Dare ga Kiite Iru no ka Wakaranai (You Never Know Who is Listening) + Aftermath

Kinkawa co, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, 3:23 P.M

Daniel paid Gus, and Gus put his money in front of his currency exchange crystal. "Do you believe we have to buy these? If we had a partial assistance contract with FORMAL then we'd get these for free." Gus stated as he sorted at Daniel's change.

Daniel just took the change and began to leave. He shook his head and gestured to his followers to come along. Daniel didn't want to start a conversation with Gus, not now.

"What happened to Mr. Chatterbox?" Gus asked.

"You must have lost him a few turns ago, now if you don't mind, we have a murder suspect to talk to." Daniel stated.

"Sorry dick Smith, I'll get out of the way." Gus announced and then he drove off.

"I hope the next time we take a taxi, we don't get him." Dan stated.

"He's not that bad." Cindy proclaimed.

"Well, you do like his type." Dan stated.

"Are you two married or something?" Alan announced. "You always get distracted with chatting with one another. Let's go get Ami, she is ruining the company and she killed someone."

"We don't know that yet." Daniel stated.

Alan huffed and went in front of them. They followed him through the entrance to Kinkawa Trading.

"(No face Kippu, you have returned, and the detective and his young lady friend are with you.)" Aiko stated.

"(Is Ami busy? We need a meeting with her.)" Alan inquired.

"(No, she's free, I'll call her.)" Aiko replied. She picked up her phone and spoke with Ami for a bit and when she was finished she hang up. "[(She will see you in meeting room M-5-7.)]"

Alan nodded and leaded Dan and Cindy to the elevators. They went to the fifth floor and made there way to the meeting rooms section of that floor and made their way to the seventh room.

Alan knocked on the door.

"Come in." Stated Ami. It was an English voice. Which Daniel found odd. Whenever he heard Ami's name the people using it always pronounced her surname with Japanese pronunciation.

They entered the office, and a tall 34-year-old Japanese woman was sitting in a chair at the far end of the meeting room table.

"Ah, No face Kippu, and the detective with the doctorate." Ami announced, Dan noted that her mouth moved in a strange manner as she spoke. Her mouth moved as if she was pronouncing Japanese words, but only English words escaped her mouth, Dan concluded that she was currently using her ability. "Who is the young beautiful maiden that joins us?"

"I'm Cynthia, but call me CD." Cynthia proclaimed.

"I heard the English have three names, not all Japanese people have that." Ami stated.

"Ami, you called Alan 'no face' why is that?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, I see you know my name. That is to be expected since no face Kippu organized this meeting for you. We call him no face because he never ever takes of his mask." Ami stated.

"You've never seen his face?" Dan asked.

"I've never seen his lips move." Ami noted. "But it's not unusual here in Japan. You must of seen many of my kind wearing masks."

"Yes. I do recall seeing a ton of mask wearing faces at the station."

"So you see. Japanese are nervous about imperfection. They hide their faces because of their fear. But as you can plainly see, I fear no imperfections."

"I see. Anyway, I have to tell you why we came to meet you."

"I expected you to bring that up."

"Cynthia believes that you are the inside trader."

Ami looked at Cynthia with sad eyes. "Oh, you have not done your research have you?"

"I'm sorry?" Cynthia responded, knowing that Ami was speaking to her.

"I thought so. To think that I would be stupid enough to work on the same floor as one who can detect abilities and moreover sense when they are in use would be a terrible blunder. Don't you think?" Ami explained.

"Hold up… Ezume worked on the same floor as you?" Daniel asked.

"That's right. Besides I've been here 6 long years, if I was the inside trader, don't you think that this business would have gone under ages ago. Besides, I hired him, so I was aware of his ability from the beginning. He didn't meet no face until recently." Ami added.

"Yeah, we work one floor apart." Alan added. "So he didn't meet me until my second year anniversary of being in this company, which was yesterday." Alan stated.

"Yesterday huh? Why was Ezume on the train yesterday?" Dan asked.

"The bosses got a call from an unknown number, the caller stated that there was a trading convention in Morioka. He was to represent our company. But alas, it wasn't until today we realized that there was no trading convention in Morioka." Ami added.

"The anonymous caller, that must have been the inside trader." Dan stated.

"Yes, we realized that after Ezume was killed." Ami noted.

Suddenly Daniel's cellphone rang. Daniel noticed it was coming from David's office. "Oh sorry, I'll take this outside." Dan stated. "Cindy, see what else you can find out."

"Okay Dan." Cynthia stated, and she prepared her pen and book.

Daniel exited the meeting and went into the vacant meeting room across from meeting room M-5-7. Dan was now inside room M-5-8.

"David, how's it going with Michelle?" Dan asked.

"Oh, it's been well, she's been great. I take it that C. D. Rodgers told you about the draw. I bet she wanted me more than anyone else, she likes my in-your-face style." David announced.

