For the rest of the day, I had been strangely efficient in my work, and had even managed to get more done than during any ordinary day at the office.
Maybe it was because of the appointment I had tonight.
I was probably looking forward to it, which made me much faster at my tasks. And even overzealous, going to a clinic to have my eye treated.
However, seeing with my only available eye - the other one being covered with a cotton patch - a banal old apartment building, I quickly came down from my cloud.
What was I doing there?
I looked at the address on my phone again.
No mistake.
I was in the right place. But this was really a normal part of town. Was this really where she wanted us to meet? And if so, what for?
She had talked about an evaluation. But what did she mean by that?
And the longer I waited, the more I had doubts.
The neighborhood was rather quiet, and I saw several cars passing by. A few middle schoolers on their way home were walking in a small, compact group, their laughter coming to me in waves interspersed with the sounds of traffic.
They seemed carefree, joking about things I couldn't hear; feeling emotions that even in their place years before, I hadn't known about.
I also heard some children screaming; some of these probably living in the building I was standing in front of.
It was a small 3-story building, with a dirt courtyard in which a few bicycles were parked in the shade of a large tree. Two small compact cars were also parked near the entrance.
I myself had parked my car outside, against the surrounding wall. I didn't want to bother the residents by parking too close. I had already had a few curious looks from the residents, mostly because of my eye hidden behind a compress. But also maybe because I looked suspicious, with my gloomy look and my wrinkled suit.
I didn't care much about appearances, either for others or for myself. But maybe I should have made a little effort, to avoid panicking people.
It was about fifteen minutes before the detective arrived by foot from the other end of the street. Maybe she had taken public transportation to get here, now that I thought about it.
"Oh, you're here already, Nijima-kun?" she asked as she approached me.
I didn't answer. My presence spoke for itself.
So she invited me to follow her into the entrance of the building, and standing in front of the intercom, rang one of the names.
A few seconds later, a muffled female voice was heard.
"Who's there?"
It seemed to me that the voice was hesitant. It was as if the person on the other end of the line was afraid of what they were going to hear.
"This is the Orion Agency, Munehara-san," the detective whose name I still didn't know answered calmly. "I came with another person, if you don't mind."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a little while, before the small gate in front of the stairs crackled; a sign that it had just been unlocked.
The woman in question may have hesitated before opening; but that didn't faze the detective. She even seemed to have expected this reaction.
However, at my reluctance to follow her up the stairs, she turned back to me.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked.
"I don't really see what we're doing here..." I confessed.
She crossed her arms, thoughtful.
A light breeze made her hair wave, at the same time that I heard the sound of a train clattering on the tracks nearby. I had noticed it before, but her skin was really pale.
Even though I still didn't know what had really happened the day before, I had the strange feeling, looking into her lively eyes, that I had nothing to fear. It was as if I trusted her, simply because I had entered her bubble of secrets in spite of myself.
However, I couldn't figure out what kind of vision she might have of me.
Perhaps she was still suspicious of me.
"We're going to work together on a case that has been assigned to me," she finally said, snapping me out of my reverie. "You'll be my assistant for a night, so show me what you can do."
Show her... what I can do?
I didn't really know much about what was done in detective work, even having read a few chapters dealing with the subject. So even being a simple assistant, I didn't really see what I could do in this kind of situation where I didn't know anything.
But already she had climbed the stairs to the second floor, leaving me to catch her by myself before I lost sight of her completely.
Arriving on the landing, which was a corridor open to the outside with several apartment entrances, I saw her already knocking on a still closed door.
I joined her, and as I positioned myself next to her, the apartment door slowly opened, held open by a chain lock.
Then appeared in the doorway the fearful and tired face of a young woman - she must have been in her twenties, or maybe thirties, I wasn't very sure - staring at us. At least, she seemed to be looking at me more than the detective.
"Munehara-san, this is Nijima-kun," she introduced me. "He'll be assisting me for today, if that's okay with you."
The woman in her apartment still seemed to hesitate, but thanks to a reassuring smile from the detective, she finally decided to close the door to untie the chain, and open it wide to invite us inside.
I followed closely behind the detective, and arriving directly in the main room, which served as a living room, kitchen, dining room and bedroom, we were invited to sit around a coffee table.
The woman, who seemed to be the detective's current client, remained a bit agitated, and refused to sit down at first.
She busied herself preparing tea, and brought several cups which she put on the small table. But again, she did not sit down, looking anxiously at both the window of the room overlooking the courtyard, and at myself.
I realized then that I was probably making her uncomfortable, for some reason I didn't know yet. I decided to get up and move away from the coffee table to stand behind the detective.
The two women watched me without saying a word, until the client let out a long, nervous sigh.
"I'm sorry, please excuse me..." She smiled painfully.
She then pointed to the seat I had just left, inviting me to sit down again.
I complied, while she did the same; taking place in front of us.
Then, the atmosphere having relaxed a little, the detective finally took the floor.
"Well, why don't you tell us more about this stalker?"