Pathway to Japanese Literature

The Boy Detectives Club—led by Kobayashi Yoshio, boy assistant to renowned detective Akechi Kogoro—was organized with about twenty boys ranging from fifth and sixth graders in elementary school to first and second-year middle school students. Since not all of them lived nearby, and many attended different schools, these twenty members couldn’t always gather together. Depending on the case, the lineup of boys involved 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 brief periods. Moreover, since their fathers and mothers often did not grant permission for nighttime adventures outside, Leader Kobayashi made sure to avoid gathering the members at night as much as possible. He made it a rule to gather only the boys who had obtained permission until around seven or eight o'clock at night and took care not to let them stay up any later.

However, since incidents often occurred at night, when work had to be done late into the evening, they had made it a rule to use the Delinquent Task Force instead of the Boy Detectives Club. The Delinquent Task Force consisted of boys who collected scrap in "Ant Town," and since nighttime adventures didn’t faze them, they were convenient. When there were no cases, the Boy Detectives Club members would gather at the Akechi Detective Agency and learn various things from Akechi-sensei. They were gradually learning the forensic knowledge necessary for detectives—things like observing matters carefully, deducing the true meaning behind events through reasoning, how to use microscopes, and conducting chemical experiments.

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

The members would sometimes hold Test of Courage Meetings. Boys in the Edo and Meiji periods often held "Test of Courage Meetings"—bravery-testing gatherings. On pitch-black nights, they would walk alone through desolate cemeteries or similar places to test their courage. They would place several wooden tags deep within the cemetery, and each person would go there alone to retrieve a tag. In the past, boys believed ghosts truly existed, so walking alone through cemeteries at midnight terrified them utterly. They deliberately did those frightening things to strengthen their courage.

Among the boys were mischievous pranksters who would drape white cloths over their heads, hide behind graves, and startle others—so during these Test of Courage Meetings, the younger boys were left jittery. However, that very thing had indeed proven useful in strengthening the hearts of boys of old. Among the Boy Detectives Club members, there was not a single boy who believed ghosts truly existed. However, walking alone through pitch-dark places still gave an eerie feeling. Therefore, to ensure they wouldn’t fear darkness and such, Kobayashi had made it a rule to hold Test of Courage Meetings from time to time, following the example of historical Test of Courage Meetings.

Tonight as well, since that meeting was to be held, only 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 indeed one of the members, and since there happened to be a large forest near his house—perfect for a test of courage—everyone had gathered at Kinoshita-kun’s house from evening onward. They waited for outside to grow completely dark before setting off for that forest.

However, at that time, there were bad rumors circulating about you in this forest. It was said that will-o'-the-wisps appeared there. Will-o'-the-wisps are also called fireballs in some regions. A round fireball would fly through the air smoothly trailing a tail like a tadpole. There are red will-o'-the-wisps and blue ones too. People of old would claim these were souls of the dead flying about and dreaded them. However nowadays there are no people who believe such things. Many consider they mistake burning phosphorus for will-o'-the-wisps; see swarms of tiny insects flying together—when light hits them—as resembling will-o'-the-wisps; perceive meteors as looking like will-o'-the-wisps; and misperceive various other things while firmly believing them to be will-o'-the-wisps.

But even if one rationally thought that way, being told will-o’-the-wisps appeared still didn’t make for a pleasant mood. Even the Boy Detectives Club members, who didn’t believe in will-o’-the-wisps, couldn’t help but feel uneasy upon hearing those rumors. The boy Kobayashi had deliberately chosen that forest—the one with the bad 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 only around eight o'clock, but since there were no houses in the vicinity, the area was pitch-black. The sky was covered entirely with clouds, and not a single star was visible. It was a deep forest where large trees grew thickly. When they peered into the forest, it was pitch-dark like black velvet.

“You all know there’s a large flat stone at the forest’s far edge, right? Since you checked it during daytime, you should recognize the spot. Seven wooden tags are placed on that stone. Each of you will enter the forest one by one and bring back one tag each. Understood?”

Kobayashi-kun instructed the six boys.

"I know." "I'll go first." Inoue Ichiro-kun, skilled in boxing, stepped forward a step ahead and said. “As expected, you’ve got courage. “Alright! Inoue-kun will be the first one in.” “But hey, you’d better watch out for those will-o’-the-wisps.”

The boy Kobayashi teased Inoue-kun a little.

“Around which area do the will-o’-the-wisps appear? Kinoshita-kun.” “Kinoshita-kun.”

A boy asked fearfully. “The greengrocer uncle near my house saw it, they say.” “In the middle of this forest stands a big oak tree.” “They say a blue will-o’-the-wisp rose smoothly from beneath that oak tree.” “Then it slithered all the way up to the treetop like it was climbing before vanishing into the sky—that’s what they say.”

“How big was it?” “About thirty centimeters across, they said. It had a long tail like a tadpole that swayed unsteadily.” “Whoa, that’s insane! If that thing came leaping at us, we’d be in real trouble.” “Quit trying to scare people. I’m the one going in there, aren’t I?” Inoue-kun shouted scoldingly. Then, “Alright, I’m off.”

Having thrown out those words, he vanished into the forest.

A Face Glowing in the Darkness

Inoue Ichiro-kun walked alone through the pitch-darkness, black as velvet. Because large trees stood in rows, he proceeded while touching their trunks. As if he had gone blind, he couldn’t see a thing. With no wind to rustle the leaves, and the car-filled town lying far in the distance, the surroundings fell into such utter silence that one might doubt whether their ears had ceased functioning altogether.

The distance to the large stone where the wooden tags were placed was about a hundred meters. Inoue-kun had only managed to advance about thirty meters. If he wasn't careful, he might trip over tree roots and fall, so he couldn't walk quickly. When he suddenly noticed, there in the depths of the forest floated something pale and glowing in midair. "Huh? Did the moon come out?"

There was no way the moon could be out in the forest. Then, what on earth could that glowing object be? Inoue-kun immediately recalled the will-o'-the-wisp. If it was a will-o’-the-wisp, there was nothing to fear. Intending to get closer and determine its true identity, he proceeded in that direction. However, after advancing five or six steps, Inoue-kun came to an abrupt halt. That was because it wasn't a will-o'-the-wisp.

He had heard that will-o’-the-wisps had tadpole-like tails. However, the round object glowing yonder had no tail. It floated tailless in midair. And gradually, it drew closer toward him. Inoue-kun started in alarm, nearly fleeing. For the white-glowing sphere possessed two crimson eyes. Those large, round eyes blazed flame-red.

And then, there was the mouth. Ah, that monster wrenched its mouth wide open. The inside burned bright red too. From its blazing maw—split open up to the ears—it seemed ready to spew flames at any moment. The silver neck with fiery eyes floated weightlessly in midair for a heartbeat—then suddenly zzzzip!—it lunged straight at Inoue-kun's face.

“Aagh...!”

Even Inoue-kun let out a scream and leaped back. And then, in a blind panic, he fled outside the forest. No matter how skilled one might be at boxing, they’d be no match for a monster.

The six boys from the Boy Detectives Club, including Kobayashi-kun, who had been waiting at the forest entrance, heard a voice cry out, “Aah…!” Just as they were worrying about what had happened, Inoue-kun came bursting out in a frantic rush.

Because it was pitch dark, they couldn’t immediately tell who it was. The six boys were so startled they nearly bolted. “Oh, it’s Inoue-kun. “What happened?”

When Kobayashi Yoshio asked, Inoue-kun gasped for breath and, "I-It's a monster! The monster came flying at me!" But weren't these boys supposed to be the ones who didn't believe in monsters?

“A monster?” “There’s no way something like that exists!” “You must’ve seen wrong.” A boy named Noda snapped. Noda-kun was a strong boy who practiced judo. “No way I saw wrong! “I’m not some coward. “It definitely was a monster—just a head—that came flying. “Its bright red eyes glowed like fire. “Its mouth looked ready to spew flames. “And its whole face was silver… It wasn’t a will-o’-the-wisp. “Will-o’-the-wisps don’t have eyes or mouths.”

Inoue-kun kept insisting vehemently.

“Then let’s all go check it out.” Kobayashi Yoshio said resolutely. “Yeah! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Everyone chorused their agreement in unison. Not one among them proved coward enough to flee at mere talk of monsters.

“Then follow me.”

With those words, Kobayashi-kun took the lead and stepped into the pitch-black forest. Night Glow Monster With Kobayashi-kun leading the way, the seven boys ventured into the forest, but the interior was pitch black, and no mysterious glowing objects were visible anywhere. They had advanced another thirty meters or so, yet nothing appeared.

“See? There’s nothing here, Inoue-kun." “After all, maybe it was just your imagination.” Noda-kun’s voice mumbled in a hushed whisper.

“That’s weird… Earlier, it was definitely floating right around here in midair.” Inoue-kun whispered back. And then he nervously glanced around into the darkness.

Just then. From nowhere came a strange sound. At first it was a faint, unidentifiable noise like objects brushing together, but as they listened intently, they sensed someone giggling furtively in the darkness. Could one of the seven boys be laughing? “Who’s there? Who’s laughing?”

Kobayashi-kun asked in a hushed voice. No one answered. It was pitch-black, so they couldn’t see each other’s faces, but the one laughing didn’t seem to be part of their group. Before long, the suppressed snickering gradually grew louder. It was definitely laughing. It was laughing mockingly. At last, it erupted into explosive laughter.

“Wahahaha……, Wahahaha…….” It was a demonic laugh that resounded through the entire forest.

The boys involuntarily stood frozen, clinging to each other as if embracing. That only this outlandish laughter echoed through the pitch darkness was truly your wicked doing.

“Ah! It’s here!” Inoue-kun shouted in a suppressed voice. They all startled and looked around. It was far ahead. There among the forest trees, appearing and disappearing, that silver head floated weightlessly. The boys stiffened their bodies further and stared fixedly at the glowing head. Just when it seemed about to whoosh straight forward, it drifted ethereally again, the head gradually drawing nearer.

It was exactly as Inoue-kun had said. A silver face—perfectly round, eyes burning crimson, a gaping red mouth—an indescribably terrifying visage. “Everyone, don’t you dare run away. There’s no such thing as monsters. Someone is playing a prank to scare us. That’s definitely it. So why don’t we all catch him together?”

Kobayashi-kun whispered.

“Yeah, let’s take him down!” Noda-kun energetically whispered back. Thereupon, the boys joined hands and inched their way toward the monster’s face.

Then, as if sensing their approach, the floating head gradually began retreating. Ethereally drifting farther and farther away into the distance. When they realized their adversary had started fleeing, the boys grew even more emboldened. Quickening their pace further still, they continued pursuing the glowing head.

In the pitch-black forest, they advanced as if threading through the large tree trunk blocking their path.

The silver head drifted ethereally deeper and deeper into the forest as if mocking the boys, but eventually came to an abrupt halt in midair. And with bright red eyes, it glared fixedly in their direction. The boys also came to a stop. It was a breathless standoff.

When about twenty seconds had passed, the boys felt their vision swimming as if dazzled by something that flashed brightly around them.

Oh, look. There stood a single silver-glowing human being. That terrifying head was connected to a torso below. And that torso too glowed faintly and eerily silver. The monster stood completely naked, posed like a Niō guardian deity. The entire body was enveloped in a halo-like light.

Night Glow Monster! He was indeed a human glowing in the night. Why did this fiend possess such a luminous body? And those terrifying features—perfectly round eyes blazing crimson, a mouth spewing flames. Had such a creature ever before manifested on Earth?

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

“Bwahahaha! Bwahahaha…!”

The silver monster opened its burning crimson maw 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, it began rapidly ascending higher and higher. Could this Night Glow Monster have mastered the art of flight? In the black velvet darkness, a human figure glittered silver. It ascended higher and higher into the sky. What a beautiful sight it was. It was a scene both shudderingly terrifying and beautiful.

The boys were staring at it, their breath caught in their throats.

The Floating Head

In the forest near Kinoshita Shoichi-kun's house in Setagaya Ward, two or three days passed uneventfully after the appearance of a silver-glowing monster. At that time, cackling with laughter, the monster had floated up to the top of a tall tree before vanishing into the dark sky. The frightened boy detectives immediately fled back to their respective homes and told their fathers about it, but—

“There’s no way such nonsense could exist.” “You must’ve mistaken some burning Rin for it.” Yet despite these words, they didn’t take it seriously in the least. It was only natural. For how could any human exist in this world with a body gleaming silver, eyes glowing crimson red, and a mouth burning like fire?

However, the boys were not dreaming. That terrifying creature was, after all, a genuine monster.

Then, two or three days later on a certain night, this time in the middle of Yashiki-cho in Chiyoda Ward, the silver figure appeared.

It was already past eleven at night. In the desolate Yashiki-cho neighborhood—where wide vacant lots still sprawled here and there—the elderly fire watchman was making his rounds.

“Beware of fire.” Clack, clack... He walked along, clacking his wooden clappers. He carried a lantern at his waist, but with what appeared to be a small candle inside, its faint light looked ready to extinguish at any moment. It was a pitch-black town with long walls continuing along both sides. The streetlights too had their bulbs shattered and gone out, leaving darkness so thick you wouldn’t notice if someone pinched your nose. On one side was a concrete permanent wall, while the other had a wooden fence painted jet-black, making the area appear even more pitch-black.

As he was passing by the black-painted board fence, a section of the fence seemed to sway and move.

The elderly fire watchman stopped in his tracks with a startled “Huh?!” “What’s this? There was a small swinging door on the fence—maybe it moved in the wind? If that was the case, it was a careless security oversight. They should’ve properly secured this door.”

The elderly fire watchman groped his way toward the black fence with that thought. The dim lantern light made everything indistinct. Then something unnervingly soft brushed against his hand. Startled, he recoiled and reached for the lantern at his waist—but in that instant, it was smacked to the ground, its flame snuffed out. Some pitch-black invisible presence stood there, having knocked down the lantern. That soft thing he'd felt must have been part of its body.

“Who’s there?!” “Who’s there?!”

The elderly man, suppressing his creeping unease, shouted at the top of his voice. The figure remained silent. Since it was a pitch-black figure standing before a pitch-black wall, it remained completely invisible. It had pressed its body tightly against the wall and crawled sideways like a spider—perhaps it had already escaped. Or was it still lurking in its original position? Not knowing whether it was human or beast made it truly unsettling.

At that moment, from the darkness right before his nose came a shuddering cackle—three sharp, staccato laughs that chilled him to the bone.

Startled, when he stared in that direction, suddenly—at about the same height as the elderly man’s face on the black-painted board fence—a human face appeared.

It was a pale glowing face. Within it, two enormous eyes—each three times the size of a normal human’s—glowed bright red. A silver face with red eyes. Only that face floated in midair. Cackle, cackle, cackle…

The face opened its mouth and laughed. Ah, that mouth! The inside of the mouth was bright red. It looked as though flames were blazing within.

Overcome with terror, the elderly fire watchman let out a “Waaah!” scream and fell flat on his backside. Then, perhaps startled by the scream, the silver face vanished as if erased in an instant. The elderly man finally stood up, rubbing his lower back. And then, as if he couldn't stay another moment in such a creepy place, he started walking briskly away.

However, before he had walked even two meters, once again—right by his ear—came that cackle, cackle, cackle of laughter. Startled, when he looked in that direction, there it was again—that silver face with blazing red eyes had reappeared on the black-painted board fence. The elderly man stood frozen as if nailed in place. Because if he fled, he felt certain the monster would snap at his back with a sudden "Gwah!"

The silver-faced monster smoothly climbed to the top of the black-painted board fence. Then, perching daintily atop the horizontal plank at the fence's peak, it flapped its crimson mouth open and shut while glaring in this direction with blazing red eyes, cackling.

“Waaah!”

The elderly fire watchman fled in a blind panic. Thinking that at any moment that red-eyed head might come leaping at him from behind, he simply ran and ran without a shred of composure.

Finally, the black-painted board fence disappeared, and ahead grew dimly bright. Around that corner ahead, there seemed to stand a streetlight.

He hurriedly rounded the corner. A dimly lit streetlight glowed in the far distance. When he looked, there was a person walking toward him under that streetlight with a clack, clack.

“Ah! A police officer!” It was a uniformed police officer patrolling the nighttime streets. The elderly man ran toward him in delight.

“S-s-sir! Something terrible... A silver-glowing head was on top of that black-painted board fence...” The elderly man stammered out these words while frantically gesturing toward the bend in the road ahead.

“What? A silver-glowing head?” The police officer responded in an oddly muffled voice. Upon closer inspection, it was no ordinary police officer. From beneath the cap’s visor hung a black cloth obscuring his face. Wrapped in that fabric, not an inch of skin showed through. The elderly man grimaced suspiciously at the dark drape. “Well, it was a silver-glowing head.” “Had great big crimson eyes, blew fire from its mouth—perched right atop the board fence.” “Nothing but a head—pure monster through and through.”

“Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh….”

The police officer emitted a bizarre laugh.

“Heh, heh, heh… Was that what that thing looked like?”

With that, he removed his police cap and revealed himself.

“Waaah!”

The elderly man once again let out a scream and fell on his backside. The police officer’s face had a bluish silver tint. Two bright red eyes were glaring this way. And then, opening that bright red flame-like mouth of his, he cackled—cackle, cackle, cackle!

Overcome with terror, the elderly man finally lost consciousness. And when he came to his senses after some time, neither the police officer’s figure nor the silver face could be seen anywhere.

