"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Morimoto burst out. "Dragging me out like this? I'm calling the police!"
"Now's not the time for that," Song said quietly. "Masatake, where is he?"
"Here," Kuji said as he led them over. Morimoto shrieked when he saw the body in the pool of blood, and proceeded to burst into tears. When Song released his hold, the man slumped to the floor. Song looked down at him.
"Mr. Morimoto, please explain," he said calmly. "You let someone in before we came, didn't you? If you knew he was going to do this, you'd be guilty of aiding and abetting murder."
"Of course I didn't know!" Morimoto protested. "He just... asked to be let in, so I... oh my God, why did this have to happen? I never asked for this. I was only running an honest business."
Song interrupted Morimoto's rambling.
"That's not what I'm asking. Mr. Morimoto, I saw a lot of surveillance screens in the guard room. You kept watch on this basement, too, didn't you? You knew that Ogura and Masatake here were talking to each other."
Kuji had no idea that there had been surveillance in the room. He snapped his head up to look around.
"It's all right. I turned them off," Song said.
"That's why you went with Morimoto," Kuji said in awe.
"You could say that," murmured Song. The man stepped away from Morimoto and drew closer to the body. "I was afraid it would happen, but I didn't think they'd act so quickly. The poor soul." Song got down on his knees, reached out, and touched Ogura's forehead. With his other hand, he crossed himself.
"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come..." Song murmured a prayer before standing up and directing a harsh gaze at Morimoto. "And you told him that this boy would be in the basement."
Morimoto sniffled as he nodded. "He said they were only going to talk."
"How do you think he caught on?"
"Caught on? I didn't even know about this in the first place," Morimoto exclaimed. "I just told him that someone had asked about Yoshida. Besides, I don't even know where Yoshida could be."
"Probably not in this world anymore. Of course, no way you would know about that," Song said sarcastically.
Morimoto began to quake. "I-I really don't know. It's not my fault. I just... I'm just supposed to tell them who's healthy and has no relatives."
"Tell whom?"
"I don't know."
"And what do you get in return?"
"Just some operating budget. I just want to help people, all right? If I knew they'd get killed, I wouldn't have told them. Those guys said they were going to take people overseas to work. Residents were happy to go, since the pay was good."
"But that was a lie. I'm sure you must have started to have your doubts, too, right?"
Morimoto continued to weep as he shook his head.
"You can plead ignorance all you want, but no one will take it. You might as well come clean and say everything you know. It's the least you can do to atone."
Kuji looked on in astonishment. Song was good at interrogation. The man gripped Morimoto's arm and made him get to his feet.
"We're going out. And you're coming."
Kuji thought Morimoto would resist, but the man nodded quietly. "I don't wanna stay here," he said. "I'm scared. Take me away somewhere."
Morimoto walked to stand ahead of both of them. Just as he was about to lead them out, Song held him back.
"We shouldn't go out through the main entrance. Is there any way to get directly outside from the boiler room?"
"Yes," Morimoto and Kuji said in unison. "But why?"
"Whoever killed Ogura was extremely cruel but efficient. He must have come up from behind like this, put his arm around the boy, and slashed straight across. There's no sign of hesitation. He was probably a professional killer. If that's the case, there's one more person who might have to be shut up, and that's you, Mr. Morimoto."
"Why me?"
Song smiled at him. "Because you're the only one who knows the truth. If Masatake hadn't come here, the body would have been discovered much later. The suspects probably still think that you don't know, Mr. Morimoto. And since you're supposed to be working at the reception desk right now, they'd probably come in through the front entrance to kill you."
Morimoto's small eyes widened. "I thought that only happened in movies."
"Get closer to the body and look closely at the wound. You don't want to end up like that, do you? They say the dead have no mouths, but look, he's got two."
Morimoto clung to Song desperately. "Help me," he pleaded. "I'll do anything."
"I'd like to help you, too."
Kuji looked at Song in bewilderment. It was as if he were a totally different person.
The three of them emerged from the boiler room to the set of stairs outside. There was a dry area between this building and the building next door which connected to the street. Song took the lead, followed by Morimoto, and Kuji came up from behind.
"Give it until tomorrow until the body's discovered and creates a commotion. If the police get onto it, that'll be good for us," Kuji said under his breath. Song laughed quietly.
"Masatake, you bragged that you'd been in jail and that the yakuza had taken you in as one of theirs. But from my perspective, you're still very much naive. Do you know what the police would do once they find the body? They would fabricate a story to say that the murderer was the guy who used to work in the laundry room - you. You have a criminal history. There's only one thing that wasn't part of their plan, and that was the fact that you have me as a friend."
"Who are you, really?" Morimoto asked in place of Kuji.
"Shh!" Song hushed them with his hand. "There's a chance that the men who killed Ogura might come back."
There was no one at the entrance of the building when they arrived. The three men stayed in the same file as they headed toward the car. The minivan emerged in the dark. Kuji sighed in relief. But just then, he saw two shadows near the car. Beneath the bright streetlights, he could see that they were wearing familiar blue uniforms and sashes. They were traffic enforcement officers.
"Excuse me, we'll be on our way, soon," Kuji called loudly, taking one step forward. The two men turned around. Just as Kuji opened his mouth to speak again, the two raised their arms at the same time. They were each holding something that looked all too familiar.
Kuji was stunned. Just then, he heard a dull sound like that of a string ripping. Then, another. The two men in front of them had holes in their foreheads. They crumpled into a heap on the road without another word.
He had no idea what had just happened. He whipped around to see Song looking as cool as a cucumber with a silencer-equipped gun in his hand.
"You're naive, Masatake," he said quietly, putting the gun away in his jacket. "What would they be doing, enforcing parking violations at this hour of the night?"
The man was right. Kuji looked down at the fallen men.
"Police uniforms are hard to come by. They made a good choice of disguise, but you could also say that they're unfamiliar with how things work in Japan. But they were good enough to fool someone like you, Masatake."
"Who the hell are you?" Morimoto asked again, but Song approached the two fallen men without answering him.