Chapter 6 Deception
Mouri Ran sat by herself on the park bench admiring the ironies that defined her life. Much of that life had come with an implacable faith in such a thing as destiny. Call it providence or fate or the divine will of heaven, it was, if nothing else, a romantic notion which gave much comfort in the lowliest parts of life. And she was well accustomed to those lowliest parts.
It had been a very long and very difficult year since the man she loved evaporated into thin air. But with so many people reliant on her, there was little point in admitting it. That would only spread her sorrows onto friends and family. Besides, they wouldn't understand. She could barely understand.
Yet as hard as she tried to repress it, as earnestly as she needed to hide the forlorn pain, the truth was, she often felt empty. Times like these, where she had too much time to think and no one to impress were the worst.
Depression could creep in the quiet. It stole her sleep in the night and during the day, the world itself seemed to be composed of depressing, monochromatic grays.
Now despite all the turmoil and exhaustion, it was turning out to be a beautiful morning. Golden sunlight crested over the mountains, reflecting magnificent hues onto the white fluffy clouds that dotted the sky and sparked across placid waters. Birds sang and a warm breeze carried along the fragrance of wildflowers across the bay.
Fate was not without a sense of irony, it would seem, and it all felt so wildly inappropriate.
After Shinichi failed to emerge from the garden, Lt. Grierson had promised to keep up the search. Getting her contact information, he told her to go back to her hotel to rest. Instead she had spent the whole night anxiously calling a dead phone and wandering the grounds aimlessly. Something had gone wrong. She wasn't sure exactly what, but one thing was certain. For a second time she hadn't been there when he needed it.
Thankfully the phone call from Lt Greirson came in while she had some battery left.
"Good morning Miss Mouri. I know you were concerned about your friend last night. We just got a report of a person matching his description. Don't have a lot in the way of details yet but I'm heading over now to check it out. I can pick you up on the way if you want."
Ran hastily accepted the offer. He gave her the address of a park near Fort Mason and that's where she nervously waited until a sleek BMW rolled to a stop just before seven. She got in and together they drove west along Marina Blvd.
Turning down the volume on the radio, the officer noticed her furtive movement out of the corner of his eye. The fidgeting tremor of idle legs wishing to be elsewhere. He tried to calm her down with some small talk as Marina turned into Battery Bluff. "You look tired. You get any sleep, miss?"
"Huh? Oh, no, not really."
"I figured as much. Me neither, if I'm going to be honest. Long night."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you alright?"
Grierson nodded wryly. "I'm fine. It was paperwork mostly but I'm used to it. Before I worked homicide, I used to be a bomb tech. We used to train with sleep deprivation."
Ran agreed politely, not knowing what to say. After a shared moment of silence, she blurted out what was really on her mind. "Is Shinichi okay?"
Grierson cocked an eyebrow. He knew enough about Japanese culture to understand the familiarity of using one's first name without the typical honorific. "Worried, eh? You two close?"
"Close?"
He realized the term might not translate well. "Yeah, I mean are you two related or friends? Have you known each other for a long time is what I'm asking."
"Oh. We're, uh… friends. We grew up together." She admitted.
"I see." Grierson shrugged nonchalantly. "Report was of a person struggling in the water down by the Presidio. A fisherman pulled him out so, assuming it's him, he ought to be alright. A bit cold probably but that's a good thing. Sharks don't like the cold water any more than we do."
True enough, a mile down the road Kudo Shinichi did not have to contend with any sharks. He had to swim with things far more dangerous.
After his interrogation and subsequent hiring by the black organization, a bag had been thrown over his head and he was led onto a waiting speed boat.
On land at least he could have some sort of direction and distance to work with. But over water, there was no way to dead reckon his way back from whence he came. Clever bastard.
Once underway, Moonshine had slipped a burner phone into a waterproof bag and placed it into his vest pocket. Then he gave Kudo a knife, situating the blade between his wrists and the zip tie that bound them. With a cheerful "hold on tight", Moonshine then pitched the detective overboard to fend for himself.
Getting free of the cuffs and hood while roiled in the surf had been a nightmare. His dinner suit made for poor swimwear in the icy waters. Somehow though, he had managed to turn the drowning into a near drowning and dragged himself onto a rock strewn shore by the golden gate Bridge. He looked around dazedly before falling onto his back exhausted. "What a miserable day."
All he wanted was a moment of peace to collect himself and get his pulse back to a safe level. With all the chemicals in his system there was no way to know what a safe level was anymore. More importantly, he needed to get his head together to save Shiho.
Driving along a road perched on a bluff overlooking the beach, Ran saw him. Before Grierson had fully brought his squad car to a stop, she was already out the door, flying down the cliffs. She tackled the wayward Kudo with force enough to break ribs.
