Chapter 4 Entropy
Captain Hugh McPherson had the harsh countenance of a man who's walked through hell and refused to deign any excuse the devil had to offer. Standing at a daunting 6 ft 2, the veteran homicide detective made for an imposing figure with keen eyes, broad shoulders and a crisp white goatee which framed the perpetual scowl that was his face. He ducked under the yellow police tape with a cup of starbucks in hand, annoyed with everything. "Grierson, you got here fast. I thought you were off tonight." He growled.
The officer who Kudo helped break down the door, reached out to shake the offered hand. "I am sir. I was pulling security for the event as a side job when I heard the shot."
"That would explain why you're dressed like that. Alright then. Let's hear it."
Lt Grant Grierson took out a notebook and flipped it open. "Deceased name is Michelle Wei, age 52. She's a curator at the museum here. At 9:37pm a gunshot was reported. No sign of rigor mortise and the blood hasn't coagulated yet so it's a fair guess that's the time of death. I arrived on scene within 2 minutes. The door was locked and I got forensics looking for prints as we speak. Victim suffered a single 9mm shot to the right side temple at close range, judging by the burn marks. A Smith and Wesson revolver of the same caliber was found in the deceased hand, one empty shell in the chamber with preliminary GSR tests indicating she recently shot it."
"Who's the gun registered to?"
"Serial number was taken off with acid. But her prints are the only ones on it."
The captain ran his fingers along his chin and shrugged. "Must have some skeletons in the closet."
"That's not all. We found what appears to be a suicide note on the victims computer."
"Well that settles matters. Coroner should be up in a few minutes. Think you can handle the paperwork by yourself?"
Kudo, who had been preoccupied with the bookcase behind the desk, returned an ornate bible to its home on the shelf. "You should run a ballistics test on that pistol."
"Excuse me?" McPherson returned icily.
"There are two distinct blood spatter patterns. One perpendicular, one near horizontal. There may have been two shots." Kudo traced a circle from floor to ceiling with his finger, outlining the evidence.
"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"Kudo Shinichi, detective."
Greirson's jaw dropped. "Hey, I know you! This is the guy who made the cover of Modern Forensics last July. Remember captain? They featured him in an article about inductive reasoning in the 21st century. This guy's famous over in Japan!"
"Mr. July, huh?" The old inspector sneered. "You're a long way from home. Mind explaining what it is you're doing in my crime scene?"
Grierson stepped in, saving Kudo from an awkward situation. "That would be me, sir. He helped me gain entry. I asked him to stick around as a potential witness."
"A witness you say?" McPherson said in mock surprise. "Well, well, well. Being so close to the scene, did you hear a second shot?"
"No."
"As I suspected. I'm not sure how they do things in japan, but around here, suicides typically only have one chance to go about their business. Best leave things to the professionals, hotshot."
Kudo grinned at him devilishly. "You presume it's a suicide. A normal 9mm round at point blank range would have gone clean through her head and lodged in the wall. No sign that the projectile traveled through another median suggests either the range is greater than expected or this is not a normal 9mm round. A subsonic bullet is more likely, with a reduced gunpowder charge. That combined with a suppressor would have easily masked the killing blow and been all but inaudible to anyone outside this room. I believe the killer first fired at distance with such a weapon resulting in the vertical blood spray pattern. Then they wrote the note at their leisure before taking the revolver, placing it in the dead woman's hand and firing a blank. That would explain the gunshot residue, the burn marks, lack of an exit wound, and the second, horizontal blood spatter ring. You can even see a gap in the splatter where they stood."
Grierson clapped his hands in genuine amazement, earning him an angry glare from his boss. "Window was unlocked, Captain."
"And we're on the second story, lieutenant. Twenty five feet above the pavement."
Kudo stuck his head outside. "There's a ledge running along the length of the building wide enough for a man to walk while the banners would provide some concealment. Given this level of premeditation, your culprit likely wore light colored clothes to blend in with the exterior then changed to hide the blood spatter. There's a camera on the southwest staircase and almost
certainly one on the northeast as well. Elevators too. It should be a simple matter in determining who was up here."
Imperceptible trails of steam emanated from the ears of Hugh McPherson as he fummed at the insolence. He marched up to the young upstart to within a few inches as to draw upon his full height. "Kermin!" He snapped without breaking eye contact.
One of the camera laden forensic techs jumped to attention.
"Make sure we do a full striation test on that bullet. Have it compared to the weapon and run both through NIBIN."
"Yes, sir!"
McPherson glared coldly at a defiant Kudo. "Congratulations hotshot. You convinced me. Better pray you're wrong though. Otherwise you get promoted from witness to suspect." And with that, he stormed off towards the exit, ordering Grierson to take his statement.
The Lieutenant waited a moment for the footfalls of his boss to fade before turning to the detective. "Don't pay attention to that old windbag. He's always onery."
"No, he's right. I was found in close proximity to the scene. That makes me a person of interest."
"Speaking of which, what are you doing here?"
Kudo scratched the side of his cheek in a well practiced, if not entirely convincing gesture of innocence. "My parents have a place down in LA and I always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge so I took this opportunity to take in the sights."
Grierson had enough experience to know when he was being fed a lie. "You're working a case, aren't you?" He said flatly. "Can you at least clue me in to whether it's related to this?"
"I'm sure you understand that I must respect the confidentiality of all my clients."
