One morning, Kyo's parents saw that he had bruises on his arms and chest. He wouldn't say where he'd got them, and denied Sei and the girls had anything to do with them. Dad called Detective Suzuki, who advised them all to come in to the station house.
It wasn't long before the matter was brought to the attention of Chisato Nishimura, the woman who was the prosecutor that worked with the Special Investigations Unit.
Nishimura was in her early 30's and dyed her hair red. She stood in Captain Kobayshi's office, Kobayahsji, Suzuki, and Bando behind her; and looked through the office window at the Tachibana family clustered around Bando and Suzuki's desks, the parents still trying to coax a statement implicating Sei out of Kyohei.
"Let me get this straight, Detective Suzsuki," Chisato said: "After pursuing a fruitless molestation investigation against Sei, with no evidence to back it up, now you want to bring assault charges against her, again with no evidence to back it up."
"You want evidence, Counselor? Look at his bruises. Someone worked him over."
"Really, Detective? And you have incontrovertible forensic evidence Sei or one of her girls is responsible for his injuries?"
Suzuki didn't answer.
"I thought so." Chisato turned and faced the detective. "Eiji, did I do something to offend you in a past life? Because you seem to be working harder than normal to get me fired."
"Counselor-"
"Even if we forget that Don Laoban has friends in high places," Chisato went on, "this case is on shaky legal ground as it is. Our pursuit is borderline harassment, and without incontrovertible evidence confirming your suspicious, we'd be better off dropping it. "
"Why?" Eiji demanded. "Bailan's money have you scared? We've gone into court and won even with a weak case against some factory worker. But a mob princess who can buy her way out of anything gets a pass?"
"You should know me better than that, Detective. You should know I'm not afraid to go after anyone, and I've backed your play no matter how weak or strong your case has been. But you haven't given me a weak case this time. You've given me no case. This assault angle has the feeling of desperation about it, and if I can see that, so can Bailan's lawyers. As a matter of fact, Sei's lawyer called me the other day and asked me if everything was all right with you. That wasn't a ploy; I know the man, and he was genuinely concerned. That was from the *opposition.* How do you think I feel? I'm not saying Sei is as pure as new-fallen snow, but if it looks like there's nothing there, why are you doing this?"
"All right," Eiji said. "What do you want us to do? Give Sei a pass and hope pieces of him don't show up in a river somewhere?"
Chisato pondered for a moment. "I'll call Sei's attorney and invite her and the girls to come down and give statements. If we put them together in the same room, maybe that will shake something loose. BUT! If nothing comes of it, that's it, Detective! No more investigation by this unit. And if you do it on your own time, I won't help you if you get in trouble. Clear?"
"Clear, Counselor."