CHAPTER 9 – PART 12
"Somebody needs t'keep an eye on this bonehead—in case he wakes up and tries t'go snooping around the place," T-Chan announced with head propped on one fist.
D immediately regained his composure and raised one brow. "Hmmm. I suppose you have a point, T-Chan." He watched T-Chan settle down to sleep for the night with a look of contemplation, then started some incense in the room that would help Leon feel well rested when he had to get up. Deciding to use the remaining hours to get as much sleep as he could, he left the dishes in the guest room to be done right before opening the store. He left the door open so that the room wouldn't be as dark for Leon after he turned out the light, or so he told himself.
Once Count D's grandson had left the guest bedroom, T-Chan squirmed over to rest the side of his face on Leon's nearest bicep.
Leon's brow flexed as if he were trying to identify the new sensation, then relaxed again. He let out a sigh that sounded like contentment.
No, until now, D had never heard of anything Leon had said in Wong's presence after he was captured. He'd remembered T-Chan often muttering wrathfully for a few days about Leon making a lucky guess about him. He'd assumed that the totetsu's anger at the detective was because he was no longer able to move among the humans and select his preferred prey.
Odd, now that he thought about it, that he had missed the absence of muttering about any verbal gloating Leon would expectedly have done about discovering Wong's covert activities. That was something he should have expected to hear when T-Chan had returned. One would think a person such as Leon would have freely commented a little of Wong's defeat as a criminal. On deeper examination of the memory, it almost seemed as though Leon had avoided mentioning it until asked, and almost reluctant to answer.
Now, he was finding out that Leon's mind had been focused on…something else. Had he been sitting across from him, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't arrived sooner, or at all? Now, he was beginning to think he might need to pay closer attention to what he wasn't hearing Leon say.
Ten-Chan was leaning against the wall, one leg crossed over the other while he waited next to the door of D's bedroom. "This doesn't look like a good picture that's coming together." The kitsune didn't look away from whatever spot in front of him he was focusing on when he spoke.
For as long as Count D's grandson had known Ten-Chan, he'd learned that there was something to be said for anything that could sober the nine-tail so greatly. "This particular criminal does seem to have the detectives more deeply disturbed than usual," he replied pensively.
"I don't think it's so much the criminal as it is the victims." Ten-Chan turned to face him with a disturbingly grave expression.
Veiling the true depth of his worry, he kept his nod restrained and tilted his head to the side slightly to portray more of an aloof pondering expression. "Yes. I can understand that Detective Freshney would be more worried for Detective Orcot because of the similarities—"
"It might be safer for Orcot if he doesn't find out about the similarities that Detective Freshney just told you about…before his superiors do, that is." Ten-Chan's tone of voice held a note of forboding that was nearly alien to his character.
"Why would Detective Orcot be safer not knowing—" mismatched eyes widened slightly as realization suddenly seemed to come to D.