Ch 7: Culprits
"Eek!" cried Luna.
"Aww, crap!" exclaimed Jack.
At the doorway stood a tall, tan-skinned man wearing a hooded jacket. Not much was known about him other than the fact Leo and Luna fought him when he was a Dark Signer. After Goodwin's defeat, Devack seemingly vanished.
"Hey, we found your door opened and thought you might be hurt," Crow said. "Somebody really gave it a going-over."
"Your place, that is," Crow added.
"We were wondering if they were searching for something," added Kalin.
Devack growled and went over to start gathering things up, almost knocking Radley over.
"Excuse you," he said as he stumbled.
Kalin rushed to make sure his friend didn't fall over. Radley smiled at Kalin.
Devack looked through everything. "Nothing's missing," he said.
"That's good to hear," said Akiza.
Leo whispered to Yusei. "Hey, Yusei. What should we ask him?"
"About the gems and Peter Larson," Yusei said.
"What about Larson?!" Devack demanded.
"He's been reported dead," Crow said. They were going to have to find out if the body had been recovered...
"Do you know who Larson was?" asked Kalin.
"Yes! We knew each other for years," Devack said.
"We found his wallet earlier and we would like to know where he was last seen," continued Kalin.
"He was somewhere in the City. I don't know where. We were talking on the phone," Devack said.
"My father found Larson's wallet in Satellite. I'm wondering how he found it," said Kalin.
Yes, probably better not to mention he took it off the guy's body, Radley thought.
"His wallet was with him," Devack frowned. "But he didn't have business in the Satellite!"
"That's what we're trying to find out too," said Luna.
"Did he take the gems?" Crow asked, pointing at the info papers.
Devack immediately flipped the papers over to the blank side. "There were no gems."
"We found the first gem in a basement. Who could have stolen it?" pondered Akiza.
Devack was very interested. He was likely lying about the other guy not having the gems.
"What was it doing there?" he frowned.
"We're not sure. Maybe the cultist summoned the monsters from there and left the gem behind on purpose?" shrugged Jack.
"Or ran away if it happened by accident," Radley said.
"Where was this warehouse?" Devack demanded.
"An old warehouse in the City," replied Kalin.
"That tells me nothing! I want to see it," Devack said.
"What do you guys think? Should we return there?" asked Kalin.
"Sure, why not," Crow said.
"I agree with Crow," nodded Akiza. "We still have some unanswered questions there "
Jack definitely looked leery of bringing Devack along, but he wasn't currently wanted for any crimes. "I'll be watching you," he vowed.
"I'm sure you will," Devack said. "Let's go."
Leo and Luna were on Jack's side, considering what happened during the Dark Signer Incident. Kalin, too looked a bit nervous working alongside a man they knew little of. Not to mention he too was one of them
Crow didn't like it at all. Devack could be tricking them. But on the other hand, he might be able to tell them something important. "Okay, let's go."
The team headed towards the warehouse where they found the first gem. At first, everything seemed quiet.
"Well, here it is," Crow frowned. "There was some guy staying here before, or so he said."
Devack went up to the window. "It looks like an ordinary warehouse."
"Everyone, keep your guards up, just in case someone suspicious comes," warned Akiza.
The guy from before came out. "What now?"
"Hey, it's that guy from before," said Leo.
"We're doing some investigating," replied Kalin.
"Why? There's nothing here," Michael frowned. Then he tensed to see Devack.
"Um, this man's name is Devack, and he's looking for something," said Luna.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Devack frowned.
"No reason!" Michael exclaimed.
Radley frowned. Could Michael be the one who had ransacked the house?
"Michael, may I ask you something?" asked Kalin.
"What?" Michael frowned.
"Have you seen any suspicious-looking people around here?"
"No," Michael said. "Not until you came with this guy."
"That's because he might help us solve this case," said Kalin.
"Do you know him?" Radley asked.
"No!" Michael retorted.
Crow noted that he was shifting nervously.
"We also found this wallet who was once owned by a man named Peter Larson. Did you know him?" continued Kalin as he showed the wallet.
"Of course not! Why would I?!" Michael started to back up like he felt cornered.
"We also found a drawing of the gems in Devack's house," Kalin said dead-panned. He held up a photo of the cult sketches.
"So? That's his!" Michael said.
