Years later...

The woman was probably considered beautiful by many. She had symmetrical features, and her lips were full, her eyes a warm chocolaty brown color, and her blonde hair was thick and curly. Too bad she was dead. Her body lay on the exam table, clothed in a hospital gown. I was in a hazmat suit, as were the rest of the people with me.

"We brought you the body, as you requested." I was working with the FBI on a case, one that was particularly interesting. People were dying of a mysterious illness, but it was not an epidemic. Also, all the victims had been people with a certain amount of power, celebrities, businesspeople, politicians. There had been thirty victims already, and all of them had died. This woman, named Erin Hunter was the most recent victim.

I had already determined that the infection was viral, it was one of the ones that "reprogramed" cells to create more of the virus until the cell burst. Lysis. It wasn't airborne, otherwise there would be a full blown epidemic on our hands, possibly leading to a pandemic. Besides, all of the victims were of a certain caliber, someone was definitely targeting them. The virus affected the respiratory system. Alleles burst, and the victims began to cough up blood, but only after they had trouble breathing. It was fast, too. As far as I could tell from examining the victims, and the tissue samples and such, the virus acted within 25 hours. As well as affecting the respiratory system, it targeted the endocrine system as well. Kidneys failed, and the victims died coughing up blood, internal contamination building up, feeling nausea, sometimes chest pain, and in severe cases, seizures. It was quite fascinating.

"Bishop, why hasn't the FBI gotten me those records yet? I need all the information on the victims in the last two days before they died. What they did, what they ate, where they slept, and with who if they were doing that. I need everything."

"May I remind you, that you are not an investigator on this case?" Bishop was a rude man, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Oh, please. I'll solve this case. I am hired as a coroner, but I have also been hired as an investigator. I'm sort of a jack of all trades, except I'm a master of quite a few of them. But whatever, you aren't my problem.

"If I am to determine how this virus is spread, I need to know those things." I kept my voice cool and level. Getting Bishop angry would not get me the records I needed. Muttering under his breath, bishop left, probably to get the records.

"Alright, I need full bloodwork and tissue samples. Get them to me quickly for me to analyze please." All four of us got straight to work. After the autopsy, I carefully extracted the vitreous humor from the victim's right eye, preparing a sample from analysis. The work continued, time ticking away. Soon I had identified the makeup of the virus, and was working on a cure.

"Oi! Ginger!" I was rudely interrupted during my work by Bishop waving a folder in my face, and calling me names based on the color of my hair. Reacting quicker than he thought I would, I grabbed the folder from his hands and walked over to the table that was serving as my desk.

"Thank you, Bishop." He did get me the records after all, even though he was being a steaming pile of leprous drippings, full of maggots and rotting. I glanced at the clock. An hour had passed from when Bishop had left to get the files. Surveying the room, I saw that my temporary colleagues were almost done with their work, and I was done with mine.

"Okay, thanks. You may go home." The autopsy was done, all the necessary samples taken. It would have taken a much longer time if it had been me alone. Bishop laughed, a short, bitter laugh.

"So that's it? You swoop in here, boss us around, and then dismiss us?" Holding his hands up in an indignant fashion, he was very angry.

"Hold on, Bishop, our superiors told us that we'd be working temporarily with someone they hired. We've been treated with nothing but respect, and we've gotten results! This person:" The speaker gestured enthusiastically at me. "Is getting us somewhere!"

"All that has been done is things a normal lab rat could have done!" Bishop was getting angrier quickly.

"No." Another person spoke up. Her name was Erin, she was the California state coroner. I was currently borrowing her facilities. "H identified a new type of virus, and is now working on a cure. H was one of the first to notice that all the victims died from the same thing. Although the bureau thought that these cases were murder, H confirmed it. All very quickly. H is not a "normal Lab-rat" as you put it." Erin was obviously offended by "Lab-Rat." Tensions were getting high, it was time to diffuse the situation.

"Bishop." I kept my tone calm, kind. It was never a good Idea to provoke someone stronger than yourself, it usually got me beaten up, before and after I had been accepted into the orphanage. Although, I was taller than Agent Bishop, and had been trained in a certain discipline of martial arts, he was heavier, and probably stronger. "You can leave if you want."

"My boss said I had to stay with you."

"Your boss will never have to know. Besides, Erin-" He glanced at the coroner standing next to me. "can keep an eye on me. So can Ian, Judith, and Sam." By the look on his face, I could tell that he was almost convinced. I just needed one more thing to sweeten the pot.

"Also, I'll make sure you get a bonus for having to deal with me." That did it. Bishop left us all alone, muttering rude nothings about "goddamn lab-rats." I turned to the people that were currently my team.

"Thank you. You can go home now if you want, I promise not to blow up anything." Nothing important anyway. Erin, Ian, Judith, and Sam were all very good at their jobs, and had helped quite a lot. "I have to go through the files, anyway."

