Mister...
Anybody!
Th-The locomotive's gone.
What the hell could have happened?
Ah! Ah-ah-ah! It's you!
Akine-san, please give us the details!
Oh, wow. Thank you, thank you.
How are you feeling, Chizuko-san?
Twenty Faces is dead, isn't he?
Chizuko-san, how was it?
What kind of things did Twenty Faces' gang do to you?
Come on now, guys.
You can get all the details some other day. I'll put on a press conference.
Her whereabouts unknown for over two years since being abducted by Twenty Faces, Mikamo Chizuko-san was...
...rescued by Mr. Akine, whose investigation had tracked her to England. She returned to Japan safely today.
Madam, the young lady has returned.
Is that so? And luckily I've just finished cooking.
She hasn't spoken a word or eaten a meal since then.
What a creepy girl.
Oh, my, my–
Chizuko-san!
You're back safely! It's like a dream!
Ahem...
Thank you so very much for making this possible, Detective Akine.
No, no. Just doing my job.
But, you know, I do wonder what happened when she was held by Twenty Faces' gang!
But, you know, I can imagine what it was like.
They must have beat the crap out of her and–
Akine-san, let's talk about that another day.
Oh, right. I see. Where are my manners?
Nevertheless, what about all the reporters lying in wait out front?
Ah, regarding that. I shall leave it to you to handle all the interactions with them from here on.
Oh, of course.
Leave it all to me!
Kurosaki.
Yes?
This is my lawyer.
Kurosaki here will explain everything in detail.
OK.
I will contact you in a couple of days about scheduling an appointment.
OK. I will be waiting patiently.
Geez, Mrs. Mikamo puts on quite an act.
She shouldn't be so apathetic about Chizuko-kun's return.
She even shed some crocodile tears earlier.
Well, she's the sort of woman to invite that young lawyer into her home the moment her husband died.
Well, I supposed she wanted a young man in the house to fool around with.
I've been so worried about your safety all this time.
And right up until the end, all he talked about was you.
Tome, please leave the two of us alone.
Very good, madam.
It's incredible that you're all right.
The train exploded, didn't it?
That's what he gets. That man, Twenty Faces, is dead now, isn't he?
Here, I made this soup for you.
Eat up.
Come now.
Before it cools down.
Come on.
That's a good girl.
Eat as much as you can.
Young lady...
Uhm...
My name is Tome.
I'll do everything I can to ensure that you get better.
You should get some rest, young lady.
I don't want to fall asleep.
If I do, I'll dream.
I feel so bad for her.
She must have experienced such horrors from Twenty Faces' gang.
I have to do my best to support her.
You guys again?
Chizuko-kun's mind and body are both still very weak.
I'll be happy to field any questions you may have.
Geez, let us see Chizuko-san already!
Yeah, let us see her!
She must have seen some real atrocities, huh?
Being with such a violent scoundrel.
What did I tell you?
As I said, I'll be the one to provide you with detailed information, even regarding those circumstances.
Whatever, let us see her already please!
It's not a scoop if we just talk to you.
Come now, young lady.
Let's have breakfast out in the garden.
You'll wilt if you don't get some sunlight once in a while.
Come now, right this way.
I'll go and bring your breakfast now.
Good morning, Chizuko-san.
Please don't worry.
I'm not someone you need to worry about.
I'm a detective, you see.
I'm searching for Twenty Faces.
You're searching for him?
Yes.
You certainly don't seem to harbor any ill will towards him.
There's a lot of amusing gossip out there about the bad deeds you were exposed to by Twenty Faces' gang.
But I feel differently myself.
Twenty Faces is not just some foolish man trying to get written up in the gossip columns.
However, the montage you painted of him for the police was of a pretty bad person.
Do you know much about him?
I certainly do.
That being said, I've yet to see his true face.
"Yet"?
But he's already...
Do you believe that Twenty Faces is really dead?
That's what I came to ask you.
