Chapter 84
I got on No Name and headed to the scene, asking Jett, "But Sheriff. Surely the gunslingers were paired in twos, so who fell victim to Zodiac?"
"...You'll see when we get there. But shouldn't you have been with Miss Emma? Where is Miss Emma?"
"...There were some circumstances about that."
Unable to tell the truth about what happened with Emma last night, I silently followed behind Jett.
And the place Jett guided me to wasn't the town center or main street as usual, but...
"...Huh? This is."
It was a cabin located on the outskirts of town.
But this... is the house of someone I know.
"Isn't this Aiden's house?"
"...That's right."
Aiden, a deputy of Justice Town.
Is he the one who fell victim to Zodiac this time?
No wonder Jett's expression looked rotten as he guided me.
Aiden was quite a decent guy.
I, too, had a friendship with Aiden, so I clicked my tongue once and went inside.
"...!"
But the victim of this incident wasn't Aiden.
To be precise, it wasn't just Aiden.
"Aiden and... Finn."
What I saw as soon as I opened the cabin door was Aiden and Finn collapsed in different positions, and Sophia investigating the scene.
Swish.
"Oh, be careful of the entrance there for a moment!" Sophia shouted and pointed at the floor, as I was about to hurriedly take my first step into the cabin.
There was a footprint stamped there.
"I checked earlier, and it's not from these two people."
"...Then?"
"It seems to be Zodiac's."
As soon as I heard that, I gauged the size of the footprint.
...It's a man.
It was a man's.
So I carefully stepped over Zodiac's footprint and headed towards the corpses.
"What weapon was used this time? Has it been found?"
"...Schofield Revolver. It was blatantly discarded in front of the door."
This answer came from Jett's direction.
Swish.
Then Jett handed me the Schofield Revolver presumed to have been used in this crime.
Click.
Checking it, there were exactly 2 bullets missing inside.
This seems to have been taken from my warehouse too...
There were plenty of Schofield Revolvers, which were relatively more common than Single Action Army, piled up in my warehouse...
I had felt like some Schofield Revolvers had disappeared too when I searched the warehouse yesterday.
Zodiac seemed to have used weapons stolen from me for his crime again.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue after confirming this and handed the gun back to Jett.
But...
"Sheriff?"
"...Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment."
Jett had a blank expression and couldn't immediately take the gun I handed him right in front of him.
His eyes were directed at the dead Aiden and Finn, and somehow his eyes looked moist.
"Damn it... If I catch that son of a bitch, I won't let him off easy..."
Since I settled in Justice Town, no deputies under Jett had lost their lives.
So Jett seemed quite shocked by the death of his subordinates this time.
At this, instead of the emotional-looking Jett, I approached Sophia who was examining the scene first and asked, "Have you found anything, Detective?"
Sophia was wary of me.
So I didn't expect a proper answer from Sophia, but...
"Zodiac... seems to be an acquaintance after all."
"...Pardon?"
Unexpectedly, Sophia readily told me the results of her deduction.
"An acquaintance... You mean Zodiac and Aiden and Finn knew each other?"
"Yes."
"What's the basis for that?"
It wasn’t that I particularly distrusted Sophia, but I wanted to know why she deduced that.
When I asked, she explained logically, "First of all, the Sheriff and I told the deputies to always be on guard and have their guns ready no matter who approached them."
I would have told the deputies to be careful too.
Because Zodiac's next target was a gunslinger.
Deputies who eat bullets for a living certainly fell into the category of gunslingers.
That was why we paired up in twos like this too.
Of course, we never imagined Zodiac would kill two people at once like this.
"But look. Mr. Aiden and Mr. Finn. Both of their holsters have guns in them. The two didn't even think of drawing their guns when they saw Zodiac… it means the two were very well acquainted with Zodiac."
"...Indeed."
"That's not all. Look at the positions where the two died."
The positions where the two died...
Aiden was on the sofa and Finn was in the kitchen.
"The two let Zodiac into the house themselves."
The subsequent situation was immediately drawn in my mind.
Aiden and Finn let Zodiac in.
Aiden sat on the sofa and talked with Zodiac...
Finn went to the kitchen to serve Zodiac.
And taking advantage of the moment when the two let their guard down, Zodiac took out the Schofield Revolver...
Bang, bang.
...
...Wait, Zodiac and Aiden and Finn knew each other well enough to allow such close proximity?
"...Aiden was acquainted with Zodiac? That doesn't make sense..."
At that moment, Jett seemed to be thinking the same as me, as he tilted his head and spoke while listening to Sophia's deduction.
At this, Sophia asked as if puzzled, "Why doesn't it make sense?"
"Because Aiden stutters."
This time I answered.
"Aiden stutters. Quite severely. Have you ever seen Aiden speak, Detective?"
"...I don't think I have. But does stuttering prevent someone from forming friendships?"
"Aiden avoids people himself."
