First, the message left by the killer downtown, at the second crime scene, Naomi Misora had figured it out about an hour after they had found the missing link, that the victims were all connected by their initials. It was the eyeglasses the victim, Quarter Queen, was wearing. While she never got down on all fours the way Ryuzaki did, Misora had checked the room over from every conceivable angle, until her eyes ached from looking—without finding anything. Then she wondered if there was something on the victim’s body, like the cuts on Believe Bridesmaid’s chest, and had looked at the photos of the body again, but there was nothing there by the little girl lying face down, with her eyes crushed in...
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When Misora was at her wit’s end, Ryuzaki had said, “Maybe the damage to the eyes is a message.” It sounded reasonable... in fact it seemed like the only possibility. Which meant... her eyes?
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Misora had gone back to the cabinet and taken out the album of photographs again. She looked through them once more, checking every picture of the little blonde girl.
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And realized...
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that there was not one picture of her wearing glasses.
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The only picture of her with glasses was the one of her dead. Not because there wasn’t a problem with her eyes—her chart was in the file, showing her right eye at 0.1 and her left at 0.05—but that she almost always wore contact lenses. After her death, the killer had put the glasses on and taken the contact lenses away They were disposable lenses, so the investigative team had not noticed them missing. Misora had contacted the victim’s mother, who had confirmed not only that Quarter Queen almost never wore glasses, not even at home, but that the glasses she was wearing in the crime scene photograph did not belong to her.
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“Surprisingly hard to notice... who would ever think to ask if the glasses a murder victim was found wearing belonged to them? Literally a blind spot... perhaps that’s what the crushed eyes mean?” Ryuzaki had said. ‘And the glasses looked so natural on her... making it even less likely that the police would notice. She never realized that she was meant to wear them.”
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“Urn, Ryuzaki... that’s getting a bit facetious.”
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“I was joking.”
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“That’s what being facetious means.”
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“Then I was serious.”
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“Still facetious.”
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“Then I was deadly serious. Look! Don’t you think she looks better?”
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“W-well... I suppose...”
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Facetious.
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The mother had first seen her daughter’s body in the morgue, and the glasses had already been removed. Which was probably all according to the killer’s plan... by this point in time, what else could they think?
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“The third murder happened in West L.A., near Glass Station— glasses. Very literal. But this doesn’t give us the address, only the neighborhood...”
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“No, if you narrow it down that much, then you can probably narrow it down all the way, Misora. All you have to do is look for someone in the area with the initials B.B., and you can fix on the address. In other words, the killer has assumed that by the time the second murder occurs, we would have figured out the missing link.”
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“Oh? But... we were only able to figure out that Q was actually B because the third murder had already taken place. At the time of the second murder, how could anyone have worked that out?”
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“You don’t need to. I mean, even at the third murder, there’s no real way to tell if B is the main letter and Q the reverse, or the other way around. The fourth murder could be another child with the initials Q.Q. and flip the idea. It’s possible he’s mainly killing children, and is really after Qs. From our current data, we have no idea why he’s aiming for B.B.s, or why he’s after Q.Q.s. But that doesn’t matter. All you have to do is find everyone with either set of initials.”
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“Oh... oh, right
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But on August 16th, they were speaking in hindsight, they were much too late, and the third murder had long since happened. Just to be sure, she had checked, and within five hundred meters of Glass Station there was no one with the initials Q.Q., and only one person with the initials BR. the third victim, Backyard Bottomslash.
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The eyeglass message was very simple compared to the book shelf message at the first scene, but they had only been able to solve it because they already had the phrase Glass Station in mind—otherwise, who would ever be able to figure out that putting glasses on a corpse was a message from the killer?
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The very simplicity of it was exactly what made it even more difficult than the first murder. Now Misora had to stop the fourth murder, but would she be able to figure out the message left at the scene of the third? She was more than a little worried. Once again, it was Ryuzaki who had brought up the topic of the victim’s crushed eyes, it was Ryuzaki who had suggested she look at the photo album carefully—without him, she would not have figured it out. Or at the least, it would have taken a lot more time. At this point, it was noon, so they decided to get some food and figure out how to move next. Ryuzaki invited Misora to eat with him, but she declined. There was no telling what hideous sweet or poison he would foist on her, and she needed to speak to L. The mysteries they had uncovered had reached a level that demanded reporting. She moved well away from the apartment, looked around her carefully, leaned against a wall, and dialed.
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“This is L.”
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“This is Misora.”
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She was getting used to the synthetic voice. She quickly explained what had happened that day, and what they had figured out, wasting no words. She felt herself getting a little worked up when she was explaining why the victim had been lying face down, but repressed it. At least, she thought she had.
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“Okay. I understand. I was right to pick you, Naomi Misora. Honestly, I did not expect such impressive results.”
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“No... not at all. I don’t deserve the compliment. More importantly, about what I should do next. . . any thoughts? We don’t know when the fourth murder will occur, so I thought maybe I should head right over to West L.A. now
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“No need,” L said. “I’d prefer that you secure your footing. Based on your report, there is plenty of time before the fourth murder occurs.”
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“Eh?”
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She hadn’t said anything like that... had she?
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“The killer will take his fourth victim on August 22nd. You have six more days.”
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“Six days?”
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That was nine days after the third murder. Nine days, four days, nine days and nine days again? What was he basing this assumption on? Misora was about to voice this question, but...
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“I’m afraid I don’t have time to explain right now,” he said. “Please try and work it out for yourself But the next murder will occur... or the killer will make his next attempt on the 22nd, and I would have you act on that assumption.”
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“Understood.”
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He didn’t sound like he was in the mood for arguments. But August 22nd... come to think of it, the LAPD had received the crossword puzzle on July 22nd. The same day of the month. Was that a connection?
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“In that case, over the next six days I will make careful preparations and investigate the third crime scene.”
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“Please do. Oh, and-—Naomi Misora, do take all precautions for your own safety. You are the only person who can work for me on this case. If you fall, there is no one who can replace you.” He must be referring to the fight in the alley. She was caught off guard by this. No one who could replace her? For L it might be a very casual pronouncement, or just an outright lie, but Misora found it hard to believe it was even being applied to her.
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“Don’t worry. I wasn’t hurt.”
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“No I mean, take care not to place yourself in a situation in which you might be attacked. Avoid back roads, alleys, and other deserted areas. It might take longer, but stick to crowded areas and busy streets.”
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“I’m fine, L. And I can take care of myself. I’ve trained in martial arts.”
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“Have you? In what? Karate? Or judo?”
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“Capoeira.”
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Even over the scrambled line, she could tell L wasn’t sure how to respond. She admitted Capoeira was an unusual choice for a Japanese FBI agent. Misora felt a moment’s gleeful pride, as if she’d outsmarted L—though she knew she had done nothing of the kind.
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“Yeah, I thought it was crap till I actually started it, but I got involved in street dancing in college and joined a Capoeira group as an extension of that. It’s actually a really effective form of self defense for a woman. The basic techniques all involve dodging your opponent’s attacks, which means it isn’t possible to overpower a block like it is in karate or judo. We can never match a man for power. And the acrobatic, tricky movements in Capoeira give you time to get a good look at your assailant.”