Loups-Garous

by Natsuhiko Kyogoku

  “You’re right. I’m not the one who decides that. However, I am the one who allows the judgment to be made. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

  Ishida slowly turned his face toward Shizue.

  “The courts base their case on the data presented by us in order to make their judgment. Listen, Miss Fuwa, you are not the one who creates the data on yourself. We are. Your behavior patterns, your habits, your criminal past—that’s all created by us.”

  “That is itself a crime,” Shizue said.

  “You’re slow to understand things, aren’t you? It’s not illegal. I’m not suggesting that our judgments are made according to modern law. You are the ones disobeying the law. Did you think you’d get away with it? I can’t imagine you did.”

  “I knew getting caught by the police was inevitable. I just didn’t want to be caught by you. And to think that idiot was throwing me under the bus.” Kunugi glared at Takasugi. Takasugi bowed slightly.

  “He didn’t throw you anywhere. He’s one of my best men.”

  “Tch,” Kunugi spit, and clasped his hands behind his head.

  The man with the handgun visibly strengthened his grip. His fingers were tense.

  “I’m not going to do anything. I’m a weak fighter.”

  Kunugi narrowed his eyes and focused on the weapon held out by the man.

  “But, Ishida. You’ve been on this whole pompous rant about how you haven’t broken any laws, but then what do you call what that man has in his hand? He’s been pointing that thing at us from the beginning. It’s too big to be a police-issue weapon, and I doubt that what comes out the end of it is a spray or resin.”

  “Probably not. The weapon he’s holding certainly has lethal power. Bearing any kind of weapon like that is, as you know, strictly prohibited in this country by international decree. It’s a Z model, 2010.”

  “What’s he—”

  “But it’s the strangest thing. I don’t actually see it.”

  “What?!” Kunugi raised his voice.

  “I can’t see what I don’t see. There’s no way something like that could be carried around in this country. As far as I’m concerned he’s just extending his arm. There’s nothing in his hand. Do you see it, Takasugi?”

  “I don’t see a thing,” he said.

  “You bastards!” Kunugi nearly rose out of his chair.

  “Oh no no no. You really shouldn’t make sudden movements like that. This man with his arm extended is very sensitive to people’s movements. He might accidentally pull the trigger.”

  There was suddenly a straight red line from the end of the handgun to Kunugi’s forehead.

  Laser sight.

  “If he moves a finger, that light guides—”

  “Something that doesn’t exist out of something else that’s not there, I get it, I get it.”

  “This is what’s called an overwhelming disadvantage, Kunugi. Miss Fuwa seems more sagacious. She seems to understand the situation.”

  “You’re saying that what you say isn’t there, isn’t there. What is there, is.”

  Ishida clapped like a child. “Bravo. There’s the lauded child psychology specialist, daughter of Yukie Fuwa. You’re correct.”

  “My mother…”

  My mother has nothing to do with this.

  “That was some shocker four years ago, eh? To lose someone so important to you—”

  “She has nothing to do with this,” Shizue interrupted. “With you.”

  She didn’t want to have to say it.

  “I’ve read many of her books, Miss Fuwa. I quite respect her work.”

  “Respect?”

  The dead don’t return.

  It’s because of your attitude.

  “Oh no. You’re making a face,” Ishida said as he looked into Shizue’s eyes.

  She turned away.

  Who was this man?

  “Did you not respect her? That’s not right, now is it? You should honor her. Yukie Fuwa was your mother, after all.”

  What’s going on? What is this?

  “What would you know about it?”

  Just as Shizue raised herself, the beam of the laser sight moved over to her forehead.

  Her breath stopped.

  “I’m sorry,” Ishida said. “That stuff doesn’t matter anyway. Now where were we?”

  Ishida turned on a heel and sank into the chair again, laced his fingers, and rested his chin on them.

  “What shall we do?”

