"Huh?"
Hayasaka looked utterly confused. She had no idea what she'd said that caused Ritsu to suddenly realize a clue had been overlooked.
Imitating his posture, she crouched down and carefully observed the corpses. Only then did realization dawn on her.
"You mean the killer deliberately stripped the victims of their clothes and shoes, not to hide their identities?"
"Yeah. The killer is playing a game."
"A game?"
Hayasaka's tone rose involuntarily as she gritted her teeth. "A psychopath? He's treating murder like some kind of game?!"
He truly was insane. And not just ordinary insanity, the utterly deranged kind.
Ritsu extended his index finger toward the five corpses and explained,
"To the killer, the victims are prey. Wild animals don't wear clothes, so in pursuit of perfection, he stripped them completely and gave them enough time to run."
"Run away? You mean… the killer sees himself as a hunter, and the victims as prey?"
Hayasaka's face turned ugly.
'What kind of lunatic would do something like this?'
She lowered her gaze toward the soles of the victims' feet. Large and small wounds covered them. The desperate instinct to survive that drove them to run for their lives had probably only excited the killer even more.
"Exactly. That's why he used a hunting rifle. In his eyes, this wasn't slaughter, it was a hunt. The heads are his trophies, while the corpses abandoned here… are prey unworthy of collection."
An unreadable emotion flickered within his crimson eyes as Ritsu slowly stood and stared deeper into the forest.
"The reason Himeka's fingers were replaced was likely punishment. She disrupted his perfect plan and Aizawa's presence is the clearest proof of that."
Most likely, Himeka struggled while the killer was abducting her, drawing the attention of her boyfriend, Aizawa.
That was why this case had one lone male victim. And unlike the others, he had never become prey.
He was killed immediately, tortured to death right in front of Himeka.
That also explained why Aizawa's body had so many wounds. Some were injuries sustained while fighting the killer before death, while others were inflicted after death through continued beating and abuse.
"We need to speed up the search for the exact locations where the victims were abducted. You can tell the killer's movement patterns are consistent. If we narrow the search radius, we can absolutely identify him."
The killer was definitely monitoring police activity the entire time.
If he changed hunting grounds and hunting patterns, catching him would become far more difficult. They had to find him before he acted again.
There had been at least a month between the first and second incidents. But the intervals between later victims had clearly grown shorter and shorter.
Which meant the killer's craving for this hunting game was becoming increasingly intense. If they didn't stop him quickly, there would absolutely be a seventh victim.
Pulling out his phone, Ritsu called Takagi while walking toward the car.
"Takagi, how's the investigation going? Have you confirmed the identities of the two Toto University students?"
"Inspector, I was just about to call you! Their identities have been confirmed. They're second-year literature students at Toto University, Morino Mikoto and Sakura Yoko."
"Can you determine the exact time they disappeared?" Ritsu asked.
Takagi flipped through his police notebook before answering,
"They rented an apartment together in Beika Town. The day they disappeared happened to be rent collection day, so the landlord remembers clearly. They both vanished on August 22nd."
"Send me the apartment address for the two victims. Also, Takagi, stop investigating the nightclub. Instead, look through recent missing person reports and see whether any involve married women with children report."
"Huh? Inspector, do you suspect one of the victims was a mother?"
"Yeah. The female corpse with the most severe decomposition had a cesarean section scar. Based on the preliminary autopsy, her estimated time of death should be around July."
"Understood! I'll investigate immediately!"
After ending the call, Ritsu turned toward the officers surrounding the police line and instructed,
"Transport all the bodies and evidence back to headquarters. Leave a few people here to preserve the crime scene."
"Yes, sir!"
Hayasaka pulled out the car keys and unlocked the door. "So we're investigating that nightclub now?"
"Yeah."
After climbing into the passenger seat and fastening his seatbelt, Ritsu turned his phone screen toward Hayasaka.
"7-19 Roppongi, District 7."
"At this hour, shouldn't they still be closed?"
"I already had the information department contact the manager. There are people inside right now."
Hayasaka asked in confusion, "Then why not just tell the manager the victim's clothing description directly?"
Playing with his cigarette pack, Ritsu smiled.
"The main reason I'm going there is to investigate the surveillance footage. Confirming the victim's identity is simple enough. What I really want to know is how the killer targeted the victim."
"I see. Should I contact Miwako and have her bring more people to help review the footage?"
"Just copy everything onto a USB drive. Once we get back, we'll have the off-duty members of the neighboring division help review it."
"Got it."
Rose & White Tea was a highly popular nightclub in Roppongi.
Being able to open a nightclub capable of holding over a thousand people in such a ridiculously expensive district meant the manager was definitely no ordinary person.
The moment the two stepped out of the car, they saw a man with slicked-back hair and an obnoxiously flashy purple suit waiting for them.
With an ingratiating smile, he handed over his business card.
"Hello, officers. I'm Shingo Tsurumi, manager of 'Rose & White Tea.'"
"Hello, Tsurumi-san. I'll skip the pleasantries. I need access to your surveillance footage, and I need to know whether any hostesses from your club have gone missing," Ritsu said bluntly.
"We don't have any missing hostesses here. A place like ours is completely legitimate—"
Hearing that, Hayasaka's pretty face instantly turned cold. Stepping forward, she spoke sharply.
"Legitimate? Sounds like more than one person has gone missing. Tsurumi-san, I don't think you're telling us the truth."
Tsurumi awkwardly waved his hands with a dry laugh.
"Officer, I just have a poor memory. Why don't we discuss this inside? Talking about these matters out in the open isn't very appropriate."
Hayasaka snorted softly without replying and followed behind Ritsu into the club.
Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were busier than ever, darting around curiously at everything inside. It was obvious this was her first time in a place like this, and everything fascinated her.
Noticing this, Ritsu couldn't help coughing lightly.
Keeping one hand in his pocket, he looked toward Tsurumi with a smile.
"Tsurumi-san, I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"Your club doesn't make the hostesses sign contracts, does it? That's why you couldn't answer my question."
Sweat immediately formed on Tsurumi's smooth forehead.
Were all modern polices this terrifying? How had the truth he wanted buried been dug out so effortlessly?
A smart man naturally knew better than to cover lies with more lies. Seeing the situation, Tsurumi quickly explained,
"A lot of the girls don't want 'hostess' listed in their employment records, so we simply… tried to be considerate."
"You call that considerate?" Hayasaka glared at Tsurumi.
'What a silver-tongued guy.'
Too lazy to argue with him further, Ritsu simply asked,
"Around 165 centimeters tall, shoe size 36, wearing a leopard-print bodycon dress before disappearing. Ring any bells?"
The instant Tsurumi heard the description, he slapped his thigh excitedly and shouted,
"Officer, I want to file a report!"
"??"