Devils and Angels
By the Monster in your Dreams
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. Just a note: I know the genre says drama/mystery, but hopefully there will also be some light comedy. It also may become a little bit of a thriller towards the end.
**************************
Lieutenant Kenshin Himura walked up the stairs to his partner's apartment. He had tried to call, but apparently the detective's phone was off the hook. Either that or he was on the internet. He stopped in front of the door and paused, glancing at his watch. He knew Detective Soujiro Seta would not want to be bothered this late, but there was something he had to see.
Kenshin took a deep breath and glanced down at the envelope in his hand before knocking.
No answer.
He tried knocking again.
Finally he heard some commotion on the other side of the door, and a woman's voice. After a few more seconds, the door cracked open.
"Hello, Lieutenant Himura. I assume you want to talk to my husband?"
Kenshin nodded. "Yes Yumi, thank you."
She smiled and nodded and left the door open as she walked in to the back bedroom. Kenshin pushed the door open a little further and stepped inside. He heard a door creak to his left and turned, watching as his partner walked toward him, yawning and pulling a robe on.
"What?" Was all Detective Seta asked.
Kenshin held up the envelope. Soujiro looked at it for a moment before grabbing it and pulling the contents out.
Six black and white photos of a young Asian woman, probably around sixteen or seventeen, completely nude, chained to old, rusted pipes in what appeared to be a very tiny space, knee deep in water. Her emotionless eyes stared straight into the camera. He flipped through the photographs, then noticed the small slip of paper. Type-written, all it said was: 'She will be chained here as the water level rises. Can you find her in time?'
"Do you recognize her?" Kenshin asked.
Soujiro shook his head. "She looks familiar, but I can't place her."
"Her name is Kaoru Kamiya. She was kidnapped six years ago, but there weren't any leads. The case turned cold."
Soujiro nodded. "I'll have to pull my notes. Did you get these dusted?" He held up the photos.
Kenshin nodded. "Yes, but apparently whoever sent them wore gloves. No prints."
Soujiro sighed and glanced at the clock. He stuffed the pictures back into the envelope and handed the envelope back to Kenshin. "I'll pull my notes. Maybe we should have those enlarged..."
"Already did. The enlargements are down at the office."
"Alright. I'll meet you down there."
Kenshin nodded and walked toward the door, Soujiro headed back to the bedroom.
"I'm sorry honey, but I'm gonna have to go down to office." Kenshin heard Soujiro tell Yumi. He smiled. He couldn't even count all the times he had said that to his Megumi. At first she got angry. After a while she had just stopped caring. He sighed as he stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him.
"What is it this time?" Yumi asked.
"An old case. Never was solved. Someone just sent us pictures." Really disturbing pictures. "We might finally be able to close the case."
Yumi smiled. "I hope you can."
Soujiro turned back toward her as he buttoned his shirt. "I hope we can, too." He walked over to where she was stretched out on their bed and gave her a kiss, which she returned passionately. Everyone had said that their marriage wouldn't work because Yumi was eight years older than him. So far, four years of happiness had proved everyone wrong.
"I got to go." Soujiro said as he reluctantly pulled away.
***
Kenshin leaned against the wall, watching as his partner looked through one of his many file cabinets for the old case file.
"Ah ha!" Soujiro finally shouted as he pulled out a two inch thick file folder, spun around in his chair, and threw the file on his desk, where he proceeded to flip it open and begin to pin the contents up on the surrounding cubicle walls.
"You know, it might be easier to do this in my office. There would be more room in there."
Soujiro gave a little shrug. "Here is fine."
The majority of the file seemed to be made up of Soujiro's notes. Some were tiny little scraps that looked like they were once the corner of a napkin; some only had one word, or perhaps a name on them; others more detailed and on larger scraps of paper. Kenshin walked forward with his own folder, much thinner by comparison, mostly because his notes had been condensed onto a typewritten page printed off of his computer. Soujiro proceeded to tack up the contents of that file as well.
"Alright. What we knew then..." Soujiro began as he stood and looked at all the things tacked on the walls of the cubicle. "She never came home from school. We interviewed everyone at her school, and they all saw her leave. They said she usually walked home. Usually she walked with a friend but that day the friend was home sick. We were told what path she usually took home, and we interviewed people along the street..." He walked over to the map, and pointed out the path Kenshin. "...Everyone we interviewed said the had seen her, as they did every day when she walked home from school. They said they didn't see anyone with her, and saw nothing suspicious. Everyone, that is, until Bay Street. After the corner of Bay and Coral, no one saw her."
