Sunae Michishio. Eighty-three years old. No known family still residing in the Kyoto region. Well liked by both her neighbours and friends. Spent her happy retirement solely on caring for the garden outside her house.

In short, absolutely no motivation for murder.

This Kasagi killer was starting to really piss me off. So far, the only pattern between the victims that we could concede was that none of them had deserved to die. That didn't really narrow it down much. That statement applied to most people.

The missing identification was interesting. Forensics agreed that there was absolutely none to be found and, without the help of Sunae Michishio's neighbours, we wouldn't have been able to identify her in the condition she was found in.

The only confusion we had was why the killer didn't want us to identify her. It didn't make any sense. We'd considered identify theft and the city was now on red alert. If Sunae's name was given anywhere, then the police were to be notified immediately. But we'd seen already that our killer was one smart cookie. Surely he'd figure out that we'd go to these lengths and wouldn't be dumb enough to try and use Sunae's identity for fraud.

So once again, that put us at another dead end. I was sick and tired of hearing that. Couldn't we get one damn clue, just for once?

But no. I was stuck on this stupid case with stupid L and the stupid police and stupid friends. I knew my friends had nothing to do with this, but in my last phone conversation with Johnny, he'd been offended by my grouchiness and had suggested I was PMSing. I'd refused to speak to him since.

And no, as much as it may sound like it, he wasn't right. I was just really fed up.

The police guys all knew me well enough to leave me be when I was like this. Even Chad wasn't stupid enough to drop any comments about it. But, unfortunately for genius detective L, he definitely didn't have a clue in the social department and didn't seem to have picked up on the 'don't bait the angry female detective' rule.

I was feeling particularly foul the one morning and it was obviously showing – both Gibson and Chad had volunteered to do a coffee run. Neither of them seemed to have realised that it only took one person to do so. That left me with L and Kenichi. I couldn't imagine a more boring atmosphere.

So L decided to take this chance to play question master. Or play the fool. I don't really know what he was trying to do, but whatever it was, it was annoying me.

"You must be very safety conscious," he commented, looking uninterestedly around the office.

"I must be," I replied loftily. I wasn't really in the mood to get into it. It was a touchy subject for me – it always dredged up bad memories.

"One smoke alarm is adequate for a single room," L continued, infuriating me further. "Having three isn't really necessary."

"One's a carbon monoxide detector," I pointed out testily. If he thought this was bad, he'd be amazed by my apartment. I had five different ones up there. Better to be paranoid than sorry.

"So it is," L conceded. "My mistake."

I shot him an annoyed glare. I could hardly believe that the world's best detective couldn't tell the difference between a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector. Was he just trying to get me to venture more on the subject? Well, that was all he was getting out of me.

Unfortunately, Kenichi decided he'd chip in for me. "Gee doesn't like fire."

I gave him an exasperated look. Well, no shit, Sherlock. How was that meant to help? It was hardly elaborative and not exactly news to anyone. A child could have picked up on the fact that I have a fear of fire.

"I see..." said L, seeming quite interested in that piece of information. Damn you, Kenichi.

"Well, no one really likes fire," I said, injecting as much sarcasm into my tone as I could.

"Actually, I'd say that pyromaniacs maybe have a fondness for it," L pointed out.

I glared at him. Was he actually making a joke? If he was, I wasn't laughing. Why did he decide that when he finally developed a sense of humour, it was going to be aimed at me?

Kenichi chuckled and that was just the cherry on top of the cake. If I stayed in this room any longer, I was going to snap and my money was on L being the one I'd take my frustration out on. I pushed my chair back and abruptly got to my feet. "I'm going outside for some fresh air."

It was a lame excuse and we all knew it, but I didn't really care at this point. I had to go and clear my head a bit if I didn't want to unleash angry monster Gee. Only a handful of people had been on the receiving end of her before and it wasn't pretty.

I strode off down the road, in the opposite direction than towards the centre of town. Driving is never a good idea when you're in a really bad mood, so walking it was.

I started to feel a little better after a while. Being out of the stifling atmosphere in the office felt good and it gave me the chance to let my frustrations unwind. I was now feeling a little guilty for taking it out on the others. We were all feeling aggravated at how slowly the case was going – there was no need to start taking it out on each other.

Unfortunately, I was the only one who had done so, as of yet. I sighed. I guess that made me the temperamental one. I wished I could make a bigger contribution to the case to try and prove my worth. Especially now that I'd been acting like an angry bitch.

