Monster Volume 2 : Surprise Party Chapter 1 (9) The Girl from Heidelberg - Page 5 - Chapter 1 : The Girl From Heidelberg Kronecker: Now then, ladies and gentlemen... What was the basis for the judge's ruling in the 1968 Stuttgart case? Now what does this silence mean? Is this some sort of Oriental Zen temple? Or are you simply being faithful to the proverb, "Silence is golden, eloquence is silver"? - Page 6 - Girl: (dash) Kronecker: Mr. Eimer, I would like to hear your answer. Eimer: Huh? Uh... ummmm, well... Kronecker: So is there no one who will break this silence? Hmph, my favorite chronic tardiness offender is here. It seems your pizza delivery job was especially busy today. You're 13 minutes late. Girl: (huff)(huff) I'm very sorry, Professor Kronecker... - Page 7 - Kronecker: Do you have enough stamina left to discuss the basis of the judge's ruling in the Stuttgart case, which we covered last lecture? Girl: Huh...? (huff)(huff) Oh... yes. W-well... the defendant vehemently claimed that the kidnapping was entirely falsified, and that the victim's death was an accident. (huff)(huff)(huff) During the trial, the authenticity of the letters from the victim to the defendant were a point of debate, but careful scrutiny of the circumstances of the crime... Revealed that the killing was indeed an accident. Without the intent to kill necessary to deem it a murder, The prosecution's demand of a life sentence was shortened to 15 years in jail. Kronecker: Hmph. Very well. You make take your seat, Nina Fortner. - Page 8 - Nina: Thank you, sir. (huff)(huff) Chapter 1 : The Girl from Heidelberg - Page 9 - [Heidelberg College, Germany] Guys: Whew, you sure saved us there, Nina!! If nobody could have answered the question, that asshole Kronecker would have assigned us another 50 page report. MORE than 50, most likely. Peter: Now we have to buy our lifesaver Nina some lunch. Let's go somewhere, Nina, you and me... Nina: What? I'm sorry, Peter. I have practice today. Peter: Huh? Nina: Bye. Guy: Turned down again, Peter. How many times is that now? Peter: Buzz off. If there's any guy who could catch Nina, I'd sure like to see him!! - Page 10 - Guy: Kieeei!! Nina: Hah!! Guy: Nyaah!! Aaaah!! Okay, okay, I give!! - Page 11 - Nina: Thank you very much. Guy: Please, I need a break!! Nina: A break already? Sensei: Excellent!! Truly excellent, Miss Fortner. There are few people, even in Japan, who progress as quickly as you do. Nina: Thank you very much, Suzumoto-sensei. Sensei: You're quite welcome. Few Germans understand the use of gratitude. In aikido, this is even more important than strength. Very good to remember!! Nina: But I wish to be stronger, Suzumoto-sensei. Would you please be my opponent? Sensei: Huh? Oh, well, uh... I... I think it's a little too early for you to be challenging me, Miss Fortner. - Page 12 - Sensei: S-somebody!! Please face off against Miss Fortner!! Guy: Gah!! Nina: Thank you!! Guy: Uh... sure. Sensei: I doubt I'd even be able to beat her. A teacher who loses to a pupil is a joke. And besides... Nina: Teyaa!! Guy: Hah!! Sensei: She's so bright and energetic... And cuuute. Nina: Eii!! - Page 13 - Nina: Oh no!! If I'm late with this delivery, the manager will scold me again!! Light: (flick) Bike: (skreek) Kids: Heeheeheehee!! - Page 14 - Kids: Hiiii!! Nina: I'm home. Gosh, I'm hungry!! Mother: You're too old to be shouting like that; the neighbors will hear you. Go wash your hands. Nina: Okay. Huh? Did you dye your hair, Mama? Mother: Looks good, doesn't it? Father: I can't believe she dyes it that color, at her age... It's indecent. Nina: No it's not, Papa. It looks great. - Page 15 - Father: Life isn't a costume parade. Nina: What's wrong with your wife always looking so young? Hello, Papa. (smack) Oh. Speaking of costumes parades, I saw some children dressed up in costumes today. Father: Oh, that would be the St. Adrian's parade. Nina: I always wanted to dress up in costumes like that when I was a kid. It looks so cute. Mother: Y-you did... You DID dress up in a costume... R-right, Papa? Father: Uh... oh, yes, you did, you did!! Nina: Really? - Page 16 - Mother: Let's see... It's around here somewhere. Here it is. Nina: You're right. Mother: Oh, you were SO excited, at the time. Wasn't she, Papa? Father: Y-yes. - Page 17 - Nina: (thump) Hmmmm. Costumes... (tap) (click click) I wonder if I got any e-mail? "I am tired of waiting for a far-off spring, the spring that will never come... Hanna." Oh, get over your breakup already, Hanna!! - Page 18 - Nina: "I shall send you the most beautiful flowers." "I was born to smother you with flowers." Wow! Who sent it? Haha! Peter, you devil!! Psychologist: And how have you been since then, Nina? - Page 19 - Nina: Oh, I feel just great, Dr. Geitel. Geitel: Well, that's good. I could tell you were feeling well from the expression on your face the moment you walked into the