(A/N): Well, here is chapter 16. I'm am very glad to have Wi-Fi back, and again, thank you for being patient and thank you for reading!

Today is January 30th , Church has ended, and I can see Kazuki waiting at the gates for me. The snow is fully gone now, and the ground is hard and solid. None of the children are playing outside, for it is dark. There was an evening mass, and the sky has become dark quickly. At 6 o'clock, the sun has vanished and darkness has fallen. The moon is hanging in the sky while the stars have been eroded by the blaring lights of Tokyo.

Kazuki sounded both surprised and uneasy when he head of the time my shift ends at the hospital.

"Is it really ok to be walking around at night?" He had said. "You never know what creeps are wandering around at night. When he had heard about the evening mass, he offered to wait for me and walk me home. Despite my insistence that I could look after myself, he seemed particularly worried, so I agreed, to give him some peace of mind.

As I hurry over to him, where he leans against the gates, someone calls my name.

"Father Brown! May I talk to you?" It is Itsuke Watanabe, limping over to me. I halt and turn to him.

"Is everything ok?" He does not look very happy.

"Well…" He looks around nervously. "Remember my granddaughter I told you about?" Itsuke visits the Church quite frequently now, and he often talks about Sayomi when he comes – how she's doing, people she meets at the hospital, what she likes and doesn't like. He talks about what she hopes to do after university, when she gets out of hospital, her hobbies, her interests.

"What's wrong? Has something bad happened?

"She's been transferred."

This information confuses me. "Transferred?"

"She's been moved to a different hospital." He shuffles his feet in the cold. "And they won't let me see her."

"Why not?"

"They say her condition isn't stable enough."

I frown. "That's strange. If you're her only family member, then surely you would be allowed to see her. That's what it's like at the hospital where I work."

Itsuke falters. "Oh…you see…" He looks unsure whether to speak or not.

Footsteps ring out across the courtyard, echoing through the still air. Kazuki is walking over curiously and uncertainly. At his presence, Itsuke looks wary. Nervously, he fumbles for a pen in his front pocket and a scrap of paper.

"What's your number, Father? Your telephone number?" He asks, clicking his pen. His request bemuses me, but I tell him my number. He scribbles is down frantically. Then he snatches my hand. His grip is tight and desperate.

"Here's mine." The point of the pen digs roughly into my skin, but I allow him to write the number anyway.

Kazuki has reached us now, just as Itsuke finishes writing his number down on my hand. Before Kazuki can say a word, Itsuke withdraws his pen and strides past abruptly, muttering, "Good night, Father Brown."

As he hurries away, Kazuki watches on in interest.

"Who was that?" He asks.

"A man who comes by Church sometimes." I tell him. "He's called Itsuke Watanabe."

Kazuki nods thoughtfully. "He seemed upset."

"Yeah, his granddaughter is in hospital right now." I explain. "But apparently her condition's worsened, and the doctors won't let him see her."

Kazuki frowns. "That's strange. That's very strange."

"It is, isn't it?"

"What's the name of the hospital?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

Again, Kazuki frowns. "And what's wrong with his granddaughter? It must be very serious if the doctors won't let him see her."

"He never said. She's called Sayomi, by the way. Sayomi Watanabe."

He freezes for a moment, his brow furrowed. Tilting my head, I ask,

"What's wrong?"

For a moment, it's as if he hasn't heard me. However, he eventually shakes his head and awakens from his trance.

"I just…no. Never mind."

Nonetheless, he looks anxious, so I tug his arm gently and say,

"Come on. Shall we leave?"

He looks at me craftily. "I don't know. What do you think?"

I smile. "I think we should go."

He smiles back. "Me too."

I drifted awake. The melody from yesterday was still lingering in my head, and I rubbed my eyes, trying to get rid of the tired blurs. Once more, I had slept over at Takigawa's apartment, and once more I had slept in the corner. Takigawa still hadn't noticed, luckily. I had tried to break out of the habit, but no matter how I tried sleeping in a bed, I could not sleep. Anxiety would gnaw at me while I lay in the bed, and it would not stop until it had wormed its way into my centre and forced me out of the bed.

