A/N: I just noticed; this story and the one I have planned are both heavily influenced by Agatha Christie! Gotta love her books. Thanks for your reviews, and I hope the solution won't disappoint…when it's written.
I FORGOT TO WRITE SOMETHING IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, (it's fixed now) if you don't want to reread it, it's basically this: 8 of the kitchen knives Mr. Katsuragi lent Shirota are missing. Shirota did not give them back when Yako went to get them.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro or any of the characters portrayed.
--Chapter 5: Requestioning--
"Well aren't you happy, monster," grumbled Godai, who had sat back down to continue his work.
"Come on Godai, you know you want to plaay!" goaded the shiny man in front of the screen with a smile good enough for a toothpaste commercial plastered on his face.
"I already told you no!"
"But if you play, I'll help you!"
"I said…!"
Neuro ignored their bickering and continued to flip through the pages of information. Yako watched from the side, trying to read as much as she could before the page was turned. "How is he even reading this? He's turning so freaking fast!" Here and there, Yako managed to catch a few words of bits of sentences. A few that stuck out were 'drugs', 'depression', and 'suicide'. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fit in any of these to either of her neighbors. "Sure, Shirota's a jerk, but not even he could've…and AYA?! No way."
The folder was slammed shut, sending a breath of air into Yako's face. "Here," Neuro tossed the folder to her, "Read what you want," he sat down on one of the guest chairs and closed his eyes.
Yako leaned forward, and whispered, "Hello? Are you awake?" After a few seconds with no answer, she turned to Godai instead, "Is he asleEEEP!" The hand grabbed her face and forced her down onto a nearby guest chair.
"Quiet, earth worm."
Godai paused to spare a look up, "Does answer your question?"
"Yes," she choked out, taking in a breath of air. Yako wondered how long it took for Godai to get as use to Neuro as he did. Actually, she wondered if she would ever get use to him. Yako groaned and shook her head. Nope, never.
She glanced back at the folder. Without even opening it, she could already see how much information was in it. "How did you get all this stuff anyways, Mr. Godai?"
He didn't even bother to look up. "Dunno, don't ask me, it was all the employees."
"Godai, can you help me with…"
"I ALREADY SAID NO!" A leg kicked Godai's head into the desk, "Bwah!"
"And I said be quiet, dog, earthworm."
"You bastard…" Godai pulled out a pocket knife (seemingly from thin air), preparing to drive it into Neuro's leg. But as the knife came down, his leg went back to the ground. So the poor desk ended up taking the damage.
Yako opened the folder. On the first page was a picture of a grand looking restaurant with the sign "Supreme S" running across the front. The caption under it read: The five star restaurant, Supreme S, under suspicion. Underneath the picture was a newspaper clipping dating back 6 years. "Old stuff," she thought, "They must've had to go through a lot to find this." The clipping contained suspicion that there was something wrong with the food in the Supreme S, but they could never get hold of anything. On the next page was a more recent article, dating only back 2 months.
"Today, an investigation was finally placed in the Supreme S," ran the clipping, "A five star invitation only restaurant, which critics have claimed to be 'the best place you will ever dine at'. Customers who were questioned all said the same thing: After you ate the food, you felt the feeling of success running through you. However, a reported incident of a few customers getting high after eating at the restaurant seemed to affirm the long held suspicion there is something wrong with the food at the Supreme S. There was a diagnosis by doctors which showed that the customers had large amounts of cocaine, among other drugs, found in their bodies. The investigator who conducted the search was police officer Sasazuka Eishi—" Yako read again, "The investigator who conducted the search was police officer Sasazuka Eishi," Wow, she had a source all along and didn't even know. Anyways, "Eventually, the officer found the restaurant free of drugs, and affirmed that the previous customers had probably taken drugs after the eating at the restaurant.
We caught up with the owner, Shirota Masakage," Again, Yako reread to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her, and again, they weren't. "—to get a few of his opinions on the search. 'Of course my restaurant is clean of any atrocious drugs!'" She rolled her eyes; that definitely sounded like Shirota, "'I swear my restaurant only serves the best of foods, not a plate of drugs.' And so, the Supreme S is spared from closing."