Kenshin nodded. "And we interviewed everyone at the corner, and no one had seen or head anything unusual. We hit a dead end."
Soujiro nodded.
"And we don't know much else now..." Kenshin continued. "...The same man probably has her..."
"Or woman." Quipped Soujiro.
Kenshin nodded. "Right, that's a possibility, but judging by the photos, it's more likely to be a man. She's still alive for now...but it says that the water level is rising. We have no idea how fast it is rising. We really don't even know when the photos were taken, we just know, by the postmark, that they were mailed yesterday. But she would be seventeen now, and she looks about that age in the photos, so they were probably taken rather recently. The question is, where were they taken?"
Soujiro walked over to the enlargements, studying them. "A basement?"
Kenshin shook his head. "Too many pipes."
"A factory, perhaps? But I don't think they would be that rusted."
"We could run them through the computer system, see if anything turns up."
Soujiro nodded and glanced at his watch. "The computer specialist won't be in till tomorrow afternoon."
Kenshin nodded. "Yeah, around one thirty. I could probably talk her into running these through first. First thing in the morning we could try interviewing the people on the corner again."
"After six years their memories are going to be rather rusty."
"I know, but it doesn't hurt to try."
***
The interviews were disappointing. One woman said she couldn't even remember what she had for dinner last night, let alone what happened on a specific day six years ago.
"We should talk to the family again." Soujiro said as they drove back to the station. "See if there was anyone who had made any sort of a threat..."
"She didn't have family. Well, not a real family anyway. She was an orphan and was placed with foster parents."
"Well, it still wouldn't hurt to talk with them. Talk with her social worker, too."
Kenshin nodded and glanced at his watch. "We might be able to swing by and chat with the social worker before lunch. I don't remember the names of the foster parents off hand, but the worker could tell us. We could try them afterward."
***
Kenshin walked forward and showed the unassuming African-American woman his badge.
"I'm Lieutenant Himura, and this is my partner, Detective Seta. We'd like to ask you a few questions regarding a girl by the name of Kaoru Kamiya."
She smiled. "My name is Tara Anderson, and I'd be glad to help in any way I can. I remember the girl quite well. Beautiful smile. She was kidnapped, right?"
Kenshin nodded. "I don't suppose there were any...disputes, of any sort, involving her?"
Tara thought for a moment. "Not that I recall...just a moment, let me pull her file." She stood and walked over to a file cabinet, returning after a moment with a thin file. She flipped it open and glanced at the contents. "No...but there was a few problems with the foster parents..."
"What kind of problems?" Asked Soujiro.
"Uh...she said there was a man, a friend of the family, or a distant relative, she really didn't make it too plain, that stopped by frequently. She said she felt very uncomfortable around him."
"Did you do anything about it?' Kenshin asked.
She shook her head. "We can't do anything just because she felt uncomfortable. There will be people all your life that you will feel uncomfortable around, you just have to deal with it. Now, if she had been more specific, if she had said that maybe he touched her improperly or something of that nature, we would have immediately pulled her from that home."
"Did you talk with the parents?" Soujiro asked.
"Yes. They said they had no idea what she was talking about."
"Did she give a name?"
"No."
The men frowned. "Could we have the foster parents name and address?" Kenshin asked.
She nodded and wrote them down, handing the slip of paper to him.
Kenshin smiled. "Well, thank you very much for your time."
"I wish I could be more help."
Kenshin stood to leave, but Soujiro had one more question. "I don't suppose we could have a copy of her file?"
"No, sorry but it's confidential. You would have to have a warrant."
He smiled and nodded. "That's what I thought. Thank you."
He turned to the lieutenant as they walked out. "Now to the parents?"
"Yup. They're our last lead. Let's hope they tell us something."
********************************************************
Alright, well folks, what do you think? I know its, um...different, at best. I'm hoping to turn it into a series.
