APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 7 - The first meeting

Four more months had passed by that time, and there was still no trace or sign of Kenzo Tenma. Emiko, currently staying in Frankfurt, took a part time job as a waitress and rented a room in a hostel located in the immediate vicinity of the Turkish district, where prices were clearly lower than in the city center. She felt she was wasting her time here, but she had no other choice.

She would throw herself at the newspaper stand after work every day, then go to the park and feverishly search for new leads. So far, to no avail.

It was the same today. She was sitting on a park bench, reading the latest news from the newspaper, looking for new clues, while browsing in her notebook all the information she had managed to get. The Heidelberg investigation was still unexplained, except that the two policemen who dealt with it had been discharged. Detective Messener was removed for drug possession, and Detective Michael Müller was simply declared missing one day. For Emiko, it was far too few traces.

Resigned, she put the newspaper aside and looked up at the trees in the distance. Looking at the trees always calmed her... She sighed quietly and turned her head slightly the other way. There she saw a little boy ten- or twelve years old, hitting football and arguing fiercely with a short man in a gray overcoat standing next to him.

The man was clearly displeased as the boy seemed to be making fun of him; but she couldn't hear what they were talking about because she was sitting quite far away. Emiko smiled at them; at the same moment she saw that the little one shot the ball right in the man's face, and the other, angry burst out at him. From their facial expressions, she concluded, however, that the boy didn't care at all about the criticism and continued his discussion, completely unfazed. The whole incident amused her quite a bit - it was unusual for her to witness a situation where a child wouldn't be bothered by so much criticism, which must now be pouring through the mouth of the pissed off man.

The girl nodded amused and slowly gathered her things before going to the bar for dinner.

****

It was late afternoon the next day when Emiko was leaving the park again, heading for dinner, finding no new clues. It was slowly starting to bother her - a lot of time had passed since the events in Verden, and nothing happened. In fact, it felt as if Tenma Kenzo had dissolved into thin air, because even newspapers were printing articles with his name less and less frequently. But she knew that he had neither disappeared nor returned to Japan - he must have been hiding somewhere. After all, he was wanted by the police all over the country.

Besides, she herself felt that important information was missing throughout her investigation. First, since the Fortner couple had been murdered and their daughter was declared missing, it was very possible she was still alive. The only question is where and how is she involved in all of this. The photo with her appearance was printed in the newspaper along with the Fortner article, so at least Emiko didn't have to worry about missing her someday if they met on the street - Nina Fortner was a beautiful blonde with blue eyes.

Then Verden. Yes, the Springer couple had been murdered, but certainly not because of her brother. At the mere mention of the message written on the wall, Emiko got goosebumps. Who was the person who left it addressed to Kenzo? If the addressee was somehow related to him, they could have known each other beforehand, and either she/he does it because he has something against him... or just for fun. It is true that psychopaths exist in this world...

If only she found something more! The newspapers couldn't be counted on too much, and the information that Emiko had obtained so far gave her no prospect of further learning about the whole situation. Not to mention the end of the investigation. She also knew that she would definitely not go to the police, because she would certainly not learn anything. Moreover, she preferred to avoid the police at all costs.