Pathway to Japanese Literature

Test of Courage

The Boy Detectives Club—led by Kobayashi Yoshio, boy assistant to renowned detective Akechi Kogoro—was organized with approximately twenty boys ranging from fifth and sixth graders in elementary school to first and second graders in junior high school. Not all of them lived nearby, and since many attended different schools, these twenty members couldn’t always gather together. Depending on the case, the lineup of boys involved in investigations would differ.

Since they were all students, they couldn’t engage in detective work during school hours. They also had to study at home. Therefore, except on Sundays, they could only work for short periods. Moreover, since parents often hadn’t granted permission for their children to go out on nighttime adventures, Leader Kobayashi made it a rule to avoid gathering the members at night whenever possible. He made it a practice to gather only the boys who had obtained permission until around seven or eight o'clock, taking care not to keep them out any later.

However, since incidents often occurred at night when work had to be done late, they made it a rule to use the Street Urchin Task Force instead of the Boy Detectives Club. The Street Urchin Task Force consisted of boys who scavenged in "Ant Town," and since nighttime adventures didn’t faze them, they were perfectly suited for the job. When there were no cases, the Boy Detectives Club members would gather at Detective Akechi’s office to learn various things from him. They were gradually acquiring the forensic knowledge necessary for detectives—observing things carefully, deduction methods to uncover events’ true meanings, microscope techniques, and chemical experiments.

Moreover, to strengthen their bodies, many members were practicing judo, and since Inoue Ichiro-kun’s father was a former boxer, there were also members learning boxing alongside Inoue-kun.

The members would sometimes hold "Tests of Courage." Boys in the Edo and Meiji periods often held what they called "Tests of Courage"—events designed to prove one's mettle. On pitch-black nights, they would walk alone through desolate cemeteries and similar places to test their bravery. Deep within these burial grounds, several wooden tags would be placed. Each person had to go retrieve one and bring it back. The boys of old genuinely believed ghosts existed, so walking alone through cemeteries at midnight filled them with utter terror. Yet they deliberately subjected themselves to this frightening ordeal to toughen their spirits.

Among the boys were pranksters who would drape white cloths over their heads, hide behind graves, and try to scare others, so the younger boys would become jittery during these tests of courage. However, those pranks ultimately helped the boys of old strengthen their hearts. Among the Boy Detectives Club members, there wasn’t a single boy who believed ghosts truly existed. But even so, walking alone through pitch-dark places remained slightly unsettling. Therefore, to ensure they wouldn’t fear the darkness, young Kobayashi had taken to holding courage-testing sessions modeled after the traditional Test of Courage from time to time.

Since there was to be another session that night, seven boys who had obtained permission from their fathers and mothers had gathered. The location was Kinoshita-kun’s house on the outskirts of Setagaya Ward. Kinoshita Shoichi-kun was also one of the members, and since his house stood near a large forest—perfect for a test of courage—everyone gathered at Kinoshita-kun’s house from evening onward. They waited until outside grew pitch-dark before setting out for that forest.

However, at that time, eerie rumors had been circulating about this forest. They said will-o’-the-wisps appeared.

Will-o’-the-wisps are also called fireballs in some regions. A round fireball, like a tadpole, silently trails a tail as it flies through the air. There are red fireballs and blue fireballs. People of old would say these were the souls of the dead flying about and be frightened. However, nowadays, no one believes such things anymore. Many people now consider that what they call fireballs are actually misperceptions—they mistake burning phosphorus for fireballs, see clusters of tiny insects flying under stray light as resembling fireballs, perceive meteors as fireball-like, and convince themselves that various other things they misobserve are fireballs.

But even if one thought that way logically, hearing people say fireballs appeared still left an uneasy feeling. Even the Boy Detectives Club members who didn't believe in fireballs couldn't help feeling unsettled upon hearing those rumors. Young Kobayashi had deliberately chosen this forest—the one with those unsettling rumors about you. Since they were all courageous boys, having such rumors actually made the test of courage more effective. The seven arrived at the forest entrance. It was still around eight o'clock, but with no houses nearby, the area lay in pitch darkness. The sky hung completely cloud-covered, not a single star visible. It was a deep forest where large trees grew thickly. Peering inside revealed darkness like black velvet.

“Everyone, you know there’s a large flat stone on the far side of this forest, right? “You checked during the day, so you know where it is, right?” “On that stone lie seven wooden tags.” “Each of you will enter the forest one by one and retrieve one tag each.” “Understood?”

Kobayashi-kun instructed the six boys. "I know," "I'll go first!"

Inoue Ichiro-kun, skilled at boxing, stepped forward a beat early and declared. “As expected, you’ve got courage. “Alright! Inoue-kun will be the first one in.” “But you, take care with the fireballs now.” Young Kobayashi lightly teased Inoue-kun. “Where around here do the fireballs appear?” “Kinoshita-kun.” A boy asked timidly.

“The greengrocer near my house saw it,” Kinoshita-kun said. “In the middle of this forest stands a large evergreen oak. They say a blue fireball silently floated up from beneath it—then smoothly climbed all the way to the treetop like it was scaling the trunk before flying off into the sky.” “How big was it?”

“They say it’s about thirty centimeters in diameter. It had a long tail like a tadpole’s, and they said it was swaying unsteadily.” “Whoa, that’s insane! If that thing jumps at us, we’ll be in real trouble.” “Stop trying to scare us! I’m the one who’s going in now, aren’t I?” Inoue-kun shouted scoldingly. And then,

“Well then, I’m off.”

With that abrupt declaration, he vanished into the forest.

A face glowing in the darkness.

Inoue Ichiro-kun walked alone through the black velvet darkness. Because the big trees stood in rows, he advanced while touching their trunks.

It was as if he had gone blind; nothing was visible. With no wind to rustle the leaves and being far from the car-filled town, the surroundings fell into such profound silence that he began to wonder if his ears had stopped working.

It was about a hundred meters to the large stone where the wooden tags were placed. Inoue-kun had only managed to advance about thirty meters. If he wasn’t careful, he’d trip over tree roots and nearly fall, so he couldn’t walk quickly.

When he suddenly looked, there in the depths of the forest, something white and glowing was floating in midair. *Oh? Did the moon come out?*

There was no way the moon could appear in the middle of the forest. Then, what on earth could that glowing thing be? Inoue-kun immediately recalled the fireballs. If it was a fireball, there was nothing to fear. Determined to get closer and identify its true form, he proceeded in that direction.

However, when he had advanced five or six steps, Inoue-kun came to an abrupt halt. Because it was not a fireball.

He had heard that fireballs had tadpole-like tails. But the round thing glowing in the distance had no tail. It had no tail and was simply floating in midair. And then, that thing began steadily drawing closer. Inoue-kun was so startled he nearly bolted.

For the white glowing round object had two bright red eyes. Large round eyes were glowing fiery red.

And then there was its mouth. Ah, the monster wrenched its mouth wide open. The inside of its mouth burned bright red. From that crimson maw—split open to the ears—it looked ready to spew flames at any moment.

The silver head with red eyes floated lightly in midair for a moment—then suddenly lunged forward with a *whoosh…!* right before Inoue-kun’s eyes, didn’t it?

“Gah…!” Even Inoue-kun couldn’t help but let out a scream and leap back. And then he fled in a panic outside the forest. No matter how skilled he was at boxing, he was no match for a monster.

Kobayashi-kun and the six boys waiting at the forest entrance heard a voice cry out, “Gah…!” Just as they were worrying about what had happened, Inoue-kun came rushing out with terrifying force.

Because it was pitch dark, they couldn’t tell who it was in that instant. The six boys were so startled they nearly bolted.

“Oh, it’s Inoue-kun. What happened?” “What happened?”

When the boy Kobayashi asked, Inoue-kun gasped for breath,

“I-It’s… a monster! The monster lunged at me!” Weren’t the boys supposed to be the ones who didn’t believe in monsters?

“A monster?” “There’s no way something like that could exist!” “You must’ve mistaken it for something else.” A boy named Noda snapped reproachfully. Noda-kun was a strong boy who practiced judo. “Mistaken?!” “I’m no coward!” “It was definitely a monster’s head flying at me.” “Its bright red eyes were blazing.” “Its mouth looked ready to breathe fire.” “And its whole face was silver… Not a fireball.” “Fireballs don’t have eyes or mouths!”

Inoue-kun was vehemently insisting.

“Then why don’t we all go check it out?” The boy Kobayashi said resolutely.

"Yeah, let's go, let's go!" They all agreed in unison. There wasn’t a single coward among them who would flee upon hearing the word ‘ghost.’ "Then follow me."

With that, Kobayashi-kun took the lead and stepped into the pitch-dark forest.

Night Glow Monster With Kobayashi-kun leading the way, the seven boys entered the forest, but inside it was pitch black, with no sign of any mysterious glowing objects anywhere. They had advanced about thirty meters, yet nothing appeared.

“Inoue-kun, there’s nothing here. “After all, it might have just been your imagination.”

Noda-kun’s voice whispered in a hushed, mumbling tone.

“That’s strange… Earlier, it was definitely floating right around here in midair.”

Inoue-kun whispered back. Then he peered restlessly into the surrounding darkness.

And then, at that very moment. From out of nowhere came a strange sound. At first, it was a faint, indiscernible sound like objects brushing past each other, but as they strained their ears, they felt as though someone in the darkness was snickering.

Could it be that one of the seven boys was laughing?

“Who’s laughing?”

Kobayashi-kun asked in a suppressed voice. No one answered. It was pitch black, and they couldn't see each other's faces, but the laughter didn't seem to be coming from any of the boys.

Before long, the stifled giggles gradually grew louder. It was indeed laughing. It was laughing mockingly at them.

Finally, the laughter erupted into a booming guffaw.

“Wahahaha… Wahahaha….”

It was the laughter of a demon that echoed through the entire forest.

The boys involuntarily clung to each other's bodies and stood frozen in place. In the pitch-black darkness, having only that monstrous laughter echoing was truly your sinister ordeal.

“Ah! There it is!”

Inoue-kun shouted in a suppressed voice. Everyone was startled and looked around.

It was way over there. There, floating lightly among the trees of the forest—now visible, now hidden—wasn’t that silver head bobbing in the air? The boys stiffened their bodies and stared fixedly at the glowing head. Just when they thought it was about to swoosh straight forward, it floated lightly again, drifting closer and closer. It was just as Inoue-kun had said. A silver face, perfectly round, with eyes burning crimson and a gaping red mouth—an indescribably terrifying visage.

“Everyone, don’t run away. There’s no way a ghost exists. Someone is playing a prank to scare us. That must be it. So let’s all work together to catch that guy!”

Kobayashi-kun whispers. "Yeah! Let's take him down!"

Noda-kun energetically whispered back.

There, the boys joined hands and began cautiously inching toward the monster's face.

Then, as if realizing this, the floating head gradually began retreating backward. Floating lightly, it drifted further and further away into the distance. When they realized the opponent had started fleeing, the boys grew even more spirited.

Picking up their pace even more, they chased after the glowing head.

In the pitch-black forest, they advanced as if threading through the large tree trunks blocking their path. The silver head drifted mockingly through the air, floating lightly as it retreated deeper into the forest—but then stopped dead in midair. And now, with its crimson eyes, it stared fixedly in their direction. The boys too came to a halt. A breathless standoff.

When about twenty seconds had passed, the boys felt something glowing brightly engulf them, their vision swimming dizzily as if they were about to faint.

Ah! Look! There stood a silver-glowing human figure! That terrifying head now connected to a torso beneath it. And that torso too glowed with an unnerving silvery light. The monster stood completely naked in a fierce Nio guardian stance. Its entire body was wrapped in a halo-like radiance. Night Glow Monster! This was truly the night-illumined human! How could this fiend possess such a luminous body? Those terrifying perfectly round eyes blazing crimson, that flame-spewing mouth— Had such a monster ever before appeared on Earth?

The boys stood frozen by the sheer wonder and terror, feeling as though they were caught in a dream.

“Wahahahaha, wahahahaha….”

The silver monster opened its blazing crimson mouth and let out a laugh that echoed through the forest. Laughing, the monster’s glowing body smoothly left the ground and floated into midair. And then began steadily ascending higher and higher into the sky. Could this Night Glow Monster have mastered the art of flight? In the black velvet darkness floated a human figure glittering silver. It kept rising higher and higher into the sky. What a beautiful sight. A scene both bone-chillingly terrifying and eerily beautiful.

The boys were staring at it with bated breath.

A Floating Head in the Sky

In the forest near Kinoshita Shōichi-kun's house in Setagaya Ward, two or three days had passed without incident since the appearance of the silver-glowing monster. At that time, cackling with laughter, the monster had floated up to the top of a tall tree before vanishing completely into the dark sky.

The boy members, frightened, fled straight back to their respective homes and told their fathers about it, but— “There’s no way something that ridiculous could happen. “You must have mistaken burning phosphorus for it.” With that said, they didn’t take it seriously at all.

It was only natural. A human being whose entire body glowed silver, whose eyes shone bright red, and whose mouth blazed like fire—such a creature couldn’t possibly exist in this world.

But the boys had not been dreaming. That terrifying creature was indeed a real monster.

A few days later, one night, this time in the middle of Chiyoda Ward's mansion district, the silver figure appeared.

It was already past eleven o'clock at night.

In a desolate mansion district where wide vacant lots still remained here and there—the old night watchman,

"Fire patrol!" Clack... clack...

he was walking along while striking wooden clappers. He had a paper lantern hanging at his waist, but with what appeared to be a small candle inside, its light so faint it seemed on the verge of going out.

It was a pitch-black town with long walls stretching along both sides. The streetlight too had its bulb shattered and gone out, making it so dark you wouldn't know if someone pinched your nose.

On one side was a concrete permanent wall, but the other side had a jet-black painted wooden fence that made everything appear even more pitch-black. As he was passing by the black-painted wooden fence, a section of the fence seemed to sway unsteadily. The night watchman started and came to an abrupt halt.

"What is this? There’s a small swing door in the wall—could it have moved from the wind? If that’s the case, it’s a security lapse. They should’ve properly secured that door."

The old man, thinking this, groped his way toward the black-painted fence. The lantern light was dim, so he couldn’t see clearly.

Then, something ominously soft touched his hand. Startled, he stepped back and grabbed the lantern at his waist. As he tried to get a better look, the lantern was suddenly knocked to the ground, extinguishing its flame. Something invisible and pitch-black was standing there and knocked down the lantern. The soft thing that had touched his hand earlier must have been its body.

“Who’s there?! “Who’s there?!”

The old man, enduring his creeping sense of dread, shouted at the top of his voice. The figure remained silent. Since both the pitch-black figure and the jet-black wall before it were equally dark, it remained completely invisible.

The figure had pressed its body flat against the wall, crawling sideways like a spider—perhaps it had already escaped. Or was it still remaining perfectly still in its original position? Not knowing whether the figure was human or beast made it all the more eerie. At that moment, right before his nose in the darkness, a shudder-inducing cackle—kera, kera, kera—was heard.

Startled, he stared in that direction when suddenly—at about the same height as his own face on the black-painted wooden fence—a human face appeared! It was a pale-glowing face. Within it, two enormous eyes—each three times larger than an ordinary human’s—glowed bright red. It was a silver face with red eyes. That face alone floated in midair. Cackle, cackle, cackle...

That face opened its mouth and laughed. Ah, that mouth! The inside of its mouth was bright red. It was as if fire were burning there. Overcome with terror, the night watchman let out an “Agh!” and fell backward onto his rear. Then, perhaps startled by the scream, the silver face vanished in an instant as if erased. The old man finally stood up, rubbing his waist. And then, as if declaring he couldn’t stay another moment in this ominous place, he began walking briskly away.

However, before he had even walked two meters—once again—right by his ear came that cackling laughter. Startled, when he looked toward it—there on the black-painted wooden fence—that silver face with blazing red eyes had reappeared!

The old man stood frozen, rooted to the spot. Because if he ran away, he thought the monster would lunge at him from behind with a growl and bite him.

The silver-faced monster smoothly climbed to the top of the black-painted wooden fence. Then, perched neatly atop the horizontal plank at the very peak, it flapped its crimson mouth open and closed while glaring at him with those red eyes, cackling.

“Agh!”

The old man fled in a mindless panic. Terrified that at any moment that red-eyed head would come leaping at him from behind, he ran and ran blindly, not even aware he was alive.

Finally, the black-painted wooden fence disappeared, and the other side grew dimly bright. Around the corner ahead, there appeared to be an ever-burning light standing.

In great haste, he turned that corner. Far ahead, a dimly lit electric light was glowing. When he looked, under that electric light, someone was walking toward him with clack, clack footsteps.

“Ah! It’s a police officer!”

It was a uniformed police officer patrolling the town at night. The old man ran toward him with great joy. “S-sir—it’s terrible! “A silver-glowing head... on top of that black-painted wooden fence...”

The old man, stammering out those words, pointed toward the other side of the corner.

“What? A silver-glowing head?” The police officer responded in a strange, muffled voice. When he looked closely, it was a strange police officer. From under the visor of the police cap, a black cloth hung down in front of his face. Wrapped in that cloth, his face was not visible at all.

The old man made a strange face and stared at the black cloth.

“Oh? A silver head.” “It had big crimson eyes, blew fire from its mouth, and was perched neatly atop the wooden fence.” “A monster that’s just a head.” “Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh….”

The police officer uttered a strange laugh.

“Heh, heh, heh… Was it a face like this?” With that, he removed his police cap and showed it.

“Agh!”

The old man once again let out a scream and fell backward onto his rear.

The police officer’s face was a bluish silver. Two crimson eyes were glaring this way. And then, opening that fiery red mouth like flames, it cackled—cackle, cackle, cackle—.

The old man, overwhelmed by terror, finally lost consciousness. And when he came to after some time, neither the police officer’s figure nor the silver face were anywhere to be seen.

Cemetery Terror

Then, two days later in the dead of night, that silver monster appeared once again in the cemetery of Myōkei Temple in Shirokane-cho, Minato Ward.

Once again, it was around eleven o'clock at night. When the head priest got up to wash his hands and looked out the window toward the cemetery, he thought he saw something white moving among the rows of graves. Suspecting a thief might have broken in, he woke the temple caretaker and ordered him to patrol the graveyard.

