Few hours gone by with my coffee grew cold; I managed to read up the final link to the Alice story.
"This was way too detailed about the incident."
The number of cuts on the girl's body, time of death, weapons that are used in the murder.
I continued reading the article written by this author, who seems to have tons of inside information about the murder.
It was almost the author was there at the scene before the police, experiencing it at first hand. The author too could be someone who made up the story to spice things up for the readers.
I wrote down the contact number of the author of the article before my phone rang.
"Sorry about that, there was a meeting when you called."
"It's alright inspector, though may I ask you a question? Do you know about the case of the Bloody Alice?"
The inspector did not speak for a long time.
"Hello?"
"Kid, it is best that you do not get involved in Case 27. Many of my officers would rather retire than take on this case." He replied back.
A smile hung on my face as I continued to convince the inspector to let me on some information on this case. Finally he gave in to my request.
"By any chance, you know of this person." I picked up the note that I wrote. "Hayate Nishimura?"
"How did you know of this name?"
"An article post on the internet, I happened to come by it during my investigation."
"He is the main and sole witness to the crime scene; he was the one who called the police too."
Now that is a pure stroke of luck.
"What else could you tell me about him?"
"He had quite the memory, able to recall how he reached the crime scene."
"Is there anything that makes him odd? Easily sweating or?"
"As far as I could remember, there was nothing odd besides showing no emotion on his face after witnessing such horrible murder."
"Thank you inspector, I will keep in touch with you once I found any lead on the mysterious attacks." I lied.
Something told me that I should get in touch with this, sole witness, in person.
[Café]
Hayate Nishimura sat down and drank a cup of hot mocha, waiting for someone. The chime on the door sound as a girl from Kikuwami high school enters, holding a camera.
She looked around before walking towards Hayate Nishimura.
"Are you the author of the online article, Hayate Nishimura?"
"Indeed I am, you must be the school reporter that called me at the early morning."
"Sorry, it just that I had stumble across your article after researching on the recent attack. I believe it was the ghost of the unknown girl that carried out the attack." She rampaged through her back and hands a piece of notebook and pencil to Hayate Nishimura.
"What is this?" he seems puzzled by the notebook and pencil.
"May I have your autograph too? I found myself being a fan after reading other articles that you posted. It will be great if you honor me with your signature."
"Ah, fan of my work." He flipped towards the front page and began signing. "And your name, young lady?"
"Miki" the girl replied.
The two chatted about the Bloody Alice case. Hayate Nishimura did not show any emotions as he described the crime scene when he arrived. The waitress came back with a glass of water for Miki.
"Not meaning to be rude, don't you felt scare when you looked at the dead body?"
"Ah," He smiled, "You see, I was a surgeon when I was younger, dabbled into other specialize medical courses as I progress. I became desensitised to such thing as my work demanded me to do so. It was clear that it was poor for my health, so I retired from the medical field."
"I see…."
The glass of water is placed on the table, facing the two of them. One showed the reflection of a normal person, the other was a hideous monster.
I suspected that much.
"When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge."
Now, I have proved that he is guilty of a crime that happened few years ago.
The public would likely want to forget this case as much as possible.
The only way was to have the culprit to admit the crime itself, so an assault on his shadow will be the only way.
However, the police also need hard evidences to convict the murderer too.
So how did the crime committed at well-lit streets that were under surveillance by the shop cameras?
Another visit to the shadow world is needed but I have to make sure not to hit by Alice(s) attack, specifically 'Die for me'.
[Shadow world – Crime scene]
The moment I stepped foot into the shadow world, the voice of Alice(s) could be heard from a far distance.
"He has returned to play with us, Alice."
"Let play house, Alice be the mother and Alice the father."
"What role, will he be, Alice?"
"The bad guy, who comes to take our happiness away, of course."
I kept on guard while holding the vintage lantern as the fog grew thicker than before. I looked at the crime scene once again, trying to figure out what could possibly be overlooked.
The killer must have some ways to hide himself as he dispose of the corpse. A way that he could escape and reappear back at the crime scene, without people noticing.
Something was bugging me as I looked at the shop beside me.
How did the blood stains appeared on the top of the panaflex board of the shop?
I looked down on the blood stained floor, certain that the murder could not have been done in the shadow world as the scene that I'm stood on as it was nearly one to one reflection of the crime scene at that time.
So, the only logical explanation was that this wasn't where the murder took place but a place where the corpse of the victim was disposed.
I looked up at the shop once again.
"A flat roof…"
