"Absolutely ridiculous!"
Kumi Motokawa slammed a hand against the desk in fury. Bang! The sound echoed throughout the office.
Keryo Ikari showed no reaction. She merely continued staring calmly into Kumi's eyes with the same gaze that had confronted countless vicious criminals.
"Can these so-called coincidences of yours really count as witness testimony or physical evidence? Even if you put them all together, they still wouldn't form a complete chain of evidence, would they?
"If this is how prosecutors from the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office conduct themselves, then it truly is ironic. The public regards the Special Investigation Department as an untainted sanctuary. They place enormous hope in prosecutors, believing them to be heroes capable of cleansing Japanese society of corruption.
"And yet prosecutors will apparently label someone a criminal without conclusive evidence. Heh, Prosecutor Ikari, what else do you intend to say?
"The incident involving the nurses' mental breakdowns triggered a series of disturbances. Your prosecutors must have been overwhelmed by them as well, correct? In your desperation, quickly fabricating a culprit who could shoulder every crime must have been one of the methods you considered, wasn't it?
"As long as you can close the case, that's enough. As long as you can quell the unrest, that's enough. As for the truth? Perhaps that isn't particularly important to people like you."
Kumi Motokawa stared at Keryo Ikari and spoke coldly. She did not feel guilty in the slightest. Being accused of murder for no reason had simply made her extremely angry.
Keryo raised her wrist and checked the time indicated by her watch.
Kumi Motokawa noticed the gesture and found it extremely strange. Ever since they had been in the deputy director's office, she had noticed Keryo Ikari checking her watch every few minutes, as though there were some matter that required her to constantly monitor the passage of time.
Just as Kumi Motokawa was hesitating over whether to ask about it, Keryo Ikari finished checking the time and abruptly changed the subject.
"It appears I was somewhat too impatient earlier, causing you to misunderstand me, Dr. Motokawa. I sincerely apologize. Next, you need only answer a single question. I hope you will not allow your emotions to affect your response. Your answer is extremely important."
"What are you talking about?"
Kumi Motokawa frowned. Keryo had acted condescendingly from the very beginning, which made her deeply uncomfortable. At the same time, learning that Anrin had suffered an accident had left her feeling intensely agitated.
Her revered professor's daughter had actually suffered a mental breakdown as well?
Kumi Motokawa knew that investigators from the Special Investigation Department might fabricate lies while interrogating a criminal in order to achieve their goal and further break through the suspect's psychological defenses.
Kumi Motokawa would have preferred to believe that Anrin's accident was merely a lie Keryo Ikari had invented moments earlier.
Keryo stood up. Instead of immediately asking her question, she walked to the office door and opened it, glanced around outside, then closed and locked it again.
Keryo sat down once more, fixed her eyes on Kumi Motokawa, and slowly asked:
"Dr. Motokawa, have you ever heard of Black Xu Fu?"
"Black Xu Fu? What is that?"
Kumi Motokawa looked at Keryo Ikari with utter confusion. She genuinely had no idea how to answer the question because she had no idea what Keryo meant by Black Xu Fu.
Was it a person? Or something else?
Keryo did not respond immediately. Her eyes remained quietly fixed on Kumi Motokawa. After a long while, she nodded, stood up, and bowed slightly toward her.
"My deepest apologies. It appears I misunderstood you. Dr. Motokawa, you are not the true culprit who orchestrated these events. I disturbed the time you should have spent with your family on your day off and delayed you for so long. I am truly sorry. The corresponding compensation and confidentiality payment will be transferred to your bank account by the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office within three business days. No matter how much money you receive, please do not be surprised, nor should you attempt to return it. The account used to transfer the money will be a disposable account that automatically closes after a single use."
At that point, Keryo Ikari lowered her head and checked her watch again. After confirming the time, she said:
"Time is up, Dr. Motokawa. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Every conversation that has taken place between us must remain strictly confidential. You must not allow anyone else to learn about it. After all, you will already have accepted a confidentiality payment from the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office. Should you disclose anything, you will bear legal responsibility. I hope you will not make an already troublesome matter even more complicated.
