Romantic Troubles of Duanmu-kun

Episode 15: Acting Like a Detective Character (Part 1)

“Haah.”

Stuffy beads of sweat seeped from his forehead. His shirt clung to his back, transmitting an uncomfortable sticky sensation.

After being soaked with sweat, it would dry from his body heat. Then it would become damp again, repeating this cycle, leaving tiny salt crystals on the clothes that touched his skin.

For three days, Duanmu Liang had been continuously moving along Tokyo’s intricate subway lines and underground passages. Looking at the map, he had traversed almost a third of the city district—for a shut-in, it was truly praiseworthy stamina.

Squeezing out his remaining energy like water from a sponge, he covered his ears, trying to muffle the intense noise reverberating around him while carefully stepping across the muddy grass and the shallow riverbank’s tidal flats.

After confirming his pant legs hadn’t been stained with mud, the sharp train whistle ceased, and the young man couldn’t help but sigh in relief, returning his attention to his surroundings.

Under the cold and damp overpass, traces of human habitation were everywhere. Blackened marks from fires, small shelters built from discarded construction materials, long cloths tied up with hemp rope and plastic bags for wind protection and warmth…

In the past, this was probably a gathering place for homeless people.

As he pondered this, the soft soil beneath his feet began to vibrate. Dust and bits of concrete fell from above. A train was passing over the overpass.

No one lived here anymore now.

Even homeless people wouldn’t want to be woken up by such noise every day, so this gathering place had been abandoned.

Reaching the end of the overgrown weeds, he stopped.

Blocking his path were yellow temporary barriers with warning notices.

“Train route diversion…”

He read the text slowly, word by word.

It was part of the metropolitan government’s track diversion and renovation project, considered a focus of urban planning and new city construction.

Since the route changes affected areas throughout the metropolitan area, it had impacted citizens’ travel and living conditions, especially the noise pollution affecting residential areas.

Because of this, the metropolitan government was once again under public scrutiny. Television news programs were constantly broadcasting interviews and news segments related to this—

…The topic had strayed. Anyway, during these recent afternoons, the sharp, piercing whistle of passing trains had been constantly ringing in his ears. Several times it had awakened him from drowsy sleep.

Ordinary train diversions wouldn’t require whistles, but near Amazu Manor and the overpass where he currently was, there were areas under construction.

Simply put, train whistles had their own rules. Besides serving as necessary warnings, they could also use sound to convey information, allowing both the whistling party and the receiving party to confirm the same thing. Once a train passed through a construction area, it would use “whistles” to confirm with the construction workers on the route.

…

He wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for this annoying noise. After all, it was thanks to the train whistles every afternoon, like an alarm clock, that he had been able to complete his manuscript before the deadline.

As Duanmu Liang realized this, he recalled the phone call from Miyagi Aki three days ago (January 31st). At the end of the call, Aki had asked him about the “loud sound” he had heard that afternoon when she dragged the deceased into Amazu Manor—it was naturally the train whistle.

He had answered truthfully at the time. So then…

“Why was Miyagi-san so concerned about the matter of the ‘sound’?”

Not only that.

The map she placed in the “video tape” was also a railway map recording the recent track diversion construction work, and it was relying on this map that he had come here.

In fact, across the entire Tokyo metropolitan area, including near Amazu Manor and this overpass, there were fourteen construction areas where trains passed through. These places would presumably all have whistle sounds at fixed times.

Was tracking these locations because Miyagi Aki believed the killer was in these places?

“To know Miyagi-san’s exact intentions, we can only consider it in connection with the events from eight years ago…?”

He sighed.

“Next, should I go to Nagawa City?”

As a “detective character” in the story, unless one was an armchair detective, super mobility was necessary. All for solving the case, even if one had to search for clues across the entire country—

When the young man’s sneakers crossed the grass, there was a “crack.” A hard sensation came from under his foot. Even under human weight, it still hadn’t been crushed.

He looked down and saw a heavy black object half-buried in the soil among the overgrown weeds.

“…A cassette tape?”

Duanmu Liang pulled out the small rectangular box and wiped away the dirt on it.

If he was indeed correctly following Miyagi-san’s line of investigation, this might be a place where Otsuka Ken had stayed.

He took out the radio from his pocket and inserted the cassette. When going out, he preferred carrying a radio rather than a smartphone.

Accompanied by a rustling sound, long periods of noise and silence came from the rotating tape. He patiently adjusted the channel, waiting for the slight possibility.

…

“Run away… run away…”

After a long time, through the noisy background, came a man’s hoarse voice, repeatedly. It was a voice trembling with fear.

“Run away… huh?”

He blinked.

Perhaps they had witnessed the killer’s crime scene and thus made such fearful sounds? As for the owner of this voice, they could have been a homeless person or a passerby.

“…Good.”

A pleased smile appeared on Duanmu Liang’s face.

“An unexpected clue.”

If he could find the owner of this cassette tape, he would also obtain clues about Otsuka Ken.

“Then, before heading to Nagawa City—”

He had one last place to go.

In the video tape provided by Miyagi Aki, there were internal files from Nagawa City Psychiatric Hospital.

The psychiatrist who had provided the police with judgments about Otsuka Ken’s “dissociative personality disorder,” “intermittent psychosis,” “severe violent tendencies,” and provided treatment recommendations stating “because the patient has strong tendencies toward harming others and self-harm, we hope the hospital can provide reliable protective isolation care” was currently in Tokyo.

“Regarding that incident from eight years ago, the identities of all the investigators are unclear. In other words, he’s the only person involved that can be found now.”

Duanmu Liang wiped the sweat that had appeared on his forehead and stared at the photograph in his hand.

…

Of course, what he didn’t know was that there was actually another person involved whom Miyagi Aki had found. That was Otsuka Ken’s father, Otsuka Yuuya.

However, out of goodwill toward this young man she quite liked, she hadn’t included the materials about this dangerous member of society in the “video tape.”