Four more months had passed by that time, and there was still no trace or sign of Kenzo Tenma. Emiko, currently staying in Frankfurt, took a part time job as a waitress and rented a room in a hostel located in the immediate vicinity of the Turkish district, where prices were clearly lower than in the city center. She felt she was wasting her time here, but she had no other choice.
She would throw herself at the newspaper stand after work every day, then go to the park and feverishly search for new leads. So far, to no avail.
It was the same today. She was sitting on a park bench, reading the latest news from the newspaper, looking for new clues, while browsing in her notebook all the information she had managed to get. The Heidelberg investigation was still unexplained, except that the two policemen who dealt with it had been discharged. Detective Messener was removed for drug possession, and Detective Michael Müller was simply declared missing one day. For Emiko, it was far too few traces.
Resigned, she put the newspaper aside and looked up at the trees in the distance. Looking at the trees always calmed her... She sighed quietly and turned her head slightly the other way. There she saw a little boy ten- or twelve years old, hitting football and arguing fiercely with a short man in a gray overcoat standing next to him.
The man was clearly displeased as the boy seemed to be making fun of him; but she couldn't hear what they were talking about because she was sitting quite far away. Emiko smiled at them; at the same moment she saw that the little one shot the ball right in the man's face, and the other, angry burst out at him. From their facial expressions, she concluded, however, that the boy didn't care at all about the criticism and continued his discussion, completely unfazed. The whole incident amused her quite a bit - it was unusual for her to witness a situation where a child wouldn't be bothered by so much criticism, which must now be pouring through the mouth of the pissed off man.
The girl nodded amused and slowly gathered her things before going to the bar for dinner.
****
It was late afternoon the next day when Emiko was leaving the park again, heading for dinner, finding no new clues. It was slowly starting to bother her - a lot of time had passed since the events in Verden, and nothing happened. In fact, it felt as if Tenma Kenzo had dissolved into thin air, because even newspapers were printing articles with his name less and less frequently. But she knew that he had neither disappeared nor returned to Japan - he must have been hiding somewhere. After all, he was wanted by the police all over the country.
Besides, she herself felt that important information was missing throughout her investigation. First, since the Fortner couple had been murdered and their daughter was declared missing, it was very possible she was still alive. The only question is where and how is she involved in all of this. The photo with her appearance was printed in the newspaper along with the Fortner article, so at least Emiko didn't have to worry about missing her someday if they met on the street - Nina Fortner was a beautiful blonde with blue eyes.
Then Verden. Yes, the Springer couple had been murdered, but certainly not because of her brother. At the mere mention of the message written on the wall, Emiko got goosebumps. Who was the person who left it addressed to Kenzo? If the addressee was somehow related to him, they could have known each other beforehand, and either she/he does it because he has something against him... or just for fun. It is true that psychopaths exist in this world...
If only she found something more! The newspapers couldn't be counted on too much, and the information that Emiko had obtained so far gave her no prospect of further learning about the whole situation. Not to mention the end of the investigation. She also knew that she would definitely not go to the police, because she would certainly not learn anything. Moreover, she preferred to avoid the police at all costs.
"...Your presence won't change anything..."
She remembered her mother's words from the day she found out about her brother's fate. The girl clenched her fist around the spoon she was holding with all her strength, and in her eyes you could see a quiet helplessness mixed with irritation. She lowered her eyesight and stared at the soup as if it was the poison responsible for all her misfortune and setbacks so far. She gritted her teeth.
'I won't come back. I will definitely not come home! I will never abandon my brother the way YOU did. Even though you are his mother, you always treated him like air, and me... You just never understood me...' Emiko put the spoon on the edge of the plate and supported her face with her hand. 'What am I thinking... It's not the time and place for reproaches about the past...! Now the most important thing is Kenzo and the solution of the investigation to which the clues... Damn! ' She bit her lip hard, which started to blood. Will this bad luck haunt her for a long time?!
