We are the chick. The world is our egg. Let's play Kara no Shoujo.

It's very likely that at least one of the doctors who just testified is lying and/or the kidnapper and/or the kidnapper's accomplice. The question is which?

EDIT: Do we know who Mamiya's personal doctor is? Or has that not been revealed yet?

That does seem likely, yeah. I'm also curious about the brief interlude from Ayumu's perspective; that seems like it might be relevant somehow.

So, from what we know so far, Murase was in the room after giving a sedative to Toko around 1.00 pm, then left the room to take a call. A few minutes later, Fumiya went in to check on Toko, and she had gone. Does that mean that she disappeared between Murase leaving and Fumiya going in?

... Things just keep getting worse, though, huh. ; Toko gets hit by a truck, Mizuhara's killed, Toko gets kidnapped...

You should, although it's been a long time since it was mentioned...

in this game, things can ALWAYS get worse.

Point. :'D

As for who Mamiya's doctor is, when was that mentioned? I can't seem to find anything on it, going back through the thread.

Good catch. Ayumu's perspective implies that a female pushed "something" out of the hospital; judging from the monologue, it's probably (1) somebody she recognizes, (2) maybe one of the hospital staff? (since Ayumu finds that there's nothing strange about her being there), and (3) she's probably pushing a male in a wheelchair or something, hence Ayumu's line about "I didn't know she was married", implying that it looks like a female pushing her husband along on a wheelchair. It would make more sense for Toko being the one being pushed though. Hmm.

Regardless, that implicates the only female doctor we've seen: Koharu. But Dr. Y should've seen her if she tried anything like that... unless HE'S an accomplice as well. Hell, maybe they're ALL in on it. As for motive, perhaps it's something related to Toko's weird mono-chromosomal medical condition.

Isn't Dr. Y Koharu? Then again, I could just be getting confused between her and Dr. Kuchiki senior (whose first name is unhelpfully Yasutada). ;

EDIT: Ah, what about Nene? Ayumu would probably recognise her, as she's from the academy; she's also a nurse, so she wouldn't be out of place in a hospital. Then again, I have no idea what she'd be doing here. I'm just suspicious of her because of that phonecall earlier. :'D

Yeah, sorry about those names getting confusing. Koharu is Dr.Y(amanouchi), Yasutada is Dr. K(uchiki). They're BOTH K Y, which really doesn't help.

I don't feel like we/Reiji are sufficiently familiar with either of those individuals to address them by first name, and the game's quite inconsistent with which characters it calls by first name and which by last (and sometimes Reiji's narration is always one way but the dialog box name is totally different).

... and of course I'm saying first/last but it's the other way around in Japanese but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT sort of argh

Fuck, sorry. I got confused about the names again. You're correct.

OOOOH YES THAT MAKES COMPLETE SENSE.

All right, calling it now. Nene's the one who kidnapped Toko. Maybe it has something to do with the inheritance issue, not this particular murder case.

Ahh, I'm getting confused with all these names. :'D So Koharu is the one who saw Murase leave and exchange greetings with Fumiya, and who doesn't think she saw anyone take Toko out? No idea what Kuchiki Sr. was doing, though, in that case. He seems to have known Murase left the room, though.

Ah yeah, Nene was discussing Toko's inheritance, wasn't she? I guess that gives her a motive. Still have no idea how she came to be here, but hey. Maybe all that suspicion I've had of Nene will finally pay off! (Or not).

EDIT: Come to think, would Mamiya's personal physician be listed in his profile? ... Assuming we're talking about Mamiya Shinji and not Mamiya Shinzo, that is, given that we still don't really know anything about Shinzo.

That's right. Now that the name confusion is clear up, our culprit is clear. Koharu is the only person who's making this a "closed room"; if she's just lying about not seeing anybody take Toko out, that explains how Nene got in and out with Toko unnoticed. I hereby declare this closed room -- broken! (har har)

I don't remember Katsuragi Shin's profile mentioning his personal physician, but that might just be my horrible memory...

So it seems right now that Koharu's the most suspicious (as an accomplice, as opposed to the person who kidnapped her)?

