Speech = ``...´´
Thoughts = [... ]
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Arguing had not been what she had been looking forward when she had come here to work.
She had no desire to get fed up and angry to the point she would "actually" lash out in annoyance and bitterness...nor give more lumber to the fires burning inside her aching soul.
No, nothing of that had been in the cards she had hold close to her chest…, but this life was about the unexpected. So she would accepted and continue on where she had left it.
Nothing mattered now more than that.
After making sure that there was nothing left inside the victims room that could be of use to her, Jessica departed from it and went right away towards the colliding room in company of the red head who either wanted to keep the boy away from her or her away from the boy.
Cute…
In the way she noticed that there was actually an elevator just in-front of the door which now laid open as officers entered and left the premises. The shape of the walls in the corridor should not have allowed for it to be hidden from view, but a certain pillar that barely stretched out from the wall would keep it obscured from view from one side.
It was a curious thing to take notice, though not that surprising..
She had been aware of its existence even before taking a moment to notice it as she had now, the map down below of the building having shown its location previously to them taking the other one to arrive here. Still, there were some discrepancies…
The one that had been drawn was not in the same place that this one had been.., a mistake of the builders? The one who wrote the notes down below? Both..? She did not know, and she doubted it mattered much.
It however gave some food for thought as its possible use in the murder...given how close was to the primary suspect of the case, it could not be ruled out. In fact, she would have been surprised if it had nothing to do about it.
Pulling another cigarette from the box and lightning it between her fingers she entered the room of the neighbor. Officers making way for her as she ventured forward without a word…, her eyes scanning the room and everyone in it.
It was not big..
It was not even larger or smaller compared with the other room..
It was, in essence...the same room from the one she had come from, with the mayor difference that there were a few more, smaller looking furniture around rather than a few big and massive ones.
Oak tables from the late eighties, several, different height chairs, colorful rugs, a small, portable library inside a few hip size shelves, a few boxes made of wood that appeared to have a series of holes in them for stylish choices that stored things, though given by the smell...they either contained used clothes, or the trash.
Why would the scent of sweat and filth and ashes be in the same place was weird, but not the strangest thing she had seen so far. Definitely not the weirdest...There was even one of those new fridges that the news had been making a fuss about with all hands on deck type of things for gods sake!
It was hard to believe or understand how or why would a woman who lived alone had any need for all these..? It seemed foolish to expend that much in all those things. The rent of the building did not appear to be that cheap either.
Speaking of the woman, she found her gaze as she sweeped the room. Brown met blue, it was brief affair..., but Jessica had noticed that small pang of frustration hid beneath the mask the Chinese lady wore like a glove.
It could have been the fact that now her resident had become in the newest nest of the police, the way everyone was talking with one another making a cacophony given the small measurement of the room, the way everyone strolled in and out of it, or the fact that it had been her previous entering that had led to this..
Whatever it was, she knew that it was none of those things. Time slowing down for a second as she took notice of the folds and lines creasing the womans face before Ms Chen decide to stop or end her conversation with who she was talking on the phone and made her way towards the two of them.
She would have to make the police look into that, if only to be sure..
The red head officer took notice of it, then looked at her.
``Well, this is what you wanted. Here she comes…´´
``Yes she does…, Red. I hope you are ready for it.., because I have the feeling she is gonna be a handful..´´
``Given what I have seen so far that doesn't seem to be that wa-Wait...why did you just said?
``Here she comes?
``No, the other thing..´´
``Red..?´´
``Yes, that one...´´
``So..?´´
``Why?´´
``Well.., inst it simple?´´
``I would not be asking if it was..´´
She pouted, crossing her arms below her chest. ``Party popper., you must have been one of those children who asked the way a magic trick was done instead of wondering if magic itself was real..´´
``Mam..´´
``Fine, fine.. you have red hair, and since its the most noticeable thing in your head… I decided that from now on you are Red..´´
``You know...I have a name.., right?´´
She shrugged. ``Its a handful to remember things I don't wan to or have any desire to do, Red is easier...and far more appealing on the tongue. Besides, you didn't say your name to begin with..´´
``If I were to say it, would you at least call me by it..?´´
``Nop..´´
``Aurgh...to be categorize by the pigment of my hair, how depressing...´´
The man muttered, his head hanging low as he started to sulk. She merely shook her head slowly, getting a hold of his shoulder and patting it like a mother would with its first and only child.