Lost in thought, I trotted past a couple of shops, barely even registering that they were there. But then the name of one of them caught my eye and I slowed my pace. Taiyou Stationary... Why was that so familiar? I never really came round this way. The last time I had had been to investigate Elizabeth Montgomery's house. Her place was just a few blocks down from here.

Then it suddenly clicked. That was it! Taiyou Stationary was the company name that had been printed on the bottom of the love notes I'd found in Carter Burnham's bedroom.

I stopped completely this time and back-tracked a few steps, inspecting the shop from outside. Maybe Elizabeth really was the one who'd sent the love notes to Carter... Her place was literally just down the road from here after all. I knew it was a long shot, but the shop was tiny and seemed to be an independent branch – I was guessing that it didn't get much business. Whoever worked here may know if Elizabeth had visited the shop or not. It couldn't hurt to try.

An old-fashioned bell tinkled as I pushed through the doorway. My guess about the shop's business rate was right – the elderly shopkeeper behind the counter looked both surprised and delighted to see me.

"Afternoon," he greeted brightly. "You're not lost, are you?"

I smiled. Yeah, he definitely didn't get much business. "Actually, I'm with the police." I fumbled the police badge out of my pocket as confirmation. It was a good thing I always kept it with me.

"Is everything alright?" asked the shopkeeper, looking concerned.

"Don't worry; you're not in trouble or anything," I reassured. "I just wanted to ask some questions about your clientele."

"Well, I don't have much in the way of clientele, but go ahead," said the shopkeeper with a rueful smile.

"So you don't get much business?" I questioned, just to be sure.

"Not anymore," said the man, sighing. "My only custom nowadays comes from a bare minimum of the locals. Times are hard for shops like mine. All the big companies and offices order the stationary they need from more well-known branches. Most people don't need much stationary now – technology's just taking over."

I understood his pain. I knew I preferred the traditional pen and paper to my temperamental laptop. "Would you say you'd remember most of the customers you've had lately?"

"Well, I haven't had very many over about the last eight months. That's when business really seemed to flop," he explained. "What exactly did you need to know?"

"Have you had anyone American in recently?" I asked. There were a lot more American people in Japan than there used to be, but it was still something distinguishing that people always seemed to remember.

"As a matter of fact, I did a while back," confirmed the shopkeeper. "Mousy-looking girl. Said she lived near here."

Bingo. That sounded like Elizabeth to me. "Do you know how long ago exactly? Or what she purchased from you?"

"I really can't say. Some pens and notepads maybe... She came in a couple of times, but it was a good few months ago at least," said the shopkeeper. "I haven't seen her recently."

I'd be worried if he had, considering she'd been dead for the last few weeks. This was definitely sounding promising though. The love notes in Carter's room had all been dated from this year. It was still a possibility.

"She in trouble, this girl?" asked the shopkeeper.

"I'd say her trouble's passed now," I replied. I couldn't bring myself to tell this nice old man that one of his few customers had been horribly murdered. "Thank you. You've been very helpful."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" the shopkeeper offered helpfully.

I felt like I should buy something while I was here, since I owed him one, so I ended up buying a pack of pens. I always seem to lose pens, so they could only come in handy. The shopkeeper was ecstatic and happily gave me his name and contact number for if I had any further questions. He bid me a cheery goodbye as I left.

Things were starting to look fishy. I was beginning to think that Elizabeth really was involved with Carter somehow... But I still didn't have any concrete evidence. So far, this could all still be put down to coincidence.

Maybe if I went back to Elizabeth's house, I could find something she'd written on and then visit Melissa Burnham again to compare the handwriting to that on Carter's love notes. It was still a bit of wishful thinking, but I'd learnt long ago to trust my instincts.

I checked the time on my phone. I hadn't even been out of the office for an hour so far. Kenichi wouldn't start worrying about me just yet. And I couldn't see L worrying fullstop. Elizabeth's house was probably five minutes away. I could go and do some more investigating right now.

I didn't even need to make the decision. My feet were already taking me in the direction of Elizabeth's house. At my brisk pace, it actually took a little under five minutes. But when I got near to the house, I found a complication that I hadn't planned for. Two girls were out on the front of Elizabeth's drive. What were they doing there? I could hardly break in again while there were witnesses around. Maybe I could scare them away with my police badge...

As I got closer, I realised that they were actually laying out flowers on the drive. I felt a stab of pity. They must have been friends of Elizabeth's. But I realised that this could be a good opportunity to ask questions.

One of them noticed me as I walked over to them and regarded me suspiciously. "Can we help you?"

I guess it was hard to trust strangers after your friend had been murdered. I showed them my police badge. "I'm investigating the death of Elizabeth Montgomery. I take it you knew her?"

