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- Jul 6, 2008
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Sitting down on the floor, you let out a sigh of exhaustion, your hands raised in defeat. You see Mori quietly removing his hand from the inside of his coat. “Being cooperative, I see,” he nods approvingly. “Tokigawa, the cuffs.” Tokigawa hands him a pair of white plastic handcuffs that are probably a lot more durable than they look. As Mori goes about restraining your arms behind your back, you hear him ask softly, “I didn’t expect you to surrender so easily. What are you playing at?”
“N-nothing… nothing at all! Please stop being so paranoid, Mori-san,” you mutter reproachfully, glaring at him over your shoulder.
“In my line of work it pays to be suspicious.” There is nothing good-natured about the chuckle that comes after his words. “Well, how is it? Any tingling at the tips of your fingers?”
You shake your head. The cuffs have been locked in securely, rendering you unable to bring your arms forward, but it is not overly uncomfortable. Mori seems to know what he is doing.
“Good.” He proceeds to search your pockets, turning out the scraps of files that you had been keeping in a pocket notebook, and the cellphone you have on you. “This is that cutesy phone you said you picked up in the ward on the second floor, huh? I’ll have Taketatsu check it later.” Grabbing the back of your collar, he drags you off to the far corner. “Stay here.”
A bright flash distracts Mori. The tall man turns back to the others in the room – Tokigawa has his cell phone out and has taken a picture of Uehara’s body. “Tokigawa. What are you doing?”
“For reference,” replies Tokigawa quietly. He puts away his phone and claps his hands together, bowing briefly to the corpse. “I know it is impolite to the dead, but sometimes a picture might give us important clues that we missed the first time around.”
Mori snorts. “Hmph. We’ll do a quick check of the area and the corpse. Let’s not stay here too long. Okuyama, go outside and stay with the others. Make sure they don’t come in. Sakimura, are you done moping?”
“Y-yeah, Mori-san,” nods the boy, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”
Okuyama hurries out the door, casting you a fearful and hostile glance as she passes by. While Tokigawa busies himself examining Uehara’s wound, Mori paces around the room, scrutinizing every detail he can while muttering under his breath. As they begin their investigation, you look around the room yourself from the sidelines. Everything seems to be roughly how you remember seeing it before Uehara opened the door; the scattered equipment, the general layout of the room. The only difference you note is that Uehara is lying where the garbage bag was. And that there is a lot more blood now. You do not want to look at her body for too long, but still you force yourself to glance as briefly as you can.
There is something odd. Something you missed the first time, being too distracted by what happened to her. Uehara’s left hand appears to be clutching something. You squint past the blood-stained lenses of your spectacles, trying to make it out. It’s an omamori, gold thread on blue cloth. There’s a cloth amulet lying in her hand. It shouldn’t be surprising. Many people carry one, but there is a nagging feeling that you have… that this is somehow out of place. Perhaps it is because Uehara was so indignant that the supernatural does not exist – you can’t see her, of all people, clinging onto an amulet for protection.
Minutes later, it appears that Mori has come to the same conclusion. “What’s this?” Bending down, he pries the omamori from Uehara’s pale fingers carefully. “Sakimura, do you recognize this?”
Sakimura shakes his head. “It’s… just a charm, isn’t it?”
“Was Uehara the sort to carry one around?” asks Mori further.
“Well…” Sakimura seems slightly uncertain. “I would have to say no. She was very adamant about not following superstitious beliefs… she was famous for being hard-headed about it in school, even… wait, Mori-san, I don’t think you’re supposed to open it up!”
“Ah, you’re right.” Mori’s fingers stop untying the knot of the delicately embroidered cloth bag. Holding the omamori up to his eyes, he peers at it for a while before pocketing the amulet. “This could be important, in a way… Well, it’d be better if I could find the murder weapon, though.”
“I don’t have much forensic training, but the force required to do this amount of damage to the human body is… considerable.” Tokigawa stands up from where he had been inspecting the corpse. “Not even you could do it with your bare hands, Mori-san.”
“None of the equipment here was used in the murder either.” Mori sighs loudly. “And we only have the rabbit’s story to go on about what happened immediately before the murder. A garbage bag, you say?”
“He’s obviously lying, Mori-san,” interrupts Sakimura hotheadedly.
“Oh, he’s hiding something alright. Aren’t you, Rabbit-chan?”
“I… I told you everything.”
“Next you’ll be telling me that a witch did it,” sneers Mori.
“W-w-what if that was true? I mean… I mean, you have no evidence it wasn’t, right?”
“It wasn’t a witch,” Sakimura says confidently, glaring at you. “If Uehara were still alive, that is what she would have said. There are no magic or ghosts involved in her death. She didn’t believe in them, so she couldn’t have been killed by them.”
