"Why would a man who is suspected of murder be allowed to freely roam around? Into a detective's office, too! He was really suspicious about it- he tried to get into your computer."
Neuro sipped a bubbling tea of green goo that had an eyeball floating in it.
"I thought you said he was innocent!"
Neuro picked up the eyeball with the tips of his fingers, squeezed it until it popped, leaking out some purple-ish liquid (with a hue of blue) into his tea. He tossed the eyeball into the trash and stirred the purple substance into his tea.
"I walked around the entire city today; all the other suspects I thought of had an alibi, a witness, and sometimes both! Who am I missing?"
"Did you check the ex-girlfriends? It's always the jealous girls." Godai mumbled around a bagel. He was cutting letters off of a newspaper to send to another overdue debt-payer.
"Yeah, of course I did. His most recent ex-girlfriend was at a concert. She had a million pictures on a social networking site to prove it, too, and a million witnesses as well. Besides, she said that he was a complete narcissist and that the only thing good about him was that he was rich... I doubt she's jealous of the victim."
Neuro sipped his now-purple-blue tea. He blew some orange smoke rings at Yako. She ducked down to avoid them. Her analysis sheet that she had been waving around in anger, however, wasn't so lucky. Flames ignited on its surface as the smoke touched it, and Yako let the paper go with a tiny yelp.
It fluttered to the ground and Yako stomped the remaining flames out.
Neuro continued drinking.
Yako fumed. She wasn't getting anything out of him.
She grabbed her bag and left, slamming the door behind her.
Neuro sat in his chair and smiled. Sometimes to solve mysteries you just had to wait.
"But still, I am disappointed in you, Yako. To think with such a large number of suspects you'd only scratch the surface."
Yako ran straight to the local jail, bypassed security with her reputation, and checked the records.
The victim's name was Kiku.
The guy who gave her the house, and broke into Yako's office was her boyfriend, Fuji.
There wasn't a single trace of any past crimes committed by either of them.
Yako tossed down the folders, grabbed her coat, and left.
She ran all the way to the address listed under the records and flashed her badge at the landlady. Once she obtained the key, she swung open the door to the messy apartment that the guy rented.
Under the thick coat of misuse, trash, and dust, the apartment was clearly high-class. The walls that faced outside of the building was made out of a one-way glass, and the view was perfect- if the guy bothered to wipe down his windows more often.
Yako ignored everything and ran into the bedroom. Once there, she immediately began to pull out drawers, glancing at the contents and memorizing their place. She pulled a tiny eyeball monster that she had stolen from Neuro and took photos of absolutely everything.
She gave special attention to the areas sealed off by police tape- the undisturbed drawer that had knife and blood and two distinct hair strands.
Once she had cataloged everything, she ran back out and tossed the key into the landlady's mailbox.
The entire event took less than five minutes.
As soon as Yako got home she ran to her computer, forced the tiny eyeball into the USB port, and printed out every photo.
When Godai found her in her office at midnight, the paper were scattered everywhere and she was asleep on the sofa. He unfolded the sofa bed and tucked her in. Then he tossed his jacket over her.
Yako sniffed a little in her sleep as Godai's scent enveloped her. She relaxed and drifted into a deeper sleep. Godai closed the lights and walked out. He wondered where Neuro was for a few seconds, but then shook his head and closed the door behind him.
He was sure Neuro would protect Yako from whatever that might endanger her.
He had nothing to worry about.
Except for Neuro himself.
Yako woke up to an odd coldness.
He sat up, wondering why she felt so odd.
She looked around. Sunlight heated up sections of Neuro's desk, filtering through the windows. But he wasn't there.
Yako tilted her head. For the past few days, she had woken up to Neuro and his warmth. She had gotten used to that. She shouldn't have gotten used to that.
It was chilly.
She put on Godai's jacket and walked over to the piles of photos she had taken. Nothing interesting. All the dusty utensils, the blood spots from the places where the police had found the evidence.
Yako froze.
The photo she was holding slid out of her hand.
Dusty knives.
Why would the knives that he apparently used to kill somebody be dusty?
Given the photos, he hadn't moved them in a very very long time! A spider had built a web attaching the knife to the drawer! Whoever framed him obviously wasn't the careful, precise killer than he usually was. He was frantic, not careful, unsettled, and in a rush. Why? If he broke into into that apartment- which was obviously not used very often- then he obviously would have enough time to set the evidence carefully.
Yako sat down. "So... He didn't break in."
Which was very likely, since there wasn't any signs of a break-in.
The guy was let in.
Yako knew that she had to talk with Fuji immediately.
Yako ran right out of her office like a madman and straight to Fuji, led by the tiny (now completely worn-out) eyeball that she had stolen from Neuro. The thing desperately needed to be charged up with demon magic. Yako found herself wondering where he was yet again.
She shook her head and the eyeball beeped, and she took a sharp right...
Ending up at the gate of a giant mansion. Clearly the modern apartment was a side home, a sleek party-room to throw hangouts and invite girls to. This might be another piece of proof against him- he obviously wouldn't need to be careful while he was hiding the evidence if the place he was dumping it in wasn't his regular home.
If he really was the murderer, his train of thought would be that the police would only search this mansion.
As Yako stood outside of the gate to the giant castle-like beige mansion with white carvings, she became suddenly extremely aware of her clothing and her messy hair. She hadn't given it a single thought before rushing out of her office, but her hair wasn't even combed yet. She was literally out of the bed, rumpled clothing, and wearing Godai's giant black jacket.
She had only wiped her face clean and drank a cup of coffee, which meant that she was also starving.
Yako adjusted her skirt and pulled up her socks. She clasped the buckle on her shoes tightly and ran her fingers through her hair. She took off Godai's jacket and straightened it up. She tucked her shirt into her skirt and re-buttoned it. She tugged on her collar and re-tied her tie.
She rummaged into Godai's jacket until she found a pack of mints and tossed a few into her mouth.
She rang the doorbell and told whoever was on the other side of the line that she was here to defend Fuji's case, and to do that she would have to speak to him.
After a long while, the gate opened and Yako walked inside.
She stood outside the giant door awkwardly. She took a deep breath and put a hand on the handle to turn it... At the exact moment the door swung open.
And Neuro looked down at his colleague.
He grinned.
"Good morning, Yako."