BISHLOV: Okay, okay. I wasn't being hard to get. I didn't really expect to reach 110 reviews nor did I wait for that to happen before I post this next chapter up. I was truly swamped with schoolwork. No, really!!! And I won't threaten you with sloppy kissy thanks and I wuv you's anymore. Truce?
This chapter goes to L-chan. I've put that website you suggested to good use.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own CCS or any of its characters. CLAMP does. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
AMETHYST EYES
By bishounen lovah
Chapter 10
Kuso!!! Eriol felt like punching a tree.
The sun was already rising and there was still no sign of either Tomoyo or the serial killer. They had combed the surrounding areas at least three times now, keeping their eyes peeled especially since all they have were heavy-duty flashlights and the waning moonlight.
But there was nothing. No Tomoyo...no abductor...nothing. There was no sign of struggle. Not a single disturbed plant, grass or soil. There were no footprints, tire prints or any kind of prints at all. Eriol was looking for everything and anything. He was becoming desperate enough that his colleagues had seen him upturning several loose rocks. It wasn't as if the perp would hide a map or riddle to his hideout underneath those rocks.
But then all of them understood. Tomoyo was snatched right under their noses and they could not find a single clue that would tell them her whereabouts. It was as if she vanished from the clearing and into thin air. If they feel bad about it then Eriol must feel like hell.
"Ne, Hiiragizawa?" Nakajima looked at the indigo-haired cop then shook his head. Eriol was glaring at a tree as though he wants to bring it in for questioning. Keh! Who could blame him? A few more minutes of this and he'd be bringing in a couple of owls himself. "Oy! We'd better head out. This is pointless. I'd bet several mugs of strong coffee would clear our heads."
"You go on ahead and enlist the help of Chief Hanagata. I'll stay behind and see if we've missed anything."
"Like what? It's not as if Daidouji-san left a trail of broken pieces of bread to follow." Nakajima had to step back at the absolute look of fury on the guy's face. Their other colleagues shifted behind him telling him that they saw and felt the feral look too. "Gomen ne, Hiiragizawa. That was uncalled for but you know I'm telling you the truth. There's nothing here and you'll just waste your time. We won't find them here. We have to find another way to locate them. You know, Daidouji-san best among us and chances are you're the only one who could think of something."
After a minute more of scowling, Eriol conceded. They left the clearing in a hurry. Actually it was Eriol who left in a hurry while the others ran to catch up behind him. Soon they entered the Tomoeda police headquarters with take out coffee (two mega extra tall a piece) and headed to the conference room, which was assigned as their temporary office. One by one they dropped on the chairs and nursed their second cups of coffee.
What the hell went wrong? This was the nth time Eriol asked himself that question. And each time he couldn't grasp the answer. Everything was going smoothly up until Tomoyo got up and left. They didn't have much of a plan B since they didn't expect her to disobey orders.
But why did she leave?
Where did she go?
Why isn't there a single evidence?
Evidence? Eriol no baka!
He slammed his palm on the table, startling the other occupants of the quiet room. How could he have forgotten? He was too busy looking for Tomoyo that he had forgotten that he already had the clue. He took his handkerchief from the inner breast pocket of his jacket and reached in his pants' pocket, hoping all the while that he hadn't contaminated the evidence.
His companions looked at him in question and realized what they had missed out. Now laying atop the white cloth was the brooch transmitter that was left behind. "Egami."
"Hai," one of the cops replied.
"Dust this for prints and run it through the database, particularly Tomoeda's. But I want everything covered. I don't care if you have to compare it to every fingerprints stored in entire Japan."
"Hai!" The man rushed to bag the brooch and went out to search for the station's forensic laboratory.
"Do you think he would come up with something?" Nakajima asked.
"I hope so," Eriol sighed, "because we don't have anything else to go on."
"Bad night?"
All of them stared at the open door with a withering glare. Chief Hanagata had enough decency to clear his throat in apology. He looked like hell too for he spent the entire night going over Tomoyo's files. Though he was hoping that everything would go well with Hiiragizawa's operation, he had also expected the worst. And from what the front desk told him, Hiiragizawa and the others walked in the station without Tomoyo. He wanted to help. He owed the girl that much.
"So what happened?"
Nakajima was the one who answered back since Eriol already had his back to the room and was staring out the window. Hanagata stayed quiet, nodding once or twice especially at the part where there's no sign of struggle or physical evidence aside from the brooch. It sounded so familiar because they also found no evidence years ago during the investigation of Tomoyo's first abduction.
The old cop went to the long table, cleared a large part and unrolled a map he brought down. He shot a look at Eriol to see if he got his attention, which he did. He took a red marker and drew a star on the map.
"Penguin Park. Three days after Daidouji-chan went missing she was found a mile northwest from the park." Hanagata marked the area again.
Eriol moved to his side and pointed at the map. "This is the general area of her last known position."
"Then all we have to do is search the zone that encompasses all three points."
"That's a lot of search area," one of the guys whistled.
"That's no problem. I'll have most of my men join the search."
"If you don't mind my butting in," Nakajima said, "how can you be sure that they're still in the woods. He could be hiding Daidouji-san somewhere between Tomoeda and Tokyo by now."
