A/N: Welcome to chapter 6 of Salvation for the Broken Children!
This is it, the penultimate chapter of this little story. We're getting eerily close to solving this case. Will the guesses that some readers have put up be right? Perhaps you may find the answer in this chapter.
Warnings: If you got through chapter 2 alright then you should be fine now. Don't worry about details of what happened to those children, since I don't go into them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.
0o0o0
Chapter 6
By the time Zack had finally left, Tseng allowed himself a brief moment to simply sink back down in his chair with a sigh. It wasn't often that a case seeped this much energy out of him. Actually, there was only one case that did, and that was the AVALANCHE case. Others never really did.
The reason for that was quite clear to the stoic detective. In general his work was simple. A crime would occur, he sought out the one responsible for it and gathered the evidence for the court to judge the culprit as they saw fit. Sure there were always more sides to the stories. It was hardly ever a case of black and white, good and evil. But never had there been a conflict of interests as there had been in this case. With the culprit going up against Shinra, there was no winning, even if they had done more good than bad in a lot of people's eyes.
Sadly that didn't stop Tseng from having to fulfil his duty. Even though he wanted justice for all the people involved – all those children, the one who killed Sephiroth, even the man himself – there was no probably no way to achieve that. He could technically close the case at some point without actually trying to find the murderer.
The moment that thought entered his mind he rejected it immediately. Shinra would haunt him – or Veld rather – to find out who had killed their poster boy, and they would not rest until someone was convicted. Tseng had no doubts they would even point out an innocent person as their scapegoat if it suited them.
But more important than Shinra being corrupt was Tseng's own sense of duty. No matter how he felt morally about the case itself, his honour as a policeman and a Wutaian would not allow him to give up.
And so, after allowing himself a short minute of weakness, Tseng took a deep breath and straightened himself again. He sculpted his face back to his usual stoic expression and turned his attention back to his work. The files that had been sitting on his desk when he came in earlier were still there for his reviewing, and he would do it.
0o0o0
It was nearing the end of the day by the time Tseng had gotten through the files. It hadn't helped that more had come in as time had progressed. He let out a small sigh when he finally closed the last folder. Once again nothing of note had been found. That is, nothing that could help the investigation forward. Cissnei had managed to track down a few more victims, but they still needed to be questioned. Meanwhile Elena had started doing background checks on Sephiroth's colleagues in order to see whether they could match family members to any of their victims. Of the few she'd covered so far, none seemed to match.
Rude's report had been more interesting. He had been analysing the tapes. His report on them had been concise and very helpful. For one it was now established without a doubt that Sephiroth had been a child molester. Rude stated that the man had been clearly visible in all of his tapes. Plus, he had actually had a hand in helping Cissnei out in identifying victims. Though Sephiroth had not kept any record of who had been in his clutches, he often addressed his victim by their first name in the video.
But other than that, they were still no closer into finding the one who murdered him. There was still no one who stood out from the get go. If they kept this up, it might still take weeks before they eventually found the needle in the haystack.
There was nothing Tseng could do about it though. It was a simple process of elimination until they found the one they were looking for. He couldn't help but feel he was close though.
He was about to call it a day when Cissnei walked into his office with another file in her hands, "This is the final one for today, boss." She said before handing him the folder.
"Thank you Cissnei." He replied, deciding that this one would truly be the last one to review for today.
Instead of leaving the room right away, Cissnei actually sat down in one of the other seats, silently observing her superior. She did this more often. It was usually a sign that she wanted to talk, but she didn't speak up herself because she didn't want to disturb Tseng in his work.
Tseng knew that too though, so looked over the top of the folder at the girl and asked, "You want to talk about something Cissnei?"
"Yeah…did something happen to Reno today?"
Tseng frowned, "Why? Did he say something?"
"Actually, it's rather his lack of saying anything that bothers me."
"I'm not sure I understand what you're hinting at Cissnei. Could you be clearer?"
"I'm sorry, boss." She said sheepishly, "It's just that it tends to be noisy around the station when Reno is around, but he hardly spoke a word ever since you two came back. It's so unlike him that I thought something had perhaps happened."
