The room serving as the venue for the student council meetings in the school was quiet with hushed tones until Magic opened the door and walked out with an air of authority. However, once she was sure he was out of ear sight, Kiyoto groaned loudly and banged her fists on the table in fury.
“Kiyoto please calm down,” Ruri cautioned.
“Tell me why the hell I should calm down?!” she stood up glaring at Ruri with fire in her eyes. “That event was a disaster and he is blaming us for it?”
“We all know what happened at the event wasn’t our fault.” Aoki propped his elbow on the table.
“Then why is he blaming us?” she asked and when no one answered, she kicked the table in fury and stormed off.
“Kiyoto!” Itsuki called out but she ignored him and slammed the door behind her leaving the room deathly quiet.
Aoki looked around the room and sighed. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Itsuki nodded watched him leave. Then he turned to Ruri, “Well…this is awkward.”
“Tell me about it,” Ayumi said leaning on the table in defeat.
Meanwhile in the girl’s bathroom, Kiyoto splashed a handful of cold water on her face and looked in the mirror. The rage was still in her eyes and she groaned loudly recalling what happened that day and the problem it generated. Unlike rest of the student council, she was worried about what outsiders would say about the school and despite Magic assuring them that the police were already investigating the situation and the Headmaster was making arrangements to talk to the press and the media to make sure they didn’t air the news she was still worried because they forgot one thing; Social Media.
Once a social media influencer, Kiyoto knew all too well that everyone present at the scene had taken pictures, made videos or told their own version of the story on the internet and already made comments about it. It’s because of things like this that she dreaded looking at her social media page that she specifically made to promoting the reputation of the school and when she did, she saw comments about how people felt about the school or the mocking comments rival schools made about them.
“Gosh! When I took this job, I thought it was one of the easiest gigs I have ever had. Who knew something like this was going to make it hard.” she muttered to herself. “What’s the use of defending the school anyway? Some of the students had already left thanks to the first incident and now my life is on the line here. What am I going to do?”
The tiled walls of the girl’s restroom only added to the eerie silence around her but she was too deep in thought to care about that. Slowly her eyes gleamed and a sly smile formed on her lips creating smirk. She straightened her pose, adjusted the cuffs of her sleeves, walked out she walked out of the restroom with a new found confidence in her step.
‘This has to work,’ she walked up the stairs to the third floor. ‘It has to work.’
Meanwhile in the Journalism Club, Bae slapped a file on the table with an excited grin on her face. “We have another case Emma aren’t you excited?”
With a somber expression on her face, Emma gave a huge sigh and looked at the glasses wearing girl who was busy with her sewing machine before looking back at her friend.
“No,”
Bae puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. “Come Emma!”
“Shouldn’t we be investigating what happened at the event three days ago?” she asked.
“Oh we shouldn’t be worrying about that.” She replied giving a cheeky smile while dismissing her with a wave of her hand. “The police would solve that in no time!”
What followed was silence as Emma folded her arms and studied her friend who continued to chuckle as her smile slowly transformed into a toothy grin while shifting her foot from one side to the other.
“Let me guess, Magic?” she asked.
“No,” Bae hung her head in defeat. “It was the Headmaster. He gave me a warning not to do anything until the police sorted this out or else I he will revoke my scholarship and expel me.”
“Does he know that it’s illegal to revoke a student’s scholarship and expel the same student for no reason?”
“I know but who is going to support me?” she spread her arms. “I have no guardian by my corner!”
The sound of the sewing machine stopped and the two girls watched the girl make some quick adjustments before operating it. Emma was the first to look away and looked back at Bae with boredom in her eyes.
“It’s a good thing I am bored anyway.” she muttered loud enough for her to hear. “So what do you got?”
Bae squealed in excitement and ran to the detective board where she had pinned some pictures with names underneath them and were connected with red strings.
“Okay, this is our situation at hand,” she said pointing at the picture of a purple haired middle aged woman with purple eyes, “This woman claimed that her friend was killed by her former husband who is this guy.”
