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VOLUME 1 – THE RED EYE KNOWS file 03:called premonition
It comes when somebody you are close to is about to die You feel it in an oht feel it vaguely, while it isn’t rare for people to say they see sole firefly in the winter or someone’s death in a drea so before sleep, saying ‘Thank you’ or ’Goodbye’ in the end and suddenly disappearing
This premonition comes as a final farewell to those left behind fro to their deaths –
That is what is usually thought, but there are cases where it is different
Pres
The words of those who are going to their deaths, wrung out with the last of their strength –
A e that must not be overlooked –
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Haruka couldn’t sleep that night
She had her part-time job after her lecture, and she had to do her report due to when she got into bed
Though she felt like she should have fallen asleep immediately, she couldn’t sleep at all
She opened her eyes slightly and looked at the clock It was already past three She had been in bed for over an hour
These sleepless nights came to her frequently
It was alhen she reuilty about it
However, she had been able to sleep well ever sinceto feel her sister’s presence close to her
It had been a while since she hadn’t been able to sleep like this
Suddenly, Haruka felt a presence and opened her eyes
She could see her di her neck, but she couldn’t see anything
She had just been mistaken There was no way that somebody would be in her room
The le in the corner of her eye She sat up reflexively
Her heart beat wildly She eating She timidly turned her eyes towards the corner of the room that she had spotted the shadow in
’… Shiori?’
The shadoas Shiori, one of her high school friends
’What are you doing at this ti’
Shiori didn’t reply
She just looked at Haruka with a blank expression
But how had Shiori got in?
’Did I forget to lock the door?’
As Haruka said that, she reached up to turn on the lights
’… Ru… n…’
Shiori said that in a weak voice
There was clearly so?’
’… Please… ru… n…’
’Run from what?’
’Hurry… Run’
Haruka didn’t understand what Shiori was saying
Haruka got off the bed and tried to approach Shiori
Then, a line of dark red liquid flowed down Shiori’s forehead
Drip, drip, drip
The blood burst out, like water from a broken dam
Shiori’s face and white sweater were dyed red, and the carpet at her feet were dyed dark red as well
Haruka froze in shock – she couldn’t even scream
Shiori said ’Run’ once ed to scream and tried to run up to the collapsed Shiori
However, the moment she tried to touch her, a fire burst up and enveloped Shiori’s body
Haruka instinctively leant away and fell backwards
Why fire all of a sudden? No, she didn’t have the time to think
Haruka stood up, but the fire and Shiori had disappeared
Haruka frantically turned on the lights
The sudden lighta nuhting
She looked around, but she couldn’t see Shiori –
Did she see an illusion? No, it was too real for that
Thinking about it wouldn’t start anything Haruka picked up her mobile from the table and called Shiori’s number
<The number you have called is not currently in use>
There was anu
It had been Shiori’s nuain The result was the sa was strange
Haruka’s heart felt uneasy
Shiori’s apartment was about a five- She’d go take a look
Haruka picked up her beige coat from the coatrack and wore it over her pyjamas Then, she put on sandals and ran out of the room
When she took the elevator and left the apart, she cursed her rashness
The cold air bit at her through her coat
She was also wearing open-toe sandals Her toes had already lost feeling
She thought about going back to her rooe, but she had slipped up The apartment entrance had an auto she could do
Haruka felt disappointed, but now that she thought about it, Shiori’s apartment was just nearby
If she held on for a bit and went to Shiori’s to explain, Shiori would probably giggle in her usual way and make some warm cocoa for her
Shiori’s cocoa was a bit different from the instant kind you could buy at the super ood
It seeredient, but she wouldn’t tell Haruka even after she asked
Haruka would get Shiori to tell her this time
Haruka walked quickly on the road to Shiori’s aparth school as Shiori and were going to the same university
They lived near each other, so they often o to one of their places and read or watch television together, just doing what they wanted
However, they hadn’t had many chances to meet as of late
Shiori’s parents had died in a fire at the end of last year, and she had quit the university
Haruka had thought that Shiori would return ho at a depart in the sa they’d be able to keep in touch, but the rhyth person’s was different They weren’t able to meet up as frequently as they had
She had last seen Shiori about twoYaku about five minutes, Haruka reached Shiori’s apartment
Shiori’s room was at the very end of the second floor
Haruka looked up – the roo that, Haruka took the steel stairs up to the door at the very end for roo the doorbell No response
She tried once more and placed her ear to the door Still no response
She couldn’t continue ringing the doorbell at a time like this She couldn’t yell or knock loudly either
’Shiori’
Haruka put her face to the door and quietly knocked the door with her finger
Please Wake up Haruka prayed that, but the door didn’t open
Haruka leant against the door and looked up The sky was starting to brighten
It felt somewhat like she was in water
’The person in that room moved out’
Haruka came back to her senses when so at her curiously It made sense
’E-excuse me When you say moved out…’
Haruka couldn’t believe his words and asked hio? There was a call, saying to cancel the newspaper subscription since she was ’
’Is that true?’