"As for that politically minded deputy director, should she ask what I said to you after I leave, please brush her off with some excuse. Do not tell her about our conversation, and especially do not mention the name Black Xu Fu. That is also for her own good.
"Once ordinary people learn about Black Xu Fu, they generally meet only one end—death."
"What?!"
Shock and anxiety made Kumi Motokawa scream instinctively.
Ordinary people who learned the name Black Xu Fu would inevitably die? She was an ordinary person too, which meant that now that she knew...
At that thought, Kumi Motokawa shuddered involuntarily. She wanted to dismiss Keryo Ikari's words as a casual joke intended to frighten her, yet the fear deep within her gave rise to an ominous premonition, as though what Keryo had said about the fate of those who learned the name Black Xu Fu were entirely true.
Keryo was unsurprised by Kumi Motokawa's frightened reaction. Instead, she offered an understanding reminder.
"Dr. Motokawa, there is no need to worry. After being questioned by the prosecutors' office, you no longer count as an ordinary person, so you need not fear dying an unnatural death.
"Even so, you would still be wise to keep your mouth sealed at all times. You are an intelligent woman. You should already have guessed, to some extent, that this matter involves many other things behind the scenes.
"As a doctor whose duty is to heal the sick and save lives, you would be better off staying out of these muddy waters."
"I understand... But before that, could you answer one question? What exactly happened to Anrin? If everything you said is true, does my professor know?" Kumi Motokawa still could not put her mind at ease.
"Everything I said about Anrin's condition is true. She has already been transferred from the Nishitama City police station to Ishiyama Psychiatric Hospital. After all, her symptoms and the words she mutters are almost identical to those of the two nurses. It would be better to confine them together. That way... should matters truly reach an irreversible stage, dealing with them will be more convenient."
"Dealing with them? What do you mean by that?!"
"Dr. Motokawa."
The coldness in Keryo Ikari's voice had disappeared after Kumi Motokawa was cleared of suspicion, but the moment Kumi pressed her for answers, it returned instantly, sending a chill down Kumi's spine.
"I advise you not to ask about matters that do not concern you. This is the responsibility of the prosecutors' office. You need not trouble yourself over it. As for Anrin's parents, the prosecutors' office has already sent someone to speak with them.
"At the same time, considering Anrin's parents are both advanced in age, we will temporarily restrict their means of communication for the foreseeable future. Therefore, you need not waste your time calling to comfort them. Let time heal everything.
"Although I know it is impossible, I still hope you can forget everything that happened today, Dr. Motokawa. I will trouble you no further. Goodbye."
With that, Keryo opened the door and left the office.
...
After leaving the hospital, Keryo Ikari prepared to drive back to the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office.
However, just as she was about to head toward the hospital parking lot, Keryo saw a man in a trench coat walking toward her.
The man noticed Keryo at the same moment. He smiled faintly, approached her, and said:
"Oh? Isn't this Prosecutor Ikari? The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office certainly acts as quickly as ever, just like a hunting dog awaiting its master's command. Without an order, it refuses to move. The moment its master gives the word, it shoots forward like an arrow released from a bow.
"When those serial murders occurred, you ignored them completely. Yet now that an incident possibly connected to Black Xu Fu has occurred, both your speed and the intensity of your investigation have suddenly become astonishing. Have you prosecutors truly never considered redesigning your badge to resemble a hunting dog wearing a collar?"
"If prosecutors are hunting dogs, then aren't you people from the National Police Agency's Public Security Bureau nothing more than misers hoarding treasure? When it comes to speed of action and information suppression, your Public Security Bureau truly makes our prosecutors' office feel ashamed of itself.
"After all, we prosecutors only learned the day before yesterday that the incidents involving mental breakdowns were connected to Black Xu Fu, while your public security police obtained that information five days ago and have been investigating in secret ever since.
"Heh, that reminds me of the intelligence cooperation agreement signed twenty years ago by the National Police Agency, the prosecutors' offices, and the Metropolitan Police Department. The rhetoric sounded magnificent at the time. All three parties were supposed to share the intelligence and materials they obtained. But now, forget sharing intelligence. We should consider ourselves fortunate that none of us deliberately obstructs the others. As far as I can see, that so-called cooperation agreement is now scarcely worth more than a blank sheet of paper.