Kind of confused as to where Fumiya went in those few minutes between Murase leaving and him going into the room (surely he'd still be in the corridor? Murase leaves --> greets Fumiya --> Toko's kidnapped --> Fumiya goes into the room? Or is it Murase leaves --> Toko's kidnapped --> he greets Fumiya --> Fumiya goes into the room?), but then again that's also according to Koharu, isn't it... I kind of doubt Fumiya's an accomplice, as he's her uncle, but you never know.

Well, Koharu wouldn't be able to lie about Murase greeting Fumiya, since they would know if she lied about that, right? I'm thinking it's the former: "Murase leaves --> greets Fumiya --> Toko's kidnapped --> Fumiya goes into the room", mostly because Koharu said "I saw Murase leaving. He exchanged greetings with Fumiya", which implies that the greeting happened right after Murase left the room. I assume Fumiya was just passing the room at that point, and only went into the room a few minutes later.

Of course, Fumiya could be an accomplice as well, and Koharu could be covering for him. He WAS the first person to claim he discovered the missing Toko. At this point I'm more inclined to just suspect Koharu for now though.

Uozumi: "You guys didn't see anyone suspicious?"

Uozumi asks everyone present.



Uozumi: "Oh, come on! You know... Someone suspicious!"

Uozumi falters as he replies.

Saito: "You mean, people like Kusaka-san and Mamiya-san?"



Reiji: "This is Dr. Saito. He's examined both Kusaka and Mamiya Shinji."

(That's what was intended earlier when they mentioned personal physicians. Possibly a translation confusion. We knew in case 1 that Shin comes here and I'm pretty sure we knew that he was a patient of Saito's. We certainly knew Kusaka was.)

Saito: "Hello, Tokisaka-san. I just got a call from the police earlier. They said something about wanting Mamiya-san at any cost---"

ReijI: "Yeah... He's the top suspect in the recent string of murders."

Saito: "Is that so? He seemed to be on the upward swing, but... Well, let's not talk about that now."

After saying that, Saito turns and faces Uozumi.



(aww, poor Uozumi)

Uozumi: "...Well, if that's the case, then why don't you go find me someone?"

Uozumi's grumbling now.

Reiji: "Anyway, I think I have a rough grasp of the situation. Would it be all right if I asked you guys a few more questions?"

Dr.Kuchiki: "Naturally. Solve this mystery as soon as you can."

Well... Who should I start with?

(False choice really, you have to ask them all eventually. But this gives us a chance to refresh our profiles)



(Since your suspicions are on her, let's go for Dr. Yamanouchi. Her profile's awfully empty, isn't it?)

Reiji: "Yamanouchi-san, you were here in front of the room. You didn't see any particularly suspicious people?"



Reiji: "Visitors...? What kind of people were they?"

Dr.Y: "Doctors from small clinics and school doctors for a conference on physical examinations. In a lot of cases, we store their records here."

Reiji: "I see. Is it possible for outside patients to come to this area?"

Dr.Y: "Yes, there aren't any particular restrictions. Since the hospitalized patients' families can also visit them, people are free to come and go."

Reiji: "All right. Thank you."

(Let's try someone else then...)



Reiji: "Kuchiki-san, was the patient already missing when you entered this room?"

Fumiya: "Yes.. The bed was already empty. I haven't seen Toko-chan since her surgery."

Reiji: "...What do you mean by that?"



Reiji: "But weren't you the one who treated her?"

Fumiya: "...I'm not a surgeon."

Fumiya discreetly hides his gloved hand.

(It may be worth remembering at this point that he always wears a glove.)

Reiji: "---Then why today, of all days, did you enter her room?"



Fumiya hangs his head.

Fumiya: "My father didn't really tell me anything about Toko-chan's status, so I was wondering how she was doing, and---"

Reiji: "---I see. Thank you."

(Next)



Reiji: "Dr. Saito, where were you around 1 P.M.?"

Saito: "I was sorting some documents in my office. ... The truth is, I was the one who told Dr. Murase that he had a call."

Reiji: "Really?"



Reiji: "----Who was the call from?"

Murase: "...Is that related to the investigation? Does it matter who it's from?"

Reiji: "No, but ----"



Reiji: "I see, thank you."

