IX
Naoto knocked twice before hearing a familiar grunt. It was how Sasaki Are had always greeted guests if they interrupted her while reading. It wasn't that she was irked by the intrusion, she was usually just so absorbed by a text she briefly forgot how to speak. Naoto let herself into Are's office. The office was as messy as ever, Naoto noted. The desk in the middle of the space was littered with stacks of papers, books and other documents. Are herself was sitting on a table to the left side of the room that held her printer and a water kettle. Naoto walked over to her and set one of two cups of coffee she had bought at the nearby coffee shop next to the professor. Are's focused look quickly turned into a smile when she finally looked up from the journal she had been reading.
"Hey Naoto." She greeted cheerfully, picking up a pen to make a quick note at the bottom of the article.
"Hey Are."
"Well well, isn't this a déjà-vu." Are teased as she noticed the coffee Naoto had brought her. Are was even more of a workaholic than Naoto. When they were still dating the detective had made a habit of it to come by often to ensure that Are was eating and drinking enough. She'd briefly worried the gesture would seem rude now.
"Thanks a lot, Naoto. What's up? You were being very cryptic on the phone." The professor took a sip from the cup as Naoto came over to lean against the table.
"I was wondering if you could take a look at a case I'm working on."
"Sure thing. Let's see it." Are answered, already taking the casefile out of Naoto's hands. She briefly looked at each page before turning back to Naoto.
"This is about those actresses, right? From the Fury films?"
"Yes."
"So, are you… doing this for… her?"
"Yes," Naoto answered, "Is that a problem?"
"No. No, of course not. I'm just surprised. So you saw her then? You guys spoke?"
"Yes, we did."
"How was it?"
"Easier than I'd expected."
"That's good then." Are said, taking another sip of her coffee. Naoto wasn't sure how to interpret Are's tone. She'd never quit been able to. The professor had started looking over the report again, stopping at the two pictures clipped to the first page: the name on the laptop, and the name written in blood.
"Do you think there's some link between these names? Or a meaning I'm not seeing?" Naoto asked after Are had been staring at the names quietly.
"Well, sure. But… I'd think the most logical link is to the movies." Are put the folder down again.
"The movies?" Naoto pressed her to continue. Are let out a laugh.
"Yeah, the Fury-films? Seriously, detective, two actresses from the same franchise end up dead and you don't even start your investigation by watching them?"
"I guess I've been avoiding it," Naoto said feeling a blush of embarrassment coming on, "So you saw them?"
"Yeah, I was kinda forced to. They're Kikyo's favorites," Kikyo was Are's new girlfriend, she taught physics at the university, "Anyway, there's a bunch of links to mythology in them. Like how the Furies were chosen by the gods to defeat these mob bosses because they were acting like they were the gods now?"
Naoto's look of utter confusion caused Are to continue with her summary of the series.
"Okay, so, none of the characters really know each other at the start. Then all three of 'em get into some sort of accident or tragedy that kills them, and they each meet with a kami, and then they are reborn with that kami's 'gift'."
"And that would be these kami?" Naoto pointed at the pictures.
"Well, yes. I feel like someone would have already told you all this?"
"Guess they all assumed I'd already know."
Are nodded.
"So, Seki was linked to the God of wind. And Ide was linked to the God of blood." Naoto tried to piece together the films' plot.
"Well, sorta. Ide played the main character so her powers were a bit more epic than the others'. So, you remember the story of Ide's kami, Kagutsuchi, right?" Naoto's face told Are that she didn't. She sighed. "When Kagu-tsuchi was born, he burned his mother – this is the really short version of the story – and his father was so enraged that he cut Kagu into eight pieces. Those pieces then became eight new kami. It's a pretty interesting story, but the movie sort of boiled it down to 'she has eight lives now'."
"What was Rise's power?" Naoto was curious.
"Ah. Rise got the power from Omoikane."
"The God of wisdom?"
"Because having a woman be good at hacking computers without divine intervention would have been unbelievable, right?" Are laughed at her own joke, "But yeah, 'wisdom of a 1000 minds.'"
"What?"
"They all had a tagline like that. It would show up over a freeze-frame of their first close-ups in each film. Like in those 70's action movies. Let's see. Seki's was 'speed of a 1000 winds'. Ide's was 'risen from a 1000 deaths'. And Oba's was 'force of a 1000 waves'."
"Oba Kenji is a fury, too?"
"Yeah, in the first movie he was a henchman for the bad guys. But then, when he turns to the furies' side after falling for Seki's character he gets killed and then reborn as a fury in the second film." Naoto had to admit, the plot sounded slightly more clever than she had thought.
"I'm not sure if that helps you at all," Are added after her tangent, "You came here for info on kami and I just ended up diving into pop-culture."
"No, it was a great help. Thank you, Are." Naoto had a lot to think about. As she left, she saw the professor pick up the journal once more.