The Terror of the Cemetery

Two days later, late at night, that silver monster appeared once again in the cemetery of Myoukeiji Temple in Shirokane-cho, Minato Ward. Sure enough, it was around eleven o'clock at night. The head priest got up to wash his hands and looked toward the graveyard from the window. When he thought he saw something white moving among the rows of graves, suspecting that a thief might have broken in, he roused the temple caretaker and ordered him to patrol the graveyard.

The caretaker entered the graveyard with a flashlight.

Gravestones of various sizes—large ones, small ones—stood lined up in a long row, with a narrow path winding its way round and round between them. The caretaker walked all around the area, checking every nook and cranny. Then, just as he reached the center of the graveyard, a figure suddenly leaped out from the darkness and snatched away the flashlight he was holding.

When the flashlight went out, the area plunged into darkness so thick he had to feel his way forward. He had no idea who his assailant was.

The caretaker braced himself, thinking someone might come leaping at him any moment, when something truly bizarre happened. On the tombstone ahead, a silver round object abruptly appeared. It was a silver face. It glared fixedly this way with its large crimson-glowing eyes. The mouth snapped open. Ah, that mouth! It was a blazing crimson mouth.

And then came an indescribably eerie laugh—cackle, cackle, cackle! Perched daintily atop the tombstone was a silver head. The monster—nothing but a head—was laughing through its crimson mouth. Could such a bizarre thing truly exist? The caretaker shuddered and froze in place.

Then, the head atop the tombstone suddenly vanished.

“Hmm? So was that just my mind playing tricks?”

Just as he was thinking this, the same silver head suddenly appeared atop another tombstone two meters away. And then, with its red mouth, it cackled—cackle, cackle.

After a short while, it vanished again in a flash.

No sooner had he thought it vanished than it appeared atop a tombstone in another direction, its crimson mouth flapping open and shut. Then it kept disappearing here and reappearing there, leaping between tombstones all around in a dizzying whirl of motion. The caretaker looked left and right until he felt his head might spin clean off. At last it seemed every single tombstone bore a silver head—dozens upon dozens of them—all glaring down at the caretaker while cackling endlessly, one raspy laugh overlapping another.

At that moment, someone grabbed the caretaker's arm from behind with a firm grip. Startled, he turned around to find a person in white robes standing there. "Ah, Mr. Jonen!" "Yeah, it's me." This was Jonen—a young monk disciple of the head priest. He seemed to have rushed straight from bed, wearing white cotton sleepwear fastened with a narrow sash. "That's just someone playing tricks. They're wearing black clothes so only their head shows." "Nothing to fear." "Why don't we two catch it together?"

The young monk was remarkably spirited. Hearing this, the caretaker too felt his spirits lift.

“Yeah, I used to train in judo back in the day. There’s no way I’d lose to some monster like that!” “Alright! Let’s take it down! You come from that side; I’ll come from this side—we’ll pincer him!” “Yeah, got it. Alright, let’s go!”

Thereupon, the two of them leapt out from both sides of the tombstone bearing the silver head. Cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle... The monster was still laughing. It had never imagined they would come to capture it, so it had let its guard down.

Just then, as the two came charging in from both sides, there was nothing it could do. In an instant, a terrifying grappling match began.

The monster had a body after all. It wore a tight black shirt, black gloves, and black socks. Even a monster couldn’t withstand two people’s combined strength. For a moment, it seemed to have been pinned to the ground.

The three bodies, still locked in struggle, tumbled between the tombstones. As they wrestled, there came a tearing sound—the chest of the monster’s black shirt ripped open. And what appeared from beneath was—oh!—a silver body; the monster’s entire form now glowed silver. When the two noticed this, they instinctively froze in shock and slackened their grip. Seizing that instant, the monster shoved them apart, sprang upright, and suddenly bolted toward the far side.

And then, the same thing that the Boy Detectives Club members had seen the other night happened.

At the back of the cemetery stood a forest, and within it towered a single large cedar tree. It was a massive tree measuring ten meters in height. There beneath the cedar tree stood a silver figure—having stripped off its black shirt—facing their direction, rigid as a statue. Enormous crimson eyes, a gaping red mouth that seemed ready to belch flames—that mouth opened and closed as it cackled, cackle after cackle after cackle...

When faced with this terrifying figure—its entire body gleaming silver—the two men suddenly found themselves without the courage to approach. What on earth was this silver creature? Was it human? Animal? Or perhaps a being from another world that had come to Earth from a distant star?

Before long, an even more bizarre occurrence took place. The silver creature began ascending into the sky. It wasn't climbing up the cedar tree's trunk. It was gliding smoothly up the leaf-covered surface. This was no human feat. Could it truly be a monster from the realm of stars? In moments, the silver creature reached the cedar's summit. Then it vanished in a flash of light.

After waiting endlessly with no sign of the monster reappearing, the two men returned to the head priest's room to report what had happened and immediately dialed 110. Then, in less than five minutes, a white patrol car arrived and used the small searchlight installed in the vehicle to illuminate the cemetery and cedar trees during their inspection, but the monster's figure was nowhere to be found.

Could it be that the monster smoothly climbed the cedar tree and vanished high into the dark sky from its peak? And could it have returned to some distant star’s world?

Thus, the Night Glow Monster had appeared three times in various parts of Tokyo, and since the third appearance had caused such an uproar with police rushing to the scene, the newspapers could hardly remain silent. Tokyo's newspapers, of course, and even regional papers prominently featured articles on this bizarre Night Glow Monster.

Even readers accustomed to bloody crime articles were utterly astonished by the appearance of this ghost-like silver monster. Particularly in Tokyo, people were all on edge, fearing that dreadful 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 was resurging; thus, there even spread malicious rumors that the silver monster might be an envoy from some distant star.

The Magic Business Card

The rumors of the Night Glow Human and Night Glow Monster had already spread throughout Japan. This was because major newspapers in Tokyo and Osaka—and even rural papers across the country—had splashed bold headlines about this terrifying monster. A human whose face and body glowed a pale silver, with eyes three times the size of a normal person’s blazing crimson and a mouth burning red within—a monster that seemed ready to spew flames at any moment. Sometimes only its head would float in midair; at other times, it revealed its entire silver body as it lurked throughout Tokyo, causing all the city’s inhabitants to tremble in fear.

When someone attempted to capture this monster, it smoothly climbed up a tall tree and vanished into thin air. Could it be that this thing was some unknown creature from a distant star’s world?

One evening amid all this commotion—in Akechi Detective Agency’s reception room—Miss Mayumi, the girl assistant, and young Kobayashi were discussing various matters concerning the phantom thief. Detective Akechi was away on a trip to Niigata for a case, so the two were keeping watch over the place.

It was around seven o'clock in the evening.

The telephone on the table began to ring shrilly. Kobayashi picked up the receiver and held it to his ear.

“Is this the Akechi Detective Agency?” “Is Mr. Akechi there?”

It was an unfamiliar man’s voice. “Mr. Akechi is away on a trip, but who might you be?” “My name is Sugimoto from Setagaya.” “The Night Glow Monster is coming to my house tonight.” “That is why I wished to request Mr. Akechi’s presence.”

“Huh? The Night Glow Monster?!” When Kobayashi let out a shrill cry, Mayumi—startled—drew closer to the telephone. “That’s correct. The police will also come, but I would like to request Mr. Akechi’s presence as well,” said Sugimoto. “From my friend Prosecutor Hanasaki, I’ve heard all about Mr. Akechi. For such a mysterious case, there’s no choice but to employ his expertise.” “I’m afraid Mr. Akechi won’t be returning for another two or three days,” replied Kobayashi. “In his place, would it be all right if I came instead?”

“Who might you be? You sound rather like a child,” came the suspicious reply from the man named Sugimoto. “I’m Kobayashi, Mr. Akechi’s young assistant.” “Ah! The renowned Kobayashi-kun? Yes, Prosecutor Hanasaki told me about you too—said you were quite the skilled detective himself. Very well, please come. Until Mr. Akechi returns, I’ll have you safeguard my precious treasure.”

“Huh? Treasure, you say?”

“It’s my precious treasure. The Night Glow Monster is after that, you know. Then please come right away.”

And Mr. Sugimoto provided directions to his house and hung up the phone.

Young Kobayashi looked at Mayumi-san’s face, who was standing beside him.

“I may go, right?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Take a car and come right away. I’ll keep watch here. Don’t let your guard down.” Mayumi-san rested her hand on young Kobayashi’s shoulder and spoke encouragingly.

Kobayashi-kun arrived at Mr. Sugimoto’s house in Setagaya around eight o’clock. It was a magnificent mansion. A concrete wall enclosed the property with a stone gate and iron door patterned with vines. Beyond the gate lay a garden, and past that rose a two-story Western-style mansion.

It was later discovered that Mr. Sugimoto was a wealthy man serving as a director for several companies. Yet he remained around forty years old—still young for such achievements. He must have been an exceptionally capable businessman.

When he pressed the entrance bell, the maid opened the door and showed him into the parlor.

“Ah, you’ve come. “Now then, please have a seat.” Mr. Sugimoto was wearing a well-tailored suit. He sat down in a chair, pulled out a large notebook from his pocket, extracted a card-like paper that had been tucked inside it, and immediately began his explanation.

“It was this afternoon. A man came visiting with this business card. He looked to be around thirty years old and was wearing a black suit, but had an indescribably strange complexion.” “His complexion was sickly—as if smeared with yellow powder. 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 had never met before.” “Normally, I wouldn’t let a man like this into the room, but since a friend of mine called and asked me to meet him, I had no choice but to allow him in.”

“When I told that man Kitamori—who kept droning on about some trivial matter—to hurry up and state his business, he said, ‘Ten tonight. Please don’t forget.’ Then he smirked and walked right out.”

Utterly baffled, I called the friend who had supposedly introduced this Kitamori fellow, only to be told, “I have no recollection of asking you to meet such a man. I didn’t call either.” That was his answer.

As things grew increasingly strange, I tried checking the address on Kitamori's business card—but when I looked at it, something bizarre had occurred. The characters that had been printed in deep black ink until just moments before had completely vanished, leaving nothing but a blank sheet of white paper.

"When I first saw the business card," Mr. Sugimoto explained while producing it from his notebook’s pages,"I placed it directly into my right pocket—there couldn’t possibly be any mistake." His fingers tapped against its blank surface."There exists magic ink that vanishes spontaneously over time—you’re aware?" A clinical edge sharpened his tone."This card may have been printed using such ink." Rotating it beneath lamplight,"Having considered this possibility,I examined it from multiple angles." Leaning closer,"And through prolonged observation,I detected an anomaly."

On this business card, a faintly yellowish pattern-like haze appeared across its entire surface, nearly indistinguishable from the paper’s own color. "You can’t tell just by looking at it straight on." "You have to view it sideways like this, holding it up to the light." "It’s a pattern so faint it might not even exist—truly subtle, barely perceptible." “See?...” Mr. Sugimoto held the business card flat and brought it close to Kobayashi-kun’s eyes. Now that it was pointed out, something hazy did seem visible on the 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’s glowing silver and sparkling." "So that hazy yellowish stuff was phosphorescent paint after all." "When you look at it in the dark, those become silver letters you can read clearly." "Here, take a look at this dark spot." Mr. Sugimoto said this and demonstrated by placing the business card into the dark spot beneath the table.

Kobayashi-kun craned his neck under the table to look at it, and there on the business card’s surface lay row upon row of bluish-silver letters! And it was a terrifying message of the following sort. “I’ll come to claim your treasure tonight at ten. Be thoroughly on your guard. However, no matter how much you guard it, I will surely steal it away. Person of Night Glow” “Ah! Then, was the one who came during the day actually the Night Glow Monster?”

Kobayashi-kun let out an involuntary cry as he made the connection. "But the man called Kitamori during daytime was ordinary," Sugimoto countered. "His face showed no glow whatsoever..." "Perhaps it doesn't glow in bright places," Kobayashi responded, holding up the business card. "This card behaves the same way. Didn't you mention his complexion looked yellowish earlier? This card also appeared yellowish during daylight hours."

“Ah! I see! “So that guy’s face glows in darkness too!” “Now that you mention it—yes—that man might indeed have been Night Glow Monster!” “Your description matches his wretched pallor perfectly.”

Mr. Sugimoto said this and stared fixedly at Kobayashi-kun’s face. He stared fixedly at Kobayashi-kun with eerie eyes, as though Kobayashi-kun himself were the Night Glow Monster.

A Floating Head

“So where exactly is this treasure kept?”

When Kobayashi-kun asked, “It’s kept in my study. “It’s not kept in a safe, so even as we’re talking like this, I’m getting anxious.” “Let’s go check right away.” “Please come along with me.”

Mr. Sugimoto said this and hastily stood up.

Next door, one room over from the parlor, there was a splendid study. One wall was lined with bookshelves filled with rows of Japanese and Western books. Though Mr. Sugimoto was an executive, since he didn't go to the company daily, he must have had time to read. Even so, unless he truly loved books, he couldn't have amassed such a collection.

On the wall facing the bookshelves were several glass-door display cases lined up, inside which various art objects were displayed. Mr. Sugimoto opened the glass door of one such display case, reverently took out a blackish metal Buddhist statue about fifteen centimeters tall, and placed it on the table at the center of the room.

“This is my treasure. “It’s commonly called a Suiko Buddha—a Kannon statue created 1,400 to 1,500 years ago. “It’s made of copper, but look—around here, some gold still remains. “When it was made, gold leaf was applied and it shone brilliantly. “That’s worn away over more than a thousand years. “This Suiko Buddha—among small ones like it—is exceptionally well-crafted and flawless, which is why it’s designated an Important Art Object worth tens of millions of yen. “The Night Glow Monster undoubtedly aims for this Suiko Buddha.”

"This Suiko Buddha—among small ones like it—is exceptionally well-crafted and flawless, which is why it's designated an Important Art Object worth tens of millions of yen. The Night Glow Monster is, of course, after this Suiko Buddha." Kobayashi-kun gazed at the small Buddhist statue for a while with evident admiration, then suddenly 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 in a place like this?"

he asked anxiously.

“I don’t know whether it’s safe or not, but I’ve taken as many precautions as possible.” “Take a look at the garden from here.”

Mr. Sugimoto stood up, opened the window curtain, removed the hook latch, slid the glass door upward, and motioned for Kobayashi-kun to come over. Kobayashi-kun went there, leaned out the window, and gazed at the pitch-black garden.

It was a spacious garden. Large trees stood in rows, with fluorescent lights shining here and there. But fluorescent lights alone couldn’t illuminate the entire garden, so most areas remained pitch-black. After watching for a while, he noticed something black flickering and moving amidst the dark grove of trees. Looking closely, it appeared human-like. It was a man wearing a suit. “They’re detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department.” “Four of them are here.” “They’re keeping watch over the garden and the corridors inside the house.” “Moreover, I’ve specifically asked them to maintain strict surveillance around this study—if any suspicious individuals approach, they won’t let them slip by.”

Mr. Sugimoto said this, closed the glass door, and firmly secured the latch. “The glass of this window is thick with wire mesh embedded, so breaking through it to enter would be difficult. There are four windows, and all of them are properly latched. I also locked the entrance door from the inside earlier. So this room is practically like a vault. Moreover, you and I will keep watch over this Buddhist statue—that’s the plan. With this much precaution, even if our opponent is a monster, we should be safe enough, don’t you think?”

Mr. Sugimoto said this and gave a wry smile.

Then, the two of them sat down on either side of the table where the Buddhist statue was placed and stared fixedly at it. If they took their eyes off it even for a moment, they felt the Buddhist statue might vanish away smoothly, making it impossible to let their guard down even for an instant. Soon, 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 glinting sharply, their breaths coming in short, sharp pants. Kobayashi-kun’s precise wristwatch showed 9:59. One minute remained. Beads of sweat formed on Kobayashi-kun’s forehead.

Five seconds, ten seconds—the sound of the clock ticking off the seconds struck their ears with dreadful clarity.

At that moment, there was a faint clink outside the window. Kobayashi-kun instinctively looked in that direction, but then the blood drained from his face in a rush, his eyes flying open as wide as they could go. And, as if nailed in place, he continued staring at the window without moving.

Mr. Sugimoto was the same. With a face as if he’d seen a ghost, he stared at the window. What could have been at that window? Outside the glass of the window—its curtain left open—a pale white shape hovered dimly. A pale, glowing silver orb. It pressed heavily against the windowpane. Ah—it was a human face.

Two enormous eyes glared in this direction. Enormous eyes of a crimson, blood-like color. Then the mouth! Inside the large mouth that had snapped open, something like fire seemed to be burning. It seemed on the verge of spewing flames, its heat threatening to melt the windowpane at any moment. Kobayashi-kun involuntarily clenched his fist and stood up. What were the detectives doing? He had to let out a loud cry. Kobayashi-kun charged toward the window with full force.

When he came within about one meter of the window, the Night Glow Monster’s head vanished instantly. Kobayashi-kun charged at the window and tried to open it.

“Ah, over here!”

Mr. Sugimoto’s startled scream rang out. When he turned around, Mr. Sugimoto was pointing at the window on the opposite side. Through the gap in the curtain, about eight inches of the windowpane was visible—and there outside floated the Night Glow Monster’s head, drifting ethereally. Kobayashi-kun charged toward it once more in a mindless frenzy.

However, when he approached nearby, the Night Glow Monster’s head vanished instantly once again. And so, the silver-skinned, crimson-eyed monster appeared and vanished outside each of the four windows in rapid succession—appearing and disappearing with such speed it blurred before their eyes as it repeated its swift tricks. It was enough to make them suspect there were four Night Glow Monster’s heads. Each time, Mr. Sugimoto and Kobayashi-kun could only wander helplessly around the study. However, as they kept rushing from window to window—noticing something—Mr. Sugimoto let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Ah! It’s gone!” “The Buddhist statue is gone!” “Kobayashi-kun! The Buddhist statue’s been stolen!”

