From the side of the birch grove a slight breeze was blowing, bringing with it the breaths of spring, towards the road on which Emiko Tenma was heading towards Welheim. She felt extremely determined because she already knew what Rudy Gillen looked like.
She had spent the last three months researching more information about him; although books and newspapers didn't mention his place of living or work (after all, Emiko was still extremely grateful to the policeman who passed her this knowledge to her), in some she found his present photographs and works of which he was the author. She read many of them, but that wasn't enough. She knew that she needed his direct help and that she would definitely not ask for it at the police station, but that she had to meet him after work, on the street... and preferably in his apartment. So she decided to go first to neighborhood of the prison where he worked in and wait for him to return home to find out where he was living.
In the late afternoon, she finally lived to see that moment - Rudy Gillen left his workplace and headed towards his home. That day, the sky was overcast and it was gathering the rain; Rudy Gillen probably didn't have an umbrella with him because he was walking briskly with a black briefcase in one hand. Emiko was walking far away from him, because she didn't want to be noticed, which she managed to do. After about fifteen minutes, the man she was following passed through the gate that divided his garden and the street, turned the lock on the door and entered the house. The girl watched it all from the other side of the street, partially hidden behind the building there, still wondering how she should actually introduce herself and what to say.
Finally she made a decision. With a determined step, she approached the fence and rang the bell next to the gate. Soon the door to the house opened and none other than Rudy Gillen himself was standing there.
"Yes?"
"Good afternoon. Mr. Rudy Gillen, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Exactly. How can I help you?" The man began to stare at her curiously, so Emiko first decided to investigate the situation and whether he had any opinion about her brother's case.
"My name is Emilie Himmel and I'm currently writing an article for the student department of the university of the crime department. I have heard about your authority in the field of criminal psychology, which would be of great use to me. I'm writing an article on the unexplained case of Dr. Kenzo Tenma from Düsseldorf..." As Emiko only said her brother's name, she noticed that Dr. Gillen's face changed immediately. It was no longer curiosity, but something like... contempt? She swallowed hard. "Please, sir, I really care about it..."
"I'm not very interested in this matter, to be honest with you. Please go to someone else." The man turned his back to her and began to enter the house, which made Emiko think frantically to say something that would be most appropriate... until she finally found it.
"You're refusing me because you studied with Dr. Tenma?" The man stopped and turned back towards her.
"It has nothing to do with it. Goodbye." After this the door slammed shut behind him. The girl stared ahead for a moment, then looked at the windows of the house.
'Uhm. He didn't want to talk to me about my brother, so that's a good sign. It means that he is too dear to him to hand him over to someone like police or journalists...'
She smiled gently, then looked again at the door that had been closed a moment earlier.
'I will come back here again.' She thought, quite content, then started walking away in the opposite direction. Now all that was left to do was persevere in her resolution.
****
A dozen or so consecutive days passed - every day Emiko waited in front of Dr. Gillen's house until he returned from work to be able to talk to him. He didn't want to deal with her in any way every day, and he tried made her turn to someone else. The girl, however, didn't give up and bravely confronted him each day separately.
She knew she wouldn't give up until she found out what she needed. Of course, if she had told him that she is Kenzo's younger sister, he would certainly have shared important information with her. But she wasn't entirely sure it would be safe to admit her true identity. At all costs, she didn't want it to appear that she was in Germany and, above all, that her brother should find out about it. After all, he would have told her to go home without a word, and she couldn't even do that for him. Moreover, it was for him that she came here and it was for him that she wanted to unravel this mystery. To prove that her beloved brother is innocent, which was partially confirmed by strange messages written by an unknown sender...
After more than two weeks of trying to get along with Dr. Gillen, Emiko still failed to convince him to help her. So she concluded that there was no other option but to take extremely drastic measures. If she doesn't do it, she'll never learn anything, certainly not from him. She sighed softly, pressing the doorbell, realizing that she was risking a lot.
After a moment the door opened and Dr. Gillen peeked out, nervousness written all over his face.
"Are you here again?! I said that-"
"I need your analysis because I don't believe in the suspect's guilt!" Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the information had caught his attention to some extent. "I promise not to take much your time..."
"Things like this are a matter for the police, you'd better not investigate on your own."
"Is it wrong that I'm trying to find justice?" Emiko looked at him seriously, feeling the whole weight of emotions that had accumulated in her during all the months since she came to Germany. Though she said nothing more, her eyes said a lot. Even too much. Dr. Gillen saw that something - something that made his decision. He turned his back to her and began going inside, but leaving the door open this time.
