Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

"Have no fear of robbers or murderers. They are external dangers, petty dangers. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murders. The great dangers are within us. Why worry about what threatens our heads or purses?

IX-Murderer

"Eureka." He muttered ecstatically. For the first time, Naru felt as if he had accomplished something so great that he needed to congratulate himself. Suddenly, footsteps in the corridor alarmed him. He immediately shoved his much treasured prize into his pocket and waited for the person to slam open the door. As he had imagined, seconds later Mai came in rushing, her face a little red from all the running. She was panting loudly and to calm herself down, she opted to take in a few deep breaths. He felt the need to ask, however he restrained himself from speaking first.

"Naru, Sakurai-san said he wants to meet you." She panted and then calmed down.

"Is that so?" He said uncomfortably. He suddenly felt the urge to delay their meeting but he sighed and tightened the grip on his pocket. Mai noticed his agitation and smiled.

"Seiko-san, Ken-san and Ryuu-san are also going to be there." She smiled understandingly.

"Hn." He mumbled. His reluctantly pushed forward his right foot and then began walking at a slow pace. Drowned in deep thoughts, he did not hear much of Mai but one word that his ears heard correctly excited him unfathomably. "Did you say 'will?'"

"Mm-hm." She confirmed. "Nakazawa-san's will."

"Quite a young man, yet he had been knowledgeable enough to prepare a will?" He mused.

"Well, Seiko-san was surprised too, but she talked to her solicitor, confirmed it, and then asked Sakurai-san to look into the details." Mai answered thoughtfully.

"Ah," he whispered and the continued ruefully, "so, Sakurai-san was the one who looked into this?"

"Yeah." She replied immediately.

The rest few seconds were observed in silence as Naru and Mai made it downstairs. He immediately turned to the lounge and asked Mai to fetch Lin to the lounge. She complied uncomplainingly and speedily turned herself in the direction of the base. Within a minute or so, Lin, Mai, Naru along with Seiko, Ryuu and Ken were present in the room. Ryoutaro was sitting on the couch, opposite to all of them. He cleared his throat and then took out a notebook of his and began reading.

"I'll just read out the important part." He began. "Okay?"

"Yes."

"I, do hereby give my wife, Nakazawa Seiko, all my estates and my good friend, Matsuda Ryuu, a total amount of two million yen." He continued. "Yamamoto Ken shall receive an amount of a million yen." A short moment of silence and then Ken gasped. He looked at Sakurai unconvinced.

"What?" Ryuu exclaimed. "Two million yen!"

"..." Seiko remained quiet and then there was a flicker in her eyes, which failed to go unnoticed by Naru. He crossed his arms and lost himself again in his deep thoughts. Mai felt a little uncomfortable. Naru had told them previously that Nakazawa-san was hard up for money, then where did all this money come from? She looked at Sakurai and noticed that his green eyes had gone completely cold. He looked around with scrutiny. What did he hope to notice, she wondered.

"God..." Ken muttered. There was a mixture of both happiness and unhappiness. The happiness part being evident to her, she couldn't probably think of a reason for his unhappiness. She huffed and rested herself against the wall.

"I see." Naru finally broke his thoughtful silence. "I see."

It was as if he had noticed something amidst all the money matters and gasps. The only one who hadn't shown a reaction was Seiko, as if she had expected her husband to make a will and leave all his property to her. Mai wondered if she had really known and was only pretending to not know.

"Uh, I guess I'll take my leave." Mai informed. Sakurai nodded at her. She then left the room quietly, leaving them all to ponder over the will in a complete, uncomfortable silence.

...

"He left two million yen to Matsuda-san!" Ayako hollered. She raised her eyebrows as a reflex and slapped her cheeks softly as if she was trying to bring her back down to earth. "Are you kidding me?"

