Part 16
Heero had sneaked into the hotel more out of habit than because he really needed to. After all, no one knew his face here. But still that hadn't prevented him from staying almost unconsciously out of the surveillance cameras range. The less people connected him with Quatre the better.
Heero had spent the last hour hacking into the GSA database to verify everything Agent Wind had said and contacting some people from the L3 underground. Heero smirked when he recalled that some of them had tried not to sound too afraid, but the truth was, although he was now an outcast in the world he had once almost ruled, he still remained one of the deadliest killer alive. Someone to be reckoned with. The fact that he was still alive one week after he had issued his challenge spoke volumes to people who could read that. No one defied the Doctors and lived. He knew that, for he had been carrying out that type of missions for them. No one but him.
Heero frowned as he approached Quatre's room. He could hear Duo and Wufei talking, but not Quatre's softer tone. And he suddenly realized that Quatre's presence in his mind, though still there, was not getting any stronger as he had become accustomed to every time he came near the blond young man. Which probably meant that he wasn't there. Something was wrong.
Pushing the door (unlocked, he noted), he walked in to find Duo and Wufei staring at an open window and debating about what they should be doing right now.
"I should have known, I … I just thought he was over that, damn it !", Duo said.
And without turning around, he added "Well, come in, Yuy, there's no need to try and hide the bad news, now, is there ?"
Wufei spun on his heels to discover Heero in the doorway, part of his mind wondering how in space the man had approached without him feeling it, and also how Duo could have felt it.
"Where is Quatre ?", Heero asked a bit angrily.
"We don't have a clue, pal, so don't get started on us !", Duo bit back. "He left about fifteen minutes ago, I think."
Heero marched to Duo and took his right arm in an iron fist.
"You told me he would be safe with you. You were supposed to watch him", he snarled.
Duo's eyes fell on the hand holding his arm. The young American looked up very slowly, all pretense of amusement gone. His face was closed and void of all emotions as he looked straight into the Prussian blue depths burning with anger in front of him.
"Fuck. Off. Yuy", he said very evenly.
Heero didn't move an inch and shot one of his Death Glares to Duo. To his own surprise, it didn't have the usual effect. Not only did Duo glare back, but his eyes misted a bit, slowly turning a creepy blue color as a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"Fuck off, or I'll make you. I mean it."
Heero felt the arm under his hand tense with anger and anticipation, but he ignored the threat.
"Is that how you take care of your friends ?", he asked icily.
"Don't you dare tell me how to take care of Cat ! Let go off me now, or I swear you'll regret it !"
"ENOUGH !", Wufei barked.
The two other young men looked at him, shock slowly showing on their face.
"Shut up, both of you and listen to me !", Wufei snapped. "This is neither the right place nor the right time for that kind of little thing. This is not helping."
"But …", Duo started.
"What part of 'Shut up' did you not understand, Maxwell ?", Wufei interrupted. "And don't try to do it too, Yuy", he added as the Japanese man opened his mouth to argue. "Let go off Maxwell ! Now !"
Heero did. Wufei glared at the two of them, his jet-black eyes alive with cold fury.
"Okay, now listen to me and don't interrupt. You two are behaving foolishly and childishly. I would never have expected that from either of you. You obviously need to work out things with Quatre to get over that little jealousy problem here, the only problem being that Quatre is missing."
He stared at them, as if defying them to add a word. Satisfied when all he got was nervous nods and puzzled looks, he kept on.
"So, we have to find him back, and to do that, we need to work as a team. Which won't work out if you two gut each other. So forget about that and be civil to each other. If I hear even one single word on that subject again before you've talked it out with Quatre, I will knock out the both of you and make sure it's in such a painful way that when you will wake up, you will want me to have killed you instead. Anyone thinking I'm kidding is free to try me any time."
Duo gaped at Wufei, but couldn't seem to find a word fitting enough to express how shocked he was. Heero just nodded to Wufei, retreating in the soldier mode that he knew was the only way he could get anything done without cracking up.
"Good", Wufei said. "I need to change my clothes into something more fitting. If you two would be so kind as to not rip each other apart while I'm gone …"
And he left. Duo waited until the Chinese man had disappeared before he exploded.
"I can't believe it ! Who does he think he is, to play Mr Know-it-all and …"
"He's right", Heero interrupted quietly.
