Chapter 7: Keitai Denwa
21:21 PM (Japan Time), Sunday June the 14th…
"… The kitchen… Nobody move!"
"What! What is it? The police…?"
The group of six stormed the kitchen.
The cook looked there, bewildered.
He was a man on his 40s.
He had brown hair and beard.
His eyes were brown.
He wore a white cook's attire.
"A special agency… We're authorized to use guns for self-defense…"
"What's going on!?"
"The organizer of this event is a criminal who was trying to blackmail us into revealing confidential information…"
"By all the… How did I end up in a spy movie?"
"Have you seen the waiter?"
"He came for the spring rolls and bread but hasn't come for the rest of the dinner that I had ready… And he doesn't answer the phone, either!"
"Suspicious. I suspect that man is the culprit…"
"I didn't say it, but I feel like I've seen him before…" Talos admitted.
"One more reason to suspect that he was a spy…"
"This is madness!"
"I think you should wait outside in case that "butler" tries to start up some fuss by taking you hostage or such…"
"Devil!"
The cook ran off while the adults inspected the kitchen.
They found some trays with sushi served on them.
"The main dish was sushi…" Akashi commented.
"Our fellow was stingy about budget, I see…"
Talos drew plastic boxes from a litter tray.
"What? They're sushi from a Family Mart? Stingy, alright!"
"Should've suspected it from the spring rolls…"
"Amazed we dared to eat them, though… What if they were poisoned?"
"He wouldn't gain anything from that. It was in the calculations…"
"Scary…" Netto muttered.
The group ran out into the hall and Lezareno rummaged into his suit's inner pocket to take a small mike out.
He attached to the frame beneath one of the steps.
"OK. This way we'll know if he comes down the stairs!"
"Wise move!"
They continued their inspection, entering the living room.
It had a pool board in the center.
There were several small, wooden tables.
They had wooden chairs around them.
Each one had a set of chess and playing cards.
"Cologne…!" Akashi noticed.
"The butler had cologne on, too!" Saito recalled.
"He's been here… And very recently ago, too!"
Talos headed over to the fireplace and examined a dissected deer's head.
He looked at its eyes with a magnifying glass he brought out of a pocket.
"Hidden cameras! Wireless! Work of a pro!"
"If they're imitating that episode, there must be a control room! Our man could come here pretending to be an electrician and set this up. He might have had a different story in mind at first, but the recent happenings gave him powerful bait to lure us in…"
"But how do we find that control room? There could be tons of rooms that he could use!" Netto brought up.
"A discrete spot… Who knows? Maybe there's enough space in the ceiling somewhere to lodge a room which doesn't show up on official schematics of the place!"
"If not, we can plug the cameras… And then act like Holmes when he drew out the Norwood builder Mr. Oldacre! Set a little fire and shout "fire!" to the top of our voices…" Lezareno suggested.
"My. That would be fitting!"
"But what if he's…?"
"Listening? No, sir! I carry a mike detector inside of my coat and it hasn't beeped once since we got inside of the manor! I turned it off for dinner but now started it up again!"
"Let's go to the kitchen! We may find what we need there! The floor is built using ceramic tiles, so it can't burn! Let's overcook something and the let the smoke come out. It will be amusing!"
The group came back into the kitchen.
Lezareno kept his gun drawn and was controlling the entry.
Denpa grabbed a toaster and set a bread slice inside, turning it on to max.
"This burnt smell should be good enough… Let's place another slice, too. And let's invent roasted bread!" He grinned.
"Ferran Adrià will curse under his breath at not coming up with it sooner!"
The toaster and the bread heating up on the kitchen began to form smoke, which snuck out into the hall.
The slices of bread, being totally burnt, popped out of the toaster as well.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"FIRE~!"
"Once more, gentlemen!"
"FIRE~!"
"By all the…! I knew hiring such a lame cook was a bad idea! The jerk's left the fire on and can't turn it off! A man on his 40s and acts like a 5-year-old kid playing with fire! He gets burned!" The butler's voice cursed.
It rang out from Lezareno's phone along with the creak of wood.
"Guess he was closer than we expected! Better, then!"
The two groups hid behind the open doors.
Denpa stood in angle where he could shield the teens while the other two hid behind each door.
"Kamei! You're fired! Where are you!? What! Bread slices and a toaster?"
The butler had barged in while holding a fire extinguisher.
He stopped upon his tracks upon realizing the setup.
