[Psychic Detective Yakumo] One hundred ways to tease cats

"I sorted out the materials here last year. At that time, because of the shortage of manpower, I asked a few students to help."

"In other words, you are one of the students who helped sort out the materials?"

"That's right. Even if the computer in the university is ten years old, the password will not change."

"It's an incredible security system."

"It's hard to be flattered if you want to use human power to find clues in these materials." I joked, but in comparison, I still have to thank this kind of security system, right?

Yakumo was uncommonly silent.

I clicked on the file folder of the student roster, and then a screen containing name, address, date of birth, contact information, college affiliation, etc. was displayed.

"Even the photos are registered in it?"

Looking at the computer screen, Yakumo couldn't help sighing.

"The nearest one. And then? What's the name you're looking for?"

"YURI, but I don't know how to write words."

I typed "YURI" in the pinyin column to start the search, but nearly [-] people matched it.

"It's too time-consuming to look at them one by one. Are there any other clues?"

"Gender is female."

"I know."

"There is a mole under the eye."

"This cannot be retrieved."

Yakumo was at a loss for words.I also racked my brains trying to find some clues, but to no avail.Suddenly, Yakumo snapped his fingers.

"Can you search for people who have suspended or dropped out of school?"

"it should be OK."

I operated the computer again, this time the eligible subjects were narrowed down to ten people, and I operated the mouse to confirm them one by one.

"stop."

Yakumo spoke.Shinohara Yuri, Faculty of Letters, Department of Education, on leave of absence.She wears a pair of deep glasses. In the photo, she lowers her head and seems to be extremely concerned about other people's eyes, giving people a nervous feeling.

"I know her!"

My voice was hoarse from overwhelmed surprise.

"A friend?"

"It's just a classmate. I haven't talked to her directly, but I have seen her a few times. At the end of last month, she suddenly stopped coming to school... It seems that her whereabouts are unknown. Her parents also filed a search request with the police. The city is full of storms."

Things have developed so far, and it is no longer possible to classify it as a mere coincidence.There must be some connection there.

"I think Mr. Takaoka may know something."

"Please calmly explain the situation. And, who is that Takaoka-sensei?

"Have you forgotten? It's the teacher I met at the station yesterday. He is Mr. Takaoka and our class teacher."

"It doesn't seem very reliable."

"I think, too," I nodded, "that he's lying, and that annoys me."

"How did you know he was lying?" Yakumo couldn't help asking me.

"When human beings lie, their facial expressions will change slightly," I said calmly, "although they will put on an expression that fits the situation, but at a certain moment, they will show a smile that they think they have successfully lied to. For revealing smiles."

"Are your eyes X-ray?" Yakumo looked at me dumbfounded.

"I'm just sensitive to details," I said.

Yakumo took out his phone from his pocket and started dialing a series of numbers.

"—Mr. Goto—"

After the call was connected, Yakumo started talking with the other party.Although I couldn't hear the other party's voice, I roughly understood the content of the conversation. Yakumo hoped that the other party would investigate the matter of Shinohara Yuri.After the confession, he hung up the phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"friend."

"Officer?" I asked.

"How do you know?" Yakumo asked me with a serious face.

"If there is an investigation of citizenship throughout Japan and at the same time being known by you, no one else can think about it except the police." I complained.

Yakumo ignored me and walked out on his own. I sighed and got up to catch up with him.

"Haruka-san."

As soon as I walked out of the reference room, I heard someone calling me, and when I turned around, I found that our "topic character" just now—Ms. Takaoka was walking towards me.

"teacher--"

I hesitated for a moment whether I should catch up with Yakumo, but finally I chose to stop, wait for Takaoka to come to me, and see what he has to say.

"You must have been very sad yesterday."

"Compared to me, teacher, you are more physically and mentally exhausted."

Compared with yesterday, Takaoka looked much more haggard. After all, his student committed suicide, which is the reaction he should have.

"It's not as serious as you think, but it can't be called good." Gao Gang tried to soothe the lines of his face. "In short, you must not force yourself at this time."

"Teacher, you too."

"makes sense."

After Takaoka replied with a wry smile, he turned his back on me and started to leave.