The girl who'd already spoken to me nodded her head sadly, whilst her friend looked very close to tears. "She was our best friend. She didn't really spend much time at this house, but we can't face going to the cemetery to leave flowers there."

"And we don't think Shou would like us taking the flowers to his," said the other girl tearfully.

"Do you know much about Shou Tanaka?" I asked, taking the opportunity to find out more about Elizabeth's weird boyfriend.

"He's very serious," said the more timid girl. "We never liked him very much."

"He's a real jealous guy," added the other girl. "He didn't even like San hanging around with us, let alone other guys."

"I'm sorry... San?" I repeated, confused.

"Oh, that's what we used to call her," explained the first girl. "She loved Japanese culture – she hated being American. We think that's why she wanted a Japanese boyfriend so much. She used to go around calling everyone kun and senpai."

"And she asked us to call her San," the other girl chimed in. "It seemed quite important to her, so we humoured her at first. Then it just kinda stuck."

Sounded like a serious otaku case to me. Not to mention slightly racist... Even if she'd had the best intentions. At least her friends didn't seem to have minded. In fact, they seemed to regard the idea quite fondly.

"Can you think of anybody that may have wanted to hurt her?" I asked, though I was sure I knew the answer.

Sure enough, both girls shook their heads. "She was just so sweet. Everybody loved her."

"What about her boyfriend?" I pressed. "You don't think he could have been capable of it if she'd upset him at all?"

"I don't think so," replied one of the girls. "We only met him a few times, so we don't know him that well, but he did care about Elizabeth. And she really doted on him – I couldn't see her upsetting him in any way."

Suppressing a sigh, I thanked them for their help and offered my condolences before leaving them to it. I wasn't going to break into the house with them still there. Maybe I could go back to get my car and go and find Carter's love notes first instead, I thought as I turned the corner. I could come back to Elizabeth's later on...

Then realisation suddenly struck me so hard that I felt as if I'd been clubbed over the head. The love notes! They'd all been signed with an 'S'. And Elizabeth had gotten everyone to refer to her as San!

Holy shit, I'd solved it!

I raced back to the office, my mind working as fast as my legs. Elizabeth was the one having an affair with Carter! Did that mean that Shou really was the murderer, in spite of what we'd thought? Surely it did! Elizabeth's friends had just confirmed that he was the jealous type. He may have cared for Elizabeth but jealousy was a powerful emotion – it made people do stupid things. And it would explain Carter's murder too!

When I finally reached the office, despite being in such a rush to tell the others about my big revelation, I still paused for just one second to ring the doorbell before bursting inside. It was a routine I'd picked up to rub it in to L that other people managed to find the time to use it.

All three cops automatically drew their guns. I was glad it wasn't just me that seemed to have this habit.

"Dammit, Gee!" said Gibson ruefully, restoring his gun to its holster. "What happened to you?"

"It's Tanaka!" I exclaimed breathlessly. "Shou Tanaka! He's the killer!"

"What?" came the simultaneous reply.

"What makes you think so?" asked L sharply.

"The stationary store... Carter's love letters... The shopkeeper knew Elizabeth – lived right by there..." I was alternating between trying to catch my breath and explaining the situation as quickly as possible.

"Gee, just sit down for a second!" said Gibson, looking exasperated as he tried to understand what I was saying.

"I'm fine!" I insisted, drawing a long breath and pulling my thoughts together. "I found the stationary store that was printed on Carter's love notes... It's right by Elizabeth's house! And the shopkeeper knew her; he said she'd been in there a few times."

The others stared at me. "So you think Elizabeth was having the affair with Carter and that's why Tanaka killed them both?" asked Gibson slowly.

"That doesn't really explain his reason for murdering them," said L before I could reply.

"Of course it does!" I protested crossly. "Just because you're emotionless, it doesn't mean that everybody else is!"

"Calm down, Gee," Gibson interrupted quickly. I noticed Chad cough to conceal a snigger, which didn't help. "This still isn't exactly hard evidence – we can't jump to this conclusion just yet..."

"I have more to say if you'd all just let me finish!" I carried on irritably, not caring that I was being rude. They needed to hear this! "I found some of Elizabeth's friends and they told me not only that Tanaka was a jealous boyfriend, but also that Elizabeth got everyone to call her San!"

A look of dawning came across Gibson's face. "So that means..."

"The letters!" said Kenichi brusquely. "You said they were all signed with an 'S'."

"Now is that enough to go on?!" I practically pleaded, glad that they'd caught on so quickly.

"Yes, it is," L answered immediately. At his words, everybody jumped out of their seats.

