Spending an hour interrogating Toko, the duo figures whether he's not willing to spill the beans yet or he's telling the truth and genuinely unaware of the robber gang's whereabouts.

As for Taylor's den, he confirms that they change the location every two days. So, where it is now is still in question. It makes sense that the police haven't had their hands on even one of them.

However, they can have one now. But for the betterment of their plan, the duo decides to lock him in their house instead, until they get the DNA test report and discover something more —something Jin placed his bet on.

In any case, Jin refused to believe that Recon and Toko are doppelgangers. That's the reason they decided to compare their DNA sequence with the help of Professor Aldrich. But the procedure takes time. And of course, Red and Jin aren't going to sit idly for days.

As soon as Sofie returned from the professor's lab, they left her in charge and are now headed to Safe Child Orphanage. Their goal is to find Toko's uncle, as he's the only one who might know if there is a mystery regarding Toko's past.

"Imma never ride on a subway train during summer," Red mutters as he makes his way out of the subway.

They chose the subway to get here, on the west side of Azimuth City because the station is close to the orphanage. But the heat and crowd inside the train made the journey unbearable. Hence, Red's commitment.

"You said it last year, and earlier too," Jin says, squeezing out of the crowd and moving to the side.

"Thanks for the reminder, I'll make a note this time," Red returns and tugs his collar to let off some steam.

They walk out onto the street at a sluggish pace and speed up when the crowd thins. The orphanage should be a ten-minute walk from here, so they stride along and let the occasional thickening-thinning crowd lead them to their designated spot.

The orphanage complex is enclosed by a high gray wall with a rusty barred metal gate that seems like the main entrance. A playground is visible through the bars, at the center of which is a walkway leading to a six-story L-shaped shabby building. At the right of it is another three-story building, which looks shabbier than the previous one.

"Sorry, visiting hours start in the afternoon," says a man about fifty, in a dark green uniform as Red and Jin approach the gate. He's the guard and the name tag on his shirt suggests his name is Oscar Hall.

"Mr. Hall?"

The guard offers a nod.

Red levels his fake private investigator ID before his eyes. "Private investigators," he says in the introduction. While Jin, having once again lost at rock-paper-scissors, stands beside with his arms crossed. Not being good at starting chit-chat or talking in general, he doesn't mind that Red always takes the lead in their conversations.

Mr. Hall displays a surprised expression and manages a "Yeah?"

"We want to see the director," says Red. "Need to talk about the missing kid, Toko."

Mr. Hall stares at them for a moment and says, "Please wait." He then jogs to the right and disappears into a ground-floor room of the three-story building.

Sounds of children at play fill the air as Red and Jin discuss their plans one more time during their wait. A dog resting nearby in the shadows perks up its ears as though trying to listen in on their whispers.

In a few minutes, Mr. Hall reappears and opens the gate. "Please come in."

"Thanks."

"Mr. Baker's at his office. Second room from left, ground floor," says Mr. Hall, beckoning to the room he went into.

Thanking him again, the duo walks through the bustling children to the director's office.

"May we come in?" Red asks from the door.

The director stands up. "Yes, please!" He stretches his hand as the duo makes their way in.

"Liam Miller," says Red, pumping the director's hand.

"Noah Anderson," Jin utters his alias suppressing the reluctance.

"Clayton Baker," says the director, shaking Red's and Jin's hands in turn. "Do sit please."

"Thank you," the duo says in unison.

"Oscar said you wanted to talk about Toko."

"Yes, we're handling the case now," says Red, adopting a composed manner and lacing his fingers on the director's desk.

"Did Mr. Spencer hire you?" asks the director.

"Mr. Spencer?"

"Toko's uncle."

Red nods. Toko didn't remember his uncle's name, so they hadn't known until now. "No he hasn't," he says. "And sorry, we're not at liberty to discuss our client."

"I understand. I was just curious," says Mr. Baker. "Mr. Spencer didn't pay much attention when we informed him about Toko's disappearance."

"When he should have," Jin mutters under his breath.

"Anyways, how can I help you?"

"Well, first we'd like you to show us Toko's files," says Red in response to the director's question.

The director nods. "Please wait a moment," he says and reaches for the file cabinet near the window.

"Sure," Red says with something near to a professional smile.

Mr. Baker rummages through a zillion documents and produces a file with a yellowish cover. "Sorry for the wait," he says, returning to his seat.

"No problem," says Red.

"Here's all we have on Toko. All that his uncle submitted while admitting him." Mr. Baker hands the file to Red.

"Thanks."

The duo checks all the papers one by one. Going through every single detail and inspecting all the pages.

"These are fake!" Jin exclaims, jolting the director.

