The moment Hinata saw her, the dark clouds that had been swirling through his mind instantly cleared. The owner of the handkerchief was here! Chris really had followed the scent trail right to her.
The girl in black pouted. “I was just playing with the doggy when it started freaking out. I think it was scared by a tiny spider. What a wimp!”
So that’s it! He was just panicking over a bug, like usual, thought Hinata. He calmly caressed Chris’s back as the dog gradually quieted down. There, there, no need to be afraid anymore…
“I was petting it and saying that everything was fine, but then it bit me,” Akane said, rubbing her left hand. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at Chris resentfully.
Huh? Chris bit someone? Hinata was stunned. Why on earth…?
“You got bit?!” the zombie said, hurrying over to take Akane’s hand and examine it. “You all right, Akane? Are you bleeding?”
She smiled and slipped her hand out of the zombie’s, which was adorned with a skull-shaped ring.
“It’s just a little red. I’m fine, Yuu.”
Hinata was relieved to hear that. If she’d been bitten by his dog and injured, it would be a big problem. And it just didn’t seem like the kind of thing Chris would do…
Akane turned to the rest of them and asked, “Who are these people…?”
Officer Iwata bowed slightly and stepped forward. “Pardon me. My name is Iwata, and I’m from the local police station. These kids told me that their dog got into your house, so I came to help them search. Please forgive me for entering without permission. I’m glad we found the dog, though.”
“I didn’t know whose dog it was,” she said, “so I took it upstairs to my room. Why did it come in here, though?”
Mayuka hopped to her feet and approached Akane. “We were looking for you,” she explained, “to deliver something you forgot.”
“Something I forgot?”
“Go on, Hinata. Take it out.”
Now that Chris had calmed down, Hinata felt able to let go. He looked the dog in the eye to reassure him that it was safe, then grabbed the leash and took the black handkerchief out of his walking bag.
Mayuka trotted over to take the handkerchief and passed it to Akane.
“You left this in the vet clinic earlier, didn’t you, Miss Akane? Chris followed the scent from the handkerchief all the way here to find you. Isn’t that amazing?!”
Akane’s eyes widened, and she looked from the handkerchief to Chris. The dog backed away slightly.
Mr. Iwata finally understood. “Aha! So Chris was just following the scent of the handkerchief’s owner into the building.”
Both he and Mayuka seemed satisfied with this answer.
But something’s wrong… Hinata got the strange feeling that things weren’t adding up.
He had never seen Chris get so worked up while following a scent. Hinata had given the order to stop, but Chris had pushed his way into the mansion anyway. That had never happened before…
Trying to dispel the unease clouding his mind, Hinata said, “I-I’m glad we managed to return the handkerchief. My dad was worried about it…”
Akane looked at him with curiosity. “Your dad?”
“Um, the groomer at Marron Veterinary Clinic. The one at the desk,” Hinata explained.
Mayuka jumped in, saying, “You know, the tall guy who looked like a rugby player. We were in the waiting room. Did you not see us? Chris was there, too.”
Akane looked troubled as she tried to recall the scene. “I remember the groomer, of course. He was very helpful and gave me that pamphlet. But I was so worried about Hammy that I don’t remember you at all… I’m sorry. I suppose I get tunnel vision when I’m focused on something. I just lose sight of everything else.”
In the brief silence that followed, they could hear the same soft clattering sound from before. It had made Hinata think of skeletons clacking their bones together.
“Do you hear the wheel going? Hammy’s feeling much better now. I need to thank the doctors for their help.”
Oh, it’s just a hamster wheel! Hinata was embarrassed again. When he started feeling scared, it made everything more frightening…
“Well, uh,” Iwata began, putting his hand on the back of his neck. “We found Chris, and we confirmed that the ghosts were just someone shooting a video, so I guess that’s a wrap on this case, huh? But just to clear things up, who is the owner of this house, exactly?”
Akane cautiously lifted her hand up to cheek level. “It’s me.”
“You?” Iwata said with surprise.
She nodded. “Yes. This was my great-grandfather’s home. It went unused after his death… I recently inherited it, so I came to inspect the property. I thought Yuu could use it to shoot videos for his college club.”
“You inherited it! Fascinating… And you are?” Iwata asked, turning to the zombie.
“Uh, I’m Akane’s cousin, and I’m studying film in college. Like I said earlier, I’m trying to make a horror video. When Akane showed this place to me and asked if I wanted to use it, I was stunned. Have you ever seen a better location for a horror shoot? It’s gonna go viral; I know it. Scoring a place like this is practically a miracle!”
I bet it will go viral. It sure scared us, Hinata silently agreed.
“Anyway, I was just getting ready for the shoot. There’s no problem, right?” said the zombie, rubbing his hands together.
“Of course not,” said Iwata pleasantly. “If the owner has given you permission, you’re free to go ahead.”
“I…,” Mayuka began hesitantly. “I was walking by last night and saw a white light flickering in the upstairs window. Was that…?”
Akane put a hand to her red lips and made a face. “That was me. Yuu told me not to clean up under any circumstances, because it would ruin the atmosphere of the place. But I really wanted at least the room where I was staying to be clean…so I was tidying up late into the evening yesterday.”
“Ohhh. I thought it was a ghostly ball of light, hovering and flickering in the window. That’s why I screamed and ran away.”
The zombie rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Ooh, that’s a good idea for a scene, too. I’ll put it into the script.”
Grinning, Iwata took out his notepad and turned back to Akane. “If you’ll pardon me, may I ask your name and which school you attend?”
“Akane Kurosaki. I’m a first-year student at Soukei University High School.”
“And your cousin?”
“Yuuma Terakawa. Third-year at Soukei University. President of the Media Studies Club.”
Determined to prove himself, Yuuma even pulled out his wallet and offered to show his student ID. Akane, too, opened her handbag and brought out her ID card.
Iwata took their cards, looked them over, and handed them back.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation. This is my job, unfortunately… Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair now. I need to explain the situation to your neighbors…”
He gave a quick salute and ushered the kids back toward the door.
“Hey, Miss Akane?” Mayuka asked, turning back to look over her shoulder.
“What?”
“May I come visit again? I want to watch the filming. Your cousin is going to upload it to a video site, right? I’d really like to see it. Oh, and I won’t get in anyone’s way.”
Hinata froze. She wanted to come here again?
“Sure, if you’re interested,” replied Yuuma the zombie. “There’s only the two of us today, but more of the group should be here tomorrow. We’re going to go over the script and practice our lines.”
He rubbed his hands together, as if to say, “Come on back.”
“In fact, would you like to be in the video? You could be the girl who sees the ball of fire in the upstairs window and runs away. We’re going to upload it to WeTube when we’re done.”
“Oooh, yay! Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow. I promise! See you then!”
“But can you keep the shoot a secret from your friends? We don’t want a whole bunch of kids hanging around.”
“Of course! I won’t tell anyone besides Hinata. Pinkie swear! See you then.”
She skipped her way to the front door. Hinata followed her out, his shoulders slumped. He was already certain she would try to drag him along the next day…
He was feeling so down in the dumps about it that he failed to notice how even after they left through the front gate, Chris kept turning back to look at the haunted mansion.
Later that night, Hinata gave Chris a brushing. It was one of Chris’s favorite activities, and the happy pup would often roll on his back and close his eyes with pleasure as the brush raked over his tummy.
The first time she saw it, Suzune had declared with surprise, “A lot of Shiba Inu hate getting brushed, but you’re so well-behaved, Chris.”