Shinji grimaced at that. When Teruo told him about the touch of death, he was genuinely scared. But still. “What if the chief will agree to it, though?”
“I highly doubt that,” the superintendent said. “You can try asking him. In fact, offer him some bits and pieces of information, but slowly, not all at once. Don’t speak about the Onmyoryo, though, or that you’re a Shinigami. Better keep those for later. And always be mindful of who’s around you. You never know when a member of the Onmyoryo can accidentally hear you, especially here at the TMPD.”
“Yes, sir.”
The superintendent squeezed Shinji’s shoulder. “Meanwhile, I’ll do some off the records research and see if Hayashi Teruo is a supernatural who eluded us all.”
CHAPTER 21
Teruo
The sun had long set and the starless sky and thunder in the distance announced an incoming storm. Teruo had spent the last few hours in the office with Shinji, reading the reports from the team of officers dispatched to interview the former classmates of the victims. Their accounts of what had transpired at the high school ten years ago differed greatly—something Teruo had already foreseen.
Those who hadn’t participated in the activities of Yamato’s gang seemed closer to the truth. They’d described the gang as violent, downright terrifying, strolling around the school, bullying not just their own classmates, but students from other classes as well, especially first-years.
The rest, who had most likely been part of the gang, considered everything just fun games, kids being kids, and Yamato as a playful guy who sometimes enjoyed pranking fellow classmates. They confirmed their presence at the reunion, but none noticed any incidents during the event.
The news about Yamato, Ozawa and Ishida’s deaths rattled both sides, according to the notes in the officers’ reports.
Out of thirty-five students, three were dead, the girl who called the police ten years ago was in another country and hadn’t returned to Japan in years, and four others moved out of Tokyo. The Regional Police of their respective prefectures had helped check out their alibis and all had iron-clad ones.From the remaining students, fourteen had weak or no alibis and were still being interviewed by Teruo’s team and kept under close watch. The lack of fingerprints and no way to track the stolen phones made it difficult to narrow the list further. Teruo read on, hoping something would click and point him in the right direction.
One particular report attracted his attention. It called the pranks “morbidly creative” and, to Teruo’s surprise, it placed Ozawa at the center of these pranks. And yet, her parents continued to deny Ozawa’s connection to Yamato’s gang.
Teruo showed the report to Shinji.
“Quite unexpected,” Shinji said.
“So, Yamato was the brawn of the operation, carrying out their violent pranks, whereas Ozawa was the brains, coming up with creative ways to torture their classmates. I’m guessing that’s the reason why the homeroom teacher didn’t take notice of her. Couldn’t have known what sort of ‘creative’ thoughts nestled in her head.”
Shinji picked another report. “The police were involved a number of times according to this, though Yamato is mentioned only once. Some students changed high schools.” He glanced at his laptop. “The school’s neighborhood has a high delinquency rate. I found some old news articles, though nothing helpful to us.”
Teruo sighed, stacking the reports together. “Ishida has rarely been mentioned. Did you notice that?”
“I’m guessing he was the ‘invisible’ type.” Shinji air-quoted. “Following Yamato around, doing his bidding, but not standing out too much.”
“He was a bundle of anxiety while he worked with me,” Teruo said. “Fidgety and nervous. Part of it could’ve been due to childhood trauma.” The other part was Teruo’s own fault for failing to work out a good partnership with Ishida. Now it was too late for regrets. Catching the one who killed Ishida was the least he could do to make up for his shortcomings.
“Were you a bully in high school?” Shinji asked.
“Fuck no. I was shy and had no friends. I was a frequent target, but not in high school, in middle school. Not at this level, fortunately. During high school I was taller than all the other kids and participated in a lot of martial arts tournaments, so the bullies didn’t have the courage to confront me.”
“Were you out?”
“Nah. While I didn’t fear bullies, I feared my parents. I only dated in secret.”
Shinji nodded. “Yeah, I can relate to that.” He got lost in thought for a bit, the pad of his index finger rotating a pen atop the desk. Clearing his throat, he grabbed the files, spreading them out in front on him. “After reading all these reports, I’m certain the wire collar with the pet tag was one of these pranks. Because—” He picked Ozawa’s picture from the crime scene. “—when I’m looking at this collar what comes to mind is that it’s…”
“… ‘morbidly creative’,” Teruo finished.
“It’s one way to humiliate someone,” Shinji said, running his hand over his neck.
“I’m thinking that’s the reason it looks like a collar, pet tag and all. It’s meant to represent ownership, subservience. That might be our motive for the crime: revenge for the humiliation suffered at the hands of our victims.”
“What I don’t understand,” Shinji said, “is why now? It’s been ten years. It would have made sense to do it right after high school. But ten years later?”
Teruo tapped his finger on the table. “It coincides with the damn reunion at that restaurant for which we still don’t have the fucking warrant. I don’t believe them that nothing happened.Somethingmust’ve happened, they just didn’t notice it.”
“You think them getting together triggered the memories and the killer decided now is the moment for revenge?”