Startled, they looked at the table top—Ah! It was gone. The Buddhist statue had vanished as if erased. Mr. Sugimoto ran to the door and tried turning the handle. The lock was properly engaged. They checked the four windows. All of them had their latches fastened. The study was securely sealed like a safe. And yet, that Buddhist statue had vanished. What kind of magic had the Night Glow Monster mastered?

Mr. Sugimoto and Kobayashi Yoshio searched thoroughly under the tables and chairs, of course, and every corner of the room. However, the Buddhist statue was nowhere to be found. The two of them felt a creeping terror come over them. The Night Glow Monster was a phantom. Could it be that while pretending to peer in from outside the window, it had actually entered the room? Could it be that it had slithered 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 in midair. The Night Glow Monster’s head flew swiftly through the air, spewing flames from its mouth as it threaded between the standing trees.

The two detectives, shouting something in unison, chased after it with terrifying momentum.

The Night Glow Monster Ascending to Heaven 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 frame. And remaining invisible like an invisible man, it might have stolen 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 it could have exited through a gap like that in the window frame. Had the Night Glow Monster mastered the method to transform even the copper Buddhist statue into something like smoke, allowing it to pass through a narrow gap?

At that moment, noticing only the Night Glow Monster’s head floating ethereally into the thicket of garden trees, the two detectives gave chase. As they gave chase, trill-trill-trill-trill... they blew their whistles shrilly, prompting the two detectives who had been inside the house to come rushing out into the garden. Mr. Sugimoto and Kobayashi Yoshio also rushed out after them. Through the pitch-black grove of trees ahead, a blue-glowing will-o’-the-wisp-like entity was flying through the air. Everyone rushed in that direction and, joining the two detectives, began pursuing the monster.

The enemy was one; their allies were six. However, their opponent was an enigmatic monster. Would they indeed manage to capture it successfully? The blue-glowing head wove between the rows of large trees, fleeing here and there in confusion. The six pursuers sometimes chased it in a tight group, other times split into two teams to flank it—they all ran themselves ragged, but they simply couldn’t catch it.

Before long, the will-o’-the-wisp-like monster’s head shot swiftly toward the tallest hinoki cypress in Mr. Sugimoto’s garden—then immediately began scaling the surface of the dense foliage, rapidly ascending upward.

The six pursuers could do nothing more. Standing at the base of the hinoki cypress, they could only stare upward in astonishment.

And then, at that moment, a ghostly cackle resounded from above their heads—Kerah kerah kerah kerah kerah… The monster—now just a head—was laughing.

A face glowing pale like phosphorus, enormous crimson eyes, a mouth spewing red flames—it peered down at them from about five meters above, sneering eerily.

Then, something terrifying happened. The monster’s head appeared to lurch downward. The pale blue glow was spreading rapidly downward before their eyes. Beneath the neck, the monster’s chest appeared, shoulders appeared, abdomen appeared, hips appeared, two legs appeared—until it had fully taken on human form. Its entire body was glowing pale blue. It was floating ethereally on the surface of the hinoki cypress leaves, about five meters above the ground.

A bluish-silver glowing, stark-naked human figure appeared as if crucified in midair. It had red eyes and a mouth that glowed crimson, snapping open and shut as it peered down at them and cackled—a terror beyond words.

Before long, the bluish-silver monster began writhing its limbs about. Its body whirled around to face backward, then forward again in strange movements—and just as one registered this, the monster began ascending upward once more, gliding along the surface of the hinoki cypress leaves. Having climbed to the top of the hinoki cypress, the monster swayed its body unsteadily while cackling—but strangely, its form gradually faded until only that crimson-eyed head remained. Then even that head vanished in a flash.

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

The Street Urchin Task Force Springs into Action

Mr.Sugimoto and four detectives stood frozen inTHE pitch-black garden for some time,but sinceTHE monsterHAD VANISHED,thereWAS nothing moreTHEY COULD DO,sOeventuallyTHEY ALL WITHDREW INTOTHE HOUSE.ThisWAS TO INFORMTHE METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT ABOUTTHE MATTER AND CONSULT ON WHAT MEASURES SHOULD BE TAKEN.still,WhaTON EARTHHAD HAPPENEDTOKOBAYASHI YOSHIO?onlyFIVE ADULTS WITHDREW INTOTHE HOUSE,aNDKOBAYASHI-KUNWAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN.

Kobayashi-kun had quietly slipped away from the adults' side at some point and was now wandering toward the gate. This had been long before the Night Glow Monster disappeared from the top of the hinoki cypress. Kobayashi-kun stepped outside the gate and glanced around restlessly. What on earth was he searching for? Then, from the darkness ahead on the path, a small figure appeared and came scurrying over. When it drew near enough to enter the dim glow of the gate lamp, they saw it was a boy much smaller than Kobayashi-kun.

What a filthy-looking boy. The face was smeared jet-black with grime, and the clothes were tattered rags—he looked exactly like a beggar child. However, within that grimy face, only the eyes gleamed with intelligence, sparkling brightly.

The boy ran up to Kobayashi-kun's side, pressed his mouth to his ear, and whispered something in a hushed, muffled tone. Strangely, Kobayashi-kun showed no sign of surprise at all. He listened to the boy's secret talk with a serious face. "Hey, so that's why he's definitely gonna come sliding down here, I tell you. This is the magic seed."

The filthy boy pulled his mouth away from Kobayashi’s ear and declared proudly.

“Yeah, I see. Impressive. That’s our Pocket Boy for you. You spotted it perfectly. So, everyone’s there, then.” Through Kobayashi-kun’s words, the boy’s identity became clear. This little runt was none other than Pocket Boy of the Street Urchin Task Force. His body was small enough to fit in a pocket, but he was a clever and nimble street urchin detective. “Yeah, five are waiting over there. They’re all tall, strong guys.”

“Okay, let’s go take a look.” “Where is it?” “It’s behind the mansion. Let’s go, quick!”

And the two of them, hand in hand, went dashing off into the darkness. Circling around the mansion's wall and emerging at the back, they found a wide-open field there. Pocket Boy was peering through the darkness into the field, but

“Ah, there it is! They’re huddled together lying down over there.”

Muttering this, he and Kobayashi-kun began approaching that direction. Upon closer inspection, five boys from 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? This was because Kobayashi-kun had taken a detour while coming to Mr. Sugimoto’s mansion by car 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 perimeter from before ten tonight.

The boys of the Street Urchin Task Force were all nimble and courageous, so when push came to shove, they could perform feats that even adults couldn’t match. Kobayashi Yoshio, knowing this, had stationed several members of the Street Urchin Task Force outside the perimeter wall as a contingency measure in case the Night Glow Monster attempted to escape by scaling it.

Kobayashi-kun's strategy had worked out perfectly, and there in the darkened field, the street urchins had discovered something truly extraordinary.

“Look, there it is! From the top of the tree inside the wall, it’s stretching straight down.” Pocket Boy pointed at the pitch-black sky and whispered. There, two sturdy thin ropes stretched diagonally across the sky. From the top of the tallest tree within the mansion grounds to the grass at the center of the field where the street urchins lay sprawled, they continued uninterrupted.

When Kobayashi-kun investigated the grass, he discovered a thick pole thrust into the ground, with the end of a thin rope tied to it.

“Look, the Night Glow Monster’s definitely gonna slide down from that treetop using this thin rope. That disappearing into the sky crap? Total load of bull! When he vanished from that temple graveyard tree before—bet he used this same trick.” Pocket Boy whispered this. He hadn’t actually seen the graveyard incident himself but knew about it through street talk. “Hmm, perhaps so,” Kobayashi-kun murmured. “You all did well finding this. Impressive work. Right now he’s getting chased by detectives inside these walls. He’ll definitely climb that tree. Then he’ll try sliding down this rope. Pocket Boy—you know why there are two ropes here?”

When Kobayashi Yoshio spoke again in a whisper, Pocket Boy immediately,

“I know that already. They’ve taken a long thin rope, looped it over a branch at the very top of that tree. Then when that guy slides all the way here—you untie what’s fastened to this pole and pull one end of the rope. You can haul everything back here right? That way, there’d be no evidence left behind. Clever plan he came up with, huh? Heh.”

he retorted cockily. Thereupon, Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy both lay flat in the grass, waiting in readiness for the Night Glow Monster to come sliding down. “When he slides down here, we’ll all jump on him and catch him.” “Understood?” “Even if we’re just kids, there are seven of us here.” “No matter how strong he is, we’ll be fine.” “But we must be careful.” “If he’s got a pistol, it’ll be dangerous.” “Since he’ll likely be using both hands to untie the thin rope, that’s when we’ll pounce.” “Grab both his hands before he can pull out a pistol or dagger from his pocket.” “Understood?”

As Kobayashi-kun whispered, the street urchins lying sprawled out replied in unison with reassuring voices, "Yeah, got it."

The Monster's Secret Stratagem

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

At last, there was a response. The boys heard the thin ropes snap taut, brushing aside the grass with a rustle. They could no longer make a sound. They all touched each other's hands in mutual encouragement, urging one another to stay strong. And then, lying sprawled in the grass, they stared fixedly upward along the thin ropes. The taut thin ropes twanged sharply as they vibrated. Ah! He was sliding down. A jet-black figure slid down along the two thin ropes like a circus acrobat.

The boys raised their bodies in the grass and prepared to pounce at any moment. With a heavy thud that shook the ground, the black figure fell on his backside. However, he immediately jumped up nimbly and began trying to untie the thin rope. The monster wore tight-fitting black pants and black tabi, his face wrapped in black cloth, with a short black mantle-like garment draped over his shoulders. He looked like a giant bat.

The monster squatted by the pole embedded in the ground and began untying the thin rope. Those hands were jet-black too. He must have been wearing black gloves. The monster’s body was wrapped in black cloth without leaving a single centimeter exposed. He had covered himself completely from head to toe to hide his bluish-silver glowing form. Earlier, when the Night Glow Monster had gradually disappeared from the hinoki treetop, it was because he’d put on black pants and a black shirt before draping himself in a black mantle—concealing his luminous body section by section.

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

The street urchins also did not lag behind. Together with Kobayashi-kun, they lunged at both of the monster’s hands.

“Gwah!”

At this sudden attack, the monster, startled, let out an involuntary cry. And then, in the dark grass, a terrifying struggle began. Four boys clung to the monster’s right hand and three to his left, but in their grappling tussle, his hands were shaken free time and again. However, no matter how much he shook them off, in the very next instant, the boys would cling on again. Even the formidable monster seemed to be gradually weakening. He no longer tried to shake them off.

At that moment, Kobayashi Yoshio took out one of his seven tools—the summoning whistle—and blew it with a shrill trill… trill… trill… trill… This was to call for reinforcements from the detectives inside the mansion. "Now everyone—don't you dare let go! "We're dragging this guy straight to the gate! "And we'll hand him over to the detectives." "Yeah, we've got this. "Like hell we're lettin' go!"

The street urchins, answering in unison, desperately clung to both of the monster’s hands. Still clinging on, the boys began walking toward the mansion gate. Though mere children, the strength of seven was more than a match. The pitch-black monster, his hands being pulled along, reluctantly followed the boys. However, where on earth could the Night Glow Monster be hiding the Suiko-period Buddha statue he stole? It went without saying that he wasn't holding it in both hands. If Kobayashi-kun had searched the monster’s body at that moment, he might have been able to retrieve that Buddha statue from the shirt’s pocket or wherever it was hidden. Since it was a small Buddha statue only fifteen centimeters tall, it could be hidden anywhere.

However, regrettably, Kobayashi-kun was so entirely focused on handing the monster over to the detectives that he lacked the mental capacity to consider such possibilities. The seven boys clung to both of the monster’s hands and pulled vigorously onward. They exited the vacant lot and turned into the estate’s alley.

Just then.

Truly, something astonishing occurred. The Night Glow Monster pulled out his final hidden trick and employed bizarre magic. “Agh!”

A terrifying scream echoed through the air, and the seven boys collapsed in a heap upon the ground.

What on earth had happened? Did the Night Glow Monster still possess enough strength to send seven boys flying?

But no, that wasn’t it. The boys had clung to the monster’s hands without ever letting go. Even now, they were still clinging on just like that.

Yet why had they fallen? Could it be that the monster had fallen first, and with that momentum knocked everyone down? No, not quite. The monster was no longer there. Melting into the darkness, he had fled toward the rear—toward the vacant lot. Had they realized it, they would have immediately pounced, but the boys hadn't noticed a thing.

The reason was that four boys were still clinging to the monster’s right hand and three to his left.

What on earth had happened? The monster's hands had come clean off. Due to that momentum, the boys collapsed in a heap upon one another. To sever both hands and flee—no matter how much of a monster one might be, wasn't that utterly bizarre? Kobayashi-kun finally noticed this and examined the monster's hand he had been gripping. The hand had a black shirt tightly adhered to it, with black gloves donned over that. When he hurriedly removed the glove, out came a doll's hand fashioned from vinyl!

Oh，what on earth was this? While grappling in the darkened vacant lot，the cunning monster had made the boys clutch the doll arms he had suspended inside his cloak in preparation for such situations. And when they had dragged them this far as if they were their own hands，the monster suddenly released the doll’s hands，making the boys tumble down.

The boys had finally realized this, but the Night Glow Monster had long since vanished into the darkness beyond. Even if they gave chase now, there was no way they could possibly find him.

Late-Night Visitor

Miss Mayumi, the young assistant at Akechi Detective Agency, was keeping watch alone at the detective office. Akechi-sensei was traveling, and the boy assistant Kobayashi-kun had gone out to Mr. Sugimoto’s house in Setagaya and was away. 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 bring herself to sleep. While waiting expectantly for Kobayashi-kun to return at any moment, she sat on the long sofa in the reception room reading a book.

Just then came a knock-knock sound at the entrance door. “Who is it?” But there was no response. Even late at night people sometimes came seeking urgent cases at detective agencies—this too might be such a client. Miss Mayumi stood up and opened the door using a key taken from her coat. Having been alone she’d kept it locked as precaution.

When she opened the door, there stood a strange man—wearing a jet-black suit and jet-black hunting cap, with an unnaturally pale face—an eerie man. “Who are you?” When Miss Mayumi asked suspiciously, the man— “I was asked by Assistant Kobayashi-kun.” “There’s something I urgently need to inform you about.” Without waiting for an invitation, he strode into the room.

Miss Mayumi, seeing no alternative, suggested that the man take a seat and sat back down on the original long sofa herself.

“Where is Mr. Kobayashi now?” “He’s in the garden of a wealthy man named Sugimoto in Setagaya.”

The man answered in a voice that seemed to mock. Even so, what a strange face this man had. It didn't seem like the face of a living human. It was like a mask. But if it were a mask, the eyes and mouth shouldn't move—yet this man's face shifted with every word he spoke. He was blinking as well. And yet, it had the feel of a mask. No matter how you looked at it, it was not a human face. Moreover, even after sitting down, this man made no move to remove his black hunting cap. What a rude fellow!

Miss Mayumi felt a chill run down her spine, but determined not to show weakness, she asked back in a steady voice. "Are you saying Mr. Kobayashi is in Mr. Sugimoto's garden? Why would he be in the garden of all places?"

Then, the man smirked with an eerie laugh. “The Night Glow Monster slipped through their fingers.” “Even so, Kobayashi-kun is quite a clever boy.” “After the Night Glow Monster stole Mr. Sugimoto’s treasure, he had thoroughly figured out how he would make his escape.” “And then, leading the Street Urchin Task Force, he lay in ambush in the field outside Mr. Sugimoto’s wall.”

Seven children were lying in ambush. "The Night Glow Monster had both his arms clung to by those seven, leaving him unable to move." “Well, I must say, Mr. Kobayashi is truly remarkable.” “So he properly brought along the Street Urchin Task Force.” “That’s right indeed. “Those Street Urchin Task Force kids come at adults nonchalantly, and like cats, they can see even in pitch darkness. “And their strength is quite formidable.”

“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 think it was?” “Heh heh heh... The Night Glow Monster had four hands, you see.”

“What? Four hands?” “Two of them are the real ones—look at these hands.” The man thrust both hands forward to demonstrate. Strangely enough, he wore gloves even indoors. They were long gray gloves reaching past his wrists. He kept his hat on and gloves worn—his face appearing to wear nothing but a soft mask. This man had completely concealed his head, face and hands. Why would he do this? Could there be some profound reason behind it?

The man continued talking, still smirking. For some reason, his words had abruptly turned crude. “The other two are fakes.” “The Night Glow Monster’s a cautious one, see?” “Always keeps fake arms hangin’ ready under his cloak—just in case he gets nabbed.” “Tonight too, he let those Street Urchin Task Force brats grab those phony limbs.” Though fake, the arms were wrapped in thick vinyl that gave ’em spring like real human flesh. And with just the coat sleeves pulled over ’em and gloves slapped on, nobody’d notice a thing in the pitch dark. Heh heh heh… The man chuckled low.

Four street urchins clung to the right hand, three to the left—they wouldn’t let go. The Night Glow Monster pretended to be defeated and let himself be dragged along by the street urchins—but after letting them pull with all their might, he abruptly released the fake hands. The street urchins went down like dominoes. Carried by their own momentum, they piled on top of each other and collapsed.