People can never be killed by things they don’t believe in? You are not even sure where to start on that – it sounds like a line he picked up from some cartoon. Shaking your head, you can only mumble absent-mindedly, “Well… she certainly believed in that charm...”
Sakimura’s eyes blaze with fury. “You-“
“Sakimura.” Mori’s warning is quick and direct; though left unsaid, the tone of his voice promises more slaps if Sakimura does anything stupid. “We should leave this room for now. Regroup, rest, and discuss what to do next.” Mori walks over and hauls you to your feet roughly.
As he pushes you out of the room, he pauses and turns around, looking at the walls and the floor of the hallway. “Say, Tokigawa, considering the layout of the hospital, wouldn’t this room be…”
Tokigawa nods nervously as he realizes what Mori is getting at. “Yeah... This room should be directly above the head nurse’s office that we were in earlier.”
***
You jerk awake, gasping. You are still in the small office on the ground floor; it is located at the back of the cafeteria, and appears to have been used by the restaurant staff. After bringing you in here, Mori had tied up your legs too with another set of cuffs. When the door had closed you could hear a click from the doorknob. You are locked in here.
Together with Amanozaki’s corpse.
She is laid out on the floor opposite you, a white cloth covering her face.
You haven’t been able to keep track of the time at all, but it feels like it has been hours since you were shut in here. Your lips are dry, your throat parched, and your stomach is rumbling. You seem to have nodded off some time ago. Your cheek still hurts from Sakimura's punch - it's throbbing painfully. Your flank doesn't seem to be holding up any better either: it pains you just to turn your body. A second click from the doorknob draws your attention – it turns, and the door is pushed open by Mori. In his hands he holds a can of juice and a loaf of yakisoba bread. He closes the door behind him after he enters. Carefully stepping around Amanozaki’s body, he perches on the table, looking down on you.
“Mori-san… can’t you put me somewhere else?” you protest.
“Why, scared of a stiff?” Although there is a smile on his lips, there is no sympathy in his eyes. “Stop whining. It’s easier to gather all suspicious matters in one place."
"Just... just what about me is suspicious? I didn't kill Uehara!"
"Maybe, maybe not... but can you explain what happened before that? Why did you disappear on your own shortly before we found Amanozaki dead? Where did you go and what were you doing? If you can give me a satisfactory answer I don't mind cutting those cuffs on the spot."
Those are questions you cannot answer - you do not remember what happened at all. You can only lower your head and remain silent.
"You refuse to answer. Either you will not tell me, in which case you are suspicious as far as I'm concerned, or you do not know... and in that case I cannot free you if you yourself do not know whether you mean us harm. It is too risky," concludes Mori. "No matter. Anyway, I brought you some food, Rabbit-chan. Don't want you starving to death in your cage now.”
You can’t exactly eat with your hands tied behind your back, and you say so.
“Ah, but that’s what your knees are for.” Walking over, he plants the bread between your knees. At least he is courteous enough to unwrap it for you. Scowling, you strain yourself and bend forward, snapping at the bread bite by bite. While you eat, Mori looks down at the corpse and says, “Speaking of Uehara, I went back to check on her corpse. It’s not there anymore.”
You stop chewing. Uehara's corpse is missing. Beads of sweat begin to form on your brow as an icy chill creeps up your neck. You cannot help but glance at Amanozaki's corpse. What if...
Mori continues talking, interrupting your thoughts. “The blood stains are still there, but the body isn’t. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
They haven't stopped trying to blame you for Uehara. Glancing down at your restraints, you swallow a mouthful of bread and retort shakily. “I… I was right here. W-what do you think?”
“I know,” grumbles Mori; there seems to be more he wants to say on this matter, but he changes his mind. Leaning back, Mori closes his eyes. “So, Shinoseki Adachi. Indulge me with an answer to my question.”
You grit your teeth – you know he is going to ask you anyway whether you like it or not.
“How do you feel about Uehara’s death?”
***
18:30
What a direct question. You might be feeling mixed about her untimely demise, but thinking about it, the primary emotion you have is:
A. Anger. Not just at her death, but at the others for suspecting you and restraining you in here. It’s unfair – surely they can tell by now you didn’t do it! They are just idiots looking for a scapegoat at the moment and probably deserve whatever is coming to them.
B. Sadness. Even though you didn’t know her for long, she was always nice to you, and you almost feel like she took your place at the time. You aren’t going to cry about it, but the sorrow, regret and guilt that you feel is genuine.
C. Fear. Anyone could be next. Something wrong is going on here – why don’t they see it? Now that her body has mysteriously vanished, you are getting a bad feeling about it all… Everyone is doomed! DOOMED!
