"Mrs. Nakamori, thank you for your patience. This questioning should not take as long as your husband's did."
Aoko was now seated at the cold iron table of the interrogation room, feeling like a scolded schoolgirl in the headmaster's office for breaking some ridiculous school rule.
"Kaito is not my husband," she found herself saying, as if it was an especially important objection for her to air. She was a ball of nerves and her mouth was apparently working of its own accord.
Thabo looked up at her with surprise. "No? He consistently referred to you as his wife when we spoke."
"We're divorced." Aoko counted back on her fingers. "It's been about two years, but we were separated for three before that. We finalized it two Septembers ago, I want to say. But we're actually back together now, which is why you were probably confused. It's complicated," she finished, embarrassed that she'd rambled so long about something personal and probably irrelevant to the questioning agent in front of her.
"Two Septembers ago…" Thabo muttered. "That would have been right before the Phantom Thief KID's heist of the Dresden Diamond, no?"
Aoko nearly had a heart attack. This man was too quick! They'd barely exchanged a few sentences and he was already gearing up to back her into a corner. "I wasn't paying attention to the timing back then, but… yes, that sounds about right."
"I have on record that you attended this heist," Thabo continued, pulling out a document and putting it in front of her. "Would you agree with the statement that you made that night?"
A transcript of her statement from that night stared back up at her. She couldn't focus her vision on the words to read more than a few lines. What she read, though, was enough to remind her of the mess of emotions she was that night… having just shot Kaito… blaming her actions on some sort of maternal drive to protect her daughter when really all she wanted was to hurt Kaito as badly as he had hurt her…
She couldn't go against her word, though. She'd been under oath and had a badge and a title when she made this statement. "Yes, I stand by it."
Thabo took the paper back, before folding his hands inquisitively under his chin. "Miss Nakamori, you are aware that you are a person of interest in our investigation, no?"
No point in lying. "Yes, I am aware."
"You realize that means we believe you to be a very suspicious person in this investigation?"
"Yes, I do."
"Where was your husband at the time of the heist?" Thabo asked, jarring Aoko as he switched his line of question suddenly.
Aoko felt her heart beat faster once more. Thabo had most certainly asked Kaito about this, and Kaito had most certainly made up an answer, seeing as the real truth would be absolutely damning to reveal. What was she to say? If their stories didn't align, they'd be done for…
"I don't recall."
"You don't?" Thabo lightly tapped the statement transcript with his finger. "You have all these details regarding that night right here; certainly they can help jog your memory?"
Aoko flitted her eyes across the words. Words, that's all they were. Careless lies she had spat out to protect her ex-husband for some insane reason she didn't understand at the time. Lies she hadn't put any thought into, besides wanting to keep any mention of Kaito out of her statement. Basically - as far as Aoko's statement was concerned, Kaito didn't have any whereabouts that night.
But that didn't have to mean she couldn't give Thabo an answer. No, she knew one thing she could say that would help sweep this problem right under the rug…
"Sorry, my brain's a little foggy these days." Aoko grimaced internally as she sold her dignity to offer the simple explanation: "Chemo brain."
Thabo blinked unceremoniously at her. "My apologies, Miss Nakamori, I didn't realize you were ill."
"Yes, unfortunately I am." She was careful with her response, not wanting to say too much. Her cancer was a very personal problem she wanted to keep private; she hardly liked to talk to Kaito about it. But even more so, she was aware of the implications that her cancer could make. She wouldn't be surprised if Thabo was twisting it around in his head right now, framing it as a Possible Motive for Kaitou KID…
"It must be difficult," Thabo said, as if on cue. "Cancer treatment is expensive and exhausting. I am simply surprised your family is traveling at all."
"We do what we must."
"And you must do… this?" Thabo asked curiously.
Aoko felt her hairs prick up at the question. That question was edging into dangerous territory; he was referring to the heists as vaguely as possible. Better to squash out this line of questioning. "Kaito is a magician. We're traveling for his shows."
"Ah, yes… his shows," Thabo frowned. "I checked my computer this morning. I can't seem to find a website to purchase tickets for any of his shows here in Pretoria. Or anywhere else in the world for that matter." He leaned in. "Tell me, Miss Nakamori – why is that?"
