The Unfolding

The car stopped in front of a big wall, and the driver turned around in his seat to face the woman sitting in the backseat. ‘That’s it, Miss. This is as far as I can take you; the people in there are a bit crazy, they don’t want cars or anything modern in their village, so you’ll have to walk the last bit.’ The woman nodded and handed him some money. ‘Thank you for taking me here.’ ‘No problem, Miss.’ Detective Risa picked up her bag and got out of the car, stepping onto the sandy road that led to the village. She was surprised to find the streets completely silent. Bang! Risa spun on her heels in surprise, but she couldn’t see anything or anyone; it had sounded like someone had slammed a door shut. Click. Nearby, she could also hear the sound of a key being turned in a lock. At least that means I’m not alone here, Risa told herself. She picked her bag up from where she had dropped it on the ground and walked towards the closest house to knock at the door. However, there was no reaction, not even after she had knocked for a second and a third time. Risa looked around to check if she had just overlooked the doorbell, but there was indeed no button that she could press. She got the same results with the other nearby houses. Everything was silent, and Risa was the only person in the streets, Even when she tried to look into the houses, she couldn’t see anything - except for the one time someone pulled a curtain closed right in front of her face. Eventually, Risa got to a house that seemed a bit bigger and more luxurious than the other houses; she assumed that this was the mayor’s house. At this door, she only had to knock two times. Then it was opened by a woman, perhaps a bit younger than Risa herself, with short black hair. ‘YES?’ ‘My name is Risa,’ Risa introduced herself. ‘I’m a Detective; I’m here to investigate something.’ The woman seemed to tense up a little, but she nodded slightly. ‘I understand. Please come inside so we can talk about everything.’ Risa followed her inside into a room that looked like a very old - fashioned office. She sat down on a chair in front of the desk, and the young woman sat down on the chair behind the desk, a slightly awkward expression on her face. ‘I’ve always hated this,’ Risa heard her mutter, and she wondered if the woman meant the chair or something else. For a moment, they awkwardly remained silent, then, the young woman spoke up. ‘My name is Shida. I’m the mayor’s daughter, it’s nice to meet you.’ ‘Can I speak to the mayor?’ ‘I’m afraid that’s not possible. He’s …not here right now.’ Shida averted her eyes briefly, but then looked back at Risa. ‘I’ll answer your questions in his place. If I can.’ Risa sighed quietly; this was not going the way she had planned it. On the other hand, even after doing research for a long time, she hadn’t really been able to find out anything about the village, so maybe making plans had been futile anyways. ‘How long are you planning to stay here?’ Shida’s voice forced Risa to focus on her again. ‘I don’t know. A few days; I need to investigate properly.’ Shida nodded slightly, still looking kind of tense. ‘I’ll show you to the guest room later. What are you investigating here?’ The Detective pulled a small notebook out of her pocket; the sooner she got some answers to note down, the better. ‘There have been many cases of people disappearing in this area. Can you tell me anything about that?’