Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ Only Hope ❯ In Which Richard and Candace Play Detective ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Atheria

Atheria: Ok so this story is officially my longest. I'm going to have to get back to my Yu Yu Hakusho one, I'm such a slacker…Anyway, things get interesting. It's back in switching POV's, this time from Richard to Candace. It should be interesting to see the case from a seasoned police officer's eyes and then a child's. Anyway…I'll make sure they both get plenty of action in this one, but poor Jimmy isn't going to be the most popular character with these two, so beware the Jimmy bashing. Anyway, college has started and updating is going to be kinda slow. Here's hoping for once a month. Time for the Disclaimer:

I do not own Cased Closed or any of the assorted characters used from that universe, they belong to Gosho Aoyama . They are used without permission, but I don't suggest suing me, as I am a very poor college student with no financial assets. (I.e. it would cost you more to sue me than you would get from me monetarily.) I hope those corporate big shots get it by now.

I'm sure you know this, and yet:

Thoughts: `Blah'

Spoken: “Blah”

In Which Richard and Candace Play Detective

Richard's POV

`They're shoving that kid out of the door. Looks like this case was more open and shut than I thought…It's just something doesn't sit right with me. Maybe it's the guy's sincerity, or maybe it's because the women in this case stink*, but I don't think that kid had anything to do with Eiji Tanaka's death. I'm more concerned about where that woman Victoria wandered off. She's disappeared soon after we got to that doctor's office, and I haven't seen her since. Damn it, I hate feeling like this. It's like the answer is right on the tip of my tongue, but it's like, like…my never quite full liquor cabinet.' “Hey Anthony, what exactly is Victoria doing?” Anthony's eyes lit up behind his expensive glasses, Gucci or Versace or something.

“Well,” Anthony started.

`Anthony's been awfully dodgy about the whole thing; he's shifting his feet. What the hell is he staring at me for? Right! He was answering my question.' “Well tell me when she gets here, I have a few questions for her…” Anthony nods his head. `Damn I need a drink, I wonder since the case is over, if we are still going to eat something.'

“Hey mister, it's kinda hot in here. Does anyone know if the air conditioning is on?” Conan buzzed overly brightly at one of the officers still hanging around.

`Actually now that I think about it, it's like an oven in here.' “You'd think the Tanaka's would be rich enough to have the A/C running, sheesh. Hey Mrs. Tanaka!” I looked left and right around the room. “Where'd she get off to?”

“She went outside to talk to the officers and Hideki before they took him off to the station.” Officer Mackavitch informed me. “By the way Mr. Moore, if you'd like to look over the evidence and be a consult for this case, I don't think Officer Hartwell would mind.” Officer Mackavitch passed over a list of evidence, and saluted.

`Brown-noser. What? Does he think I'm going to get him a television deal or something? Well at least I can see the ev-'

“Hey mister Moore, don't you think it's odd that there were so many bullets found around the body?” Conan popped out of nowhere and leaned over my shoulder.

“Yeah actually it is weird that the crook missed so much when aiming at Mr. Tanaka and he was standing still, but apparently hit Emiko all while running from one room to the next. Hey-” I slam my fist into that nosey brat's head, “how many times have I told you not to meddle in adult business!” `That outta teach him, well probably not if all of those other cases are any indication.' I looked through the list of evidence for the bullets and their casings, and sure enough the kid was right. I looked around for Hartwell's lackey; he had disappeared into another room. “Hey! Which one of you did the inventory for this case?” I asked the comportment of officers milling around in the room.

“I did sir.” A lankly kid in an overly starched suit walked towards me. He crossed the distance so slowly; he might as well have been walking through tar.

`Lazy, disrespectful...' “Hurry up! This information is of the utmost importance to the case!” I snapped at the kid.

“Yes sir, it's just that Officer Hartwell asked me to, well, keep you out of the way. I'll get in trouble if he knows I gave you that.” He held out his hands and tried to look apologetic.

`Well that just proves Mackavitch is a bigger brown-noser than I though.' “Whatever, I just need you to answer this question. Are you absolutely sure about the bullet number and placement?”

“Of course! I watched the forensic team count and measure everything myself.”

“Well that's interesting. 'Cause according to this, that intruder has good aim in a hurry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don't worry about it, just tell your Commander to hold off on booking that Tanaka kid.” The lanky lackey's eyebrows shot up.

