The Circus Enforcer

In 1911, a Count lies mad on his sickbed, ranting and raving that he deserves to be the proper holder of a vast, valuable collection of art and antiques held by the family of Viscount Kinukawa. Unable to resist their patriarch, his family pressures their eldest son to steal the treasure. After a rainy day, the son and his hired help scout out the Viscount’s villa, confirming the presence of the treasure and the absence of any potential witnesses. Then they leave to obtain burglary supplies, return, confirm that there are no traces in the mud of anyone having come or gone after them, and break into the villa… to find the treasure gone.

The mystery is never solved. Strangely, Viscount Kinukawa never acknowledges it happened. Instead, he begins to brag that he was able to hide his treasure “in time”, leaving behind a cipher he claims can only be solved by a member of the Kinukawa family, revealing the treasure’s new location.

Years later…

The Great Kanto Earthquake devastated Tokyo without regard for social status, and the Kabatani family was hit especially hard. Cast into poverty, the noble family is tens of thousands of yen in debt. Stripped down to the skeleton of a home after giving up all they own as collateral and repossession, they cringe at the arrival of the latest debt collector… only to meet someone too strange to be fearful.

Her name is Yuriko. She’s underage, and short for her age. She’s a circus runaway who dresses like she never left. She has a disheveled, perfectly spherical head of hair that makes her look like a coconut. She lives in a shack. She can’t read.

She’s also a genius.

Yuriko bluntly acknowledges that Viscount Kabatani couldn’t pay back what he owes even if he sold every last thing he owns, so there’s no point in asking. Instead, she proposes an alternative: She’ll find the hidden treasure of Viscount Kinukawa, and subtract its value from the Kabatani’s debt.

Of course, as a debt collector, she does need to take some collateral.

So she takes Mariko, the Viscount’s youngest daughter.

Will the two of them be able to find the treasure? It seems unlikely, especially seeing as how Viscount Kinukawa made such a big deal about how the code could only be solved by a Kinukawa…

And after the earthquake two years ago, there are none of them left.