PREYS
by Kamorgana
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Watsuki's.
I'm broke! So don't sue me please!!
Preys
Chapter 7: Past issues
Megumi turned to Saitoh again, barely containing her anger.
"Did you know about it? Did Kondo know? Who else is part of that
disgusting conspiracy?"
He leaned against the wall, his eyes reduced to thin slits.
"Pay attention to what you say, Takani."
"Meg!"
Her friend whirled to her. "There was no body, Tokio. They lied, and
he's back now."
Saitoh scoffed.
Tokio felt cold sweat running down her back. She was afraid to
understand. Not that. Not that. A copycat was never as clever as..No,
it was impossible.
"Shishio Makoto" stated Saitoh.
So his instinct had been right. The night before, the crime scene was
matching to perfection, not only in the settings but also in the
atmosphere, in the nature of evil lingering there. An evil he was sure
he had already met.
"So you knew," snarled venomously Megumi.
"I told you to be.."
"Enough! Enough, now! Meg, sit down and explain. Saitoh, you'll talk
afterwards. We have to stay calm." She waited for them to cool down.
"That's what you didn't tell me on the phone last night," she finally
said to her friend.
Takani was speaking fast, with a nervousness Saitoh had never
witnessed. Tokio didn't see her in that state since a long time. Oh,
Gods. This period meant something else to Meg, how could she forget it..
"You know, it was my first case ever. I was in my first year of
internship, and I had been affected to the morgue because I lost a bet.
I didn't go to the crime scenes then, so I didn't realized yesterday.
Maybe I didn't want to... But I was there for each autopsy, and as soon
as the body has
been on my table, I knew. Believe me, my memories of the wounds are
quite accurate. And these ones were so similar that I looked into the
old files. This wasn't the work of a copycat. It was of course
impossible, as Seta is rotting in jail and Shishio is dead. I couldn't
put my finger on it when you called. It's only when I gathered all the
files for today's meeting that I noticed there was none for Shishio's
autopsy, only his previous medical reports that were used as references
for the identification. I remembered that Okina had performed it. I'm
just
back from visiting him. He collapsed when I told him about the murder.
He
confessed the body was never found. The previous city administration
had
asked him to lie, to end the panic in the media and the population."
"And brag enough about us solving that case to win the elections the
following month," completed Saitoh, sarcastic.
Tokio hid her face in her palms. It was a nightmare. A prostitute,
Tsubame. She didn't even make the link yesterday.
"So," retorted Megumi to Saitoh, "You knew."
"He didn't."
Saitoh arched both his brows at Takagi's muffled voice. She looked very
tired as she finally took her hands out of her face.
"A touching trust in my integrity."
"And in your obsessive temper. You would have chased him until you got
him," she countered dryly.
He watched her intently, as she addressed to Takani again.
"Did he tell you who asked him to lie?"
"The former Mayor himself. And Kamiya."
Both looked at her in disbelief.
"I know, I didn't want to believe it either. Okina told me that Kamiya
was not really in favor of the idea, but the chances of survival being
the nearest to zero, he finally gave in to Kawaji's persuasion too. He
was shattered, you know. He swore me that he thought it was for the
best."
"You were less sensitive when you thought I was implied," noticed
sarcastically Saitoh.
"You and Kondo got promoted just after the arrest. Okina had nothing to
gain."
"Saitoh!" warned Tokio as she saw his eyes glittering again. "Meg,
please. So you're convinced that it's Shishio."
" The execution mode is too similar. I could even testify in court with
the little I have. I can't tell if it's the same blade that was used
before, but it's definitely the same kind."
"It's him." Saitoh's voice was definite.
Tokio stared at him, recalling his strange words in her car while she
was driving to the hospital. Was he already suspecting that?
She leaped on her seat as her phone rang, and picked it up in a rapid
gesture, sighing. Her face lightened suddenly. "Aoshi!.. No matter.
Listen, we have new facts." She exchanged a meaningful look with the
other woman, who stood up and left. "Meg is on her way to explain
you...Yes, I think it worked...I also think it's better...See you
later, so."
She hanged down, and stared at the machine for several seconds, her
hands joined in front of her mouth.
Saitoh was trying to get a cigarette out of his pack, and clasped his
tongue in exasperation as he realized it was empty. He caught in flight
the one she sent him.
"Kondo didn't know either."
"I think so. The previous mayor and him weren't in good terms."
"Kawaji was a sleazy weasel."
"As far as I know, all the politicians are sleazy weasels to you,
Saitoh."
He took the first drag. It was too light, but it tasted like her. He
let the smoke lingering in his mouth for a while before exhaling it,
slowly, gazing at her face. She tensed, her hands clenching, her gray
eyes
taking a silvery shade.
