Prologue: The One Incident That Changed Their Lives

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Translator: Soafp

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Autumn, 2010.

In a town in Tochigi Prefecture, famous for its beautiful autumn leaves, a major crime occurred that would leave a deep scar in people's memories.

In the northern and western areas of the prefecture, at about seven different locations, the bodies of young girls were discovered.

The Tochigi Prefectural Police initially investigated each case separately. However, because of the similarities in the victims' ages and characteristics, they concluded that these were serial murders and cases of corpse abandonment.

The victims were seven junior high school girls.

They did not know each other, and except for two, they attended different schools.

It was believed they had been chosen at random by the perpetrator and killed.

Yet the crimes had been carefully planned. The murder weapons and locations were never revealed until the suspect's arrest. At the discovery sites, there were no traces of evidence. The investigation was extremely difficult.

The bodies had been cleverly concealed under fallen leaves and soil, and any possible traces had been washed away by rain that had fallen before discovery.

There were no signs of sexual assault, no physical fluids, and no clothing disturbances. The killer's sole purpose seemed to be murder.

A brutal crime that robbed seven young girls of their lives. And still, the police could not make an arrest.

Public opinion toward the police grew harsh, and with each passing year, criticism intensified:

“Useless Tochigi police.”

“They've given up on the investigation.”

Such bitter words circulated widely.

Then, in the autumn of 2013, thanks to a single tip, a man was finally arrested.

Togo Amemiya, 46 years old.

An ordinary company employee.

He was known to be mild-mannered and good-natured. His acquaintances all said the same thing:

“I can't believe Amemiya-san was the culprit.”

That was how respected he was as a person. At his company, he worked as a section chief and was well-trusted by his subordinates.

He also had a family: a wife and a daughter. The three of them lived happily in a stylish home of their own.

Thus, the incident that had filled all of Tochigi Prefecture with fear and unease was finally solved after three long years.

It turned out that Amemiya had secretly purchased another car without telling his family. Inside that vehicle,

investigators found extensive blood traces, the murder weapons, and fibers from the victims' clothing.

All of it matched the data of the seven girls, proving conclusively that Amemiya was their killer.

The decisive tip that led to his arrest…

It came, by a cruel twist of fate, from his own 13-year-old daughter.