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Homicide: The Death of Serena
By Crystaldove
Chapter 9
"You can't be serious Amy?"
Lita asked her while heading back towards Juuban.
"I am…the way she treated Serena was cruel. I know that some teachers don't care for their students and that usually happens when they have disciplinary problems. So what if she was late…and wasn't the best student…she was harsher with her than the kids that cut her class. She humiliated her, belittled her and singled her out even when others were disturbing the class. Why 'did' she hate Serena so much?"
"I don't know. You aren't the only one that suspects her of doing something, so does Jared."
"Yes, Detective Monroe…I wonder if he has any more leads he give tell us; I mean tell you."
Lita looked at Amy and noticed that she was attempting humor to get her mind off of things…she smiled and continued to head home.
Darien rummaged through his medicine chest noting that he had to buy several more supplies if these attacks kept up.
'Something must have happened between Sailor Moon and the others, I know she wouldn't have just left. Mars knows something…and she will tell me…'
9:51- Crossroads Apartments
"I feel as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders."
Patricia Haruna muttered to herself as she graded papers.
"Amy Anderson…top of the class as usual. I just don't see why she hung out with that slacker Tsukino. No matter now, she is saved from that girl bringing her down; all of my students are. That girl was just a whining selfish, ignorant little spoiled brat that always got things handed to her on a silver platter. Girls like Serena have always gotten by…making hardworking people suffer. All they had to do is blink their pretty eyes and grades and perks were given to them without hard work or effort. But not anymore…not anymore."
There was a wicked gleam to Miss H's eyes as she spoke to herself out load. She put down the papers and walked to her linen closet. Upon opening it, she kneeled do to a makeshift shrine. There were candles surrounding a picture of a blond-haired, green-eyed girl wearing an older version of the Juuban High cheerleading uniform. In front of the picture was a torn and ragged doll with several hundred pins sticking out of it.
"Brittney… I have a chance to make you suffer. I should have been class president… I should have won that scholarship Tokyo U! But no…popularity won over hard work…but whose laughing now? Like I told you…I will get revenge."
Picking up the doll, she stared at the picture that was recently glued to it. This person had blue eyes and pieces of long yellow yarn were attached to the head.
"Isn't that right, Serena?"
Maniacal laughter resounded in the apartment as more pins were pushed into the face of the doll. The rough treatment of her device caused the head to pop off and roll on the floor.
"I will never be upstaged by some blond, brainless tart again!"
October 4
Juuban Jr. High
8:30 am
"Good morning class…listen up for the roll."
Amy listened as Miss H went through the list of names. Every morning she watched this apparent glee come to her features whenever she mentioned Serena's name…today wasn't any different.
"Ah yes…Serena Tsukino, not here." She responded with a singsong voice.
Amy was floored; it was one thing for Miss H's features to contort into a smile. But she sounded like Mary Poppins singing 'Spoonful of Sugar'.
'The nerve of her!' Amy thought to herself. 'I know that she did it!'
The rest of the day Amy kept her observations in her notebook and planned to go see the detective after the day was over.
2:45
"Now class we are going to start the next installment of your Literature assignment. Remember, we are studying the Prose of Western Europe after the time of Shakespeare. Open your books and turn to page 325."
The class looked at their teacher and retrieved their books with various mutterings. As Miss H continued her disconnected teaching she was interrupted by a knock on the door. She sighed loudly and roughly pulled open the door.
"How does anyone expect me to teach with these interruptions…"
She stopped her tirade and noticed two uniformed officers at her door.
"Can I help you?"
"No, but you can help me."
"Detective Monroe! I am in the middle of class. I don't have time for your accusations now please leave my classroom!"
Miss H tried to close the door but the detective kept it ajar with a warrant.
"That is why I brought this…"
Her eyes grew large and she excused herself from the class and closed the door.
"Either meet us at the station at 4:30 or we can book you right now…"
"You…you can't!"
"I can and I will."
"Is there a problem here?"
"Mr. Morimoto…uh no I was just speaking to these officers. They are…uh investing the disappearance of my…my student."
"Ah yes, Serena Tsukino…terrible situation; have you gotten any leads?"
"Funny you should mention that sir…"
"Shouldn't you be going Detective…"
She interjected trying to push him towards the exit. He wrenched his arm from her grip and handed the warrant to the principal.
"What is this Patricia? Why is your name on this warrant?"
"That's simple…we suspect that she has knowledge on the disappearance and probable homicide of Serena Tsukino."
"Patricia…is this true?"
"Sir the police have been hounding me…trying to ruin my career."