The next chapters should be coming rather quickly. This is one of the few stories I've started where I actually know where I'm going with the plot. Let me know what you think! lol
~The Monster~ ^_^
By the Monster in your Dreams
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. Just a note: I know the genre says drama/mystery, but hopefully there will also be some light comedy. It also may become a little bit of a thriller towards the end.
**************************
Lieutenant Kenshin Himura walked up the stairs to his partner's apartment. He had tried to call, but apparently the detective's phone was off the hook. Either that or he was on the internet. He stopped in front of the door and paused, glancing at his watch. He knew Detective Soujiro Seta would not want to be bothered this late, but there was something he had to see.
Kenshin took a deep breath and glanced down at the envelope in his hand before knocking.
No answer.
He tried knocking again.
Finally he heard some commotion on the other side of the door, and a woman's voice. After a few more seconds, the door cracked open.
"Hello, Lieutenant Himura. I assume you want to talk to my husband?"
Kenshin nodded. "Yes Yumi, thank you."
She smiled and nodded and left the door open as she walked in to the back bedroom. Kenshin pushed the door open a little further and stepped inside. He heard a door creak to his left and turned, watching as his partner walked toward him, yawning and pulling a robe on.
"What?" Was all Detective Seta asked.
Kenshin held up the envelope. Soujiro looked at it for a moment before grabbing it and pulling the contents out.
Six black and white photos of a young Asian woman, probably around sixteen or seventeen, completely nude, chained to old, rusted pipes in what appeared to be a very tiny space, knee deep in water. Her emotionless eyes stared straight into the camera. He flipped through the photographs, then noticed the small slip of paper. Type-written, all it said was: 'She will be chained here as the water level rises. Can you find her in time?'
"Do you recognize her?" Kenshin asked.
Soujiro shook his head. "She looks familiar, but I can't place her."
"Her name is Kaoru Kamiya. She was kidnapped six years ago, but there weren't any leads. The case turned cold."
Soujiro nodded. "I'll have to pull my notes. Did you get these dusted?" He held up the photos.
Kenshin nodded. "Yes, but apparently whoever sent them wore gloves. No prints."
Soujiro sighed and glanced at the clock. He stuffed the pictures back into the envelope and handed the envelope back to Kenshin. "I'll pull my notes. Maybe we should have those enlarged..."
"Already did. The enlargements are down at the office."
"Alright. I'll meet you down there."
Kenshin nodded and walked toward the door, Soujiro headed back to the bedroom.
"I'm sorry honey, but I'm gonna have to go down to office." Kenshin heard Soujiro tell Yumi. He smiled. He couldn't even count all the times he had said that to his Megumi. At first she got angry. After a while she had just stopped caring. He sighed as he stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him.
"What is it this time?" Yumi asked.
"An old case. Never was solved. Someone just sent us pictures." Really disturbing pictures. "We might finally be able to close the case."
Yumi smiled. "I hope you can."
Soujiro turned back toward her as he buttoned his shirt. "I hope we can, too." He walked over to where she was stretched out on their bed and gave her a kiss, which she returned passionately. Everyone had said that their marriage wouldn't work because Yumi was eight years older than him. So far, four years of happiness had proved everyone wrong.
"I got to go." Soujiro said as he reluctantly pulled away.
***
Kenshin leaned against the wall, watching as his partner looked through one of his many file cabinets for the old case file.
"Ah ha!" Soujiro finally shouted as he pulled out a two inch thick file folder, spun around in his chair, and threw the file on his desk, where he proceeded to flip it open and begin to pin the contents up on the surrounding cubicle walls.
"You know, it might be easier to do this in my office. There would be more room in there."
Soujiro gave a little shrug. "Here is fine."
The majority of the file seemed to be made up of Soujiro's notes. Some were tiny little scraps that looked like they were once the corner of a napkin; some only had one word, or perhaps a name on them; others more detailed and on larger scraps of paper. Kenshin walked forward with his own folder, much thinner by comparison, mostly because his notes had been condensed onto a typewritten page printed off of his computer. Soujiro proceeded to tack up the contents of that file as well.
"Alright. What we knew then..." Soujiro began as he stood and looked at all the things tacked on the walls of the cubicle. "She never came home from school. We interviewed everyone at her school, and they all saw her leave. They said she usually walked home. Usually she walked with a friend but that day the friend was home sick. We were told what path she usually took home, and we interviewed people along the street..." He walked over to the map, and pointed out the path Kenshin. "...Everyone we interviewed said the had seen her, as they did every day when she walked home from school. They said they didn't see anyone with her, and saw nothing suspicious. Everyone, that is, until Bay Street. After the corner of Bay and Coral, no one saw her."