Lezareno quickly took two steps forward and cocked the gun right behind the man's skull.
Talos drew a survival knife and stood behind the butler.
"Now I recognize you! You were Agent Tora (Tiger)! A spy from that org that worked under my orders for a year and some months… You were recruited in February 2016, and we found out your ploy by the next year! It was around April 2017… Around the time that the WWW began to become active on its earnest…" He announced.
"Sheesh! I knew it! You have epileptic memory or something like that!"
"You exaggerate things, Comrade. I simply have decent memory…"
"I guess you ditched your employers by now!" Lezareno guessed.
"Hmpf! Of course! Was fed up with their behavior! Pay was meager, too!"
"Speaking of which. Where did you get the money for this setup?"
"Figure it out yourself, Holmes!"
"Wait. I know it! "Mysterious province bank robber returns 50% of the stolen money strikes again! Local province police baffled! Are we going to need the help of Tokyo?" … Nara Times, April 2019…" Denpa recalled.
"You fooled me like I was that vengeful old man from that Holmes story!"
"Now, Mr. Tora… What's your game?"
"I'm now "Keitai Denwa" (Cell phone)! How's that one for a change?"
"How literate of you, my good chap…" Lezareno chuckled.
"I see. Our documents, combined with yours… They would create a nice scandal and you could call the media to privately interview you in a secretive manner… A Deepthroat of the 21st century!"
"And he would ask for some money in compensation because he could claim he was "risking his post"…"
"It'd seem the Hans Erik Wenneström affair has been inspiring you together with the "Zalachenko Club Affair"… Stiegg Larson's books are catchy enough for you, I'd say!"
"Sheesh! Why, you…!" He snarled.
"What business do you have with the gentlemen?"
"Hmpf! I only included them to make it look like it was about them!"
"That being your idea of a smokescreen, I see…"
"Sheesh. And here I thought it was far more important…"
"So does that mean this guy isn't Ootsuka?" Saito guessed.
"Hmpf! Gool old DTV has been driving you mad, I can see that!"
"DTV? Digital Television next?" Akashi sighed, exasperated.
"You never know! The guy never told me what it stood for!"
"We did find some witnesses statements that you'd been seen with a man who always wore a "Okina" mask, years ago… Is that DTV?"
"Hmpf. The guy was having a fancy and decided to put on that mask to put fear into some thugs… But if you're hoping that I'll lead you to the guy, better give it up right away! Because I lost track of the guy shortly before my infiltration into the "Committee"… You may scan my memories, too, but you won't find anything there!" He challenged.
"At least we've got something to use as a lead…"
"Let's call the police. We're not going to let a serial bank robber loose?!"
"Come with me, gentlemen. We'll call for the backup agents. We should be driving back to the town, so…"
"Watch out!"
Keitai drew a knife from inside of his right sleeve's wrist area and used it to hit the gun Lezareno was holding, moving him towards the left.
He tried to deliver a fist to his jaw, but Lezreno ducked and used his left elbow to hit the adversary's stomach area.
Keitai ignored the blow and ducked to dodge a shot by Talos.
He dropped the knife and gripped Lezareno's right wrist to struggle for control of the gun.
He jerked Chief Lezareno towards the right and ran out while ducking.
He closed the right door behind, blocking out a shot by Denpa.
"By all the… We didn't teach him that!" Talos cursed.
"Maybe it's an attempt to imitate CQC?" Denpa guessed.
"Mr. Denpa! Please drive them to the car and call for the reinforcements! We should blockade the bridge!"
"Understood… Come, gentlemen!"
"R-roger!"
The group of four rushed outside.
"That's…!"
The saw a navy-blue Honda motorbike driving off with Keitai aboard it.
"Devil! Had an escape route ready!"
He tugged his face and tossed his latex mask away.
"His face had been false from the start, I see…"
He had messy black hair.
His eyes were brown.
He had traces of unshaved moustache and beard.
He put on the helmet and stopped at the bridge's entrance to make an obscene gesture at them and speed away.
"By all the…! He had this window ready!"
"Guess our "gentlemen" grabbed the first thug they found… And their attempts at brainwashing them aren't exactly efficient!"
They looked up to see Lezareno and Talos look out from a window which had a rope ladder attached to its frame.
"I see. Pretended to run upstairs but fled through there…"
"Keitai Denwa… And DTV… At least we gained a lead… And that of the "Okina" mask is also from Detective Conan movie, Crossroad of the Ancient Capital…" Akashi sighed.
