Most cases that Dee and Ryo had been put on where dangerous but simplistic, there was very little mystery involved and little thought was required to find out the criminal. This was often the case in crimes related to narcotics both the victim and the criminal were often entangled in the world of drugs and someone with an expert knowledge of that world could often figure out, if not who had killed who, which gang had committed the crime. Despite this, cases were difficult to get through the courts gangs were often protective of their members and rival gangs often didn't want to start a war for fears of repercussions. The new case was different, although it seemed incredibly simplistic, a suicide rather than a homicide, the fact that it had taken place at a school for the children of English ex-pats meant it wasn't dangerous.
"Minerva College, named after the Roman Goddess of science and technology, Minerva College is the top public school for British ex-pats in the United States. Following the syllabi set by the British Government all our students study GCSEs and A-Levels ensuring them the best quality education possible.¹" Dee read from the prospectus of the school that the duo were heading for. "Sounds like nonsense to me, I mean the prospectus makes it out to be a posh place and then calls it a public school. I don't get that I mean no posh schools are run by the government and certainly I have rarely heard of a public school that was boarding."
Ryo smiled at his partner in gentle amusement, "The school said it was for English² ex-pats that means when they use the word public school, they mean private school, it is more often used by the more upper class schools such as Eton and Harrow."³
"So we are dealing with quite a high class joint then, I thought things like this didn't go on in places like that." Dee flipped through the prospectus, which featured pictures of angelic looking boys dressed in gowns¹¹ singing in the cathedral and traditionally dressed school masters teaching an enthusiastic class of suited boys.
"I'm not sure; I had a privileged upbringing but never privileged enough to go to a place such as that.¹² However I remember reading this article by George Monbiot in the Guardian once suggesting that these places were unbearable with all the bullying. I think there is a copy somewhere, try in the back of the car." Dee leant back and searched the back seat for the mentioned article.¹³
"So given the supposed atmosphere of these places this suicide of ours was probably due to bullying. That seems to wrap everything up neatly; we hardly need to go to this place."
"Well," Ryo replied gently, "we'd best go there now since I have been driving for an hour and we are only ten minutes away. Anyhow, the headmaster agreed to accommodate us for as long as we need, even if it is only in student accommodation and I'm too tired to drive back tonight."
"I'm not sure you are telling me everything Ryo, do you know or suspect something I don't? Why are we planning to stay overnight? I mean by the time we arrive most things will have been wrapped up, we would only need to cross the t's and dot the i's."
"I… I just don't know, I'm think…. it is just an irrational suspicion I'm afraid. Things don't seem quite right to me and I can't work out why."
"Are you suggesting that our suicide may be due to more sinister circumstances," Dee paused and looked at his partner worried not wanting to contemplate the thought that was coming into his. "Or… or, are you suggesting we could be dealing with a homicide."
Ryo, opened the door and stepped out noticing Dee wasn't moving he walked over and opened the door for him like a taxi driver aiding a passenger. "Don't worry about it," he smiled, "it is probably just me being irrational. Come on, lets go in and sort this out."
Minerva College was an elegant school set in the outskirts New York, the buildings were all built in a traditional style and were of the type so grand that you felt instantly inferior as you entered them. The buildings were surrounded by fields scattered throughout by trees, which meant that despite being only an hour away from the centre of the city, the school gave you the impression of being in the middle of the country. Some of the trees were battered from where the younger boys had attempted to climb them, however the grounds were in general neatly trimmed since most games were played on Astroturf. The college was split into 5 buildings, arranged in a pentagon.
The building nearest the car park was the main building in which all lessons were taught and which also housed the reception. It managed to maintain a traditional style while being incredibly large, five storeys high and each floor large enough to house 20 odd classrooms. The inside of the building resembled a stereotypical castle, each classroom had a large heavy door, with a handle that was dark metal and was cold to touch. The building wasn't at all old so therefore despite its appearance it was wired up with the latest technology in an attempt to improve the quality of the boys' education.
The other four buildings were accommodation blocks, each one housing 200 odd boys and about 10 live in teachers. All the blocks looked traditional outside but did not keep the beauty of the main building inside. The furnishings were simple and looked slightly tatty due to wear from constant use. Inside each of the four blocks were painted in a different colour, one red, one blue, one yellow and one green. These four different colours represented the houses, which were named after their respected colours and competed in sport events and other competitions. Each house was made up of a mixture of years, which were separated, year 7s and 8s on the top floor, 9s and 10s on the second floor and year 11s and 6th form on the first floor, the ground floor was used for the common room, kitchen and dining room. Each year was watched over by 2 prefects from the 6th form to ensure that no trouble occurred during the nights. All the boys were housed in separate rooms, a fact that was reflected in the cost of sending the child to the school. Each room was furnished simply, with a creaky bed, a bedside table with a lamp, a book shelf, a desk and a chair. Once the boys had moved in however the rooms became more homely with junk spread on the desk and posters on the wall.
In the middle was a garden surrounded by paths in a pentagon shape allowing the boys to walk between the buildings. This area looked tidier than the rest of the fields due to the fact that the boys were not allowed to walk on the grass. A flower bed sat in the middle of the lawn which was exquisitely planted and the whole area was well lit making it the perfect place to sit and relax at the few times of the day when the boys were not around.
Dee and Ryo made there was to the main entrance of the building, walking up the three steps to the main door. Entering the main reception they found a receptionist who seemed to believe her job was to get rid of as many visitors as possible.