"You know what I'm wondering?" Crow said. "I'm wondering if you killed Peter Larson to try to get the gems from him. Then you panicked when a portal opened and you wanted to get rid of them, so you let Kalin's dad take the ones you didn't drop. Then maybe today you started regretting it and wanted to learn more about them, so you ransacked Devack's place."
"You're crazy!" Michael spat.
"But what if Mr. Kessler wasn't lying about taking the gems from Mr. Larson?" Radley mused.
"Then maybe he came along before Michael could get more than one," Crow said.
"Should we take Michael in to the Sector Security office for questioning?" asked Luna.
"Perhaps my father is a suspect as well," added Kalin. "I still don't completely trust him."
"Yeah, we should take him in," Crow said. "And your father should get questioned more too, Kalin."
Michael snarled. "I'm not going in!" He turned and ran for the stairs.
"Hey! You, get back here!" yelled Jack as he chased after Michael.
Everyone chased after him. At the top, he held up another strange object. "Don't come any closer!"
"What's that?!" Crow demanded.
"You'll find out!" Michael snarled.
"He had that all this time?!" exclaimed Luna.
"We won't let you!" growled Kalin as his psychic aura appeared.
"Hey, you were scared of a portal-opening gem. Do you really wanna mess with that thing?" Crow said.
Michael responded by using it to blast at them. "This one I can control!"
Everyone ducked the shot. "Michael! Stop this! You have no idea how dangerous this is!" yelled Yusei.
"This is only dangerous to you!" Michael blasted again.
Radley could see, however, that he was wearing out. "It's draining you! You need to stop!"
"Shut up! I didn't kill that Larson guy on purpose, but no one will believe that!" Michael said.
"Yeah, especially when you're doing this on purpose," Crow shot back.
"Yusei!" Cried both Kalin and Akiza. They both activated Spell Cards to protect the group from Michael's attacks.
"What grudges did you have against Larson?" asked Luna.
Radley had grabbed Scotch to pull him out of the way. They looked up gratefully.
"None! I just wanted the gems!" Michael said. "I didn't know they were creepy!"
"We can all sort out this mystery together, Michael! So, stop fighting!" pleaded Yusei.
"What's to sort out?! There's no way to prove it wasn't murder!" Michael said.
"Maybe there is!" Crow retorted.
"We can search the City's database for clues!" added Yusei.
"And if you can't find anything?" Michael retorted.
"We can do anything! Cause Team 5ds always wins!" exclaimed Leo.
Luna sighed. "Oh Leo ..."
"It's sure worth a try, at least," Crow said. "We'll do everything possible for you!"
Finally, Michael started to lower the artifact. Everyone held their breaths as they waited. Hopefully, Michael was being truthful.
Michael dropped it to the floor. "Let's try."
"Great." Crow grabbed it. "We'll check the security cameras first, if you can give us the area."
"It was in the warehouse district," Michael said.
"The warehouse district?" asked Kalin.
"Yeah, by Warehouse 39," Michael said.
"Okay. So we'll get the security camera footage from there," Crow said. He called and soon officers had collected the footage. They also reported no body had been found in the area.
"That's really odd. Who could have opened the portal without being seen by the camera?" asked Akiza.
"I opened the portal by accident," Michael said. "But what do they mean no body was found?!"
"... I wonder if Larson wasn't really dead," Crow mused.
"Perhaps he was accidentally transported to the Spirit World?" pondered Luna.
"Huh?! What are you talking about?" Michael stared at her.
"The Spirit World is a mysterious place where monsters dwell. Larson could be trapped there!" said Luna.
"Oh, the place that opened when the gem dropped?" Michael frowned.
"Exactly," Radley said. "Only I don't know how he'd end up there when both you and Mr. Kessler saw him lying there."
"He was probably just knocked out and woke up and wandered off," Crow said. "He could be badly hurt or something. We need to find him."
"Are we actually going to the Spirit World?" asked Leo.
"I'll open the portal there," said Luna.
"I really don't think he'd be there," Crow said. "Two people saw him lying on the ground and they left with the gems. He's probably wandering around in this world. But if you really wanna check out the other place just in case, I guess we could split up."
"That sounds like a good plan," said Kalin.
"Who is going to the Spirit World and who is staying here?" asked Akiza.
Radley had no desire to return after last time, but he would go if Kalin did.
"I'm staying," Crow said.
"I'm going with sis," stated Leo.