counseling room. Nina: Exactly right. You really ARE a first-rate psychologist. Geitel: Hahaha. Well, I don't know about "first-rate," but it puts food on the table. So? Have you stopped having that dream at night? The dream of the monster in the darkness. Nina: Yes, between my job, club activities and school, I'm too tired to even dream when I sleep... It makes me wonder why I ever dreamed it in the first place. Geitel: Hmmmmm. Well, everyone gets anxious when they're a student. The dreams and anxieties about the future become mixed together, and you lose sight of what you need to do... - Page 20 - Geitel: One forgets who they really are. Well, you could say we spend our entire lives without knowing who we really are. What's important is to face the future, and do only what you know you can do. Nina: Yes, that's right!! I WILL be a public prosecutor for the Federal Prosecutor's Office!! Geitel: That's the way. Nina: Well, I need to go. Oh! Would you like to try some aikido too, Doctor? It's really good for you!! Eii!! Geitel: No, I won't even bother. Nothing I do will help defend me from my wife at home. Nina: The Japanese say that flexibility is stronger than stiffness. Hang in there, doctor! Geitel: Hahaha. - Page 21 - Geitel: Nina Fortner... Truly, a bright young woman... However, I can't help but get the feeling that her brightness is simply a reaction, an escape from something else... A very large darkness... What could it be...? Until I can find out what it is, I'm no first-rate counselor... Peter: Uh? Nina: Oh come on, don't play dumb, Peter. Peter: What the hell are you talkin' about? Nina: "I was born to smother you with flowers." I never knew you had the ability to write lines like that. - Page 22 - Peter: I dunno what that's all about. You couldn't get somethin' like that outta me if you held me upside down by the feet and shook me. Nina: What...? Then who was it? Peter: How should I know?! Great, another rival!! Nina: But only my friends know my computer's ID number. Who could it have been...? Professor: Now, the bizarre murders in Munich... The defendant in this case of the slaughtering of a family of four maintained innocence, and the prosecution was required to coerce a confession. After first shooting both parents to death... - Page 23 - Professor: The murderer strangled both children with rope. Now, Miss Fortner, might I call upon you to explain the judge's ruling, based on the dozen or so court records available, Miss Fortner? Nina: ...Huh? Professor: Did you not understand the question? Nina: Oh, uh... well... The focus of the verdict was that the evidence linking the defendant to the murder of the family... Murder of the... family... Professor: Is something wrong, Miss Fortner? Peter: You mean there's something Nina can't actually answer? - Page 24 - Nina: Ohhh... Peter: Nina!! Are you okay? You should go to the medical office. Nina: I-I'm okay. I just felt a little sick. Peter: Didja eat somethin' bad? Nina: No, it was just what the professor was talking about... I... Peter: Huh? You mean the creepy slaughtering of an entire family? Nina: Stop it... Peter: Hey, I thought you were tougher than that. I guess you're more delicate than you seem. Didja watch too many horror movies when you were a kid or something? - Page 25 - Peter: This is what Dr. Geitel the counselor would say. If you follow the problem to its source, then it's no big deal. Now, remember the events of your childhood. Nina: I... I don't have any memories... Peter: Huh? Nina: I don't have any memories from before I was 10. I'm home. Mother: Oh, you're early. Nina: I'm not feeling well, so I'm taking work off. Mother: Oh dear. Did you catch a cold? - Page 26 - Nina: It's okay. I bet I'll feel better if I lie down for a little while. (tap tap) Whewwww. My memories... My childhood memories... Sighhh. - Page 27 - [Cologne, Germany] Woman: Yes... Those two were wonderful people. It's so awful, the way they were killed... What? Children...? Oh, you know, they did... One little boy... Michael was his name. He lived with them for about two years, I think... Man: A boy? Was there? Woman: Yeah, Michael. I think he was 14... Man: Michael...? I get the feeling there was. So what? You a cop? Teacher: Yes, Michael Reichmann; he was a student in one of my classes. But he didn't graduate from this school, so there's no picture in the album. - Page 28 - Teacher: He was so slight and reserved... I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember him very well. I think his grades were pretty good... but I can't remember whether or not he had any friends... And there are no other records of him. The faculty room at this school was burned up six years ago... Tenma: What am I doing...? What could this sham of an investigation possibly do for me...? So there was a boy here in Cologne, six years ago, named Michael... Michael... but his real name was Johan... <