"If your behavior wasn't suspicious…we wouldn't be here right now. You see Mr. Morimoto, our investigation has concluded that Miss Haruna hasn't been looking out for the best interests of her students. And she seems to harbor extreme dislike for the missing teenager. According to my notes, she has on several occasions been witnessed ridiculing and humiliating Miss Tsukino."
During the conversation, Amy crept to the door and using her Mercury computer recorded the conversation.
'I need to speak to the detective.' She thought. 'I need to cause a distraction.'
Amy saw a vase on Miss H's desk and bumped it over. The ensuing commotion caused the principal and the detective to look into the class.
"Miss Anderson is everything ok?"
"Yes Mr. Morimoto. I was helping with the lesson plan when I knocked over the vase."
"Let me help you with that Miss Anderson."
"Detective you know this student?"
"She is friends with Miss Tsukino. I spoke with her at the start of my investigation."
"Oh, well why you do that, I will be speaking with Miss Haruna."
"Thanks for helping me Detective Monroe."
"I know you aren't clumsy Amy…I take it you needed to speak with me."
"How did you know?"
"I've been doing this for years Amy…"
Amy told the detective of her observations and showed him her notebook. It confirmed his suspensions about the teacher and he copied some vital notes into his file.
"Thanks for this information Amy. If you have anything else you have to tell me just call, there isn't a need for you to drop any more vases."
"Patricia what is the meaning of this; a suspect in a missing persons' case? I was warned not to hire you because of your past, yet you guaranteed that you would prove that your reputation was soiled falsely by those jealous of you. But it seems that what I was told is proving to be correct."
"No sir! I deserve this…especially after all I went through. My dream to be an attorney was snatched from me and I resorted to teaching. And I vowed that the injustices that were given to me would not befall any of my students. And I kept that vow for the 5 years that I've been here. And no one…not the police, not Brittney Ishida and especially not that annoying brat Serena Tsukino won't keep me from that!"
The sound of clapping brought her out of her tirade.
"Nice speech Miss Haruna; very eloquently spoken…did your publicist crank that out for you? Striving for the good of your students…how by getting rid of those who you feel are undermining your teachings?"
"Don't you start taking my words out of context…"
"How am I taking your words out of context? This is what you said…"
"And no one…not the police, not Brittney Ishida and especially not that annoying brat Serena Tsukino won't keep me from being a success!"
"Isn't that your voice?" The detective pulled a tape recorder out into the open. "And no, I'm not trying to frame you…this is how I take statements. This way it is transcribed correctly and if someone tries to alter their statement or say that they were being mislead or misconstrued…I have their voice as proof otherwise."
"I must say Patricia, things aren't looking up for you. Perhaps you need to accompany the detective to the station now."
"But Mr. Morimoto?"
"I will have Miss Anderson finish out the day."
"Sir!"
"Do you want me to have you arrested in the presence of your class Patricia. I suggest you make arrangements for a sub for the next few days while you get this mess straighten out. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes Mr. Morimoto. Let me get my belongings out of the lounge."
"Sankou would you make sure she comes back safely."
"Yes sir."
Miss H solemnly walked towards the lounge while Mr. Morimoto asked Amy to continue with the lesson for the rest of the afternoon.
The ride to the police station was the most uncomfortable thing Patricia had ever experienced. Monroe insisted that she was taken in the patrol car and she was lucky that this happened at the start of the 6th period. Once she arrived at the station, she was taken to an interrogation room for formal questioning.
"Are we comfortable Miss Haruna? Do you wish for a cool drink?"
"Cut this caring act Monroe! You may have cost me my job, so just ask your questions so I can leave."
"Touchy, fine this line of questioning will be recorded for further evidence. You haven't been formally charged and if you feel that any question is out of context of this investigation, you can refuse to answer. Now you have waved your right to have an attorney present for this line of questions, but you can request one if you need assistance. Do you understand?"
"Just start already."
"State your name for the record."
"Patricia Haruna."
"Age and occupation."
"27…school teacher at Juuban Jr. High."
"Are you familiar with a student by the name of Serena Tsukino?"
"Yes."
"How do you know her?"
"She is one of my students."
"Describe the type of student she is in your class."
"She's usually late to class. She sleeps or eats her lunch during my lessons. She's loud and rather whiny. She never prepares for any tests and rarely does her homework."
"So she is a disciplinary problem then?"
"Not in the major sense, she breaks her fair share of rules though."
"How does she get along with the other students?"
"They tend to expect her flighty behavior and treat her with that much consideration. She seems to make a lot of friends though, despite her shortcomings."