“What for?”

“Just tell him something doesn't add up.” I turned to head off towards that hallway Mrs. Tanaka talked about earlier. `If the victim was shot in the back, and he came from this back hallway…no that doesn't make sense. He came into the room from the kitchen. He would either already be facing the guy or be behind him. In which case, he would have surprised the guy, the robber would have turned around, and shot him. But then, that still would have been with him facing forward…Well maybe he over powered Mr. Tanaka. Yes that's it! He over powered him and…No! No, no, no. It would be a waste of energy to knock him to the ground, and even then he'd be on his ass. Still the bullet would have gone through his chest and not his back. The only way for him to have shot him in the back was if he snuck up on Mr. Tanaka, but how can that be? He had already heard him, so he knew he was there. He would have been looking for the guy, so there's no way he would have been snuck up on…So if he wasn't snuck up on or over powered…think Richard!' I ran my hand through my hair.

My hang over from last night was long gone, but this case was making miss my buzz. I looked around from left to right, up and down the hallway. `Well it's just like Mrs. Tanaka said; it leads upstairs and out into the kitchen. `Mr. Tanaka could have traveled from his bedroom, to the kitchen, and then into the living room after that. That still doesn't explain the entry wound on his back. Damn it, I'm missing something.' I stalked from the middle of the hall, and back out into the living room. That suck up Mackavitch, was talking to Hartwell again. The Brats and Rachael were in the kitchen. `Mrs. Tanaka is still outside. I can hear her yelling at the poor shmuck stuck watching her kid.' Anthony was standing by the foyer window. He kept looking at his watch. `What's he got to get to? We're all stuck here until…wait. -' “Where'd you say your wife is Anthony?” I asked as I crossed the room to meet him. Anthony's eyes got larger,

“I told you she's out on business. She should be here soon…” Anthony trailed off and began staring out the window again.

`Distracted…what is more important than giving your wife a reliable alibi? Speaking of which, I wonder what Mrs. Tanaka is talking about? Maybe she can shed some light on that Hideki kid's movement.'

Candace's POV

I watched Mr. Moore walk out of the house with his cigarette lighter in hand. `He has been wandering around this place for half an hour. Pity, from the look on his face, it hasn't been fruitful. Unlike a certain little detective.' I turned from the living room, and headed back into the kitchen. He was crawling along the floor, looking for something. “What are you doing?” I said as I leaned over his back.

“I'm taking a look at the spread pattern of Emiko Fujimoto's blood.” He said without looking over his shoulder.

“If I could inquire as to your motivations?”

“Well there should be some smear, from where she moved behind the bar. According to her testimony, she was standing in front of the bar. She had to have been, to be shot in the thigh. She had to have drug herself behind the bar, out of fear, because that's where she ended up, or at least where her blood did.” Conan continued to work his way along the island bar. I smirked.

`He hasn't figured it out, or perhaps he has, and he's looking for actual evidence to support his deductions. If he were actually paying attention, the answer and his evidence would already be in front of him' “Little detective?” His shoulders bristled, `I'm beginning to enjoy that reaction.'

“What” He huffed and mumbled something under his breath.

“I'm heading upstairs, care to join me?”

“I need to get this done first, um…Richard asked me to check.” I frowned.

`I don't remember Mr. Moore saying much more to him than to get out of the way.' I snickered, `followed by a punch to the head. Besides, if he's so concerned with Conan staying out of the way, why would he ask him to do anything for him?” I thought as I climbed the back stairs. They were steep and made of heavy wood. `These aren't something you could climb soundlessly. The intruder would have heard him coming a mile away. He also would have then tried to investigate, and there's a good chance, if his fever was as high as she stated, that he would have been loud as well, disoriented at the least.'

I passed by the Master bedroom; a cursory glance proved it was in just as bad of disarray as claimed. `And that's another thing, the son's room was the only one not ransacked, but who would be stupid enough to have left their room clean, when all the others aren't. Not only that, but if the intruder wasn't him, he would have taken time to go through every room, thinking he has killed the Misses and Mr. Tanaka, and stolen some electronics, or something. How could nothing be stolen? No this was someone they knew, trying to make it look like a robbery, and the son isn't stupid enough to leave his room untouched. Just as well-' I stopped in front of Hideki's room. Spotless as the police officers stated.