Tseng slowly placed the folder on his desk as he thought about the girl's words. He knew all too well how loud Reno could be at times. He also knew what had happened at doctor Crescent's practice and the redhead's subsequent doubts about the case. Perhaps it bothered him more than he'd let on.
He was glad that Cissnei had chosen to come and talk to him about it. This case was sensitive and very stressful on all of them. He couldn't afford to let it drive his team apart. He'd already nearly lost Cissnei, though luckily she had been able to bounce back quickly. So he needed to make sure Reno stayed on as well. Though Tseng was their superior, Reno was also his partner, and therefore a very valuable team member to him.
"Is he still at the station?" Tseng chose to ask.
"I think so. I think I saw him lurking around Rude earlier. Do you want me to go get him?"
Tseng thought for a moment, "No, he'll sort it out if he's with Rude. You know how the two are."
"Yeah." Cissnei gave a small smile, "I swear if Reno wasn't your partner he and Rude would have become Siamese twins by now."
Both chuckled at the thought. Reno and Rude had been best friends for years now, though the two couldn't have been any more different. Where the redhead tended to be loud and disorganised, the bald Rude was rather quiet and diligent. Still, whenever Reno wasn't working alongside Tseng he could generally be found around Rude.
Once their chuckling had died down, Tseng did notice that the matter wasn't entirely settled for Cissnei yet, so he added, "This case is hard on all of us, Cissnei, even on Reno. Just allow him some time to sort himself out."
Through those words she understood that whatever had happened to their colleague was had something to do with the case itself. She of all people understood how much this case affected their emotions. It also told her that she was right to worry, but should keep herself out of it for now. Tseng would handle it.
"I understand, boss. I guess I'll get going then."
"Wait a moment please Cissnei." Tseng stopped her, making her look at him questioningly.
Tseng briefly turned his attention back to the folder the girl had brought in. It happened to be the background check on none other than Zack Fair. It didn't hold any new information. Zack's parents were living in the young man's home town of Gongaga. It was a small village situated far away on the western continent. Elena had however not been able to find out that Zack was currently in a relationship with anyone. Tseng guessed that might be because the two were not living together, so they weren't registered to the same address.
But that also made Tseng frown. He thought back to the picture Zack had shown him before of himself and his boyfriend. The feeling that he had seen Cloud before crept up on him.
"I know your shift is technically up, but I would like you to do one more thing for me today."
"Sure boss. What do you need?"
He held up the folder, "I know that Zack has a boyfriend called Cloud, but he's not mentioned in this report. I would like you to see if you could find out more about him."
"Why?" Cissnei asked with a frown, "Do you think he's involved in the case?"
For some reason, Tseng thought exactly that. He just had this nagging feeling that Cloud looked familiar. Maybe if he would open up the binder with the pictures he'd found, he would find the young man among those photos. However, it would be much easier and quicker to have Cissnei search for him through the database, and match him to the catalogue they'd created of the victims that way.
"I just want to make sure our case files are complete." Tseng opted to reply instead, not ready to reveal his hunch just yet.
"Okay. Do you have any more information on him I can use?"
"I'm afraid not." Tseng shook his head, "I only know that his name is Cloud and that he is a young man of about Zack's age."
"Well, that's certainly not much to go on. Then again, how many people are called Cloud?" Cissnei said with a small grin, "I should be able to get back to you in half an hour."
With those words Cissnei left his office to do what he'd asked of her. He felt a little bad for asking her to work overtime, especially considering she'd pulled an all-nighter only two nights ago. But he just needed to know whether his hunch was right. Should Cloud match to one of the victims, he would be a strong potential subject.
He hated to think that it would be Zack's boyfriend of all people to be responsible. Thinking back on the way Zack had proudly shown the picture on this phone made him realise that he was very happy to be with him. To find out that this person had killed one of your friends…that was going to be a very bitter pill to swallow.
0o0o0
Cissnei had truly outdone herself this time. Within twenty minutes she had everything Tseng ever wanted to know about Cloud. His full name was Cloud Strife and he originally came from Nibelheim before moving to Midgar with his mother at the age of thirteen. He was now twenty-five years old - two years younger than Zack – and worked as a deliveryman for Highwind & Valentine, a company specialising in mechanical parts.
But the most interesting piece of information was that Tseng had been right in his gut feeling. Cloud Strife was a match to one of the victims.
