Chapter 7: Looking for Miho, part 2
Initially the girls were startled, but calmed down when they noticed that the animal that came out of the bushes was a simple fox, which remained staring at them with a curious look.
False alarm…
Kay thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
Helmet-chan on her side showed off a bright smile.
"How pretty!" She commented, fascinated.
"Why doesn't run away?" Alisa wondered.
Naomi answered her:
"I think she is used to contact with humans… This forest is frequented by tourists and hikers, both Japanese and gaijin."
Helmet knelt in front of the animal and stroked its head. The fox made a noise, but didn't step back. He (or she) seemed to really appreciate that gesture.
"Be careful, Hel… That fox might bite you, and maybe she's rabid." The blonde captain warned her.
She shook her head.
"Don't worry, commander… she IS sociable!"
Instead of looking for Miho they think of playing with a fox...
Meanwhile, Yukari thought, irritated by that behavior.
"Sorry, but wouldn't it be better to resume the search? In case you forgot, there is a friend of mine who intends to commit suicide, if she hasn't already done so! " She reminded to the Saunders girls.
Kay nodded.
"Right… We're not here on vacation. Helmet, stand up." She ordered.
Helmet-chan obeyed, standing upright again. After a while the patrol resumed its journey, while the fox remained there watching the girls as they walked away.
On the edge of the forest the police forces had set up a base camp, made up of a series of tents. One of these, larger than the others, housed the command tent. Inside there were, in addition to some policemen busy communicating with the search teams via radio transmitters, some individuals in plain clothes, 2 men and 2 women: they were gathered around a square-shaped table, above which was spread a map of the 'area; the Aokigahara forest was represented as a large green patch on a yellow background, dotted with green symbols (stylized trees) and 4 black dots, which indicated the caves in the area. It was bordered to the north and west by 3 blue spots, lakes Motosuko, Suijin, and Shojiko, and to the south by a black triangle indicating Mount Omuro. Further south, another 5 triangles were visible (the Nagao, Tenjin, Kamafuta, Yumi-Izuka, Igatono mountains). At the bottom right, a white cone with a horizontal green line placed at the top represented Mount Fuji, the highest peak in Japan. Some white lines indicated the streets in the area.
"Miho arrived here on board a bus, via the 139 route. A driver told us that he brought her here around 1pm, then he left." A woman with long, straight black hair that reached her back, gray eyes and lipstick on her lips said, pointing with the forefinger of her right hand to a white line on the map, with the number 139 written in black above it. a red circle.
"Yes, but then?" A man with short black hair and black eyes asked.
She snorted.
"She vanished into thin air. I don't know more than that."
He looked at her with disappointment.
"We already knew this, Agatha Christie!" He stated, annoyed.
Irritated, the woman clenched her fists.
"Jugo… In case you haven't noticed, Aokigahara is a green maze! Looking for someone there is like looking for a needle in a haystack!"
"Calm down, Jugo… You too, Ayami. We are not here to argue, but to find a missing girl." The other woman reminded them, who had short brown hair and blue eyes.
"If we were talking about a simple fugitive there would be no problem with her… We would find her, sooner or later. But that girl want commit suicide... She could do it in any moment, if she hasn't already done so." A man with short raven hair, matching eyes, and a thin mustache stated.
The man named Jugo looked at him anxiously.
"It would be a big problem… Here we are talking about the second daughter of the Nishizumi family, one of the richest and most influential in the country. We must find her alive, at any cost."
Ayami huffed and crossed her arms.
"Is this why you requested our assistance?" She asked.
Jugo nodded.
"Usually the case would only fall to the prefectural police, but in this situation I asked neighboring prefectures (Saitama, Nagano, Shizuoka, Kanagawa) for assistance."
The man with the mustache let out a sigh.
"An appeal only partially accepted, I see… There's only me and Yui for Nagano prefecture and Inspector Ogino for Saitama."
Dejectedly, Jugo nodded.
"By the way, why isn't Inspector Yamato with you?"
Yui replied:
"He is recovering at Nagano Municipal Hospital. A few days ago he was injured in a firefight with some robbers."
"I understand…"
At that moment the quartet was reached by a policeman, who told them:
"The drones detected a large camp a short distance from Lake Suijin; it will host at least a hundred people."
"It has to be the University Select Team…. They are here for a short vacation." Jugo stated.
"Maybe they saw Miho." The woman named Yui speculated.
Ayami looked thoughtful.
"Maybe, but the forest is big. It is not at all certain that they met her. What do you think, Inspector Morofushi?" She asked.
The mustachioed man thought before replying.
"It's worth a try. The four of us will go there and question the students."
Jugo nodded, then reached for his cell phone.
"I will warn Miho's sister and friends."
"And the parents?" Morofushi asked him.
"The father died years ago, the mother… I contacted her a few hours ago, but she seemed very formal. She almost didn't seem to care about her daughter." Jugo explained.
That statement left the other 3 policemen quite perplexed.
"Very strange…" Ayami said.
"I wouldn't say so. Shiho Nishizumi is known for her cold and authoritarian behavior." Morofushi stated.
"In any case it is behavior unworthy of a mother!" Yui commented, disgusted.
Jugo nodded. He had no children, but he personally knew some mothers, such as the lawyer Eri Kisaki from Tokyo or Shizuka Hattori, wife of Inspector Heizo from Osaka. They had a daughter and a son respectively, and if such a thing happened to them they would go there to participate in the search, something Shiho did not intend to do.
I wonder if there is a reason behind cold attitude…
She wondered.
She snorted. This was not the time to get lost in certain lucubrations. The priority was to find Miho Nishizumi, preferably alive.