as to take the risk of leaving behind a clue? Doing nothing would absolutely be less risky than doing this."
"Mr. Kogure, that's the problem..." To sum it up, it's just like he said, there's absolutely no need to purposely do something like that, same with the "pomegranate seeds" from the phone call.
"It may unexpectedly just be a prank. They have zero connection to this case..."
Mr. Kogure murmured, as if to say, "I don't want to do this anymore."
A prank, hm? Of course, that's a possibility, but if we declare that, then all we've been doing was for nothing.
"Sir! I'm going to go search for more information! It's not in my nature to sit at a desk and do research!"
After saying this, Mr. Kogure ran out of the room with enough momentum to tackle the door.
"He got away..." I was alone in the Archival Office.
Looks like the Inspector is out for the morning. She's probably gambling anyway.
"It can't be helped. I guess I can try going to the library..."
About 2 hours later---
I returned home after a disastrous day of research at the library.
[Phone rings]
My breast pocket trembled as if it was mocking me, with the ringing of an incoming call.
"What!?" It was unmistakably Ms. Yuuka's voice.
"What was the character you sent me!? I wanted to confirm one more time!" She sounded terribly impatient.
"The character... What was written was just a big 'oni'. Except it didn't have the stroke on the top."
"Junya-kun! Do not be surprised, but other people have received similar {threatening letters}!"
"Eh! Really!?"
"I've seen it with my own eyes so there's no mistake!"
"Ms. Yuuka, where are you right now?" She informed me of her location.
A few kilometers north of where the victims, the Saitous, lived---but in the same city.
"Ms. Yuuka! I'm going at once, wait for me there!"
"O-okay! I understand!"
I called Kogure's cell phone on the spot to let him know that I had made progress and to meet up with him.
"Hello, Mr. Kogure?"
"Sir! I was just about to call you!"
"Eh? Did something happen?"
"Well, actually, I found something big! I, Souichirou Kogure, obtained outrageous information while interviewing witnesses!" The sound of rough nasal breathing was mixed in between his words.
"Outrageous information?"
"Believe it or not, there were others who received the same threatening letter with that 'oni' character!"
"I already... Truth is, I was just on my way to see Yuka-san about the same thing."
"What!? Is that true!?"
"Yeah. Where are you, Mr. Kogure?" I thought it might've been the same place, but the location he gave me was a few kilometers further from the house where Ms. Yuuka was waiting.
Two places that have received the threatening letter. But I have only one body.
Which way should I go...?
>Go to Ms. Yuuka's location.
>Go to Mr. Kogure's location.
We can't leave our brother hanging.
>Go to Mr. Kogure's location.
Yuka-san should be able to manage to gather the necessary information by herself. More importantly, let's meet up with Mr. Kogure here quickly.
Riding a taxi, I headed towards the house where Mr. Kogure was waiting.
I get out of the taxi in a residential area not far from the Saitous' house and look for Mr. Kogure.
"Ah, sir!! This way!" Mr. Kogure ran up to me once he saw me.
"Mr. Kogure, is this the house that was sent the threatening letter?"
"Yessir. It's this way."
It was a luxurious home. The nameplate read, 'Kounoike'.
"Truthfully, um... Mr. {Kounoike} had to go out on some business a short while ago."
Despite it not particularly seeming to be Mr. Kogure's fault, he looks very ashamed.
"However, don't worry! I've already asked everything I think was necessary. And since you're here, I'll give the full story when we move to another place."
We went into the cafe we've been frequenting since the beginning of our involvement in this case.
"Here is the threatening letter." As soon as we sat down and finished ordering, Mr. Kogure frowned and handed me a plain manila envelope.
The stamp on the envelope shows that it was postmarked four days ago. It was mailed from Kanagawa.
I put on gloves, took the envelope out of the plastic, and opened the letterhead inside.
[Brief red flash]
"This is..." The characters were written in red ink that looks like dripping blood.
[The paper reads, 'kill']
The two characters, which clearly express the intent to kill, exert more than enough mental pressure on the reader.
"Well then, Mr. Kogure. Could you give me the full account?"
"Yessir!" Together with his reply, Mr. Kogure nimbly opened his ID notebook.
"The recipient of the letter is a Mrs. Kounoike. Her husband is a city councilor."
"I've heard that because of her husband's job, he often receives harassing letters, but he doesn't report them to the police because they'd tarnish his image."
