lol I'm so glad Y'all like this fic. I guess all the Law and Order I watch finally came in handy lol. ^_^
Kitsune KeNsHiN: Eh? Are the pairings going to be this way in the end? *clears throat* well, I'm honestly not sure. I seem to have changed the ending three times in the past 48 hours, so I really don't know. But, yes, I am pretty settled on the Yumi/Soujiro Pairing. I don't know why I like it so much. As far as the Kenshin/Megumi pairing goes, well, I guess you'll just have to read the sequel to find out. I am indeed aware that they are odd (not to mention OOC) but oh well. (I really like the Soujiro/Yumi pairing. You can blame the other, though, on my split personality and her cousin. Her cousin is the one who planted the idea in my head. Actually, it was my split personality's head, but she didn't like the idea much so she passed it on to me. ^_^)
Ochanoko: Well...after all the twists this chapter has been through, *I'm* not even sure who's lying! (that's pretty bad when the author doesn't even know) Thanks for your review! ^_^
The-Lone-Lemon: lol Thanks. I'm glad you like it. Yeah, they are cute together, aren't they? lol ~_^
***
Devils and Angels
Chapter 3
Kenshin walked around behind Soujiro to see over his shoulder at the computer screen.
"Alright, Tomoe Yukishiro did, in fact, die..." Soujiro looked closer, quite surprised. "...on the same day that Kaoru disappeared. It was handled by..." He hit a few keys, making the screen scroll down. "...Okita Shoushi...isn't that Captain Hajime's friend over in Vallejo?"
Kenshin nodded.
"Well, apparently she died in a fire. It was listed as an accident."
Kenshin nodded. "What do you got on Enishi?"
"No priors. I can't access his juvenile records, which makes me think he did something when he was a kid. We need to figure out who called you. I know a guy in forensics who is really good with voice analysis and comparison...I've got a hunch. Social Services tapes all their interviews, right?"
Kenshin nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"And do you still have the message the woman left?"
Kenshin nodded.
"Well, lets see if we can get the tapes of the interviews with both Tomoe and Kaoru. Then we'll have their voices compared to the one on the message. I could be wrong, but we'll see..."
***
Soujiro walked into Kenshin's office and threw the results down on his desk. Kenshin looked up with a raised eyebrow, then reached out and picked up the folder, flipping it open. He was a bit worried, if Soujiro's pale face and anxious expression were any clues as to the results.
He took a deep breath and looked at the results.
"KAORU IS THE ONE WHO CALLED ME????"
Soujiro nodded. "My hunch was right. This means that Enishi has to be the one who has her...it also means that she is probably not chained there day in day out like we thought. Either that or Enishi held the phone up to her and told her what to say."
Kenshin shook his head. "I can't believe it."
"Neither could I at first. But Gregg ran the comparison three times...there was no way it could be anyone else. Kaoru apparently has a distinctive way of talking."
Kenshin sighed. "Do you think we have enough for a warrant?"
"I think so."
***
For the second time that day, Soujiro and Kenshin stood in front of the dilapidated Yukishiro residence. This time with a great deal of backup, just in case Enishi resisted.
Enishi flung open the door with a glare. "What do you want now?"
Kenshin straightened up, trying his best to make himself look taller. "We would like to see inside your house."
"No."
Kenshin held up the warrant. "I'm afraid we can't accept No for an answer."
He held out the warrant and Enishi took it, examining it as Kenshin, Soujiro, and a team of forensic investigators brushed past.
The house was dark, as all of the blinds were drawn and no lights were on. They quickly discovered that no lights were on because there were no lights, other than in the kitchen. There was a layer of dust covering everything, suggesting that Enishi had not been back from his 'Vacation' for very long. Either that or he simply did not care about dust.
"Or maybe he couldn't see the dust because there isn't any light." Soujiro volunteered in response to the lieutenant's musings.
Kenshin nodded. "Good observation."
Half of the team took the downstairs, lead by Kenshin. The other half, lead by Soujiro, took the upstairs. Enishi still stood by the front door, glaring at everyone.
After about twenty minutes, Soujiro came charging down the staircase and over to Enishi.
"All right, where is she?"
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"Yes you do. Where is she?"
Kenshin walked over to the unusually angry detective and pulled him aside.
"You didn't find her?"
Soujiro shook his head.
"Neither have we."
"Apparently we were wrong."
Kenshin shook his head. "Don't give up yet. There's still a few places we haven't looked."
***
Soujiro rubbed his temples. "I don't get it."
Kenshin sighed. "I guess we were wrong after all."
"She had to have been in this house some point."
"Do you believe me now?"