"Come in, but only for a moment."
****
In the living room next to Dr. Gillen's home study, Emiko sat with him in the armchairs facing each other. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, then the man finally spoke up.
"Why do you care so much about my analysis?"
"I..." Emiko bit her lip to vent her emotions. "My real name is... Emiko Tenma and I came here for my brother Kenzo..."
There was a sudden silence in the room, broken only by the sound of a ticking clock standing in the corner of the room. Red Gillen stared at her in disbelief and doubt; he frowned slightly.
"What are you playing at?"
"I'm telling the truth." She looked him straight in the eyes without even blinking.
"You don't look like Asian. Nor do I know anything about Tenma having a younger sister. Do you think I'll just take your word for it?"
"ID card and passport will be enough?"
"They may as well be forged, and so can the whole story."
"I understand. So I shouldn't know anything about the fact that my brother cheated on one of the exams, the same as you did, during yours university days either?"
Dr. Gillen's eyes began to express serious surprise.
"How did you..." Emiko smiled.
"From brother's letters he sent home in Yokohama. Back then, my mother would read these letters to me because I was too young to know the letters, even if they were only written in hiragana."
Dr. Gillen propped his head up with his hand, still staring at her in disbelief.
"Show me your ID or passport."
"Are you sure? It can be a forged after all." There was silence from the man's side. Emiko, still smiling, took out her passport and put it on the table between the armchairs. After a while, Rudy Gillen reached out for it and began flipping through its pages. His eyes met the letters 天馬 恵美子 in Japanese, under which there was an inscription in other languages, including in English as "Emiko Tenma", then height, date of birth, parents' names... and stamps from crossing the Japanese and then German border nine months earlier.
Dr. Gillen closed passport's pages and stood up to hand it over to her, then sank heavily back into the armchair.
"I can't believe that Tenma... He never said anything..."
"I don't know much about you either, from his letters. It is only certain that he wanted to be friends with you then, but somehow that not happenned."
"It was... back then." The man looked at her very meaningfully, then his face lit up with a smile. "Tenma... was here last week." Emiko's eyes opened wide at this statement.
"My brother was here?!" She felt her heart beat a little faster at that moment.
"Yes..." Dr. Gillen intertwined his fingers, which he had been holding a moment earlier, on the armrests of the chair. "What he told me is a long story. Before I start, would you like a cup of coffee or tea?" Hearing this proposal, the girl felt her throat dry and swallowed.
"No... thanks for now. Please, tell me about my brother." Dr. Gillen nodded.
"Be prepared for the fact that it won't be an easy story. When Tenma came to meet me, he brought two strange messages with him, claiming that they had been written specifically for him by one and the same addressee." Emiko's heart beat harder at these words. "At first I thought that Tenma made it up himself, to be honest, I was of the opinion that he really did commit these crimes. Tell me, if someone you almost don't know who is wanted for the murders would bring you two strange messages, would you just take his word for it?" The man with a slight dissatisfaction in his voice turned to her, not expecting an answer. The answer came, however, causing him unbelievable surprise.
"Mein lieber Dr. Tenma! Sehen Sie mich! Sehen Sie mich! Das Monstrum in meinem Selbst ist so groß geworder! Hilfe! Das monstrum in mir wird explodieren!"
"How did you...?!" The girl looked him straight in the eyes, wanting to tell the whole truth.
"I was there. Both in Verden and later in Goderich's mansion and on the roof of the Hilden & Engels ruins in Romberg... I found this messages there. And you? ...Why did you believe my brother?"
"I currently have one patient, Jürgens, who claims to have committed the murder at the request of a "friend". This friend fits perfectly into the person mentioned by Tenma. At first I didn't believe in his innocence, but during the investigation at Mrs. Kempf's house, I realized that Tenma was telling the truth. He exists..." Emiko frowned.
"He...? Who... is it about?"
"I think it would be appropriate to start with the story that Tenma told me. From the beginning, I mean, starting from 1986.
It all started when the Liebert family emigrated to western Germany with their two adopted children, twins. After emigration, the Liebert couple were shot and the boy was shot in the head. Tenma performed an operation and saved his life, but shortly after, the boy killed three people with poisoned candies - the director of the hospital, the head physician and the head of the team, then escaped with his sister.
Tenma discovered that they both really came from the Czech Republic and had no parents, and that they had been raised in orphanages and foster homes throughout Germany all these years.
Nine years later, that is in 1995, the young man reappeared in Düsseldorf, killed a police officer and Adolf Junkers, a thief under the hospital care of Tenma, with a poisoned candy.
