>>18954
"You can't talk on the road?"

>>18955
"Well anyway, I've been looking into the recent deaths a bit, and I could use your cooperation if you're not busy."

>>18957
"Right... of course. What do you need?"

>>18958
"I was going to ask Shizuka... Do you know anyone by the name of Shiro?"

>>18959
Koji looks a mixture of shock and anger when you name off 'Shiro' but it subsides as he looks suddenly dejectedly. "Yeah, it was Shizuka's cat. I...er, when we were kids... it was my fault she died."

>>18960
"O-oh, I thought Shiro was a person... I guess all that makes sense now. Hmm. Sorry to bother you about that..."

>>18961
"I see... sorry about that," he says still somewhat somber.

Unless you have something else to add he'll head on his way.

>>18962
"I see... Can I ask something else then? Are you and Shizuka... Like Romeo and Juliet? Is that what's going on here?"

>>18964
"No, not at all. Frankly I've never been on good terms with her. We just grew up next to each other and had nobody else our age to interact with."

>>18965
"Ah... One more question... Was your father on equally bad terms with Shizuka's mother?"

>>18966
"That was mutual. The whole village can attest to that," he says with a sad chuckle.

>>18967
"Alright. Thanks. At least I've got a theory now."

I'll leave Koji and see if I can catch up to Shizuka.

>>18968
With your chat with Koji over you head off in search, but to no avail. There is only one road to that area of the village, but it seems finding her back there might have been a stroke of luck.

>>18969
Nevermind her. I'll go to the abandoned house where Lee had his camera set up.

>>18970
You head over there and find it abandoned like usual. Doesn't seem like much has changed since then.

>>18971
I'll place the film I found into the camera and check its contents. into the bright sunlight and use my Ripple to look at its contents.

Last edited at 16/02/14(Sun)22:08:00

>>18972
BGM: Truth
You remember this is 1990 and that there is no camera here, so instead you take out the film roll and pull it out, putting it closer to your face in an attempt to see what the snaps where of.

You notice quite quickly that some of them are clearly of the sight before you, this general area of the valley. Scanning down further however reveals different pictures.

There are a number of close up zoomed in shots of Yui in different areas. But that's not all, there are just as many of Jiro and Ayano too. The whole Yamada family has been pictured clearly unaware of the camera, at there house, them shopping. It is filled with various images like that.

>>18973
I search this building for any clues that I haven't previously found. If nothing of interest shows up then I'll head to Yui's house and knock on their door.

>>18974
Going through the rubble doesn't reveal too much, and as you have just started you suddenly hear movement from outside of the door. The moment you stop moving to listen however, it stops too. You can tell someone is outside of the front door.

>>18975
I will go hide behind the wall directly in front of the front door and wait to see if someone enters the room.

>>18976
You put your back against the wall and wait. After a few moments Lee walks into the house and slowly makes his way into the room. It looks like he is looking for you, but he doesn't notice you thanks to your stealthy actions.

>>18977
I use the rubber band as a slingshot and catapult a tiny piece of rubble at Lee's head.

>>18978
You aim the rubble like a pro right down the middle. Years of slacking off in class prepared you for this, using the rubber band as a device to cause the utmost pain to your enemy. You time the shot in slow motion just as he turns to see you, he blinks and opens his eyes right when you release. The piece flies straight into his eye so hard that you hear the impact.

"Gah!! What the fucking hell! Shit! Who the hell does-" Lee lets out a verb bout of swears as he holds his eye. You notice his accent is completely 100% gone.

>>18979
While he is blinded I hurry out of the room as fast as possible.

>>18980
You dash out, although not being completely blinded Lee chases after you with his one good eye set on you. "Oi, get back here you..!"

Just as you are out of the house you feel him snatch onto your jacket and the two of you tumble into the snow. He loosens his grip but both of you are on the ground. "Will you just stay put for one moment will yeah?"

>>18981
"I found your roll of film, what are you planning to do to that family?! Are you the murderer or what!?"

>>18982
"Yeah, yeah, I get it; I look suspicious, that's why I was coming to talk to you. You know, to explain," he takes his hand off of his eye and you see its all swollen up futhermore some of the blood vessels have burst.
After he then winces and grabs some snow and applies it to the face, "No wonder why they call you the 'White Devil", jeez."

>>18983
"...So you know who I am? Well then spill the beans. I'm listening."

>>18984
"Well first thing, as you probably assume now, my name isn't actually Lee. Shinji Fushimi is my real name, but I AM a photographer... of sorts. I normally take photos of uh, celebrities... like you for instance, and sell them off to magazines. Or at least I used to, until... oh, do you know of SI International?"

