Misora looked around the cluttered room; typical, she thought, for a thirteen year old girl. She herself was never that organised at that age. She maneuvered past a pile of clothes to reach the bedroom. The victim was named Quarter Queen, the post-mortem report revealed that she had ultimately been killed by blunt force trauma to the skull. Even more disturbing, was the fact that after she had been killed, the killer chose to crush both of her eyes. Misora was thankful she had only seen pictures of the body; she did not have the stomach to see it first hand.

'Quick, come here!' a voice echoed from the other side of the apartment.

Misora hurried, and saw Ryuzaki standing beside the fridge, looking in horror.

'What is it? What have you found?' Misora asked, moving closer to the fridge. Whatever it was, it was enough to shock even Ryuzaki, who usually appeared quite placid, at least of course, when he wasn't crawling around on all fours like a madman. It got her wondering what it could have been. A severed head? Perhaps even a bomb?

'It isn't what I've found. It's what I haven't found. I'm sure I put it here this morning. A great big jar of strawberry jam that I was going to have for lunch.'

'You need to stop using victim's houses to store your food.'

'That's beside the point. Jam doesn't just disappear.'

Ryuzaki dejectedly closed the door, then turned his attention to Misora. Slowly, he turned his gaze down, towards her hands. They were covered with a bright red, sticky substance.

'What's that on your hands?'

'Oh... er... nothing!'

Ryuzaki jumped to the floor on all fours, then crawled over to Misora, and began to sniff her hand, like a dog would do when greeting its master.

'This is strawberry jam. Isn't it?'

'Well yes... now that you mention it.'

She tried to avoid the question, but it was no use. She would have to confess.

'Well you see, I was really curious. I wondered what it must taste like to eat it straight out of the jar. I came across it in the fridge, and decided to try it for myself.'

She looked away, turning bright red. It was embarrassing to say the least.

'And where is the jar now?'

'I took it with me, and ate it in the living room. I think I left it on top of the table.'

Ryuzaki eyed her suspiciously, then walked over to the living room. To his dismay, the table was completely empty.

'I swear, it was there a minute ago!'

Several blocks away from the apartment, a young man with deep set eyes, and scruffy, jet black hair made his way through the streets. As he walked, he seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone nearby. He carried a large jar, and using his free hand, scooped up large chunks of jam, and shoved them into his mouth.

I came to check up on Misora, he thought, but it looks like she was getting on just fine. But I wonder, who would leave a perfectly good jar of jam lying around like that?