VII – Nightfall


The car stopped in front of an expensive hotel with an even more expensive restaurant on top. The girl was escorted by two bodyguards to the elevator, then was left alone. Nothing could happen to her from the moment the glass doors of the lift closed because it belonged to the restaurant, so whoever was staying at the hotel would have used one of the many other elevators.

It was a few minutes before nine and the city lights were turning on timidly every here and there as the sun was descending. Caterina couldn't help but feel her insides turn and her heart tremble as she saw Tokyo from above, feeling on top of the world. It was the main reason why the family's apartments were always at the top floor of the tallest hotels available, no matter where they went. She loved to see everyone else below, well aware they were not aware of her existence.

The doors opened eventually and a waiter bowed to her.

"Good evening, miss! Should I show you to a free table?" He offered with a bright and joyful smile.

"Thank you, but I am meeting someone. I believe he is already here."

"Ah, yes, I believe I know." The waiter, having noticed the way Caterina was acting so casual, almost bored with him and thinking herself superior, immediately thought she was going to meet the man sitting alone at a table in the corner. It was possibly the best table in the restaurant, with a breathtaking view of Tokyo and close to the scene, but not as close as to have the wine waving in the slow rhythm of Jazz.

The girl followed him to the table, smiling softly. She was wearing the simplest black dress, with a deep V-neck exposing the white skin between her small breasts and balanced with a little silvery owl with its eyes and belly dressed in diamonds. The A-line skirt stopped just above the knees, hiding her small hips and drawing some attention to her lean legs.

The waiter bowed.

Her father stood up and took her hand, looked her up and down, then wrapped her in a tight but short embrace.

"My dear, you look stunning!" He complimented her before the waiter gave them the menus and left.

"Thank you, Padre."

The man, wearing black dress pants, a shirt, and a dark red suit coat threw her another admiring look before his eyes stopped on her wrist.

"Caterina…" He began.

"I know." She sat down and her father did as well. "You don't like these, but they're my style. Besides, they match. See?" Caterina showed him a little diamond owl charm dangling on her hand, hung by the center piece of a set of three black leather bracelets with silver and clear diamonds.

The Dragon didn't like her wearing more than one bracelet. He saw them as tribal and lacking of taste or class. However, if his daughter was having a phase, he could… tolerate them for a little while.

"You said you wanted to talk…" He began.

"Shouldn't we eat first? And can't we go somewhere less… crowded?" She said, while looking at the full restaurant. At the other end of the room, someone was celebrating their birthday, or something like that because a three-layered cake was being brought to their table.

The Dragon held back a sigh.

"As you wish. Where do you want to go?"

Because of his position at work, another father was just sitting down for dinner around nine in the afternoon. He sighed, glad to be finally home after a full day. His wife had set the table and was calling the two children as well when he decided to switch a few TV channels in search of something less annoying than the music his daughter liked.

"Daddy! You're home!"

Though a young teen, the girl still behaved like a child most of the time. She smiled brightly and took her seat, her mother following a moment later. The two sat on each side of the head of the family, the mother's back towards the kitchen, the girl's towards the TV and the living room.

"Yes, I'm home…" The man answered with a tired smile.

"You're working on something important again, right, father?" Light asked as he took his seat, facing his father and with his back towards the hall.

"Yes. It's a difficult case, we have few evidence and clues that don't seem to make sense…"

"Like solving a puzzle without all the pieces?" The girl asked.

"They're all like puzzles in a way, Sayu." Her brother answered her.

"How do you know? You don't work there. You didn't solve any case!"

"Not yet, but I will." He patiently brushed off her comment.

"You will, so you don't know how to solve a case right now."

"No, not yet…" The man spoke, making both his children shut up and pay attention. "If you say you really want to work in the field, maybe I can arrange for you to come help as a volunteer a few times. You won't be allowed to discuss anything related to the case at hand with either the media or your friends."

"We know, dad. You always say that…" Sayu stopped him, only to earn herself a sharp glare from her brother.

"You shouldn't interrupt your father, Sayu." Her mother briefly intervened and when she saw herself standing alone, the girl pouted.

"As long as I won't be scheduled during classes, I can offer to assist or help with anything. Keeping information secret won't be a problem for me." Light continued the discussion.