Duo turned to face the Japanese man, not quite sure he had heard that well.
"What ?"
"He's right, and we both know it. We have a problem, and we need to figure it out. But he is also right about now not being the right time."
Duo didn't look too sure about this, but he nodded nonetheless.
"Yeah, well, now that we're buddies again, or let's say non-mortal enemies, I'll go grab my jacket in my room and be right back."
O.O.O.O.O
Five minutes later, both Duo and Wufei were back. The young American had put a short leather jacket on his priest sweater, and Wufei had changed into a black linen costume. The young Chinese man took control of the situation, since he wanted the other two to work together and stop glaring daggers at each other.
"So, what did you learn ?", he asked Heero.
"Wind did give us true information, although he didn't tell us everything, but the rest can wait. The Doctors have hired Lady Une. She's already on L3. My contacts told me that she's been hiring some help, which is unusual. Our kind prefer to hunt alone, usually."
"Hunt ?", Duo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Help", Wufei said, refocusing the conversation. "What kind of help ? Anything we should be worried about ?"
"Yakuzas. Not the nicest persons in town, and most of them having a personal grudge against me", the Japanese man answered. "I can only suppose that those were hired to take care of us while she would go for Quatre."
The killer's voice cracked a bit as he kept on, revealing to the other two that although he was putting his emotions under strict control, it was only out of sheer will.
"It is far too dangerous for Quatre to be alone in the streets. He could get killed without being able to defend himself. Une is dangerous. And she's insane."
He suddenly looked up at Duo and Wufei.
"Why did he leave ? I vaguely felt he was angry, but …"
"What do you mean, you felt he was angry ?", Duo asked, unable to mask his surprise. "Are you …"
"No, I … I can't explain, I just can feel him that's all. I know he's alright for the moment, but I don't know where he is."
Duo's eyes narrowed as he studied the Japanese's face with a scrutiny that would have anyone else blush. Wufei seemed to be a little shocked by the news, but he didn't make any comments.
"So, why did he leave ?", Heero asked again, trying to make the conversation move away from that embarrassing subject that was his emotions and feelings.
"He fought with his dad again", Duo explained.
"Does he do that often ?", Wufei asked. "I mean, taking off when he's upset. You said you thought he was over it."
Duo sighed, trying to find a way to explain.
"Cat hates fighting with people, and most of all with his dad, so yeah, usually, when they have a fight, he just sneaks out for a few hours to calm down. He prefers bein' alone for a while, until he's feelin' well enough to come back and face people without snappin' at them, like he did to us. It was all gettin' better, and lately, when he was upset, he usually called me instead of running out of the house and hiding, so I thought he was really over that."
"Apparently not", Wufei commented. "That must have been a big fight."
"But we got a serious problem, guys", Duo said. "Cat's never been to L3 before, he doesn't know the place. Knowing him, he will probably take a long walk, but that's still unknown territory for him. He took his wallet, but not his cell phone nor his gun, which means we have absolutely no chance of tracking him down with that."
"That's insane", Heero suddenly said, slamming his hand on a nearby table. "How could he do that when he knows there are people after him ?"
Wufei frowned. Yuy was taking this personally, that was more than obvious. But right now, they all needed to calm down and be concentrated. Taking charge again, Wufei exposed his plan.
"He left half an hour ago through that window. He is dressed in dark colors, he didn't take anything that would allow us to contact him. He wants to be alone."
"Yeah, I kinda understood that when he yelled at us, Wu-man", Duo snickered.
"I'm pretty sure he is on foot", Wufei kept on, ignoring the interruption. "He is not that far away. We will go down in the streets and ask people if they've seen him, but no name. No need to create a panic and start rumors that the Winner heir has disappeared."
"You mean apart from the nasty part when he really has disappeared", Duo said mockingly.
"We must be on the lookout for any kind of attack on ourselves", Heero added. "Discretion is needed, or we will alert the enemy that we don't know where he is and he is unprotected."
Duo stretched.
"Okay, now comes the difficult part. Finding Cat. 'Cause he obviously did his best not to be found. A chance you have the emperor of hiding with you, guys."
O.O.O.O.O
Quatre wandered aimlessly in unknown streets. He had no clue where he was going, and he didn't care. Alone and anonymous in the crowd, he felt safe. No one here to recognize him and call him by his name. No one to be kind to him just because of that name.
