Aki was more annoyed than ever. “In that case, how can you be sure it’ll ‘all be settled’ tomorrow?”
“Hey, I’m a pro.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Touchy, touchy. Are you eating right?”
“I’m trying to be serious here!” That settled it. He would never get along with this woman.
Aki continued to glare at Himeno from his spot at the reception desk. Unfazed, she pulled out a cigarette. “I don’t know where the fiend is, but since it’s only attacked residents of this complex, it’s probably nesting here or in the vicinity.”
“Then why are we sitting here with our thumbs up our rear ends? We should be out searching every nook and cranny!”
“In this huge complex?” Himeno said. “If that’s what you want to do, I won’t stop you, but we don’t have a warrant. You can’t barge into apartments, occupied or otherwise.”
Aki thought quickly. “The fiend has a distinctive appearance. We can ask around and try to identify the host.”
A fiend couldn’t alter the basic appearance of the body it possessed. If this fiend’s host was someone from the building, the neighbors might recognize it. Aki and Himeno could put together a sketch from the descriptions of the three eyewitnesses and show it around the building. Surely, sooner or later, they’d find someone who knew the person it had once been. Maybe it was even occupying its host’s apartment.
“Hmm,” said Himeno. “You’re sharper than I gave you credit for, Aki.”
“That’s a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one.”
“I hate to break it to you, though, but you’ve overlooked a crucial detail,” she said with glee. “Close, but no cigar!”
“Excuse me?”
Himeno explained. “The fiend wore a hood and kept its head down during the attacks. The only thing that the witnesses saw clearly were its fangs, which I bet it didn’t have when it was human. We don’t have any info we could use to draw a sketch. Case closed. Or, rather, case still open.”
Aki fell silent. Maybe the hood could provide a lead, then. No, that wouldn’t work. A black hoodie? It was the most generic item of clothing imaginable. Not enough to narrow down a list of suspects, even if they had a list. Aki pursed his lips and picked up a bottle of mineral water. “All right. But that makes me even less confident we’re going to wrap this up tomorrow.”
“You think? I say that if we can’t find the fiend, we should set a trap and let the fiend find us.”
“Great. How? We have no reason to believe the fiend will show up tomorrow ni—” Aki stopped midsentence, his fingers frozen on the bottlecap.
Himeno laughed out loud. “Finally put the timeline together, did you?”
“The first attack was five days ago. The second one, three days ago. And the most recent, yesterday. It’s attacking every two days …” Which, if the rule held true, implied that the next attack would come tomorrow night. “Why, though?”
“Who knows? Frankly, who cares? Every fiend is different. It’s risky to get hung up on the details. The best you can do is look for patterns and try to deduce what kind of personal rules they follow. Anyway, some fiends retain a handful of human memories. Maybe this one used to be a real anal-retentive type.”
“Tomorrow it is, then.”
“Yeah, but that’s not all. All three attacks occurred after nightfall. I think the fiend waits until everyone is home with their families.”
“So the fiend appears after dark tomorrow,” Aki deduced.
“Bingo. That’s my boy. I ought to give you a kiss on the cheek for being such a good guesser.”
Himeno wobbled toward him, but he deftly pushed her away. “Pass.” The alcohol was obviously going to her head. Himeno pouted. Aki frowned back. “We still haven’t answered the biggest question of all. Where do you propose we ambush the fiend?” If they set up shop in the wrong spot, they could wait all night and never see a thing. The office had a good view of anyone who came in, which might be effective—unless the fiend was already hiding in the complex, in which case it was pointless.
Himeno lit her cigarette slowly, as if to telegraph her disdain.
She watched the smoke drift away, clearly pleased with herself. “I told the guy we needed a room, didn’t I?”
Aki didn’t respond at first. Yes, she’d asked the owner to let them use one of the apartments in the building. Specifically, apartment 401.
“You think you know which apartment it’s going to hit? There’s no reason to think—” Aki stopped again. There was reason. The first set of victims had lived in apartment 101, the second in 202. And the third victim was in 301. The fiend seemed to be going up one floor each time. If Himeno was right and it was following some internal rule, it would hit the fourth floor next.
Still, Aki wasn’t convinced. “We don’t know for sure it’ll be 401. What if it’s one of the other apartments on the fourth floor?”
“Eh, I’m pretty sure I’ve got it right.” Himeno dismissed the concern. “I think the fiend starts at the first apartment on a floor and rings doorbells until someone answers.”
“I don’t agree.” The fiend had attacked the first apartment on floors one and three, but on the second floor it had attacked the second apartment. That proved it didn’t always hit the first place.
Himeno ground her cigarette out in a nearby ashtray. She lit a new one. “I noticed when we got here that 201 didn’t have any laundry hanging outside, and there are no curtains in the windows. That apartment’s not occupied. That’s why the fiend attacked the second apartment on that floor. If our target continues to play by the rules, it should show up at 401 after sundown tomorrow. We just have to wait for it. Case … well, we’ll see.”
She cocked her head at Aki. “How about it? Starting to feel respect for me well up in your heart?”
Aki remained silent. He’d had all the same clues before him, but he hadn’t connected any of the dots. Was that the leg up that experience gave a hunter?
“True, it’d be easier to plan if we knew what kind of fiend we’re dealing with. But given the number of survivors it leaves behind, it’s kind of a slacker by fiend standards. We can figure the rest out once the fighting starts.” Himeno took a long drag on her cigarette and smirked at Aki. “What? You thought I wanted that apartment so we could shack up together?”
“Believe me, I didn’t.”
“Huh! Didn’t figure you were the type to pine for an older woman, Aki.”
“You’re drunk.” Himeno had been drinking beer like water, and her face was faintly flushed.