Kanda's marker glided across the whiteboard smoothly as he drew a single horizontal line, spanning from a few inches from the left side of the board all the way to the right, with a long tick mark at each end. Setting down the pen's cap, he turned his back toward the board and grabbed a piece of paper from the table, now strewn with maps, profiles, phone records, and everything else the department had on this case. He shot a brief glance at Lavi, who was sitting in a chair at the other side of the table, bent intently over a note sealed inside an evidence bag.
"Let's establish a timeline." Said Kanda, drawing a short arrow leading down from the leftmost tick, "The killer started almost two years ago. His first victim was the owner of an antique shop, an old man who called himself Bookman." He wrote down a date and the victim's name, "Found in his store just outside of L.A., with a gunshot wound to the back of the head."
He turned to grab a different file, and saw out of the corner of his eye the redhead still bent over the letter, noticeably stiff. "The second one was 14 months ago, a waitress at a small diner in Cypress park, still in L.A." He moved his hand down the line, making a smaller tick at the half point. "Chantelle Whittaker, 22, raped and strangled, heart was removed surgically." He circled the point, "This is when he formed his M.O., and when he began to move eastward across the country."
Kanda began to move his marker in rapid succession, making ticks closer and closer to each other. "Ana Maria Cortez, 24, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Jeanette Simmonds, 20, Wichita, Kansas; Sophia LaCroix, 25, Dayton, Ohio; Martina Black, 19, Eileen Song, 22, and Kimberly Basset, 21, all of New York; the last of whom is still in our morgue." He stood back from the board, finger on his chin, "Obviously, Bookman is the outlier here." He flipped a page in his file, and gestured at the note in front of Lavi, "The only reason we even know it's the same killer was that note left with Anna Maria Cortez's body, along with intimate details of the crime scene. Question is, why would this killer- Hey! Are you even listening to me?"
The young man looked up and gave him a sheepish smile, "Sorry 'bout that, Yu, you were saying?"
Kanda sighed. "This killer's an careful man, three deaths and we don't even have a single suspect. In New York, at least." He looked questioningly at Lavi, who pressed his lips together.
"We had a suspect. Just one."
"Had? He was exonerated?"
"No." Lavi looked away. "The only clue we'd ever found was an unidentified fingerprint from the first scene. We matched the print and had the bastard in custody, but he was released on a technicality." There was a slight pause as Kanda waited for him to go on. "I got a sample of his prints from the door of his car when we couldn't get a warrant; judge ruled it out in court. The son of a bitch was a big sponsor to the department, and the higher ups didn't want to upset him."
"Who was he?" Asked Kanda.
"Tyki Mikk. Ex-Chief of Medicine at County General, transferred to Lenox Hill a little over a month ago."
Kanda nearly jolted. A killer with an experienced medical background, moved from Los Angeles to the upper east side of New York City, five miles from where Martina Black's body was found. He was starting to see why Lavi was so determined about this guy being the one they were looking for, but everything, excluding perhaps the fingerprint, was circumstantial at best. A decent D.A. would be all over it, and no jury would ever convict.
"We have to keep looking; if this Tyki Mikk really is the one behind all this, we're going to need more to bring him down." Said Kanda, shuffling through a pile of papers, "Where did you find his print, anyway?"
"On Bookman's door."
Kanda looked up, disbelief in his eyes. "The door? You arrested this guy for his print on a door? Bookman owned a public shop, anyone could've left their prints there." He let a piece of paper in his hands fall onto the table, "Jesus, no wonder the judge ruled it out." He gave Lavi a look of disdain and went back to his files, muttering under his breath.
"You don't get it. I know it was him. I know it." Said Lavi.
"You have no evidence!" Kanda half-yelled. "We have to be objective in this job; we can only believe what the evidence tells us." He paused. "Unless there's something you're not telling me?"
The other man immediately looked away. "No."
Kanda threw his file down and leaned over the table, using both hands to support him. He looked straight at Lavi. "Why are you here?"
"To catch a killer, o' course!" Lavi scratched the back of his head. "Isn't that obvious?"
Kanda didn't move. "Why are you really here?"
The other man leaned back in his chair. "But I just told ya, I-"
"Show me your badge." Kanda interrupted.
"What?"
"Show me your badge." He repeated.
Lavi looked startled for a fraction of a second, before smiling again, "Sorry, I think I left it back in L.A. with the rest of my stuff."
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Kanda sat down opposite Lavi, propping his elbows up on the table, "What kind of an investigator shows up to a case without his files, his kit, or his badge?"
"I..."
Kanda plowed on, ignoring the other man. "If we're going to work together, there can't be mistrust between us; I need to know you're on my side." He leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Now, you can either tell me what the hell is going on, or I can call your department and ask them. Which is it?"
Lavi stared at him for a long moment.