Sadness overcame Quatre, and just at that time, it began to rain, as if the weather regulation of the colony was echoing his mood. He just kept on walking, savoring the soft contact of droplets on his skin. It was not the same than on Earth, but it was comforting, in a way.
A TV screen in the window of a shop caught his attention. It was playing a News flash and showing all of the Winners in front of the embassy. Quatre looked at himself beside his father. Was it really him here, or was it just what everyone else wanted to see ? Was he nothing more in the face of the world than the 'Winner Heir' ? Quatre hated that nickname with a passion, but somehow, every newspaper felt bound to use it. As if Quatre wasn't really a person, as if he was nothing more than someone destined to carry on with the business after his father … Just a pale shadow that didn't even really exist.
And here, in the middle of this crowd of people who hurried back home under the rain, Quatre began to cry softly, his tears mingling with the drops of rain falling on his face. Because he was tired of being just that. Because, just once in his life, he didn't want to be 'the Winner Heir', but just Quatre. Just Cat. All the persons he loved called him Cat. At least, all the persons who dared.
Quatre felt incredibly tired, forgetting that it was past midnight and he had been up for a long time. It was more mental than physical anyway. Deep inside, he was wondering if his father had ever seen him like a full human being or just as the shadow of the woman he had loved and lost, and that he could find back watching his son. Was it him his father loved, or just the memory of his wife ? Quatre felt betrayed and abandoned when he had those kind of thoughts, but he couldn't help it. His father had hurt him, because he could not accept that Quatre was not what he had dreamt him to be.
Tearing himself away from the news flash, Quatre began to go down the streets again. People were giving him odd looks, but that was mostly due to the fact that he was sniffing and not caring about wiping the tears that were still silently falling down his face. A pang of guilt suddenly overcame him. Duo, Wufei and Heero would be worried. He had yelled at Duo and Wufei, and he had not warned them he was going. Heero would be furious. They would probably be looking for him. But Quatre didn't feel like going back now. He would deal with that later.
Joyful lights suddenly caught his eye. Turning to his right, he discovered a huge colorful tent in the middle of rides. A carnival with a circus. Apparently, it was open all night, and in spite of the rain, people were queuing to buy tickets for the circus. Without really thinking, Quatre joined them.
As he took his seat just at the edge of the ring, he looked around at the audience. Even if it was late at night, a lot of people had come with their children. It was warming and freezing his heart at the same time. Warming, because his empathy perceived the calm happiness echoing from all those people, and freezing, because however hard he tried, he knew he would never be one of them. His father had never taken him to the circus, nor anywhere else. There was never enough time, always too much to do, for the man to get to know his children better. Quatre was honestly surprised to realize how much he had missed that. Not that his childhood had been unhappy, that would be ungrateful to Iria to say so. But his father had missed so much : he had missed Quatre's first steps, his first words, his first day of school. He had never read him stories at night nor lulled him to sleep. Quatre was sure that had his father known, he would have done it gladly, but at the time, Mr Winner had done what he had thought was best for his son. And, grieving the loss of his wife, he probably had had trouble to welcome him, Quatre thought. The last six months couldn't make it up to him, but it had been a start, and a good start. But now everything was shattered to pieces, because his father had shown that he was unable to see anything more in Quatre than the ideal son he had imagined. And he knew his father was very surprised every time he realized that Quatre was far from being that ideal son, and that his way to show surprise was to rant.
Quatre sighed. He was definitively not in a good mood tonight. There was too much happening at once. Things that would never had happened if he had just been some anonymous teenager instead of the Winner Heir. But then, a face with delicately sculpted features, messy brown hair and blue eyes appeared in his mind. Heero. He would never have met Heero had he not been the Winner Heir. Quatre almost growled in frustration at his own contradictions, and only stopped because people were watching him. He was starting to have a slight headache from all the thinking. Not to mention that the presence of Heero was nagging him. Quatre could feel his worry, his concern, his determination, and most of all, the cold veil on all those emotions that kept them a bit away so as not to hinder whatever it was Heero was doing at the moment. It made him a bit dizzy, but in a way comforted him. Heero was looking for him. Quatre would go back, but only when he was ready.
Then, the show began. And Quatre forgot everything.
