Monster Volume 2 : Surprise Party Chapter 3 (11) Reported Disappearance - Page 57 - [Heidelberg, Germany] Chapter 3 : Reported Disappearance Woman: You haven't taken a shower yet, have you, Mr. Mauler?! Mauler: Yeah I have. [The Heidelberg Post] Woman: You're lying!! I can smell you from over here. And you've been wearing that same shirt the past three days!! - Page 58 - Mauler: (chomp chomp)(scarf munch) Woman: You promised when you moved to the desk next to me!! You said you'd take a shower once every two days!! Mauler: (smack gulp) Shut up already!! You wonder why you can't get married? It's because you yap all the damn time!! (crumple) Woman: Oh, how rude!! I don't even have TIME to find a boyfriend, being enslaved to this damn office!! Mauler: (brraap) Woman: Ewwww!! There's a guest in the reception room. I'm going home, so YOU have to make him tea yourself!! Mauler: A guest? At this time of day? - Page 59 - Woman: He hasn't taken a shower in a while either. He smells just as bad as you do!! Mauler: Whuzzat? Woman: And make sure you put those cigarettes out properly!! Mauler: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pah! Whose fault does she think it is that I can't take a shower? They all beat a hasty retreat home. Ya can't write good articles if ya only work yer shift time. The only reason this worthless newspaper gets anything done... (gchunk vweee) - Page 60 - Mauler: Is the great Mauler, but noooo, they don't notice me one bit... Sorry for making you wait. What can I do for... Huh? Tenma: Ah... my name is Tenma. I must have your cooperation!! This is an emergency!! Mauler: Now I see... He's filthy. Tenma: The police here turned me away. They won't help!! I need this newspaper's assistance!! - Page 61 - Mauler: So you're a doctor, eh? Don't look like one. So, do I have your story right, Doctor? The next target of the guy who's killed the four couples throughout Germany is here in Heidelberg. THIS couple has a foster daughter, and when she turns 20, the killer is gonna come and take her away. And when he does that, the couple will be murdered, of course... BUT, you don't know who this couple and their girl are, or where they live. (puffff) You wanna protect a family you don't know the identity or location of... - Page 62 - Mauler: Gyeh heh heh! No wonder the police turned you away!! You read too many mysteries. What a megalomaniac! Gehah, gehah!! Tenma: This is no laughing matter!! You must believe me!! Mauler: Your story's got one whoppin' huge flaw right in the middle... (crsh) Some boy just up and turns into a serial killer at age 10? It's ridiculous!! Not even a third-rate tabloid rag would run that story!! Tenma: I didn't come here to have it be in your newspaper!! More than half a year went by, from the time those twins left my hospital to the time the brother showed up in Munich. Mauler: So what? Tenma: It's my belief that after they left the hospital, they both came here to Heidelberg!! - Page 63 - Mauler: According to you. Tenma: And then the two came under the guardianship of the girl's current parents!! However, the boy only stayed a short time before running away, leaving his sister behind! Mauler: I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. Go write a book about it. Won't sell, though. Tenma: There's a chance the foster parents might have requested a search for the brother!! And it might have gone into a newspaper article!! Please let me check the paper's archives from nine years ago. Please!! I'm begging you!! Don't let there be any more victims!! Door: (creak) - Page 64 - Tenma: Plea... Mauler: This place is allergic to office assistance. They don't give a rat's ass about microfilm or computers. Here's the pocket edition from that time period. And here's our manuscript files. - Page 65 - Mauler: And these are the data files for the rejected articles. Tenma: Ah... Thank you very much!! Mauler: So that's the great Japanese bow, eh. Yer welcome. And I ain't doin' this cause I believe you. I just don't wanna waste my precious time lookin' after your stupid crap. Once you've checked them out, go home. Sigh, we always get these ridiculous ones every once in a while... - Page 66 - Tenma: Please... Please let me find it in here!! [Heidelberg University] Friends: Hi, Nina!! Nina: Oh, hi. Friends: Oh, I'm so glad you're okay, Nina!! We were so surprised when you just fainted like that!! I guess you really didn't like the guy we introduced you to. Nina: N-no, it's not that. I just felt really bad all of a sudden. I feel better now that I've rested for a day. I really must apologize to him now. Friend: No, it's okay, you don't have to do that. Nina: Huh? - Page 67 - Friend: Once I actually talked to that Otto Huberman guy, I found out he's not really your Prince Charming after all. Nina: What...? Friend: He said he wasn't the one who sent you the e-mail saying "I was born to smother you with flowers." Nina: Oh... Friend: But hey, I guess that means your dreamy prince just has yet to appear, Nina. Nina: Uh... No, it's okay, I don't care... Friends: Listen to you. Tomorrow's your birthday, right? I bet you're still secretly hoping inside. Maybe the prince will show up with a bouquet of flowers thiiiiis big. Here's a kiss from me, for your twentieth birthday! Nina: Ohhhh, STOP it already!! Friends: Heehahahaha!! - Page 68 - Geitel: ...So the man you met wasn't the real reason you fainted... It was the man you saw standing far BEHIND