``Its ok, its ok…let it out, you will feel better...´´
`` Please….don't treat me like a child, my pride is dying as it is...´´
``Shuuu, shuuu….mama is talking..´´
``Fuck…, I feel sick already..
``Oi! That's rude...´´
``Of course it w….-wait.., dumb thing to focus on. Did you just-are you really not gonna question her..!?´´
``Moi? Now..? No, no, no….I am going to snoop around here a little longer while you in your graciousness hold her ear for a while...´´
``But-but! Why?´´
``Why not?´´
``What are young going to do..!?´´
``Investigate, duh...? ´´
``I already know that, but cant you wait until you speak with her to do that...? I followed you because I thought that you were going to do just that..!´´
She slowly tilted her head to the side.., a hand pressed against her head, while her golden mane kept floating by the currents of air that tangled with it and made it appear to be alive for a moment before a wide, broad smile warped around her lips as she slowly rose her hands in a v pose.
The esteemed detective unleashing on the clearly unprepared officer who could not help but flinch and become flustered at the sheer brightness of her smile as she unleashed one of her secret weapons.
Deadlier than any gun. Silent and simple yet no less important or lacking of respect. Its reach never ending, its power never dulling.
Yeah, it was the power of cuteness...
``Ah, well, you see...Teheee….?´´
``For gods sake..´´
``Don't worry….sir, I am sure Ms Chen will not chew your bones while mama is away. Best of luck..´´
``Wait, what? No, dont leav-´´
``Todeloo!´´
She said with a chuckle, tapping his back playfully with three slow pats with her right hand just then as she counted the distance between them and Ms Chen was barely three feet away. The last one heavier and more stronger than the other two, almost making the man lose his balance as he was sent stumbling forward like a drunk.
Right onto Ms Chens arms…, or breasts to be more exact. How a man like him could miss place his hand by his head and land in those squishy things was beyond her.
The man really needed to do some exercises because being so lanky was certainly not good for his health.
Still, with a nod of satisfaction she started whistling without a care in the world and as if nothing was the matter, clearly not bothering to hear the small, jabbed, hushed words the man set her way to get her to come back.
There was nothing better in this world than to make friends and lead others to find said happiness.., no matter how many times she would have to drag them by their feet to do so. And so, with a smile on her lips to wide to be normal and a playful glint in her eyes that made men shudder she made her way across the room.
The balcony was the first thing that she decided to look at.
It was the same shape, form and length than the other…, with a series of walls of stone left, right and front while there was a thin, yet still perfectly good hand holding rods to make sure no one tried to lean over too much the empty, plummeting, completely lethal fall to the pavement down below...
She took a deep breath, taking in the hot, hoarse smoke before allowing to slip past in a puff through her lips..only for the wind to carry those flimsy and feeble white streaks away into the nothingness.
It was merely the fifth floor…, but there was a noticeable current of air. Enough to make things particularly hard for certain "things.."
But not impossible.
The bars were slender, a bit thin, but not enough to break under a humans weight...or they would have when she had stepped over them a few minutes ago. Unlike most bars in other balconies, it seemed that this buildings were not a whole thing, but several attached by their ends with a few bolts. The way they had been placed was so that it would have been hard to notice them from afar had not one been aware of them in the first place..
But….where they had been placed was just wrong.
Humming with an idea, she bit the burning dart between her teeth as she went to gave the frontal bar a little push. Her gloved fingers wrapping around its curved surface. The sound of leather creaking softly as she exerted a little of pressure.
A little, small tug up…then down. Never too hard, never too sudden. Seeing how much it would move.., how many times it would take to pull it out.
``Hmm…, where, where...where could it possibly be.…?´´
She mused through her lips to no one in particular as she focused on the task...
Her eyes squinted, lines started to crease her features as she felt something that should not have been there when her hand had fully and completely closed over a particular section of it. The markings were too clear and barely superficial to be caused by an actual knife, too vertical to be chains…
She slowed down, her fingers slowly trailing the things, almost soft inwardly vertical cut that was just underneath the section of the bar that was hidden from view but from the outside.