The caretaker entered the graveyard carrying a flashlight. Looming large ones, huddled small ones—gravestones of various shapes stretched out in dense rows, with a narrow path winding its way through them. The caretaker tried walking all around the area. And then, when he reached the center of the graveyard— From the darkness, someone suddenly leaped out and snatched away the flashlight he was holding.

When the flashlight went out, the surroundings became so dark that he had to grope his way forward.

He had no idea who the attacker was.

The caretaker braced himself, expecting someone to leap at him any moment, when something truly bizarre occurred.

On top of a gravestone ahead, a silver, round object suddenly flashed into view.

It was a silver face. It was glaring fixedly at him with big, crimson-glowing eyes. The mouth snapped open.

Ah, that mouth! It was a bright red mouth, flaming like fire. And then came an unmistakable, sinister cackle—cackle, cackle, cackle—didn’t it?

On top of the gravestone, perched neatly, was a silver head. The monster that was just a head was laughing with its bright red mouth. Could such a strange thing even exist? The caretaker shuddered and became completely unable to move.

Then, the head on the gravestone suddenly disappeared. “Huh? Then… was what I just saw merely a trick of my mind?”

Just as he was thinking this, didn’t the same silver head suddenly flash into view atop another gravestone two meters away?

And with its red mouth, it cackled—cackle, cackle. After a moment, it vanished again in a flash. No sooner had it vanished than it reappeared atop a gravestone in a different direction, its crimson mouth flapping open and closed. Then it would vanish here, appear there, darting from gravestone to gravestone all around, moving about frantically.

The caretaker looked this way and that until he felt like his head was spinning. In the end, it began to seem as though silver heads were perched on every gravestone—dozens upon dozens of them—all glaring at the caretaker and laughing with a cacophony of cackles: cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle.

At that moment, someone from behind tightly grabbed the caretaker’s arm.

Startled, he whirled around to find a figure in white garments standing there. “Ah! Mr. Jōnen!” “Yeah, it’s me.” It was Jōnen, a young monk disciple of the head priest. He had apparently leapt from his bed, wearing a white cotton nightgown with a narrow sash.

“That’s someone playing a prank. They’re wearing black clothes, so only their head looks visible.” “There’s nothing to be scared of.” “Let’s go catch him together!” The young monk was remarkably vigorous. Hearing this, the caretaker also began to feel energized.

“Yeah, I used t’have a body trained in judo back in my day. No way I’d lose t’some monster like that.”

“Alright! Let’s take him down.” “Gramps, you come from that side—I’ll take this side. We’ll trap him in a pincer move.” “Got it.” “Alright, let’s go!”

Thereupon, the two leaped forward from both sides of the gravestone where the silver head was perched.

Cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle...

The monster was still laughing. Because it never imagined they would come to capture it, it had let its guard down.

Thereupon, as the two came charging from both sides, there was nothing it could do. In an instant, a terrifying grapple began.

The monster did have a body. It wore a tight-fitting black shirt along with black gloves and socks. No matter how monstrous it was, it couldn’t withstand the combined strength of two. At one point, it looked like they had pinned it down. The three bodies, still locked in struggle, rolled between the gravestones. As they grappled, there came a ripping sound—the chest of the monster’s black shirt tore open. And what appeared from beneath was—oh!—a silver body; the monster’s entire form glowed silver.

When the two of them noticed this, they instinctively froze in shock and loosened their grip. Taking advantage of this opening, the monster pushed the two away, sprang to its feet in a flash, and abruptly began running off into the distance.

And then, just as the Boy Detectives Club members had witnessed the other night, the same thing occurred.

Deep within the graveyard was a grove, and within it towered a large cedar tree. It was a massive tree measuring ten meters. There, under the cedar tree, stood a completely silver human who had removed his black shirt, facing their direction. Enormous crimson eyes, a massive red mouth that looked ready to spew flames—that mouth kept opening and closing as it laughed: cackle... cackle... cackle...

Seeing the terrifying form of its entire body shining silver, the two of them suddenly lost all courage to approach. What on earth could this silver creature be? Was it human? An animal? Or perhaps a being from another world that had come to Earth from a distant star?

Soon, something even more bizarre occurred. The silver creature began rising into the sky. It wasn't scaling the cedar tree's trunk. It was gliding upward along the densely leaf-covered surface.

This was unmistakably beyond human capability. Could it be that this was indeed a monster from the world of stars?

In an instant, the silver creature climbed to the top of the cedar tree. And then, in a flash, it vanished completely. Since the monster showed no sign of appearing no matter how long they waited, the two returned to the head priest’s room to report this and immediately called 110. Then, within five minutes, a white patrol car arrived. Using a small searchlight installed in the vehicle, they illuminated the cemetery and cedar trees to investigate, but the monster’s figure was nowhere to be found.

So, had the monster slithered up the cedar tree and vanished high into the dark sky from its peak? And had it returned to some starry world beyond? In this way, the Night Glow Monster had manifested three times across Tokyo, with the third appearance escalating into such commotion that police officers rushed to the scene—the newspapers could hardly stay silent. Not only Tokyo papers but even provincial ones ran articles about this bizarre Night Glow Monster in glaring headlines.

Even readers accustomed to articles about bloody crimes were utterly astonished by the appearance of this ghost-like silver monster. Particularly in Tokyo, people were on edge, everyone nervously wondering if that terrifying silver creature might be prowling around their homes in the dead of night.

It was around the time when artificial satellites were being launched and talk of flying saucers had grown rampant again that malicious rumors spread—whispers claiming the silver monster might be an emissary from some distant star.

Magic Business Card

The rumors of the Night Glow Human—the Night Glow Monster—had already spread throughout Japan. This was because not only the major newspapers in Tokyo and Osaka but even provincial papers across the country had splashed stories about this terrifying monster across their pages in bold headlines.

A human whose face and body glowed with a pale silver light; eyes three times the size of a normal person’s that shone crimson; a mouth burning red within—a monster poised to breathe fire at any moment. Now just its head would float in midair, now its entire silver body would appear—manifesting across various parts of Tokyo, making every soul in the city tremble with fear. Whenever they tried to catch it, this monster would slither up a tall tree and vanish into thin air. Could it be that this creature was some unknowable being from a distant star’s world?

One evening amid such commotion，in the reception room of Akechi Detective Agency，the young assistant Miss Mayumi and young Kobayashi were discussing various matters concerning the monster. Detective Akechi was away on a trip to Niigata for a case，so they were keeping watch over the office.

It was around seven in the evening. The telephone on the table blared loudly. Kobayashi-kun picked up the receiver and held it to his ear. “Is this the Akechi Detective Agency? Is Detective Akechi there?”

It was an unfamiliar male voice. “The Detective is away on a trip. May I ask who you are?” “I’m Sugimoto from Setagaya.” “The Night Glow Monster is coming to my house tonight.” “That’s why I wanted to ask for Detective Akechi’s assistance.” “Huh?! The Night Glow Monster?!”

Startled by Kobayashi’s shrill cry, Miss Mayumi hurried over to the telephone. “That’s correct. The police will also come, but I would like to request Detective Akechi’s presence as well,” said Sugimoto. “I’ve heard all about Detective Akechi from my friend Prosecutor Hanazaki. For such a strange case, there’s no choice but to rely on Detective Akechi’s power.” “Unfortunately, Detective Akechi won’t be back for another two or three days,” Kobayashi replied. “In place of Detective Akechi, may I come instead?”

“May I ask who you are?” “You sound like a child.”

The man named Sugimoto asked back suspiciously. "I am Kobayashi - Detective Akechi’s boy assistant."

“Ah! The famous Kobayashi-kun?” “Yeah, I’ve heard about you from Prosecutor Hanazaki too.” “He said you’re quite the detective yourself.” “Yes, please come.” “Until Detective Akechi returns, I’ll have you guard my treasure.” “Huh?! A treasure?” “It’s my precious treasure.” “The Night Glow Monster is after it.” “Well then, come right away, alright?”

Then, Mr. Sugimoto gave directions to his house and hung up the phone. Young Kobayashi looked at Miss Mayumi’s face where she stood beside him. “Is it all right if I go?” “Yes, that’s fine. Come by car right away. I’ll keep watch here. Please don’t let your guard down.” Miss Mayumi placed her hand on Young Kobayashi’s shoulder and spoke encouragingly.

It was around eight o'clock when Kobayashi-kun arrived at Mr. Sugimoto's house in Setagaya. It was a splendid mansion. A concrete wall enclosed a stone gate and an iron door adorned with vine patterns. Upon passing through the gate, there was a garden, beyond which stood a two-story Western-style building. It was later discovered that Mr. Sugimoto had been a wealthy man who served as a director for several companies. And yet, he was still around forty years old—quite young for his position. He must have been an exceptionally skilled businessman.

When he pressed the entrance bell, the maid opened the door and showed him into the parlor. “Ah! It’s good of you to come. Now, please have a seat.”

Mr. Sugimoto was wearing a well-tailored suit. When he sat down in a chair, he took out a large notebook from his pocket, pulled out a business card-like paper that had been tucked inside it, and immediately began his explanation.

“Early this afternoon. “With this business card in hand，a man came visiting. “He looked about thirty years old and was wearing a black suit，but had an indescribably strange complexion— “Your bad complexion，as if yellow powder had been smeared on. “And even after entering the room，he kept his white leather gloves on without removing them.”

“The business card was printed with ‘Kitamori Shichiro’.” “Of course, he was a man I’d never met before.” “Normally I wouldn’t let such a man into the room, but since my friend called and asked me to meet him, I had no choice but to let him in.”

“That man Kitamori was droning on about some trivial matter,” Sugimoto explained. “So when I told him to hurry up and state his business,” he continued,“he said,‘Tonight at ten o'clock.Please don't forget,’then grinned slyly and left just like that.” “Not understanding what was going on,I called the friend who supposedly introduced this Kitamori fellow,”Sugimoto added,“only to be told,‘I have no recollection of asking you to meet such a man.I didn't even call.’That was the reply.”

"As things grew increasingly strange, I tried checking the address on Kitamori’s business card—but when I looked at it, something mysterious had occurred. The jet-black printed characters that had been there just moments before had completely vanished, leaving it as nothing but a blank white sheet of paper." "When I first saw the business card, I put it straight into my right pocket, so there is no way I could be mistaken. There’s a magic ink that disappears on its own after some time passes, right? This business card might have been printed with that ink." "Having thought that, I examined this business card from various angles. As I kept looking at it, I noticed something strange."

Across the business card’s surface emerged what appeared to be a pattern—faintly yellowish and nearly indistinguishable from the paper’s own color—spread hazily across its entirety. It couldn’t be discerned through ordinary observation. It couldn’t be discerned unless viewed sidelong like this. It was a pattern so faint it might not have existed at all—truly a barely perceptible, wispy design. “There, see…”

Mr. Sugimoto held the business card flat and brought it close to Kobayashi-kun’s eyes to show him. Having been told this, he thought he could see a hazy, indistinct something on the business card’s surface.

“But here’s the thing—when night fell and I looked at this business card in the dark, I was shocked.” “It was glowing silver.” “That hazy yellowish substance turned out to be luminous paint.” “When you look at it in darkness, it transforms into silver letters that read perfectly clear.” “Look—right here in the dark. Take a look.”

Mr. Sugimoto did just that, placing the business card into the dark area beneath the table to show him. Kobayashi-kun craned his neck to look beneath the table—and there, spread across the business card’s surface, lay rows of bluish-silver letters. And it was a terrifying message that read as follows.

Tonight at ten o'clock, I shall come to take your treasure. Be thoroughly on your guard. However, no matter how much you guard it, I will steal it without fail. Night Glow Man “Ah! So does that mean the person who came during the day was the Night Glow Monster?”

Kobayashi involuntarily let out a high-pitched cry as he realized. "But that Kitamori fellow who came during daytime was just an ordinary man. His face wasn't glowing or anything..." "In bright daylight, it probably doesn't glow. This business card works the same way," Sugimoto countered. "Didn't you say earlier that man's complexion looked yellowish? This card was yellowish too during the day."

“Oh! I see. So that guy’s face starts glowing in the dark too, huh? When you put it like that, maybe he really was the Night Glow Monster after all. He truly had your terrible complexion.”

With that, Mr. Sugimoto stared fixedly at Kobayashi-kun’s face. As if Kobayashi-kun were the Night Glow Monster himself, he stared fixedly at him with an eerie gaze.

The Floating Head in Midair

“So, where is the treasure you mentioned being kept?”

When Kobayashi-kun asked,

“It’s kept in my study. Since it’s not in a safe, I’m getting worried just talking about it. Let’s go check right away. You need to come with me too.”

With that, Mr. Sugimoto hastily stood up.

Next to the parlor, one room over, there was a splendid study. One wall was lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with Japanese and Western books. Though Mr. Sugimoto was an executive, he didn’t go to the company every day, so he must have had time to read. Even so, unless one truly loved books, one couldn’t amass such a collection.

On the wall opposite the bookshelves were lined several glass-door cabinets, inside which various art pieces were displayed. Mr. Sugimoto opened the glass door of one such cabinet, reverently took out a dark metal Buddha statue about fifteen centimeters tall, and placed it on the table at the center of the room.

“This here is my treasure. It’s what’s commonly called a Suiko-period Buddha statue—a Kannon Bodhisattva created fourteen or fifteen hundred years ago. It’s made of copper, but look—around here, some gold still remains. When it was made, gold leaf covered the surface and made it shine brilliantly. But over hundreds of years, it all flaked off.”

This, even among such small Suiko-period Buddha statues, was exceptionally well-made and flawless, had been designated as an Important Art Object, and was worth tens of millions of yen. "The Night Glow Monster is, of course, targeting this Suiko-period Buddha statue."

Kobayashi-kun spent a while gazing admiringly at the small Buddha statue, but then abruptly noticed something and checked his wristwatch.

“Ah! It’s already nine o’clock. There’s only one hour left until ten o’clock. Is it really safe to leave the treasure out here like this?” he asked worriedly. “I can’t say for certain whether it’s safe, but I’ve taken every possible precaution. Here—take a look at the garden from this window.”

Mr. Sugimoto stood up, opened the window curtains, removed the hook, pushed up the glass door, and beckoned Kobayashi-kun. Kobayashi-kun went there, stuck his face out the window, and gazed at the pitch-dark garden.

The garden was spacious. Large trees stood in rows, with fluorescent lights glowing here and there. However, with just fluorescent lights, they couldn’t illuminate the entire garden, so the majority of the area remained pitch-dark.

After gazing for a while, he noticed something black flickering between the dark trees. Upon closer inspection, it appeared human-like. It was a man in a suit.

“They’re Metropolitan Police detectives.” “There are four of them.” “And they’re keeping watch over the garden and the corridors inside the house.” “I’ve specifically asked them to keep a strict watch around this study, so if any suspicious person approaches, they’ll never let them slip by.”

Mr. Sugimoto closed the glass door and securely fastened the latch.

“This window’s glass is thick with wire mesh embedded inside, so breaking through to enter would be difficult.” “There are four windows here, but all their latches are properly fastened.” “I also locked the entrance door from the inside earlier.” “So this room might as well be a safe.” “What’s more, you and I will be keeping watch over this Buddha statue.” “With all these precautions in place, even against a monster opponent, we should be reasonably secure.”

Mr. Sugimoto forced a bitter smile as he said this. Then, the two of them sat down on either side of the table holding the Buddhist statue and stared fixedly at it. If they took their eyes off it even for a moment, they felt the Buddhist statue might vanish without a sound, which made it impossible to let their guard down for even an instant.

Before long, it was 9:30. Then came 9:40, 9:50, 9:55, 9:56... The announced time crept inexorably closer. Both Mr. Sugimoto and Kobayashi-kun had turned pale, their eyes glaring fiercely, their breaths coming in short, rapid gasps. Kobayashi-kun's accurate wristwatch showed 9:59. There was one minute left. Beads of sweat formed on Kobayashi-kun’s forehead.

Five seconds, ten seconds—the sound of the clock's seconds ticking struck their ears dreadfully.

At that moment, a faint clink sounded from outside the window. Kobayashi-kun involuntarily looked in that direction, whereupon the blood drained from his face and his eyes flew open as wide as saucers. And, as if rooted to the spot, he continued staring at the window without moving.

Mr. Sugimoto was the same. With faces as terrifying as if they’d seen a ghost, they were staring at the window.

What could have been there at that window?

Outside the windowpane where the curtains hung open, a pale white shape drifted faintly. A round silver form glowing with a bluish-white light. It pressed heavily against the glass. Ah—a human face.

Two enormous eyes glared in this direction. They were massive eyes, crimson like blood. Then the mouth! Within the large maw that had snapped open, flames seemed to burn. It appeared ready to spew fire at any moment - one could only imagine its heat melting the windowpane.

Kobayashi-kun involuntarily clenched his fist and stood up. What on earth were the detectives doing? He had to raise his voice and call out. Kobayashi-kun charged toward the window with all his might. When he came within about one meter of the window, the Night Glow Monster’s head vanished in a flash. Kobayashi-kun lunged at the window and tried to open it.

“Ah, here it is!”

A startled scream from Mr. Sugimoto reached his ears. When he turned around, Mr. Sugimoto stood pointing at the window on the opposite side. Through the curtain’s gap—where about twenty centimeters of windowpane showed—the Night Glow Monster’s head hovered outside, drifting weightlessly like some phosphorescent wraith.

Kobayashi-kun charged forward frantically toward it once more.

However, when he got close, the Night Glow Monster's head vanished once again in a flash. In this manner, the silver-bodied, red-eyed monster appeared and vanished outside each of the four windows in rapid succession—blurring before their eyes as it repeated its lightning-fast maneuvers. It was enough to make one suspect there were four glowing heads of the Night Glow Monster.

Each time this happened, Mr. Sugimoto and Kobayashi-kun could do nothing but pace restlessly around the study. However, as they kept moving back and forth like this—having noticed something—Mr. Sugimoto let out a terrified scream.

“Ah! It’s gone!” The Buddha statue was gone. “Kobayashi-kun! The Buddha statue was stolen!”

Startled, they looked at the table—Ah! It was gone. The Buddhist statue had vanished as if erased.

Mr. Sugimoto rushed over to the door and tried turning the handle. The lock had been properly engaged. They checked the four windows. All of them were latched.

The study had been secured as tightly as a safe. And yet, that Buddha statue vanished completely. What sort of magic could the Night Glow Monster possibly have mastered?

