Box of Demons

Chapter 92

Masuoka stopped talking here and looked up at Yoko.

Yoko's eyelids relaxed slightly as she looked at the box in front of her with gentle eyes, revealing the truth she had never told anyone before.

"Yes—I wanted to talk to Mr. Masuoka about the inheritance, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to say it. Then—after hearing about Mr. Yaohong's health condition, I despaired. That's why I thought of faking the kidnapping. I—once I thought of this idea, I couldn't stop—so I brought it up with Mr. Amamiya. At first, he said that if it could save Kanako, it might be a good thing, but—"

Yangzi frowned in distress.

"—At the time, he didn't know the condition under which Kanako survived. He probably never imagined that Kanako's entire internal organs had been pulled out. He kept talking about what he would do and what he would do once Kanako's injuries healed, and what places he would go to play. He even said, 'Kanako wants to see a lake, so let's go see a lake once she's healed. I remember she once said she wanted to go to Lake Sagami. Let's go together with the three of us, carrying our lunchboxes.'"

Bento box, such an ordinary word, sounded so sad to me.

"—Through our long years together, Amamiya had become family. No, his relationship with Kanako was much closer than mine. So, after thinking about it all night, I felt incredibly sad. Even if Kanako hadn't died, she wouldn't have had the chance to see the lake, and of course, she wouldn't have been able to eat lunch. Because, that child didn't even have a stomach or intestines anymore! So, I felt sorry for Amamiya, and the next day I told him about Kanako's current condition. As a result, he kept muttering 'How could this be?' 'This won't do,' 'This is wrong'—From that day on, I lost someone to confide in, and I felt like I was going crazy—but even so, I still didn't want Kanako to die, and I started making threatening letters by myself. But when the police came, Amamiya lied to protect me. He said to me, 'I'm just an outsider, you're the mother, it's normal for you to want your child to live.' Later—"

"Yangzi, stop talking, I don't want to hear these words."

"No, Father, that's enough. Kanako is gone."

Yangzi weakly resisted her father's words.

"Later, just as Mr. Chuzenji had said, Suzaki came. He said, 'Is it really okay to let Kanako die like this? This accident must be Shibata's conspiracy.' He also said, 'At this rate, the funds will run out, and Kanako will definitely die by the end of the month. The police have finally fallen into chaos, let's take advantage of the chaos, this will be a way to comfort Kanako's spirit in heaven,' and then—"

Even though she had said enough, Yoko still had a lot more to say.

“Amamiya was strongly against it. He said it would be too pitiful for Kanako, and he was very opposed to it. He was also against amputating her limbs. I had heard from the beginning that amputation was possible, and I thought that if it could extend her life by a couple more days, then so be it. Mr. Amamiya, however, thought—since she was going to die anyway, it was better to let her die as intact as possible. Hearing him say that—I was confused. But then Suzaki told me—Kanako wouldn't die, she would just be moved from the big box to the small box. As soon as we got the money, we would restore her to her original state. Of course, she wouldn't be able to walk anymore, but she could still talk, so let's give her the money first—”

"That's utter nonsense. Even if they did survive, they wouldn't be able to speak normally without a stomach and abdominal muscles."

Kyogoku-do muttered to himself.

"Susaki's method—or rather, his plan—was based on the premise of cutting off his hands and feet. Amamiya—bewildered for a long time, and finally asked for his severed hands and feet. He hoped that at least he could see the lake with his hands and feet."

Yoko's eyes became blurry.

"After the hands and feet were cut off, Amamiya took the iron box he had received from Mr. Koda—there were many of these, supposedly made before the war—when this research institute was first established—when the army was still looking forward to his father—in order to accurately manufacture the machine according to Mr. Koda's design—"

No way? The boxes here are...

"It is said to be extremely accurate."

The boxes here—were also made by Hyōe.

"The size is just right."

That's for sure, all the numerous boxes here are works by Mikoto.

I suddenly felt like vomiting.

“Mr. Amamiya brought these boxes—saying they were to be used as Kanako’s coffin, and that they had to be made of iron to sink to the bottom of the lake. He said, ‘I will take them to the quiet, deserted lake to rest in peace.’”

Kyogoku-do was right—that really was water burial.

"So Suzaki took the left hand from the very beginning?"

"Yes. It must have been taken by Suzaki to dispose of—it was never there to begin with. Then, Amamiya, hiding from the police—no, I should say pretending nothing was wrong, to avoid attracting attention—put Kanako's hands and feet on Suzaki's truck—"

"So it really was a truck?"

Kyogoku-do's guess was correct. Kyogoku-do had said that the lock on the loading platform was broken.

"The lock on that truck's cargo bed was loose. Fukumoto, am I right?"

Fukumoto nodded several times.

"Grandpa Kiba mentioned that when Fukumoto first arrived here, he accidentally collided with Suzaki's truck. Grandpa Fukumoto—you noticed, right? And he even went to check the extent of the damage to the loading platform."

Fukumoto was unusually timid.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mention that."

"Never mind, that's just my occupational hazard."

Kiba's response was quite indifferent.

