Game Invitation

System: [...]

You do understand the next time for sure.

It can't talk.

If it denies, it must be denying on purpose but hiding the truth. If it affirms, then it must be affirming in an attempt to conceal the truth. If you don't deny or affirm, but say something else, you're changing the subject.

No matter what the response, the master of language can distort the intent without blinking, not only by talking nonsense in a serious manner, but also by clearly and justifiably messing with other people's minds.

"They haven't found out my true identity yet," Ichijō Mirai added, "but the clever Mr. or Ms. FBI must have already deduced my general character and gained a deep understanding of my strength,"

"Next..."

He flipped through his cell phone's photo album, skimmed through the various newspaper photos, and returned to the text message screen with InuoFBI, pausing for a few seconds to look at the composition of the pursuit team reported by the other party, and then looking at the name at the top, "Jodie Starling."

Another line slid down, "Akai Shūichi."

There were only two choices for now, too few to make a Battle Royale, and the final partner chosen wasn't exactly sweet fruit to munch on.

Ichijō Mirai sighed calmly, "Let's try it first."

"Their address is..."

＊

FBI investigators always got off work late, or at least Jodie always got off work late.

Especially after a busy few days of quieting the public.

At 1:00 a.m., she got out of the car, tiredly opened the front door, walked down the stone path in the yard to the front door of the villa, and just as she was about to unlock the door with her key, her eyes froze for a moment.

It cost a lot of money to buy a villa, and the one Jodie lived in was certainly not bought, but rented, and until her contract expired, she had relative control over the villa, as long as she didn't intend to destroy it violently, the landlord wouldn't care.

But she hadn't changed too much of the layout, just the little things that made her life a little more comfortable, like the kitchen and the carpet in front of the door.

And now, the carpet did the trick.

The shaggy brown carpet was imprinted with a poorly defined footprint that appeared to be about a size 13, an obvious adult male shoe size.

...Someone's in the house.

Jodie's gaze was fixed for a moment, then she remembered the sound of her car and her footsteps.

She lowered her eyes and stood in the doorway, rummaging through her bag, turning the contents of her satchel upside down, while silencing her cell phone and sending a text message without moving.

After confirming the text message, in a few seconds, Jodie stopped rummaging through the bag, as if she had found the key, and drew her pistol from the holster strapped to the base of her leg with her right hand, while using the key with her left hand to open the door.

The door was dark.

Jodie didn't go in first, she waited by the door for a couple of seconds before slowly stepping in, shielding the gun with her bag, and turning on the light.

The hallway connecting the doorway to the living room was illuminated, and the large living room was also illuminated, but no one appeared.

After the light of the living room, the most empty part of the first floor was lit up, and it was empty, and there was still not a single figure.

But there was a letter on the table.

Jodie walked a few steps toward the living room, his eyes did not move to look through the second floor and the first floor of the room, and so close to the sofa, as if he had just found the letter, and then suddenly stopped.

The villa was still quiet, and there was no sign of anyone.

She put on her gloves and reached for the letter.

The letter was thick and contained stacks of photographs.

Each photo featured a corpse, all kinds of corpses, male and female, old and young, all with their eyes open, either looking away or staring blankly into the camera.

Besides being corpses, the only thing they have in common is a bullet hole in the center of their eyebrows. 

There are burn marks around the bullet hole.

This is...

"Gunshot serial killer."

Jodie's face hardened and her brow furrowed almost as soon as she saw the first photo.

This is a case that the FBI has been pursuing lately, and so far seven people have been found dead with a gunshot wound to the forehead, and the killer hasn't been caught yet.

But there are nine people in the photo.

Thick photographs showing the nine victims from every angle, and a card the size and feel of the photographs.

[Dear Jodie Starling.]

[I'm sorry to inform you that I'd like to start a thrilling game with you, and I'll be committing three more murders within a month, each time revealing a little information about my target.]

[You can choose to accept or accept with pleasure.]

[:)]

Underneath this card are three cute greeting cards that look like children's scribbles.

The first card is white, with a red lipstick in the bottom right corner: [The first victim gets off work at four o'clock every day, and has to walk through a long, long, long alley.

She heard the singing of the fountain, the weeping of the theater, followed by an abrupt gunshot...].

The second card is black, with some overlapping rubbed ash: [The second victim, tired, has to take one bill after another.

He hears the church bells ringing, the wind chimes chiming, and finally the deafening sound of a gunshot...].

The third card was blue, with two splashes of white at the top, like rabbit ears: [The third victim, the third victim is looking at me.

Her face hardened, her heart sank, she had guessed!

She had guessed guessed guessed guessed!]

Countless 'guessed' were printed all over the lower portion of the card, crazy and wild, almost creepy, and at a cursory glance the black letters on a blue background seemed to wriggle and leave shifting shadows on the human eye.

Jodie: "..."

She frowned to suppress the goosebumps, creepiness and nausea, and touched the silent vibrating cell phone, "Hello?"

On the other side of the phone, came Akai Shūichi's voice, "I told you to be careful."

He'd already gotten the message from Jodie from the other FBI, but his tone was rather calm, not a bit worried, "You saw the game challenge."

"Three victims, the last one is himself."

"It's the 'Master's' handiwork."

Akai Shūichi's tone was light, "When I arrived home at five o'clock today, I saw a size thirteen footprint on the carpet in front of the door."

Same as Jodie.

She's a little surprised. "Five o'clock?"

And to get to the point, "Five o'clock?!"

"You got off work at five?!"

"..." Akai Shūichi said, "I told you to be careful lately, he'll come looking for us."

"So come home regularly."

Jodie: "Is that why you get off work at five?!"