"He won't be going anywhere. He's fancy. He always uses the same..." Eriol's face whitened again at his stupidity. "That's it! Hanagata-san, do cabins or any kind of building structure built in the woods have permit?"
"Of course. Just because it's in the woods far away from the town proper doesn't mean it won't need a building permit. But what...oh, I get it. I take it you'd want me to get the list of those cabins."
"And their exact locations plus the land owners. Get me a list of everything that could be found in that woods."
"I understand. I'll put my men to work right away."
"Take my men with you."
"You don't trust me that much, do you, Hiiragizawa?"
"Not really," Eriol looked squarely at the older man, not caring if he's a superior. "But that's not my point. Tomoyo needs all the help she could get and I trust you enough with my men."
"I do want the perp too, you know." He replied in a dead serious tone.
"No doubt but I also want Tomoyo back too."
"And I don't?"
Nakajima sensed the trouble brewing so he decided to butt in again. It was something he was really good at. "Stop it you two. The longer we stand here doing nothing, the longer we'll find Daidouji-san and that psycho. I suggest you continue this macho game of yours next time."
Both men glared at Nakajima but conceded that he had a point. Hanagata left the room followed by the three men. Eriol sat back down on his chair and gulped down the remaining lukewarm coffee. His head ached from thinking. But for one last time he searched his brain in case he missed anything.
The brooch was being dusted. There was nothing else found in the woods for they were very thorough. The brooch transmitted a fairly good audio input of the perp's voice but it was nothing unless they have something to compare it to. Nor did the man say anything that could clue them in on who he is or where he plans to take Tomoyo.
Tomoyo.
He's extremely worried about her. He kept on praying that she's all right but confusion always nagged his mind. Why did she run away when he specifically told her to stay put? Why didn't she say anything even if the perp was talking to her? Why did she go willingly with him?
But he knew he won't be able to think of the answers. The only way he'll know is by asking Tomoyo and he won't be able to ask her unless he gets her back before it's too late.
If he hurts her...
He doesn't know what he'll do. He'll probably tear the perp limb from limb.
I can't lose her. Not now. Not when I just found her. God, I love her!
And she loves him back. He'll do everything to find her. He'll leave no stones unturned (figuratively this time). And then when this is all over, he'd be able to respond back to her love. Nothing would be able to separate them anymore.
But the only thing that has this investigation going was the brooch and her dreams. Eriol recalled Tomoyo's dreams. She always said that the girls are kept in a basement of a cabin somewhere in the woods. Then he recalled her saying that the victims were transported in a car of some sort meaning there would have to be a road. A dirt road most probably. He would have to ask Hanagata about that when he returns with the list.
If only he knew about her last dreams. He knew that ever since they returned to Tomoeda her dreams had turned to worse. Probably because it was more of a flashback rather than a vision. That much he knew for how else they would know that the perp would come for her in the park. But other than that he knew nothing else.
The question is if he had known more would he have been able to stop the perp from getting Tomoyo?
His stomach growled loudly before he could delve on the thought. He hadn't eaten anything since brunch yesterday. He looked at the wall clock and realized that it was almost 24 hours since that last meal. He decided to grab something for him and his men. He might as well be useful. Then maybe he could analyze something once the list and prints were done. If not for that reason then just so that he'd be preoccupied enough to keep from going insane.
When he came back almost thirty minutes later, he bumped into Egami who was doing the prints. The other cop gladly traded his folder for a box of Chinese takeout. Eriol's meal was once again forgotten as he browsed through the file.
"There were three prints. Umehara-san's, yours and a smudged unknown," Egami explained after his first bite. Umehara was one of their colleagues who served as the technician in the van the night before. "Your print was overlapping the third so I had to lift it in the computer. That took the longest."
"Cut the crap, will you? To whom does the third fingerprint belong?" Eriol demanded in irritation.
"Some guy called Kazuma Mizutani. I already did a background check. He's a doctor based here in Tomoeda. Specializes in pediatric psychiatry although he's well known for practicing family medicine."
Suspicion was already forming in Eriol's mind and from the grin on his colleague's face he surmised that he was on the right track. Heck, the guy's lunch was already forgotten on the table from excitement. He leaned closer and motioned for Egami to continue.
"So I hacked into his computer. Oh, you wouldn't believe how easy it was. Probably wasn't expecting us to come this close. I bet he just let his secretary..."
"Egami!"
"What? Oh, right. First I looked at his schedule. And guess what? He travels from time to time for duration of a week for some seminar or something. It's got everything—dates and places. And it goes back for almost fifteen years. So I got suspicious so I checked out his patient list."
"Please tell me the girls' names are there."
"Every single one of them!"
"Including Tomoyo?"
"Including her. Man, you should see his files on her. Detailed down to the last dot. And his picture of her is not just some ID shot. He's got lots of them from birth to adolescence and some snap shots that looked like recent. All the other patients just have one, two at most."
"Eriol didn't know if he should cry out in success or mutter a curse. One thing he is sure though...they got their guy.
To be continued...
BISHLOV: Not much of a chapter but it does explain some things. Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Replies to them are in my email notice.