Even so, still unaware, they lay collapsed while tightly clinging to the two fake arms. Seizing that moment, the Night Glow Monster slipped away into the darkness. “Hahahaha... What do you think? Don’t you find the Night Glow Monster’s prowess splendid?” “Huh? Miss Mayumi.”

At that moment, the terror of the man’s face as he laughed loudly. The mask-like face contorted with deep, tightly creased wrinkles, squirming grotesquely in a manner so unnervingly abnormal it defied description.

Miss Mayumi turned deathly pale and involuntarily rose from the sofa.

“Who are you? Just who are you?” she demanded, her voice rising as if shouting. Vinyl Mask “It’s me, you know. Do you wish to know who I am?”

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

Miss Mayumi was utterly terrified, barely managing to withstand the urge to flee that threatened to overtake her at any moment. She no longer had the strength to respond.

“Heh heh heh... Take a good look at my face.” “This is not my real face.” “I’m wearing a mask, you see.” “But you’ve never seen such a soft mask before, have you?”

“Two or three years ago, soft masks like these were imported from France and sold in Japan as well. Those were all clown-like comical faces, but I had higher-quality masks made based on those—even better than them.”

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

The areas around the mouth and eyes had been hollowed out; when someone spoke, the mouth would move, and if they blinked within those eye holes, it made the mask itself appear to be blinking. "By the way, Miss Mayumi," do you know why I wear this mask?" "Needless to say," it was to conceal my face." "Miss Mayumi," what sort of face do you suppose lies hidden beneath this mask?"

The man explained leisurely, as if carefully breaking it down. When Miss Mayumi thought about the face hidden beneath the mask, her body went numb, rendering her unable to move.

“Heh heh heh... Take a good look. If you peel it off like this, the mask will come right off.” The man stood up straight, removed his black hunting cap, and a thick, yellowish head of hair appeared. Then, hooking the fingers of both hands onto his forehead, he peeled off the soft mask with a swift, twisting motion. Then, from beneath it emerged an indescribably unpleasant yellow face.

“It’s too bright to see properly.” “I’ll turn off the lights.” The man said that, rushed over to the wall, and pressed the switch. The light went out abruptly, and the room was plunged into pitch darkness.

In the darkness hovered a faintly glowing sphere suspended midair - a face-like form radiating bluish silver light. Two enormous eyes shone crimson as fresh blood, while within its gaping maw burned flames that seemed alive with fire... Ah! The Night Glow Monster! Only its severed head floated weightlessly through the airspace, detaching itself to hover independently. This disembodied head then emitted a shrill, cackling laughter straight from some spectral realm. "Mayumi," it rasped in that unearthly voice, "do you comprehend why I've come? Harming you holds no interest for me. When that absent-minded Akechi returns, you'll deliver my message precisely." The glowing visage pulsed brighter as it declared, "I made this special visit solely to have those words reach his ears."

“Tonight, I stole Sugimoto’s treasure.” “And I gave Kobayashi and Pocket Boy’s urchin task force a proper thrashing.” “Next comes the night after next.” “I’ll seize the Akamori family’s treasure in Azabu Yamashita-cho.” “The Akamori household holds five white jade Buddha statues from ancient China.” “Small enough to rest in your palm—yet celebrated masterpieces known across the realm.” “I’ve coveted these for ages.” “On the night after next...I shall claim them.”

“Go tell the Akamori family the same thing.” “Akechi might return by the day after tomorrow too.” “When he comes back, inform Akechi of this.” “And tell them to guard the white jade Buddhas well.” “But make sure to add this—even if Akechi’s a master detective, he stands no chance against the Night Glow Monster’s sorcery.” “Understood?”

Ah, the Night Glow Monster was once again declaring his theft. Moreover, he had gone out of his way to visit the office of renowned detective Akechi Kogoro and was now taunting them—daring them to try stopping him if they could.

What on earth was the Night Glow Monster? This monster seemed to target only treasures known to the world. For a monster to covet artworks—wasn’t that rather strange? Since such famous pieces were recognized by all, any attempt to sell them would immediately be exposed. They could not be converted into money. The Night Glow Monster could not be understood as desiring wealth—he had to be considered one who loved the artworks themselves. He was an oddity harboring desires unbefitting even a phantom thief.

Locked Room Phantom While the bluish-silver glowing head of the Night Glow Monster floated ethereally through the pitch-black room’s space, issuing its terrifying proclamation, Miss Mayumi edged inch by inch toward the entrance door, careful not to alert her adversary. And the moment the monster’s words ended, she swung the door open, leapt into the hallway, swiftly closed it behind her, and clicked the lock shut from outside with the key from her pocket.

As expected of Miss Mayumi, the detective’s assistant. She had faced off against the monster and fought splendidly. She had locked the monster in the Reception Room. The Reception Room had another door besides the entrance—one connecting to Akechi’s study—but that door had been locked after young Kobayashi left.

Therefore, the only means of escape from the Reception Room were the two windows facing the wide road in front. However, since this room was on the high second floor of a reinforced concrete building, jumping from the window would inevitably result in injury.

Even if one were to jump down skillfully, there were still people coming and going on the front road. There was no way he could escape unnoticed. Though Miss Mayumi had confined the Night Glow Monster to a locked room, his escape was inevitable. Miss Mayumi immediately 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 over all doors allowing entry to and exit from the detective agency. Even if the Night Glow Monster were to break through the study door and attempt to escape through another exit, with so many people keeping watch, there would be nothing he could do.

Miss Mayumi entrusted everyone with keeping watch, borrowed the neighbor’s telephone, and informed young Kobayashi—still at Mr. Sugimoto’s house in Setagaya—as well as the Metropolitan Police Department’s 110 emergency number about the situation. Calling 110 would bring a patrol car cruising nearby to arrive immediately. At most, it would take five to six minutes; when quick, they came in two to three minutes. People from the entire second floor had gathered in the hallway before Akechi’s room, exchanging uneasy whispers in hushed tones as they stared at the tightly shut door.

And then, had about three minutes passed? A faint, echoing wail—woo... woo...—of a siren could be heard from the front.

“Ah! A patrol car!” “They’ve finally come!”

They whispered reassuringly. When Miss Mayumi hurried down the stairs and went to check the apartment’s entrance hall, she found a white Metropolitan Police Department car parked outside, with two officers just emerging from inside. The patrol car had only two officers inside. The driving would be handled by one of them. Having heard it was the Night Glow Monster, they had left the car empty and both must have rushed out. Miss Mayumi gave her name and guided the two officers upstairs.

The officers pressed 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! So where exactly was that glowing head you mentioned?”

Miss Mayumi also peered inside. It was just pitch dark. The Night Glow's head was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh my, what’s going on? He might be hiding somewhere. The light…”

Miss Mayumi inserted her hand through the door gap and pressed the wall switch. The room flashed bright as midday. Under the desk, under the long bench—from what could be seen at the entrance—there was no sign of anyone. The door connecting to the study remained tightly shut, showing no evidence of escape that way. "This is strange. Let's go in." The officers swung the door fully open and entered the brightly lit Reception Room. They checked every possible hiding spot, used Miss Mayumi's key to open doors, and thoroughly searched both the adjacent study and other rooms—only to confirm the monster had completely vanished.

The police officers returned to the original Reception Room, stood by the window facing the road, fixed their eyes on the glass-paned door that was now open, and questioned Miss Mayumi. “Was this window open from when you were in the room?” “No, I had closed it properly. “I had also drawn the curtains. “Well, then perhaps he could’ve…” “Well, jumping down from here would be difficult.” “And there are no footholds to climb down either.” “And there were still people passing by on the main road outside.”

One of the officers leaned halfway out the window and, while surveying the building’s wall, remarked. Ah, once again, the Night Glow Monster had employed his mysterious magic. From a room that was completely impossible to enter or exit, he had 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 clerk entered with a man, pushing through the crowd gathered in the hallway.

He was a man who looked like a painter, wearing a beret and clad in a loose black velvet suit.

“This person says he saw it. He says he saw the Night Glow Monster emerge from the window and ascend into the sky.”

The clerk reported breathlessly. Hearing this, the two police officers widened their eyes and stared at the beret-wearing man’s face as if to bore holes through him.

Phantom Ghost The beret-wearing man was Enomoto, a Western-style painter living nearby, who had noticed a pale glowing orb-like object dart swiftly out from Akechi Detective Agency's window and climb toward the roof while walking along the main street. Though people still passed sporadically along that main street even late at night, none had looked upward and therefore hadn't noticed. Only the painter had seen it.

At first he thought it was a real will-o'-the-wisp, but when he looked closely at what was swiftly ascending into the sky, he realized it was a pale glowing sphere with large crimson eyes shining and a mouth split open to the ears that burned like fire. Mr. Enomoto, the painter, had read about the Night Glow Monster in the newspaper, so he concluded this glowing head must be him. He hurried into the house and reported what he had seen.

So, the police officers immediately went outside and looked up at the roof, but by that time, the glowing head was nowhere to be seen. The Night Glow Monster may dart about freely like a ghost, but since he is undoubtedly human, he cannot ascend into the sky without some sort of mechanism. Surely, those accomplices had been hiding on the roof. And they had been dangling a thin but sturdy rope from the roof to the outside of Akechi Detective Agency’s window.

Having shown only the glowing head, the Night Glow Monster must have grabbed onto that rope and exited through the window. The accomplice must have dragged it up to the roof with a scraping sound, and then the two of them undoubtedly fled somewhere along the rooftop.

Ambush in the Darkness

Two days later, the day finally arrived when the Night Glow Monster would descend upon Mr. Akamori’s house in Azabu.

Having received word from Miss Mayumi, Mr. Akamori promptly reported it to the police and arranged for five detectives to guard both the interior and exterior of his house from early that day onward. Additionally, "When Akechi-sensei returns from his trip, please have him come immediately," he had requested. And during that time, young Kobayashi had been assigned to guard the treasure. Then, as evening approached, a tall gentleman in a black suit appeared at Mr. Akamori’s entrance. That was none other than Akechi Kogoro, the famous detective, who had returned from his trip.

When the maid announced the visitor, the master, Mr. Akamori, came out to the entrance in surprise. Then he politely ushered him into the reception room, served tea and sweets, and entertained him graciously. Mr. Akamori was a wealthy man who had formerly worked as a prosperous trader but was now retired and enjoyed collecting art objects; he was a portly, distinguished gentleman around sixty years old. "I heard that the Night Glow Monster would sneak in here tonight, so I rushed over immediately upon returning from my trip. I heard our Kobayashi is here. Where might he be?"

When Akechi inquired, Mr. Akamori,

“He’s keeping watch in the art room.” “Would you please come over there as well, Mr. Akechi?”

“Yes, let’s do that. I’ll take over the watch from Kobayashi.”

Thereupon, the two entered the innermost art room. The walls of the spacious room were entirely covered with Western-style painting frames of various sizes, with glass-door cabinets lined up in rows containing beautiful sculptures, Western jars, flower vases, and other items. When the two entered, young Kobayashi—who had been sitting at the central table—exclaimed “Ah, Mr. Akechi!” and stood up.

"I'll take over from here, so return to the office." "But there may be contact via phone at any time, so don't leave the premises." When Kobayashi heard this, he made a slightly strange face, but as it was Mr. Akechi's order, there was no alternative. With a bow, he exited the room.

“By the way, Mr. Akamori. Where are those white jade sculptures stored?”

“Those ones.” “They’re arranged on the upper shelf of that glass-door cabinet.” “Among my art collection, they’re the most valuable pieces.” “That the Night Glow Monster targeted these shows remarkable discernment.” “He appears to possess uncanny knowledge about where rare artworks are kept.” Detective Akechi moved beside the glass-door cabinet and studied the five white jade treasures with intense scrutiny.

“Indeed, this is splendid. “I have never seen such beautiful sculptures.” He seemed to be deeply impressed.

After that, the two of them sat facing each other at the central table and talked for a while, but

“Tonight I will hide in this room.” “You may withdraw to your own room.” “It’s more convenient for me to work alone.” “Later I’ll confer with the detectives in the garden and devise a plan to capture him when he arrives.” “In fact, I have an excellent scheme.”

Reassured by Akechi’s dependable words, Mr. Akamori felt completely at ease, “I leave this matter entirely in your hands.” “With Japan’s greatest detective keeping watch—you who are called Mr. Akechi—there could be no greater reassurance.” “Well then, I will be in that room over there, so if you need anything, please ring the bell at any time.”

“Then please hand over this room’s door key.” “I want to lock it from inside and ensure nobody can enter.” Mr. Akamori took the key from the drawer of the cabinet in the room’s corner, passed it to Detective Akechi, then exited through the door.

After locking the entrance door, Detective Akechi, who had remained behind, went to the window facing the garden and looked outside. Just then, a detective happened to pass by there, so Akechi called his name, waited for him to approach the window nearby, and whispered something covertly. He was a detective under Inspector Nakamura of the Metropolitan Police Department, and Detective Akechi knew him well.

When 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 placed in the corner and the wall, he turned his body sideways and hid himself there.

Over an hour passed without incident. The room was dead silent and appeared completely empty. All doors and windows had been 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 both the garden and the corridors inside the house, five detectives were lying in wait, so if any commotion were to occur, they would immediately come running—that was the plan.

Before long, dusk closed in outside the window, the day rapidly faded, and the garden plunged into complete darkness. The room too was plunged into complete darkness, its lights left unlit.

In that darkness, Detective Akechi resisted the urge to smoke as he lay patiently in wait. The three detectives guarding the garden had scattered to separate positions among the tree thickets and were maintaining vigilant watch over their surroundings. Then from between the pitch-black garden trees emerged a pale glowing form - floating into view like some spectral manifestation. It was the Night Glow Monster's head. Enormous crimson eyes blazed with unnatural light while a mouth split open to the ears burned like living flame.

However, even upon seeing this, the detectives did not leap out from their hiding places. They were waiting for the monster to infiltrate the art room. They had been ordered not to make any move until Detective Akechi apprehended the creature and gave the signal. The Night Glow Monster's disembodied head drifted weightlessly through the air as it approached the art room window. The three detectives hidden among the tree shadows kept watching intently, but when the luminous head reached the window, it vanished abruptly as though erased from existence.

Had it passed through the glass like a ghost and entered the room? That was indeed how it seemed. The three detectives waited poised, straining their ears for what sounded like the imminent noise of Detective Akechi grappling with someone inside the room.

The Great Detective's Peril

At that moment, in the corridor before the art room, two detectives hid in the shadows, holding their breath. Then, suddenly, voices could be heard from inside the art room, followed by a clattering noise that sounded like a struggle. At last, the Night Glow Monster had arrived, and Detective Akechi might have been attempting to apprehend him. The two detectives hurried to the art room door and tried to open it, but it was locked from the inside and wouldn’t budge an inch.

The detectives banged on the door repeatedly and called out loudly to Detective Akechi. “Mr. Akechi! Has he come? Please open up!” However, there was no response from within. Akechi might have been locked in a struggle with the monster and unable to answer.

“Detective Akechi! What’s happened? Is he too much for you? Can’t we open this door?”

Inside, still in silence, the terrifying thudding and clattering continued. They could even hear ragged, gasping breaths.

“Detective Akechi might be getting overpowered! Shall we ram it with our bodies and break down the door?” “Wait, no—using the master key would be faster. I’ll go call the master, so wait here.” One of the detectives shouted this and ran off toward the back of the house, but soon returned with the master, Mr. Akamori. Mr. Akamori immediately opened the door with the master key he had prepared.

The two detectives charged in from there, but it was pitch-black, and they couldn't make out a thing. "Master! Where's the switch? Please turn on the lights." At that voice, Mr. Akamori also stepped into the room and, groping around, pressed the light switch. The room flashed bright. "Ah, Detective Akechi...!" The three rushed over to where Detective Akechi lay collapsed. The great detective lay limp, appearing to have lost consciousness.

“Detective Akechi! Pull yourself together!” They lifted him up and shook him, but his eyes remained shut, and there was no response.

But where could he have gone? In the room, there was no one else besides Akechi.

At that moment, a tapping sound could be heard from the glass of the window facing the garden. Looking out, they saw the faces of the three detectives who had been in the garden pressed up against the glass outside. Once turning on the lights made the detectives inside visible, those outside must have rushed over. When the detective inside unfastened the latch and opened the window, the three detectives climbed through it and entered the room.

They all surrounded Detective Akechi, calling his name and shaking his body, when finally the great detective regained consciousness—opening his eyes and darting them around to survey his surroundings. “Did you catch him…?” Akechi grimaced and asked in a feeble voice. “You mean that guy—the Night Glow Monster?” Akechi nodded as if to say, “Of course.”

“When we entered, there was no one left.” “But... I wonder where he escaped from.” “The doors and windows were all properly closed, and yet…” Then, one of the detectives who had been in the garden took over: “Now that you mention it, there’s something even stranger.” “We saw the Night Glow Monster’s head fly over to that window.” “And then it vanished swiftly right in front of the window.” “Even so, how he got into the room through a closed window is truly baffling.” “Could he have passed through the glass like a ghost and gotten in?”

He wore a frightened expression. “Detective Akechi, were you really able to catch him?” “Yeah, I did manage to catch him, but he was terrifyingly strong. While we were grappling, I got knocked backward and hit my head hard—that’s what made me lose consciousness.” “So he was only showing his glowing head?”

“No—he was wearing pitch-black clothing all over his body. His face was hidden with a black mask too. A shadowy figure like a silhouette slipped smoothly into the darkness.” “The glowing head disappearing at the window must mean he put on that black mask there. Still—how did he get inside through a closed window? That secret…even I don’t know it.”

