The long way to Tré's penthouse apartment in the city took them 45 minutes to drive. The perfect amount of time to race. The wooded area was quiet, and Law's tires screeched as he went over 100, his car an ice-blue blur as Tré's souped up Vespa was almost beside him, just a foot or so behind. Aside from being a forensic investigator and morgue assistant, the woman had a penchant for mechanics and her grandfather was the CEO of the Mitsubishi car brand, which naturally meant the girl knew her away around cars and vehicles.
With an evil smirk, Law slammed on the gas and shot the speed level to over 120, giving himself a good distance from Tré. He was thinking of going faster, but his cell phone suddenly rang and he glared at the caller ID as he pulled it out of his pocket.
~Tokyo Police Department~
"Oh, what fresh hell is this?"
...
Ace was pacing the carpet if his office as he stared at the book on his desk. His boss, Lieutenant Rob Lucci had brought the object in a few minutes ago, and as he read the notes inside, he had even more questions that were unanswered!
Cellphone in hand, he hit speed dial to the ME.
"Trafalgar Law." He answered on the first ring, his response as direct as a bullet.
Ace closed his office door, "You never told me you got a hit on VICAP."
"What hit?"
"On Diana Sterling. I'm looking T her murder book right now."
VICAP, the Violent Criminals Apprehension Program, was a national database of homicide and assault information gathered from cases across the country. Killers often repeated the same patterns, and with this data, investigators could link crimes committed by the same perpetrator.
As a matter of routine, Law had initiated a search on VICAP.
"We didn't get any matches in the Hokkaido," he said. "We ran down every homicide involving mutilation, night entry, and duct tape bindings. Nothing fit Sterling's profile."
"What about the ones in Nagano? Three years ago, there were four victims. One in Yashima, three in a hotel next to Matsumoto Castle. All were in VICAP."
Law slowed down and unlit matey came to a stop. "I reviewed those cases, he wasn't our unsub."
"Listen to this, Law. Dora Ciccone, age twenty-two, graduate from Emory. Victim first subdued with Rohypnol, then restrained on the bed with nylon cord-"
"Our guy is issuing chloroform and duct tape, Portgaz-ya."
Ace frowned. "He sliced open her abdomen, cut out her uterus and then sliced her neck open. I'm telling you, it's too much of a fucking coincidence."
Law ran a hand through his dark hair in annoyance. "The Nagano cases are closed. They've been closed for almost two and a half years. That perp is dead."
Ace's voice grew heated. "What if Nagano PD blew it? What if he wasn't their killer?"
"Portgaz-ya, they had DNA to back it up. Hair, fibers. Plus there was a witness. A victim who survived."
"Oh yeah. The survivor. Victim number five." Ace's voice held a strangely taunting tone.
"She confirmed the perp's identity."
"She also conveniently shot him to death."
Law eyed the tattoos across his fingers, the ink spelling out one letter of the word 'death' on each digit. "So what, you want to arrest his corpse?"
"Did you ever talk to the surviving victim?"
"No." Law was slightly amused by Ace's anger.
"Why the hell not?"
"What would be the point?"
Ace wanted to throw something. "The point is that you might've learned something interesting. Like the fact that she left Nagano after the attack." He paused for a second. "And guess where she lives now?"
Through the hiss of the cellphone, Law was suddenly aware of the beat of his own pulse. "Tokyo?"
Ace laughed. "And you're not gonna believe what she does for a living."
...
Dr. Catherine Cordell sprinted down the hospital corridor, the soles of her Nikes squeaking on the linoleum.
A nurse called out: "They're in Trauma Two!"
"I'm there!" Catherine yelled, moving like a guides missile and burst through the double doors into the emergency room.
Half a dozen faces looked up in relief as she entered the room. In one glance she took in the situation. Saw jumbled instruments glittering on a tray, the IV poles hung with Ringer's lactate. Blood streaked gauze littered the floor, and the rapid beep of a heart monitor rang in her ears.
"What's going on?"
"John Doe, hit and run. Can in unconscious and unresponsive to stimuli."
The man on the table was stripped naked, every detail of his anatomy mercilessly exposed to everyone's gaze. He appeared to be in his sixties, already intubated and on a ventilator.
"Systolic is barely at sixty!" A nurse yelled. "His hematocrit is at fifteen."