(two more to go...)

Reiji: "Murase-san, how was the patient's condition before you left this room?"



Reiji: "---So when she was taken out of the room, she wouldn't have put up a struggle?"

Murase: "...Yeah, maybe. But in her state, she couldn't have struggled, regardless of whether she'd been sedated---"

Reiji: "---What do you mean by that?"


Yasutada explains in Murase's place.

Reiji: "I see. But wouldn't she have been able to cry out if she hadn't been sedated?"

Murase: "...Probably. However, while that may be true, there's no point to debating that at the moment, yes?"

Reiji: "...Yeah, you're right."



Reiji: "Dr. Kuchiki, where were you around 1 P.M.?"

Dr.K: "Are you naming me as a suspect?"

Yasutada glares at me.

Reiji: "No, not at all. It's important for me to get a handle on the movements of the staff members."



Reiji: "I see. Thank you."

I guess I've heard everybody's accounts now ----

Uozumi: "Did you find anything out?"

Uozumi, silent up until this moment, chooses to speak up.

Reiji: "...Hmm, give me a couple more minutes."

I take a look at the bed where Toko had been sleeping. The neatly-made sheets have creases in them.

Reiji: "...When were these sheets changed?"

I turn around and ask Dr. Kuchiki.





Reiji: "And during that time, were the sheets in this room changed as well?"

Murase: "Yeah. The sheets, futon, and pillow."

Reiji: "---I see. Where's the linen room?"

Dr.Y: "Just down the hall, but... What about it?"

Reiji: "I see... Could you show me, please?"

Dr.Y: "Sure, right this way."

Koharu leads us into the hallway.



Voice; "--- Oh, Tokisaka-sensei...?"

I'm called to a halt by a familiar sounding voice, and I spin around.

Reiji: "Oh, Sato-san. What're you doing over here?"



Reiji: "I'm --- Investigating something."

Ayumu: "Ooo? Nurse Akazaki, maybe?"

Reiji: "Huh? Why her, of all people?"



Reiji: "I haven't heard that she is... But why do you ask?"

Ayumu: "Well... I saw Nurse Akazaki pushing around a big baby carriage... Maybe it was just someone that looked like her."

Reiji: "A baby carriage...?"

Why would she have something like that?



Reiji: "Uozumi -- There's someplace I want you to check out right now."

Uozumi: "Where?"

I want him to look in the ---

(And here we get a choice. But since it's slightly less fun with an explicit choice of locations, here's YOUR chance to be the detective.

What happened here? Who's in on it? And where can we find the proof?)

holy shit we WERE right

Nene is definitely the person who took Toko out of the room.

And I think I know what happened. The sheet changing happened at noon. Which means that is when Toko was removed from the room, during the sheet changing. Since Murase is the only person who confirmed that Toko was in the room at 1pm, that means HE WAS LYING OUT OF HIS FUCKING TEETH THE BASTARD AND HE WAS COLLABORATING WITH NENE THE BITCH.

As for where we can find the proof... probably the linen room? But aren't we already heading there right now? I'll have to think on this further...

Assuming that the 'big baby carriage' wasn't actually a baby carriage, I'm guessing that what happened was that Nene went into Toko's room under pretense of changing the sheets, and carried her off in the linen cart, which is probably why she didn't arouse suspicion. The sheets seem to have been changed, as Reiji notes that the bed is neatly-made, but you'd think someone would have noticed that Toko wasn't there if they'd come to change them after she'd gone missing.

That said, the timing's kind of weird, as apparently the linen cart goes around just before noon, which is when Ayumu said she saw Nene. So someone's probably lying about the times here; all our accounts seem to be from around 1.00pm. If what Ayumu says is accurate (it seems to correspond with the general linen-changing times, and I doubt she has a reason to lie), then I'm wondering why Murase didn't notice that Toko wasn't there, if he was in there around 1.00... We have accounts other than Koharu's that he was in there around 1.00, right?

EDIT: Pretty much what Anabanana said. :D; I'd also agree that the linen room might be a good place to check; I doubt Toko's there or anything, but maybe there's some evidence there.

Yeah, that's a good point. Let's go with the linen room. Nene might have left some evidence behind while abducting Toko.

