Conviction of Character

A Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction

Written by Shadow-Mage-Evelyn 2009

PART FOUR

"Here."

A coffee mug suddenly appeared in Neo's line of vision. He was sitting on the floor of the military dormitory that he and his team were staying in while they were in East City, mushed between the couch and the coffee table, chin resting on his folded arms. He looked up to the owner of the hand who had delivered the mug and met Arilyn's inquisitive brown eyes.

"Thanks," he said, sitting up and removing his glasses, rubbing his eyes for a moment before sipping the dark brown liquid. He made a face then and set the cup back down.

"Mmm. I forgot how badly they make a cup of coffee around here."

Arilyn grinned and sat down in one of the two chairs on either end of the coffee table. Papers and photos were spread all over the tabletop with small notes written in Neo's looping, flourishing handwriting attached with paperclips to things of interest. Neo's blue coat was draped haphazardly across the back of the couch where he'd thrown it upon his arrival. The woman shook her head, pushing some of her long brown hair behind her ear. She would never understand his habits, but somehow they worked and he always got the job done. The eccentricity of geniuses, she reminded himself.

"So how's it going? You find anything of interest?"

"I might," he said, pulling a piece of paper to the top of the pile. "Have we been able to get in touch with the son?"

"Not yet. He always seems to be in class."

"Send Kai on it," Neo said, referring to another of his underlings. "He'll pin him down."

"No doubt."

She crossed her legs and stared hard at Neo.

"You know…Tim's got himself locked in his dark room developing prints of photos you asked him to take. What were they of?"

Neo looked up at her open mouthed, shifting about.

"Uh…the wife's bell collection. You know it's interesting," he said, pointing at the paper in front of him.

"What is?"

"The son's testimony."

"From the original crime report?"

"Yeah. There are a lot of inconsistencies in his testimony as opposed to that of his parents."

"Oh?"

"Mmm. See, in our victim's testimony, young Edward is holding the carving knife in his left hand and then proceeds to beat up the doctor with his empty left. The son, however, says that upon arrival into the room he says the suspect was holding it in his right hand."

Arilyn shrugged and ran a hand over her scalp, pulling her hair back out of her eyes.

"Maybe he got confused. He was seeing him from the back, so he just said right instead of left."

"Which would have made sense, but they would have been facing the same direction."

Arilyn blinked for a moment, until Neo got up and moved to stand behind her chair.

"You're Ed and I'm the son, right?"

"Right."

"We're facing the same direction, so my left hand is on the same side as yours."

Arilyn nodded.

"No way to get that confused," she said.

"Exactly. Plus, Edward's right arm is automail, and he wasn't wearing gloves that night by all accounts. So, that's another identifying feature. The other thing that bothers me. The doctor and his wife testify that the son came into the room after the doctor dislodged the knife and threw the impaled pillow on the floor."

"So how could he know which hand was holding the knife if it was already out of Edward's hands?" Arilyn finished and Neo pointed at her nodding.

"Right. And finally, the coup de grace. The doctor and his wife say that they were awakened by a loud noise and then suddenly our suspect enters the room."

Arilyn's eyes glittered.

"What does the son say?"

Neo smirked at her.

"He says he heard nothing until his father shouted in the next room."

Arilyn pursed her lips.

"Heavy sleeper, maybe?"

Neo shook his head, flopping onto the couch.

"Our young psychologist-to-be said he was up late studying at the time."

Arilyn grinned and Neo mirrored it.

"You know what this means," she said.

"Yes I do," Neo replied, putting his glasses back on. "But there are still a few things I have left to prove."

At that moment, Tim O'Brien came into the room with a few photographs.

"Here, boss. The photos you wanted," he said, handing them to Neo.

"Ah. Thank you very much, Tim."

Silently, the blonde man studied the photographs, pressing his right hand to his mouth as he did so. Tim and Arilyn exchanged glances, but said nothing. When Neo flipped to the third photograph, one of a close up of two bells, he suddenly grinned.

"Excellent," he said, and then began gathering up the photos.

"What is it?" Arilyn said.

"More evidence. Come along, everyone," he said, sliding into his blue jacket and taking a swig of coffee. He wrinkled his face.

"God, that is foul stuff," he said. "Remind me to teach Colonel Mustang how to make a proper pot of coffee."

He moved past the two, buttoning his coat with the file folder between his teeth. They just shrugged and followed out after him.

Master Sergeant Kai Ozu was a very tall, very lean man with black hair that he slicked back on his head. His facial features were strong and sharp, and his sharply angular eyebrows seemed locked in an eternally angry expression. He was unnervingly silent at all times, but had an uncanny ability to dig up just about anything in a matter of hours whenever asked. Originally from Xing, there were rumors floating around that he used to work for Xing's Royal Family. Neo didn't really care that much, only knew that when Kai was on the job, it would get done and done well.