To get a better look at it she would need to pull the thing out from its place…, but this was enough.
She turned on her heels, her eyes now squinted as they glared at the door that led to the balcony. With its white frames and wide, though slender glass. An idea starting to morph in her mind as she approached the frames.. One had stretched forward…
Fingers carefully caressing its slick, flat surface as if it would break under her touch at any given moment...
Her eyes were gazing and scanning for any disturbance in its shape as his fingers trailed the frames up and down, her ears listening in the small, barely perceptible squeak that the two materials were making through the constant constant.
And to be honest, there was something off with the entire thing. It was not the sound of hollow aluminum plates or some sort of ceramic, not even wood.
It felt…, like plastic.
She soon shook her head internally. No, no.., it was not that.… it did not just Feel like cheap tape, IT was cheap tape.
Cut and glued one over the other in equal quantities to not make it obvious, painted with the same hue of white of where they had been placed and given that when someone entered the balcony they would he looking outwards, instead of inwards they would not have been paying enough attention to pick up on it.
Clearly meant to hide something.
Still, for some reasons that left more questions than answers. If she was right why not change the damage parts and be done with it..? Two days were quite a long time…, plenty of room of opportunity.
Unless….they could not do that without making it obvious..
..
..
``So that was it...´´
With that thought in mind she stopped rubbing back and forth her fingers over it, now starting to peel off the thing from where it was. Scratching it…Tearing it…
Before too long she had literally pulled out the entire thing from the sides..., and what she found were the dents, no.., small impact craters on both ends of the frames. The dents were visible, pretty hard to miss even…
Whatever it was, it had hit pretty hard the spot…...just not enough to break it. Looking back to the bars of the balcony...the image of what had taken place was starting to take shape in her head.
If she was right….then the killer had used "that" to transport the body, it however did not answered the thin blood marks she had discovered back in the victims room. There was another thing, another… "vehicle".
That instrument was not here.., or perhaps...it was, with just a quick look it was too soon to say. Which meant that she would have to look further.
However she would have to deal with something else before she got to that part yet...
``Something seemed to have hit the frames…´´
``Not this again…., please. Not. Again….´´
It was hard to say what thoughts were crossing her mind when she heard Kudos voice reach her from behind.., but whatever it was..it could not be good. Especially after their brief, yet loud shouting match they had entailed...
She bit her lip. Yeah, the memory was still fresh and it left nothing but a bitter taste in her mouth..and who could blame her.
Right or not on her part, the boy had pushed her in a delicate moment and she had lashed out both in pain and anger. Anger that was not entirely well deserved to be thrown at the first and most punch-able face in miles around. But he DID deserve a big part of it.
She started to prepare herself mentally for another incoming tirade, another sharp snide remark or angry glare from those eyes of his. So it was surprising when she did not heard any of his righteous bullshit, or the fact that she was yet to start hissing with annoyance at his presence.
She took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose as she started to pick on the scent of a phantom migraine.
``Are you deaf, Kudo...?´´
``No..´´
``Are you feeling lucky today?´´
``Not necessarily…´´
There was a sharpness to his voice, a strength even.., but it lacked any actual sense of hostility. How curious. She lowered her hand, allowing for it to rest softly on her hip. Her eyes scanning the city outside the balcony.
Pretty big place, wasn't it..? With so many shades of grey and black, the buildings around them were more akin to black, crooked fingers standing in attention around them. With the way the sun was shining down on them, it really seemed like a day too good to be wasted on needless work.
She took another puff of smoke.
Or perhaps it was something else that this day looked too good to be for.
``Then why are you here..´´
``I remember that I told you that I wanted to be here..´´
``I also remember that I told you to get out of my way..´´
``You said not to disturb you, I am merely pointing out a fact you have probably come to assume.., or do you deny it..?´´
..
..
Bearing now his fangs with some shred of intelligence, was he now? With that unberable smug look in his face and that strange glinting that put his body on the spot? He really was the perfect copy of his father, urgh.
Still.., he was not wrong. Not entirely though. That did not mean she had to agree with or tell him that. His ego was big enough as it was..
Slowly, she pulled out a gun she had strapped to her leg. Its metal casing glimmering under the sunlight with a cold warmth. Her eyes wandering over its length, thoughts and ideas going by her head: what was the angle that had killed Mr Moonson, the exact caliber of the weapon and the time it must have taken to pull it all through.
