On the third floor of the Beika Library, Ran wandered among the bookshelves, scanning one title after another but picking up nothing.
This was the children's section. The books didn't hold much interest for her.
Eventually, she made her way to the shelf closest to the entrance, where Kurosawa Hoshino stood slowly flipping through book after book.
"Hoshino, what are you looking for?" Ran peeked out from beside him, trying to see the cover.
"I forgot. Just browsing." Kurosawa Hoshino smiled.
Ran pouted. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid. You said you forgot the title when we got here, but you've been standing at this same shelf for half an hour without looking anywhere else. You're not actually looking for a book."
"Guess I forgot more than I thought. Not finding it today. Let's head back." Kurosawa Hoshino kept his eyes on the elevator across the floor. When he saw four men waiting for it, he grabbed Ran's hand and headed that way.
"Eh? You're not going to keep looking?"
"No. We'll come back another time."
Kurosawa Hoshino had been waiting for an opportunity—a chance for the elevator to overload. Otherwise, how could he reasonably suspect there was a corpse inside?
It was a shame, though. After half an hour, he still hadn't spotted the man who haunted so many childhoods—the library director, Tsugawa Hideji. Probably busy. Only staff in sight.
"Tell me what the book was about. Maybe I've seen it."
"I've forgotten that too."
"Then how are you going to find it?"
For a moment, Ran forgot that Hoshino was still holding her hand.
The elevator doors opened.
The four waiting men stepped in. Ran and Hoshino followed.
The overload alarm sounded.
"Huh? Over capacity?" Ran tilted her head, reading the sign on the elevator wall. "Says it can hold seven people. 450 kilograms. None of us are heavy. Combined weight can't be over 900 pounds, right?"
"We'll catch the next one." Kurosawa Hoshino nodded to the four men and pulled Ran out.
As the elevator doors closed, he opened his mouth to deliver his prepared line—then felt a tug on his hand.
He turned. Ran's face had gone red. The tug explained it.
He chuckled softly and pretended not to notice. "Ran, what was that about? None of us are overweight. You think the sensor was broken, or maybe there was an invisible person inside?"
Ran, who had been flustered by Hoshino holding her hand, stiffened at his words. "Invisible person" echoed in her mind. Her thoughts spiraled to demons, monsters, supernatural horrors. Her legs went weak.
Seeing her reaction, Kurosawa Hoshino realized his words might have been a bit too much. He was equal parts amused and exasperated.
"Hey, hey." He steadied her as she swayed. "I didn't mean actual ghosts. It was just a figure of speech."
"Re... really?" Ran's voice wavered.
"Really. I'm saying maybe there was someone on top of the elevator. Inside the shaft."
"Huh?" Ran's legs nearly gave out again. "Isn't that still paranormal?"
"No." Kurosawa Hoshino met her lavender eyes, his voice serious. "I mean maybe there's a body up there."
Ran's eyes went wide. She held her breath.
After a long pause, she said nervously, "Hoshino... bodies aren't that common. Beika Town is pretty peaceful. Strange things don't always mean there's a corpse."
A question mark practically floated over Kurosawa Hoshino's head. He gave her a strange look.
Cases he'd solved aside—all from the original stories—every one of them proved Beika Town was anything but peaceful.
"Ran. Do you even believe that yourself?"
"I believe it."
"Then what about all those cases I solved?"
Ran went quiet for a moment. Then, smoothly changing the subject, "Hoshino, what do we do now? Should we open the elevator and check?"
"Call the police. Let Inspector Megure handle it." Kurosawa Hoshino let go of her hand and pulled out his phone.
The call connected instantly.
"Haha! Hoshino, thank you so much!" Inspector Megure's cheerful voice boomed through the receiver. "You caught the culprit so early today! Next time, please wait for us. Murderers are unpredictable. They might do something crazy if cornered. We don't want you getting hurt."
"Inspector, about that. Something's come up."
"You've found another case?"
"Hard to say. Here's what happened..." Kurosawa Hoshino quickly explained the elevator incident.
"Hoshino-kun, where exactly did this happen?"
"Beika Library."
"I'm on my way. Protect yourself. Don't rush in. This might actually be connected to a missing person case." Megure paused, then added, "This morning, a woman reported her husband missing. He works at Beika Library. Didn't come home last night—usually calls to say he's safe. Something might have happened to him."
He stressed again for Hoshino to wait, to stay out of danger.
Ran had overheard the conversation. She looked at the closed elevator doors and took a step back.
"Hoshino... you weren't right, were you?"
"Maybe."
"But it's such a coincidence." Ran's thoughts were spiraling again. "What if someone really died here, and when you tried to leave with everyone else... what if it was their ghost giving you a sign? Making the elevator overload on purpose?"
Kurosawa Hoshino chuckled and shook his head. He turned and walked back into the library to find a book—something to pass the time until Megure arrived.
If this got resolved, he'd earn two Origin Points today. Four left to go.