Violet Masen-Clearwater, Aki.X596, candy-is-epic, mrsLlawliet162 and Scarlet-Red-Wings
- You never cease to amaze me. Thank you!
Also, Happy New Year to all!
8
Randomless
L added another sugar cube at the top of the small tower on his table. He paused his construction to type in something on his laptop before taking another cube and setting it atop the tower. The tower wobbled a little, but staid vertical.
Something was bothering him, but frustratingly enough, he could not name that 'thing'.
"L," Watari approached him, holding a cup of tea. He set the drink on the table, next to the sugar tower.
"Thank you, Watari," L uttered, taking another sugar cube and putting it on top of the others.
A sudden thought hit him; after finding out about Stacy Ward, Watari had searched the 'missing person' database again, this time looking for another 14-year-old girl, but not one of them had matched Kaosu's appearance in more than 10-20 percent, not in New Jersey nor the closest states.
That did not mean Kaosu was, in fact, a ghost. It meant that she had reached adulthood without drawing suspicion to herself… until she killed that police inspector and his wife in Vermont. Then she really became a ghost.
The results came. L shifted closer to the computer. He had compared three guest lists at three hotels he knew Kaosu was staying at - the Mercure in Narita, East Hotel in Yokohama and Alpha Hotel in Kyoto. He searched for the same guests' names, looking for a match.
He found a few.
Without looking, L tried to put another sugar cube on the tower, but it collapsed under his fingers.
Adam and Mari Carson
Simon Raine
Hannah Delaware
Suguru Yoshinaka
Doris Jones
'So, it's either Hannah Delaware or Doris Jones.' He mused, the sugar cube still between his index finger and thumb. He began to twirl it.
'Doris Jones' seemed a bit obvious, but L was not about to let Kaosu slide through right before his eyes again. He checked that name first, and found that Miss Jones was in fact a secretary, recently moved to Japan and was looking for a job, hence her traveling from one hotel to another. After leaving Yokohama, she came to Kyoto and had been staying at the Alpha for four days. She was still there.
Hannah Delaware, on the other hand, had absolutely no background. Except for a list of all the places her credit card and ID were used. Ignoring the names of stores and restaurants, L focused on the list of hotels.
Mercure
Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel
The Lutherian
East Hotel
Tower Annex
Holiday Inn
Aravert
Alpha
Park Lane
The last one was her current hiding place, with another name at the very bottom with a sign that said 'reservation'. Ginza Nikko in Tokyo.
'What do those hotels have in common?' he brought the sugar cube to his lips. 'Beside being chosen by Kaosu?' that thought made him pause. Being chosen. 'Did she really choose the hotels, or was it just a random pick? If the latter, then this is meaningless. But if not…'
He looked at the list again. Then at the fallen sugar tower.
Was it a part of the game, too?
Everything was a part of the game. Even something as seemingly random as the hotels she'd picked. Everything.
And L was playing the game. But if he wanted to win, he would have to do it in his next move. Being the type of person who was not very fond of losing, L decided to do just that.
Within a matter of minutes, he had put the pieces together, quite literally, and reached for his mobile phone to call Inspector Ichigawa. To inform him to gather his team and as many people as possible, and to go capture Kaosu, this time for sure.
He had to wait four beeps before the Inspector picked up. Ignoring, but not missing the strange tone in the man's voice, the detective began to talk.
-
A few moments earlier.
It was frustrating, to say the least, that the serial killer he was pursuing was all over the news, after all the hard work he and his team had to do to keep the case under the radar. The media had found out about Hitomi, that much was inevitable, but those files sent straight to the Sakura TV? That made him furious.
He had realized whose fault was that. It was Kaosu, wanting to steal a bit of spotlight for herself. Who else would have done such a thing? And who else but her knew everything about the victims beside the police? She faked the documents and sent them over to the Sakura TV, to…
Inspector Ichigawa frowned and clenched his jaws. To create chaos.
He shook his head, ridding himself of the most negative emotions, and entered his house. He greeted his wife and hugged his youngest daughter, who, as always, came down running into his arms. His two other children were already at the table, waiting for dinner.