Emma looked at the picture of a brown haired middle aged man with tired eyes with the name, Takumi Okada written underneath it. “How did he do it?”
“According to the information she gave me, her husband more like ex-husband drove her to suicide.” she replied pointing at the picture of a beautiful blond haired woman who was smiling back at them and the name Misaki Okada was written under it. “She was found dead in her apartment on July 13th 2020 and was buried on February 3rd 2021which was four years ago. Her friends describe the victim as a kind, fun loving, smart, perfect soul who would could no wrong.”
“That’s a lot of words used to describe someone,” Emma pointed out.
A wave of confusion washed over Bae’s face. “Why do you say that?”
“It almost sounds…fake,” came the response. “Like the kind of praise one would give a celebrity, a pop star or an actor.”
“Oh! Have you met one before?” she asked with eyes glowing with excitement.
“Yeah but I don’t want to talk about it. It was a nasty experience.” Was my reply. “Are you sure what the witness told you is the truth?”
Bae nodded.
“Is the woman a celebrity or something?”
“Nope! Just your ordinary office worker,”
“Figures. Where does she work?”
Bae opened her mouth and was about to say something but she let it hang in the air before letting her eyes widen biting her bottom lip in embarrassment.
“You forgot to ask her that right?”
“My mistake,” she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
“It’s okay. We are human after all,” Emma said bringing a smile to Bae’s face. “But you know where her ex-husband works right?”
“Yep!” she whipped out another picture and pinned it underneath the picture of the victim’s ex-husband. “He works in Barusa Town’s Insurance Agency as an Insurance Salesman.”
Emma scoffed at that. “They still have that?”
“Insurance Salesmen?”
Bae shrugged.
“Y…yes they still have that,” came a voice. Everyone turned to look at the girl behind the sewing machine and she quickly looked away. “N…never mind.”
“No, no, go on,” Emma encouraged. “You were saying something.”
Shy and embarrassed, the girl bowed her head while cursing herself for opening her mouth. Then she flinched when she felt something touch her back and looked up to see the two girls staring at her.
“Wh…what is it?” she mumbled.
“You were telling us something that might be important to this case,” Bae said.
She quickly shook her head letting her long locks sway. “No. It’s useless.”
“No it isn’t.” Bae caressed her back. “You were telling us about Insurance Agencies and what they do.”
“Actually, she was telling us about their sales tactics.” Emma reminded them. “Something about them using humans to promote their services?”
“We…well,” she swallowed her saliva. “S…some insurance c…companies a…actually use salesmen to advertise and promote their ser…services. Some label them as ‘Insurance Sales men’ but the m…more common term t…to call them a…are ‘Insurance Agents’.”
“So he is an Insurance Agent,” Bae said.
“But we are in the digital age. There is no way they would still use humans to do promote their goods.” Emma pointed out.
“Yes they do!” she exclaimed before turning red. “O…nly the top shot insurance companies use websites and links to generate their attention to their policies bu…but they still use Insurance Agents to represent their clients. The lower insurance companies use human salesmen to advertise their companies’ policies and insurance policies.”
After hearing this, Emma hummed in thought and looked back at the tired looking man. Then she walked over to the table and opened Bae’s notebook.
“Did he take a life insurance policy on his wife?” she asked ripping out a page.
Bae shook her head. “No one mentioned that.”
“That should be one of the questions we need to answer,” Emma scribbled on the paper and pinned it under the man. “If he worked for an insurance company and her friends are suspecting him of driving his wife to suicide, we need to find the motive behind his actions. If it is for the insurance, then this means the motive is for financial.”
“I agree with that but what if the motive was jealousy?” Bae asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Her friends did say she was popular at her work place and was due for a promotion. What if he was jealous of her?”
Emma couldn’t help it but feel the excitement bubble up in her however; she refused to admit it, at least not in front of the person who dragged her into this.
“We don’t know but if what his friends said was true then we have to find a motive,” Emma remarked. “Did the victim have any siblings?”