Mr. Sugimoto and Boy Kobayashi searched under the tables and chairs, of course, and every nook and cranny of the room. However, the Buddha statue was nowhere to be found. The two were overcome with a chilling dread. The Night Glow Monster was a supernatural being. Could it be that while pretending to peer in from outside the window, it had actually slipped into the room? Could it be that it had silently slipped in like a ghost through the gap in the door and made off with the Buddhist statue?

At that moment, the garden outside the window suddenly erupted into commotion.

When they peered out, two detectives were chasing a floating head through midair. The Night Glow Monster’s head, blowing flames from its mouth as it threaded through the standing trees, flew silently through the air. The two detectives, shouting incoherently over one another, chased after it with terrifying urgency.

The Monster Ascending to the Heavens

Since their adversary was a wizard-like monster, it might have slipped into the room like a ghost through the narrow gap in the window. And perhaps, remaining invisible like an invisible man, it stole the Buddhist statue and then exited the room like smoke. However, even though the Buddhist statue was small, being about fifteen centimeters tall and six centimeters wide, there was no way something of that size could have passed through gaps like those in the window frames. Had the Night Glow Monster mastered some technique to transform even the bronze Buddhist statue into something like smoke and pass it through narrow gaps?

At that moment, noticing only the Night Glow Monster’s head floating weightlessly into the thicket of garden trees, the two detectives gave chase.

As they chased after it while blowing their whistles with a shrill "Piri-piri-piri-piri...", the two detectives who had been inside the house came rushing out into the garden. Mr. Sugimoto and Boy Kobayashi also rushed out after them.

Through the pitch-dark grove ahead, a blue-glowing something like a will-o'-the-wisp was flying through midair. Everyone rushed toward it and, joining forces with the two detectives, began pursuing the monster.

The enemy was one; their allies numbered six. However, their opponent was an unknowable monster. But could they truly manage to capture it? The bluish-glowing head darted about in confusion, threading its way between the rows of large trees. The six pursuers sometimes chased it as a single group, other times split into two teams to try flanking it—they all ran around until utterly exhausted—but they simply couldn’t catch it.

Before long, the will-o'-the-wisp-like monster's head darted soundlessly toward the tallest Japanese cypress in Mr. Sugimoto's garden—then began swiftly climbing upward along the surface of the tree's thick foliage.

The six pursuers could do nothing more. They could only stand at the base of the Japanese cypress, looking up in dismay. Then, at that moment, a ghostly cackle—high-pitched and mocking—echoed down from above their heads. The head-only monster was laughing. A face glowing bluish-white like phosphorus, enormous crimson eyes, a mouth spewing red flames—it was looking down at them from about five meters above, sneering eerily.

Then, something horrifying occurred. The monster’s head appeared to lurch downward, stretching toward them. The bluish-white glow rapidly spread downward.

Beneath the neck, the monster’s chest appeared, shoulders appeared, abdomen appeared, waist appeared, two legs appeared—until it had taken on the form of a complete human being. Its entire body was glowing bluish-silver. It was floating lightly on the surface of Japanese cypress leaves about five meters above the ground.

A naked human figure glowing with a bluish-silver light appeared splayed out in midair as if crucified. With its crimson eyes and blazing red mouth snapping open and shut while peering down at them and cackling, the terror was truly beyond description.

Soon, the bluish-silver monster began writhing its limbs, its body twisting around to face backward one moment and forward the next in uncanny movements—then, gliding along the surface of the Japanese cypress's leaves, it began floating upward once more. After climbing to the top of the Japanese cypress, it swayed unsteadily for a while while cackling eerily—but mysteriously, the monster's body gradually disappeared until only that crimson-eyed head remained, and then even that head vanished in an instant.

The Night Glow Monster appeared to ascend from the top of the Japanese cypress into the dark sky. It was just like that time at the graveyard. The monster had ascended to the sky.

The Street Urchin Task Force in Action

Mr. Sugimoto and the four detectives stood frozen in the pitch-dark garden for some time, but with the monster having vanished, there was nothing more they could do, so eventually they all withdrew back into the house. This was to report this matter to the Metropolitan Police and consult about what countermeasures should be taken. Even so, what on earth had happened to Boy Kobayashi? Only five adults had withdrawn back inside, and Kobayashi-kun was nowhere to be seen.

Kobayashi-kun had quietly slipped away from the adults’ side unnoticed by anyone and wandered toward the gate. That had been long before the Night Glow Monster vanished from the top of the Japanese cypress.

Kobayashi-kun stepped outside the gate and glanced around restlessly. What on earth could he be searching for?

Then, from the darkness beyond the road, a small figure appeared and came scurrying toward him. When he saw it approach into the dim glow of the gate lamp, it was a boy much smaller than Kobayashi-kun.

What a filthy-looking boy he was. His face was stained jet-black, his clothes were tattered—he looked exactly like a beggar child. However, within that grimy face, only his eyes sparkled with intelligence, gleaming brightly. The boy ran up to Kobayashi-kun’s side, pressed his mouth to his ear, and whispered something in a hushed voice. Strangely enough, Kobayashi-kun showed no sign of surprise whatsoever. With a serious face, he was listening to the boy's secretive story.

“Look, that’s why he’ll definitely come sliding down. This here’s the secret behind the magic trick!” The filthy boy pulled his mouth away from Kobayashi-kun’s ear and declared proudly. “Yeah, I see. You’re amazing. That’s our Pocket Boy! You found it! And they’re all there, right?” Through Kobayashi-kun’s words, the boy’s identity became clear. This little squirt was none other than Pocket Boy of the Street Urchin Task Force. Though his body was small enough to fit in a pocket, he was a clever and nimble street urchin detective.

“Yeah, five are waiting over there. They’re all tall and strong—every last one of ’em.”

“All right‚ let’s go check it out. “Where’s that?”

“It’s around the back of the mansion. Come on, hurry up.”

And the two of them ran off into the darkness as if holding each other's hands.

Circling around the mansion’s wall in a wide arc, they emerged at the back, where a broad open field lay spread out. Pocket Boy was peering into the darkness, scanning across the open field,

“Ah! There it is. “They’re all huddled over there, lying sprawled out.” Muttering this, he approached that direction together with Kobayashi-kun.

Upon closer inspection, five members of the Street Urchin Task Force lay prone in the thick grass, concealing themselves. But why had the Street Urchin Task Force come to such a place? That was because Kobayashi-kun, while on his way to Mr. Sugimoto’s mansion by car, had taken a detour to contact one of the Street Urchin Task Force members. He had informed them about Mr. Sugimoto’s mansion and ordered them to keep watch around its walls from before ten o’clock that night.

The boys of the Street Urchin Task Force were all nimble and courageous, so when it came down to it, they could perform feats that even adults couldn't match. Boy Kobayashi, knowing this, had stationed several members of the Street Urchin Task Force in ambush outside the wall as a precaution in case the Night Glow Monster attempted to escape by scaling over it. Kobayashi-kun's strategy had succeeded perfectly, and the Street Urchin Task Force members discovered something truly extraordinary in the pitch-dark field.

“Look—there it is! See how it stretches taut from that tree inside the wall?” Pocket Boy pointed at the ink-black sky and whispered. Two sturdy wires angled sharply through the air. They ran from the mansion’s tallest pine down to mid-field where his gang lay flattened in weeds. Kobayashi-kun crouched to examine their end—a thick stake driven deep into soil, thin cables knotted tight around its base.

“Look, he’s definitely going to slide down from the top of that tree along these thin wires.” “Vanishing into the sky? That’s a bunch of nonsense!” “That time at the temple cemetery when he vanished from the treetop—this must’ve been how he did it too.”

Pocket Boy whispered. The boy hadn’t witnessed the cemetery incident himself but had heard about it through others.

“Hmm, maybe so. You all did well to find this. That’s impressive. He’s being chased by the detectives inside this wall right now. He’s sure to climb to the top of that tree. And he’s planning to slide down along this thin wire. Pocket-kun, do you know why there are two of these thin wires?” When Boy Kobayashi spoke again in a whisper, Pocket Boy immediately—

“Of course I know,” Pocket Boy retorted cockily. “They looped one long thin wire over a branch at the top of that tree. When that guy slides down here, we’ll untie the wire from this stick and pull one end—then we can reel everything back here. That way, there’s no evidence left behind afterward. Clever little plan, ain’t it? Heh.”

he said cockily.

So Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy both lay flat in the grass, waiting in readiness for the Night Glow Monster to come sliding down. “When that guy slides down here, we’ll all jump on him and catch him!” “Understood?” “Even though we’re just kids, there are seven of us here.” “No matter how strong he is, we’ll be fine.” But they had to be careful. “If he has a pistol, it’ll be dangerous.” “He’ll need both hands to untie the thin wire—that’s when we jump him.” “Before he can pull out a pistol or dagger from his pocket, grab both his hands.” “Understood, everyone?”

When Kobayashi-kun whispered this, the Street Urchin Task Force members lying sprawled out responded in unison with reassuring "Yeah, got it"s.

The Monster's Secret Trick

And then, how much time passed? In truth, it might have been about five minutes. However, the boys felt as if a full hour had passed.

At that moment, they finally felt a response. The boys heard the thin wire, stretched taut, brushing through the grass with a swishing sound.

They could no longer make a sound. They touched each other’s hands and encouraged one another to stay strong. And remaining lying in the grass, they fixed their gaze intently upward along the thin wire. The taut thin wire twanged loudly as it shook. Ah! It was sliding down. A pitch-black figure slid along the two thin wires like a circus acrobat.

The boys raised their bodies in the grass and prepared to pounce at any moment. With a heavy thud that made the ground rumble, the black-clad figure landed flat on its rear. However, it immediately sprang up swiftly and began trying to untie the thin wires. The monster wore snug black pants and black tabi socks, had its face wrapped in black cloth, and over its shoulders was draped a short black cloak-like garment. It looked like a gigantic bat.

The monster crouched by the stick embedded in the ground and began working on the thin wire. Those hands too were pitch-black. He must have been wearing black gloves. The monster's body was concealed with black cloth, not a single centimeter left uncovered. To prevent his bluish-silver glowing body from being seen, he had covered himself completely from head to toe. The reason the Night Glow Monster had gradually disappeared from atop the cypress tree earlier was that he had put on black pants, a black shirt, and a black mantle one after another, concealing his glowing body.

At that moment, Kobayashi-kun tapped the crouching urchins’ bodies as a signal, then abruptly leaped up and clung to the monster.

The Street Urchin Task Force members weren’t far behind. Together with Kobayashi-kun, they lunged at both of the monster’s hands.

“Agh!”

Taken by surprise at this ambush, the monster was startled and let out an involuntary cry. Then, in the dark grass, a terrifying grapple began. Four boys clung to the monster’s right hand and three to his left, but as they grappled and tussled, he shook them off his hands again and again. But no matter how hard he shook them off, the boys would latch on again the next instant. Even the formidable monster seemed to be weakening gradually. He no longer tried to shake them off.

At that moment, Kobayashi Yoshio took out the police whistle—one of his seven tools—and blew it with a piercing shrill—trill—trill—trill… to call for backup from the detectives inside the mansion.

“Alright, everyone—don’t you dare let go now. We’re dragging this guy straight to the gate like this. And then we’ll hand him over to the detectives.”

“Yeah, we’re fine. No way we’re lettin’ go now.” The street urchins clung to both of the monster’s hands with all their might as they answered in unison.

Still clinging on, the boys began walking toward the mansion's gate. Even though they were children, with seven of them combined, he couldn't withstand their strength. The pitch-black monster, his hands being pulled, reluctantly followed the boys. However, where on earth was the monster hiding the stolen Suiko Buddha statue? Needless to say, he wasn't holding it in both hands. If Kobayashi-kun had searched the monster's body then, he might have been able to retrieve that Buddha statue from perhaps a shirt pocket or somewhere. Since it was a small Buddha statue—just fifteen centimeters tall—it could be hidden anywhere.

However, regrettably, Kobayashi-kun was so preoccupied with handing the monster over to the detectives that he had no mental space left to consider that far. The seven boys clung to both of the monster’s hands and dragged him along with all their might. They left the grassy field and turned into the side street by the mansion.

At that very moment.

Truly, something astonishing occurred. The Night Glow Monster resorted to his last-resort trump card and employed bizarre sorcery.

“Gyah!”

A terrifying scream echoed as the seven boys lay collapsed in a heap on the ground.

What on earth had happened? Did the monster still have enough strength left to knock down the seven boys?

No, that wasn't it. The boys clung to the monster's hands and never once let go. Even now, they were still clinging on.

Then why had they fallen? Had the monster fallen first, knocking everyone down with his momentum?

No, that wasn't quite it. The monster was no longer there. He had blended into the darkness and escaped toward the rear, toward the grassy field. Had he realized they knew, he would have immediately lunged at them, but the boys hadn't noticed a thing. The reason was that four boys still clung to his right hand and three to his left. What on earth had happened? The monster's hands had slipped clean off. From the force of this sudden release, the boys tumbled over each other and collapsed.

For a monster to cut off both hands and flee—no matter how supernatural it was, didn't that seem utterly bizarre?

Kobayashi-kun finally noticed this and examined the monster's hand he was gripping. The hand had a black shirt tightly adhered to it, with a black glove worn over it. When he hurriedly removed the glove, out came a doll's hand made of vinyl!

Oh, what a dreadful trick! In the dark grassy field during their struggle, the cunning monster—having prepared for this very contingency—had tricked the boys into grabbing the dummy arms he’d concealed beneath his cloak. And then, when they dragged him this far as if gripping his actual hands, he suddenly released the dummy hands, sending the boys tumbling down.

The boys finally realized what had happened, but the monster had long since vanished into the darkness beyond. Even if they chased after him now, there was no way they could find him.

Late-Night Visitor

Miss Mayumi, the girl assistant to Detective Akechi, was keeping watch all alone at the detective agency.

Detective Akechi was away on a trip, and Kobayashi-kun, the boy assistant, had gone out to Mr. Sugimoto’s house in Setagaya, leaving her alone.

Kobayashi-kun had left around seven thirty in the evening, but it was now past eleven. Perhaps he might stay at Mr. Sugimoto’s house tonight. Miss Mayumi was so worried she couldn't even think of sleeping. While anxiously awaiting Kobayashi-kun’s return at any moment, she sat on the sofa in the reception room reading a book. At that moment, there came a knocking sound—knock, knock—at the entrance door.

“Who is it?” There was no response. Even late at night, people sometimes came to the detective agency with urgent cases—this might well be such a client.

Miss Mayumi stood up, went over, and opened the door with the key from her pocket. Being alone, she had locked the door as a precaution. When she opened the door, there stood a strange man. He wore a jet-black suit and a jet-black bowler hat, his face an eerie pallor—a sinister-looking man. “Who are you?” When Miss Mayumi asked suspiciously, the man—

“I was asked by Kobayashi-kun, the assistant here.” “There’s something urgent I need to inform you about.”

With that, without even waiting for an invitation, he strode brusquely into the room. Miss Mayumi had no choice but to suggest the man take a seat and then sat back down on the sofa she had been sitting on. "I wonder where Mr. Kobayashi is right now?" "He’s in the garden of a wealthy man named Sugimoto in Setagaya."

The man answered in a voice that somehow sounded mocking.

Even so, what a strange face this man had. It didn't look like the face of a living person. It resembled a mask. Yet though masks shouldn't have moving eyes or mouths, his face shifted with every word he spoke. He blinked naturally too. Still it retained a mask-like quality - this simply couldn't be human. Moreover, even seated properly, he kept that black bowler hat firmly on his head. How appallingly rude!

Although a chill ran down Miss Mayumi’s spine, she steeled herself not to show any weakness and asked back in a firm tone.

“Are you saying Mr. Kobayashi is in Mr. Sugimoto’s garden? Why would he be in the garden of all places?”

Then,the man grinned—an eerie smile.“The Night Glow Monster slipped through their grasp.Even so,Kobayashi-kun is quite a clever boy.After stealing Mr.Sugimoto’s treasure,the monster had properly discerned exactly how he would make his escape.He then led the Street Urchin Task Force and lay in ambush outside Mr.Sugimoto’s wall.Seven children were waiting there.They grabbed both his arms until he couldn’t move.”

“Oh, Mr. Kobayashi really is amazing after all.” “He properly took the Street Urchin Task Force with him, didn’t he?” “That’s right.” “Those Street Urchin Task Force children nonchalantly confront adults and can see in pitch darkness like cats.” “And they’re quite strong too.” “So, even though the Night Glow Monster was caught by those children, how was he able to escape?”

“Heh heh heh... There was a backup plan, you see.” “The Night Glow Monster always has a backup plan, you see.” “What kind of backup plan do you suppose that was?” “Heh heh heh... The Night Glow Monster had four arms, you see.”

“Four arms?!” “Two of them are real—look, these hands.”

The man thrust out both his hands in front of him to show them. Strangely enough, this man was wearing gloves even inside the room. With long gray gloves that concealed them all the way to the base of his wrists. He hadn’t removed his hat, kept his gloves on, and could only be thought to be wearing some sort of soft mask over his face. This man had completely concealed his head, face, and hands. Why would that be? Could there be some deeper reason behind this?

The man kept speaking with that same persistent grin. For some reason, his speech had suddenly turned crude.

“The other two are fakes. The Night Glow Monster’s cautious, see? He’s got fake arms hanging ready under his cloak whenever someone catches him. Tonight too, he made those Street Urchin Task Force brats grab those fake arms.”

Even though they were fake arms, being wrapped in thick vinyl gave them elasticity identical to human limbs. Moreover, since they only covered the sleeves of the clothing and had gloves fitted on, in total darkness, there was no way anyone could notice. Heh heh heh...

Four clung to his right arm, three to his left—the street urchin brats held on tight and refused to let go. The Night Glow Monster feigned defeat, letting himself be dragged by the street urchin brats until they pulled with all their strength—then he suddenly released the fake hands.

The street urchin brats went down like toppled shogi pieces! Carried away by their momentum, they piled on top of each other and collapsed. Even still unaware, they remained collapsed while clinging tightly to the two fake arms. Taking advantage of that opening, the Night Glow Monster slipped into the darkness and made his escape. “Hahahahaha... What do you think? Don’t you think the Night Glow Monster’s skill here is splendid? Well, Miss Mayumi?”

The terror of his face as the man laughed loudly. On his mask-like face, deep wrinkles formed sharply, squirming and twisting with such grotesque movement that its creepiness defied description.

