The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 7.6

[touchturnfly]

6

They all stared blankly at Hirota.

With an annoyed feeling Hirota surveyed all of them..

"Actually, I came here because of work."

Midori seemed to be understand it, but Reiko and the others didn't appear satisfied.

"-- I am someone of Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Department."

There was a moment of silence. Subsequently all of them raised their voices. Mai, Masako and even Takigawa were taken by surprise. The ones who didn't raise their voices were Naru and Lin.

"... ...You. Did you evade your taxes?"

Takigawa was the one who asked that in confusion. Naru shrugged.

"I don't remember doing that."

"Then, how about bribery?"

"I wonder if it's because I sent money to a Japanese politician and received the convenience of consulting a place of worship?"

"... ... There's just no way... ... No matter how much I think about it."

Hirota clicked his tongue at their carefree conversation.

"You're not suspected of those type of things. For good or evil, however."

Hirota gazed at Naru.

"I only investigate the fact that you are a key suspect in the case of the abandonment of your own brother Eugene Davis's corpse which was found this summer.

Takigawa stared at Hirota in mute amazement.

"... ... That guy, in other words, does that mean Naru-bou is suspected of killing his older brother?"

"Naturally, that's what I mean."

"While it may be true that this guy certainly has some problems with his personality as well as his feelings, I don't think he's ill enough to kill a person."

"He knew where to find the victim's corpse. How?"

They had received information about the corpse's discovery from the police in Nagano prefecture at the end of summer. It said that the divers discovered a corpse which was sunk inside a dammed lake. Naru had been the one who employed those divers and made them search for a corpse.

He had requested the divers to search for a corpse from the beginning. They had announced that the corpse was wrapped in a silver-colored sheet beforehand.

"I know that you're not going to accept it, but he already knew. Because this guy has got a special ability--"

"He knew because of his psychic ability, you were going to say, right? That was also written in the records. -- But."

Hirota stared at Naru's expressionless face.

"That sort of thing does not exist. Not to mention there's no proof that this guy has got that kind of power. Suppose he didn't have something like a psychic ability, then how would he have known that his older brother's corpse was there? -- Wouldn't it obvious that he himself is the criminal or that he did it with an accomplice, right?"

There were three units stationed in the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor Office's Special Investigation Department. Those three were the Intellectual Crime Bureau, the Financial and Economic Affairs Bureau and the Direct Information Bureau. The Intellectual Crime Bureau was in charge of electoral irregularities, corruption, business embezzlements and the like, and had a strong image of being the stars of the department. The Financial and Econnomic Affairs Bureau treated the tax evasions and economical cases, and the Direct Information Bureau was in charge of relatively small scope affairs within the accusation and indictment cases. Inside this Direct Information Bureau a small post existed with one manager and two prosecution officials.

Outwardly this post had no name, but the spirit cases group was popularly known as the Zero Unit. It was a stupid pun made out of spirit (rei) and zero (rei) by the elites who had no sense of humor (Saki had claimed).

Like that, Hirota and Saki were the mere two prosecution officials attached to this Zero Unit.

Hirota boiled a little as he thought back to these things. He had passed the civil service examination with much hardship, and as desired he became a prosecution official, and at the admired duty station Tokyo District Public Prosecutor Office's Special Investigation Department he was assigned to a leisure post that had nothing to do with either corruption or suspicion, and was called a Tanuki by the prosecutor-in-charge Kurahashi. It didn't mean that he was a faker or anything. Only there it meant he was a good-for-nothing like a Shigaraki ware ornament of a Tanuki.

Despite this he couldn't neglect his work. Hirota had a faithful personality. With his sincerity, he was diligent every day at work.

The Zero Unit was put in charge of cases that were thought to be related to matters like psychic phenomena, psychic abilities and curses. Their work is to reconsider cases that were abandoned as incomprehensible by the investigators on scene from their own point of view. As the only unit existing in Japan for this, cases outside their jurisdiction were frequently being forwarded to them via a higher prosecutor department.

Day after day he looked over the documents and investigative notes that were sent to them from all directions. The case of the abandoned corpse of foreigner Eugene Davis was the one Hirota had his eyes on out of suspicion.

Mai and Takigawa were unable to close their gaping mouths.

"As a theory it's perfect. But don't you think this theory is a bit narrow-minded?"

Takigawa who just said that, and with a composed voice Naru answered:

"... ... Why thank you for taking the trouble."

Hirota glared at Naru.

"-- And? Certainly you already investigated whether or not I was in Japan at the time of my older brother's death, didn't you?"

"Of course I had it investigated. -- However, these days there's also something we call passport forgery."

'I see,' Naru smiled. "If that means you find me suspicious, feel free to investigate me as much as you like. At your convenience."

"Convenience, you say?"

"Unfortunately I don't know Japanese law very well, but do you hold any legal force in this place as of this moment?"

"I'm still privately investigating."

"Well then, is it fine if you can let me get back to work? I dislike wasting time."

"You say it's a waste of time?"

Naru merely expressed a smile on his beautiful face.

"It's nothing more than a waste that your organization stooped down to giving such a narrow-minded, unintelligent, foolish person this kind of duty."

Hirota glowed in anger and saw red before his eyes.

'Why you!' Hirota yelled, but his arm was seized.

"Please, -- Forgive him."

It was Reiko. She was holding onto Hirota's arm with a desperate look.

"Please spare only that child!"

Hirota frowned. Reiko's fingernails were buried into him.

"Please, don't kill him!!"

A surprised Hirota heard a dignified voice.

"Naru. -- There is a woman at that person's back."

Masako looked straight at Reiko.

"It's the spirit of someone who was killed in this house."

---

Back to Chapter 7.5 | Forward to Afterword

Notes

"It was a stupid pun made out of spirit (rei) and zero (rei)..." 霊 (spirit) and 零 (zero) and have the same on-yomi (Chinese reading).

"Only there it meant he was a good-for-nothing like a Shigaraki ware ornament of a Tanuki." Shigaraki ware is pottery and stoneware made in Shigaraki area in Japan. Shigaraki is famous for its pottery. A Tanuki is a Japanese raccoon dog. it also has a long tradition in Japanese legends and folklore. Many Tanuki statues are made in Shigaraki (photo).