"The lead didn't pan out. Bitch has an alibi."
Sesshoumaru pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is it reliable?"
Kagura crossed her arms. "This isn't my first time interrogating a suspect. I've got my informant checking it out as we speak. I'm thinking it's bogus, but we'll see."
Nodding, Sesshoumaru leaned over their desk of evidence. Typically, detectives were only assigned one case at a time, but youkai were capable of shouldering a more significant load, so while they were dealing with the burglaries around Kagome's apartment, they were also investigating a violent domestic abuse case.
The chief had tried to give them something less extreme, but they'd both latched onto the case, wanting to bring justice to the young man currently in a coma from a supposed fall down the stairs.
Kagura had been close to strangling the wife with her own entrails when she'd gone off on how clumsy he was, claiming all the previous bruises and hospital visits were from the same thing. The only thing that had held her back, besides Sesshoumaru's claws in her arm, was the gapped-tooth little girl currently being detained by social services.
No bruises had appeared on her yet, but neither was willing to take the chance. Luckily, none of the viper's silky words of reassurance had worked on the social worker—or the assistant district attorney.
Sango Muhai was a force to be reckoned with, using her training as a profiler to cut through as much bureaucracy as she could. Sesshoumaru had been wary, not because of her gender, but because he'd seen his fair share of female offenders.
They were few and far between, but the ones he'd come across were vicious and hellbent on not getting caught, especially when hiding in plain sight. Everything they'd seen about the husband pointed toward a loving and devoted father who always left work on time so he could pick his daughter up from daycare.
The mother, on the other hand, was knee-deep in gambling debt and showed no sign of stopping—or showing remorse for her actions. Muhai had done her own digging after they'd gotten ahold of the medical records and discovered over a dozen visits to seven different hospitals in the last year, not the least bit fooled by the wife's version of events. It hadn't taken her long to find the initial divorce proceedings, the paperwork filed in a place where the wife wasn't likely to find it.
It was enough to put the child into protective custody. Now all Sesshoumaru and Kagura had to do was connect the dots, and the bitch would get what was coming to her.
Tucking his tie into his shirt pocket, Sesshoumaru reviewed the chain of events again. They'd missed something—a hole in the woman's story somewhere that tied her to the assault or the person who'd done it.
"Even if we can't nail her tonight, we'll have more to go on tomorrow when my informant checks in, so you're off the hook," Kagura said, rearranging a few photos.
"There is no point in leaving early," he began, ensuring the witness statements stayed with the correct photographs.
"There is when your girlfriend is waiting for you," she replied. "And when you blew her off last time."
"I did not blow her off. She understood I was needed here—"
Kagura only smirked. "But she is your girlfriend."
Sesshoumaru pursed his lips. They hadn't spoken of labels, though he knew neither of them were looking anywhere except each other, but he hadn't wanted to push his luck—especially after feeling they'd made a breakthrough during her recent stay.
Feelings aside, Kagome was still wary of admitting just how much she wanted him. Her actions spoke louder than words, and given how she'd clung to him the morning after, he was inclined to assume he was more than just a casual fling.
Which was fortunate because the amount of time he spent thinking about her was anything but casual.
Kagura tapped his hand, chucking as he realized he'd knocked some evidence onto the floor and disrupted their timeline. "Told you so," she said smugly. "And before you start arguing, just remember I know where she works and am not above going over there and telling her just how distracted you are."
He scowled but busied himself with righting the mussed desk, meticulously returning everything to where it belonged. "I am fully capable of focusing on my work. This case is important."
"I'm not saying it isn't. And knowing you, you'll be thinking about it until we nail the bitch, but Kagome deserves to be thought about too." She tapped him on the arm with the side of her fist. "Especially when you're together." His deepening frown was only met with another knowing smile. "I hope you don't use that look on her. You'll probably scare her off!"
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. "She does not grate on my nerves like you do and has not warranted such a look."
"Which is why you like her so much."
She was needling him on purpose, as was her favourite pastime, but Sesshoumaru had no ground to argue with. He did like her, more than he thought possible in such a short amount of time, but in a world full of deceit, her expressive face was a breath of fresh air.
They'd barely interacted in the few times they'd crossed paths, both attempting to keep it 'business as usual', as they'd had no reason to view each other as anything else, but the open delight radiating off her when she'd caught him outside of the grocery store had surprised him.
And then she'd tried to keep herself from feeling anything, especially while propositioning him, but after poking the slightest hole in her logic, her embarrassment had turned her into a completely different person.
Sesshoumaru dragged a hand down his face to keep his partner from seeing any emotions cross his face, knowing he'd never hear the end of it if she did. Not that there was ever any end to her pestering already. He prided himself on maintaining the strict persona of an officer—there was no room for emotions when he was working.
Those he would save for Kagome.
"You're not fooling anyone," Kagura said, elbowing him in the ribs. "Well, maybe everyone else, but not me." The buzzing of her phone cut off his retort, and she turned away to answer it, leaving Sesshoumaru to wonder if he was losing his touch—or his mind.
"We're in luck!" She parted two cue cards in their timeline. "The receipt she gave us for the casino wasn't the only one for that day. There's another one of her clocking in after the 911 call. Casino came through with the video footage, too."
Sesshoumaru's eyes took on a feral gleam. That left over an hour unaccounted for—more than enough time for her to get to her husband's office and lure him into the stairwell. A few witnesses thought they overheard him talking to his wife moments before he left his desk, but the accounts weren't reliable and would never hold up in court.
The wife had claimed she'd called him from the casino, never leaving her table other than to refill her drink or go to the bathroom. The husband's firsthand account would be the nail in the coffin, but with the head wound he'd sustained, the doctor wasn't inclined to wake him up until the swelling had gone down.
"The casino is expecting us," Kagura said, shrugging on her coat. "If we get there now, there won't be anything stopping you from making your date tonight." She snickered as she adjusted the piece on her waist, but he was already out the door and headed to the car, the anticipation of presenting their case to the wife only second to that of seeing Kagome when it was finished.