The Missing Locket
1.
It was around 3:20PM in the evening, and school had just ended. The streets were as usual crowded with students going home from school, or going to hang out somewhere else. As usual I was walking home but, today, it was different, I, Akihiro Kenshi, decided to go through another street which was suprisingly longer than my usual route. What was I doing this for? That strange detective Sugo, had told me to meet up at a park, and the park had to be connected to the usual route.
As I turned towards the other street, I thought I had succesfully avoided him. I sighed in relief, but soon I realized, I did a big mistake choosing this street, I should have just chose my usual route. There was a man coming towards my direction as he shouted,
"Hey! Akihiro!"
The man was none another than the so called detective Kento Sugo himself.
"Great." I muttered.
"Oh what a coincidence!"
It isn't a coincidence I bet there is a God who is rotten to the core that wants me to suffer.
"Now why are you following me?" I told him as he changd the direction he was going towards, and instead followed me.
"You agreed to meet up at the park."
I never agreed to that.
"No, I didn't."
"Well I was going to meet you anyway, fate I guess?"
"Fate doesn't pays me 2500 yen" I muttered trying to avoid him at all cost, yesterday I was scolded by mom for being late as she knew I didn't joined any clubs she thought I was in a relationship, it was a tiring night yesterday and today I don't want to be caught up in this hassle again.
"Wait! Wait!" Sugo jogged to catch up to me.
As he continued,
"I need your help Akihiro, there's another case."
I stopped walking.
"Another one?" I asked.
"Yes but it's a bit more serious." His tone shifted, maybe he was serious this time.
"It's 6000 yen this time how about it?"
Cheeky bastard, That's twice than before, I was still short on money and this guy? Well I don't know what game he is trying to play but I will go along with it cause it's not a gamble there is no sign for loss.
"So what's the case about?" I asked.
"It's a theft, but not just money. Something valuable, irreplaceable, the victim claims it's a sentimental value.
"Sentimental?"
"It's the kind of case that grows in you."
"That's not funny." I remarked.
"Come on, it'll start making sense, I promise."
I sighed, but something felt off, I remembered Mr. Fujiwara had said that the smallesr changes can lead to the bigges outcomes.
"Where to?"
"Not far. A case that can be solved in some chapters of a novel."
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, what was he trying to say?
"Nothing, just come along."
---
2.
We walked in silence for a while, as we approached a small café, Sugo turned to me with a smile. What was he trying to imply?
"You know Akihiro? Sometimes it's the simplest things that lead to the biggest outcome."
"..." I stayed silent and let him continue,
"Yet we don't know when the simplest things might occur, or what may they be?"
"What are you trying to say?" I asked
"For instance, like in math, one small variable can change everything." He replied.
Mr. Fujiwara and Sugo were saying the same thing. But, did it even matter?
We arrived at a little house that was between two buildings, the clouds were dark signifying that it might rain. The owner, a woman probably in her late fifties, was waiting at the entrance.
"This is the place," Sugo said as he gestured to follow him inside.
The interior was an old styled japanese house filled with family photos and gave me a sense of nostalgia.
As we entered the living room, a woman that wore a blue sweater, and long woolen pants signifying thaf she was around her mid twenties introduced herself as Haruka, her face seemed pale.
"I can't believe it, my grandmother's locket was stolen..." She said in a low, sad tune.
"Can you tell us more about it?" Sugo asked her, as he took out his notepad.
"It's in my family for generations. It's not just a jewelry! It holds memories... it's irreplaceable." She said as her voice trembled.
"Do you suspect anyone?" Sugo asked.
"I don't know... maybe someone who might know me?" Haruka replied glancing nervously at the door.
"Okay, let's not just jump into conclusions, every cause is due to an action, it has it's own reasons. Like a math problem, if we analyze it we can find out what went wrong."
I watched as Sugo wrote down things in his notes, I was standing there, doing nothing as I remained silent, not a word had gotten out of my mouth.
As he turned to me, he looked at me with the same smile that I saw before, and said.
"Any conclusions?"
The guy who said let's not jump into conclusions is the guy who asked me if I got to any conclusions without any clues or evidence. I thought this guy was serious but I was wrong, how did this guy even got a job as a detective?
"No."