"That... teacher!"

I called out the back of Takaoka who was about to leave.

"what's up?"

Takaoka stopped and looked back at me.

"Teacher, do you remember Shinohara Yuri?"

"Ah, are you talking about the student who is currently on leave?"

"Well, her whereabouts are unknown now."

"I see... But why did you suddenly ask about Shinohara-san?"

"Ah, just asking casually," I said, "She has met me once, and the recent disappearance case reminds me of her. I don't know how much you know about her, teacher?"

"About her..."

Takaoka stroked his chin, as if searching for clues in his memory.

"Anything is fine, like before disappearing, a classmate with a good relationship or a lover..."

I listed some clues for reference.

"Lovers—"

Takaoka's expression changed drastically as if he remembered something.

"Did you remember anything?"

"Ah, Shinohara-san does have a lover, it seems to be Aizawa-san who is a year older than you?"

"Aizawa, are you talking about Aizawa-senpai from the orchestra?"

"Yes, it's him!"

"Thank you teacher, I'll go first."

After I saluted Takaoka, I walked slowly in the direction where Yakumo left just now. According to him, he probably didn't go very far.Sure enough, after the first corner turn.

"Where are you going?"

I looked to the side, and as expected, Yakumo was standing against the wall.

"I have heard most of your conversation."

"Yeah." I nodded, "You should have heard that too."

"..." Yakumo looked at me silently, conveying the message 'quickly tell me how you know' with his eyes.

……so cute.I couldn't help but chuckled lightly, and after the other party rolled their eyes, I restrained my expression, but I couldn't help but said with a smile, "Because Yakumo won't wait for me, right? Although it's very I want to say this, but from the direction the teacher came just now, Yakumo should have seen the teacher, so, will he be waiting for me to ask him something, since I plan to do so, I definitely won’t wait Let me paraphrase, because Yakumo is a person who likes to do things by himself."

Yakumo looked at me dissatisfied, and was defeated by my smiling look back.

"Witch," he muttered.

"Thanks for the compliment." I smiled.

FOUR

Yakumo led me to a prefabricated building behind the school building, which was used by the university's workers.

"Hello."

Yakumo spoke loudly in front of the entrance door, but there was no response from inside the room.As a last resort, we had to open the door and go in without authorization.

As soon as you enter the door, you can see a long table and a few folding chairs. There is a refrigerator and a counter inside. On the wall are agricultural tools such as shovels and sickles.

"Nobody's here."

I looked around and said.

"It seems so."

The moment I was about to leave the house, a figure suddenly appeared from the other side of the house from what seemed to be the back door.

"Hey!" I was a little scared and took a few steps back.

"You... you... what are you doing... are you doing?"

Entering the room was a male worker, his cheeks darkened by the sun, and his face was flushed.

He has the nameplate 'Yamane' on his chest, and I've seen him a few times in school before, always shuffling around with his left foot.

It was rumored that some girls had been sexually harassed by him before, but no one knew if it was true or not.

"I'm sorry to bother you. We want to borrow the key to the abandoned house in the back." Yakumo said calmly.

"You...you are going...to go there...do...what?"

The workers made high-pitched voices like cicadas.

Yakumo showed a rare smile.He lied that a friend sneaked into the abandoned house a few days ago for a courage test, but accidentally dropped something in it, so he wanted to get it back.

And the workers did not suspect him, but his expression did not conceal his boredom.

"Please, Mr. Yamane." Yakumo begged with his head bowed.

The worker named Yamane staggered towards the place where the keys were stored by the wall, took out a key and threw it to Yakumo.

"Key... the key is not needed today... return it to me today, I have to go back."

"Thank you."

"No...don't do stupid...stupid things like trying your courage again!"

"Did it really show up?

Yakumo pretended to be a ghost narrowly.

"It's... that's not the case, it's just that the building itself is a bit old, next... it will be demolished next month..."

"That's it, I know."

Yakumo was about to leave here, but suddenly stopped holding the horn lock, and turned back to face Yamane.

"Excuse me, is there a combination padlock there?"

"I don't... don't know, then... I have nothing to do there, so I never... never went