Hey guys, sorry for the wait! College apps and stuff. Here's a new chapter!

-Purple

I ran as fast as I could force my legs to run. Even though I had my umbrella to shield me from the rain, with the speed I was running at, I had rain splashing into my face and soaking me completely. I hardly noticed, though, thinking solely of the small girl whose life was in danger. Run, I kept thinking to myself, come on, run faster! It seemed like I couldn't get my damned legs to move fast enough.

I then heard my phone begin to ring and felt it vibrate in my pocket. Hurriedly, I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out my phone, answering it and holding it up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hello? Naoto-kun? It's Yosuke!" Yosuke's voice came in a rushed tone through the speaker.

"Yosuke-san!" I said, "I'm assuming you've seen the Midnight Channel!"

"What!?" said Yosuke-san, "The Midnight Channel!? No, I've been doing inventory at work! What did you see!?"

"It was Nanako-chan!" I cried.

"What!?" He was practically screaming. "You can't be serious… It can't be true! Are you sure!?"

"I'm positive," I said, "The picture was clear as day. Nanako-chan is in trouble!"

"It was clear!?" Yosuke said, "Damn it! That means she could already be in the TV! Oh, crap, this is so bad… I called to tell you that Yu got another one of those letters. But this time, his uncle saw it and brought him to the police station! He's been found out!"

"What…!?" This was very bad. How were we going to do anything without our leader? It was the worst possible time that this could have happened, as well!

"I'm on my way to the station right now! I already called Kanji too, and he's going to meet me there."

"I'm currently on my way to Nanako-chan's house to check on her," I said.

"Good," said Yosuke, "If she isn't there, meet us at the station. Call Chie, Rise and Yukiko, too! We'll explain the situation once we all meet up."

"I will!" I said before he hung up. Then, I quickly dialed Chie's number.

"Naoto!" Chie-san cried when she answered the phone. "Th-the Midnight Channel! Did you-?" She seemed too panicked to speak.

"Yes, I saw it!" I cried.

"Wasn't that Nanako-chan on the Midnight Channel just now!? How could it be her…!?"

"I know what you're thinking," I said, "But… Nanako-chan does fit the pattern. She wasn't seen… But she was heard."

"What!?"

"Do you remember the politician who visited a local school, and made the news several times?" I said. "In those interviews, he always quoted a particular student he spoke with. The child became well-known while remaining anonymous… That girl was Nanako-chan! A reporter who took interest in this released her photo and interview using her real name in today's evening paper.

But even before that… This is a small, rural town. Her identity must have been circulating for quite some time."

"Oh my God…" Chie seemed on the verge of tears.

"I should've realized it much sooner," I groaned in self-hate, "But I was hung up on the idea of people who were 'shown' on TV… It didn't occur to me that this would qualify…"

"Wh-what're we going to do?" Chie-san whimpered, "Nanako-chan's home alone right now, isn't she!?"

"I'm on my way there as we speak to check on her!" I said, "Yosuke-senpai is heading to the police station! He said he called Kanji-kun too. They'll explain the situation there."

"Alright," Chie-san said, "I'll join them right away! And I'll let Yukiko and Rise-chan know!"

"Yes, please do!"

She hung up just before I reached the Dojima household. Soaked with rain water, I approached the front of the house just as lightning struck over the horizon. Folding up my umbrella, I stared with my mouth agape as I saw the light from inside of the house shine through the front door, which was wide open.

"No," I uttered, hurrying through the front door and looking around the house. It seemed to be completely empty. "Nanako-chan!?" There was no answer. "Nanako-chan, if you're here, please answer! It's Naoto!"

There was no response. Frustrated, I punched the side of the doorway. "DAMN IT!" Then, my eyes fell upon the doorway, which was gaping wide open without so much as a scratch to show that there had been a struggle. That was right… I had assumed the kidnapping to be violent and for Nanako-chan to resist her captor, but I had neglected to remember how I myself had been captured. I thought back, remembering that I myself had answered the door. Perhaps this had been the case with Nanako-chan as well. Then, I remembered something she had told me.

"I always do what my dad tells me, like not opening the door for strangers."

It was then that my phone began to ring again. I answered it, hearing Yosuke's voice once again.

"Naoto, I'm at the police station now, on my way to the room Yu's in. Have you reached the Dojimas' place?"

"Yes," I said, curling my fingers into a fist. "I have…"

"Naoto, 's that you?" I heard Kanji-kun's frantic voice on the other end of the line. "Is Nanako there!?"

"No, she isn't," I said regretfully. "Most likely, she has already been kidnapped and put into the TV."