“Yes,” Bae pinned another picture of a man in his early thirties sporting brown hair and brown eyes with busy eyebrows and an angry looking scowl on his face next to the picture of the victim. “He is an older sibling who goes by the name Hideki Morita; a 32 year old living in Bing City and works as a lead construction worker there. His mother, age 79 lives in a nursing home in Green Tea Village.”
Emma’s eyes widen in shock at that. “A nursing home?”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t it illegal to abandon your parents when they are old?”
“I…its not i…illegal in some pl…places,” the girl behind the sewing machine pointed out. “I…if the p…parent has a mental disability o…or the child has no financial means to t…take care of the parent, th…they can leave them there.”
Once again, the girl could feel the pressure of their gaze sinking into her mind so she looked away but felt the need to tell them how she knew all of this. “My mother put my grandfather in there when he developed dementia. Her and my dad had to go through a lot of paper work to get it done and it worked. He lived there for three more years before he died.”
“Oh,” Bae made a gesture with her hand and took a bow. “May his soul rest in peace.”
“T…thank you…” she mumbled.
There was a moment of silence before Emma asked, “Talking about death, how did the victim die?”
“She hung herself,” Bae scratched the back of her head and looked away. “I couldn’t get the picture.”
“No need. I don’t feel like looking at it,” Emma said.
“M…me n…neither,” muttered the girl behind the sewing machine.
“Okay! So we know what we are looking for so here’s the plan; Emma will go to Barusa Town to talk to the man about his relationship with his wife while I’ll go to Bing City to talk to the brother.” Bae announced.
Emma’s heart skipped a beat when she heard that and the memories of that town flashed before her eyes but that wasn’t the only thing that terrified her. A knot appeared in her stomach and her chest heaved as she tried to pull herself together but the sweat on her forehead began to form and colors began to emerge from the corner of the room they were in. Quickly, she found a seat next to the girl behind the sewing machine and sat down cradling her head.
“Emma? Are you alright?” Bae asked concerned.
Emma shook her head and heaved. “No. I am not okay.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I can’t go to Barusa Town.” the memories continued to flash and she swallowed saliva to suppress the emotion growing in her. “I don’t want to go back to that town.”
Bae stared at her friend with hint of disappointment in her eyes before giving her a warm smile. “It’s okay. We don’t have to go there if you are uncomfortable with the decision.”
The girl behind the sewing watched Bae wrap her arm around her friends shoulder with bated breaths before fixing her gaze on cloth on the machine wondering if she could change the stitching. Sounds of Emma sniffing and taking deep breaths echoed across the silent room before the sound of sewing machine resumed. Unbeknownst to them Kiyoto was listening to their conversation with a smile on her face.
The weekend came quickly and Emma found herself standing in a crowded subway station waiting for Bae to arrive. The noise from the crowd didn’t help the growing anxiety inside her and she started to pace while studying the faces in the crowd.
“Beloved?”
The hair on her skin stood on end and her eyes franticly and thrashed her head from the left to the right around for the owner of said voice but everyone in the crowd were talking to each other, having conversations on the phone or just waiting for the train.
Then she spotted the figure among the crowd wearing a hooded jacket and black jeans with a pair of white and blue sneakers. Everything around her slowed down and Emma’s heart raced faster as she stared wide eyed as the person drew closer with a toothy smile on its face.
“Emma! We are here!”
Like a lightning bolt striking a tree, she jolted at the touch on her shoulder and looked behind her to see her friend and the Guidance Counselor looking back at her with a calm expression on their face.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Bae said taking a step back.
Emma breathed in deeply and immediately rubbed the back of her neck.
Ms. Mishema studied the area and immediately understood what happened. “You are still uncomfortable in crowded areas. Apart from your symptoms, they make you hallucinate.”
“It…its okay. The colors hadn’t started coming yet.” Emma gulped down saliva in an attempt to sooth the pain on her back then looked at Bae. “What is she doing here?”