’There’s no reason for ht?’
That was true
’Do you knohere she ht subscribe to our newspaper after one?
’More inewspapers
Haruka was stunned –
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2
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Gotou Kazutoshi’s eyes narrowed as he looked up at the sun, which was starting to set He lit his cigarette
There was a burnt house in front of hione The pillars were pitch-black, and a nuhters were using hoses to clean up, they looked fatigued
It made sense Surrounded by cars parked on the road, when they arrived, it had already been too late
Corpses covered in black sheets were carried out
’Dalob of saliva
Police had been too late with everything this time
It ination They’d even sent a will to the police and used gasoline to set everything on fire
It was an unpleasant case
Gotou threay his cigarette
’Do you feel like starting another fire?’
There was a shrill voice
A soalked up beside Gotou
His facial features were in the centre of his square face He rinkled all over like a dried persimmon
It was Hata Hideyoshi, the coroner
’What, it’s you, old ood’
Hata’s shoulders shook as he laughed
This old man was as creepy as usual Even Rat Man[1] would be cuter
’Yeah, they really did’
’Well, that’s the end of it, anyway’
’What do youaround here, old ht?’
’I’ it With it all black like that, the autopsy won’t show anything’
’You’re not going to do it?’
’I’m not I’ll leave it to sos They just have to look into the cause of death’
This old man really was quite a pervert
His attitude towards work changed co on the state of the corpse
The more destroyed the corpse was, the more excited he became, but he didn’t do burnt corpses The family of the corpse would probably faint if they knew the body was being autopsied by awork?’
’Do you kno et to autopsy in a year?’
Hata suddenly turned serious
’Who knows? Probably a hundred?’
’One hundred thousand in the whole country I don’t have the ti to that
’Corpses really should be fresh’
After saying soe people like this surround Gotou –
He was fed up
’By the way, Gotou-kun That boy who can see ghosts Could you let me meet him next time?’
Why did Hata know Yakumo? For a moment, Gotou was surprised, but then he remembered
Come to think of it, he had carelessly talked to Hata about Yaku the last case
’Why do you want to meet Yakumo?’
’Scientific interest’
’I refuse!’
Gotou cut Hata down immediately
Scientific interest? It was just his perverted desires
If he thoughtlessly let Hata ht autopsy hiet back to work’
Gotou waved his hand like he was shooing away a wild dog Then, he took out another cigarette and lit it
’Gotou-san, do you have some time?’
Who was it now? It was a rookie who’d just been placed
Gotou had forgotten his name No, he hadn’t known it in the first place
’What?’
’There is so I would like you to look at’
The rookie held a photo out towards Gotou This was –
Gotou couldn’t hide his surprise
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3
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Haruka woke up to the sound of rustling fabric
She had fallen asleep on the table at some time
Her blurry vision slowly beca displeased
’What on earth are you doing here?’
A pointed way of talking Ah, so it was Yakumof
Haruka rubbed her eyes and lifted her head
Yaku a black jersey
’Morning’
As Haruka greeted him, she looked at the clock in the corner of the room
It was still before six It looked like she’d slept for about fifteen ,’ said Yakuh his messy hair He sounded irritated
It ry if somebody broke into their rooe thing she had experienced
So must have happened to Shiori
When Haruka was sure of that, she went to see Yakuh she kneas an unusual time
He didn’t anshen she knocked or called
Haruka had been troubled and finally tried the doorknob – it had opened without any resistance
Yaku in the corner of the roo He had looked like he was in a bad , so Haruka had decided to wait until he woke up and sat down on the chair
Then –
’So you’ll go into people’s room without permission if the door is unlocked?’
Once Haruka finished her explanation, that was the first thing Yaku careless Locks are there to be locked Did you know that?’