After the fire that had consumed Itsuke Watanabe's apartment, Takigawa and I had decided a retreat would be the safest option. If the colleague or any of his workers were still hanging around, it could be dangerous. What's more, we had guessed that this had been the 'job' mentioned by the men in the abandoned house.

Now I was awake, I checked my watch. It was 9am. Sighing, I pulled on some day clothes and stumbled out of the spare room.

Entering the kitchen, I saw that Takigawa was awake. He always seemed to be up early; perhaps he was accustomed to waking early after living at Mt. Koya. He noticed me, as he shovelled half-heartedly at a bowl of cereal, gathering the pieces on his spoon and letting them fall back into the bowl.

"Good morning." From his tone, it did not sound like it was a particularly good morning for him.

"Good morning." I greeted him back in response. He beckoned me over to the table he was sitting at, so I pulled up a chair opposite him.

"Well, what's the plan for today?" He asked, stirring the cereal around and around.

"Umm…I'm not sure. We can't exactly go to Itsuke-san's apartment." All that was left was a ruined shell.

"I hear they managed to save some of the floors," I saw that Takigawa had a newspaper spread out across the table, "but floors 4 and upwards were completely incinerated."

"It's brutal. Do they know the cause?"

Takigawa shook his head. "Not that I know. But it's strange. If Watanabe-san has no living relatives, then no one is going to check up on his apartment. No one would notice if the place was emptied, say. So why doesn't colleague-san do that instead? It's be a lot easier and less risky than torching the place."

"Well, we were going to check up on the place, weren't we? Or someone would clear the place for a new tenant."

"I guess…" Takigawa frowned. "It just seems such an extreme way to do it. Surely there would be a better, easier way…"

"I see your point." His logic was undeniable. "Maybe…I don't know, it he thought we were getting too close, he might have panicked. And if half the place was burnt down, finding evidence is going to be hard for the police."

Takigawa nodded, but still looked unsure, and I continued uncertainly.

"I mean…we can't really enter his mind, or know why he acts the way he does. His logic is too twisted. He's a sadist, understanding his thought pattern is tricky. And, who knows, maybe the fire was an accident, but what are the chances? That the place we were going to visit burns down? It's just…too much of a coincidence."

Takigawa scratched his head. "Yeah…I guess you're right. Anyway, wondering about that won't help us. Should we visit SPR? Maybe Naru-kun is back. He could help us."

It sounded like a good idea. "Yeah…will anyone be in at this time?"

"I hope so."

It turned out that Kazuya had arrived back at the office. Lin was there, too. As was Mai, Yasuhara, Ayako and Masako. And as soon as we entered the office, all eyes were on me.

"Oh my God, John-kun!" Ayako had already walked over to me. "I can't believe it! Are you ok?"

"We told them everything." Yasuhara came over, too. "If you don't mind. But, after yesterday, it sounded like things were getting more and more dangerous for you."

"Yes." Now Masako had walked over. "I never imagined anything like this would happen."

"Naru-kun came back yesterday evening." Mai had hurried over. "We explained everything to him, but he said to wait until this morning to call you or anyone else."

The surprise of this had left me speechless. As they crowded around me, I began to feel claustrophobic. It was that song in my head, that stupid song. The repeated melody was giving me a headache and making me feel nauseous. Takigawa, perhaps sensing this, pushed me away from them and led me to one of the sofas. I faced Kazuya, who had remained silent and seated. He was reading a file calmly, and his collected demeanour somehow lessened the feelings of sickness.

"…This is a very unexpected situation." He remarked. I saw Lin sitting at a computer in the corner.

"Unexpected is an understatement." Takigawa spoke up quickly.

"Yes, indeed it is." Kazuya closed the file. I heard the others sit back down.

"So you weren't in a car accident?" Ayako asked.

I shook my head. "No. I'm sorry I lied to you all, I just felt…uncomfortable with telling everyone that I have amnesia."

"That's understandable." Kazuya decided.

