A/N: Just to let you know, I do not at all hate Relena. But for once, let's make her the bad guy. Please do not condemn me for 'unfavorable' things here. (You've been warned) Btw Crystal Gundam if you're reading this, do you actually know Mandarin? If you do, you must be one smart person to know the tones of that language!
Also chapter 9 of Bushido: Paths of the Heart is on its way. Please check out this story once you've finsihed this. Thank you.
Anyways whoever is reading this, please send a review at the end. Thank you once more in advance.
The phone, out of an inactive state, came to life ringing during the late night beside the bed of Inspector Heero Yuy. Angry that his peaceful sleep had been loudly interrupted, he picked up the phone as he struggled to open his eyes and awaken his mind.
"What!" he barked to the phone. Since he didn't have a flair for sleeping, and that he was able to sleep this one and only night, the fact that he couldn't savor it for long greatly annoyed him. And it was supposed to be a work-free Saturday too!
"Excuse me Inspector?" said a female, but very commanding voice. 'Whoops, my bad' Heero thought.
"I'm sorry about that Vice Commissioner Une," he quickly apologized to his superior. No one was stupid enough to mess with her on purpose at the very least because she had a cold and deadly personality and also held a powerful office in the police force, not to mention the fact that she also had influence in city politics. She could simply just make up a story for you to get arrested and then when your trial came to court, she could just blackmail the judge to give you something severe as a life or death sentence. No, you don't want to mess with Une. "is there anything that needs to be investigated?" Heero continued.
"In fact there is!" Une said harshly and impulsively like a drill sergeant scolding a recruit. It was like being flogged with a lightning fast whip. "You are to immediately investigate a homicide scene at 942 Peacecraft Ave. You'll also have Inspector Maxwell as a subordinate right there. Now get to work decuple time!" Then the woman hung up.
Right away through his grogginess, Heero got up and took a super quick shower and put on his suit and tie. He left the house and saw it was still pitch black night outside. He got in his car and turned it on. He checked the digital clock which read '3:30 A.M.'. Damn, his day was sure going to be messed up alright due to lack of sleep and lack of ability to sleep. He hit the road driving as fast as the maximum speed limit would be allowed. Luckily, no one usually drove in their cars so early in the morning so Heero didn't have to worry about traffic. The street was free of other vehicles, thank god.
While driving, he wondered what it would be like 'again' to work with Duo Maxwell. Although a good person and friendly, he was also a talkative, annoying, and easily distracted bastard, and he didn't want to be assigned with him on the same case. 'Why does Une always pair us up together?' Heero thought. 'Oh well'.
He reached the address within no time. The house was a very big one indeed. It looked like a small mansion. It had the usual larger than average driveways, garage, and of course size etc. Heero also saw Duo's car parked in front of the house by the street. "So he's already here huh?" he muttered. Duo was often an irresponsible person and late for work. The only reason why Une let him keep his job was because he usually got the job done. Which was thanks to him virtually almost all the time, that no good for nothing, cocky SOB.
Heero knocked on the front door a few times before it finally opened. When it opened, a woman dressed in a night time or shower robe appeared. She had mild honey hair color, rich blue eyes, and just simply a very pretty/beautiful face. But her hair wasn't messed up or anything. Quite unusual. "…Are you with the police?..." she asked slowly. Heero couldn't help but stare at her a couple split seconds more before he mentally slapped himself back to life. Plus, he was already seeing Sayo Namaguchi, who was a science teacher at an elementary school. He had once made the mistake at staring at another woman and when Sayo found out, she threatened to break up with him.
"Yes ma'am. My name is Inspector Heero Yuy" he said showing his ID from his wallet. "Can you explain what has happened here? My…uh…boss didn't have time to explain for me" he said to her.
"Yes, please come inside…" she said and so he did. "My name is Relena Winner" she explained closing the door behind them. "Mrs. Relena Winner? Would you be by any chance related to the Chief Executive of Winner Enterprises Quatre Winner?" Heero asked surprised. Quatre Raberba Winner was one of the world's youngest, but also one of the richest businessmen as a multi-ten billionaire of not just U.S. dollars, but also of Euros.
"…Yes, I am his wife, or rather much more recently his…widow…" Mrs.Winner said having to take a few moments to say the word of interest. A few tears came from her eyes.
"Was Mr. Winner murdered?" the inspector asked carefully. The woman didn't answer verbally but with the gesture of nodding her head. He then remembered that Une had told him that it was a homicide. "I'm very sorry about your loss Mrs. Winner. I promise I will work to solve this case" Heero said. "By the way, is Detective Maxwell here already?" Again, Mrs. Winner nodded. "May I see him?"
"Yes, of course right away Inspector" the recently widowed woman answered talking finally. She led him through a hallway decorated with pictures and portraits. He could see that they had a happy life together the way they were alone together in the pictures and the way they were with family and friends.
"Uhm, Mrs. Winner, do you have any idea how your husband was murdered? Any suspects?" he asked as they continued walking.
"No, I don't know anyone that would do such a thing…" Mrs. Winner said. " I just found him dead in our bedroom" she explained.
"If I may ask, what were you doing when you found him?" Heero asked.
"I woke up to get a drink but I noticed when I got back, the bed was already cold. Then I asked him if everything was ok, but he didn't answer. I shrugged him…but he was so cold. Just moments after that, I found out that he wasn't alive…"
"I see. Thank you" said the Inspector.
