One week later, on a Saturday afternoon…
The clinic had closed for the day, so Hinata and his parents were enjoying a late lunch and lounging around the house with Chris.
Ding-dong! The intercom rang.
“Who is it?” Hinata asked, checking the video screen. The camera showed a familiar-looking young man.
“Good afternoon! It’s Iwata!”
“Huh? Mr. Iwata?”
Hinata rushed to the door. Standing outside was a handsome young man in a brown jacket.
“Is that really you, Officer Iwata? You seem so different when you’re not in uniform!”
“Right? He seems like a stranger, doesn’t he?” said Mayuka, who popped her head around the side and grinned.
“You’re here, too, Mayuka?”
“Yep. Mr. Iwata came and asked me if I’d go with him to your house. But I didn’t know who he was at first, so he kinda scared me.”
“I’m not on duty today,” Iwata said. “Do you mind if I come in for a minute?”
Suzune and Yuusuke looked over Hinata’s shoulder and waved him in.
“Of course! Chris will be delighted!”
Iwata gratefully took the coffee cup Hinata’s parents offered him. He was sitting on the living room sofa. Chris and Hinata sat next to him, while Suzune and Yuusuke were seated on chairs they’d brought from the dining table.
Mayuka sat down in front of Chris and looked up at Iwata.
“I thought I should explain some things to you all,” he said. “It would be a bit stuffy and intimidating at the central headquarters, and our little local station has no place for you all to sit. Of course, the truth is that I’m not supposed to discuss official business like this in private, but…”
He put down his cup on the coffee table and scratched at the back of his neck.
“Hinata and Mayuka are my friends, and they’re children, so I thought maybe the usual protocol could take a back seat this time.”
“So this is a secret from the police department?” Suzune said, bringing a finger up to her lips and chuckling.
“Yes, this is all strictly off the record,” Iwata said, putting his hands on his knees and bowing to show he would appreciate their discretion. “So where to begin…?”
“What happened to the bad guys after we left?!” Mayuka asked, her nostrils flaring with anticipation. She seemed very eager to know more. “You didn’t actually catch that Helen lady and Akane, did you?”
“No… By the time we got there, the only people in the basement were Mr. Kobayashi and Yuuma Terakawa. There was no sign of the two women.”
“Even though you came as fast as you could…”
Just as Hinata was rushing out of the basement and away from the mansion, Iwata and the rest of the police officers were charging in.
Rui had helped sound the alarm after hearing Mayuka say that Chris was missing and that Hinata was headed for the haunted mansion.
“Rui’s always such a big help. He was the one who let us know what was happening last time, too,” Suzune said wistfully.
Hinata agreed. He owed Rui, big-time.
After Chris was nearly taken away in the car, Hinata packed the capsules Rui had given him full of chili powder, to serve as a means of self-defense. The figures of Amabie and Hakutaku, however, were still in his desk drawer.
“Based on Yuuma Terakawa’s testimony, we were able to arrest the three youngsters researching empty homes to rob. Hinata was right about that.”
The papers they’d left behind contained addresses, names, vacation destinations, and dates. That was the information they were using to burglarize the empty homes.
“Was Yuuma really Akane’s cousin?” Mayuka asked.
Iwata shook his head. “Nope. He was just one of Helen Mehito’s goons. And Akane’s name wasn’t really Akane Kurosaki, either.”
“What?!” everyone exclaimed at once.
“The Akane Kurosaki who owns that mansion is a totally different person. I didn’t look far enough into it the first time. I’m very sorry about that… The student ID she had was probably a fake, too. They were just squatting in that building and using it as a base.”
“But how is that possible?” said Mayuka. “Akane knew all that stuff from back when the mansion was built. Hinata found her great-grandfather’s inheritance for her!”
Hinata felt his ears go red. That had been a big mistake. He’d gone and found a treasure, then handed it right over to the bad guys…
“I have a feeling they did a lot of research on the Kurosaki family first…”
They didn’t have a full picture of exactly what Helen was up to, but according to Officer Iwata, she clearly had a wide intelligence network giving her information she could abuse.
“But thankfully,” he said, “we recovered all the antiques Hinata and Chris found. Terakawa coughed up the spot where he’d stashed them, and we were able to recover them before Helen could send anyone to move them. Eventually, they should make their way to the real Akane Kurosaki.”
“Oh, really? I’m so glad to hear that,” Hinata said. He was so relieved that he nearly slid right off the couch. Chris lifted a paw to stop him and barked.
“That’s great news!” said Mayuka, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe you’ll get some kind of reward for it, Hinata.”
Oh, Mayuka. She always has her eyes on the prize…
“So is this Helen woman actually Akane’s mother?” asked Yuusuke.
Iwata shook his head. “They both got away, so I can’t say anything for certain…”
Hinata got the feeling that they were truly related.
