Chapter four
o-oOo-o
Again, Heiji sat on the dark couch in Arisawa's living room.
When he had knocked on her door, she had let him in, though a bit confused. He had told her that he had a few more questions about the murders and she had served him a cup of coffee while they spoke.
After the conversation with Kimura, Heiji had been almost sure that Arisawa was the culprit, but now, after seeing her and talking to her, he was absolutely convinced. That's why he already had sent a text message to Shinichi to come over here as soon as possible. With backup.
He had a very good idea as to how she murdered her victims. The website was an important part of her plan, he knew that, but he needed proof - he needed her to confess.
"Ya're glancin' at tha clock an awful lot, Arisawa-san. Do ya have another appointment tonight?" Heiji asked with a smirk.
She had to expect her victim to open the website at any moment now. If she planned to go there to paint the walls with his blood, she would have to go soon or the blood would congeal.
"No no, I'm sorry." Her short laugh sounded a bit nervous though she hid it very good. Had Heiji not known for sure that she was stressed, he might have missed it.
"That was very impolite, I have to apologize," she said and stood up. With a suggestive expression, she slowly walked over to Heiji. "Let me make it up to you."
'Getting' desperate, aren't we? Trying ta hit on a police officer,' he thought as he watched her seductive body language as she placed herself on the armrest of the couch he was sitting on. Her fingers wandered up his thigh and were headed to its inner site.
"Relax and let me make you feel good, Detective," she purred into his ear. Her warm breath tickled him, invited him to just let go. "That's why you're really here right? To flee from your every-day life, from all the pressure."
He relaxed his body, leaned back into the cushions and closed his eyes.
"I've met just few men like you. You are so dedicated to your work, always neglecting yourself. You deserve to unwind a bit, don't you think? Be at ease – I know exactly what you need. Keep your eyes closed and when I've counted to ten, all your troubles will be far far away."
He caught her hand just before she would reach his more private regions.
"Alright, that's as far as ya'll go."
Twisting her wrist, he forced her on her back and pinned both of her hands above her head.
"You faked it?", she emitted unbelievingly, struggling to free her arms from his firm grip.
Heiji grinned. "Of course. As soon as I suspected ya ta be tha killer, I remembered tha little bottle ya gave ta Kudou back then on tha train station. Drugs under the guise of an aphrodisiac were a sly idea. Tha receivin' person would take it willingly and they would expect ta feel different after drinkin' it. They wouldn't suspect they had been drugged with somethin' much more potent. Ya knew I wouldn't drink that stuff, so ya spiked my coffee, didn't ya? I really can't afford ta be high right now, so I spit it out."
It was true. He didn't drink his coffee. As soon as she had left for a moment to get something from the kitchen, he had spit out the mouthful he had already taken back into the cup and had poured everything into the next potted plant.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to rinse his mouth afterwards and so he'd still ingested some of the drug and it made him feel a bit light-headed. He just had to hide it behind self-confidence. Thank god, he'd never been short on that.
"Tha first two men were yar regular clients, weren't they? So, ya had vast opportunities ta manipulate them - ta kill them after they tried ta hurt ya. And that was why they had to die, right? Ya've told us that Himeragi-san made unwanted advances at ya and that ya showed him tha door therefore. Did Tatsuda-san do tha same? Was that tha reason ya killed them?"
She huffed. "I didn't lay a finger on these men and I have alibis, you know that."
"No, ya didn't touch them," Heiji confirmed. "Ya didn't need ta. All ya had ta do was ta trigger tha order ya'd written into their minds and their own body betrayed them."
It must have been horrible.
To realize what they were about to do and to be absolutely helpless.
He staggered for a second when she trashed again in an attempt to break loose, but steadied himself quickly, biting his cheek to fight back the dizziness.
' Damn, Kudou – get yar ass over here already.'
"Post hypnotic suggestion. Ta plant a command in their sub consciousness ta make them kill themselves at any given time of yar choice if tha suggestion is triggered. And tha trigger can be anythin'. A certain time, a habit, a picture and, most efficiently - spoken words. I'm sure that is how ya got yar alibis as well and that's why ya couldn't tell us right away. Ya needed time ta prepare tha men who were supposed ta back ya up."
