"Moriyama-san," Hayashi Shuichi asked, "Did Yukiko-san ever borrow money from you or take anything valuable?"
"A week ago, her father hit someone with his car. She borrowed four million yen from me…"
Moriyama's voice trailed off as he grasped Hayashi Shuichi's implication, his face darkening. "What are you getting at?"
"Before Mio-san vanished, her mother was gravely ill, and she borrowed money from Otomo-san for treatment," Hayashi Shuichi explained. "Akita-san's fiancée, Saho, disappeared with his family's heirloom necklace…"
"Are you saying Yukiko's a con artist?" Moriyama snapped. "No way! Yukiko's so pure and kind—she'd never be a scammer!"
"Do you know her father's address?" Hayashi Shuichi asked. "And does Yukiko-san dislike having her picture taken?"
"She doesn't like photos, sure, but that's just her preference. As for her father's address, I never asked," Moriyama said, indignant. "You can't call her a scammer based on that alone!"
"Mio-san also disliked photos and never told Otomo-san her mother's address," Hayashi Shuichi mused. "I suspect it's the same with Akita-san's fiancée."
Otomo's face paled as realization dawned.
His voice low, he asked, "Shuichi-kun, are you suggesting Mio, Saho, and Yukiko-san… are the same person?"
"That…" Fujimine Yukiko gasped. "One person playing three roles? Wouldn't she slip up?"
"If they hadn't all come to this lodge, Otomo-san and the others would never have crossed paths," Fei Yingli said, shaking her head. "Tokyo's huge. It's easy to avoid running into each other."
"Yingli's right," Hayashi Shuichi agreed. "At the lodge entrance, Otomo-san and I both saw a woman at the window. It was definitely Room 206. But when we opened the door, where was she?"
"I'll check with Akita-san in the second-floor bathroom," Otomo said, his face grim as he headed upstairs.
Not long after, Moriyama's expression flickered. He shot to his feet. "Nonsense! I don't believe it! Yukiko would never be a scammer!"
Suddenly, Madame Togo, standing by the window, gasped. "Is that… Yukiko-san?"
"Where?" Moriyama rushed to the window.
Hayashi Shuichi and the others crowded over.
"There," Madame Togo said, pointing to the cherry blossom grove outside. "I saw someone run in."
"It's got to be Yukiko!" Moriyama exclaimed, bolting for the lodge's entrance.
"Let's help search," Madame Togo suggested. "The grove leads to the waterfall pond. If that wasn't Yukiko-san but something else, Moriyama-san could be in danger alone."
"It's starting to rain," Togo Ryu noted, glancing at the sky. "Hold on, I'll grab umbrellas."
Hayashi Shuichi, the three girls, and Madame Togo waited at the entrance for umbrellas. Reiko asked curiously, "Something else in the grove? Like a kappa?"
"Yes, there's always been a legend about a kappa in the pond under the waterfall," Madame Togo said, sharing a brief tale.
"Long ago, a kappa in the pond saved a drowning girl. She was beautiful, and the kappa fell hopelessly in love. But she didn't return its feelings."
"To keep her, the kappa used magic to trap her in the water, refusing to let her go home."
"To escape, the girl pretended to agree to marry the kappa, saying her parents needed to approve."
"She promised to convince them, and the kappa, trusting her, let her return to shore."
"Once home, she told her parents, and the family fled overnight."
"The kappa waited three months, but she never returned. Realizing it was tricked, it grew to hate women."
"Since then, it's said to snatch women in love or about to marry, separating them from their lovers to revel in their pain…"
"Onii-chan, I'm scared," Reiko whimpered, burrowing into Hayashi Shuichi's arms.
"You little brat, stop acting cute," Fei Yingli snapped, yanking Reiko by the collar out of his embrace. "There's no such thing as a kappa. If there was, it'd be caught and studied by now."
"But I remember a few years ago, newspapers reported kappa sightings," Fujimine Yukiko countered. "If aliens can exist, why not kappa?"
"Those alien photos are mostly fake. Only idiots believe them."
"Who're you calling an idiot?"
"Anyone who believes in aliens is an idiot!"
"Glasses girl, you think you're so smart, huh?"
…
As the girls bickered, Togo Ryu returned with umbrellas, and Otomo came down from the second floor.
"Any luck?" Fujimine Yukiko asked eagerly. "Is Saho-san the same?"
"…Yeah," Otomo said, his expression heavy. "Akita-san said Saho-san also disliked photos."
"So Shuichi was right," Yukiko said, incredulous. "Mio-san, Saho-san, and Yukiko-san are really one person?"
"Seems that way," Otomo nodded, his gaze fixed on Togo Ryu, as if confirming something.
"Let's find Yukiko-san and Moriyama-san first," Madame Togo said, stepping in front of her son to block Otomo's stare. "If we find her, everything might become clear."
Outside, a light drizzle fell. Each taking an umbrella, they headed for the cherry blossom grove.
The grove wasn't vast but not small either.
Hayashi Shuichi kept an eye on the three girls while mulling over the lodge's events.
If Mio, Saho, and Yukiko were one person, others might not notice. But how could the Togo mother and son, who run the lodge, not realize?
They were likely accomplices. The woman, using aliases like Mio, Saho, and Yukiko, scammed men for money. Then, at the lodge, with the Togos' help, she "vanished" to escape her victims.
Walking deeper, Hayashi Shuichi reached the pond at the grove's heart.
The pond was small, its water clear, fed by a ten-meter-high waterfall. The stream flowed from the falls into the pond, then out through a nearby channel…
(End of Chapter)
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