Silver Beast: Investigation

June 1 - Monday

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

"Mrs. Higurashi, this is the Police. Open the door! We have some questions to ask you!" Officer Karl called as he leaned against the doorframe. He knocked twice more but still no one replied.

"I wonder why she hasn't answered?" Officer Jackson asked as they waited outside the apartment door. "This is the third time this month and we haven't gotten a response."

"They're probably just avoiding us, afraid they'll get caught for something we don't know about." Officer Karl said as he pounded on the door once more. "Open up Mrs. Higurashi, this is the Police. We need to speak with you in regards to your daughter."

"You guys are wasting your time." said an elderly man smoking from the ledge above them.

"Why is that?" Officer Jackson frowned as he hooked his thumbs into his belt loops.

"They moved out two weeks ago." The old man said.

"Two weeks ago?" Officer Karl frowned. "No wonder we can't reach them."

"Do you know why they moved?" Officer Jackson asked.

"Got an email from the office saying there was a gas leak in their apartment. To told us to keep an eye on our meters." the old man shrugged. "Haven't heard of any complaints since."

"Do you know where they moved?" Officer Karl asked. "We really need to get in touch with them. Their daughter is a key figure in a case we are working on."

"Sorry, I don't. The apartment office might know though." The old man said before pulling a long drag on his cigarette.

"Thanks, your assistance is greatly appreciated." Officer Karl nodded as he and Jackson headed down the stairs.

Thankfully the apartment complex wasn't very large and they were able to reach the front desk with ease.

"Good morning officers. How can I help you today?" asked the Apartment worker.

"We need the new address for the tenants staying in Apartment 21B." Officer Karl said as he and Jackson leaned on the front reception desk.

"Of course, let me pull up their information." The apartment worker nodded as she pulled up their file. She frowned when she noticed the second page of the sign-out form was blank. "That's strange, they didn't list a forwarding address on the form."

"Do you know who might have been working the day they checked out?" Officer Jackson asked.

"No, I don't. Only my manager has access to that information. She doesn't come in until tomorrow." the apartment worker sighed as she continued to look over the document. "I do see here that their kids went to Tama High School however. The school might have an address for you to reach them at. If they don't I'm sure my manager would be more than welcome to speak with you guys."

"Tama High you say?" Officer Karl asked as he made a note on his phone.

"Yes Sir." The apartment worker nodded.

"It's at least a step in the right direction." Officer Jackson nodded and they turned towards the door. "Thanks for your help. If we don't get an address we'll be back tomorrow."

"Of course. Feel free to call us if you have any other questions." the apartment worker waved.

"Will do." Officer Jackson nodded as he followed Officer Karl out the door.

"Do you think we still have time to make it over to the school?" Officer Jackson asked as he looked down at his wristwatch.

"School lets out in half an hour. If we drive over there now we might just catch them on their way out." Officer Karl said as he started up their car.

"Then let's get moving." Officer Jackson agreed.

When they pulled up to the school they had roughly ten minutes left before the bell rang. They were just parking their car when Mrs. Higurashi pulled into the parking lot. Not wanting to miss their chance they quickly headed over to her.

"Excuse me ma'am." Officer Karl called startling her from messing with the radio. "Are you Mrs. Higurashi?"

"I am officer. Is there something I can help you with?" Alice asked as the officers approached her car.

"Do you mind stepping out of the car please? We'd like to ask you some questions regarding your daughter." Officer Karl asked.

"Oh! Of course." Alice smiled weakly as she tried to steady her nerves. Not wanting to tip them off she carefully turned off the car, unhooked her seat belt and calmly stepped outside. "What's this about? Did my daughter do something wrong?"

"That depends. Do you know where your daughter was on April 26th at around 11:30 pm?" Officer Jackson asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"What day of the week would that have been?" Alice asked as she closed her car door.

"Tuesday." Officer Karl said.

"Seeing how it's a school night Kagome was either getting ready for bed or already in bed." Alice said just as the school bell rang. "She gets up around 6:30 every morning to get ready for school. Why would you need to know this?"

"We have a witness stating that your daughter was attacked in your apartment complex that night around 11:30 to midnight." Officer Jackson said, making Alice stiffen. "We found both her blood and a hair sample placing her at the scene."

"That must have been the night she'd been assaulted by the homeless man." Alice said as kids began to come out of the school to get on the bus.

"Homeless man?" Officer Jackson frowned as he flipped open his notepad. "Description?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Alice said just as Kagome, Inuyasha and Sota began to walk towards her car. "Kagome honey? Can you come here a minute?"

"Mom?" Kagome asked hesitantly as she came to stand beside the car.

"This is Officer Karl and Officer Jackson. They've come to take a statement on the homeless man that attacked you at the park the other night." Alice said as Kagome nervously looked at the cops.

"What do you want to know?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Officer Jackson asked gently.

He could tell that Kagome had a kind spirit. Having worked in law enforcement for close to ten years now he'd seen his fare share of physical and sexual assault victims. Unfortunately Kagome was sending off all the signals he needed to know that there was a lot more to this story than what Mr. Harold had let on.

"My friend Sango and I were having a serious conversation over the phone so I snuck out to talk in the park. I'd just hung up when…" Kagome gulped as she thought over that horrible night. It had all happened so quickly and the scary reminder that her life could be very different made her eyes sting.

"It's ok honey. Just tell the officers what they need to know." Alice smiled softly as Inuyasha tucked her close to his side.

"Sorry." Kagome sniffled as she rubbed her teary eyes.

"No need to apologize." Officer Karl nodded as he too noticed the signs of abuse. "You have every right to be upset."

