Net King Whale Fall

Chapter 684 Esaki Yuko
The victims' lives unfold before Sanada Rin's eyes. Where exactly is it? Why did the murderer specifically choose them?
The first victim, Ezaki Hako, was 24 years old, a graduate student with brown hair and brown eyes and some freckles on her cheeks. She might not have been a very noticeable person in the class, but she was still a living, breathing human being.

According to the records, three years ago, Ezaki Yuko went on a trip with friends under the pretext of going on vacation, but she never returned. By the time her family realized what had happened and called the police, it was too late.

According to the neighbors, Ezaki Yuko had a poor relationship with her family. Her family was of average means, but she had a younger brother. Her parents poured all the family's resources and money into her brother's education, and Ezaki Yuko relied entirely on scholarships and various part-time jobs to earn money during her university years.

In such a sexist environment, how did she endure and survive, go on to university and graduate school, and become the target of a murderer?

Sanada Rin grabbed the computer and climbed over the wall to look through all of Ezaki Yuko's social media accounts. As long as a person is alive, it is impossible for them to leave no trace; it's just that no one has discovered it yet.

All the information subtly reveals one message: Ezaki Hako wants to leave, leave her family, and leave Tokyo.

Should they leave? Sanada Rin could understand; no one wanted to waste their entire life in such a quagmire.

The key is the way to leave. Given Ezaki Hako's abilities, the best opportunities she has are working and pursuing further studies.

Sanada Rin continued her search. Which one would she choose?

Finally, a photo on the platform caught Sanada Rei's eye. Ezaki Hako was half-exposed, making a peace sign with her fingers. The table next to her was a bit messy, with various books, documents, and brochures on it, the dates recorded being three months before her disappearance.

The message conveyed by this photo is that she was very happy and satisfied, which was followed by Ezaki Hako planning a trip and then disappearing.

Those promotional materials seemed to belong to an educational training institution, which meant they had chosen the path of pursuing a doctorate.

Sanada Rin searched through all the institutions she could find, and they all seemed to focus on studying abroad.

This is a good path for Ezaki Hako, who is eager to escape her family.

Studying abroad... Sanada Rei frowned slightly. She looked through Kitada Yuna's information again. She had taken the postgraduate entrance exam in her senior year of college, but failed to meet the score requirement and was rejected.

It's become commonplace for college students to take the postgraduate entrance exam; five out of six people in a dorm will give it a try.

Is it possible that the educational institutions they used for the exams were the same one?

If we had the exam three years ago, would we have had to take it ten years ago?

Sanada Rei doesn't carry a lot of documents when she goes out, but her computer is enough for her. Her uncle grants her full access to information so she can solve cases.

Atobe Keigo initially watched Sanada Rin work with great patience, even neglecting his own tasks. He rarely saw Sanada Rin like this. Working diligently, Sanada Rin's expression became serious to the point of being cold, making her seem even more unapproachable and aloof.

Keigo Atobe rested his chin on his hand, slowly becoming engrossed in watching.

But as time passed and the butler brought over coffee twice, Atobe Keigo finally realized what was going on.

It's daytime here, but it's nighttime in Tokyo. What time is it? Is the case so important that you're not sleeping all night?
"Ling?"

"A-Ling??"

"Sanada Ling!"

Sanada Rin vaguely heard someone calling her name, but she couldn't care less about anything else at the moment and subconsciously ignored that information.

The serial murders that occurred ten years ago, or even earlier, could not have appeared out of thin air; there must have been a connection.

Sanada Rei pulled a map out of her bag, which she had brought with her. The blue circles were previous victims, and the green circles were the two most recent victims.

Perhaps we can find something different at the location where their bodies were dumped.

After a long, long time, Sanada Rin finally looked up from the data, estimated a location, and decided to check the information with Kudo tomorrow.

I reached up and pressed my neck; it was a little sore from looking down for so long, and my eyes were also a bit strained.

She didn't realize it when she was watching, but now her body's various functions are sending her signals that she needs to rest.

Sanada Rin reached for her phone, intending to check the time and set an alarm.

To her surprise, turning her head like that brought her face to face with Atobe Keigo's eyes, startling her. "You..."

As soon as she spoke, Sanada Rin remembered and subconsciously looked at the time in the top left corner: 04:38.

Okay, I accidentally overlooked a lot of things this time.

That's a bit short, I'll add more tomorrow.