Chapter3

"You seem distracted, Sesh," Kouga said to his friend as they sat in a restaurant a week later.

Sesshoumaru shook his head, Kouga was probably the only person who could get away with calling him that. "I was just thinking."

"About...?"

"We haven't had a decent case in months," he said with a frown.

Kouga nodded. "It's getting tedious isn't it? I wish something interesting would happen. By the way, how did the babysitting go?"

"That was a week ago, Kouga."

"I know when it was, Sesh. I just forgot to ask earlier."

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "It was fine. Taiki was in bed when I got there and I just read to him and he went to sleep."

"In bed? What time did his parents leave? 8 is a bit late to go out isn't it?"

"A girl called Rin, looked after him until I got there."

Kouga's eyes widened at the mention of a girl. "Was she nice?"

"I suppose so."

"What did she look like?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at his partner before thinking over his question. "Medium height, slim, long dark hair, dark eyes."

Kouga laughed. "You sound like you're describing a criminal, Sesh." Sesshoumaru shrugged and finished his coffee. "She sounds pretty," Kouga said after a pause with a dreamy look on his face.

"Stop that. You look like a lovesick puppy," Sesshoumaru said irritably.

-*-*-*-*-*-

About a week after Sesshoumaru and Kouga's conversation took place, something interesting did happen. Sesshoumaru and Kouga were called out to a house near Kagome and Inuyasha's. The whole street was blocked off and residents stood on the pavement, watching the police wandering around, with confused expressions. With a sigh, Sesshoumaru got out of the car and pulled on his suit jacket as he and Kouga walked towards the nearest policeman.

"What happened?" Kouga asked as he looked around. No matter how many times he'd been to the scene of a crime, he still felt uneasy.

"A murder, sir," the man said shortly, handing a folder over to Sesshoumaru who examined it carefully.

Kouga grimaced. He hated murders! "Where's the victim?"

"In the house," the man gestured to a house opposite them. "The forensics team is in there now."

Kouga braced himself and followed Sesshoumaru into the house. The house was fairly new, or it had been redecorated recently, he couldn't tell which. It was tastefully furnished and nothing seemed to be out of place. They walked up the stairs and came to a stop on the landing where a team of forensic experts stood. One man noticed Sesshoumaru and Kouga and walked towards them.

"It's been a while since we've had a murder," he said by way of greeting.

"It's been a while since we last saw you Miroku," Kouga said with a nod.

Sesshoumaru nodded at the man. "Where's the body?"

"Over there," he said and pointed down the corridor to their right.

Kouga and Sesshoumaru followed his pointed finger and saw a covered figure on the floor. They walked towards it, carefully avoiding the objects strewn across the floor. Miroku followed them and stepped over the body and pulled back the material to reveal a bloody mess. Kouga swallowed hard and looked away.

"Multiple stab wounds to the chest area," Miroku said as he looked down distastefully at the body. "There are bruises on the wrists and neck as well."

"Time of death?" Sesshoumaru asked as he scribbled down what Miroku said into a notebook he always carried.

Miroku scratched his head thoughtfully and looked down at the body again. "About three or four hours ago I'd say. We're taking it back to do an autopsy, so I should be able to give you better information sometime in the next couple of days."

Sesshoumaru nodded and turned around to go back downstairs with Kouga in tow.

Kouga looked back up the stairs briefly when he got to the bottom and grimaced again. He walked over to one of the officers he knew and clapped him on the back by way of greeting. "Any information for us, Hiten?"

The man turned and nodded at Sesshoumaru before speaking. "The victim was a 30 year old woman by the name of Ami Sasaki. She lived here alone. None of the residents claim she had any family, although we'll have to look into that."

Sesshoumaru scribbled that down quickly and Kouga nodded. "Anything else?"

"She was close to one of the residents who lives two doors down. We haven't been able to contact her yet though."

"What was her name?"

"We asked the neighbours but they didn't know her very well. The name on her mail box says Yoshida though."

Kouga groaned. "There has to be hundreds of Yoshidas in this city!"

With a sigh, Kouga thanked his friend and turned to walk back outside. Sesshoumaru followed him, still scribbling in his notebook. Most of the residents had returned to their homes while a few stood on the pavement watching. Sesshoumaru started walking down the street and stopped in front of a mail box with the name Yoshida written neatly across it.

"Do you think she came home while we were inside?" Kouga asked.
"It's possible. Let's find out."

Sesshoumaru walked towards the door and knocked loudly. He waited before knocking again. Still no one answered his knocks. He frowned and leaned forward to peer through the glass in the door, trying to see if there was any movement on the other side.

Kouga sighed irritably. "We'll just have to come back tomorrow, Sesh."

They walked back towards their car and watched as Miroku and his team put the body into the back of a van and drove off. They waited for their fellow officers to finish clearing up and then followed them as they drove back to the station.