REMPAK: The Destruction

Section 21: The Face On The Photo Is The Face I Used To Bounce

"The killer must have wanted to complain. It is clear from the pattern."

"Maybe, this isn't the last. Maybe there'll be a third, a fourth, until it's over."

"They must want to mess with us."

Saka explained the meaning of his words. He was still busy with sweets taken from uncle Jizo's guest table. Ko nodded in understanding hearing Saka's explanation.

The atmosphere became much heavier afterwards. Just the sound of a big clock ticking in the corner of the room. Every head there, thinking with their brains.

This is not a playful problem that can be solved jokingly. A huge chasm awaits the Corvus organization if they misstep just a little.

There are many parties who will take advantage of this moment to bring them down. Naturally, the pier that Corvus shaded is the main pier of Kido Prefecture. Its income annually reaches almost 20% of the total foreign exchange Kido Prefecture.

Taxes are running smoothly, accommodation is well taken care of. Corvus took pains to keep the pier in their hands. If one gets just one rope to cut, Corvus could lose everything.

Not only between groups, as already mentioned, people from the government, local bureaus, police, law enforcement, will flock to make them cornered. The five people sitting in each place were carrying a great burden of Corvus power in the Eastern District.

"What do the others think?"

"We must gather all the worst possibilities to know how to overcome them."

The Corvus leader guided their impromptu meeting to the path it should be. Jizo shriveled his forehead slowly. He just got here a few hours ago, and he's been faced with something hard to think about. Jizo thinks he's coming home for a vacation and a light mission, but it turns out this could end up being bigger than he thought.

"Caracal didn't even have a single suspect until now" Jizo said. If this is really one pattern, it is not impossible that Corvus ended up deadlocked like Caracal.

"Where do you know that, Jizo?" Arba looked at him questioningly. The man handed a piece of photo to his boss while his eyes could not be separated from Jizo.

"Ken called me." Jizo told the truth. He did get in touch with Ken, the main member of Caracal, how many days after the body of a theater player was found.

"I didn't know you were close to Ken." Haru also raised her astonishment. Worth it, Ken, that Caracal member, was indeed famous for the distance he had always given others. The man did not even look at the group itself.

Ken has high loyalty. As a member of Caracal, his devotion cannot be counted on the fingers. The crowd wanted to approach him in search of a loophole, but Ken never lowered his guard in the slightest even to his own guild like the Corvus group, which had been working together for decades.

But, Jizo feels Ken is not as rumored. He was just too quiet, not that he was completely unapproachable. Jizo tried to greet him first, and Ken looks fine with it. They even exchanged contacts and chatted.

"The freaks, always get together with the freaks too, Haru." Saka commented calmly. Jizo grinned at hearing that.

"Look, another weirdo is talking."

Saka kicks his leg slowly, sparking an argument between him and Jizo. Luckily, Haru sat there so as to restrain the two from doing anything further in vain.

"Sir, what are you thinking?" While Arba ignored them, he saw his superior who was staring at the photo he had just handed over so seriously.

"You're saying he works at the docks?"

"Yes, Sir."

"How long has he been working there?"

"According to the people at the dock, this is his sixth year."

"Why, uncle? Is something weird?"

The leader of Corvus turned his eyes to Jizo. Haru, Saka, and Arba were staring at him as well back then.

"Arba, his guardian's already at the local bureau office?" This time Ko turned to his assistant as well as his right hand.

"Yes, sir. It just so happened that he was indeed on his way to the Eastern District to visit her."

"Ouh, how cute. He came to visit, but the people he visited were gone." Haru grimaced imagining being in the position of the figure.

"Why, Uncle?" Jizo interrupted once again their chatter. Demand answers to questions that were ignored. His uncle must have found a good reason to take that detail.

"I just don't feel like I recognize his face."

"What?"

Jizo looked at the man strangely. There was-there was this uncle, of course there was no way he knew everyone at the pier. There were hundreds to thousands of people coming and going, where it might be possible to reach all of them.

Moreover, Ko is not always on the dock, unlike his men who every day keep watch. That's a natural thing. Just ask the other crew, someone must recognize, because the corpse is a man who worked on the dock for years.

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm totally foreign to her face." Ko is still on his feet. He felt something strange about the corpse.

"Arba, do you recognize him?" ask the Corvus leader to the pudding man next door. Arba carefully observed the face photographed on the piece of paper.

There were bruises and paled skin but the contours of his face had not been completely damaged. But Arba agrees. He doesn't know who's in the picture.

"I don't know him, sir." Arba voiced his thoughts. As Jizo grew curious, Saka and Haru began to look at the picture. Come find out.

"Let me see. You guys are here every day, it's impossible never to pass each other even once." Jizo grabbed the paper from Arba's hand. He set his eyes clearly to record what he saw and connect with any part of the brain that contained memories of the corpse.

Jizo's heart seemed to stop when he saw it.

"Gba..."

Jizo, still can't believe the figure there is the same person who was on his mind.

"You recognize him, Jizo?" It was Saka who answered his call to Arba. Jizo acted strangely after three seconds of looking at the photo with his own eyes.

"You're saying he's from the Western District?"

Arba nodded in confirming. Jizo sighed then placed the photo on the table with a frustrated face. Everyone there looked at him question mark. What makes Jizo like that?

"Jizo, do you recognize him?" This time Ko repeated Saka's question. If Jizo really knew her, it could be that she was no ordinary civilian. So, this case does not need to be handled by the local bureau or the police. The Corvus leader was already thinking of wrapping this up himself.

"I don't know him. I've only met him once."

"He's..."

"My friend's father."