`At least I can trust them to do their jobs. There's something about those calls. My mother called around 12:30pm, and Ms. Emiko called the office at 3:00pm, to say he wasn't coming back in. They left the office at 11:30am, that's a long time to go for lunch. A half an hour to get to lunch, another hour at lunch, then another to get to here, that's about two o' clock. There's an hour unaccounted for, the time in the cab hasn't been confirmed either. What did she do in that hour? Another thing, my mother spoke with him at 12:30pm, but no one else has since then, and with a whole hour, anything could have happened. She's the only one to not only see him, but also confirm he's alive. From where I'm standing, her testimony has more holes than Swiss cheese. The missing hour, the only person linking anyone to the murder, and the not so serious leg wound, that doesn't even include the interesting bullet wounds. I wonder how such a poor shot, managed to hit her while running?' I looked through Hideki's room. `For a boy, this room is impeccable. His mother must clean it.'

Every book was in place, everything crisp and clean. Even his bed was made, and looked freshly starched. `It's almost too clean, like someone cleaned it for him, and recently for that matter.' I sniffed the air. `Smells like wood polish and glass cleaner. Yeah someone did clean recently, and with no maids, it had to be someone in the house.' “Hm, that's another interesting revelation.” As I turned to leave the room, and head back down stairs, I noticed a scrap of paper. It was small and yellow, inconspicuous if this room hadn't been so clean. I stooped over to pick it up. `This is…'

Richard's POV

`Well this has been a wash. I can't get anything out of Hideki, because his mother is playing bodyguard, not to mention threatening to sue anyone who comes within ten feet of the guy. How am I supposed to prove this guy innocent if I can't even speak to him?' I took a long drag off of what was left of my cigarette. The police officers tried to put Hideki inside the car to isolate him. Unsurprisingly, they were unsuccessful as Mrs. Tanaka paused in her phone conversation, presumably with the family lawyer, to bite the head off of the poor officers on guard duty. I smirked, and ground out my cigarette with my heel. `Well this has been fun, but I need some evidence to support my theory of friendly fire. If only I could get Mrs. Tanaka and Hideki away from those cops.' I lit another cigarette, slunk out from under the pouch awning, and into the muggy night air. The two cops assigned to watch the kid, walked away to go report to the Commander, and I took my chances with the pissed woman protecting her child like a mother bear. As I approached, the two of them had their backs to me. I could hear them whispering frantically back and forth.

“Where-Hideki?”

“Mom I-ca-it's confi-Mother!”

“I'm- help- it's important.”

“But-about-other woman?“ I snuck closer.

`This is getting juicy, and I'm missing important details.' I thought as I slunk slowly ever closer to the two of them. Mrs. Tanaka whispers became clearer,

“-That's not something I want to discuss right now.”

“How can you not?!”

“Hideki please, smearing your father's name will do this family no good.”

“This family, this family, our family-the only thing you think about is your stupid reputation. No, you think of father's reputation. Has it occurred to you that he never gave a shit about this family?”

“Hideki Tanaka, don't you dare talk about your father like that! He worked hard for this fam-”

“He worked for himself Mother! I'm sorry he worked for his own interests, like his wine and his whore!” a loud smack rang through the air. Hideki held his reddened cheek and looked towards his mother with wide eyes. He wasn't looking at her. “You're that Moore fellow right? The famous detective?” His eyes were shining in the moonlight, and he had a loop-sided grin plastered on his face.

`He knows he's not going to jail. Either he's innocent or has one hell of a lawyer.' I reached out and rubbed the back of my head. “Oh don't mind me, just out for a smoke.” I smiled at the two of them. Mrs. Tanaka gave me a look that could freeze boiling water. Then she smiled a sickly-sweet smile, which never reached her eyes, and said,

“I'd appreciate it if you didn't eavesdrop onto my conversations Richard.” She crossed her warms and slinked forward, like a cat stalking an unwitting mouse. “In fact,” Mrs. Tanaka's heels clinked against the driveway, “don't you have some minutia of superfluous evidence to catalogue? Or perhaps you can run this message along, like a good little errand boy? `Commander Hartwell my son is not guilty. You can find all the circumstantial evidence you like, but the fact remains the only thing you have tying him to the murder is a Halloween mask a perpetrator could have gotten at any store, and the words of a women, half dead and delusional.' Do you need to write that down Richard?” Mrs. Tanaka flashed an insincere smile at me. She dug out a pen and paper, and handed it to me.