"It must have been terrifying," Mai agreed, "waking up in hospital with no idea why you were there…"

"Now, there's the matter of this stalker." Kazuya move on quickly. "Please tell me more about him."

"There's not much I know, to be honest." I admitted. "He calls himself 'the colleague', I don't know his real name."

"Is there any distinguishing feature he has?"

"Not particularly. Well, if you mean his face. It's very…bland, almost. He has black hair and black eyes. If you were to see him on the streets, nothing would stand out about him. He wears complete black, though. A black suit."

"And how are you certain this man is following you?"

"He left a message saying he was looking for me, a few days after I got out of hospital. He left orange lilies behind at a co-worker's funeral service, and then kept on leaving them wherever I went."

Mai paled. "So…you mean…that time you were here, and someone left those lilies at the door…"

I nodded grimly. "Yes. That was him."

Mai shuddered, but Kazuya prompted me on, so I continued.

"That day, he visited me outside the Church."

"In broad daylight? Isn't that a bit…risky?" Kazuya pointed out.

"I know. I don't know why he did it. But when I got back to my apartment, at around 7 o'clock, he was there. He managed to get into my apartment and change the security alarm." I shivered. "He confessed that it wasn't his first time in my apartment. He said…" At once, I felt uncomfortable with sharing this information. So far, it had been a large feat saying this much. Frequently, it felt like the words just refused to come out. Now, it was even harder. At my pause, Kazuya asked,

"Well?"

I strengthened my mind. "…he said that he had been there before, watching me when I was asleep."

"What else did he say?"

"…He said he was going to …kill me." The others froze. Their reaction, their intense gaze, made me even more distressed. "Not right now. But eventually. He said he wanted to 'make me pay'."

"But why? Why is he doing this?" Ayako demanded.

"It's something that happened in March, I think. Something I can't remember. He wants to kill me, before I do remember."

Kazuya frowned. "This means your amnesia is only temporary, correct?"

I nodded. "I've already remembered a few things."

"Like what?"

"I remember a man. He's called Kazuki Brooks. I was friends with him. And I remember being at this burning building…and Kazuki was there. He led me out – saved me – but he died just after."

"Hm…" Kazuya nodded as he absorbed the information. "What else have you managed to piece together?"

I explained everything I knew. Kazuki, Sayomi, Itsuke Watanabe, Rin Ikeda and Hayate, Mattaku, Doctor Nakumura, this strange 'Saburou' person…At the end, the others looked shocked. Only Takigawa, for he had heard it before, and Kazuya remained nonchalant.

"….So the police won't believe you?" Kazuya spoke up after a moment of silence.

I nodded miserably. "Not until I have solid evidence."

"That's strange. I believe that if a person, a possible stalker, does at least two things to make you distressed, they are classed as a stalker and there must be some sort of action." Kazuya pointed out.

I put my head in my hand. "I tried to tell them that. More than once. I don't know why they don't believe me, they just keep on refusing."

"Why would they do that?!" Mai exclaimed, angrily.

"I don't know…is it because I'm foreign? Or because I apparently look young?" I was the one asking them.

"Those may be contributing factors…This will make everything a lot more complicated." Kazuya looked grim. "The whole situation is very serious. By ourselves, it is even more dangerous. By yourself," he looked at me, "it would have been suicide. Confiding in Bou-san was the right thing to do."

"What do we do now?"

"That's tricky to say. We could always go to Brooks-san's apartment, that could be useful. But first…you said that, the last thing you remembered about Itsuke Watanabe, he seemed anxious and like he wanted to tell you something?"

I nodded. "Yes. But I don't remember what."

"There's something I'd like to try, if it's fine by you."

"What are you planning to do?" Takigawa asked suspiciously.

"A hypnotic technique to see if we can bring back the memory."

I hesitated. "…Would that be safe?"

"I've used this technique before many times. It's never failed me."

Again, I faltered. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He gave no more argument. Eventually, I gave in.

"Ok. We can try."

The lights were all off. The curtains had been pulled. The office was dark. All except for a single red light. I sat on one of the sofas, watching the light as it pulsated gently. Kazuya's voice resonated from somewhere in the office.