He looked at the two pictures in front of him. One was from the binder and the other was a recent work id photo. The two boys were slightly different, as was understandable considering ten years had passed between the two. Young Cloud's blonde hair was longer, and tied back into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. The spikes that were too short were jutting out in every which way they saw fit. Older Cloud's hair was much shorter and trimmed, though it retained his spiky quality. The striking sky-blue eyes were unmistakeable though. Without a doubt the two were the same person.
The fact that it was a match was both exciting and troubling. Cloud was his best bet on finding the murderer yet, but at the same time he was reminded of how much of a blow this could potentially be to Zack.
He had to do it though. Tseng had to seek out this Cloud Strife and interrogate him in order to see whether he was guilty or innocent. It was also better to not delay it. Waiting until tomorrow would only cause the matter to nag at him through the night.
He had given Reno a call just a moment earlier to meet him at his car. Luckily the redhead had not left the station yet, and although Tseng could clearly tell he was not in the mood for more work, he dutifully complied anyway. That was a redeeming quality of Reno. He might allow his emotions to dictate his actions a bit too much at times, but whenever Tseng needed him he would be there.
"Where are we going, boss?" Reno asked him as soon as they'd met up at Tseng's car.
Instead of answering the question he simply pushed the case file with both Cloud's and Zack's information into the redhead's hands, "Study it on the way Reno."
Reno frowned at the abrupt action but stepped into the car anyway. Once he had buckled up he opened the file to look at its contents, "Couldn't this have waited until tomorrow, boss?"
"Look at who he's associated with." Tseng replied instead.
Reno's frown deepened, but again did as he was told. His eyes grew when he read the section his boss referred to, "No way! This guy's Zack's boyfriend? Since when is he into guys?"
"That doesn't matter Reno. Remember Elena's suggestion during the meeting?"
The redhead briefly thought about it before remembering, "You mean that the one who murdered our victim could be associated with one of his colleagues?"
"Exactly."
"So you're saying that this is our guy?"
"It's very likely."
Reno looked back at the picture, a sad expression making its way to his face, "If he is the one we're looking for you're going to arrest him, aren't you?"
"That is our job." Tseng looked to the side while he was waiting at a red light, "I can count on you to do your job, right?"
Reno angrily closed the folder and looked away while clenching his fists en teeth. He still felt that it wasn't fair. His feelings had been very confusing. On one end he felt that whoever had killed Sephiroth should be caught and brought to trial, despite what the victim had done to them. For that he wanted to find out who it was as soon as possible. On the other end he knew that this person wouldn't be receiving the justice they deserved, which made him reluctant to solve the case.
He was at an impasse. Not even talking to Rude had made him able to sort out his feelings, so he was still stuck in-between wanting to solve the case and not wanting to find the murderer.
"We have irrefutable evidence that Sephiroth has done some horrible things to him if he turns out to be the murderer we're looking for." Reno said, turning his head to look at Tseng with a fierce expression, "I've seen some of the tapes myself, yo. There's no way Shinra can deny what has happened. As long as we bring forth every bit of evidence, justice should be served. And I'm going to work my hardest make that happen. Fuck Shinra to hell."
Tseng was internally very proud at his second in command for his determination. In all honesty he was speaking like a true detective. All that mattered was objective evidence and a suspect. No other external factors should matter, not even one as powerful as Shinra. If Tseng wanted to continue with the investigation because his honour wouldn't allow him to quit, then that very same honour should also ensure he would do anything within his power to make sure justice would be served.
He allowed himself a small smile, feeling fuelled with determination thanks to Reno's words, "Let's make sure justice will be served then."
Seeing that his superior had caught on to his feelings, Reno felt the anger dissipate slightly and gave a brief smile back. As long as they were both on the same path, nothing could stop them.
0o0o0
After a few more minutes Tseng parked his car in Sector 4. According to Cissnei's findings, this was where Cloud Strife lived. The detective took a good look at his surroundings. The area was somewhat of an enigma. It was on top of the plate, which meant that it was populated by some of the wealthier families, but it didn't look much better than most of the slums.
The streets were dirty and covered in loose waste lying around. Some had attempted to keep it somewhat decent by using large garbage bags, but those had been picked apart by birds and other animals, strewing their contents all around the street.
