Chapter 9: Shedding Some Light

[Author's Note: First off, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy upcoming New Year! Second, I thought that I'd begin this chapter with a scene I decided to add on at the last minute to add more depth to the previous chapter's dinner scene. I realized that maybe not enough happened during that scene, and it was somewhat underwhelming compared to what I had originally thought up in my head.]

Hazuki Residence
Later That Evening
6:45 PM

His dinner with Cathy Wilkens and John Kondo was patently not as enlightening as Ryo Hazuki had originally thought that it would be. Additionally, he felt conflicted between his understanding that they weren't legally nor ethically allowed to discuss the various details of their art theft investigation, which he so thoroughly believed was somehow connected to Lan Di and the thugs who murdered his father.

It also dawned on Ryo that his frequently bullheaded disposition wasn't exactly helpful, either, so he took it upon himself to reapproach Cathy and Kondo as they were getting ready to say goodbye for the evening.

"Cathy-san," he said to Cathy before giving her a polite bow and turning to repeat the traditionally courteous gesture to Kondo, "Kondo-san. I'd like to apologize for being rude during our meal tonight. I have a lot of respect for the job that the two of you do, and it was very out of line for me to try and coax details out of you like that."

Kondo paused in putting his shoes back on in the Hazuki foyer to put an auspicious hand on the young man's shoulder. "Like Cathy said during dinner," he began, "We both completely sympathize with what you're going through as far as your grief and determination are concerned. We're more than happy to include you in our investigation as much as we're able to, but you must let us do our jobs."

"He's right, Ryo" Cathy bluntly added, "The only way that we're going to capably link those antique thefts to the people responsible for your father's murder is if you try your best not to interfere too much."

Kondo nodded agreeably, as did Ryo. "I understand," Ryo said, "Thank you both for being so honest with me."

"You're welcome," Kondo replied, "Please tell Ine-san thank you from both of us."

"I will," Ryo said, "Thank you both again."

Ajiichi Chinese Restaurant
Dobuita
6:58 PM

A little later that evening, young deliveryman Guang Ji Wang exited the Ajiichi Chinese Restaurant in Dobuita and placed some food boxes on the back of his bicycle to make his last food delivery for the night.

Guang Ji Wang, known by "Wang" to the locals he served, was a 19-year-old Chinese man who stood at 5'6, had short dark hair, and wore black rimmed glasses. He was dressed in a long white restaurant coat with white pants and black shoes.

Wang was just about to straddle his bicycle when the streetlights came on and illuminated that particular section of the street. When something happened to catch his peripheral vision, Wang looked over to find a young white brunette American woman lying beside the curb just a few feet away.

"Oh no!" Wang exclaimed in his heavily accented English as he hurried away from his bicycle and over to the evidently injured woman. "Miss!" he continued, "Miss! Are you alright?"

"H... Help me!" the woman groaned through pain. It was Allison Bennett, still dressed in the same black wool sweater, dirty blue jeans, and brown loafers as she had been since first being abducted off the street weeks before.

Wang reluctantly left the young woman for a moment to run back inside the restaurant and call for help.

Dobuita General Hospital
8:10 PM

Having gotten the call about Allison being discovered alive, Cathy Wilkens and John Kondo immediately proceeded to Dobuita General Hospital. They entered the Emergency Ward and met up with the nighttime attending physician, Dr. Ichiro Yamura. Dr. Yamura was a short dark-haired Japanese man in his late 40's who was clad in a white lab coat with a blue button-down shirt underneath, beige slacks, and black sneakers.

"Dr. Yamura?" Kondo inquired, at which point he was met with an affirmative nod. "I'm Special Agent John Kondo with the United States Naval Security and Investigative Command," he continued as he showed him his credentials, "This is Petty Officer Cathy Wilkens with the U.S. Navy. We were told by the Regional Police that you have a Miss Allison Bennett here."

"Yes, we do" Dr. Yamura replied, "But before I tell you anything, I have to ask, what is the American Navy's interest?"

"Miss Bennett is a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy, Doctor" Cathy began explaining, "We believe that her disappearance from about two weeks ago is connected to another crime we're investigating."

"How was she found?" Kondo inquired.