"They made me leave my badge and all my supplies when I left for New York, to stop my involvement in this case." Kanda raised an eyebrow at that. "My superiors took me off the case because I was personally involved."
Kanda searched his brain and frowned. As far as he knew, none of the victims were connected to Lavi Stratton.
The redhead went on, "You know the Kamelot case, don't you?" He waited for Kanda's nod before continuing, "After Cyril Kamelot went to jail, I got a lot of threats from some of his comrades and underlings. Tyki Mikk is Kamelot's brother; he killed Bookman as revenge against me."
"But why whould he kill Bookman-"
"Because he was my grandfather." Lavi said simply. Kanda, for once, had nothing to say.
"He was the only family I had left; I changed my last name to protect him, but Mikk found out, somehow." Lavi closed his eyes for a moment, "After Mikk was released, I was so angry that I made the mistake of telling one of my coworkers about my relationship with Bookman. Word got around, and I got kicked off the case." He held up the note again, holding it up against the light as if hoping to catch some sort of hidden clue. "I've been trying to follow the killer ever since, but he always seemed to be one step ahead."
"And you're sure it was Tyki Mikk?"
Lavi nodded. "I'll never forget the look he gave me at Cyril Kamelot's last trial. If he could've, he would've killed me right then, I'm sure."
Kanda sat down again and bit his bottom lip. There was a long silence.
"Sir?" The beansprout's voice seemed to pop out of nowhere, and it was a couple of seconds before he registered the presence of his assistant in the room. "Uh, is this a bad time?" Allen gave the room's two occupants a nervous glance.
"Not at all, lil' guy!" Lavi exclaimed, waving at the white-haired youth. "What is it?"
Allen, on the other hand, frowned at the way the red head addressed him, and approached Kanda instead. "Sir, I have the trace results for that fiber found under Kimberly Basset's fingernail." He opened his mouth to go on, but Kanda gave Lavi an apprehensive glare and stopped him, leading him outside the room and carefully closing the door before speaking again.
"What is it?"
"But sir, I thought Detective Stratton was cooperating with you on this case." Asked Allen.
"Nevermind that, just tell me what the damned thing is." Said Kanda irritably.
"It's silk."
Kanda frowned. "Silk?"
"More specifically, Portuguese silk."
"Is it common?"
The beansprout actually had the nerve to look smug at that, earning him a hard glare from the detective. "The industry died out after the French invasion in the early 1800's, so there's definitely not a lot of Portuguese silk around." He looked down at the clipboard in his hands, "I couldn't find any stores in New York that sold it, though, so I guess it's a dead end."
Kanda took the analysis from his assistant and turned back into the room. "We'll see."
Lavi looked up at Kanda as he re-entered the room. "Well?"
Kanda didn't look at him. "Did you think I was going to let you in on this case just because you told me all that?"
The chair was sent crashing to the floor as the young man stood up abruptly. "You don't understand. I need to solve this case. For my grandfather, for myself."
"You're taking this too personally, that'll get in the way of the investigation. I'm going to see Komui." he gathered a pile of papers and headed for the door, but Lavi got there first and stood between him and the exit.
"No!" He seemed to reconsider, and continued in a calmer tone, "Look, you don't have to let me be an investigator. Just think of me as a... civilian consult. I can use my fame to help you, you can use your authority to help me, and if you think I'm getting too personally involved, you can kick me off anytime." His green eye pleaded with Kanda's black ones. "Please. I need this."
Kanda pursed his lips. As much as he hated to admit it, he did need help from someone with publicity. Even though it was him who solved all the cases, he usually left the press conferences and the public appearances to Link, the under-sheriff. If he were to go into the field to solve this puzzle, he would need someone with influence.
"So you'll help me in whichever way I want you to?" Lavi nodded.
"And you'll get out if I tell you to?" Another nod.
Kanda dumped the pile in his arms into the red head's, almost making the other collapse with the sudden weight. "Fine."
Lavi smiled at him. "Thanks, Yu-chan."
Kanda waved him off with a careless hand. Yeah, yeah, yeah, here comes the sappy- Wait. What did he just call me?!
Yay! the second chapter's done! And it's longer too :O
I was absolutely blown away by the number of reviews I got, thank you guys SO MUCH for all the awesome compliments and advice :) You guys are the best!!
Terminology(remember this? :))
M.O. : Modus Operandi. A Latin phrase roughly translated as "method of operating", used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, or in Tyki's case, killing people D:
D.A. : Defense Attorney. The lawyer, often state appointed, representing someone accused of a crime.
I think, I think, the Portuguese history bit was accurate, but if you know it isn't, please feel free to tell me.
REVIEW. It makes me feel better about myself XD
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IS THE PLOT OF THIS FIC AND THE NAMES OF THE WOMEN TYKI KILLED. BUT I DON'T REALLY CARE IF YOU TAKE THE NAMES.