Back at her office, Naoto was laying out all pieces of evidence in front of her. Her conversation with Are had left her with a nagging thought. Seki had been playing a character closely linked to Fujin for four years. She must have known plenty about the god by now. So why did she do an internet search for him? It seemed now that the name had been left there on the screen for someone else to find it. To see the link between her death and her supposed 'transformation'. Ide's bloody message had been composed with a strikingly similar message as Seki's suicide note, only much shorter. It seemed like a summary of the former. Presumably because she was writing in a more precious type of ink. But Ide's message had had the name of her god, Kagutsuchi, written at the end of it. Why hadn't Seki's longer message contained a mention of Fujin as well?
Naoto knew what the most logical explanation was: Seki had never entered the name on her laptop. Someone else had left it there in a way that would leave no fingerprints or in handwriting that didn't match Seki's. If that was the case, then Naoto's own theory would gain more plausibility. Someone had forced them to write a suicide note and possibly even forced them to kill themselves. Or they had staged their deaths to look that way. The theory had gotten even more credence when, on her way back from Are's office, she had stopped by the forensic department. A specialist there confirmed her suspicion. It was very likely that the name 'Kagutsuchi' had been written by someone else trying to fake Ide's handwriting. Naoto had asked them to check that word on the wall for new fingerprints.
Matsuura, apparently having heard of her earlier visit to the station, entered her office.
"Shirogane, I see you're keeping yourself well occupied." He said as he saw the detective sitting cross-legged between the mess of papers on the floor. She jumped up to greet him with a handshake before she went over her new details with him.
"Foul play then, my guys are starting to come to the same conclusion. Let's go over our main suspects, shall we?" Naoto nodded. She'd just finished a list of suspects herself.
"Okay, so it's either someone they know, or one of the hundreds of fans. We have people going over the weirdest letters both victims received but… ."
"It would be unlikely that a random fan could get access to both homes."
"Exactly."
"So we should focus our investigation to people who were closest to them." Naoto summarized what she had already decided for herself.
"Yes, may I?" Matsuura had walked over to the small whiteboard in the corner of her office. She nodded and he said each name out loud slowly as he wrote his list of suspects down. It was the same as hers.
"So first, there's Toda Noboru, the manager. He had plenty of access to Seki. Wouldn't have taken him much effort to get access to Ide as well. Plus, we know that he has had plenty of interactions with both of them." Toda was pretty high on Naoto's own list, but not as high as the next two names Matsuura wrote down.
"Second, there's Hide, the director," he wrote out his full name, Shoda Hidemechi, "He's definitely close to both actresses. Would have plenty of access to either."
"And he already has a criminal history." Naoto was quick to remind him. It had been nationwide news only a year earlier. He had taken advantage of a young intern working on the set of Furies, Apocalypse. The girl, only nineteen at the time, had come forward with her accusation in the hope that more women would join the claim. None of them ever did. Hide maintained that everything had been consensual, that she was just doing it for the attention. The courts had agreed. It had infuriated Naoto at the time. She had been close to starting her own investigation into the claim. An overload of work had stopped her, along with his connection to Rise.
"I know he's a bit of a creep. But we pretty much ruled him out," Matsuura said, "he has an airtight alibi. He was abroad at the time of Seki's death."
"Maybe he had an accomplice. Someone to commit the first murder, leaving him clear to continue."
"It's…," Matsuura scratched his chin in thought. Eyes lighting up happily as someone offered him a perspective none of his own detectives had. "It's a possibility for sure, but I wouldn't bet my money on it." Naoto could only agree with him. 'If you hear hoof steps, think horse, not zebra' her own grandfather used to say when she leapt to the most exciting theories during an investigation.
"So, Toda or Oba Kenji, then." Naoto continued for him. He wrote Kenji's name down.
"Oba's a definite possibility. He knows the victims well enough, though I heard he and Ide had it out for each other. Well-recorded screaming matches and such. Still, if anything, that might give him motive."
"And he has plenty of connections to the drug world, he would have had no trouble getting ahold of those narcotics."
"He did?" This was new information to Matsuura. "How do you know that?"
"My informer told me."
"Ah, yes, of course. So you spoke to dung beetle?" Matsuura started to laugh quietly.
"It's Spider." Naoto corrected. Matsuura laughed louder at her response. After quieting down he finally continued.
"So. Toda or Oba as our main leads for now, then."
"It would appear that way, yes."
"I'll have my men look into both. We'll bring them in for questioning tomorrow." Naoto nodded as she started gathering up her papers. The fact that the police shared her current theories was comforting. She might as well take the night off from the case and wait for the results of the interrogation.
"You know, Shirogane…," Naoto turned, surprised to see Matsuura still staring at the whiteboard in thought, "There's still a name missing on here."
"Pardon?" She asked, though she already suspected which name he was going to add. He didn't say it out loud this time, but added the name in the same block letters as the others: Kujikawa Rise.
