The doors of the elevator open with a sigh. The sigh may have been Masumi as she was thinking about what she just learned, though. Or rather, what she has not learned.
She walks out and, hands in pockets, makes her way step after step to the security office.
Her steps echo in the crowded halls of the mall. How could someone just disappear leaving absolutely no trace? That bathroom had absolutely no other exit point than the one door... even the vents were too smalls for rats. Are the witnesses lying? She would have to bring Shinichi to them to know if they lie or not. Assuming they did, there's no lead. The kids could have just... gone. Left on their own, went somewhere, hid. Like any careful runaway.
She herself has done the running and hiding thing for a while at some point... she knows how easy it is to do mistakes. But she would actually need the resources of the FBI or something to track credit cards usages, security cam— hold on, good thing she's headed for the security office.
Let's just hope the madman already thought about that.
She's getting old. The cameras should have been their first reflex.
"Hey! Watch it, bitch!"
Oh, right...
There's people around. There's actually a lot of people. Oh boy that's a crowd alright! You'd lose anyone in there!
... No...
They've been looking at this wrong from the start. Don't start where they were last seen, it's useless. Start where they should have been last seen: the exits. If they could— "I said watch it!"
A man, not half older than her, is trying to maintain the balance of his ka—kart? Where am I?
Back to reality. Quick look around: supermarket section.
I went too far!
She turns back and turns where she should have done so three minutes ago. The security door opens at this moment and Shinichi is there, with his now eternally frowning brows.
"Could you bargain for a look at the cameras?" she asks, directly, not caring at all for why he was brought here.
He shrugs. "Didn't need to, he wanted me to look at something for him."
Oh.
Shinichi apparently had to check the footage to make sure that the security guard's daughter wasn't being stalked or something.
She's the same age as the twins and some of the other missing kids, so his worry is relatable. As for the twins, they were not on the footage. They were seen entering the bathrooms, and never came out. Nobody ever came out with carts or anything that could hide them, alive or not. ... in one piece or more.
Masumi also shares her own non-findings with the guy.
"There has to be some way out of those toilets," he argues.
She agrees. If the one way in and out was fairly watched and didn't give anything, then they must have gone through somewhere else.
As they are approaching the main entrance hall, Shinichi stops them to pretend looking at a map. He must have seen something worth hiding from.
"The guard," he whispers. "He also told me he was actually called to me by the front office."
Masumi quietly nods as she points to the west-end fast-food shop.
"We're going to approach that Sofia girl, and I'd very much like you let me do the talking."
Masumi nods again, and with a shrug, she backed up from the map and stretched arms.
She starts a pretend small-talk dialogue with Shinichi, but it ends up being a monologue. Shinichi very soon waves at the clerk, who's still playing with her phone.
"Hey Sofia!" he says, loudly.
The girl doesn't leave her phone. After a good ten seconds, she seems to realize someone is there, looks up, and pretty much like before, puts down the phone in a hurry and smiles like a mannequin.
"How would I be of service?" she asks, trying her best not to stare at Shinichi's hat.
Odd.
Masumi winks a bit. Shinichi leans his head.
"Where's Sofia?" he asks.
The name on the girl's badge read « Gloria, » which is a really strange thing as that girl is exactly the same as the Sofia from before. She looks at Shinichi like he's speaking Chinese.
"Who's Sofia?" she says, with the unintelligible low voice of a disinterested person.
Masumi is really tempted to just answer "you", but she bites her lip and lets Shinichi say "She's the clerk who was here just two hours ago, she has dark skin, neatly brushed short dark hair... she looks a lot like you actually!"
She stands there, half asleep, for a moment.
"So whaddya want?" she asks, giving up on any formality.
Shinichi shrugs. "I wanted to thank Sofia for pointing us out in the right direction, but if she's not here, well... we're just going to go."
They leave the build—"Wait!"
Masumi turns around. The girl is at her desk, holding a desk phone, covering it with her hand. She's looking at them with an intensely curious eye. "I... I think it's for you."
A phone call for them? What happened? And where?
When they approach, Sofi— Gloria, she hands the phone to Shinichi.
He shrugs, takes it, brings it to his ears, and listens.
The mall hall is very bright indeed. This almost looks like a temple. Masumi chuckles at the thought that, you could call it that, if money were a god. The front wall is basically a giant mesh of glass panes, some of which are colored, which gives the air and atmosphere an awesome feel of cosmical wonder. Humans did this. Humans built this. Humans created this beautiful money temple. Humans always create majestic temples to the ideas they worship. It is saddening, though, to think that the Parthenon is in ruins, and she's standing here at the entrance of the dollar cathedral. Saddening, but not depressing. Things die, ideas change. You can't appreciate getting stuck somewhere on a feeble branch when the current of the stream is flowi—SLAM!
The crowd startles out with a short scream. A huge sound just came from the front desk. Masumi's old reflexes kick in, and she runs over to see if everyone's alright. Shinichi is trembling. The phone is on the ground behind the counter.
"Okay," she says. "Let's go."
The kid is not moving.
She grabs Shinichi's shoulder.
"Let's go home."