The two men turned around to look at a smug Enishi. No, they didn't believe him now, but they didn't have any other evidence to go on. At least not yet.
Enishi held up the warrant. "You can guarantee I'll sue for harassment."
Kenshin and Soujiro looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Just what their department needed; another lawsuit. They had enough already thanks to Chou the womanizer.
"Lieutenant, detective, come take a look at this."
Kenshin and Soujiro walked over to a young forensics investigator. He was holding pictures.
Kenshin took the pictures and looked at them, with Soujiro looking over his shoulder. They seemed to be more of the ones they had been sent: A nude Kaoru chained in a strange, confined area filled with rusted pipes.
Yet in these pictures, she was smiling.
Not just smiling, grinning. Grinning like she was having the best time of her life. Kenshin sighed and turned back around to Enishi, holding up the pictures. "Where were these taken?"
Enishi shrugged.
Soujiro stalked over and grabbed Enishi by the front of his shirt, slamming him against the wall. "Don't play games with us! Now where is she?!"
Kenshin calmly walked up behind Soujiro, not bothering to tell Soujiro to 'take it easy' like he usually did. This time he was past caring.
Enishi looked between Soujiro and Kenshin. He didn't seem to be too distressed by Soujiro's outburst. In fact, he seemed to be just as calm as ever. This perturbed Kenshin and Soujiro even more. Enishi remained silent. Soujiro shoved him harder against the wall. "Well?"
Kenshin held up the pictures again. "The pictures, Mister Yukishiro, the pictures. Where were they taken?"
Again, Enishi was silent. Soujiro was beginning to contemplate throwing him around some more when finally he spoke up.
"On a battleship. Below deck on an old battleship. They were her idea. She liked the music video for No Doubt's song Hella Good. She thought it was erotic and wanted to re-create it. Now do you mind? This is a good shirt."
Soujiro rolled his eyes. "Where is she now?"
"When I said I had no idea, I meant it. She takes off on her own all the time."
"So she's not chained below deck on a battleship?"
"No."
"Then why did you send us those letters?" Kenshin asked.
"I didn't. She and Tomoe thought it would be fun to taunt you."
Soujiro finally let go of Enishi and he and Kenshin looked at each other. "What do you mean she and Tomoe? Your wife is dead."
Enishi shook his head. "We staged her death."
"Then who's body was the one that was found?"
Enishi gave a little shrug. "I didn't know her name."
Suddenly they heard some scuffling at the door and everyone turned in time to see a female figure turn around and run off. Soujiro took off after her.
It didn't take too long for former track star Soujiro to catch up with the small woman in high heels. He grabbed her by the arm and turned her around, right as Kenshin ran up behind them.
They recognized her from the picture in her file.
Soujiro took a deep breath. "Tomoe Yukishiro, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can not afford one, one will be appointed to you..."
***
"Why?" Kenshin asked as he sat across from Tomoe in the interrogation room.
"It wasn't my idea."
"You husband says it was."
"Sending the pictures was my idea. The battleship was Kaoru's. The kidnapping was Kaoru's. She hated social services. They were going to take her from us. She was tired of being passed around from one family to another. So she came up with an idea and asked us if we would be willing to play along with it. We said yes. We love having her around."
Kenshin shook his head. This was beginning to make his head spin. "Where is Kaoru now?"
"I don't know. I don't monitor her every move."
He sighed. "Why the pictures? Why would she want to do something like that with you? I could understand her boyfriend..."
"She was in love with Enishi."
Kenshin blinked. "What?"
"She was...or is, rather, in love with my husband."
"And you were just okay with that?"
She nodded.
Kenshin sighed. "Do you know what you're being charged with?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Kenshin stood and left the room, meeting Soujiro in the hall where he had been watching through the one way mirror.
"Those people...are...INSANE!" Kenshin half shouted to no one in particular.
Soujiro nodded. "I can't believe Tomoe would be perfectly fine with the fact that Kaoru is in love with her husband. What does Enishi say about it?"
"I haven't talked to him yet."
They were silent for a moment as they thought over all of the strange twists of the day.
"So we need to find Kaoru." Soujiro mused.
"It seems that way."
"Wasn't what we needed to do to begin with?"
"Yeah. Only now its for a different reason."