  His cold stare darted from Shizue to Kunugi. “It’s quite easy to punish two troubled individuals. We can make them criminals, or kill them. No, not just kill, but completely eradicate the records of your existence. It wouldn’t be very difficult. Still, I hate to create unnecessary deaths.”

  “Unnecessary deaths?”

  “Unnecessary, sure. Your death would have no productive outcome.”

  “Productive outcome?”

  Ishida turned back.

  “What say we bargain?”

  “Bargain?” Kunugi said.

  “It’s not a bad idea, I don’t think.”

  “Hey hey, I don’t think there’s anything about this situation that’s not bad. I’m not stupid.”

  “No, it’s not bad. Listen. Right now according to our records, your crimes are minor, Kunugi. In other words if we processed and released you now you’d get off with a slap on the wrist. I mean, you’ll probably have to be dismissed from the force, but there won’t necessarily be a need for police action. Depending on the circumstance you might even go unpunished. But in about twenty-four hours you will be considered a kidnapper and murderer and prosecuted as such.”

  “Who are you saying I’m going to kill?”

  “First, Ayumi Kono. It’s been established that she ran off with you and Miss Fuwa. Then—”

  “Wait,” Shizue said. “You don’t have her, do you?”

  They got even her.

  “Please don’t worry about her right now,” Ishida said. “That Kono is an amazing child. She was seen with Hinako Sakura on the grounds of the Makino residence, but we haven’t been able to seize her just yet. It’s just a matter of time though. I have the entirety of the D&S Security corporation on my side, after all.” Ishida laughed. “This is information that just can’t be parsed by idiots. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to effectively use the data internally, but I have been able to use it personally.”

  “Kono has nothing to do with this. Nothing!”

  “That too is something I determine.”

  “What’s wrong with you?! Who do you think you are?”

  “He’s the great-grandson of Yutaro Suzuki,” Takasugi said. Ishida cocked his head and laughed again.

  “Unfortunately, after punishing Miss Fuwa, Kunugi will kill the child to unload his burden. And after chasing him for a while, let’s see, for three days, shall we say? In three days, Miss Fuwa’s body will be discovered. She will have been violated. It will be an unusual sex crime. And demographically speaking, only a man of Kunugi’s generation would carry out a sexually violent murder. Probably the result of an inferior education,” Ishida said.

  “We all know that in your youth, child porn and other obscene materials flourished the world over. Adults would flaunt arcane words like ‘immorality’ but were still sex-obsessed buffoons. Then they’d shamelessly brag about it. It was clearly a mental disorder. Even prostitution or acts resembling prostitution were silently condoned. The phenomenon of sex enthralled all of society. It was a truly foolish time.”

  “I think on that one point alone we are in agreement,” Shizue said. “Social delusions regarding sex reached their peak between the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. It was, as you state, a foolish time. But you can’t say it’s scientific to declare an entire generation of people as categorically problematic. You yourself are of the same age group as Kunugi, for example.”

  “You’re right. We’re only three years apart. However, I have nothing to do with this. I won’t
commit police crimes.”

  “Won’t? You mean you will and cover it up.”

  “Cover it up?”

  “Yeah. Make it look like someone else did it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve lumped your own murders in with the serial killing case.

  You’ve already tried to frame the undocumented girl for Kawabata and Nakamura’s deaths.”

  “I haven’t killed anyone,” Ishida said. “I’ve done nothing. I’m a lieutenant, the chief of Investigative Unit R at prefectural police headquarters. Why would I commit such a heinous crime? Please don’t say things like that. Also, it’s strange to say that random murders are being assigned to the serial killer. It’s a serial killer, so of course the killings are going to be random. There’s no cover-up here.”

  “Sure,” Kunugi said and shook his head over and over. “Yeah, I get it. Shit. You don’t want to get your hands dirty. I’m sure you even have an alibi. You have a place and a person to verify your whereabouts. You’re in the clear. I’m going to puke.” Kunugi shook without moving. Like a restless child. There was an irritating, useless, endless anger boiling up from inside him that he couldn’t chase down. Shizue knew the feeling all too well. “Shit, I’m so pissed off I’m going to go crazy. Hey, if you’re going to kill me, do it now.”