The houses were small and stacked closely together. Most were apartment buildings with rooms just big enough to house perhaps two people. In reality whole families would be crammed into one.
This was truly a neighbourhood that lay somewhere between good and bad. The people who lived here had jobs and made enough to get by on the plate, but it was only barely. Those who lived alone were still able to get by somewhat decently, but those who had families were really cramped for space.
The area fit with what Tseng had expected for the young man they were looking for. They knew he was a deliveryman, which wasn't likely to be a very well-paid job. His place of residence only confirmed that.
The specific address they needed was among one of the apartment buildings. They needed to get to the seventh floor and walk a short way across the gallery to get to the right number. One relief was that at least the elevator was working, so they didn't need to walk all those stairs to get there. Considering the state this neighbourhood was in, and this particular building too, it wasn't unthinkable that it might have been broken.
The first thing both Tseng and Reno noticed was that there were no lights burning on the inside. With evening descending rapidly on the city, most of the people had by now turned them on. The fact that this wasn't the case for Cloud's house didn't bode well. It was likely that the one they were looking for wasn't even at home.
Still, Tseng firmly knocked on the door in case they were wrong and Cloud simply hadn't turned on his lights yet. As expected there were no sounds coming from inside though, leaving the two detectives with no other option than to give up for now. Though Tseng would have preferred to get this done right now, it seemed that it just wasn't going to happen.
Their attention was drawn away from the closed door by the sound of the one next to them opening. A young woman wearing a waitress outfit underneath her open coat stepped out. Perhaps she knew where their elusive suspect was.
"Excuse me ma'am." Tseng asked politely.
She quickly turned her attention to them and gave both men a quick once-over before replying carefully, "Can I help you?"
"Yes. We are looking for the person who lives here."
"You mean Cloud?"
At least that confirmed they were indeed at the right place, "Yes, do you know when he might be home?" Tseng asked.
She shot them another suspicious look. It was obvious that she wasn't really comfortable. This wasn't strange, since the two detectives were probably the fanciest dressed men she would ever see walking around in this neighbourhood. For her this probably didn't spell much good.
Noticing this, Reno decided to step in, "Don't worry toots. We're not here to cause you any trouble, yo." He said with a disarming smile, "We just want to talk to Cloud, so would like to know where we can find him."
The young woman couldn't help but feel more at ease with Reno acting so amicably. She giggled slightly and visibly relaxed a bit, "Well, he'll probably not get home tonight. He's at his boyfriend's, and he usually stays there all night when he's there."
Of course, why didn't Tseng think about that earlier? The next most logical place for Cloud to be was at Zack's house. After all, the detective did remember Zack telling him that his boyfriend had texted him to ask at what time he would be home. It was only logical to assume that he'd asked that because he wanted to meet up.
"Awe, that's a bummer, yo." Reno said with a bit of an exaggerated sigh, "I guess we'll just have to come back later."
"Good luck with that. He's hardly been home at all this week." She added, while adjusting the small purse that hung from her shoulder, "I wish I could help you out some more, but I really need to get to work now."
"Of course toots."
With a final smile and a small wave the young woman walked away and left the two detectives alone.
"So what do we do now, boss?" Reno wondered.
That was a good question and Tseng needed some time to think about it. They basically had two options here. They could either go home and try again later, or seek out the blonde at Zack's house. It would be preferable to talk to Cloud without having Zack around, since it would be hard to keep information from him during the interrogation. Then again, if what the young woman had said was true, then it could take a while before Cloud would return home. Plus, if Cloud really was the one they were looking for, Zack was going to find out anyway.
So in the end it was really a matter of how certain Tseng was at this point that Cloud had killed Sephiroth. In all honesty he didn't have anything else to go on other than the fact that Cloud had access to a standard handgun through Zack and his gut feeling. Naturally the former had yet to be investigated in order for it to be certain that Zack's weapon had indeed been used, and the latter hardly served as any evidence at all.
Suffice to say, it was a tough decision for Tseng to make, but one he made quickly, "Let's head to Zack's house."
"Is that such a good idea, yo?" Reno questioned with a frown while the two started walking towards the exit of the building.
"Oh, but we're not going over there to see Cloud." Tseng said mysteriously.