Beside Kai stood Sergeant Suki Myou, a small, impish creature with an award winning smile. With a slim frame and a height of only 5 feet 3 inches, she didn't look intimidating. Throw in an unruly mop of curly blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, and she reminded Neo of a china doll. A doll with a penchant for high explosives, he reminded himself. Suki was highly trained in disarming bombs—but only because she knew how to build them, too. She was also a highly skilled marksman. However, her real talent laid in gathering intelligence. No one could bug a phone faster or more efficiently than Suki Myou.

Neo strode up to where they were standing outside Eastern Headquarters.

"You find him?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Suki answered. "They've got him in a room waiting for you right now."

Neo started walking into the building.

"Oh, and Rosaline wants to talk to you about her findings. She's in the lab right now."

"Oh! Great! I'll see her first."

Suki grinned as they headed down the hall towards the labs.

"Ohhhh…gonna see the pretty one first, huh?"

"Well, I dunno. Is he prettier than Rosaline?"

Suki smirked.

"I didn't think he was your type, sir," she replied sardonically. Neo smiled nonchalantly.

"I like to keep my options open," he said, opening the door for her.

"Where I come from, sir, you would be called a right straight hound dog."

"Where you come from, Sergeant, anyone who looks at another person funny is considered a right straight hound dog."

Suki had to laugh at that one.

They entered the lab a minute later, pushing open the door to reveal Major Rosaline Thomas, a pretty young woman in her late twenties. Long, curly, honey gold hair fell a little past her shoulders, held back by a clip in a ponytail. A few stray curls fell around her face, framing smooth features with high cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose. She looked up at her visitors in surprise.

"Ah," she said. "Lieutenant Colonel. I'm glad you're here. I've got some things you may want to look at."

"Alright," Neo said, coming over to her side. She handed over some charts.

"I've been looking over the evidence that was collected. Mostly fibers and hair and things. Edward's DNA was definitely at the crime scene, and his fingerprints were definitely on the knife."

"So it was definitely in his left hand," said Neo, throwing Arilyn a glance and she smirked in response. Rosaline nodded.

"Right. However, I looked at these bells you asked me to collect, and you were right. The fingerprints don't match Edward's or the doctor's."

"Whose are they?" he asked.

"Well, I only managed to get a partial print because whoever handled them before had wiped them away."

"Okay. But whose are they?"

She smiled at him.

"How attractive am I to you right now?"

Neo smirked.

"That depends on what your answer is."

She handed him another piece of paper without saying a word. He read it quietly, then suddenly broke into a grin.

"Major, did I mention just how radiant you look today?" he asked her. She smiled.

"Why, no, sir. What a nice thing to say."

Neo slid the papers into the folder and headed for the door.

"Thank you very much, Major!"

She just waved at his back as the others hurried to follow him out the door and down the hall.

"Now what??" Arilyn demanded. "Are you going to share what you've learned with the rest of the class?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel," said a cool, hard feminine voice. "Please do share with the rest of us what you've managed to find out."

Neo froze mid-step and then turned with a smug grin to face a very attractive woman. She was dressed in military blues with a skirt that stopped at the knee and a pair of legs that were, in Neo's opinion, to die for. Her dark auburn hair was pulled back into an elegant twist save a few locks that were too short that fell around to frame her face. A pair of round glasses sat perched on her nose, and a pair of intelligent sapphire blue eyes stared hard at Neo's face. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and overall didn't look terribly pleased.

Still grinning, Neo sidled up to her.

"How nice to see you again, Colonel! I do believe you've gotten more stunning since the last time we saw one another. How have you been?"

"Cut the crap, Neo," she demanded, dropping a hand to her left hip. "When you took over this case, did it ever occur to you that you needed to inform me?!"

"Oh," said the Lieutenant Colonel as innocently as possible, putting a finger against his lips. "Huh…must have slipped my mind."

"I'll bet it did," the woman said, rolling her eyes.

"What's going on here?" said Roy Mustang as he walked up to the group standing in his hallway.

"Ah! Colonel Mustang! Great! We're all here!!"

"Uh huh," the Colonel said, turning to face the dark haired woman in front of Neo. "And who might you be?"

She held out a hand.

"Colonel Ada Malone. I'm from the Legal Department."

Roy gave her a stern look after shaking her hand, clasping his hands behind his back.

"What took you so long to get here, Colonel?" he asked.

"I apologize for my tardiness, Colonel," she replied. "I would have been here sooner if someone had done their job and told me there were investigating a new case."

"Mm. Seems to be a lot of that going on around here."

Both Colonels turned hard stares upon Neo, who shook a finger at them with a tsking noise.

"Now, now, you two," he said. "No need to get your knickers in a twist. I've just about got this case wrapped up and you're just in time to see me bust the bad guy!"

"And that would be who, exactly?" Ada asked.

"Whom, Colonel," Neo corrected, moving past her down the hallway. "'That would be whom'."

Ada only rolled her eyes at Neo's back.

"Alright, folks," Neo said, opening the door to the room. "Sit back and enjoy the show."

With that, he entered the room.