After so long, after all the turmoil of the interminable night, he was there. A real, solid body she could feel and hold. Momentum carried the two spinning head over heels in the sand. She wanted to cry and scream and sing as a thousand indescribable emotions vied for control but nothing came. She ended up only trembling as she held firm with all she had, fearing he would turn to smoke and drift away if she didn't.
It took Kudo a moment before surprise gave way to relief. He no longer cared about the pounding in his chest. He returned the warm embrace in the morning dawn the way he had only been able to dream of doing. With his own hands and his own heart given and shared so freely with the woman he loved. She wasn't merely a sight for sore eyes but bliss to all his weary senses and for a split second, the fact that he was slowly losing his sanity didn't seem to matter. Perhaps it wasn't such a miserable day after all.
From high above, Grierson put his cruiser into park and gazed down at the two with a sly grin. "Friends, huh?"
Ran buried her face in his chest. "I was so worried about you!"
"It's alright. Everything is okay. I'm here." He reassured, stroking her hair.
The Lieutenant let them finish their tearful reunion before waltzing down to join. "Where on earth have you been, Kudo?"
"Good morning, Cowboy. I just went for a swim… evidently."
"Very funny." The officer slid down the final embankment, close enough to get a good look at him. "Christ above! What happened to your neck!?"
Ran pulled away in abject terror to inspect the injury. She grabbed his jawline and twisted it sharply. "Are you okay?! We should get you to a hospital!"
"No! No. I'm fine." He soothed. "Jellyfish or some seaweed got around me. Nothing to worry about."
Grierson crossed his arms. "Don't give me that. I know what strangulation marks look like. You disappear from a crime scene, end up with a noose around your neck and doing the polar bear plunge? Captain McPherson wants me to detain you, y'know. You're going to have to do better than that. I need some answers. Give me something to work with, here."
With some help from Ran, he painfully pulled himself up to his feet. "I'm afraid I don't have many answers to give. I honestly don't know where I was or how I got there. Last thing I remember is walking in the gardens, then I woke up in the bay."
"What about your client?" Ran asked.
"I don't know where she is either. Stands to reason though our culprit is involved."
"You have no idea where you were taken, who it was, or why they let you go? That's a very strange sequence of events to explain." Grierson said.
"I'm sure everything will become clear once we solve the mystery at hand."
Grierson eyed the young detective up and down skeptically as he tried to judge what to do next. Finally he let out a long sigh. "To hell with it. I'm putting a lot of faith into you, kid. Don't make me regret it. Alright, let's at least get you into some dry clothes. If anyone asks, you're under arrest. I'll fill you in on what's new along the way."
It turned out that Kudo Shinichi had been right on all counts with his deductions of the previous night. Ballistic report proved that the revolver and projectile were not a match. Two distinct blood patterns were confirmed on the wall while mud on the ledge indicated that someone had recently stood there. No further evidence was found in the building, however a review of security cameras found three people unaccounted for upstairs at the time of the murder. Kudo watched the footage on Grierson's phone as he explained that the identities of the suspects had been determined during initial interviews. This was as good a place to start as any, after one slight detour.
With his luggage on the far side of the city and room key presumably washed out to sea, Grierson drove them first to a small souvenir outlet where Kudo could find a dry outfit. He lent him seventy bucks, claiming it was for the sake of his leather upholstery. Kudo accepted only on the condition he would pay him back with interest.
He grabbed a few things off the rack and went into a changing room, leaving Grierson and Ran to wait in line at a coffee shop next door for some liquid breakfast. Once their order had been put in, Grierson leaned over to the girl with an air of conspiracy. "Your friend likes to keep his cards close to the chest."
She gave him a quizzical look.
"Oh sorry. Damned idioms. I mean he likes to keep his secrets."
She frowned with annoyance. "You have no idea."
"Look, I know this is a little awkward but I got a favor to ask you. I'm bending a lot of rules bringing you along like this. Things could get dicey, er… dangerous. I want you to keep an eye on him. Stay close. If he knows something, I need to know too. I don't want anybody to get hurt or in trouble over a misunderstanding. Can you do that for me?"
Ran tossed the idea around in her head, unsure as to how to feel about it. "Alright." She finally said.
"Great. And don't tell him about it. If he finds that I asked you to do this, he might get quiet which will slow us down. We all want to find this mystery woman as soon as possible."
Kudo returned shortly thereafter dressed for all intents and purposes like Magnum PI for which he was ruthlessly teased by both of his compatriots. Failing to convince him the fashion faux pas wasn't worth the discount, the three got back into the car and set off towards their first suspect, Mr. Wei.
