Shade had not failed to investigate the broom closet on the third floor mentioned by the waiter after turning into a cat that morning, but he had found nothing. After lunch at noon, he returned to the corridor in cat form, unlocked the broom closet while no one was around, and hid inside.
There was nothing particularly noteworthy in the somewhat cramped broom closet: brooms, mops, buckets, gloves, a cabinet, and a trash bin. Standing inside, Shade closed his eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings, but detected no abnormal traces of elements.
Dark Vision let him inspect every corner of the room. He even examined every scratch on the walls, yet still found nothing strange:
"Blood Echo."
His eyes flickered. There were indeed some bloodstains on the rag stored in the cabinet, but they looked as though a cleaner had accidentally gotten blood on it.
"Echoes of the Past."
The first Echo was of guests in the corridor discussing a symphony called "Sonata in the Forest."
The second Echo was of a cleaner opening the broom closet and quietly complaining about having just cleaned up a drunkard's vomit on the 1st Floor.
The third Echo was—
"Apples, apples, fresh apples! Who wants fresh apples?"
"Hm?"
Shade, who had closed his eyes to sharpen his hearing, suddenly opened them. The third Echo was clearly the cry of a street vendor, and the accent was unmistakably from the Vista Area.
The voice was crystal clear, unlike something drifting in from the street through half a corridor and a window. Its source was clearly the cabinet in the broom closet.
The wooden cabinet looked quite old and leaned to the right as a whole. Shade guessed it was broken furniture from one of the Guest Rooms, placed here for reuse.
The upper section