No Rest For The Old Policeman
FEBRUARY 25
The lights of sirens could be seen all over the place, and several patrol cars were lined up along the street. The police had closed the park due to an emergency call, the body of a person had been found. But despite the various officers and detectives on the scene, they couldn't believe what they were seeing, so they called their boss for help. The poor Inspector Yamamoto had been having a terrible month, going from one thing to another without stopping, not to mention the eternal worry of his granddaughter. But when he arrived at the scene of the crime, he had no choice but to put everything aside and bear it.
When he finally arrived at the scene and got out of his old car, he took a quick look around. There were several policemen guarding the perimeter of the place, there was an ambulance, but seeing the paramedics gathering their things to leave meant that someone must have died, people were approaching the yellow tape to try to observe; all of this was typical of this type of situation. What was not typical was the condition of the body. It was completely destroyed and torn, what was there did not seem to be a person, it was something horrible to see. And what was worse was trying to understand the meaning of such brutal means.
"What have you got so far?" the old man asked the new rookie detective.
"Not much of the truth.
"It was found at sunset, just like that."
"She was found by a neighbor who thought it strange that they were dumping garbage here."
"We think it could have been about two hours."
"From what remains of the ground, we know that she is a woman, but there is not much else," replied another of the detectives.
"We don't have any identification yet," Adachi said, looking at his notebook.
"This is not something a normal killer would do."
"The victim is too devastated, and it looks like she was eaten by a large animal, something like a bear."
"But something like that in the middle of Tokyo, in a place like this, and without people reporting something like a large animal on the loose?"
"Her pants are from the uniform of a convenience store."
"According to the normal shift of those places, she would probably leave work somewhere close enough, most likely her house, so she did not change her clothes" The inspector put on his gloves and began to go through the girl's pockets.
"A receipt for the purchase of a drink, the address could possibly be her place of work."
"Ask there, if not then look in other places of the same chain."
"It also seems that it was a card purchase, that could also help identify who she is."
"Checking the victims' belongings in their pockets is something basic in an investigation."
"They don't teach you that at the academy?"
"Sorry, Inspector, I thought it had already been checked."
"And this is noted in the notebook?"
"ah"
"Nope"
"Then it didn't happen"
"Look, we are detectives, we have to find the culprit of what happened."
"But unlike in the movies, we can't just go and stop people, we have to follow a procedure, okay?"
"If we don't follow that procedure in the right way, the prosecution can't do anything."
"And if they can't do anything, our work won't be worth anything either"
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir"
"Unfortunately, I can't ignore this."
"I will have to report this procedural error in the report."
"If you don't want to be fired next month, try to do your job properly."
"Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Back at the station, the inspector decided to monitor the case closely to prevent another mistake. The victim's name was Yuji Kondo, a convenience store clerk, single, with no debts. She seemed to have lived only a few blocks from where she died. She did not seem to have any connections with organized crime people, and she seemed to be an honest person, which made the case more complicated. This seemed to be a very different case from the normal ones, so the inspector offered to help his rookie partner Adachi with the investigation. In the morning, they would go to her parents' house to break the bad news and try to gather more information about the victim.
When his work for the day was done, the inspector went to the White Moon Coffee Shop and bought several cups of coffee to take with him, as he would be working late at home due to all the accumulated work of the past few days. When he arrived, the smile of his beloved granddaughter was waiting for him, motivating him to finish his work as soon as possible so that he could have some free time with his granddaughter. When Haru saw her grandfather arrive with the coffee cups and some of the folders, she immediately realized what her grandfather would be doing all night.
"Working late at home again?"
"Grandpa, it's not good for your health."
"You have to rest after work." said his granddaughter concerned,
"I know, but it is that something complicated has come up again, and the new guy does not stop making mistakes."
"But he seems to be learning quickly and this will probably be over soon."
"When this is over, I will have the free time to rest again.
"Maybe I can even take you to that amusement park you wanted to go to on my next day off."
"Seriously?"
"That would be great!"
"I'll tell Yukiko tomorrow to see if she wants to go too!"
"Yukiko?"
"Yeah, I'm going to her house tomorrow."
"I told you yesterday, remember?"
"Yes, it is true!"
"Tomorrow, as soon as I get off work, I'll pick you up to go shopping at the supermarket, we're almost out of food."
"Okay, I'll wait for you then!"
And once again, the poor old man worked for several more hours, compiling the information from the cases that had happened in the last few days. But no matter how many cups of coffee he drank, the dream caught up with him in his own office at home. When he woke up, it was daylight, he had a blanket placed over him, and he realized that it was the gesture of his granddaughter, who had given it to him before going to her friend's house. Yamamoto quickly got ready and went back to work.
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Once again, he had to break the bad news to a couple of parents who were waiting for news about their missing daughter. And although this time it was not as ugly as when he had to break the news to the parents of one of his granddaughter's classmates, the truth is that it is always something ugly that the police never want to be the bearer of bad news. Armed with strength for what was to come, he and his partner went to the home of the parents of Yuji Kondo, the girl who had died so horribly the day before. The reaction of the parents when they heard him was as you can imagine: tears, cries of pain, despair, and the helplessness that the inspector felt for not having been able to do anything to prevent it. Unfortunately, there was not much that could be done now except to find and catch the person responsible for the tragedy. The old man, taking on the role of an immutable cold person, skillfully asked about their daughter's situation. But to his surprise, the parents seemed to have a clear idea of who could have been responsible for such an act.