Putting her hands into the pocket of her oversized, pink unzipped jacket, Bae looked down in guilt before looking back at Ms. Mishema. “She…”
“Someone overheard your little chat and informed me about it.” the forty year old woman said.
“Who told you that?”
“It’s not important. What’s important is getting you to the location in a sane mind.”
Hearing that, Bae snapped her head to the right in shock. “You mean…”
“Follow me,” she ordered walking away. “And the next time both of you want to go somewhere, take the bus. There are fewer crowds there.”
The two girls looked at each other confused and hurried after the woman who lead them deeper into the subway then up the stairs leading to its exist. As they climbed the steps Emma studied her surroundings and immediately realized why they were taking this route; there were no cameras or surveillance here. The final fleet of stairs led to a pair of closed doors and the girls watched her shove the door open.
“Get in,” she whispered once the door was wide enough for them to leave to an empty parking lot where a blue SUV parked. The girls quickly got in and watched as she started the car.
“Where are you headed?” she asked while putting the car in gear.
“Bing City. House no. 2 in the Yoshi Town.” Bae replied ignoring the shocked look on Emma’s face.
Ms. Meshima gave a quick nod and pulled out of the parking lot. The drive there was a silent affair with both girls staring out the window to watch the city streets pass the by until it changed into a picturesque landscape. Then a small city came into view from the horizon replacing the landscape with city buildings. Finding a place near the bus stop, the car came to a stop and the girls stepped out of the car.
“Thank you Ms. Mishema,” Bae said performing a fist palm salute.
The older woman nodded in return. “Do you have my phone number?”
“Yep!” Bae’s pigtails bounced up and down in excitement.
The woman cocked an eyebrow at the girl then looked at Emma who stared back at her with a suspicious look on her face before walking away.
“What was that about?” she asked when her friend caught up with her.
“How do I put this,” Bae hummed out loud before turning around on one leg and walking ahead of her. “Someone told Ms. Mishema about out little plan and she came over to my house asking for your whereabouts.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Emma groaned.
“I know. I tried to ask her who told her about it but she told me it didn’t matter and we should hurry up and get you before you have another panic attack,” Bae said. “You didn’t tell anyone about your panic attacks did you?”
“No,” she groaned again. “I didn’t even know what a panic attack is.”
“I have to admit you looked a little pale when we saw you,” they turned round the corner and walked past a street vendor selling hardboiled candy.
“Yeah. I was seeing colors again,”
“Colors?” they stopped in their tracks and Bae looked at her. “What kind of colors?”
At this, Emma groaned and she could feel a headache approaching. “I…I can’t tell. Sometimes I see purple, sometimes I green, white red…”
She hissed at the pain while Bae studied her reaction. ‘Purple is a substitute for darkness, red means danger but green and white? What do those mean?’
“…I see dark spots forming in my vision and everywhere becomes so murky that I feel like I am drowning.”
“Hmm? Drowning?” Bae asked.
Emma narrowed her eyes.
“Sorry. I was thinking maybe you were having a fear possession.” Bae remarked scratching the back of her head.
“Fear possession?”
She nodded and they continued to walk. “Shifu taught us that ‘Fear possession’ is a spiritual sickness that destroys ones cognitive thinking and actions. He describes it as a claw holding you back from fulfilling your true potential and the only way to vanquish it is by discovering what you are afraid of, why you are afraid of it and what to do to vanquish it.”
Emma looked at her friend in amusement. “I am pretty sure your Shifu just described the concept of ‘Fear’ itself.”
She chuckled. “I thought so too but there was some wisdom in his words. Take for instance, I had a fear of talking to people.”
“Why?”
“Cultural barriers and the fact that I had a shaved head during that time but that’s a long story,” she replied quickly dismissing it with a wave of her hand. “Anyway, that was my main fear so I took Shifu’s advice and meditated on it asking this three simple questions; ‘What am I afraid of?’ ‘Why am I afraid of it?’ ‘What can I do to vanquish this fear?’ and I found my solution!”
“By being annoying?”
“No silly! By ignoring what other people say about me!”