She looked out the window at the street, where people passing by live their everyday lives and chased after the smallest things of everyday life. But she didn't envy them; she knew that sometimes even though a person looks like he/she is leading a happy life, it is quite the opposite. Wasn't she herself in situation like this now?
Fortners. Nina. Springers. Verden. Mysterious message. Detectives Messener and Müller. This was the first piece of information, so more should come as time goes on. She should find more over time.
'I won't give up. Never... Until I have solved this whole puzzle to the end, I won't be coming home! Even if I were to spend a few more years here. These few clues are important and I'm going to find more.' Emiko smiled slightly, and a bright glow appeared in her eyes. '...Don't worry, brother, I will definitely help you somehow. You are not alone here anymore.'
The thought of happy Kenzo filled her with new strength and she looked apologetically at the soup.
'Even if you are a poison, let's not forget that poison in small doses can act as a medicine. Please, give me strength for further fight...' The girl grabbed the spoon again and started eating until she ate it to the last drop.
****
It was getting dark when Emiko was returning to her apartment after a nutritious dinner. On that day, she was in no hurry, as she was supposed to be off work the next day. Slowly moving between the streets, she looked up at the stars. How beautiful whole sky shone... the weather was fairly good, thanks to which the clouds didn't cover the sky. Even the wind was blowing exceptionally gently.
She took a deep breath a few times, feeling the calm flow into her... until it was broken in a rather brutal way.
In the midst of all the silence, suddenly you could hear the sounds of the fire department and a man running down the street. It looked as if he was about to run the other way, but when he noticed her, he quickly ran towards her with a serious expression on his face.
"You better not go there! There is a fire!"
"What...?"
"Turkish Quarter is on fire in several places!" Emiko sobered up for good in a second. In an instant, she jumped up and ran in the indicated direction.
"Woman!! It's dangerous out of there!!" The man shouted after her, but the girl paid no more attention to him. There was her hostel in that neighborhood! If it burned down... All her savings...! No!! This couldn't be happening!! Like crazy, she ran through the streets to get to her destination as quickly as possible.
She saw that the firetruck didn't fit into the alley and a large group of men are extinguish the fire with ordinary buckets of water; luckily with a positive result. She quickly looked around the buildings and saw...
That her hostel was a few buildings away, completely untouched by the flames. Despite the fact that she was breathless and hard to breathe because of such a fast run, she quickly decided to help people in extinguishing.
She ran with the others, carrying more buckets, and finally, after a dozen or so minutes, the building was extinguished. If the fire spread further... She swallowed. She almost would have been deprived of everything she brought with her from Japan and all the money she had earned so far...
But wait! The man mentioned that there are fires in several places! Without thinking for a long time, she decided to look for them in order to help the local people, so she quickly headed for the next streets. She was running as fast as she could while looking at the sky - even when she was running to the place of the first fire a moment ago, there was a visible red glow in the sky...
At one point, she noticed two figures in shadow running across the street, but she paid little attention to them. After all, she needed to find a possible place of another fire...! As she stopped and started looking around again, two people passed her.
Awareness of what had happened at that moment began to appear within her like a light sea wave inexorably turning into a deadly tsunami. The girl's feelings were instantly consumed by shock and bewilderment.
'...He... '
She blinked her eyes quickly.
'...he... he looked like... '
In one of the men who just passed her, she recognized someone who she had previously met in the park with a little boy; now he was carrying a rug under his arm. The other one, on the other hand, had a face framed with black, long hair and those eyes...
In an instant, her heart stopped in her throat.
'...ONII-CHAN!!!! '
Emiko stopped at the same moment that only this awareness reached her mind completely and she quickly turned backwards.
Unfortunately, all she saw was an empty street. She jumped up as she was in a fever and ran back.
He was here. He lives. He still... She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but that wasn't important. Not now. The only thing that mattered to her was that Kenzo was alive and in well condition. She ran like crazy to find him.
