Part 94: 12/5/11 Part 2

12/5/11

There was only one person who fit. As unlikely as it seemed, it had to be him.

VIDEO- "Decision"

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> …Of course, if you look only at the circumstances, you can't completely rule out that possibility.
> Adachi may have been able to keep an eye on your actions.
> He would have been able to approach your house with ease, and he knows the area well…
> Thinking about it, you encountered him many times while investigating the case…
> You learned much about the police's movements from Adachi as well…
> There is no exact reason to doubt him… but…
> Something is bothering you…
> You spoke Adachi's name…
Huh…? What about him?
Detective Adachi…
……
A member of the police force… That is an interesting approach.
It would certainly explain the lack of witness reports…
It's the same reason no one ever reported seeing Namatame's truck.
This is a small town, so everyone must've known who he is.
And since he's a detective, people definitely wouldn't have thought of him as being suspicious.
In fact, he could use his position to his advantage and hide critical information.
Huh… Well, if you think of it that way, I guess it's possible…

Yosuke did raise a valid objection.



I mean really, Adachi? He's your textbook lousy detective…
Are we really on the right track here…?
Actually… regarding Detective Adachi…
I'm not sure how to put it, but there's something that's been bothering me about him for some time now…
Yeah? Hmm…
Perhaps it's just my imagination, so I shouldn't speak too-
Achoo!
Whew, it's cold! I think we've cooled down enough here… Let's go back in.

We went in and told everyone else what we were thinking.



That can't be… I mean, he said he came to escort Ms. Yamano and…
What…? Was he at your inn when the announcer was staying there?
When Ms. Yamano was staying at our inn, the media were swarming all over it.
That's when Adachi-san arrived, saying he had been assigned to guard her… He told our waitress that fame could be rough…
Guard her…?
He didn't spend the night there?
Huh…
I wonder if he knew Ms. Yamano…
I dunno about that, but I heard he did call out a girl in my class.
I found out this afternoon.
But I thought, y'know, that's just how cops are, so I didn't think it had anything to do with the case…
Detective Adachi also questioned Saki-san, the one who found the announcer's body, on numerous occasions.
I heard it was because there was so little information about the case at the time, but…
It's certainly unusual to question someone with as strong an alibi as hers multiple times…
Then you think he had something else on his mind?
And that "something" is what connects those two victims to Adachi-san…?

If we'd just stopped to think things through, we'd have seen this so much sooner.



And every time, he'd tell us what the police were doing before saying, "Oops, I said too much," and clamming up.
Was that all to throw us off the trail…?
It would be no problem for him to drop that warning letter into your mailbox, either…
Not to mention the fact that he can destroy any evidence that might point to him.
> Various peculiarities have begun to cast a suspicious shadow on Adachi…
Then… is it really Adachi-san…?
We need to confirm this.
This is still only a tentative theory. We should work to confirm it as soon as possible.
This is Naoto Shirogane.
Something has occurred to me about the case, and I'd like to get Detective Adachi's input on it…
Hm…? The transport? It's right now!?
Right, I-I see… Thank you!
What was that about a transport…!?
Detective Adachi is headed to the hospital to prepare for Namatame's relocation.
We must head there at once!
> Things are moving quickly now…
> You feel that you are getting closer to the truth…

We were going to need a lot more to prove for sure that it was Adachi, though.



We rushed to the hospital, where we found Adachi pretty quickly.

VIDEO- "The Killer"

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Hey, do you know where Dojima-san went? They told me he snuck out of his room again…
Nurse: I assure you, we've made it clear to him several times that he needs to stay put, but he keeps going off on his own…
Geez… With Namatame finally relocated, I was looking forward to going home…
So… he's been relocated.
I've been wondering… You seem to be in a terrible hurry to get him out of this hospital.
Huh? Oh, well, yeah.
I mean, we can't leave him here with Dojima-san and Nanako-chan around…
Didn't you guys think so too?
Hey, what are you doing here, anyway? Nanako-chan's room is in the other wing?
Don't you think you should leave before Dojima-san finds you? If he catches you, he'll start pestering you again.
Adachi… Where's Namatame?
There's been a lot of noise today for some reason…
D-Dojima-san! What're you doing here!?
Namatame's already been relocated. I was looking for you so I could tell you that.
You did what!?
Who authorized that!? There's still more I need to ask him about!
G-Gimme a break, D-Dojima-san!

Dojima had been thinking things over too.