"But what about the other murders?" Chad reminded. "Why would Tanaka have killed all those other people?"

"We'll worry about that later," said Gibson briskly. "We've already discussed the possibility of there being multiple killers. Let's concentrate on the one we're sure of for now."

"I'm coming too!" I announced quickly. No way was I getting left behind.

"So am I," added L. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised – he really was making the effort to involve himself in the case more since I'd persuaded him to help investigate the last murder scene.

Gibson looked annoyed, but I knew he wouldn't want to waste anymore time arguing. At least he knew he could at least trust me to handle the situation professionally. "Fine. Let's go!"

"We should use my car; it's closer," I pointed out as I grabbed my holster off the coat hook. Gibson had parked the police cruiser around the block to avoid arousing suspicions around my place. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "You can drive if you want. Let's just get to Tanaka's!"

Gibson agreed (I should think so – I never let anyone drive my car) and we all hurried out of the office with me hastily locking up behind us. I threw my car keys to Gibson.

"Shotgun!" called Chad.

"You can't call shotgun at a time like this!" I shouted. "And I'm not sitting in the back of my own car!"

"Standard shotgun rules still apply, no matter the situation," Chad insisted. Urgh, he was such a child.

"I don't fucking care..." I started, but Gibson cut across my protests.

"Just get in the back, Gee," he ordered.

I gaped at him, but he ignored me and climbed into the driver's seat. Why was he picking on me rather than Chad? That was hardly fair. It was my car after all! Fuming to myself, I reluctantly got into the back of the car. To add insult to injury, I had to sit in the middle, because as Kenichi pointed out, I was the 'smallest'. I was not impressed. When exactly was I going to get credit for figuring this all out?

Gibson really put his foot down as we raced to Shou Tanaka's house. If it had been anyone else driving my car, I would have been having a heart attack. But seeing as it was a cop and someone who I knew to be a good driver, I wasn't quite as worried.

He pulled up directly in front of Shou's house and went straight into business mode as we all piled out of the car.

"Kenichi, I want you to go round and watch the back door. Chad, you cover the downstairs windows," he ordered. "Me and Gee will go through the front door. Ryuzaki, stay close to Gee and do exactly as she tells you."

Yippee, I got to be in charge. I was glad that Gibson was making use of the fact that I was armed and had been trained for situations like this, rather than making me sit out since I was technically a civilian. He was even letting L take part! The time for arguing really must have been out.

Kenichi and Chad nodded at Gibson's orders and headed for their respective assignments. I drew my gun and took up my position besides Gibson with L right behind us. Gibson rammed the front door with his shoulder several times and it banged open. It wasn't latched or even locked.

Gibson silently motioned for me to follow him and I gave him a quick nod. We moved out into the living room. Everything was still and quiet, so we carried on through to the kitchen. Chad jumped slightly when he saw us through the window, but it was the same story in there too.

Gibson pointed to the ceiling. I gave him another brief nod and followed him towards the stairs, gun at the ready. I could feel sweat forming on my brow and my hands were growing clammy. It had been a while since I'd been part of a dangerous situation like this.

When we'd reached the top of the stairs something brushed my arm and I yelped. I turned to see that it was only L, who had stopped a little too close to me.

"Don't do that," I whispered weakly, steadying my hold on my gun.

"Sorry," he whispered back.

For once, he actually seemed to mean it too. He obviously understood how serious the situation was. We were in a serial murderer's house after all. You didn't get much more serious than that. L wasn't even armed. I was beginning to wish that Gibson had made him stay in the car. Maybe even with the child locks on.

Gibson turned so that I could see his face and mouthed, "Bedroom," jerking his thumb in the direction of one of the doors across the landing.

I nodded again and raised the Browning a little with both hands, making sure to keep my aim steady. The three of us made our way down the hallway like some kind of perversely silent conga line.

We stopped outside the doorway. Gibson raised his gun and mouthed, "One... Two... Three!" He kicked the door open and charged in, gun first.

I hurtled in after him, L at my heels, and then stopped dead in my tracks so that he crashed straight into the back of me. Though to be honest, I barely even noticed.

Shou Tanaka was lying face down in the middle of the room in a pool of dark blood. I lowered my gun a little, staring in disbelief.

"Cover me," said Gibson briskly, holding his gun in one hand and moving towards the body.

He managed to flip Shou over onto his side using his free hand. His shirt was soaked through with blood and his face was also masked with it. Gibson felt his neck for a pulse. After what seemed like ages, he turned back to look towards me and L.

"He's dead," he said heavily.

I stared at the body in front of us. "Well, shit..."

"My thoughts exactly," L agreed darkly.