by Shin Towada
No eyewitness testimony. No body. So it’s possible that she was snatched off the street and taken somewhere private … Which means it’s highly likely to be a Ghoul with an ukaku, Amon thought to himself.
Ghouls had physical abilities far superior to humans. And the instantaneous force of an ukaku would easily overwhelm someone.
Amon checked the case files that Yanagi had given him to see whether there were any Ghouls with ukaku in the 8th Ward who repeatedly preyed on humans.
But there weren’t.
So it must be a Ghoul who recently arrived in the area. I should send a request to other branches asking if they have any information on a Ghoul with an ukaku known to prey on teenage girls, he thought, then checked his watch.
“I’ll do it when I get home.”
Amon picked up the attaché case containing his Quinque and headed to the train station.
This way’s the shortcut, he thought, going down the side street that Morimine had showed him. The alley was small and narrow, with no lights to show the way. Probably only locals know this route.
He heard only the sound of his own footsteps echoing as he walked. Then, suddenly, he heard voices somewhere. They were getting louder as he kept walking.
As he proceeded he saw a young man and woman arguing at the end of the alley.
“What are you saying?! I want it all, as soon as possible!”
“I’m sorry, please, this has to be the last …”
It seemed like the man blamed her for something. Sobbing, she took a white envelope from her bag and handed it to the man. He snatched the envelope from her hands and checked the contents. To the naked eye, it looked like a huge wad of cash. Is this blackmail?
“Hey, what are you doing there?” Amon yelled, rushing up to the two of them. They both turned to look at him, and their eyes widened in surprise. As Amon started trying to subdue the man, the woman yelled, “No!” and spread her arms, trying to protect him.
“Do whatever you like, you stupid bitch!” The man ran off, clutching the envelope.
“Hey, wait!”
Amon tried to chase after him, but the woman grabbed him. “You don’t understand, you don’t understand,” she said.
“Wasn’t he just shaking you down?”
“Ah …”
Then they both gave a yelp of surprise.
As they stood there in the dimly lit side street, Amon finally got a good look at her face and saw that she was the sophisticated woman who had told him where to go that morning. What’s she doing out at night giving a wad of cash to that guy? What on earth is going on here?
“I’m embarrassed that you saw that. I’m really sorry …”
She lowered her head in apology.
“But everything’s fine.”
She gave a weak smile and bowed again, then turned her back on Amon and started walking away. But her gait was unsteady.
Sure enough, she made it only three steps before she stumbled and hit the ground.
“Are you all right?” he called out.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry …”
Amon lent her a hand to help her up, and she bowed her head apologetically again.
“Are you sure you can walk? How are you getting home?”
“Someone is waiting for me at the train station. So I’ll be fine,” she said.
She looks refined, and she may well be, but there’s something suspicious about her. And what was that business with the money?
“I’m on my way to the station right now. Let’s walk together.”
Suddenly she looked at him suspiciously. “But …”
“This morning you helped me find the way to work. I owe you,” he said.
It wasn’t the only reason he wanted to accompany her, but something about what he said made her smile.
“Well … if you insist.”
“I do.”
They did not speak as they walked; the only sound was their footsteps. She walked slowly, taking ten minutes to walk what should’ve taken three or four.
As light from the main street began to filter into the alleyway, someone saw them and shouted, “Miss Koharu!” Koharu. I suppose that’s her name. Amon saw the elderly woman who had been with her that morning rushing toward them. Probably not her mother if she calls her “Miss.”
“Mrs. Otokaze, I’m sorry for making you wait …”
“It’s fine, dear. And who is this?”
The elderly woman she called Mrs. Otokaze stared up at Amon presumptuously.
“I got lightheaded and he was worried about me, so he walked with me. I’m not sure if you remember, but we met him this morning,” Koharu explained neatly, but Otokaze’s eyes still searched Amon’s face. She seemed wary of him. Between the cryptic conversation earlier, the envelope stuffed full of cash, and Otokaze’s attitude toward me, there’s no doubt that Koharu is caught up in some kind of trouble.
“I don’t know what happened, but if there’s something criminal going on, you should tell the police,” Amon warned Koharu. “This is not the kind of thing you can just put up with until it goes away. Because other people could get hurt, not just you.”
She might understand better if I talk about the impact on the people around her, rather than what might happen to herself. Amon’s words seemed to make her look at herself in surprise.
“Other people … Oh, you’re right, you really are …”
She nodded slightly as she mulled over what he’d said.
“You’re too kind,” she said and gave him a gentle smile. A blush spread across her pale cheek.
But Amon said flatly, “I’m not.”
“Um, may I have your name?”
“My name? I’m Kotaro Amon.”
“Kotaro … what a nice name. If there’s anything I can do to show my gratitude …”
“Please, don’t worry. I owe you for this morning.”
“You really are too kind,” she said. “Thank you.” Koharu bowed deeply before disappearing with Otokaze into a taxi waiting at the station.