Reiji: "Go to the linen room. Could you go check whether anything's been slipped into the used sheets?"

Uozumi: "The linen room? Got it."

Uozumi runs down the corridor.



Reiji: "Yeah... If my intuition hasn't failed me, then this will be the clincher."



... Her admiration is somewhat misplaced.

Uozumi returns in short order.

Reiji: "How'd it go?"

Uozumi: "Reiji, I found these."

Uozumi tosses some clothes at me.



Uozumi: "They were there with the sheets inside a big basket with wheels on it."

Dr.Y: "Oh my goodness... Uniforms are supposed to be washed separately..."

Koharu mutters.

Reiji: "Well, this is the missing piece of the puzzle. Let's go, Uozumi. Time to get this over with and find Toko."

Uozumi: "Gotcha."

I lead Uozumi and Koharu back to the hospital room where the incident occurred.

Reiji: "---Thanks for waiting, everyone."



Reiji: "Yes ---- I believe I have an answer."

As I nod, I stop in front of the most suspicious person in the group.

(Murase, of course.)



Reiji: "Earlier, one of my female acquaintances was spotted pushing a baby carriage in the outpatient waiting room."

Murase: "What about it?"

Reiji: "Please, let's not be hasty. It appears that she was witnessed just after noon."

Murase: "So why are you telling me this?"

Murase stamps his foot on the ground in frustration.

Reiji: "Incidentally, when did you say the linen collection cart came around here?"

Murase: "...Before noon."

Murase mutters.

Reiji: "Ahh, right, right. --- This was left inside the linen room, along with the cart."

At my prompting, Uozumi shows him the nurse's uniform.

Murase: "Well, of course something like that would be left in the linen room. It's going to get washed."

Reiji: "I'm afraid not. When we found the uniform earlier, Dr. Yamanouchi said that they were washed separately."



Reiji: "That's right. Why was just the uniform left in there? Perhaps if an outsider snuck in and dressed up as a nurse----"



(check that lopsided smirk)

Reiji: "---Well then, Dr. Yamanouchi, did the nurse that collected the linen look familiar to you?"

Dr.Y: "Eh? Now that you mention it... I didn't see her face. I wasn't especially paying attention... she was just collecting the linen..."

Reiji: "---Is it possible that the nurse was hiding her face on purpose?"

Dr.Y: "Hiding her face... I thought she was just busy working. Like she was peeking inside the basket... But why do you ask?"

Reiji: "Because she was probably an acquaintance of yours, Dr. Yamanouchi. That's why it would have been strange to see her in a nurse's uniform. That's why she hid her face."

Dr.Y: "An acquaintance of mine... Oh!"

Koharu lets out a small exclamation. I'm sure she's realized who it was.

Reiji: "That woman disguised as a nurse came here when Dr. Murase was here. Doctor, you said just now that you'd be able to tell if it were an outsider, correct?"

Murase: "...Yeah."

Murase nods reluctantly. Most of his composure has slipped away. Just a little more ----

Reiji: "---We'll leave the true identity of the nurse for later. What's important is how the patient, Kuchiki Toko, disappeared from here."

I point to the new sheets laid out on the bed.

Reiji: "The sheets are like new - you can see that nobody's slept in them. Which means that when the linens were collected, Toko-san was carried away along with the old sheets. And the only person inside the hospital room at that time... was you, Murase-san."



Murase punches the wall.

Reiji: "--Then did Dr. Saito, who came to get you, check up on the patient?"



Reiji: "Thank you very much. Well, then... We're running out of time, so why don't you drop the act?"

There's no doubt that Murase was an accomplice in Toko's disappearance. Then let's confront him with the identity of his partner in crime. It's definitely her.

(Choice screen, but it's obvious)

Reiji: "---That person was witnessed pushing a large baby carriage in the outpatient waiting room. She probably changed clothes in the linen room, and then moved the patient into that."

That's still somewhat of a guess, but my gut tells me it's right.

Reiji: "---Uozumi, have an emergency deployment sent out around this area. That student from earlier, Sato-san, is probably still around; ask her for a detailed description of the suspect's appearance."



Uozumi leaves the hospital room.