They soon passed under an ornate red arch and entered the fabled streets of Chinatown. It was a neighborhood that could have passed for Hong Kong if one were to cock their head and squint. Neon signs of hanzi and pinyin seemed suspended among the furball of densely wrapped wires strung from house to house, while paper lanterns accompanied the more traditional Christmas decor of snowflakes and santas that swayed gently in the wind. It was a strange and rather jarring dichotomy for Shinichi and Ran, who had only seen this place in the movies.
1315 Clay street in particular stood as a contradiction among the bustling chaos. Far from the parody of classical Han architecture like so many others, the mixed used brownstone was typical of many American cities, with a convenience store on ground level with a side stairwell leading up to domestic apartments above.
They parked across the street and proceeded upstairs, knocking on a door labeled 2B.
A slight woman wearing a fashionable if not somewhat disheveled robin-egg blue suit with matching high heels answered the door. The cute, unassuming features of her face spun up from half asleep to alarm in an instant when she saw the badge Grierson held.
The Lieutenant shared her surprise. "You're not Benjamin Wei." He said with raised eyebrows.
She was in fact Abigail Park, age 29, formally the personal secretary of the deceased and one of the three suspects identified from surveillance footage.
A husky voice called from the next room, asking who was there at this hour. He quickly made his way over when told it was the police.
Mr. Wei was a 57 year old financier, of square proportions and somewhat stocky appearance. "Officer? I-I wasn't expecting you." He hastily stammered.
The Lieutenant gave a disarming smile. "I was in the area. Just a few follow up questions. Shouldn't take long."
"Um, now's not actually a great time."
"Nonsense. Only take a minute. C'mon let us in. It's freezing out here." Grierson pushed himself past, ignoring feeble mutterings of consternation. Shinichi and Ran followed him in with looks of sympathetic apology.
The living room was modest but comfortable in its furnishings. Kudo was somewhat interested to find a small buddha alter where he expected a Christmas tree to be. He thought back to the crime scene and remembered the victim also had a string of Mala prayer beads on her wrist.
Grierson plopped down on the couch. "Glad to see you here too, Ms Park. Saves me a trip. Though I thought you said you lived in Alameda?"
"I do. After last night though, I…uh" She trailed off, leaving Mr Wei to finish for her. "We were both shaken by the whole ordeal as you can imagine. I offered her the use of my guest room for the night. Abigail lives alone in a rough part of town, you see."
Ran leaned over and whispered to Shinichi, "He's wearing the same perfume as she is."
Instinctively, Kudo's attention zeroed in on the left hand of Mr Wei. There was no ring on his finger, just the hint of a tan line. "Did you and your wife enjoy a happy relationship?" He asked.
"Why yes, of course."
Grierson took notice too. "And what were you two doing upstairs at the time of the murder?"
"Murder!?" Ms Park exclaimed. "I thought it was a suicide?"
"Evidence has come to light suggesting foul play may be involved."
Had a lightning bolt torn through the room at that exact moment, Mr Wei and Ms Park could not have been more astonished. They exchanged weary glances at one another. "And you think we're involved?"
Grierson leaned back in a cliché move designed to set people at ease. "It's far too early in the process to form any conclusions. We're just establishing the facts is all. 9:39 cameras show you two running down the eastside staircase together."
"We'd just heard a gunshot. Of course we ran away." A hint of anger was starting to seep into the widower's voice.
"Most of the patrons were already gathered in the main lobby downstairs in anticipation of a speech Dr. Wei was supposed to give." Said Kudo. "Why were you upstairs?"
"Who are these kids!?" Benjamin demanded.
Grierson gave him a glance of steely confidence. "Don't you worry about them. Just answer the question."
Abigail looked nervous for a second then spoke up. "I was going through some files in my office for Dr. Wei."
"Can anybody corroborate that?"
"I can." Said Mr Wei. "I was helping her."
It wasn't overly convincing. Grierson yawned a skeptical "Riiiiiiiight."
Grierson and Kudo kept up the interrogation, working well off one another. Like a pair of Olympic class fencers, they parried and thrust inquiries, each time driving forward and gaining ground. One would sharpen an eye or offer an intrigued nod at a point of interest while the other picked up on the que and followed through from a different angle to keep their opponents off balance. Clearly Mr Wei and Ms Park had things to hide but against such a natural rapport among seasoned investigators, their defenses were crumbling fast.
Kudo felt a sharp twinge in his neck. Like a red hot knife had just pierced his skin. Was that poison working already?
Abruptly, he broke off the pursuit, asking instead if either owned a gun. Abigail admitted to having a 9mm Walther at home, however Mr Wei vehemently denied owning any kind of
weapon. "I don't believe in them and I wouldn't know how to use one even if I did. There's simply no need."
Out of the corner of his eye, Kudo noticed Ran was in another world.
Her attention was focused outside where a weasley looking man had been nervously pacing back and forth by the squad car. Between jittery puffs of his chain-smoked cigarettes, he kept turning his mustached face towards 1315, as if waiting for something.