"N.O." She spelled the words angrily. Mai wasn't in a mood to be patient with Ayako's gasps. She shook her head and the slapped her forehead. Ayako noticed the depressed aura around her and smiled. The girl was way too involved in this case. She had probably been pained by Keisuke's sudden death. She had probably sought something brotherly in him. Ayako shook her head sadly and instead concentrated her mind on a train of thoughts gradually entering her mind.

She was suddenly enthralled by this funny business. First, Keisuke dies, as if the cause of his death still being a controversy did not add fuel to the fire, now there was this will business. It was all getting out of hand. She shivered slightly before rubbing her arms comfortingly. This just gives more reasons for Keisuke to be murdered. Maybe, Naru was just right, maybe Ryoutaro was mistaken.

"Murder is surprisingly easy." Ayako muttered.

"What?" Mai asked uneasily.

"Yes, it is easy. Normally, you wouldn't expect a person to get murdered at some place and expect everyone to have a motive against that person."

"Wha-"

"It wouldn't be natural. If you murdered someone, it would seem so obvious..." She trailed off. "Yet this murder has been concealed so neatly."

"What do you mean?" Mai asked. "You mean that you believe Naru's - theory?"

"Yes." She answered slowly. "Perfect crimes do exist."

"Why?" Mai questioned, unconvinced. "But, Sakurai-san - he told us that Keisuke had committed suicide for sure."

"Yes, he had broken his neck." Ayako muttered thoughtfully. "Things can't be judged from the outside. An autopsy or at least an arsenic test..." Suddenly she covered her mouth in utter shock. She looked at Mai uneasily, her eyes wide as an ostrich egg. Her face went incredibly red.

"What happened?" Mai asked, placing her hand on Ayako's shoulder, she comforted her.

"Oh my God!" She hollered. "God, I've been so blind!"

"What-"

"I've been so blind, so blind." She repeated guiltily. "I'm a doctor, yet..."

"Ayako! Calm down." Mai exclaimed. She was surprised by her sudden hysterics. "I'll go call Naru or someone-"

"Naru! That's it! Naru!" She squealed, a little relieved of her guilt. She looked at Mai confidently before storming out of the room.

...

"So, is that your conclusion?" Ryoutaro asked. His eyes were gleaming with interest and queer feeling of satisfaction came into them. Naru and Ayako were standing right across him, a curious smile spread across Ayako's face.

"It's hard to swallow that you would believe us." She answered his questioning glances.

"Ah." He mumbled. "But what you said could have perfectly happened."

"Yes."

"But to prove this point, we will definitely need an autopsy." He continued. "And an inquest."

Naru and Ayako nodded approvingly.

"Is there anything else that you can give me as a proof?" He asked doubtfully. Naru exchanged glances with Ayako before he fished out something from his pocket and handed it over to Ryoutaro reluctantly.

"Ah!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"You will get what you want." Naru voiced smoothly. "In large amounts."

...

Mai sighed unhappily. Why was this happening to them? She would rather sit and be targeted by a ghost than being a part of a murder case. She suddenly regretted what she had thought. She felt the creepiness sink into her skin. She clutched a pillow in her hand. Mai sat there peacefully, on her bed when she suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Her uncomfortableness had been immediately reasoned when she heard silent taps on the ceiling. Her eyes immediately darted to the ceiling fearfully.

"Oh God..." The rest went unheard as the deafening rapping sounds ripped through the lodge.

Mai whimpered. Pushing out all the air in her lungs through her throat, Mai screamed. She reached the door handle but before she could reach it, the knob twisted on it's own and a perplexed Naru entered the room. His blue eyes widened for a fraction as he saw a perturbed Mai running towards him. He immediately received a grateful hug from her side.

He pulled her aside and concentrated on the loud thumping sounds. Each sound ripped through their ears. Mai fell to her knees and covered her ears with her hands. Bou-san came in dashing and looked at Naru doubtfully, but seeing that the narcissist wasn't in any mood to stop him, he went ahead with the mantra.

"Naumaku Samanda Bazaradan Kan!" He chanted loudly, repeating it a few times before Ayako and John arrived to contribute their part.

