Jason Rohan - The Stone of Kuromori

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text copyright © 2017 Jason Rohan

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

First e-book edition 2016

ISBN 978 1 4052 7062 5

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1455 6

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

To Anoop, who was there at the beginning

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Text copyright © 2017 Jason Rohan The moral rights of the author have been asserted First e-book edition 2016 ISBN 978 1 4052 7062 5 Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1455 6 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Dedication To Anoop, who was there at the beginning

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Glossary

Back series promotional page

‘Kenny! Over here!’

Kenny Blackwood pushed the cafe door shut and wove his way between crowded tables to where his classmate Stacey Turner sat, ensconced in a booth by the mirrored wall.

‘You’re late,’ she said, narrowing her eyes before Kenny had even slid into the seat opposite. ‘And don’t tell me the train was delayed – trains are never late in Japan. Let me guess, you missed the stop. No? Forgot something? How many times –’

‘I came out of the wrong exit, that’s all,’ Kenny said. ‘It took me a while to realise and I had to double back. You should have told me it was the south exit.’

‘And you should have checked first.’ Stacey blew a rubbery pink bubble and ran her finger down the coffee-shop menu. ‘What are you having? My treat.’

Kenny leaned back and laced his hands behind his head. ‘You’re being unusually nice. What do you want?’

‘Kenny Blackwood, I am shocked that you would think such a thing,’ Stacey said in mock horror. ‘I’ll tell you in a minute.’

She raised a finger to summon the waitress, who glided in to take their order.

‘I’ll have an American coffee and a slice of green-tea cheesecake,’ Stacey said. ‘And a royal milk tea for him.’

‘So what’s the big mystery?’ Kenny asked, once the waitress had gone. ‘We could have had a coffee at school. Why here?’

Stacey picked up the menu again and pretended to read it more closely. ‘It’s haunted.’

‘Huh?’ Kenny’s eyes swept the coffee shop. It was bustling with college kids and high-school students.

‘It’s true,’ Stacey said, lowering her menu shield. ‘You know me. When have I been wrong?’

‘Well, there was that time –’

‘It’s a rhetorical question. Anyway, check this out.’ Stacey delved into her backpack and extracted a slim folder, which she handed to Kenny.

‘I can’t read this,’ he said, flipping through the newspaper cuttings inside. ‘My Japanese is still nursery level.’

‘I know. That’s why I translated it for you. Look in the back.’

Kenny knew better than to argue with Stacey. His classmate was top of the year in everything, including self-esteem.

By the time he had finished reading the dossier, Stacey had drained her coffee and was demolishing the cheesecake. ‘Well?’ she said, chasing an escaped chunk round her plate. ‘What do you think?’

‘I’m thinking you have some weird reading habits. Two guys commit suicide in the restroom of a bar. Why is that something you want me to . . .? Wait. You think this is the same place? It’s not.’ Kenny opened the folder to a crime-scene snapshot. ‘The layout is totally different.’

Stacey sighed. ‘Kenny, Kenny, Kenny. When will you learn not to doubt me?’ She leaned forward and lowered her voice. ‘After the first guy killed himself, things went quiet for a while, but then business started to come back. When the second death happened, people stayed away and the bar eventually closed. Then these guys bought it, remodelled it and relaunched under a new name. It’s the same place all right. I checked the address and the deeds of sale.’

‘You did? You’re even more nuts than I thought.’

A pink bubble popped in reply. ‘Here’s what I think is happening: two years ago, on this same day, at 16:44, Mr Kishibe went to the toilet. Furthest cubicle on the end. Six hours later, at closing time, the owner saw that the door was still locked and forced it open. He found Mr Kishibe.’

‘I read that, yeah.’ Kenny sipped his tea and tried not to picture the grisly scene.

‘Last year, same day, same time, a Mr Moteki went to use the bathroom. He also went into the same end stall, locked the door and was later found dead.’

‘And the police said both cases were suicides. So why are we here?’

‘Kenny, who kills themselves in a pub toilet? Besides, they didn’t find a blade . . . either time, so how could they have done it?’

Kenny tilted his head. ‘You think there’s a rogue yokai in there?’

‘I know there is. Now, since you’re one of the few people who can see these things, are you going to do your stuff and deal with it, or do I have to call in your friend Sato?’

‘Shh.’ Kenny looked around and leaned in close enough to touch foreheads. ‘You know you’re not supposed to talk about that,’ he whispered.

‘Oh, please. Like anyone’s taking any notice of us. Listen, it’s your job, isn’t it, to stop these things? You’re like a one-man yokai police force.’