"Yes, that's right. Seems you also had a run in with her." Dan noted.

"She melted my door on our first meeting, I didn't even know my door was cracked until she fixed it." David laughed.

"Why did you call me David?" Daniel asked.

"I heard you were in Japan, how's that working out?"

"I'm nowhere close to any answers, the only thing we know is that it's highly likely a Auditorium."

"Oh are you speaking with Daniel Smith, the criminal is an Auditorium like me?" Christopher Jenkins asked.

"Who was that David?" Dan asked.

"Christopher Jenkins, he's an Auditorium, he heard you through the phone." David explained.

Suddenly the answer struck Daniel's mind like a thunderbolt. "David, would you hold for a bit." Daniel stated and he pressed the top of his badge.

"Hello?" A male voice echoed in Daniel's mind. This voice belonged to Arbane Lenik, a telepath, and a system agent. "How may I assist you Dr. Smith?"

"I need a power cancelling crystal at my location immediately!"

Daniel replied with his thoughts.

"It's on its way, sir."

A small blue portal appeared on the table and a hand placed a PCC on the table. "Sorry about that David." Daniel stated. "I solved the mystery and I didn't want the culprit to listen on our conversation."

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"Cynthia was right, our killer/ inside trader is an Auditorium. But it isn't Ami Fuse, it's Alan Ticket!" Dan explained.

"Woah, slow your roll. You think this Alan ticket guy is responsible, what makes you believe he's an Auditorium?" David asked.

"His mask. Ami said he never takes it off, why? Because he's been speaking English all along, his ability would have made it easy to speak a foreign language. If we actually saw his lips move, it would be obvious that he was an Auditorium!" Daniel stated.

"Ok. But why did he kill Ezume?" David asked.

"You know the victim's name." Daniel asked.

"I have the file up on my computer now, so tell me why he did it, the plan and everything."

"Ezumi could detect powers, that was what led to him killing Ezume. Ezume was hired less than two weeks after him and they both worked one floor apart, they didn't lay eyes on each other until Alan's second year anniversary. Once that happened, Ezume must have told Alan what he was going to do and tried to make a deal, Alan had to do something otherwise all of his crimes would be revealed."

"Hold up, all of his crimes?"

"Yes, I believe Kinkawa trading isn't the first trading firm he'd been stealing from. So Alan came up with a plan. He made a phony call to get Ezume on the Shinkansen, then he bought a Darkrun gun somewhere, then he killed Ezume."

"Sounds interesting, but how will you prove it?" David inquired.

"I'm heading to Sendai police department to help me prove it." Daniel stated. He hung up. Dan went back to Cynthia.

"Oh, hi Daniel. I got some notes." Cindy proclaimed.

"That's ok Cindy, we're about to leave anyway." Dan stated.

"Oh really, but I was having fun." Cindy stated.

"Well, I'm sorry to have ruined it." Dan took her hand gently. "Come on now." Daniel tried to hide the urgency of his tone. Cindy noticed, but neither Alan nor Ami noticed it.

"Should I come? There may be a Japanese person who you won't understand." Alan asked.

"We can handle this one ourselves." Daniel stated and they headed out before Alan could speak one more word.

"(What was that about?)" Ami asked.

"(I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out.)" Alan stated and he journeyed into meeting room M-5-8. He saw the PCC and he shattered it.

Ami entered into the room. "(What happened, I heard glass breaking.)"

"(Our Rhombodian friend put a power canceling crystal in this room, would have been a shame if you met an overseas investor in here and you wouldn't have been able to talk to them because of it.)" Alan explained.

"(Well thanks for saving my career.)" Ami replied with a smile. She clearly had no idea what was going on, but Alan was filled with dread. He must have been thinking: Are they on to me?

Meanwhile Dan and Cindy were out the front. A portal opened and Damien drove through it into Japan. He was in Daniel's car. "I hope the Japanese police forgive you for this!" Damien announced.

"I hope so too. Did you bring the Auditorium crystal?" Dan asked.

"I certainly did." Damien stated.

"Good. Let's go." Daniel announced and both of them entered his car.

"You haven't told me what's going on Daniel." Cynthia announced as Damien began navigating the roads to Sendai police station.

Daniel repeated his deductions he gave David earlier.

"Oh, I see, but what were the order of events in the train then?" Cindy asked.

"I thought you'd want clarification. Once aboard the train Alan waited for the guard to go through carriage three, remember he was in carriage four and he knew his victim was in carriage three. He followed the guard into carriage two without the guard or his target knowing, he must have been carrying a bag, he entered the bathroom in the second car and got changed and sat at the seat across from the bathroom, after the guard walked into carriage two from carriage three a second time he locked the bathroom door from the outside without the guard noticing. He went into carriage three and killed the victim. The guard naturally headed south as what idiot would head back into a carriage they knew the guard to be in. He waited for the guard to exit before placing the gun where the police found it and then he returned to the forth carriage. Once they arrived at the next station he went into the bathroom, removed his disguise and put it back into his bag. He returned to his seat in carriage four. The pandemonium at that station gave him the perfect opportunity to go unnoticed." Daniel explained.