Now... All that's left is to make this man admit to his crime.

Reiji: "---Isn't it about time you fessed up?"

(There are different versions of this conversation depending on how much digging you've done earlier in the game. It is possible for you to have already known by this point that Murase and Nene know each other, and to have been dancing around her name here in order to get him to say it first and implicate himself. We didn't have all that, but the game goes easy on us...)



Murase slouches into a chair.

Reiji: "---So, you finally admit it?"

Murase: "Damn it!"

Now I should ask him their motives. If he's come this far, I'm willing to bet he'll keep talking.

///

All the fight seems to have gone out of Dr. Murase. Dr. Kuchiki and the other staff returned to their work. The officers headed outside after Uozumi, who had gone on ahead. Toko will probably be rescued before long.

... But there are still some puzzling elements to Murase's behavior. Let's get the full story out of him.

Reiji: "...Why would you do something like this?"

Sitting across from him, I keep my voice low.



His tone matches mine.

Reiji: "Money...? You kidnapped her for ransom?"



Reiji: "A goldmine...? The Kuchiki family certainly seems well off---"

Kuchiki Yasutada does own this research hospital.



To Suwa... That was on the 8th.



Reiji: "Nakahara Shinjiro---? Who's that?"

Murase: "A businessman in Okayama. He's a bigshot that made his fortune in the textile industry, and build an orphanage, hospital... heck, even a power company and a bank. He also owns the Nakahara Art Museum in Kurashiki."

Reiji: "The Nakahara Art Museum----"

I went there with Toko at the end of last month. Was she aware of all this? Did she know that she was related to him?



How does he know so much about her?

Murase: "---That's pretty much it. If we nabbed that girl, then we could've gotten ransoms from both the Kuchiki and Nakahara families."

I guess Murase doesn't want to risk holding anything back in his desperation. It's a good thing there aren't any members of the Kuchiki family in here.

Reiji: "---And then afterward, Akazaki-san would call with the ransom demands?"



Reiji: "But that ended in failure ---- She's probably been apprehended already."

I wink at the backup officer and stand up.

Reiji: "I'm going to go save Toko-san. Murase-san, be ready to repeat that story down at the station."

Murase: (growls)

The officer leads Murase out of the room.

The truth is, a simple sleuth like me doesn't have the authority to interrogate him like this... But it seems that cop mistook me for an undercover detective.

Reiji: "---Well, I suppose that's because I've been working with Uozumi."

Murase's given me a rough idea of the situation. The questions I still have will be answered sooner or later.

///

As soon as I leave the receiption room, I see Uozumi pelting toward me.

Reiji: "Huh ---?"



Reiji: "---What happened?"

Uozumi: "Akazaki Nene's been killed at Murase's apartment!"

Reiji: "What ----!?"

What's going on here?



(... surely you knew things were going to get worse? Happy New Year!)

/facepalm

Happy New Year, everybody. Fucking... what... this game... god fucking damn it ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

nothing says happy new year like a freshly-killed corpse with a side of kidnapped heroine

:Dc Good job guys, have fun looking at your next corpse!

Wait, why are you talking like it's OUR fault!? ;A;

Victim: Akazaki Nene
Killer: Anabanana
Method: Slipped on your avatar

Happy New Year, everyone. :'D What better way to start than things getting even worse.

Reiji: "Toko's... Gone?"

Wait ----

What in the world?

Reiji: "...What's going on...?"

(Reiji, too, seems to be in a THIS GAME brainlock.)



Reiji: "Sure----"

I settle into a jog behind him.



Due to its proximity to the Nakano Army School, it was targeted for air raids, but it looks like this building escaped the bombing; it's pretty old and dilapidated.

Uozumi: "---This way."



Roughly in its center, Akazaki Nene sits on a chair.

Reiji: "...This is sick."

Her face has been slashed to shreds.

Uozumi: "Gonna do your thing?"

Reiji: "Yeah."

(Investigation mode go! They don't want us getting too side-tracked here so much of the apartment isn't searchable - however, there is one clue which you're REQUIRED to find in order to leave that can be a little tough to spot and click on. But first, something more obvious.)



There's a bloodstained knife lying on the floor.