They heard the main room door opening, voices coming near. She rose
slowly, tearing her look away from him, grabbed the documents on her
table and exited.
He took another puff, savoring the taste again, before following her.
***
Their desks in the main room were gathered at the center, forming a
rectangle, perpendicular to the large windows. On the left side was the
door to Takagi's office, on the right a big-screen TV and video set
were making the corner, next to a big white board that took half of the
wall. At the very end of it, a table and a chair were installed for the
chief of section to use during the briefings. Two other desks, used by
Shinomori and Takani, were set against the left wall. The main door was
facing the windows, a closet with the files on its right, a table with
the coffee machine and the hotpot on the other side.
When Saitoh entered, Takagi was already preparing her files. His desk
was the nearest to the door, Okita's facing it. His eyes narrowed as he
saw a rose on it. How distasteful. Kitaoka was next to him, Sagara
ending the line. Makimachi sat at her place, in front of the moron, her
usual happy face in place, but her eyes red and slightly puffy.
Yukishiro came back, nodding to them. Saitoh caught the concerned
glance Kitaoka sent to his partner, which was answered by a quick shake
of the head. He reported his gaze on Takagi, guessing by the move of
her shoulders
that she was bracing herself.
She turned to them, Makimachi and Yukishiro moving their chairs to face
her. They were all tensed in expectation, reminding Saitoh of pupils
waiting for the schoolmistress to begin the class. He was totally
estranged to the scene.
"First things first. I talked to Kondo this morning," she started, in a
steady but sad voice. "He arranged the funeral for tomorrow afternoon.
As Okita fell on duty, it's going to be an official ceremony, with the
mayor giving a speech. Considering the circumstances, we can count on
the media to be there in mass. This is a great shock for all of us, but
I expect you to behave. No yelling at the journalists," she pointed,
her gaze resting briefly but meaningfully on Sagara," and no comment
whatsoever about Sanjo's death. Kondo is trying to obtain a restraining
order against them, so we can say goodbye calmly in the cemetery." A
pause.
"I talked to each of you on the phone last night. I hope that you had
the time to recover from the shock, because this new case is nothing
but usual. And with Okita gone, we lost a great force. We must give
everything we have and stick together. No time for crying, or doubting,
or weakening."
And God bless us all, thought Saitoh. He could have been spared a
lecture from Sister Takagi. The others probably needed to hear that
kind of bullshit, unfortunately, he corrected mentally as his gaze
dropped on the rose again. He reached for a new pack of cigarettes in
his drawer.
She let out a silent sigh.
"Now, the team's configuration is going to change for a while.
Shinomori is joining; he'll work with Saitoh. He and Takani will arrive
in a while. Kitaoka, you and Sagara are partners on this case.
Makimachi, you're with Yukishiro."
"What? Why?" exclaimed Sano and Misao. Tsunan looked intently at her
face, then at his partner's neck in front of him. Enishi didn't make a
move.
"Because I say so. Do you have personal objections?" she snapped. Tokio
was unnerved, now. She had to justify herself with Kondo, then convince
Saitoh, who the hell was the boss, here?
"No but.."
"Well, Sagara, so you'll just follow my orders. Let's move to the
case..Just in time!"
Saitoh, who had been pleased to see Takagi loosing her Saint Boss
attitude, was a bit disappointed when she gave a quick smile to
Shinomori as he passed the door, Takani on his heels. She handed a pile
of documents to their boss before taking her seat. Well, with what
Takagi had to announce it was probably better that she stayed in
control, but still..
Poker-faced as usual, the profiler put this files neatly on the desk
and sat on it, next to them. Saitoh smirked. Shinomori being even
taller than himself, no wonder he didn't use the dwarf-sized chairs.
"As you all know, Sanjo Tsubame, our Mayor's niece, was found murdered
yesterday evening, at 7.53 p.m., by a patrol of the 13th precinct. One
of them took the initiative of calling us, as they had already a murder
of the same kind last week. Saitoh and I went to the crime scene, where
he found immediately similarities with an old case. I'll come back to
that later. Sagara, Makimachi, make your reports."
"A reservation was made last week, for yesterday 8.00, table for two,
under the name of Myojin. Myojin called again as 6.00 p.m. that day,
asking the manager if he wouldn't mind keeping company to Sanjo as
himself was going to be late, less than one hour, he said. They're
regular customers, coming at least once a week, so he accepted. He
wasn't expecting her to show up before her boyfriend, she was
reportedly always late. Myojin arrived at 8.52 p.m. Myojin was not
really surprised that she was late either, yet after 20 minutes he
showed signs of impatience, then of worry. The manager said that he
made several phone calls, getting very nervous
as he was told that she left home before 7.00; and as neither she or
her uncle returned his phone calls, he got restless. He asked for a cab
few minutes before ten and left, fearing that she had a car accident. I
interrogated the employees. The doorman told that Myojin was dropped by
a black BMW, the driver being is supervising teacher according to
Myojin's farewells. He'll return my call later, his secretary told me
this
morning."