The frown on Emma’s face turned to annoyance. “That’s not new.”
“I know and I was shocked to learn that it wasn’t a new concept!” then she puffed out her chest. “So that’s when I decided to be the best version of myself and it worked! Just imagine what would have happened if I didn’t do that! I wouldn’t have learned how to speak and read Japanese, make friends or follow my dream of being a Journalist by formed the Journalism Club. Now I have achieved that and look at where we are now; solving our first case outside the school.”
‘Idiot! I highly doubt if that air head called Ruri is your friend.’ then she pushed out her lips forming a disgruntled but funny look on her face. ‘Not to mention you were the one responsible for my first panic attack in that school.’
She could recall the memory as bright as day. Sitting on the bench in a secluded place in the school’s garden she was eating lunch alone when a noise drew her attention. Heart beating rapidly as paranoia creeped in, she hid the knife behind her and crept behind the hedge to see a girl twin pigtailed hair looking and surrounded by pictures on grassy floor.
“What the hell?”
She could remember Bae turning to look at her with a shocked expression on her face and she stood up letting the pictures fall to the floor. One fluttered near her and looking down, she saw a picture of her eating. Memories flashed before her eyes but one key memory kept replaying; the part where she discovered thousands and thousands of photos of her in different postures and in different places.
“A picture is worth a thousand words Beloved,” she could remember him telling her with a sadistic smile on his face. “That’s why I keep all these photos of you.”
“He sent her, he sent her!” she clasped her head with both hands accidentally revealing the knife in her hands. “He sent her! He sent her! He sent her!”
Bae watched her shut her eyes tight and tilted her head in concern. Before she could comprehend what was happening, the glint of the knife blade flashed before her eyes. Instinctively she moved away and more knife swipes came her forcing her to distance herself between her and her attacker. However Emma closed in quickly for another strike but Bae crouched down, did a quick hand stand and kicked her in the face.
Emma staggered back and felt more stinging blows on her stomach and chest knocking the knife away from her grip but her resolve remained unshaken. With a fierce determination, she assumed a fighting stance and charged at her launching a rapid series of acrobatic kicks towards her opponent, propelling her through the hedge and into the bustling outdoor cafeteria. Gasps of astonishment echoed as Bae crashed amidst the scattered tables and chairs. She quickly recovered and moved quickly to dodge the retaliatory kick thundered towards her, denting the metal pillars supporting the sunshade and executed a fluid backflip, landing gracefully in a wide-legged fighting stance, her fingers poised like tiger claws.
The tension crackled between them, accentuated by the stirring summer wind tousling their hair. Then Emma's desperate cry heralded a fierce charge, her roundhouse kick aimed with lethal precision. Yet Bae, swift as lightning, intercepted with a tiger claw grab, effortlessly spinning Emma three times before releasing her grip. Emma quickly somersaulted in midair to her feet, swiftly closing the distance with a hammerfist strike. Bae countered once more, tiger claw meeting hammerfist in a clash of formidable skill.
The surrounding students stood in awe as the duel intensified, fists and feet a blur in close combat, each anticipating and blocking the other's onslaught. Bae seized a fleeting opportunity to lock Emma's arms with a precise tiger lock grab, but Emma, leveraging her size to her advantage, pushed Bae backwards towards the wall but the girl countered it with a swift transition into a defensive tiger stance. However, Emma's knee strong strike found its mark on her opponent’s ribs making her buckle in pain under the impact followed by a relentless roundhouse kick which sent Bae sliding to the ground.
Emma pounced, pinning Bae down and pressing an arm against her throat, aiming to choke the fight out of her. Yet Bae, summoned the last reserves of her strength she gave a powerful uppercut that knocked the wind out of her opponent. Emma responded by punching her on her cheeks. The battle descended into a chaotic struggle as the two girls locked in a childish struggle for dominance by tugging their hair and their clothes. Their tug-of-war ended abruptly when teachers intervened, separating them.