"I know you believe she's innocent," Naoto did, "I doubt she would be behind this as well but it's… It's a possibility.. And it's a possibility you shouldn't let yourself be blind to."
Naoto felt just a hint of anger at his words. Of course, she reminded herself, he didn't know just how much Rise had fought in the past to prevent situations like these. To solve similar crimes. As soon as Matsuura left her office, she erased Rise's name from the list.
X
Sitting in her car, Naoto held her cellphone in front of her face in thought. She'd been staring at Rise's name for what seemed like half an hour. Should she tell the actress about her theory now, or after the interrogations? Now.
It took quite a while before Rise answered. Naoto could hear music in the background, and talking, and laughing.
"Naoto-kun?" Rise asked, she sounded as if she had just been giggling.
"Rise, is everything alright?"
"Yes. Don't be mad, okay?" The background noises became softer. Naoto could hear a door close.
"Is there something I should be mad about?"
"I, uh, I snuck out." Rise admitted. Naoto jolted upright in her seat.
"You WHAT?" She shouted.
"Sorry. I was going stir-crazy in there. And this friend of mine was giving a really big party tonight that I promised I'd be at. And the guy outside my door, officer, uhm, Soga. Anyway, he said it was okay as long as he could come with me. He's a huge Risette-fan apparently, so I'm sure he'll keep me safe. Don't worry, okay?"
"Rise. Where are you?"
"I don't know, in a laundry room or something."
"No, Rise, I meant… Whose house are you at right now?"
"Oh! Haha. I'm at Kenji's. Really though, don't be mad okay?" Naoto hung up before Rise had finished her last sentence, car already speeding towards Oba Kenji's house.
The party appeared to still be in full swing when Naoto drove up to Oba's home fifteen minutes later. She checked her gun and hid it in the holster underneath her jacket. She knew she should have called this in. Matsuura wouldn't approve of her plan. First, get Rise out. Then, talk to Oba. Rise was far too close to one of the main suspects right now for Naoto's liking. She walked up to the house with a determination she had perfected over the years. The bouncer at the door didn't even stop her to ask for her name. Inside, Naoto quickly took in her surroundings. It seemed like a pretty standard party for people in the movie business. Attractive people dancing and drinking. People she recognized from magazine covers sniffing cocaine. Everyone stopping every once in a while to stop and pose for a photo. For a moment, Naoto was glad she was not a cop. She had no obligation to arrest every single partygoer, just reporting it later would suffice. Instead, she moved through the crowd looking for a familiar face. Not inside. Upstairs? Maybe. Check outside first. She was urging herself to be methodical and fast. As long as she didn't see Rise, or Oba, any number of the horrifying scenarios in her head might be true.
She didn't have to worry long, fortunately. She found Rise in the garden, next to the pool. She was sitting on a beach chair along with a few other actresses and models. They were all circled around a heavily blushing officer Naoto recognized from the police station.
"Doesn't he just look the cutest in his little uniform." Rise was giggling as the other girls agreed loudly.
"His cap really brings out his eyes." One said.
"Officer Blue, can you be my bodyguard next?" Another cooed as she settled herself against him, offering him a sip from her drink.
"Please, ma'am, I'm still on duty." Officer Soga was stammering. Poor guy, Naoto was laughing to herself. She had forgotten how much fun it used to be to see Rise at parties like these. Unless the teasing was suddenly directed towards Naoto herself, of course.
"Naoto?" Rise suddenly yelled. She jumped up and went over to the detective looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"So you are mad." She said looking at the ground.
"No, Rise. Of course not. But we've just found out that Oba might be… ," Naoto paused, looking around the garden, "do you know where he is?"
"Kenji? No, I haven't seen him in a while. I think he might be upstairs with his girlfriend. Why? What's going on?"
"We have reason to believe Oba may have been involved in Ms. Seki's and Ide's deaths."
"Kenji? I doubt that," Rise said, but her face had turned worried, "I know he looks like a pitbul, but he's a puppy. Just like Kanji-kun."
Naoto put a hand on Rise's arm, the gesture forcing her to finally look up into the detective's eyes.
"I know it might look that way. But people aren't always what they seem, Rise, you know th-" Naoto was interrupted by a loud commotion inside of the house. She instinctively gripped Rise's hand, pulling her behind herself so she could protect her. The screams from inside grew louder. Rise grabbed hold of the back of Naoto's jacket, leaning to look out from behind her back. Naoto felt Rise's whispered words in her ear more than she heard them.
"Oh my god."
Kenji Oba's burning form was walking down the stairs towards the living room slowly. The crowd around him yelling loudly, pushing each other out of the way to escape. Oba kept walking, seemingly unaware of the flames that had charred his skin. For just a second, his eyes met Rise's. Naoto could feel her tense behind her. Then, Oba started to scream