InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Closing the Case ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Closing the Case

Chapter 3

Kagome stood on shaking legs in the brightly-lit hallway. The walls were a soft eggshell white with light-blue tiled floor. To her right was a stiff wooden bench. It was meant for her to sit, but she just could not force herself to be that still. Her stomach kept churning and the little bit of breakfast Inuyasha had convinced her to eat was threatening to come back up. To her left, on the opposite wall, was a pair of free-swinging hospital doors the same color as the floor. Directly in front of her was a small 3x3-ft window with light blue curtains drawn, blocking the view into the room beyond. Next to her Inuyasha leaned against the wall, his hand intertwined with her own.

One of the doors swung outward and Miroku stepped out. He was dressed in his usual dark slacks and crisp button-up shirt. He was pulling a pair of latex gloves off carefully, content to take his time. Finally he looked up at them, nodding to Inuyasha.

"We're ready when you are." Kagome's grip tightened on Inuyasha's hand and her stomach jerked.

"Are you ready?" Inuyasha asked gently.

"I-I-I don't think…" He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, gently guiding her the short distance to the small window even as he legs threatened to give way beneath her. Her hand came up and twisted itself in his coat.

"I'm right here." She nodded numbly. Miroku opened the door and gave the signal to Sango. The curtains opened with a sharp sliding noise to show the body behind. Pale and slightly blue, the young man lay stiffly on the hard metal table. A light blue medical cloth covered everything but the shoulders and face. Chocolate hair hung limply over shut eyes.

Suddenly it all seemed very real, as if from last night on had been some horrible nightmare. Now she was waking up to find the nightmare was real. Her little brother was really dead, and she was truly alone in the world. Kagome made a choking noise in the back of her throat and buried her face in Inuyasha's chest. Her legs finally gave way and she crumpled into him. The curtains slid closed as Inuyasha did his best to soothe the coming tears and hold her up at the same time. He moved to the bench and sat down with her.

Miroku appeared with a glass of water and a handkerchief. Kagome nodded gratefully as she accepted them, gulping at the drink and wiping her eyes. The two detectives waited as she tried desperately to compose herself, though the battle seemed to be a losing one. When she seemed to have calmed a bit, Miroku reached out and gently covered one of her hands with his own.

"Kagome, we need to ask you a few questions to establish a time line. Are you up to it?"

"I-" She looked up at Inuyasha and bit her lip.

"It's important." Inuyasha confirmed, "But we can do it later if you're not up to it right now."

"No, you... always say the sooner you talk the better. S-s-so nothing gets left out... I'll do it now." Inuyasha smiled at her slightly. He nodded and took her hand.

&&&

Kagome took the offered seat in one of the interrogation rooms. With undecorated concrete walls, unremarkable chairs, and an abused looking table, the room had a heavy unfriendly feeling. Looking up at the two detectives, she had a momentary vision of them playing good-cop/bad-cop on some prime time police drama. Frankly, she would not put it past them for even a second.

But whatever tactics they used on suspects seemed to have been dropped in favor of a more relaxed, friendly attitude. Miroku took a recorder from his pocket and placed it on the table. Meanwhile, Inuyasha replaced her empty water glass with a can of her favorite soda.

"Ok, Kagome, all you have to do is answer honestly to all the questions. We'll record them here so we don't have to put you through this again." Kagome nodded, her hands clenching the handkerchief. "When was the last time you saw your brother?"

"A-a-at the front door." She hiccupped a little as she spoke, still trying to get herself under control. "Mrs. Hillard picked him up. They-they were going to see a movie and then Souta…" Her voice broke, "Souta was going to spend the night with Tony."

"Do you know Mrs. Hillard's number so we can get in touch with her?"

"555-7852" From the corner of her eye she saw Inuyasha make a note."

"Do you know what theater they were going to?" Kagome bit her lip for a minute before she shook her head.

"No… but they-they were going to see Harry Potter."

"Do you know what show?"

"She picked… him up at 7, and they were going to eat first I think, so sometime after that."

"Where were they going to eat?"

"I don't know. But they… always want pizza when they spend the night at our... my house." Her voice cracked a little at the end and Inuyasha placed his hand on her knee under the table as he made more notes. Miroku nodded.

"Tell me. Has Mrs. Hillard ever given you any reason to believe she would hurt Souta or her son?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Take your time, think about it." Kagome bit her lip again for a moment, shaking her head.