Miss Mayumi turned deathly pale and involuntarily stood up from the long sofa.

“Who are you?” “Who on earth are you?”

she demanded in a shout.

Vinyl Mask “It is I.” “Do you wish to know who I am?”

The man lowered his voice gruffly and thrust his mask-like face forward.

Miss Mayumi, terrified out of her wits and on the verge of bolting, barely managed to hold her ground. She no longer had the strength to respond.

“Heh heh heh... Take a good look at my face.” “This isn’t my real face.” “I’m wearing a mask.” “But you’ve never seen this kind of soft mask before, have you?”

Two or three years ago, these soft masks had been imported from France and sold in Japan as well. They were all clownish, comical faces, but I had superior masks modeled after those—ones far more refined than those.

“This mask is made of vinyl, you see. “So it clings tightly to the face—when the facial muscles move, this mask moves right along with them.”

The mouth and eye areas were hollowed out, so when one spoke, the mouth moved, and if one blinked within the eye holes, the mask appeared to be blinking. “Now then, Miss Mayumi, do you know why I wear such a mask?” “Needless to say, it’s to hide my face. Miss Mayumi, what kind of face do you think is hidden beneath this mask?” The man explained slowly and methodically, as if chewing over each word.

When Miss Mayumi thought about the face hidden behind the mask, her body went numb, and she was unable to move.

“Heh heh heh... Take a good look.” “If you peel it off like this, the mask comes right off.”

The man rose briskly to his feet, removed his black bowler hat, and revealed a thick head of yellowish hair. Then, placing the fingers of both hands on his forehead, he peeled off the soft mask with a swift, twisting motion. Then, from beneath it, an indescribably unpleasant yellow face appeared. “You can’t see properly in this light,” he said. “I’ll turn off the lights now.” The man rushed over to the wall and pressed the switch. The lights suddenly went out, plunging the room into total darkness.

In the darkness, a faintly glowing round object floated in mid-air. A face-like object glowing with a bluish silver light.

Two enormous eyes glowed crimson like fresh blood, a mouth gaping wide with flames roaring within... Ah! It was the Night Glow Monster! Only the head of the Night Glow Monster floated weightlessly in mid-air. The head laughed—a shrill, ghostly cackle. “Mayumi, do you know why I’ve come here? It’s not like I intend to do anything to you. Akechi is out, I hear, but when he returns, you’re to relay my words to him. I’ve come all this way specifically to tell Akechi that.”

“I stole Sugimoto’s treasure tonight. And I made Kobayashi and his Street Urchin Task Force suffer terribly.”

“Next comes the night after tomorrow. I will take the treasure from the Aka Mori family in Azabu Yamashita-cho. At their residence lie five white jade Buddhist statues from ancient China—small enough to fit in your palm, yet renowned treasures known throughout the land. I’ve wanted these for ages, and I’ll claim them for myself on that night.” “Tell this to the Aka Mori family as well. Akechi might return by then—when he does, you must inform him too. Let them guard their white jade well... but tell them this: no matter how great a detective Akechi may be, he stands no chance against the Night Glow Monster’s magic. Do you understand?”

Ah, the Night Glow Monster was once again announcing his theft. Moreover, he had gone out of his way to come to the office of the great detective Akechi Kogoro, taunting them with a challenge: "Go ahead and try to stop me if you can." Just who could the Night Glow Monster be? This monster seemed to target only treasures known throughout society. For a monster to covet artworks—wasn't that rather strange?

Since such famous artworks were known to everyone, attempting to sell them would immediately expose the culprit. They couldn't be converted into cash. The Night Glow Monster didn't crave money—one could only conclude he cherished the artworks themselves. Here was a being possessed by desires too strange even for a phantom thief.

Locked-Room Phantom While the bluish-silver glowing head of the Night Glow Monster floated weightlessly through the pitch-black room, delivering its terrifying announcement, Miss Mayumi edged closer to the entrance door, careful not to alert her adversary. Then, the moment the monster’s words ended, she swung the door open, darted into the hallway, swiftly closed it behind her, and clicked the lock shut from outside with her pocket key.

That’s our detective’s assistant for you—Miss Mayumi. She faced the monster and fought splendidly. She had confined the monster in the reception room. The reception room had another door besides the entrance—one leading to Detective Akechi’s study—but she locked that door after Kobayashi left. Therefore, the only means of escape from the reception room were the two windows facing the wide main road. However, since this room was on the high second floor of a reinforced concrete building, if he were to jump from the window, he would undoubtedly be injured.

Even if he managed to jump down successfully, there were still people coming and going on the main road ahead. There was absolutely no way he could escape undetected. Even if the Night Glow Monster had been confined in a locked room by Miss Mayumi, there was absolutely no way he could escape.

Miss Mayumi quickly called the person living next door and informed them about the Night Glow Monster. Then, people from the entire second floor gathered and kept watch at all doors leading in and out of the detective agency. Even if the Night Glow Monster were to break through the study door and attempt to escape through another exit, with this many guards keeping watch, there would be nothing he could do. After entrusting everyone with keeping watch, Miss Mayumi borrowed the neighbor’s telephone to inform young Kobayashi—still at Mr. Sugimoto’s house in Setagaya—and then the Metropolitan Police Department’s emergency line about the situation. If you called 110, patrol cars circulating nearby would come rushing over immediately. At most five or six minutes; when quick, they arrive in two or three.

The people from the entire second floor gathered in the hallway before Detective Akechi’s room, uneasily exchanging whispers in hushed tones as they stared at the tightly shut door. Then perhaps three minutes had passed when, from the front entrance, faintly came the rising and falling wail of a siren.

“Ah, a patrol car!” “They’ve finally come.” Everyone whispered reassuringly. When Miss Mayumi hurried down the stairs and went to check the apartment’s entrance, she found a white Metropolitan Police Department car parked outside, with two officers just emerging from it.

The patrol car contained only two police officers. The driving would be handled by one of them. Having heard it involved the Night Glow Monster, they must have left the car empty and both rushed out. Miss Mayumi stated her name and escorted the two officers upstairs.

The officers pushed forward to the door, borrowed Miss Mayumi’s key, gently opened it, and peered through the gap into the darkened room.

“There’s nothing here, is there? Where was that glowing head you mentioned?” Miss Mayumi peered in too. It was pitch black. The Night Glow Monster’s head had vanished completely. “What’s happening? Maybe it’s hiding somewhere. The lights…”

Miss Mayumi inserted her hand through the gap in the door and pressed the switch on the wall. The room flashed as bright as midday. Under the desk, under the sofa—from what could be seen at the entrance—there was no sign of anyone anywhere. The door leading to the study remained tightly shut, with no indication anyone had fled that way. “This is strange,” one officer muttered. “Let’s go in,” declared another.

The police officers, having said that, swung the door wide open and stepped into the brightly lit reception room. They examined every conceivable hiding spot, unlocked doors with Miss Mayumi’s key, and thoroughly searched both the adjacent study and other rooms—but it became clear the monster had vanished without a trace. The police officers returned to the original reception room, stood by the window facing the road, fixed their eyes on the open glass door, and questioned Miss Mayumi.

“Was this window open the whole time you were in the room, Miss Mayumi?”

“No, it was properly closed.” “The curtains were also drawn.” “Then, perhaps…” “No, jumping down from here would be difficult.” “There are no footholds to climb down either.” “And besides, people are still passing by on the main road outside.”

One of the police officers leaned halfway out the window and, while surveying the building's wall, said.

Ah, once again, the Night Glow Monster employed his mysterious magic. From a completely sealed room with no possible entry or exit, he vanished like smoke.

At that moment, an unusual commotion of voices arose outside the entrance door. When the police officers and Miss Mayumi turned around, the apartment staff entered, pushing through the crowd gathered in the hallway, accompanied by a man.

That was a man wearing a beret and a loose black velvet suit—a man who looked like a painter. “This man claims to have seen the Night Glow Monster climb out the window and ascend into the sky.”

The apartment staff member gasped for breath as he reported. Upon hearing this, the two police officers stared wide-eyed at the beret-wearing man’s face as if trying to bore holes through it.

The Phantom Monster

The beret-wearing man was Enomoto, a Western-style painter living nearby. As he walked along the main street, he noticed a pale blue-white glowing object resembling a will-o’-the-wisp suddenly dart out from the window of Detective Akechi’s office and ascend toward the roof.

Although there were scattered passersby on the main street even late at night, no one noticed because they weren’t looking upward. However, only the painter saw it. At first, he thought it might truly be a will-o’-the-wisp, but upon observing closely as it smoothly ascended into the sky, he realized it was a pale blue-white glowing orb with large crimson eyes shining brightly and a mouth split open up to its ears that burned like fire.

Mr. Enomoto the painter had read about the Night Glow Monster in the newspaper, so he concluded that this glowing head must be the Night Glow Monster, rushed into the building, and reported the incident. Thereupon, the police officers immediately went outside and looked up at the roof, but by then, the glowing head was nowhere to be seen. The Night Glow Monster may dart around freely like a ghost, but since he is undoubtedly human after all, he must have some sort of device—otherwise, ascending into the sky would be impossible.

Surely, his accomplice had been hiding on the roof. And he had lowered a thin but sturdy rope from the roof to the outside of Akechi’s office window.

The Night Glow Monster, having shown only his glowing head, must have grabbed hold of the rope and exited through the window. The accomplice must have hauled it up onto the roof with a scraping sound, and then the two of them undoubtedly fled along the rooftops to some unknown location.

Ambush in the Dark

Two days later arrived the day when the Night Glow Monster would finally come to Mr. Akamori’s house in Azabu. Having received word from Miss Mayumi, Mr. Akamori promptly notified the police and arranged for five detectives to guard both the interior and exterior of his house from early that morning. Additionally, “Once Detective Akechi returns from his trip, have him come at once.” Mr. Akamori had requested. Until then, Kobayashi Yoshio was to keep watch over the treasure.

Then, as evening approached, a tall gentleman in a black suit appeared at the entrance of Mr. Akamori’s residence. That was none other than Akechi Kogoro, the renowned detective who had returned from his trip. When the maid went to announce the visitor, Mr. Akamori hurried out to the entrance in surprise. He courteously ushered him into the reception room, served tea and snacks, and entertained him. Mr. Akamori had previously been a prosperous trader but was now retired—a wealthy man in his sixties who enjoyed collecting artworks, plump and distinguished in appearance.

“I heard that the Night Glow Monster would sneak in here tonight, so I rushed over immediately upon returning from my trip.” “I heard my Kobayashi has come, but where could he be?”

When Akechi asked, Mr. Akamori—

“He’s keeping watch in the art room for us.” “Detective Akechi, would you please come there as well?” “Yes, let’s do that.” “I’ll take over the watch in Kobayashi’s place.”

Thereupon, the two entered the secluded art room. The spacious room’s walls were entirely covered with Western-style painting frames of varying sizes, while glass-door cabinets stood neatly lined up, containing beautiful sculptures, Western vases, flower vases, and other such items within them. When the two entered, Kobayashi Yoshio, who had been sitting at the central table, “Ah, Detective Akechi!” he exclaimed, standing up.

“I’ll take over from here, so return to the office.” “But there may be a phone call at any time, so don’t leave the premises, understood?”

When Kobayashi heard this, he made a slightly odd face, but as it was Detective Akechi’s order, there was nothing he could do. With that, he bowed politely and exited the room. “Now then, Mr. Akamori. Where is that white jade sculpture kept?” “It’s that one there. They’re lined up on the upper shelf of that glass-door cabinet. Among the artworks I possess, they are the most valuable. The fact that the Night Glow Monster targeted this shows he has quite a discerning eye. He seems to have a good grasp of where rare artworks are located, doesn’t he?”

Detective Akechi approached the glass-door cabinet and gazed intently at the five white jade treasures.

“Ah, this is magnificent. I’ve never seen such a beautiful sculpture before.”

he seemed deeply impressed. Then, the two of them sat facing each other at the central table and talked for a while, “Tonight, I will be hiding in this room.” “You may please retire to your own room. That will be sufficient.” “It’s better if I work alone.” “Later, I will confer with the detectives in the garden and formulate a plan to capture him when he arrives.” “Actually, I have one clever plan in mind.”

Reassured by Akechi’s dependable words, Mr. Akamori was completely at ease,

“I leave everything in your hands.” “With Japan’s greatest detective keeping watch for us, there could be no greater peace of mind.” “Then I will be in that room over there, so please ring the bell anytime you need anything.”

“Then please hand me the key to this room’s door.” “I want to lock it from the inside to ensure no one can enter.” Mr. Akamori retrieved the key from the drawer of the cabinet in the corner of the room, passed it to Detective Akechi, and exited straight through the doorway.

After locking the entrance door, Detective Akechi went to the window facing the garden and peered outside. Just then, a detective happened to pass by, so Akechi called his name and, waiting for the detective to approach the window, whispered something in a hushed tone. This detective was one of Inspector Nakamura’s subordinates from the Metropolitan Police Department, and Detective Akechi was well acquainted with him.

After the detective nodded and left, Akechi closed the window, fastened the latch, and spent some time looking around the room. Then, noticing a slight gap between the wooden cabinet in the corner and the wall, he turned sideways and concealed himself there.

Over an hour passed without incident. The room was enveloped in a piercing silence, utterly still, appearing completely empty. All the doors and windows were secured from the inside. If the Night Glow Monster were to pry open an entrance and break in, it would be noticed immediately, so Detective Akechi would leap out from his hiding place and apprehend him. In the garden and the corridors inside the house, five detectives were lying in wait, so if a commotion were to break out, they would come running immediately—that was the plan.

Before long, evening darkness closed in outside the window, the sun rapidly sank, and the garden plunged into complete darkness. Inside the room as well, since the lights were not turned on, it was pitch darkness.

In that pitch darkness, Detective Akechi refrained from smoking and patiently lay in ambush. The three detectives assigned to watch the garden scattered into separate hiding spots among the thickets and remained perfectly still, keeping a close watch on their surroundings. Then from amidst the standing trees of the pitch-black garden, a pale glowing object suddenly floated into view. It was the head of the Night Glow Monster. Its large red eyes blazed fiercely while its mouth—split open to the ears—burned like fire.

However, even seeing that, the detectives did not leap out from their hiding places. They were waiting for the monster to sneak into the art room. Because they had been ordered not to make any noise until Detective Akechi captured the monster and gave the signal. The disembodied head of the Night Glow Monster floated ethereally through the air, drawing closer to the art room window.

The three detectives hiding in the shadows of the trees kept watching it intently, but when the glowing head reached the window, it suddenly vanished as if erased.

Could it have passed through the glass like a ghost and slipped into the room? That was precisely how it appeared. The three detectives strained their ears and held their positions, certain they would imminently hear Detective Akechi wrestling with someone inside.

The Renowned Detective’s Peril

At that moment, in the corridor before the art room, two detectives were hidden in the shadows, holding their breath.

Then, suddenly, voices echoed from inside the art room, followed by a clattering racket like a violent struggle.

Because the Night Glow Monster had finally arrived, Detective Akechi might have been trying to capture him. The two detectives hurried to the art room door and tried to open it, but the lock was fastened from inside and wouldn’t yield.

The detectives banged on the door repeatedly while calling out loudly to Detective Akechi. “Detective, has he come here? Open up!”

However, there was no answer from within. Detective Akechi might have been grappling with the monster and unable to respond.

“Detective Akechi! What happened to you? Is your opponent too much for you? Can’t you open this door?” Inside, there was still no response—only the dreadful clattering noises continuing unabated. They could even hear intense panting breaths—huff, huff—emanating from within. “Detective Akechi might be in trouble! Should we break down the door with our bodies?” “No, wait! A master key would work faster. I’ll go call the master. Wait here.”

One detective shouted that and ran off toward the back of the house, but before long, he returned with the master, Mr. Akamori. Mr. Akamori immediately opened the door with the master key he had prepared. The two detectives jumped in from there, but it was pitch-dark, and they couldn’t make out anything. “Master! Where’s the switch? Turn on the light!” At that voice, Mr. Akamori also stepped into the room and fumbled for the light switch and pressed it.

Inside the suddenly illuminated room. "Ah! Detective Akechi is—!"

The three rushed over to where Detective Akechi lay collapsed. The renowned detective had gone limp and seemed to have lost consciousness.

“Detective Akechi! Stay with us!” Even after they lifted him up and shook him, he gave no response, his eyes still tightly shut. But where had their opponent gone?

In the room, there was no one besides Akechi.

At that moment, a knocking sound—tap, tap—could be heard against the window glass facing the garden. When they looked, the faces of the three detectives who had been in the garden were pressed against the glass outside. After the lights came on and they could see their fellow detectives inside, they must have rushed over. When the detective inside removed the hook and opened the window, all three climbed through into the room.

They all surrounded Detective Akechi, calling his name and shaking his body, when finally the renowned detective regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and began glancing around restlessly. "Did you catch him...?" Akechi grimaced and asked in a weak voice. "Do you mean the Night Glow Monster?" Akechi nodded as if to say, "Of course."

“When we entered, there was already no one there. But where did he escape from, I wonder? Even though both the door and the windows were properly secured…” Then, one of the detectives who had been in the garden continued, “Now that you mention it, there’s something even stranger. We saw the Night Glow Monster’s head come flying right up to that window. And then it vanished swiftly right in front of the glass. Even so, how did he get into the room through a closed window? It’s truly strange. Could he have passed through the glass like a ghost?”

he said, looking frightened. “Detective Akechi, did you really manage to catch him?” “Yeah, I did catch him, but he was terrifyingly strong. While we were grappling, I was thrown backward, and when that happened, I hit my head hard and ended up losing consciousness.” “So, was he only showing his glowing head?” “No, he was wearing something pitch-black all over his body.” “His face was also concealed with a black mask.” “A shadowy figure slid smoothly into the darkness.”

“The glowing head disappeared at the window—he must have put on a black mask there.” “Even so, how did he get inside through a closed window?” “As for that secret—even I don’t know it.”

At that moment, Mr. Akamori’s shrill voice rang out from one side of the room.

“Ah! The white jade carvings are gone! All five of them have disappeared!”

Everyone gathered in front of the glass-door cabinet.