Kyogoku-do continued:

"But because of this, Mr. Amamiya's ceremony was ruined. The mountain path was winding and difficult to traverse, and the box containing the hand fell off as a result."

"The left hand—it wasn't taken back, it never existed in the first place."

Bird Mouth asked as if confirming something.

No wonder I couldn't find it.

"When Amamiya came back, he was pale and said that his hands were gone—only the box remained."

The timber shop owner discovered it.

"Utterly foolish, what a foolish sentimentality. Why hold a water burial—I've been against it for a long time, and as I expected, it caused a commotion. Why not just throw them into the incinerator like usual?"

Mimasaka interrupted Yoko's words, looking at Kiba with a reptilian gaze.

"The incinerator probably couldn't be used at that time, right?"

Kyogoku-do said. Kiba, upon hearing this, said:

"Because—I was there."

Is this what Kyogoku-do meant?

At least Kiba wasn't there at midnight.

"If that's the case—I'm so glad I stayed there, otherwise Jia Caizi's bones would have been buried with those monkeys."

Yoko looked at Kiba with a sorrowful expression.

"After that, Amamiya and Suzaki often argued. In the fourteen years I'd known him, it was the first time I'd ever seen Amamiya yell so loudly. Amamiya had always been at odds with Suzaki, and he was also very indignant about Suzaki threatening me. Amamiya didn't know the reason for the threat and never inquired about it; he was just worried about me and Kanako. So he already disliked Suzaki. He only tolerated it because of Kanako. And because there were many police officers around, it didn't escalate to a physical fight, but the two of them were often at odds—that's when Suzaki brought up that incident. Looking back now, it seems like Amamiya started acting strangely from that point on. He, who was originally very opposed to it, became quiet after that."

That matter

It's that same thing again, the "secret" that was deliberately hidden from the beginning.

"Then, August 31st arrived—"

The day it disappears. Kyogoku-do says magic has no hidden mechanisms.

Kiba then sat on the shorter box.

He rested his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands together on his forehead, and quietly closed his eyes.

Then he began to speak:

"So, the kanako I saw back then—was only half left—?"

“That’s right. Her body was much smaller than one would normally imagine. She was only big enough to fit just inside that box.”

Kyogoku-do pointed to the box on the table next to Mimasaka.

It is approximately 45 cm high, 30 cm wide, and 24 cm long.

"She must have undergone surgery to remove all those tubes, big and small, all at once. So I think what they did was—"

"Lift the sheets."

—Mimasaka waits at the entrance, ready to go.

"Disconnect the tubing and IV drip from the carnivore."

—Suddenly a small, crackling sound was heard.

"Put it in the box."

The collision sound turned into a loud thud and a bang.

"Throw the camouflage plaster on the floor."

—Then it turned into screams.

"At the same time, he squatted down on the ground and shouted loudly."

—Mimazaka opens the tent

"And then, Mr. Mimasaka, you carried out the unveiling ceremony!"

—What good deeds have you done?

Kyogoku-do stood up and made a gesture as if to pull down the curtain.

The hospital bed was completely empty.

"This process only takes a few seconds. When Uncle Kiba went to investigate the hospital bed, you said—there was an indescribable strange feeling, because only the upper body and the part of the plaster cast on the bed were dented. The plaster cast was just there; if you threw it on the ground, it would shatter into pieces immediately. As for the other things, of course, they weren't very messy."

"So the mechanical box that Suzaki brought—is it just the little box used to store Kanako?"

Upon hearing Torikochi's words, Aoki's face immediately turned deathly pale; I think he must have remembered.

I recall the girls who were also stuffed into boxes.

"Suzaki was unaware that someone had already seen Kanako before him. He skillfully carried out the planned operation, moving Kanako to the small box and waiting for a few seconds as planned. He then disconnected the thin tube connected to the small box and quickly left. He went unnoticed and no one found him suspicious. Kanako left this rough, huge body and headed towards another body."

"Another body? What is that?"

"I think it must be an incinerator."

Kyogoku-do replied.

"What's the meaning?"

"According to the plan, the cannabis in the box was supposed to be hidden in the incinerator first—am I right?"

Mimasaka turned her back to everyone and remained silent.

Yangzi replied:

"I think—that should be correct."

"Susaki thought that—Grandpa Kiba, who had been guarding this place, would definitely head towards the intensive care unit after hearing the commotion—but in fact, he was already here. As long as Grandpa wasn't here, there wouldn't be anyone else around. The size was also just right. I think I should have prepared for containment two or three days ago. After Detective Kiba went back, I could handle it however I wanted in the middle of the night. I hadn't been able to figure out why Susaki died here, but then I realized it was because of this. It wasn't an incinerator inside, but a Susaki-style simple life support device, right?"

"So that means..."

"The reason I said we couldn't burn Kanako's right hand and feet is precisely this, not because Kiba-sama was there. Also—Kanako's left hand should be kept there as well."

"Um--"

Yoko did not answer, but her silence seemed to affirm Kyogoku-do.

"—Kyogoku, you said that hand was still alive at the time—?"

Kiba remained in the same position and began to ask a question.