The answers were almost at the tip of her tongue.
However, while she pondered on.…, the fact that the barrel was nowhere near Kudo did not stop Kudo from looking at the weapon with a slight sense of unease and abhorrence. It was not a feeling she was seeing, she was just feeling it.
``You..you are...not going to shoot me, right?´´
She opened up the chamber, counting the rounds that had been neatly placed within. Looking at her reflection...
``Fool around and find out..´´
``Whatever it is, I don't think you should fire it...´´
``In this very moment its not me you should worry about..´´
``Look, I don't like you..and I am sure as hell that you don't like me..´´
``…´´
``And to be honest, I doubt that will ever change..´´
``…´´
``But could you at least act normal for five minutes..?´´
She tilted her head to the side, allowing for the young boy to notice the shallow smirk wrapped around her lips. It was as if someone had pulled out a knife and carved the very crooked lines in her face.
It was...unsettling to say the least.
``Bold words from a brat with no common sense and in magnum range..´´
She did not expect a reply, nor she wanted one in the first place as she hoisted the weapon back in its place, the act been so fast that it would have been barely perceived by anyone else She tapped the thing one last time to make sure it was well attached and that it would not go off on its own…
Satisfied, she finally turned around, crossing her arms and leaning against the left side of the bars.
To be honest with herself, she didn't like this..
She didn't like having him here…
But she had already gotten fed up with his bullshit just a few minutes ago so there was no further need to waste her breath in meaningless quarrels. He also had a sort of functioning brain, but she would never say that to him. Gods knew that he did not need another ego boost.
``I assume you have something clever to say..´´
``You are not going to push me out? Why?´´
``Do you want me? I am still on time to do so..´´
``No.., just surprised how quickly you...changed your opinion. I did not know you could...´´
``I havent, I am just not giving a fuck after I already let clear what I think of you. To do so again would be just redundant.., or are you here to poke again like the brat you are..?.´´
``Hmmpf, fair enough….´´
With no other word to add, he walked in right next to her, allowing for a few steps to stand between them. Still, just a moment before pointing at what she had already seen he gave her a brief side glance.
Perhaps he was hoping that she would add a petty snide remark, or just follow his antics with a scowl. Lucky for her, he gave it up immediately when he was met with the wall of smoke brushing his face and making him grimace on the spot.
``Cough, cough...argh...did you really had to do that?´´
``...´´
``...´´
Shaking his head, he rubbed the back of his head. ``Fine, fine...be like that. The damage is fairly new and it could not be something light. It was heavy...and resilient enough to make a dent just by crashing into the frames...´´
``Heavy, perhaps human heavy…´´
She mused before she realized. Kudo was caught a bit by surprise by it too, though it did not last nearly as long as he end up giving her a weak nod.
``Yes, that seems most likely, in fact.., the impact zones are parallel to one another in a rather uncanny way, don't you think? ´´
``There is barely a difference in their high, even though the one to the left is a few centimeters over the other..´´
``Yes, which it can only be something that happens when you are pulling up something that was either large, long…, or both.´´
The latter seems to be the one more accurate..´´
He nodded again, the glimmer of his eyes speaking that he too agreed with that.
``And its unlikely that the damage is a distraction done by the killer to incriminate Ms Chen with the murder. The body... that was here could only have come out-from the outside rather than the inside of the room.´´
``And it was wrapped in something large, was he not? A rug perhaps..?´´
``That may have been too obvious…, but is not impossible..´´
``Their shape do play well with our general line of thought..´´
``Burning bloodied rugs is not as easy as it looks.., and they never fully burn..´´
She pulled the cigarette from her lips, letting it dangle between her gloved fingers for few seconds. Contemplating something in her mind before she went to retrieve another.
Something that she had seen.
A detail that she had overlooked..
A small thing that had nothing to do with their given topic, but the one that would have to follow after it.
Kudo glared at her, expecting an answer to come from her...but watching her keep silent he decided to lean over the bars separating him from flattening himself into the ground below..
He too must have known or at least suspected where the idiot had been killed.
At least that made things easier...in a sense.