When they looked, the display case there was completely empty. The Night Glow Monster had, as promised, stolen Mr. Akamori’s treasure. “Mr. Akamori, I’m terribly sorry. My strategy was flawed. Locking the door was the mistake. If only the door had been open, the detectives would have come to assist—apprehending him would have been simple. This marks the greatest failure of Akechi Kogoro’s life. However, I have no intention of conceding defeat. I will retrieve the white jade carvings and return them to you. Please grant me ten days. I will undoubtedly wash away this disgrace.”

Detective Akechi said apologetically while pressing the wound on his head.

Not long after that, Detective Akechi left Mr. Akamori’s house with a dejected air and, without taking a car, trudged through the dark residential district.

However, just then, something strange happened. Under a utility pole along the path Detective Akechi had passed crouched a beggar—and then this fellow rose smoothly to his feet and began tailing the detective.

It was too dark to see clearly, but he appeared to be a small-framed beggar dressed in tattered clothes. He seemed accustomed to tailing, skillfully following so as not to be noticed by his target.

Mysterious House Who on earth was this beggar boy? Why on earth was he tailing Detective Akechi? The detective showed no sign of noticing this as he hurried through the dark town and emerged onto the main street. There was a car waiting there, and Akechi got into it. As the beggar boy watched to see what he would do, Detective Akechi—having boarded the car—raised his hand high and gave a signal. Then, from the opposite direction, another automobile smoothly approached and came to a stop right before the beggar boy. For a car to come at the call of such a filthy boy was truly strange.

And then, the car carrying the beggar boy began tailing Detective Akechi’s car.

The two cars raced through the nighttime streets like arrows. Since it was still around eight o'clock, there were many cars on the town's streets, so the tailing didn't stand out.

However, before long, Detective Akechi’s car entered Shibuya Ward and gradually advanced into a deserted part of town. Given this situation, to avoid being noticed by their target, they needed to increase the distance between the two vehicles. The beggar boy directed the driver and skillfully maintained pursuit. The location where Detective Akechi’s car stopped was a desolate district lined exclusively with grand mansions. There stood a two-story Western-style mansion with a stone gate; Akechi disembarked from his vehicle and entered the building.

The beggar boy also parked his car at a considerable distance and slipped stealthily into the stone gate. Just whose house was this concrete Western-style mansion? The nameplate on the gate read "Date Goro," but Date Goro was a name he'd never heard before. Why had Detective Akechi entered this house instead of returning to his office?

"This is getting suspicious. There shouldn't be any house that only Detective knows about and not me." The beggar boy muttered to himself. The boy had called Detective Akechi "Detective." So was this boy part of the Boy Detectives Club's street urchin task force? But given that possibility, his muttered words seemed odd. He must have had an even closer connection to Detective Akechi.

Ah, that's right. Could this be Kobayashi Yoshio in disguise? His face was darkened with makeup, but those large, intelligent-looking eyes were unmistakably those of Kobayashi Yoshio.

At this point, I should simply state the truth plainly. This was none other than Kobayashi Yoshio. Kobayashi-kun had been told by Detective Akechi at Mr. Akamori's house earlier—"You should go home first"—and went outside, but since this marked the first time he'd ever received such an order, he couldn't help feeling something was decidedly strange.

So he called the Akechi Detective Agency from a public phone and asked Miss Mayumi, who was been keeping watch. He learned that a telegram had arrived from Detective Akechi stating he would arrive at Tokyo Station tonight at 8:30 PM. This was definitely suspicious now. Detective Akechi, who was supposed to arrive at 8:30 PM, had appeared at Mr. Akamori’s house much earlier than that. At that point, Kobayashi-kun considered that this Detective Akechi might be an imposter. His face and voice were perfect copies, but there was no denying that such masters of disguise existed. There had been numerous cases in the past where an imposter Akechi had appeared.

Kobayashi-kun hailed a taxi back to the office, hurriedly disguised himself as a beggar boy, then requested the usual hired car to take him back near Mr. Akamori’s house. Leaving the car waiting on the main street, he hid in the shadow of a utility pole before the Akamori residence’s gate.

The Two Akechi Kogoros

Kobayashi Yoshio slipped into the gate of the strange Western-style mansion and circled all around the building. Then, noticing light shining from a first-floor window facing the back garden, he quietly peered inside and saw the same Detective Akechi from earlier standing alone in that room. It was a magnificent room. On the opposite wall was a large built-in mirror. It was a long, narrow mirror, one and a half meters tall.

Detective Akechi stood before the large mirror, gazing at his own reflection while muttering to himself. “My disguise skills are truly something else. Even Kobayashi couldn’t see through it. Hahaha... The great thief disguised himself as the famous detective and guarded the treasure. Not even Kobayashi or the detectives noticed this trick. Hahahaha....” He seemed extremely pleased with himself, smiling at his own reflection in the mirror.

Upon hearing this, Kobayashi-kun, the beggar boy, quietly left the window, hurriedly rushed out the gate, searched for a nearby public telephone booth, and jumped inside it. After making a call somewhere, he returned to the Western-style mansion, but we will leave Kobayashi-kun here for now and proceed with the story from the perspective of the fake Detective Akechi inside the mansion.

It was about thirty minutes after Kobayashi-kun had made the public phone call.

The fake Detective Akechi was sitting relaxed in the armchair of that mirrored room, blowing cigarette smoke. He still hadn’t removed his disguise and remained in Detective Akechi’s form. Did he still intend to pull off another job in this guise? At that moment, there came a steady knocking at the door. It might be one of fake Detective Akechi’s subordinates.

“Enter.”

Fake Detective Akechi answered leisurely. The door swished open. And there, standing before him…

The fake Akechi cried "Ah!" and rose from his chair.

Take a look!

The person standing outside the door was none other than Detective Akechi. Inside the room was Detective Akechi; outside the door was also Detective Akechi—two identical figures, from face to clothing, standing facing each other. Fake Detective Akechi wondered if his own figure was being reflected in the mirror. However, the large mirror remained properly positioned beside the door. And there too, his own figure was reflected. There were now three Detective Akechis. Three of him existed: himself, the one standing at the door, and the one mirrored in the glass.

“Ha ha ha ha... You’re surprised, aren’t you? But you really are skilled at disguise, I must say. Even I might start thinking that’s actually me standing there. Ha ha ha ha….”

The real Detective Akechi slowly entered the room.

“Y-you... How did you get here...?”

The imposter was completely unnerved and couldn’t even speak clearly.

“It’s Kobayashi, you see. You chased Kobayashi away from Mr. Akamori’s house, didn’t you? Since I’ve never done such a thing before, he grew suspicious. He’s a clever boy, after all. And he followed you.” “I arrived at Tokyo Station at 8:30 tonight and returned straight to my office when Kobayashi called me there. That Kobayashi told me about this house. So I came here to meet the fake Detective Akechi—that’s how it is. Ha ha ha ha….”

The real Detective Akechi said this and put his right hand into his pocket. Fake Detective Akechi also put his right hand into his pocket. “Ha ha ha ha… Take your hand out of your pocket. If it’s a pistol, I have one too.” “Yeah, let’s skip the weapons. We can sort this out by talking.” Fake Detective Akechi seemed to finally make up his mind, adopting a nonchalant face as he took his hand out of his pocket. The real Detective Akechi likewise released his pistol, put out his hand, and continued speaking with a smile.

"You came up with quite the idea, dubbing yourself the Night Glow Monster. Using that repulsive face of yours to terrify people before committing robberies—no one but you would conceive such a scheme." "So you claim to know every last one of my secrets?"

Fake Akechi asked brazenly.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve completely figured out both the previous incident where you stole Mr. Sugimoto’s Suiko-period Buddha statue and this recent case where you stole Mr. Akamori’s white jade.”

"I was traveling, but by reading newspapers, I had mostly deduced everything. And tonight, upon returning and hearing the details from my office staff, I’ve come to fully understand everything." "Hmm, is that so. Truly worthy of the great detective title, I see. Alright, I’ll hear you out. But this room is unsettling. Let’s go to a room further inside. There’s a more comfortable room further in."

“I’ll go anywhere. By now, this building has been surrounded by a large police force. Kobayashi informed Inspector Nakamura of the Metropolitan Police Department and made those arrangements. So even if you try to deceive me and make a run for it, there’s no way you’ll escape. I’ll go anywhere. Now, lead the way.” “Hmm, you’ve been quite thorough. Alright, I’ve no intention of running or hiding at this point. Then, come this way.”

Having said that, Fake Akechi took the lead and stepped out through the door. Around one turn of the corridor, in a secluded spot, there was a small, tidy room. The two of them entered and stood facing each other.

The room had not a single window. Fake Akechi locked the only door from the inside. Therefore, the room had become a perfect locked room.

The Secret Behind the Magic “Well then, let’s hear it—go on and tell me just how much of my secrets you’ve figured out.” Fake Akechi stood blocking the way and spoke mockingly.

“As the Night Glow Monster, sometimes you take that form yourself, and sometimes your subordinates do. They wear vinyl shirts and trousers coated with phosphorescent paint. On their faces and hands, they apply the luminous paint directly. Over their eyes, they wear red glass spectacles fitted with tiny bulbs that make them glow crimson. They even place small bulbs in their mouths to create the illusion of breathing fire. Those bulbs connect via thin cords to batteries kept in their pockets. This is my deduction, but I doubt I’m mistaken. Well? What do you say?”

“Yeah, that’s about right. And how does the Night Glow Monster ascend into the sky?”

“They lower a rope from the top of a tall tree and climb it. “Since it’s nighttime, the rope isn’t visible. “Then after reaching the top, they put on black shirts and pants and hide their faces with masks. “That makes them completely invisible. “When their figure vanishes at the treetop, it looks like they’ve flown away into thin air.” “Yes, precisely. “Now then—why did you steal both Buddha statues and white jade? Explain that.”

“The Night Glow Monster couldn’t possibly have entered a tightly sealed room. Therefore, he was merely lurking outside the window—he didn’t actually steal anything. The one who stole it is someone else entirely.” “First, to explain how the Suiko-period Buddha statue was stolen from Mr. Sugimoto’s study—that statue originally belonged to you.” “Huh? You’re saying it was mine?”

“That’s right. Mr. Sugimoto and you were one and the same person.” “What? What did you just say?”

“You’re a master of disguise. You can disguise yourself as anyone. You disguise yourself as various people and own houses all over the place.”

“This house displays a nameplate reading Date Goro, but you’ve become Date Goro and are living here.” “In exactly the same way, you’ve become a man named Sugimoto and are residing in that house in Setagaya as well.”

“And by making it appear as though the Night Glow Monster was targeting you, you stole your own Buddha statue yourself. At that time, that room had become a locked room. No one could have entered. The only ones present were you and Kobayashi.”

The Night Glow Monster was prowling outside the window but couldn’t enter the room. The one who stole it was Mr. Sugimoto himself—in other words, you. While Kobayashi was distracted by the Night Glow Monster outside the window, you stashed that small Buddha statue into your inner pocket. And then, you made it appear as though it had been stolen by the Night Glow Monster. The Night Glow Monster had demonstrated to the world that he could slip into a tightly sealed room like a ghost. By doing so, even when stealing others’ belongings next time, he could make people believe it was still the Night Glow Monster’s work. Tonight, you disguised yourself as me and were alone in Mr. Akamori’s art room. You locked the door from the inside to keep the detectives from entering and then put on an act.

The Night Glow Monster entered the room—or so you made it seem—and pretended to grapple with you. You made thudding noises and let out groans.

By the time everyone broke down the door in worry and entered the room, he lay there as if struck down by the Night Glow Monster. In truth, you had slipped each of the five white jade pieces into different pockets while lying there. You’d stolen them cleanly. "And so," he continued, "after making it seem like the great Detective Akechi Kogoro had blundered spectacularly, he sneaked out of Mr. Akamori’s house." "I’m the one who came out on top here," he added with a smirk. "I’m no weakling to lose consciousness just from grappling with some Night Glow Monster."

“Yeah, impressive!” “Everything is exactly as you said.” “As expected—I saw right through it.” “Then, you’ve long since figured out the other secret too, I suppose.”

The fake Akechi stared fixedly at his opponent’s face after saying this. The two Detective Akechis—utterly indistinguishable from each other—stood blocking each other’s path, their eyes locked in mutual scrutiny. For a full minute, they remained motionless in this glaring standoff. “Of course I know.”

After a while, the real Detective Akechi smiled and said. And then his right hand shot forward swiftly and pointed straight at fake Akechi’s face.

“You’re Forty Faces!” “Before that, you were called Twenty Faces, weren’t you?” A sharp voice cracked like a whip. “So, if I’m Forty Faces, what are you going to do about it?” “I’ll hand you over to the police.” “As I said earlier, this house is surrounded by police officers.” “You can’t escape anymore—absolutely.”

“Heh. So I’m finally the cornered rat, is that it?” “But you see, Akechi, I’ve often found myself in situations like this.” “And each time, I might’ve prepared a backup plan, you know.”

“Ha ha ha ha… Quit the tough act. Listen—can you hear that? In the hallway outside the door came the sound of many footsteps. The police squad arrived. It wasn’t just five or six. Dozens of police officers were surrounding this house. One of those squads had come here.”

Before Akechi’s words had even finished echoing, a loud, rapid knocking began at the door—

“Akechi—are you in there? It’s Nakamura. Is the culprit secure?”

A faint voice could be heard from outside the door. It was Inspector Nakamura of the Metropolitan Police Department. Inspector Nakamura had arrived with a large number of subordinates. “It’s fine. This room has no windows. The only entrance is that door. Stand guard outside. I’ll hand over the culprit soon enough.”

Akechi called out loudly to the outside of the door. “Ha ha ha ha… How amusing. “So I’m the cornered rat now, huh?” “Ha ha ha ha… So even the great Forty Faces has finally fallen into the famous detective’s trap, is that it?” “However, Akechi—just as I said earlier—I still have one last resort remaining.” “Well, it seems the time has come to show you that.” Forty Faces kept laughing brazenly without pause. What on earth was he planning?

At that very moment, a strange occurrence was unfolding. The room where the real and fake Detective Akechis stood began to tremble faintly.

“Hmm, feels like an earthquake.”

When Detective Akechi said this, Forty Faces began to laugh again.

“Yeah, an earthquake.” “Ha ha ha ha… How amusing.” “I love earthquakes.” “Because this earthquake is my savior. Ha ha ha….”

If the house collapsed in the earthquake, did that mean he could escape? Yet it wasn’t a strong earthquake at all. Only a faint tremor persisted—a prolonged shaking that seemed endless. Detective Akechi kept his back to the door, never wavering as he watched Forty Faces standing at the room’s far end. His gaze remained locked, poised to spring forward instantly should any suspicious movement occur.

×　　　　×　　　　×　　　　× In the hallway outside the door, around ten uniformed police officers, led by Inspector Nakamura, were crowded together.

Since the door was locked, they waited for Detective Akechi to open it from inside. Their eyes remained fixed on the door, wondering if it would open now—if it would open now.

What could he be doing? Akechi simply wouldn't open the door. Inspector Nakamura, losing patience, began pounding on the door again and called out.

“Akechi, open the door at once!” “Hey, Akechi! What’s going on?”

Even when they strained their ears, there was no answer at all.

“Hey, Akechi! Where are you? Answer me.” No matter how much they shouted, the room remained deathly silent, not a single sound to be heard.

Inspector Nakamura grew worried. Clenching his fist, he continued to pound violently on the door. However, there was no answer at all.

“What’s going on? This is strange! Alright—there’s no other way. You—throw your body against this door and break it down!” Finally steeling himself, he barked the order to his subordinate. A burly officer stepped forward. “I’ll do it,” he declared, then crashed his shoulder against the door with a thunderous bang. Two or three more impacts followed—each collision splintering wood and warping hinges until a jagged gap tore open in the barrier.

Inspector Nakamura peered into the room through the gap, but—ah! What on earth had happened here? The inside of the small five-tsubo room was completely empty. There was no place where someone could hide. Ah, just where had the real Detective Akechi and the fake Detective Akechi gone?

“You all, take out your pistols and stand guard here.” “Only two of you, come inside with me.” “It’s unthinkable that a person could vanish like smoke.” “They must be hiding somewhere.” “We’ll search.”

Having said that, Inspector Nakamura took the lead and proceeded to enter through the gap in the door.

Great Secret

At that very moment.

In the room stood Detective Akechi and Forty Faces—disguised as Akechi—facing off against each other like two statues barring passage. Forty Faces occupied the rear of the room while Detective Akechi kept his back to the door—their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills.

Huh? Something’s not right here. When Inspector Nakamura peered into the room through the gap in the door, there was no one there at all. And yet, at that very same moment, Detective Akechi and Forty Faces were standing right there.

Is the author writing nonsense? No, absolutely not. Such a thing could never be. Both are true.

Dear readers. What on earth could have caused this? You’re probably thinking such an absurd thing couldn’t possibly happen. However, in reality, such a thing did happen. Do you understand? Please think carefully.

There was a single astonishing secret there. That earthquake which had been shaking continuously until just moments before had now completely ceased without warning.

Somewhere in the distance, there seemed to be a faint sound of someone shouting. Then came the thud, thud of something colliding, the creaking splinter of boards breaking—yet all of it seemed to be coming from somewhere far, far away. Even the great Detective Akechi could not discern what those sounds meant.

At that moment, Forty Faces disguised as Akechi—for some reason—strode toward the door and inserted the key he held into the keyhole.

“Hey, what are you doing?” When Detective Akechi, startled, questioned him, Forty Faces sneered and,

“I’m getting out of the room. “I’ve had enough of looking at your face now.”

“Huh? What did you say? There’s a whole squad of police officers outside that door! Do you mean to go out there and get caught quickly?” “Yeah, I want to get caught. But unfortunately, you won’t catch me though. I’ve mastered magic, you know. So long!” No sooner had he said this than he suddenly flung open the door, dashed outside, and slammed it shut with a bang. This happened so quickly that Detective Akechi was inadvertently left behind in the room.

However, there was no need to panic. Since there was a police squad keeping watch outside, that Forty Faces guy must have been caught in no time.

Wanting to see what was happening, he pushed on the door, but it appeared to have been locked from the outside and wouldn’t budge.

Akechi thought, “Huh?” Something was off. He suddenly knocked on the door and called out. “Inspector Nakamura! The guy who just went out is the culprit!” “He has a face exactly like mine, but he’s an impostor.” “Hey, Inspector Nakamura! That’s the fiend Forty Faces!” “Do you understand…?”

