Page 269 of Mercy Written in Blood
Sota pressed a button. The image changed. A medical photograph. Haruki had seen wounds like it. Two deep punctures beneath the jaw. Bruising around the throat. The room became silent.
"The examining physician identified blood loss inconsistent with the visible injuries," Sota continued. "The report was amended six hours later."
"By who?" someone asked.
"We do not know."
"You always say that."
The speaker was the delivery driver. His anger did not appear new. Sota nodded.
"Yes."
"Then what are we supposed to do with this?"
"Know that the original report existed."
"And then?"
"That depends on what you believe truth requires."
The man sat back, dissatisfied. Sota did not attempt to win him over. He changed the slide. Another name. Another death. A teenage boy found beside a canal. A railway worker reportedmissing after leaving a night shift. A homeless woman whose body was recorded as unidentified despite fingerprints existing in municipal records.
Not every case involved a vampire. Sota said that directly.
"Some are likely human violence concealed through incompetence, corruption or indifference. The existence of vampires does not explain every tragedy."
A university student raised her hand.
"Then why include them?"
"Because secrecy creates places where uncertainty can be exploited."
"That sounds vague."
"It is."
The student seemed surprised. Sota rested one hand against the desk beside the projector.
"If the authorities admit that some attacks are committed by nonhuman perpetrators, every unsolved disappearance risks being blamed on vampires. That is dangerous. If they deny such attacks are possible, genuine victims disappear into categories designed to protect the secret. That is also dangerous."
"So what's the solution?" the woman in scrubs asked.
"Evidence."
"We have evidence."
"We have fragments."
"We have bodies."
"Yes."
The woman's face tightened. Sota looked at her. Not past her. At her.
"Your brother?"
She nodded. Haruki saw her struggle to keep her breathing steady.