"Let's hope he doesn't join DTV in trolling us to no end!"
"Doubt that he has the patience for that, fortunately enough!"
21:55 PM (Japan Time)…
"Hello! About time you answered, Mr. Furukawa! Listen! The whole thing went ashtray 'cause I went outta my tongue, had to improvise, and they then lured me out like I was the old man from the Holmes Norwood-something tale…!"
Keitai was talking with someone using a public telephone's cabin and was constantly looking around.
His bike was parked next to it.
"I fail to see why I should be blamed for it. The list of missing Net Navis is public information published in the ONBA Website… And I couldn't figure out who the instigators really are…"
"Hmpf. Whatever. I'll stay away and watch from afar…"
"Understood…"
"By the way… That Akashi kid… Doesn't he strike as looking very similar to those twins?"
"When you put it like that… Maybe it's a cousin…"
"Good point. Not like I care… DTV is the one who had fixation on kids because he liked to troll them, but I don't have time to deal with 'em…"
"Naturally. Nobody orders you to be a copy of him…"
"Anyway. I'll share this update with you… The "Death Club" is made of three Navis! Kurayami, Kanaya and Death Shadow! They're autonomous, and they don't need human accomplices…"
"No wonder. They must have a good bunch of firepower to be able to abduct so many Navis…"
"Say. Weren't Needle Man and Star Man working for that woman?"
"Ms. Minami? Yes. I'm surprised that the perpetrators were able to capture both subjects… They must've lured them out, somehow…"
"Sheesh. They sound creepy, alright…"
"Apart from your old acquaintance, DTV, do you have any idea of who this famed lady might be?"
"Hmmm… Now that you mention it. I remember a rumor that some gal was out for revenge on DTV… Thought it was some ex-girlfriend he duped for another gal… The jerk loved to boast about dating several gals together, which was smug on his part…"
"I see. It's a feasible tale, indeed…"
"As for DTV… He used to have red hair, blue eyes and chin beard…"
"I see. But he could've changed his appearance by now…"
"Do you have some business with the guy?"
"I was told by my superior, Mr. Izono, to locate him…"
"I see. You did tell me you were an exec of the "Secret Empire"…"
"Exactly. DTV used to be a competent field agent but for some reason he's neglecting reports… So, I must assess if he's struggling with the missions. Or if he's a spy who's sold us out…"
"Hmpf. Wouldn't surprise me. The jerk once tried to blackmail me, too…"
"That would be why you lost contact with him, too?"
"Of course. I did tell him that if he tried to rattle me out, I'd send those debt collectors chasing him after his trail… I know he gambled a lot in mahjong and had several debts…"
"Classical. That would explain why money vanished overnight from the accounts that we allocated for his missions…"
"Hmpf. DTV! What a fool you are. Stealing the money and running away! Doesn't make you much different from drug addicted dregs!"
"Maybe he's mingling amongst them to stay undetected, too…"
"That would make sense, true…"
"Anyway. I think that's enough chit-chat…"
"Agreed. I must resume my escape before they can coordinate the hunt!"
"Contact me when you gain more information… Use the usual method…"
"Roger that, Mr. Furukawa…"
"I added a bonus to compensate for the inconveniences caused…"
"Now you're talking about business, indeed!" He chuckled.
"I take it very seriously…"
"I can tell that. If I prove my competence, can you recommend me?"
"Delighted. We're always searching for competent folk. Those who can do a job efficiently and care for details… You're improving your skills, so if you keep it up it's only a matter of time before you become a pro at it!"
"That sounds like music to my ears!"
"I'm sure that those "Death Club" folk will keep them busy for days on end, use that chance to move to another city and ready a new face…"
"Sure. I've got a couple of safehouses ready, too…"
"Alright. You needn't tell me about those. Mutual benefit…"
"Of course. I don't ask where you are, and you don't ask my location…"
"Less risk of being sniffed out by some Holmes imitator…"
"Hmpf! Talos… Must be able to detect spies 5km away with his nose!"
"My. Sounds like a fearsome hawk, indeed…"
"Hawk? Sure, a hawk! One day I'll pluck off its feathers!"
"But of course. Feel free to deal with them as you see fit…"
"And if I find that DTV jerk, I'll make sure to transmit your message…"
"That'd be of great help. Good evening!"
Keitai replaced the receiver and grabbed the change coins.
"Hmpf. I'll roast you and turn you into roasted hawk! Talos!"