Chapter 2:
Misty Man
Ring! Ring!
The sounds of phones filled the air. It was a busy day in the office. Everyone in the room was engaged on land phones and cell phones.
At one corner, there was a separate table. A tall man was sitting in front of it, gazing at the computer screen intently; his pair of green eyes were piercing at it. As he was working, his cell phone vibrated suddenly. He glanced at his phone and immediately answered the call.
“This is Detective Kogami.” Upon listening from the other side, his sharply carved eyebrows knitted slightly. “I’m on my way,” saying that he hung up.
As soon as he stood up from the chair, a guy from the next desk looked at him. “Ko-chan, the lunchtime is over. Where are you going?”
“Takayama,” the guy addressed ‘Ko-chan’ shortly replied.
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“The killer intentionally avoided the vital points as the person wanted the victim to feel the pain. She felt every cut before her death. So, I conclude that the killer had a grudge against the victim. Analyzing the strength used by the killer to stab the victim and choke the six-year-old child, the forensic department determined that it had to be a male killer. As per our investigation, the kid was hiding in the storeroom. The killer could have just let him go but I’m sure he didn’t want to leave a witness behind and that’s why he also killed the child. Gentlemen, a merciless killer is walking around the city. Let’s get him before he takes the life of another innocent soul away.”
The police chief edged his briefing. The officers from the special police task force began to discuss the case among themselves.
“This is totally a brutal murder case. Even if the woman had something to do with the killer, he shouldn’t have murdered the child.”
“Who knows, maybe we are dealing with a psycho here. A psycho can’t be bothered whether it’s a child or not. They can’t distinguish between right and wrong.”
“Can’t argue about that. Ahh! I don’t think I’ll have a weekend this week. I promised my daughter that I would take her to the park. Damn it!”
“Let’s not give up right away. Just one killer on the loose. We’ll get him by Thursday.”
“Don’t be too sure. It’s already been two days and the police officers still haven't found a clue about the culprit. Our chief was forced to take this case because the victim was the daughter of the city Mayor.”
“I guess special people have special privileges even after their death.”
“True.”
“I heard a detective is coming from Tokyo to look after this issue. Is that true?”
“Oh yes, I heard about that too. What was his name again? Ko-Kogami?”
“I think we are capable enough. Why do we need him?”
“I think they are paying more attention to this case for some reason but what is it about?”
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Ding-a-ling!
The school bell rang thrice. The students sighed in relief. After the teachers wished them Merry Christmas, the students began to gossip among themselves.
“Finally! School is over. Now we have endless winter vacation!” Miyazaki Sakura stretched her arms with a wide smile spread across her face.
“Endless vacation with a bonus of endless homework. Don’t forget about assignments either,” Ishikawa Nanami reminded her. She packed her school bag and fixed the muffler around her neck. Her long blonde hair shined as she moved. She looked at her hands before mumbling, “I need to take care of my nails. I want to add some glitter.”
Sakura pushed her arm and said, “You party pooper! How can you remind me of homework before even the holiday started and now talk about fixing your nails? I won’t help you with your nails.” She turned around and left the room.
“Oh, come on, Sakura!” Nanami pleaded to her best friend. When Sakura exited the call, she quickly ran after her. At that time, “Ouch!”, she bumped into someone.
“Sakura-san, please look where you are going.” The class representative, Saito Itsuki, gave her a cold stare.
“Saito-kun, I’m sorry!” Nanami didn’t want to get into trouble and quickly apologized. Just when she tried to walk past him, he grabbed her muffler.
“Ekk!” Nanami hurriedly held onto her muffler so as not to choke herself.
“Ishikawa-kun, before the new year, I want your hair to return to its normal color, otherwise I’ll have to take action for it.” Saito Itsuki warned her.
“Saito-kun you see, my hair can’t turn back to normal because it IS normal. See you next year! Merry Christmas!” Nanami tactfully slipped out of his grasp.
“You!” Saito Itsuki wanted to go after her, but he lost her in the crowd. His friends laughed behind him. “If you are trying to change Ishikawa-kun then you should give up. She is extra fashionable and that makes her extra cute. We love her for that.”
Saito Itsuki frowned. “We have rules for a reason. She can’t just change her hair color every season.”
“So what? Even the teachers couldn’t change her. What can you do?”
Nanami didn’t know that her classmates were talking about her. She caught up with Sakura. “I want to go to the library. Winter’s Weekly should arrive today. Let’s go to Hiro-kun’s house after that.”
“Why? Is your husband coming back from London?” Sakura elbowed her friend.
Nanami’s face was tinted with several shades of red hues. “It’s not like what you think. I want to clean and organize his house before Christmas Eve. He didn’t call me for a week. So I don’t know whether he will come back or not.”
“But you didn’t deny that he isn’t your husband.” Sakura grinned ear to ear. She started singing, “Love is in the air! Love is in the air!”
“Shhh! Shh!” Nanami covered her friend’s mouth quickly. They walked side by side; giggled and made plans for the vacation. It wasn’t long before they reached the library. Nanami bought her favorite weekly magazine and they took the shortcut to go to the house of her childhood sweetheart.
On the way, they passed a sealed apartment. They saw two police officers interrogating the residents around the building.
Sakura lowered her voice and commented, “I heard the news. Wasn’t this Akira-san’s house? I can’t believe she and her son died here. It’s terrifying.”
Nanami remained shut. She spotted a husky in the corner. It wiggled its tail when it saw her. She smiled and lowered her head to stroke its fluffy head.
Her childhood sweetheart’s house wasn’t far from the area where the crime took place. Yoshida Hiro’s house was a three-storied mansion. It was luxurious in appearance and the garden was well-maintained. However, this huge mansion was empty. The whole family went to London after Yoshida Hiro got a scholarship.
Nanami opened the iron gate and met a middle-aged man. He was the gardener that the Yoshida family hired. “Good afternoon, Ito-san.”
Ito-san raised his head and saw two familiar faces. “Nanami-chan, Sakura-chan, good afternoon. Did you come to clean the house again?”
Nanami replied politely, “Yes, I won’t be here until the new year. That’s why I came today.”
“I see. Wear more warm clothes or you will catch a cold,” Ito-san reminded her.
“All right!” Nanami unlocked the door using the spare key. Sakura went straight to the kitchen and Nanami went upstairs. She knew every corner of this house like the back of her hand. She used to come here often to play with her childhood friend Yoshida Hiro; they got to know each other from kindergarten school. Before going to London Mrs. Yoshida gave her the spare key so that she could come here to borrow books from Mr. Yoshida’s library for her study. Whenever she came to borrow a book, she would clean the house despite Mrs. Yoshida saying otherwise.
“Hiro, you idiot. Can’t you come back for Christmas? I wanted to go on a date with you on Christmas eve,” she muttered.
As she was walking by the corridor, a door behind her opened and a figure approached her.
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