Just as Bob became deaf from a fever as a child, Aiden also became a stutterer after suffering greatly from an epidemic as a child.
But Aiden's case was worse than Bob's.
Bob was just inconvenienced but could maintain daily life to some extent, but Aiden was unable to communicate without using hand gestures.
Because of this, I couldn't have a single conversation with Aiden for 2 years after settling in Justice Town.
It was only in my 3rd year that I first greeted Aiden when I went to entrust an outlaw's corpse.
If such an Aiden was sitting so comfortably on the sofa without any wariness towards Zodiac, it would mean he had a deeper connection than me who had known Aiden's face for 4 years...
"Then did Mr. Aiden not build relationships with anyone usually?"
"...No, with people he's known for a long time, he did to some extent..."
"Then we have our answer."
Hearing my words, Sophia immediately voiced the ominous premonition I had been having in my head.
"Zodiac might not be a recent immigrant to town, but a resident who's lived in Justice Town from the beginning."
"..."
"Perhaps he might even be among the deputies who had the closest friendship with Mr. Aiden."
"That's nonsense—!"
When Sophia suspected the deputies, Jett, who had been listening silently, screamed.
"They're guys who've worked under me for years, some for decades! I guarantee! They're not such crazy killers! Absolutely not!"
Of course, from Jett's perspective, he wouldn't think at all that his subordinates could be Zodiac.
But in <Catch the Outlaws> Chapter 8 [Zodiac Serial Killings], Zodiac was randomly determined before the episode started.
Regardless of whether they were good or evil.
Because of this, players sometimes experience the shittiness of one of the NPC companions they've built up a lot of likability with transforming into Zodiac.
"If there's a Zodiac among my subordinates, I'll put a bullet in my own head for the crime of not knowing people! Really!"
But Jett, not knowing such facts, forgot even that his opponent was the granddaughter of Pinkerton and shouted at the top of his lungs.
I stepped forward to calm Jett down and changed the subject.
"Of course I believe you, Sheriff. But the Detective is just doing her job, so don't be too hard on her."
"...Haa."
"Let's not fight and read that damn Zodiac bastard's letter together."
By the way, Zodiac's letter was in the hand of Finn who had collapsed in the kitchen.
But at the suggestion to read the letter, the two didn't show much interest.
I tilted my head at this, and Sophia said, "We read the letter first."
"Oh, what. Is that so? Then I'll just read it alone now..."
"But I've been curious, why didn't Miss Emma come with you?"
"...?"
Jett had asked about Emma earlier too, so why is Sophia asking the same question?
...No way.
Feeling uneasy for a moment, I hurriedly took out Zodiac's letter and read it.
[This is the Zodiac speaking.]
[Did you think I couldn't do anything if you paired up in twos?]
[Not at all, I am the best gunslinger in this town.]
[Killing two ignorant fools was all too easy.]
[This was truly a boring affair. So next time I will kill a more interesting target.]
[Next I will kill the most beautiful woman in this town.]
[They say beautiful flowers contain many thorns.]
[I will pierce through those thorns and pluck the flower.]
[I'm already excited about how much pleasure the sight of a dead beauty will give me.]
Zodiac's next target is... the most beautiful woman in this town.
Recently, many people have gathered in Justice Town.
But...
Emma...
As expected, only one person came to mind.
I immediately threw the letter on the ground and went outside.
"You crazy bastards! You should have told me this first!"
"...But I thought you naturally had Emma safe..."
"Shut up, baldy!"
Emma hadn't been with me since last night.
I got on No Name's back and immediately headed to her house where Emma was presumed to be.
Seeing me like that, Sophia said from behind, "...Mr. Kid. Bring Miss Emma to the sheriff's office. We'll interrogate the deputies."
I didn't answer Sophia's words and just ran straight ahead.
Of course, I know too.
That Zodiac's murders happened with some interval between them.
But...
I'm anxious.
Just the fact that Emma had become Zodiac's target made me unbearably anxious.
It was strange.
I was the one who coldly pushed her away last night.
"Giddy up."
"Neigh."
Clop clop, clop clop.
Fortunately, No Name's condition was very good today.
As if sensing my feelings, No Name ran like crazy and...
"Emma!!"
I was able to arrive at Emma's house soon.
"Emma! Come out! Emma!!"
As soon as I arrived at Emma's cabin, I knocked on the door like crazy.
At first, when there was no answer from inside, I felt chilled.
But...
"...Boss?"
"Ah... shit. Whew..."
Emma seemed to be safe as her voice soon flowed out from inside.
Emma asked me without opening the door, "...What brings you here?"
"Haa... What brings me here… Of course I was worried."
Tired from rushing here urgently, I sat down with my back against the door.
So we started talking with just a door between us.
But...
"What were you worried about?"
"Zodiac's next target is said to be the most beautiful woman in this town."
"..."
"It's you, isn't it."
After saying it out loud, somehow the atmosphere flowed in a strange direction.