Mr Shirotani emerged from the office holding a crumpled piece of paper in his fist.
"Come, Detective, come look," he said triumphantly. He pointed his stiff hands at the crude drawing on the paper, "The archivist, the one who died, Tanaka, he drew this; said there had been rumours some old thing was hidden underground somewhere in this region. He'd gone caving, diving and all sorts to try and find it. This was the fourteenth place on his list. Fourteenth!"
Mr Shirotani leaned against the receptionist's desk and grinned, "I didn't know this was here. But Tanaka said he had to find it, apparently it's dead valuable," he cut himself off, "Um, excuse the expression."
Detective Asakura took the sheet of paper from Mr Shirotani gingerly, and caressed each fold and crumple, beneath his thumb. The image was wobbly, drawn with some haste, and had a crude resemblance to the relic beneath the pool, though, Tanaka's drawing looked more like a squid, with a diamond shape to its head, and fewer appendages. But, the most distinct, identifiable thing on the paper was a circle with a teardrop shaped orca, shaded with little crosses. Anatomically abhorrent, but a jury wouldn't need to question that Mr Tanaka had identified the relic in that sketch.
"Can we authenticate when he drew it?" Detective Asakura asked.
Mr Shirotani nodded and flipped the paper over.
"Yoshitani Mai's holiday request," he grinned triumphantly, "They have to date when they put it in. This was four days before the poor man died. It's a miracle Kenta hadn't taken the trash out yet. He should have done… funny how things get away from you when something like this happens, huh? The bins were supposed to be collected yesterday… Ah, oh well, better for you, eh, Detective? What do you think? Reckon this will help?"
Detetcive Asakura wasn't a man who fancied the company of other men, or anyone that much older than him but in that moment, he could have kissed the old man.
"This will help more than you know," Detective Askaura said, "Do you – by any chance, know if he found it?"
"I hope he did," Mr Shirotani said pensively, "God rest his soul."
The hiking trails were cold and dark, even under the glow of Kaho's phone torch. She followed the sound of Naseru's voice. He was coaxing her away, telling her he had to talk to her; he had to show her something. Something in her heart had exploded at the thought of him trusting him, and so, she'd followed him deep into the dark woods with reckless abandon.
She reached the small fence where she had hiked with Naseru and the other people in her group on that first day. A trail that had seemed so tranquil in daylight seemed to be bathed in shadows and malice. Each step Kaho took was tentative like she'd lose her footing in a rabbit warren. The cicada's chirping and trilling sounded more like a siren than an orchestra under the sardonic smile of a waning moon. She took a deep breath and continued to where there was a small, flat verge.
In the daytime, it had been a picturesque place, overrun with reeds and long grass that billowed in the wind. She stopped and clutched onto a wooden railing, preventing her from toppling down onto the banks of a stream. It was rickety, precarious and clearly unsafe like it had taken the brunt of a collision or rough weather. A forceful enough shove could easily render the whole thing moot, and the whole post could roll to the stream below.
It was fast flowing from what she remembered and wasn't far from the pond where Taiga had insisted the teams partake in the trust exercise of scaling the precarious toppling poles. She reckoned that if she lifted her torch further afield she might be able to make out the top one.
She hadn't noticed Naseru's silence until a stick crunched behind her.
"Interview with Mr Shirotani Botan and Mr Tsukishima Kouji resumed at 21:09. Primary interviewer, Detective Asakura Ryohei present."
"Secondary interviewer, Officer Nanata Kyoko present. Can you two please give your names again for the record?"
"Mr Tsukishima Kouji."
"Mr Shirotani Botan."
"Fantastic. Thank you," Detective Asakura said, "As I said before, neither of you are under arrest and have the right to terminate the interview whenever you please. You may request further food, drinks, recesses, representation etc. as and whenever you deem necessary. Can you please confirm your understanding of this?"
"Understood," said Mr Shirotani.
"I understand," confirmed Mr Tsukishima.
During the brief recess, where Detective Asakura had received the note depicting the relic, Nanata received formal, written consent to access the site CCTV. They didn't have much, just a few cameras in communal areas. She had found a video from the day of Mr Tanaka's murder when he had attended breakfast sopping wet and entered it into evidence herself. Pillaging the rest of the video files would take longer, and would be delegated down the chain of command, but until then, they had one video which confirmed that Mr Tanaka had likely gone searching for the relic in the pools on the hiking trail.
Nanata turned her laptop to the two elderly men, "I'm aware neither of you appear on camera at this time, but as you can see, this video depicts the late Mr Tanaka attending breakfast at 08:27am on the day of his murder. He is soaking wet."
"Indeed," Mr Shirotani scowled, "But, if I may, Officer?" he reached to the laptop. She nodded.
"Let the record show that Officer Nanata has given consent for Mr Shirotani to alter the video feed," Detective Asakura said.
Mr Shirotani pulled the toggle on the video feed, showing a group of teenagers rushing through the French doors in the dining room, slamming them closed and peering out of them. Some of them were shaking. Detective Asakura squinted at the video feed. Two girls. Five boys. Two familiar-looking kids.
He bit his lip; the boy with the braids and the girl who seemed perpetually glued to his side. He had seen them walking together throughout the investigation. His stomach clenched, like he'd taken a blow. They must be Jun and Yoko of the Hoshimiki Beetles. Perhaps that was one mystery solved, not the one that mattered of course, but something that had been bothering him all the same.
"One of our guests, a Mr Kenjoku- sorry, Mr Aigawa Taiga, managed to draw the ire of one of the wild boars on the reserve, startling the kids," Mr Tsukishima said, "Can't say I blame them, most people would run from a charging boar. They tend to bed down by the low hiking trail, the easy one. Can scare the living daylights out of someone if they're not expecting it."
"Noted," Detective Asakura said, "Is this relevant?"
"Ah. Sorry. Of course," Mr Shirotani said, backpedalling, "We were absent from the dining area due to needing to attend to Mr Aigawa after his scare. However, I believe that if I press this button and then that button – aha! Botan, you're a tech wizard."
"You literally just opened a different file, calm down, Botan," Mr Tsukishima snorted.
The new file opened. It was an exterior camera, flickery and jumpy, and somewhat blurry, damaged from wind or rain or simply just wear. It was recording the external area in the moments before Mr Tanaka entered the dining area. The camera was trained directly at the three hiking trails, and depicted him rushing, all but tripping over his feet to reach the dining area, from none other than the hardest hiking trail.
"He was certainly looking in the pools," Mr Tsukishima said, "Is there anything else we can help with?"
Nanata glanced over at Detective Asakura, who pursed his lips.
"Shall we take five?" Detective Asakura asked.
The two old men nodded.
"More tea would be splendid if you could?"
"Of course," Nanata said, bowing her head, "Interview Recess called at 21:34."
The two police officers made their way outside. Nanata yawned into her fist, "Looks like we have a clear indication that he was onto something here. But why kill him for it?"
"We may have to speak to the widow in the morning," said Detective Asakura
"I'll terminate the interview, you brew the tea," Nanata said, "Meet you here in a few."
Kaho let out a shriek, pivoting on one foot and clutching the rickety log railing for stability. She pointed her phone upward, the glare harsh when put against something close, and solid.
She felt her stomach sink, nausea had her in a vice, and she was convinced she would vomit the second she realised who was behind her.
"Hello, Aigawa," said Kenta, his voice a perfect imitation of Naseru's, "Any last words?"