"You think I could do that?" she laughed. "You think too highly of me."
"Ya can play innocent if ya like, but I've talked ta someone ya should know very well. Does tha name Kimura Ren ring any bells?"
Her startled look was answer enough for him.
"Ya've been a student for psychology at Tokyo University, even always in tha top five of yar year. A promising career lay ahead of ya. Then ya had to drop out, because they suspected ya've abused medications meant for a medical trial. No one knew what ya did after that."
Arisawa's eyes narrowed. "They kicked me out without having any proof," she spat out. "I never did anything wrong, it was all because the male students were jealous of my success and they framed me. It was all set up to get rid of the competition."
"And that's were Saitama Chuuya and Endo Isamu come into play. They were two of those students, right? I bet ya have a list with names from tha men who framed ya. Do ya plan ta kill them all?"
"They ruined my life!" she shrieked. "Of course I want revenge! Do you have any idea how hard it was to realize that no one would hire me because of the rumors? Do you think I'm an escort by choice? I hate this!"
She spit in Heiji's face and used the short distraction to bite into his left arm until she tasted blood. With a pained shout, his grip loosened and in an instant, she shoved him off and was on her feet. In a swift motion, she pulled a stun-gun out from behind the cushions on the couch.
That moment, the door burst open and Shinichi ran into the room, his phone still in his hand and connected to Hakuba. "Hattori!"
Arisawa looked panicked from the man blocking the door to the Detective who knelt next to the couch with a slightly disoriented look on his face. She grinned. That was her way out.
With a quick step, she was at Heiji's side, covered his eyes with one hand, snapped her fingers and gave her command.
"Sleep!"
Like a puppet with cut strings, Heiji folded forward and fell to the floor.
"Hattori!" Shinichi shouted again. "What the hell have you done to him, Arisawa?" He raised his phone to his ear and frantically gave instructions. "Hakuba-san, what takes so long? We need the backup! And an ambulance! Now!"
Arisawa chuckled. "Your friend here refused to let me hypnotize him like the others. If he had done so, he would have left my apartment with absolute no recollection of this night. So, I had to use something else." She hiked her shoulders as if it hadn't been her fault, as if Heiji had forced her hand.
"Instant hypnosis," Shinichi breathed shocked. "This shouldn't be possible, he didn't agree to do this."
"That's right, but it doesn't matter, or do you think the others knowingly agreed? But a brain, befuddled from drugs is much easier to invade." She glanced to Heiji and snapped her fingers again. "Stand up!" And he did.
Her smile was so false, Shinichi's stomach turned. "It seems he drank at least enough from the drug to be effected. That's all I need as an opening into his mind. He will do whatever I tell him now. Wanna see?" She put the stun-gun in Heiji's hand and firmly closed his fingers around it.
Snap. "Attack him!"
Without any visible sign of recognition, Heiji looked at Shinichi and then took off in a sprint.
"Don't! Stop – Agh…" Shinichi dove out of the way at the last moment, avoiding the sparking gun by hairsbreadth. Instead, he tumbled over a small side table that fell with him and the vase on it smashed on the ground. Shards flew everywhere and a few caught his arms he had raised in front of his face protectively.
"Dammit, Hattori! Snap out of it!"
Out of the corner of his eyes, he registered how Arisawa used the commotion to flee, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was too occupied to fend off his friend, who repeatedly tried to hit or stun him. He could just hope that Hakuba was already there to stop her.
Thankfully, Heiji didn't seem to be at his best right now. Be it the hypnosis or the drug, but whatever it was, it slowed his attacks down and messed with his aim so that Shinichi, after some rolls to the side, got the chance to get back to his feet again.
Now that he had a second to recollect himself, he wondered what he should do to end this. When would the command be fulfilled? When Heiji landed a hit on him or not until Shinichi was out cold on the ground? He didn't think that his friend would be susceptible for reason at the moment, so talking him out of it was no option.
He had to forcefully break the hypnosis.