  Ishida smiled and effortlessly shook his head. “You really are stupid.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m here.”

  “I told you I’m willing to bargain. You could be the next generation. Miss Fuwa, you could go unprosecuted. Return to work, even. Kunugi, well, you will probably be dismissed from the force, but we can take care of you anyway. What about a post at the area patrol in your hometown? I can put you under consideration for a section chief position.”

  “What the hell would we have to do for you to be offering such a deal? What the fuck do you want us to do?” Kunugi was yelling now.

  “It’s simple. You admit to doing the things we suspect you of. Miss Fuwa can claim she was forced to do what she did by you. You are the culprit. She is the victim. What do you think?”

  “You mean I’m going to be convicted of stalking her?”

  “Precisely. Then at least we won’t convict you of murder.”

  “And Kono? You’d also protect Ayumi Kono?” Shizue asked.

  If this protects Ayumi…

  Ishida shook his head again.

  “I can’t do that. That girl, Miss Kono, along with Miss Hazuki Makino and Mio Tsuzuki, will have to die. Speaking of which, Takasugi!”

  “Sir, it’s possible Ayumi Kono communicated some information to Hinako Sakura while she was at the community center.”

  “Then yes, I guess we’ll have to kill her too,” Ishida said.

  “Are you not right in the head? You said a second ago that you don’t like useless murders. What are you going to accomplish killing all these little girls?” Kunugi yelled as he stomped his foot.

  “I said I don’t like producing useless corpses. Those children would die for a great cause. Ayumi Kono is…”

  Ishida put his hand on a touch-screen on his desk.

  A digital screen appeared, upon which information on the child they were discussing popped up. The display furiously scrolled through reams of characters and images for Ayumi’s data, and then eventually an image of her face appeared on the screen.

  “Interesting. She’s a triple A. And Makino…”

  What was he saying?

  “Hmph, she’s an A-minus.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” said the man in white.

  “Her base strength is inferior, but her organs are disease-free, and she is fed on D&S-produced food products prepared by a domestic with a premium contract, so there won’t be any problems with her nutritional balance. As long as it’s nothing like the last time, I think it might even be better.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Ishida said, and he started another search.

  Mio Tsuzuki’s image appeared.

  “She’s a B.”

  “Ooh, we must get her,” said the man in white.

  Get?

  “Hinako Sakura is, well, she looks like she’s unhealthy but she’s a double A. Wow, Miss Fuwa. All your children are so healthy!”

  They were looking at the data from the childrens’ medical exams.

  These men…

  “What are you doing?” Shizue was overpowered by an indescribable rage.

  “W-what on earth are you doing?”

  Ishida didn’t answer, but simply laughed.

  “What’s so funny? What are you doing?”

  “Miss Fuwa. You’re not in a position to be asking questions. I was the one asking you questions. Now, Kunugi, what are you going to do?”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m stupid, like you said. I’m so stupid I don’t understand the position you’re putting me in. What was it again? I’m supposed to choose between being a convicted murderer or pervert?”

  “Yes. That’s an astute way of putting it,” Ishida said with a smirk. “So what’s it going to be?”

  “Don’t kid yourself.”

  Kunugi looked at Shizue.

  “Call me whatever you want. A pervert, an aberrant. But don’t think I’m going to be part of any scheme that requires killing children,” Kunugi said.

  He leapt at Ishida.

  However.

  He was quickly stopped from behind by the large tattooed man and slammed into the desk, where he was immobilized. Shizue was toppled over in the process, chair and all.

  As she started to stand up the laser was once again directed at her forehead.

  Kunugi’s arms were pulled up behind him, his face pressed onto the surface of the desk. He hollered, “You assholes! How dare you act so cavalier about killing children!”