"No. Mrs. Hillard is a very nice lady. She offered to help us after…"

"I see. Then do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Souta for any reason?"

"No. He was… was just a regular kid." Her voice broke and a tear leaked down her cheek. Inuyasha's hand squeezed lightly.

"Tell me, where were you when the bodies were found?" Inuyasha reached back and smacked Miroku upside the head, causing the other detective to yelp in surprise.

"She was with me, you dumbass, on the other side of town!"

"Oops. Sorry, old habit." Inuyasha only narrowed his eyes and snorted. Kagome nodded. "I think that's all for now." He turned off the recorder. "Do you need someone to give you a ride back to Inuyasha's?"

"That-that would be good. I don't have my car." She took several deep shaky breaths, trying not to cry in front of the detectives. It was bad enough she had kept Inuyasha awake most of last night.

"If you feel you can drive, you can take my car and I'll make dumbass here drop me off." Kagome gave him a slight smile.

"Thanks Yash, but I don't think I trust myself behind a wheel just yet."

"No problem, I'll get one of the uniforms to take you home." Miroku replied as he got up and left the room. Inuyasha turned to Kagome, noting that she had not even touched her soda.

"You ok?" She nodded and smiled at him. "Liar." He reached up and moved some hair from her face. "You have my number if you need anything, right?"

"I do. Thank you for being so sweet through all of this."

"What'd you expect, for me to tell you to suck it up?" He chuckled. She laughed with him a little, but he could tell it was forced. He stood up and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Go home and get some rest. There's food in the fridge when you're hungry. Remember to keep the doors and windows locked." She nodded just as Miroku walked back in with Hojo in tow.

"Kagome, this is Hojo. He'll take you home." The uniformed officer dipped his head slightly. Kagome smiled her thanks and got up to leave, kissing Inuyasha on the cheek as she did. Hojo held the door open and let her walk past. He was about to follow when Inuyasha grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back into the room. Hojo gave a surprised yelp and found himself looking straight into Inuyasha's burning gold eyes.

"If anything happens to her, I'll have your skin and your badge. Got it?" Hojo gulped and nodded vigorously. Inuyasha half dropped, half shoved him away and he scrambled from the room.

"Was that really necessary?" Miroku asked coolly.

"Until we know what is going on, I'm not taking any chances." Miroku chuckled as they walked out.

"Let's go see what Sango has for us." The two detectives stepped out of the hallway and into the main office of the precinct. The room was bustling with activity, people hurrying to and fro, others on phones, and still others flipping through files. In the corner was a small room sectioned off for the chief's office. The windows to the small room had blinds that were open, so they could see the older woman sitting behind her desk. She appeared to be waiting for something.

"What'd you do this time?" Shippou asked. He was a young detective with long red hair and bright green eyes. Unlike Inuyasha and Miroku he was all but fresh off the beat, and did not yet have two cases under his belt. His partner was a young shepherd mix named Max. The dog was a specialist at finding people, alive and otherwise.

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha huffed.

"Chief wants to see you?"

"And what, pray tell, makes you think we are in trouble?" Miroku cooed. Shippou shrugged.

"Nothing really, just hoping I guess." The young man ducked as Inuyasha took a swing at his head. "Anyway, I have to get going. There is a missing person that need to be found. Hopefully, they'll be alive when I find them." The older detectives did not answer as they changed course and headed into the chief's office. Kaede looked up at them and Inuyasha took a seat in front of her desk as Miroku shut the door.

"You wanted to talk to us?" Inuyasha huffed. Kaede gave him a tolerant look.

"Yes, but specifically I wanted to speak with you, Inuyasha." She leaned back in her chair and studied him. "It has come to my attention that one of the victims is an acquaintance of yours."

"Yeah…" He replied in a slow guarded voice.

"How?" Inuyasha sighed.

"He's my girl's little brother." Kaede leaned back in her chair and studied the two detectives. Her aged brown eye seemed to weigh her options. After several minutes she leaned forward again and folded her hands on her desk. Her single eye made contact with Inuyasha's, and a mild, humored smile touched her lips.

"If you were anyone else, Inuyasha, I would pull you from this case because you are too close to the victim. However, knowing you as I do, you would simply proceed to track down the perpetrator with or without my consent. So, here is what I will do. I will allow you to continue to work this case as long as, 1) the connection between yourself and the victim is not found out, and 2) you keep your control at all times. I want this investigation by the books. Is that understood?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha replied plainly.

