A Secret That Can’t Be Told

The noises of the ambulance cars were heard. The lights were blinking red, blue and white. Reka, the police detective of Tokyo made her way to the crime scene. The dead body was covered by a white cloth. Yellow signs saying “Do not enter” were surrounding it.

“Detective Reka! Glad to see you! There has been another murder case. I believe this has to do with all the others,” her partner in justice said. Her name was Aya.

Reka pulled the white cloth off the corpse to see the face of the victim. The victim was a male. His eyes were still opened with fright. Reka quickly covered it back up.

“According to the computer, because I did research, the victim’s name is Tsukioka Kiyoshi. He is 32 years old. His occupation is a doctor. Hmm…strange so far all the victims were doctors…” Aya noted.

“Aya, did the murderer leave anything?” Reka asked. She got up from the ground.

“Hmm? Oh, yes! The message was on loose leaf paper, regular size…it was in blood red ink….” Aya was cut short.

“Was it blood?” Reka questioned.

“I’m not sure. Okuda just took the letter to do more research on it,” Aya answered.

“Okay, what did the paper say?” Reka asked, still looking at the corpse.

“Huh? Oh, it said”-takes out her little notebook-“Ahem. It said ‘Three down, one more to go.’ Creepy, huh?” Aya asked shivering.

Reka inspected the area again. Hmm? What’s this? Reka wondered. She picked up a paper crane. The next thing she knew she was having a lot of flashbacks. The last few cases have a paper crane near the corpse too. Does it mean something? Reka thought.

Later Aya looked over at her, “A paper crane, huh? Hmm…maybe the murderer likes paper cranes or maybe…maybe it has something to do with the murder of Tsukioka Kiyoshi!” Aya exclaimed. She quickly took a few more notes.

That left Reka thinking. Maybe it does…Reka thought. “Oh, um, Aya?”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever heard of the story called Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes?”

“Huh? Oh, yes! It was a very sad story. It was about a girl who died in Japan during the war. Why wouldn’t I have read it? It’s almost like Japan history!” Aya said.

“I have a little idea of what’s happening here now…” Reka said with a nod.

***

“What? So you think that the murderer had some sort of disease?” Aya asked. They were now in the police department.

Reka sat down on a chair opposite from Aya. “Something like that. What I’m trying to say is that maybe the murderer had this sort of disease that he or she doesn’t want to let the world know about. The only doctors that know about his or her disease are Tadaka Yumi, Kinomoto Touya, Tsukioka Kiyoshi and some unknown doctor right now. We have to try to find that doctor and protect him or her,” Reka explained.

“Ooh, so you’re saying he or she folded the paper cranes on purpose to let us know this? Hmm….then do you have any clue who the last doctor is?” Aya questioned.

Reka sighed, “Sadly, not yet.”

Then there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Reka said.

The person opened the door. Okuda.

“Okuda! What took you so long? Do you have the results?” Aya asked.

“Yes, I have the results. It’s not blood,” Okuda said. He took a seat next to Aya.

“Is that suppose to be good news or bad?” Aya questioned Reka.

“I suppose that is good news I mean I don’t think the murderer would use his or her own blood to write a letter…or would they…? Anyway, Okuda, it’s only red pen ink, right?” Reka asked.

“Yes, it’s only red ink. I think the murderer was trying to scare us in thinking it is really blood. So…what did you guys think up so far?” Okuda changed the subject.

So Reka told Okuda her theory.

“Sounds reasonable,” Okuda said nodding.

“So, Okuda, since you work with the doctors so much, do you think anyone would know anything about the murderer?” Aya asked. She took out her little notebook again.

“Nah-uh. They are all so private in these things. They all said ‘Sorry but we can’t share any patient’s information to you’,” Okuda said shaking his head.

“Then tell them their lives could be endangered if they refuse to share this information with us. Plus, we are the police, if we need evidence, they are supposed to tell us everything they know,” Reka said calmly.

“Well said, Reka! I agree!” Aya said clapping. She jotted that down on her notebook too.

“True. I’ll tell them that next time. By the way, any suspects yet? Any witnesses?” Okuda asked.

“No, sad, huh?” Reka said shaking her head.

Then another knock was at the door. It was Shimizu .

“Reka, we have some witnesses and suspects here,” she said.

***

Next Chapter Preview:

“So the murder was at exactly 10 PM last night?”

“Where were you on exactly 10 PM yesterday night?”

“I was walking my dog,”

“That late at night?”

“How do you fold a crane, Aya?”

Coming up next…The Questioning

To Be Continued