Chapter Six
"RIN!" yelled both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha simultaneously, albeit in different locations in the mansion.
The men went running to the sound of the scream. It was dark but they could see Rin on her knees: her hands covered in blood, her face covered by her hands, her body shaking.
Inuyasha was the first to her side. He kneeled and pulled her to his chest.
Sesshomaru ran to their side that moment. His hand trembled slightly as he reached for Rin and InuYasha.
"Rin! Rin! My child, are you okay? Answer me now!" the usually stoic father was unable to hide his emotion; adrenaline coursed his system. While he awaited her answer he looked over her, his nose taking in all the scents, and his ears, the heartbeats. The worried crease between his brows relaxed a fraction as he realized she was safe but scared.
In the dining room Sango jumped up and rushed to the exit door that Inuyasha had rushed out. Others in the room had jumped up too.
As they all rush to the scene the culmination of all the cell phone flashlights illuminated the room like bright day. The gruesome scene awaited them. Kagome's dead body laid face forward in a huge puddle of her blood!
Upon seeing his best friend, Inuyasha who had been kneeling next to Rin, collapsed on his niece's shoulder, his tears rolling down his cheeks in torrents.
Sesshomaru slipped the paring knife he had brought for protection into his pocket and embraced his family. Inuyasha and Rin turned into him for comfort speaking over each other.
"It's not real!" "No, Father." "Please!"
"Sesshomaru, fix this. Fix it now!" "She can't be dead." "Not Kagome!" "It's a lie!" "She just can't be!"
The litany rolled from the two as they sought comfort from Sesshomaru.
As their sadness rolled around him Sesshomaru held his family tighter. Forgetting his own grief, he offered his sibling and daughter the rock they needed.
The second Sango stepped in the hallway she was assessing the scene. Her keen eyes noticed Sesshomaru's slight movement. She caught the glimmer of a blade before it was stashed away.
Kikyo screamed. All eyes turned to her. "It's not true! It's not true!" She rushed to the body and started to shake it. "Wake up Damn it! Wake UP!"
Kikyo kept shaking the body to make Kagome wake. But to no avail. For a second Inuyasha and Rin stopped crying to watch but quickly they realized Kagome was really dead and they started sobbing again. Kikyo fumbled with Kagome's jacket as she pressed on her chest in a movement not unlike cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The pathetic rescue attempt caused Miroku to pull her off the body. He had seen the pool of blood increase every time Kikyo compressed her heart.
"She's dead Kikyo. Stop it," Miroku whispered in her ear.
Kikyo collapsed over her sister, sobbing.
Miroku pulled her off the body. He knew she was contaminating evidence, but he felt sad for the loss of his friend. He was having trouble separating his job from his friends.
Kikyo screamed at him as he tried to pull her away. Her bloody fists beat helplessly on his chest leaving bloody prints.
Behind them Kanna had shifted to Bankotsu's side to hang on to his hand. She noted Jakotsu's cold expression and shivered.
Jakotsu had drifted to his brother's other side. He stared coldly at Kanna. She annoyed him.
Bankotsu was not clueless to their unspoken contest for his attention. He had assumed they could find a common ground and call a détente. Surely Jakotsu would understand; it was a normal thing for a guy to fall in love, marry, have kids, and work hard to provide for them. After all he would always love his twin brother. He thought that was an unspoken truth.
On the floor Inuyasha and Rin remained inconsolable.
Kagura stood behind Sesshomaru. She watched Sesshomaru protect his daughter and brother. It looks so natural. At the start of their relationship, she had asked Sesshomaru about his brother, but Sesshomaru changed subjects immediately. When she asked about Rin, Sesshomaru sadly hung his head. "She is grown and has left," was all he said. Now Kagura could see. Sesshomaru loved his family deeply. Their absence had caused him sadness. 'Something to work on,' she sighed. 'A psychologist's work is never done.'
Watching the entire scene Sango shook her head. She was worried. Often the one who complained the most was the one who was guilty. She also realized Miroku was too inexperienced to compartmentalize this death and do the job. She cleared her throat and put on her most authoritative voice.
"STOP where you are!" she commanded. "Detective Miroku, take all these people back into the dining salon. We will start interviewing them soon. Watch them for any little changes in demeanor in the meantime."