’I don’t want to hear that from a blockhead who left her auto-locked apartainst Yakuument
Yakumo yawned and stood up Then, he turned his back to Haruka and suddenly started taking off his shirt
’Wait – what are you doing?’ said Haruka, covering her eyes with her hands
’I’’
Haruka was astonished
How insensitive was he?
’Starting to change in front of a girl – what kind of sense do you have?’
’I’ to say this, but this is my room I can do what I want Don’t speak so loftily when you sneaked into a guy’s room without permission’
Now that he said that, it was true
So s had happened that Haruka was less wary of Yakuht about it, this was the sa into the house of a man who lived alone at dawn
Her face went red like it had been lit on fire
And, now that she thought about it more, she had noa familiar thick voice, the door suddenly opened
Gotou was the one who showed up
When Gotou saw Haruka in Yakumo’s room, his eyes ide
It was like he had seen the end of the world
The cigarette in his round
’Ah, sorry’
’E-er, this is – that’s – that’s not it…’
Haruka frantically made excuses, but she couldn’t find an appropriate explanation and was flustered
The er
’No, it’s fine I’ll come after’
Gotou closed one eye clumsily He had probably meant it to be a wink
Then, he closed the door and left
What terrible ti He had completely misunderstood Haruka would have misunderstood too if she had been in the situation
’Everyone’s noisy thisannoyed
When Haruka looked, Yaku his bedhead
He was pretty carefree
’Hey, what should we do? He misunderstood and left’
’Is that inconvenient?’
’Inconvenience isn’t the proble to be concerned about People onder about other people’s actions even if they don’t do anything People will suspect you no matter what you do’
’That’s…’
Was it true –
’Well, you don’t have to fuss so much – that old man always follows the sa that, Yakulassopposite the door and forced it open
Standing there, stooped over and peering into the room, was Gotou
’You found out?’
’What do you e If you keep doing things like that, your ill run away again’
’Again? What do you ain? Got this, Yakumo? Women who run away once won’t coret afterwards’
’Oh, so your wife isn’t back yet And it looks like you’re reflecting on your actions a bit’
Gotou gritted his teeth
’I don’t want to hear that froirl in front of hi with her isn’t a matter of will’
’What?’
’It’s this person’s tastes That is, it’s a ht in front of
’If you’ve got the tiet in already You have soht I al conversation, and went to the front, co Gotou like this She had to change too, and she was concerned about her room, which she had left unlocked
Haruka told Yakumo that she would come back later and left his secret hideaway
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’Even though she ca bad’
Gotou scratched his stomach as he sat in the chair Haruka had been in
However, it was also true that he didn’t want Haruka to hear what he was about to say
Though last time it had all been facts that he knew, this time it was just Gotou’s theory, and it was also a personal privacy issue
Forget about his boss – he hadn’t even talked to his colleagues about this
’Though I’rateful that there’s one fewer noisy person here,’ Yakumo said in his usual acerbic tone as he yawned
Gotou sht that he actually felt differently on the inside
Maybe it wasn’t romantic, but Yakumo definitely trusted Haruka They had soht her more important than others
But if Gotou pointed that out, Yakuht not have noticed hi about? It’s creepy’
Gotou came back to his senses
He was annoyed, but he had no way of beating Yakuument
’So what does the busy detective need fro?’
When Yakumo spoke politely, it just sounded like superficial courtesy
’It ht for me – I haven’t slept a wink’
’I don’t really care about your lack of a sense of time’
’Ah, yeah, you don’t care’
Yakumo’s words really irritated hih his sto
’There’s soraphy, isn’t it’
’Correct How’d you know?’
’There isn’t anything else you’d showyou anything else either’
As Gotou said that, he placed the brown envelope in his hand on the table, took a number of photos out and spread them out
A burnt house was in the first photo
The photos were probably froht after the fire
So
Gotou placed the second photo down There was a person burnt co up with a hand and looking pained
’Taken thisAnd…’
Gotou placed another photo down
There was a woman probably in her early thirties
The photo was probably taken at a wedding reception She wore a gaudy purple dress and was laughing with her mouth wide open
’Is this woman the burnt corpse from earlier?’
’Yeah’
Gotou placed one more photo down
It was the same burnt house in the earlier photo, but there was so in the house in this one A woman in white
’This is…’ said Yakumo
Gotou smirked at that
’So you can tell? It’s probably just what you think There wasn’t anybody there when the photo was taken…’
’Thinking normally, it would probably be the spirit of the woman who burnt to death, but since you went out of your way to bring it here, is there so that makes you think otherwise?’