"We're not?" Reno was getting confused now.
"No. We're going over there to confiscate Zack Fair's standard handgun so it can be analysed. If Cloud simply happens to be there, observing his reaction will be an added bonus."
Reno caught on to what his boss was planning now. He wanted to use a ruse in order to observe the blonde instead of confronting him head-on. He didn't even have to know they suspected him, let alone reveal to Zack what had happened to him in the past.
The redhead was grinning now, showing his superior that he understood, "All right. Let's go get that gun then, yo."
0o0o0
The neighbourhood Zack lived in in Sector 4 was a couple blocks removed from Cloud's, and it was a much nicer sight to behold. It wasn't a fancy area in any stretch of the word, but it was clean and presentable. It provided the home of many singles and small families that made enough money to live decent lives.
Zack's specific address was retrieved from the file Elena had made about him, which Tseng had decided to bring along before they had left the station. The lights were on this time, so Tseng didn't hesitate in ringing the doorbell.
Footsteps approached the door and a moment later a confused looking Zack came within their sight, "Tseng? Reno? Why are you two here?"
"Good evening Zack." Tseng greeted him, reminding himself to not ask about Cloud's whereabouts at this moment, "We've been analysing some of the evidence we've found in the case so far. We know for a fact that a standard handgun was used to kill Sephiroth. We've decided to confiscate and analyse all of his colleagues' guns in order to see f we can find a possible match."
"So you're here to get my weapon?"
"Yes." Tseng confirmed with a nod.
"Okay." Zack conceded while opening his door further to allow the two to come in, "I'll go get it. Could this really have not waited until tomorrow, though?"
"The chief has us working overtime, yo." Reno lied smoothly, "He wants us to get him Sephiroth's murderer as soon as possible."
"Awe, that sucks you guys. I'm glad you're putting in the effort though."
"Zack? Who is it?" Another voice called from the living room.
"Oh! I might as well introduce you now."
Tseng closely observed the way Zack said that. It seemed as if his whole face had lit up upon hearing the voice. It was a true sign of happiness, which actually made the detective feel only worse about Cloud being a suspect. He actually hoped his gut feeling was wrong for once.
"Cloud." Zack called while moving into the living room himself, catching the attention of the blonde young man who had been watching television from the couch, "These are Tseng and Reno. They work for the MPD. I told you about them before, remember?"
"Yeah." Cloud replied with a smile as he stood up, extending his hand for the two detectives to shake, "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Cloud."
"Nice to meet you too Cloud." Tseng replied formally.
"What's up, yo?" Reno said with a grin instead, "You know? I never thought Zack would end up with a guy of all people."
"I never even considered it too." Zack agreed, "But after I met Cloud it just sorta seemed to click. We got along really well very soon, and things just took off from there."
"How long have you been together, yo?" Reno asked.
"Let's see…what has it been now? About a year?"
"More like one year and three months Zack." Cloud corrected with a sigh, "But we were friends for about another year before that."
"Yeah, I'm not that good with dates." Zack said sheepishly.
The room fell silent after that, which felt a little awkward. That is until Cloud asked, "Excuse me for asking, but why are you here tonight?"
"Oh! Right, the gun!" Zack smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, "I swear I'm such a scatterbrain at times."
With those words he left the living room to retrieve what Tseng and Reno had supposedly come here for. This was very fortunate, since they were now alone in the room with their suspect. This was turning out better than they'd thought.
"So, you're working on the Sephiroth case then?" Cloud asked in curiosity.
The question caused alarm bells to ring inside of Tseng's head. Every other victim they'd spoken so far had had some sort of a nervous reaction upon hearing that the two were from the MPD. Cloud hadn't even so much as flinched and was now even casually inquiring after the case. This was not how he expected one of Sephiroth's victims to react at all, which only seemed to confirm that he was actually the murderer they were looking for, and that he was confident that they wouldn't be able to figure it out.
"We are." He replied carefully.
"Zack was really upset when he first heard about his death." Cloud said with a sad expression, "I hope you'll find out who did this soon, so he can get some closure."