His motives are shaky, and his alibi is rock solid.
We closed a lot of loopholes on the basis of his testimony, but that part's still nagging at me…
Is this more of your "detective's intuition"?
He's already been relocated… It's no use hassling me about it.
And you kids should really get home, too. You're gonna get in the way of police business.
What's gotten into you today…? It's odd to see you taking work so seriously…
C-C'mon, I'm always giving 110% when it comes to the job!
You should get back to work too, Dojima-san. Your current assignment: Get better as soon as possible!
……
What are you all doing here?
We came to confirm something… with Adachi-san.
> You should question Adachi…

I mean if he was really at the Amagi Inn when Ms. Yamano vanished, that's strike one.



The time the announcer went missing…?
I can't say for sure offhand… It's not like I saw her or anything.
That was months and months ago, too. My memory's kinda hazy that far back…
> You should question Adachi…

And if he was really bringing Saki in for questioning more than he needed to, that's strike two.



Why wouldn't I question her? She discovered the announcer's body.
But she didn't know much about it, so I only talked with her once or twice.
Was that all you wanted to ask? Well, I hope it helped.
> There is still something you need to question Adachi about…

Then I asked the real winner.



Warning letter?
The one that was delivered to his house. It's in police custody now, correct?
Uhh… I don't really remember.
Hey, whaddya mean you don't remember?
I gave it to you to take down to the crime lab for processing. You're telling me you forgot!?
Ha… haha, I'm sorry…
Your accident was right after that, and what with one thing and another, it sorta slipped my mind…
B-Besides, that thing was just a prank, wasn't it?
Geez, what're you asking me all this for!?
For crying out loud, what's this all supposed to be about!?
Dojima-san, you really need to get back to your bed. That's why your wounds aren't healing.
And you all need to go home right now! Do you have any idea what time it is!?
I'm going back… I need to get to the station and report in.
Just one more thing, please.
We know for certain now that the first two murders weren't Namatame's doing.
Someone else killed them.
Adachi-san… Do you have any idea who that might be?
I-I have no idea what you're talking about…
'Cause we think it mighta been you.
What!? Th-That's ridiculous!

And that's when he struck out.



What did you just say…?
Put them all in…?
What's this "putting them in" business?
Do you know something about the method behind their murders…?
Don't tell me that all that talk about TVs and whatnot from before was…
I see… Now I finally understand.
To tell the truth, Adachi-san, I've been fixated on something you once said.
Before, I didn't know why… Only that it sounded a wrong note to me.
Do you recall when I read Namatame's diary at the scene of Dojima-san's accident?
At the time, I said, "Even the victims who survived and were never released to the public are written here."
And in response, your words were, "Wow… Then that settles it."
How, I wonder, would that "settle" anything?
At the time, the police had no idea that there had been other attempted murders related to the case…
You had no reason to say such a thing.
After all, there are countless examples of people disappearing for a few days…
Yet when I read the list of names, you raised no objection. Odd, that.
What do you say to that, Detective Adachi?
I-I don't know!
I-I said I'm busy…!

And Adachi charged through before we could stop him!



Adachi… Ngh… Dammit…
Adachi!!

We lost track of Adachi around Namatame's former room.



> Adachi isn't here either…
What the…!? I swear he ran this way…
Dammit… Where the hell'd he go?
Did you find him…?
I contacted security… Nobody's seen Adachi, and there's no record of anyone leaving this area.
So he must be still in this ward somewhere…
He's still here…? But we looked… We didn't find him anywhere…
That bastard…
Ungh…
Nurse: Dojima-san!
For heaven's sake, what are we going to do with you…!?
Sorry. I got carried away…
Nurse: Do you even want to get better!? If you keep this up, there could be lasting damages!
Have you forgotten how much trouble it caused you last time!?
You're right… Sorry…
You've got to find Adachi. I need to square this away with him… Please.

There was only one place he could have gone.



Yeah, I think so.
If he's the killer, he can go through, right?
You mean he went in through here?
We searched every inch in the direction he ran off… There's nowhere to hide. I don't think we coulda missed him.
He was cornered… It's highly probable that he escaped there.
If he does indeed turn up on the other side, hat should prove beyond a doubt that he is the true culprit.
Damn, so I guess we were right… What do we do now?
Let's go tomorrow.
I think it's too dangerous to go in from here.
We're not 100% positive he used this TV, and on top of that, we don't know where it might lead.
Let's go in from Junes, like always.
It'll be fine. So long as we're ready for him, we'll crush that jerk in one strike.
> The extremely suspicious detective, Adachi…
> You've taken another step towards the truth…

I still can't quite believe it, but one thing's for sure: Adachi's the real killer.



> You split up for today and you all went back home…

We're getting together tomorrow to try and track him down. Hopefully we can bring an end to this soon.

Next Time on Persona 4: Shadows