``Given where we stand and that all the surrounding buildings are too far away and are a lot higher than this one, then its a fact that Monsoon was drag from below, mostly through a rope..´´
``Yes, and that must have left markings in the bars…´´
``Yes..´´
``..´´
``..´´
``May I?´´
``Why?´´
``I want to be sure what type of rope was used..´´
``Is it not enough to know that one was used..?´´
``Perhaps with those gloves you may not have been able to sense the roughness of the shape as well as you could..
``Knock yourself out..´´
``Hmpf, I suppose that is the best thing I would get to a "yes"...´´
She ignore the jab, taking a step to the side to allow the boy to work on the thing.
``Hmm…, yes, definitely a rope. It feels more like construction material than anything about climbing. But.., its strange.., nothing should be able to make such damage if the one pulling the thing was standing here...´´
``That's the neat thing, it wouldn't...´´
For something like that to happen it would mean that logic was the first one to be thrown out of the window..or they had strength equivalent to hers. Still, that would be a rather inefficient way to do so..
..
..
Yeah, wrong thing to focus on.
``Yes, that is precisely right..´´
``But..?´´
``The marks remain.., the friction and the impact on the frames speak about a motion force far higher than a human could hope to do…, wearing the tubes down though not breaking them. They must have used a poly system to manage it..´´
To add weight to his words he rose one of his hands, a small, dusty like white powder now staining his fingertips.
With a wave of her free hand she brushed to the side her golden locks, the air ever intending to cover her face with such sunlight made mantle.
``It was, probably done two days ago, too little time for it to...fade away like any other scratch done after weeks or years. And without the need to use their own strength for the task, then the chances of getting caught in the process are greatly reduced...´´
Kudo looked at her, stroking his chin... a grin slowly morphing around his lips.
``So you agree that they used that as their tool of transportation..?´´
There was no need for him to explain what he meant.., the two of them were already aware what the other had entailed with their words. The elevator was the key to explain why monsoon had been killed.
It was not that impressive of a conclusion, especially how hard it was to forget that the elevator was just across the door leading to the domicile…, speaking of which, it seemed that it was a straight line from here in the balcony, just….in the very spot Kudo was standing.
Once was luck..
Twice? Coincidence…
Trice was just bloody criminal..
She pulled the cigarette from her lips, her eyes glaring at its almost consumed form, the flames dangling and dancing playfully in the depths of her ice cold eyes. She then dropped it down onto the floor and crushed under her boot.
``You know you should not contaminate the scene, right?´´
``Cry me a river...´´
She mumbled between a half smirk and a scowl, pulling another cigarette from the box, shaking the thing for just a moment to know how many remained before tossing the thing into one of her pockets.
Old greasy silver doors, long and empty corridors…, identical rooms and the victim of it all nothing but a broken doll, pulled up through invisible threads….like a puppets which strings called home.
What a nice repertoire...
It also opened the door to the fact to where he had been killed. A quick whisper here to Red and she was sure that with his blue capped goons they would find it in no time in the lower floors. More probable than not those that were just below this one..
``Why don't you find out..?.´´
``What? Not up for the challenge..?´´
``I know worms like you like to crawl in tight spaces, it would surely be a walk in the park for you...´´
``How nice of you...´´
``Yeah, adored me..´´
``I will pass..´´
``Your loss…´´
``Somehow, I have the feeling that it wont lose much sleep because of it..´´
She chuckled to herself, her grin nothing more than an animalistic poorly reflection of the true thing as she slowly started to walk away from him and the balcony. As entertaining as this may have been, she would rather spend her time somewhere else..
However, something else happened.
``One last thing..´´
``...´´
``The lower floors are under remodeling.., and the only ones making use of them are the construction workers. The rest are being used to distribute the tools and things for their work..´´
``Who told you that?´´
``I heard some of the police men officer-San brought with him say something of the sort..´´
``I see, but when we made use of one to get here it seemed that there was no problem...´´
``Well, that was because we caught the only one working here so far for the renters...´´
``I did not see such thing...or the workers´´
``They were having a... tea break?´´
``Are you saying, implying, commenting even….that our block boys are British..?´´
``…´´
``I wonder if they have biscuits...´´
``Is that really what you should focus on...?´´
``Some of us have priorities, boy..´´