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

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

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 treasures. “Mr. Akamori, I’m terribly sorry. My strategy was flawed. Locking the door was my mistake. If only the door had been open, the detective gentlemen would have assisted us, and capturing him would have been straightforward.” Akechi Kogoro had suffered the greatest failure of his life. “However, I don’t intend to lose here. I will definitely retrieve the white jade carvings and return them to you. Please give me about ten days. I will definitely wash away this disgrace.”

Detective Akechi said apologetically while pressing his head wound.

Shortly thereafter, Detective Akechi left Mr. Akamori’s house with a dejected air and, without taking a car, trudged through the dark residential district.

However, at that very moment, something bizarre occurred.

Under a utility pole along the path Akechi had passed, a beggar had been crouching—but then that fellow smoothly stood up and began trailing the detective. It was too dark to see clearly, but he was a small-framed beggar dressed in tattered clothes. Seeming accustomed to tailing, he skillfully followed along so as not to be noticed by his target.

Strange House

Who on earth could this beggar boy be? Why was he following Detective Akechi? The detective showed no sign of noticing as he hurried through the dark town. When he emerged onto the main street, a car stood waiting there, and Akechi got into it. As the beggar boy watched to see what would happen, Detective Akechi—after boarding the car—raised his hand high and gave a signal. Then from the opposite direction, another car smoothly approached and stopped right before the beggar boy. That such a filthy boy could summon a car was truly strange.

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

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

However, before long, Detective Akechi’s car entered Shibuya Ward and gradually advanced into a desolate part of town. In that case, to avoid detection by their target, they had to increase the distance between the two cars. The beggar boy gave instructions to the driver and skillfully continued the tailing.

The place where Detective Akechi’s car stopped was a desolate district lined with grand estates. There stood a two-story Western-style house with a stone gate, and Akechi alighted from the car before entering the building. The beggar boy, having parked his own vehicle some distance away, slipped through the stone gate. Whose residence was this concrete Western-style house? Though the nameplate bore the characters "Date Goro," it was a name entirely unfamiliar to him. Why would Detective Akechi visit such a place instead of returning to his office?

“This was getting really strange.” “Only Mr. Akechi knew about it, so there shouldn’t be any place I didn’t know about.”

The beggar boy muttered to himself. The boy referred to Detective Akechi as “Sensei.” Could this boy be a member of the Boy Detectives Club’s Street Urchin Task Force? Yet considering that possibility，the words he’d just uttered seemed oddly out of place. He must have shared a far closer bond with Detective Akechi than any ordinary recruit would.

Ah, that's right. Could this be Kobayashi Yoshio in disguise? The face had been darkened with makeup, but those large, intelligent-looking eyes were unmistakably those of the boy detective Kobayashi.

Let me now reveal the truth here. This was Kobayashi Yoshio. Kobayashi had been told by Detective Akechi at Mr. Akamori’s house earlier—"You go home first"—and had gone outside; since this marked the first time he'd ever received such an order from him though he couldn't help feeling something was off.

So from a public telephone, he called the Akechi Detective Agency. When he inquired of Mayumi, who was keeping watch there, he learned that a telegram had arrived from Detective Akechi stating he would arrive at Tokyo Station at 8:30 PM tonight. This was getting truly strange. Detective Akechi, who was supposed to arrive at 8:30 PM, had appeared at Mr. Akamori’s house much earlier than that.

Therefore, Kobayashi considered that this Detective Akechi might be an imposter. His face and voice were perfect replicas, but it could not be denied that masters of disguise capable of such feats existed. In various past cases, fake Akechis had appeared time and again. Kobayashi hailed a taxi to return to the office, hurriedly disguised himself as a beggar boy, then requested his usual hired car to take him back near Mr. Akamori's house. After having the car wait on the main street, he hid himself in the shadow of a utility pole before Akamori's gate.

Two Akechi Kogoros Kobayashi Yoshio slipped through the gate of the mysterious Western-style house and circled completely around the building.

Then, as a light was shining from a first-floor window facing the back garden, he quietly peered inside through the window and saw the same Detective Akechi from earlier standing alone in the room.

It was a splendid room. On the far wall was embedded a large mirror. It was a tall, narrow mirror measuring one and a half meters in height. Detective Akechi stood before the large mirror, gazing at his own figure while muttering to himself. “My disguise skills are something else, huh? Even that Kobayashi couldn’t see through it. Heh heh heh… A master thief disguised himself as the great detective and guarded the treasure. Even Kobayashi and the detectives didn’t notice this trick. Heh heh heh…”

While smirking at his own reflection in the mirror, he seemed extremely pleased with himself. Upon hearing this, the beggar boy Kobayashi-kun quietly stepped away from the window, hurriedly dashed out of the gate, searched for a nearby public telephone, and jumped inside. And after making a call somewhere, he returned to the Western-style house again, but we will leave Kobayashi-kun’s story at this point and now proceed with the tale from the perspective of the fake Detective Akechi inside the Western-style house.

About thirty minutes had passed since Kobayashi-kun made the call from a payphone. The fake Detective Akechi sat comfortably in the armchair of that mirrored room, blowing smoke. He still hadn’t removed his disguise and remained in Detective Akechi’s form. Did he intend to pull off another job while still looking like this?

At that moment, there came a knock-knock sound at the door. It might have been a subordinate of Fake Akechi. “Enter.”

Fake Akechi answered calmly. The door slid open silently. And there, standing before him...

Fake Akechi cried “Ah!” and rose from his chair. Behold! There outside the door stood Detective Akechi. Inside the room was Detective Akechi; outside the door too stood Detective Akechi. From their faces to their clothing, two identical human beings stood facing each other.

Fake Akechi wondered if his own figure was being reflected in the mirror. However, the large mirror was right there next to the door. And there, his own figure was reflected as well. There were now three Detective Akechis. There was himself, the one standing at the door, and the reflection in the mirror—three in total.

“Hahahaha... Surprised, aren’t you? But your disguise skills are truly remarkable. Even I might mistake that figure there for myself. Hahahaha...”

The real Detective Akechi slowly entered the room.

“H-how... How did you get here...?”

The imposter, completely unnerved, couldn’t form a coherent sentence. “It’s Kobayashi. I hear you drove Kobayashi away from Mr. Akamori’s house. I’ve never done such a thing before, so Kobayashi became suspicious. Because he’s a clever boy. And then he followed you.” “I arrived at Tokyo Station at 8:30 tonight and immediately returned to the office, but then Kobayashi called me there. That Kobayashi told me about this house. So that’s why I came here—to meet the fake Detective Akechi. Ha ha ha ha….”

The real Detective Akechi said that and put his right hand into his pocket. Fake 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’ve got one too, you know.” “Alright, let’s not resort to escape tricks. This can be settled by talking.” Fake Akechi seemed to have finally made up his mind. Assuming a calm expression, he removed his hand from his pocket. The real Akechi also released his pistol, put out his hand, and continued talking with a smile.

“The Night Glow Monster—that was cleverly devised. Using that ugly face of yours to scare people and then pulling off robberies—only someone like you could’ve conceived such a scheme.” “So you claim to know all my secrets?” Fake Akechi demanded brazenly. “Yeah, I know. I’ve fully unraveled both the case of Mr. Sugimoto’s stolen Suiko-period Buddha statue and Mr. Akamori’s pilfered white jade.”

“I was traveling, but after reading the newspaper, I had mostly deduced. And tonight, when I returned and heard the details from the people at the office, I fully understood everything.”

“Hmm, I see. “As expected of the great detective. “Very well, I’ll hear you out. “But this room lacks proper atmosphere. “Let’s move to an inner chamber. “There’s a more... accommodating space beyond.”

“I’ll go anywhere. By now, this building must be surrounded by police officers. Kobayashi notified Inspector Nakamura at Metropolitan Police Headquarters to make the arrangements. So even if you try to trick me and escape, it’s impossible. I’ll go anywhere—lead the way.” “Hmm… You’ve been thorough. Very well—I won’t attempt to flee or hide now. Then come this way.”

Fake Akechi, having said that, took the lead and went out the door. After turning one corner in the hallway, in a secluded spot, there was a small, neat room. The two entered and stood facing each other. In that room, there was not a single window. Fake Akechi locked the only door from the inside. Therefore, the room became a perfect locked room.

The Secret of the Magic “Come on then – let’s hear how much of my secrets you’ve uncovered. Go ahead and tell me.”

Fake Akechi stood blocking the way and said mockingly. "Sometimes you yourself become the Night Glow Monster, and sometimes your subordinates do." "They wear vinyl shirts and trousers painted with luminous paint." "They apply luminous paint directly to their faces and hands." "They wear red glass spectacles with small bulbs attached to make them glow bright red." "They put small bulbs in their mouths too to make it look like they're breathing fire." "The bulbs connect through thin cords to batteries kept in their pockets." "This is my conjecture, but it's likely accurate." "Well? What do you think?"

“Yeah, that’s about right.” “And how does the Night Glow Monster ascend into the sky?” “He lowers a rope from the top of a tall tree and climbs it.” “Since it’s nighttime, the rope isn’t visible.” “Then he climbs to the top, puts on a black shirt and pants, and covers his face with a mask.” “Then he becomes completely invisible.” “At the top, his figure disappears, so it looks like he’s flown off into the air.” “Yeah, that’s right.” “Then, why did you steal the Buddha statue and white jade? Go on and tell me that.”

“The Night Glow Monster can’t enter a sealed room. So that guy merely loitered outside the window—he didn’t actually steal anything. The one who stole it was someone else.” “First, to explain how the Suiko-period Buddha statue was stolen from Mr. Sugimoto’s study—that Buddha statue was originally yours.”

“Huh? You’re saying it was mine?” “That’s right. Mr. Sugimoto and you were the same person.” “Huh? What did you say?” “You’re a master of disguise. You can transform into anyone. You disguise yourself as various people and own houses all over the place.” “At this house here, there’s a nameplate that reads Date Goro, but you’ve become a man named Date Goro and are living here. In the same way, you have become a man named Sugimoto and are living in that house in Setagaya as well.”

“And by making it look like you were targeted by the Night Glow Monster, 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 in the room were you and Kobayashi.” The Night Glow Monster had been loitering outside the window, but he couldn’t enter the room. The one who stole it was Master Sugimoto—in other words, you. While Kobayashi was distracted by the Night Glow Monster outside the window, you slipped that small Buddha statue into your inner pocket. And you made it look 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 sealed rooms like a ghost through walls. By doing this, whenever you stole others’ belongings afterward, you could make everyone believe it was his doing again. Tonight, you disguised yourself as me and stayed alone in Mr. Akamori’s art room—locking the door from inside to keep detectives out while staging your little performance.”

“You made it look like the Night Glow Monster had entered the room and was grappling with you. You made thudding noises and let out groans.”

By the time everyone grew worried, broke down the door, and entered the room, he lay fallen as though he had been struck down by the Night Glow Monster. In truth, you had put each of the five white jade pieces into various pockets and collapsed there. He had properly stolen them. And thus, having made it appear that the great detective Akechi Kogoro had committed a major blunder, he sneaked out of Mr. Akamori’s house. “I’m the one who’s pulled off quite the scheme. I’m not some weakling who’d pass out from grappling with the Night Glow Monster, you know.”

“Hah, brilliant!” “Everything is exactly as you said.” “As expected, you saw right through it.” “In that case, I suppose you’ve long since noticed the other secret too.”

The fake Akechi said that and stared fixedly at his opponent's face. The two Detective Akechis—so identical one couldn't tell them apart—stood blocking each other's path, their eyes locked in mutual scrutiny. For a full minute or more, they remained like that, glaring fixedly at each other.

“Of course, I know.”

After a while, the real Detective Akechi smiled and said. And then his right hand shot forward and pointed directly at the fake Akechi’s face. “You’re Forty Faces! And before that, you were called Twenty Faces, weren’t you?”

Crack! It was a sharp voice, like the crack of a whip. "So, if I'm Forty Faces, what do you plan to do about it?"

“I will hand you over to the police. As I said earlier, this house is surrounded by police officers. There’s absolutely no way you can escape now.”

“Hmph. So I’ve finally become a rat in a sack, have I?” “But Akechi-kun, I’ve often found myself in situations like this.” “Each time, there might’ve been a hidden trick prepared.”

Police Squad

“Ha ha ha ha… Stop your blustering.” “Listen. You can hear them, can’t you?” “There are many footsteps in the hallway outside the door.” “The police squad has arrived.” “Not five or six people.” “Dozens of police officers are surrounding this house.” “One of those squads has come here.”

Before Akechi’s words could finish, rapid, loud knocking sounded on the door,

“Akechi-kun, are you here?” “I’m Nakamura.” “Is the culprit secure?”

A faint voice was heard from outside the door. "This is Inspector Nakamura of the Metropolitan Police Department." The inspector had come with a large number of subordinates.

“It’s secure.” “This room has no windows.” “The only access point is that door.” “Keep watch outside.” “I’ll deliver the perpetrator shortly.”

Akechi called out loudly to the outside of the door.

“Ha ha ha ha… How amusing. I’m a rat in a bag, eh? Ha ha ha ha… So even the great Forty Faces has finally fallen into the great detective’s trap, eh? However, Akechi-kun, as I said earlier, I still have one last trick up my sleeve. It seems the time has come to show you that.”

Forty Faces was brazenly laughing it off to the very end. What on earth was he thinking?

At that moment, something strange was happening. The room where the real and fake Detective Akechi stood began to shake faintly.

“Hmm, seems like an earthquake.”

When Detective Akechi said this, Forty Faces began to laugh again. “Yeah, it’s an earthquake.” “Ha ha ha ha… Delightful!” “I absolutely love earthquakes.” “This earthquake is my savior. Ha ha ha…” Does he mean that if the house collapses during the quake, he could escape? Yet this was no violent tremor. It remained an extremely faint vibration—persistent and unending. Detective Akechi had turned his back against the door while keeping vigilant watch over Forty Faces standing deep within the room. Should he make any suspicious move—should so much as a muscle twitch—the detective stood poised to strike instantly without ever breaking his piercing gaze.

×　　　　×　　　　×　　　　×

In the hallway outside the door, with Inspector Nakamura at the forefront, about ten uniformed police officers were crowded together.

Because the door was locked, they waited poisedly for Detective Akechi Kogoro to open it from inside. Their eyes glared fixedly at the door, wondering if it would open now—if it would open now. What could he be doing? Akechi still hadn’t opened the door. Inspector Nakamura, losing patience, called out while repeatedly knocking on the door. “Akechi-kun, hurry up and open the door.” “Hey, Akechi-kun, what’s going on?”

Even when straining their ears, there was no answer.

“Hey, Akechi-kun. Where are you? Answer me.” No matter how much he shouted, the room remained utterly silent, not a single sound to be heard. Inspector Nakamura was growing worried. He clenched his fist and continued to pound wildly on the door. However, there was no answer.

“What’s going on? “This is strange.” “Fine! There’s no other way.” “You—ram your body against this door and break it down!” He finally made up his mind and gave orders to his subordinates.

A burly police officer stepped forward, said "I'll do it," and thud! slammed his body against the door.

Thud! Thud! After two or three slams, the door panel split, the hinges broke, and a large gap formed. Inspector Nakamura peered through the gap into the room, but—ah!—what on earth had happened? The narrow room—measuring roughly eight square meters—stood utterly empty. There was nowhere for anyone to hide. Ah, where on earth 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 and check.” “It’s unthinkable that a person could vanish like smoke.” “They must be hiding somewhere.” “Search for them!” Inspector Nakamura, having said this, took the lead and proceeded to enter through the gap in the door.

The Great Secret

At that very moment.

In the room, Detective Akechi and Forty Faces disguised as Akechi stood facing each other, blocking the way. Forty Faces was at the far end of the room, while Detective Akechi had his back to the door—the two stood staring intently at each other. Hmm, something felt off here. When Inspector Nakamura peered into the room through the gap in the door, there was no one there—wasn't there? Yet at that very same moment, Detective Akechi and Forty Faces were standing right there.

Is the author writing nonsense? No, that is absolutely not the case. Both are indeed true.

Dear readers. What on earth could have happened here? You'd think such an absurd thing couldn't possibly happen, right? However, in reality, that very thing did happen. Do you see? Please think carefully. There lay one astonishing secret.

The earthquake that had been shaking continuously until just moments ago had, before anyone noticed, come to a complete stop. Somewhere in the distance came a faint sound like someone shouting. Then followed thudding impacts - crash after crash of something colliding, splintering cracks of boards splitting - yet all these noises seemed to emanate from somewhere terribly far away. Even the great Detective Akechi could not discern what those sounds meant.

At that moment, Forty Faces disguised as Akechi—though what he intended remained unclear—strode heavily toward the door and thrust the key he carried into its keyhole. “Hey! What are you doing?”

When Detective Akechi asked in surprise, Forty Faces sneered, “I’m getting out of the room. I’ve had enough of looking at your face.” “What? What did you say? There’s a police squad outside that door! Do you mean to go out there and get yourself caught quickly?” “Yeah, I want to be caught. But unfortunately for you, there’s no catching me though. I know magic, you see. Well then, see ya.”

No sooner had he said this than he suddenly flung open the door, leaped outside, and slammed it shut again with a bang. Because it was done so swiftly, Detective Akechi was inadvertently left behind in the room.

However, there was no need to panic. With the police squad standing guard outside, that Forty Faces fellow must have been captured immediately.

Trying to see what was happening, he pushed the door, but it seemed to have been locked from the outside and wouldn’t budge an inch.

