Another Note - The Los Angeles BB Murder Case

Page 2: Ryuzaki Pt. 4

Right, Roman numerals, the same ones that she saw on clocks and what not every day—V and I, obviously, and C, M, D, X, and L. . .she should have figured it out when she saw three I's next to each other—it wasn't three I's, but III. But there had been an L right after them, and she had connected that with the detective's name and distracted herself.

"I is one, II is two, III is three, IV is four, V is five, VI is six, VII is seven, VIII is eight, IX is nine, X is ten, L is fifty, C is one hundred, D is five hundred, M is one thousand. So these wounds can be read as 16, 59, 1423, 159, 13, 7, 582, 724, 1001, 40, 51, and 31," Ryuzaki said, reading the complicated numbers without a second's pause. Was he good with Roman numerals, or was his mind really working that quickly?

"It's just a photograph, so I might not be reading them correctly, but there's an eighty percent chance I'm right."

"Percent?"

"However, I'm afraid that doesn't change the situation. Unless we can figure out what those numbers are supposed to mean, it would be dangerous to assume they are a message from the killer. Perhaps they are simply misdirection."

"Excuse me, Ryuzaki," Misora said, taking a step backward.

"For what?"

"I need to fix my makeup."

Without waiting for a response, Misora left the bedroom and climbed the stairs, heading for the second (not the first) story toilet. She locked the door from the inside and took out her cell phone. She hesitated for a moment, then called L. On the number five line. There was a brief beeping as it cleared a few scramblers, and then it finally connected.

"What is it, Naomi Misora?"

The synthetic voice.

Lowering her voice and hiding her mouth behind her hand, Misora said, "Something I need to report."

"Progress in the case? Very fast work."

"No... well, a little. I may have stumbled across a message from the killer."

"Wonderful."

"But it wasn't me that figured it out. How can I put this... a kind of mysterious private detective..." A mysterious private detective. The expression nearly made her laugh. "...just showed up."

"I see," the synthetic voice said, and fell silent.

It was an uncomfortable silence for Misora, after all, she had made the decision to show Ryuzaki the picture and attempt to test him. When L said nothing, Misora proceeded to explain what Ryuzaki had said about the autopsy photograph. And that he had a copy of the crossword puzzle. This piece of information at last produced a reaction from L, but since it was a synthetic voice, she couldn't read the emotion behind it.

"What should I do? Frankly, I think it's dangerous to take my eyes off him."

"Was he cool?"

"Hunh?"

L's question came completely out of left field, and he was forced to ask it a second time before Misora answered, still unable to work with what he was driving at.

"No, absolutely not," she said, honestly. "Creepy and pathetic, and so suspicious that if I weren't on leave, I'd move to arrest him the moment I laid eyes on him. If we divided everyone in the world into those that would be better off dead and those that wouldn't, there's no doubt in my mind that he'd be the former. Such a complete freak that it amazes me he hasn't killed himself"

"..."

There was no answer.

What was this about?

"Naomi Misora, your instructions."

"Yes?"

"I imagine you are thinking much the same thing as I am, but let this private detective do what he likes for the moment. Partly because it is dangerous to let him out of your sight, but more importantly because it is important to observe his actions. I believe the credit for the autopsy photograph deductions belongs to you more than it does him, but he is clearly no ordinary person."

"I agree."

"Is he close by?"

"No, I'm alone. I'm calling from the bathroom, upstairs and to the back of the house, away from the bedroom."

"Go back to his side soon. I will follow up on him, and try to discover if a detective named Ryuzaki has actually been hired by Believe Bridesmaid's parents."

"Okay"

"You can use the same line the next time you call." And he hung up.

Misora snapped her phone shut.

She needed to go back soon, so he would not be suspicious, but she had left his side with rather unnatural timing, she thought, leaving the bathroom.

Ryuzaki was standing just outside the door. "Eek...!"

"Misora. You were up here?"

He was not on all fours, but even so, Misora gulped. How long had he been there?

"After you left the room, I discovered something interesting, and was unable to wait. So I came to get you. Are you quite finished?"

"Y-yes..."

"This way"

He trotted off, still hunched, toward the stairs. Still shaken, Misora followed him. Had he been listening through the door? This question tortured her. He discovered something interesting? That might just be a turn of phrase... she had kept her voice so low there was no way he could have heard her, but either way he had almost certainly been trying to. Which meant...

"Oh, Misora," Ryuzaki said, not turning around.

"Y-yes?"

"Why didn't I hear the toilet flush before you left the room?" 

"It's rather rude to ask a girl something like that, Ryuzaki," Misora managed, wincing slightly at her mistake. Ryuzaki did not appear to be phased.

"Is it? Nevertheless... if you forgot to flush, it is not too late. You can still go back. The genders are equal when it comes to sanitary behavior."

What a horrific way of putting it.

In every meaning of the word.

"I was on the phone. Just a regular check-in with my client. But I did not want to you hear some of it."

"Oh? But either way, from now on, I recommend flushing. It provides good camouflage."

"I suppose it does."

They reached the bedroom. Ryuzaki went down on all fours as lie crossed the threshold. It looked less like an investigation method modeled on Sherlock Holmes than some sort of religious jinx.

"Over here." Ryuzaki scrabbled across the carpet toward the bookshelves.

Believe Bridesmaid's bookshelves, with their fifty-seven tightly packed books. It was the first place Misora had checked after talking with L.

"You said you found something new?"

"Yes. Something new—no, let us be bold. I have uncovered an important fact."

His attempt at sounding cool annoyed her. She ignored it.

"So you found a clue of some kind on the bookshelf, you mean?"

"Look here," Ryuzaki said, pointing to the right side of the shelf second from the bottom. There was an eleven-volume set of a popular Japanese comic book named Akaukin Chacha.

"What about it?"

"I love this manga."

"You do?"

"I do."