Kalin wasn't sure which option to choose. On one hand, his powers were stronger in the Spirit World. On the other hand, Radley died there once before.
Jack would go to the Spirit World too. Yusei thought he would look here instead. Akiza chose to go to the Spirit World, while Bruno decided to remain with Yusei.
Radley looked to Kalin. "What do you wanna do?"
"I'm remaining here," replied Kalin bluntly.
"Me too," Radley said.
The groups finished sorting out and Crow led his around the warehouse district. He eventually got a call that the camera footage had been reviewed and Larson had indeed been shown getting up and wandering off. He was most likely in this world.
Crow sighed. "Man, I wish we'd got this news before some of them went over there."
"True. But you never know what to expect when it comes to investigations," sighed Kalin.
"Yeah. Well, what now?" Crow said in frustration. "How do we let them know they can come back?"
"I'll try calling them," said Kalin as he dialed Jack's number.
Jack answered. "Hello?!" He sounded stressed.
"Come back to the main group now! Crow got new camera footage showing Larson in the Human World!" said Kalin.
"Oh, well, that's just dandy! We'll be coming back, but we probably won't be alone!" Jack hung up and a portal started to open. As they rushed through, so did monsters.
Bruno immediately transformed.
"Monsters!" exclaimed Leo.
"They're the ones from before!" added Luna.
"Oh great," Radley scowled. "What do we do with them?!"
"Antinomy, do you have an idea on how we can stop the monsters?" asked Kalin.
"We'll have to fight them," Antinomy said.
"I guess it's inevitable..." sighed Kalin.
Everyone took out and activated their Duel Disks.
Radley drew his monsters, knowing they would be made real.
"Perhaps if we defeat these monsters, they'll tell us who summoned them on Halloween," said Luna as she summoned Regulus.
"I think they came through the portal Michael opened by accident," Crow said.
The fight began, with both sides very strong. The team fought back the enemy, bringing out their strongest monsters one-by-one. However, the evil ones were very much resilient.
"Ugh, they're too much..." groaned Kalin, falling on one knee from exhaustion.
"Kalin?! Are you okay?" Radley said in concern.
Kalin was too drained, both mentally and physically, to respond.
"He's used up too much power," said Akiza. "And if this keeps up, so will we."
Radley quickly saw this and hurried to support Kalin.
"Let's try to push them back through the portal," Antinomy said.
"Right!" nodded Yusei.
They ordered their Ace Monsters to order the rogue monsters back. At last, it started working and the monsters were forced back through the portal.
"Hey! They're leaving!" exclaimed Leo.
"Thank goodness!" Luna said.
Kalin managed to regain his senses and realized Radley was next to him.
"Huh? Radley...?" he muttered.
Radley smiled at him. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling better," replied Kalin. "Sorry I couldn't be of better help."
You were a great help," Radley insisted. "You really wore them down."
"Are they gone for good?" Kalin asked the team.
"Let's hope so," Yusei said.
"We still need to find out who summoned them, though," said Akiza.
"From all we know, it looks like Michael accidentally summoned them and freaked out and ran, leaving the portal open like we found it," Crow said.
"What should we do about Michael then?" asked Luna.
"We'll still have to take him in," Crow said. "He fought with Larson and then started stealing the gems after causing him to get hurt. We still hafta find Larson too."
"Right!" agreed Jack.
"What about Kalin's father?" Radley asked.
Crow sighed. "At the very least, he'll have to be questioned more. He stole the other gems and the wallet. But did Larson legally own the gems? This is gonna be a huge headache to sort out."
"Part of me feel like my father can never be fully redeemed," sighed Kalin. "And I feel like we need to search the entire City to find Larson. Yusei, Antinomy, what do you think?"
"And maybe not," Radley said with a sad smile. "But you can be comforted knowing you offered the chance."
"Sector Security's already looking," Crow said. "But yeah, I'd welcome the help!"
Yusei nodded. "We need to find him. Let's spread out."
"Thanks you, Radley," smiled Kalin. "Alright, let's head out."
Everyone split up into smaller groups to search. Radley, Yusei, and Antinomy stayed with Kalin.
"I wonder if we should search Satellite?" asked Kalin.
"Yeah, we should," Yusei said.
The four of them drove across the bridge to Satellite.
"I have so many questions for father..."muttered Kalin.