Akechi thought, "What...?" Something felt off. He suddenly knocked on the door and called out. "Inspector Nakamura! The one who just went outside is the culprit!" "He has a face exactly like mine, but he's an impostor." "Hey, Inspector Nakamura! That guy is Forty Faces!" "Do you understand...?"

However, there was no response from outside. It was dead silent and completely still. Things were getting stranger. Since there were many police officers in the hallway, the sounds of a scuffle should have been audible. Why on earth was it deathly quiet like this?

×　　　　×　　　　×　　　　×

This was Inspector Nakamura’s squad. Breaking down the door, Inspector Nakamura and two police officers stepped into the room.

The room contained only simple chairs and a table, with a decorative shelf placed in the corner—there was nowhere a person could hide.

Inspector Nakamura and his team, feeling like they'd been tricked by a fox, were blankly surveying the room.

Then, suddenly, the room plunged into total darkness. “Ah! A blackout.” Voices of police officers could also be heard from the hallway outside. The hallway lights also went out. Everything was plunged into pitch darkness.

At that moment. Near the ceiling in the corner of the room, a hazy white glowing object appeared.

It was a round object about the size of a human head. And attached to it were three bright red things. Two were eyes, and one was a mouth. Large, bright red glowing eyes were staring fixedly in this direction. A mouth split up to the ears was burning red, looking ready to spew flames at any moment.

“Ah! It’s the Night Glow Monster!”

One of the police officers shouted in a trembling voice. “Kee-hee-hee….” A hair-raising, eerie laugh. The Night Glow Monster was laughing. “Never mind that! Fire!” From the darkness, Inspector Nakamura bellowed. The two police officers’ pistols let out a terrifying roar and spewed crimson flames. The white glowing face in the air swayed unsteadily. One shot had indeed hit its mark. However, the monster was unharmed.

“Kee-hee-hee…,” came a hair-raising laugh as the crimson-eyed face suddenly lunged toward them. The pistols blazed again. Yet the opponent remained unharmed. It flew wildly through the air while emitting that sinister laugh. It became clear that bullets had no effect on the monster. Perhaps this apparition was truly unkillable.

“Does anyone have a flashlight?” Inspector Nakamura shouted in a loud voice. In response to his voice, a light abruptly shone in from the hallway. Three police officers turned on flashlights and entered the room. They directed the three beams of light toward the ceiling where the Night Glow Monster had been flying. “Oh! There’s nothing here at all!” The monster’s face that had been glaring with red eyes and flying about until just moments ago now left neither shadow nor form. The Night Glow Monster had vanished completely.

The mysteries only continued to deepen. No sooner had Detective Akechi and Forty Faces vanished as if erased than this time, the Night Glow Monster’s head had disappeared. Beneath the silver-glowing head, there should naturally have been a human body wrapped in a black shirt. That body too had vanished completely. A room without windows—outside its single door, the police squad stood their ground. Therefore, there was no escape route anywhere. How on earth had they vanished?

Mystery upon mystery—it was exactly like a haunted house there.

The Great Detective Appears At that moment, the surroundings suddenly became as bright as midday. The lights were turned on.

By that light, they checked the room once more, but there was nothing suspicious anywhere. It became clear that Detective Akechi, Forty Faces, and the Night Glow Monster—three individuals—had completely vanished from a room with no gaps whatsoever.

After a while, from the direction of the hallway, “Ah! Akechi-sensei!” A voice was heard, and a commotion arose among the officers.

At that voice, Inspector Nakamura and his team rushed out into the hallway to find... Look there! Wasn't that the great detective Akechi Kogoro walking calmly toward them from over there? Through the path the police officers had opened up on either side, Detective Akechi came toward them, smiling.

“Oh, Akechi! Where on earth have you been?” “How were you able to escape this room?” Inspector Nakamura greeted Akechi and asked in a puzzled tone. “Truly, a terrifying magic trick. “Only Forty Faces could have pulled this off.”

Detective Akechi murmured in admiration. “What? Forty Faces?” The inspector asked back in surprise. “Ah, I hadn’t told you yet. The fellow who disguised himself as me and stole the white jewel is none other than the phantom thief Forty Faces. Only Forty Faces could have managed such a flawless disguise.” “Huh?! So this time too, it was Forty Faces’ doing? Dammit, so 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." "So he got away? Where did he go? We have to chase him now!" "No—even if we chase him now, it's too late. Moreover, I have another trump card myself. Until we get word from that front, making a commotion won't help anything. Rather than that, let me show you the secret of how we disappeared from this room."

Akechi said this, entered the room alone, restored the door to its original state, and instructed that the entrance be blocked.

“Listen—after three minutes have passed, open this door. Until then, everyone please wait in the hallway. I’ll show you how to unravel Forty Faces’ greatest secret now.” The torn door was repaired, and the entrance was blocked.

Inspector Nakamura didn’t quite understand what was happening, but he stared at his wristwatch and waited for three minutes to pass. When three minutes had finally elapsed, he impatiently had the door opened and—Ah! What do you make of this? The room stood completely empty once more! “Akechi! Where have you hidden?” “Hey, Akechi…!” The inspector bellowed. Then, from somewhere far away, Akechi’s voice faintly reached them.

“Hey, Nakamura! Close the door again. “And then, after three minutes have passed, try opening it again.”

The same words were repeated twice. That was how he finally grasped their meaning. So faint was the voice.

Inspector Nakamura knocked on the walls all around the room and examined them, but found nothing suspicious anywhere. Detective Akechi had determined that he wasn’t concealed within the walls.

Then Inspector Nakamura went back out into the hallway, closed the door, and began glaring at his wristwatch again. And when three minutes had passed, he opened the door once more.

“Ha ha ha ha ha….” “Well, have you figured out the secret behind it?”

Detective Akechi was laughing inside the room.

Inspector Nakamura let out an “Ah!” of surprise and stood there gaping in astonishment. “I don’t understand. What on earth is the meaning of this?” “A grand magic trick only Forty Faces could perform. The meaning is...” Elevator “Rather than explaining verbally, let’s try doing it again. This time, don’t close the door. If you do that, the secret behind this grand magic trick will become clear.”

Akechi said this and entered the room with a smile，went to the back，and stomped on a spot on the floor with his shoe. There must be a push button there.

Then, lo and behold, the entire room began sinking smoothly downward. From above the open door, a concrete wall descended, and when it had passed all the way down, 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 door entrance. The room where Detective Akechi stood sank underground, meaning that an empty second-floor room had come down to replace it on the first floor.

After a while, the room began moving in reverse this time; the second floor ascended upward, and the room where Akechi stood emerged from below. "Ah! So he turned the entire room into an elevator—what a scheme."

Inspector Nakamura said in a deeply impressed manner. "So, has Forty Faces escaped?" “Yeah, since I had no idea this room was descending to the basement, I just watched without stopping Forty Faces as he went out through the door. I was convinced you were all in the hallway outside the door.” “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 police officers are surrounding this Western-style house. If he tries to escape, he ought to be found.”

“If he tries to escape, he ought to be found,” Inspector Nakamura interjected suspiciously. “The police force is within the walls of this building. However, the basement entrance might be located far outside the walls.”

“Huh! So you’re saying the underground passage leads outside the estate?” “Otherwise, he should have been caught by the police force by now.” “But I have a trump card too.” “That is Kobayashi Yoshio.” Kobayashi-kun was leading the children of the Street Urchin Task Force and circling around the grassland outside the wall of the Western-style house, keeping a lookout. And if they found a suspicious individual, they were to tail them and determine their destination. “Now all we can do is wait for Kobayashi-kun’s report.”

“Hmm, I see.” “With Kobayashi-kun on the case, there should be no oversights.” “I hope they can tail him properly… Still, there’s one more thing I don’t understand.” “Just now, when we broke down the door and rushed into this room, the lights went out, and the Night Glow Monster’s face flew around inside.” “But when we turned on our flashlights and looked around, it was already nowhere to be found.” “It had vanished completely.” “It couldn’t have gone out through the door.” “There were plenty of police officers there. But aside from the door, there was no gap anywhere else through which a person could get out.” “Akechi-kun, can you solve this mystery?”

At Inspector Nakamura’s words, Detective Akechi entered the room and looked around at the ceiling. Finding something, he smiled and beckoned the inspector over. “Look there—a round hole about two centimeters across. The Night Glow Monster emerged from there and retreated back through it again.” “What?! You’re saying a human can pass through such a tiny hole?”

Inspector Nakamura was startled and stared at Akechi’s face. “A human can’t pass through there. However, a balloon made of vinyl could. That Forty Faces has had a habit of using balloons ever since *The Bronze Demon*, so this time too, it must be that trick. They created just the head of the Night Glow Monster from vinyl, kept it deflated, lowered it through that hole in the ceiling, blew air into it to inflate it, then dangled it with a string to make it sway back and forth.”

“Of course they had coated the entire face with luminous paint and attached small red bulbs to the eyes and mouth,” “They placed dry batteries on the ceiling with wires connecting down to those small bulbs.” “Then when making this head disappear, all they needed was to deflate the vinyl by letting out air and pull it back through that hole—simple enough.” “It must have been Forty Faces’ underlings hiding above the ceiling who manipulated this Night Glow Monster’s head.”

“That Forty Faces absolutely loves this sort of trickery. He takes such delight in concocting outlandish magic tricks and stirring up the world that he’s truly a troublesome fiend.”

Detective Akechi gave a bitter smile as he said this.

White-bearded old man

Meanwhile, Kobayashi Yoshio lay sprawled in the grass of the grassland outside the Western-style house alongside four members of the urchin task force. They had discovered the entrance to an underground passage there. In the thicket of grass gaped a hole. A large stone that normally served as a lid lay rolled aside nearby. Why had the lid been left open? Could it be that Forty Faces intended to escape through here?

Kobayashi Yoshio shone his flashlight into the hole. Stone stairs continued far downward. It was indeed an exit from underground. So he turned off his flashlight and, together with the four urchins, lay down in the grass near the hole to lie in wait. This area was desolate, with no neon signs from shops visible and no sound of cars to be heard. When he looked up at the sky, a startling number of stars shone beautifully like scattered sand.

After lying in wait patiently for a very long time, their perseverance finally paid off. From within the hole, a figure emerged with a muffled rustle. They initially thought it might be Forty Faces disguised as Detective Akechi, but they were mistaken. What crawled out of the hole and—using his cane for support—staggered upright was an impossibly ancient old man.

Because their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the figure became faintly visible in the starlight—white-haired with a luxuriant beard reaching his chest, dressed in a suit and carrying a cane, his waist bent as though broken at the middle. "Ah," came the realization. "Forty Faces means to escape disguised as this old man."

Kobayashi-kun thought this and signaled the four urchins to begin tailing. The white-bearded old man trotted across the grassland. For an old man with such a bent waist, he moved surprisingly fast. When they exited the grassland, the concrete wall of some factory stretched endlessly. The town had few streetlights and was terrifyingly dark. The white-bearded old man trudged through the town, but when he reached a corner, he swiftly glanced back.

Kobayashi Yoshio and the others were tailing him while pressed flat against the concrete wall, so they thought there was no way they’d be discovered, but even so, they somehow felt uneasy and stood frozen in place without moving a muscle. The white-bearded old man stared fixedly in their direction, muttering something under his breath, but soon— “Eh heh heh heh….” With an eerie laugh that chilled their spines, he resumed walking into the darkness ahead.

It seemed they had been noticed. Forty Faces, disguised as the old man, might have noticed Kobayashi and the others tailing him and let out that eerie laugh.

However, even if they had been noticed, they couldn’t abandon their pursuit, so Kobayashi and the others continued tailing the white-bearded old man. After passing the factory's concrete wall, there was a shrine forest. The old man entered that forest. The boys also followed after. Passing through the stone torii gate and proceeding a short distance, they found stone guardian dogs crouching on stone pedestals before the shrine hall like sinister beasts.

The white-bearded old man passed through there and entered the deep forest behind the shrine hall. The boys found the atmosphere growing increasingly eerie, but they couldn’t flee.

“Eh heh heh heh….” When they noticed, the white-bearded old man was facing their direction, laughing in a nasty voice. The boys involuntarily came to a halt, but there was no longer any room to doubt they had been noticed. “Eh heh heh heh… So it’s Kobayashi-kun there. And then there are the kids from the Urchin Task Force. I’m impressed you followed me here. You did well to notice the entrance to that underground passage. So, do you 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 floated up.

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

The Phantom Ascends to the Sky

The Night Glow Monster’s head made its crimson eyes gleam and opened its burning mouth as it flew about in the pitch-black forest, letting out that dreadful cackle.

“I outsmarted Akechi. “I outsmarted the police force too. “And now I’ll make you gasp. “I assumed officers were guarding that tunnel exit. “I’d prepared magic to shock those cops.”

However, those lying in ambush there weren't the police force—it was just you lot. "Taking on you punks is rather beneath me as an opponent, but needs must." "Now I'll show you this astonishing trick." "Once you return, make sure to report everything properly to Detective Akechi—you hear?"

The Night Glow Monster’s head uttered these words in an unnaturally hoarse voice. For some time, only the luminous head floated weightlessly among the trees, but when it halted before the largest tree in the forest, it gradually unveiled its full form—a phosphorescent figure emerging from chest to abdomen, abdomen to waist, waist to legs. Though they understood this involved removing skin-tight black garments, as that shimmering body materialized inch by inch, an inexplicable sinister aura gripped them, forcing a visceral shudder from their very cores.

The phosphorescent body had fully materialized, spreading its legs beneath the large tree and standing tall. “Hey, Kobayashi-kun! Watch closely as I perform this incredible feat now.” "And make sure to report this spectacle to Akechi-kun."

“I’ll escape from here for the time being, but I’ll reappear before you soon. And I shall gather artworks. This is my delight, you see. I don’t intend to cease this delight until my museum overflows. Tell that to Akechi-kun. We’ll have another battle of wits ere long, mark my words.” The Night Glow Monster began ascending the tree effortlessly as he spoke.

It was the same as always. Even knowing that a rope hung down from the treetop which he was climbing, the sight of the silver-glowing naked man ascending into the pitch-black heights of the tree remained indescribably bizarre.

Finally, he reached the top of the tall tree. Normally, at that summit, he would put on a black shirt and black pants, don a black mask, and vanish from sight. He would normally make it look as though he had ascended into the sky, but tonight was different. No matter how much time passed, the silver figure did not vanish. Not only did it not vanish, but something strange began.

A strange sound could be heard—brrrum, brrrum, brrum, brrum…. It was coming from the treetop.

“Ah! It’s flying, it’s flying…!” One of the urchins let out a shrill cry. Indeed, it was flying. The silver-glowing body of the Night Glow Monster separated from the treetop and began soaring high into the starry sky.

A silver-glowing human, with crimson eyes gleaming and flames spewing from its mouth, soared upward through a starry sky like scattered sand. It was a dreamlike scene, as though viewing an illustration from a fairy tale. How did the Night Glow Monster ascend into the sky without wings? Could there have been some sort of mechanism at play? Dear readers, you must recall how Twenty Faces flew through the air during the "Space Monster" incident. That had been a helicopter-like propeller attached to a small engine strapped to his back. Twenty Faces had purchased that machine from the Frenchman who invented it and transformed into the Space Monster.

The Night Glow Monster may have hidden the same kind of machine at the top of the tree, strapped it to his back, and flown away. In any case, the spectacle of the silver-glowing human body ascending gently, gently into the world of stars was truly magnificent. That figure gradually grew smaller. What initially appeared about one meter tall became 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 entranced by a dream. Even after the Night Glow Monster’s silver form had shrunk to a star-like speck and vanished among the stars, they remained rooted to the spot, utterly dumbfounded.

However, they couldn’t stay like that forever; Kobayashi Yoshio, as if finally coming to his senses, urged the four urchins and turned 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’s report. “Ah, Kobayashi-kun! How did it go? Didn’t you see him escaping?” Detective Akechi was the first to ask about it.

“Yes, there’s an exit to an underground passage in the back field. He disguised himself as a white-bearded old man and came out from there. Of course we followed him, but he escaped in the shrine forest. He soared into the sky from the treetop—exactly like during the Space Monster Incident. Once he’d fled into the air, there was nothing we could do, so we simply returned.”

“No, having confirmed things up to that point is sufficient. Good work. He might have wanted to lure me into that forest. And he probably wanted to demonstrate flying into the sky right before my eyes. He’s truly one who loves theatricality, isn’t he?”

Eerie Glow in the Water Two or three years prior, there had been a newspaper report about a Frenchman who invented a way to fly by carrying something like a helicopter propeller on his back. During the "Space Monster" incident, Forty Faces had donned a similar propeller and repeatedly demonstrated flying through the sky. This time too, it was that propeller. Forty Faces' Night Glow Monster had equipped himself with the flight gear he concealed at the treetop and demonstrated flying through the starry sky.

Thus, the Night Glow Monster had once again escaped, but then about ten days later, on a certain night...

The Night Glow Monster this time revealed his eerie form at the wealthy residence of a Mr. Kamiyama in Minato Ward. At Mr. Kamiyama’s house, there was a sixth-grade elementary school student named Kamiyama Ichiro. That was Mr. Kamiyama's only child. Ichiro was a courageous boy who belonged to the Boy Detectives Club. That night, Ichiro was studying in his second-floor room when he suddenly glanced out the window at the spacious garden below and caught sight of a bluish glowing object swiftly darting between the trees.

That was strange. Maybe someone had come into the garden with a flashlight.

Since Ichiro-kun was a courageous boy, he 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 dark, and no light was visible anymore.

For a while, he stood still in the darkness, straining his ears, but no suspicious sounds could be heard. "Hmm... what's that?"