You recall hearing about it every now again in the news, its a major conglomerate based originally in Japan. You vaguely remember there was some scandal recently in regards to it, although it was overshadowed by the Rokkenjima Incident.

"That saves time. Believe it or not that Jiro guy was the heir to the whole thing. He up and fell in love with a girl from 'lower class' all cliche-like and, well, what with the company being super lineage oriented and all you can imagine how that went out. They eloped and now have been bouncing around random towns trying to avoid the whole deal. And that is where I come in," he holds up the camera bag for emphasis.

"Although it still isn't common knowledge, they have been paying people for information on their whereabouts. Despite being cut off it seems like Ichiro, oh that's his real name by the way, is fairly resourceful with escaping. So rather then sending their men out to look every time they pay us small fries a nice sum and get the work finished faster. I would have skedaddled out of here already if it wasn't for the snow, but seeing how I'm stuck here for a bit I don't want you to be jumping to conclusions that I was involved in this mess, you know?"

>>18994
"I see... So you were taking pictures of Jiro -- or rather, Ichiro -- for the sake of that company. It has nothing to do with the recent murder. And nothing to do with me?"

>>19048
"Pretty much," he says rubbing his eye.

>>19049
"...Sorry about your eye. You have any special leads on the murder case?"

>>19050
"Well, I think the pain reached a certain threshold where I no longer feel it...
But er, I don't know how relevant it is but I saw Jiro and the old man talking pretty closely once or twice. Not sure exactly what it could be, but it might be worth looking into."

>>19051
"Alright. Guess I should keep investigating. I'll see you back at the inn."

I decide to go to Yui's hiding place to see if I can find her.

>>19052
You head over to the building and give it a quick run down, but don't find anyone there.

>>19053
Then in that case I'll head over to her house and knock at the door.

>>19054
With a quick jog you make it there without seeing anyone on the way.

After knocking the door swings open, "Oh, hello. Do you need something?"

>>19056
"Is there anything else you know about Washinosu's death? Anything at all?"

>>19057
"What? Are you suggesting something?" he asks.

>>19058
"No, I'm just double-checking. You're sure there's nothing you've forgotten to tell me?"

>>19059
"No, look I am confused as you are. He wasn't there when I went to sleep, and then he was in the morning."

>>19060
"Have you ever been known to walk around in your sleep?"

>>19061
"No, never," he says as a matter of fact.

>>19062
".........I'm just messing with you! To be honest I haven't gotten anywhere trying to figure all this stuff out. I'll just let the police handle it from now on. What've you and the family been up to today?"

>>19063
'Wha-" as Jiro responds you suddenly hear Lee call out as he walks up.

"Hey there Kinzaki, Ichi- ahck..." he stops himself a little too late and cups his hand over his mouth.

Jiro gives a sigh suddenly, "So that what this was all about. I knew with the investigation it would be brought to light eventually, but I expected it to be after the police made it here..."

>>19064
"So does that mean you've suddenly remembered something about the case, huh?"

>>19065
"Something like that..."

He tells you a brief summary of what Lee told you about his background and hopping from different town every now and then.

"The old man and I were friends. One of the few connections I made through the company that I could really trust. He offered us the house here, being this far out and with his resourcefulness nobody was likely to find us. He also was been paying our living expenses.

And that's what I need to bring up. I, well, he would often come by late at night and we would visit but it was mainly so he could drop off money for us. In the morning when we found his body... well, it would have been bad if anyone found out so I took the usual from his pocket, but that's all I swear. It was just to protect our connection, nothing more."

>>19066
"So he came by that night to deliver money... It's possible someone knew about the money and then tried to kill him for it, but -- why wouldn't they take it? So that must not be it. If it wasn't for money, was it a personal grudge?"

>>19067
"I don't quite know. I imagine he made some enemies in his life time, but I wouldn't know any of them..."

As the two of you talk Lee pipes up again. "So what exactly happened again here?" he says referring to the spot where the body was. "He was found without any footprints around the body in the morning, yet there was some found halfway down the hill from his house?"

"Well," Jiro responds "there was no footprints around this area until Kinzaki and Masato walked over. That much I am sure of. It had already started snowing as I went to bed, around 1 in the morning."

"So in other words since those footprints were mostly filled they must have been made sometime during the night, yet if they were his, then why did none appear around the body... Any idea Box Whisperer?" he says finally directed at you.

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