“What’s wrong with you?” a male teacher bellowed as the other held Bae. “Both of you will have to explain yourselves to the Guidance Counselor immediately!”
The conversation in the Guidance Councilor’s office ended with both girls ended in both girls banned from school for two weeks and promptly sent to the nurse's to have their injuries tended to. Immediately when their suspension was over, Emma arrived in school she was cornered by Bae in the hallway.
"Hi!" Bae chirped, waving enthusiastically with a broad smile on her face.
Emma looked down at her, with a skeptical expression. "What do you want?"
“Awee! That’s not a nice thing to say to someone you just met.” she chuckled nervously and moved her feet from side to side. “Well, considering the fight we just had a few weeks ago, this is actually the second time we have met.”
A throbbing vein popped at the side of Emma’s forehead as the girl gave a toothy grin and she pressed her lips to make sure she didn’t say something she might regret.
"By the way," Bae continued, thrusting her hand forward for a handshake, "My name is Bae Tatsumania, president of the Journalism Club. What's yours?"
Emma stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, in shock and annoyance. 'You've got to be kidding me,' she thought, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking away. "Get lost, shorty."
“H…hey! I am not that short!” Bae yelled as the tall and fully chested girl walked down the hall.
‘Since that day you have been a pain in the neck,’ she gave an annoyed side glance at her and looked away. ‘Yet, I hate to admit this but you turned out to be the only person who could tolerate me.’
Their journey took them to a tall boxy multi-story building situated in a calm neighborhood. A few blocks away from the story building was a convenience store and a bath house and to the right was a gas station with its neon lights beckoning its customers to patronize them.
“He picked a nice place,” Bae said.
“Yeah but I don’t like apartments with no private bathrooms in their rooms.” Emma replied opening the entrance to the front lobby where an old woman was writing something behind the desk.
“Excuse me,” Bae greeted with a fist palm salute. “We are here to see Mr. Morita.”
The elderly woman looked up from her book and smiled. “Oh, good evening my Dears. Who did you want to see?”
“Mr. Morita,” Bae replied. “Is he here?”
Squinted her eyes for a moment before putting on her reading glasses and flipping through the book on her desk. “There he is. Mr. Morita Hideki age 31. He lived in room number 15 at the west wing. Should I ring him for you?”
Emma quickly shook her head. “No thank you. We will go there ourselves.”
“Okay then. Take these stairs and you’ll find the room on the west wing.” She pointed at the fleet of stairs with her shaky finger. “And don’t trip on the way up alright?”
“Yes ma’am,” they said in unison and waved goodbye before walking towards the fleet of stairs.
“She’s old school,” Emma said.
“How can you tell?” Bae asked.
“She is using a book instead of a phone,” Emma answered as they climbed up the first fleet. “Then there is the landline sitting on her desk and the fact that she writes down the rooms and the names of her residents. There are no phone and no gadgets not to mention the fact that she let us in without asking more questions.”
Bae pondered on this as they walked down the hall filled with doors with room numbers engraved on them. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes. Someone could come in claiming to be a friend of the resident, do something and leave. She won’t know what is happened until the police show up or worse.” Emma’s voice turned into a whisper as they approached the door.
“Maybe she’s the owner of the building?” Bae suggested.
“I hope so because if I was the real owner, I’d fire her.” Emma knocked on the door, waited and knocked again until they heard movement.
“Hold on. I’m coming!” a voice called out from behind the door and it opened to its resident wearing a T-shirt, black shorts and a frown on his face. “Can I help you?”
“Good evening sir. Are you Mr. Morita?” Bae asked.
“Why yes I am and you are?”
“Well I’m…”
“We want to ask you questions about the circumstances surrounding your sister’s death,” Emma interrupted.
The man looked at the girls again before scoffing but before he could shut the door Emma put her foot in her way and grabbed the door.
“Emma!” Bae hissed.
“What are you doing?” he yelled.
“It’s best you lower your voice Mr. Morita.” Emma whispered as he struggled to shut the door.
“If you don’t leave, I am calling the police!” he snapped.
