Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 295 - 216: Ghost Dancing Girl

Chapter 295: Chapter 216: Ghost Dancing Girl

As soon as these words were spoken, Pandora’s box was opened.

The travelers buzzed with discussion, amazed at how someone could emerge from the campfire unscathed. It was incredibly miraculous to anyone. After all, the temperature within the fire can go up to nearly 1000℃, hot enough to char a person instantly!

Mori Hajime, being a professional photographer, couldn’t stand the misunderstanding and quickly explained that this was a filming effect.

Everyone listened and showed signs of realization.

But there were still a couple of dimwits who couldn’t catch up, arguing, "But the woman in the film is clearly bigger, she clearly walked out of the campfire!"

"Well, I also recorded an explanatory segment. Everyone, please take a look..."

After Mori Hajime finished speaking, he realized things were starting to go awry. His explanations not only failed to dispel everyone’s confusion, but instead seemed to deepen it.

"I understand, but why is she so big?"

"..."

"I get the logic, but she clearly walked out of the fire."

"..."

"I see now, I fully understand. This woman can do magic, she’s not afraid of fire burns!"

"..."

Mori Hajime couldn’t take it anymore, he slammed the screen shouting to ask everyone which part they didn’t understand. The travelers were initially just trying to tease him, but seeing him truly angry, they fell silent.

Minamoto Tamako hurriedly reassured everyone, stating that this matter wasn’t important: "If someone really jumped out of the fire, there should be someone around who noticed it, right? Like this gentleman here..."

She stretched out her little hand, pointing to a passerby on the screen, who clearly turned around to look at the dancing girl: "Is this gentleman present?"

People on the scene turned and looked around, and a kimono-clad innkeeper stood up. He was the passerby in the picture, going to deliver ingredients at the time, and happened to glance back at the fire pit.

"Didn’t see the dancing girl, just saw that little girl..."

The innkeeper spoke in a rather assured tone, claiming he had only seen Taira Sakurako and not the dancing girl. Minamoto Tamako queried around, and none of more than a hundred people present claimed to have seen the dancing girl—even the seasonal musicians touring for performances said they didn’t recognize her.

Strange.

People started buzzing, suspecting the camera might have filmed a ghost, and this innocent, unfortunate little girl was abducted by it.

This could infer that the charred corpse in the fire pile belonged to that dancing girl, and thus her spirit would emerge from the blaze.

People talked with great deal of realism, and the travelers suggested Minamoto Tamako and the others find out the identity of the charred corpse first, fulfill her unresolved wishes to allow her passage to Buddhahood... Maybe then she would return the child.

The innkeepers remained quiet; perhaps worried about the ghostly rumors affecting tourism business, they didn’t participate in the discussion.

The crowd in the banquet hall clearly divided into two groups; one group was engaged in lively discussion, while the other remained silently.

Seeing this, Minamoto Tamako took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Reviewing the course of events, she discovered two points of confusion.

First, where did the charred corpse in the fire pile come from?

Supposedly, the wood pile should have been prepared in advance, and the person in charge of the party loudly emphasized that before lighting, the temple novices had thoroughly checked to ensure no one was concealed inside.

Incidents had occurred in the past where children crawled in to play, so each year before the bonfire party began, someone was tasked with checking.

Second, how did the dancing girl and Taira Sakurako disappear amidst the crowd?

Everyone present, whether tourists or proprietors, hadn’t witnessed Taira Sakurako and the dancing girl leave. Additionally, the identity of the dancing girl remained a mystery, confirmed by the fact she walked by the passerby who swore he hadn’t seen the dancing girl himself.

This case of disappearance grew increasingly bewildering, vexing Minamoto Tamako, who worried about Sakurako more the more she struggled to think calmly.

The travelers debated for a while, growing weary.

They had their fill of gossip, satisfied their curiosity, and now came rest time, deciding to leave.

Minamoto Tamako initially planned to stop them, but everyone had come to travel, cooperating with the investigation already showed utmost consideration, leaving her no grounds to keep them overnight. She could only watch the related individuals depart the banquet hall.

Suddenly, a few travelers recalled Fushimi Roku’s promise before leaving, and approached to ask:

"By the way, wasn’t there supposed to be a big prize? What is it?"

Fushimi Roku placed his hands in his sleeves, sat cross-legged on the cushion with an air of calm, and said, "The prize is your conscience... Through your cooperation in this investigation, your moral integrity improved, making your conscience significantly brightened."

The travelers looked at each other, dropped a remark of ’nuts’, and marched directly out of East Sea Inn.

In an instant, only a dozen middle-aged inn proprietors remained in the banquet hall. They prepared to sneak away, when Minamoto Tamako suddenly asked them about their progress in counting heads.

"We’ve counted three times, no one is missing..."

"I mean, if a customer went missing, I’d definitely worry more than you would."

"Indeed no one has seen that dancing girl, and as for that little girl... could it really be a ghost abduction?"

...

Minamoto Tamako couldn’t think of any clues, so she sought help from Fushimi Roku.

Whenever a case is at a standstill, it’s time for the foolish assistant to give the brilliant detective inspiration! Although she hadn’t yet figured out the key truths for now, as long as she carefully inspected the scene and combined with Mr. Fu Jian’s ’unintentional words’, she surely could unveil the truth at once!

Fushimi Roku remembered clearly, earlier they had run into refusal several times, those innkeepers had been quite arrogant... Of course, he wasn’t holding a grudge! He was just recalling the case; back then the innkeepers had seen Taira Sakurako, as well as Mizutani Hiroshi and Mori Hajime, and should have impressed memories, but how come no one paid attention to how Sakurako disappeared?

He glanced around at everyone’s heads, beyond having a foot fetisher, the guilt levels and vices of others were relatively normal, even below average.

Naturally, Fushimi Roku understood, guilt level was only a reference criterion, he hadn’t yet grasped the judgment standard for guilt value.

Reflecting on this, Fushimi Roku asked everyone what kind of questions Taira Sakurako had inquired during her visits.

The innkeepers looked at each other, then replied truthfully after a moment, stating Taira Sakurako was searching for a lady named "Koizumi Mizuki."

Minamoto Tamako was aware of this beforehand, hence wasn’t surprised. She knelt beside the screen, watching Fushimi Roku continue questioning: "And, how did all of you respond?"

No one answered, so Fushimi Roku randomly picked someone for a response. The latter reluctantly replied, "Missing, right? What else is there to say?"

"I see."

Fushimi Roku didn’t probe further, instead he queried seemingly unrelated question: "Then, in your opinion, what kind of a person is ’Koizumi Mizuki’?"