Miroku, stood up, nodded and then guided the gawking observers back to the dining room. The junior detective made a mental note to look for extremely nervous behavior, aggressiveness, and agitation of any kind.
Once Bankotsu, Jakotsu, Kanna, Kagura, Miroku, and Kikyo had left the hallway, Sango closed the door. That left Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Rin in front of her in the hallway near the bathroom.
Sango drew her gun and pointed to Sesshomaru. Speaking softly but distinctly, she said, "Sesshomaru! Back away from Inuyasha and Rin."
The older man followed her directions. Rin and Inuyasha stopped crying and stared.
"I saw you pocket that knife when I came into the scene. Gently reach into your pocket and drop it. If you fail to follow my directions I will shoot you."
Sesshomaru stood and removed a paring knife from his right pocket.
"DROP IT!"
The duo on the floor gasped as they saw the knife in his hand.
Sesshomaru dropped the knife.
"Why the hell do you have a knife!" Inuyasha yelled at his brother.
"I heard my daughter scream and I grabbed it in case she needed protection," answered Sesshomaru as he realized what the scene looked like to Detective Sango and the others.
Keeping the gun trained on Sesshomaru, Sango examined the small knife. No blood. Reaching in her pocket, she pulled out her handkerchief, and carefully picked up the knife, holding it closer to the flickering light. She frowned as she sniffed it. 'Hmm... I smell apples. It's sticky. If all he had was a paring knife, why was there so much blood?'
Thinking of something, she lowered her gun. "Sesshomaru, I need your help. If you try anything funny, I'll shoot you, do you understand?' Sesshomaru nodded. "Good. Come here. I need you to help me lift Kags just a bit." She motioned for him to grab Kagome's shoulder while she grabbed her . Slowly and gently, they rolled Kagome's lifeless body. Sango saw a gaping hole on Kagome's back. Bingo! "Okay, Sesshomaru, lower her gently. Don't move her too much though."
After assuring scene security, Sango lowered her gun. She used her cell phone light to pan the area. No other gross blood. Unfortunately, the beam only illuminated a six-inch circle because it was dying. As she panned the area her light flickered and went out.
"Damn phone," Sango muttered. "Inuyasha, give me your phone. I'm going to need to keep it for a while to take pictures."
The inuhanyou passed his phone to the detective.
The light was bright and lighted the whole hallway.
"No one say anything," Sango commanded. "This is a crime scene. Don't touch anything. Don't say anything. If you do, it can be held against you in a court of law."
"Detective, are you arresting us?" Sesshomaru's left eyebrow rose.
"'Until we find out who did this, let's just say your under... suspicion. For now, our crime scene is confined to this mansion. I have everyone in one of two or three rooms. I'm going to get statements. I must find out who did it."
Sango had locked down her emotions so she could do her job. Later she would mourn her high school best friend. What a horrible way to die.
Sango attempted to call 911 on Inuyasha's phone but there was no signal strength. Just then another thunder crash and lightning bolt flash sounded.
"I think that hit the house. Sango, I need to have one of the servants check on the house. I don't want it to burn up around us," Sesshomaru stated sagely.
The detective nodded. "Just let me know who."
"Jaken."
The faithful servant appeared immediately at Sesshomaru's elbow.
After telling the servant of his mission, the imp disappeared into the servant passage.
Sango watched the imp's movements with interest.
"Sesshomaru, where does this servant's passageway go to?
"That one goes to the kitchen," the man replied. "Kaede, Myoga, Shoga, and Jaken generally use that one to get from the library to the kitchen without disturbing our guests. Why do you ask?"
"How many people know about them?" the detective queried.
"Family and servants are the only ones I know," Sesshomaru replied thoughtfully.
"I need to examine them as I look for clues, but right now I need to take some crime scene photos."
Sango started by collecting the candlestick, and knife. Then she took some pictures on Inuyasha's phone, which she confiscated for the investigation.
Next she asked for a sheet to cover the body. Jaken had returned with a sheet and reported the mansion was okay. The body covered, Sango started asking questions.
"Tell me the events leading up to your discovery of the body?"
"How did you discover the body?"
"Did you want to kill Kagome?"
"Who would want to kill Kagome?"