"…match your breathing with the light…" I had heard this before, a long time ago. Obeying his request, I felt myself feeling tired. Well, I had not slept well, so that must have contributed…

"…you've just talked to Itsuke Watanabe. He wrote a phone number on your hand…" Kazuya's voice seemed a lot further away now. "…he's walked away…what's happening now…?"

After Kazuki walked me home, I offered that he stay for the night. At this suggestion, he seemed pleased, but it was not enough to shake his anxious state.

"I'll sleep on the sofa." He offers.

"Do you want some pyjamas?" I ask. To this, he smiles weakly.

"I'm a lot taller than you, John. Nothing of yours will fit me."

He falls asleep quite quickly, so I take the opportunity to write down Itsuke's number onto a more secure piece of paper. Then I pick up the phone and dial in the number.

"Hello?" The voice is sharp and panicked. I recognise it as Itsuke Watanabe's.

"Hello, it's Father Brown. From Church."

"Oh, it's you." He sounds more relieved.

"Watanabe-san, is there something you wanted to tell me?"

He hesitates. "…Yes." Finally, he succumbs. "Yes, there was something. You see…Sayomi, she…" He sighs. "She's not in an…ordinary hospital."

"What do you mean?"

"She suffers from paranoia. She's in a psychiatric ward right now. A mental hospital."

His words shock me. "A mental hospital?"

"Yes." This explains why he was so reluctant to tell me what she was suffering from.

"I see. That's very unfortunate. Paranoia must be terrifying."

"Yes. The thing is…" He lowers his voice. "…Before she was transferred, I spoke to Sayomi. And she told me something strange."

"What might that be?"

"She saw a patient being moved…forcefully."

He sounds very vague, so I press for more details. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she saw another patient being removed from the hospital against his will. No doctors, no authorities overseeing this. Just, in the dead of night, she claimed some 'men wearing black' came and took a patient away."

These are troubling words. "So, she thinks she saw a kidnapping?"

"Well, the thing is…I didn't believe her." He sounds ashamed. "I thought it was her paranoia acting up again. And when I mentioned it to the doctors, they said that it was just a patient being transferred, that it was nothing to worry about. And now…I'm worried. Now, they're claiming that Sayomi has been transferred, and they won't let me see her. I'm worried."

"Ok. Have you tried talking to the police?"

"Well, no…I mean, they wouldn't believe about what Sayomi saw, would they?"

"The point is, unless this new hospital has proof that Sayomi has been acting violently towards herself or others, they can't not let you see her."

"Oh…I see…" These words seem to give him hope. "Yes…I'll speak to the police…that's what I'll do…"

"Do you know the name of the hospital?"

He is saying something, but his words drown out. Everything is going blurry. What's happening?

Then it's there. That melody. It's beginning to play. No. No. Not that. Please not that. Anything but that. He's dragging me away, I don't want to go with him, no no no.

I struggle desperately. "No! Let go of me!" In response, he hit me. Hard, across the head. It makes my mind reel. My body goes limp. I can't struggle any more. He's just going to drag me away,

"Kazuki!" I gasp. "Please…Kazuki…help…" Where is he? I don't know.

Now, he's dragging me away. He throws me into a room. The melody is still ringing loudly. Where am I? The room is dark, pitch black. I fumble at the walls, trying to pull myself up to my shaky feet. These aren't ordinary walls. There are…vents?

Oh no. Not this. Not this. A light suddenly flicks on. It stabs at my eyes. I see the room I am in – filled with barred air vents, but otherwise completely empty.

I can't stay in here. I have to get out. But I can't think straight, the melody is still playing.

"Let me out!" I bang at the walls. "Let me out! Please! Let me out!"

"John, where are you?" A voice speaks out suddenly. It's…Kazuya's voice…

Please let me out." I beg him.

"Where are you?" He asks again, more firmly this time.

Holding back a sob, I whisper, "It's the room. I can't remember its name. The silent room. It makes you go mad."