"Shit," Kanji-kun grunted. "We're too late again! And this time it's Nanako of all people!"

"The door has been left open and all the lights are on," I said, "But it seems that there's no sign of a struggle…"

"One second, Naoto," Yosuke-san said, "We're here."

"Hm...?" I heard a deep voice from the other end of the line. I recognized it immediately as Dojima-san's. "Hey, what are you guys doing here- Hey, what do you think you're doing!? I didn't say you could go in there!"

I heard a door open, and Yosuke-san cried, "Nanako-chan's missing!"

"Wha-!?" Dojima-san sounded like he was in shock. "What do you mean!?"

"Naoto's on the phone," Yosuke said, "Calling from Nanako-chan's… I mean, your house."

I heard a commotion as Dojima-san grabbed Yosuke's phone. "Shirogane!? You there? What the hell's going on!?"

My nose wrinkled with a certain anger toward him. How could he let this happen to his daughter!? "I'm at your house right now," I said, "The front door's open and there's no one inside. ...I'm afraid that Nanako-chan has been kidnapped by our serial killer."

He was silent, most definitely in shock. I remembered back to the times when he had defended me against the higher-ups who had scolded me for not wanting to let the case close. "Surely you must've known, Dojima-san!?" I snarled, "The case isn't over yet!"

After a brief moment of silence, the phone disconnected. I hung up and put my phone away before closing the front door to prevent any sort of burglary. Then, I opened my umbrella again and ran off once again through the rain toward the police station. I needed to meet the others.

Rise-san, Chie-san and Yukiko-san were already there when I arrived at the station. "Naoto!" Chie cried as she ran up to me, "Did you go to the house!?"

"Is Nanako alright!?" Rise-san said.

I shook my head. "She wasn't there when I arrived. It seems that Nanako-chan has been kidnapped."

"No," Yukiko whined, "Not Nanako-chan… Why in the world would anyone want to murder her!?"

Chie growled with tears in her eyes. "Whoever this bastard is, they've got it coming for them now!"

"We need to head inside," I said, "The others are already in there. So is Dojima-san."

"Alright," Rise-san nodded, "Let's hurry!"

We made our way through the entrance and down a hallway, and eventually saw one of the doors fly open. Dojima-san came storming out of the room toward us, but he barely noticed us.

"Dojima-san!" I said.

"Stay out of this, Shirogane! I'm going after my daughter!"

I watched him dash out of the police station and heard his car start up. It was unwise of him to race out like this when he didn't even know where to begin, but to oppose him would be useless at the moment. There was a more pressing situation to attend to, anyway. We all headed toward the room which Dojima-san had come out of, and at once, we burst into the room. There, we saw Yosuke-san, Yu-senpai, Kanji-kun, Teddie, and Adachi-san.

"So what's going on!?" Chie-san squealed.

Adachi-san looked overwhelmed. "Whoa, hey… If I let all you guys in here, I'm really in trouble! Besides, we don't even know if this thing's-"

"Quit your bitching!" Kanji-kun barked angrily, "Now ain't the time for that shit! The hell are we sitting here for when this guy's family's in danger!? You gonna own up if something happens!? Huh!?"

"Kanji-kun!" I snapped at him.

"I know how you feel," Adachi-san said, "But if you don't tell me what's going on, there's really nothing I can do…"

"Ah," I said, "So you agree to release him once we explain the situation? Very well, then."

"N-no," Adachi-san stuttered, "That's not what I meant…"

"In any case," I continued, attempting to calm everyone down, "If we run out blindly, we'll have no idea where to begin. Let's all take a moment to stop and sort out the situation. Perhaps this will help Adachi-san understand as well. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a kidnapping by the same culprit who was behind the others. Now. Consider that the front door at Nanako-chan's house was open. I examined it, and found no trace that entry had been forced…"

"You mean," Chie-san said, "Nanako-chan opened the door herself?"

I nodded. "Precisely. The culprit didn't sneak in. He came up boldly to the door and pressed the doorbell."

"Like how it was for all of us…" Yukiko thought.

"U-umm…" Adachi-san was lost. "For all of us…?"

"But the circumstances are different for her, as compared to us," I said, "Remember what Nanako-chan said when we were at the hot springs? 'I always do what my dad tells me, like not opening the door for strangers.'"

"So the killer…" Teddie said, "Is someone Nana-chan knows?"

I looked at Yu-san hopefully. "Senpai, do you have any insight to this possibility?"

"A friend of Dojima's?" Yu-san suggested.