O.O.O.O.O
For an hour and a half, performers did their numbers in front of a delighted crowd. Quatre had forgotten everything about his worries, he didn't even remember what it was that had driven him here. He just enjoyed the show like any other teenager. There were clowns, trapeze artists, acrobats, lions and tigers, and even a magician. The circus troop was not that large, and most of the performers were doing several numbers, showing talent in more than one area. Quatre had particularly noticed two of them : A girl with auburn curly hair, and a lanky young man dressed as a clown with bangs hiding half of his face. They had performed on the trapeze, the tightrope, and the clown had come back with the lions. They came back for the last act of the show.
A large round board was brought in the center of the ring. The ringmaster came forward to announce the act.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please make a triumph for the Daggers Queen, Catherine Bloom !"
The crowd erupted into loud applause. Apparently, the circus had been there for a while, and the public knew the performers. Quatre clapped along as the auburn-haired girl stepped on the ring, followed by the young clown. She tied him to the board, and took some steps back. All of a sudden, a set of shining knives appeared in her right hand as she bowed to the audience.
Even Quatre held his breath as the blades flew in the air to land into the board with muffled thumps, just inches from the clown. Soon, Catherine Bloom complicated the figures, throwing two daggers with one hand, or turning her back to the board before throwing them. To finish, she put on a blindfold on and took two daggers in each hand. She didn't even take a second to concentrate before she threw the last knives. They finished their course neatly planted in the wood, framing the young clown's face. He hadn't moved an inch, not even blinked, even when one of the knives had cut a lock of his light brown hair.
There was a tremendous wave of applause as the crowd gave the knife-thrower a standing ovation. All of the artists went back on the ring for a last salute, then the lights went gradually out as the public went out of the colorful tent.
Quatre didn't leave. Now that the magical moment was over, everything came back to him, and he felt very reluctant to move. He was exhausted, he knew his friends were worried, and although his anger had lessened, he still felt very sad. Sad that his father and him couldn't get along, that they were unable to understand each other. He held himself, trying to get warm, but he was still a bit wet from his walk in the rain, and now that the tent was empty and silent, it didn't help. And even worse, it did nothing to help Quatre out of his feeling of abandon.
Before he could help himself, he started crying again, silently.
O.O.O.O.O
Catherine Bloom and her brother went to the tent to fetch her set of knives and check that the lions were all set for what was left of the night. They would be doing night shows for a week, and they were living at night more than usual. Catherine took the bag in which she kept her knives and began to put them all in, when she noticed someone on one of the benches just outside the ring. A blond young man holding himself, his shoulders shaking.
"Trowa !", she called in a whisper.
The lanky young man came to her side.
"There's still someone", she said. "I think he's crying."
Trowa raised an eyebrow in silent questioning.
"Go get him", his sister commanded. "It's freezing in here. If he doesn't want to get home, we can probably find a place for him tonight, but we can't let him stay here, he's gonna kill himself."
Trowa gave his best impression of a smile, which meant that the corners of his mouth turned a bit upwards. If he let her, his sister would take in every stray puppy she found on the streets. But even he had to admit that it was different this time. He had seen the young man in the audience watch their every move, captivated. He had seemed happy then. Trowa idly wondered why he was sobbing on a bench in the dark now as he came closer. He knelt beside the bench.
"Is everything okay ?", he asked softly.
The blond young man looked up, discovered Trowa, and sniffed. Trowa was amazed by what he saw. The look on that boy's face was … reminding him of something so familiar that he had a hard time not staring at him. For those big green-blue eyes full of tears reminded Trowa of the lions. Of the look they had sometimes when they seemed to realize that they were trapped and encaged, and that they would be for the rest of their lives, no matter what. And behind could be seen, just as in the eyes of the lions, a combativeness that said that even knowing that, they would not stop fighting and trying to regain their lost freedom.
Finally, the blond young man shook his head.
"You might want to get back home", Trowa said. "It's cold in here, you can't stay the night."
"I don't want to go back", the young man said, his voice broken by tears. "Not yet."
At that precise moment, Catherine appeared behind her brother.
"What's wrong, honey ?"
"I … I'm not sure I really know", the blond young man said. "I just …"
"It's okay", Catherine interrupted kindly. "You don't have to say if you don't want to. Just come with us, you're all shaking. I'll make … uh, Trowa will make us some coffee, and you can sleep in our trailer until tomorrow."