There was a pond beyond the grove of trees. The surface of that pond was glowing faintly blue.

Ichiro-kun went over to the edge of the pond.

There was something glowing submerged in the water! When he crouched on the shore and peered into it, even the courageous Ichiro-kun turned deathly pale and trembled violently. At the bottom of the pond lay a bluish glowing humanoid figure. It twisted its neck and glared at Ichiro-kun.

Ah, that face!

Glowing crimson eyes—perfectly round and about three centimeters in diameter—and a gaping red mouth stretching to the ears; that horrifying face emerged from the water and fixed Ichiro-kun with an intense glare.

“Ah! The Night Glow Monster!” Ichiro-kun instinctively shouted and dashed toward the house. Upon entering his father’s study,

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

he reported breathlessly. Upon hearing "Night Glow Monster," Father was startled and went out into the garden with a student to verify it. Shining a flashlight, they circled around the pond, but there was no sign of a bluish glowing human figure anywhere. Since the Night Glow Monster shouldn't have been able to extinguish his own luminescence at will, he would have remained visible had he been in the pond.

Father and the student thoroughly searched through the grove once more, but there was nothing suspicious to be found. “Ichiro, you’ve joined that Boy Detectives Club, so you’re always thinking about nothing but the Night Glow Monster.” “That’s why you saw a phantom.” "You should quit this detective nonsense already." Father reprimanded Ichiro-kun with those words.

However, was that really an illusion? Ichiro-kun couldn’t bring himself to believe it. In the clear pond water, swaying gently beneath the surface, lay a human figure glowing blue—a being with only its eyes and mouth burning crimson. Ichiro-kun couldn’t forget its haunting beauty. That night, he dreamed of the Night Glow Monster lying submerged in water. Even awake, whenever he closed his eyes, that azure human form would flash across his vision—swift and vivid against his eyelids’ darkness.

The next day was gloomy, the sky shrouded in dark clouds.

When Ichiro-kun returned from school and entered his father’s study, his father was standing before the desk, staring at the wall’s fireplace with a horrified expression. The study was a dimly lit, spacious Western-style room with small windows. Ichiro-kun also inadvertently turned his eyes toward the fireplace. In the back of the fireplace where no fire burned now hung a blue round object. On the blue glowing round object were three vivid red spots.

It was somehow an unfathomable thing. Ah! The Night Glow Monster!

Ichiro-kun finally noticed it. The monster’s face hung upside down in the fireplace—mouth at the top and eyes at the bottom—making it appear like an unfathomable entity. Both Father and Ichiro-kun stood frozen upon recognizing the Night Glow Monster, utterly unable to move. Their eyes remained fixed on the creature in the fireplace as if nailed there. Then the monster ascended smoothly up the chimney and vanished from sight.

Father and Ichiro-kun, finally able to move their bodies as if released from a spell, immediately went to the fireplace, thrust their heads inside, and peered upward. However, everything was pitch black, and there was no sign of any bluish glowing objects anywhere.

"So what Ichiro said was true after all." "The Night Glow Monster has started targeting this house." Dad said this and stared intently at Ichiro-kun’s face. “Hey Dad, let’s ask Mr. Akechi after all.” “Okay? That’s fine.” Since Ichiro-kun was a Boy Detectives Club member, he believed Detective Akechi was the most formidable.

“Yeah, I’ll call Mr. Akechi right away and ask him to come over. Of course I’ll inform the police too, but first I’ll consult Mr. Akechi.” Father dialed the desk telephone there and called the Akechi Detective Agency. “Is Mr. Akechi available?”

“He is currently out.” “He may return late today.”

“Ah, I see. And you are?” “This is Kobayashi, the assistant.” “Oh! So you’re Kobayashi-kun? I’m Kamiyama. There’s an urgent matter I need to consult about. If Mr. Akechi isn’t available, could you come instead? I’ve heard all about your exploits. I trust you completely. Please come without fail.” “What exactly is this urgent matter?”

“It’s the Night Glow Monster!”

Mr. Kamiyama pressed the receiver to his mouth and whispered. "Huh?! You said the Night Glow Monster?!" Kobayashi Yoshio's astonished voice. "That's right. That guy appeared at my house. He must be targeting the art pieces I possess."

“Then I will come immediately. Please tell me your address.”

After providing the address in detail, Mr. Kamiyama added: "The Street Urchin Task Force’s Pocket Boy is quite famous, you know. It would be most appreciated if you could bring that child along as well. I’ve actually been wanting to meet him once myself." “Ah, Pocket Boy,” Kobayashi replied. “Understood. I’ll take him along. That kid’s my right-hand man.”

The boy Kobayashi answered boastfully.

The bottom of the old well

About an hour later in Mr. Kamiyama’s study four people—Mr Kamiyama Ichiro-kun Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy—sat around a table Night had already fallen and electric lights illuminated the study Every window had been tightly fastened doors were locked from within and before the wall fireplace stood that same student holding a club on guard duty This was all meant to keep out any potential intrusion by the Night Glow Monster

“Let me show you what they’re after.” “It’s kept in that safe.” “I’ll take it out now and bring it here, so please wait.” Having said that, Mr. Kamiyama stood up from his chair, 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, and returned to the table.

Then, when he opened the purple cloth wrapper, from inside came out a slender box about twenty centimeters long. “Now, please take a look. This is my family’s heirloom. It was brought over from China long ago—a three-storied pagoda made entirely of jade.” Having said that, he took it out from the lacquer box and stood it up on the table to show them. A dark greenish, glossy, delicate three-storied pagoda. It stood only about fifteen centimeters tall.

“You all 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, then took the small white jade Buddha statue the second time, and now he’s targeting this jade pagoda. They are all old Oriental art pieces. That guy seems to be trying to collect such things.” After finishing his explanation, Mr. Kamiyama placed the jade pagoda back into the lacquer box, wrapped it in the cloth, and returned it to the safe.

“No one besides me knows the combination to this dial.” “Even the Night Glow Monster can’t open that safe.”

Mr. Kamiyama returned to his original seat and said with an air of confidence.

At that very moment.

“Ah!” With that shout, the boy detective Kobayashi stood up from his chair. And then, he stared fixedly at the window across.

Everyone looked in that direction. There, on the other side of the windowpane, hung the Night Glow Monster’s head—upside down. The crimson mouth was positioned above, and the crimson eyes were attached below. It was dangling from the second floor, peering through the upper part of the window with just its face. “Alright! I’ll shoot you dead with this pistol.” Mr. Kamiyama ran to the desk, pulled out a pistol from the drawer, then suddenly aimed at the neck at the window and pulled the trigger.

With a terrible clanging sound, the window glass shattered and a large hole opened there, but the Night Glow Monster's head swiftly withdrew upward, showing no signs of injury whatsoever. The four people in the room stood frozen without moving a muscle.

At that moment, “Keh-keh-keh-keh….” A sinister, bird-like cry rang out. “There! It’s there!” Kobayashi shouted. Through the grove of trees in the pitch-black garden floated the Night Glow Monster’s head. Though it likely had a torso too, the black shirt concealed it from view. Only the head appeared to hover through the air. With its glowing blue face, crimson eyes, and mouth that seemed ready to breathe fire, the head drifted weightlessly through the darkness—as if silently taunting, “Come and get me.”

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

Mr. Kamiyama 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 student all climbed over the window one after another, descended barefoot into the garden, and followed after Mr. Kamiyama. The Night Glow Monster’s head emitted that eerie “Kee-kee-kee…” laughter as it floated lightly away into the distance.

Mr. Kamiyama chased after it relentlessly. The three boys and the student ran frantically. Weaving here and there through the grove of trees, they finally reached the edge of the garden. There, behind Tsukiyama mound, was a thicket where an old, dried-up well stood. The glowing head hovered over the old well for a moment before swiftly vanishing into the ground.

“Ah! It went into the old well.” “You’re a cornered rat now!” Mr. Kamiyama, having shouted that, approached the old well and peered inside. At the bottom of the deep well, the Night Glow Monster’s head could be seen squirming.

Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy clung to the moss-covered edge of the well and peered inside.

Mr. Kamiyama suddenly took off his jacket and was left in just his shirt and underpants.

“You all wait here.” “I’ll go down and catch him.” “The inner wall of this well is stone-lined—you can set your feet on it and climb down.” Mr.Kamiyama vanished into the old well after saying this. Ichiro-kun had never known Father could be so bold. It was as though Father had transformed into someone completely different from his usual self.

“Hey! There’s a horizontal hole at the bottom of the well.” “He’s escaped into that side tunnel.” “Someone go to the house and find a rope to bring here.” “Use that to climb down here.” From the bottom of the well echoed Mr. Kamiyama’s voice. “You don’t need to search for a rope—I have the Boy Detectives Club’s silk rope ladder.” “I’ll go down right now.” Kobayashi-kun untied the long silk cord coiled around his waist, fastened its iron hook to the well’s edge, and lowered the cord into the shaft. The silk rope had round knots every thirty centimeters, designed for hooking one’s toes during descent.

“Just me and Pocket Boy will go down. Ichiro-san, it’s dangerous, so please wait there. Student, please keep watch.” Having said that, Kobayashi-kun entered the well. After waiting for Kobayashi-kun to descend, Pocket Boy also proceeded to climb down using the silk cord. When Kobayashi-kun reached the bottom of the waterless well, Mr. Kamiyama had already entered the side hole.

“It’s here. There’s something like a stone-lined tunnel here. I had no idea when this side tunnel was made or how it came to be here. He fled into the depths here. I’ll corner him and catch him. Don’t worry. I have a pistol, so it’s safe. You all follow after me.”

“Yes, only me and Pocket Boy will follow.” “Moreover, both of us have pen-shaped flashlights.” “I’ll lend you this, so please move forward while lighting the way.” With those words, Kobayashi-kun took out one of the detective’s seven tools—a pen-shaped flashlight—from his pocket and handed it to Mr. Kamiyama. The horizontal hole was just barely wide enough for an adult to crawl through. Mr. Kamiyama crawled steadily deeper into the passage, holding a pistol in his right hand and shining a flashlight with his left. Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy also followed suit.

Pocket Boy took out his pen-shaped flashlight and cast its beam around them, the dim light revealing the stonework lining the horizontal tunnel. The cramped passage abruptly ended at a vast cavern. Even when standing upright with arms stretched upward, one couldn't brush the ceiling. "I'm stunned," Mr. Kamiyama muttered, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "I'd never imagined an underground passage like this existed beneath my home." "But why would anyone build such a thing?"

Mr. Kamiyama muttered in utter astonishment.

Pitfall

Where had the Night Glow Monster gone? The cave was pitch dark, with no sign of anyone. The three of them stood frozen at the entrance, pressed tightly together and straining their ears, listening intently to see if the monster's voice would come from somewhere.

“Ah! There he is!” Mr. Kamiyama said in a suppressed voice. In the depths of the cave, a hazy, round bluish-white shape emerged, and within it, crimson eyes and a mouth materialized. It was the Night Glow Monster’s head.

Smoothly, it drifted through the air and approached 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. Kamiyama's lead, Kobayashi Boy and Pocket Boy also leaped at the Night Glow Monster's head, but in an instant, all three were thrown to the ground. "Keh, keh, keh... What do you think? If you can catch me, then try it."

A repulsive voice echoed through the cave.

Both Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy had badly injured their lower 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 pale glowing head smoothly retreated into the distance, and there—apparently having begun removing his black shirt—the Night Glow Monster's entire form was revealed: silver shoulders, chest, stomach, then hips, thighs, all the way to his toes.

“Keh, keh, keh… Hey, you street urchins. You’ve finally fallen into my trap. Just wait—something terrible will happen soon.”

No sooner had the monster said this than he began running around the cave with his silver-glowing body.

Crimson eyes, a crimson mouth—from that mouth came sharp bursts of red flames as it ran wildly through the darkness. It ran about like a madman.

The three of them dodged it and kept retreating deeper into the cave's corners when suddenly, the ground beneath Kobayashi-kun’s feet gave way. "Ah!" By the time they cried out, they had already plunged into a deep hole. In the cave's corner lay a pitfall roughly 3.3 square meters in area. Three meters deep with sheer walls on all sides, climbing out proved impossible.

The ones who fell into it were only young Kobayashi and Pocket Boy, while Mr. Kamiyama remained above the hole.

“Mr. Kamiyama, please help us! We’ve fallen into the pitfall!” When Kobayashi shouted, Mr. Kamiyama’s face appeared at the hole’s edge. Pocket Boy’s pen-shaped flashlight faintly illuminated that face from below. “You’ve really had it bad, haven’t you?”

Kamiyama-san said something strange.

“Huh?! What did you say?” “Please say that again.” Kobayashi-kun asked back in surprise. “Take a good look around there. Someone should be lying near you.” Mr. Kamiyama said something strange again.

“Huh? Where?”

Kobayashi-kun and Pocket Boy shone their flashlights at the bottom of the pit. "Ah! Someone's lying here." Rushing over to check, they found a man in a suit lying there—gagged and bound hand and foot. "Mr. Kamiyama! Who is this?" When Kobayashi-kun looked up at the hole's edge to ask, Mr. Kamiyama smiled with eerie restraint. "Heh heh heh... Remove the gag." "You'll learn who he is."

Something felt terribly wrong. Somehow, he sensed a monumental mistake unfolding before him. Kobayashi-kun hurriedly removed the gag from the prone man and shone his flashlight on the face—only to recoil with a shout. "Ah!" He stumbled backward instinctively. Was this some horrific nightmare? The man lying there bore Mr. Kamiyama's exact features. There were now two Mr. Kamiyamas. Could such madness truly exist?

Kobayashi-kun stood up and shouted. “Mr. Kamiyama. Please show me your face.” “Please show me your face.” Then, the Mr. Kamiyama above, “Huh? You want to see my face, do you? “Well then, take a good look.”

As he said this, he thrust his face out from the edge of the hole. Kobayashi-kun's flashlight illuminated that face. "Ah! It's really Mr. Kamiyama," he exclaimed. How strange, he thought. The person lying at the bottom of this hole had a face exactly like Mr. Kamiyama's. It was as if they were twin brothers. "Heh heh heh... Twins came in handy, didn't they?" "Hey, Kobayashi! You there, Pocket Boy—listen up." "Kamiyama doesn't have any twin brothers." "Heh heh heh... One of us is the fake." "So which one do you think it is...? Well then, perhaps I'll show you some proof."

No sooner had Mr. Kamiyama said this than he suddenly let out a sharp whistle. Then, that whistle must have been a signal. The Night Glow Monster, who had been circling around the far side of the cave, swung around and began approaching Mr. Kamiyama—wasn’t this exactly what was happening?

Mr. Kamiyama waited for the Night Glow Monster to draw near, then wrapped an arm around its shoulder with feigned familiarity and pressed his body tightly against it. Then, kneeling at the edge of the hole, they aligned their faces and peered inside. From the bottom of the pit, Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy witnessed this. Ah—what monstrous scene was this?

Mr. Kamiyama and the Night Glow Monster were amiably arm in arm, their cheeks nearly pressed together as they peered down from the edge of the pit. The face of Mr. Kamiyama with his bushy hair and small goatee, and next to it, the pale glowing head of the Night Glow Monster with those crimson eyes and a mouth spewing fire. “Ah! I get it.” “Then you’re…”

Kobayashi-kun cried out in a startled voice. "Heh heh heh... That one lying there is the real Kamiyama." "So then, who do you suppose I am?"

The figure claiming to be Mr. Kamiyama said mockingly. "You're Forty Faces! Only Forty Faces could pull off such a perfect disguise. And that Night Glow Monster must be your subordinate!" Kobayashi declared bluntly. "Hmm! As expected of Kobayashi! Well deduced. Exactly right. I am Forty Faces." The impostor pressed closer to the pit's edge, his voice dripping with theatrical pride. "To obtain the Kamiyama family's jade pagoda, I simply exchanged places with the real owner. Just like with the Suiko Buddha incident - disguising as the property holder remains the most efficient method for treasure acquisition. Heh heh heh heh..."

Forty Faces, disguised as Mr. Kamiyama, said boastfully. “So you’ve already taken that jade tower…”

Kobayashi-kun had already noticed that.

“Hmm, exactly,” he said. “Just now, I pretended to put it in the safe but actually slipped it into my pocket. My clothes are like a magician’s—they’ve got big hidden pockets sewn all over them. Heh heh heh… Look, here it is. Take a good look.” As he spoke, what he pulled out from the edge of the hole and showed them was a jade tower about fifteen centimeters tall—identical to the one they had seen earlier in the study.

The Clod Waterfall

Ah, what in the world was this. Forty Faces had pretended he was about to steal Mr. Kamiyama's treasure when in truth he had stolen it long before. When Mr. Kamiyama had called Kobayashi Yoshio and the others to guard the treasure, he was already no longer the real Mr. Kamiyama.

So then—for what purpose had Forty Faces, disguised as Mr. Kamiyama, called Kobayashi the boy detective and Pocket Boy?

Of course, it was to startle them and mock their shock. But no—wasn't he plotting something even more terrifying?

This subterranean cave might have been secretly constructed by Forty Faces. And he might have imprisoned Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy—who always interfered with his schemes—there while plotting some bone-chilling revenge. For the Night Glow Monster, Forty Faces would sometimes disguise himself or have his subordinates do so. That day, since Forty Faces needed to maintain his disguise as Mr. Kamiyama, he likely had a subordinate assume the role of the Night Glow Monster.