"Nah," Adachi dismissed the idea. "Dojima-san pretty much keeps to himself at the station. The only one Nanako-chan might know would be me, his partner. His eyes widened and he stuttered "U-uh… I've been here this whole time, of course."

"Hmm…" Chie-san thought, "I don't think we can limit ourselves to people Nanako-chan knows…"

"I agree…" I thought deeply to myself. "Then let us change our perspective slightly. We know for certain that the culprit must be using a large-screen TV."

"Huh…?" Adachi was still lost. "A TV? What?"

" Each victim was taken at a different scene, yet was thrown into a TV almost immediately after being kidnapped… I would go as far as to say that it took place in front of their houses. Therefore, the culprit must be taking a TV with him as he goes."

"You think he's using a car?" Yosuke-san asked.

"Given the efficiency of the culprit's methods," I said, "I would assume a vehicle larger than a sedan. However… No unusual vehicles have been sighted. I'd expect someone to notice, since most of the victims vanished during the day…"

"So it's someone Nanako-chan knows, who has a car…" Chie thought, "But it's a car that can't be seen?"

"I think we can rule out the possibility that no one happened to see the vehicle…" said Yukiko-san,

"Especially since it's happened so many times now."

"A car no one would notice…?" Chie said, "Is there such a thing? What would it be…?"

A vehicle large enough to hold a large-screen TV… Yet also, it would not be easily noticed? What kind of vehicle could this be…?

Yu-san suddenly spoke out unexpectedly in a deep, confident voice. "A delivery truck."

A delivery truck…!? Yes! Why hadn't I pictured this before!? I stared at Yu-san in admiration.

"That's right… Now I remember…" Kanji-kun seemed to be struck with a bolt of revelation. "A delivery came! It was a delivery truck!"

Rise-san agreed, eyes wide with urgency. "No one looks twice at a delivery truck, no matter where it's parked…"

"And if it were a local company," I added, "It'd be the same deliveryman every time so he's not a 'stranger' to Nanako-chan. She must've received packages form him during the times she was home alone, meaning we wouldn't know his face…" My eyes widened. This scenario seemed to fit perfectly. I turned to Adachi. "Adachi-san! Is there anyone who fits this profile!?"

"A profile formed by a bunch of kids talking it over…?" he said uneasily. "Let's see… A delivery company, huh?" He was grinning nonchalantly as if this was a joke, walking over to a book of records that was laid out on the table in the center of the room. "I dunno, take it from a detective… I think this is gonna be… a lot more difficult than-" he looked down at the record book, but then suddenly frowned and displayed an urgent expression at something he read. "Hey…! Maybe you're not too far off base… Dojima-san put this stuff together to reinvestigate the first case-the murder of that announcer… And there's a deliveryman mentioned right here… I better go tell Dojima-san!" he was looking at me in astonishment, and then he dashed out of the door as he ripped his phone from his pocket.

I approached the booklet Adachi-san was reading from, going over each deduction carefully in my head and feeling sweat bead on my brow. The others crowded eagerly around me. Reading the words, I realized that I remembered this report, and I tried desperately to recall the details. They were on the tip of my tongue, and I was struggling to get them out. I frantically skimmed the report. "After resigning from his last job, he took up the family delivery business… Before that, he was… A council secretary!" My nose wrinkled and I looked at the others. "Taro Namatame!"

Everyone looked at me with shocked expressions. "The enka singer's husband!" Yosuke cried.

I continued reading. There was not much more about Namatame in this report, aside from his transfer to Inaba. "All we know about him is his occupation, but I'd say that's enough of a lead to tell us where to go next. The address is… It's not far from here!"

Adachi-san walked back into the room sporting a pained expression. He sighed. "I give him the clue, and he still finds an excuse to chew me out…"

"Is he gonna be okay…?" Chie-san said, "The killer's not just a normal guy."

Teddie looked very pained and deep in thought. "Nana-chan…"

Adachi's expression went serious, and he turned to face the door.

"Adachi-san!" Yosuke cried pleadingly to him.

"If there's been a break in the case," Adachi-san said, looking back at us over his shoulder, "I'd better hurry to the scene. I'll just have to hope nothing happens while I'm gone… I didn't see anything."

My eyebrows lowered and I looked at him with a soft expression. I knew that what he truly meant, despite his orders, was "You can all go if I'm not blamed." He took one last glance back at me, grinning before walking out of the room.

"Adachi-san…" I said softly. We greatly owed him for his support.

"Let's go to Namatame's place!" Yosuke-san said urgently. "Dojima-san's probably on his way now!" We all nodded in compliance before leaving the room and hurrying out of the station into the rain.