After lunch.
The members of Division 3 brought Arata to the first crime scene.
Tenten rang the doorbell and spoke politely into the intercom, "Hello, please excuse the intrusion."
"Who is it?" A moment later, a middle-aged woman's voice came through the speaker.
"We are from Public Safety Special Division 3. We would like to inspect the crime scene once more."
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
After waiting for about ten seconds, a middle-aged woman wearing a maid's uniform opened the door for them.
"Hello."
"Hello, sorry to bother you. Is Mr. Kimura at home?"
"He is not. Ever since Miss Kimura went missing, Mr. Kimura has rarely been home. Only the Madame is here; she was the one who permitted you to come in."
"Do we need to go greet the Madame?"
"No need. The Madame is quite exhausted lately and in poor health. I will take you to the Young Miss's room."
"Thank you for the trouble."
The maid led the group into the house, bringing them all the way to Miss Kimura's bedroom door.
A paper seal had already been pasted across the doorframe.
"Ever since Miss Kimura inexplicably vanished from her room, Mr. Kimura hired a priest to perform a ritual and seal this room," the maid explained as she tore off the seal.
Pushing the door open, Arata saw an impeccably tidy room.
"Feel free to go inside. If you need any assistance, just press the call button by the Young Miss's bed, and I will come immediately."
"Thank you, we understand."
Tenten handled the entire exchange with the maid, while the others stood behind her.
After the maid left, the group entered the room.
"Arata, if you find anything, don't forget to tell us immediately," Tsurugi said. He stood motionless at the doorway, seemingly harboring no intention of participating in the inspection.
"Relax. I definitely won't hide anything just to claim the reward from Senior Natsume."
Because Division 3 had already conducted a carpet search of the area, combined with Peter's spider sense, they had merely brought Arata here this time to take a look, hoping he might notice some details they had missed.
Arata scanned his surroundings.
The room was exceptionally clean. The items on the vanity were neatly arranged, and there was absolutely no sign of a struggle anywhere in the room.
According to Division 3, Miss Kimura had screamed right before she disappeared. This indicated that her vanishing happened in a split second.
"Tenten, what did Miss Kimura do before returning to her room?" Arata asked.
"I asked the maid earlier. Miss Kimura went out shopping with her boyfriend at 2:00 PM. After having dinner outside, she returned home at 8:00 PM, and went into her room at 8:30 PM. About fifteen minutes after she entered, a scream suddenly came from inside the room."
"By the time the maid rushed into the crime scene, she found that Miss Kimura was already gone." Tenten relayed all the information she had gathered to Arata.
They had asked the exact same questions themselves.
"The maid didn't notice anything unusual after coming in?"
"According to what the maid said at the time, she looked all around the room after entering but saw absolutely nothing."
"Oh!" Arata hummed in acknowledgment, pacing back and forth alone across the room.
Beside him, Denji picked his nose, looking like he had nothing better to do.
After observing for a while longer, Arata spoke up again. "What time does Miss Kimura usually go to sleep?"
"You're even asking what time she sleeps? Could a disappearance possibly be related to sleeping?" Tsurugi found Arata's question bizarre.
"I don't know the answer to that," Tenten admitted.
"Denji, go press the call bell. I need to ask her myself; we can't overlook any details."
"No problem," Denji agreed readily. He took large strides toward the head of the bed, but just as he was about to press the button, a woman's voice suddenly came from the doorway.
A frail-looking woman with a blanket draped over her shoulders walked in.
"No need to ring the bell. I can tell you whatever you want to know."
"This is Miss Kimura's mother," Tenten immediately reminded him. (Note: Fixed a typo in the raw text which mistakenly said 'Tenten's mother')
"What time does Miss Kimura go to sleep at night?"
"Usually around 9:00 PM."
"Does she have any fixed habits before going to sleep?"
"I haven't really noticed any... she probably doesn't."
"Is there anything she's afraid of?"
"She's afraid of the dark. Whenever she sleeps alone, she leaves the lights on."