’You really are sharp I’d like to have you as a subordinate’
’I’d rather die first’
’Do you dislike the police so much?’
’Please don’t misunderstand me The one I dislike is you, Gotou-san’
That was quite a firnored Yakumo and took out another photo to put on the table
There was a dark-skinned man in his late thirties He had a sharp profile that didn’t look Japanese
Though he was handsome, he looked sickly and swollen
’This person has a disease in his internal organs, doesn’t he’
’Correct again – congrats You win a trip to Hawaii’
’Says soion,’ muttered Yakumo loudly so that Gotou would be able to hear
Shut up! No, just ignore it Ignore it
Gotou continued his explanation
’The man’s name is Katou Kenichi Died of a heart failure lastsuspicious about his death After investigating, it turns out he’d been taking s time’
’How’d you find that out?’
’There’s a perverted oldinto that sort of stuff, see’
’How excellent You should learn fro that perverted old ? Who’d learn froot to be soive him doses of poison continuously, that naturally narron the suspects’
’A relative then’
’Right Katou Kenichi was pretty wealthy Well, he himself only had a small realtor’s office, but his dad had a lot of land’
’For the inheritance then?’
’Right He had one younger brother, but he was quite the player His dad ended up leaving all the inheritance to his brother Kenichi’
’So you suspected the younger brother?’
’The younger brother caation, but he lives in the next city and doesn’t really co is…’
’He had a wife And that burnt corpse is that wife’
Gotou clapped his hands together without thinking
’Exactly It’s easy explaining to you’
’Please forget about the boring interjections and finish your explanation already’
What an iuy
’The policethe evidence, the police were on the verge of arresting her when a letter cauilty conscience and would take her own life…’
’And that fire in the photo was a result of her suicide’
’Right When we got there, the house was already burning’
’Is it definitely fro analysis is done’
’Isn’t that nice? That’s the end of it then’
Yaku bored
The end of it? To hell with that
’Do you think I’d come all the way here if it was?’
’You have a lot of free tiut – I have no evidence’
’Will that be of any use?’
And he never shut up!
’I don’t think that wo at the way she killed her husband, Kenichi, she’s careful and cunning’
’Well, that’s true’
’Without that perverted coroner, we probably wouldn’t have found out the truth behind theher husband for years and years and acted like she didn’t know it It’s not your average brand of boldness’
Gotou said that all at once and hit the table in his agitation
Yakuers – it looked like he was thinking
’So what do you think actually happened, Gotou-san?’
’I suspect the brother, Junichi Kenichi was killed by his wife, Eriko, and Eriko was killed by his younger brother, Junichi Since then the inheritance would go to Junichi’
’Then, can’t you just go get the person naroaned and scratched his head
’Tried that already, but the guy’s got an alibi Got a parking ticket and went to the precinct And it was because of Junichi’s car that the firefighters arrived late The story’s too neat’
A steel alibi
Gotou was at the end of his rope
’So what are you telling h Gotou thought that, he explained anyway
’I think this ghost photo ht be a lead’
’I see I understand, but there is too little information and the story is too abstract – I don’t knohere to start at all’
’So it’s really no use…’
’I can’t guarantee it, but I’ll look into what I can’
’Really?’
The conversation ended quickly for one with Yakumo – Gotou stood up in his surprise
’But please allow this to clear the favour fro at Gotou
Gotou understood now
So Yakumo had anticipated it
If Yaku hi –
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5
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Haruka asked the aparted to enter the room
Since the entrance did have an auto-lock, her rooh of relief, her phone rang
It wasn’t her mobile, but the home phone she rarely used
’Hello?’
When Haruka picked up the review, there was a long silence Then, the phone call ended
A prank call?
Haruka took a shower and changed
She wanted to go straight to Yakuain She sat down on the bed and looked out the glass door
She tried to understand what had happened last night, but it wouldn’t be so easy
She couldn’t even tell as reality and as illusion
The curtains waved in the wind
That was strange The glass door should not have been open
Haruka stood up and walked to the glass door
Between the lace curtains, on the other side of the glass door, there stood Shiori
’… Shiori?’
Haruka hurriedly pushed the s aside, opened the glass door and went out on to the veranda
However, no matter how she looked, she didn’t see Shiori
Where did she go?
Haruka leant over the veranda to look, but there was no way she’d be there This was the fourth floor of the apartment
There was no way for somebody to be on her veranda
It must have been an illusion –
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