CHAPTER TWO: A DEEPENING MYSTERY!

Jed's first stop was at the Nakano Apartments out toward the suburbs of Tokyo. The area around here was virtually unscathed from Dark Mercury's attack as most of the fight had taken place downtown and near the bay area. It was also rather overpopulated nowadays as many of the city's refugees had moved in. Rent values were skyrocketing as people packed into the limited amount of living space like sardines. Some houses even had as many as four or five families occupying them. Houses that could barely fit TWO. Unfortunately crime was on the rise as well in this area.

As he pulled up to the curb directly across the street from Nakano Apartments, Jed noticed several shady characters slink into the shadows of alleyways. It was obvious they were doing something illegal. At the moment, however, Jed didn't care about them. They would be dealt with later.

At the top floor, in Room 405, was the current home of Amara Ten'ou and Michelle Kaioh. Amara was a bit of a drifter. She was working part-time for an Auto Garage that also field-tested Stock Cars for an amateur racing circuit. Naturally she was the Test Driver as well as the Mechanic. Her girlfriend, Michelle, was a member of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra as a Violinist of course. Neither of them were making much money, but between the two of them together they were putting together a comfortable living. The building they lived in was still in good condition as not too long ago this had been a nice neighborhood.

That piece of information was common knowledge to their neighbors. Jed knew something more about them, however. Jed knew Amara and Michelle were Sailor Senshi. He also was aware they had intimate experience with the late Sailor Saturn. Which brought him to the reason he was here.

Jed knocked on the door to Room 405. He could hear Violin music playing inside. That was Michelle without a doubt. He knocked again and this time the music cut off. There was a long silence before the latch clicked from the other side. The peep-hole in the door went dark for a second, and then the door opened.

Just as he suspected, Michelle poked her head out the door. She favored him with a smile, but it was a cautious one. He didn't really blame her. Dropping by to visit for idle purposes was not Jed's modus operandi. This was the first time he ever knocked on Michelle's door for any reason.

"Hello, Jedite," she said, using his full name. "Oops! I mean… Jed now, isn't it?"

Jed smiled crookedly. "That's alright. I know I haven't stopped by much. You're not used to calling me by my alias."

"Well come in," Michelle invited him, opening the door fully. "Look at you. A Police Officer. Trista told me all about it, but seeing it is surprising. You look good in uniform."

Jed stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "You know, I used to get that a lot when I was in the military."

"You were in the…?" Michelle trailed off, then she thought of something. "Silly me. You're talking about the Dark Kingdom, aren't you?"

"Are you kidding? Compliments and flattery were against the LAW in the Dark Kingdom," Jed quipped. "I was talking about Moon Kingdom's military. You know I wasn't ALWAYS a bad guy."

"My mistake," Michelle went to the kitchen. "I have no Moon Kingdom memories of my own."

"That does seem to be the trend with you Senshi," Jed looked around the room. There was a glass lounge table surrounded by couches and chairs in the center of the room. Directly to the left on the far wall stood a Television/ Stereo/ Entertainment Center combination. The carpet was light blue, Neptune's color, but the curtains on the two windows directly ahead were golden yellow, Uranus' hue. Everything in the room reflected this pattern of color. Jed had to admit the colors, just like the couple, went together nicely. "Nice place," he said.

"Thank you," Michelle put a tea kettle on the stove. "Tea?"

"I'll have to tell you about the Moon Kingdom someday," Jed reminded himself. "Yes, tea would be good. Where's Amara?"

"She's out of town for the weekend. She's still got family in Kyoto. Have a seat, don't wait for my invitation," Michelle chided him gently. She smiled at him warmly. "You have full memories of the Moon Kingdom?"

Jed nodded as he sat down on a leather easy chair. "Pretty well perfect," he said. "Serena asks me lots of questions about her Mother whenever she sees me."

"That's so sweet." Michelle leaned against the door post. "So are you going to tell me why you dropped by?"

Jed chuckled. "There's no putting anything past you," he laughed. "Did you see the news on television today?"

"Which news?" asked Michelle.

"About the explosion at the Department Store last night," said Jed.

Michelle nodded in comprehension. "Ah. Yes, the Police standoff that ended in the store exploding for some mysterious reason. They're saying it was a ruptured Gas Main."

Jed snorted. "Gas Main. That's clever of them," he muttered.

The tea kettle started to sing, so Michelle went back into the kitchen and took the kettle off the stove. She poured two cups and walked slowly out to the table with them on a tray.

"Thank you," Jed thanked her, taking his cup. He took a quick sip out of it.

"So you're saying it's not a Gas Main?"

Jed shook his head. "No, definitely not. Because I saw the cause of it with my own eyes. And the implications are serious."

"So what was it?" asked Michelle.

"The Silence Glaive," he replied, before taking another sip of his tea.

Michelle's tea simply sat on the table, steaming. She looked at him for a moment. She must have been trying to gauge if he was kidding or not. "You're serious?"

"It flew right over my head, Michelle," Jed set his tea down. "And I saw it up close. I held it in my hands when the Cops brought it out. It was unmistakable."

Michelle finally drank from her tea and she got a faraway look in her eyes, as if she was thinking. "That's impossible," she said at last. "We buried the Silence Glaive on top of the mountain. No one but us knows it's there."

"I was going to ask you to come with me up to Fuji," Jed told her. "You and Amara. But I guess I can't get a hold of her for a few days. We need to investigate that Grave. If it has been disturbed in any way…" he shrugged. "We'll know."