"What do you want?" she demanded in an authoritive tone. "Look, we are not issuing a statement, this is a very simple matter and we are sure we will have it cleared up in no time. So if you would just leave so we can all get back to normal that would be appreciated. And if you won't then I'm afraid I will have to call security."
Ryo was nervous at the outburst and shrunk back, but Dee anxious to get on with the job jumped forward, "Detective inspector Dee Laytner and detective inspector Randy MacLean , we are here to investigate the suicide of one of your boys at this school."
The young receptionist suddenly lost her stern tone, "Oh, I am terribly sorry, the master, Hughes, warned me that we should expect some press intrusion and to be honest we don't want camera crews disrupting our boys they are stressed enough as it is. Anyway, follow me, I will show you the way to the master's office, he wishes to speak to you before you visit the boy's room."
"Security in a school, who would have thought it," Dee commented as they followed the lady through the windy corridors of the main buildings. "This place must be posh!"
"Well, we have a few people who live on the outskirts of the grounds to keep a check on the place, we have a lot of things worth nicking here," the receptionist explained kindly. "Anyhow, the master told me to keep people away and it sounded good, even if I couldn't back the threat up with much action." The receptionist stopped by one of the many identical looking wooden doors and wrapped on it hard three times, afterwards rubbing her fist since the doors were solid and therefore caused her minor pain.
An elderly looking gentleman answered the door and looked at the small party standing in front of him. He was smartly dressed in a pinstriped suit, with a white shirt and a tie; he had white hair but had no facial hair. He had the appearance that would stereotypical be associated with a white, middle class, somewhat out of it public school teacher, his manner was gentle as he spoke "Ok, Stephanie that will be enough, you may go." Stephanie nodded in agreement and left. "Come in, you two must be detective inspector McLeen and Laytner, Commander Rose told me to expect you."
Dee jumped forward with his normal confidence, "That is right sir, I am detective inspector Dee Laytner and this dude here is my partner Randy McLeen. We are here to investigate the suicide of one of your pupils."
"Come in please, my name is James Hughes and I am the master of this college²¹. I have arranged for you to be accommodated in blue block, which is the same block as where the incident occurred." Mr Hughes showed the two waiting officers into his office, offering each of them a seat.
"Thank you, Mr Hughes, if you don't mind I need to ask you a few questions about the discovery of the body." Ryo said calmly as the door to the office was closed.
"Certainly, what would you like to know?"
"When was the body discovered?"
"This morning at about 9:45, the cleaner, Jenny was doing the rooms of first floor blue block and when she entered Jones' room she discovered the body on the bed, he had a gun in his hand, it looks like he shot himself in the head. This suicide note was left on the side table."
"You moved it!" Dee screamed quite angrily. "Why the hell, did you do that? We could have got some clues from its position."
"Well since it was a suicide, I didn't think you would need to gather any evidence, it seemed a well drawn conclusion to me."
"I'm sorry about my partner; he just doesn't like it when someone has tampered with his evidence, pass the note here, so I can look." Although Ryo didn't sound worried, he discretely put on gloves before taking the suicide note from Hughes and sealed it in a plastic envelope before placing it in his pocket, best to keep the evidence clean, just in case. "Did the cleaner find the letter?"
"No, I found it after, Jenny was too nervous after discovering the body."
"Would you kindly show us to the scene," Ryo said calmly.
"Very well then, follow me," Hughes lead Dee and Ryo through the main building, out through the court yard and to the first building on the left, which was the blue block. "Please be discrete, the boys are still in shock. Your forensic pathologist arrived earlier and seeing him walk past in his white suite terrified them."
"Oh, Keith is here already, cool." Dee said happily.
"Dee, is that you!" a voice came from one of the rooms.
"Keith, great to see you," Dee smiled rushing up to the man dressed in an all in one white suite and hugging him.
Ryo looked at Dee jealously and then tried to overcome the strange sad feeling inside of him. "Hello, my name is Ryo McLeen, Dee's partner, pleased to meet you."
"Hey, don't look so sad me and Dee are just old school chums there is nothing between us. Anyway Dee you really shouldn't have hugged me it is unhygienic I will have to changed my suit now or I will contaminate the crime scene."
Ryo looked embarrassed, "It is nothing like that; Dee and I are just…" he stopped suddenly. "Did you say crime scene, I though this was a suicide?"
Author's Note
Just a quick apology, I am afraid I have only read the first four manga so any background revealed after that will not be included in the story. Sorry.
¹ Yeah, right!
² You can tell I'm English because I use English and British interchangeably, in fact The United Kingdom also includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Scottish education system is different. I was once told, that when we say United Kingdom we mean England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, when we say Great Britain we mean only mainland England, Scotland and Wales and when we say the British Isles we mean England, Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland), Scotland and Wales. I am not sure if this is true but if it is, when I say British I mean someone from the United Kingdom. This shouldn't make any difference to the story but I though it might be nice to now.
³ And how does Ryo know this, it is for convenience I am afraid, I needed to get this explanation in.
¹¹ Academic gowns, not dresses
¹² Assumed from the small amount of his childhood shown in manga volume 3
¹³ You can read this article at www.monbiot.com I believe it is filed under education
²¹ It isn't typical to use college and school interchangeably as I am here. Typically college refers to A-Level education for (16-18 year olds) if not taken in school, it can also be used to refer to a place of accommodation and social activities in certain universities, however throughout this story the word 'college' will be used to refer to a secondary (11-18 year olds) school. I choose to use college here because posh schools such as Eton and Winchester officially have 'college' on the end of their name.