The ceiling shook violently. Mai felt the loud sounds hit her ears painfully. She wrapped her hands more tightly around her ears. She could feel it. She could feel the anger flowing through the whole lodge. She felt Keisuke and his resentment.

"No!" She cried. "Stop it!"

Naru did not want to deal with Mai's sudden sympathy with whatever that was causing the rapping sounds. A few more moments passed before the sound subsided completely. He narrowed his eyes. He wasn't stupid enough to not see that this was a spirit for sure this time. He cringed his nose, exhaled loudly and then looked around carefully. Mai and Ayako's room was in a complete mess. It was a spirit for sure - Keisuke's spirit for sure.

"Hey Naru, why didn't you stop us?" Bou-san asked, a mixture of surprise and sarcasm present in his voice.

"It was a spirit for sure this time." He continued. "Nakazawa-san's spirit."

"Then what was it the last time?" He asked.

"A poltergeist." He answered coolly. "Keisuke was under a lot of stress. We were talking about leaving the lodge declaring that there was nothing supernatural here and the immediate consequence was that he lost control over himself and his stress burst out in the form of rapping sounds."

"Just like Kuroda-san." Mai whispered with sudden remembrance.

"Yes, just like Kuroda-san." Naru nodded.

"Everything is messed up." Bou-san mumbled. Naru chuckled silently at his sudden realization. Several minutes later, Seiko came in rushing like a mad woman. She panted loudly as she looked at everyone for a rational explanation, to which Naru just slightly smiled.

"Seems like you got what you wanted." He informed, his voice chilling. "Ghosts."

...

"Is there any chance that Matsuda-san might have murdered Keisuke-san?" Ryoutaro asked in a cool voice. He sat in a businesslike manner and stared at Ken across the kotatsu. He looked around Ken's room, slightly bored by the dull color painted all over his wall. Sighing slowly, he finally eyed Ken. His face was red; red with anger.

"You believe those damned occult-maniacs!" He cried. "Ryuu and Keisuke were pals. Ryuu could never have murdered him."

"Then what about Nakazawa-san?"

The moment the question was put forward, his eyes burned angrily.

"Do you think such a graceful woman would do such a thing!" He practically screamed. Ryoutaro quirked his eyebrows as he defended the lady violently.

"Oh." He muttered. "Was there anything strange between them?"

"Them?"

"Nakazawa-san and Ryuu-san."

"Don't you understand! You-"

Ryoutaro didn't have the patience to deal with this man anymore. He got up as he cursed him and immediately left for the door. He gave a final glance at the angry man and sighed.

"Will you be able to stand before the judge and confirm the fact?" He asked.

"What!"

"We are having an inquest and after that a trial."

Before leaving, he cast a final glance at Ken's face. His face was relaxed yet somber. There was a pinch of guilt in his eyes that had flashed for a second or so but had disappeared soon enough. As he closed the door behind him, he saw the grave face of his turn into a face of remorse.

...

Ryuu remained silent the whole time. His eyes were on the ceiling as the rapping sounds continued to resonate in his ears, even after the original sound had ceased. He felt incredibly guilty. The door slammed open and for a moment his heart was in his throat, thumping loudly. When he noticed the pleasant face, he immediately felt embarrassed at his reaction.

"Come in, Ryoutaro-san." He said.

Ryoutaro complied and entered his small room. It was neatly set with the right amount of furniture which was only a bed and a table on the side of it with two chairs on either side. Taking a seat on the chair beside Ryuu, he smiled pleasantly. Ryuu returned the smile politely.

"Yes?" He asked. He immediately cleared his throat.

"Could it be that Keisuke-san was killed by Yamamoto-san?" He asked.

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"Just answer the question." He said.

"I can't say." He muttered.

"Do you believe that Keisuke-san could have been killed by Nakazawa-san?" He asked. The reaction almost startled him. He remained silent. There was no anger on his face, he did nothing to defend his beloved. Ryuu quirked his eyebrows and Ryoutaro began wondering if he even loved Seiko.

