Page 23 of Mercy Written in Blood

"Funeral chamber?"

"Possibly."

Haruki disliked guessing aloud. An answer spoken too confidently had a habit of becoming fact in other people's minds.

He turned towards the shelves.

"Start photographing everything exactly as it is."

Ken pointed to the workers.

"You heard him."

"Nothing is moved," Haruki added. "Not until we have people qualified to handle it."

Toma raised his phone.

"Can we use these?"

"Flash off. No filters. No posting anything."

The man looked horrified.

"I wouldn't."

"I know. I'm saying it anyway."

Secrecy was not difficult when people understood why it mattered. It became difficult when they felt excluded without explanation.

Haruki addressed everyone in the chamber.

"Until we know what this place is, nobody speaks about it outside this tunnel. Not to friends. Not to partners. Not online."

One worker shifted uncomfortably.

"My wife knows we found something."

"She can know you found an old room. Nothing else."

"What do we tell the police?"

"That we're arranging a professional assessment before the site is disturbed."

"And the city?"

"The same."

Ken rubbed his jaw.

"They might try to take control."

"They might."

"This is Ishida property."

"The dead don't care who owns the land above them."

Ken glanced towards the bones.