Never To Be Found

There is a chilling phenomenon in Japan known as Johatsu - people who vanish voluntarily from their lives.

It's said 100,000 people per year are Johatsu, and an entire industry has sprung up to support those who choose to. Life is hard. For some people, it's just too much.

That's what I thought when I brought the concept to England. People will disappear anyway. What if I could help them? So I pack their belongings discreetly, create new identities, forge documents, give directions to the cities and towns where the 'night-mover' can live anonymously.

It's just a business. I never saw it as a shameful act. I've helped people flee from abusive relationships, from work pressure, from debt, from unfulfilled lives.

People in need. I consider what I do to be honourable. Until now that is.

Because I've just learned that I'm not absent of responsibility. That I am capable of doing a terrible thing. That it's not just a business.

I helped somebody flee from a crime. From the police. I evaporated a murderer.

And if I don't find him, I can't live with what he might do next.