Outside Tokyo, in front of the Ogata family home.
Fujino stood at the entrance, his gaze sweeping over the courtyard in front of him, his eyes narrowing slightly.
From the outside, the place had a traditional Japanese vibe—wooden architecture with a retro neon flair.
To Fujino, it felt a lot like Tomoaki Shinshutsu's house.
It seemed this was another wealthy family.
"Excuse me for interrupting!"
Haruna Yūki called out toward the house. "I'm Haruna Yūki, the one who called earlier."
"Coming!"
A middle-aged woman's voice responded from inside as she approached.
But when she saw Fujino, her brows twitched slightly, and she asked in surprise, "Didn't you come alone?"
"I'm Haruna's friend. I drove her here this time," Fujino replied with a light chuckle, though a flicker of suspicion passed through his eyes as he looked at the woman.
*"Didn't you come alone?"* That phrasing was interesting.
Normally, welcoming a guest wouldn't prompt that kind of reaction—it felt a little off.
Could it be… they were planning to take Haruna out?
Fujino mulled it over and figured people from Mihana might actually pull something like that.
If that was the case, then coming along this time was the right move.
After all, Haruna still hadn't paid the rest of his fee. If the Mihana folks got to her, that remaining 200,000 yen might turn into a bad debt.
As Fujino was lost in thought, a young man in a blue shirt with a middle-parted haircut stepped out from the house. "Mom, you're being way too impatient. Whatever it is, it can wait a bit, right?"
The young man was Shirō Ogata, the second son of the Ogata family. The woman from earlier was Kazuko Ogata, the wife of the current head of the household.
"Miss Haruna, the one Grandpa always talked about, is visiting us. Of course we need to welcome her properly first," Shirō said casually, sounding oddly familiar with her. "After all, she's been Grandpa's emotional anchor all these years…"
"Grandpa?"
Both Fujino and Haruna froze for a second.
Haruna had figured the client might be an older guy, but not *this* old—old enough to be a grandfather.
"That's true," Kazuko nodded in agreement. "At the very least, we should help her offer some incense first."
Puzzled, Fujino and Haruna followed the mother and son into a room where a small black wooden shrine stood. It held a Buddha statue, and in front of it was a tablet inscribed with "Akiwu Ogata." Above the tablet were black-and-white photos of an elderly man and woman.
Clearly, this was a traditional Japanese memorial shrine for the deceased, and judging by custom, the two in the photos were likely a married couple.
Fujino glanced up at the shrine. "Is Mr. Akiwu already gone?"
"Yes, my father-in-law passed away late last year," Kazuko replied.
"How could this happen…" Haruna murmured, staring at the photos with a mix of sadness and shock.
Fujino turned to ask, "If I may, how did Mr. Akiwu pass?"
"It was an illness," Shirō answered from the side. "Even right up until the end, he kept mentioning Miss Haruna."
"Um, Miss Haruna," Kazuko suddenly said, looking at her. "Before he died, my father-in-law gave you a music box, right?"
"Yeah, Mr. Akiwu did give me a music box," Haruna said, pulling it out of her bag and handing it over. "But I had no idea he'd already passed…"
Without even a word of comfort, Kazuko took the music box and opened it eagerly. As the ethereal melody started playing, she frowned slightly. "This song is…"
"'Come, Spring,'" came a voice. The sliding door opened, and Tsunetaka Ogata, the head of the household, stepped in wearing a blue shirt. "I remember Mom used to play this tune a lot."
"Yeah, Grandma's name was Haruna too," Shirō added with a sigh. "Grandpa must've connected Miss Haruna with her. I remember him telling me happily, 'Haruna's back.' I hadn't seen him that cheerful since Grandma passed three years ago."
"Oh, I see," Fujino said, his eyes narrowing as the pieces clicked into place.
So this job didn't have much to do with a mistress after all. Haruna's name just happened to match the old man's late wife, making her a source of comfort for him.
But if that was all, something still felt off.
This family seemed awfully fixated on the music box.
It didn't look valuable, though—so what was it about?
As Fujino pondered, Tsunetaka turned to Haruna, a bit awkwardly. "Uh, Miss Haruna, when my father gave you the music box, was there anything else inside it?"
"Anything else?" Haruna shook her head. "No, Mr. Akiwu only gave me the music box. Did you lose something in it?"
"What my dad means is stamps or something," a bespectacled man suddenly said from the doorway. "You know, the kind that come in a set of four and are worth two billion yen these days."
"Big brother!" Shirō shot him a resentful look. "What are you even saying?"
"Hmph, go ahead and side with outsiders," the man snorted, glaring at Haruna with ill intent. "I bet this woman heard about the treasure Grandpa left behind before he died and came here to steal those stamps."
"Huh?!" Haruna protested, clearly upset. "But I don't know anything about a treasure…"
"Enough with the excuses," the man cut her off. "I'll unmask you as the vixen you are sooner or later and show everyone your true colors."
"Had enough?" Fujino finally spoke up, his tone sharp as he stared at the man. "Calling someone you just met a vixen or a thief—don't you think that's pretty classless?"
The man faltered, then shifted his focus to Fujino. "Who knows if you two showing up together are just after the treasure yourselves?"
