Hi again! Thanks to all those who have reviewed. I really appreciate it. Here's the next chapter…
Chapter 3
"Look here, pal, what's your point?" Kevin Cheng asked in frustration, "It's evident that he killed Mariah. So, why're you still wasting my time with these stupid questions?"
Hiro Granger looked the green haired youth straight in the eye. "Innocent till proven guilty, Mr. Cheng. Ray's still just a suspect."
"Just a suspect? That traitor is the main suspect! It's him. He did it!"
"Don't you think you're a bit too sure about that?"
"I am sure! Who else would've wanted to kill someone as nice as Mariah?"
"You believe Ray had a reason to kill Mariah?"
"Of course he had! That night, when… it happened, Ray had a fight with Mariah. The entire neighborhood heard the commotion coming from her apartment!"
"Do you know what the fight was about?"
"It was Ray! He wanted to break up with her. He was probably eying up some rich bitch, and decided to ditch our Mariah! Mariah was devoted to him! She couldn't even think of another man taking up his place, not even Lee! And Ray? That dirty traitor! What did he do? He took advantage of her love. To him, she had been nothing more than a rag doll that he could use and throw away just like that! Now that I think about it, Ray never loved her! Mariam was right! Ever since Mariah had confessed her love for him, Ray had been trying to avoid her. That loser had never been faithful to any of us, not even Lee, his best friend; and definitely not Mariah! But that naive girl was too blind in love to see him for what he really was. Her whole universe revolved around Ray! She loved him! Worshipped him! She would've readily given her life for him!"
"And yet you refuse to believe that she could've committed suicide?"
"Mariah did not commit suicide! It's been proved! Ray killed her! That son of a bitch had tried to make it look like a suicide attempt, but he failed! It was evident. When the police found Mariah, she had been holding a gun in—"
"I had been one of the first ones at the crime scene, Mr. Cheng," Hiro cut across coolly. "I think I know the details better than you do."
"Well?" Kevin jumped up. "Then why're you still here with these useless questions? You saw how that brute had mu—"
"I know what I saw," Hiro removed his shades, his icy gaze making Kevin shiver. "And my questions have a reason. So, it's better if you sit down, Mr. Cheng, and then we can have a proper conversation."
The short green haired youth gulped, and quietly sat down. Hero's face was indifferent, but his eyes gave out a dangerous aura. Kevin almost sighed out in relief when Hiro put his shades back on, shielding the former from his intensifying gaze.
"Let's start again now, shall we?" Kevin nodded nervously, as the elder Granger leaned forward slightly. "Now, if I recall correctly you mentioned something about Miss Wong not being able to picture Lee in Ray's place. I take it you were referring to Lee Yan, Ray's childhood friend?"
Kevin nodded once again. "Yeah, they used to best friends."
"I see. And what connection did Mr. Yang have with Mariah?"
"Er… well…you see… when we were younger, Lee kinda had a thing for Mariah… nothing much, just a small crush or so. But he grew out of it later, and fell in love with Mariam. They're engaged now."
"Did Miss Wong know about his feelings?"
"I don't think so, no. Treated him more like a brother. And Lee never made any move towards her, 'cause she was always hanging about Ray."
"Earlier on, you mentioned something about Ray never being faithful to any of you. Could you elaborate that?"
Kevin frowned, his earlier frustration returning to his face. "It's true. That measly—"
"I'm waiting, Mr. Cheng." Once again Hiro's piercing demeanor tensed up the energetic neko.
"Right… sorry…I-I…you see Ray, Lee, Mariah, Gary and I, we used to stay as paying guests in Master Tao's house. He was an old guy. Weird but kind. He called his house the White Tiger Clan. Anyway, when I arrived at the Clan, four years ago. Ray and Lee had already been living there for about six months. Both of them were brought up together in a small village in China. Mariah and Gary arrived six months after I had. We learnt that Mariah had lost her family at the age of twelve, in a flood. She was taken in by a distant relative, probably an uncle … I forgot his name. Gary used to work as a helper in his workshop. Gary and Mariah soon became good friends. And so she decided to take him to the city with her for education. Gary was illiterate, and could only speak Chinese. However, after he started living with us, he learnt to speak English a little."
