A man in a swivel char by some monitors turned and looked at them, "How did?" he fumbled. He moved away from them and toward the corner and a closed door. He pushed through it and slammed it back closed. Takigawa pushed into it but it wouldn't budge. Lin and Ayako came in quickly hearing the door open. Lin rushed to the spot he figured Mai would be. A few feet from where the man disappeared, he pried open the door, breaking the hinges only to find an empty hole. The room had a trap door that slid into the basement. Lin didn't hesitate and stepped down into the basement, it was barely five foot tall area so the man ducked as he looked around. The ground revealed drag marks leading away. Lin followed the basement turned into a small tunnel, Lin continued following until the drag marks disappeared and the tunnel emptied out into a road going through the woods. Behind him it sounded like a herd of elephants. People screaming For Mai and Lin and a few police officers mingled in stomping their way through.
The others filed out of the tunnel a few moments later and stood looking around trying to see where the kidnapper had gone.
'Lin' he heard a whisper from behind him. He stared back at the tunnel. 'Lin' he sensed her spirit and followed.
Lin started running back through the tunnel, he had missed something. He went back to where they climbed down and explored the area. Mai was close. He looked at the boards above him all covered with cobwebs and dust. Except one, fresh scrape marks and no cobwebs. He pushed on the board without cobwebs and it moved slightly, but started closing the trapdoor they came down. He closed it halfway then climbed back up to the secret room. The others had come to see why he had come back by now. The saw him disappear over them then he pulled the trap door closed behind him. They banged on the door above them shouting profanities at the man.
Lin ignored the ruckus below the trap door. When he opened it back up it revealed an area behind it and he saw Mai's foot inside. Closing the trapdoor completely pulled her into full view. He pulled her up off the floor and held her in his arms. Once she was off the floor her kicked the trapdoor and let the others up. He took Mai to the chair in the room and sat her up. He removed the blindfold and the gag before loosening her hands from the tie around it. He rubbed the circulation back into her arms as the others came up from the tunnel. Matsuzaki-san took over where Lin left off, checking Mai for injuries and seeing what happened to the girl. She sat limp unconscious in the chair.
Lin stepped back and called an ambulance.
"She just seems dehydrated, and exhausted. A few bruises, nothing permanent." She stated confidently.
Everyone was thankful as they waited for the ambulance. The lieutenant came over to talk with Naru.
"We are looking for the man you think did this, but only as a person of interest, we will need some solid proof if you want this to go anywhere further than this." he stated.
"That tape should have his prints on it, there should be his prints all over this room and Mai will be able to identify him, is that proof enough?"
"Did she see him? Or was she blindfolded all the time?"
"I am sure she can identify the man," Lin spoke up. They looked at him for a moment. "On the tape, before she disappears she said 'you' like she recognized someone. She saw him." they all nodded.
The ambulance sirens were heard coming closer. Lin bent down to the chair and scooped up the girl. His long legs strode out of the room before anyone could question the action. He climbed into the ambulance with her and laid her down on the gurney. The door to the ambulance closed and they pulled away.
After watching the ambulance drive away Naru turned back to the officer. "He also left something very important to him here; he will come back for it."
"Oh?"
"A diary, his inheritance from his family, although I do not know more than that, the book has a spirit attached to it that doesn't really want anyone to look at it."
"I see," the lieutenant chuckled not quite believing the haunting. "Show me this book." He asked. Naru lead the way to the library where a single book laid out of place in a chair.
"The ghost doesn't like people near it, but it will shake things before throwing them so just be careful." Takigawa warned when the officer approached the chairs. He sat in one chair and reached out to the other. His chair began to shake. He stood and reached out for the book and the chair flew across the room.
"He, he, eh... I see but how do you expect to prove his guilt with something you can't touch or read?" They all listened out the plan that Naru laid before them on how to catch the culprit once he came back for the book.
That night after most of the equipment was taken care of Lin called them from the hospital. Like Ayako had said it was nothing serious. Dehydration, bruises and exhaustion. Mai now had a private room and she was awake for a few minutes. They passed the phone around as they all said their get wells to the kid, and promised they would see her in the morning.
