Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 8 Chapter 11 (section)

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“I think that Naru = ‘Shibuya Kazuya’ is very suspicious. Not just the name. Naru-bou’s private life is more or less a mystery. Under these circumstances, I can’t say there isn’t any indication of him going to school. I thought about this and it’s unnatural. Obviously, Naru wants to conceal the place where he’s living.”

“That’s right.”

He won’t tell even if you ask.

“Why is the matter hidden?”

“Of course, he’s thinking of the possibility that admirers will pursue him.”

“Rejected. Running an office, there’d be no point to only hiding at home. There’s only one possible answer. In short, there’s the possibility that the place of Naru’s residence is somewhere that just by being leaked out will expose the thing Naru wants to hide.”

“The thing he wants to hide?”

“It’s Naru’s identity. He wants to conceal his profile. The place of his residence holds the risk of revealing his profile as soon as it’s location is discovered. Therefore, he hides it. Am I wrong?”

In the direction of Bou-san’s gaze was Naru’s white face, which held an expression as if the matter wasn’t any of his concern.

“...are you requesting a reply?”

Being told so, Bou-san breathed lightly.

“Hey, Mai. Looking at a house, there are any number of things to discover about the residents of the house, yeah? Whether it’s a single house or an apartment, whether it’s big or small, whether the level of its architecture is high grade or low grade. The size of the garden, whether they keep a dog, the number of cars, the number of residents— There are a lot of things you can deduce from that place. Don’t you think so?”

“Yeah.”

“If ‘Shibuya’ is an alias, then there would be a nameplate with his real name hanging there. So, I understand why he hides his house. However, why does he hide his phone number?”

“Of course… if you know the area code, you can find out which area he lives in and if you patiently look for it in the phonebook, then you can even find the address, right?”

“Can you find a house with only the area code?”

“Um...”

I doubt it?

“There’s nothing you can do unless the number is published in a phonebook. In other words, there’s no need to hide the number if Naru owns a private phone. There’s a need to adamantly conceal it because he doesn’t have a personal phone. For example, consider the case where there’s a call.”

“A call?”

“Right. For example, the case where he lives with his family. In this case, the family doesn’t know Naru is intentionally hiding his profile. If you knew his number, his family might carelessly make conversation with you.”

“Hmm?”

“With that, there’s the case where there’s nothing but a shared phone. If there’s a phone call, a landlord or family member who isn’t aware of his situation may answer. In that case, for someone who wants to hide his profile, it might be slightly awkward.”

...Naru living in a boarding house with nothing but a shared phone...that’s something difficult to imagine.

“—Of course, there are also ways to get the people around him to keep quiet, but this guy can’t do that. There are circumstances that make it impossible. So, he won’t give out his phone number.”

“In that case, wouldn’t he only need to have a private phone installed?”

It was Ayako who interrupted.

“That would be more natural than unnaturally hiding his phone number. It would be convenient for arranging phone calls. Naru even has an income, so there’s no reason not to have a phone installed, right?”

“Probably not. —I agree with you, Ayako. That’s right. What do you think this means?”

Ayako looked up toward the ceiling.

“I don’t think he couldn’t have a phone installed with his type of income, do you? Then, his family won’t let him install a phone. Otherwise, his landlord won’t let him install one.”

“Right.”

“Also, whether it’s his family or landlord, why wouldn’t they cooperate in hiding his profile?”

“Exactly. Moreover, among these, I think the possibility that his family won’t let him install a phone is low. ”

—Huh?

“Why?”

‘Come on,’ Bou-san smiled wryly.

“Naru-bou is a minor, isn’t he? He should need his guardian’s consent to rent an office, install a phone, or doing anything, right?”

“Oh, I see.”

“Naru appears confident when he says he’s the person in charge of the office. In other words, at the least, Naru’s parents aren’t cooperating in what he’s doing. An alternative to cooperation is acquiescence. Well then, wouldn’t they at least let him install a phone?”

“...Surely.”

“In other words, the place where Naru-bou lives is rental housing or a place resembling that, the landlord is difficult to persuade, and it’s a place where you can’t install a private phone.”

...What kind of place is it? Even in the apartment building where I live, you can install a phone. There’s only a common phone, it’s an apartment with a difficult landlord or…

Ayako glared at Bou-san.

“I’ll hit you if you say it’s an apartment building like that.”

Bou-san smiled wryly.

“It’s possible there are apartment buildings like that, but I don’t think so.”

Huh?

“It can’t be a house, or even a maisonette or apartment. —It’s a hotel, isn’t it?”