However, there came no response from outside. A deathly stillness had settled over everything. The situation grew increasingly bizarre. With so many officers in the corridor, they should have heard sounds of scuffling. That it remained tomb-silent—what on earth could explain this?

×　　　　×　　　　×　　　　×

This was Inspector Nakamura’s squad. Bursting through the door, Inspector Nakamura and two police officers stepped into the room. There were only simple chairs and a table with a display shelf in the corner—nowhere in the room offered any place where someone could hide. Inspector Nakamura and his team stood dazedly surveying the room, feeling as though they’d been tricked by a fox.

Then, suddenly, the room became pitch dark. "Ah! A blackout!"

From the outer corridor as well, the voices of police officers could be heard. The corridor lights had also gone out. The surroundings were plunged into utter darkness. At that moment. Near the ceiling in the corner of the room, a hazy white glow appeared. It was a round object about the size of a human head. And three bright red things were attached to it. Two were eyes, and one was a mouth.

Large, bright red glowing eyes were fixedly staring in this direction. A mouth split open all the way to its ears glowed bright red, as if about to spew fire. "Ah! The Night Glow Monster!"

One of the police officers shouted in a trembling voice.

“Heh heh heh heh….”

A blood-curdling laugh. The Night Glow Monster was laughing maniacally. “Never mind! Open fire!” “Pistols! Fire!”

From the darkness, Inspector Nakamura shouted. The two police officers’ pistols roared with a terrifying sound and spewed red fire.

The white-glowing face in the air swayed unsteadily. One bullet had indeed hit its mark. However, the monster remained unharmed.

With a terrifying laugh of “Heh heh heh…,” the crimson-eyed face lunged straight toward them. Again, the pistols spat fire. Yet their foe remained unfazed. It flew wildly through the air while unleashing its sinister laughter. They realized the monster wouldn’t die even when struck by pistol bullets. Perhaps ghosts truly couldn’t perish after all.

“Doesn’t anyone have a flashlight?” Inspector Nakamura shouted in a loud voice.

In response to his voice, a light abruptly shone in from the corridor. Three police officers turned on their flashlights and came in this direction. The three beams of light were directed toward the ceiling where the Night Glow Monster had been flying. What?! There was nothing there at all! The face of the monster that until moments ago had been flying there, glaring with crimson eyes, had now vanished without a trace. It had disappeared somewhere.

The mysteries only continued to grow. No sooner had Detective Akechi and Forty Faces vanished as if wiped away than now the Night Glow Monster’s head had disappeared. Beneath that silver-glowing head, there should naturally have been a human body wrapped in a black shirt. Yet the body too had vanished completely. A windowless room—outside its sole door, the police force held firm. Thus, there was absolutely no means of escape. How on earth had they vanished?

Mystery upon mystery—this place was just like a haunted house.

The Famous Detective Appears At that moment, everything around them suddenly became as bright as midday. The lights had come on. Using that illumination, they inspected the room once more, but there was nothing suspicious anywhere. It became clear that Detective Akechi, Forty Faces, and the Night Glow Monster had completely vanished from the perfectly sealed room without leaving a trace. After some time had passed, from the direction of the corridor,

“Ah! Detective Akechi!” A voice cried out, and a stir arose among the police officers. Hearing this, Inspector Nakamura and his men rushed out into the corridor to find...

Look there! Isn't that the famous detective Akechi Kogoro calmly walking this way from over there? Through the path the police officers had opened to either side, Detective Akechi approached, smiling. "Oh, Akechi! Where on earth have you been? How were you able to get out of this room?" Inspector Nakamura asked quizzically as he greeted Akechi.

“It’s truly a terrifying feat of magic. Only Forty Faces could accomplish such a feat.”

Detective Akechi murmured admiringly. “What? You mean Forty Faces?”

The inspector asked back in surprise.

“Ah, I hadn’t told you yet, had I? The one who disguised himself as me and stole the white jewel was none other than the fiend Forty Faces. No one but Forty Faces could have disguised himself so skillfully.” “Huh? So this was Forty Faces’ doing again? Damn it! He’s planning to stir up trouble again! So did you catch him?” “No, unfortunately he got away. He said he had a trump card, but I never dreamed it would be such an elaborate one, you see.”

“So he got away, huh? Where’d he go? We have to go after him right away!” “No, even if we chased him now, it’d be too late. Moreover, I have another trump card up my sleeve. Until we get word from that end, making a fuss won’t do any good. But before that, let me show you the secret of how we disappeared from this room.”

After saying this, Akechi entered the room alone, restored the door to its original state, and instructed them to block the entrance.

“Listen carefully—when three minutes have passed, open this door. Until then, everyone, wait in the corridor. I’ll now unravel Forty Faces’ greatest secret for you.” He repaired the torn door, and the entrance was blocked.

Inspector Nakamura had no idea what was going on, but he stared at his wristwatch and waited for three minutes to pass.

When three minutes had finally passed, he impatiently had the door opened—Ah! What do you make of this? The room was empty once more! “Akechi! Where did you hide? Hey, Akechi…”

Inspector Nakamura shouted in a loud voice. Then, from somewhere far away, Akechi’s voice could faintly be heard.

“Hey, Nakamura! Close the door again.” “And then, after three minutes, open it again.”

The same words were repeated twice. At last, he understood their meaning. So faint had the voice been. Inspector Nakamura knocked on every wall of the room, methodically checking them all, but found nothing suspicious anywhere.

They realized Detective Akechi was not hiding inside the walls. Then Inspector Nakamura stepped back into the corridor, closed the door, and began glaring at his wristwatch. Then, when three minutes had passed, he opened the door once more.

“Ha ha ha ha ha….” “Well? Have you figured out the secret yet?”

In the room, Detective Akechi was laughing. Inspector Nakamura let out an astonished “Ah!” and stood there speechless. “I don’t get it. Just what in the world is going on here?” “A grand illusion only Forty Faces could pull off! The meaning is…” Elevator “Rather than explaining it with words, let me show you again. This time, don’t close the door, okay? If you do that, you’ll clearly see the secret behind this grand illusion!”

After saying this, Akechi entered the room with a smile, went to the back, and stepped lightly on a certain spot on the floor with his shoe. There must have been a push-button there. Then, the entire room began smoothly sinking downward. From above the open door, a concrete wall descended, and as it passed downward, what appeared there was the second-floor room.

In other words, the entire room had become a large elevator. When the first room descended to the basement, the second-floor room came after it, designed to align perfectly with the doorway. The room where Detective Akechi was descended to the basement, while the empty second-floor room came down to the first floor. After a while, this time the room began moving in reverse; the second floor ascended upward, and the room where Akechi was standing emerged from below.

“I see! So you thought of making the entire room an elevator.”

Inspector Nakamura said in an impressed tone.

“So Forty Faces has escaped?” “Yeah, I had no idea this room was descending to the basement, so I just stood there and watched Forty Faces walk out through the door without trying to stop him. I was convinced you were all in the hallway outside the door, you see.”

However, since the room had descended to the basement, there was no one outside the door. Forty Faces vanished into the underground darkness just like that.

“But this Western-style mansion is surrounded by police officers. If he tries to escape, he should be caught.” Inspector Nakamura interjected doubtfully.

“The police officers are within this building’s walls. However, the basement entrance might be far outside the walls.”

“Huh? So you’re saying the underground passage leads outside the mansion?” “Otherwise, he should’ve been caught by the police by now.”

“But I have a secret weapon of my own.” “That would be young Kobayashi.”

Kobayashi was leading the urchin task force children, circling around the field outside the Western-style mansion’s wall and surveying the area. And if they found anyone suspicious, they were to tail them and determine their destination. “Now all we can do is wait for Kobayashi-kun’s report.” “Hmm, I see. “Kobayashi-kun won’t let anything slip by him.” “I just hope he tails them successfully… But even so, there’s still one thing I don’t understand.” “When we broke down the door and rushed into this room, the lights went out, and the Night Glow Monster’s face went flying around the room.”

But when they turned their flashlights on to investigate, he was already nowhere to be found. "He vanished." "There’s no way he left through the door." "There were plenty of police officers there, after all. But aside from the door, there’s no gap anywhere a person could get through." "Detective Akechi, can you solve this mystery?"

At Inspector Nakamura’s words, Detective Akechi entered the room and looked around at the ceiling, but when he found something, he smiled and motioned to the inspector.

“Look there. There’s a circular hole about two centimeters in diameter.” “The Night Glow Monster leaped out from that hole and then went back through it again.”

“Huh? You’re saying a human can come and go through such a tiny hole?” Inspector Nakamura, startled, stared at Akechi’s face. “Humans can’t come and go. But a vinyl balloon can pass through. That Forty Faces has had a habit of using balloons ever since *The Bronze Demon*, so he must be using the same trick this time. They made just the head of the Night Glow Monster out of vinyl—kept it deflated, lowered it through that ceiling hole, then blew air in to inflate it. They dangled it around with a string.”

“Of course, they coated the entire face with phosphorescent paint and attached red miniature bulbs to the eyes and mouth,” “They placed dry batteries on the ceiling and ran a cord from them to the miniature bulbs.” “Then when they wanted to make this head disappear, they just needed to deflate the vinyl by letting out the air and pull it back through that hole—simple enough.” “Forty Faces’ henchman must have been hiding above the ceiling and controlling the Night Glow Monster’s head.”

“That Forty Faces really loves these kinds of magic tricks. He takes such delight in devising outlandish sorcery and stirring up public panic that he’s quite the troublesome fellow.” Detective Akechi gave a bitter smile as he said this.

The white-bearded old man

Meanwhile, Kobayashi Yoshio lay in the grass of the field outside the Western-style mansion alongside four urchin task force members.

They had discovered the entrance to an underground passage there. In the clump of grass gaped a dark hole. The hole normally appeared to be sealed with a large stone lid, which now lay cast aside nearby. Why had someone opened it? Could Forty Faces intend to escape through here? Kobayashi pointed his flashlight into the cavity. Stone steps descended endlessly into the depths. This was unquestionably an underground exit.

So he turned off his flashlight and lay down in the grass near the hole with the four urchin task force members to set up an ambush.

This area was desolate, with no neon signs from shops visible and no sound of cars audible. When they looked up at the sky, stars shone in astonishing numbers, beautiful as if sand had been scattered across it. They maintained their patient ambush for a very long time—and their perseverance paid off. Someone came slinking out from the hole. Just when they thought it might be Forty Faces disguised as Detective Akechi, they were proven wrong. What emerged from the hole and rose unsteadily using a cane was an extremely elderly man.

Because their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they could faintly make out the figure by the starlight. He had a head of white hair with a thick beard reaching his chest, wore a suit, and carried a cane—his waist bent as if folded in two. "Aha," Kobayashi thought. "Forty Faces plans to escape disguised as this old man."

With that thought, Kobayashi-kun signaled the four urchin task force members to begin tailing. The white-bearded old man scurried across the field. For someone with such a bent back, his legs moved surprisingly fast. When they exited the field, the concrete wall of some factory stretched endlessly onward. The town had few streetlights and was terrifyingly dark. The white-bearded old man plodded through the town, but upon reaching a corner, he suddenly glanced back over his shoulder.

Kobayashi and the others pressed against the concrete wall as they tailed him thought there was no way they could be discovered—yet still feeling somehow uneasy—they remained frozen in place without moving a muscle. The white-bearded old man stared fixedly in their direction muttering something under his breath when suddenly— “Ehehehe...”

He let out an eerie, unsettling laugh and, without pause, began walking off in that direction once more.

It seemed they had been noticed. Forty Faces, disguised as an old man, might have realized Kobayashi and his team were tailing him and let out such an eerie laugh.

However, even if they had been noticed, they couldn’t abandon the tail, so Kobayashi and the others continued following the white-bearded old man.

Passing the factory’s concrete wall, they came upon a shrine’s forest. The old man entered that forest. The boys followed suit. Passing through the stone torii and proceeding further, they found stone komainu crouching on stone pedestals before the shrine hall like ominous beasts. The white-bearded old man passed through this area and entered the deep forest behind the shrine hall. Though growing increasingly uneasy, the boys couldn’t retreat.

“Heh heh heh…”

When they noticed, the white-bearded old man was facing them, laughing in an unpleasant voice. The boys involuntarily came to a halt, but there was no longer any room to doubt that he had noticed them. “Heh heh heh… The one over there is Mr. Kobayashi. And then, the urchin task force children. I must say, trailing me was quite impressive. Well done noticing the entrance to that underground passage. So, do you all know my true identity? If you don’t know, I’ll show you right now. Behold! This is my true form!”

No sooner had he spoken than the old man's body darted behind a tree trunk, and from there, a pale glowing thing drifted into view.

It was the head of the Night Glow Monster. A face glowing pale like phosphorus, enormous crimson eyes, a mouth burning red—it was that terrifying head of the Night Glow Monster.

The Night Glow Monster Ascends to Heaven

The head of the Night Glow Monster, its crimson eyes gleaming and blazing mouth agape, darted through the pitch-dark forest while letting out that dreadful cackle—cackle, cackle, cackle. “I outsmarted Akechi. “I outsmarted the police squad too. “And now, I’ll astonish you all. “I thought the police squad was keeping watch at that underground passage’s exit. “I’d prepared a magic trick to shock those officers.”

“However, those lying in wait there weren’t the police squad—it was just you all. Having you street urchins as opponents is rather beneath me, but there’s no helping it. I’ll now demonstrate that astonishing magic of mine. When you return, make sure to properly report this to Detective Akechi.”

The head of the Night Glow Monster said such things in an eerie, hoarse voice.

For a while, only the glowing head floated lightly among the trees, but when it came to a stop before the largest tree in the forest, it gradually revealed its entire body—from chest to abdomen, abdomen to hips, hips to legs—all aglow in silver. Even knowing he was merely removing his form-fitting black shirt and pants, as that gleaming body gradually materialized—first the chest, then abdomen, hips, and legs—they couldn’t help but feel chills from the depths of their hearts at its inexplicable eerie aura.

His phosphorescent body had fully materialized; beneath the large tree, he spread his legs and stood imposingly tall.

“Hey, Kobayashi-kun! Watch closely what kind of astonishing trick I’m about to pull off. And make sure you report every detail to Akechi-kun.”

“I may escape from here for now, but I will appear before you again soon.” “And I will collect artworks.” “This is my pleasure.” “I don’t plan to give up this pleasure until my art museum is filled to the brim.” “Tell Akechi-kun that.” “And tell him we’ll have another battle of wits soon enough.”

The Night Glow Monster began smoothly climbing up the tree while saying this.

It was just as usual. Even knowing that a rope hung from the treetop and that he was climbing it, the sight of the silver-glowing naked man ascending into the pitch-black tree was indescribably bizarre.

Finally, he reached the very top of the tall tree. Usually, at the very top, he would put on a black shirt and black pants, don a black mask, and vanish from sight. He would make it look as though he were ascending into the sky, but tonight was different.

However long they waited, the silver figure did not vanish. Not only did it not vanish, but something strange began to happen. A strange noise could be heard: whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr…. It was coming from the treetop.

“Ah! It’s flying, it’s flying…!” One of the urchins let out a shrill cry.

It was indeed flying. The silver body of the Night Glow Monster separated from the treetop and began soaring high into the starry sky.

Against a starry sky speckled like scattered sand, a silver human figure—its crimson eyes gleaming and flames spewing from its mouth—ascended smoothly. It was a dreamlike scene, as if taken straight from a fairy tale illustration. How was the Night Glow Monster ascending into the sky without wings? Could there be some hidden mechanism at work?

Dear readers, you must recall how Twenty Faces took to the skies during the incident of The Space Alien. That was something like a helicopter propeller, which he had attached to a small engine and carried on his back. It was from the Frenchman who had invented such a machine that Twenty Faces purchased it and disguised himself as the Space Alien. The Night Glow Monster might have hidden that same machine at the top of the tree and flown by strapping it to his back.

In any case, the sight of the silver-glowing human figure floating lightly upward into the world of stars was truly magnificent. That figure grew steadily smaller. At first appearing about one meter tall, it shrank to fifty centimeters, then thirty, then ten, until finally dissolving into the expanse of the starry sky.

Kobayashi Yoshio and the four Urchin Task Force members were gazing up at the starry sky as if in a dream. Even after the silver figure of the Night Glow Monster had shrunk to a size easily mistaken for a star and vanished among them, they remained rooted to the spot, standing transfixed in a daze.

However, they couldn’t remain transfixed forever. Kobayashi Yoshio, finally regaining his senses, urged the four urchins to turn back toward Forty Faces’ Western-style house. When they entered the Western-style house, both Detective Akechi and Inspector Nakamura were still there, waiting for Kobayashi-kun’s report. “Ah, Kobayashi-kun! How did it go? Didn’t you see him escaping?”

Detective Akechi was the first to ask that.

“Yes—there’s an underground passage exit in the back field.” “He emerged from there disguised as a white-bearded old man.” “Of course we followed him immediately, but he gave us the slip in the shrine’s forest.” “He soared into the sky from that treetop.” “The flight method matched exactly what he used during the Space Alien incident.”

“Since he had escaped into the sky and there was nothing we could do, we just came back.” “No, having witnessed that much was enough. “You’ve done well. “He might have wanted to lure me into that forest. “And he probably wanted to put on a show of flying into the sky right before my eyes. “That’s because he’s such a theatrical showman.”

Strange Glow in the Water

Two or three years ago, a Frenchman’s invention of flying through the air with something like a helicopter propeller strapped to his back had been reported in newspapers—and Forty Faces, during the Space Alien incident, equipped himself with the same kind of propeller and frequently demonstrated flying through the air.

This time as well, it was that propeller. Forty Faces' Night Glow Monster equipped the flight gear he had concealed at the treetop and demonstrated flying through the starry sky.

Thus, the Night Glow Monster managed to escape once again, but about ten days later, one night...

The Night Glow Monster next appeared in his eerie form at the mansion of a wealthy man named Mr. Ueyama in Minato Ward.

At the Ueyama residence, there was a sixth-grade elementary school student named Ueyama Ichiro. That was Mr. Ueyama’s only child.

Ichiro-kun was a courageous boy who belonged to the Boy Detectives Club. That night, while studying in his second-floor room, Ichiro-kun happened to glance out the window at the spacious garden and saw something bluish glowing dart swiftly between the trees. "Strange," he thought. "Maybe someone with a flashlight came into the garden." Being a courageous boy, Ichiro immediately left his room, descended the stairs, and rushed out into the garden.

