Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q, Rurouni Kenshin and Peacemaker Kurogane characters belong to their respective creators. Slight OOC-ness expected. AU.

Chapter 12

"I don't trust mediums or other such charlatans…" Nanami sulked. "Yamaguchi Emiko is not a charlatan," Katagiri insisted. "In fact, I think we could use her help on this…"

"As in a séance? Ask Sakamoto-sama for his testimony?" Nanami's voice dripped sarcasm. Katagiri retaliated by tossing a bowl at Nanami, which he deftly ducked. Ryu and Kyu knelt to the side as the watched their elders squabble. Their stonewalled investigation into Sakamoto's murder and Dan's continued illness was taking its toll on all of them. It didn't help that the authorities, Ishin and Miburou were hiding things from them.

"I know a fraud when I see one," Nanami grated. "My late parents used to do those fancy chanting and talismans…"

"And have you dress up like a demon or fox spirit to be exorcised," Katagiri continued.

"Saitou was with Emiko on the night of the murders, conducting an exorcism. He's her grandnephew, even though he wouldn't admit it openly, she said so in her rant," Kyu pointed out. "He does seem to know what happened, but it may be that he's psychic… Maybe we could ask Emiko-san or Saitou-san to ask Sakamoto-sama directly…"

"Kyu, testimony from a spirit will be thrown out of court," Yukihira pointed out as she stepped in. "Uncle is breathing better now. He is sleeping." Katagiri moved into the kitchen.

"It's all down to opportunity, isn't it? Sakamoto and his men are wary of any bakufu outfit, especially the Shinsengumi. One, Sakamoto was killed by someone he trusted enough to be unarmed in his presence. He was cleaning his guns. His secretary was getting refreshments. Two, someone important enough for him to get up despite a bad cold. Three, someone whose identity he wanted to keep secret," Ryu summarised. "This person was also a relatively skilled swordsman of a height which allows him to use his katana with ease in that low-roofed building. Based on Himura's observations, Nakaoka was on his feet when he struck from behind."

"All the Ishin bigwigs have alibis to back them up. Saigo's been in Satsuma since last month. Katsura and Okubo were at a meeting that night… anyway, none of them, or their closest followers, would strike an unarmed man or a man from behind. It isn't samurai-like. Even Battousai and the Shinsengumi are known to challenge their opponents first," Nanami pointed out. "Unless they employed a ninja to do their dirty work…"

"A ninja would show better planning," Ryu said. He cast a glance in Kyu's direction. Kyu was deep in thought.

"Ryu, don't forget the Shinsengumi captain… there were few reports of other violent deaths or sword-related injuries suffered on that night was there?" Kyu frowned. "A captain would be a skilled fighter. He wouldn't have gone down without putting up a fight. His opponent would have been wounded… Toudou's death was not instantaneous."

Nanami nodded in agreement. "Few swordsmen could kill a Shinsengumi man without suffering some form of injury."

"There was no way he could have covered the distance from the murder scene to the river. Moreover, both Sakamoto and Nakaoka had no chance to draw their swords. If they had been forced to draw swords, it would be a fight to the death."

Kyu slapped his thigh. "I know! There was someone else who was wounded, fairly badly too…"

Ryu nodded. "I think you have the motive, opportunity and suspect, but all evidence here is circumstantial. Moreover, our prime suspect is currently missing and has both Itou's faction and the Ishin after him."

"Nanami-san, could we get help to look for that person?" Kyu asked. "We need to find him before anyone else does."

Picking her way past the cemetery, a bent figure entered the solitary hut tucked up beside the Mibu temple. Yamguchi Emiko placed her bag on the low table and lit the lamp. Light filled her dim shack with its ofuda-lined walls. Urns, bowls and bundles of odd herbs littered the tattered tatami mats. A blanket-covered form against the far wall stirred. The medium crackled softly.

"You can't run forever, boy…"

The form whimpered fearfully. The old crone hobbled over to her charge. The eyes were open and fearful. The white-knuckled hands still clutched the blanket.

"Tell you what, I'll call my grandnephew. Hajime will know what laws govern samurai…" She did not see the figure crawl out from under the blanket and pick up a heavy urn from the floor. A swift and forceful crack split the old medium's skull open.

"I absolutely refuse to see a medium, not since that medium Fujita Goro tried to skewer me at that Soba Place!" a redhead youth protested. Still, he could leave a group of women unescorted at this hour, even if a number of them were kunoichi.

"Come on, Ken. If you can't even visit her grave, you seriously need to speak to her in spirit," Umeko nudged. "Maybe Ryouma's spirit could tell us who killed him." The restaurant's waitresses nodded in agreement as they followed their mistress. Their faces told Kenshin that they had regretted their decision to accompany Aunt Umeko on her midnight visit to the medium.

"As in a séance?" Kenshin's brow furrowed as he pictured them holding hands while the medium called up the dead.

"She's in," Megumi noted the light from the window. She rapped on the door and was surprised when it swung open. The stench of blood hit Kenshin. He clutched his sword, ready. Several of the waitresses screamed.

A solitary lamp flickered in the hut. The old medium was sprawled on the tatami. Blood and brain matter oozed from her shattered skull. A cracked urn stained with blood lay nearby. Kenshin drew his sword and entered while the others waited. A few of the waitress drew their shuriken and kunai. Umeko pulled Megumi close behind her. Megumi was not too surprised when she pulled out a dagger from her belt.

"He's gone," Kenshin announced. A kunoichi was sent for Dan's residence. Another was sent for the local watch.

"Himura-san. Something is wrong…" Megumi's eyes spotted the pile of bedding in the corner. "Most people roll up their bedding after getting up. The medium has just returned from a job, hasn't she?"

The old crone was dressed. Mud from the cemetery clung to her sandals. Kenshin looked curiously at a piled blanket. He gingerly felt it. "Warm." They had just missed the killer. The blood stain on the mats was still wet. "Blood." He pointed out a stain on the blanket, separate from those on the mats. A length of grimy bandage peeked out from under the bedding.

Author's Notes:

Another murder. I think most readers should guess who the killer is now. We have another death.

About that Soba Place incident, it was taken from my PMK fic New Kyoto Post. It is a rather silly story on my part. Why Saitou's murderous intent in Kamiya dojo a decade later? Besides the Shinsengumi's animosity towards Battousai… One day during the Bakumatsu, Kenshin drops by the Soba Place to get in touch with the late Tomoe via spirit medium Fujita aka a moonlighting Saitou. He gets challenged and retaliates in a katana-free method, dealing poor Saitou a kick to his jaw, which incidentally broke his jawbone and put him on a porridge diet for a while.