The monster under my bed

Chapter 12: 110

Yoriichi was still at the police station, comparing files, notes, old records, anything he could get his hands on regarding cases about circus workers. It wasn't a very broad topic, and the secretary had given him a side eye when he'd asked.

There were a few offenders in the entertainment department, their tresspasses being accounted as thievery, vandalization, and counterfeit. Only five had cases of manslaughter, and two out of those five were related to child abuse.

The bright computer screen was starting to hurt his eyes. Yoriichi rubbed his forehead. Just a tad longer...I need to get to the bottom of this!

There was a quiet knock on the door, and Yoriichi looked up from his work. It was the Chief of police, and he looked exhausted.

"Hey. If you need to go home, do so. It's past midnight," the Chief mumbled.

Yoriichi nodded. "Um, do you think you could help me here?"

"Yeah, sure. What do you need?"

"Can you find me records of these two men...Duke Terry...and Julian Okichi."

"Erm..." The Chief glanced through the paper files and sat by the computer.

"Okichi is in prison at the moment, so I doubt he's gotten out in the past few years. Terry...there's huge doubt surrounding the guy, but rumor has it he goes by Dutch Terence. He's the acrobat at the circus that's in town."

"Could you compare the two?" Yoriichi asked.

The Chief laughed dryly. "Could I? Of course, if we had actual pictures of this "Dutch" guy that weren't shots of his back, or insanely blurry."

"Hmm." Yoriichi pursed his lips. "What's he known for? His offenses, I mean. Dutch."

The Chief raised his eyebrows and blew out. "Oof. You don't want to know."

"I insist."

The Chief of police clicked his tongue. "He's known for breaking into people's houses and raping children and teens. Before you say anything—it's debatable. There may be another person in kahoots with him, as not all the crimes like that are done by him. But he's usually related to that awful stuff." He sighed. "He's probably involved in some kind of network. Trafficking, you know. That's my guess. Most of his victims ended up being kidnapped, and we've only found a few of them."

Yoriichi stood silently behind him. He sneaks into people's houses...could he possibly be...did we just...

The Chief looked at him carefully. "Are you alright? Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Uh..." Yoriichi felt nauseous thinking about what the Chief of Police had told him. If what he was assuming was a possibility, he couldn't waste any more time. Enough had been wasted already. "I think so. I need to get home now!"

"Hey!! Wait!!"

Yoriichi ran out of the Police station as fast as his feet could carry him. Muichirō, and maybe even Yuichirō could be in danger right now! This is what you get for putting trust in adults. Shit!

He dug his phone out of his pocket as he ran, and dialed the home phone number. "Come on, pick up, dammit!"

Just as the phone was about to cut off, his brother picked up the call.

" Eh? Yoriichi? Where are you? "

His younger brother's tired voice sounded over the phone.

"Better question is, where are the twins?! Could you go check and make sure they're in the rooms and that no one is in there?"