"Are you sure it was the Glaive?" Michelle looked disturbed by this topic.

"Draw me a picture of it. You're an Artist, aren't you?" Jed suggested.

Michelle sighed and stood up. "Let me get my sketchbook," she said hesitantly. This issue was obviously making her extremely uncomfortable. Hotaru had been one of her best friends. Her death had come as a severe tragedy to her and Amara in particular. Jed didn't like doing this, but he literally had no other place to start from. If this mysterious killer stole back the Glaive from the Police it meant he wasn't done with it. Which meant it was only a matter of time before he killed again with it! Jed was running out of time!

Michelle took a few minutes to get her sketch pad out. She sat down across from Jed and began to draw. There was no conversation during this interval. Jed stayed quiet and watched her go to work. He finished the rest of his tea while he waited.

As she drew, Michelle's green eyes began to fill up with tears. Her breathing became irregular and she sniffled every now and then. Jed kept quiet, but deep down inside he felt sorry for ever coming here. He knew he was opening a tender wound here.

Finally Michelle finished and she tossed the book across the table and reached for a box of tissues. Jed picked up the book and turned it over to look at the sketch. It was more than simply a picture of the Glaive. Hotaru was in the picture. She was exactly the way he remembered her from his dreams! The same hair, the same smile, the same love and warmth in her dark eyes. She was cradling the Glaive in her arms. And the weapon she carried was precisely identical to the one he saw last night. Jed's breath caught in his throat.

"I only asked for the Glaive," Jed whispered. He couldn't take his eyes off of Hotaru's face.

Michelle wiped a tear away from her eye. "I drew… What my heart told me to draw…"

Jed put the pad down, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from the picture. "That was the last expression on her face before she died," he said. "I always imagined she was looking at me with those eyes. Isn't that funny? Why would I wish something like that? I never even knew her until that day and only for a short time. I try to tell myself it was because she saved my life. That it's just an infatuation. But I think… In that moment or two that I knew her… That I loved her!"

Michelle looked at him sadly. "I wish you wouldn't say it so sincerely," she said. "What about it? Let's get back to the subject before I lose it completely."

Jed shook his head and forced a smile. "Right. What was I thinking? After looking at the drawing you put out, I have to say that I'm more certain than ever that it was the Silence Glaive."

Michelle laughed bitterly. "I was afraid you'd say that," she joked.

Jed stood up suddenly. "Thanks for the tea and the hospitality," he said. "You know what? You don't have to come to Fuji with me. It might be… too painful for you. You've been a great help."

Michelle stood up as well and before he could leave, she gripped him by the bicep. "Not so fast!" she said with a tone that surprised him with its sharpness. He blinked at her. "I'm going with you." she continued. "If you're one hundred percent certain you're not mistaken or lying to me in some way."

Jed crossed his fingers over his heart. "I don't lie. Not even when I'm an evil General bent on world domination for a psychotic Queen of Darkness."

Michelle burst out laughing. "I never pegged you for a sense of humor, Jed."

"Neither did I until a few weeks ago," Jed looked at the table. He grabbed the sketchbook and tore the picture out of it, stuffing it in his pocket. "For, um… evidence," he said, wishing he hadn't just opened his mouth.

Michelle smiled at him. "What would Trista say, you bad man?"

"Nothing if you know how to keep a secret," Jed moved toward the door. "Let's go, we don't have much time."

A cold wind blew, as it always did, near the summit of Mount Fuji. The peak was so high in the air that snow stayed on top of it all year round. The air was thin and dry. The atmosphere more closely resembled Siberia than Tokyo in the Summer.

So why, in such a remote and desolate place, would four Graves be erected? For no other reason than to protect the secrecy of the dead whom they memorialized. These four persons had one thing in common: they died less than a month ago in battle against Dark Mercury. The greatest evil the world had ever known!

Truthfully, Jed expected to arrive at the site and find the grave of Hotaru Tomoe disturbed and dug up. He expected to find the Silence Glaive missing from where it was laid to rest. What he did not expect was to arrive and find… Nothing!

Michelle, dressed now as Sailor Neptune, blinked and looked at him. "Are you so sure now that it was the Glaive you saw that night?"

That question annoyed Jed. He moved forward and dug through the snow around Hotaru's Grave with his bare hands. He ignored the numbing cold on his hands and dug until he reached bare ground. The dirt was hard and compact, frozen to a brick-like consistency. It did not look like the grave had been dug up since the day of the Funeral.

"This isn't possible!" he blurted out. "I know what I saw!"

Michelle's eyes wavered as she looked at him. "You poor soul," she said softly. "I had no idea you were that hung up on her. I think you should stop before you hurt yourself."

"DON'T… patronize me!" Jed stood up and pointed at her angrily. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this, even if I have to dig up the damn Grave myself!"

He was about to demand going back to Tokyo and picking up a couple of shovels but suddenly his radio began to buzz. He picked it up from his belt and turned up the volume and listened.

"… Multiple Homicide on Main Street near the Takeuchi Overpass," said the Dispatcher's voice. "All available units from 50th Precinct proceed to the scene immediately."

Jed had a gut feeling all of a sudden. He looked at Michelle urgently. "Take me there. Please! I have a hunch."

Neptune sighed, threw his arm around her shoulders, and carried him back down toward the distant city of Tokyo below.

TO BE CONTINUED………

NEXT CHAPTER: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD