Dan arrived in Alice's office to discuss his findings with her and Shun. "Even though Gunz's company said that everything related to this case can't be released to the public without their approval, I'll still tell you everything that I know because you and Gunz knew each other."

"That's reassuring... He was still fine the other day when Shun and I spoke with him at his office to discuss donations. Are you going to interview me and Shun since we were some of the last people he saw?"

"I hope I don't need to... You're not the type to kill someone over canceled donations... When I was interviewing the building staff, one guy said that Gunz was supposed to visit his dad in the hospital, but we found Gunz inside an abandoned building in the complete opposite direction."

The raven-haired secretary shook his head. "I might not have known him for long, but he was very worried about his dad when he spoke with us. Something important must've come up and made him change his destination."

"And you're right about that. The first-floor receptionist said that a private investigator called and wanted to speak with Gunz, so she parked the call to ask Gunz if he was free. She then said he demanded to speak with the PI immediately."

"Do we know why Gunz hired the PI?" the assistant professor asked. "Is someone leaking company secrets?"

"We'll find out once we find the PI first. Now for my next discovery." Dan placed a folder on Alice's desk. "According to my medical examiner, your dead gyojin from the cave is 100% Homo sapiens."

The assistant professor fully reviewed the paperwork. "I planned to send you pictures until you texted me first about Gunz's death. This report says the corpse was a seven-year-old girl with sirenomelia, a rare congenital deformity where the legs are fused together and resemble a mermaid's tail. Cause of death was kidney failure with nothing suggesting foul play."

"Creepy, right? Also, the old winery that used the logo only ever sold wine to Anubias and Sellon's store. None of the other local restaurants and stores ever purchased wine from that old place. I don't know what those two were telling you."

"Definitely not the truth, after hearing what you just said."

Now it was Shun's turn to read the report. "I still find it unbelievable that not only did we find a dead human, but also one with deformities. Whose daughter was this? Can you still test DNA? Are there any corresponding death certificates or police reports?"

"We got DNA, but there were no matches in any police or ancestry databases. I didn't find any missing persons reports or death certificates that mentioned sirenomelia, so I'm guessing the parents never said a word and just buried their daughter in the cave."

"Do you have anything on Anubias or Sellon then? They were really eager to shut down further questions from us the other day."

"Those two aren't legally married, but when filing taxes, they select the option for 'domestic partnership', whatever that means. They also claim Chris as a niece in the dependents section."

"Is Chris from Anubias's side or Sellon's side then?"

"So far, my results suggest that neither of them have siblings nearby, and I wouldn't be able to find anything if their families lived overseas. Shun, why don't you ask Soon instead? Isn't she best friends with Chris?"

"I don't think they're best friends because—"

"Can you two lower your voices?" the assistant professor interrupted while holding her phone up. "I'm calling Soon right now."

"There you go," the guys replied.

Once connected, the redhead asked, "Hi Soon, can you hear me? Do you a moment to—"

"I'm sorry, Professor Alice. Now's not a good time. I'm the hospital right now because Chris accidentally fell into the sea water from a pier."

Shun and Dan heard the brief conversation and exchanged confused glances with each other while at a loss for words.

-x-x-x-x-x-

After several hours of diagnostic tests, the amethyst-eyed blonde finally woke up and found herself in a hospital room. Soon sat by the bed and gasped. "Thank goodness you're alive! Do you remember me?"

"Of course... I do..." replied Chris with coughs in between. "You're Soon... Where... am I...? What... happened...?"

"This is the hospital, but do you remember anything before that? We were talking at a pier in Minakami. Then you checked a notification on your phone and had to leave in a hurry, but you tripped on a stone step and fell into the water instead."

"I did?" The blonde held her hand to her forehead and asked, "Where's my phone then?"

"It's sitting in a bowl of rice on the table right there because it got wet."

"I see..." Chris saw some people walking past her room window and stopped at the door. "Looks like the nurses want to see how I'm doing now that I'm awake."