After a delicious meal and some family talk, he excused himself and went straight to the bedroom. He had a major headache and could do nothing about it. Painkillers were useless, he had learnt that years ago. To get rid of the headache, the troublesome case must come to an end. After undoing the belt with his hostler and gun attached and putting it on the nightstand, the man sat down on the bed heavily. He felt the chilly wind against his neck and thanked his wife for keeping the window open.
"Pleasant evening, isn't it?"
Ichigawa's blood froze in his veins. Out of instinct, he threw himself to the side, outstretching his arm to grab his gun. But the weapon he had put on the nightstand a second ago wasn't there.
It was in Kaosu's hand, pointed at him.
"Shh," she smiled gently, her Japanese fluent and clear. "We don't want to alarm the rest of the family, do we?"
"Damn you," Ichigawa spat, not moving from the bed.
She did not stop smiling. "Maybe later, Inspector. Now, I'd like to discuss something with you."
"If you want to kill me, do it now," Ichigawa hissed. "But leave my family out of this!"
"Hush!" she scolded him, then put on a surprised expression. "Kill you? Gosh, why would I do that? You're playing the game, after all."
"Game? What game?!" his heart was hammering in his chest, but he kept his voice down; not because she asked him to, but he did not want to drag his family into the mess. God only knows what would she do to them…
"My game, Inspector. Now," she lowered the gun, but the barrel was still pointed at him. He watched her intently, saw how her brilliant green eyes clouded over and the blood red smile slowly slipped away. "I am forced to ask a favor from you."
"A… favor?" he could hardly believe his ears.
She told him everything and he listened.
"You… You're mad!" Ichigawa could not contain his anger. He shot up from the bed and turned to face her fully, his finger pointed at her. "You're crazy! What you're asking me to do is… No! I would never-"
"Honey? Is everything alright?" his wife's concerned voice rang from somewhere outside the door. Ichigawa froze. Kaosu's eyes slid over to the door, her face blank.
"Go on, tell her," she whispered. "Tell her that a serial killer is in your bedroom, pointing a gun at you. When she dashes in, she will see the nice, polite young lady who had sold her a beautiful bouquet of flowers this afternoon. It will be the last thing she will see, I promise."
It took every ounce of self-control for him not to jump over the bed and strangle her with his bare hands, regardless of the fact that she had his gun in her hand, her finger resting lightly on the trigger. However, he saw her intense gaze directed at the door and thought of all the bodies he'd seen, the bodies of her victims… and his wife…
He wouldn't let that happen.
"I'm fine," he shouted back. "Just did some talking out loud,"
"You crazy cop," the woman joked and walked away. Ichigawa relaxed ever so slightly as he heard her footsteps fade away.
"You crazy cop." He returned his attention to Kaosu, who was smiling once again. "I'm crazy too, aren't I? It's all good."
"What flowers?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice low.
"Oh, nothing really. I was just in the neighborhood earlier today and decided to visit your family." Her lips stretched into a grin. "I sold your wife some flowers, met your little girl… Chiyo, isn't it? Very cute. And Rena and Satoshi too. What a beautiful family you got there, Inspector."
"How… how dare you…!"
"I could have killed them all."
That made him freeze.
"I could have killed them and disappear, leaving you in misery. I could have slaughtered them like I've slaughtered all the others. But I didn't. You want to know why?"
She gave him a second to reply, but when he didn't she carried on. "Because I wanted to ask you to do something for me, in exchange for keeping your family away from my toys."
"I will never-"
"Are the lives of the ones close to you not a high price? Inspector," she narrowed her eyebrows at him, growing impatient. "Do not make me regret that."
"But I cannot do that!" Ichigawa uttered.
"Yes, you can. After that you're retiring and can be happy with the people I did not kill." She sighed. "After that… The game ends."
"Kaosu…" Ichigawa said before he could stop himself.
The woman smiled at him. "You are an excellent Inspector, but I can tell you're tired. Just like I am. So…" all of a sudden, she threw the gun on the bed. "Are you ready to end it?"
He stared at the gun, at her, then back at the weapon. Finally, he lifted his eyes to meet her green ones. Slowly, he nodded.
A couple seconds later his cell phone rang. It took him a moment to regain his composure before picking up. It was L.
.
Eight police cars and a helicopter were on their way towards the East 21 Hotel in Tokyo almost immediately after the conversation with the detective had ended.
With her next and final move foreseen by L, Kaosu was trapped.