Ch.85Request Log #010 – The Missing Children (2)

Looking at the victim’s age, the first place to check would be adoption agencies. If someone wore a coat in May and smelled like fish, it would probably be best to assume they were a Lizardman.

I searched the phone book for large adoption agencies in New York.

The Continental Adoption Agency and Clement Adoption Agency seemed quite substantial, and the adoption department of the Lee & Westerson Foundation also appeared to be significant. Since the foundation would likely be the most troublesome, it would be better to visit there first.

I needed to know their location, so I called the number I found in the phone book. It took a while for the connection to go through, but once it did, someone answered immediately.

“Hello, Lee & Westerson Foundation Adoption Department. How may I help you?”

I didn’t know what kind of foundation it was. I’d never had any connection with charity or adoption matters. It would be better to visit in person and assess the atmosphere.

“This is John Crane from Crane Delivery Service. I’m calling because I have a package to deliver to the adoption agency, and, um, could you tell me where the foundation building is located? I really don’t understand why so many people send packages without writing the proper address…”

The receptionist didn’t hesitate to give me the address, responding to my rambling tone. Before leaving, I thought I should ask one more thing.

“Oh, are there other adoption agencies nearby? I think I need to check the Continental Adoption Agency and Clement Agency too. Someone just wrote ‘adoption agency’ without specifying which one. That’s why I called the largest and most reputable place first.”

The receptionist seemed quite pleased that I had called their department first, despite it being just a part of the foundation rather than a dedicated agency. She responded cheerfully.

“Even though you’re saying such nice things, there’s nothing I can do for you… Oh, they’re all nearby, so I’ll tell you when you get here! Is there anything else I should check so you don’t waste your trip? Really. If it’s someone from our adoption department, I’ll definitely warn them to be more specific when sending packages. Yes!”

People who spend all day talking to others on the phone often show familiarity with small kindnesses. That made things easier. In most situations, I could get by without awkwardness with such people.

“Is there a Lizardman in the adoption department? Looking at the package, it seems like it might be for them…”

“Lizardman, Lizardman… I’ll look into it by the time you arrive!”

Phone calls always end cleanly. To make a good impression, it would be better not to smell of cigarettes, so I focused on getting ready without smoking the cigarette I desperately wanted.

I took out a box from the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet and put in a couple of canned goods from the cupboard to give it some weight. I wrapped it in paper and tied it with string to make it look like a package.

When infiltrating a large place, pretending to be a delivery person worked best. People generally don’t suspect delivery personnel. I put on the shabby clothes I’d worn when looking for that half-blood witch last time and left the apartment.

I made eye contact with the goblin cleaning inside the apartment building. The landlord’s granddaughter, whose dark circles had noticeably diminished, was sweeping the corridor. I nodded a greeting to her.

She didn’t try to prove anything to me either. She just greeted me back and resumed sweeping, and I could hear her stomping her feet as if she was delighted just to have received my greeting.

I got straight into my car and headed to the Lee & Westerson Foundation building I’d heard about on the phone. It must have been quite a large foundation, as it had its own proper building in New York.

After getting out of the car, I tucked the fake package under my arm and went inside. There was a security guard, but showing the package served as an entry pass.

The lobby, decorated with elaborate sun-shaped patterns made of heavy metal, seemed too lavish for a charitable foundation.

I needed to ask where the adoption department was, so I approached the reception desk, but I heard footsteps coming toward me. Turning around, I saw a woman in a neat suit.

“Oh, are you the delivery person who called earlier? I was the receptionist who took your call. We don’t have any Lizardmen in our foundation’s adoption department. Could it be for another agency?”

I missed the chance to look around the adoption department because of her unnecessary kindness. I could check whether it was a lie or not after visiting all three agencies. For now, I just nodded.

Her kindness wasn’t completely useless though. As if telling me not to be too disappointed, she placed her hand on her chest and continued speaking cheerfully.

“But I think I know where the person you’re looking for might be. A friend in my department says that delivery people are constantly going in and out of the Continental Adoption Agency building right over there. Now that I think about it, I might have seen them too… Anyway, you’d better try the Continental Adoption Agency!”