Now this made Tseng doubt. Was this an implicit invitation for him to figure it out, or was Cloud perhaps innocent after all? But even if he was innocent, shouldn't he be secretly happy that Sephiroth was dead? Considering the reactions they've had, it just seemed so out of place that the blonde was so casual about it. It would have been more logical for him to simply not talk about it rather than claiming that he wanted them to solve the case for his boyfriend's sake.
Or had they perhaps made a fatal error in matching this young man to Sephiroth's victims? It seemed pretty much impossible, since Tseng had seen the photos himself. The only logical explanation would be for Cloud to have an identical twin brother - which wasn't the case - or to have someone walk around who simply looked a lot like him. That too was a very unlikely scenario. With his intense blue eyes and spiky blonde hair he simply didn't have one of those 'common' looks. He stood out in a crowd rather than blend right in. There was just no way they could be wrong with this.
"We sure plan on doing so, yo." Reno replied when his boss would not.
Cloud gave a sure nod before turning his attention to the advancing footsteps down the hall.
"What have you guys been talking about?" Zack asked as he stepped back into the room, his standard handgun resting in his hands.
"Not much." Reno replied, "Just about how much your boyfriend here wants us to find out who killed your friend."
Zack hummed in reply while handing Tseng his gun, who had him put it into a sealable plastic bag to avoid any fingerprints from getting on it. He then joined Cloud and put an arm around his shoulders, "Well, Cloud has been very supportive these last few days." He smiled lovingly at the blonde and pressed a small kiss to his cheek, "Really I don't know what I would have done without him."
"It's okay Zack. You would have done the same for me." Cloud reassured him.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I'm not grateful."
Tseng and Reno shared a brief look at that moment. They got what they came for, and shouldn't extend their visit for too much longer.
"Welp, let's just hope we'll solve the case soon then, yo."
"Yeah." Zack agreed. He then nodded towards his gun in Tseng's hands, "I'm not sure how that is going to be of any help though."
"We're just being thorough." Tseng explained, "But we've got more work to do, so we'd better get going."
"Right, I'll see you two out then."
"Thanks man." Reno said with a smile before turning to Cloud and offering him a salute, "Nice meeting ya, Cloud."
"Same here, Reno." Cloud replied confidently.
0o0o0
No matter how much Tseng wanted to continue with the case right away, he simply couldn't. He would have to wait for either Cissnei or Rude to analyse the gun, which wasn't going to happen until the next morning at least. He also had an idea to talk to Lucrecia again about Cloud's behaviour, but that too had to wait until the next day.
So for now they simply dropped off their new piece of evidence at the station and went to their separate homes for the night. At least Tseng felt that he could get a better night's rest now that he had gotten this out of the way.
0o0o0
The next morning found the two detectives going straight to Lucrecia's practice. Before they stepped in though, Tseng drew Reno to the side, "I trust that you can keep your emotions under control this time Reno."
"I will boss." The redhead said solemnly.
Seeing that his second in command meant it, Tseng nodded and led the way inside the building. Vincent was seated behind the reception desk again, and the door to Lucrecia's office was open. The two detectives had apparently arrived before the first patient. This was fortunate, since they wouldn't have to wait in order to speak with her.
"I hope this won't take too long." Vincent said gruffly, "Doctor Crescent's first patient has his appointment in ten minutes."
"Perfect. We won't take long, yo." Reno said with a grin, completely ignoring the man's hostile behaviour.
"Come on in." Lucrecia called from the office, not allowing Vincent to respond.
Both detectives walked inside the office and Reno closed the door behind them for some privacy. He then held himself back and let Tseng deal with this.
"Is there something I can do to help?" Lucrecia asked of them.
"Yes." Tseng confirmed, "Have you ever had a patient by the name of Cloud Strife?"
"Cloud Strife?" She pinched her chin in thought for a moment, "the name doesn't sound familiar, but allow me to check my case files just in case."
She stood up and walked towards the filing cabinet behind her. She pulled open one of the drawers and leafed through it. After a short minute she shook her head and closed the drawer again, "Like I thought, I have never had a patient by that name."
"He's one of your son's victims."
"I thought so. Sadly, I haven't been able to reach and offer help to all of them, so cannot tell you anything about him."
"Perhaps you can." Tseng disagreed, "Doctor, what are the ways victims of sexual abuse respond to it?"