"The delivery boy from the Ajiichi Chinese Restaurant found her outside just after the streetlights came on," Dr. Yamura said, "She has some strange burns on the back of her neck, and she appears to be somewhat dehydrated. Otherwise, she has no other physical injuries from what my staff and I could tell."

"When you say she has burns," Cathy said, "What type of burns are they, if you had to guess?"

"They're basically a pair of small circular burns on the rear left side of her neck," Dr. Yamura explained, "Considering that they're still fairly reddish in color, I can say with certainty that they were inflicted very, very recently."

Kondo nodded. "So, the attack came from Allison's left side," he said as he began contemplating a hypothetical scenario in his head, "And if the burns are circular and two at a time, my thinking is that she was incapacitated by a stun gun."

Dr. Yamura nodded as well in response. "I've never actually seen stun gun burns on someone before," he candidly replied, "But that makes sense."

"This is all very interesting, gentlemen" Cathy interjected in a voracious tone, "But I think the most important question right now is, is she able to talk?"

"Unfortunately," Dr. Yamura said, "Not right now. The responding ambulance crew had to give Allison a sedative to calm her down. We were told she was very agitated on the scene and in the ambulance on the way here. She'll be out for at least the next two hours or so."

The two partners mutually sighed upon hearing that. "That sets us back a little," Kondo replied, "But if she was that agitated, it's probably better that they administered that sedative so she wouldn't hurt them or herself."

"Exactly," Dr. Yamura added, "Thank you for understanding. Is there anything else we can do to help you?"

Cathy thought for a minute before replying. "The clothes she was wearing when she was found," she said, "Is there a chance you still have them?"

Dr. Yamura nodded. "The nurses put any of our patients' clothes and personal effects into a bag for safe keeping," he explained, "I'll go check and see if it's still beside her bed."

Cathy nodded in retort before turning her gaze to her partner. "I'll go get the clothes," she said, "then I'll turn them over to Detective Inspector Murakawa so they can be sent to the forensic lab"

"Sounds like a good idea," Kondo replied, "I called Lydia Bennett as soon as we got the call about Allison being found. She should be here any minute."

Lydia Bennett did indeed show up at the hospital 10 minutes later. Allison, meanwhile, had been moved into an upstairs patient room to be observed for what remained of the night. As she exited her sister's room intending to get something to drink, she was startled to see John Kondo standing nearby.

"Dear Lord!" Lydia exclaimed, "You scared the crap out of me!"

Kondo put his hands up. "Sorry about that," he said with considerable regret in his voice, "I just thought that I'd stick around and see how your sister's doing."

Lydia shrugged. "She's doing good considering what she's been through over the past two weeks," she replied, "That sedative that they gave her wore off a little while ago. I tried not to press her about what happened because I figured that you and your partner would want to ask those kinds of questions."

Kondo nodded. "Did she tell you any details, though?" he inquired.

"All she said was that the guy she was around the most was very tall," Lydia explained, "She apparently didn't get his name but said that he had black hair that was tied in a ponytail and that he had a very deep voice."

"Okay," Kondo replied, "That's helpful. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Lydia said before extending her hand out the NSIC agent, "Thank you so much for finding my sister, Agent Kondo."

Kondo gave the relieved woman a handshake in return. "I'm glad she's back and relatively okay," he replied, "But I don't think Petty Officer Wilkens, or I should take the credit for finding Allison. Who you really want to thank is a young gentleman named Wang. He's the delivery man for the Ajiichi Chinese Restaurant, and he's the one who actually found her."

Lydia gave a nervous chuckle and smiled. "Oh," she said, "I see. I'll stop in there tomorrow evening and be sure to give him a hug."

Kondo nodded. "I'm sure he'd appreciate that," he said before clearing his throat. "Listen," he continued, "It's getting late, so I'm going to take off for now. Could you let your sister know that Cathy and I will be back in the morning to formally get her statement?"

"She just fell asleep a few minutes ago," Lydia said, "But yes, I'll be sure to tell her. Thank you again."

"Goodnight," Kondo replied.

The two of them went off in separate directions as Lydia went toward the hospital cafeteria and Kondo left out the rear exit of the building.