"Also, I don't know if this is related to the case, but Mrs. Kounoike's garden was vandalized."
"You can't see it from the front, but... the flowers in the flower beds were uprooted..."
"...I see."
"And also, Mr. Kounoike's wife felt unwell... today, so... they went to the hospital."
"She felt unwell? Why?"
"It seems that Mrs. Kounoike raised her garden with great care. I know gardening is booming, and I'm not averse to it myself, but... that was a bit much."
"Was it that amazing?" I asked.
"Yes, sir. The amount of love she put into it was extraordinary. I've heard stories from her husband... about how she spends half of her day tinkering in the garden."
"Apparently, she talked to each flower and tree, naming them individually."
"That's amazing indeed." I said in admiration.
"The husband said it was like raising a child. He said she named each flower and tree and talked to each one of them..." [He repeated the past dialogue almost unchanged]
"I see. ...What were the flowers that were vandalized?" I asked, thinking it might've been a theft aiming after expensive flowers.
"Uhm... What was the name of that flower again? Garberia or something..." [He originally said 'turnip (kabura in Japanese)', lol]
Mr. Kogure pulls out his notebook and begins to search for the desired information in the dense, meticulously written notes.
"Are you talking about gerberas?"
"Yes, yes! That's it!"
It wasn't me who replied with "Gerbera". It was Ms. Yuuka, imposingly standing there.
While her expression wasn't different from normal, her cheeks and eyebrows twitched from time to time.
Oops. I forgot about Ms. Yuuka. I guess she was so furious she came looking for me.
"U-um, Ms. Yuuka, this situation's not..." I timidly began to talk.
"It's fine. You had other priorities, didn't you?" She didn't sound particularly sarcastic.
"Sorry, Ms. Yuuka."
"Like I said already, it's fine. I'm more interested in what you were talking about."
"A-alright..."
I told her the information as Mr. Kogure had told me. Ms. Yuuka nodded her head many times as she listened to what I had to say.
"I see..." Ms. Yuuka tilted her head to the side once my talk was over.
"Gerbera... It's certainly not a cheap flower, but... On the other hand, it's not like someone'd go to the extent of stealing one."
"The burglary route's gone, huh?" I involuntarily let out a breath.
"Yeah. Well, now it's time for my info. But first, look at this real quick."
Saying that, Ms. Yuuka handed us a brown envelope identical to the one delivered to the Kounoike residence.
The postmark was also from Kanagawa Prefecture. The date was four days ago as well. There was no name of the sender.
I put on my gloves and started to pull out the letter like before.
[The letter reads 'curse you' in a very literal manner]
"This is..."
"Sir, it's just like the one Mrs. Kounoike received, isn't it?"
...Curse you...
The letters, written in blood-red ink, were eerie as expected.
"It was delivered to a woman named {Sachiko Sagami}, who said it was sent to her home about four days ago."
"Unfortunately, so far I haven't found any connection to the Saitou family."
"But there is one thing that has been bothering me. At the Kounoikes' house, their cherished flowerbed was ruined, wasn't it?"
"It was." Mr. Kogure charged his short reply with his anger against the criminal.
"It's the same. Ms. Sagami's family also has something cherished. Their dog, named Lucky-chan, has gone missing."
"Really?" I felt as if a single line was gradually coming into view.
"It's a Shiba Inu that she loved like a son, to the point she put up a ton of stray dog posters in her neighborhood. Maybe because of that, the rumors about the oni woman in question have morphed a bit."
"The rumors have morphed...? In what way?"
In response to my query, Ms. Yuuka meaningfully hushed her voice.
"They say that the oni woman doesn't just take children, she takes dogs, too."
"I don't know if she actually took Lucky-chan, but I think it's good to add in this information."
A beloved dog that was loved like a son? For the victim, it must've been a very painful experience.
I had a vague sense of uneasiness about the culprit.
A criminal who aims to satisfy her own twisted desires, not for any real gain...
"Oni", "Curse you", "Kill". I unfolded the three sheets of paper and stared at them.
The word "oni" would give any Japanese person a sense of foreboding.
I don't know why the topmost stroke was removed. But it makes it feel terribly uncomfortable to look upon. It fosters an unpleasant feeling.
This, too, is an unpleasant word. The fact that it's written in red ink and uses katakana instead of hiragana also gives it a strange, eerie feel.
[Hiragana is the standard writing system in Japan, you can see it in the image as the simpler characters. Katakana is mainly used for emphasis or loanwords, it can also be seen in this image, in 'インク'. They're very pointy.]
