Chapter 3: Back-to-Back They Faced Each Other

The phone rang.

"Hummm?  What time is it, Yugi?"

"Almost… nine o'clock."

The phone rang again.

"Yugi… get the phone?"

"You get it."

"But it's your turn."

Third ring.

"And you're closer, Yami."

"Too tired."

"Same."

Fourth ring.

"You're tired?  How the hell are you tired?!  You're on the bottom."

"You still screwed me into the mattress four times."

Silence.

Fifth ring.

"If you get it, you can be on top nex…"

"Hello?"  Yugi answered the phone.

"Damn it, Yugi.  Get the hell out of bed."

"Bakura?  You have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, and you should be up anyway.  Listen, we've got a homicide down here and it's our problem, since it's in our jurisdiction."

"A homicide?  Really?"

"Yeah.  Uh, bring some breakfast and your tools.  I've already been to the murder site and I'm bringing back some samples, so get your ass down here and help me with this lab crap."

"Are you back at the office?"

"Yes, I just drove back from the launch pad about ten minutes ago."

"Launch pad?"

"Yea.  The stiff was found out on an island, so I had to fly out there."  Suddenly, Bakura covered the receiver and there was the sound of muffled yelling before Bakura came back on.  "And—damn it, all right, all right—bring Yami with you, so that Marik can get his DAMN FINGER OUT OF MY RIBS!  Later."

"Uh, Bye."  Yugi replied to the dial tone.

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~

"So… what happened?"  Yugi asked as he walked into the lab.

"I'm not clear yet.  Ryou and Malik are doing the autopsy now, and I got Malik to promise to send over the results.  Anyway, I've still got some of the minions dusting for fingerprints."

"I wish you wouldn't call them that, Bakura."  Yugi sighed before pausing.  "Has the victim been identified yet?"

"Pretty much.  We found a driver's license on him and the elder son came in a few minutes ago.  He confirmed it."

"Who was it?"

"One Gozaburo Kaiba."

"You mean the owner of Kaiba Crops?"

"The weapons manufacture, yes."

"No surprise, I suppose; the man probably had a lot of enemies.  Anything else?"

"Well… Lemme think.  As far as we can deduce, the victim was shot in his office.  The security tape, apparently to the only security camera on the island, was stolen.  Oh, and one of our 'henchmen' managed to find the stiff's gun lying on the floor of the office.  We think that might have been the murder weapon."

"Anything else?  Blood or other fluids?"

"Nothing really, except some blood near the window.  Some hair samples, too, but most of them are short and gray, probably from the victim.  However, we can't really do anything until the victim is identified and the autopsy is complete."

"You mean you called me down here for no reason?"

"No, not at all!"  Bakura cried in horror.  "You make great coffee."

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself.  What do you want, Yami?"

"What's the verdict?"

"There is a report specifically designed for this purpose, you know.  Go talk to my partner; he's typing it up right now."

"Come on, Malik.  The son's are coming in soon, and I don't have time to ask Ryou."

"Fine, but you owe me.  The death was caused by a gunshot wound to the chest.  He was shot twice, but the first bullet missed his heart and punctured a lung.  The second bullet entered the heart and killed the victim." Malik sighed as he splashed some water onto his face.  "The body also suffered injuries as if he had fallen from a great height.  However, he was dead by the time he hit the ground.  Another interesting fact is that the man had a lot of tiny cuts on his hands and there was some glass in it.  I've sent samples of the glass to your boyfriend and his slutty partner, but frankly it looked like glass out of a window."

"Yami!"  Marik yelled as he walked into the locker room.  "I've been looking everywhere for you, Yami.  Come on, the stiff's son's are here for questioning."

"Oh, all right.  Thanks for the report, Malik."

"I'm sure I can think of something as payment." Malik smirked.

"Come on, Yami."  Marik frowned, glaring at him partner, before nodding in Malik's direction.  "Malik."

Malik nodded in return and left the locker room.

"What was that all about?"  Marik asked, pushing Yami shoulder roughly.