Reiji: "Is this the murder weapon...?"

There's even blood on the handle. Fingerprints stand out on it, plain as day. I guess it belongs to the killer ----

(clicking the knife a second time)

Reiji: "Uozumi, send this over to Forensics."

Uozumi: "--Oh, that's right. Apparently Natsume-san will be here soon."

Reiji: "Natsume-san..?"

That's pretty rare. She was just at Mamiya Shinzo's atelier before noon.

Uozumi: "Commissioner Yaginuma is currently searching Mamiya Shinji's office, which he'd been renting under the name of Katsuragi Shin. He's called for backup from there."

Reiji: "I see..."

So it looks like they're on the move as well ---

(clicking the rope-looking thing on the floor)

Reiji: "Is this cord... from a tabletop lamp?"

A power cord is fallen on the floor. Some force has been put on it: the plastic coating has stretched and changed color in places.

Reiji: "---I see."

Looking at Akazaki, I think I understand. This should go to forensics.

(clicking the table)

There are even bloodstains on the table. There must have been a lot of spatter when he was slicing her up.

This is beyond excessive... It has to be the product of a paranoid mind.

(now to the main subject)

Akazaki Nene's dead.

Uozumi: "Are you positive that this is Akazaki Nene?"

Reiji: "Yeah..."

I can't believe something like this was done to her -- what in the world happened here?

I should take a closer look at this.



(notice where I'm pointing, it'll be relevant in a minute - but first, clicking on her back)

Her clothes are undisturbed. The attack was probably over in an instant. Whatever the motive for the crime, I doubt it was sexual in nature.

(her face)

Her face has been hacked to pieces. I can't even make out her facial features anymore - everything's stained crimson.

Uozumi: "But... Why was her face sliced up?"

Reiji: "Beats me... The direct cause of death was probably asphyxiation. Maybe it was to delay identification of the corpse?"

A wasted effort, considering how little time it took us.

Uozumi: "..We can't say anything for sure until we know who the killer is."

(now, remember that spot I was indicating in the screenshot? You have to single out her neck for attention...)

There are thin lines of internal bleeding down her neck. They appear to be nail marks.

Reiji: "...So she was strangled from behind with the cord, eh?"

The crisscross pattern of rope burns is visible on the back of her neck. They're probably from the electrical cord that's fallen on the floor.

(click again on the neck and Reiji confirms that the marks are definitely from the cord, and that ends the investigation. So... It's clear WHAT happened, but WHO and WHY?)

Natsume: "Good Lord, the corpses are popping up everywhere today."

It looks like Natsume-san's here.



Reiji: "...I just saw you earlier today."

Natsume: "C'mon, have a sense of humor. It's been a long day, so couldn't you give me more of a warm welcome?"

Reiji: "Ugh, I don't know what you mean... Anyhow, what do you make of this?"

I step back and show her the crime scene.



Reiji: "Then what about this knife?"

Natsume: "This thing? ... Hmm, there are prints plastered all over it. Eh..? They look familiar...Hold on a sec, Tokisaka-san."

Natsume-san starts rummaging around in her bag.

Reiji: "What do you mean, familiar...?"

Natsume: "Right, if I don't miss my guess, they're the same as... Ahh, here it is. They're the same as the ones I found earlier, see?"

She holds up a document. It's data on fingerprints that have been collected. And right where she's pointing...

Why the hell are his prints on that knife!?



Reiji: "Whoa, hold on just a second. You're telling me that Akazaki Nene's killer is ---"

Natsume: "Since she was strangled, we won't know for certain until we check out the cord, but I'm pretty sure Mamiya Shinji's will be on that too."

Reiji: "What... the hell was he doing here..?"

This makes no sense. What connection could he possibly have to the kidnapping ---?



A number of MPD patrol vehicles are parked outside.

Reiji: "---Commissioner Yaginuma."

Spotting Yaginuma, I call out to him.



Reiji: "Yeah, that's why I'm here; Mamiya Shinji's been implicated. His fingerprints were discovered on a knife found at the crime scene."

Yaginuma: "Eh... What are you driving at?"

It looks like I've caught him off-guard.

