Part 23: The Next Step

(Music: Intermission ~The Deepening of the "Night")











: Her father isn't the stupid old justice minister!
: I think the "stupid old" part is a little uncalled for...it looks like the kidnappers made a mistake somehow.
: The poor girl! Kidnapped for the ransom of her own father's execution! It's just too much!
: It's a cruel twist of fate, I agree. And then there are those other twists too...like the kidnappers' winding up in and using Kamila's old house as their hideout...
: There's just no way it could be coincidence.
: ...and them sensing my prescence. They seem to know about the powers of the dead.
: I just don't understand any of it...

Meanwhile, in the real world...

(Music: Elegy For The Torn-Off Gentleman)



: I want you to stand back.
: Who cares about distance at a time like this?! Look, Mr. Minister, it wasn't your daughter who was kidnapped!
: Don't try to pretend you didn't hear what we were saying.
: Aaaaagh! H-how can I believe in you?! I'm a realist!
: Please! If you don't believe what we say, see for yourself! Just call home and--
: I tried calling a hundred times! My wife won't answer!
: She won't...?
: I-it's complicated...! Oh, why does life have to be such a complicated thing?!
: But if she doesn't answer, doesn't that mean everything's normal...?
: It doesn't prove it! And I'm being watched. I can't have the police go check for me. Besides...if the execution isn't carried out tonight...the hostage will be killed! What difference does it make that it's not my daughter?!
: ...!





(Music: Cabanela ~ A White Lovely Lanky Man)

: Inspector Cabanela!



: I have a little repooort for you, Mr. Minister.



: The escaped prisoner has been apprehended. Thought you might like to see him, so here he is!



: Detective Jowd...I'm so sorry! I tried--I know that you're innocent! I just can't prove it...I'm so sorry...
: Lynne...please...don't apologize to me...
: Ah, the beautiful love between a teacher and student. It brings a tear to my eye...
: ......
: Lynne doesn't really know that Jowd is innocent...she just believes it from the bottom of her heart. (The kidnapping and execution are real threats, and time marches on...I'll gather information and see if I can think of something.) This all relates back to me somehow...I just know it.

We can talk to Lynne & the minister now, and Cabanela has something to say too. Let's start with the minister.



: Actually, the girl who was kidnapped is named "Kamila."
: Why is a dream talking to me in my head again?!
: Wait a minute..."Amelie"? Could that be the Amelie next door?
: Yes, I think so...
: Wow, I didn't know the justice minister lived next door!
: No, not me...my wife...it's, uh, complicated...
: (Yeah, I bet it would be pretty hard to admit she left him.)
: The minister's wife ran away on him?! Maybe they grew apart, what with him being so busy...?
: Yeah, I bet you're right.
: Please stop gossiping about me inside my own head!

Poor justice minister. But his marital problems aren't on our to-solve agenda, so let's move on and talk to Lynne now.



: ...Amelie was supposed to go to some sort of lesson tonight.
: Those horrible kidnappers...! They were lying in wait for her!
: But Amelie didn't go out after all. She couldn't. She had a fever.
: Huh...and so the kidnappers grabbed Kamila by mistake instead...?
: Apparently. Amelie and Kamila are about the same age...(the kidnappers must've gotten the two of them mixed up.)
: ......it's my fault...if I hadn't asked Kamila to do that errand for me, this never would've happened...
: (Oh, right. You asked her to bring the music box...)
: Kamila...

And now to see what Cabanela has to say for himself.



: That the execution was tonight.
: I don't beliiieve I had any obligation to tell you.
: And you're fine with this? I mean, you know as well as I do...Detective Jowd could never have done such a thing.
: Ha ha ha! Oh, c'mon now, baby. I knooow no such thing.
: Huh?
: I knooow two things to be true, and two things only. One: He was given the death penalty. And, two: He triiied to escape. What else could I do but haul him in, baby?
: If that's the case, why did you bring him here?
: What ever do you mean, young lady?
: He escaped from prison, right? So why didn't you just take him back to the prison? I think...you only brought him here...

(Music: Towards Nothingness...)

: ...to brag about your accomplishment. Isn't that right, Inspector? For your own selfish reasons?
: ......
: So were all those rumors about you true? That the only thing you care about is a spotless record? Is that more important to you than saving a friend?
: ......Everybody has certain principles they caaan't go back on...including me. You'll understand that someday, baby.
: That's enough, Lynne.
: But, Detective Jowd!
: I'm a death-row inmate who escaped from prison. This is how it should be.
: B-But...! ......

Jowd still seems pretty unfazed by his impending doom. But wait, he wasn't here when Sissel was telling the others that Kamila got kidnapped...that seems like something he'd want to know. Let's go talk to him!