She pointed him out to Grierson who recognized him as Robert Faulkner, deputy department head of anthropology at Berkeley and suspect number three on his list. "What the hell is he doing here?" He opened the window and shouted at Mr. Faulkner "Don't move!"
The weasley faced man practically leapt out of his shoes at the command. Realizing he'd been caught, he visibly teetered, ready to beat a hastily retreat.
Determined not to give him the chance, Kudo and Greirson immediately went for the door, yelling "stop him!".
Ran took the order to heart but wasted no time for such architectural formalities. She vaulted through the window, clearing the four meter drop to the pavement in a single, rolling bound. Her feet caught traction and she was on him.
Faulkner reeled in shock at the spectacle and darted down an alleyway, throwing any makeshift obstacle he could to obstruct his pursuers. In an impressive display of aerial acrobatics, Ran dodged the barriers by bouncing off the walls with no more trouble in her stride than a house cat faces whilst navigating a bookshelf. Expertly, she flew through, under and across the destructive wake. Swinging over a trash can with the help of a fire escape, Ran could see that Shinichi and the police officer were faltering behind. It was up to her to stop him. She doubled her speed.
Faulkner burst out of the far side of the ally and into a busy T intersection.
A SUV swerved out of his way, plowing into a parked Ford, giving him little room to maneuver. The only way out was over a retaining wall on the far side.
Sliding across the hood of the SUV, Ran realized that the distance was closing but not fast enough. A red trolley car was rapidly approaching just on the other side of the guard rail. A simple hop over the edge, a drop of less than two meters and he could easily make good his escape.
But instead, Faulkner froze. Staring over the precipice, he was suddenly paralyzed with fear. Knees shaking, he instead decided the better option was to fight his way out.
He was wrong.
Faulkner produced a knife which glinted in the air, hoping the sight alone would be enough to discourage her from attacking.
But Ran knew the blade held little threat. In an instant she plotted out the moves she would need to disarm the suspect and tensed her muscles in preparation.
However, Greirson wasn't willing to take that risk. While still at the run, he had his hand cannon on target. A bullet shattered the air. Faulkner wobbled in a moment of confusion then crashed to the pavement.
The gunshot tore a hole in Faulkner's chest, center mass, reducing him to a bloody, shock riddled mute.
Catching up to the aftermath, Grierson called in the incident over the radio and made sure Ran was alright. The trajectory had passed her by only a matter of centimeters. Well within his skillset but close enough for her to feel the crack of vacuum as it passed.
Then he turned his attention to the wounded man, pushing hard on the center of the blood. "Morning Rob! Out for a little jog?" The Lieutenant gave his suspect a quick pat down and emerged with a little green book and USB stick. "What do we have here?" He handed them off to Ran.
She turned it over in her hand briefly before opening the cover. It was filled with falsified numbers and accounts from the charity gala. Tens of thousands of dollars were misplaced by the ledger. The pieces came together quickly.
Faulkner felt the fear of God as Grierson narrowed his vision on him. In an ominous tone, he growled "I see. Defrauding a Christmas charity? Lining your pockets with money meant for sick kids? You were planning on breaking into the Wei residency and swapping out the books werentcha? I've seen a lot of evil in this world but that's pretty damned low."
He was hardly in a condition to protest. He whimpered "No that's not true. That's not mine. I was called here. I've never seen that book a day in my life!"
Greirson told him to save his breath and started reading him his rights. There was no guarantee that he would even make it to the hospital alive. But the Lieutenant knew how tricky lawyers could be if he collared him for the murder now.
Not that he needed a confession, Ran thought. Justice was different in this country but she was certain it wouldn't take much to convince a jury. Not after being caught red handed, brandishing a knife and evading arrest. Her mom would call that Mens Rea: guilty mind. Eri Kisaki would call the whole thing a slam dunk.
The sound of distant sirens spurred her back to the moment. The case was over now. Shinichi could find his client and maybe, just maybe she could keep him from flying away. If only for a little while more.
But where was he? This was normally the part where Shinichi would act all stoical and give some Shakespearean speech about the nature of justice. She looked for him, praying it wasn't too late.
Kudo was leaning against a dragon shaped lamppost at the corner of the intersection. Hand clutched over his chest, he was sucking in short, ragged breaths through gritted teeth.
His blood was boiling in his veins. Muscle and sinew felt scorched by hellfire. While his skull writhed in agony, overwhelmed by the sensation that it was slowly cracking like porcelain in a vice. APTX was an agony he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy but this was something else. This was a torment on a level he wouldn't have believed possible.
"Shinichi!" Ran exclaimed "What's wrong?!"
He turned his head and tried to shake his vision back into alignment. "Give me your phone."
"What!?"
"I know who the killer is. I'm going to need your help."