"I can't say." He answered thoughtfully.

"Well, how long have been in love with her?" He asked.

"What?" He asked, his eyes widening slowly. Ryoutaro cast a small appreciative smile in an attempt to coax him into answering.

"Do you love Nakazawa-san?" He asked, molding his question a little.

"Yes." He answered without any hesitance.

"That's all I needed."

"What for?"

"The court has ordered an inquest."

"What!" He cried. "So this is a murder case after all!"

"That will be soon decided at the inquest."

Ryoutaro nodded and left for the door. He looked at Ryuu over his shoulder. His glance was ephemeral but he got whatever he wanted. As he left, he once again glanced at the guilt-ridden face of Matsuda Ryuu. What was surprising was the flash of uncertainty and fear growing in his eyes.

...

"Come in." Seiko muttered as she saw Ryoutaro looking at her through the half-opened door.

"Thank you." He said pleasantly.

"What is it?" She asked and pointed at a chair in her room. She sat across him and stared.

"Nothing; just a few questions." He answered.

"Oh." She muttered.

"May I?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Is Matsuda-san capable of murdering Keisuke-san?" He asked. Seiko remained calm. She was struck by the sudden question and had displayed her shock for a moment but she collected herself immediately and stared at the police officer in front of her doubtfully. He smiled at her encouragingly.

"I can't say." She answered thoughtfully.

"Do you love him?"

"What?" Her eyes widened at the question.

"Do you love him?" He repeated calmly.

"Yes."

"Do you believe that he loves you?"

"I have loved him for a long time and I believe that he has come to love me now." She replied, but there was a hint of doubt present in her voice.

"You mean, he wasn't in love with you from the beginning."

"I suppose not." She replied calmly.

"You never tried to find out if he loved you?"

"No."

"Ah. Will you marry him now that your husband is dead?"

Seiko's jaw tightened. She immediately understood where this cunning man was going. She glared at him reproachfully and muttered a few incoherent words before sighing.

"I can't say."

"Because you doubt him of murder, don't you?" He asked. Seiko remained silent at his question and then nodded.

"Why do you ask?"

"The court has ordered a trial." He continued. "You always knew that he had been murdered. A woman's intuition as you might say. Why didn't you ever say so?"

"Because I feared that Ryuu might have murdered him!" She cried. Her eyes burned, hot tears were already rolling down the beautiful woman's face. She sobbed silently before parting her red lips. "Please leave." Ryoutaro complied and left the room as he heard the sobs of the woman diminish.

...

"All of them seem - clean." Ryoutaro muttered. "Each of them doubts the other. Everybody is a suspect - what is this, a mystery novel?" There was a moment when he felt that this was probably just a suicide case but now the SPR meddling in, his thoughts began to change. He immediately spun around when he felt the door to his office open. He looked at a familiar face and smiled.

"Seems like you found the office rather easily." He commented.

"A police station isn't hard to find." Naru muttered. "So, what do you think?" Ryoutaro asked him to sit but Naru declined the offer.

"Most probably a murder case, but we don't have enough proof." He continued. "Your prized possession did it's magic, but that isn't enough. We can definitely say that there is some foul play here, but we can't prove who is innocent and who is guilty."

"Did you check their alibis?" Naru asked. Ryoutaro nodded.

"First thing I did," he mused, "Nakazawa Seiko-san is clear, she has a solid alibi. Plus, you can testify for her and she can testify for you. Matsuda Ryuu-san and Yamamoto Ken-san are in a little trouble though."

"Why?"

"Because they were both out and none of them can prove their alibi." He muttered. "Most likely both of them are faking it."

"What about Nakazawa-san; she might have been equally included in this."

"Yes, chances are there, but it seems too much of a risk to take." He continued. "Usually, this would have seemed much like a suicide case. The old man, what was his name?"

"Akiyama?" Naru answered doubtfully.

"Yes! That's the name," he continued, "he testified that he definitely saw Keisuke-san going into the forest..."

