Chapter 7: A Private Investigation
After finishing a day of training at the theater, Aqua dragged his weary body back to his bedroom. Taiki Himekawa had coached him on many acting techniques today; while the harvest was plentiful, it had drained a significant amount of his energy. He lay lazily on his large bed, staring at the soft glow of the ceiling light, allowing his body to relax completely.
The bedroom wasn't particularly large, but for a four-year-old, it was more than spacious. The walls were painted a pale blue, and various reference books and scripts were neatly arranged on the desk. Aside from study materials, the bookshelf held several movie DVDs recommended by Director Gotanda. A small pothos plant sat on the windowsill—a decorative touch Ai had bought specifically for the room.
As Aqua grew older, shortly after the Dome performance, he and Ruby had moved into their own independent bedrooms, no longer needing to squeeze onto the same bed as Ai.
Thinking of this, Aqua couldn't help but recall the scene at the time.
"Aqua, Ruby, come here for a second." Ai had stood in the center of the living room, hands behind her back, a somewhat mysterious smile on her face. "I have some good news for you."
The two children approached curiously. Ruby was excited: "What's the good news? Does Mama have a new concert scheduled?"
"Hikaru suggested that it's time to prepare your own bedrooms," Ai said, crouching down to look tenderly at the twins. "I think it makes sense; after all, you're big kids now. So, starting today, you'll have your own rooms! You don't have to squeeze into one bed with Mama anymore."
Her tone carried a hint of reluctance. "The thought of not being able to hold you while I sleep at night makes me feel a bit lonely too."
Hearing this, Ruby looked as if her world had ended. She instantly latched onto Ai's leg, her eyes brimming with tears. "No! Let's keep it the way it was! I don't want to leave Mama!"
"We were getting along so well, why do we have to sleep separately?" Ruby's voice was dejected. "I still want to see Mama the first thing in the morning!"
Aqua watched the scene from the side, speechless, before eventually speaking up: "Ruby, we're already quite old; it really is time to separate. Besides, isn't it great to have your own room? You can decorate it however you like and have more private space."
Ruby retorted: "We're only 4 years old, Brother. Do you actually think you're an adult?"
Aqua replied without hesitation: "I feel like I am."
With a body that had shrunk but a mind that remained sharp, Aqua did not wish to be treated like a child.
Ai gently stroked Ruby's hair. "Ruby, Aqua is right. You're both growing up and need your own space. Besides, Mama's room is right next door. If you ever want to find me, you can come over anytime."
Ruby looked at Ai tearfully, then at the "cold and heartless" Aqua, and finally nodded in resignation.
Back in the present, Aqua sat up from the bed, leaned over, and dragged a small cardboard box from beneath it. Inside the box were several mobile phones—all belongings left behind by Shinichiro Ishigami.
After Ishigami's accidental death, Hikaru Hoshino had taken them back to Ishigami's hideout. To avoid leaving traces that might implicate them in the case, they had meticulously cleaned the evidence at the scene. In the chaos, Aqua had swiped several of Ishigami's phones, figuring these devices might contain vital clues.
Aqua hadn't handed these phones over to the Metropolitan Police—Ishigami was dead, the case was essentially closed, and over-involvement would only bring unnecessary trouble to himself and his family. Similarly, he hadn't given them to Hikaru Hoshino. The reason was simple: Hikaru had never asked for them.
Since Hikaru seemingly didn't need this evidence, he would investigate it himself.
Aqua picked up one of the phones and scrutinized it. This man, Shinichiro Ishigami, still left him perplexed.
From the information gathered so far, Ishigami was the mastermind who instigated Ryosuke to murder Gorou Amamiya and attempt to assassinate Ai. But judging by his subsequent actions, the man's intelligence and methods were remarkably limited. The arson attempt was crude and direct, lacking any technical skill; the plan to trigger a landslide was even more absurd, lacking basic geological knowledge and riddled with flaws in execution.
Could a man with such poor circumstances and a simple mind really have the capability to manipulate Ryosuke into murder? Or rather, given Ishigami's style, he should have done the job himself. Aqua narrowed his eyes, the two white six-pointed stars in his pupils faintly shimmering in the dark.
Analyzing the situation calmly, the whole affair seemed highly suspicious. Ishigami didn't seem like the person truly behind Ryosuke; there had to be a secret he didn't know yet.
Aqua took the three phones from the box and lined them up on his desk. Under the dim light of the desk lamp, these old phones looked particularly dilapidated, their plastic casings covered in scratches and wear.
For the sake of secrecy, Aqua hadn't sought professional help to dismantle the phones or read the memory cards. Instead, he decided to use the most primitive method—brute-forcing the passwords.
He was grateful that Ishigami used these old-fashioned phones rather than the latest iPhone.
The password systems of old phones were relatively simple: a four-digit numeric code, totaling only 10,000 possible combinations. After five incorrect attempts, the phone would lock for 30 seconds, but there were no other additional security mechanisms. Considering the time required to input, one could roughly try 5 passwords per minute, or 300 per hour. Theoretically, it would take only 33.3 hours to exhaust all possibilities.
If Ishigami had used a new iPhone—like the one Ai was using now—it would be a completely different story.
Apple's security mechanisms were extremely thorough, featuring not only complex password combinations but also multiple layers of protection. The latest models even utilized hardware security modules and encrypted co-processors to deeply bind user data with device keys. Even if one were to violently dismantle the machine to read the flash memory chips directly, the data would remain undecryptable without the device's unique encryption key.
More frighteningly, consecutive incorrect passwords would trigger increasing lockout times, eventually leading to permanent device lockout or automatic data erasure. Facing a six-digit or longer combination, attempting to crack it one by one would likely take ten years or more.
It would take too much time and be incredibly tedious.
Surely no one would be willing to spend ten years just to crack a phone password, right?
Aqua felt fortunate. Luckily, Ishigami was relatively poor and couldn't afford a new phone.
Using the gaps between filming, Aqua spent two hours secretly every day on this monotonous task. After half a month of effort, he had successfully cracked two of the phones.
To his disappointment, however, those two phones contained no valuable information. Aside from a few scattered call logs, there were almost no clues and no recording files. Furthermore, the registered locations for those phone numbers were all within Miyazaki.
Now, only the last phone remained. According to his calculations, he should be able to finish the final few hundred password combinations today. He would open it, no matter what.
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