This place is wearing me out already and I just got here, Amon thought to himself. First Detective Morimine, and now Koharu.
Amon sighed and finally started on his way home.
IV
It had been one week since he’d been sent to the 8th Ward, and Amon had spent all of his time searching for clues in the case of the missing schoolgirl. He was busy comparing alibis and checking where suspected Ghouls had been at the time of her disappearance. And next to him all the while was Lieutenant Morimine. He had followed Amon around every single day that week.
“There are two suspected Ghouls without alibis for the day of the girl’s disappearance. I think we need to take a closer look at these two …”
“Well, I think they’re all clear, myself,” Morimine said with a sneer. “Just hurry up and get it signed off as not involving a Ghoul, and pass the case back to me.”
And every day, Morimine undermined Amon’s investigation in some way.
“Can you stop interfering with my investigation? And how can you even say that, when a Ghoul left fluids on her barrette? Obviously a Ghoul was somehow involved.”
“A Ghoul might’ve been involved, but there’s no way it was one of these suspected Ghouls.”
“And what is your evidence?”
“That the barrette was left near the police station, not the CCG office.”
Amon shook his head and put his hand to his face. All he does is meddle in my investigation, and when I ask him for evidence to support his theory, that’s all he has. And he has no other explanation.
“If you’re going to interfere with my investigation, just go back to the station. I’m sure you have other work to do.”
“Sorry, man, but I’m staying here until you conclude your investigation.”
Maybe h
e thinks that if he keeps putting pressure on me I’ll get so frustrated I’ll just quit. “Until we have evidence clearly showing that it wasn’t a Ghoul, I’m not going to turn this case back over to you guys,” Amon said, hammering the point home.
“Stubborn bastard,” Morimine complained bluntly.
“And what’s so wrong with being stubborn? I don’t want to compromise the investigation.”
“God, you’re so green it hurts …”
“Are you mocking me?”
“Not at all. But you spend so much time looking straight ahead that you can’t see what’s around you.”
Amon started to head back to the office. Morimine followed him, looking fed up.
I’ve had people tell me I’m stubborn before, but Morimine really is pigheaded.
I’m going to investigate this myself. If I let him get to me there’ll be no end to it. The fact that he’s throwing me off at all annoys me. What’s most important now is to check out these two people who don’t have alibis, Amon thought as he walked, surveying his surroundings.
Just then a woman he knew he’d seen before came into sight.
“Huh?”
“Someone you know?” asked the ever-observant Morimine.
“Oh, no …”
What a small world. On the other side of the road, walking with her face slightly down, was Koharu following after Otokaze.
“Wait—I know that woman too.”
So even Morimine knows her. “An acquaintance of yours?” Amon asked.
He shook his head. “Not an acquaintance. I took a statement from her once. She’s beautiful, she’s always with someone, and I remember that when I showed her my badge, she was strangely surprised,” he said.
“By your badge?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s just a badge, nothing unusual about it.”
Amon had to agree; when Morimine had showed it to him there hadn’t been anything particularly odd about it.
“She seemed somehow tragic.”
“Tragic how?”
“Well, look, a woman with a pretty face all dolled up like that? She should have so much confidence in herself that she practically floats down the street. But the way she’s walking, it’s like she wants to avoid anyone looking at her. There’s an air of anxiety around her.”
Amon watched her walk and thought that Morimine was being a little over-the-top, but he also remembered how she had looked a week ago as she handed over the money to that man.
“Morimine, have there been any reports from victims of blackmail or anything like that to the police this week?”
“Don’t know what that’s got to do with what we’re talking about, but no, I haven’t heard anything. Wait, you think she’s being blackmailed?”
“No, I don’t know for sure.”
Amon told him about what he’d seen on his first day. “Hmm,” Morimine murmured, watching her walk into the hospital down the street.
Amon went back to the branch office with barely anything to show for his time. Yanagi and Tojo were out meeting with investigators from the 7th Ward, where the Ghoul restaurant was located. Amon checked their report for the day and then left the office.
He knew the way to the train station very well now. In his head he went over his plans for the next day as he turned down the alleyway. You know, I wonder how they’re doing back in the 20th Ward. Seido Takizawa, a rank 2 investigator who seemed to idolize Amon, had told him that if anything happened they’d call him. And they haven’t, so I guess nothing’s happened. But it also means there’s been no progress.
“And they haven’t gotten the Rabbit yet …”
The Rabbit was Amon’s responsibility—a small Ghoul with a light body who knew their way around an ukaku. The Rabbit had killed a young clerk investigator named Kusaba—whose round glasses had been his trademark—and Mado, a man Amon had respected with all his heart. Amon felt he had to uncover the Rabbit’s identity and avenge their deaths in tribute.
But there was another reason why Amon was pursuing the Rabbit. The Ghoul with the eye patch that he’d seen during the Aogiri battle was thought to have some connection to the Rabbit. There was something Amon wanted to ask him.
“I can’t afford to stall.”
