Alexia -- With regards to your question, here it is!
Now onto the next chapter… : ) X-Forces Winter Evolution30/12/2002
Chapter 2 Saturday, Dec 12, 09:52:46The door burst open a second time, causing it to wobble so dangerously that the hinges threatened to give way any moment. The brown-haired boy and his colleague need not look at the door to guess who the newcomers were. A tall, muscular boy with a huge grin plastered on his face peeked into the dreary office from the door and winked at his friends in a cheeky manner. Upon seeing Kenji's solemn face, however, Sendoh strode into the room with a paper bag packed with French loaves, vegetables, potatoes and some cabbages and placed them on the untidy table. After which he took the shaft of papers the older boy thrust into his hands and scanned through the details rapidly.
Just then another guy with an equally muscular build entered the office, reading the latest edition of 'Private Investigators' magazine and was not at all aware where he was going. As expected, he bumped into the spiky-haired boy.
"Sorry," he murmured, too engrossed in the article he was reading to care whether the other party was hurt.
"Stop reading for an instant, Mitsui." Sendoh sat himself at the edge of the table as he flipped the page of the file. "We've got ourselves a new case."
An alert Mitsui immediately set the editorial on top of the fridge and leaned against it. "Spit."
"Firstly, we know she's eighteen. She likes hanging out at cafes, shopping malls and video stores…" Kenji started.
"Typical teenagers," muttered Sendoh under his breath as he flipped the page of the file, "According to her mum, she might have a boyfriend, who she is secretly meeting instead of going to school these past few weeks."
"So we are to follow this girl twenty four seven?" Mitsui took off his jacket and hung it on the stand; "This case is in Sendoh's league then? He's better at this sort of things."
"Yes." The brown-haired boy agreed but added, "I am thinking since we have no cases on hand currently, maybe we can take turns to follow her to avoid suspicion on her part if she happens to spot us somehow."
"So where do we start?" Sakuragi asked helpfully.
* * *
Saturday, Dec 12, 09:53:50Rapid, resolute footsteps sounded crisply against the pathway scattered with dried twigs and branches. Thinking it was Kiyota; he wheeled around excitedly. Unfortunately the glare of the morning sun caught him right in the eye and he closed his eyes instinctively. Blocking the bright assault with his left hand, his heart fell in disappointment as he sighted two hazy figures moving towards him.
"What are you doing here?" Inspector Maki snorted right away when the intruders came into focus.
"This piece of land belongs to our district." Detective-Inspector Jin flashed the burly tanned man a half-smile before continuing, "Naturally, we should be present."
For easier control and management, Kanagawa was divided into two districts, District A and District B, headed by two different teams. Inspector Maki, the former and Detective-Inspector Jin, the latter. The two teams had been at loggerheads ever since the formation of the two regions for each wanted to show that it was better than the other.
"Now if you would excuse me…"
With a flick of his index finger, Detective-Inspector Jin motioned the pathologist to proceed with the routine check, whereupon a raven-haired young man stepped forward clumsily and bent down to examine the body lying on the grass.
Looking as though he had a hung-over from the night before, the bleary-eyed Rukawa, touched the body with the back of his index finger. The body was cold. The person could have been dead for more than fifteen hours. However, judging from the strong wind blowing at that moment, which would have chilled the body more quickly than usual, there was also a high possibility that the person was only dead for a few hours.
Scanning the entire body rapidly, his sharp eyes came to rest upon the clean-cut fingernails. They were cut in a manner that resembled that of a schoolgirl, more rectangular in shape than a lady's, which would be usually curved and pointed. Noting no more new discoveries about the corpse, he stood up and informed the pimp-faced Jin his deductions.
"You haven't touched anything, have you, Inspector?" Detective-Inspector Jin enquired casually, as if insinuating his rival's stupidity after Dr. Rukawa took his leave, "I don't want the crime scene contaminated in any way."
"No." The tanned man's curt tone spoke volumes of his low opinion of the young arrogant protagonist.
Where was that fool of a Kiyota?!
* * *
Saturday, Dec 12, 09:54:21"There's a murder at Kanagawa Woods?!"
A shocked, though gleeful Ayako, who was supporting the receiver on her shoulder with her cheek, shrieked as she scribbled the bare details on the scrap of paper with her right hand and packing her stuff in her bag with the other. Upon her high-pitched scream, everyone in the office turned in her direction, their tongues clucking in severe disapproval at the lack of empathy she portrayed for the deceased.