Kevin paused a little, and smiled as he recalled his memories. "The five of us had a lot in common. For instance, all of us were orphaned at a young age; and we were all neko-jins, from different parts of China. Maybe that's why we got along so well together, like a big happy family. We lived together at the White Tiger Clan for about two years. Then, after we finished our education, we got different jobs and had to split up. Mariah got a job as a waitress and singer at a fancy bar. Lee used to be the receptionist at same place, before he met Mariam and became the manager of her father's business. I worked as a chemist at a local shop, and still do. And Gary… he never completed his education fully. But he got a job at the local carpenters. It wasn't much, but we were all contended, and kept in touch. Except Ray of course."
Kevin frowned. "He never contacted us for a whole year. We had no idea where he went or what he did. Mariah was especially unhappy. Lee tried to comfort her, but she was still waiting for Ray. And then at the beginning of last year, he shows up out of nowhere. He and his two sidekicks! That loud mouthed Japanese and that Yankee! He said he had been chosen at a top secret society, God-knows-where, and was leading a life of luxury. He was no longer our Ray. He had a completely different attitude, all high and mighty. But in spite all that, we accepted him! Mariah was still head over heals for him! And this is how Ray returned our kindness! By… by…" Being unable to continue, the young neko-jin broke down into noisy sobs.
"It was Ray! He wanted to break up with her. He was probably eying up some rich brat, and decided to ditch our Mariah! Mariah was devoted to him! She couldn't even think of another man taking up his place, not even Lee! And Ray? That dirty traitor! What did he do? He took advantage of her lo—" Hiro switched off the recorder and sighed. He had returned to the station an hour ago, after his interview with Cheng.
"Found anything yet?"
Hiro looked up see a tall silver haired officer leaning against his office door. "Depends on what 'anything' actually is, Garland."
"C'mon Hiro, spill it," Garland pushed himself off the wall. "Do you even know what you're looking for? Is there anything to look for at all? Face it. Kon had committed the murder. It's as clear as crystal. They've got all the evidences. It's just a matter of time before Kon himself confesses his crime. I don't see why you or Mr. Dickenson is making such a great fuss about it. That kid has barely completed a year at the BBA. He is not even an elite member! And yet here you are, wasting your time with that recorder. Listen to it as many times as you want. But you'll only hear the same thing. Kon is guilty!"
Hiro allowed himself a small smirk. "Just wait and see, Garland. Life's full of surprises."
Garland was about to reply, when the door banged opened. The two occupants turned to see a haggard young man, with somewhat messed up blond hair that fell over his eye.
"Michael?" Garland eyed the blond in bewilderment.
"How did the interview with Gary Tan go?" Hiro asked more calmly.
"Gary Tan?" Michael snapped. "Well he is dead as well!"
The older two officers jolted at this. "Dead?" Garland asked.
"Yes dead!" Michael replied angrily. "Cause the thing I interviewed wasn't Gary Tan. It was the creature that ate Gary Tan!"
"Huh?"
Hiro smirked slightly at other two's expression. "Well, I did show you a photograph of him beforehand, Michael."
"Yeah, but the guy's nowhere near the size of that picture! He's HUMONGOUS. Millions of skinny people in third world countries are starving because of that gluttonous giant!"
"So how's the interview?"
"Here listen!" Michael slammed down a recorder onto the desk and presses the 'play' button. A disgusting and rather noisy munching sound drifted from the device. The three officers flinched at a thunderous 'burp', before they finally heard Michael's voice.
"Er…So, Mr. Tan, I believe that you were aware of the interview.... right? Uh, I'm right… right?"
More munching.
"Er…yeah… so anyway, you are an old friend of Raymo—Whoa!"
A loud thud was heard, like something being slammed down forcefully. Then a thick and gruff voice spoke up. "Ray no friend Gary! Ray bad! Gary no like bad!"
