Stolen Flower [Case File: Hanako Mikado]
Prior to her visit to Lavender Apartments, Naoto had started thinking of places of an ideal kidnapping, let alone a child. After talking to Tasuku about the case, she was able to cross the home out of the possible locations, leaving but a few places left. The school was an option, however, from what she heard about Hanako, she wasn’t the type to go off with a stranger—not to mention there would have been more witnesses, including classmates who would know if the person wasn’t who Hanako usually went home with. The same train of ideas followed a few of the other places Naoto had in mind; most of them were stores or shops that would have had workers or customers who would have seen any suspicious activity.
This in mind, Naoto made her way towards the playground and the gardens; as a public place where people would just come and go, meaning there was much less of a chance of people noticing a child or who the child went off with. Her first stop would be the park; recalling what Tasuku said about Hanako wanting to go out and make friends, the park was the ideal place for someone her age to go in search of a playmate. It was a short trek to the playground, where Naoto found herself in a bit of nostalgia. At her roots, she knew she was still easily considered a child, though; she struggled with and ultimately refused a normal childhood growing up, instead opting to follow her grandfather to his cases and watch—later helping him with them.
“How terrible, to be taken from a place like this.” Her words barely a murmur to herself, as she surveyed the sandy area, dark hues working to pick up any forms of clues, despite the amount of time passed since the original incident. Of the few children playing in the area, there wasn’t a parent or any form of supervision with them—but why would they? Up until the case of Hanako Mikado, there was never a looming concern over how safe it was for a person, regardless of age, to be out in broad daylight alone. Even now, a week since the kidnapping, it seemed as though, as she had expected, the majority of the population was moving on with their lives, as though such a thing had never happened and there wasn’t a child still missing. Truly, how peaceful it must be for the people of the city to be able to live in pure ignorance of what happens around them that doesn’t involve them; it was a painful reality to face.
Her eyes first caught sight of the tire tracks—something simple and obvious, as they pointed in the direction of a single lane street not far from the park area. It was a bit too obvious, though, the entire case was a bit mediocre to the young detective. Going to a playground for a child, and leaving in such a rush as to leave marks on the road—whoever the kidnapper was, was probably not someone who had a lot of experience in such a field. Turning her attention away from the roadway, the young detective continued her rounds around the park; as a place where people tended to go often, things like prints or signs of struggle were difficult to find fresh. Her attention was grabbed by the very full waste bin—if the perp. was as novice at this as Naoto was expecting, it wouldn’t be surprising to find something within the pile of waste in the metal space. It didn’t take long for her to find what one might consider a “diamond in the rough” within the trash, as gloved hands uncovered a piece of cloth, something sort of a handkerchief in shape and size. Normally a scrap cloth wouldn’t so much be an odd thing to find, yet it was a clean rag in appearance, and didn’t match other articles within the trash. More noticeably to the detective, the section of cloth had a particular odor to it, mixed with the stock smell of waste— “Chloroform.”
Placing the cloth into a plastic bag, Naoto gave the bin one final look down, before excusing it to hold nothing else in the aid of the case. Removing working gloves, Naoto turned around, planning to look further into things around the playground, to find herself in the company of a couple of children. Of course, how funny it must have looked to them to see someone digging through the trash can so diligently, even taking something pulled out of it. However, this also gave her the chance to ask the children about the case.
“Was there a little girl that used to come by here a lot, and hasn’t been back in a while?” Naoto was certain the easiest way to communicate with such young children was through the process of rewards; “I’m a detective, looking for someone named Hanako; someone took her, and her brother is worried about her—have any of you seen her with someone?” Hopefully, it wasn’t too difficult of a subject matter for younger children to understand.