That evening, Detective Asakura and Officer Nanata ordered greasy take-out and ate massive burgers, dripping in grease and sauce. They needed a break and they both knew it, but they were watching the beaten-up CCTV camera's feed from the day of the murder on x3 speed, watching the breeze rattle the trees, and the various hiking groups take to the trails.
They kept an eye out for Mr Tanaka, who had returned to the pools, not long after being ejected from the dining area, when sopping wet. He'd hailed someone by the mouth of the extreme hiking trail, who had their back to the camera. They were wearing the khaki jacket all staff had to wear, but their name was unclear. This mystery person vanished, and there was no sign of Mr Tanaka until he left the trail six hours later. He didn't return to the trails until after midnight. Detective Asakura had seen the group of teenagers head off to fish, and, true to form, Aigawa Kaho being carried by the boy who must be Matsuoka Naseru, as well as the rest of the team's return. It was a while until Mr Tanaka went back, like he'd known there would be prospective fishermen as part of the basketball training camp. He met with a man wearing his work khakis, standing at the bicycle side of a rickshaw, laden with tools and equipment; grappling hooks, ropes, shears, scissors, snorkels, and …was that a knife?
"Pause," Detective Asakura said, swallowing his mouthful of burger.
"Is that a knife?" Officer Nanata squeaked, "No way the killer was that brazen!"
They took a timestamp for their records and pressed play, watching the two men meet and disappear into the trees. An hour later, the member of reserve staff cycled out of the trail via rickshaw, a tarp was pulled over the back of the rickshaw. His face was on full display, if not a bit blurry.
"Sato," Officr Nanata snarled, "Sato Kenta murdered Mr Tanaka!"
Another timestamp reading was taken for their records, and an uncomfortable, heavy silence settled between the two officers. Nanata broke it with a disgruntled groan, "How did he spike Mrs Tanaka's water?"
"He's the caretaker. He may have a master key." Detective Askaura said, "Maybe now he's under arrest, people will express if they found him weird or uncomfortable to be around. We should speak to Miss Aigawa. Get a statement. Reckon she's awake?"
Kaho was still awake. She had barely slept all night, and while Fumiko snored peacefully in Kaho's original bed, Kaho wanted to leave the reserve as quickly as possible. She had left Fumiko to her rest, and slumped on the cabin's porch, watching moths flitter around the overhead lamp.
She sighed, leaning her head against a post. She wanted to go home.
She was still on the stoop of her cabin when Officer Nanata turned the corner, holding two steaming thermos flasks. Officer Nanata was in pink fluffy pyjamas, and her work boots, her hair was tied back in a high ponytail, with a few baby hairs cascading down her forehead, and her face was bare of any makeup.
"Mind if I join you?" Officer Nanata said, holding out a thermos, "I brought hot chocolate."
Kaho looked up and rubbed her eyes. Her body ached with fatigue, but she couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. She scooted over on the stoop and allowed Officer Nanata to sit with her.
"How did you know I wouldn't be able to sleep?" Kaho asked weakly.
Nanata smiled, "I doubt anyone could sleep after that. Not when it's on their mind."
Kaho sipped the hot chocolate. Her eyes widened and she inhaled deeply as the rich, velvety liquid trickled down her throat. It was exquisite; made with time and patience, instead of just instant hot chcolate powder; she could feel swirls of shaved milk, white and dark chocolate that hadn't quite melted yet, send explosions of flavour through her mouth. She slumped against the post beside her and exhaled like it was the first time she'd taken a breath all day.
"We've got him, Miss Aigawa," Officer Nanata said.
Kaho shuddered, "I want to go home. He was in my room and I hate it."
"In your room? When?"
Kaho shrugged, "Few nights ago. Can't quite remember. Maybe the Sunday? He'd been in Fumi- in my bed. I could smell him, and had to ask for more bedding."