And two characters that express pure murderous intent. Are these words really mere harassment?
If the perpetrator's goal was "harassment", then it makes sense why a beloved dog was taken away and flower beds were vandalized.
But kidnapping is different. It's out of the ordinary as harassment.
"It's disgusting to go after the things people hold so dear! Once we catch her, I'm going to kick her ass, oni or not!"
Ms. Yuuka vigorously raged.
"Huh...?" Right then, I felt a strange sense of unease.
The things people hold dear...?
I decided to organize the events of this case that happened thus far to find out the root of this discomfort.
If I can determine the identity of this uncomfortable feeling, we may be able to find the culprit.
Deducing the Criminal's Profile
First of all, what was stolen from Ms. Saitou at the beginning of this case...?
>Yuusuke-kun
>Lucky-chan
>Cherished Flowerbed
This one is simple.
>Yuusuke-kun
Right, it was Yuusuke-kun. So, what was Ms. Sagami deprived of...?
>Lucky-chan
>Cherished Flowerbed
She's the one Yuuka talked about, so it should be the dog.
>Lucky-chan
Yes, it was the dog, Lucky-chan. And in Mrs. Kounoike's case, she lost her cherished flowerbed.
What is the common motive for the multiple incidents taking place recently?
>Ransoming
>Grudge
>Mischief
I feel like the only fitting one is the strongest motive.
>Grudge
Indeed, there's a high possibility of it being a grudge...
A terrifying sentiment that would make someone dispossess others of their beloved things, even destroying them, therefore causing emotional damage...
Now then, let's proceed further with this idea.
For Ms. Saitou, it was her son, Yuusuke-kun... For Ms. Sagami, it was her beloved dog, Lucky... It's easy to see how these two are important.
...However, what about Mrs. Kounoike's flowerbed?
Many people may have gardening as a hobby, but I don't think that destroying their efforts would usually cause the same psychological damage done to Ms. Saitou and Ms. Sagami, would it?
Nevertheless, the fact that they targeted the flower beds with a grudge means...
>They knew of Mrs. Kounoike's love for her flowerbed. (Conclusion)
>That there was nothing else to target. (Conclusion)
It's obviously the top one.
>They knew of Mrs. Kounoike's love for her flowerbed.
That's right. They must have known. Mrs. Kounoike has a bit of an unusual amount of love for her flowerbed... And the culprit knew that, so they destroyed it.
"So that's what this means!" Ms. Yuuka leaned forward as I explained my reasoning.
"The culprit knew that Mrs. Kounoike loved her flowerbed very much. In other words..."
"They're very close to her, aren't they!?" Mr. Kogure leaned forward.
"Right. Someone who's close to Mrs. Kounoike and has connections with Ms. Saitou and Ms. Sagami..."
"Let's get to it, sir!"
I thought the investigation was completely dead in the water, but... I feel as if I've seen a glimmer of light.
We decided to gather information in order to find someone who fits the description of the culprit.
Yuuka returned to the professor's office at once to gather information about onis.
"Well, do your best, Junya-kun!"
Doing your best is good, but it'll still be a challenge to find the person we're looking for.
With just Mr. Kogure and me, I don't know how much time we'll have to spend on this...
...But contrary to expectations, things went way too easily.
This is because Ms. Sagami and Mrs. Kounoike, both of whom a threatening letter was sent, belonged to the same circle.
That circle being a "gardening club". We obtained a list of the club's members and carefully examined it...
"Sir... The Satoko Anzai written in here is..."
"Satoko Anzai", that's the name of the Saitous' neighbor.
When we checked with Ms. Sagami and Mrs. Kounoike, they said they were acquainted with Satoko Anzai and had even invited her to their home for tea.
And, of course, she has a connection with Ms. Yukari Saitou---
Just in case, we investigated the other members of the club, but we found no connection between them and Ms. Saitou.
"Ms. Saitou, Ms. Sagami, Mrs. Kounoike... The only line connecting these three is Satoko Anzai!" Mr. Kogure asserted as he flipped through his notebook.
"Sir. Anzai seemed to be leading a rather difficult life. It's quite possible that she was jealous of Ms. Sagami and Mrs. Kounoike's comfortable life."
"Certainly..." Despite thinking he was being biased, I nodded my head in agreement with Mr. Kogure's opinion.
