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Returning home late, I face my inkstone in silence.
Though this is a day I will never forget, I will not inscribe it in my notebook.
No matter how difficult the trial, no matter how great my disgrace, I must laugh.
But for now, there is only silence.
I read the paper at my desk at the office. The news has been chaotic all morning. Sensational reports flood the television and Internet.
MISSING YOKOHAMA VISITORS FOUND DEAD
DID A PRIVATE DETECTIVE AGENCY’S MEDDLING LEAD TO THE VICTIMS’ DEATHS?
And then there are the images—the white gas, the suffering victims, and me, grabbing on to the cage. It’s only a matter of time before the pictures make the front page of the newspaper. The agency’s phone has been ringing off the hook all morning with no end in sight. So far, they’ve all been complaints, but it won’t be long before the victims’ families begin to call us to threaten legal action. To make matters worse, we still have no leads as to where the remaining seven missing persons are.
Who took the pictures the moment the victims were killed, and why make them public?
The phone on my desk gives a teeth-grinding trill. I reach for the receiver, but Dazai promptly snatches it up and puts it back in its cradle. The ringing stops.
“Looks like this is exactly what the enemy wanted, huh?” Dazai says cheerfully. He’s carrying a photo in his hand. “If it’s any consolation, this is a really good picture of you.”
I silently try to take it from him, but he nimbly lifts his arm into the air before I can.
“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? You look awful.”
“…No. There’s work to be done.”
“Wow. You’re not gonna take a day off even after all this? You know, someone threw a rock at me on two separate occasions while I was trying to come into the office today.”
I look outside. A few protesters have been standing in front of the agency, causing a ruckus since morning. There will undoubtedly be even more tomorrow.
“‘Take a day off’? Have you lost your mind? We have a mission of utmost priority: Find the criminal behind this.”
“Well… Yeah. You’re right,” Dazai agrees with a blank look on his face.
“Where’s Miss Sasaki?”
“She’s in the infirmary getting examined by Dr. Yosano. Sounds like she’s gonna be okay.”
“Let’s pay her a little visit.”
I get out of my chair. Miss Sasaki is the only known victim to have had contact with the murderer and lived to tell the tale. We can probably figure out who the perpetrator is if we can learn how they’re kidnapping everyone.
I casually look down at the picture before following Dazai into the infirmary. You can clearly see my face in the pictures along with Miss Sasaki’s and the victims’, but the most of Dazai you can see is the tail of his overcoat. How was he able to avoid the secret photos?
“I’m sorry… I really wish I could help you, but…”
Miss Sasaki helplessly gazes at the floor.
“I’ve always been prone to illness, and I’m anemic, which causes me to faint every now and then. I was feeling especially ill the day I was abducted… I passed out at the train station, probably from the anemia.”
In that case, I guess she wouldn’t have any idea how she was abducted. However…
“Then that would mean someone abducted you in the midst of the confusion after you passed out.”
Kidnapping someone in the middle of a place as crowded as Yokohama Station would be impossible. Carrying an unconscious woman would draw even more attention. Either there are multiple kidnappers or someone’s using a very clever trick…
“Let me just say…thank you so much for saving me yesterday. I… I don’t have any friends or family to turn to, so…”
