Part 27: The Rock Of The Gods

(Music: PROVIDENCE)



: No, you did the best you could. I'm sure she's all right. After all--
: After all, she has me!



: Missile...are you in there?

(Music: Missile ~ A Courageous Little Animal)

: Miss Lynne! Leave Miss Kamila to me! I know I don't look like much now...but I'm sure I can help her!



: I'm going to leave it up to Missile.
: It kind of looks like Missile is being left up to the wind...



: I have something to give you!



: Stop the park from being turned into a housing site! Protect the park, the rock of the gods!
: Aren't you forgetting your promise?
: Oh, pardon me. Pardon me.



: My apologies. This is for you!
: Oh! You kept the music box safe, didn't you? Thank you!
: Not at all. I was only doing what the rock of the gods...would...have...wanted... .........................................................
: What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?
: He's mesmerized by my beauty.
: .........................................................
: Hey! The cat's not allowed to get YOUR tongue!



: Excuse me, but are you...? No, it couldn't be!
: Have we met before?
: Aren't you...? Aren't you that little girl, from that time...? I'll never forget it! It was ten years ago, in this park.
: Ten years ago...? Are you talking about...?

(Music: Chained Past)



Talking to the hippie advances the plot, so let's talk to Lynne first.



: I don't remember. But he said "ten years ago" and "this park"...it could only be one thing that I can think of...
: (Hmm...it looks like I'd better talk to Mr. Leaflet here.)



: Today, ten years from that day...we meet once again. If that isn't the power of the gods, then what else is it?!
: (It could just be conincidence.) But, apparently, you know our lady detective here. Could you tell us about it? About what happened ten years ago?
: Yes! Yes, of course! I was actually about to do just that!



Let's take it from the top!

: What's this "rock of the gods" you keep mentioning?
: Don't you know? It's right there in front of us!



: Missile...



: Wait a minute...you say "g-o-d-s", but do you mean "d-o-g-s"?
: Of course not. Don't be silly. This is no time for ridiculous word games. You are standing just above the rock of the gods now. Take a good look at that monument!
: Monument...?



: The "rock of the gods"...
: The rock is buried in the ground right there. It's been there these ten years. Ever since that day it flew down from the heavens and showed us a miracle!
: (A miracle?)
: So this "rock" you've been talking about...is a meteorite?
: Precisely! It dropped from the sky on that day ten years ago. Yes, of course! Surely you know all about it!
: M-Me...?

Now it's time to ask about ten years ago. It sounds like that whatever happened then was kind of a big deal, even beyond its effects on Lynne and Jowd.



: I had no idea that day would change my destiny. The sun was going down, and through the gloom...I heard the scream of a little girl.

(Music: PROVIDENCE)



: I didn't see the face of the criminal clearly. I knew I should do something to help, but I couldn't move. The tension was so thick, it was just painful. Just when I couldn't stand it any longer...that's when it happened. The sky suddenly turned whitish-blue!







: One of those beautiful fragments...pierced into the criminal's back.



(Music: Chained Past)

: Ten years ago...the little girl that was you, was saved by the rock of the gods.
: Oh, my...I can't believe it...! ......
: The rock of the gods was given the name "Temsik." And still today, it lies sleeping, deep in the park's earth.



: I...I never knew about this "Temsik"...I always thought Detective Jowd was the one who saved me...
: You were very young then. And you passed out from the shock of being taken hostage. Of course you wouldn't remember.
: But that's funny. A huge incident like that should have caused quite a stir. It's strange you never heard of it, Lynne.
: It is, isn't it? But now that I think about it, I remember I didn't want to think about what happened. I avoided the news, and I never came back to this park again. That's why I didn't know anything about it.
: The meteorite was named "Temsik" after the name of this park that it fell in. And then the "rock of the gods" was forgotten. Now, an awful thing is happening! They're talking about turning the park into a housing site! I'll never forget the miracle I witnessed that day. And so I've taken up residence in this park, and am trying to appeal to the people. Protect the park, the rock of the gods! That is my mission!
: I see...



: (So ten years ago, the little girl that was Lynne wasn't aware of the meteorite. I get that. But Detective Jowd, on the other hand...there's no way he didn't know about this "Temsik" thing...and if he knew...)



: (...what was that "confession" of his all about?)









(Music: Elegy For The Torn-Off Gentleman)

: Good job, Lynne. I knew you would. ......Once everything had been "resolved", I had wanted you to give this to him.
: "Him"? You mean Inspector Cabanela, right?
: I don't suppose he'll ever forgive me.
: Detective Jowd...
: Now then, let's get this thing open. There's a certain knack to doing it, you know.



: (He calls that a "knack"? Looks more like brute force to me...)



: You should find scorch marks on the grip.
: Scorch marks...?
: When Kamila built her contraption, she used a special kind of string. It's a kind magicians use. It burns up in an instant and disappears.
: Why would little Kamila use something like that?
: I don't know. Maybe because she's a detective's daughter. Not leaving any evidence behind and all that. Ha ha!
: In the case report, there was mention of some scorch marks.



(Music: PROVIDENCE)

: She saw the flame run to the gun, something she naturally didn't include in her design. I took the gun out of the frame and replaced it with a picture. If you remove the picture, you should find scorch marks behind it on the frame, too. And those marks should match up with the ones on the gun.
: In other words...
: ...it proves the contraption existed there in that room that day.

