Day after day, the papers are alive with accounts of an apparition at Ryouunkaku. Rokurou, a man who sees to the running of Asakusa, commissions Takuboku to find the truth of the matter. On his way to the scene, Takuboku reunites with an old friend, former newspaper reporter Yamaoka. Takuboku soon sees that Yamaoka is somehow connected to the ghost, but Yamaoka walks away, leaving behind only the words "throat moon." Then, magic lantern projectionist Matsukichi is killed. Two months earlier, Matsukichi had come across a woman who had been sexually assaulted. Takuboku starts looking to see if the two cases might be related.