The psychologist cocked her head in interest while she replied, "Most people experience intense shame for what has happened. In order to deal with the shame they can do a number of things. Some simply deny that it has happened and suppress the memory, others create a new personality. Only a small percentage of victims manage to overcome the experience without any help."
The first description certainly fit with what Tseng and Reno had seen with the other victims. So could Cloud's behaviour be explained because he had been among the small group to deal with the experience on his own? He needed to know more.
"How does a person manage to overcome something like that?"
"As with many other traumatic experiences, people generally go though the five steps of Kübler-Ross. First there is denial, in which victims try to convince themselves that it didn't happen. When there's no denying it they turn to anger. When that doesn't help they start to bargain. In this phase they will try to compensate the anger by doing other things, sometimes even those that seem positive on the surface. They'll find no compensation though, and so they feel powerless and become depressed. Once they get through that stage, they'll eventually reach acceptance.
"How fast a person goes through each stage and how their behaviour manifests itself is very different between individuals. Often those who do not require any help from a professional skip the denial stage, causing them to be able to undertake action quickly, and thus reaching acceptance earlier. For others it might as if they have accepted it while in truth they are stuck in a strong form of denial."
Tseng frowned, "For that latter group, does that include memory suppression?"
"It often does." Lucrecia confirmed with a nod.
This made matters even more complicated. With this information Cloud could have either been one of those people who had learned to accept what had happened by himself, or he was one of those who was so stuck in his denial that he simply didn't remember it.
Though on second thought, both options actually didn't make any sense. If Cloud had reached acceptance, then why would he have taken such drastic measures of killing Sephiroth? Also, if he was stuck in denial and not even remembering the experience, then killing the man didn't make any sense as well.
Tseng thought back to the state of the body as they'd found it. A clean kill with a bullet, but a severely bashed up face as well. It spoke of anger, but also of deliberation. It had been planned, it was personal and something must have triggered it.
But instead of speculating about this, Tseng decided to see if Lucrecia could provide him with a little bit more insight, "Does a person ever fully get over such an experience?"
"It's possible. There are different levels of acceptance. While some will always be affected by the trauma, others are hardly bothered by it anymore for the rest of their lives. In general they just learn how to deal with the memory. It never really leaves you, but you can make it a part of you in such a way that you'll manage to move on with your life. People still tend to be susceptible to triggers, but they'll learn techniques in how to deal with them."
Tseng crossed his arms then, "So, does it ever happen that a person can act very casual about it?"
Lucrecia shrugged, "It's possible I suppose. It's sometimes very difficult to predict how a person is going to react. Though if a victim is able to act casual about the traumatic event, I'd say that he or she either cut themselves off from their emotions, or that a high level of acceptance has been reached."
Now they were finally getting somewhere, "Doctor, the next question is very important. Could killing the one responsible for the traumatic event cause a high level of acceptance?"
"Yes." Lucrecia replied with certainty, "Under certain circumstances it could. The person would make the ultimate bargain by eliminating the source of the problem. There is a probability that the guilt over killing someone afterwards actually leads to depression because the bargain didn't work. But if that isn't the case, then acceptance would be reached."
That basically sealed it. It was the only explanation they had for Cloud's reaction. He had killed Sephiroth and didn't feel the least bit guilty about it, leading him to a high level of acceptance that allowed him to act casual about it.
Now all that remained was gathering more evidence, and then bring him in for a proper interrogation.
Thanking the psychologist, the two detectives said their goodbyes and made their way back outside. They had only just stepped into the car when Tseng's phone rang. He took the device from his pocket and looked at the screen, seeing that it was Cissnei calling.
"What do you have for me Cissnei?"
"Boss, good news. The gun you'd left for me to analyse? I've just confirmed it's the murder weapon."
Now that was exactly the type of evidence Tseng was looking for.
0o0o0
A/N: Welp, I think there's basically no getting around it now. Ya'll have some very sharp detective skills and this story wasn't written to be completely unpredictable, rather about the emotions involved in the situation. Though it's yet to be completely confirmed, it's safe for me to say now that Cloud is indeed the murderer. There's still little evidence though, so will Tseng and Reno get a confession out of him? And what would it mean for Cloud's relationship with Zack? On that final note, I might just be able to surprise you.
Final chapter is in two weeks. See you then!