"That's so brilliant! You're brilliant. But why did he speak to the guard?" Cynthia asked.

"To try and take suspicion away from his self, he wasn't wearing his face mask at the time so he was unable to use his ability without been found out."

"So how do we prove he did it? The gun was clean." Cynthia noted.

"Simple. I had Damien ask David to look into Alan's resume and right now we're heading to the station to ask for permission for a certain item." Daniel explained.

"Ah right. Nobody knows he has an ability so we're getting a document to force him to do a mandatory power test at system corporation. They would see he has an ability and then we'd have him." Cynthia noted.

"That's the idea."

#

Sendai police department, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, 4:00 P.M.

Daniel and Cynthia entered the station. Daniel was carrying the Auditorium crystal. He could here all the Japanese people chattering away, but he heard it all in English.

"Can we see Maria please?" Dan asked the desk clerk.

The desk clerk got up and showed them the way. They entered Maria's office and she was sitting there.

"A higher up showed at the scene and relieved me of the investigation. Told me to come here and expect you to show up. I bet Cynthia's parent had something to do with that." Maria announced.

"Maria, we need to issue a mandatory power scan document to Alan Ticket." Daniel stated.

"Hah! I knew it. A man with hair that messy could never been up to any good." Maria announced.

"Basing your testimony on bad hair isn't a good look." Daniel retorted.

"Well, today is your lucky day, Cynthia's parent has already talked to a Japanese judge who has signed off on the document that you have requested." Maria opened her desk and presented them with two golden sheets that were stapled together.

This document hereby asks that the following individual: Alan Ticket, present himself to the nearest system corporation office under the order of the Rhomodian government. If the individual wishes not to appear than a power test will be conducted at the names individual's place of residence. If the individual mentioned is unable to show due to sickness and sickness only, then the test may be conducted at the hospital he's staying at. But if the individual mentioned tries to escape the test he will be arrested and tested anyway, at which point any crimes for which he is accused of or will be accused of will be subject to double penalty.

A Japanese judge's signature and Adam bolmer's signature were on the document.

"Let's see him get out of this." Cynthia proclaimed.

"Yes, let's." Daniel smiled smugly.

#

Meeting room M-5-8, Kinkawa Trading, 6:00 P.M

Alan was pacing back and forth, waiting. His watch beeped as it did at the start of every hour. The silence was soon broken when Daniel opened the door and entered. He was alone, all alone.

"I was hoping you'd be in here." Dan stated with the documents in hand. "It would be far more interesting if these were court papers and I can say 'you've been served,' but I'll let the papers speak for themselves." Dan handed the documents to him.

"You can't be serious." Alan stated.

"Stealing money and killing people is serious Alan. I know you have a power." Dan stated.

"Did you tell your friends about this?" Alan asked.

"Not yet. I illegally obtained those documents and forged a Japanese judges signature on there."

"Oh good." Alan took out a gun. "Then I don't need to be afraid of using this."

Suddenly the gun melted. "Actually," Dan stated. "I lied. I wanted to see if you had any remorse so I can say that your punishment shouldn't be too severe. But alas, you have proven to me that your heart is as cold as the top of Mount Fuji. You should have taken something into consideration, I have friends in high places." Cynthia opened the door and entered. "I also have daughters of those friends in high places."

Maria entered as well and placed Alan under arrest.

"(Farewell Alan.)" Cynthia added as Maria took him away.

#

Meeting room M-8-1, Kinkawa trading, June 26th, 2006

"Thank you Daniel." Yoshi announced. "You saved our company. We know that the usual fee for Rhombodian services is 600¥ per hour. But we will be giving you 1200¥ per hour. We know you didn't work for exactly 24 hours, but please accept our humble gift of 28,800¥!"

Daniel examined the suitcase full of money. "Well, it would be rude of me to say no, and I know how you guys hate rudeness, so I'll say yes!"

"What happened to CD?" Yoshi asked.

"She went back to Rhombodian, she has her report ready, and I have mine ready too." Daniel explained.

"Thank you again, Dr. Smith. We'd knew you'd be the right one for the job." Daichi admitted with tears in his eyes.

"It has been a pleasure, and thank you for organizing all of this, this was an interesting case." Daniel stated and waved goodbye to them. Damien opened a portal for Daniel and let Daniel through. Damien closed the portal with a PCC and went to retrieve Daniel's car.

Aftermath

All of Alan's crimes came to light, he had bankrupt all the other trading companies he'd worked for due to his insider trading. The US courts and Japanese courts battled for the right to take him to trail. It was only with FORMAL's intervention that the two countries came to an agreement. Alan was tried in Japan and all of the crimes he committed were transferred over into Japanese jurisdiction. Alan was given the death sentence.