“But you will go to jail before I do,” she replied.
“What do you mean?”
Knowing fully well that the shocked expression on her friends face would give them away, she shifted to block his view from her and looked at Mr. Morita in the eyes.
“Listen to me, your mom claimed that you and your brother in-law had something to do with your sister’s death and she has proof of that.” She whispered.
His face widened with shock then narrowed in anger. “You are lying.”
“She said something about both of you planning to splitthe life insurance she had once she was dead and from what I heard, she gave her them the proof to take you to court.” Emma narrowed her eyes and observed him. “One of your friends is vouching told my friend that you are innocent and he begged us to prove it. Now if you don’t let us in and tell us all you know about this, you are on your own.”
This made him lessen his grip on the door and his eyebrows knotted to a sad frown. Looking back at the girls, he finally opened it wide enough to let them in.
“Wow! You apartment looks wonderful!” Bae exclaimed as she walked in.
“Thank you,” the man sunk into the sofa and sighed. “So, who told you about the life insurance?”
‘Bingo!’ Emma smirked inwardly. “We had a reunion party last week. One of her friends mentioned it to my friend.”
She nodded to Bae who gave a broad smile. Passing a hand over his face, he gritted his he gave a deep groan and followed by a small chuckle.
“That old hag,” he muttered under his breath. “After all that I did for you and this is how you screw me over.”
Unbeknownst to him, Emma heard everything he said and looked around the beautifully furnished apartment and immediately knew where the money went to.
“Whatever that old hag told you was a lie,” he muttered out loud and looked up at her. “I didn’t kill her and there was no life insurance.”
“But her husband…”
“He worked as an Insurance Salesman and that was all.”
“Where did he work?”
“In the Sale’s Department at the Insurance Company in Barusa Town.” He replied. “He quit his job when he left her and he was staying here with me when he sent her the divorce papers.”
“Did she sign them?”
“No she didn’t and she didn’t have a life insurance either.”
“Why?”
He scoffed ruefully and clasped his fingers while looking away. Then the room went silent except the ticking of the clock on the wall. Emma studied his expression and body language to find any hint of grief or guilt but there was none. What she did decode from the shaking of his legs and scowl on his face was anger which made sense because some people display anger as a sign of guilt.
“Mr. Morita? What was your relationship with your late sister?” Bae asked in a timid voice.
A loud snort escaped from his mouth and he finally looked at them. “We didn’t have a good relationship.”
Bae took a seat next to the sofa. “Why?”
“She was pampered by our mother while growing up.” He leaned back on the sofa and shook his legs again. “Throughout our childhood, I was the one who was always yelled at and scolded by our mom while she got to do whatever she wanted. It didn’t help that my grades were subpar compared to hers and it certainly didn’t help that I had to drop out of high school to help the family financially when my father died while she spent all the family’s money on her during out teen years. Those were the worst years of my life.”
“I can sense the resentment in your voice.” Emma pointed out.
He scoffed again. “Yeah and it’s still there. Even as that old hag is rotting away in that nursing home she is still trying to find a way to make my life miserable.”
Emma cocked an eyebrow at his words.
“How was her marriage like?” Bae asked again.
He shrugged. “How should I know?”
“You said he came here to get himself back on his feet when he left her.” Emma said.
“Oh that. Well the wedding was nice although I whispered good luck to her husband during the reception and that was it. I hadn’t heard anything about their marriage since I cut them out of my life.” He replied. “But when he was staying here, he told me how she quit her job after six months of marriage and did nothing but stay home, spend money online shopping, watch TV and eat snacks. He didn’t mind that she didn’t know how to cook when they first met but he wasn’t keen on staying in a messy house. That day he told me he got fed up with her and left.”
Bae was shocked by the news. “Their marriage only lasted for 12 months?”
“I don’t buy it.” Emma said. “There is no way a woman would be that childish and still keep a job until she got married.”
“Yes but she’s good at keeping up appearances. Everyone liked her including friends and strangers but her colleagues; they hated her.” She said.