"Oh, that's nice of you, but I don't want to … I mean, I don't want to be an inconvenience or anything. Besides, I have probably friends looking for me right now, they'll get worried if they don't see me come back."
Trowa and Catherine looked at each other. The young clown already knew what his sister was about to say, so he didn't even think to stop her.
"Whatever happens, you can't go back now. It's very late, and the streets are not safe around here. You could get mugged. You can call your friends tomorrow if you want them to come and fetch you, but you're staying with us tonight. You're not being an inconvenience or anything", she added before he could protest. "It's not like it's the first time, you know. So what do you say ?"
Finally, the blond young man managed a sad little smile and nodded.
"Thank you", he whispered.
"Don't say that before you've tasted the soup", Trowa said, earning a smack at the back of the head.
"Ooooh you", Catherine growled. "My cooking is not that bad !"
"I just want him to be sure of what he's about to get into, that's all, sis."
"Yeah, sure. By the way", she said turning to their guest, "my name is Catherine Bloom, and that insufferable young man here is my brother Trowa Barton."
"I am Quatre."
"Just Quatre ?"
A strange look flashed in the young man's eyes, a mix of sadness and longing that was a bit hard to decipher.
"Yes, just Quatre", he answered.
Neither Catherine nor Trowa pushed more. They were not nosey after all, and being part of an itinerant circus troop let you meet all sorts of people. If he didn't want to give out his last name, that was his choice. Trowa had the strange sensation to have seen that face before, apart from the lion thing that he didn't explain. And he had also noticed that although the clothes were casual, they probably cost more than his annual salary at the circus. Which only made the young man more mysterious. Trowa's little smile returned. He liked mysteries.
O.O.O.O.O
Once in the trailer, Quatre began to warm up. Trowa led him to the tiny bathroom and handed him a towel to dry his hair, and some dry clothes. As was to be expected, Quatre had to roll the sleeves of the turtleneck as well as the bottom of the pants, but it was better than his damp clothes. Catherine took them away, and they finally all settled down in front of steaming mugs of coffee.
"Thank you", Quatre said again. "I am sorry to be such a bother."
"You're not a bother", Catherine said for the hundredth time. "Honest. It's not the first time that we see this I swear. You just have to know we can't take you with us, that's all."
A little smile appeared on Quatre's face.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't go just like this anyway. But anyway, that was very kind of you."
"We couldn't let you freeze to death, hon", Catherine said getting up. "Do you imagine us going there in the morning and finding a frozen corpse on the bench ? Not good for business, I'm tellin' you."
In spite of the misery he felt, Quatre couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter. Catherine reminded him of Duo so much that it was comical. Trowa saw the tension gradually leave the slender shoulders, and relaxed too. Cathy was right, the boy was not the only one they had had in here, but there was something nagging Trowa about this one. He was absolutely sure now that he knew this face, and hell only knew from where. Quatre didn't want to say why he had been so helplessly crying, and in fact, he looked a little ashamed now to have been caught in the act. Trowa just shrugged it away for now. He knew that if he tried to remember, he would never get any sleep, and Quatre may end up explaining things after all.
Catherine arranged some pillows and blankets on the couch in their small living area (not big enough to be called a room), and again, Quatre thanked her in a well-mannered fashion. Catherine threatened to slap him if he said "I'm sorry" once more, and a real good-natured laugh escaped Quatre's lips this time, making him glow, although a tinge of sadness and guilt remained in his eyes.
This left Trowa with a lot to think about as he went into his own bed.
O.O.O.O.O
"Nothing", Duo grumbled as he joined the other two again. "And I thought I was a master at hiding …."
Heero was scanning the crowd around them. Wufei was frowning. He knew he was tired and far from functioning in full capacity, but he had to agree with Duo. Even lost in a crowd, Quatre usually stood out. His face was one you easily remembered, even if it only was because he had smiled to you as you passed him by. And yet, no one seemed to have seen him around. Wufei knew that both Duo and Heero were very tense, although they did not let it show. The Chinese man marveled at the control the Japanese was exerting. The only thing that betrayed his worries and tension were his eyes, and that was only visible at certain moments.
"We should try some other place", Heero finally said. "He was upset, but he wouldn't run into danger just to make a point. He knows we're worried about him. He wouldn't add to our worries."
