Cosplay Crime by Marty Chan

Author:Marty Chan [Chan, Marty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459837454
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2024-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Before I could continue the search, I had to be sure that this muzzle-less Nezuko was the thief. The answer had to be in my recording. I pulled out my phone and downloaded a translator app. Then I played the video, hoping the volume was loud enough for the app to translate the conversation. More important, I hoped the chat would point to where the thief had stashed the stolen print.

I headed into the women’s washroom to listen. I slipped into one of the bathroom stalls and held the phone closer to my ear.

“I will pay top dollar if it is an original Hiroto print.” I recognized the voice as Karyn, the vendor.

“Trust me, it is,” answered Nezuko.

“Well, if it looks delicious, I’ll ride it,” said Karyn.

Delicious? Ride? What? I replayed this section of the clip, hoping the translator app would do a better job.

“Trust me, it is,” answered Nezuko.

“Well, if it’s authentic, I’ll buy it,” Karyn said. “How did you get it anyway?”

“The less you know, the better,” said Nezuko.

The app froze and couldn’t translate the rest of the conversation. If the beginning of the recording was correct, I had evidence. Now I had to recover the print. I stepped out of the stall and heard the sound of dripping. My tail had fallen in the toilet. I wrung it out and left the bathroom.

What would Red Squirrel do? If I couldn’t find the thief, maybe I could guess where she had hidden the print. From the conversation on the recording, it sounded like she’d gone off to get it.

I decided to start at the stairwell that Topher had mentioned. The thief could have removed the print from the frame and sneaked it out of the expo. However, the fact that she hadn’t shown the print to the vendor at the booth suggested that she hadn’t removed it from the frame yet. Which meant that she’d hidden it someplace on site.

As I walked past the main panel room, a couple of girls in cat-ear headbands caught up to me.

“We love Red Squirrel!” one of them said.

The other one raised her phone. “Can we get a picture with you?”

I winced at the unwanted attention. “Sorry, I’m trying to sort some nuts,” I said, quoting one of Red Squirrel’s lines from the show.

The girls laughed and clapped at the line.

I ignored them as I continued down the hallway, searching for the stairwell near Midori’s panel room. Once I found it, I began to explore the area near the stairs. I picked up my pace as I jogged through a maze of hallways until I entered an open area. Lined up along the wall were colorful displays of different anime series, from Dragon Ball to Death Note to Attack on Titan. There were giant posters that lit up with LED lights, costumes on clothes dummies, and mock weapons.

The one thing that caught my eye was a giant Lego sculpture of the ninja Naruto in mid run. It was protected behind a velvet rope.

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