"So her problems are educational. When she is awake, is she attentive?"
"No she daydreams constantly when she is awake."
"Could it be that the lessons are too difficult for her?"
"No…she is just a lazy girl that distracts the others from learning!"
"How does she do that, children that sleep in class are disrespecting the teacher, yet aren't a problem because they are quiet."
"She needs to sleep at home."
"Could there have been a problem that mandated her sleeping in class. Trouble at home perhaps."
"Humph, she's a little princess, there's no trouble at her house."
"Is this based on fact or your personal beliefs?"
"Well she obviously can have any problems in her life, it would be different if the weight of the world was on her shoulders…like with Sailor Moon. But she is just lazy and unfocused."
"Interesting, has she ever been tested for a learning disability?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Those tests are administered by the request of the teacher. Serena's only disability is laziness. She's a waste of space in the class."
"Yes and all space must be used properly... How would you describe your class?"
"My class is like a garden full of different kinds of beautiful flowers."
"What kind of flower is Miss Tsukino?"
"She's no flower…that girl is a weed. She is the kind that will spread if all her roots aren't removed!"
"It seems that somebody weeded your garden Miss Haruna. Were you the gardener?"
She snickered to herself for a few moments gaining the shock of the detective and the officers that were observing the interview behind the two-way mirror.
"I'm not that lucky, it seems that someone else beat me to it."
Detective Monroe looked towards his superior and he nodded for him to continue.
"So if she wasn't missing, would you have taken care of it?"
"I just think that my wishes have been answered."
"Your wishes, and what are those?"
"My wish was to make her suffer for the injustices she gave me."
"Go on."
"All during my childhood she has bested me in everything because of her looks. She took my spot on the cheerleading squad and had the nerve to tell me even though I was good she was prettier and that was more important. When I was editor of the school paper, she got my funding cut so the cheerleaders could attend some competition. She told me that no one read my crummy paper anyway so it was a waste of funds. She with her 'C' average conned the college interviewer into giving her my scholarship that was awarded for academic excellence. I had to work to pay for school while she got the free ride on 'my' scholarship! She got my appointment to law school by having our scores 'mistakenly' switched. She is now an incompetent attorney earning over 100,000 a year and I had to settle to be a teacher. She ruined my life and my reputation by having her high class friends black list me so that no one would hire me."
"Are you talking about Brittney Ishida?"
"Yes and when I thought I got rid of her, I get someone just like her in my class. I wasn't going to let her do to anyone else what Brittney did to me!"
Monroe looked at Miss H and noticed how she gripped the water pitcher like a mad woman. She had some deep seeded issues and he also had an understanding of why she hated Serena so much. He excused himself from the room and posted an officer on the outside.
"Sir, I think we need a warrant to search her apartment. From the sound of it, she may have Serena there or a key to where we can find her."
"I already have it for you, I made that provision in the initial request. I'll have Dr. Kenichi look in on her. You go and search her apartment."
Monroe left with two officers and returned after collecting evidence two hours later. He found that Miss H was still in the interrogation room and he sat in front of her with a large brown paper sack.
"Miss Haruna, I have something in this bag that I would like for you to see."
She nodded at him and he was told that she was given a sedative to calm her nerves.
"What is this?"
He pulled out the candles and doll with Serena's picture and push pins.
"That's my doll. Isn't she pretty?"
"Yes, but why the pins?"
"There is one pin in there for every time she hurt me. So I have to get her back that many times, I remove a pin for each time I hurt her."
"Why is Serena's picture on this doll?"
"It wasn't working until I gave her a new look, now Brittney is hurting. I'm getting her back for what she did to me."
"Is Brittney dead?"
"No, see the pins aren't in all the way, I don't want her dead, I just want her to suffer!"
"I believe you, I want to help you."
"You believe in me?"
"Yes."
"I've never had anyone to believe in me…"
Monroe gestured for the doctor to come back in, not before telling him to assign an outside physician to start treatment with her for her mental illness.
"She didn't do it."
"How do you know this Monroe?"
"She reassigned her anger and contempt to Serena in place of this Brittney. Her plan was to inflict the same amount of pain on Serena that Brittney caused her. She's sick but isn't capable of murder."
"So what now?"
"One down, three to go. I will need to have the next suspect brought in."
"Who do you want brought down?"
"Darien Chiba."
End chapter
Ok, the next few chapters will include the interrogation on all suspects. And before anyone asks, yes Mina and Artemis will make their official appearance soon. I think this will be finished in five more chapters. But don't quote me on that. Take care and review.
Dove