"We need to find out more about her, don't we?" We immediately contacted Doumyouji and asked him for information about Satoko Anzai.
According to his report, Satoko Anzai's alibi couldn't be established on the day Yuusuke-kun was abducted, from the time he left school until he was last seen in the park.
"Mr. Kogure. Let's check the evidence left by the murderer." At this point, I don't think it would be a good idea to arbitrarily accompany her or conduct a house search.
If we made a mistake, she'll end up being on guard around us. If she is the culprit, there's a chance she might cause harm to Yuusuke-kun.
Anyway, I took out the letter and the copy of the fax sent by the criminal.
"Mr. Kogure. From these pieces of evidence, we should be able to find proof that Satoko Anzai is the culprit, right?"
"From the letter and fax? Uhm..." Mr. Kogure folded his arms and groaned.
The amount of written information is too little. It seems it'll be difficult to identify the culprit from the contents alone.
No fingerprints could be recovered from the envelopes and notepapers. In addition, both of them were found to be commercial products sold at convenience stores.
And when it comes to the fax, there are no clues other than the Kanji character.
Can we find traces that lead to Anzai in these few pieces of evidence?
Traces Left Behind in the Evidence
Is there a common point between the two letters and the fax?
>All receivers were female
>The similar impressions of the characters
I don't see the connection between them being women and Anzai, maybe the other option will show the way.
>The similar impressions of the characters
Is there a meaning to the characters sent to each victim...?
>There doesn't seem to be any particular meaning
>There's certainly bound to be a meaning.
...What is this question, Junya?
>There's certainly bound to be a meaning.
So, what do the characters mean?
>Message
>Harassment
They're probably a statement, yes.
>Message
They're a message... huh?
"Curse you" and "kill" can be understood as messages of hatred.
But what about "oni"?
The receiver was Yukari Saitou, whose son was kidnapped. Are they accusing her of being an oni?
Or was it meant to be a claim of responsibility, saying that their true identity was that of an oni?
In any case, this conclusion does not provide any evidence connected to Anzai. Let's reconsider from another direction...
Now, let's consider other methods.
Compared to the fax, several clues were left on the two letters.
Those being---
>The postmarks left on the envelopes (Conclusion)
>The stamps on the envelopes (Conclusion)
Aren't the postmarks from Kanagawa? Didn't she say she was from a rural area?
>The postmarks left on the envelopes
They're postmarked from Kanagawa--- Now that I think about it, Satoko Anzai's from Kanagawa. When we first met, she mentioned something to that effect.
But, that's still insufficient. We need other evidence related to Anzai.
The stamps on the envelopes... Stamps...
"...I see! It's the stamps!"
"Huh?" Mr. Kogure opened his eyes wide in surprise at my abrupt, loud declaration.
"U-um... The stamps are what?"
"It's still a matter of possibility, but... Mr. Kogure, what do you do when you put a stamp on a letter?"
"Eh? Uhh-um..." Mr. Kogure replied while darting his eyes about.
"Well, that's... uh, you lick the back and... AAAH!?" It seems he understood my intentions as he screamed loudly.
"That's right. We might be able to collect the culprit's saliva from the stamps on the envelopes."
"Y-you're absolutely right, sir!"
"However, it won't mean anything if we can't prove that it belongs to Satoko Anzai."
"Mh-hm. Satoko Anzai's saliva...?" Mr. Kogure, who had been in high spirits for a moment, sank a little again.
In order to know if the saliva on the stamp belonged to Anzai, we need to obtain Anzai's saliva.
But how?
>By obtaining the cigarette Anzai smoked
>By obtaining the gum Anzai chewed
The first choice's weird since she hated cigarettes, so there's only one option.
>By obtaining the gum Anzai chewed
"There is saliva, Mr. Kogure."
"Eh? Where?"
"Don't you remember? She... was always chewing on something, wasn't she?"
"Chewing...?" Mr. Kogure put his hand over his mouth as if he was trying to remember for dear life.
"That's right! Gum! All we have to do is get the gum chewed by Satoko Anzai, right!?"
"Let's hurry, Mr. Kogure!" We both noisily broke into a run.
I'll stop here, as we've deduced the way forward and now all we need is to act on it, but that'll probably be as long as this post was. The dots are all connected, the problem is, we haven't even chosen a route yet, so I'm not sure if Anzai will be the actual culprit. Still, I'm glad we're doing some actual detective work, it's always my favorite part.
Anyway, see you next time!
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