Reiji: "Well, for starters, it means that since we haven't found Kuchiki Toko, there's a very good chance that he's kidnapped her."



Reiji: "...I came here because I don't know. Let me take a look inside."

I shove past Yaginuma.

Yaginuma: "I don't really mind. We've left just about everything inside undisturbed, so feel free. ... Ah, but you should know ---"

Yaginuma's face twists into his trademark smirk.



Reiji: "...As you say."

Given the situation, I have to wonder how much evidence is left at this scene ----

(fade to white)

I enter Katsuragi Shin's rented office.

--- The space within is pure white, almost to the point of being alien.



(given the whole White Is Death cultural thing, this is probably even creepier to Reiji than it is to us.)

The floor, the walls, the ceiling, the furniture; everything is white. Even the books lined up on the bookshelves have had their covers painted white.

Reiji: "...What the hell's with this place ----"

I can feel the paranoia in here. No person of sound mind would consider living in a room like this. It's as if I've been drawn into a black-and-white television set.

There are several sheets of writing paper left on top of the white desk. Everything is in its place, just as Yaginuma promised. But there may be a few pieces that he deemed beneath his notice.

---- One way or the other, it's time to begin.



(For this, we need a vote. There is a hidden item in this room that is ridiculously difficult to find. Like, even with a walkthrough, it still took several minutes to be able to click it. That item is not required to finish the game - it unlocks a special ending which we may or may not be able to see anyway. Do you want me to grab the Hidden Thing, which may block off some endings and open up some others, or may do nothing at all? Do you want to take a guess about what the Hidden Thing is?)

Let's go for the ✰✰✰✰✰✰✰SPECIAL✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ ending~

also i want to know what they mystery item is

Where in that picture do you think a ludicrously hard-to-click item might be lurking?

Maybe under a drawer with a false bottom, like Orihime's copy of Book of Neanis?

One of the documents or the books would be my guess; they're lined up far too close to each other. And yeah, let's grab the hidden thing.

Yeah, hidden thing! The only other place I can think of would be mixed in with the writing paper on the desk (like where the cursor's pointing in the last image)?

Grab the hidden thing anyway! Uh...check everything, drawers, books, whatever.

I should have thought of a more interesting way to pose the question, since everyone automatically is going to go "Mystery prize!" even when you have no idea if it's a good thing or not or whether it leads to the Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Ending Of All Time... ah well. It may be entirely irrelevant depending on our endgame choices anyway.

What's wrong with despair? :D

Hidden thing sounds good! Even if we don't get the ending associated with it, it still might be good to see what it is (and for all we know we might be hurtling towards the Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Ending Of All Time anyway, so why not. \(o)/). I'd guess that it's hidden in the documents or books, too, as it seems like they'd be difficult to search. (Everything being white sure isn't helping...).

Other than that, the drawers seem like they'd be a good idea.

Look, we've already went to the path of oh nope nope nope nope by letting this game be LP'd anyway. Let's go all the way to the ninth circle of despair.

(There's two main searchable areas in this location. One is the desk - in a broad sense - there are a lot of individual hotspots on it! - and the other is these:)



(The drawers at the bottom of the giant bookshelf. The giant bookshelf itself is not a hotspot. There are several drawers and they're all nice and easy to click. Starting on the far left:)

I open up a drawer at the bottom of the bookshelf and take a look inside. There are even books stuffed in here.

Reiji: "...White too, eh?"

What a pain in the ass. Searching these one by one would probably take forever. Let's leave this to the police.

(The other drawers under the bookshelf give the same result. Really, we're just here for that desk.)



(The stack of paper I'm pointing to is another easy obvious thing to search.)

I take a peek at the paper left on top of the desk.



I guess it's an unfinished manuscript ---- I've heard this name somewhere before ----

Reiji: "...Ahh, it's the story that was printed in the magazine I found in Toko's room."

It's Katsuragi Shin's contribution to the May issue of "Art and Literature." This must be a continuation...

(We can also easily see two rows of books on top of the desk. Clicking the taller ones)

I take a look at the books lined up on the desk. They have all been painted white as well. I think they were originally different colors ---- I wonder if he was possessed by some kind of obsession.

