Vodka flipped through the documents before him. "Murano Takeo developed quite a few subordinates outside the organization's members. Most of them contacted him through the internet, while he himself stayed behind the scenes and rarely showed his face. To avoid exposure, the members of his department operated fairly independently and had little contact with one another—meaning that even if he died, the people connected to him could continue operating as usual for some time. That's why the Osaka Branch couldn't determine his exact time of death. They could only narrow it down to an approximate range. His last confirmed activity was twenty-five days ago."
Gin frowned at that enormous range. "A bunch of useless trash."
Vodka promptly agreed. "Exactly. We'd never make that kind of mistake!... Actually, their intelligence department also required them to leave coded messages at regular intervals to confirm they were safe, but the relationships within that group happened to be strained, so none of the rules were properly followed."
Gin nodded, not forgetting the matter at hand. "Find the missing Murano Takeo first. Then we'll settle accounts with them."
Vodka acknowledged him and continued, "I checked his accounts and his traces online. I think it's more likely that he went missing three weeks ago—Murano Takeo seemed to be an exploration enthusiast in his spare time. He secretly created a forum called 'Golden King.' Usually, he enjoyed gathering clues about treasures from all over, then turning the difficult ones over to the organization while pocketing the easy ones himself. I found one of his secret accounts. It held over four hundred million in deposits, which should be the profit he made from that."
Gin silently ground out his cigarette in the ashtray. *Having that much spare time was bad enough, but he actually used the organization as