"Makes sense... I'll let them examine you then. If your phone still doesn't turn on, then call me using the hospital landlines. Take care."

After the medical staff entered the room, the auburn-haired student turned a corner right when she saw Alice and Shun in the hallway. "Soon, is everything alright with Chris?"

"Oh… What a surprise, Professor Alice. You brought Shun as well..." After the trio found a picnic table outside, Soon explained everything from the beginning. "To be honest, I haven't spoken with Chris and Jack as often as I should ever since I started college."

"I'm guessing those two only graduated from high school at most?" the raven-haired secretary asked.

"We all attended the same high school, and you already know that BIU accepted me. I know Chris said she wanted to take a year off after high school to work, and Jack applied to community college instead."

"And you feel a disconnect between each other because you're attending a renowned university while they stayed at home? But I thought you told us that you commute from Minakami district to central Bayview. Wouldn't you all still see each other?"

"Shun, it all comes down to schedule conflicts, especially since I'm also Professor Alice's research assistant this year. Anyway, I was asking Chris how her interview at GML Enterprises went and—"

"What was she interviewing for?" Alice interrupted. "Does she know that the interim CEO passed away?"

"Chris applied to multiple positions, so I'm not entirely sure. Before she fell into the water, I saw an article about Gunz Lazar's death in my news feed and told her, which then made her cry uncontrollably. I told her not to worry about the interview because the final offer comes from human resources and rarely from the CEO, although he and Chris spoke briefly on the day of her interview. After she finally stopped crying, I wanted to cheer her up with a magic trick, but then she checked her phone and said she had to go home immediately. That's when she tripped and fell into the water. Now that I think about it, I should've walked her home. Her face was still red and puffy from—"

"Soon, that was completely out of your control. If the pier didn't have railings or fences, then that's the city government's fault. Now that I think about it... Did we get Chris in trouble when we asked her aunt and uncle about the gyojin and wine crates?"

"Mister Anubias and Miss Sellon don't seem like strict parents, and Chris didn't act out of the ordinary since you all come over that day... aside from crying in response to Mister Lazar's death. Besides, we were all just curious to know what that thing in the cave was."

"That's good to know. Anyway, I should tell you why I came to find you. Do you mind telling me how you first met Chris?"

"We met when we were seven years old." Then the auburn-haired student froze in place. "I just remembered that the place she fell into the water is also where I first met her. I was fishing by myself when Chris ran over. There were no railings back then either, which made her slip and fall into the water. I immediately jumped in to save her. She must've hit her head underwater because she said she couldn't remember anything."

"That's... unfortunate..."

"I didn't know who she was yet. Miss Sellon arrived shortly to perform CPR, and Mister Anubias said that the girl was their niece Chris. From then on, I saw Chris more often at the convenience store and all over Minakami. We became friends since then."

Alice and Shun exchanged confused glances until the latter asked Soon, "Did you know that the gyojin from the cave is actually a female human corpse?"

"Wait... what did you say?!"

"That's what Dan said after the police performed a full analysis. Also, Anubias and Sellon's store is the only vendor in Minakami district that ever ordered wine from that defunct winery. I doubt they ever gave away any empty crates without a good reason because Anubias made several sturdy drawers with them."

"Shun, I don't understand what you're saying."

"Anubias and Sellon might not seem like strict parents, but they do act weird. You just said yourself that you've never seen Chris until you were seven years old, but you already knew who Anubias and Sellon are? Where did Chris come from?"

"I don't know the exact details, but a long time ago, Miss Sellon offered a distant cousin a place to live and work. That cousin had a daughter, which I assume was Chris. I heard that the cousin disappeared one day, so Miss Sellon and Mister Anubias took custody of the child. We all knew that Chris existed but never saw her until that day when she fell into the water."

"Don't you find it weird that those three adults would keep Chris hidden like that until—"

The redhead held her hand up while answering a call. "Hi Dan, what do you need?"