I wish people would be this helpful when I identify myself as a detective. I made a face suggesting the job had become troublesome, but eventually smiled at her. She smiled back.

“Thanks to you, my job will be easier. You’ve done a good thing. Well…”

Since I was speaking to a good person, I didn’t lie. The job would be easier, and finding the child would indeed be doing something good. I left the building, receiving her smiling farewell.

I drove to the Continental Adoption Agency, which was less than a minute away. As soon as I parked, someone approached my car, but when they saw me getting out with a package, they turned back.

The level of security was different. They were definitely wary of outsiders. Did they have something to hide in the agency building? Once again, I showed the package and entered the building.

Unlike the bright and lavish lobby of the Lee & Westerson Foundation I had just visited, this interior was quite subdued. There were fewer receptionists, and it was so desolate that “barren” would be an appropriate description.

Parents looking to adopt would obviously prefer the Lee & Westerson Foundation. I approached the receptionists at the front and put down my package.

“Another package… Who is it for?”

If I could find out who was sending the packages, the case might be solved more easily. The vulnerability of a building is often not the open windows but the loose-lipped people.

“Well, this package doesn’t have a proper address. It’s supposed to be for a Lizardman working at this agency. Is there a Lizardman working here? I was told it’s for a Lizardman bigger than me… That’s really all I know. I’ve been running around all day.”

The receptionist answered immediately, as if there was no need to think about it. It seemed there was someone who received a lot of packages. This disguise had worked well before, but this time luck seemed to be on my side too.

“It must be for Karim. Go down the back corridor to the annex, find the stairs, and go down to the basement. He should be there. Here, take this visitor pass.”

She took out a piece of paper with a square drawn on it, stamped it with the date, and made a simple visitor pass. I took it and walked confidently into the agency.

Since this was a building in the middle of New York, I wouldn’t hear children crying here. After looking around the interior, I followed the receptionist’s directions to the annex.

This agency was indeed suspicious. The building layout was clearly intentional, and there was no reason to stick someone handling normal adoption work in a basement of an annex.

I checked the gun in my coat. The eight-shot pistol with a silencer attached, one round chambered and a seven-round magazine inserted, was always reliable.

The annex was more business-like. It didn’t seem like a place for outsiders, as there was a pile of garbage—mostly delivery boxes—stacked against one wall, and there wasn’t even a reception desk.

What was going on here? I followed the stairs down to the basement. There didn’t seem to be many people around.

The basement was just that—a basement. The light bulbs were dim, and the air was damp. There was a long corridor with several doors on both sides, but most were labeled as storage rooms and had their lights off.

More of an exile than an office. I went all the way to the end and knocked on the only door with a light on. The immediate response suggested this Lizardman was also expecting a package.

“Come in.”

It was the distinctive gravelly voice of a Lizardman. Now I understood why he wore a coat. A cold-blooded Lizardman working in a place like this would need thick clothes to maintain body temperature.

I opened the door and entered. He frowned his scaly face in annoyance at seeing an unfamiliar face. This confirmed that outsiders didn’t come here often.

“What’s this? I thought you were someone from the agency… Anyway, leave the package here and go. Close the door properly. Got it?”

I looked him up and down. He was a good span taller than me, emitted a fishy breath odor even from this distance, and wore a thick coat over a shirt containing hot water packs.

I didn’t expect to meet the child abductor so soon. Still holding the package, I approached his desk and placed it down. Then, casually speaking, I moved my hand to my coat.

“I need to get a signature for delivery confirmation. So, just a moment…”

He responded with a whistling breath of acknowledgment, and I pulled the gun from my coat, aiming it at his head from a distance where he couldn’t reach out and grab it.

“Amazing how a single box like this can get you into anywhere. Isn’t that right? Don’t make this difficult and stand up.”

The Lizardman sighed and stood up. He raised his hands, showing his palms. He smacked his elongated snout and sneered.

“I knew I’d get screwed someday. So, did the councilman send you?”

“I don’t know who that is, but thanks for letting me know a councilman is involved. It’s not often I receive such kindness while working as a detective.”