He entered the grove where the light had been moving earlier, but the area was pitch black, with not a trace of light remaining. For a while, he stood still in the darkness and listened intently, but no suspicious sounds reached his ears. "Huh? What's that?" he wondered.

Beyond the grove of trees lay a pond. The surface of the water glowed faintly blue. Ichiro-kun went to investigate by the pond's edge. There was something glowing beneath the water! When he crouched on the bank and peered into the depths, even courageous Ichiro-kun turned deathly pale and began trembling violently. At the bottom of the pond lay a bluish-glowing humanoid figure. The creature twisted its neck and glared up at Ichiro-kun.

Ah, that face!

Eyes—perfectly round and glowing crimson, each about three centimeters across—and a mouth split open to the ears and equally crimson; that terrifying face glared up at Ichiro-kun from beneath the water. “Ah! The Night Glow Monster!”

Ichiro-kun involuntarily shouted that and ran toward the house. And then, he entered his father’s study,

“It’s terrible! The Night Glow Monster is in the garden pond!” he breathlessly reported.

When he heard “Night Glow Monster,” Father too was startled and went out into the garden with a student servant to verify it. Shining their flashlights, they circled all around the pond but found no trace of any bluish-glowing human figure anywhere. Since the Night Glow Monster presumably couldn’t switch off his bodily light at will, had he been in the pond, they should have been able to see him.

Mr. Ueyama and the student servant thoroughly searched the grove once more, but found nothing suspicious. “Ichiro, since you’ve joined that Boy Detectives Club or whatever, you’re always thinking about nothing but the Night Glow Monster.” “That’s why you saw a phantom.” “You need to stop playing detective or whatever.” Father said this and reprimanded Ichiro-kun.

But could that really have been a phantom? Ichiro-kun just couldn’t bring himself to think that way. In the transparent pond water, a bluish-glowing human was lying, swaying gently. A human with only its eyes and mouth a bright red. Ichiro-kun could not forget that beauty. That night, he dreamed of the Night Glow Monster lying in the water. Even when awake, if he closed his eyes even for a moment, the figure of that bluish human would float up abruptly behind his eyelids.

The following day was a dim, gloomy one, the sky shrouded in black clouds.

When Ichiro-kun returned from school and entered his father’s study, his father was standing in front of the desk with a horrified expression, staring at the wall fireplace. The study was a spacious Western-style room with small windows, dimly lit. Ichiro-kun also involuntarily turned his gaze toward the fireplace. In the back of the fireplace where no fire was now burning, a blue, round object hung. The blue glowing round object had three bright red areas.

It was something utterly unknowable.

Ah! It's the Night Glow Monster! Ichiro-kun finally noticed it. The monster’s face was hanging upside down inside the fireplace, its mouth at the top and eyes at the bottom, making it appear utterly inexplicable. Both Father and Ichiro-kun stood frozen in place upon realizing it was the Night Glow Monster, completely unable to move. Their eyes remained fixed as if nailed, staring intently at the monster in the fireplace.

Then, the monster smoothly ascended toward the fireplace chimney and vanished from sight. Mr. Ueyama and Ichiro-kun, finally able to move their bodies as if released from a spell, immediately went to the fireplace, craning their necks inside to peer upward.

But the entire space was pitch dark, and no bluish glowing object could be seen anywhere. “After all, what Ichiro said was true. The Night Glow Monster has started targeting our house.” Father said this and stared fixedly at Ichiro-kun’s face. “Hey, Dad, let’s ask Detective Akechi for help after all. Right? It’s okay, isn’t it?” Because Ichiro-kun was a member of the Boy Detectives Club, he believed Detective Akechi was the most impressive.

“Yeah, I’ll call Detective Akechi right away and have him come over. Of course I’ll inform the police too, but first I need to consult Detective Akechi.”

Father turned the dial on the desk telephone and called the Akechi Detective Agency. "Is Detective Akechi available?" "He's gone out. He may be back late today." "Ah, I see. And who might you be?" "I'm Kobayashi, the assistant." "Ah, Mr. Kobayashi? I'm Ueyama. There's an urgent matter I need to discuss. If Detective Akechi isn't available, could you come instead? I've heard all about your remarkable exploits. I know I can trust you. Please, you must come."

“What exactly is this urgent matter?” “It’s the Night Glow Monster!”

Mr. Ueyama pressed the receiver to his mouth and said in a whisper. "Huh? The Night Glow Monster?!"

Kobayashi boy’s shocked voice. “Yes.” “That guy appeared at my house.” “He must be targeting the art pieces I possess.” “Then I’ll come right away.” “Please tell me your address.”

There, after explaining his address in detail, Mr. Ueyama added: “I hear the Street Urchin Task Force’s Pocket Boy is quite famous. “If you could bring that boy along as well, I would be most grateful. “I’ve also been wanting to meet that boy once myself.” “Ah, Pocket-kun? “Understood. “I’ll take him along. “He’s my right-hand man, you see.”

The Kobayashi boy answered proudly.

The Bottom of the Old Well

About an hour later in Mr. Ueyama’s study, Mr. Ueyama, Ichiro-kun, Kobayashi Yoshio, and Pocket Boy sat gathered around the table. Night had already fallen, and electric lights illuminated the study. Every window remained tightly closed, the door had been locked from within, while before the wall fireplace stood the young student from earlier - club in hand keeping watch. This precaution aimed to block any potential entry by the Night Glow Monster through that passage.

“Let me have you see what they’re after.” “It’s in that safe.” “I’ll take it out now and bring it here, so please wait.” Mr. Ueyama stood up from his chair as he said this, went to the small safe in the corner of the room, turned the dial while shielding it with his body, opened the door, took out a small object wrapped in a purple cloth wrapper, and returned to the table.

And when he opened the purple cloth wrapper，a long，narrow paulownia wood box about twenty centimeters in length emerged from within． “Now，please take a look．This is my family’s treasured heirloom．It came from China long ago and is a three-storied pagoda constructed entirely from assembled pieces of jade．”

Having said that, he took it out from the paulownia wood box, stood it up on the table, and showed it to them. It was a dark greenish, glossy, charming three-storied pagoda. The height was only about fifteen centimeters. “You probably don’t understand its value, but this is an art piece worth ten million yen.” “The Night Glow Monster first stole the Suiko-period Buddha statue, second took the small white jade Buddha statue, and now he’s targeting this jade pagoda.” “They’re all old Oriental art pieces.” “That guy seems to be trying to collect such things.”

After finishing his explanation, Mr. Ueyama placed the jade pagoda into the paulownia wood box, wrapped it in the cloth, and returned it to the safe.

“The combination to this dial is known to no one but me. “Even the Night Glow Monster can’t open that safe.” Mr. Ueyama returned to his original seat and declared confidently.

That’s when it happened.

“Ah!”

With that shout, the Kobayashi boy stood up from his chair. And he was staring at the window across the room.

Everyone looked in that direction.

Right on the other side of the windowpane, the Night Glow Monster’s head was hanging upside down.

The bright red mouth was positioned on top, with the bright red eyes attached below. Hanging down from the second floor, he peered through the window's upper section with only his face visible. "Alright! I'll shoot you dead with this pistol!"

Mr. Ueyama ran to the desk, pulled out a pistol from its drawer, and abruptly pulled the trigger toward the head at the window. With a terrifying clang, the windowpane shattered, leaving a large hole, but the Night Glow Monster’s head swiftly retreated upward, showing no sign of injury.

The four people in the room stood frozen, not moving a muscle.

At that moment, "Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh...."

A strange, bird-like cry could be heard.

“There! That’s the spot!”

Kobayashi-kun shouted.

Through the pitch-black garden’s grove flew the Night Glow Monster’s head. Though it likely possessed not just a head but a torso too, this remained concealed by a black shirt and unseen. Only the head appeared to float through empty air. With its blue-glowing face, crimson eyes, and fiery red mouth that seemed ready to spew flames, the head drifted through the darkness—floating gently as if silently beckoning, "Come this far."

“Damn you! You’re mocking us.” “Alright! I’ll catch you now!” “Everyone, follow me as well.”

Mr. Ueyama suddenly flung open the window and leaped out into the pitch-black garden. In his hand, he gripped the pistol from earlier. Kobayashi-kun, Pocket Boy, Ichiro-kun, and the houseboys each climbed over the window one after another, stepped down barefoot into the garden, and followed Mr. Ueyama. The Night Glow Monster’s head emitted that eerie “Heh, heh, heh, heh…” laughter as it drifted lightly away into the distance.

Mr. Ueyama chased after it relentlessly. The three boys and the houseboys also ran frantically. Weaving this way and that through the grove, they finally reached the edge of the garden. There, in the thicket behind Tsukiyama Hill, was a dried-up old well. The Night Glow Monster’s head hovered over the old well for a moment, then swiftly vanished into the ground.

“Ah! It went into the old well! He’s a cornered rat now!” Mr. Ueyama shouted this as he approached the old well and peered inside.

At the bottom of the deep well, the Night Glow Monster’s head could be seen writhing.

The Kobayashi boy and Pocket Boy clung to the moss-covered edge of the well, peering inside.

Mr. Ueyama suddenly stripped off his jacket until he was wearing only his shirt and underpants. “You wait here. I’ll go down and catch him. The inner wall of this well is lined with stones—you can set your feet against them to climb down.” With those words, Mr. Ueyama vanished into the old well. Ichiro-kun had never known his father to be such a bold man. It was as though he’d become a completely different person from his usual self.

“Hey! There’s a horizontal hole at the bottom of the well.” “He’s escaped into that horizontal hole.” “Someone go back to the house and find a rope to bring here.” “Use that to climb down here too.”

From the bottom of the well, Mr. Ueyama's voice echoed up. "We don't need to search for a rope—the Boy Detectives Club has a silk rope ladder," Kobayashi Yoshio replied to Mr. Ueyama and the others. "We'll head down right now."

Kobayashi-kun untied the long silk cord coiled around his waist, hooked the iron clasp attached to its end onto the well's edge, and lowered the cord into the well. The silk cord had round knots spaced every thirty centimeters, allowing one to descend by hooking their toes onto them.

“Only Pocket Boy and I will go down. Ichiro, it’s dangerous here—please wait right there. Houseboys, keep watch.”

Leaving those words behind, Kobayashi-kun entered the well. After waiting for Kobayashi-kun to descend, Pocket Boy also began climbing down using the silk cord. By the time Kobayashi-kun had descended to the bottom of the dry well, Mr. Ueyama had already entered the side tunnel.

“Here it is. There’s a tunnel built with stacked stones here. I had no idea when this side passage was constructed. He’s fled deeper inside. Let’s corner and catch him! Don’t worry—I’ve got a pistol, so we’ll be fine. You two follow behind me.” “Yes, just Pocket Boy and I will accompany you. We both have penlight flashlights with us too. Please use this to light your way forward.”

Kobayashi-kun said this, took out a penlight flashlight—one of the seven essential detective tools—from his pocket, and handed it to Mr. Ueyama. The horizontal hole was barely wide enough for an adult to crawl through. Mr. Ueyama crawled steadily deeper into the tunnel, gripping a pistol in his right hand while shining the flashlight with his left. Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy followed him. When Pocket Boy also pulled out his penlight flashlight and illuminated their surroundings, the area became dimly lit, revealing the stonework lining the tunnel's walls.

When the narrow side tunnel ended, there lay a spacious cave. It was so spacious that even if you stood up and reached your hands out, you still couldn’t touch the ceiling. “I’m shocked... I never would have imagined there’s an underground passage like this in my house.” “Still... Why would someone build something like this?” Mr. Ueyama muttered in utter astonishment.

Pit Trap

Where had the Night Glow Monster gone? The cave was pitch black, with no sign of anyone inside.

The three of them stood frozen at the entrance, pressing their bodies together, straining their ears to catch any sound of the Night Glow Monster’s voice from somewhere. “Ah! There he is,” Mr. Ueyama said in a suppressed voice. In the depths of the cave, a round bluish-white form appeared dimly, bright red eyes and a mouth emerging within it—the Night Glow Monster’s head.

It glided smoothly through the air, drawing closer. "He does have a body. It's just that he's wearing a black shirt, so you can't see it. Jump on him and pin him down! Ready? Now!"

Following Mr. Ueyama, Kobayashi boy and Pocket Boy also leaped at the Night Glow Monster’s head, but in an instant, all three were sent tumbling to the ground.

“Heh，heh，heh… How’s that?” “If you can catch me，go ahead and try.”

A nasty voice echoed through the cave and resounded. Both Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy had severely injured their backs when the Night Glow Monster knocked them down, so they couldn’t get up immediately. They lay fallen, staring at the Night Glow Monster’s head. The bluish-white glowing head smoothly retreated into the distance, but there—apparently beginning to remove his black shirt—the Night Glow Monster’s entire body appeared: silver shoulders, chest, abdomen, then waist, thighs, and down to the tips of his feet.

“Heh, heh, heh… Hey, you punks—you’ve finally fallen into my trap.” “Just wait—something terrifying is about to happen.”

No sooner had the monster said this than he began dashing around the cave with his silver-glowing body. With crimson eyes and a crimson mouth, he ran wildly through the darkness, puffing out red flames with each sharp exhale. He ran about like a madman.

The three avoided it and fled toward the farthest corners of the cave, but then suddenly, the ground beneath Kobayashi-kun’s feet vanished.

“Ah!”

By the time he cried out, they had already fallen into a deep hole. In a corner of the cave, there was a pit trap about three square meters in size that had been dug. The depth was a full three meters, and with sheer walls on all sides, there was no way to climb out. The ones who had fallen into it were only Kobayashi boy and Pocket Boy, while Mr. Ueyama remained above the hole. “Mr. Ueyama, please help us! We’ve fallen into a pit trap!”

When Kobayashi-kun shouted, Mr. Ueyama's face appeared at the edge of the hole. Pocket Boy’s fountain pen-shaped flashlight was faintly illuminating that face from below. “You guys really took a beating, huh.”

Mr. Ueyama said something strange. "Huh? What did you say?" "Please say that again."

Kobayashi-kun asked back in surprise.

“Take a good look there. There should be someone lying near you.” Mr. Ueyama said something strange again. “Huh? Where?”

Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy shone their flashlight at the bottom of the hole. “Ah! Someone’s collapsed here.”

When they rushed over, they found a man in a suit lying there, gagged and bound hand and foot.

“Mr. Ueyama, who is this?” When Kobayashi-kun looked up at the top of the hole and asked, Mr. Ueyama smiled eerily. “Heh heh heh… Try taking off the gag. Then you’ll know who it is.”

Something was definitely off. I feel like some kind of colossal mistake has occurred. Kobayashi-kun hurriedly removed the gag from the man lying there and shone his flashlight on the face, but no sooner had he looked than— “Ah!”

he cried out and involuntarily began to back away.

Could it be that Kobayashi-kun was seeing a terrifying dream? The man lying there had a face exactly like Mr. Ueyama’s. Mr. Ueyama became two people. How could such an absurd thing exist?

Kobayashi-kun stood up and shouted.

“Mr. Ueyama. Please show me your face.”

Then, Mr. Ueyama above—

“Oh? You want to see my face? Now, take a good look.” As he spoke, he thrust his face out from the edge of the hole. Kobayashi’s flashlight illuminated that face. “Ah! It really is Mr. Ueyama. How strange. The person lying at the bottom of this hole has a face exactly like Mr. Ueyama’s. It’s exactly like they’re twin brothers.” “Heh heh heh… Twins would’ve been nice, wouldn’t they? Hey, Kobayashi! You too, Pocket Boy over there—listen up. Ueyama doesn’t have any twin brothers, you know. Heh heh heh… One of them’s a fake. So which one do you think is the fake...? Well then, maybe I’ll show you some proof.”

No sooner had Mr. Ueyama said this than he suddenly blew a sharp "Heeew!" on his whistle. Then, that whistle must have been the signal. The Night Glow Monster, who had been circling round and round the far side of the cave, swung sharply about and came straight toward Mr. Ueyama. Mr. Ueyama waited until the Night Glow Monster drew near, then wrapped his arm around its shoulder with an air of familiarity and pressed his body tightly against it. Then they knelt at the edge of the hole, aligned their faces side by side, and peered down inside.

From the bottom of the hole, Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy witnessed this.

Good heavens, what was this?

Mr. Ueyama and the Night Glow Monster stood arm in arm at the edge of the pit, their cheeks nearly touching as they peered down into its depths. There was Mr. Ueyama’s face with its thick mane of hair and neatly trimmed mustache—and beside it, the pale phosphorescent head of the Night Glow Monster, those crimson eyes and a mouth that seemed to breathe fire. “Ah! I get it!” “Then you’re…!” Kobayashi cried out in a startled voice. “Heh heh heh… The one lying there is the real Ueyama.” “So then—who do you suppose I am?”

Mr. Ueyama said mockingly.

“You’re Forty Faces! Only Forty Faces could pull off such a perfect disguise! And that Night Glow Monster is your lackey!” Kobayashi-kun declared without hesitation. “Sharp as ever, Kobayashi! You’ve seen right through it. Exactly so. I am Forty Faces. To acquire the Ueyama family’s jade triple pagoda, I simply switched places with the master of the house. Same as that Suiko Buddha job—disguising yourself as the owner’s the quickest way to lift treasures. Heh heh heh….”

Forty Faces, disguised as Mr. Ueyama, said boastfully.

“Then, you’ve already taken that jade pagoda…?”

Kobayashi-kun had already noticed that. “Yeah, exactly. “Earlier, I pretended to put it in the safe but actually slipped it into my inner pocket. “My clothes are the same as a magician’s—they’ve got big hidden pockets all over them. “Heh heh heh… Look, this is it. “Take a good look.”

With that, what he produced from the edge of the hole was a jade pagoda about fifteen centimeters tall—identical to the one they had seen earlier in the study.

Earth Waterfall

Ah, what a terrible turn of events! Forty Faces had been pretending to be about to steal Mr. Ueyama’s treasure when in fact he had already stolen it long ago. When he had called Kobayashi Yoshio and the others to protect the treasure, Mr. Ueyama was already no longer the real Mr. Ueyama. Then, for what purpose had Forty Faces, disguised as Mr. Ueyama, called Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy?

Of course, this was all to startle them and laugh mockingly at their shock. Or perhaps he was plotting something far more sinister?

