Page 87 of The Red Collar
“We did, sir,” an officer responded and passed Teruo a plastic bag with a decorative statue of a horse. The platform the horse sat on was flat and sharp. The officer turned on an UV flashlight. “You can see the blood.”
Teruo nodded. “Object belongs to the victim?”
“Yes.” The officer pointed to a row of shelves on the opposite side of the bed, above a desk. “Then the criminal took the statue from there and struck the victim with it. There’s a clean rectangular mark left where the statue stood.”
“Did you find a point of entry?”
“Window. Didn’t break it, though. Just cut through the screen.”
Teruo stood, walked to the window and traced his gloved hands over the screen. If the killer only needed to do such a simple thing to get inside, it meant the victim’s window was already open. Why not take the time with this victim like they did with the others? Did they want to kill as many as possible before the police caught on?
A chill went down his spine and Teruo texted the police officer in charge of the interview team to make sure all the other former students were well-protected. He didn’t want a fifth victim on his hands.
“Check the screen thoroughly for any hairs or clothing fibers,” Teruo told the forensics.
Noise from the doorway made him turn. Suzuki’s assistants stood there, two gear bags over each of their shoulders, one looking disturbingly ill, the other disturbingly excited.
Taniguchi stared at Teruo in pure horror and stepped around him in order to reach the victim’s body, but not get too close to Teruo. Honestly, it was beyond Teruo’s understanding how his mere presence scared some people. When he was yelling? Sure. When he was just on his feet, doing nothing? That didn’t make sense. He was going to ask Shinji about this next time they were alone at home.
“Where’s Suzuki?” Teruo asked, deciding not to bother with any formalities.
“She isn’t feeling well,” Taniguchi said, kneeling on the floor and unzipping his bag. “She had an emergency and went to the hospital.”
You should go to the hospital, too,Teruo thought. Taniguchi looked terrible. His face was pale, eyes sunken, and a drop of sweat trailed down his temple. It wasn’t even hot inside the room, especially with the window wide open.
“Food poisoning,” Kojima explained. “Dr. Suzuki ate something bad this morning.” She squatted on the floor, put on her gloves and leaned over to examine the gash on the victim’s head.
Taniguchi made a gagging sound and Teruo debated whether to send him home or not.
“It was that breakfast box you bought for her,” Taniguchi muttered.
“Wasn’t my fault.” Kojima glared. “It could’ve been from anything she ate.”
“It was the breakfast box,” he insisted while wiping sweat off his forehead.
“For fuck’s sake,” Teruo snapped. “Stop bickering. So, Suzuki’s out and sent you two geniuses alone? We’re doomed.”
“Didn’t have much of a choice.” Kojima shrugged. “Someone had to come fast. Besides, we’re more than qualified if he manages not to vomit till the investigation is over.” She thumbed toward Taniguchi who glared at her. “Don’t know why Dr. Suzuki accepted you into this investigation. You should’ve remained on lab duty.”
“Mind your own business,” Taniguchi said through gritted teeth.
Teruo rolled his eyes, craving Shinji’s presence by his side. After instructing Kojima and Taniguchi to hurry up with the victim, he turned on his heels and went straight into the living room, but Shinji wasn’t there. He walked to the kitchen, then finally spotted Shinji outside on the patio, hunched against a chair.
“There you are.” Teruo sighed, relieved. “Been searching everywhere for you.” When he reached Shinji, Teruo realized he was pale too. “Oh, no. Do you have the stomach bug, too?”
“What? No. Where did that come from?”
“Nevermind.” Teruo waved dismissively. “Did you find out anything?”
Shinji glanced behind Teruo to make sure there was no one in sight, then spoke, “No ghost. Either it was taken care of or there’s something else going on.”
“Taken care of?”
After a brief hesitation, Shinji replied, “Sent to the afterlife.”
Teruo swallowed hard, not sure what to say or how to react to that particular revelation. The more Shinji spoke about this world of spirits, the more Teruo regretted having pushed for answers. But what was done, was done and he wouldn’t back down now. He could use any insight the spirits provided and Shinji could use someone to rely on without the need to hide his abilities.
“What else could be going on?” Teruo inquired.