He seemed to realize only now that I was a detective who had come without knowing anything. Both this Lizardman and this “councilman” character knew what they were doing was dirty work. He gave a hollow laugh.

“You seem like too expensive a detective for those kids’ parents to hire.”

I didn’t answer. There was no need to confirm my intentions just because I understood his. He continued speaking.

“Anyway, getting in with that little package was easy. But how will you get out? You can’t carry me on your back, and I won’t follow you out willingly.”

“I’ll have to handle it the Blingkerton way. Or, I have a warehouse rented on Long Island. Which would you prefer?”

“I don’t really like the sea breeze on Long Island…”

The lizard’s eyes were flashing, looking for an opportunity. As he opened his snout to answer, I heard the sound of his shoe scraping against the floor. He was preparing to lunge.

“Because it’s cold!”

Noticing his intent, I stepped back a couple of times. The Lizardman immediately jumped over the desk, and I lowered my gun to put a bullet in his knee.

Although I had a silencer attached, it didn’t muffle the gunshot much. I must have used it too much. It didn’t matter. This was a remote basement in a sparsely populated building.

Still, I should limit myself to two shots. Despite his surprise attack failing and taking a bullet to the knee, his eyes remained sharp as he charged at me with his good leg. I met his charge head-on.

A scaly hand with gleaming sharp claws came at me, trying to scratch me. He was slow—much slower than the Hanger of New York. I immediately grabbed his hand, pinning his index and middle fingers.

“So you prefer the Blingkerton way?”

I calmly murmured as I applied pressure to the fingers I was holding. Once again, my cursed double strength and vitality proved useful. As his fingers began to bend, the Lizardman’s posture started to crumble.

“Y-you bastard! What kind of strength…”

If you don’t know about the Argonne Invincibles, you can’t prepare for them. With a crack, the distinctive sound of joints breaking echoed, and his two fingers bent at an impossible angle.

Cold-blooded creatures were easy to subdue. When they bled and lost heat, their body temperature dropped, and they would fall into a death-like sleep.

Unable to tend to either his hand or knee due to the pain, he trembled as I took the hot water pack from his chest and threw it on the floor, stomping on it to burst it.

“You knew you were screwed. You should have screamed. Instead of foolishly charging at me. Has your brain hardened from dealing with babies all the time?”

More and more blood was flowing from his knee, which was now barely moving. When the warmth in the blood disappears, cold-blooded creatures can’t move. The expression on his face was also fading.

To maintain their normal state, people needed to challenge themselves. They needed to push their limits. If you only deal with one-year-olds, you become someone who can only handle such children.

Still, as he said, I couldn’t just carry this Lizardman out. Hoping to find something useful in the storage rooms, I hoisted him up and began searching them.

There was one good find. In a storage room full of cleaning supplies, there were janitors’ clothes. Conveniently, there was also a pile of garbage in this annex building.

I put on the janitor’s uniform over my clothes and changed my hat. I grabbed a rusty-wheeled handcart and a large garbage bag, went outside, filled the bag with delivery boxes, and brought it back.

Then, I hid the unconscious Lizardman in the bag, loaded it onto the handcart, and left the annex corridor.

Ah, as he mentioned, I left the package on his desk. Who would have thought he’d want two cans of tomato soup that badly? I guess I didn’t know much about infant kidnappers.

The receptionist didn’t recognize me, and the security guard at the front of the building didn’t suspect a janitor heading to the garbage dump in the alley next to the building. I threw the bag containing him into the dumpster and returned to the annex.

Getting in cleanly wasn’t difficult, but getting out cleanly required more effort. Still, having come this far, there was only one thing left to do.

I took off the janitor’s clothes and walked out the main entrance, pretending to be a delivery person who had completed his delivery. I walked out into the May morning sunshine like someone without a shred of shame.

I got into my car and gave a friendly greeting to the security guard. Only then did I return to being a detective, driving around the building once and briefly stopping in the alley with the dumpster to load the garbage bag containing the Lizardman and the package into my trunk.

It seemed like the time had come to use the dockside warehouse that sat empty eleven months of the year. Now it was time for a proper interrogation. I didn’t need many supplies. A bag of ice would be enough.