*********************************************************
Sorry its so short, folks. I kept changing my mind as to what I wanted to have happened to Kaoru, which is why there are so many twists in this chapter. lol Sometimes I even surprised myself. I completely scrapped my original ending because I thought up new twists that wouldn't work with that ending. So I don't know what's going to happen any more than you do! lol
It's beginning to sound like an episode of Law and Order:Special Victims Unit lol
~The Monster~ ~_^
Kitsune KeNsHiN: Eh? Are the pairings going to be this way in the end? *clears throat* well, I'm honestly not sure. I seem to have changed the ending three times in the past 48 hours, so I really don't know. But, yes, I am pretty settled on the Yumi/Soujiro Pairing. I don't know why I like it so much. As far as the Kenshin/Megumi pairing goes, well, I guess you'll just have to read the sequel to find out. I am indeed aware that they are odd (not to mention OOC) but oh well. (I really like the Soujiro/Yumi pairing. You can blame the other, though, on my split personality and her cousin. Her cousin is the one who planted the idea in my head. Actually, it was my split personality's head, but she didn't like the idea much so she passed it on to me. ^_^)
Ochanoko: Well...after all the twists this chapter has been through, *I'm* not even sure who's lying! (that's pretty bad when the author doesn't even know) Thanks for your review! ^_^
The-Lone-Lemon: lol Thanks. I'm glad you like it. Yeah, they are cute together, aren't they? lol ~_^
***
Devils and Angels
Chapter 3
Kenshin walked around behind Soujiro to see over his shoulder at the computer screen.
"Alright, Tomoe Yukishiro did, in fact, die..." Soujiro looked closer, quite surprised. "...on the same day that Kaoru disappeared. It was handled by..." He hit a few keys, making the screen scroll down. "...Okita Shoushi...isn't that Captain Hajime's friend over in Vallejo?"
Kenshin nodded.
"Well, apparently she died in a fire. It was listed as an accident."
Kenshin nodded. "What do you got on Enishi?"
"No priors. I can't access his juvenile records, which makes me think he did something when he was a kid. We need to figure out who called you. I know a guy in forensics who is really good with voice analysis and comparison...I've got a hunch. Social Services tapes all their interviews, right?"
Kenshin nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"And do you still have the message the woman left?"
Kenshin nodded.
"Well, lets see if we can get the tapes of the interviews with both Tomoe and Kaoru. Then we'll have their voices compared to the one on the message. I could be wrong, but we'll see..."
***
Soujiro walked into Kenshin's office and threw the results down on his desk. Kenshin looked up with a raised eyebrow, then reached out and picked up the folder, flipping it open. He was a bit worried, if Soujiro's pale face and anxious expression were any clues as to the results.
He took a deep breath and looked at the results.
"KAORU IS THE ONE WHO CALLED ME????"
Soujiro nodded. "My hunch was right. This means that Enishi has to be the one who has her...it also means that she is probably not chained there day in day out like we thought. Either that or Enishi held the phone up to her and told her what to say."
Kenshin shook his head. "I can't believe it."
"Neither could I at first. But Gregg ran the comparison three times...there was no way it could be anyone else. Kaoru apparently has a distinctive way of talking."
Kenshin sighed. "Do you think we have enough for a warrant?"
"I think so."
***
For the second time that day, Soujiro and Kenshin stood in front of the dilapidated Yukishiro residence. This time with a great deal of backup, just in case Enishi resisted.
Enishi flung open the door with a glare. "What do you want now?"
Kenshin straightened up, trying his best to make himself look taller. "We would like to see inside your house."
"No."
Kenshin held up the warrant. "I'm afraid we can't accept No for an answer."
He held out the warrant and Enishi took it, examining it as Kenshin, Soujiro, and a team of forensic investigators brushed past.
The house was dark, as all of the blinds were drawn and no lights were on. They quickly discovered that no lights were on because there were no lights, other than in the kitchen. There was a layer of dust covering everything, suggesting that Enishi had not been back from his 'Vacation' for very long. Either that or he simply did not care about dust.
"Or maybe he couldn't see the dust because there isn't any light." Soujiro volunteered in response to the lieutenant's musings.
Kenshin nodded. "Good observation."
Half of the team took the downstairs, lead by Kenshin. The other half, lead by Soujiro, took the upstairs. Enishi still stood by the front door, glaring at everyone.
After about twenty minutes, Soujiro came charging down the staircase and over to Enishi.
"All right, where is she?"
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"Yes you do. Where is she?"
Kenshin walked over to the unusually angry detective and pulled him aside.
"You didn't find her?"
Soujiro shook his head.
"Neither have we."
"Apparently we were wrong."
Kenshin shook his head. "Don't give up yet. There's still a few places we haven't looked."
***
Soujiro rubbed his temples. "I don't get it."
Kenshin sighed. "I guess we were wrong after all."
"She had to have been in this house some point."
"Do you believe me now?"