"Go mad…?" Now, he is standing in front of me. He places his hands on my shoulders.

"John. You're not in the silent room anymore."

I shake my head. "No, I'm here, I have to get out –"

"John, you have to trust me. Ok?"

I nod shakily. He continues.

"Ok. Close your eyes. And someone turn that song off!" He shouts to no one in particular. He takes my hands. "Close your eyes. I want you to imagine the office. Shibuya Psychic Research. Can you do that?"

I nod, and close my eyes. I try to imagine it.

"Now, I'm going to count down from 5 to 1. When I get to 1, you'll be back in the office. Ok?"

"Ok."

"5" His voice is clear and calm.

"4" The melody stops, at long last.

"3" I feel so tired all of a sudden.

"2" Everything is fading away.

"1."

I jolted awake, sweat on my brow and my heart racing. The light was back on, stinging my eyes. Kazuya was knelt in front of me, holding my hands.

"John?" He asked quietly. "Are you awake?"

I nodded slowly. "What-what just happened?"

Everyone was crowded around me again, looking concerned. I tried to stand up, but immediately I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Get him some water." Kazuya ordered. Mai brought over a glass. I drank it gratefully – I felt so thirsty all of a sudden.

"What happened?" I asked again. "One minute I was talking to Watanabe-san over the phone, and then…"

Lin placed a smashed mobile onto the coffee table. I had never seen it before.

"Everything was going fine." Kazuya began to explain. "You talked about Itsuke Watanabe. You phoned him, and he told you that his granddaughter suffered from paranoia."

"Yeah…" I remembered that.

"Then that mobile began to ring." Kazuya continued. "It played a melody."

"The one from the abandoned house." Mai interrupted quickly.

"And you just…you were…hysterical." Takigawa finished grimly. "You had been speaking in Japanese all that time, but as soon as the melody played, you spoke in English."

"You talked about a 'silent room'." Kazuya told me. "You were shouting to be let out. Begging."

I nodded. "…Someone came. I heard the melody, and someone came and dragged me away to that room." I shuddered at the memory, and I felt Takigawa place a comforting hand on my shoulder. To take my mind off the unpleasant memory, I focused my attention on the mobile instead.

"Where was it? That mobile?"

"In your jacket pocket." Kazuya spoke up.

I paled. "What?"

"It wouldn't turn off." Now Lin spoke up. "So I smashed it."

"Have you ever seen this mobile before?"

I shook my head. "No."

"This is worrying." Kazuya stood up and swept his gaze around the office carefully.

"We should leave." He announced.

"Huh?" Mai looked puzzled.

"Come on. Let's go." Kazuya walked to the office door, with Lin following closely behind.

Takigawa helped me to my feet. "…You ok now?" He asked, worried.

I nodded shakily. "I'm fine. Let's go."

In the end, we headed over to the local library. The room was quiet and peaceful. There were few people in the library: a few college students, an elderly couple, a handful of reading adults, the librarian and some monitors. We were the biggest party of people there. In fact, we looked quite out of place.

"Uhh…Why are we here, exactly?" Mai asked, bemused.

"Last night, I discussed the option of using hypnotic suggestion with Lin. Then someone puts a mobile into John-kun's pocket that jeopardises the entire situation. Someone knew about our plan. Someone listened in on it."

Mai paled. "Do you think…someone could have bugged the place?"

"It's a definite possibility." Kazuya confirmed. "Until we find out exactly how our conversation was overheard, I don't want you going back there. Understood?"

There were no arguments. Everyone nodded solemnly.

"Good. Lin and I are going to examine the office to see if we can find any bugs or other devices. In the meantime, stay here until we get back."

"Stay here?" Ayako didn't sound impressed. "And do what?"

"Research. There are lots of old records here and a number of computers. See what you can find. In particular, look for anything about a person who identified themselves as 'a colleague' or anyone else with definite aliases who were people of interest to the police and government. Also, look for anything about this Mattaku person, any other complaints or accounts where patients were removed forcefully from a ward with no authorisation, and any incidents involving car accidents caused by failed brakes." Without another word, he and Lin swiftly left the library.