They reached a door at the end of the hallway. Mrs. Winner opened it. Inside was what appeared to be a kitchen with the lights off. They went passed it through an even shorter hallway. They went about the house until they finally went upstairs. Mrs. Winner led him to the bedroom, where the late Mr. Winner laid down in bed, obviously dead. Heero looked closely at the dead body and saw how painful the death must've been.
"So, Mrs. Winner, did your husband die in his sleep?" he asked her. She once again nodded instead of talking. "Did he eat anything unusual at dinner?"
"…No…I only made some beef and pork with mashed potatoes with wine…" she said.
Heero knew that if a person was simply stupid enough to drink an excessive amount of wine in a very short amount of time, he could die not so long after it. "How much did he drink?"
"….Only two cups…" she said. She almost looked just about ready to cry.
'Okay, let's not overdo it' Heero told himself. 'her husband just died and she's going through a difficult time' he scolded himself for asking her to much. "I apologize for asking you so many questions. I'll call an ambulance to pick up your husband and we can do an autopsy to find out how your husband died" Heero said to Mrs. Winner. "May I use your phone?"
"…Yes, of course. Follow me" she said. The woman led him back to the kitchen. "The phone is right over there" she said pointing to the wall as she was turning the kitchen's light switch on. Heero walked over the phone that was placed on the wall and dialed the number for the hospital. But he could hear that the line was for some reason dead. "Mrs. Winner, the line is dead"
"Oh I'm sorry about that Inspector Yuy" Mrs. Winner said. "We've had a few power shortages today."
"Its alright, I'll go find a phone booth." Heero started for the exit, but the widowed Relena Winner walked over to him.
"Inspector this must be a very bad night for you. Can I get you some coffee? It's the least I can do to repay all the trouble you have to go through" she said earnestly. Heero, thinking it would be rude to refuse accepted and decided he would take her offer. "Please have a seat" she said and he went over to the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs. He looked over at her from behind as she began making the coffee. It looked as though she were conducting an experiment with a test tube mixing this and that and putting it in the coffee cup. After a few minutes, it was ready and Mrs. Winner handed him a warm cup of coffee. He drank a few sips trying to see how good it was. It tasted kind of weird for coffee…hmmm…was it like almonds? "This…coffee, Mrs. Winner is…quite good…"Heero said to be polite.
"Thank you Inspector" she said. She came over to sit next to him. The Inspector took a few more sips and then finally the subject of Duo came back to his mind.
"Mrs. Winner, you said that Detective…." Heero stopped because he had to cough a little and blink a few times to clear his vision. It was like he was starting to need glasses or something. Getting himself back together, he said "…You said that Detective Maxwell was here?" he asked Mrs. Winner as took a few more sips.
"Yes, he's upstairs" she answered. Heero noticed that she no longer had any look of sadness or sorrow on her.
"Upstairs?..." Again he coughed. "…I didn't see him… He continued to cough a little. And was it him or heart seemed to be working less now? Heero knew he was healthy. Very fit, very strong. And smoker free. But why was his breathing slowing down? Something wasn't right……
"Oh yes, he's asleep under the bed under Quatre's bed" she explained as though nothing was wrong.
"…asleep?..." Could it be that Duo was snoozing on the job? But why under the bed and why near and under the corpse?
"Yes, and he'll be sleeping like a baby till the end of time" she explained as she leaned an arm on the table smiling, but not showing her teeth.
By now, Heero's breathing rate had greatly dropped. He was sweating too, even though it was a cool night. His heart hurt. No, it was beginning not to work! The almond flavor of the coffee…difficulty breathing…the sweating for no reason…. No… could it be that….
Heero remembered that once he promised to go to a science fair that his girlfriend Sayo was hosting for her students. She showed him to all the projects the participants made. One of them was about a chemical. And a poisonous one at that. The boy responsible for the report had said that it tasted like almonds, and gave you severe breathing problems until you died… and holy shit! He drank half the coffee cup already and God knew just how much of 'it' she put in!
Now his attention was all on her. "Are you alright Inspector?" she asked comically.
"…You….you put cy…" but he was unable to finish the sentence because of continuous, now violet coughing. He made an attempt to reach for his handgun from his holster inside his suit, but couldn't. The coughing was too strong and his breathing was too poor.
"Yes Inspector. I put cyanide in your coffee. And your friend Duo's. And Quatre's wine, fifteen tablespoons each cup. And once I get the inheritance from my dead husband, I'm going to be a rich girl" she said as if it were a joke where the ones hearing it would laugh. But this wasn't funny. But damn….she said Quatre drank two cups of wine and each cup had fifteen tablespoons each…he was hardly able to deal with just a quarter of that! "Looks like you succeeded in solving this homicide case unlike Detective Maxwell. He was so easy to trick" She was still smiling.
Now Heero's coughing and poor breathing was at its greatest degree. Painfully, it continued to grow and grow in degree until he finally collapsed on Relena's laps. And she just sat there watching him suffer as he did so. But then he stopped coughing and stopped breathing too.
Now all Relena had to do was think of a way to hide the three bodies and destroy all evidence leading to her as she gently stroked the now deceased Inspector Heero Yuy's hair.
THE END
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