It had been one week since he’d been sent to the 8th Ward, and Amon had spent all of his time searching for clues in the case of the missing schoolgirl. He was busy comparing alibis and checking where suspected Ghouls had been at the time of her disappearance. And next to him all the while was Lieutenant Morimine. He had followed Amon around every single day that week.
“There are two suspected Ghouls without alibis for the day of the girl’s disappearance. I think we need to take a closer look at these two …”
“Well, I think they’re all clear, myself,” Morimine said with a sneer. “Just hurry up and get it signed off as not involving a Ghoul, and pass the case back to me.”
And every day, Morimine undermined Amon’s investigation in some way.
“Can you stop interfering with my investigation? And how can you even say that, when a Ghoul left fluids on her barrette? Obviously a Ghoul was somehow involved.”
“A Ghoul might’ve been involved, but there’s no way it was one of these suspected Ghouls.”
“And what is your evidence?”
“That the barrette was left near the police station, not the CCG office.”
Amon shook his head and put his hand to his face. All he does is meddle in my investigation, and when I ask him for evidence to support his theory, that’s all he has. And he has no other explanation.
“If you’re going to interfere with my investigation, just go back to the station. I’m sure you have other work to do.”
“Sorry, man, but I’m staying here until you conclude your investigation.”
Maybe he thinks that if he keeps putting pressure on me I’ll get so frustrated I’ll just quit. “Until we have evidence clearly showing that it wasn’t a Ghoul, I’m not going to turn this case back over to you guys,” Amon said, hammering the point home.
“Stubborn bastard,” Morimine complained bluntly.
“And what’s so wrong with being stubborn? I don’t want to compromise the investigation.”
“God, you’re so green it hurts …”
“Are you mocking me?”
“Not at all. But you spend so much time looking straight ahead that you can’t see what’s around you.”
Amon started to head back to the office. Morimine followed him, looking fed up.
I’ve had people tell me I’m stubborn before, but Morimine really is pigheaded.
I’m going to investigate this myself. If I let him get to me there’ll be no end to it. The fact that he’s throwing me off at all annoys me. What’s most important now is to check out these two people who don’t have alibis, Amon thought as he walked, surveying his surroundings.
Just then a woman he knew he’d seen before came into sight.
“Huh?”
“Someone you know?” asked the ever-observant Morimine.
“Oh, no …”
What a small world. On the other side of the road, walking with her face slightly down, was Koharu following after Otokaze.
“Wait—I know that woman too.”
So even Morimine knows her. “An acquaintance of yours?” Amon asked.
He shook his head. “Not an acquaintance. I took a statement from her once. She’s beautiful, she’s always with someone, and I remember that when I showed her my badge, she was strangely surprised,” he said.
“By your badge?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s just a badge, nothing unusual about it.”
Amon had to agree; when Morimine had showed it to him there hadn’t been anything particularly odd about it.
“She seemed somehow tragic.”
“Tragic how?”
“Well, look, a woman with a pretty face all dolled up like that? She should have so much confidence in herself that she practically floats down the street. But the way she’s walking, it’s like she wants to avoid anyone looking at her. There’s an air of anxiety around her.”
Amon watched her walk and thought that Morimine was being a little over-the-top, but he also remembered how she had looked a week ago as she handed over the money to that man.
“Morimine, have there been any reports from victims of blackmail or anything like that to the police this week?”
“Don’t know what that’s got to do with what we’re talking about, but no, I haven’t heard anything. Wait, you think she’s being blackmailed?”
“No, I don’t know for sure.”
Amon told him about what he’d seen on his first day. “Hmm,” Morimine murmured, watching her walk into the hospital down the street.
Amon went back to the branch office with barely anything to show for his time. Yanagi and Tojo were out meeting with investigators from the 7th Ward, where the Ghoul restaurant was located. Amon checked their report for the day and then left the office.
He knew the way to the train station very well now. In his head he went over his plans for the next day as he turned down the alleyway. You know, I wonder how they’re doing back in the 20th Ward. Seido Takizawa, a rank 2 investigator who seemed to idolize Amon, had told him that if anything happened they’d call him. And they haven’t, so I guess nothing’s happened. But it also means there’s been no progress.
“And they haven’t gotten the Rabbit yet …”
The Rabbit was Amon’s responsibility—a small Ghoul with a light body who knew their way around an ukaku. The Rabbit had killed a young clerk investigator named Kusaba—whose round glasses had been his trademark—and Mado, a man Amon had respected with all his heart. Amon felt he had to uncover the Rabbit’s identity and avenge their deaths in tribute.
But there was another reason why Amon was pursuing the Rabbit. The Ghoul with the eye patch that he’d seen during the Aogiri battle was thought to have some connection to the Rabbit. There was something Amon wanted to ask him.
“I can’t afford to stall.”
If he didn’t get to work on the task he’d given himself, there was no way he would find those two Ghouls. Amon turned back the way he had just came. The case of the missing schoolgirl. Even if there’s little evidence or information, I’ve gotta investigate more thoroughly to get answers. Amon’s stride was long as he walked.
“Ack!”
But soon he ran smack into something and heard a woman cry out. Apparently he had bumped into a woman near him. “Sorry, you okay?” he said, apologizing hastily, but when he saw her face his confusion returned. “You’re …”
It was Koharu, who he’d seen just that afternoon. And this time the old woman who had called her “Miss” wasn’t with her.
“Oh, I’m … I’m fine. I’m sorry, I didn’t warn you in time.”
The ground around her was littered with things she had been carrying. There were even some cupcakes lying there. Seeing this, Koharu rushed to pick them up.
“I knew you worked at the CCG, so I thought if I waited nearby I might run into you … I wanted to give you this to thank you. But …”
She looked at the crumpled box with the cupcakes in it, which she had apparently brought to give to Amon.
“You have nothing to thank me for.”
“No, it made me very happy that someone I don’t even know was so kind to me. But there’s no way I can give you this now …” she muttered, looking at the smashed cupcakes.
Amon reached over smoothly and took one. He lightly brushed the dirt off the surface and tossed the cupcake into his mouth.
“Oh.”
A bit gritty but it tastes good. Although not quite sweet enough for a sweet tooth like myself.
“Is it all right?” Koharu asked fearfully.
“Very good,” he said, bringing his hands together in thanks.
“I’m glad. I know most men don’t like sweet things, so I got ones that were a little less sweet …”
“Perhaps it could’ve been a little sweeter.” Amon picked up his attaché case from the ground. “On another note, have you reported what happened the other night to the police?”
“I … I’m not really sure what to do.”
“How so?”
“I still haven’t made my mind up about a lot of things.” She didn’t make it clear, but it seemed like she was considering her options.
“It’s better for you to speak honestly,” Amon said, giving her a few words of advice, and then left.