I'll come back again.
There's plenty more I'd like to ask you about.
Well then, that's all for today.
Mr. Detective...
May I ask for your name?
I'm called Akechi.
Akechi-san...
I'll look forward to our next meeting.
Young lady, was someone here?
Oh? You must be imagining things, Tome-san.
You remembered my name, young lady!
Now go ahead and eat up.
The madam got up early to prepare you soup again this morning.
What about these rice balls?
I made them.
Because I know you never eat your bread.
I'll eat now.
It's delicious.
I'm so glad.
OK, now eat the soup before it gets cold.
I don't need the soup.
But I'm talking about the girl who was carried off by that Twenty Faces character.
She's worth her weight in gold.
Her weight in gold?
Yup. I heard she knows where Twenty Faces' gang hid their spoils.
Wow, that's something else.
So whoever can catch her and get her to spill the beans will be rich.
But, heh, who knows what kind of things they made that girl go through.
Twenty Faces' spoils?
What's the matter?
It'll get cold, Chizuko-san.
Aunt, I'm going to go to school.
School? You?
If I don't make an effort to go outside, I'll wilt.
What is it?
My apologies. Her choice of words was funny.
Thanks for the food.
H-Hey, Chizuko-san...
I'll bring dinner to your room later.
Watch, listen, and think for myself.
That's it, right, Mister?
This should be interesting.
There!
Over here!
Heads up!
Did you hear? Apparently she's never gone to school before.
And she was abducted by a bad guy.
Poor thing.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and–
Words are very important.
Especially for people like us.
They allow us to avoid unnecessary disputes.
You understand, don't you?
Yes.
OK, Miss Mikamo, continue reading.
Miss Mikamo.
Yes, ma'am.
Read aloud from page 17.
Yes, ma'am.
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.
That was excellent. You must have had a great teacher.
Thank you.
Up Jack got and home did trot as far as he could cap–
H-Hey, Mikamo-san.
If you're OK with it, will you hang out with us this afternoon?
Sure.
Let us know if you need help with anything, Mikamo-san. We'll help you as much as we can.
You must have been through a lot.
Thank you.
I'm Sayuri.
Please call me Mika.
As for me, call me Chiko.
Chiko-san?
You got it.
Hello, Mikamo-san.
Hello.
I hate to interrupt this little gathering,
but that seat's reserved for me.
You'll have to forgive me. I didn't see a seating number on it anywhere.
Can you be more careful in the future?
Sure.
That's Koito Shunka-san. She's the granddaughter of the founder of this school.
We put up with her but she's really scary. There are rumors she goes out partying at night too.
Is something wrong, Chiko-san?
I'm fine.
Guess it's my imagination.
She tried to get me.
But I shouldn't be having any more horrible experiences now.
Things are different than they were with him.
Is she really the one who will inherit Twenty Faces' spoils?
I'm terribly sorry, young lady.
If I had only gone to pick you up a little earlier...
It's not your fault, Tome-san.
How was school? Did you make any friends?
Yeah.
Well, well. That's great, isn't it?
Good job spotting me.
I couldn't stop thinking about you.
Were you waiting for me?
Or maybe for Twenty Faces to reappear?
You think that Twenty Faces is still alive, don't you?
I don't know.
That's why I've been watching, listening, and thinking for myself.
He always said that to me.
He said that's the quickest way to get to something.
Will you search for him? For Twenty Faces?
Yes.
Then from this moment forth, you're a detective.
Or you can say a seeker of truth.
It's a dangerous life.
Just standing still like I've been doing is much more frightening.
Then I'll give this back to you to protect.
The Anastasia Ruby?
Why do you have this?
I found it. It was in a spot in the garden that you could easily see from your window.
...until I restore it to you.
It's possible that Twenty Faces is still alive.
Let's have a race.
Let's see which one of us can get to him first.
Yes!
Hey! Hang in there!
It's no good! His neck's broken!
A monster!