"Well, now that we've rescued Chiyo, we need to go back to solving Kaorin's murder."
The five girls sat around Chiyo, who Sakaki had condemned to bed, as her fever was still persistent. She nodded,
"That's right." She said, gravely. Kagura spoke next, raising her hand as though they were in a schoolhouse and Chiyo their teacher,
"Yeah, but we don't know anything about this guy!" She commented in a hopeless tone. Sakaki shook her head,
"That's not true," she said. She pointed her index finger to her right, her arm extended in such a way that it almost poked out Chiyo's left eye, "You've seen him, haven't you?" Osaka, Kagura, Tomo and Yomi all looked at Chiyo. She could feel their eyes boring into her brain. She coughed twice before she spoke,
"Well," she stuttered, "I…er…well I did see him, yes." Tomo, who had been shaking with anticipation, practically pounced on Chiyo,
"So, what's his name? Who is this sicko? Come on!" Yomi clapped her hand over Tomo's mouth,
"Leave the kid alone, Tomo!" she shouted. She turned back to Chiyo, her face instantly calming. "Come on, Chiyo. Can you tell us his name?" Chiyo shook her head,
"Well," she began, wringing her hands in embarrassment, "He didn't tell me his name. He just made me call him 'Master'." Everyone's face took on a slight green tinge,
"So," Kagura summarized, "He made you dress up like a cat/French maid and call him Master." Chiyo nodded solemnly. Sakaki looked as though she might be sick,
"What else did that sicko do to you?" Tomo demanded. Chiyo snapped to attention,
"N-nothing!" she answered. The others looked skeptical. Chiyo had answered a little too quickly for their taste.
"Really?" asked Kagura. Chiyo nodded,
"Then what's that?" Osaka asked, pointing to the red stripe on her chest.
"Well, he didn't do that. Yuichi did. He cut me 'cause Master likes girls in distress."
"Ew." Everyone said quietly. Chiyo quickly changed the subject back to the investigation,
"Anyway," she said, clapping her hands together, "Where do we go from here?" Osaka, who had been pondering quietly for some time spoke out,
"Bait the hook and cast off again!" she cried, pointing her finger into the air in a classic "eureka!" stance. Chiyo looked at her quizzically. At times like this, Chiyo felt she was the only person who could understand her friend,
"What do you mean 'bait the hook'?" she asked, leaning forward and hunching her shoulders. Osaka looked confused,
"I thought it was pretty self-explanatory. We go back to the warehouse and send someone in." she said. Kagura nodded,
"That might work. Chiyo-Chan could go back in, but this time we'd be supervising the whole operation with cameras and microphones and stuff!" Yomi soon joined the brainstorm,
"Of course! We'd give Chiyo a walkie-talkie or, like, put microphones and cameras in her dress. That way, if anything happened to Chiyo-Chan we could help her. Then, once she's gathered enough evidence on Kaorin's case we could go to the police." Chiyo blanched,
"Please," she implored, grabbing Yomi's sleeve, "Don't make me go back. If we have no other choice then I'll do it, but please, please let this be our last resort." Sakaki nodded,
"I agree with Chiyo-Chan." She said, bluntly, "I mean, look at this!" she pointed to Chiyo's scar, "What if something worse happens this time? What if we can't help her before it's too late? We worked so hard to get her back, and why? Because we didn't want to lose her! I say we try to think of another way to do this. Sending one of us in should be a last resort." The others nodded,
"Well, what else can we do?" asked Tomo, "It's not like we can bug the warehouse without someone inside first." Chiyo thought for a moment,
"I've got it!" she cried, her face brightening, "He was going to take me somewhere for two weeks. He even gave me the train ticket!" she gestured to Sakaki who drew a slip of paper from a secret pocket,
"Holy
crap!" Osaka cried, "Chiyo-Chan, this trip was going to be so
awesome! He was taking you to, like, France on one of those super
luxury overnight train things!" Chiyo looked at Osaka in a kind of
sideways glance,
"Right then…" she said, "Anyway, I think
we could find enough tickets for the rest of you to come too. The
trip's more like a cruise so we'll have lots of time." The
others nodded again,
"When do we put you back, though?" asked Sakaki. Chiyo looked at her, her face taking on a grave and somber expression,
"As soon as possible."
