40, 51 was page 51, and 31 was page 31, and on each page, Misora read out the first word. In order: “rabble,”“table,”“egg,”“arbiter,” “equable,”“thud,”“effect,”“elsewhere,” and “name.”
“So.”
“So... what about it?”
“Take the first letter of each word.” “The first letter? Um...”
Misora went back through each page again. She did not have a bad memory, but was unable to remember twenty words at one go. At least, not without being warned in advance that she would be required to do so.
“Q-U-T-R-T-E-A-E-T-E-E-N. . .qutr tea teen? What?”
“Very similar to the second victim’s name, don’t you think?” “I suppose...”
The second victim. The thirteen-year old girl. Quarter Queen.
“There is a vague resemblance... Quarter Queen... only four letters are different.”
“Yes. However Ryuzaki said, reluctantly. “Four letters out of twelve is too many. One third of them are wrong. If even one letter is different, then the entire theory falls apart. Unless it matches perfectly, it’s not worth calling a message. I thought there might be something there, but it may well be just a coincidence...”
“But... for a coincidence...” It was so obvious.
How could it be?
It had to be intentional. Intentional... or abnormal.
“Still, Misora... if it doesn’t match, it doesn’t match. We were very close, but...”
“No, Ryuzaki. Think about it. All four wrong numbers match up with numbers over 376. They’re all numbers where we had to wrap around.”
She flipped through the pages, checking them again. Page 295, first word: tenacious, first letter: T, second letter E, third letter N, fourth letter.. A.
“Three times through, and on the fourth lap… we don’t use the first letter, but the fourth letter. Not T, but A. And with 582, and arbiter, once around and on the second lap gives us R instead of A. That turns Qutrtea into Quarter.”
By the same logic, “equable” was 724, so one time through, on the second lap, the second letter: Q. And with 1001 and “thud”—not 1’, but U. That made Eteen into Queen. Quarter Queen.
L had been right.
The killer had left a message.
The cuts on the body, the two missing books—the killer had left a message. Just like the crossword puzzle he’d sent to the police, a message describing his next victim...
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