Your Forma, Vol. 4: Electronic Investigator Echika and the Return of the Nightmare by Mareho Kikuishi and Tsubata Nozaki

Author:Mareho Kikuishi and Tsubata Nozaki
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On

A week later, Sozon’s theory turned out to be true. A second victim turned up. And then, after a ten-day interval, a third person lost their life. By then, he’d discovered a commonality between the victims—they were all Amicus sympathizers. That led them to deduce that the murders were an act of aggression from a machine denier against Amicus sympathizers.

The Amicus sympathizer serial murder case was dubbed “the Nightmare of Petersburg,” and it severely rattled the public. Police cars began patrolling the streets of Saint Petersburg in droves, and the people were visibly tense. Yet Harold and Sozon failed to turn up even a single clue connecting back to the killer.

“The fact there isn’t even a single piece of skin on the crime scenes suggests the killer covers up every centimeter of their body. They must be wearing clothes that don’t drop fibers, too. The easiest type of clothing to obtain that fits this description is a raincoat… Szubin says they aren’t leaving any footprints, either, so I bet their whole outfit is made of vinyl.”

“And the crimes were committed in areas where nearby surveillance drones were broken or absent to begin with. That means the killer did the groundwork to figure out where the drones are positioned. There should be eyewitnesses.”

“I had that thought, too, but none of the residents reported seeing any suspicious figures. The murderer’s either operating in the dead of night or masquerading as someone inconspicuous, like a delivery person.”

“The wounds on the bodies suggest the victims were butchered with an electric saw. Maybe if we look up the purchase history of those—”

“Do you have any idea of how many people own one of those? That’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

It was the perfect murder, devoid of almost all evidence. Harold had never seen Sozon stumped like this before. And it was only thanks to his keen eye that they had picked up the barest of clues from the crime scenes they’d inspected. He’d been able to infer the killer’s thought patterns and tendencies based on the method of killing and the state of the corpse, but that wasn’t nearly enough evidence to narrow the culprit down to a few suspects. As much as they hated to admit it, they were nearly at their wits’ end.

Yet Sozon doggedly stuck to the investigation. He would hole up in the Robbery-Homicide Division office late into the night, staring at photographs of the crime scenes. Normally, he would accompany Harold on his scheduled maintenance visits, but he was so caught up with work that Darya wound up going with Harold instead. Sozon would send Harold home ahead of him on almost a daily basis.

That day, Sozon was once again plastered to his desk.

“Harold, please apologize to Darya for me. I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

“She’s already very upset, you know. She’s worried for your health.”

“I’m fine. There’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Despite his insistence, Sozon lit yet another cigarette, one of the many he’d smoked that day.

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