The Suspect

“Adachi, get the guy in the interrogation room.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Hello, Mr Nishimura. I’m the officer in charge of your interrogation, Abe Sakura. I would like to ask you a few questions regarding the case.”

“Ma’am please believe me. I didn’t do anything. Momo and I are friends and she called me that night saying that someone was following her.”

“Mr Nishimura, we checked her log details and she didn’t have your number saved on her phone and it was the first time she called you. And if she isn’t even close enough with you to actually save your phone number then how could you actually be a FRIEND? And besides, she was already on the phone with her friend and also her parents before the accident and yet she didn’t tell any of them anything and called a random classmate at the middle of the night to tell that she was scared? Does this theory add up to even you?”

“No ma’am, I think you are mistaking something. She has my phone number saved on her phone. And we aren’t just classmates but best friends. The girl she was suppose to meet that night is also my friend. I think she called me because I’m her only male friend and she must have been terrified and my number is on her speed dial too. Please talk with Saika, Akiho Saika. She is the one Momo was suppose to meet that night. She knows about me. Please, I’m innocent.”

“How come a highschooler have a random guys number on her speed dial and not her parents number?”

“Her parents are always very busy and they both have jobs for which they come home really late at night. And as for Saika, she isn’t allowed to go out after school. She has really strict parents and so I’m her only friend who can help her in need.”

“But I’m telling you your number wasn’t even saved on her phone.”

“No, it must be a mistake. It might have been deleted while the commotion.”

“Are you kidding me? Okay then let’s say I believe that you and Harada Momo were friends. But then what about the factory? You work near the abandoned factory where we found blood from.”

“I swear I have nothing to do with that. I just do some part times there. I work on the fields for others sometimes to make some extra bucks.”

“But how can a coincidence be this big? You work near the place of where we found blood and then you were the last person to have contacted the 18th victim.”

“Please believe me. You can ask Saika. Or even anyone else from our class. Even the teachers know about our friendship.”

“I think I have to leave you here for a while. I see denying till the end must be your tactic.”

“No. Please believe me.”

“Why isn’t Miss Abe forcing him to spill the beans? We clearly have enough evidence against him.”

“…”

“Miss Abe, can I ask you a question?”

“Ah yes Yuta, go ahead.”

“Why aren’t you forcing him to tell the truth? You aren’t even asking him about the girls.”

“Oh it’s okay. He is a kid after all.”

“But he isn’t just any kid. He kidnapped 18 girls.”

“It’s okay. I’ll handle the case in my way. Anyway, I think someone is getting their biggest surprise ever.”

“Sorry?”

“Ah it’s nothing.”

Cindy forgot about the case she was working for while thinking about her brother. She only got the trailer via mail. She needed to go to the informer.

“Hi. This is Cindy McAdams. I was the one who asked to look for a person.”

“Ah yes. I found the person you were looking for.”

Cindy’s stomach dropped as soon as she saw the present face of her beloved brother. She had seen him before.

“Are you sure this is the person I was looking for? Wasn’t there any kind of mistake in the process?”
“No. We found the right person. Actually it was getting really hard to find the person you were looking for. But then suddenly we got a call saying that they knew the person we were looking for and forwarded the information. We then checked twice to finally confirm that he indeed is the person you were looking for.”

“Who did you get the call from?”

“I don’t know. Some lady just called and told us the information and hanged up. She used a pay phone to make the call. I couldn’t even contact her again to thank her. But come to think of it, this guy’s face seems familiar. Have I seen him somewhere before?...”

“Thanks for your hard work. I’ll be going then. I’m a bit busy today.”

“Ah. It’s okay. You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

The whole time Cindy’s heart was pounding louder than ever. She knew the face. In fact, she just saw him before coming here. The person she was looking for so desperately was none other than the person she saw on the television today, the suspect of the 18 kidnapping case Nishimura Haru.