"Research?" Mai pouted. "Ugh. This is going to be a long wait."

Yasuhara, on the other hand, did not look phased. Instead, he clapped his hands together and said,

"Right. We should split up. Half of us take the computers, the other half look through the archives."

Mai smirked. "Who made you leader?"

"What can I say, research is my main forte." That made sense – Yasuhara did a lot of information collecting and inquiries.

"Why bother going through the archives at all, if we have computers?" Ayako pointed out.

"There's a lot of information in the archives that haven't been documented electronically, or are even blocked." Yasuhara explained. "And we don't want to miss anything."

Eventually, we split into two groups – Ayako, Masako and Yasuhara started on the computers, while Mai, Takigawa and I began our search in the archives.

"Wow…" Takigawa let his gaze roam across the huge bookshelves. "This is going to be a long search."

"Yeah…" Where would we start? There was so much to look through.

"Come on, then." Despite her cheery tone, Mai looked like she was dreading the search. "Let's get started."

After an hour, Kazuya and Lin had yet to return. Still, there was no luck with the research. The three of us were sitting at a table in the corner, walls by the side. A variety of different files from different sections of the archives were spread out in front of us. We had found no record of anyone called Mattaku, and though there had been a few accidents with failed brakes on cars, the information was often too lacking, with the owners of cars remaining unnamed in the records and articles. Any records on incidents in psychiatric wards were almost nonexistence. Takigawa leant on the wall, looking as if he might fall asleep, but each time this happened, Mai poked him until he snapped awake again. She was tired too, though.

Mai yawned loudly. "Is Naru-kun still not back yet?"

"Nope." Takigawa looked over to the others. Yasuhara was still typing fervently, Masako more uncertainly, while Ayako was leaning over Masako's shoulder. I could hear them speaking.

"How often do you use a computer?" Ayako was asking.

"I have no need to." Masako replied simply.

"You're such a slow typer." Ayako remarked snidely.

"At least I am typing and doing work. Unlike you." Masako retorted. Scowling, Ayako turned back to her computer and continued her research begrudgingly, while muttering complaints under her breath.

Takigawa stood up and stretched. "Hey, I'm gonna go see how the others are doing. Maybe Yasuhara will have found something, he looks quite busy." He walked over, stifling a yawn. The mild heat and hushed atmosphere was very soporific, and I could see that everyone was feeling the effects of it. I definitely was, for one.

Today is the 6th February. It is morning, and I am just about to head out to work at the hospital. Kazuki has stayed over for the entire night. Now, he is sitting upright on the sofa, stretching and trying to rid his back and shoulder of cramps;

"How did you sleep?" I ask, sitting down next to him.

"Uh…well, I've slept better." He admits. "You got any coffee?"

"Just for you." I take a pot of ground coffee from a cupboard and spoon some into a plunger.

"So, you heading to the hospital this morning?" Kazuki asked.

"Yeah, I have to cover for someone. I don't normally have to leave this early."

"Do you have to leave now?"

"No, my bus doesn't arrive for another hour; I just like to take my time…"

"Stay for a bit longer, then. Please? There's no point in being that early."

"Ok." He's right, I might as well stay a little longer.

We eat breakfast together. Kazuki swirls the cereal around in his bowl absent-mindedly. He looks over at me. "you haven't got much there." He comments.

I just shrug. "I don't eat much for breakfast. By the way, Kazuki," I quickly change the subject, "what do you do as a job? I don't think you've ever told me."

"Me? I'm a doctor at a hospital. Right now, I'm having a vacation. A very long vacation. I, uh…needed some time off." He looks uncomfortable.

I frown. "You're a doctor?"

"Yeah."

"You know, the first time you met me, you pointed out the whole I-shouldn't-be-working-as-a-nurse-because-I'm-a-fo reigner thing, but you're a doctor."

"I know. But because I'm half-Japanese, I can get away with it."

"Where do you work? Which hospital?"

"You probably haven't heard of it." He changes the subject swiftly. "Really, you're not eating much there. You should eat more. Breakfast is an important meal."