“Since you can barely remember the hole in Emiko's thigh, I suppose this will come in handy. Now scoot, I need that delivered before it slips through that Swiss cheese mind of yours.” Mrs. Frigid Bitch tossed her hair over her shoulders, then spun around and walked back towards the car where Hideki had a self-indulgent smile on his face. I turned to leave and head back into the house. I had already gotten what I wanted.

`So Mr. Tanaka was having an affair. Interesting, because Mrs. Tanaka claimed they weren't having marital problems. Maybe her idea of `no problems' equals `does not know the name of my husband's mistress.' Or maybe she didn't care as long as he was discreet. She sure got hysterical when Hideki mentioned going public, or even discussing her. It wasn't all about not knowing her name, she didn't want to acknowledge her existence, and at least not when someone else could hear. Speaking of hysterics…' A large black limo pulled into the driveway, and Victoria Johansson slid out. `What? That family can't travel by cab like normal people? Do they have the limo company on retainer? Jesus…Victoria. Now's here's someone interesting. She's been gone for hours; knows, er, knew the victim for years…and her husband. He had no idea where she was earlier. It wasn't that he refused to talk, cause when your wife is under suspicion for a murder case, you sing like a canary. I crossed the lawn, and made it back to the driveway in time to lock step with Victoria as we reached the front door. I reached forward and grabbed the handle. “After you miss.” I smiled at her as she passed over the threshold and into the house. Everyone was gathered back into the foyer, and Officer Hartwell's lackeys were shuffling the Tanaka's back into the house. `Perfect. The more witnesses the better.'

“Alright, we've reviewed the evidence. Mr. Tanaka is coming with us. The rest of you, since we already have your statements, you are free to go.”

“Hold on just a second Officer, you didn't get Victoria Johansson's statement. She just walked in, and your officer didn't even notice. Maybe you should run a tighter ship.” I stated smugly. Officer Mackavitch began looking through his notes, while Officer Hartwell's eyes scanned the crowd. Mrs. Johansson stepped forward.

“I wasn't here earlier, could someone tell me what this is about?”

“Yes ma'ma. You and the rest of your family and acquaintances are the last people to see Eiji Tanaka alive. You are effectively a witness to a murder case. We just-”

“Wait you mean Eiji's dead?” Victoria shrieked.

`Yup here comes the histrionics.' I thought dryly.

“Yes ma'ma, killed this afternoon in-” Officer Hartwell stated in a calm voice.

“How can that be! I spoke with him this afternoon!”

“Hold on, slow down. You're sure you spoke with him today?”

“Of course I did! I spoke with him on my cell at 12:30pm. It's right here in the phone log.” Victoria handed over her phone to Officer Mackavitch, who then verified her claim.

“Well that's all well and good miss?”

“Mrs. Johansson.”

“Yes Mrs. Johansson, that's great verification for his time of death, and corroboration for Miss Fujimoto's statement, however, his time of death is estimated at 4:00-4:30pm, well after you spoke with him. Mrs. Johansson if you could please tell Officer Mackavitch your whereabouts since this morning.”

“Officer she was with the rest of us. My wife left Beika with the group you interviewed earlier.” Anthony interjected.

“Yes sir, we've established that. We only really need her whereabouts from about 4:000pm onward, but we need her complete statement, redundant or not.”

“Alright then, I left Beika with a group of friends around 10:30am. The car ride was uneventful, save my conversation with Eiji at 12:30pm. We got into the city around 2:30, went to pick up Atsuko at the Osaka center at 3:00, got to the office, Eiji's, around four. I left the group, and stayed at the office to tend to some personal affairs. I left around 6:00, got a little lost, blame my incompetent limo driver, and arrived here around 7:30. I was then escorted inside. Nothing eventful happened at the office, though there was a call made to the office by the police. I assume you were chasing down leads for this case.”

“Yes, we called around 5:45. I'll call back later to verify your whereabouts. It's not absolutely necessary, but are trying to be very thorough.”

