Chapter 78: Second Diary Analysis (Part 3)
“Eh? That… that kind of thing…”
Kishida Masayoshi’s mind raced, rapidly replaying the diary entries he had just read. And he realized, with a sudden, jarring jolt, that Suzuki Koji was right. In all the passages they had seen, in all his cold, meticulous, and deeply disturbing prose, Kagehara Tetsuya had never once referred to Kagehara Kenta as ‘Father’ or ‘Dad.’ And once you noticed it, once you saw the deliberate omission, that small, seemingly insignificant detail, became incredibly strange.
“You see it now, don’t you?” Suzuki Koji said, a note of quiet, professional satisfaction in his voice. Seeing the look of dawning comprehension on his friend’s face, he leaned back in his chair, explaining further. “If it were you or me, when we were writing in a diary, and we needed to mention our parents, our boss, or our teachers, we would likely, at least the first few times, write out their full name, and perhaps a brief description of their profession or age, to establish context for ourselves.”
“Of course,” he continued, “there is another possibility. Some people, when writing a diary or an essay, write entirely from their own, subjective perspective, in the first person. And when they need to mention other people, they naturally and almost exclusively refer to them by their role, their relationship, or a nickname. That, too, is a perfectly reasonable and very common writing style.”
“When I first started reading Kagehara Tetsuya’s diary, I assumed he followed the first pattern. Because in the very first entry, the one from April 8th, he did just that, formally introducing the key players. And that was the beginning of the entire diary, the first entry he wrote.”
At this point, Suzuki Koji finally allowed himself a small, smug smile, a flicker of the pure, unadulterated pleasure a detective feels when they’ve uncovered a crucial and previously overlooked clue. He looked at Kishida, his expression clearly and rather irritatingly saying, “Pretty smart, aren’t I?”
“Couldn’t it just be a coincidence?” Kishida Masayoshi frowned. The full and potentially horrifying implication of this new suspicion was still taking shape in his mind, and he wasn’t quite ready to accept it.
“I think not. Because we have a control for comparison. Other characters have appeared in the diary, haven’t they? When Kagehara Tetsuya was describing his innate knowledge of cosmetology, he mentioned his mother. And in that passage, he never once mentioned her name, nor did he offer any special, formal explanation of who she was, did he? He just called her ‘my mother’.” Suzuki said, his memory of the text apparently photographic.
“Stop looking so damn smug,” Kishida grumbled, a flash of his old irritation returning. “If you’re so smart, you should have noticed this difference in how he treats his parents the last time we looked at the diary. So maybe it’s just because Kagehara Tetsuya and Kagehara Kenta had a bad relationship? This new diary entry implies that Kagehara Kenta knew his son was torturing small animals. Maybe they argued about it frequently, and that’s what caused the rift, the emotional distance, between them?”
Suzuki didn’t bother to argue about when he had first noticed the detail. “I don’t believe so. In his description of Tanaka Erika, it’s mentioned that Kagehara Tetsuya’s feelings towards all his family members were more or less the same – dislike, annoyance, contempt. So, the reason for treating his father with this specific, unique distinction is likely not that.”
“And from a purely psychological perspective, boys usually have a closer, more formative relationship with their fathers, unless the father is a man of particularly vicious character or temper. And from all available accounts, Kagehara Kenta was clearly not that kind of man.”
Hearing this, Kishida Masayoshi had no choice but to nod. In theory, at least, Suzuki Koji was right. The logic was sound. “So, have you figured it out then? Why? Why would Kagehara Tetsuya do this? What does it mean?”
At this, Suzuki leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head with a theatrical sigh. “Now, that’s your job as a police officer, isn’t it? To find out. It could be a simple, mundane matter of habit. If, in their daily life, the father and son referred to each other by their first names, then it wouldn’t be strange for him to do so in his diary as well.”
“But just a moment ago, you looked like you’d discovered some major, earth-shattering clue!” Kishida said, a little deflated.
“Of course. If we can definitively rule out the possibility of it being a simple habit, then it is a major, earth-shattering clue, isn’t it?” Suzuki said, his tone perfectly and infuriatingly reasonable. “For example… what if Kagehara Kenta was not Kagehara Tetsuya’s biological father? Wouldn’t that be a rather significant secret?”
Kishida Masayoshi shot him a look of pure, unadulterated contempt. “You’ve been reading too many cheap detective novels. Even if Kagehara Kenta wasn’t his biological father, Kagehara Tetsuya himself never had a paternity test. How would he know?”
Suzuki Koji was taken aback for a moment, then scratched his head, a sheepish grin on his face. “Well, when you put it that way, I suppose you have a point.”
Kishida, his brief flicker of excitement now completely and disappointingly extinguished, shook his head. “Alright, alright. Let’s just keep reading.”
May 2nd. Weather: Overcast.
I noticed something today. Tanaka Erika is actually quite athletic.
Of course, because she is so small and slight, even if she is decent for her size, she is no match for me in terms of raw physical strength. That much is obvious.
However, weaker does not mean incapable of resistance.
Her fingernails are quite long. If I were to suddenly attack her from behind, with a rope, for example, she would undoubtedly struggle. In that struggle, her nails would certainly be able to scratch my skin, leaving behind incriminating DNA evidence.
Wearing long sleeves and gloves would be equally ineffective. Clothing fibers, while not as conclusive as DNA, are still a form of direct evidence. And if she were to flail backwards, there is a non-zero probability she could scratch my face. It would be… impractical… to prepare a mask as well.
After much consideration, it would be ideal if I could incapacitate her before the act of strangulation.
There are, it seems, two viable options.
The first is the use of a chemical agent, such as chloroform.
One often sees this depicted on television. A man approaches his target from behind, suddenly covers their mouth and nose with a white handkerchief, and the target, in their reflexive, panicked inhalation, breathes in the chloroform and is instantly rendered unconscious.
But is the effect of chloroform really as immediate, as effective, as it is in the movies?
To approach from behind, to cover her mouth and nose with a handkerchief… if Tanaka Erika is able to struggle for more than ten seconds, then while it is a slight improvement over a direct strangulation, the risk is still… unacceptably high.
And the specific application, the precise dosage… I would first need to research the properties of chloroform online, and then formulate a detailed plan based on those characteristics.
And another, not insignificant, problem. Where, precisely, does one procure such a substance?
The school chemistry lab, of course, has what I need. But to use that method, I would require several… experiments… to determine the precise dosage and application technique. And if I were to secretly procure too large a quantity, I would likely be discovered immediately.
To commit a secondary crime in service of a primary one… no matter how one looks at it, that is an unwise, and deeply inefficient, course of action.
In short, it feels… troublesome. Not an optimal choice.
The second option, then: a stun gun.
Compared to the difficulty of preserving and the inherent unpredictability of chemical agents, a physical method is far more convenient, and far more swift.
As long as the stun gun’s voltage is sufficiently high, rendering someone instantly incapacitated, unconscious… that is a simple, straightforward task that anyone could accomplish, without any significant difficulty.
If I were to use the pretext, ‘I bought a stun gun out of pure curiosity and now I want to test its effects,’ and ask Tanaka Erika to stand there while I zap her… she probably wouldn’t even be suspicious.
But if I were to use the pretext, ‘I stole chloroform from the school lab out of curiosity and now I want to test its effects’… well, one doesn’t need to be a genius to know that would never work.
Which specific method to employ… I will decide after further investigation. A stun gun, while an excellent and reliable tool, is also more expensive. If the price is too high, I will have to once again postpone the date of the event.
And to be honest, just this endless, tedious, and increasingly abstract planning… it is beginning to be insufficient to satisfy me.
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