: I hear something happened. Something about a kidnapping?
: Some kidnappers are saying they abducted the justice minister's daughter.
: That's terrible. What's their demand?
: The carrying out of your execution...tonight.
: Ha ha ha! I had no idea I was so hated! But the minister doesn't have to worry. I die, and it's all over. Very simple.
: It's not that simple!
: Why not?
: Because it isn't really the justice minister's daughter who got kidnapped. It's Kamila!

(Music: TRAUMA)

: Wh-what?! Kamila...?
: I checked it out for myself. I'm positive.



: And, by the way, Kamila told me something interesting. she said the one who killed her mother five years ago...was Kamila herself.
: What?! What are you talking about?
: Don't listen to him! I'm the one who shot her! I'm the one who shot Alma! And when I'm executed tonight, that will be the end of it. Kamila...won't have to suffer any more after tonight!
: For a capable detective, you say some incredibly misguided things.
: ...!
: You dying isn't going to end that girl's suffering. It'll just bring her new suffering. The only person's pain this execution is going to ease...is yours.
: ...!
: I-is it true? What Kamila said...?
: ......
: Why don't you tell us what you know?



Looks like it's time to hear the other side of the story in that murder case. Good thing Jowd's finally fully cooperating with us.

: To be honest, I still don't understand what happened that day...it was my wife's -- Alma's -- birthday. We came home from work, and she went in first.





: I looked for the shooter, but there was nobody to be found...there was nobody there except for Alma and Kamila, just the two of them.
: (So the little lady's mother died right in front of her...)
: Oh, my...that's so horrible...!
: Kamila told me about it. She was crying. She said the contraption she made did something it wasn't supposed to do, made an impossible move...
: "An impossible move"...?



Oh look, a new topic. But we'll be moving down the list as usual, so asking about the powers of the dead(or, more accurately, what Jowd has to say about them) it is.

: It's been five years since then. I stopped thinking about it. "I shot Alma." There's no other explanation. That's what I'd convinced everyone of -- even me. But, tonight, you showed up and gave me an explanation I never would've thought of before.
: The powers of the dead, right?
: That day, in that room, powers I didn't understand were at work. And, if that's the case, it clears up all the mysteries.
: Maybe not. There are a couple of other people who know about those powers.





: This is no ordinary kidnapping. It looks like my wife's case isn't coming to an end after all. I'm the only one who thought it was.
: Detective Jowd...
: There's still time before dawn...a little, anyway. How about you see this case through to the end before you die?
: ......

I guess we should take that as a yes? But now it's time to ask about that impossible move(although if you've been paying attention in previous updates, you know what it was already).



: She was a little genius at making elaborate toys and contraptions. But there were two very strange points about that contraption...
: The first thing was, of course, the firing of that gun.
: Right. That was an antique gun I'd had on display for years.
: So it wasn't part of the little lady's original design...
: Of course it wasn't! It was supposed to be a surprise for her mother's birthday!
: And the other strange point was the movement of that Cupid.
: Cupid...?





: I don't know what to say...
: I didn't have time to think things through then. All I knew was I had to protect Kamila. I made a small "adjustment" to the scene, and turned myself in.
: What kind of "adjustment"?
: The gun, of course.
: (The gun, eh? Come to think of it, there was no gun there. Just a picture hanging on the wall.)
: Of course not, because I secretly switched the gun out of that frame with the picture. I didn't believe what she told me about her contraption. But one thing was for certain. That gun was still smoking.
: So that gun really DID shoot Alma...
: I hid the gun before I went to the police.
: You hid it?
: I put it in a wooden box and gave it to a certain detective.
: What?! Y-you mean...?!
: And that detective still thinks it's a music box.
: So that's what was in the box, huh?
: I got a different murder weapon ready to give to the police -- my own pistol. And I did a few other things to make it look good. I won't go into the details...when I was all done, I turned myself in.



: Yes, of course.
: In that case, there's still time!
: Still time?
: Time to solve that case that started five years ago! You didn't do it, Detective Jowd. And, of course, little Kamila didn't do it either. So the true perpetrator is still out there! And I'm going to prove it! For Kamila's sake!
: ......

(Music: Jowd ~ A Captive of Fate)

: That sounds wonderful.
: Thank you, Detective Jowd!
: Lynne! Where is that music box now?
: In Temsik Park. Kamila left it there!
: That gun is important evidence. You had better go pick it up.
: Yes, sir! I'll go right now! Sissel, take care of Detective Jowd! And do something about the kidnapping, so we can get the minister on our side!
: And yet again, I say, "easy enough for you to say."



Interesting how Mr. Spotless Record didn't seem to care that a murder suspect just left...although I suppose the death-row prisoner's higher on his priority list. At any rate, maybe we should hear what's on his mind.