Makimachi took the relay.
"I went to the mayor's house, and the maid told me the victim left at
6.40 p.m., very nervous and excited, saying she couldn't get anything
out of her hair and was going to her "beauty parlor" to have it fixed.
She also confirmed Myojin's phone call after 9.00 p.m. I got the
victim's cars references and sent it to the Traffic. They'll call me as
soon as her car is found. It's a Porsche, by the way. It was too late
for the hairdresser, so I called one hour ago. They confirm that she
called after
6.00 to get an urgent appointment, they managed to book her for 7.15,
but
she never showed up."
"Where is it?" asked Saitoh.
Sagara picked up his phone and left the room, scratching his hair.
"Near La Promenade. You know, these people go out of their castles only
for these little posh areas," she answered disdainfully. Saitoh
couldn't help to grin as she blushed and mumbled: "Sorry" to Takagi.
"So, she's been killed between 6.40 and 7.53," stated Tsunan.
"It makes Myojin out." Sagara was back. "Good morning officer. Last
evening I was with Myojin-san in my office of the University from 5.00
to few minutes before 9.00. I'm very busy, so goodbye officer. Che!"
"Thank you. I didn't believe he did it, but we have to get the routine
job done too. Sagara and Kitaoka, you'll be finish it for Sanjo." Tokio
handed a file to them, then another to Makimachi. "These are the 13th
precinct's files. You and Yukishiro will check the first murder.
Takani-sensei will give you the conclusions of the autopsy."
She lit a cigarette. Saitoh was wondering how long she could have
avoided it. But now was the messy part. She addressed to the three
people who didn't already now.
"The reason I called it routine is that, as I told you, this case
offers a striking resemblance with an old one, exactly a case from 11
years ago. You weren't working yet, but I'm sure you heard of it. It
mobilized the entire police forces, and the DA, for several months,
along with the media for more than a year."
She pinned two pictures on the board. "Seta Soujiro and Shishio Makoto.
The two faces of the Slayer."
***
The room's atmosphere was heavy. The three young cops had gasped, and
they were staring at Yukishiro. He was still unmoved.
"Yes, it hits one of us personally. And I'll ask, from all of you, to
support your teammate if he needs it. Stop looking at him like this."
Tsunan turned to Takagi, his pupils reduced to tiny points in green
pools. He slowly nodded, approval spreading on his face. Sagara and
Makimachi recovered from the surprise. The young girl squeezed quickly
Enishi's hand. He turned to her, and after several seconds managed a
little nod as she gave him a shy, encouraging smile. Tokio and Aoshi
shared a relieved glance.
"Yukishiro is not the only one who has been impressed by this case.
Saitoh was on it longer than everyone here. Takani was in the team who
practiced the victims' autopsies. Shinomori came out with the profile,
and I had to interrogate Seta in court."
She rubbed her arms with her hands, as to chase away a chill. For a
mere second, she looked vulnerable..A second, only. Her voice was
steady when she went on.
"For those of you who are too young to remember the details, we'll give
you a summary. Nobody knows how many victims they made, as we ignore
when they really began to kill. It officially began with the murders of
several prostitutes in the 31st precinct. 3 in three months. Saitoh?"
"The inspector in charge there, Yukishiro Tomoe, called the criminal
affairs two weeks after the third crime, as she was getting nowhere.
Kondo and I were given the case. She was murdered before we could talk
to her. It was the same execution style, but she didn't fit the
victim's profile. We dug, and realized that two weeks after each
prostitute murder, a woman with a different occupation had been killed
in the same way, in other precincts. The media rushed in the affair at
that point, and as the murder weapon was a blade, nicknamed the
murderer the Slayer."
"The other murders had been perpetrated in the 23rd, 14th, and 9th
precincts. There were no links between the victims, and it depended
from the West City or Central City Morgue, and not the East like the
other 3. You're too young to remember what a complete mess was the
public administration of this town then; there was no communication
between the different structures, or inside them. You couldn't even
have any idea of what were doing people working in the office next to
yours..Nobody could make the link," sighed Megumi.
"The murder frequency raised to once a week, for 2 months." Tokio
realized that Saitoh was making an effort to control his voice. The
media had been harsh on the police not being able to catch the
murderer, and he probably resented it as a personal humiliation. "We
finally traced to an ex- military, Shishio Makoto, who was a neighbor
of the 8th victim. He had a history of violence, and a fascination for
blades. Unfortunately, he had also an alibi for several murders,
including Yukishiro's. Then, somebody finally came up with a worthy
profile," he finished, glancing expectantly to Aoshi.