“That's fine, do you need me to sign anything to affirm that as my official statement?”

“ Ye-”

“You might want to hold off on that, unless you want to be charged with perjury*!”

“Moore…” Hartwell looked in my direction. His face looked twisted up,

`This was going to be fun.' I turned and faced Victoria. “Why don't you tell everyone where you really were?”

“I don't know what you mean, I already-”

“Don't play dumb! You weren't at the Tanaka's office. In fact, you were nowhere near it!”

“Richard! I won't have you badgering another witness.”

“Hold on Harwell, let me explain myself. Mr. Tanaka was found shot in the back from short range, so close it was actually point-blank. How would someone manage to shoot him in the back from so close?”

“He was surprised.” Harwell supplied.

“Wrong! He already knew the intruder was there, it's the reason he came downstairs. He would have been extra cautious when entering the room. He would have been looking for the intruder, and if he was coming from the kitchen, the intruder would have only been straight ahead.”

“Alright then Moore, how do how do you suppose he was shot in the back?”

“`Friendly' fire.” I smirked as Hartwell's eyebrows flew up.

“Explain.” He demanded.

“Mr. Tanaka would have only turned his back if he was comfortable with his assailant, someone he knew. Trusting this `intruder', he would have turned around, maybe after a verbal exchange, and then his assailant would have struck, shooting him in the back.”

“Great theory Moore, but how does that put Mrs. Johansson at the scene of the murder, and more importantly, how does it place Hideki Tanaka away from it?”

“Think Hartwell! What kind of criminal implicates himself? No one. If Hideki Tanaka is the murder, and he was trying to make it look like a robbery, he would have started with his room first. How stupid do you think he is, that he left his, and only his, room clean? Also since this is his house, he'd have no reason to leave in a hurry. If anyone came knocking, they wouldn't be suspicious of him being here. This house would have been fully ransacked, and frankly Ms. Fujimoto would be dead.”

“Alright Moore, so how does Mrs. Johansson miraculously fit into the picture?”

“I have Mrs. Tanaka to thank for this tidbit of info. Mr. Tanaka was having an affair, a long-standing one.”

“Mr. Moore, I caution you to say no more than you can prove. The laws for slander are harsh, and it would ruin that stellar reputation you are so proud of, to be caught up in a case for slander of all things.” Mrs. Tanaka flashed that boiling water freezing look in my direction.

“You said it yourself Mrs. Tanaka, I'm sure Hideki supports my assertion.” Everyone's eyes traveled from me to Hideki Tanaka. He was wearing a wolfish grin.

“Sure I do.”

“Hideki!”

“Oh come off it mother, we may not know who exactly his current whore is, but it's not like it's a great shock.”

“Right so now that we've established that Mr. Tanaka had a mistress, and that Mrs. Tanaka will lie to protect her husband's reputation. Sorry to say, but that basically makes your testimony as to his character inadmissible.” Mrs. Tanaka's glare grew to menacing heights. `She's beginning to remind me of Eva.' Snapping myself out of the glare induced stupor, I continued. “Mr. Tanaka trusted this intruder, it's obvious it was someone he knew very well, or he wouldn't have turned to leave the room.”

“Are you suggesting his mistress was here?”

“Yes Hartwell, and I know who it is.”

“This will be interesting, considering my private investigator couldn't find her.”

“Well he wasn't the great Richard Moore. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Tanaka's mistress and killer is none other than Victoria Johansson!”

* Note: Just in case you don't watch enough detective shows, that means they are suspicious. :D

*Note, I know lying to the police is this case would be obstruction of justice, and so would Richard, having been one. However, perjury sounds so much better in sentence than “obstruction of justice”. So I substituted, as they are similar crimes.

Atheria: Yeah so this chapter took longer than I thought. Needed to reveal enough but not too much. It was weird going from Richard's male pattern and seasoned investigator pattern thoughts, to Candace's female and meddling kid kinda thought. It was also interesting to run three different lines of logic. One for Richard, one for Candace, and another slightly reveled one for Jimmy. Other than that, the wrap-up for this case will be fun. I need to add some more clues, and tie it all with a bow, but you can figure it out right now. All you need is some solid evidence to pin the criminal down, and POOF! Case Closed. As always R&R!