The "Staff Psychiatric Evaluation Room" in a corner of the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters was extremely simple—a space enclosed by white walls containing nothing but a desk and chairs. To Guest, a psychiatrist, the interior felt rather bleak, but perhaps the department felt this was sufficient for basic mental care.

Guest sat down on a cold chair and picked up a medical chart.

The name "Kazutaka Kayanuma" was written on the chart. Kayanuma is a man noted as a troublemaker within the department—or rather, someone everyone has given up on. He supposedly had a brilliant career in the First Investigation Division once, but at some point, due to a scandal or something similar, he was pushed off to a department in the far corners of the headquarters... This time, it seems he's undergoing an evaluation because he used excessive force on a shoplifter.

The doorknob turned.