"It's fine." I say dismissively, but he persists.

"How much do you weigh?"

"Um…I don't know. I don't weigh myself."

"I bet you'll be really light, you know. You should eat more." He repeats.

Time ticks by as we talk. It's pleasant being able to sit down and talk to someone over a meal. It feels like a while since I've done it. However, the time goes too quickly, and soon it is time for me to leave in order to catch my bus. Kazuki decides to stay around a little longer, and I don't mind him staying in my apartment. I head for the door, but as I reach it the phone begins to ring. Quickly, I pick it up, wondering who it could be.

"Hello?"

"Father Brown!" The voice is urgent.

"Watanabe-san? What's wrong?"

"It's Sayomi, I think she's in danger!" I freeze.

"What? What happened?"

"Look, I was at the library, and I found a case just like mine."

"What do you mean?"

"2 years ago, a patient at a psychiatric ward reported seeing another patient being removed, unauthorised, just like what Sayomi saw. And this patient was taken away too, and no one ever heard from him again. I think Sayomi is in danger! And there's more." Itsuke continues gravely. "A journalist mentioned this incident in a newspaper article. Not long after, he died in a supposed accident."

This is sounding more and more ominous. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm leaving the library, I'm in my car."

"Ok, do you know the name of this psychiatric ward? Or the name of the person who runs it?"

"Yes, I do, it's…what…" He sounds panicked. "What the heck?!"

"Watanabe-san, what is it?"

"My brakes…I can't….They're not working…"

I feel the blood drain from my face.

"It's not working!" He yells. There is the screech of a swerving car. Then the scream of metal wrenching. Then silence.

"Itsuke!" I shout. "Itsuke, can you hear me?!"

No answer.

As soon as I reach the hospital, I see an ambulance driving in. A group of paramedics outside are waiting. The doors open, and someone is wheeled out from inside the ambulance on a stretcher. I run over.

"Nurse Brown, what is it?" One of the paramedics asks.

I see the person's face. It is Itsuke.

"Itsuke!" I walk by the stretcher as it is wheeled into the hospital. "Itsuke! Can you hear me?"

The medic looks irked. "Nurse Brown, I'm going to have to ask –"

Suddenly, Itsuke coughs and heaves. His eyes shoot open.

"Father…Brown…" He wheezes heavily, grabbing hold of my hand.

"Itsuke, you're going to be fine –" I begin.

"The library…look for…Friedrich…Howe…two years ago…at…" He splutters, "…Kyoto hospital…"

"I will." I try to reassure him. "Don't worry."

He grips tighter. "Save…my granddaughter…please…save Sayomi…"

"I will, but you're going to be fine –"

"Promise."

"I promise."

Then a medic holds me back. Itsuke clings onto my hand until he is pulled away. They push him behind two swinging doors.

The operation takes a long while. I wait outside the surgery. I haven't signed in yet, but I don't care. After two hours, a doctor walks out from behind the door.

"Well?" I ask. He shakes his head grimly.

"I'm sorry. He passed away during surgery."

I woke up suddenly. Takigawa was back in his seat.

"You know, you're going to feel sick if you carry on sleeping during the day. Both of you."

I realised that Mai had fallen asleep on my shoulder, as I had been leaning against the wall. My movements made her wake up.

"Huh…?" She rubbed her eyes. "Wha….?"

"I ought to poke you until you wake up, you know. Right, no slacking off this time –" Takigawa began, but I was already bolting out of my seat.

"Hey, John-kun! Where are you going?" Takigawa called after me.

I beckoned him over. "I need to find an article from 2 years ago, by a journalist called Friedrich Howe."

"Friedrich Howe?" Mai trotted over. "That's German, right?"

"It sounds it, but I'm not sure. Right before he died, Itsuke-san told me to research him. He said that we could find a report in the archives here."

At once, we began to pour over a number of different records and files. It was an anxious search, as one thought replayed over in my mind – what if the colleague had beaten us again, and destroyed the records?