Like she cared anyway what her colleagues thought of her.
The moment she graduated from the faculty of Journalism in Tokyo University with the highest honors anyone could ever achieve, Gokanji Publishing House offered her a position in their firm before any other publishing companies could act. Despite the high salaries and attractive bonuses offered by many firms, she finally decided on Gokanji Publishing House. For it was the only corporation, which provided her with her own photographer and the freedom to report on anything she wished to. Not only that, she had her private office where she could work on her documents without any unnecessary disruptions.
Within a few years, she rose to become the top personnel in her field. Her sharp wit and immense foresight assisted in her daily work. Unlike the other publishing companies that produced glossy pictures and scandalous articles about celebrities in a bid to increase their daily sales, she preferred to report on crimes, their repercussions as well as their significance to the world. And most of the time, she presented such insightful details into the psychology of the criminals that impressed the readers very much. As a result of this, the editor decided to create a column solely for her in the newspaper.
Unfortunately, the years of fame seemed to have gone to her head. No longer did she waste any time sympathizing with the bereaved families but instead, she favored to make full use of the time searching for any inside scoop to the felonies committed.
Because of that, she wrecked a couple of important investigations because the undesirable news had placed the perpetrators on their guard against the police, making it many times easier for the perpetrators to evade the police but several times harder for the police to capture them. Before long, her reputation in the police force grew so notorious that everyone there became very wary of speaking to her about any cases they might have on hand. Thus this action thwarted her chances of making the headlines.
Now that another juicy news landed itself in her lap, she was not going to let another opportunity slip through her fingers like that. Licking her lips in anticipation, she folded the scrap of paper in her hand and slipped them into her pocket.
* * *
Saturday, Dec 12, 10:01:18
Maki ran his calloused hand through his well-combed hair in irritation. It was most frustrating to have a case on his hands and giving it away without a challenge or a fight. How dare that greenhorn show such blatant disregard for his presence? That pimp-faced idiot needed to be taken down a peg or two. After all, Inspector Maki did assist in solving one of the toughest murder cases in the history of Kanagawa. Whereas the broad-shouldered man had both experience and paper qualifications to his credit, that lad only had the latter. Therefore he never understood the reason for the youngster's rapid rise through the police ranks to the title of Detective-Inspector, which by the way, was a rank higher than Maki's. Arragh!
Ignoring the smart aleck, he scoured the surrounding area for any clues that the killer might have accidentally left behind.
In a careful manner, he slowly moved across the patch of grass for fear of treading on any piece of evidence that might be crucial to unraveling the mystery killer. Unfortunately, the greenery seemed to be protecting the murderer and revealed nothing to him. Suddenly, something bright glinted into his eyes. Eyes never once leaving the object, he picked it up and fingered it with the pad of his rough thumb.
It was a paper clip.
He was about to throw it away when a series of clicking sounds attracted his attention. Without turning, he knew who had turned up at the scene of the crime.
Without wasting any time, he grabbed the camera from the timid, studious-looking photographer. "No pictures are to be taken! Do you hear? Where's your nosy supervisor?"
"Inspector Maki," a slick and condescending voice came from behind him, whereupon he wheeled around to face Ayako, dressed in faded jeans and T-shirt, standing in front of him, "We live in a democratic world. We are free to do whatever we want. Now please be nice and return the camera to my photographer."
Ignoring her speech, he held the object high above their reach and narrowed his eyes at the duo. "How did you get wind of the news anyway?"
"I have the most excellent sources. Now the camera?" Ayako reached out for it.
"You are to keep out of the area. Please stand there and take your pictures instead." Maki pointed vaguely to a stretch of tarred road winding through the woods.
"But that's so far away." Ayako put on her winning voice, hoping it would have some sort of effect on the seemingly heartless man, "The pictures won't come out any good. Besides I need to interview the officers about the crime."
"There will be no interviewing of officers right now. We'll have a press conference later tomorrow to reveal the details about the crime. But as for now…" Inspector Maki, who was fast losing his patience with the persistent woman, gestured threateningly, "Either stand there or I'll get my officers to chase you away from the crime scene."
"I would like to see you try." Smirking, she tilted her head upwards in the air haughtily at the inspector, "And I'll have you in court so fast you won't even have time to say sorry."
"Like I ever will. Now SCOOT!"