The two men turned around to look at a smug Enishi. No, they didn't believe him now, but they didn't have any other evidence to go on. At least not yet.
Enishi held up the warrant. "You can guarantee I'll sue for harassment."
Kenshin and Soujiro looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Just what their department needed; another lawsuit. They had enough already thanks to Chou the womanizer.
"Lieutenant, detective, come take a look at this."
Kenshin and Soujiro walked over to a young forensics investigator. He was holding pictures.
Kenshin took the pictures and looked at them, with Soujiro looking over his shoulder. They seemed to be more of the ones they had been sent: A nude Kaoru chained in a strange, confined area filled with rusted pipes.
Yet in these pictures, she was smiling.
Not just smiling, grinning. Grinning like she was having the best time of her life. Kenshin sighed and turned back around to Enishi, holding up the pictures. "Where were these taken?"
Enishi shrugged.
Soujiro stalked over and grabbed Enishi by the front of his shirt, slamming him against the wall. "Don't play games with us! Now where is she?!"
Kenshin calmly walked up behind Soujiro, not bothering to tell Soujiro to 'take it easy' like he usually did. This time he was past caring.
Enishi looked between Soujiro and Kenshin. He didn't seem to be too distressed by Soujiro's outburst. In fact, he seemed to be just as calm as ever. This perturbed Kenshin and Soujiro even more. Enishi remained silent. Soujiro shoved him harder against the wall. "Well?"
Kenshin held up the pictures again. "The pictures, Mister Yukishiro, the pictures. Where were they taken?"
Again, Enishi was silent. Soujiro was beginning to contemplate throwing him around some more when finally he spoke up.
"On a battleship. Below deck on an old battleship. They were her idea. She liked the music video for No Doubt's song Hella Good. She thought it was erotic and wanted to re-create it. Now do you mind? This is a good shirt."
Soujiro rolled his eyes. "Where is she now?"
"When I said I had no idea, I meant it. She takes off on her own all the time."
"So she's not chained below deck on a battleship?"
"No."
"Then why did you send us those letters?" Kenshin asked.
"I didn't. She and Tomoe thought it would be fun to taunt you."
Soujiro finally let go of Enishi and he and Kenshin looked at each other. "What do you mean she and Tomoe? Your wife is dead."
Enishi shook his head. "We staged her death."
"Then who's body was the one that was found?"
Enishi gave a little shrug. "I didn't know her name."
Suddenly they heard some scuffling at the door and everyone turned in time to see a female figure turn around and run off. Soujiro took off after her.
It didn't take too long for former track star Soujiro to catch up with the small woman in high heels. He grabbed her by the arm and turned her around, right as Kenshin ran up behind them.
They recognized her from the picture in her file.
Soujiro took a deep breath. "Tomoe Yukishiro, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can not afford one, one will be appointed to you..."
***
"Why?" Kenshin asked as he sat across from Tomoe in the interrogation room.
"It wasn't my idea."
"You husband says it was."
"Sending the pictures was my idea. The battleship was Kaoru's. The kidnapping was Kaoru's. She hated social services. They were going to take her from us. She was tired of being passed around from one family to another. So she came up with an idea and asked us if we would be willing to play along with it. We said yes. We love having her around."
Kenshin shook his head. This was beginning to make his head spin. "Where is Kaoru now?"
"I don't know. I don't monitor her every move."
He sighed. "Why the pictures? Why would she want to do something like that with you? I could understand her boyfriend..."
"She was in love with Enishi."
Kenshin blinked. "What?"
"She was...or is, rather, in love with my husband."
"And you were just okay with that?"
She nodded.
Kenshin sighed. "Do you know what you're being charged with?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Kenshin stood and left the room, meeting Soujiro in the hall where he had been watching through the one way mirror.
"Those people...are...INSANE!" Kenshin half shouted to no one in particular.
Soujiro nodded. "I can't believe Tomoe would be perfectly fine with the fact that Kaoru is in love with her husband. What does Enishi say about it?"
"I haven't talked to him yet."
They were silent for a moment as they thought over all of the strange twists of the day.
"So we need to find Kaoru." Soujiro mused.
"It seems that way."
"Wasn't what we needed to do to begin with?"
"Yeah. Only now its for a different reason."
*********************************************************
Sorry its so short, folks. I kept changing my mind as to what I wanted to have happened to Kaoru, which is why there are so many twists in this chapter. lol Sometimes I even surprised myself. I completely scrapped my original ending because I thought up new twists that wouldn't work with that ending. So I don't know what's going to happen any more than you do! lol
It's beginning to sound like an episode of Law and Order:Special Victims Unit lol
~The Monster~ ~_^