"Did Watanabe-san tell you anything else?" Takigawa asked.

"He was on the phone to me, and he said that Howe reported an incident similar to Sayomi-san's, where a patient was removed forcefully with no authorisation. It was witnessed by another patient, who was 'transferred' like Sayomi-san, then never heard from again."

"Never heard from again?" Mai echoed my words.

"The same thing could have happened to Sayomi-san. We need to find the name of the psychiatric ward she was transferred to."

Just then, Yasuhara, Ayako and Masako idled up to us.

"You look like you're onto something." Ayako remarked.

"Yeah, we're looking for a man called Friedrich Howe. He was a journalist who died in an accident 2 years ago after reporting an incident similar to Sayomi-san's." I explained.

"Friedrich Howe?" A voice behind us made us all jump. Kazuya and Lin had returned.

"Naru-kun!" Mai sounded happy. "You're back!"

"I was aware." The comment was quite cold and uncalled for, but it only irritate Mai rather than upset her. Before she could launch into an argument, Takigawa quickly asked,

"So? Did you manage to find out how your conversation was overheard?"

"Yes. That duffle bag you brought back from that abandoned house?" Kazuya's tone was heavy with anger. "You missed something when you searched it. There was a bug inside, that's how our conversation was overheard. I expected you to be more careful."

Takigawa could not put in a word of protest as Kazuya continued. "Because of your carelessness, John was put through a very traumatic memory that was completely unneeded." Everyone in the library was staring at us now. I shrunk under their gaze. "What would have happened if we hadn't found the mobile? Or what if we hadn't managed to wake John up so easily? What if we hadn't managed to wake him up at all?"

"You were the one who said the hypnotic suggestion would be completely safe!" Takigawa shouted back.

"Yes, because I didn't think you would have allowed anyone to interfere with the suggestion."

"What, you're saying this is all my fault?!"

"You failed to search that bag correctly –"

"Excuse me." The librarian had stridden over, scowling. "If you're going to continue making this level of noise, I will have to ask you to leave. You're disrupting the peace and disturbing other readers."

She gave them both a long, hard stare that dared them to argue back. Neither of them said a word.

"…Good." With that, she walked away. The library was reduced to quiet whispers between those present. Kazuya and Takigawa glared at each other.

"Umm…" Yasuhara raised a file in his hand, breaking the angry and awkward silence. "I think I found the file we were looking for."

We gathered around while Kazuya flicked through the stiff, almost pristine pages. After a mere glance at the writing, he turned to us. "I'm afraid it's in German, so I can't read it."

"I can read it." German was among one of the languages I had studied at school, and being a western language, was fairly easy to read in comparison to Kanji or the other Japanese alphabets. Kazuya passed me the file, and I scanned through it.

"Let's see…in Kyoto Psychiatric Ward, a patient called Dimirti Chekskov reported seeing another patient…Andrew Williams…being removed forcefully from the premises without the presence of a doctor or other authority. This eyewitness account was ignored because Chekskov was diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia…Howe goes on to point out that Chekskov was actually responding well to treatment, with the medicine lessening the effects of schizophrenia. In fact, he had not acted on his schizophrenia in a while and the doctors were even considering on letting him out of the ward, provided he continued taking his medicine. However…it looks like a month later, Chekskov was transferred to a different ward in a rural area outside Tokyo somewhere, and wasn't heard from again. There was no real explanation for this, but even so the local police and health care system never questioned it."

"Where is this ward that Chekskov was transferred to?" Kazuya asked.

"I don't know…all it says is 'a secluded, rural area outside Tokyo'…but it does say…"

When I read the single word, I froze. It seemed to stand clearer than the other words, against the page.

"What is it?" Takigawa asked.

"…Remember when I was found at the river, and I kept on saying the word 'Mattaku'?"

"Yeah, and the spirits in the house said the same, but we couldn't figure out exactly who Mattaku is?"

"We were wrong. Not who. What."

Takigawa frowned. "What do you mean?"

"'Mattaku' is the name of the psychiatric ward that Chekskov was transferred to."

The library remained silent.