Kobayashi Yoshio glared sharply upward and shouted. “Hey, Forty Faces-kun.” “Since you’ve stolen the jade tower, you should have no business left here.” “All that’s left is for you to escape.” “But with us around hindering your getaway, you’re planning to lock us up in this cave—that’s your scheme, right?”

Hearing this, Forty Faces laughed uproariously. “Hahaha… That’s exactly right.” “You’ve been locked up here.” “If you put those brains to work, you might just escape.” “Go on then—give it a try.” “Though I doubt you’ll manage.” “Any moment now… something truly spectacular will occur.” “Heh heh heh….”

After that, both Forty Faces’ and the Night Glow Monster’s faces vanished from the edge of the hole, and everything fell dead silent. Probably, the two had fled somewhere.

Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy untied the ropes binding the hands and feet of Mr. Kamiyama, who was lying collapsed, helped him up, and freed him.

“Oh, thank you, thank you. But who exactly are you?”

Mr. Kamiyama had not actually lost consciousness, so he had been listening to the conversation up to this point, but he still did not fully understand who the two boys were. So Kobayashi-kun explained how Forty Faces had disguised himself as a fake Mr. Kamiyama and called the Akechi Detective Agency, and how since Akechi-sensei had been out, Kobayashi-kun had brought Pocket Boy along with him.

“Hmm, I see.” “Now I understand.” “That guy disguised himself as me and stole the jade tower from the safe, huh.” “He’s a truly terrifying man.” “He may have already escaped, but we can’t just stay here doing nothing.” “Isn’t there some way we can get out of here?”

Mr. Kamiyama looked up at the high edge of the hole and tilted his head slightly. Then Pocket Boy, who had remained silent until now, spoke up in a shrill voice. “I’ve got an idea. The three of us should form a human pyramid. Okay, first Kobayashi-san climbs onto Mr. Kamiyama’s shoulders. Then I’ll climb up onto Kobayashi-san’s shoulders. That way I can reach the edge. If I can just reach it with my hands, I’ll jump up to the edge of the hole.”

“Then I’ll roll onto the edge of the hole, pull Kobayashi-san up, and after that, Kobayashi-san and I will use the rope to haul Mr. Kamiyama up. That way, everyone can get out of the hole! Hey, Kobayashi-san, that’s the best way.”

“That’s a brilliant plan.”

Kobayashi Yoshio,

“Alright, let’s do it! Hey, Mr.Kamiyama, this guy’s right. Please stand facing forward with your back against this wall—I’ll climb from your back up to your shoulders.”

With that, he had Mr. Kamiyama 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 was connected to the cave wall, when soil crumbled and fell from above that wall, it poured directly onto the heads of the three of them.

They tried to check where it was collapsing, but they couldn’t look up. Because fine soil kept flying into their eyes. From fist-sized clumps of soil down to fine particles, muddy clods containing water came pouring down—dadada… dadada…—just like a waterfall. The three instinctively crouched in the hole, embracing each other to block the clods of soil hitting them.

Dadada… dadada… The clods of soil kept falling without end. And amidst that dreadful noise, from somewhere unseen, that eerie laughter began to resound. “Keh keh keh keh keh….”

It was the voice of the Night Glow Monster. If he was still nearby, Forty Faces must have remained in the cave too. A mechanism to make soil fall had likely been prepared beforehand. He must have released that mechanism to pour down earthen rain, watching from the darkness beyond as the three became buried alive while laughing. Kobayashi Yoshio gasped as he reached this realization.

“He’s trying to bury us alive.”

The soil accumulated at the bottom of the pit was viscous and muddy like a bottomless swamp; when stepped on, it would squelch down relentlessly. No matter how much soil accumulated, there was no prospect of using it as a foothold to get out of the hole. The thick, viscous mud had already risen up to knee height. “Mr. Kamiyama, if we stay still like this, we’ll be buried in the earth and die." “Let’s try the human pyramid method we discussed earlier.” “Now, face that way and stand up… Pocket Boy, you’ll climb up after us.”

Kobayashi Yoshio said this and tried to climb onto Mr. Kamiyama's back, but between being struck on the head and face by the dadada... of waterfall-like soil pouring down and Mr. Kamiyama's suit having turned completely muddy, 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 the same thing over and over again. At one point, Kobayashi-kun managed to climb onto Mr. Kamiyama’s shoulders; Pocket Boy then clambered from Mr. Kamiyama’s back up to Kobayashi-kun’s and finally stood atop them. But when he tried gripping the pit’s edge—now also smothered in thick mud—his hands slipped slickly. Staggering unsteadily, all three collapsed in a heap against the pit wall. Everyone was covered in mud from head to toe—their faces, hands, entire bodies.

No matter how hard they tried, it was no use—the three of them finally gave up.

Now they could only stand motionless in the mud that had risen waist-deep.

The mud waterfall showed no sign of stopping. Dadada… dadada… With terrifying force, it came raining down onto their heads from above. The surface of the bottomless swamp had risen to around Pocket Boy’s stomach. From stomach to chest, from chest to throat—the muddy swamp deepened relentlessly. Finally, when the mud rose to Pocket Boy’s mouth, Mr. Kamiyama lifted him up. Now it was Kobayashi-kun’s turn. From chest to throat, throat to chin—the thick, viscous substance kept rising.

Mr. Kamiyama had to lift Pocket Boy with his left hand and Kobayashi Yoshio with his right hand.

However, how long could that last? The surface of the mud had already risen up to Mr. Kamiyama’s throat, hadn’t it?!

Giant and Monster

Forty Faces, disguised as Mr. Kamiyama, stood by the pit and watched while guffawing. He was delighted to see Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy—who always interfered with his plans—suffering. It was later discovered that this cave had been excavated as an air-raid shelter by the person who had lived there before Mr. Kamiyama. It was an unusual air-raid shelter that utilized the old well in the garden.

However, since many years had passed since the war ended, everyone had forgotten about things like air-raid shelters. Mr. Kamiyama was also completely unaware that there was an air-raid shelter in such a place.

It was the master thief Forty Faces who had discovered this old air-raid shelter. Forty Faces had thought of using this place to make everyone gasp in surprise. And he had created various mechanisms inside the air-raid shelter so they would be ready for use when needed. Forty Faces was gleefully watching Kobayashi Yoshio and the others struggle when, at that moment, the head of the Night Glow Monster silently approached from behind him. Because he was wearing his usual black shirt, his body was completely invisible.

“I wonder… Should we help them now?” “Otherwise… they’ll die.” The glowing head whispered to Forty Faces.

“Yeah, that’s right. I don’t have any intention of killing them. I don’t kill people. They’ve suffered quite enough already—this should do. You go help them.” Forty Faces’ subordinate disguised as the Night Glow Monster brought a rope from somewhere and lowered it into the pit. Following Pocket Boy’s lead, he pulled out Kobayashi Yoshio and Mr. Kamiyama in succession. Everyone was covered in mud from head to toe.

“Ahahahaha… Kobayashi, Pocket Boy—did that get to you a bit? This is my revenge! But I’m not letting you go back yet. If I keep you here, Detective Akechi will come before long. I’m waiting for that. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve thoroughly punished that damned Akechi bastard who keeps interfering!” In the darkness of the cave, Forty Faces’ voice echoed hollowly.

Then, at that very moment, from somewhere, an entirely different, peculiar voice echoed through the air. "That Detective Akechi might already be here, you know." "Huh? What did you say?" "Say that again." "What did you say about Detective Akechi?!"

Forty Faces asked back in surprise. "I'm telling you—he's here." The mouth of the floating luminous head—its fiery maw burning like flames—worked open and shut. It was this Night Glow Monster's head that spoke. Noticing this realization strike him，Forty Faces recoiled with a start，retreating unsteadily backward.

“What’s this? You’re my subordinate!” “What are you saying?!”

“Your subordinate is over there.” The hand attached below the Night Glow Monster’s head—covered by a black shirt and black gloves—turned on a flashlight and illuminated the corner of the cave.

“Ah!” There, on the ground, lay a man in a black shirt, bound hand and foot.

“I put a black mask over his head from the top down, so you can’t see the Night Glow Monster’s face—but that’s your subordinate. He’s been gagged, so he can’t make a sound. While you were watching the three in the pitfall suffer, I disguised myself as the Night Glow Monster and came in here. And I tied up your subordinate and took his place—that’s how it happened.”

“In that case... You’re Akechi Kogoro, aren’t you.” “Exactly.” “How did you figure out this place?”

“The ones you left outside the old well—Kamiyama Ichiro-kun and the student—informed me by phone. However, I had already fully understood everything up to that point through frequent calls from Kobayashi-kun. When Mr. Kamiyama called earlier, my claim of being away was a lie—I had prepared my Night Glow Monster disguise and waited in the office.” “By applying luminous paint to my face, donning large red glass spectacles with tiny bulbs, and placing a bulb in my mouth, I instantly became that glowing head. Simple enough. Then I waited quietly for the perfect moment to take you by surprise.”

The flashlight in Forty Faces' right hand suddenly flared to life. And then, its circular beam illuminated the Night Glow Monster's head. Akechi's flashlight - he himself disguised as the Night Glow Monster - simultaneously shone directly on Forty Faces' face.

And so, the two of them remained silent for a while, glaring at each other.

Detective Akechi Kogoro was disguised as the Night Glow Monster—his entire body pitch-black with only his neck glowing silver—while Forty Faces had taken on the appearance of Mr. Kamiyama, now wearing only a shirt and underpants. The giant and the monster continued their strange standoff in those bizarre forms within the underground cave. After motionlessly glaring at each other for about two minutes, the first to speak was Forty Faces.

“So, you’re saying you’ll capture me?”

“Of course. You’re already caught.” “Huh? Me? Caught? By who?” “Look at that.”

Akechi's flashlight swung swiftly and illuminated the cave entrance. There stood five police officers in imposing uniforms, lined up shoulder to shoulder.

“Ah!” Forty Faces involuntarily let out a cry of surprise and immediately fled deeper into the cave. “Chase him! Everyone, pursue him! Then restrain him properly!”

Detective Akechi’s voice resounded through the darkness.

The five police officers all had flashlights. They all lit up at once. And those lights chased after the fleeing Forty Faces. “Bwahahaha….”

Forty Faces' laughter echoed tremendously through the cave. He was laughing like a madman as he fled.

Why was he laughing so much? Since this was Forty Faces, he must have prepared some terrifying secret weapon, don't you think?

Iron bars

Chased by five flashlights, as Forty Faces fled onward, a tunnel-like cave mouth opened ahead of him. Constructed by stacking stones and reinforcing with timber, it resembled a mine's lateral shaft.

Forty Faces continued laughing uproariously as he leaped into the tunnel. Perhaps there was another entrance here separate from the old well. In any case, they had to chase after him quickly and catch him. The five police officers charged into the tunnel right after Forty Faces. It was a tunnel wide enough for two people to run side by side.

The police officers ran through the tunnel in a staggered formation when suddenly Forty Faces' laughter—coming from ahead—grew terrifyingly loud, and he whirled around toward them.

At that moment. Just as a clattering noise rang out above the police officers' heads, iron bars dropped from the tunnel ceiling, clanged against the ground, and sealed off the tunnel.

The officer who had been leading was nearly crushed by the iron bars and barely managed to dodge them. Thus separated by sturdy iron bars, the five police officers could no longer pursue Forty Faces. They clung to the bars and strained to lift them with all their might, but the grating wouldn't budge an inch. Beyond the iron latticework, Forty Faces—still disguised as Mr. Kamiyama in nothing but a shirt—flapped his splayed fingers before his nose in mockery.

“Bwahahaha… How do you like that? Did you see Forty Faces’ backup plan? I’ve always made sure to have preparations in place so I’ll never get caught. You’d better hurry back to the old well. If you keep dawdling, even more terrible things might happen!” The police officers couldn’t possibly retreat in disgrace like this. They tried to seek advice from Detective Akechi and looked around, but his figure was nowhere to be seen. Though referred to as a figure, it was merely the Night Glow Monster’s head—that too had vanished somewhere and wasn’t visible even in the cave behind.

“Bwahahaha….” At that moment, Forty Faces’ laughter grew even louder. Then, as if that had been a signal, a clattering noise rang out above their heads again, and with a clang, iron bars came crashing down. This time, they fell far behind the police officers. The police officers, startled, ran in that direction and shook the iron bars. They wouldn't budge an inch.

With iron bars now having fallen both ahead and behind them, the police officers found themselves sandwiched between them and could no longer move in either direction. It was as though a jail cell had suddenly formed within the tunnel, trapping them inside. “Bwahahaha… So, didn’t I tell you earlier to hurry back?” “You ended up in this mess because you didn’t listen to me.” “Bwahahaha….” “Well then, I shall take my leave through this exit.” “…See ya.”

Forty Faces vanished into the depths of the tunnel with those final words.

Inside the Net

At the end of the tunnel was a narrow stone staircase, and climbing it would allow one to emerge aboveground.

At the top of the staircase was a thin stone lid. When pushed upward, it opened a hole about the size of a manhole, allowing escape to the surface from there. The exit was not inside Mr. Kamiyama’s garden. It was the grassy field outside Mr. Kamiyama’s estate. At the edge of that grassy field, low trees grew thickly, and the stone lid of the air-raid shelter was hidden in a grassy thicket within that grove.

Forty Faces, wearing only a shirt, pushed up the stone lid and slipped into the thicket. Because it was nighttime, the surroundings were pitch-dark. Forty Faces had, of course, turned off his flashlight. Because if the light were seen and he was noticed by someone, it would spell trouble. He closed the stone lid back into place and tried to stand up. Then, something like a thick spider web came down over his face.

The spiderweb wouldn't tear no matter how hard he pulled. Thinking it strange, he groped around with his hands. It wasn't a spiderweb at all, but rather a net-like object made of sturdy cord. When he tugged at it with his hands, the net seemed to stretch on endlessly. Gathering his resolve, he tried standing up forcefully. But after taking what felt like two or three steps, his foot became entangled in the net, sending him sprawling to the ground.

When he tried to stand up, the net wrapped around him from all directions, rendering his hands and feet immobile; the more he struggled, the more entangled he became until he could do nothing.

“Bwahahaha… Mr. Forty Faces. You’re already a fish caught in the net. If you have a backup plan, we have an even better one right here. How about that? Do you understand now?” This time, it was someone else’s turn to laugh. Forty Faces, startled by the voice, stared into the darkness. Then, about five meters ahead, the pitch-dark air faintly brightened, and the silver head of the Night Glow Monster appeared. Glowing crimson eyes, a terrifying mouth that seemed to breathe flames.

“Ah—you! You’re Akechi!”

Forty Faces cried out resentfully. "That's right. I had the police officers flush you out so I could get here ahead of you. It wasn't just you who discovered this old air-raid shelter. I'd noticed it too. An air-raid shelter wouldn't have just one entrance. Thinking there must be another exit besides the old well somewhere, I had the Boy Detectives Club's Urchin Task Force look for it. The Urchin Task Force is quite adept at that sort of thing. They found it in no time."

“Look here—see? Those holding down the net draped over you from all directions are eight children from the Urchin Task Force.” Detective Akechi’s black-shirted hand snapped on a flashlight and methodically illuminated every perimeter of the large net laid across the ground.

At the edges of the net clung boys aged eleven or twelve to fourteen or fifteen, dressed in dirty clothes. Children glaring with wide eyes and acting tough, children sniffling their noses and laughing with wide-open mouths—the Urchin Task Force had no shortage of such rascals. Everyone felt as if they were hauling in a big catch with a dragnet at the coast. The one caught in the net was none other than Forty Faces himself—a truly enormous catch, after all.

“Damn you brats!” 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 became more tightly wrapped around his body and showed no sign of tearing. “Bwahahaha… Even the great phantom has finally run out of luck.” “Even if you tried to return to the air-raid shelter again, five police officers are lying in wait there.”

“Also, on our side—besides the eight Urchin Task Force members and myself—there are Mr. Kamiyama, Kobayashi-kun, Pocket Boy, and two of Mr. Kamiyama’s live-in students. No matter how strong you are, there seems to be no chance of escape.”

Detective Akechi, disguised as the Night Glow Monster, said that and turned his flashlight in another direction. And then, he proceeded to illuminate—one after another—Mr. Kamiyama, Kobayashi Yoshio, Pocket Boy, and the others, all still caked with mud.

At that moment, something strange happened. The stone lid of the hole from which Forty Faces had earlier emerged groaned upward, and from beneath it, a face wearing a police officer’s hat smoothly appeared. The five police officers had discovered the button mechanism to raise the iron bars and came pursuing Forty Faces. From the hole where the stone lid had been removed, police officers appeared one after another, and upon seeing Forty Faces right before their eyes, they suddenly rushed in, leading to a fierce struggle. The police officers were also engaged in a struggle while still caught in the net.

With five against one, even Forty Faces stood no chance. Moreover, since he was covered with a net, escaping was absolutely impossible. He was finally handcuffed. When it became clear that Forty Faces had been captured, the eight Urchin Task Force members who had been clinging to the net chanted “Heave-ho! Heave-ho!” and lifted it away, allowing the police officers to finally break free.

With Forty Faces—now handcuffed—at the center, five police officers surrounded him and began escorting him toward the police car waiting at Mr. Kamiyama’s gate.

Covered in mud, Kobayashi Yoshio and Pocket Boy watched them go, but Pocket Boy was already bursting with joy. With his face covered in mud, he suddenly shouted.

“Long live Detective Akechi!” “Long live Commander Kobayashi!” “Long live the Boy Detectives Club and the Urchin Task Force!” Then, the eight members of the Urchin Task Force joined in unison, happily repeating, “Long live! Long live!”