by Eiji Mikage
Notably, Shota had never been involved with the original Reina. The person he thought was Reina was one of the Bumblebees. So Higano couldn’t use a voicemail from the original Reina to get him to come over. He had to rely on a silent message. At 7:11 P.M. he called Shota through LINE from his car. Because it was a shared account, the Bumblebees obviously were able to see what had happened.
Next, he sent a message to Koichiro, asking him to pick up Reina’s car near the park and, by doing so, creating the definitive evidence of Koichiro having driven the BMW. Even if Koichiro realized the message wasn’t from Reina and then claimed he took direction from the criminal over a text message, Higano wouldn’t run into any issues. By framing the case as a suicide, even this would be attributed to being part of Reina’s ruse.
7:20 P.M. Higano confirmed that no one was around and arranged the body on the tetrapods in the park. He didn’t forget to put her left leg in the water. He put the first knife that had actually been used to stab Reina in a plastic bag, along with her smartphone and a weight. He threw it in the water not far from the body. Even if the items were discovered, it would look like she mustered the last of her strength right as she was about to die to get rid of the evidence. He also put the electric planer he had actually used to cut off her face into the trunk of the BMW.
With all that, all of his preparations would be finished once he returned his car.
7:45 P.M.
No longer wanting to look at the state of the body, Higano left the scene.
* * *
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The serial killer Seiren Higano turned his attention to a familiar walking path. The street was so deserted it was as though the city had completely forgotten it.
When the case came to light, Officer Yamaji would, as always, ask Higano for help. Yamaji trusted him completely. All Higano had to do now, as a detective, would be to make up some theories to guide Yamaji into believing the story he’d woven.
He must remember to hint that Reina may have completely lost her mind. If he couldn’t convince them that she was crazy, they’d never believe that she would cut off her own foot and face. He had to heighten her mystique and make them see her as a lunatic.
Fortunately, there was plenty of material that made Miss Direction seem insane. The complete lack of photographs, for one. But all of that had been the basis for his plan in the first place, of course.
Higano crossed his arms.
His main problem still remained—the Bumblebees.
He’d sent messages from the Reinas’ shared account, so he figured that sooner or later they would probably realize that the original Reina had died. But even if they didn’t, he’d have to deal with them at some point.
First he had to determine how they’d reveal themselves.
There was no way that the Bumblebees wouldn’t do something. If they left the case alone, the police would look into everything about Reina’s past, and there was a chance their true identities would be revealed. There was a chance the Bumblebees would be forced to return to the nobodies they had been before becoming Reina Myoko. That was something they’d do anything to prevent.
What exactly would they decide to do?
Higano predicted that the police would pigeonhole the case as one they couldn’t investigate too deeply. In that case, even though this was a gruesome crime, the victim’s name—in other words, Reina Myoko’s name—wouldn’t be publicized in the media.
But if the police knew politicians and other big names were involved, would they still hide the name? Maybe it was best to make them think the crime had been committed by some “syndicate” that not even the police could touch. The police might buy his outrageous story, but he couldn’t be careless. The Reinas were actually well connected with powerful people, and they’d brainwashed everyone around them. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Assuming that Higano was able to convince them that a syndicate of big names was responsible for Reina’s murder, at the behest of the Reinas, he’d be able to exclude himself as one of the suspects.
And if he did that, maybe he could leave the rest of the case alone?
Higano immediately shook his head at the idea. Putting his fate in the hands of the Bumblebees, who could never be trusted, was about the worst thing he could do. It was only a matter of time before they turned on him.
They were enemies, and he had to be the one using them. If he could make the police think Reina was the leader of these monsters, Reina’s mystique could do the rest for him. It could help reinforce the suicide story.
He couldn’t let down his guard against the Bumblebees. They were illusory manifestations who had completely consumed their original.
Yet for all their power, even the Bumblebees still weren’t Higano’s biggest opponent.
Because, after all, they lived a completely inauthentic existence.
It was impossible for Higano to lose to them on an artificial plane. That was the miracle of Masquerade.
No one would ever uncover the truth.
No matter how anyone went after the truth, it would remain hidden as long as nothing out of his projections popped up.
Once he was convinced of that, Higano’s mood changed and he completely lost interest in the body. He walked off and didn’t even turn his head to glance back.
* * *
—
As the serial killer Seiren Higano strolled down his usual morning walk, he mulled over using Crystal Mountain or Mandarin beans for his coffee. He smiled and also pondered the target for his next kill.
Well then, what am I going to do now?
That’s what Higano had murmured to himself in front of the body, but he wasn’t referring to this case.
He was already thinking about the dramatic way he was going to kill his next target.
5 When coffee beans are roasted, the heat traps CO2 inside the bean. During a pour over, you can pour hot water on coffee grounds which causes them to release the CO2 immediately, causing the bloom effect.
6 This is a play on words on the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (?民党), which has held power near continuously since 1955
7 Voice over Internet Protocol.
Eiji Mikage is the author of several novels and light novels. He withdrew from Nihon University to pursue writing and debuted in 2005 with Bokura wa dokonimo hirakanai (We Open Nowhere), which was a finalist for the Dengeki Novel Award. He has since published many novels including Kasumi Reina wa kokora ni iru (Reina Kasumi Is Here) and the series Utsuro no hako to zero no Maria (The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria).
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Daniel Morales is a writer and translator living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, Threepenny Review, Neojaponisme, and elsewhere.