Why did Alamta have to die? And who wanted him dead?
“Kunikida, I get that thinking is important, but make sure to watch where you’re driving, too, okay?” Dazai says from the passenger seat.
“I know,” I tell him as I grip the steering wheel.
This situation needs analyzing. On the surface, there are but two cases here: the Yokohama kidnappings and the bomber. The perpetrators were the taxi driver and Alamta, respectively. That much is clear. But there’s another common motive between these two cases: damaging the detective agency’s name by releasing to the public footage of our failure to save the victims. The cabdriver and Alamta are most likely not involved with this goal, though. Someone must have been manipulating them from behind the scenes.
That someone is the Azure Apostle.
This person manipulated both the taxi driver and Alamta and made them the perpetrators. And just like that, the Azure Apostle attacked the detective agency without getting their own hands dirty by making it look like the other two committed these crimes of their own accord.
Attacking them is next to impossible, since they gave so few orders and simply let the perpetrators do as they pleased. Both the cabdriver and the bomber committed the crimes on their own turf in their own way. Perhaps they didn’t even realize they were being used as pawns. If we don’t stop the one behind all this, then it won’t be long before we are attacked for a third time, something the agency might not be able to handle. The clues we have are next to nothing, though, which leaves me puzzled as to how we’re going to find this mastermind.
There’s one more thing I’m worried about. What is the Azure Apostle going to be charged with? The only crimes they’ve committed are secretly videoing and threatening us. They didn’t kill anybody or blow up anything, and our chances of building a case to get them charged for instigating murder and kidnapping are extremely slim. Should I just hope the Azure Apostle accidentally left some evidence behind at the scene of the crime? And yet—
That’s when my cell phone begins to ring. It’s the detective agency’s president. I pull over on the side of the road and press the call button.
“Kunikida, my informant in the military just contacted me. The taxi driver… He’s dead.”
What?!
“But wasn’t he midflight on one of the military police’s aircrafts?”
“He was. During questioning, he suddenly began suffering intense pain and passed not long after. His cause of death is unknown, but I was told two black zeros started to surface all over his body… Get back to the agency and let’s go carefully over the situation.”
The phone clicks. My head is swimming with questions.
Our sole path to the Azure Apostle has been cut. The only clue we had to locate this person was to find out who taught that driver about the organ trade, but those tracks died along with him. It’s almost as if the Azure Apostle is watching us, always one step ahead. Alamta was killed right before we arrived at the scene, and now the cabdriver, our last hope, is gone as well. Just who is this person? The enemy is somebody who knows everything about the detective agency’s investigation and every move we make. Somebody who can constantly tamper with the scene of the crime and manipulate the situation from afar.
“You okay, Kunikida? You look real tense.”
I don’t even have a moment to respond. How is the enemy getting inside info? How are they always a step ahead of the detective agency? My cell phone rings once more, interrupting my train of thought. It’s Rokuzo.
“Hey, Four-Eyes. Got a moment?”
“What is it?”
“It’s… It’s about the e-mail you asked me to trace. I did it.”
“What?!”
That’s it. The sender of that threatening e-mail said their name was the Azure Apostle, and they gave orders to investigate the kidnapping and bombing. If we can find out where that e-mail came from…
“I’ll cut to the chase. Both e-mails came from the same computer, which was heavily protected. But hey, I was able to break through. Anyway—”
“Who’re you talking to, Kunikida?”
I raise my hand, cutting Dazai off. “Go on.”
“All you asked me to do was trace the e-mail, so don’t come to me with questions about what it means, okay? ’Cause I ain’t gonna know. So with that in mind—”
“Get on with it.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll tell ya. So…
“…those e-mails were sent from inside the detective agency…from the computer of the new guy—Dazai.”
Come again?