"If that's how you see it, then we've got nothing more to talk about," Fujino said, his expression darkening. His client was being harassed, and now he was dragged into it too. "We don't know anything about this treasure you're talking about. We just came to return the music box. If this is your idea of hospitality, Haruna and I will leave right now."
His presence grew heavier, the room's temperature seeming to drop as he stepped forward. "But before we go, you owe us an apology."
"It's fine…" Haruna, sensing the tension, quickly tried to tug Fujino back.
"Minoru!" Tsunetaka, the family head, stepped in, his voice stern as he addressed the bespectacled man. "They're guests, and Miss Haruna was your grandfather's friend. You've gone too far—apologize now!"
"Sorry…" Minoru muttered reluctantly before turning and walking off.
"I'm really sorry about that," Tsunetaka sighed. "Minoru's been stressed with his company doing poorly lately, so he's been sharp-tongued. Please forgive him. If you're willing, why don't you both stay for dinner tonight? Consider it an apology for what just happened."
"Miss Haruna?" Fujino asked, brushing off the incident. In his mind, people like Minoru usually didn't last the night anyway.
…
After returning the music box, Fujino and Haruna stayed at the Ogata house for dinner.
Later, as rain began to fall and the sky darkened, Fujino had planned to drive home. But Haruna didn't seem to mind sticking around and even wanted to spend the night.
So Fujino, playing the part of her companion, called Akemi Miyano to let her know he'd be crashing there for the night.
The sound of rain pattered outside, seeping through the paper sliding doors into the room.
Fujino lay on the tatami mat bedding, arms behind his head, feeling a bit restless.
The traditional Japanese room had no AC—just a single fan whirring faintly, doing little to cut through the humid, sticky heat.
The old fan's noise buzzed loudly in his ears, making the already cluttered atmosphere even more irritating.
He could deal with all that, though—Fujino had enough patience to tough it out.
The real issue?
His room was the one with the memorial shrine.
He glanced at the shrine in the corner, his expression turning odd.
He wasn't afraid of ghosts or anything, but sleeping so close to what was basically someone else's family altar? That was a little creepy.
With a long sigh, Fujino closed his eyes, replaying the dinner conversation to distract himself.
His impression of this family wasn't great.
Tsunetaka was decent, just a bit awkward. Shirō was polite enough, though Fujino couldn't figure out why he kept staring at him and Haruna.
Kazuko gave off a scheming vibe, and Minoru was outright hostile.
From their reactions, Fujino figured they were after some valuable stamps Akiwu had hidden before he died—stamps that might be tied to the music box. That would explain their weird behavior.
If that was the case, they were probably the ones who'd sent those earlier messages too.
At dinner, they'd kept pressing Haruna about the stamps. Even Fujino, who'd barely said a word, got dragged into it.
Two billion yen was a hefty sum, after all—enough to make people act strange.
"Ah!"
Just then, a scream came from the next room.
Fujino sat up, activating his keen senses, but frowned in confusion.
Haruna was still alive and well, and there was nothing threatening around her.
So why the scream? No one was dead…
"Miss Haruna, what happened?" Fujino asked, sliding open the door to her room.
"I-I just saw a black shadow move down the hallway to the left…" Haruna said, huddled in the corner, pointing ahead with a terrified look.
"A shadow?"
Fujino opened the hallway door, his eyes sharpening.
His senses picked up no signs of life nearby.
But that didn't mean there was nothing.
He walked to a window and pulled off a piece of black paper cut into the shape of an old man.
Glancing out at the half-open gate, he quickly pieced it together.
*Looks like this family's up to something shady…* he thought.
Turning back, he flipped on Haruna's ceiling light. "It's just a prank, nothing to worry about."
"A prank?" Haruna asked, calming down a bit as she looked at him.
"Yeah," Fujino said, showing her the paper. "This is probably what you saw, right?"
"That's it! That's the shape I saw!" Haruna nodded. "But it was moving…"
"It's just a trick with the light," Fujino explained, glancing out the window. "The gate's open. When a car drives by, its headlights shine in, and as the light shifts, the shadow moves."
"Oh, I get it. You're amazing, Detective Fujino…" Haruna said, catching on. "But who'd play a joke like that?"
"I've had a bad feeling about this family from the start," Fujino said, his voice low. "They probably did this to scare you off from snooping around about Mr. Akiwu's stamps. Those messages from before were likely their doing too."
"Huh?!" Haruna blinked, then slumped a little. "But I don't even want those stamps… I already told them that."
"It's two billion yen," Fujino said, glancing at her. "Some people would kill for that kind of money. Even if you don't want it, they won't believe you're not after it."
"Is something wrong?!"
Shirō rushed in, followed by Kazuko and Tsunetaka.
"It's nothing," Fujino said, eyeing them. Minoru was nowhere in sight. "Someone stuck this black paper on the window and spooked Miss Haruna."
"Who'd pull such a lame prank…" Shirō muttered, taking the paper. Then he paused. "Wait, could it be Big Brother?"
"Now that you mention it, you two got scared by something like this before," Kazuko said, her expression distant as she walked to another sliding door and opened it. "Some guests who stayed here mentioned similar things. Maybe it's kids from the neighborhood sneaking in?"
"Could be…" Tsunetaka said, his tone odd.
*Thud!*
A heavy object hit the ground, followed by the sharp snap of a piano string breaking.
(End of Chapter)