"Yes, that sounds like Cat alright", Duo agreed. "How about we go down that other street over here to the park ? It's rainin', but I'm not sure he would mind, and he's not really the kind to go drown his pain in alcohol anyway."
"Let's go, then", Wufei said, leading the way.
As soon as they stepped into the dark alley (a shortcut to the park), they knew it was a mistake. Wufei stopped, feeling the air tense around him, and assumed a defensive posture. He didn't have to warn his comrades. Heero had taken two steel Birdsong (1) Glocks from shoulder holsters, and Duo was looking around, flexing his fingers and ready to strike.
Fifteen men dressed in strange black outfits closed their circle around them. They were unmistakably Japanese, and looked at their preys with cold eyes. They all had guns. But what really sent chills down Wufei's spine was the woman who followed and stopped at the edge of the circle. Tall, brown hair up in two plaited buns, round glasses, some kind of military uniform … and a smile that was not quite sane.
"Kombanwa (2), Yuy-san", she said as if they were all having tea in a pleasant place instead of being ambushed in a dark street.
All expressiveness left Heero's face, his perfectly chiseled features composing themselves into a cold mask. Wufei, who had been in point, slowly took three steps back to leave Heero in front of the woman and watch his back instead with Duo. Duo, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet and not really in the right mood for someone who was cornered and outnumbered. In fact, Duo looked almost happy to have been cornered and outnumbered, Wufei thought.
"What do you want, Une ?", Heero asked.
Une chuckled.
"I want you, Yuy-san. Preferably with your throat open of course, but one cannot always have her wish in life. My only problem is I have another mission to accomplish before I can have the delightful pleasure of ending your life. If I am granted that pleasure of course."
She looked at the fifteen men pointedly.
"My boys have been telling me that you guys have been asking question about a blond young man almost all night. I assumed that you had lost him somewhere. I can find him for you if you wish, but I can't guarantee I will bring him back in one piece."
Heero didn't even move one muscle when all he wanted was to run at the woman and take her eyes out with his bare hands. His mind was racing, analyzing the situation. Rushing to Une would result in fifteen guns discharging on him and him ending very dead, because he was good, but not that good. Moreover, he was not alone in this. He had absolutely no idea of what Wufei and Duo would do in a combat situation. He didn't know how they fought, didn't even know if they could fight. And he wasn't used to working in a team. Even when Odin was there, he usually killed alone.
And then, there was the fact that the crazy woman threatened Quatre's life, and that he couldn't do anything right now. So the solution was simple. He had to let Une go, bring down the fifteen men and then rush to find Quatre before Une would. Because if he didn't … He stopped this trail of thought before it ended somewhere unpleasant. Now was not the right time to lose it.
"I will leave you here with the boys", Une kept on. "I see that you have brought help as well. How unfortunate, Yuy-san. That's two other lives you won't be able to protect."
"Yeah, right," Duo said before anyone could ask him to stay silent, "like we need Mr Stoic-as-a-Rock's protection. Are you quite done with the speech, 'cause that's kinda getting boring, and I really wanna kick ass ! What is it with all the bad guys that they have to tell you in details what they're gonna do to you anyway ?"
Une's brown eyes suddenly went very cold.
"Fine", she said. "I'll leave you to your business, and I'll go take care of mine."
"Have fun !" Duo shouted to her retreating form. "We'll tell ya how it was here !"
"Duo !", Wufei hissed.
"What ?"
"Didn't you read somewhere that getting a psycho killer pissed is a very bad idea ? Especially if she's after one of our friends ?"
"We got another psycho killer with us, Wu", Duo whispered. "And honestly, if we couldn't find Cat, I doubt she will, but could we please save the conversation for later, 'cause we kinda have a problem right now."
Wufei looked at the still silent fifteen men around. Heero suddenly took a few steps to the one right in front of him and looked the man right in the eyes.
"I give you one chance to get out of this alive."
O.O.O.O.O
(1) The Birdsong finish is the very best you can get on a gun. It involves putting a camouflage on the gun and consoliding it with kevlar. Guns treated that way are practically indestructible. (thanks to Patricia Cornwell, Crime queen and a mine of information for me on stuff like that. You can find that particular info in her book Cause of Death).
(2) Japanese for 'Good evening'.