"I know, I just don't like thinking about it." Kagome sniffled as Inuyasha lovingly ran his hand up and down her back. "Like I was saying, I'd just hung up the phone when he came up behind me and placed a knife to my throat."

"Where?" Officer Jackson frowned as he took note of her attack.

"Here." Kagome said as she pointed to a tiny pink line just under her jaw. "I could tell the blade wasn't clean. It felt grimy and rusty against my skin."

"Your wound looks like it's healed over well." Officer Karl approved as he looked over the tiny mark.

"That and the scrapes on my knees when he pushed me to the ground." Kagome lied as she tried to cover up Inuyasha's part of the story. "I wanted to yell for help but he threatened to slit my throat if I did."

"So he came up behind you, placed a knife to your throat and then pinned you to the ground and threatened your life should you scream? Do I have your statement correct so far?" Officer Jackson asked for clarification.

"Yes." Kagome nodded. "If he'd been anymore sober I might not have been able to escape."

"How'd you manage that?" Officer Jackson asked.

"He… he was in the process of… um..." Kagome blushed as she looked down in shame. "Trying to... to get in my pj's when he got distracted."

"Distracted?" Officer Karl asked.

"Yeah, he howled at the moon." Kagome lied, causing both Jackson and Karl to quirk an eyebrow. "It was really strange. Almost like he'd been possessed or something."

"That is... quite unusual." Officer Karl frowned.

"And freaky." Kagome agreed. "Anyways, he was in the middle of howling when I managed to roll out from under him. I ran as fast as I could through the woods until I found a hole underneath a pine tree. He surprisingly had little problem keeping up with me. The entire time we ran he kept panting like a dog. It was very scary. I thought I'd never lose him."

"Whatever drug that guy took must have been pretty strong." Sota piped in.

"Indeed." Officer Jackson frowned as he took down the last of his notes. "I take it you went home after that?"

"No, I stayed there until my boyfriend came." Kagome lied as she smiled shyly up at him. "He took me home after that."

"Is there a reason you didn't make a report about the incident?" Officer Jackson asked.

"I… I was ashamed of what had happened." Kagome sighed as she looked up at them through her lashes. "I don't like to think about it. If I made a report it would make it seem more real."

"That's understandable." Officer Karl nodded. "Do keep in mind if we don't know about a mad man running around Port Hardy, then that puts others in danger."

"I know, I've had some time to think about it." Kagome sighed. "I don't want that to happen to anyone else. So if you do end up catching him… I'll be willing to testify."

"That's good to hear." Officer Jackson smiled encouragingly. "Do you mind giving us a description of the attacker?"

"It was dark so it was kind of hard to see his face well. What I could make out though was that he had dark brown eyes, a pointed nose and matted pepper grey hair that went into a low ponytail." Kagome said.

"Age and build?" Officer Jackson asked.

"He felt short when he held me from behind, maybe 5'5, 5'6 in height?" Kagome said as she thought through the assault. "He looked medium built in weight, almost boney and he had a rough smoker voice."

"Thank you, that is very helpful." Officer Jackson nodded as he closed his notebook.

"If you think of anything else give us a call down at the station." Officer Karl said as he handed them one of their business cards. "In the meantime I'd like to get some of your information. What is your new address? We stopped by your previous residence earlier today but didn't find one."

"We are staying with some friends until we can find something more permanent." Alice said. "We had to move out so quickly from our previous apartment that we didn't have time to find a place."

"That's understandable." Officer Karl nodded. "The address?"

"365 Opine Rd." Alice said. "The home is registered under Totosai Blackstone."

"Excellent." Officer Karl nodded. "You all have a great day. We'll be in touch."

"Thank you." Alice said as they waved the officers goodbye. They all breathed a sigh of relief when the police car had driven safely out of the parking lot. "You think they bought your story about Harold being a psychopath?"

"I sure hope so." Kagome sighed as Inuyasha kissed her on the forehead. "If not, we all have some explaining to do."

"If they have a problem, they can go through me." Inuyasha scoffed as Kagome tossed her backpack into the car. He was about to ask Kagome out for dinner when he remembered that his brother had set up an appointment for him to give blood at the clinic later that afternoon. Not wanting to sit in that awful place by himself he rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "Hey, uh Kags? Are you doing anything later?"

"Not really?" Kagome asked as she was about to get in the backseat. "Just doing homework like usual. Why?"

"I forgot I have an appointment at 5:00 with the Society. Would you maybe want to go with me?" Inuyasha asked as he kicked his shoe on the ground nervously. "We could maybe catch dinner or something in town afterwards?"

"Sure! What kind of appointment?" Kagome asked as she closed the car door.

"I have to go get blood drawn at the Clinic." Inuyasha said catching the Higurashi family by surprise.

"Why do you have to give blood?" Sota asked, causing Inuyasha's posture to stiffen.

"It's for some tests." Inuyasha shrugged as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Is everything alright?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"Are you sick?" Alice added, making Inuyasha's cheeks flush.

"No, it's nothing like that. My brother made the appointment so I have to go." Inuyasha waved off. "So, will you come?"

"Yeah! Of course! What time do I need to be ready?" Kagome asked as her mom started up the car.

"Is 4:00 ok?" Inuyasha asked. "I need to get there early to fill out some paperwork."

"Sure! I'll see you then!" Kagome said as she leaned out the window to give him a kiss.

As he watched Kagome and her family drive away he couldn't help but worry. He knew this appointment was just giving blood but the results could change everything. He felt like an ass for inviting Kagome to his potentially first baby daddy appointment but he needed her support to get through this. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her in case she decided to leave him in the end.