APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 5 - The beginning of an investigation

It was late in the morning when Emiko finally woke up in her bed. She lazily stretched herself in all directions, unexpectedly realizing that she had slept almost 24 hours without changing her travel clothes. She slowly stood up, rubbing her eyes, and took fresh clothes and a towel out of the open suitcase, then she went to the bathroom. After taking a warm shower and fully awake, she decided to lock the room and go to the shop for the food... and some information.

She has rested, so now is the time to start her investigation.

****

In a shop on the next street, the girl stocked up on food for the next day, and then headed to the newsstand. There were newspapers with week news on a rack, so she began reading one after another.

'I need some clue... anything...' she thought, flipping through the pages of the first newspaper she had picked up. 'The case with my brother is quite high-profile now, so the newspaper article should also be large...' She put down the first newspaper and picked up another, from two days ago. 'Nothing here either... It's been five months since then, they must have written something else about it somewhere... Unless my brother- Ah!'

On the front page of the newspaper from three days ago, there was a photo of Kenzo Tenma, along with a comprehensive description. Emiko read the lines carefully, but only one sentence caught her full attention.

"(...) A serial killer of middle-aged marriages made his another move in Verden, where the bodies of another childless couple, the Springer family, were found. (...)"

'Verden...?' Emiko walked to the side of the sidewalk where she didn't disturb passers-by and took the map out of her backpack, then started looking for the indicated place on the map. 'Verden... Verden... Ah. It's on west. Oh man... far away from here...' The girl put her thumb on her bottom lip and thought for a moment. According to the map, Verden was about 350 kilometers from Berlin, slightly northwest. 'Taxi is definitely out of the question, and I don't know if the trains go there, because the city doesn't seem to be large. How much would a ticket cost me at all...? Hmm...' Emiko closed her eyes and used all her senses to find a solution. It took a while and finally...

"...Hitch-hike!" She unexpectedly exclaimed aloud, causing the closest passersby to glance in her direction. She covered her mouth with her hand and hid her face behind the open map. 'I have to calm down. Yes. Peace of mind is the most important thing...' She thought a bit ashamed, then took a few deep breaths and put the map in her backpack. She then found an empty seat in the park, which was quite close to the main street, where she had a breakfast outdoors.

After she had eaten her meal, she headed straight back for the hostel. There, she packed her things, handed over the key on the reception desk, and with the suitcase in hand, she headed for the main route to Verden. She decided that even if she didn't find a hitch, she would go there on her own feet. If it had been for something else, she wouldn't have gone that far, but this time it was about her beloved brother Kenzo. Emiko knew that she wouldn't give up until she had solved this puzzle to the end.

****

Two hours later, she was about 8 kilometers out of town, but she didn't find any transport yet. Although several cars had passed her earlier, none of them stopped to pick up the hitchhiker. Emiko sat down on the railing by the road to rest for a while, as the temperature was quite high that day. She grabbed the water bottle and drank a few sips, then looked up at the sky where she couldn't see even a single cloud.

'Give me at least a little one cloud... Sky-san, please... Gosh, it's hot...' She started fanning herself with the folded map and looking at the road in front of her. 'There should be more trees on these roads, definitely...' She turned her head the other way, where she came from. 'I have the impression that I didn't walk even ten kilometers from the city border. I can't stay here for a long time, because when the night finds me in the middle of nowhere...' She sighed loudly and left the railing to continue walking. But just as she began to take her first steps, she heard the whir of an engine in the distance. She quickly started looking both ways.