The document on the next page proved Shirota's words empty. It was list, seemingly from a drug provider, which kept track of what drugs were needed and how much money was owed. If Yako had anything to choke on, she would've. The list ran long; so long Yako just ended up reading the first page and skipped to the last. Among some of the drugs listed, there were: Cocaine, heroin, morphine, amphetamine, pentazoshin, and 2 types of steroids. On the last page of the list, a grand sum of about 350 million yen was owed to the supplier, all signed off to a certain Masakage Shirota. Yako shuddered. If all that cost 350 million, and her debt was 400 million, just how much drugs did Yuki freaking buy?!
Beneath the list, there was a dark picture mostly blocked by crates with a shady looking, spiky-haired man talking to a barely seen Shirota. An arrow was drawn to the picture, saying that it was a man named Hayami Yukitoshi, a low-on-the-food-chain drug dealer. The rest of the pages gave information on Shirota's more…err, private life. Something that despite Yako knew would make great blackmail; she didn't have time to read. Who knew when Neuro would pop up from his chair and start to drag her away?
Yako flipped until she got to page with Aya on it. She had always known that Aya was a famous idol, though she had bothered to ask why she stopped. Yako knew now. An article ran: "Japanese idol, Aya Asia has resigned. Before quitting, Miss Asia had already sold 300 million records, and had fans from all around the world despite the fact that all her songs were in Japanese. Her 'World Tour' 3 years ago in September is considered one of the greatest successes of concert ever held: all tickets were sold out, and every person (that weren't too overcome with emotion) gave a standing ovation. The causes of this are still uncertain, but many of her fans blame the resignation on the two suicides of her co-worker and producer 3 years ago. Both hung themselves. And so, while we grieve the sudden stop of music that touched so many, we wish Miss Asia luck to whatever she plans to do next."
For the next 20 pages or so, there were lyrics of her songs. One of the lyrics was one that Yako had never even seen before. "Hey, Mr. Godai?" she whispered.
"What?" He didn't even try to be quiet.
"Are you a fan of Miss Aya?"
Godai cringed briefly. "What makes you say that?"
"Well," Yako skimmed through a few more pages, "You every song in here and every released plus non-released album covers, not to mention one of them has her autograph on it."
To Yako's surprise, Godai actually slammed his head to the desk and began to sob. "Why?! Why did she have to quit?! She had so much talent," sob, "SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WORTH LISTENING TO!!" More sobs.
Apprehensively, Yako cast a look at Neuro. Thankfully, though a twitch seemed to pass his face, he made no movement to silence Godai. "Yeah, y-yeah. Okay Mr. Godai."
"Why?!"
Yako only had time to read a few pages on the co-worker and producer before Neuro swung up from his chair. His mood was probably the best Yako had seen him yet. "Come then, Yako, everything is already coming together." Hastily, she tried to stand up and walk before he could grab at her head. Yako half succeeded. Instead of grabbing at her head as he usually did, Neuro only pulled her by the collar; isn't that great? For parting words, Neuro said to Godai, "I'll contact you the next time I need something, dog."
The cheerful remark Godai returned: "Do it yourself next time, you a—! Oi, Mochizuki, what the hell does this say?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me how to beat this boss."
"GET SERIOUS!"
--x--x--x--x--x--
After experiencing what the president of Mochizuki Corporations was really like, Yako felt little respect left for the company. For heaven sakes, the vice president was practically running a one man show, and he still had to deal with Neuro. At least she only had to the latter.
A breeze ran by Yako's arm and made her shiver; looks like it would be getting cold soon. "Maybe I should've worn a long sleeve...hope that taxi comes soon." Fortunately it did, and before long, Yako was already at the curb to her apartment. "Are we done already?"
"Not at all," Neuro said, "We have one last stop to make."
"Where to?"
Neuro turned towards the apartment complex next to Yako's. "Shirota's apartment."
"What?!" Yako stood firm, "I'm not going back in there!"
"Eh?" he said in a confused tone with a perfectly innocent face, "You don't agree?"
"No way! I'm not standing another minute with that guy in the same room! All he does is—uhh," Yako stopped ranting and let out a sigh, "You're just going to threaten me into going anyways, aren't you?"
"That's the idea," he replied, showing two rows of strangely sharp teeth, his hand already starting to move.
Ring! Yako stepped back and took her phone from her pocket. The flashing numbers showed that it was Kanae. "Hello?"
"Yako!" Kanae whispered loudly, the hum of talking and loud, harsh laughter was heard in the background.