This underground cave might also have been Forty Faces' handiwork, secretly constructed beforehand. And perhaps he was plotting to confine Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy—who always interfered with his schemes—there to carry out some chilling revenge. As for the Night Glow Monster, Forty Faces would sometimes disguise himself as it or have his subordinates take on the guise. Today, since Forty Faces needed to maintain his disguise as Mr. Ueyama, he must have had a subordinate assume the role of the Night Glow Monster.

Kobayashi Yoshio glared fiercely upward and yelled. “Hey, Mr. Forty Faces! Since you’ve stolen the jade pagoda, you should have no further business in this house! All that’s left is for you to flee! But since we’re here and would get in your way, you’ve decided to lock us up in this cave instead—haven’t you?”

When he heard this, Forty Faces laughed uproariously as if greatly amused.

“Hahaha… That’s exactly right. You’ve been locked up here. If you use your wits, you might escape from this place. Well, go ahead and try it. But I imagine it’ll prove rather difficult.” “Before long, something truly unimaginable is going to occur. Heh heh heh….”

After that, both Forty Faces and the Night Glow Monster pulled back from the hole's edge, leaving behind an eerie silence. The two had likely fled somewhere. Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy untied the ropes binding the collapsed Mr. Ueyama's limbs, helped him up, and freed him.

“Oh, thank you, thank you. But who on earth are you?” Mr. Ueyama had not lost consciousness and had been listening to their conversation all along, but he still didn’t fully grasp who these two boys were. So Kobayashi-kun explained how Forty Faces had disguised himself as a fake Mr. Ueyama and called the Akechi Detective Agency, and how—since Detective Akechi was out—he had come accompanied by Pocket Boy.

“Hmm, I see.” “Now I understand.” “So he disguised himself as me and stole the jade pagoda from the safe, didn’t he?” “He’s a truly terrifying fiend.” “He may have already fled, but we can’t just stay here doing nothing.” “Can’t we think of some way to get out of here?”

Mr. Ueyama looked up at the high edge of the hole and tilted his head slightly.

Then, Pocket Boy, who had been silent until now, spoke up in a shrill voice.

“I’ve got a good idea. We should do a piggyback formation—all three of us! Look, first Mr. Kobayashi should climb onto Mr. Ueyama’s shoulders. Then I’ll climb up onto Mr. Kobayashi’s shoulders. That way, our hands can reach the edge of the hole! If my hands can just reach, I’ll jump up to the top of the hole! Then I’ll roll onto the edge of the hole, pull you up, Mr. Kobayashi, and after that, you and I will use the rope to haul Mr. Ueyama up. That way, everyone can get out of the hole! Hey, Mr. Kobayashi, that’s the best way.”

That was a clever idea. Kobayashi Yoshio—

“Alright! Let’s do it,” Kobayashi said decisively. “You see, Mr. Ueyama, he’s exactly right. Press yourself against this wall and stand facing away, please. I’ll climb from your back up to your shoulders.”

With that, he had Mr. Ueyama stand up and attempted to climb onto his back.

At that moment. From somewhere came a thunderous rumbling sound, and then something began pouring down from above like rain. It was soil. Soil was pouring down.

Since one side of the pit trap was connected to the cave wall, when soil crumbled and fell from that wall, it would pour directly onto the heads of the three of them.

They tried to determine where the collapse was happening, but looking upward was impossible. Because fine soil was flying into their eyes.

From fist-sized clumps of soil down to the finest grains, muddy clods soaked with water came splattering down... splattering down... like a waterfall. The three instinctively crouched in the hole, hugging each other to shield themselves from the clods of earth raining down. Splatter… splatter… The clods of earth kept falling without end. And amidst that dreadful noise, that eerie laughter resounded from nowhere.

“Heh… heh… heh… heh… heh….”

It was the voice of the Night Glow Monster. If he was still nearby, then Forty Faces must certainly still be in the cave. They must have prepared a mechanism in advance to make the soil fall. He had disengaged the mechanism, causing soil to rain down, and was now watching from the darkness beyond as the three became buried in the earth, laughing all the while.

Kobayashi Yoshio, having thought that far, gasped in realization. "He intends to bury us alive." The soil accumulated at the pit's bottom had become thick and sludgy like a bottomless swamp; when stepped on, it sank deeply with a squelch. No matter how much soil accumulated, there was no prospect of using it as a foothold to escape the hole. The thick, muddy soil had already risen up to their knees.

“Mr. Ueyama, if we stay still like this, we’ll be buried in the earth and die.” “Let’s try the piggyback formation we did earlier.” “Alright, face that way and stand up, please... Pocket-kun, you’ll climb up after.” Kobayashi Yoshio said this and attempted to climb onto Mr. Ueyama’s back, but between the splatter-splatter of waterfall-like soil striking his head and face, and Mr. Ueyama’s suit being thoroughly muddied, his hands kept slipping slickly across the surface, making it impossible to gain purchase.

However, since it was a matter of life and death, they tried doing the same thing over and over again. At one point, Kobayashi successfully climbed onto Mr. Ueyama’s shoulders, and Pocket Boy clambered from Mr. Ueyama’s back up to Kobayashi’s, finally managing to stand atop his shoulders. But when they tried to grip the edge of the hole, it too was coated in sludgy mud—slipped slickly and staggered unsteadily, all three collapsed in a heap against the pit’s wall. They were covered in mud from head to toe—their faces, hands, every part of them caked in sludge.

No matter how much they tried, it was no use, so the three of them finally gave up. Now, they could only stand motionless in the mud that had risen to their waists. The cascade of earth showed no sign of stopping. Splatter... splatter... it came pouring down with terrifying force onto their heads from above.

The surface of the bottomless swamp had now risen to around Pocket Boy’s midriff. From stomach to chest, chest to throat—the mud swamp was only deepening.

Finally, the mud had risen up to Pocket Boy’s mouth, so Mr. Ueyama lifted him up.

Now it was Kobayashi's turn. The thick, sludgy substance rose from his chest to his throat, from his throat to his chin. Mr. Ueyama lifted Pocket Boy with his left hand and young Kobayashi with his right hand.

But how much longer could that last? The surface of the mud had already risen up to Mr. Ueyama’s throat, hadn’t it?

The Giant and the Monster

Forty Faces, disguised as Mr. Ueyama, stood by the pit trap watching it and guffawing. He was delighted to see Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy—who always interfered with his work—suffering. It was later discovered that this cave had been dug as an air-raid shelter by someone who lived there before Mr. Ueyama. It was an unconventional air-raid shelter that utilized the old well in the garden.

However, because many years had passed since the war ended, everyone had forgotten about things like air-raid shelters. Mr. Ueyama, too, had no idea that there was an air-raid shelter in such a place.

It was the fiend Forty Faces who discovered this old air-raid shelter. Forty Faces had thought to use this place to make everyone gasp in astonishment. And he had constructed various mechanisms inside the air-raid shelter, preparing them to be usable when the time came. Forty Faces was gleefully watching Kobayashi Yoshio and his companions struggle when, at that moment, the head of the Night Glow Monster silently glided closer from behind him. Since he wore a pitch-black shirt, his body remained completely invisible.

“Boss, perhaps we should help them now. If we don’t, they’ll die.” The Night Glow Monster’s head whispered to Forty Faces. “Yeah,” he agreed. “I don’t intend to kill them outright. I’m no murderer. They’ve suffered enough for now—this’ll do. You there! Go pull them out.”

The subordinate of Forty Faces disguised as the Night Glow Monster brought a rope from somewhere, lowered it into the pit trap, and rescued Pocket Boy, Kobayashi Yoshio, and Mr. Ueyama in order by pulling them out to safety. Everyone was covered head to toe in mud.

“Ahahahaha… Kobayashi, Pocket Boy—did that sting a bit? This is my revenge! But I’m not letting you go yet. If I keep you trapped here, Detective Akechi will come. That’s exactly what I’m waiting for. I won’t rest until I’ve made that accursed Akechi pay for all his meddling!” In the pitch-dark cave, Forty Faces’ voice reverberated with hollow menace.

And then—at that very moment—from somewhere came an entirely different, eerie voice.

“That Detective Akechi might already be here, you know.”

“What? What did you say?” “Say it again!” “What did you say about Detective Akechi?”

Forty Faces asked back in surprise. “He’s here, I tell you.” The mouth of the Night Glow Monster’s head—floating midair and burning like fire—was opening and closing. It was the Night Glow Monster’s head that spoke. Forty Faces noticed this and staggered backward in shock. “What’s this? You’re my subordinate!” “What the hell are you saying?!”

“Your subordinates are right over there.” The hand attached below the Night Glow Monster’s head—covered by a black shirt and black gloves—switched on a flashlight and lit up a corner of the cave.

“Ah!”

There, on the ground, lay a man in a black shirt, bound hand and foot. “I covered his head with a black mask so you can’t see the Night Glow Monster’s face—but that’s one of your men.” “He’s been gagged, so he can’t make a sound.” “While you were watching those three suffer in the pit trap, I disguised myself as the Night Glow Monster and sneaked in here.” “After tying up your subordinate, I took over his role—simple as that.”

“In that case—so you’re Akechi Kogoro.” “Exactly.” “How did you find this place?” “Ichiro-kun and the houseboy you left outside the old well phoned me.” “But I already knew everything up to that point from Kobayashi-kun’s frequent calls.” “When Mr. Ueyama called earlier, my saying I wasn’t home was a lie.” “I’d prepared my Night Glow Monster disguise and waited in the office.”

“Apply phosphorescent paint to your face, put on large red glass glasses with miniature bulbs attached, place a miniature bulb in your mouth—and there you have it! The glowing head materializes instantly.” “Child’s play.” “Then I lay in wait, biding my time to catch you off guard.”

The flashlight in Forty Faces’ right hand flared to life. And that circular light illuminated the Night Glow Monster’s head.

The flashlight of Akechi, disguised as the Night Glow Monster, also shone directly onto Forty Faces' face from the front.

And then, without exchanging a word, the two glared at each other for some time. Detective Akechi was disguised as the Night Glow Monster—his entire body black with only his neck glowing silver—while Forty Faces had transformed into Mr. Ueyama, now wearing nothing but a shirt and underpants. The giant and the monster continued their strange standoff in their bizarre forms within the underground cave. For about two minutes, they remained motionless, glaring at each other—until finally, the first to break the silence was Forty Faces.

“So you’re saying you’ll catch me?” “Of course I am. You’re already caught.” “Huh? Caught? By whom?”

“Look at that.” Akechi’s flashlight swept across to illuminate the cave entrance. There stood five imposing police officers in uniform, lined up shoulder to shoulder!

“Ah!”

Forty Faces involuntarily let out a cry of surprise and fled straight into the depths of the cave.

“Chase him! Please, everyone—chase after him! And apprehend him!”

Detective Akechi’s voice resounded through the darkness.

The five police officers all had flashlights. They all flashed on at once. And their beams chased after the fleeing Forty Faces. “Bwahahaha…!” Forty Faces’ laughter echoed menacingly through the cave. He kept laughing like a madman as he ran. Why would he laugh like that? With this being Forty Faces, surely some dreadful hidden scheme lay in wait.

Iron bars.

Chased by five flashlights, Forty Faces fled onward, and beyond him gaped the mouth of a tunnel-like hole. Piled with stones and supported by timbers, it resembled a mine's lateral shaft. Forty Faces kept roaring with laughter as he plunged into the tunnel.

Perhaps there was another entrance here, separate from the old well.

In any case, they had to quickly give chase and apprehend him.

The five police officers rushed into the tunnel after Forty Faces. The tunnel was wide enough for two people to run side by side. The police officers jostled each other as they ran through the tunnel, but suddenly, Forty Faces' laughter—racing ahead—grew terrifyingly loud, and he whirled around to face them.

Just then.

Just as a clattering sound rang out above the police officers' heads, iron bars came crashing down from the tunnel ceiling, struck the ground with a clang, and completely blocked the tunnel.

The police officer who had been standing at the front was nearly crushed by the iron bars and barely managed to dodge out of the way.

And so, with sturdy iron bars now separating the five police officers from Forty Faces, they could no longer give chase. The police officers clung to the iron bars and tried with all their might to lift them up, but they wouldn’t budge an inch. On the other side of the iron bars, Forty Faces—disguised as Mr. Ueyama wearing nothing but a shirt—was waggling his five fingers in front of his nose and mocking them.

“Bwahahaha…! How’s that?” “Did you see Forty Faces’ hidden ace?” “I’ve always got contingencies to stay free.” “You lot should scurry back to the Old Well.” “Dawdle longer, and worse horrors might befall you!” The officers couldn’t possibly slink away in humiliation. They scanned their surroundings to consult Detective Akechi, but his form had vanished. Though they spoke of his form, it had been merely the Night Glow Monster’s head—now gone without trace, not even lingering in the cavern behind them.

“Bwahahaha…!” At that moment, Forty Faces’ laughter rose to an even higher pitch.

Then, as if it had been a signal, another clattering sound rang out overhead, and with a metallic crash, iron bars came crashing down. This time, they fell far behind the police officers. Startled, the officers ran toward them and shook the bars. They wouldn't budge an inch.

And so, as iron bars had fallen both in front and behind them, the police officers found themselves trapped between the barriers, unable to move in either direction. Suddenly, a prison cell had formed within the tunnel, and they found themselves confined inside it. “Bwahahaha… Didn’t I tell you earlier to hurry back? Because you didn’t listen to me, you’ve met with such a fate. Bwahahaha…! Well then, I’ll be taking my leave through this exit. ……Later.”

With those words, Forty Faces vanished into the depths of the tunnel.

Inside the Net

At the end of the tunnel was a narrow stone staircase that allowed one to emerge above ground when climbed. At the top of the stairs was a thin stone lid. When pushed upward, it opened a hole about the size of a manhole, providing an exit to the surface. The exit was not within Mr. Ueyama’s garden. It led to the grassy field outside Mr. Ueyama’s mansion. At the edge of that field, low trees grew thickly, their underbrush concealing the stone lid of the air-raid shelter among the grass.

Forty Faces, wearing nothing but a shirt, pushed up the stone lid and slipped into the thicket. As it was nighttime, the surroundings were pitch black. Forty Faces had naturally turned off his flashlight. If the light were seen and someone noticed him, it would spell trouble. He closed the stone lid back into place and tried to stand up. Then something thick like a spiderweb came draping over his face.

No matter how much he pulled, the spider web wouldn't tear. Thinking this was strange, he tried feeling around with his hands.

It was not a spiderweb, but rather something like a sturdy rope net. When he tried pulling it with his hands, he found that the net stretched on endlessly. Summoning his resolve, he tried to stand up with a forceful heave. And no sooner had he taken two or three steps than his foot got caught in the net, sending him tumbling to the ground there.

When he tried to stand up, the net came tangling in from all sides until his hands and legs lost all freedom of movement—the more he struggled, the more tightly it ensnared him, rendering him completely powerless. “Bwahahaha…! Forty Faces. “You’re already a fish caught in the net. “If you’ve got hidden tricks up your sleeve, we’ve got even better ones waiting. “Well? Do you understand now?”

This time, it was someone else's turn to laugh. Forty Faces started at the voice and glared into the darkness. Then, about five meters ahead in the pitch-black air, a faint glow emerged, revealing the silver head of the Night Glow Monster. Eyes blazing crimson, a mouth that seemed to spew flames. "Ah! You're Akechi!" Forty Faces cried out bitterly.

“That’s right. I had the police officers flush you out so I could get here before you. You’re not the only one who discovered this old air-raid shelter. I’d noticed it as well, you know. There’s no way an air-raid shelter would have only one entrance. I figured there must be another exit apart from the old well somewhere, so I had the Urchin Task Force of the Boy Detectives Club look for it. They’re exceptionally good at that sort of thing. They found it in no time.”

“Look here—the ones holding down this net over you from all eight directions are eight boys from the Urchin Task Force.” Detective Akechi’s black-sleeved arm switched on a flashlight and swept its beam across all eight sides of the large net spread flat on the ground. Gripping the net’s edges were boys aged eleven to fifteen in grimy clothes—some glaring defiantly with wide eyes, others sniffling through flared nostrils while grinning ear to ear. The Urchin Task Force overflowed with mischief-makers like these. To them, this felt no different than hauling in a record-breaking catch with a beach seine net—for tangled in their web was none other than Forty Faces himself, the ultimate prize!

“Damn you! You got me good!” Forty Faces glared at the urchins with a terrifying face and thrashed about wildly, trying to tear through the net. However, the sturdy net only wound itself even tighter around his body, showing no sign of tearing. “Bwahahaha… Even the great phantom thief’s luck has finally run out. Even if you tried to return to the air-raid shelter, five police officers are lying in wait there.”

“On our side, besides the eight members of the Urchin Task Force and myself, there’s Mr. Ueyama, Kobayashi-kun, Pocket Boy, and two of Mr. Ueyama’s houseboys. No matter how strong you are, there seems to be no chance of escape.”

Detective Akechi, disguised as the Night Glow Monster, turned his flashlight toward a different direction after saying that. Then he began shining his light on each of them one after another—the still mud-covered Mr. Ueyama, Kobayashi boy, Pocket Boy, and the rest.

At that moment, something strange happened. The stone lid of the hole from which Forty Faces had emerged earlier began to rise with a groan, and from beneath it, a face wearing a police officer’s cap slid into view.

The five police officers discovered the button mechanism that raised the iron bars and chased after Forty Faces. Police officers emerged one after another from the hole where the stone lid had been removed. The moment they saw Forty Faces right before their eyes, they suddenly lunged at him, leading to a fierce struggle. The police officers struggled fiercely while still entangled in the net. With five against one, even Forty Faces stood no chance. Moreover, since he was covered with the net, escape was absolutely impossible. They finally put the handcuffs on him.

When it became clear that Forty Faces had been captured, the eight members of the Urchin Task Force clinging to the net chanted "Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" and flipped it aside, allowing the police officers to finally free themselves. With handcuffed Forty Faces at the center, five police officers surrounded him and began leading him toward the police car waiting before Mr. Ueyama's gate.

The mud-covered Kobayashi boy and Pocket Boy were watching it depart, but Pocket Boy was already so thrilled he could hardly contain himself. With his face covered in mud, he suddenly shouted. “Long live Detective Akechi!” “Long live Leader Kobayashi!” “Long live the Boy Detectives Club and the Urchin Task Force!” Then, the eight members of the Urchin Task Force joined in unison, cheerfully repeating, “Banzai! Banzai!” over and over.