"Yes, but someone might have called him."

"Mm-hm."

"Someone like Matsuda-san?"

"Most likely." Ryoutaro commented. "Yamamoto-san falls in the same category."

"Akiyama-san's witness and Matsuzaki-san's theory makes the murder seem very much possible."

"Yes."

"Matsuzaki-san wanted to see the body," Naru continued, "when can we see it?"

"Anytime?" He considered and then shook his head. "Shall we meet in a hour or so?"

"That will do."

...

An hour later, Ayako and Naru were already present at Ryoutaro's office. Ayako took a seat opposite him while Naru very much preferred to stand. Ryoutaro made a few calls frenziedly and then talked for a few minutes before slamming the phone down and picking it up to talk to someone else once more.

"We're set." He finally sighed.

"Alright!" Ayako smiled brightly.

After a few more moments of driving they finally reached Fujikawaguchiko hospital. Naru looked at the hospital reminiscently. Just a few days ago, Naru was here talking to a very much alive Keisuke. He shook his head unhappily and then followed Ryoutaro as he walked in.

"Mortuary?" He asked. The receptionist nodded with an amiable smile. Then she gave him some directions on authorization from her employer. Ryoutaro sighed as he looked around for the elevator. Naru clearly remembered the way to the elevator and pointed it to him. Several seconds later they were all present before a huge door. The grey's and white's of the hospital made Naru feel rather dull while they excited Ayako uncontrollably.

"Rather a neat hospital." She commented. "At least their morgue has some space left." Ryoutaro chuckled. He waited for the doctor to arrive to guide them. A few moments later, a bespectacled doctor entered the hallway and bowed. They did the same and then he took them inside the morgue.

"Another suicide case?" He asked.

"No, a murder case, probably." Ryoutaro smiled. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and then walked past a lot of compartments and finally stopped before one of them. Checking the number on it and then on the notepad that he had been carrying, he nodded to himself and then opened the refrigerated compartment. Ayako looked as the body came in her sight. She immediately noticed the bruise on his neck.

"What did you conclude?" Ayako asked.

"He died immediately when his neck broke." Ryoutaro muttered.

"Ah." She muttered. Then she studied the body carefully. Then she nodded and turned to face the doctor. "Did you perform the autopsy?"

"Um - no, not yet." He said.

"Can you do it immediately?" She asked. He looked at her and then shook his head.

"We need a police authorization and then only can we do anything."

"Well then, I hope you better get working." She chided. She then turned to look at Ryoutaro. "Can't you authorize?"

"No, it's my chief's job." He muttered.

"..." She stared at him.

"I'll get it done." He said.

"Good."

...

Naru sat down on his usual chair and mused. The train of thoughts that entered his mind confused him utterly. He will have to wait for the autopsy results before concluding anything. He rested his back on the chair and positioned his neck so that the blank ceiling will be the only thing that his eyes could see. He waited for the idea to strike him, his brain to start working, but for now he was utterly confused and blank. The base wasn't quiet at all. It was crowded and it didn't help him but he stared at the ceiling and thought. He thought restlessly.

"Naru?" Ayako said slowing creaking open the door to the base.

"Hm."

"The autopsy results are here." She muttered. A glint of satisfaction surged in her eyes. He looked at her and then the package that she was holding in her hands. He nodded and took the package from her hand. Noticing that it had already been torn, he assumed that she had already read it and the glint in her eyes was more than enough to prove it. He turned the pages rapidly and then finally his eyes rested on something.

He looked up at her and smiled. A rather satisfied smile. She returned the same.

"Now, we just need someone to confess." He muttered.

...

Mai felt uneasy once more. The whole day she had spent watching Naru and Ayako discussing something. She felt that she was being left out. When she confided her jealousy to Bou-san, he merely laughed and told her that she was extremely cute. This wasn't helping at all. John and Masako were busy chatting about exorcisms and Bou-san joined them at times. Lin was the only person who remained quiet, like her. He watched the monitors calmly and now and then he would throw understanding glances at her.