"I hope he'll answer," Radley said kindly.
Kalin approached his old house and opened it again.
"Hey, Kalin! You fix everything up?" Mr. Kessler greeted.
"We have some questions for you. How did you Larson's wallet?"
"I took it off him, like your friend suspected," Mr. Kessler said. "I wanted the money."
"Did you ever see Larson in person and did he give you permission?"
"He was lying on the ground! Of course he didn't give me permission!"
Kalin was outraged at what he heard. "You stole it from him?!"
"I've been saying that all along! Are you deaf or something?!" fired back Mr. Kessler.
"Where did this happen?!"
"In the warehouse district somewhere! I wasn't keeping track of numbers and streets!"
"My friends and I will find it, you can be sure of it. Good day," Kalin said as he stormed out of the house.
Radley sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, Kalin..."
"It's not your fault. My father was always like this..." cried Kalin.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm sorry you had to get disappointed again," Radley sighed.
"Well, we already know this happened around Warehouse 39," Antinomy said. "And Larson isn't there now."
"Where could he have gone to? Maybe he was kidnapped?" Kalin was rubbing his head.
"He's probably wandering and could need medical attention," Antinomy said.
"Hey, is that him?" Yusei pointed to a guy across the street who matched the description and seemed confused.
"Wait...hold on..." Kalin took out the wallet from the plastic bag and checked the ID card.
"It is him! It's Larson!"
Radley hurried over. "Peter Larson?"
He stared at them. "Who's asking?"
"Excuse us sir," said Kalin. "We found this wallet in a warehouse earlier. Is this yours?" He showed the man the lost wallet.
"Yeah, it is!" Peter grabbed it. "There's no money in it!"
Radley winced. "How much was in there?"
"A couple of fifties," Peter said. "Did you take it?!"
"No," Radley said. "But we can get it back for you." He hoped it hadn't already been spent by Mr. Kessler.
"I don't know how we're going to convince my father to fork over the money. He's probably sick of seeing us," said Kalin.
"Your father took it?!" Peter scowled.
"I'm sorry for my father's actions. I'm going to take it back."
"Yeah, well, thanks," Peter frowned.
Yusei texted Crow and the rest that they had Peter Larson. The other groups started to converge.
"You guys found Peter Larson?" asked Akiza in surprise.
"Yes," replied Kalin. Did you guys find anything?"
"Nah, but I dunno what else we'd find," Crow said. "We're coming out now."
"Alright see you."
Soon everyone else arrived. Larson insisted the gems were legally his, bought at an estate sale.
Crow checked up on it. "The story checks out." He frowned. What now? Legally, they needed to turn the gems over, but what if they were misused? He knew Devack and they'd been in a cult together. Maybe they wanted to use the gems' power.
"How do we know you're trustworthy?" asked Akiza to Larson. She knew all too well about men who abused power for their own selfish gains.
"Frankly, you don't," Larson said. "But I know my rights. The gems are legally mine!"
"What should we do, Yusei? Do you trust Larson?" asked Akiza.
Yusei sighed. "I don't. But he's right. Legally, we can't do anything."
"Unless ... I wonder if the person whose estate had the sale owned them legally," Radley mused.
"I'll check!" Crow started to type.
Everyone waited for the results. In the meantime, Kalin was thinking what to do about his father.
Crow scowled after a few moments. "Looks like it'll take a while to determine if they owned them and sold them legally."
"What does that mean?!" Larson scowled.
"For now, the gems will be in police custody," Crow said.
"And in the meantime, we're taking you and Devack in for questioning," added Antinomy.
"What?! Why?!" Larson demanded.
"There must be an ulterior move as to why the three of you wanted the magical gems," replied Antinomy.
"Gems are gems," Larson growled. "They're worth money!"
"And if there was another reason, do you honestly think we'd tell you?"Devack retorted.
"You fools! Don't you know they can summon monsters?" yelled Jack.
"Crow, can you take my father in for questioning? He's...also a suspect," said Kalin uneasily.
"Sure," Crow said kindly.
"Of course we know! That doesn't frighten us!" Devack said.
"The monsters could have hurt others! Have you no remorse?" asked Luna.
"Thanks Crow..." said Kalin with tears in his eyes.
Crow laid a hand on Kalin's shoulder. "I'll get him after we take these jokers in."