"Got it. Thank you, H." Ian left, and after him so did Sam. Judith and Erin stayed.

"It's interesting to watch you work." Erin smiled, her chocolate eyes warm and friendly. Erin was a very visually appealing person, and smart. She deserved the title of head coroner because of her skills. Judith was her assistant, working to learn. "Besides, we can help you go through the files."

"Yes, you can." The files were pretty thick. There were 30 victims after all, and all of them had busy schedules. I started with the most recent victim, whose corpse had been moved to storage after the work was done. Her name was Kendal Moore, a relatively famous, up and coming singer. Starting the day before yesterday, this file was a record of her activities. Whoever had ordered it did good work, and quick too. Usually it took more than an hour to compile files like these. It was also a group of people, most likely.

She had lunch with a person, who had paid. The name given was "Sienna Long." Then a photoshoot. Next a recording session, followed by a party, where numerous paparazzi could verify her presence. Then home, asleep. The next day, an interview on television, a recording session. Then, lunch. This time with a person named "Angel Ninos." Huh, Anagrams of each other…Wait!

"Erin, Judith, did they have lunch with people?" Both of them jumped at my outburst, but recovered quickly.

"Yeah, um… Elena Smith had lunch with a person with Leann Gison on the day she died." Judith spoke. I flipped the paper I had been reading over, and wrote down the names Sienna Long, and Angel Ninos.

"Spelling?"

"L-E-A-N-N G-I-S-O-N" Another anagram! Maybe the real name is in here somewhere. Also, all of these names would be considered female. The killer is someone who identifies as a woman, most likely there name is made up of these letters. In fact, the real name might be the first one used!

"Erin?" I directed an implied question her.

"Sina Leonng. S-I-N-A L-E-O-N-N-G." Realization alighted on her face. "They're anagrams! I understand."

"Who was the first victim?" I could not keep the excitement from leaking into my voice, I knew we were close to identifying the killer.

"The first victim was a man named David Smith. A day prior to his death, he had lunch with a woman named…Gina Nelson." Another anagram, and this name seems more…natural, some of the others seem incredibly contrived. Lunging for my bag, I flipped open my computer. I typed the name Gina Nelson into the search bar, bringing up millions of results. All of the victims had been relatively well known. The killer probably associates with them. I narrowed the search by location, and by excluding social network profiles.

The first result, the most relevant: Gina Nelson, M.D. I clicked on the link. Dr. Gina Nelson was a general practitioner, based in the San Diego Area, which is where we were. She has a bachelor's degree in virology, so she had the necessary knowledge to do this. A quick, admittedly illegal run through of her client list revealed that all of the victims were her clients. I. got. You! She probably infected them with the virus over lunch! I held back a delighted giggle.

"Gina Nelson is the killer." I spoke with absolute certainty on the matter. "I gotta go and tell some people, and then I'll arrest her!" I was smiling now, I had won. She was found out, and I was about to catch her. Just as I was about to leave, I had my hoodie on and everything, my cellphone rang. Fucking hell, I hate having one of these. Why would he…Wait, this isn't Wammy's number… although it could have been changed. I'll answer it. Might be something interesting.

"Who are you and how do you have this number?" My voice was terse, and I had caught the caller of guard.

"Ah! Eto…" Oh, so the caller is Japanese? Ah, I see. Kira's in Japan, I've worked out that much. According to news reports, a majority of the criminals dying from heart attacks are Japanese. Also, most have been dying before and after school starts there, indicating a student. And, based on the news broadcasts naming the criminals killed, the killer needs a name and a face. Also, the news that is broadcast in the Kanto region matches the criminals killed. But, also….Kira is most likely male, a majority of serial killers are. Probably at least a teenager, some parents won't let small children see news like that. And, and Idealistic view of justice, but mature enough not to judge all crimes equally, right now most of the people dying committed horrible crimes. No pickpockets or purse snatchers. Of course, I'm not officially on the case, this is just something interesting...

"Matsuda!" This was easy to hear over the phone, and there were shuffling sounds.

"Sharp tongue as always." The voice was one I recognized, and had not heard for a long time. I was very happy to hear from Wammy. He was working with L, and had been for a very long time.

"Am I being invited to work the case?" As I spoke, I continued out the door, heading for where the FBI had set up shop in San Diego. "I have a lot of other cases…" I kept my cool, although I was bursting with energy inside.

"Yes." I could've sworn I heard him chuckle. I guess I was behaving like a child, but oh well.

"….Why?" Is it because I don't have a name?" I mean, not having a name is useful in this case. Could still die by being shot or something though.

"Yes. And, you are incredibly skilled at what you do. You would be an asset to this team. Also, you would bring a unique perspective to the case. Besides, isn't it said, the more the merrier? Two minds are better than one?"

"Yes. Well, I have an arrest to make. And…"

"What?"

"I'm bringing my dog." This time, he really was laughing as I hung up.