Chapter 54: The Doxing Weapon
"By the way, do you two have any leads on where Ishigami is hiding right now?"
"Um... not really," Ruby said, looking a bit embarrassed.
"It's fine." Hikaru Hoshino didn't feel the slightest bit of disappointment, offering a smiling consolation: "I didn't exactly have high expectations for you anyway."
Ruby looked even more hurt: "Are you saying I'm not smart? From a bloodline perspective, you're supposed to be our father. Is there any parent who slanders their own child like this?"
Hikaru retorted unceremoniously: "You only admit our relationship at times like this. Usually, you won't even call me by my full name; your nickname for me behind my back is 'that guy.' Don't think I don't know."
Like someone caught badmouthing others behind their back by the person themselves, Ruby stammered, unable to find words.
Instead of pressing his advantage, Hikaru shifted the conversation: "I didn't mean to mock you. After all, in my eyes, no one is perfect. Everyone has things they are good at and things they aren't. Aqua might be a bit smarter, but he isn't nearly as cute; he couldn't pull off dancing on a stage."
Ruby's eyes lit up; being praised by someone felt quite good after all.
"Ruby has plenty of talents too." Hikaru began counting on his fingers. "In terms of visuals, she has visuals. In terms of IQ, she has visuals. In terms of singing, she has visuals. In terms of..."
Getting stuck mid-sentence, Hikaru stood there whistling.
"I really do hate you after all!" Ruby rushed forward to hit Hikaru, but he picked her up with one hand.
Watching the two fool around, Aqua let out a sigh.
A childish adult and an equally childish kid—in the end, he really was the only mature one. His thinking was meticulous, his self-control calm; he was like a surgeon's scalpel—steady and sharp.
*There must be something being overlooked. It's impossible for Ishigami to act without leaving a single flaw. If even characters like Tetsuya Ishigami or Ayane Mashiba couldn't achieve a 'perfect crime,' how could an ordinary person like him?*
Aqua kept his head down, deep in thought like an old monk in meditation.
*Skip the motive for now. The killer's personality traits aren't clear yet, and there are too few clues; thinking about motive now won't yield positive results. Look at the MO instead—of the two current cases, first instigating Ryosuke to stab Ai, and second, yesterday's stalker attack, the method was always inciting others to commit the crime while hiding behind the scenes.*
The most direct leads were definitely the primary contacts: Ryosuke and the bandaged man. But one committed suicide, and the other was taken away by the men in black; neither was accessible right now.
Thinking of this, Aqua asked urgently: "What about yesterday's culprit? Is it still possible to contact him?"
Hikaru shrugged: "Contacting him is possible, but it won't help much. I've already asked privately; that bandaged guy doesn't know anything about Ishigami. They communicated on Twitter. Ishigami reached out out of the blue, sent him photos of Ai, and wrote a few emotional essays. The guy got hot-headed and rushed to the hotel."
"In other words, you already know Ishigami's Twitter account?"
Hikaru nodded. Ishigami's profile picture was a black cat, and he wasn't on Hikaru's friend list. However, that profile picture looked very familiar; Hikaru felt like he had seen it somewhere before.
"Can we locate him through the account?" Aqua asked cautiously.
"Twitter is an American company. Even the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department can't get backend location data. It's highly unlikely."
"Furthermore, the SIM card he uses is from overseas. Judging by the number format, it looks like a virtual number. No information can be traced there either."
"Ishigami has only exposed information online. Obviously, it's very difficult to follow the internet cables to hit someone."
Hikaru had a headache, but Aqua seemed to have suddenly realized something. He spoke up:
"No, that's not true!"
The blond toddler pushed a non-existent pair of glasses up his nose, his sapphire-blue eyes radiating a gaze that saw through everything. "The method to 'hit someone' by following the internet cables... does exist."
Hikaru quickly understood Aqua's meaning and froze. He truly hadn't thought in that direction, and now his thoughts felt strangely clear.
Ruby blinked her big eyes, not yet catching on, only to hear Hikaru say in a certain tone: "Doxing?"
Now it was Aqua's turn to be confused: "What is that?"
It seemed these two children weren't familiar with the concept yet, so Hikaru switched to a different term: "Opening a box (Kehe)?"
[TL: Digging up dirt, or getting info on the guy via internet. Maybe?]
As soon as Ruby heard that, she perked up—this she knew. She immediately joined the conversation excitedly: "Who are we boxing? Who are we boxing? I can help!"
The two blond men turned around together, staring at Ruby. Aqua felt that Ruby might be getting a bit too "abstract," while Hikaru wondered if he should confiscate her phone later.
But the priority was still solving the Ishigami problem.
Hikaru pulled out his phone, opened the little blue bird app, and went to Ishigami's main profile to investigate his "components."
As he searched, his expression turned into one of utter disbelief.
Seeing Hikaru's reaction, Aqua asked heavily: "Is the Twitter account not his?"
"It should be his. Though the avatar and bio aren't distinct, his daily posts are very much in his style."
"He usually likes to tweet?" Aqua felt something was off.
Hikaru coughed: "Not exactly. Ishigami's account is very clean; there are almost no tweets."
"Then where does he speak?" Aqua felt even more confused.
Hikaru rubbed his hands. "In Ai's fan group."
Aqua: "?"
"I just realized that Ishigami and I are in the same fan group. It seems Ryosuke and the bandaged guy were in there too."
"Maybe that's how he identifies who the obsessive Ai fans are?"
Hikaru added, though his tone wasn't entirely certain.
"So..." Aqua asked incredulously: "Why the hell are *you* in the group?!"
Hikaru scratched his head: "Is it such a strange thing for me to be a fan of Ai?"
Ruby nodded in agreement: "I've joined a lot of fan groups too! Discussing shared interests, fighting for concert tickets together, peeking into an idol's private life—isn't it wonderful?"
Aqua clutched his hair: "It's a miracle Ishigami didn't reach out to you."
"You're acting just like a stalker fan yourself!"
"Am not!" Ruby started to get stubborn. "As long as you're a fan, you'll want to know more about your idol. But I would never interfere with Mama's private life; I'll accept whatever she's like behind the scenes!"
"Stop bickering." Hikaru interrupted the siblings' talk. "We have actual work to do."
"I took a quick look; Ishigami is very cautious. He's exposed very little real-world information. Finding him with just this will likely be difficult."
"I'm afraid we'd need the insight of a Great Detective to..."
As Hikaru spoke, a certain person suddenly came to mind.
It seemed a Great Detective wasn't exactly non-existent?
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