A somewhat shaken up Michael spoke up. "I-I un-understand. But you see, Mr. Tan, Ray—"
"GARY NO TALK RAY! GARY NO TALK YOU! RAY HURT MARIAH! GARY NO LIKE RAY! GARY LIKE MARIAH! MARIAH GOOD FRIEND! LEE GOOD. KEVIN GOOD. GOOD SISTER MARIAH GOOD!"
"I see—"
"SHE TELL ME RAY BAD! SHE TELL! MARIAH GONE! RAY MAKE MARIAH DEAD! MARIAH LIKE RAY! RAY NO LIKE MARIAH!"
"Er…"
"Mariah like Ray! Ray no like Mariah! Good sister Mariah tell Gary. A TRAITOR LIKE RAY DESERVES TO BE PUNISHED! Gary want Mariah! Mariah want Ray! Ray hurt good sister Mariah! Ray hurt Gary! Gary want Ray punish!"
There was a short silence before…
"You like Ray?"
"Wha—?"
"YOU LIKE RAY!"
"Huh? Hey! Wait a—"
"YOU LIKE RAY! GARY NO LIKE RAY! GARY NO LIKE YOU!"
"Hey! Relax big guy. No need to—"
This was followed be a series of thumps.
"I'm warning you, Tan! Back off! I AM A POLICE OFFICER YOU GREAT BIG OAF!"
The thumping continued. There was a shuffling sound before the record ended.
Garland continued to stare at the recorder as if it might explode any second. Hiro had a rather amused look in his face.
"Is this me, or did Michael Parker just flee from an interview?" he asked the pissed off blond.
"What else should I have done?!" Michael spat venomously. "Stayed there and let Man-Mountain trample over me? Argh! Tell me Hiro, just what, exactly did we learn from this 'Michael-no-like' pea-brain?"
"Well," Hiro looked up thoughtfully. "If I were to translate that, I'd say Tan has a very bad impression of Ray and doesn't want to talk about him. He liked Wang a lot, like a sister. Seems to believe that Ray had killed her and deserves to be punished. And… yeah, he doesn't like you either."
"Really?" Michael said sarcastically. "Well let him know that the feeling is mutual!"
With that he left, grumbling something about the hazards of illegally obese people. Garland turned towards Hiro once again. "Say Hiro, how come young Granger and Tate aren't with you? They're usually here by this time, to discuss the case and all…"
"Those two," Hiro once again removed his shades, something he did only at special occasions. He had a rather mysterious smile playing on his lips. "Let's just say they're going to bring us a special delivery agent, fresh from Moscow."
"Moscow? Russia? Now, I get it!" Garland suddenly looked quite smug. "I bet Ivanov wouldn't be too happy to see me again. Especially after last year, when I totally slammed him out of the case. He's been cold towards me ever since!"
"It's not Ivanov."
"It's not? Who is it then? Kuznetsov? Petrov? How would either of those two help in this case?"
"Try again, Garland. It's not them either. Can't you think of any one else related to Moscow?"
"No. At least not someone who can be of any help, here. I mean the first name that comes to mind, associated with Russia, is Hiwatari. I don't remember anyone else…" Garland trailed off as realization struck him. "No way…"
Hiro only smirked. "Like I said, Garland, life's full of surprises. Just wait and see."
I'm ready to bet all of you were expecting Kai!
Well, initially I had planned on bringing Kai in chapter 3; and this chapter was actually the fourth one. But later on, I decided to get this chapter over with at first. Trust me; this chapter will play an important part later on.
Just so you know, Kuznetsov is Bryan's last name, while Petrov is Spencer's. Tala's Full name is Tala Ivanov (I like this better than Valkov).
Some of Hiro's dialogs have been have ripped from the actual anime. Like in Ep 38 Hiro said: "Just wait and see, Kai. Life's full of surprises." I simply substituted Kai with Garland!
And in the manga, Kevin really did call Max a Yankee.
Well now that I'm finally done with this chapter, I promise you'll get uninterrupted 'Kai and Ray'-ness from now on. Kai WILL appear again in the next chapter! Honest! You guys just get working on the reviews. The more the reviews, the sooner the updates! : )
KPR