"Am I wrong, Nagakura?"
Keryo Ikari looked at the man before her—Kageryu Nagakura—and spoke slowly.
"You seem to have misunderstood something. Even though the three parties signed an intelligence cooperation agreement, anyone wishing to share intelligence must still submit an application first. Back then, whenever the National Police Agency wanted information from the prosecutors' office, we also had to submit an application. What? Is your prosecutors' office somehow special? When other people request your information, they must apply first, but when you request information from others, you needn't bother?"
Kageryu Nagakura chuckled without backing down. Then he changed the subject.
"It looks like you've just come out of the hospital. How did it go?"
"Thank you for your concern. The doctor told me to eat fewer pungent and spicy foods lately. What a difficult thing to ask. My favorite late-night meal is spicy pork belly fried noodles. If I'm forbidden from eating anything spicy, won't I have to bid farewell to my favorite midnight snack?"
Keryo shrugged and replied with a soft laugh.
"Haha. If a criminal told such a clumsy lie while you were interrogating them, would you believe it?" Kageryu Nagakura laughed.
"That is why I am not a criminal."
Keryo replied casually, then glanced around and continued:
"I know why you came to Chiba Municipal Hospital because I came here for the same purpose. My questioning went fairly smoothly, and I only finished a short while ago. If you want to know what happened, we can sit in the car and discuss it slowly. Don't go upstairs and question Dr. Motokawa again. A prosecutor has only just left, and now a public security officer is immediately following behind. Anyone would become furious after being disturbed one time after another, wouldn't they?"
"You're right. Especially since she has only just finished being questioned by you. Given your habit of treating everyone you meet like a criminal suspect whenever you have nothing better to do, I can already imagine how foul Dr. Motokawa's mood must be. Even if I went to question her now, I probably wouldn't get anything useful."
Kageryu Nagakura nodded and spoke with great understanding.
"Very well. We'll follow the usual custom—a fair trade, exchanging the intelligence each of us possesses. I'll tell you about my conversation with Dr. Motokawa, and you will tell me what your recent investigation uncovered."
"Straightforward as always. Come on, we'll use my car." Kageryu Nagakura agreed without hesitation.
After the two entered the car, Keryo recounted her earlier conversation with Kumi Motokawa in full.
"So Dr. Motokawa has no idea what Black Xu Fu represents. And that ignorance alone instantly cleared her of suspicion. Are you certain she wasn't lying?" Kageryu Nagakura asked after listening.
"You know how capable I am at detecting lies. If she intended to lie, I would know before she even spoke. But the fact remains that Dr. Motokawa did not lie. She truly has no idea what Black Xu Fu means. The fact that she happens to have some connection, however slight, to all three incidents may genuinely be nothing more than coincidence."
After saying that, Keryo immediately urged him onward.
"I've already told you about the conversation. Now it is your turn to tell me about your investigation."
"Some time ago, I found a rather interesting seventy-year-old woman in a hospital in Izu."
"Interesting?"
"Yes. She is a distant relative of the Kuchibana family. Her mother married a man in Izu many years ago and gave birth to her there. During the Showa era, both she and her mother had almost completely severed contact with the Kuchibana family.
"After marrying and moving away, her mother never returned to Gokugu Village, nor did she ever take her daughter there. That was why the woman survived the Massacre all those years ago. However, from that point onward, her mental state began deteriorating. Sometimes she was lucid, while at other times she behaved like a madwoman.
"She was hospitalized because of an illness some time ago, and no one knows how many days she has left to live. I took advantage of a moment when her mind was clear and asked whether she knew about Black Xu Fu. Unexpectedly, she gave me a rather interesting answer."
"What did she say?"
"She said her mother had once told her about Black Xu Fu. Her mother's description was so bizarre and fantastical that she still remembers it vividly to this day."
"Tell me quickly. I am also curious how the Kuchibana family described Black Xu Fu back then."
"Her mother said Black Xu Fu was a woman with long, snow-white hair. Black Xu Fu appeared to be a teenage girl, but in truth, she was a Dove whose body carried the blood of eternal life, an immortal being who had wandered the world for tens of thousands of years."
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