"I now know why Gunz hired a private investigator. He's looking for his long-lost younger sister. Come by the police station when you have time."

Alice ended the call and stood up. "Shun, I know what you're thinking, but I'd like to see the new evidence that Dan found first. Soon, you should come too."

"Sure, Professor Alice."

At the police station, Dan and Billy laid out everything they found in a conference room for their visitors. "As usual, none of this information leaves this building because Gunz's company said so. The PI told us that Gunz first reached out to him two months ago, around when Gunz's father entered the hospital for cancer complications. Gunz wanted the PI to look for his younger sister Marie, but all he had was an old photo from the kidnappers, which I made a copy of here. Marie was seven-years old back then, and she's clearly tied up and blindfolded."

Shun was the first to examine the photo. "There's a mirror in the back, and I can see some tattoos on the kidnapper's forearm. Have you tried zooming in?"

"The police back then also noticed that detail, but there aren't any tattoo matches in our databases."

"It's also an unusual design, like perforated lines down the middle of his forearm. It looks familiar, but I can't recall from where."

Billy had stepped out to answer a call and returned shortly after. "Chan just said that a bystander's dash cam recorded video of a suspicious person walking around that abandoned building before and after Gunz's time of death." Then he showed everyone a screenshot from his phone. "It's not very clear, but this guy is wearing all black leather clothing. His baseball cap hid his face and most of his hair."

Alice pointed to the suspicious person's wrists. "There's a gap between the leather gloves and jacket sleeves where his skin is exposed. Does that look like the kidnapper's weird tattoo to you?"

"Wait, you're right... I need to tell Chan this in person. Be right back!"

Soon was the final guest to look at both photos. "Oh my... I think Mister Anubias has this exact tattoo."

The raven-haired secretary snapped his fingers. "I'm not surprised. That's what I was thinking of this whole time, and it all makes sense now."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Dan requested.

The assistant professor explained everything and also elaborated on Shun's theory. "If the deformed human corpse in the cave is the real Chris, who by definition is Sellon's cousin's child based on what Soon said, then we now understand why she was kept indoors at all times. That also explains how people claimed they saw gyojin lurking in Minakami, because what they actually saw might've been the real Chris and her mermaid-tail legs. The real Chris likely died from kidney failure around the same time that Anubias kidnapped and brought Gunz's sister Marie to Minakami. But how did a hostage end up being an adopted niece? And does Sellon know about—"

"Professor Alice, please stop!" the auburn-haired student screamed. "How did everything end up from discovering a gyojin in a previously closed cave to solving an old kidnapping case? Every time you say 'the real Chris', my head hurts."

Suddenly, the redhead dragged her student out into the hallways to talk privately. "I'm not ignoring how you and Chris would feel, but if our suspicions are true, then the police need to take action for the wrongdoings that have happened."

Soon finally called down and asked, "Are you asking me to break the news to Chris?"

"I can't think of a better person to complete this task."

"I'll do it... but I do need some time... especially since she just woke up today after falling into the water again like twelve years ago."

-x-x-x-x-x-

On an early Sunday morning in Minakami, Soon and Chris were eating brunch at a local waterfront restaurant. "What's the occasion, Soon? We haven't hung out since we finished high school."

"Let me be clear first... No matter what happens from this moment forward, nothing will change the fact that we'll always be best friends. There's something that I need to tell you no matter how awful—"

"Well, let me be clear then... If what you're about to say will make me sad, then I don't want to hear it."

"But everyone has to right to know who they really are."

"Now what are you talking about?"

"I apologize for saying this, but you're not the real Chris Barlow. Mister Anubias and Miss Sellon's real niece passed away years ago already, shortly after the biological mother, who was Miss Sellon's distant cousin, ran away from here. Around the same time, you appeared in Minakami and fell into the water but lost all your memories prior to age seven. Your so-called aunt and uncle took you in as their own niece."