From Devack's expression, he certainly didn't care. Larson, on the other hand, looked a bit concerned. Kalin nodded and waited outside. Jack went into Mr. Kessler's house alongside Crow, looking a bit eager to get back at the old man.
After the other two were taken to the local precinct, Crow and Jack went to Mr. Kessler's.
He looked up. "So, what's up now?"
"Kalin told us you're a suspect in this case," said Jack.
"I've been saying from the beginning I took the guy's wallet," Mr. Kessler said. "I figured he wasn't gonna need it anymore!"
"The thing is, he wasn't dead," Crow said.
"Not like I could tell the difference! He was really out like a light!" Mr. Kessler said.
"That doesn't mean you have the right to steal!" scolded Akiza.
"Eh. So? You gonna arrest me for that?" Mr. Kessler said.
"Oh yeah." Crow snapped on the handcuffs and read him his rights.
They walked out with Me. Kessler in custody and escorted him, Larson, and Devack into the police vehicle. Kalin took one glance at his father and looked away.
Radley hugged Kalin. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."
Crow was still wondering if Kalin was going to do anything for his father as he'd said earlier.
Kalin returned the hug. "I was hoping father would have turned around..."
"I pretty much doubted it when he talked about stealing the gems and the wallet when he thought Larson was dead," Radley sighed. "But it was good of you to give him a chance."
"I thought since Yusei, Crow, and even Jack gave me a second chance, I could do the same with father. But I guess he's just a lost cause." He looked up at the rest of his friends. "And we have even more questions than answers now."
"Oh, I don't know that he's completely lost," Radley said. "But he certainly needs help."
"Yeah, and if the gems were legally owned by the person whose estate they sold, I legally have to give them back to Larson," Crow scowled.
"We'll have to wait until he finishes testifying before we jump to any conclusions, though," frowned Akiza.
"Well, he's dead. That's why there was an estate sale," Crow sighed. "So I hafta contact the executor."
"Let's go do that right now," said Jack.
"Yeah," Crow sighed, and led them to the guy's office.
The secretary looked up from her monitor when she saw Crow.
"Hello, Officer Hogan. How may I help you?"
"Hey, we need to see your boss," Crow said. "We need some info on an estate sale he handled."
"Alright, he's in his office now. You may go see him now," replied the secretary.
"Thanks." Crow led the others in and exchanged pleasantries with the lawyer. Then he explained about their case and the mysterious gems.
The lawyer listened, frowning, and looked up the information. "The gems can't be traced," he said. "But it sounds like they may have been sold by mistake and should belong to the government of their country of origin as a national treasure."
"Do you know which country they come from?" asked Kalin.
"I'm not positive, but they may be from Brazil. They produce many gems there," the lawyer said. "We can definitely start an investigation and that will slow up giving over the gems to those disreputable people, at least."
"Brazil? I wonder why they infused them with the ability to open portals to the Spirit World?" asked Luna.
"Who's to say," the lawyer sighed.
"Well, thanks for any help you can give," Crow said.
"Yes, we'll put it to good use," nodded Yusei.
"Of course," he said. "It could take weeks or months for a thorough investigation, so that should hold them off from claiming the gems for a while."
"We'll take it," Crow said.
"Keep us updated," nodded Kalin.
"I will," the lawyer said.
Crow felt relieved as they left. "So now we've bought us some time, hopefully."
"I agree," nodded Yusei.
"So, next objective on our list is to go to the precinct and interrogate those men," said Akiza. "Correct?"
"I'm sure Sector Security's already doing that," Crow said. "We should go see if they've learned anything new."
The team drove to the precinct. Kalin felt a sudden sickness to his stomach. Sector Security was reformed after the Dark Signer incident, but he couldn't help feel a bit uneasy. Radley hugged him, knowing it was never easy for Kalin to come here.
"I'm sorry guys. No matter where I go, my past keeps on coming back to haunt me."
"You can't help it," Yusei said.
"I know. And I want to help you guys solve this case. But..." he trailed off.
"Honestly, I don't think there's much more for us to do," Crow said. "We'll let the lawyer sort things out."
"I see..." sighed Kalin.
"So, what can we do now?" asked Leo.
"Like he said, this could take months," Crow said. "We'll keep the gems safe and go about our normal lives."
"Ok, Crow," nodded Luna.
"Hey I have a great idea! We should start getting ready for Christmas!" said Leo.