(Music: Elegy For The Torn-Off Gentleman)

: And it didn't work the way your little girl intended, is that right?
: Exactly. Some cowardly culprit modified the design.
: But that angle was never brought up in court. And so, as justice minister...I must call off the execution at this point.
: I knew I was right. It wasn't Detective Jowd. Now we can finally prove that. Thank goodness...
: Thank you, Lynne. In those eyes of yours, I see the eyes of that little girl from ten years ago.

And now...well, now what? Let's go talk to people, I guess.



: What's the matter?
: I just don't know...what should I have done five years ago?
: Back then, nobody had any way of knowing the true nature of the manipulator. It wasn't anybody's fault that we didn't know the truth.
: Do you really think so...?
: Of course! Besides, what's important right now is deciding what to do next, am I right?
: She's right, Mr. Minister.
: Y-Yes. Yes, of course. I do believe she is! ......hmm...
: What is it now?
: I just don't know...what should I do next?
: You'll figure it out. We believe in you!

Anyway, we can't reach Lynne right now, so Jowd's next.



: If you hadn't come to my cell tonight...I would be gone by now, without ever having known any of this. "This is what I deserve." That's what I told myself these past five years. But things are different now. Thanks to you, my eyes have finally been opened.
: Tonight...I've come into contact with a lot of people's lives, and got involved in their fates. And the only reason I was doing it was to regain my own lost memory. But things are different now. We're connected to each other somehow. I just know it. And that's why I need to ask you a few more questions...in order to find out the truth about us.
: Fair enough. Fire away.



(Music: Chained Past)

Once again, taking it from the top.

: Sissel told me all about it, Detective Jowd. About the manipulator.
: Yes...and it looks like this manipulator really did a number on the minister, too.
: Aaaaargh!
: Please don't pick on the minister. If he dies again, I'm the one who has to save him.
: Ooooogh...
: Sissel, do you think...?
: Do you think that's what happened to me, too...?
: Hmm? What are you talking about, Lynne? Don't tell me...you were manipulated, too?!



: That image of the one who shot me...but now I see the possibility of a new explanation.
: But...who is it? And why did they do it...?

Alas, we have no way of knowing this right now. So let's move on to talking about that murder machine.



: That's right.
: Something's been bothering me about it...I feel like I know that device from somewhere...
: No surprise there. You lose your life once tonight because of that machine.
: Right? I knew it! See, Detective Jowd?!
: No, I'm afraid I don't "see"...

: (I told Detective Jowd about it.)



: That's very strange indeed. A junkyard on the edge of town? I've never even heard of the place. And what's more, I never told a single soul about that contraption.
: You haven't?
: (Hmm. That old pigeon guy...who in the world is he...?)

And finally, let's talk Temsik.



: ..."Temsik." The meteorite that fell in the park ten years ago. You were there.
: ......So you found out about that, did you?
: I hear that meteorite saved little Lynne's life.
: That's right. I couldn't do anything to help Lynne that day.
: But in that case, I don't get it. If it's true, doesn't it mean that you didn't "steal" somebody's life away?
: What are you talking about?
: Detective Jowd, you told me that, ten years ago...the person who killed the perpetrator in the park...was you.
: What?! But it was the meteorite...!
: ......I wasn't lying. I stole that man's life away. No question about it. It was entirely my fault.

(Music: Jowd ~ A Captive of Fate)



: I would have shot him in the next instant, if the meteorite hadn't come. At that point...I was already a murderer.
: That's not true! You were trying to save me.
: Lynne, I'm sorry, but...I don't think that's really it.
: Huh?



: On that day ten years ago, a different incident happend in another place.
: Another place?
: Yes, in the police headquarters interrogation room. The worst sort of incident...a suspect who was being questioned escaped...
: Wow. I didn't know about that!
: I happened to be there in the detective division, so I joined the chase. Fortunately...or I guess, unfortunately...I was able to track him down alone in the park.



: I fired a warning shot. I wanted to catch him, bad. That warning shot made him panic. At the time, I was a young and green detective, brandishing my "sense of justice" like a sword. I made him panic, and got you involved, Lynne. It was all my fault.
: Detective Jowd...
: All I could see was my target. I couldn't even see you. I'm so sorry, Lynne..



(Music: PROVIDENCE)

: These last ten years, I've never forgotten his face. And then a few years after that, when my wife Alma died in such a mysterious way...I thought it was fate, my punishment for what I'd done.



: All the faces of the many people I'd met in my life and didn't want to forget...and tonight...I finished my last portrait...the final face I wanted to remember. The final face...



: W-wait just one minute! That can't be! I saw that painting! I saw the face you painted tonight!



(Music: Dead Afterimage)

: Are you telling me I was the man in the park that time?!
: That's right. That face of yours is the face I saw ten years ago. The face of the man whose life I stole, of the man who was pronounced dead at the scene.
: B-But hold on, Detective Jowd! That can't be true! I just met Sissel for the first time tonight! And he died right in front of me!
: By the way, the name that I know the man in the park that day by...



: What...?
: From the first minute I laid eyes on you tonight, I've been wondering..."Who in the world is this guy?"
: I...I...







: Just be quiet and listen. This is our demand.
: Wh-what...? Demand...?
: Our demand hasn't changed. The execution must be tonight. Once we've confirmed it's been carried out, we'll release the hostage.
: What are you talking about, Inspector Cabanela?! And you know it wasn't my daughter who was abduted!
: Does it really matter who the hostage is? A life is a life...even if it's the daughter of a death-row prisoner.
: ...!
: Once the criminal gets the punishment he deserves, the hostage will go free. Carry out the execution immediately and wait for our call.



: Wh-what in the world...? What's going on?! Inspector Cabanela...!