The blonde's bubbly smile quickly flattened. "Soon, I hope you're not joking."

"Miss Sellon's cousin's daughter was born with a congenital deformity that led to fused legs and dysfunctional organs. What you thought was a gyojin in that cave is actually that child's corpse."

"So you're saying that I've been living under a dead person's identity for over a decade?! Then who the hell am I?!"

"Chris, please listen to—"

"Don't call me that! You just said that the real Chris is already dead."

"That's the only thing that the police confirmed. And remember when you talked to Gunz Lazar briefly during your interview? Turns out that his younger sister was kidnapped a long time ago. There's a possibility that you might be that girl."

"So not only am I not Chris, but I might also be Gunz Lazar's long-lost younger sister? Is that why I'm so adamant on interviewing for any position at GML Enterprises? Is that why I burst into tears when you showed me that news article about his death?" Chris began pulling on her hair. "If Jack and I never went exploring in that cave, then none of this would've happened."

"Chris, I promise you. No matter how drastic your life changes after we leave this restaurant today, I'll always be on your side..."

After finishing the rest of their brunch in mostly silence, the girls returned to the mainland and saw the convenience store blocked off with caution tape. Soon recognized her instructor immediately among the crowd of police and bystanders. "Professor Alice, what are you and the police doing here?"

"Hi Soon. Dan asked me to come after he inadvertently found Anubias dead in the storage room upstairs."

"But why were the police visiting the store in the first place?" asked Chris in return.

The auburn-haired student glanced at Alice, who shook her head discreetly. "I'm not entirely sure. Dan doesn't normally cover Minakami district, so I'm just as surprised as you."

Meanwhile, Sellon finished speaking with Billy and saw her niece in the distance. "Chris, thank goodness you're back!"

"What happened here?"

"I closed the store for an hour to run an errand. Your uncle must've returned before I did and opened the metal gate but forgot to close it. Then the police came asking for him, and we all found him dead in the storage room upstairs."

After hearing Sellon's story, Alice saw her brunet friend appear at the store's back entrance. "I could use a fresh pair of eyes to examine this crime scene for me!"

"I'm coming!"

At the back of the store was a small space enough to grow potted plants and hang laundry, along with a set of stairs that led to a room on the second floor. "Billy and I decided to investigate Anubias, since you think he's the guy in the kidnapping photo and dash cam video. We tracked him here, and Sellon just happened to return, so she brought us up here. This storage room is literally only one room with one door. It was locked, and Sellon insisted that Anubias took the one and only key with him. Billy looked through the exhaust fan and saw that he was lying on the floor. I kicked the door open and found this bloody scene."

The assistant professor walked through the caution tape and mess on the floor carefully. Anubias was face down with a kitchen knife in his back. "Oh my god... Where did these chicken feathers, fish scales, and puddles of blood all over the room come from?"

"Sorry I'm late!" Shun appeared at the storage room entrance and saw the mess inside. "Why does that remind me of what Alice taught in lecture about gyojin?"

"Is this another supernatural murder like in Kashiwagi?!" Billy screamed.

"Everyone, calm down," Alice ordered. "If the room was locked from the inside, then where are the keys?"

"Behind you on the table," Dan replied. Against the wall opposite the entrance was a standard computer desk. On the desktop edge was a binder clip with its ears folded back and dangling a metal ring with a single key. "We didn't move anything."

"Good to know." The assistant professor then laid her eyes on the exhaust fan, which was on the same wall as the entrance but toward the left. "This storage room has no windows, and the exhaust fan is the only opening in this wall, excluding the door." She stepped on a chair and observed the fan's metal frame, which had some brown burn marks on the bottom edge in the center. "I suggest taking pictures of this entire thing."

"Got it."

Alice paced around the room cautiously while twirling her phone in her hands. "How did a suspected murderer end up getting murdered himself... in what initially appears to be another locked room setting?"