Ayako and Naru were discussing something about an autopsy and she wasn't interested at all. So she left the base selfishly and headed out for her room.

Once she was at her room, she once again felt the uneasy feeling. Maybe she ought to tell someone about this but she felt that it would pass away. A few seconds later, the feeling grew stronger and when she ran back to base she found that Masako had already alerted them about a presence in the house. She felt satisfied that they had been alerted and then slumped herself on the couch. She glanced at everyone ephemerally before diving into the deep sea of meaningless thoughts.

To their surprise, Masako stood up. Her Kimono sleeve to her mouth, she narrowed her eyes.

"There is something very strong here..." She muttered uncomfortably. And as the words left her lips, the rapping sounds begun once more.

Seiko was in her room, fast asleep when she heard the loud banging sounds once more. She woke up with a start and searched her surroundings madly. She ran towards the base and that was when she heard another cry. A cry resonating from Ken's room. She looked at the team as they rushed out of the base and rushed towards his room, ascending the staircase rapidly. She followed them unquestioningly and when they finally made it to his room, she covered her mouth in horror as she saw Ken sprawled on the floor, begging for forgiveness from something. Before any further harm could be inflicted on him, Masako intervened and performed a small prayer.

Her prayer was heard immediately and everything went silent.

"W-What was that?" She mustered her courage to utter a few words. Naru looked at her, dispassionately.

"A display of aggression."

"W-Why?"

"For some reason that will soon be brought to light." He muttered and then left the room. Ayako helped Ken to his feet and when everything was settled, they all left behind Naru.

...

"Do we need to perform an exorcism?" Bou-san asked doubtfully.

"We'll do that later. First, I need to ring up Sakurai." Naru muttered.

"And why would you want to do that?" Mai asked.

"Because things have cleared up for me." He said.

They all sat in the base. They had been having a long day. Naru was still immersed in his thoughts when he suddenly felt that what he was thinking was right. Aggression. Why now? Why him? He sat on his usual chair and thought until he felt that he had perfected his reason. He now only needed proof but still not being sure, he sighed.

"A face that launched a thousand ships." He muttered. "A woman who was born to trouble the hearts of men."

His sudden eloquence surprised everyone in the base, even Lin.

"What?" Bou-san asked.

"It's all clear." He muttered once again.

"What is?" Ayako inquired.

"This case; the murder, everything is clear." He mumbled. "I just need proof."

"Wha-"

"Alibis and motives are not going to help. We need to think, think in a psychological way."

"What the hell?" Mai asked, confused by his words.

"Don't you see?" He asked.

The base was engulfed in silence. Naru's question was damning. It was as if they had all been blind in seeing the truth and that only he had the brains to notice it. He smiled at them provocatively. He eyed them all, with a hint of superiority and then sighed as all he noticed was blank faces reddening with anger.

"Don't you see?" He repeated, shaking his head in disappointment.

'We don't. Why don't you tell us?" Mai asked angrily. He chuckled.

"This is all a plan, laid carefully for murder."

"We can see that." She scoffed. "Tell us something that we don't know." He smiled, something so drawing in his smile that they all moved their bodies closer in his direction, in anticipation.

"Murder is so simple." He acknowledged. "A perfect crime, only he made a small mistake in his calculation. He never expected us; rather he never expected my arrival."

"He?" Ayako asked, the blood pumping in her arteries. "Who is he?" Naru shook his head and looked at them with a confident look.

"Yamamoto Ken..."

A/N: Finally, a long chapter indeed. Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter would hopefully be the closure of this case. I would like your opinion on what you think about this opinion. Even a word or two could do! :D So, how do you like my revelation? Unpredictable or completely predictable? I hope it isn't the latter. The quote at the top struck me as magnificent. Out of the whole lot of 'murderer quotes,' this one was the best! So what do you think! God, the excitement I felt while writing this chapter! Please review! They make authors happy, don't you know? XD