Kenshin nodded. "And we interviewed everyone at the corner, and no one had seen or head anything unusual. We hit a dead end."
Soujiro nodded.
"And we don't know much else now..." Kenshin continued. "...The same man probably has her..."
"Or woman." Quipped Soujiro.
Kenshin nodded. "Right, that's a possibility, but judging by the photos, it's more likely to be a man. She's still alive for now...but it says that the water level is rising. We have no idea how fast it is rising. We really don't even know when the photos were taken, we just know, by the postmark, that they were mailed yesterday. But she would be seventeen now, and she looks about that age in the photos, so they were probably taken rather recently. The question is, where were they taken?"
Soujiro walked over to the enlargements, studying them. "A basement?"
Kenshin shook his head. "Too many pipes."
"A factory, perhaps? But I don't think they would be that rusted."
"We could run them through the computer system, see if anything turns up."
Soujiro nodded and glanced at his watch. "The computer specialist won't be in till tomorrow afternoon."
Kenshin nodded. "Yeah, around one thirty. I could probably talk her into running these through first. First thing in the morning we could try interviewing the people on the corner again."
"After six years their memories are going to be rather rusty."
"I know, but it doesn't hurt to try."
***
The interviews were disappointing. One woman said she couldn't even remember what she had for dinner last night, let alone what happened on a specific day six years ago.
"We should talk to the family again." Soujiro said as they drove back to the station. "See if there was anyone who had made any sort of a threat..."
"She didn't have family. Well, not a real family anyway. She was an orphan and was placed with foster parents."
"Well, it still wouldn't hurt to talk with them. Talk with her social worker, too."
Kenshin nodded and glanced at his watch. "We might be able to swing by and chat with the social worker before lunch. I don't remember the names of the foster parents off hand, but the worker could tell us. We could try them afterward."
***
Kenshin walked forward and showed the unassuming African-American woman his badge.
"I'm Lieutenant Himura, and this is my partner, Detective Seta. We'd like to ask you a few questions regarding a girl by the name of Kaoru Kamiya."
She smiled. "My name is Tara Anderson, and I'd be glad to help in any way I can. I remember the girl quite well. Beautiful smile. She was kidnapped, right?"
Kenshin nodded. "I don't suppose there were any...disputes, of any sort, involving her?"
Tara thought for a moment. "Not that I recall...just a moment, let me pull her file." She stood and walked over to a file cabinet, returning after a moment with a thin file. She flipped it open and glanced at the contents. "No...but there was a few problems with the foster parents..."
"What kind of problems?" Asked Soujiro.
"Uh...she said there was a man, a friend of the family, or a distant relative, she really didn't make it too plain, that stopped by frequently. She said she felt very uncomfortable around him."
"Did you do anything about it?' Kenshin asked.
She shook her head. "We can't do anything just because she felt uncomfortable. There will be people all your life that you will feel uncomfortable around, you just have to deal with it. Now, if she had been more specific, if she had said that maybe he touched her improperly or something of that nature, we would have immediately pulled her from that home."
"Did you talk with the parents?" Soujiro asked.
"Yes. They said they had no idea what she was talking about."
"Did she give a name?"
"No."
The men frowned. "Could we have the foster parents name and address?" Kenshin asked.
She nodded and wrote them down, handing the slip of paper to him.
Kenshin smiled. "Well, thank you very much for your time."
"I wish I could be more help."
Kenshin stood to leave, but Soujiro had one more question. "I don't suppose we could have a copy of her file?"
"No, sorry but it's confidential. You would have to have a warrant."
He smiled and nodded. "That's what I thought. Thank you."
He turned to the lieutenant as they walked out. "Now to the parents?"
"Yup. They're our last lead. Let's hope they tell us something."
********************************************************
Alright, well folks, what do you think? I know its, um...different, at best. I'm hoping to turn it into a series.
The next chapters should be coming rather quickly. This is one of the few stories I've started where I actually know where I'm going with the plot. Let me know what you think! lol
~The Monster~ ^_^