“Where did she work?” Bae asked.
“In Bingbam Bottling Company near Shisuta Town.” He replied taking out a box of cigarettes. “Some of her old colleagues still work there. Maybe they might give you more insight on her behavior since I heard everything from the rumor mill there.”
He shrugged nonchalantly in response. “Believe it or not but it’s the truth. Guys maybe willing to date my sister because of how perfect she is on the outside but once they get to know her they will all run for the hills. It’s a pity that the poor bloke who married her got the short end of the stick. It’s a shame the poor bloke couldn’t catch a break when he left.”
Emma mentally took note of his words and gave a stiff nod. Sending an eye signal to Bae who stood up, they thanked him and left the room.
“So what do you think?” Bae asked once they were outside the apartment building.
“The story sounds too good to be true,” Emma replied putting her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Not to mention he sounded insincere at first.”
“I understand but,” she nudged Emma in anger. “You didn’t have to lie to her like that!”
Emma shrugged in response. “I didn’t have a choice but I am not sure that he bought my lie. Like I said, he looked insincere.”
Worry washed all over Bae’s face for she was afraid that Emma’s actions were going to sabotage the investigation but she remained optimistic that everything was going to be fine. When they arrived at the middle of the city and Bae suggested they buy something to eat from the street vendors but Emma politely objected the idea, choosing to eat at a small café instead.
“But I don’t have any money,” Bae whined.
“Don’t worry. It’s on me,” Emma muttered tiredly as they entered wooden building with the sign: White Sand Café written on it. The café was a quaint little place with a few customers but the lingering smell of steamed buns and baked pastries filled the air. Taking their seats, Bae scanned the menu for anything savory and was happy to see the odd item on the menu.
“Do you want to try this?” she asked shoving the menu in Emma’s face. “It looks tasty!”
It took a few seconds for Emma to push the object away from her face and took a proper look at item on the menu. “You want to eat ‘Pigs Feet’?”
“Yep! They are a delicacy back at the Hidden Shrine in the Oni Forest!” then she put a finger on her lips in thought. “That and Steamed Snake buns.”
Emma stared at her in disbelief. “Steamed Snake buns?”
“Mmm hmm!” she hummed in satisfaction sticking out her tongue from the corner of her mouth. “I was a bit skeptical about it at first but when I tried it, it tasted like fish. Well not entirely like fish but you get the idea and they were way better than the huge bull frog soup and…”
Suddenly she was stopped by Emma’s raised hand and a haunting silence from the café. Everyone was looking at them with disgust until a waitress wearing a maid uniform came to their table to take their order.
“So what do we do now?” Bae asked leaning forward.
“If what her brother is saying is true then it is obvious that she might have committed suicide but one thing that makes me think twice about the situation is the ‘why’ factor.”
“What do you mean?”
“He told us that she had a job, quit said job three months after getting married to become a ‘slob’ and her husband leaves her because of this. My guess is, she should have gone back to live with her mother instead of taking her own life.”
“I don’t think so,” Bae replied. “I feel like she had nowhere to since he decided to leave his mother in the Nursing Home and she had an apartment.”
“But since he claimed she was so ‘perfect’ she could have found her another job immediately when he left her and filed for a divorce.”
Bae pondered on that until she remembered something. “She didn’t file the divorce papers did she?”
Emma shrugged. “Her brother did mention something along the lines of her not wanting to sign the papers.”
“You know, I think the reason why it would be impossible for her to re-enter into society and get another job would be the drama surround the divorce. He did say she didn’t want him to leave her and thank you!” Bae chirped as the platter of roasted pigs feat was placed on the table followed with a huge bowl of ramen noodles with roasted chicken. With her bare hands, Bae grabbed the one of the feet and tore off the flesh with her teeth while Emma silently separated her chopsticks and started slurping on her noodles.
“What a bunch of pigs!” one of the patrons whispered to the other in disgust and the latter nodded in agreement.
The waitress walking past them shot them a glare. “At least they are paying for the food.”
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