"Alright, I understand. We can move on to the next house."
After finishing his questions, Arata walked straight out of the room.
Tsurugi was somewhat baffled. Arata came all this way, asked a few completely irrelevant questions, and then just left? What was the difference between this and not coming at all?
"That's it?"
"That's it. I've seen what I needed to see and asked what I needed to ask. There's no reason to stay here any longer."
"You come here and ask what time Miss Kimura goes to sleep, and you call that investigating a case?" Tsurugi challenged. He clearly felt Arata was unreliable and had let down Kiko Natsume's expectations.
"Tsurugi-senpai, don't be hasty. We need to trust Arata," Tenten hurriedly tried to soothe Tsurugi's temper, hoping the two wouldn't get into an argument.
"How can I not be hasty at a time like this? The higher-ups only gave us two days. If we don't uncover the truth by then, our Captain is going to be reprimanded. Right now, to save your Division 4 member, our Captain has to lie in bed for several weeks. Under these circumstances, she still has to bear the pressure from the higher-ups. Now the backup arrives and doesn't even take the job seriously. I have an obligation to speak up for our Captain."
It was obvious from Tsurugi's words that he was still brooding over Kiko Natsume healing Power. Coupled with his own stress, he had placed overly high expectations on Arata. However, those few seemingly random questions had left Tsurugi deeply disappointed.
"Relax. Since Senior Natsume cured Power, it is my duty to help her resolve this issue. If you have complaints, I suggest you stop following us and go back to keep your Captain company."
Arata was only here to help out of consideration for Kiko Natsume. Naturally, he couldn't be bothered to entertain Tsurugi's emotional outbursts.
"Tsurugi, go back and rest for now. Peter and I will take him to the next crime scene," Tenten offered.
"Absolutely not. I'm going to follow him and see exactly what kind of skills he has to warrant Captain Natsume specifically calling for him," Tsurugi refused flat-out.
Subsequently, the group arrived at the next crime scene: Miss Kawahana's house.
This time, they were greeted by Miss Kawahana's parents. Judging by their appearance, they were nearly 60 years old. Miss Kawahana was their only daughter.
Upon hearing that the members of Division 3 had returned to inspect the scene, they hurriedly dropped whatever they were doing to receive the group.
Compared to the previous parents, this couple visibly displayed the desperate anxiety of losing a child.
"How is it? Is there any news of my daughter?"
"We are working hard to find clues. This time, we need to inspect Miss Kawahana's room once more."
"Oh, is that so? Then we leave it in your hands. If you need money, please don't hesitate to tell us."
"As long as you can find our missing daughter, we will pay any amount." Miss Kawahana's mother gripped Tenten's arms tightly, practically falling to her knees.
"Please don't worry. We've brought in outside help. This time, we should be able to find your missing daughter very soon." Tsurugi purposefully cast a glance at Arata as he spoke.
Seeing the two strangers, Mr. Kawahana immediately walked up to Arata. "We leave it in your hands! You must bring our daughter back!"
"Please take me to Miss Kawahana's room to take a look first. I also have some questions I'd like to ask you."
"Alright, follow me."
The group followed them into Miss Kawahana's room.
Unlike the previous bedroom, Miss Kawahana's room was quite messy.
The blanket on the bed was unmade, and the cosmetics from her vanity had rolled onto the floor.
"Where did Miss Kawahana go before coming home, and what time did she return?"
"She went to a KTV with her friends to sing. She came back a little past 10:00 PM and went into her room around 11:00 PM."
"Did Miss Kawahana have any fixed habits before going to sleep? Is there anything she was afraid of?"
"She didn't really have any fixed habits. If I had to name one, it would just be taking off her makeup, because my daughter wore makeup every time she went out," Miss Kawahana's mother said. "She was terrified of cockroaches. Before going to bed, she would always check under the bed."
"Who was the first person to enter the crime scene?"
"We were all asleep at the time. The maid was the first one to realize she was missing."