"The post-mortem report."

"Oh, sure, right."  Marik snapped, rolling his eyes.  Sighing, Yami left the room and Marik followed him to the questioning room.  "Hey, do you think he likes me?"

"I have no idea and I really don't care.  Just leave me out of your insanity."  Yami growled, before opening the door and walking into the questioning room.  There were two boys sitting next to each other.  The older boy was helping the younger boy pull his hair back into a ponytail holder.

"Yami, this is Mr. Seto Kaiba and Mr. Mokuba Kaiba."  Marik quickly briefed his partner as they took their seats.

"Hello."  Seto nodded to Yami and Mokuba waved.  Frowning,  Seto nudged Mokuba lightly in the ribs.

"Oh… uh, hello."  Mokuba replied.  He looked a little lethargic, as if he had been sleeping and had only just been woken up.  He also looked a pit pale, Marik and Yami noted

"Can we make this quick?  I've got a lot of work to do, you understand."  Seto snapped, diverting Yami and Marik's attention from Mokuba

"Of course.  It's just that we're investigating a homicide, so we need to ask you a few important questions.  This will be taped, so anything you say can and will be held as official evidence.  Do you both understand?"

"I understand."  Seto nodded.

"Do I need to swear on a Bible?"  Mokuba giggled, before clutching his stomach with a little groan.

"Mokuba!"  Seto frowned, disapproving of his brother's immaturity.

"Sorry.  I understand."  Mokuba nodded and Seto smiled briefly, before returning his face to its usual impassiveness.

"Uh, Mr. Seto Kaiba, where were you all of yesterday?"

"I woke up around six, but I didn't leave the house until seven-thirty.  I had received a call from my adopted father and I was traveling to the launch pad so I could fly to his office.  I reached the launch pad almost a half-hour later and I arrived on the island around nine-fifteen.  I walked to the office and went to see my adopted father.  I left at five after ten; I remember because there's a clock over his door and I looked at it as I left.  Anyway, I reached the pad a bit before twelve and was home at half-past twelve."

"When you saw your father…"

"Adopted father." Seto corrected Yami.

"Adopted father.  What did you talk about?"

"Mostly me.  We had a slight argument and I left."

"An argument."  Marik asked.  "What about?"

"I wasn't living up to standards."  Seto shrugged and Yami nodded slowly, before looking at Mokuba.

"Mokuba… may I call you that?"  Yami asked and Mokuba nodded a little.  "Where were you yesterday?"

"At home.  I was feeling sick all day, so I was mostly sleeping."  Mokuba replied, before looking over at Seto, who nodded and smiled reassuringly.  Suddenly, Mokuba covered his mouth.

"Mokuba?"  Seto asked, as he started forward, and Mokuba quickly ran out of the room.  "Mokuba!"

"Mr. Kaiba, please stay here."  Yami commanded.  "I'll go after your brother."

"Hold back his hair!"  Seto called after Yami.  "It falls out of the elastic band if you're not careful."

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~

"So what do you think?"  Marik asked Yami, once the Kaiba brothers had left.  When Yami didn't reply at first, Marik looked up before returning to the file he was reading about Gozaburo Kaiba.

"I think the oldest son did it.  There's a powerful motive and he was there, but we haven't got anything else against him just yet.  What do you think?"  Yami asked, turning to his partner.  Marik usually had a pretty accurate first impression, and Yami had known Marik long enough to know that his partner was turning something over in his head.  "Well?"

"I think… it doesn't matter."

"What?"

"Oh, I think that Seto guy did it, don't get me wrong; I just don't care.  That kids adopted father was a bastard, and if he did it, good for him."  Marik sighed, before tossing the file over to Yami.

"So what are you going to do?  You're required to prosecute."

"I'll leave that to you.  I'm going to investigate this mess."

"But…"

"Because I want to know why he did it.  Personally, Yami, I don't think money had a think to do with this."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there's a bigger problem that's out there and I want to know what it is.  I don't give a damn about the rest."  Marik shrugged before leaving the room.