"The autopsy reports were pointing slight differences in the way the
wounds had been inflicted," he started with his cold and low voice.
"And though the victims seemed chosen at random, the selection pointed
obviously two different pathos. Thinking that there were two murderers
was a natural conclusion. Shishio was one of them. You can read my
report later, to familiarize with the profiles. Saitoh and Kondo relied
on them to find Shishio's partner. The 8th victim's stepson, Seta
Soujiro."
"We approached Shishio's longtime girlfriend, Komagata Yumi. According
to the neighborhood, she was close to Seta, too. She was obviously
suspecting something, yet her boyfriend had never been violent with her
and she was hostile. The moron decided nevertheless to confront
Shishio. We were still following her, and could intervene before he
killed her. It ended by a pursuit, and Shishio's car, after taking
fire, crashed in the harbor."
Saitoh's eyes locked with the gray ones. Was she going to spill the
beans now?
"Seta's case was difficult," she finally said, not avoiding his
scornful gaze. "He wasn't there when Komagata was assaulted and the
proofs against him were indirect. Although the trial took place one
year later, the passions didn't fade, some journalists taking his side.
As you see, he also looks extremely harmless, was merely 18 and he was
a victim's son. The DA was not sure to get a conviction. I was not in
court for most of
the trial. I was new at the bureau and was in charge of preparing the
victim's families and Seta's neighbors to testify. The DA finally asked
me to interrogate them in court. They had tried everything to get a
confession from Seta: it was the only way to get a conviction for sure.
I finally found out some neighbors thought Seta had been abused
by his stepmother for years. It didn't fit his devoted son attitude.
Shinomori, who was still following the case, suggested that I
interrogate him during the last audience."
"The DA himself and his principal substitute had tried him, and the
effect on the jury had been disastrous. He was looking like a victim of
their harassment. The jury was well disposed towards you, you were
young and showed compassion towards the victims family. Moreover, Seta
wasn't on his guard with you."
"And he spat out." It was the first words Enishi uttered since he had
been there. His tone was forceful, but controlled.
" He was convicted to life imprisonment, as he wasn't of age at the
time of the facts. Of his motives, we just know that the women he
murdered "weren't nice" to him. We thought he was there for the
prostitutes' killings, and maybe murdered one, after the police began
to have an interest in his partner in crime. Shishio's motives are
still unclear. Komagata Yumi was a prostitute before she met him, you
can read Shinomori's theory on it. Now, these two new murders
correspond exactly to the pattern of the Slayer case."
"Fortunately for us, boss, copycats are usually easier to catch than
the original murderer, aren't they?" soothed Kitaoka.
She was gazing straight in the eyes of Enishi as she said slowly: "I'm
afraid it isn't a copycat. Very likely, Shishio Makoto is alive."
To be continued..
Author's notes:
Oops. That was tedious. Sorry, I really needed an exposition of the
mystery plot's background. For the "routine job" part, I wanted to show
that it's done, but I won't inflict that again, one time is enough!
Thanks a thousand times to Mara! She gave me very kindly a space on her
(great) site, so I can post there this story as it was written
originally, i.e. with the lemons. I decided not to post them on ff.net,
as they're NC- 17 imo. So if you don't like lemons, the version here
will be off; and if you want to read them, I'll precise the complete
link when a lemon-chapter shows up. For now, the link to Mara's
fan-tavern: www.geocities.com/mara_amber1. (I'm sure everybody knows it
already; just in case!) I'm so grateful to have a place for sessha's
fics there! Thanks! (^0^)/
Thanks a thousand times too to Firuze, who keeps Enishi's OOCness away,
for her kindness, and the time she spent checking this chapter and
others!
Thanks to both of you for your reviews, suggestions and support!!!!
Thanks to the reviewers:
Saitou Tokio: No big interaction between Saitoh and Tokio in this
chapter, but plenty of it in the chapters to come. They are my favorite
couple!
Winnie: I'm trying to update each week but sometimes my real work is
preventing me to, sorry for the delay this time.
Oryo: Thanks a lot for your nice comments; Saitoh is not easy to deal
with when it comes to emotions (^-^)
Kira: I hope you will! Thanks!
Jadegoddess: Don't worry about this! I'm glad you like this one too!
Next chapter: Saitoh plays mind games with Tokio again, first
appearance of Soujiro, and a friendly reunion between Megumi, Aoshi and
Tokio gives
a few highlights.
See You!
Kamorgana
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