AN: So I know nothing about the legal system except what I learned from watching "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." I've never even seen Law and Order. I didn't fact-check much, and in some cases ignored the results of said fact-checking because the truth was inconvenient. It's an AU anyway…that's my excuse :-)
I have this story nearly finished, so expect updates very soon.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own InuYasha et al. These badly contorted characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
Warnings: AU, some graphic content, mild OOC
Miranda Rights
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.
"I've got a tough one for you, here, Kagome", Davis said pleasantly, handing his colleague a thick, manila folder. "Pretty much open-shut. There was a room full of witnesses. You're going to have to get this guy to own up; so far he claims innocent. There might be a good case to be made for insanity, but innocent? No way."
"We shouldn't rule anything out", Kagome replied, paging through the folder as they walked through the hallway of the agency's office. "Rooms full of witnesses have been completely wrong plenty of times before."
"But how many of those cases involved suspects who looked like this?" Davis countered, directing her attention to the photos at the front of the stack.
Kagome stopped dead in her tracks. "Um…I see what you mean." The man in the black and white mug shot had a disgruntled expression and hair that hadn't seen scissors in quite some time, but that was about what would be expected of someone who'd reportedly been homeless for over a decade. He was far more distinctive in the color photos also provided. A school photo, a picture of him sitting on the steps of the Salvation Army smiling up at the photographer, and another blurry shot of him with his arm around the shoulders of a dark haired woman. Waist length silver hair, gold eyes. Not hazel, not green, but gold. "Tell me that's not his natural hair and eye color…"
" 'Fraid so", Davis responded sympathetically. "Not too much chance of mistaken identity. And the murder took place in a room full of people who knew both him, and the victim."
"Who was the victim?" Kagome asked.
"Kikyou Takani. University student volunteering at the Salvation Army kitchen, where she met, uh, customer, Inuyasha Maru. They got to be friends. Good friends, apparently. She's the one who took that first photo, and she's the girl in the second picture. Then two days ago, he rages into the kitchen completely…high, or something, beats the crap out of her, and, um, chews her throat out. Or at least that's what the witnesses and the autopsy say. And Kagome…" Davis put a hand on her arm to pause her in the act of flipping over the next photo. "It gets weirder. You can turn this case down if you want. If you don't want to work with this guy, everyone will understand."
Kagome gave her coworker a bemused look, and flipped the photo. "Aww, hell." The close-up high school graduation portrait showed a Japanese girl with long hair. Kikyou's dark eyes and genuine smile seemed sad, almost wistful. The girl had been strikingly pretty, and also could easily have been Kagome's twin.