  “Kunugi!” Ishida looked down at Kunugi’s squirming face as if it were filthy, his look full of disgust. “Yes, yes. We’ve seen your data, Kunugi. You were friends with a convicted killer. That bizarre murder of the perpetrator’s entire family. That took place a long time ago, in Area 119 even. I seem to recall reading somewhere that you defended him. It’s in the domestic violence archives.”

  “I have never protected a criminal. All murder is criminal. A great crime.”

  “However, I do remember saying something about how we shouldn’t hold a murderer in contempt at some point in the past. You’re recorded as having defended the killer.”

  “A crime is a crime. A human life is a human life,” Kunugi said. “I never said that murder was excusable, much less the murders of one child after another.”

  “But, Kunugi, I never kill anyone without a good reason.”

  “W-what did you say?”

  The muscles on the arms of the large man bulged.

  Kunugi howled.

  “That hold looks painful,” Ishida said scornfully. “You just can’t mind your manners, can you? You deserve to rot with those senseless perverts. The ones that murder without reason.”

  Kunugi struggled. “You saying it’s okay to kill people if you have a motive?”

  “What on earth is he saying?” Ishida said, incredulously. “And you call yourself a cop. Motives? What is a motive? Are you talking about an overwhelming urge? A loss of sanity? Baseless excuses? I can’t forgive anyone who would take a human life in such meaningless circumstances.”

  “Then what noble cause can you come up with for justifying murder?”

  “I don’t have a noble cause. That’s just more antiquated talk.”

  “I’m old. I was born in the twentieth century, just like you.”

  “Choose your words more carefully, Boss,” Takasugi said.

  Kunugi started to yell at Takasugi but it turned into a shriek halfway through as his arms were twisted even further behind his back.

  “No one uses the term ‘noble cause’ anymore, Mr. Kunugi. The country is no more than an extension of the individual. Our generation knows that better than anyone. The foolish masses chose
nationalism as a noble cause because it was easiest to understand. But it’s ineffective. Ideals and morals and laws are no longer a function of national unity and protection. Their function is only to give the illusion of safety to a society.”

  “S-so what? Explain that in small words to this stupid old man.”

  Ishida disdained Kunugi’s appearance—the squirming in the grip of the large man, the strained face.

  “Poverty, stupidity…crimes wrought by lack of attention should be eradicated. Of course we can say that eradicating poverty and stupidity isn’t just for the benefit of the country but for the overall good of humanity. People pillage because they’re not of means, they don’t have enough space so they invade other people’s places, they have different beliefs so they start wars, they fight because they’ve been defeated for so long in the past. They steal because they’re poor, they kill because they fight, they take revenge because they hold a grudge. It’s all the same. In the past, some of the most unforgivable crimes were allowed under the auspices of nationalism. This ideological sophistry perpetuated by the masses is precisely what we used to call a noble cause. This kind of thing no longer exists.”

  “And so what?”

  “Killing people is never right. That’s why countries fight wars. The death penalty was outlawed. No one objects to that. And now it’s illegal to kill animals. At least in this country. Right?”

  “This was also one of Suzuki Senior’s achievements,” Takasugi said.

  “Yes, Kunugi, I’m not killing people. Those girls are going to die anyway. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “What do you mean there’s nothing you can do about it?” Kunugi tried hard to face Ishida while twisting in the grip of the large man. “Like you said, most motives for murder are meaningless. But that doesn’t mean the poor or uneducated are more likely to kill. I actually understand that people kill for no reason. Of course, it’s unforgivable. It’s absolutely unforgivable. Still, I understand. Pathological murder is just some phrase someone made up. It’s unrelated.”

  “Hmm,” Ishida said like an idiot. “And?”

  “And I don’t get you. I don’t get even a molecule of a hair on your nose. I don’t understand what kind of person uses stature and resources to create an organization, a safe place, to commit serial murder for who knows what purpose. And I don’t want to know.”