Midnight Theater

Duanmu Ai arrived at the apartment in a fury, where she found Mr. Inoue as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. The moment he saw Duanmu Ai, Mr. Inoue looked as if he had found his savior and hurried over.

"Miss Duanmu, you finally came..."

"Enough. This isn't the time for that."

Duanmu Ai had no mood for pleasantries with Inoue, so she waved him off.

"What exactly happened?"

"Just like I told you before, I drove here to pick her up this morning, but she didn't come down even after the appointed time. I thought maybe she was tired and still resting, so I came up to look for her. Then I found that there wasn't a single person in the room."

"You have a key?"

"Of course. I have a spare key in case of emergencies. Don't you?"

"What would I need a key for? If I can't get in, I'll just kick the door down."

"Uh..."

He had a point.

After making that remark, Duanmu Ai surveyed the surroundings.

"Did you call the police?"

"Of course not! If the police find out about this, that means the media will find out too! Then we'll be on the back foot! The company wants us to keep this as quiet as possible."

"All right..."

Duanmu Ai nodded, then carefully examined the apartment before her.

As part of the assignment, Duanmu Ai had lived here with Kujikawa Rise for some time, so she was quite familiar with the place. There was the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, which had barely been used, a fairly large washroom and bathroom, and then the master bedroom and guest room. Duanmu Ai walked through every room, and she had managed to piece together a few clues.

There was water in