him. Nina: Yes... Geitel: What kind of man? Nina: I only saw him for an instant... I couldn't really say... Geitel: How did he feel to you? What was your impression upon seeing him? Nina: Very... Familiar... - Page 69 - Geitel: Hmmmm... Nina: But... not exactly... I don't know... I can't really explain, but... Geitel: But? Nina: (shiver shiver)(shiver shiver) - Page 70 - Geitel: It's okay, Nina, you don't have to force yourself... Nina: "Absolute evil"... Geitel: Eh? Nina: I... I can't explain very well... It was like the feeling I got when I had those dreams... "Absolute evil" was the closest concept to what I felt... Geitel: "Absolute evil" is getting into religious territory. I'm only a counselor, not a theologian. Nina: I don't go to church either, but... - Page 71 - Nina: I think that if I see him again, the answer will be clearer... Geitel: You feel like you may be able to recall your lost memories from before you were 10... Isn't that right, Nina? Nina: Yes... Geitel: I know of one thing you can do... Nina: What? Geitel: There's no need to carry this around on your back, Nina. Don't worry about the past; think about the future instead. It's okay! You have two loving parents. Focus on becoming a public prosecutor, and maintain your studies. Work up a good sweat with your aikido training, and blow those anxieties away! - Page 72 - Nina: Yes... [The Heidelberg Post] Mauler: Yaaaaaawn. Writer: Pull another all-nighter, Mr. Mauler? Mauler: (scratch scratch) Yeah. You finish your piece? Writer: Yes, I placed it on your desk. Take a look. Mauler: Your ass is grass if this one sucks, too. Writer: Please, no more rewrites... Oh, by the way, were you the one who let that guy use the reference room? Mauler: What guy? - Page 73 - Writer: I asked him who he was, and he said he had your permission... Mauler: Wha--you mean he's still here?! Writer: The way he was searching those files, it was like he was possessed. It was really creepy. Mauler: Dammit!! Hey, come on already... Huh? H-hey, you all right?! - Page 74 - Mauler: C'mon, eat up. Tenma: I'm sorry... Mauler: This is what you doctors call "being unhealthy." Working all-nighters without eating properly. Eat. People can't do good work unless they eat. Tenma: Okay. - Page 75 - Mauler: Good, huh? I always come here for breakfast. Tenma: You don't go home? Mauler: (munch)(munch) Can't go home when I'm this damn busy!! Tenma: What about your family...? Mauler: Don't got one. Wife left me. Tenma: Oh... Mauler: I was so busy with my job, she'd taken our daughter and left without me ever noticing. Same as neglecting one's health. When you're so busy with outside events, you never notice what happens inside your family. You look single, too. Tenma: Y-yes. Mauler: Don't ever settle down. Being alone's so much easier. It's the privilege of the single man to do whatever the hell he wants. - Page 76 - Tenma: Don't you ever feel like going to see your wife? Mauler: WHAT?! Why?! She's the one who left!! Why should I go to HER?! Tenma: Well, you seem to be mourning the fact that you were so busy with work you couldn't think of your family. Mauler: N-now that's bullshit!! A man's job comes first!! If the woman leaves cause she don't understand MY work, FINE!! Tenma: I'm sorry for bringing it up... Mauler: Better be. Tenma: Oh... and one more thing. Mauler: What's that? Tenma: You smoke too much. This is doctor's advice. You ought to cut down... Mauler: Mind your own damn business!! You sound just like my goddamn wife!! - Page 77 - Tenma: Then she was worried about your health as well. Mauler: Mind your own business. Father: That Nina's birthday present? Mother: Yes, I finally finished knitting it. Father: It would have been this small years ago. Mother: Are you really going to tell her, dear? - Page 78 - Mother: Tell her on her 20th birthday... that she's not really our daughter...? I wish things could stay this way... Father: You're right... There's no need to tell her that... Nina is our daughter. Nina: I'm home!! Mother: Hello, honey. Nina: I'm so hungry!! "Think about the future"... (thump) Maybe Dr. Geitel is right... (tap) - Page 79 - Nina: "I will see you at 7 o'clock in the evening on your birthday tomorrow at Heidelberg Castle"... Tomorrow... At Heidelberg Castle... - Page 80 - Mauler: Ahhh, goddammit!! I'm so damn busy, and I've wasted the last two days looking through these stupid scrapbooks with you!! Aren't you gonna give up yet? And let me warn you, I'm not helping because I believe you. It's cause I wanna prove that this is just a hoax, and make you go home!! Sigh. Hey, Doctor... If... I'm saying IF... well, I... If I go see my wife... do you... Do you think she'll come back? Tenma: Yes. But only if you quit smoking. - Page 81 - Mauler: Bah!! Tenma: Ah... Mauler: What? Tenma: Here it is. Mauler: Huh? Tenma: "11-year-old boy missing. Abduction is a possibility, but no ransom demands or other messages have come from a likely kidnapper..." The Fortners at number 16 Necker Lane have put out a search request... October 1986!! Mauler: Lemme see... Could be a coincidence. The data from the article should be in here. - Page 82 - Mauler: Ah, here it is... Hm? Huh? Tenma: W-what is it?! Mauler: You said this murderer is coming to get the girl on her twentieth birthday, right? And they're twins. If the boy from that article is her brother, then this right here is his birthdate. Today is those twins' birthday. - Chapter 3 End -