But to manage that, he had to get close to Heiji and that wasn't really appealing, seeing that the young Detective didn't pull his punches.
He gathered his resolve. "Sorry, Hattori. I really don't want to do that."
This time, when Heiji attacked him, Shinichi stood his ground. He blocked the stun-gun that aimed for his side and gripped the wrist holding it, but couldn't avoid the fist to his face. His head flew back with a grunt, while he stubbornly held onto Heiji's other hand, pulling him along to the ground when he tumbled back.
They rolled over the floor in a mess of arms and legs, both trying to gain the upper hand, when suddenly the stun-gun was stuck between their stomachs.
Shinichi didn't think twice about it but reached for Heiji's hand and triggered the gun.
With pained outcries, both of them recoiled from the sparking device and its biting electricity that flashed in shockwaves through their bodies.
It lasted just a few seconds then it was silent in the room, aside from Shinichi's heavy panting as he tried to get back up but failed because his limbs didn't want to obey him.
So, he was still lying on the floor when a moment later, Hakuba stormed through the door, trailed by two armed officers and a paramedic.
"Hattori-keiji! Kudou-san!"
Shinichi waved weakly at him. "I'm okay, check Hattori. I think he took the brunt of it."
Hakuba nodded shortly and the paramedic knelt next to the unconscious Detective to check his vital signs, while he himself helped Shinichi into a seated position.
"What the heck happened here, Kudou-san? You two fought?"
"Yes, exactly that, Hakuba-san," Shinichi answered wearily. Now that his muscles gradually relaxed again, his body felt heavy and the cuts on his arms began to sting. His fingers where still trembling and he decided that he should wait a bit longer before trying to stand up.
"Arisawa managed to drug him, though not as effective as she had planned. She took advantage of his weakened state and initiated an instant hypnosis instead."
"Hypnosis?" With a grim expression, Hakuba watched how a second paramedic brought a stretcher and Heiji was lifted onto it, to be carried to the ambulance. They would have to wait until he woke up to be sure that the hypnosis was broken, but normally that shouldn't be a problem.
"Yeah - We'll have to ask Hattori for the details later. What about Arisawa?"
Hakuba turned his head back to Shinichi. "Oh, yes - don't worry. We got her when she was running out of the house. She was furious, but laughed at the same time that you both got what you deserved." A shiver ran down his spine. That woman had killed three persons already and he had been afraid that they had to add two more victims to that list after hearing her spiteful words.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case. "You got a nice bruise there, Kudou-san," he said while looking the other over to see the extent of his injuries.
Shinichi grimaced and reached for his throbbing head. It would look even worse tomorrow. He was sure that Heiji wouldn't be pleased when he learned what happened while he had been under hypnosis. "Yeah – Hattori packs quite a punch, even in a drugged state."
"Just rest for a moment. I will go and see if Hattori-keiji is already settled in the ambulance and send one of the paramedics back to you."
With that, Hakuba left Shinichi sitting on the floor, leaned against the couch, from where he watched how the officers searched the apartment and answered their questions.
They found several small weapons hidden all over the room, just like Arisawa had told them on their first visit. Another stun-gun, pepper-spray, knives and even a handgun. Shinichi was just glad that the handgun hadn't been near Arisawa when she had needed a weapon. That could have turned out fatal.
Hakuba came back with a paramedic in tow, when one officer brought a case with small bottles in it. They looked exactly like the aphrodisiac, Arisawa had given to Shinichi but next to it lay a few syringes with a clear liquid in it. One of them was empty.
Hakuba carefully took one out with gloved hands to read the small label on it.
"Benzodiazepine. Also known as Rohypnol, roofies or knockout drops. Quite potent. It takes effect quickly, even in small dosages and degrades just as fast. No wonder it didn't show on the tox-screen." He handed the case back to the officer, who packed it up in an evidence bag.
Shinichi winced when the paramedic disinfected the cuts on his arms before bandaging them. The effects of the stun-gun had ceased enough by now that he got up with a steadying hand from Hakuba when his legs wobbled a bit. His body would be sore the next few days – just great.
TBC