"And Miroku, I expect you to keep him in line."

"Will do, Chief."

"Feh."

"Good, now get going."

&&&

Miroku and Inuyasha stepped into the precinct's morgue as they pulled on their latex gloves. Sango stood with her back to them as she typed away at her computer. Souta and the other victim, assumed to be Tony Hillard, were laid out on metal tables covered in light blue sheets. The whole room had an overly sterile feeling, and was a few degrees colder than normal room temperature.

"What have you got for us, Sango?" Inuyasha asked as he grabbed the back of Miroku's coat, before he could let his hands get the best of him.

"Hold on just a second." Sango answered distractedly as she finished what she was doing on the computer. After several more minutes she saved her work and turned to them, a file in her hand.

"Ok, I'll start with the unidentified victim. I place the time of death about an hour or so before the victims were found, for both." She moved to the table and flipped back the sheet. "The stab wounds are all post-mortem. And I believe the cause of death, is the blow to the back of the head." She motioned them around to the victim's head. Carefully, she took some of his hair between her fingers and lifted a flap of skin, hair and all, completely away from the skull. "It seems that the perp grabbed his hair here and used this hold to slam the head against a solid object." She carefully turned the boy's head so they could see the back of his skull. Amidst the hair the detectives could make out bits of torn flesh and broken skull. Sango reached off to the side and retrieved a small plastic bag from a tray. "I also found these in the head wound."

Miroku took the bag back from her and held it close to his face. Inside were a number of small grayish stones. Most were covered in blood, but there were a couple in a smaller, inner bag that had been cleaned.

"What is it?"

"Concrete. Small pieces of concrete."

"What about the bruises?" Inuyasha asked.

"Those are pre-mortem, but their randomness makes me think they were caused by the boy being jostled about in an enclosed space." She covered the boy up with the sheet again and moved around to Souta's body. "Now… this one is more… interesting…" Sango chewed her lip, trying not to remember this victim was her friend's little brother. She flipped the sheet back.

"You ok, Yash?" Miroku asked casually.

"I'm fine." He snapped back.

"The stab wounds to the chest are both post and pre-mortem." Sango pushed forward, "But none of them are the direct cause of death. This one," She pointed to a large wound to the chest, "Punctured the right lung, causing it to fill with blood that made it's way up the throat, where he choked on his own blood. Here," She pointed to the sides of his mouth, "You can see bruising from where a gag was in his mouth. There are also rope burns about his wrists and ankles."

"Could those have been caused by the fact they were tied to barrels when they were found?" Miroku interrupted.

"No, they have bruising consistent with pre-mortem injuries. Also, look at this." She lifted up one of the hands.

"What?" Inuyasha asked.

"His nails, they're clean."

"So?"

"I have a little brother, and his nails aren't this clean after a shower. Neither of these boy's nails even have dirt under them."

"Couldn't the river have washed it away?" Miroku provided.

"Not likely. Also, smell." She lifted the hand and motioned for the detectives to take a sniff. Both complied hesitantly.

"Smells like bleach." Inuyasha frowned.

"They both do. I think the perp washed the bodies after he was done to get rid of any evidence he might have left behind."

"So, this guy knew what he was doing."

"But if he washed the bodies, why dump them in the river?" Miroku mused, "It has a very similar effect."

"And most bodies are dumped in the river in hopes of them not being found for a long time, if at all." Inuyasha added, "But these were tied to barrels so they floated. Why?" Miroku sighed.

"Lets go file this information and find the other victim's family. It won't give us any more answers, but I don't think we have any other leads right now. Thanks, Sango." Inuyasha nodded as they began to head out the door.

"Wait." Sango stopped them, "There is… one more thing." She looked at her feet and shuffled a bit.

"Well, what is it?" Inuyasha snapped irritably.

"Souta was also… sodomised."

"What!"

"Miroku told me to leave no stone unturned, so I did a rape kit on both boys. No DNA deposit, but I did find wood splinters in Souta. Pine, if that's relevant." The free-swinging doors slammed against the outer wall as Inuyasha stormed out. Miroku flinched at the sound, but showed no other signs that the outburst affected him.

"Thanks again, Sango. Call me if you find anything else."