The way Akane looked when she said her family didn’t like animals was so…sad. She seemed to live her life wearing a mask, acting the role of the dutiful daughter, despite her misgivings about what they were doing…
He felt a pain in his chest at the memory of how happy she had looked when they were in the midst of the treasure hunt.
“Hammy’s just fine!” Mayuka reported energetically, raising her hand.
The hamster had been left behind. He was initially held at the police station but was quickly turned over to Mayuka, after she raised a huge fuss and said she wanted to take care of the poor thing.
“I’m glad you were able to do that for us,” Iwata said, beaming. “The police are too busy to be taking care of a hamster all day long, unfortunately.”
Mayuka snorted triumphantly. “I hope you’re all sufficiently grateful to have a Mayuka around,” she said.
Everyone laughed. Even Chris leaned over and booped her with his nose.
“I hear that Mr. Kobayashi’s doing better than expected,” Iwata said to Suzune after taking a sip of coffee. “I haven’t had the chance to meet him myself.”
“Yes. My father’s been visiting him just about every day. At first they were afraid that he was completely paralyzed, but his upper half has made a significant recovery. Apparently he had put on an act of being unable to communicate, thinking it would keep him safer from his captors.”
“I’m glad to hear that. He was held captive for a long time, while badly injured… It must have been a torturous ordeal for him.”
“I’m sure it was thinking of seeing Chris again that got him through it,” Suzune said, smiling at the Shiba Inu.
Chris perked up and woofed softly, wondering what they were talking about.
After the incident, Kobayashi was taken to a hospital. Chris watched him go, whining sadly, but eventually, regular life resumed. Nothing was going to change while Kobayashi was in the hospital, but Hinata couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to Chris after he got out.
He sighed. Trying to dispel his nerves, he asked, “What about the person who was feeding him information? You got their name from Mr. Kobayashi, right?”
Iwata murmured, “We discovered that after making contact with Mr. Kobayashi, that person hasn’t been seen or heard from again. Either they’re in hiding and keeping a low profile, or…”
“Aw, sheesh. You mean Mr. Kobayashi went to all that trouble to keep the password a secret, and it wasn’t even necessary?” Mayuka lamented.
“No, you don’t understand,” Iwata cautioned. “This was one of Helen’s subordinates. If she got a name, she would know who it was at once and have them eliminated. That would mean losing our chance to make contact with their organization. That’s why Mr. Kobayashi refused to speak.”
Hinata tried to imagine the situation. Maybe the person was a spy the police had sent in to infiltrate the organization… Or perhaps it was someone from a rival faction. Given how desperate Helen had seemed, there must have been something big going on behind the scenes.
Officer Iwata rubbed at his chin and said, “Since we weren’t able to take custody of the insider, it does mean that Chris or Kobayashi could still be targets. I have a feeling these people will lay low for a while, but it never hurts to be cautious. Be careful out there.”
Everyone else agreed.
“I will,” Mayuka said firmly. “But I had no idea that microchips are only active if the pet is alive. I guess they must be running off of some kind of bioenergy, huh…?”
Hinata’s parents looked at one another in stunned disbelief.
“What do you mean?” his mother asked.
“Hinata told the bad guys that, if they killed Chris, the microchip would stop sending signals, and they’d never be able to find the password. Even a vet wouldn’t be able to find and remove it. He said only specialists could read the chip…”
Hinata held his head and looked down in embarrassment.
Suzune laughed. “Oh, Hinata! I didn’t know you could bluff like that! The microchip function has nothing to do with a pet’s health, and you can buy an ID reader online these days… What if she had already known the truth?”
“W-well, it didn’t seem like she knew anything about dogs… And Akane said her family hated pets…”
“Huh? You mean microchips don’t turn off when the pet dies?” Mayuka exclaimed. “That was a lie?”
“Look, I had no choice!” Hinata snapped. “I didn’t want her to kill Chris!”
Iwata clapped him on the shoulder. “That was a very impressive stunt, Hinata. You’re usually so shy and quiet, but when it’s most important, you turn bold and daring. I’m proud of you!”
Oh, I wish you’d all stop, Hinata thought. He looked at the floor, his face beet red.
“We get to go visit Mr. Kobayashi in the hospital tomorrow!” Mayuka said happily. Hinata nodded silently. “Mr. Shunya said he’d take us with him.”
“I see,” said Officer Iwata. “Well, pass along the good word from me, too. I suppose Chris won’t get to see him yet, though. Hospitals don’t allow pets, after all…”
But Mayuka shook her head. “Nuh-uh! Chris is going, too!”
“Really?”
“We’re meeting in the courtyard of the hospital. The director said it would probably be all right as long we keep things outside.”
“Why, that’s great! Chris must be so excited,” Iwata said, cupping Chris’s face in his hands and squishing.
“Bwoof!”
Chris seemed to be saying “Stop iiiit” in a mixture of both annoyance and delight.