He is also responsible for the killings of four middle-aged couples; he commissioned their killings to Junkers and two other people, whom he also later murdered. He is also responsible for the murder of the Fortners from Heidelberg, which he commissioned two police officers - Messener and Müller; blackmailing them beforehand.
He has some ability - he is able to locate murderers, isolate them and then manipulate them.
This young man's name is Johan. Johan Liebert.
Emiko swallowed loudly after hearing all this intricate story. As ridiculous as anyone might at first think, she knew it was just the truth. These were the missing pieces to her puzzle so far! Everything she had learned on her own was seamlessly intertwined with the events Dr. Gillen told.
She stared at the empty space for a moment, trying to absorb all this informations. She didn't understand why, but felt a strange twinge of coldness in her heart at that name. It was like... She couldn't even fully name this feeling. Strange... For the first time in her life someone's name had caused her such a reaction...
„Johan... Liebert..."
They both subsided for a long moment in silence, as if trying to grasp their own thoughts into a logical whole. This condition lasted for several minutes and finally ended when Rudy Gillen rose from his armchair.
"I think I make this tea after all. Do you sweeten?"
"Normally not, but..." Emiko still didn't collect her thoughts fully. "...Two teaspoons, please. After all this, I feel a little dizzy."
"Fine." The man walked away to the kitchen, leaving her sitting in the armchair and still deep in thought.
****
When Dr. Gillen returned with two cups of tea, he found Emiko still sitting in her chair, staring out the window. Her face showed that she had reached a certain conclusion, but it worried her a bit... The girl turned her head and took her tea, then stirred it with the spoon, which she then placed gently on the saucer. She slowly tilted the cup and took a few sips while Rudy Gillen watched her all the time. He knew he should tell her something else, but he didn't want to expose his friend's sister to more trouble; which, however, was superfluous, as Emiko had spoken about it.
"Tell me..." She narrowed her eyes a little. "...Why is my brother following this man? Is it to prove his innocence or...?" Dr. Gillen took a sip of his tea while wondering what was the appropriate answer to that. Even he was afraid to say these words aloud... But he didn't want to lie to Tenma's sister, so he decided to share his rather unpleasant observation with her.
"I'm afraid Tenma started followed him for a very different reason."
"I understand." That was all she replied to him. Even faster than necessary, she realized what Dr. Gillen meant and felt her head spinning more and more. She quickly grabbed the cup again and began taking more sips, hoping that the sugar in it would ward off the weakness that was overwhelming her.
'My brother...' She bit her lip. 'He wants...' She closed her eyes and propped her face up with one hand. 'God...'
"Are you okay?" She heard Dr. Gillen's voice sound like concern. "Maybe you want to go to bed? You don't look well."
"No... I..." She began to breathe slowly and deeply. "I need some time to sort it all out..." The man nodded with understanding.
"It's okay. I'll make you another cup of tea and then go back to work in my office. If necessary, you can lie down on the couch and take a nap."
"Okay... Thank you." She replied, then fell back into silence.
The girl spent the next few hours lost in thought, refusing even to eat the dinner suggested by the host of the house. She knew that in her present state she wouldn't be able to swallow anything. Her brother... her beloved brother plans to kill another human being...
Emiko couldn't come to terms with this thought. It was beyond her. After all, she knew Kenzo, he was only able to save lives, not deprive it of others. What must have happened to make him make such a decision? Because he operated in the past on a boy who turned out to be a serial killer when he grew up?
"Tenma performed an operation and saved his life, but shortly after, the boy killed three people with poisoned candies - the director of the hospital, the head physician and the head of the team, then escaped with his sister."
Not when he grew up. He was him from the beginning... It was the version of the events Tenma told Gillen, and now it has come to her. The girl grabbed her head.
'I have to stop my brother at all costs! He can't... He can't kill another human and become a murderer!' She felt her eyes getting wetter and wetter. In silence, a few tears ran down her face, and Emiko tried her best not to start sobbing. She didn't want Dr. Gillen in the next room to hear her.
Kenzo has endured it alone from the very beginning. She is no exception. She can take it too... by herself.
'It was my brother who taught me that I have to help others...'
Emiko smiled sadly and looked out the window, where it was dark already.
'If I couldn't stop him... I...'
Her fists clenched so tightly that her fingers turned white.
'If there's no other choice... I... I'll do it instead of him. I won't let my brother get his hands dirty with blood... Not him... Not the person I love the most...
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A.note:
Emiko decides to kill Johan! What will the future hold?