Officer Nanata fought the urge to gag. That man had wormed his way into a teenage girl's bedding and lingered in there enough to leave a distinct scent behind, like he was some kind of animal marking his territory. Nanata's grip on the handle of her flask grew tighter.
"I probably should have said that last night," Kaho admitted, "But I was scared, and tired, and just wanted Taiga to tell me it was going to be okay."
Officer Nanata gave Kaho a small smile, "Write a statement. Another one, about everything he did, so we can keep him behind bars for as long as possible."
Kaho sipped more of her hot chocolate. She nodded, wiping any excess of her mouth and chin.
"I think I'm going to finish my walk," Officer Nanata said, stretching her arms forward, "Enjoy the hot chocolate, and hopefully writing it all down for us makes it easier for you to rest."
Kaho nodded, "But the hot chocolate!"
"Just enjoy it. Give the flask back tomorrow with your statement. Sleep well."
Kaho wrinkled her nose, glancing from the hot chocolate, to her shared cabin, to where Officer Nanata had gone. She sighed and got to her feet, heading back inside the cabin and switching on a lamp, so she could write down whatever Nanata wanted her to say. If it helped secure a conviction, and there was no way Kaho would be sleeping anyway, what was the harm?
Kaho was one of the first people in the dining hall the next morning, managing to beat both Officer Nanata and Detective Asakura. She had a small stack of papers in hand, recounting everything about how strange Sato Kenta was, from imitating her and her friends, to breaking into her cabin and making Fumiko's bed stink of him. She'd written about how he'd coaxed her into the woods pretending to be Naseru, and how she'd managed to set a boar on him. Every last detail was committed to paper, ready for Officer Nanata.
One of the perks of being early was that she was able to get to the smoothie station twice. It almost made up for her lack of sleep. Almost.
She was surprised to watch Officer Nanata enter the dining hall looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed after looking so rough the previous night. As promised, Kaho had picked up the thermos flask Nanata had given her, and waved to the policewoman as she came in. Officer Nanata held up a finger, telling her to wait.
Kaho did as she was told, and returned to her meal; she'd chosen fresh fruit and yoghurt with honey, and was mostly stirring the handful of berries in her bowl into the creamy yoghurt. She was full from the smoothies. But, she'd get another before the cart was wheeled away. It was a miracle the reserve had been allowed to maintain its food delivery schedule despite the heavy police presence.
She was having her first spoonful of yoghurt when Officer Nanata came over, Detective Asakura at her side. They handed her a wad of papers she had to sign.
"I actually need a guardian here for these," Kaho said, shaking her head, "I'm only sixteen."
Nanata swore under her breath and turned her head, scanning the dining room, her gaze finally settling on Taiga. He was plating up his own meal; a tower of American style pancakes with honey, sugar and syrup. He headed to the fruit counter next, tipping a spoonful of berries on his plate. He scooped up some yoghurt and dolloped it with a splat on the side of the plate.
He caught Officer Nanata's stare and headed over to her, instead of the few third years who had already woken up for breakfast.
"Morning, Detective Asakura, Officer Nanata. How can I help you?"
"You sister," Detective Asakura said curtly, "She needs an adult present, a guardian to sign some documents. Statements."
Kaho looked up at her brother, her brows knitted together in concern. He cleared his throat and set his plate down, skimming over the contents of each piece of paper. He signed on the dotted line once, twice and then a third time, before handing the forms to Kaho. She did the same and handed her statement to the police officers.
Officer Nanata smiled and took her thermos flask from the table, and headed to a separate one with Detective Asakura, leaving the siblings to join the rest of their team.
"You got her to give a statement," Detective Asakura said, skimming the account on the paper, "Impressive."
"She mentioned," Officer Nanata said, reaching for her coffee, "That he'd been in her room."
Detective Asakura's eyes widened. He lowered his papers, eyes flickering from Kaho to across the room, at the door. He was asking her if there was a link between Kaho and Mrs Tanaka.