: A little change in plans. My daughter has been kidnapped. I can't just go off to die without doing something.
: Buuut you're in our custody, don't forget. Back at the prison, everybody's waitin' for you, with a special seat just for you, baby.
: Then I guess we'd better prove my innocence on the double.
: "On the double," is it? You sound sooo determined, my old friend.
: I want to save Kamila...in more ways than one. And that's all there is to it.
: I see, my old friend...in more ways than one...What saaay you, Mr. Minister? May we have your decision? Should the execution be carried out toniiight, as planned? Or should we hold off, and wait for this "important evidence" to come in?
: ......the order still stands. Bring the prisoner back immediately and resume its enforcement.
: As you wish, Your Excellency.



: Please! Don't bow down to me! And especially not that low!
: In that case, can I have one of your boooys arrange a prison van to pick him up?



: Yes, sir!



: The van should take about ten minutes, I'm guessin'. Your escape tonight was briiiliant. Will you show me another miracle in these last few minutes of yours, Mr. Death-Row Inmate?
: ......
: I'm glad to see Detective Jowd all fired up now, but I feel like I'm under the gun here. Even if Lynne does come from with the proof of Jowd's innocence, it will be meaningless if Jowd or Kamila dies. I've got to do something about that kidnapping, somehow.

But what can Sissel do? We have no idea where the kidnappers went, and even if we did, we'd need a way to reach them there. Let's see if the Justice Minister has any ideas.



: I can't hear you! La la la!

...the man who gets to decide if convicts live or die, ladies and gentlemen.

: I'm sure you heard everything we've been saying. Are you telling me you don't believe any of it?
: Let me speak plainly. I don't trust you. But there's somebody else who I trust even less.
: Oh, yeah? Who's that?
: Me! I can't explain your existance. It's not normal. But...I'm pretty abnormal, myself. So maybe you're a figment of my imagination! A delusion! Would YOU listen to a delusion?!
: To be honest...I have no idea what you're talking about. I got the bit about you not trusting me, though...
: Good!

At least the minister's willing to communicate with us a bit more, even though he's still completely unhelpful. But now let's see what Jowd has to say, since he's finally committed to helping us out.



: Not as long as there's any small chance his daughter was the one who was kidnapped.
: But she ISN'T the one! I'm sure of it!
: Well, it would be great if we could prove that to the minister.
: Prove it? How? I doubt his wife is ever gonna answer that phone if we call from here.
: IF we call from here, right. But a telephone works in both directions.
: What are you saying?
: What I'm saying is, only family members can solve a family problem. Hey, Mr. Ghost...?
: Yes?
: I have to admit, I don't like depending on others...but you're the only one who can change this situation.
: Gee, Detective...
: For these past five years, Kamila is the only thing that kept me going. I can't go meekly to the chair now. I hate to ask this, but would you mind...saving me?
: I'll try. (The key to getting the justice minister to stop the execution is his wife and daughter. But is there a way...?)



: I've got ten minutes before the prison van shows up. If I could just do something about the kidnapping in those ten minutes...(I guess the telephone lines are my only hope!)

So obviously, this is our chance to hang around and check out a couple things in this office.



: He drank all of the water, so now it's empty. (I think he should get it refilled...) You never know when another fit may visit.



: There are only two capsules left in the bottle. According to the minister himself, he's supposed to take two at a time. (So he has enough for just one more fit...)

And that's all for here. To the phone!





: There's something very "off" about this place. Old dusty junk side by side with well-maintained equipment...anyway, it doesn't look like things are going to change here much for a while...



: What's he wanna come now for?
: Well, because the death-row inmate escaped, of course!
: Oh...I'd hate to be in your shoes right now, Bailey. You're in charge, after all...



: Me?! Oh, why did I ever have to become a prison guard...? I never would've taken a job like this if I knew the prisoners might escape...
: Wow...unbelievable...
: Yes, I know, right? It IS unbelievable!





: If he doesn't come here tonight...hmph. I think this silence is starting to get to me...
: (This old man is apparently waiting for somebody. The only thing waiting for me is the end of my existance...)



: He didn't even put on his shoes. (Did something happen...?)



: ......It's just not the same without his singing. I guess I can come back later if I want to hear him sing again.



: The tragedy of five years ago, and the tragedy tonight...(I wonder where the little lady is now?) If only I could put a smile back on her face...before the day dawns. (But I won't find the answers here.) I'd better follow my own leads.



: This little girl is safe in her bed.

(Music: GHOST TRICK)








New/Updated Records
Sissel
Lynne
Justice Minister
Cabanela
Jowd
Justice Minister's Office