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Chapter Twenty-Seven: Odd Blue:

September 18th, 2010.

That morning, Watari hit a couple of clues that turned two of three cases on their heads. It started when he got back test results.

“What the…?” That can’t be right,” Watari said. He immediately got on the phone.

“Hello?” Tsuzuki asked on the other line.

“Oh, good,” the scientist said. “I’m so glad I caught you. Is Hisoka with you?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Is he with you right now?”

“Yes…”

“Put him on too.”

“Okay…”

“Hello?” Hisoka asked. Watari moved his hand to his mouse.

“What do you want to hear first?” he asked. “The baby or corpses?”

“Kirika-chan,” Tsuzuki answered.

“Tsuzuki!” Hisoka whispered.

“I have to know!” Tsuzuki said.

“Very well,” Watari said. “First off, the baby’s DNA is a match to the dead couple. They were her parents.”

“Alright,” Tsuzuki said. “Do we know who they were yet?”

“I’ve got a hit on the dad.” Watari pulled up the file on his laptop. “There is a missing person report filed from Japan on a Himura Aki last week. Apparently, he was last seen going to Hong Kong for a new job.”

“Are you sure that that’s Kirika’s father?”

“I know because according to the report, Himura-san had a tiger tattoo on his back. Our male DB has the same tattoo in exact location. I’m sending you the photos right now.” Watari sent both his photo and the young man’s tattoo picture from Himura’s Facebook page to Tsuzuki’s phone.

“Shit! That is an exact match,” Tsuzuki said.

“Right down to the flaw in the tiger’s mouth,” Watari said.

“Anything else on Himura?” Tsuzuki asked.

“His mother was the one who filed the report. It’s an active investigation in Osaka.”

“Birthplace or current residence?”

“Both, he lived with his mother until he moved to Hong Kong for that job.”

“What job was that?” Hisoka asked.

“That’s the thing,” the scientist said. “It was for a pharmaceutical company in Hong Kong, but most of the information is sealed.”

“Sealed?” Tsuzuki asked.

“Yes,” Watari said. “Even the name of the company is blocked. The same thing is happening to their web site.” Watari brought up another file on his laptop. “That reminds me, I got back Kirika’s blood test this morning. There’s a peculiar spike in the coding.”

“Well she is half yaoguai after all.”

“That’s not it. Her mother didn’t have this spike.”

“Huh?” Tsuzuki asked.

“So far, I haven’t been able to identify it,” Watari said. “That’s not the strangest thing. Her father had the same spike in his blood.”

“What?”

“Are you sure Himura-san was human?” Hisoka asked.

“Yes,” Watari said. “The test confirmed it. I’m thinking the spike came from the job at that pharmaceutical company.

“Anything on Kirika’s mother?” Tsuzuki asked.

“Nothing yet,” Watari said. “No one’s even reported her missing.”

“What about our case?” Hisoka asked.

“Ah, yes,” Watari said. “You’ll want to hear this.” He switched files on his laptop again. “I managed to get hold of one of the bodies from your case. On one of them, I noticed a black soot-like residue on the bones. I swabbed a sample and ran a test.”

“And?” Tsuzuki asked.

“It’s just as we thought,” the scientist said. “This is the work of Abaddon’s Box.”

“How is it doing this?”

“According to my notes here, the box essentially eats corpses. The target’s blood has to hit the box’s surface for it to activate. A demon smokes out and eats the target’s body, leaving behind bones and bits of clothing.”

“That sounds scary!” Tsuzuki said.

“Any way to track Abaddon’s Box?” Hisoka asked.

“Sure there is, hang on,” Watari said. He clicked through his notes. “From what I learned, Abaddon’s Box has an old demonic mark carved into the lid. I’m still looking up which one though.”

“Okay, thanks,” Tsuzuki said.

“Please keep us posted,” Hisoka said.

“I will do my best to do so,” Watari said. “Goodbye.” He hung up and went back to work.

However, someone silently watched him from the hall.