Shadouhanta: The Dark Truth

“Do you think this case seems as easy as Emiko pictured it?” Tantei Haruto asked, sipping his coffee. “Depends on the depth. The files are thick, so maybe it might be a tough challenge for us.” Tantei Kai replied.

Tantei Haruto Kaneko and Tantei Kai Ito, two elite members of the Japanese government counterspy agency, Shadouhantā, are given the task to find the truth behind a controversial manga artist, Haru Kiyoshi, who might just be the ticket to exposing the person who had murdered Katashi Shun, an employee at Tsuno No Mise grocery store. Haruto and Kai’s chief, Emiko Aya-san, claimed this case would be a piece of cake for them to solve.

“So it’s not a piece of fudge cake for us?” Haruto asked desperately.

“No, Haruto. Deal with it.” Kai muttered irritably, dropping the heavy case file on Haruto’s lap.

“Come on, I don’t wanna read right now,” Haruto said.

“No, you have to read it. You’ve been saying the same thing over and over again for 2 weeks now. We need to get a start up on the case or else Emiko would sort us out. And you don’t want to ruin your chances to get the pay raise, am I right?” Kai smirked and leaned forward.

Haruto lightened up at the mention of a good amount of cash, and said: “Oh, alright then. I’ll read that goddamn file”.

Haruto frowned over the case papers and witness statements while Kai searched for the CCTV camera shots in his messy paper rack. Once found, Kai pinned them on a pin board and shone a flashlight on the gray and black printouts.

Haruto looked up and tapped his chin. “It says that Haru Kiyoshi is the prime suspect because he had called 110 reporting that he heard someone being murdered at a grocery store near his house, approximately 25 minutes after the crime had taken place. Then, a week later, Haru posted his latest manga art, Hiiro no yoru, which showed a person being murdered while doing groceries for his family at night. But, this doesn’t sum up to anything… what exactly happened at the scene, though?”

“According to the case files that Emiko gave us, Katashi Shun was murdered at around 9:30 p.m. when he was doing his night shift at the corner shop. The CCTV footage showed a figure walking toward the counter. Shun was restocking the tobacco shelf at that time,” Kai took a pause and read through his notes,

“The unknown person handed Shun something that appeared to look like a card, so Shun went to one of the storerooms to fetch the card machine. And after that Shun was nowhere to be seen. The person waiting went behind the counter, took his tobacco pack, and walked out. That was around 9:50 p.m., the same time when Haru claimed that he had heard shouting from the grocery store.” he pictured the scene.

“Sus. So there must be something in the storeroom, right?” Haruto asked.

“Haruto, it can’t be as simple as that. There must be some explanation,” Kai circled the room, “There must be some connection between the customer and the murderer, because, after a certain time, the customer went behind the counter and took the tobacco, and left, not caring to take his card with him.”

“Hm… that does make sense. So that means we should first find out who the customer was.” Haruto said.

“Yes. And for that, I believe we should first read our few witness statements.” Kai said, taking out an envelope from a clear plastic folder. He unfolded the paper that was inside and handed it to Haruto.

“Only Hinata Cho has witnessed this incident. But she claims that she saw a hooded figure walk towards the back of the grocery store, where he had met up with another person, which, according to Hinata, was not that visible so she can’t describe them.” Haruto rubbed his forehead.

“The two people then made a run for it. Hinata said that she was about to call the police, but they had already arrived by then.” he read the witness’s statement.

“And then there was Haru…” Kai thought, “ I don’t understand why his manga could be relevant to the murder though. They are like, two different scenarios.”

“Maybe Haru is hiding something from the authorities?” Haruto suggested.

“It must be that because something seems out of place…” Kai drummed his fingers on the table.

The two sat in deep silence for a long time, staring at the CCTV camera shots and flipping through the case file. It was a case like no other- and the two men weren’t able to make any connection between Haru, the murderer, and Shun.

A little while later, Haruto started losing patience and got up.

“I can’t think of anything! Can we please have a break now?” Haruto whined.

“You’ve been having a break for the past 2 weeks, sir. I’m the only one who’s working here.” Kai scowled.

“Hey, easy there! I didn’t mean to offend you!” Haruto shrunk back.

“Very well, then,” Kai regained his composure and stood up, “that’s enough for today, I suppose. We will discuss this case with our loyal friend and co-employee, Takumi, tomorrow.”

“Alright then! Sayonara!” Haruto grabbed his bag from the coat stand and waved.

“Sayonara.” Kai smiled and tipped his hat. Then the both of them made their way home.

In the parking lot, Kai got into his Porche, thinking about Haru. It seemed sort of unlikely for Haru to take part in such activities. After all, Haru became controversial because he was obsessed with murders and shootings. It’s not something to be suspicious about, was it? The wind hit Kai’s face the same way his thoughts were hitting his mind.

It was disturbing how identical the incident and Haru’s manga were, but it could have been a coincidence too. Haru did admit that he didn’t know what exactly had happened at the grocery store that night, but the sly and careless look on Haru’s face made it impossible not to be suspicious of him…

Kai decided not to take much notice of the case for now.

On the other side of the town, Haruto also had thoughts as he cycled his way home. He strongly felt that Haru was hiding something from the authorities, but Haruto couldn’t understand how that could be linked to the murder of Shun. If Haru’s manga and the incident are identical, does that mean Haru has something to do with the murder?

Haruto shook his head. Haru does like murder and killings, but it was unlikely that he would so far as to murder a real person. Besides, Haru wasn’t even there at the grocery shop when the incident happened, so how could he be the murderer?

Haruto’s rumbling tummy distracted him from these thoughts, so he decided not to let these thoughts annoy him. Haruto wanted to spend more time with his wife, Aki, and his eight-year-old daughter, Yuri, today, so he neglected the case.

“Honey, I’m home,” Kai called out as he stepped inside his elegant apartment.

“Konichiwa, Kai, watashi no ai.*” Yuna, Kai’s wife, hugged him.

“Yā. I hope you didn’t miss me much. I forgot to say goodbye to you this morning.” Kai squeezed Yuna’s shoulder.

“No, it’s okay. Would you like some dinner?” Yuna asked as Kai hung his coat on the pegs.

“Mhm.” Kai smiled.

He sat at the dining table and Yuna placed a bowl of steaming rice in front of him. “Arigato, Yuna,” Kai kissed Yuna’s cheek affectionately, “did you have dinner?”

“Hai. I’ll sit with you though,” Yuna said, “how was work?”

“It was okay, but this case makes me feel giddy.” Kai frowned.

“It looks like it. Haru’s been posting very weird stuff since then.” Yuna sighed and passed her phone to Kai. “Hiiro no yoru is disturbing.”

“I know. But I don’t think it has anything to do with the murder. Besides, Haru wasn’t even at the scene when the murder took place.” Kai ruffled his hair in frustration.

“But what if Haru’s lying? What if he was there all along?” Yuna stressed.

Yuna’s sudden questions plummeted Kai into deep silence as he thought about all this.

*watashi no ai means “my love”