'Was that really Kenzo?! I have to make sure!! Oh my God!' She was passing buildings and streets, feeling as if she was suddenly transferred to some other world, in which she finally found her longed-for home. She didn't feel so lonely and alienated anymore in this country. Finally, she found someone who is so close to her heart... Finally after so many months...
She looked around in all directions, running for so long that she ran out of breath and her legs refused to obey her. Finally the girl fell to her knees without any strength.
'No... I have to... I have to run on...'
She looked up and saw two human figures approaching her. If her heart could start beating even crazier than it did after all this run, it would certainly do.
'Brother...? '
She was trembling as she stared at the approaching shadows, the owners of it had apparently noticed her as they started to come towards her. Finally, the lights from the next street fell on their faces.
"It's dangerous to sit like this in the dark in the middle of the street, girl. Are you okay?" Emiko didn't say anything. In front of her, there were two Turkish men who had apparently been involved in extinguishing the fire because their clothes were slightly sooty. They looked at her a bit worried.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah..." Emiko still couldn't get her voice out, but she forced herself to do it with all her willpower. "Yes... I just... I helped with... extinguishing... and now... I ran home... I'm a little tired..."
The men burst out laughing.
"I understand, it's all because of these emotions." The second of them spoke. "Are you sure you're okay? You are from here?"
"Yes..." Emiko slowly got back to her feet, which, by the way, were still shaking a bit under her. "I live nearby..."
"Well then... Unless you need help?" Emiko smiled in their direction in a friendly way.
"I'll be fine, but thank you for the offer." The man lifted his cap a little.
"Take care of yourself. Goodbye." After these words, they both began to move away from her, and Emiko looked back again and frowned with her heart still beating; however, there was a slight smile on her lips.
'If you're okay... then we'll meet again...' She thought, looking down the empty, dark alley. '... Brother...'
When she finally got to her room and went to bed, she felt that the events of tonight affected her more than she had previously thought. Tears began to appear in her eyes unexpectedly and she cried so long and painfully until she finally fell asleep, forgetting about the reality around her and heading straight for the land of dreams.
****
The next day, Emiko woke up quite early and was flooded with memories of yesterday evening. Fire, her brother... Quickly she slapped two hands on her cheeks to summon order and got out of bed. After doing some basic morning activities, she headed straight to the morning newspaper store. This time she was sure that she would finally learn something new.
When she left the newspaper store, she didn't go to the park as she had done before, but walked to the nearest post from the street lamp, leaned her back against it, and began looking for what she needed to learn the most. Thus, searching through the following lines of text, she finally found something more serious.
"(...) A fire in the Turkish district. [...]
Last night there was a fire in the Turkish district, during which several buildings burned down in different parts of the city. However, the fire was extinguished with no fatalities. The police inform that the Turkish people had previously been informed about the danger by Dr. Kenzo Tenma, but the residents themselves began to deny this information as soon as they learned that he was wanted for the murders.
[...] An investigation is currently underway in this matter. Police officers unofficially say that all this commotion was prepared by a fascist organization in honor of an unknown young man who was to become their leader, and the incident itself was supposed to be a "welcome" in his honor. Unfortunately, his identity has not been revealed so far.
[...] Professor Goderich involved in this case was murdered, and the rest of the people responsible for the arson who survived were intercepted by the police and are now awaiting fair sentences. (...) "
'Right now I'm so happy.' Emiko thought, simultaneously folding the newspaper. She thought for a moment. If she had gone to ask the Turkish people about the events of yesterday evening, it is very possible that they wouldn't have told her the truth about Tenma either. The only solution for them to start talking would be to give her real identity, but she couldn't afford it - so the questioning Turks about yesterday's incident was definitely out of the question.