/He's bleeding out from the inside./ Catherine thought. "We need O-neg and fresh plasma, STAT!"
"On the way, Doc!"
Catherine palmed one of the scalpels on the laparotomy tray and made a quick slice below the man's belly button.
Blood gushed out in a river and she grabbed the clamps, "We've gotta do this now!" She cut some more, through the layer of fat all the way through muscle until she was looking into a cavity of blood. She put the clamps in place and peeled back the skin, two nurses shoving laparotomy pads inside to soak up the red stuff.
"It's still pooling, and we've got almost two liters in the reservoir! Shit, it's not working." Dr. Cordell turned to a surgical intern. "Get me a Foley catheter and some suction."
When the catheter came to her she stripped it and slid the tip into the man's distended stomach, blood instantly pouring out into the empty bucket below. The intern used the hose to suck up more, and soon they had a clear look at what was wrong.
"Whoa." The hemorrhage was causedby a thick gash in the lining of the stomach. No doubt created by the car that hit him.
Catherine grabbed one of the surgical kits and quickly isolated the wound, absorbing more blood from the gauze, and then went to work, seeing up the cut as fast as she could. The blood that had been spurting through her fingers just moments before was slowing, and within seconds, it stopped altogether.
"Rhythm's coming back!" A nurse cried as the shrill beep of the heart monitor came back. It was pumping again, circulating through the bloodstream instead of the stomach.
"Are we perfusing?" Cordell asked. "What's the BP?"
The nurse stared at the monitor. "BP is...ninety over forty. Yes!"
Catherine stared into the open abdomen. The blood had slowed to a barely perceptible ooze, and she smiled.
"Folks, I think we have a save here."
...
Tré spun her Cespa around and slid up to her boss's car. "What's up?"
Law sighed in aggravation. "I have to go back, something just came up."
Tré looked a little bit crestfallen but she smiled. "Okay. Guess I'll go see Ayane then. I need to go grocery shopping anyway."
"Why bother?" Law smirked. "It's not like you eat anyway."
"I eat."
"You eat under a thousand calories a day."
"I don't like food."
"Clearly." He revved his engine and backed up. "Be at the office tomorrow, 7AM sharp."
Tré saluted the older doctor. "Yes, master." Law rolled his eyes and drove away, tires squeaking, kicking up clouds of dust.
Tré shook her head. "Show off."
...
Ayane had just stepped out of her car at Fresh Market when the familiar "Ayane-taaaaaaaan!" met her ears. The 26-year-old turned to watch as her 22-year-old cousin flew at her.
"Hi, Tré-chan."
"So hey. Has Zoro told you anything about the new case?"
Ayane rolled her eyes and grabbed a cart, walking into the blessed AC of the store. Tré kept blabbering about murders and corpses, which made Ayane cringe.
"Tré, hush." The woman scolded as she picked up a package of bell peppers. She sniffed them and put them in her cart.
Tré stared at the fruit with a blazing look on her face. Tré was the kind of girl who could eat her weight in food and not gain an ounce, but she didn't eat too often, just a snack here or there.
But damn those pomegranates looked yummy.
"Tré?" Ayane stepped beside the girl and repeated her name. With a sigh, Ayane poked her cousin, who turned.
"What?"
Ayane moved her hands to sign: What's wrong? Is the case distracting you?
Tré shook her head. "Not really. I'm just worn out. I've pretty much memorized the case files, ad I keep thinking of that guy from the 80's, who was always on te news, who hacked out people's lady parts. You remember, what was his name...Kazu...Kazu something."
Ayane shrugged and grabbed a pomegranate and some cucumbers. "You'll remember after you eat."
"I'm not hungry, woman!"
...
I watch as the two women scan the aisles for food, it's a coincidence that we are in the same area, but I am happy, because now I know.
They know too much.
Without rousing any suspicion, I follow them outside to their vehicles. The smaller girl is following the other, and pretty soon I am able to locate their destination.
...
It was a little bit past six o'clock in the morning when Law's phone rang again. Cursing, he sat up and answers with a rough "What."
"I'm sorry to call so early, Doc, but I was wondering if you had heard from Tré or Ayane since last evening?"
Law rubbed his eyes and stirs a yawn. "No. They went out together, that's all I know."
Zoro's voice was hard. "They haven't come home."