"Look, Kanae, I'm kind of…err," Neuro mouthed 'hang up' and Yako rolled her eyes. In response, Neuro made a choking motion, "Busy right now. Can this wait?"
"No way!" Kanae hissed, "You're supposed to be my friend! You have to help me here!"
"Well," Yako cast a nervous glance at Neuro, who was advancing as though she were his prey, and he was a half starving to death animal, "A-are you dieing?"
"I might as well be! That (insert synonym for 'female dog' here), Hime-sama," Kanae spat the name out with a tone not unlike a child spitting out their least favorite food, "Is bragging all over the place! If I have to hear one more time about how beautiful that beach house her father bought her is, I swear I'm going to pick up a needle and stab her straight through!"
"Why stop at needle? Just take a knife and run her down," Yako said sarcastically.
"I'm serious, Yako. She's absolutely—hang on," a shrill voice came from the background, obviously trying to demand attention, and then Kanae's voice, perfectly 'sweet', answered back. 'Yes, we know this is for you. Yes, yes,' Yako heard faintly.
A hand grabbed at Yako's throat. "Well, let's go!" Neuro said 'merrily', and proceeded to pull her by the throat to Shirota's apartment.
Kanae's voice came back onto the phone. "Attention whore. Now she's criticizing the food here! It's perfectly acceptable! She's just trying to make us ask her about that party she went to last week; again!"
"Uhh, Kanae," Yako said in choked voice, "Can this please wait?" Neuro tightened his grip, cutting off even more air. Was this harassment or murder?
"Sorry, but you're my only grip on sanity here. Anyways, it's all because that Shirota guy cooked at that party!"
Suddenly, Neuro let go, leaving an unsupported Yako to fall to the ground. "Ask more about that," he demanded.
Yako stood herself up. "Uh, Kanae, did you say Shirota?"
"Yeah. From what I heard, he's some famous chef, though you say he's horrible," Kanae gave a short laugh, "Two completely different opinions, I'll go with your's though."
"Hey, what day was this party she went to held?"
Kanae groaned. "You're actually interested? I wish you were here to take my place then. But, I think it was the same night your father died. Ugh, what a coincidence. If only, if only, it was Hime in that room," she said wistfully.
Yako's heart gave a brief pang, and then went back to beating as it usually would. "Y-yeah. Ow!"
Neuro pushed down on Yako's head, "Come, earthworm, ask her what time Shirota got back."
"Yako? Are you alright?"
"Just fine," Yako replied through gritting teeth. Maybe she should be the one running someone through with a knife. "Do you know when Shirota left?"
"Well aren't strangely interested? You wanna talk to Hime instead?" Kanae remarked.
"NO!" Yako said quickly, already recalling the strident manner of Hime, "No thanks."
"Ha! Well, thanks to Hime keeping the guy there, I don't think Shirota left until around 12:30. Hime kept telling him how great his cooking was," she said dryly, "I'm sure you know Shirota well enough that he took the bait pretty well."
"Accepting praise? Sounds like him."
"Well, in Hime's version, Shirota finally said oh so politely that he had to take care of his utensils before he turned in, and that he would like to do that before it was 2 in the morning," a scoff, "If you ask me, he just wanted to get away from Hime. Good thing Hime was an idiot; she bought it."
"Lucky him," Yako's face darkened, "Although, letting him suffer a bit more would've been nice. Hey, where was the party anyways?"
"In the west side of town, where all those rich people live. Who else would get him to cook?"
"About 20 drive away…"
"Geeze, and now she's going to try karaoke! Ugh, it's bad enough when she's talking but when she's singing? It's going to be hor—wonderful! Hey, Hime!" Kanae gave a nervous laugh, then whispered to Yako, "Dang, got to go. Have fun with...whatever you're doing right now. I'M COMING! Bye." A click, and then the annoying flat tone that phones always have.
When Yako looked up, there was a strange smile on Neuro's face. "Your friend did more of a favor then she knows," the smile spread until Yako thought she could see every one of his teeth, "It fits perfectly now." Neuro threw back his head and laughed, "He's cornered now." Yako gulped, somehow, in the shade, Neuro almost looked like a…demon with that expression. He turned his back on Yako and walked into the elevator, "Hurry up, earthworm."