They both agreed that her daughter's ex-boyfriend was a troublesome person, he was submissive and jealous. Jiro Iwasaki, someone who was a kind person most of the time, but also had his moments of anger. The two had separated a few weeks ago. With this new information and back at the station, they set out to find this person. It seemed that he worked in construction until the company had an economic crisis and had to lay off people a few months ago, after which he was unable to find another job. After that, it seems that he dated the victim until recently when the two ended their relationship and she moved out of her house. The biggest problem is that this man, Jiro Iwasaki, has been missing since then, no one knows where he is. When he finished his work day, the inspector, remembering his promise to his granddaughter, refused to work overtime and went straight home. Another time, he was carrying various documents to work in his house when he brought Haru back. After calling her to let her know that he was going to get the car to pick her up, he took the keys to open the door of his house when he immediately noticed something out of place.
The door of his house was open, and as old as the inspector was, the fear that Haru might be attacked again was so great that it was impossible for him not to check every day that he had locked his house well. Thinking of all the bad things he could be going through right now inside, the old man's old habits kicked in and he took his characteristic big revolver out of his jacket and entered his house, excitedly accepting the challenge that awaited him. The living room was in perfect condition and the furniture was in its place, a jeweler was in plain sight on one of the pieces of furniture in the living room, it did not appear to be a robbery in his home. Which could only mean worse. Yamamoto put his documents on the table to have both hands free, and just in case, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Then he slowly climbed the stairs without making the slightest noise. He opened the door to Haru's room, there was nothing, even under his bed, but there was nothing, then he checked his office, which was the next room in order of value. He opened the door silently as well and then he found it.
Inspector Yamamoto couldn't believe what he saw with his eyes, there was a girl in his office, but she didn't seem to be human at all. Her monstrous claws that she had for hands were not something natural, yet she was able to use them as skillfully as anyone else, in addition to that, she had huge horns on her head next to her black hair, horns that were the same color as the strange clothes she was wearing, a distinct lack of modesty, and clothes with only ropes as underwear were worn over the blue skin, skin that the little that could be seen was of a bluish and bright tone. What was in front of him was not human, there was no doubt about that. Thinking about the same thing, the Inspector remembered what some of the policemen at the Ueno Dam had said, that there was another equally strange apparition besides the white girl. And that although she looked a little different from what was described in the reports, it was probably the same girl.
She turned around while reading some of the documents the inspector had in his office and noticed the old man pointing a gun at her. Reacting quickly, she lunged at him, but he evaded her by simply retreating into the hallway. The man quickly fired six times in his defense. But then a strange thing happened, the girl began to move quickly, changing position completely in less than the blink of an eye. The shots did not hit her, and the old man thought that maybe his body was failing because of his age. With no time to lose and following his muscle memory, the old man quickly reloaded his pistol to attack again as soon as possible. The strange girl then took out a metal stake from nowhere that she was preparing to raise against the inspector. Reacting to what he saw the girl trying to do, he took off his scarf and threw it at her, managing to grab her hand before she could throw the stake. With one arm restrained and at a distance, the old man used his advantage and fired his pistol once more. But just like the first time, the girl moved in a strange way, and when the inspector noticed her, she was standing next to him with her scarf cut off. But she did not attack immediately, because suddenly her mouth began to bleed for no reason, and she also began to spit blood, although she had not suffered any damage yet. Nevertheless, and despite the great pain that could be seen on the girl's face, she managed to push the old man down the stairs. Luckily for the old man, her fall did not hurt him. Quickly taking advantage of this, the inspector reloaded and pointed to the staircase to attack when she came down, which did not take long. Suddenly, the house's landline began to ring, an incoming call. Yamamoto, in an act of complete bravery or stupidity, did not hesitate to answer it, because when he saw the number he realized that it was Haru who was responsible for such an inopportune moment.
"Hello, Haru?"
"Something happened?" he said while holding the phone with one hand and pointing his big iron at the monster in front of him with the other.
"It was just to know exactly how long it will take you to come pick me up, because Yukiko's mother brought some food and she wants you to taste it."
"Don't worry, it won't take long, right now I'm at the house getting the keys from the car, I'm almost on my way" As soon as he finished speaking, the demon lunged at him and tried to hit him, he managed to dodge it again but tried not to fall into the same thing twice, she held the old man's hand and they both fell to the ground.
"Grandpa?"
"Are you okay?"
"I think I heard something fall."
The old man, dying of pain, took a deep breath and spoke again.
"Yes, I'm fine, I just turned on the TV to see if there was any news, but they're just showing one of those superhero movies".
"Give me 15 minutes and I'll be there with you," he said as he punched the other girl in the face with his free hand.
"OK, I'll wait for you."
"See you later!" The old man immediately hung up the phone, picked it up again and began to wrap the phone cord around the girl's neck. He held her hands and began to strangle her with the cable.
But the girl again did that strange movement and the next moment she was free a few steps in front of the old man while he finished removing the now cut cable from the phone, but when he finished moving she started bleeding even more and in her face the panic and horror of the man was visible. The inspector now knew that every time she did that, her wound was more painful than where she was. The same action was repeated, the place where she was now was near the window of the house, she now had the folder that was on the table in the living room and ran away despite the obvious pain that she had.
But despite the desire to chase after her, Yamamoto was too old to run all day, besides having little time to pick up his granddaughter. He gave up chasing after her and decided it was better to stay and clean the house quickly. Well, even if he tried to hide it, his old habits never let him forget. How to remove blood stains from the floor, clean the carpet, hide the bullet holes in the walls with some pictures or photos, and put everything in its place, including a replacement phone he kept in the attic. By the time he was done, it had only taken about ten minutes, and her granddaughter probably wouldn't even notice what had happened before her grandfather picked her up.