If he didn’t get to work on the task he’d given himself, there was no way he would find those two Ghouls. Amon turned back the way he had just came. The case of the missing schoolgirl. Even if there’s little evidence or information, I’ve gotta investigate more thoroughly to get answers. Amon’s stride was long as he walked.
“Ack!”
But soon he ran smack into something and heard a woman cry out. Apparently he had bumped into a woman near him. “Sorry, you okay?” he said, apologizing hastily, but when he saw her face his confusion returned. “You’re …”
It was Koharu, who he’d seen just that afternoon. And this time the old woman who had called her “Miss” wasn’t with her.
“Oh, I’m … I’m fine. I’m sorry, I didn’t warn you in time.”
The ground around her was littered with things she had been carrying. There were even some cupcakes lying there. Seeing this, Koharu rushed to pick them up.
“I knew you worked at the CCG, so I thought if I waited nearby I might run into you … I wanted to give you this to thank you. But …”
She looked at the crumpled box with the cupcakes in it, which she had apparently brought to give to Amon.
“You have nothing to thank me for.”
“No, it made me very happy that someone I don’t even know was so kind to me. But there’s no way I can give you this now …” she muttered, looking at the smashed cupcakes.
Amon reached over smoothly and took one. He lightly brushed the dirt off the surface and tossed the cupcake into his mouth.
“Oh.”
A bit gritty but it tastes good. Although not quite sweet enough for a sweet tooth like myself.
“Is it all right?” Koharu asked fearfully.
“Very good,” he said, bringing his hands together in thanks.
“I’m glad. I know most men don’t like sweet things, so I got ones that were a little less sweet …”
“Perhaps it could’ve been a little sweeter.” Amon picked up his attaché case from the ground. “On another note, have you reported what happened the other night to the police?”
“I … I’m not really sure what to do.”
“How so?”
“I still haven’t made my mind up about a lot of things.” She didn’t make it clear, but it seemed like she was considering her options.
“It’s better for you to speak honestly,” Amon said, giving her a few words of advice, and then left.
V
“Amon, you gotta stop staying here overnight. You all right?” Yanagi called out, surprised to see Amon there already, sorting through documents on his own and collecting data.
“Morning. My body is disciplined so it’s not much of a problem.” Since the day he’d decided to really dedicate himself to the case, Amon had been staying in the office overnight trying to find clues in the case of the missing schoolgirl.
“You’re nothing if not predictable, I gotta say. Give Tojo some of whatever you’re drinking, man. Anyway, found anything?” Yanagi said, peeking over his shoulder. Amon showed him a flier.
“What’s this? ‘Have you seen this child? Please call’ … Did you make this? No, it looks old, and the name’s wrong. Who is Haruka Seta?”
Amon was meant to be investigating the disappearance of Mai Hirano. But this flier was regarding a girl named Haruka Seta. And the paper had turned reddish brown in the sun.
“Oh, the date of her disappearance is eighteen years ago.”
“That’s right, Yanagi. Eighteen years ago a similar incident happened in the 8th Ward.”
The picture on the flier
was of a very serious-looking girl. And she, too, had suddenly and uncharacteristically disappeared.
“That’s not all. I found this in the newspaper—fifteen years ago another girl went missing in this Ward.”
Amon showed him a photocopy of a newspaper.
“If there’s no sign of Ghoul involvement, sometimes the CCG just doesn’t hear about a case … I might turn up more of these if I keep looking.”
“You’re right, you know. Maybe this case goes a lot deeper than we thought …”
Amon had a sudden sense of déjà vu and could not get any words out. I’ve heard those words before. Finally the memory came to him—Morimine talking about the case.
“This story goes a lot deeper than that.”
“You think Morimine knows?” Yanagi asked, as if he had read Amon’s mind.
“If he does, he hasn’t told me anything.”
“Right … He seems like the kind of guy who would tell you if he knew. But I think it’s kind of strange that he doesn’t know. If you found this kind of information, then the police must have it too. Amon, I want you to check with Morimine. You think he’ll be coming around today?”
Amon looked at the clock. It was almost time for him to arrive. Amon stood up, flier in hand. When he went out the CCG’s front door and looked around he saw Morimine crouching amidst the lush greenery, smoking a cigarette. He noticed Amon immediately, stubbed out his cigarette and stood up.
“You’re a bit early today.”
Morimine shoved his hands in his pockets and ambled over. Amon held out the flier in his hand.
“What’s this?” He took it from Amon, holding it up so he could see. “Huh …” he grunted. “This thing takes me back.”
“Eighteen years ago there was a similar case in this area. Did you know about this?”
Morimine glanced up at Amon. “As a cop, no, I did not know about this,” he said.
“What do you mean, ‘as a cop’?” Is he speaking on behalf of the organization? All right, I’ll change my question.
“What about as an individual?”
I have here a guy who just keeps saying that because the barrette was left near the police station it must be the work of a human. But after that answer I wonder if there’s some real reason, some information only he knows.
