Psycho Pass: Colorful World

4

Yashiro managed to find Aoyanagi in one of the corridors on her way back to her division's office, who gave her a smile as she recognized her, then she walked beside her and they both continued walking with the same uninterrupted pace, as if it were natural for them.

"Good to see you, Takahashi-san," she greeted her, receiving nods from other inspectors walking by. "What a way to start the day. How did it go? Yes... Chief told me. I did not agree with her about you undergoing a psychological evaluation right after your second case."

Aoyanagi looked at her out of the corner of her eye, as if she had never seen her before. Then she frowned and looked straight ahead again.

"The counsellor deduced that I am not in danger," Yashiro kept talking, trying to change her suddenly dark expression. "My crime coefficient is stable."

"Good, because we have a case. It came directly from the chief. She specifically requested you."

Yashiro stopped and turned to her. They were right in front of the Comprehensive Analysis Laboratory and entered.

"Ten people abducted from different blocks—the first one three years ago," Aoyanagi explained. "Due to the rise of the Specimen Case, the investigation was put on hold."

"I thought there were nine victims," Yashiro commented, lifting a perfect eyebrow.

"There were—half an hour ago we marked the tenth."

"After all these years... our guy is back. How can you hide your psycho pass for so long anyway?" Kozuki caught their attention, raising his palm towards the two inspectors.

Yashiro nodded in his direction with a smile. He was leaning against a column with his arms crossed, his suit open and his white dress shirt underneath. His tie was not tight, he looked like he had gotten up late.

"One thing is for sure—whoever is covering his tracks must be a professional," Katashi commented in a deep, tired voice, but did not turn to greet them.

When Yashiro directed her gaze inside the room, she was instantly drawn to the two huge monitors at the far end of the lab, and looked up to read the information and view the images. They overflowed with everything collected on the victims. The last woman caught her eye, as she seemed to be the most recent.

"Fujimoto Hatsu," Aoyanagi read aloud right next to her. "Last seen at an amusement park located in Bunkyō City. She had taken her son along with other parents for his birthday. The children slept at the house of one of them, and she was supposed to pick up her son the next day, but she never made it home. All victims have different injuries, but they are of the same sex, hair and eye color."

"They are also about the same age," Yashiro observed, putting her hands in the pockets of her black coat. "All of them are mothers in their forties."

"What is it about these women?" Aoyanagi asked with a glance.

"It's about one—one woman. They form a reflection."

"What do you mean? That the killer is looking for this particular woman? Or that he is obsessed with this type of woman?" Kozuki frowned and looked at her from behind.

"This one is special. Maybe he wants to hide her. Lock her in a room all to himself. I don't know. That's what I would do."

"Well, well! Who might this cute girl be?" a bold, sensual female voice echoed in the room.

There was a young blonde woman with a curvaceous build sitting with one leg crossed over the other on a black couch, resting one arm on the backrest with her brown eyes narrowed. Her attention was focused solely on Yashiro, and for a few seconds she remained in the same position with her cigarette to her lips, and a smirk studying her from head to toe. When Yashiro turned around, she widened her eyes at the woman she certainly did not see and walked past.