'If my brother had actually warned them earlier, and now they found out that he was wanted by police, they would certainly not want to tell me anything. It is clear.' Emiko put her thumb on her lower lip and thought carefully. She was intrigued by the information about Professor Goderich and about the mysterious young man who might somehow be related to her brother. After all, Kenzo knew about the arson beforehand, so he must have been related to these people in some way. The unknown young man told her nothing at all, but the name Goderich told her more. She decided to find his mansion and learn more. She also hoped that the building had not been fully occupied by the police, as that would have made her case much more difficult.
After a long search and questioning many people, she finally found out about the building's location. So she went straight to the scene without hesitation.
****
Despite the lengthy article in the newspaper and the above-mentioned police investigation, the girl didn't see a living ghost outside the mansion, which made her somewhat alarmed. However, she decided not to give in to the fear and slowly moved her steps towards the main entrance to the building.
As silently as she could, she slipped inside and carefully began to walk around the rooms on the ground floor, at the same time being alerted to every slightest rustle. In case of danger, she was ready to fight until the very end.
She passed through the rooms, but still found nothing to help her investigation. However, she didn't get discouraged. The events of yesterday was almost burning in her veins, giving her strength and perseverance.
After carefully examining the first few rooms, she made her way confidently to the next one, where she found something that made the blood in her veins freeze for a few seconds. It was exactly the same feeling as back then... in a room at the Springer mansion in Verden, a few months ago...
Come to the ruins
of Hilden & Engels in Romberg!
As soon as Emiko read the message, she swallowed loudly. The same handwriting. The same perceptible cold...
Although the message wasn't signed, it was obvious that it was addressed to her brother. Emiko wrote it down in her notebook, then carefully looked through the rest of the rooms.
She found nothing else, but the mere awareness of message from an unknown addressee made shivers run down her spine. As silent as she had entered, now she left the building, heading to the place indicated by the message. There were certainly things she needed to learn at all costs.
****
Some time later, she finally stood at the stairs leading to the roof of the building, which, by the way, was really tall. She started walking up the steps without taking any breaks in going up, because she wanted to find out as soon as possible what important thing this place was hiding.
After a dozen or so minutes, she finally managed to get to the top floor and climb onto the roof. There was a small water tower... with a handwriting so familiar to her now. Emiko carefully read the words written on it, which this time made her truly dismayed.
Help!
The Monster inside me
is about to explode!
'This again? What "Monster"? What's going on here...? ' The girl crouched on the ground, still staring at the written message. 'It's definitely the same handwriting as in Verden and at the Goderich mansion! '
She opened her notebook and looked at the two previous ones she had noted in it earlier, reproducing as far as she could the style of handwriting.
'Yes, I have no doubts about it.' She made a note of this one as well, then got up from her knees and put the notebook in her backpack.
'While the first message was strange, it could have been about one thing. But now that it is mentioned again in the text about "The Monster", the message is completely different than in Verden. There was a sense of pride in that... a desire to show off. Here, however, there is an undeniable call for help. Although they were written by the same man, they are completely different. Either someone is having a lot of fun with all of this... or it's a much bigger problem... ' Emiko slowly started walking down the stairs back downstairs.
'It's definitely a job for someone related to psychology, preferably criminal. A normal girl like me will never come to the truth, at most I can make an infinite number of theories... If only I knew someone who could carry out such an analys- ' The girl stopped suddenly on one of the steps.
In the intricate labyrinth of her memories, there appeared a mysterious glimpse from several years ago.
When her brother was still studying at the University of Düsseldorf, he was sending his letters to home. In several of them he mentioned a boy with whom he wanted to be friends, but somehow it wasn't on this way. The young man studied hard, competing with Kenzo to get the best results, as he wanted to enter a major in criminal psychology - which he successed.
'If I'm not mistaken, his name was Rudy Gillen...' Emiko started to smile bigger and bigger. 'I know it's crazy, but I have to find him. His help may prove invaluable.' She looked towards the city, which she could see quite well from this height.
'Wherever you are, I'll find you, Rudy-san. Maybe it's a crazy plan, but certainly not as much, as my flight from the other side of the world here...'