Officer Nanata shrugged, "Proves he had the access; the opportunity to break into these rooms and therefore implicates him for potentially drugging Mrs Tanaka."
"You did a great job there," he admitted.
Officer Nanata grinned, "Thank you, Sir. This will hopefully implicate him."
Detective Asakura nodded, "We should have enough evidence to charge him."
Nanata nodded, "Oh, and remember after we went to bed and kept the tapes running? Fukuda came in this morning and paused it after he saw Sato coax one of the other teens out of their rooms and onto the hiking trails. While you were doing your skincare, I rewound it. He tried to attack another girl before he got Aigawa. These girls should thank their lucky stars."
Detective Asakura nodded, "They really should. After breakfast, let's go to the hospital and charge that scumbag."
Nanata nodded eagerly, plunging her fork into her breakfast. Like Taiga, she had opted for American style pancakes. But hers were limp, soggy and cold. She wrinkled her nose and ate them with her eyes screwed closed. They were never anywhere near as good when they were cold.
"Fancy a drive-thru breakfast on the way?" Detective Asakura said, "You look like you'd rather prise every hair from your eyebrows with your fingernails than finish those pancakes."
Nanata snorted, "You always have such a way with words, Detective?"
The local hospital was abuzz with noise; chatter and the whirring of machines were like a pinball machine reverberating in Detective Asakura's skull. He hated hospitals.
The foyer was busy, visitors with their arms full of gifts and bags, were milling about and blocking everyone's paths. Meanwhile, outpatients weaved between the loitering and slow guests, rushing to their appointments. There was a short queue of people at the inquiries desk, an elderly woman in a yellow cardigan, a blue skirt and brikenstocks, hunched over on a crutch, a man in a red hat and jeans, his arms put in a makeshift sling made of a floral scarf, and a woman with a sleek black bob and a double pram, with two squirming, fussy toddlers, and two older children, both wearing princess dresses, the older one wore a blue dress covered in glitter, and was steering her sister in a wheelchair, who was wearing a long purple gown. They had plastic tiaras on, and smeared, cracking face paint.
Detective Asakura and Officer Nanata waited for their turn to be seen by a box-blonde receptionist in pink scrubs. She was chewing bright blue gum, and typing with rhinestone acrlic nails.
"Good morning," Detective Asakura said, "I'm looking for Sato Kenta. He's in a private room with-"
"Fourth floor, turn left from the stairs, follow the hall to the bottom. Last door on the right. Next!" the receptionist said dryly, her attention skipping from Detective Asakura towards to whoever was behind him in the queue.
Detective Asakura frowned and he and Nanata headed to the elevator, where they went up to the fourth floor, and by following the receptionist's directions, found themselves at the door to a small room.
Sato Kenta was handcuffed to the side of his hospital bed; two of his supervising officers were in the hallway, and two were ensuring he was safe and secure. One, a short, plump woman with salt and pepper hair and smile lines on her face, was sharing a bag of crisps with him as they watched a quiz show. Another was watching them both, to ensure there was no funny business – good cop and bad cop.
Kenta was wrapped up in gauze and bandages, the two gauges in his chest had been patched up and he'd had skin grafts where the tusks had torn his skin clean off. He looked pale, and uncomfortable in the room, even as he munched on crisps and watched TV. He squirmed under the critical gaze of Detective Asakura, and Officer Nanata, like he was sitting on a beehive. He fidgeted and kept looking away from them, either at the TV or out of the window, which was firmly locked.
"Good morning, Mr Sato," Officer Nanata said, "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit," Kenta muttered.
"Well," Nanata said, clapping her hands together, "It's about to get a whole lot worse."
Kenta's lip curled up.
"She's right. Ahem. Sato Kenta, you're under arrest for the murder of Tanaka Hiroshi and the attempted murder of Aigawa Kaho and Kiminara Akane."
Kenta's lip quivered, "Wha-why? No!"