Aoko gaped like a fish, taken aback. This was not a good question. No, this was a very, very bad question. "There's no shows scheduled at the moment."
"So why are you here in Pretoria?"
It's a question Aoko had been asking herself for the entire plane ride: Why Pretoria? Kaito had picked it out on the map, a pointed arm stemming from a heap of emotions, and sensing his eagerness to get away from the horrible fresh memories of Edinburgh she hadn't bothered to question him. They usually didn't have a particular reason for going to any one city, after all – usually they just poked around for a bit, trying to dig into the local secrets to see if there were any unique gems around worth stealing (and Kaito always specifically asked about unique gems, always, as if he was looking for something, which she knew he was, but - ). "Kaito wanted to come here."
Thabo looked pleased with that answer. "Does Mr. Kuroba choose all of your travel destinations?"
"No," Aoko shook her head truthfully. "Sometimes our daughter reads about something while she's doing schoolwork, like the Stone Heads in Easter Island or the Nazca Lines in Peru, and we make those places our next stop."
"What about you? You never pick?"
"I – " She was about to protest, but then suddenly realized she couldn't think of a single city they'd gone to where it had been her idea. "I guess not." She frowned. "Is this relevant?"
Thabo just looked at her with his sad, kind eyes. "No, I suppose not."
They looked at each other for what felt like a long while, the seconds ticking away into the void of the past. It was a soft, comfortable moment of peace. Staring deep into Thabo's eyes, she thought she found a kindred spirit peering back at her. Perhaps Thabo was more than just a line of questions for her to answer…
Aoko was the one who finally broke the silence. "Do you have any more questions for me?"
"Yes, in fact – just a few," Thabo said, hurriedly. Perhaps he hadn't meant to get lost in that moment of silence, either? "How did the Phantom Thief KID get shot on the night of the Dresden Diamond heist?"
A wave of dread washed over her. So they were back to the unsettling questions, were they? But this question was easy enough to answer – after all, the answer was right there in her statement! "I discovered him on the roof of the apartment building where he was being threatened by three gunmen. One of the assailants fired at KID, so to protect him I fired my gun. I was aiming for one of the assailants but missed and unfortunately ended up shooting KID instead."
"Around what time was this?"
"Approximately 10:30pm."
"And this was on the roof of which apartment building?"
"The Plaza Tower."
"And you are absolutely certain it was the Phantom Thief KID who you shot?"
"Well…" Aoko tried to guess at what he was trying to trick out of her. She decided to go with her gut. "Of course. He was wearing that bright white suit he always wears."
Thabo looked visibly upset at the answer, like he had been hoping against all hopes that she would say something else. He scribbled on a paper.
"Is that it…?" Aoko asked after he had been writing for some time.
He looked back up at her. "Oh, um, I believe so. I'm just making some notes."
Aoko found herself amused by his preoccupied inattentiveness. "Well, in that case, can I… leave…?"
Thabo tapped his pen on his notepad. "I'm going to actually ask you and your hus – Mr. Kuroba, ahem, to put up with us for a little while longer. There are some inconsistencies in your statements that I want to look into a little bit more before you leave. That is – if you two will give us the opportunity to ask about them at all, that is."
Aoko inhaled. He couldn't possibly know what they were up to, could he? "What are you talking about?"
"If I may be frank, Miss Nakamori?" Thabo said. "I am well aware that Mr. Kuroba is the Phantom Thief KID. I can hardly expect him to sit around in an airport security detention office for an entire day. I sincerely hope that you don't, but if you both escape – the game will be how it will be."
"Kaito is not KID!" Aoko said in a raised voice. "I won't stand for you throwing his name in the mud like this! I'm going back to the waiting room, come get me when you have actual questions to ask me instead of ridiculous accusations to throw at us!"
She wrenched open the interrogation room door. She made it three steps out of the room before Thabo called to her. "One word before you go, though, Miss Nakamori?"
Aoko turned, anger etched on her face, as she demanded, "What?"
"Good luck with the cancer," he said, and his kind eyes wrinkled as he offered her a sad smile and a handshake. "I wish for nothing more than for you to survive this. Take care and steer clear of Galambos – may the Lord help you if he ever gets out of that hospital bed."