D. Nothing at all. For some reason, you just feel numb to it all. You do not know whether it is residual shock at the gruesome way she died or just a lack of any real emotion about her death whatsoever.
***
1. You are honest with Mori about what you are feeling.
2. You keep your silence and do not answer Mori’s question. You suspect that he will know if you lie anyway.
“N-nothing… nothing at all! Please stop being so paranoid, Mori-san,” you mutter reproachfully, glaring at him over your shoulder.
“In my line of work it pays to be suspicious.” There is nothing good-natured about the chuckle that comes after his words. “Well, how is it? Any tingling at the tips of your fingers?”
You shake your head. The cuffs have been locked in securely, rendering you unable to bring your arms forward, but it is not overly uncomfortable. Mori seems to know what he is doing.
“Good.” He proceeds to search your pockets, turning out the scraps of files that you had been keeping in a pocket notebook, and the cellphone you have on you. “This is that cutesy phone you said you picked up in the ward on the second floor, huh? I’ll have Taketatsu check it later.” Grabbing the back of your collar, he drags you off to the far corner. “Stay here.”
A bright flash distracts Mori. The tall man turns back to the others in the room – Tokigawa has his cell phone out and has taken a picture of Uehara’s body. “Tokigawa. What are you doing?”
“For reference,” replies Tokigawa quietly. He puts away his phone and claps his hands together, bowing briefly to the corpse. “I know it is impolite to the dead, but sometimes a picture might give us important clues that we missed the first time around.”
Mori snorts. “Hmph. We’ll do a quick check of the area and the corpse. Let’s not stay here too long. Okuyama, go outside and stay with the others. Make sure they don’t come in. Sakimura, are you done moping?”
“Y-yeah, Mori-san,” nods the boy, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”
Okuyama hurries out the door, casting you a fearful and hostile glance as she passes by. While Tokigawa busies himself examining Uehara’s wound, Mori paces around the room, scrutinizing every detail he can while muttering under his breath. As they begin their investigation, you look around the room yourself from the sidelines. Everything seems to be roughly how you remember seeing it before Uehara opened the door; the scattered equipment, the general layout of the room. The only difference you note is that Uehara is lying where the garbage bag was. And that there is a lot more blood now. You do not want to look at her body for too long, but still you force yourself to glance as briefly as you can.
There is something odd. Something you missed the first time, being too distracted by what happened to her. Uehara’s left hand appears to be clutching something. You squint past the blood-stained lenses of your spectacles, trying to make it out. It’s an omamori, gold thread on blue cloth. There’s a cloth amulet lying in her hand. It shouldn’t be surprising. Many people carry one, but there is a nagging feeling that you have… that this is somehow out of place. Perhaps it is because Uehara was so indignant that the supernatural does not exist – you can’t see her, of all people, clinging onto an amulet for protection.
Minutes later, it appears that Mori has come to the same conclusion. “What’s this?” Bending down, he pries the omamori from Uehara’s pale fingers carefully. “Sakimura, do you recognize this?”
Sakimura shakes his head. “It’s… just a charm, isn’t it?”
“Was Uehara the sort to carry one around?” asks Mori further.
“Well…” Sakimura seems slightly uncertain. “I would have to say no. She was very adamant about not following superstitious beliefs… she was famous for being hard-headed about it in school, even… wait, Mori-san, I don’t think you’re supposed to open it up!”
“Ah, you’re right.” Mori’s fingers stop untying the knot of the delicately embroidered cloth bag. Holding the omamori up to his eyes, he peers at it for a while before pocketing the amulet. “This could be important, in a way… Well, it’d be better if I could find the murder weapon, though.”
“I don’t have much forensic training, but the force required to do this amount of damage to the human body is… considerable.” Tokigawa stands up from where he had been inspecting the corpse. “Not even you could do it with your bare hands, Mori-san.”
“None of the equipment here was used in the murder either.” Mori sighs loudly. “And we only have the rabbit’s story to go on about what happened immediately before the murder. A garbage bag, you say?”
“He’s obviously lying, Mori-san,” interrupts Sakimura hotheadedly.
“Oh, he’s hiding something alright. Aren’t you, Rabbit-chan?”
“I… I told you everything.”
“Next you’ll be telling me that a witch did it,” sneers Mori.
“W-w-what if that was true? I mean… I mean, you have no evidence it wasn’t, right?”
“It wasn’t a witch,” Sakimura says confidently, glaring at you. “If Uehara were still alive, that is what she would have said. There are no magic or ghosts involved in her death. She didn’t believe in them, so she couldn’t have been killed by them.”
People can never be killed by things they don’t believe in? You are not even sure where to start on that – it sounds like a line he picked up from some cartoon. Shaking your head, you can only mumble absent-mindedly, “Well… she certainly believed in that charm...”