Sensing that he was serious in carrying out his threat, a huffed Ayako and her photographer scampered off like frightened mice to the appointed place. However, once he ceased his concentration on her, she pulled her photographer to the other side of the crime scene where Detective-Inspector Jin was. If she could not work her charms on the hunky older man, why not try it on a young man instead. Perhaps her charms were more effective on him.
As for Inspector Maki, he continued with his survey of the area. At this juncture, he noticed a weird faint indentation on the muddy ground a distance away from the location of the body. There were many crisscross lines running all over it. Feeling apprehensive about the mark for some reason, he bent down and carefully examined it. It did not look like a shoe print, much less a footprint. Neither did it appear to be a tyre mark either. If it was a tyre mark, where was its partner? Except for that lone imprint on the ground, he could find no other similar traces anywhere.
What could it be?
Was this of any significance to the crime?
Just as he was pondering over this fact, he heard footsteps running towards him.
"What took you so long?" hollered Inspector Maki at the panting constable.
Stifling a retort that was about to escape his lips, Constable Kiyota eyed him in distaste and grumbled instead, "I can't leave the telephone anytime I want, you know. I had to look for someone to stand in my place before I can leave."
"If you can't be early next time round, then don't be a policeman!"
And with that, he stormed off in anger, leaving the monkey-faced constable gaping in shock at the outburst.
"Now what's eating him?" muttered Kiyota under his breath.
Meanwhile, in the police station located in District A, a harried police officer was supporting a receiver on one shoulder and another on his other. Miyagi, the new recruit fresh from the police academy had been assigned to District A. Happily, he stepped into the station on his first day of work, all ready to prove his prowess at solving crimes when he was shoved the task of entertaining the callers' requests and demands on the telephones. Currently, the six objects on the counter were ringing non-stop ever since the moment he took over the job.
"Madam, please don't cry. I can't hear you clearly," Recruit Miyagi pleaded with the third caller and when she failed to heed his advice, he decided to ignore her and turn his attention to a new caller instead.
With two receivers on his shoulders and another one in his left hand, he picked up a fourth receiver, only to be deafened by a shrill scream about a missing cat.
"Madam, what's your address?" He shouted into the phone.
Immediately and simultaneously, four different voices told him four different addresses.
* * *
Saturday, Dec 12, 10:08:59"What about Ruthie?" The redhead called out to the trio.
"Who's Ruthie?" Thoughtfully, Sendoh cocked his head sideways, as if trying to recall the name from their files. "Mitsui?"
Scratching his unshaven stub on his chin, Mitsui shrugged his shoulders in answer to the question.
"Sakuragi accepted a 'missing dog' assignment on our behalf earlier." Kenji offered as he carried the bag of groceries and moved towards the fridge.
"Since when do we take up such assignments?" Holding up the shaft of papers in his hand, Sendoh's eyebrows went up a notch higher than usual before a frown settled itself on his face. "Anyway, with this case on hand, I'm afraid I don't even have time to spare for your whining, Sakuragi."
And with that, Sendoh took his coat off the stand and headed towards the door. At once, the redhead directed his attention at Mitsui, who had suddenly developed a severe coughing fit, though to Sakuragi's ears, it sounded suspiciously like a chortle.
"I'm sure he would appreciate a lending hand on the assignment." Mitsui put both hands up in the air before following after the spiky-haired boy, "Sorry, pal."
"Kenji, you would help me right?" Sakuragi looked at his last ray of hope with pleading eyes.
"I better start unpacking the vegetables now before they start to make the office smell like a dump."
"Isn't there anyone who's going to help me with this case?" The redhead wailed to the seemingly empty space.
* * *
Saturday, Dec 12, 13:42:57
The fan orbited precariously above the young man spotting a shock of vibrant red hair. His bright intelligent eyes filtered through the various names on the map. Using a red marker, he circled the possible areas in the precinct where his client's missing dog might have escaped. At that instant, the telephone wailed like a police siren. Tearing his eyes away from the map, he reached over the huge unarranged piles of books and files for the entity.
However, before he could say anything, an apprehensive tone burst out, "Kenji?"
"This is Sakuragi." He snapped rudely and paused for a moment for the opposite party's retaliation.
But there was none. Instead, there was an uneasy pause.
The redhead's eyebrows knitted together into a frown as he continued, "Sendoh, what's wrong?"
"I think we are in big trouble."
Heaves a big sigh of relief at completing the second chapter… enjoy reading, everyone! : ) Do read and review!