Part 93: Episode 85: Infiltration

The doctor and Yuuya must have seen her. What happened in there?
…They must both be lying.
……

Yuuya has been helping us all this time, and I don’t want to suspect him. But he’s clearly been hiding the truth…

Could Yuuya be covering for the doctor…?
We don’t know what for sure. The mongrel could be lying to cast doubt on Dr. Iwamine…

It’s not impossible, but… from what we’ve seen so far, the most likely conclusion is that they’re working together.

Sakuya… You were the one who said we needed to remove our biases. We need to solve this.

I want to go confront them now, but with only Anghel’s testimony, our evidence is a little weak.
They’ll probably slip out of it again if we go now. They’re both much more eloquent than I am, and they’ll try to dodge the issue…
Which means--

We need to… search the infirmary.
The music stops.


Yeah. The more stealthily we do it the better, right?
If the doctor finds out, he’ll come up with some way of stopping us, for sure…
…Understood. I will go to the lab and keep them occupied, while you search the infirmary.
Thank you, Sakuya!

The door opened from behind us, and I turned to see who was entering the office before hearing a familiar voice.

A moment, gentlemen.
Mr. Leone!
I have something for you. Sorry for being late, I was somewhat delayed.
What are these?


You will have more use for those than I, Kawara. Hold onto them.
Right. Thank you, Mr. Leone!

Maybe I should write in the notes before I go to the infirmary.


After finishing up my notes, both Sakuya and I left the office and parted in order to fulfill our missions.


I could only hope that Sakuya would be safe on his own.


The sound of glass breaking is heard.


Well, he seems excited. I wonder what the doctor is doing?
…Being slandered by Mr. Higure, as you can see.
Please stop breaking school property, Mr. Higure.
I have returned from Judecca to defeat you! As long as you live, Calamitous Sorcerer, the world will be wrapped in eternal despair!
When he says things with such conviction, I almost find myself believing them…
Please, that isn’t funny.

No! Stop! Do not throw me out like some wretched doll!
The music stops.

I suspect he has suffered from megalomania since birth.
Megalomania? Whatever do you mean?

There would be no helping it then, would there?
He is unusually active in the destruction of his surroundings, especially given his physique.
Internal prejudice is a terrible thing, I suppose. He is no doubt exerting to the limits of his capacity at all times.
The most dangerous part is his ability to bring his surroundings into his fantasy. Though, I seem to be less affected than you.

Did you say something just now, doctor?
Nothing, nothing at all.


Excuse me.
Oh, hello, Shirogane. What’s going on? Where did Kawara go?
He is investigating another area at the moment.

…Only Dr. Iwamine and Nanaki here now.

Isn’t Sakazaki here?

Not brave, just imprudent.

Stupid mongrel! Stop pretending to be migratory and get back here so I can distract you.
I wanted to occupy both of them, if possible, but… At least they don’t realize that we suspect them yet. Just the doctor should be enough.

Dr. Iwamine, I came here to ask your opinion of something.
My opinion? I fear I will not be much use to you there.

My body has never required me to visit the infirmary. I have not had much occasion to talk to the doctor since moving here, but I can read his expression perfectly well all the same.
It says “I’m not telling you anything”.

Where is Mr. Kawara? Did you have a falling out?

I agree, sir. To doubt someone based merely on one’s own preconception is… balivernes, sir. It is nonsense.

That’s right. I must be perfectly logical in all things.

You are renowned as one of the most intelligent birds in the world, doctor. I do not think that you could be involved in such a grisly crime as this.
It is an honor to be so praised by the heir to the Le Bel family.

Completely flat. Does he never speak with emotion?

I hold a deep respect for you, doctor.
You might not be aware, but my father owes his life to your medicine. A few years ago… your work allowed the Le Bel family to continue on to even greater glory.

The life of but one bird may not be significant to you, but we of the Le Bel family will never forget.
Hohoho, how wonderful. I take it your father is a figure of great respect?
Of course. The family head must always be honored.
It would seem that you hold your own biases even more dearly than Mr. Kawara holds his, almost like the foundation of your very existence.
……

The music stops.


While I worried about Sakuya, I had plenty of my own problems to deal with.

Has it been locked ever since the alarm this morning? The doctor went straight to the lab to begin the autopsy, and I think he’s been with somebirdie else ever since.

Let’s see, maybe that Massive thing Mr. Leone gave me will do the trick…

I took the key and carefully placed it into the hole, praying that it would work.

……
………

After a few tense moments, I heard the faint click of the door unlocking.

Yes!

I took a tentative step into the infirmary.


But, where do I start? The longer I spend poking around in corners, the bigger the risk that I’ll get caught…
I need to remember… I’ve been in here a lot, every time I got sick. Where would the doctor hide something he didn’t want anyone else to see…?

…Didn’t he forbid even his assistants from touching his desk…?

It would seem he keeps his drawers locked tight.

You’re up, Massive thing!

This lock gave way much easier than the door did.
Inside are… medical records? He’s probably supposed to keep personal information locked up… Though I never really thought of him as the respectful type.
There are only one, two, three… four files. The names are--

What…?

I’m not surprised to see a file on me in here, but… Goon and Sakuya never had any reason to be in here. And--

Fujishiro Nageki…

Looking closely, Nageki’s folder says “St. Pigeonation’s Medical Center” on the side, while the others don’t. And the date is from five years ago. Did he take this from the medical center?
Since it’s here… He must know something about the fire back then.
Are the other three… records from physical exams? They’re full of strange symbols and numbers, and I’m not sure what they mean.
As I flipped through the last file, something grabbed my attention.

Huh?

Sakuya’s has a second piece of paper in it. It looks like some sort of memo or--


A sudden, blinding pain in the back of my head. I can’t move.
I fall, unconscious.
……
………