The contents of the books are nothing remarkable; they're all literary works like "Faust" and the "Divine Comedy". He probably used them as references for writing his short stories.

(Clicking on the shorter ones gives the same response - none of the books are out of the ordinary, clicking on them again gets you nothing.

Now here's where the obnoxious clicking sets in. Completely invisible to the eye, SOMEWHERE in that row of books, there is a particular pixel... The only way to do this is to run your mouse slowly over the books and wait until you see the 'Search' icon flicker slightly, indicating that you've just crossed from one hotspot to another.)

The cover is painted white, but I can faintly discern the words "The Divine Comedy." It looks like something's stuck inside.

Reiji: "What's this...?"

It's a photograph.

No ---- It's a picture postcard. It's of a lakeside somewhere... I think.

There's no address or anything written on there.



(Okay, stupid hidden object out of the way, we can get to the drawers now. Lower left first.)

I open the left-side drawer. There are writing implements stowed inside.

... They're all painted white.

(They look like two drawers, but both left drawers give the same result. Middle drawer then.)

A notebook is inside the drawer. The cover is white, of course.

After flipping through it, I find what appears to be an itinerary; there are dates written, along with names.

March 17 ---- Kobayashi Yuko
March 18 ---- Kano Tomoko
April 5 ---- Yosomiya Tsuzuriko
April 8 ----
April 11 ---- Mizuhara Toko

Reiji: "...That fucking bastard."

I can't contain my fury. To record a log of all the people he's killed----

But the space for April 8 -- Something was written there, but it was erased and is unreadable now. What happened on that day...?

(okay, on to the right drawers then)

Reiji: "This is..."

A letter, I think. I come across some ripped-up pieces of stationery. Some are missing, so it looks like I won't be able to read the entire text.

Still... It's beautiful penmanship. One part appears to be a signature; I think I can make out "Shinzo." It's probably a letter from Mamiya Shinzo.

Well, I suppose they would at least exchange letters, being father and son and all. But... Why's the tone so apologetic? On practically every scrap are phrases like "atone for my sins", "apologize", and "I feel deeply ashamed of myself." I have no idea what Mamiya Shinzo is apologizing to his son Shinji about.



Reiji: "----I guess that's about it."

There's nothing on Toko's whereabouts in here ----

After he killed Akazaki Nene and kidnapped Toko, he probably went somewhere else rather than coming back here. He wouldn't go someplace that was crawling with police. But then, where did Toko go---?

Should I leave it to the police, or should I go and find her ---?

I go outside, still thinking that over.

Yaginuma: "---I do hope you enjoyed yourself, Sempai."

Yaginuma approaches.



Reiji: "...Nope. I didn't find any clues directly tying the cases together."

Yaginuma: "Of course you didn't. That's because you searched it after I did."

Reiji: "...Did you find anything, then?"



Yaginuma sneers, mocking me.

Yaginuma: "Well, if you begged me to include you in the investigation, I might be open to considering it."

Reiji: "---Are you going to search for Mamiya Shinji?"

Yaginuma: "Of course. If we're lucky, we'll find that girl he kidnapped as well."

Reiji: "I see..."

Do I work with Yaginuma, or work on my own ----

(So there's your choice. Follow this jerk, or chase off after Toko on your own? We're in endgame now. Soon, it will have to stop getting worse...)

Argh, talk about a hard choice. ; On the one hand, I don't really want to work with him because he's such a jerk (for understandable reasons, but still); on the other hand, I wonder if we have a better chance of finding Toko if we work with the police... On the other hand, he's a jerk, and I doubt we'd be able to do much if we went with him anyway given that he punished Uozumi for acting on his own. ... Haven't managed to make up my mind yet, to be honest.

Yeah, judging from the way he treated Uozumi... I have a feeling that somewhere down the road, we're going to run into a situation like that and we won't be able to do anything because he has his eye on us. On the other hand, information about Toko's whereabouts...

You know what? The letters suggest something strange is going on between Shinzo and Shinji, and that Reiji is planning to ask Shinzo about it. I have a feeling that if we work alone, that's the line of investigation we'll be pursuing, and that we'll maybe find some hints from that venue somehow. So right now I'm tentatively voting work alone.