Sakimura’s eyes blaze with fury. “You-“
“Sakimura.” Mori’s warning is quick and direct; though left unsaid, the tone of his voice promises more slaps if Sakimura does anything stupid. “We should leave this room for now. Regroup, rest, and discuss what to do next.” Mori walks over and hauls you to your feet roughly.
As he pushes you out of the room, he pauses and turns around, looking at the walls and the floor of the hallway. “Say, Tokigawa, considering the layout of the hospital, wouldn’t this room be…”
Tokigawa nods nervously as he realizes what Mori is getting at. “Yeah... This room should be directly above the head nurse’s office that we were in earlier.”
***
You jerk awake, gasping. You are still in the small office on the ground floor; it is located at the back of the cafeteria, and appears to have been used by the restaurant staff. After bringing you in here, Mori had tied up your legs too with another set of cuffs. When the door had closed you could hear a click from the doorknob. You are locked in here.
Together with Amanozaki’s corpse.
She is laid out on the floor opposite you, a white cloth covering her face.
You haven’t been able to keep track of the time at all, but it feels like it has been hours since you were shut in here. Your lips are dry, your throat parched, and your stomach is rumbling. You seem to have nodded off some time ago. Your cheek still hurts from Sakimura's punch - it's throbbing painfully. Your flank doesn't seem to be holding up any better either: it pains you just to turn your body. A second click from the doorknob draws your attention – it turns, and the door is pushed open by Mori. In his hands he holds a can of juice and a loaf of yakisoba bread. He closes the door behind him after he enters. Carefully stepping around Amanozaki’s body, he perches on the table, looking down on you.
“Mori-san… can’t you put me somewhere else?” you protest.
“Why, scared of a stiff?” Although there is a smile on his lips, there is no sympathy in his eyes. “Stop whining. It’s easier to gather all suspicious matters in one place."
"Just... just what about me is suspicious? I didn't kill Uehara!"
"Maybe, maybe not... but can you explain what happened before that? Why did you disappear on your own shortly before we found Amanozaki dead? Where did you go and what were you doing? If you can give me a satisfactory answer I don't mind cutting those cuffs on the spot."
Those are questions you cannot answer - you do not remember what happened at all. You can only lower your head and remain silent.
"You refuse to answer. Either you will not tell me, in which case you are suspicious as far as I'm concerned, or you do not know... and in that case I cannot free you if you yourself do not know whether you mean us harm. It is too risky," concludes Mori. "No matter. Anyway, I brought you some food, Rabbit-chan. Don't want you starving to death in your cage now.”
You can’t exactly eat with your hands tied behind your back, and you say so.
“Ah, but that’s what your knees are for.” Walking over, he plants the bread between your knees. At least he is courteous enough to unwrap it for you. Scowling, you strain yourself and bend forward, snapping at the bread bite by bite. While you eat, Mori looks down at the corpse and says, “Speaking of Uehara, I went back to check on her corpse. It’s not there anymore.”
You stop chewing. Uehara's corpse is missing. Beads of sweat begin to form on your brow as an icy chill creeps up your neck. You cannot help but glance at Amanozaki's corpse. What if...
Mori continues talking, interrupting your thoughts. “The blood stains are still there, but the body isn’t. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
They haven't stopped trying to blame you for Uehara. Glancing down at your restraints, you swallow a mouthful of bread and retort shakily. “I… I was right here. W-what do you think?”
“I know,” grumbles Mori; there seems to be more he wants to say on this matter, but he changes his mind. Leaning back, Mori closes his eyes. “So, Shinoseki Adachi. Indulge me with an answer to my question.”
You grit your teeth – you know he is going to ask you anyway whether you like it or not.
“How do you feel about Uehara’s death?”
***
18:30
What a direct question. You might be feeling mixed about her untimely demise, but thinking about it, the primary emotion you have is:
A. Anger. Not just at her death, but at the others for suspecting you and restraining you in here. It’s unfair – surely they can tell by now you didn’t do it! They are just idiots looking for a scapegoat at the moment and probably deserve whatever is coming to them.
B. Sadness. Even though you didn’t know her for long, she was always nice to you, and you almost feel like she took your place at the time. You aren’t going to cry about it, but the sorrow, regret and guilt that you feel is genuine.
C. Fear. Anyone could be next. Something wrong is going on here – why don’t they see it? Now that her body has mysteriously vanished, you are getting a bad feeling about it all… Everyone is doomed! DOOMED!
D. Nothing at all. For some reason, you just feel numb to it all. You do not know whether it is residual shock at the gruesome way she died or just a lack of any real emotion about her death whatsoever.
***
1. You are honest with Mori about what you are feeling.
2. You keep your silence and do not answer Mori’s question. You suspect that he will know if you lie anyway.
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