Red too doesn't get what he meant. So he gives Jin a questioning glance, cautiously so that the director doesn't notice.

Jin brings out a few papers from the file. "Toko's birth certificate and medical records," Jin explains. "There should have been a clear watermark on each of them. The government made this mandatory in March, 2010; a month before the date of his birth here."

Only now Red remembers Jin's hacking into a police trainee's group chat and discovering a few facts including something that neither the government nor the police announce in public.

"How come the police never noticed this earlier?" Red says, taking the papers from Jin and pretending like he's inspecting them. They do lack watermarks and the birth certificate being forged greatly corroborates Jin's theory: There has to be a connection between Recon and Toko. They are not doppelgangers.

Red gives Jin a sideways look, feeling proud of his cousin for being right every time. He's definitely inherited Uncle John's instincts.

The director's eyes seem like they're gonna bulge out from their sockets. "They didn't...check these documents. I only handed them the copies as they asked," he says, in between two big gulps.

"You should have noticed, Mr. Baker," Jin says. "Or whoever is in charge of admitting the kids should do a thorough check on the documents to make sure they aren't forged."

Mr. Baker gulps again. "I'm...I'm so sorry. I had no idea why someone..."

"Mr. Spencer submitted these?" Red cuts him off, finding an excellent scope to drive their investigation toward their target.

Mr. Baker nods.

"And you do have his number and address?" Jin adds.

"Yes. We have the guardians' records," says the director and flicks on the computer on his desk.

...............

A bus stops to let two passengers off at a suburban stop outside Azimuth City and pulls away as they disembark. The stop isn't crowded like the ones in the city, perhaps because it's not the rush hour or simply due to it being near the tranquil countryside.

Red breathes in a lungful of air and instantly starts coughing.

"Not-so-fresh air, huh?" says Jin, planting his fist on his waist.

"Give it a try," Red says as he wipes his teary eyes.

"I won't."

The duo obtained Mr. Spencer's number and address from Mr. Baker. Unfortunately, the number isn't in use. So they had to come all the way here to meet Mr. Spencer in person, if the address is valid, that is.

Asking for directions from whoever is available on the road, Red and Jin proceed toward their destination, and by the time they reach the address, it's 4 in the afternoon.

Red double-checks the house number before nodding in confirmation. He and Jin are standing in front of a single-story building with colorless brick walls, wooden doors, and barred windows. There is no wall to separate its yard from the neighbors, whose house is consistent with this one.

"You think we're lucky enough to find him home?" asks Red.

"We'll soon find out."

Red presses the doorbell but gets no response even after several minutes. So he presses it again.

Still no response.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Red shouts and thumps on the door.

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Are you looking for Spencer?" A voice from behind.

The duo spins around to see a bald man maybe in his forties in a white shirt and baggy pants eying them keenly. He has his hands tied behind his back and has an authoritative aura around him.

"Good afternoon," says Red, immediately shifting into his cheerful and friendly demeanor, as sometimes it helps more than faking professionalism, especially when you don't know who you are talking with.

The man nods to return the greeting.

"Yes. We are looking for Mr. Spencer," says Red, stepping toward the man.

"I'm afraid you can't meet him."

As per their instinct, the duo shares a glance.

"Mind telling us why?" Jin asks.

"He flew to Japan last week," says the man. A quick chat with him reveals that he is Mr. Spencer's neighbor. According to him, Spencer spends half the year in Japan for business and has asked him to look after his house while he's away.

Thus, the duo's planoplane ends up in a crash landing. If they can't meet Spencer, they can't advance in their plan. If they can't advance in their plan, they have to rethink their strategy. But before all that, they need to get home. So they ride on a bus and return to Azimuth City, with the information of Toko's papers being forged as their only achievement.

The sun has touched the horizon. People are swarming through the sidewalk and the streets are as astir as ever.

Red and Jin are sauntering toward home. Their hands tucked inside their pockets, eyes focused on the way ahead.

Rrrrriiiiiinnnnngggggg.........

Red's phone rings. He brings it out and squints at the screen. "Sofie!"

He shares a glance with Jin. They haven't heard from her since they left home. They stop in their tracks and their stomachs drop in the realization that things might have gone far wrong over this time.

Pedestrians walk past them. Time seems to have frozen when Red taps the answer button.

"Dummies!"

Red winces and withdraws the phone from his ear as Sofie's usual hello fills the receiver. The phone isn't on the loudspeaker yet Jin too can hear her.

"Where are you two?"

"We'll be home in five minutes," Red answers. "Is everything alright?"

"Maybe more than alright. Or everything's wrong, I don't know."

"Sofie, what happened? You okay?" says Red. Both he and Jin feel worries crawling up their spines.

"It's Toko. He and Recon... they are twins!"