The Lieutenant sighed. "Well I guess the Los Angeles excuse will have to be good enough for now. Just promise to keep me in the loop if things start to bleed over, err… so to speak. I still got a job to do."
"Of course, and I'm happy to lend any help that I can."
"I'd welcome the input. Hold up a sec." He snapped at a uniform "Hey, Sarge! Let's see if these old cameras still work. Pull the last 4 hours. First thing I want to know is who was up here at 9:30. Coordinate with Sgt. Wilder to bring them up here. And have someone check the roof while you're at it."
"Good thinking, lieutenant." Kudo beamed approvingly. The roof was accessible from the ledge. A spry assailant could easily pull themselves up before making use of the maintenance doors.
The Sergeant nodded amicably. "Right on it, Cowboy."
"Cowboy?" Echoed Kudo.
Grierson adopted a cocky demeanor, pointing a thumb to his chest proudly. "Fastest shot in the west. Western precinct in any event. Man the guys are never gonna believe this. Rumor around here is that you died. So where should we start?"
Commotion erupted behind them as a hired security guard prevented Ran from entering. Someone must have heard them pounding on the bathroom door and let them out, Kudo thought. Maybe it would have been better to try to get them out rather than hunker down.
"Friend of yours?" Asked Grierson.
Kudo was already rushing over. He took Ran by the arms. "I'll explain everything later but right now you need to go back to your hotel. It's not safe here."
Ran shook her head desperately. "Your client. She just took off in a panic!"
His eyes went supernova "What?!"
Ran explained that after being freed, they had followed the police to the crime scene. Looking inside, Shiho had been overcome and nearly collapsed. Before Ran had a chance to ask if she was alright, the woman bolted towards the exit.
"Damn it all!" Kudo cursed. How could someone so smart act so foolishly?! Trying to lure the danger away by herself? What was she thinking?!
He took to his heels and raced down the hall, followed immediately by Ran and a bewildered Lt. Grierson.
The three flew downstairs and out of the building as Kudo chased a closing fire exit.
The pursuit stopped abruptly as they found themselves at a four way intersection in the botanical gardens which ringed the museum.
"Whu- what was that all about?!" Grierson panted.
Ran tried to explain as Kudo looked for any hint of direction. The place was a veritable forest. Three cobbled paths veered off beyond sight of one another, separated by thick rows of exotic flora and fauna arranged in a maze-like pattern. And all of them had signs of recent use.
Grierson keyed up the mic on his radio. "Give me her name and a description. I can cordon off a perimeter and bring her in."
Ran didn't have a name. She looked to Shinichi.
There wasn't a good answer but he couldn't risk having the name Miyano Shiho transmitted over an open broadcast with the black organization possibly lurking around. He pointed to the far side of the fountain. "You two head down those paths, I'll take this one. And be careful. There's still a murderer on the loose."
He said it with all the conviction he could muster, afraid Grierson would press the issue. But instead the cop nodded solemnly, taking out a flashlight from his hip.
They each vanished into their assigned sector.
Kudo slowed his pace to a crawl as he became lost in the hedgerows. He didn't like the situation one bit. Something was off. He could feel it in his gut. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end in anticipation of an attack, but only silence and suspense hid around each corner.
The pavestones underfoot soon yielded to a Gothic style greenhouse. Heavy iron braces arched upwards to crescendo in a sign embossed with a gilded skull, ringed by a boutique of roses. Peering in the low, fog drenched light, he translated the words in his head: Toxic Garden. Do not touch. A whole section dedicated to the most deadly and venomous plants evolution had ever produced.
Lovely.
Instinctively he tiptoed his way through, keeping his eyes alert for any sign of life. Somehow it was even darker inside the greenhouse. One wrong step off the path and he could wind up walking face first into any one of the poisons he had come to know so well. Hemlock, nightshade, wolfsbane, foxglove, ricin, they all were remarkably efficient chemicals and even in their natural state, could ruin a person's day real quick.
Discretion finally got the better of him. He took out his phone intending to use it as a torch.
Holding it in his hand, he realized the obvious and cursed his own stupidity. He had Shiho's phone dialed up with a few swipes of the finger. Within seconds it was ringing. Not just in the speaker, but externally, close by in the jungle. "Get your hands off my Kazuha!" Sounded out dimly, over and over again, deep in the mist. Inch by inch, he followed the eerie echo until he found its source.
In a small alcove, bathed in the pale red glow of an emergency exit lamp, he saw Miyano Shiho in a disorganized heap upon the ground.
A primal instinct, filled with dread and fueled by anger overcame him. Seeing his partner, his friend like that, it was too much. Throwing all caution to the wind, he dashed forward to check on her.
The graceful lines of her back rose and fell weakly with each breath but she refused to respond as he called out in a roar of a whisper to wake up.
He picked her limp torso off the floor, letting her head fall into the crook of his arm. As he tried bouncing life back into the body, her hair brushed to one side revealing two small burn marks in the nape of her neck.
Kudo recognized what it was a half second before experiencing the pain himself.
50,000 volts rocketed down his spine as the assassin squeezed the trigger of his taser. The hammer blow cooked his flesh and caused his muscles to lock. He tried to scream but could only feel hot blood escaping his mouth as his teeth crashed together. The whole of his frame was plucked into an unnatural arch before gravity claimed what was left.
The last thing Kudo's overloaded nervous system could register before sinking into the unconsciousness was the impression of a figure looming over him. Then, there was nothing. He was surrounded by obscurity and smoke.