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numbed them to the threat. Perhaps their fears had rusted over. But so what? Given that child’s upbringing, he not only had no chance to reform, he never had a prayer of living right to begin with.

What had Misora expected from someone like that? How cruel was it of her to have expected anything? She knew as well as anyone that that child was living the only way he could. He had always been

doomed. But did that mean he had to accept his fate? Was there only one way to live, one way to die? Was human life... was human death all controlled by some unseen hand?

Obviously, she harbored some resentment toward those who had used this failure as an excuse to expel her, but when she thought about the difference between the thirteen-year-old she had failed to shoot and the second victim in the Los Angeles BB murders, Quarter Queen, she began to feel like the whole

affair was ridiculous.

Misora did not have a strong sense of justice.

She did not believe herself to be ethically or morally superior. She did not approach work with any kind of philosophy.

She was where she was because her entire life had been like walking through a town she didn’t know— if she lived her life over again, she was sure she’d end up somewhere completely different. If som( one asked her why she was working for the FBI, she would ncvci have been able to answer.

She was good at it, but that came from her abilities. Not her thoughts.

“...What if the killer is a child?” Misora murmured, despondently. “Thirteen... only thirteen...”

And she put the gun down beside herself, making sure the safety was on. Next to it were a pair of handcuffs, also supplied by Ryuzaki, intended for the killer. She was in condominium 1313, where Blackberry Brown lived. A two-bedroom condo, and the only room with a thumb turn lock was the room opposite the entrance.

Nine floors below her, in condo 404, Ryuzaki was also watching for the killer to arrive, taking Blues- harp Babysplit’s place. He had insisted he was strong, but he seemed so scrawny and hunched over that she found it hard to believe, and was more than a little worried. He had seemed utterly confident when they had met up before taking their places, but.., she had her doubts.

At this stage of affairs, Misora had absolutely no idea which room the killer, the man L called B, would come to—here to room 1313, or to Ryuzaki in 404? She’d been pondering the matter every second she could spare, but had honestly been unable to reach anything like a conclusion. And she was still bugged by the a.m./p.m. thing from the third scene... but there was no point in worrying about that now. All that mattered was to convince herself that the killer was coming here, to room 1313, to kill Blackberry Brown, and then to act accordingly. She couldn’t afford to waste time worrying about other people. Or she could put it another way—B would come after her... in L’s place.

She looked at the clock on the wall.

The digital display showed nine am. Exactly.

Nine hours worth of August 22nd had already passed. Only fifteen hours remained. She was not going to get any sleep today. She would have to remain awake for at least twenty-four hours. She wasn’t even allowed to take a bathroom break. Ryuzaki had advised her not to stretch her patience thin... she needed to be able to react the moment someone entered the room. But now it was time to call L again. She took her phone out of her bag and dialed according to instructions. Making sure the door and curtains were closed.

“L”

“Misora. Nothing happening here. I spoke to Ryuzaki earlier, mu nothing has happened on his end either, No signs of anything out of the ordinary. I’m starting to feel like we’re in it for the long haul. “I see, Don’t let your guard down. As I said before, your backup is in position around the condominium, but if anything happens, they aren’t close enough to respond immediately.”

“I know”

“Additionally, a few minutes ago I dispatched two people to the condo itself. I wasn’t sure if they could be there in time, but the weather was on our side. We were lucky.”

“Eh? But… that means.,.”

To avoid tipping off the killer, they had not even put security cameras or bugs in the rooms, much less

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