--x--x--x--x--x--
This time, Shirota nearly slammed the door in their faces when he saw that it was them. Fortunately (or is it unfortunately?), Neuro stopped the door right before it shut completely, and pushed it open with such force that Shirota stumbled back a few steps. "And what is the problem now," he grumbled scathingly.
Neuro kept his demonic feel. "Why, Mr. Shirota, aren't you happy to see us?" Inwardly, Yako drew back. Now Neuro's eyes seemed to have gained a strange gleam. Just who was he?
Apparently, Shirota felt the same, for he too, took a step back. "O-of course not. I don't want a murderer in my house."
"But, Mr. Shirota," Neuro took a step forward, closing the distance that Shirota had created; "There might always have been a murderer in this house."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" stammered Shirota. His already pale face lost even the last touches of color, making him almost appear a wax figure.
"You don't? Well, then," Neuro smirked sadistically, "Why don't I explain? That day, you were hired to cook at a party, weren't you?" Hesitantly, Shirota nodded. "And you did. Though the party ended at 9:30, you were kept there by a girl who would not stop talking to you until around 12:30." A look of confusion crossed Shirota's face. Yako could tell what he was thinking: how does he know that? "It takes about 20 minutes to get back from where you were, and as you commented to that girl, you needed to clean you utensils before you went to sleep. Probably, it was around one o'clock you even got home."
"You commented that you needed to clean your utensils before going to sleep, and to provide for a party, you had a lot didn't you? Miss Yako's father was killed at around 1:30 in the morning; you could not have been sleeping when this happened," Shirota hands shook, "As I said before, there's only a 3 meter jump from here two the balcony part of Miss Yako's apartment. I found some old documents; you were accused of buying drugs and serving them to your customers. The accusations ran all the way back for at least 6 years; enough time for you to do a proper amount of testing on them. Perhaps you even managed to make an instant-muscle-enhancing formula. If you did, you probably could've used it that night to help you jump the 3 meters."
"You have no proof!" Shirota yelled, "No proof at all! The police found it free of drugs!"
Neuro flashed his jagged teeth at Shirota. "So? You could've hid them. I found a contract between you and a drug dealer." Shirota was beaten again. Neuro continued, "The window wasn't locked that night, so you could've just opened it and entered the room. One of the drugs on the list of what you bought was morphine, and morphine can act as poison. So, you simply had to keep Mr. Katsuragi quiet and then apply a few drops of morphine into the tea. And then, you forced Mr. Katsuragi to drink it. After that, you used 8 of the knives you borrowed from Mr. Katsuragi and stabbed them into him. The knives were left in there because they put blame on Miss Yako, since only her and Mr. Katsuragi's fingerprints were on them."
At this, Shirota let out a short laugh. "Oh? So why weren't my fingerprints on them? You can ask any of the assistants I had during the party, I cooked with those knives." The fire flared once again.
Neuro didn't reply, but Yako did. "Gloves."
"What?"
"You always wear gloves when you cook, to keep out the 'germs' you say," Yako narrowed her eyes, "You showed me yourself." And once again, cold water put out the fire.
Neuro cast a quick look at Yako, a bit confused. For that, Yako felt proud she found out something he hadn't. "Anyhow, to complete the trick, you cut off part of a meter stick and placed it leaning between the area where the wall meets the window and the sliding side of the window. Then, when you left, you closed the window behind you and the meter stick would slide down, forcing the window to remain locked, even when pushed on. This would make it appear that only Miss Yako could've poisoned Mr. Katsuragi, since it was a closed room unless the victim opened the door. Afterwards, you came back to the apartment, not because you heard sounds, no, the walls are too thick for you to have heard; but to get rid of the meter stick. While everybody was so busy staring at the body, you slipped over to the window, replaced the meter stick, and really locked the window. No one would suspect other wise."
Shirota licked his lips to part them, "I-I didn't. I swear, I didn't."
"Perhaps, but, unless something comes up, you are the murderer." Neuro tossed a piece of paper to him, "Here, if you find anything for your case, call Miss Yako."
--x--x--x--x--x--
"So…Shirota did it?"
Neuro didn't reply to the question. "Tell me if you get a call from him."
"Wait, you gave him my cell phone number?!"
He shrugged. "Didn't think it was a problem."
--x--x--x--x--x--
A/N: Whoa! Is he the murderer? Is this it? Well, at least I'll tell you this isn't it.