21st
I went home later that night and headed towards the ink stone, silent.
Although this day is engraved into an unforgettable memory, I cannot deem it acceptable to note it down into words.
No matter what hardships, I shall endure; No matter how shamed, I shall laugh.
Silent, again silent.
At the table where I work at the agency, I read the newspaper.
Since this morning, the media is in an uproar, even on TV and on the net, a certain sensational news is spreading wildly.
'The Victims of Yokohama's Serial Disappearance, Discovered and Dead'
'Died Due to A Private Detective Agency's Arbitrary Judgment?'
And then there were pictures. White smoke, the agonized victims, and me holding on to the steel cage.
Although it's not on the papers yet, it's probably only a matter of time until it is.
The phones in the agency won't stop ringing since morning. Although it's mostly calls of complaints, lawsuits from bereaved families would probably come in too. What's more, the whereabouts of the remaining seven missing people has yet to be known.
Just what kind of person took these pictures when the poisonous gas killed the victims and spreads it to society?
The phone on my desk rang with a tone that hits my nerves.
I extended my hand towards the receiver.
Faster than I could reach for it, Dazai picked the receiver up and instantly placed it back on the machine. The ringtone got cut off.
"This is what the enemy is aiming for." A bright voice. He was holding the pictures.
"At the very least on the bright side; Kunikida-kun, your pictures were taken quiet handsomely."
I was about to take the pictures from his hands back without another word, but he quickly hoisted his hand up, preventing me from doing so.
"How about if you just went home? You look terrible."
".... I am not going home. I have work to do."
"You're still so hardworking even under such dire circumstances. Just as I was about to enter the agency's office, I had stones thrown at me twice."
I looked outside. A number of protestors were standing outside the agency, creating a disturbance. There'll be more tomorrow.
"Hardworking? Idiot. There's a job we have to put first before everything else, right? Finding the criminal."
"Well..... That's true, just as you said." Dazai complied with a blank face.
"Where's Miss Sasaki?"
"Getting a check-up. Right now, Yosano-sensei is taking a look at her in the infirmary. There seems to be nothing big though."
"Let's listen to what she has to say."
I stand. Miss Sasaki is the only witness who came in direct contact with the criminal and got out alive. From his kidnapping techniques, we might be able to know who the criminal is.
As I stood to go after Dazai who headed towards the infirmary first, my eyes landed on the photos. Mine, Miss Sasaki's and even the victims' faces were in the photos, but Dazai only had the hem of his coat taken.
Just how did that guy avoid a photograph taken in secret?
000
"I apologize deeply... I wanted to be some sort of help, but...."
