Chapter 7

Yasuhara sat at a computer terminal at the main library in Kyoto going through newspaper and magazine articles about crimes in Yodo. He'd been there for a number of hours continuing with the work Naru had ordered him to do. Yasuhara frowned slightly. He thought he'd found a pattern, but the more he looked, the less it was holding together.

He sighed as he glanced at his watch; it was 2:30 P.M. 'I wonder if Hirota-san and Nakai-san have had any better luck with this. At least they have full access to police records,' he thought ruefully.

Stretching in his chair, he started a new search again and decided he'd give himself up to another hour before calling it a day. As much as he wanted to continue with the search he'd been doing, he had a feeling his new search might reveal something relevant. He quickly straightened up as the information he requested started scrolling across his screen. Skimming through the information, he soon hit the print button and started to gather his things together. It would take a few minutes for everything to print out, but he decided it would be best to report to Naru as soon as possible.

It was almost an hour and a half later by the time Yasuhara entered the base. "I'm ba~ck," he said as he glanced around the room; Mai and Hirota were both still out.

"Ah Shochou, did you want me to make some tea?" he asked.

Naru shook his head. "What did you find out?"

Yasuhara pulled out his notebook and sat down at the table. "Something a bit unexpected," he said. "First, these are copies of the various incidents that have happened on this street in the past 30 or so years."

Naru looked up in surprise. "You managed to go back 30 years already?"

Yasuhara laughed. "Ah, I enlisted the help of a university student who happened to be at the library, much like I did when looking into the history of the Yoshimi family several months ago. Along with Taniyama-san, the Shounen Tanteidan now has three members," he declared proudly.

Naru exhaled slightly. "And I assume you've found something significant in those 30 years of incidents?"

"Yes and no," Yasuhara said quickly becoming serious again. "What I found was that the various incidents started happening on this road around 30 years ago and that there were very few things happening here before that."

Yasuhara flipped through a few pages of his notebook. "Several months before Yoshimura killed his wife back in 1976, there were a couple of vandalism cases in this area. There was also an incident where a youth attacked his mother with a hammer. Details of the attack and where it took place are a bit sparse, so hopefully Hirota-san will be able to fill in any relevant details on that later." Yasuhara paused briefly. "However, when I tried to find anything that happened before that, the only thing I found was a break-in seven years earlier."

Naru looked at Yasuhara. "Seven years?"

Yasuhara nodded. "Seven years went by between the break-in and the first vandalism case at..." Yasuhara checked his notes. "At the Sengoku household. And after that vandalism, it seems like something's been happening in this area every few months or so."

Naru frowned. "Did you find anything else relevant around that period that might give us a clue as to what caused the sudden increase in crime in this area?"

Yasuhara shook his head. "Nothing. This area wasn't mentioned in the paper at all between the time of the break-in and the first vandalism I mentioned."

Naru drummed his fingers on the table lost in thought. "In that case, this is really much more something for Hirota-san and the police to handle. There've been no signs of paranormal activity happening in this house at all since we arrived, so we have no way of figuring out what might be the cause at this point. There are too many unknowns. All we have are a series of crime reports in the local paper, and that's not enough to go on," he said. "We'll wait for Mai's report before deciding our next step, but I'm inclined to pack up and go and let Hirota-san figure things out on his own. This trip has been nothing but a waste of time."

Yasuhara chuckled slightly. "At least you managed to rescue Taniyama-san from her kidnapper," he said amused.

Naru just shook his head as he started reading through the copies Yasuhara had made for him.

It was almost 5:00 P.M. when the front door open again. Yasuhara was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner while Naru and Lin were in the base. Naru glanced at the monitor and saw Mai standing unmoving in the doorway, almost as though lost in thought. He sighed as he climbed to his feet and went out into the hallway.

"Mai," he said as he paced towards where she was standing. She hadn't taken off her shoes and stared at a point on the floor with her hands clenched. Naru could see she was shaking.

"Mai, what's wrong?" he asked as he reached the entrance. He stretched a hand out to touch her when she finally looked up.

Naru froze at the look of glazed emptiness he saw in Mai's eyes. He felt his eyes widen slightly as he watched her raise her hand almost as though in slow motion when he felt a sudden sharp, stinging sensation. An instant later, he saw realisation and awareness come flooding back into Mai's eyes as they widened in shock. But before he could reach out and grab her arm, Mai turned around, shoved open the door, and fled from the house.

Yasuhara and Lin came running out into the hall as the sharp sound of Mai slapping Naru echoed throughout the house. Lin had seen the altercation on the monitors, but Yasuhara had only been vaguely aware that Mai had returned.

Naru stood rooted to the spot, stunned, as he stared at the empty doorway.

"Naru, what happened? Where's Taniyama-san?" Lin asked sharply.

Naru's head jerked up as he realised what had just happened. "Yasuhara-san! Go after her!" he snapped. "She won't have gone far!"

"Yes sir!" Yasuhara said as he slipped his shoes on and ran out the door.

Naru winced slightly as he touched his stinging cheek. Mai hadn't held back when she slapped him. He could only be thankful that she hadn't punched him as he remembered how she'd stood with her fists clenched when he first came out into the hallway. Naru disappeared further into the house leaving Lin standing alone in the entranceway.