After the meeting ended and he’d said goodbye to Fura, Yanagi, and Tojo, Amon was once again left on his own in the 8th Ward branch office. It was almost midnight. Deciding to take a little break to go buy a hot drink, Amon stood up from his desk.
Suddenly, his cell phone started ringing. It was Morimine. He’s never called me this late before, Amon puzzled as he answered. “Hello, this is Amon.”
“Amon, are you still at the CCG office?” Morimine was almost shouting.
“Yeah, I’m here …”
“I’m at the door. Sorry, but could you let me in?”
He sounded somehow in a rush. Amon kept his phone to his ear as he hurried out of the room.
“Has something happened?”
“It’s about Koharu Utsumi, that tragic-looking girl.”
“Utsumi … ?”
He’d known her name but not her family name. I don’t know why he brought up her name, but I have a bad feeling about this.
“Can you go around the back? I’ll be right there,” Amon said, ending the call as he rushed into the elevator. It took what felt like an incredibly long time to reach the ground floor. When he finally got to the back entrance and opened the door, Morimine was standing there with a grim expression on his face.
“What’s happened?”
“I ran some checks on her today. I went to the hospital she said her adoptive father was in and I checked his name.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Call it detective’s intuition,” Morimine said, holding his hand to his forehead. “You don’t believe me?”
Maybe Morimine doesn’t think that a solid guy like me could be swayed by something that sounds as uncertain as the word “intuition.” But the words hit him like a rock.
“Tell me everything.”
Now Morimine was the one being interrogated as Amon led him into his office, sitting across the desk from him.
“Her adoptive father’s name is Yujiro Utsumi. He’s the president of a trading company that’s well-known around here. And his adopted daughter, Koharu, is twenty-eight years old. When I asked people in the neighborhood, they said she seemed to have been adopted eighteen years ago.”
Eighteen years ago. That number sent chills down Amon’s spine. The same year that Haruka Seta went missing.
“So I looked into it. To see if there was a case eighteen years ago where a couple was killed and only their child survived.”
If they were murdered the police should still have the case files.
But Morimine said, “I didn’t look very thoroughly, so maybe something got past me but … there wasn’t anything.”
“Nothing?”
“We’ve never had that kind of case.”
Then she’s lying. Seeing the doubt on Amon’s face, Morimine said, “But I think she was telling the truth.”
“Then why is there no case?”
“Amon …” Morimine said, looking straight into his eyes. Another possibility began to arise in Amon’s mind.
“Does the CCG have any information?”
That would mean …
“Did an investigator sneak into their home on a moonless night to exterminate a family of Ghouls?”
Amon could see the scene in his mind. He imagined an investigator pressed to the wall, listening in at night, when the whole family would have been together.
“And now that I think about it, it was just after I took her statement that time that Mai’s barrette was left near the police station. And she seemed a little uncomfortable in places as she told that story today. She could’ve just said ‘father’ instead of ‘adoptive father,’ and if she overheard what happened it must stick in her mind, but then she just started confessing about her childhood …”
Then Amon’s phone rang again. He wanted to hear more, but when he looked to see who was calling he was shocked.
“It’s Yanagi.”
Yanagi wasn’t the kind of person to call this late without a very good reason.
Morimine also seemed to grasp that clearly. “You’d better pick up,” he said, and Amon answered the phone.
“Amon, sorry for calling so late. But there’s something I want to ask you about.”
Yanagi sighed deeply. “When Tojo and I left the office tonight we were on our way to a bar when we ran into the woman that you were talking about. She seemed to recognize us too, and spoke to us. Then Tojo got all cocky and exchanged numbers with her …”
“He did what?!”
From Amon’s words and behavior, Morimine guessed that something was up. His face turned gloomy.
“Yeah. Then, while we were drinking, he got a message from her asking if he wanted to go for dinner. I told him not to trust a woman who invites him to dinner just after meeting him, and he seemed to agree, but …”
“Tell me he didn’t.”
“When we got done drinking, he started joking about having another round like always, but then he left quickly. Later I got kind of concerned and sent him a message but he never replied. And when I try to call him, the call doesn’t go through.”
Bad feeling. Sixth sense. I haven’t determined that she’s a Ghoul. But something is urging me on.
“Morimine, do you know her address?”
“Yeah. I found it.”
All the experience Amon had gained as an investigator told him that danger was at hand. Morimine nodded firmly, and Amon did in return.
“Yanagi, I think Tojo is in danger!”
“Danger? What kind of danger?”
“We have to find him immediately!”
He hung up and started running, attaché case in hand.
“Amon, my car’s parked outside, let’s take that!”
It was the time of night when most people were already asleep. Morimine stomped on the accelerator and headed to Koharu’s house. As they drove Amon got in touch with Yanagi and explained the full circumstances.
“We’re here!”
Her house, near the river, was a mansion with details that seemed more appropriate somewhere far from the 8th Ward. When they got out of the car, Amon could smell the sea. I guess the tide has come up into the river.