MISPER

Dirty Hands

Inspector Natsume stared at the woman in front of him in shock. He quickly hid it, but she had noticed. She did not smile or smirk or indicated in any way that she was pleased. She did; however, calmly sit down on the chair in front of his desk and waited.

Natsume sat down too. He had jumped to his feet once he noticed the woman walk in with a paper bag in her arms. She had put it on his desk and stared at him pointedly. Once he was safely seated, he opened one of his drawers and pulled out a fresh set of still packed disinfected latex gloves. Without a word he opened the bag and took a look in. There was a pair of shoes and a green dress that had a few blood stains around the corners.

Inspector Natsume looked at Mikan, this time not hiding his shock. ''Where did you get that?'' He glanced back at the inside of the bag. He knew what these were. These were the things Yuka Azumi Sakura had been wearing on the day she had disappeared. Her daughter had described her in detail, knowing very well what her mother had been wearing because she was the one who suggested to wear those clothes.

''They were in the dustbin six blocks to the west from my street. I touched them with my bare hands so you'll have to take my fingerprints to separate mine from those on the clothes and shoes. They were in the bag as I found them so I guess if someone had touched them, the print stayed on.'' She explained, looking so calm that Natsume feared she was about to become one of those cases with revenge-seeking, parent-searching children who did anything… anything… to find them. But more than anything, she still seemed rational, even unsatisfied with her work.

''How did you find this?'' he continued asking, already knowing the answer.

''I went through all dustbins left and right ten blocks from my place. I guessed there might be the possibility of the… kidnappers… leaving a few things behind… And I was right.'' She told him seriously, and a little accusingly in a way asking 'why the hell didn't you do this?'.

''We went through all dustbins three blocks from your place.'' He answered her unasked questions. Then he put the things back into the bag and leaned back. ''So if I understand right… You spent these past three weeks rummaging through dustbins in hopes of finding… something?''

Mikan nodded. ''They don't clear all the dustbins every month. They say they do, but the majority stays full for more than two months, so I went through them before they would take the garbage away.''

Inspector Natsume could imagine her digging through garbage, cursing and swearing the lazy police that did a bad job. He looked at her.

But she was pregnant for Kami-sama's sake!

''This is a huge thing.'' He nodded. ''But you should not do all this, Miss Sakura. You should take care of your health right now.'' He pointedly glanced at her stomach and she glared at him. ''Don't worry about our health, inspector. I'm visiting my doctor regularly. I want to know what are you going to do now.'' She demanded, not letting him shoo her away.

Natsume reached for his office phone and called someone. ''Hi, I have some evidence for the laboratory. I'll need the results as soon as possible. I'll bring them down in a few minutes.'' Then he ended the call and looked at Mikan. ''We're going to look for finger prints. I think you already know how the procedure goes.''

Mikan nodded, accepting his answer. Natsume took a good look at her. She was a very pretty woman with long brown hair put together into a messy bun, brown eyes, pale skin, and a body figure of someone doing sports. Although, right now, she looked nicely round with her maternity tummy. She wore comfortable yoga pants and a baggy T-Shirt that showed off all her best assets.

He wondered why she was single.

She was about to stand up, when Natsume stopped her. ''Miss Sakura, I'll have to ask you to stop investigating on your own. It might not be good for your physical and mental well-being, and for your child. We'll do everything we possibly can to solve this.''

Mikan blinked at him slowly, staring blankly. ''Inspector Hyuuga. I'm aware that you're just doing your job here, but don't worry about me. You, as the police can't do things like I, a civilian can. You're depended on the budget and manpower; whereas I… I can do whatever the hell I want.'' She stood up and turned away to walk out.

''Wait!'' he stopped her once more. She stopped, glancing over her shoulder. He walked to her. ''Here…'' he gave her his mobile phone number. ''If you find something… suspicious… Or if you're in trouble… Please call me.''

She took the card and nodded, moving away.

''And Sakura…'' he called after her, stopping her for the last time. ''If you do anything stupid or meddle too much, I'm locking you up – if only for your safety.''

It was the first time he saw he smirk. She shrugged her shoulders. ''I'll be careful.''

He hoped she really would be.