"Yea, 'cause you don't have a life…" His younger sister mumbled.

"I will try, but I can't guarantee. If I sign you up in a team, you might be asked to go at strange hours, during the night or early morning before school. It all depends on when a new crime scene is reported."

"I see…" Light fell silent, hesitating.

The voice in his head began making itself heard once again. 'Say yes… Come on, accept it. You will get to see a crime scene and pick up clues. I want to see how the police search for evidence. I want to see how they work, even if we'll lose a night or two.'

After dinner was over and his father had announced he was going to sleep, Sayu was asked to help her mother with the dishes while Light made his way up the stairs to his room.

Should he accept the offer…? There were a few advantages with considerable weight, like gaining experience, catching a taste of the job he wanted to have for the next few decades of his life, maybe even form some connections that will certainly come in handy if he decided he wanted to stay in the domain.

On the other hand, he would have to be at the team's disposal at any hour of the day or the night, he would most likely make a fool of himself in the beginning and he might even alter some evidence, and he wouldn't really get to use his mind. His father offered him an opportunity to work in the field, but he wanted something a bit different. Light would have rather been assigned to see the everyday work of a top class detective, the brains that put the pieces together and form theories around the criminal's profile until they find the real criminal. But collecting evidence was important as well, these were the pieces of the puzzle that the leader of the team had to solve.

He sat at his desk and turned on the TV. The reporter was talking about the most famous case in Japan since the end of the Second World War.

'…victims were found inside. The police had not yet identified them, but they seem to be the bodies of two men. One of them had his skull broken. There is a fisherman who said that he had heard gun shots before the explosion that started the fire. The entire building had been burned to ashes. As you can see behind me, only three poles of the original structure are still standing.'

The teenager let out a long and heavy sigh. He couldn't imagine the pain felt by the families of these victims…

'I have received new information! It seems one of the men had been found with multiple fractures and the police is suspecting he had been tortured!'

Light switched the channel to another one. It was now a few minutes after ten and there were news on most channels. Yet, they all talked about the same things…

'…crushed into a family car. It seems the truck driver was to blame, but the police are still investigating the matter. The driver of the car is in the hospital and his wife, who was in the passenger seat, is in critical condition. A five-year-old had been crushed-'

'The first premise is suicide, but the police are investigating the case. The man was forty-six and had a drinking problem from what the family had declared. He had not left any letter or note behind. His son says he cannot explain his father's gesture-'

'…reason appears to be robbery. The old woman was found dead in the back of the house around twelve this morning by a neighbor. She has three sons and two daughters, but none could be contacted for-'

'…is now in a psychiatric hospital after murdering her husband and two children this Tuesday, claiming-'

'…old drinking friends. When he was questioned about his crime this morning, the man declared he regrets his actions and hopes that his friend will survive. We remind you that yesterday, a thirty-two year old man attacked another, aged twenty-nine, with a pocket knife after-'

And of course, there was always that one subject…

'…this afternoon. The firemen are still fighting to put out the fire, and it is believed the basement and the first floor had been flooded in fuel. The fire is believed to be no accident, but set on purpose. The neighbors said they knew about at least two teenagers, a toddler and the lady of the house being home at the time they had seen the flames.'

'A new body had been discovered in the basement of the block of flats that had burned four days ago. This is the forty-eighth skeleton found between the ashes. The only chance of identifying the victim is the DNA test, which will prove difficult.'

'A yacht had suddenly exploded in the middle of the sea. The authorities had been alerted by a couple walking on the beach this evening who saw the flames and called the emergency number.'

It seemed to be everywhere! Whoever was ordering these fires, they simply couldn't be a coincidence. Summer was just beginning, it wasn't even June yet, so it was too early for spontaneous fire seasons. These were ordered by the same man or group of men and they had many others working for them. Light could see it clearly, though nobody talked about this possibility on the news.

Standing up all of a sudden, he headed towards the door and from there, down the hall to his parents' bedroom. He knocked once and waited with his heart beating in his throat.

"Father…?"

A few seconds passed and he thought his father had went to sleep, tired after a full day. But just as Light was about to give up, the door opened.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Father, I have thought about it and I accept. If you can, please sign me up as a volunteer." He declared with the determination only a clueless teenager could show.


Author's Notes:

Story proofread by beta Eat4Fun.

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