CHAPTER 14
Shinji
Shinji stood in a corner of the living room, keeping out of the forensic techs’ way.
He couldn’t summon Keiko because it would affect Teruo if he used his powers, so he sent a message to her sister instead, notifying her of the situation.
Although the superintendent was at the second crime scene, Shinji wanted Keiko’s eyes on it too.
After pocketing his phone, he stepped out of the living room, the smell of decay nauseating, especially with the temperature rising as the sun went higher in the sky.
To the right was a bedroom and Shinji walked to it, hoping it would hold something more personal, something that showed him the connection between the victims and the extractor.
Shinji had theorized about it, and one explanation he thought of was that the extractor had turned their back to the organization and gone rogue.
It could’ve been a supernatural who had become drunk on power, wanted more, and the victims were somehow in their way of achieving that—likely had tried to hunt down the extractor.
Or perhaps the killer and the victims had crossed paths, something went bad between them, and the extractor harbored resentment toward them.
But which one was it and how many more victims were on their list?
Shinji stepped inside the bedroom, the covers of his shoes crinkling in the silence.
Forensics had finished here, so there was no one inside.
The bed was neatly made, a pair of pajamas folded and set on the edge.
Opposite it was a clothing rack stuffed full of shirts, blazers, slacks, and shoes underneath.
But what made this bedroom exquisite was the fish tank mounted on a table by the window. Sunlight streamed through the beige curtains, catching the ripple of water, and refracting shimmering patterns on the wall.
Shinji bent and smiled at the beautiful little fish. They swam through the green plants and corals that decorated the inside of the tank, their iridescent scales shining in the light. Shinji knew nothing about types of pet fish, but admired their long, silky and colorful tails.
It made sense now why the extractor struggled and why the living room had such a bloody crime scene. There was an undercurrent of spiritual energy, soft and slowly dissipating but stronger than an extractor’s. It clung to the room, but especially to the fish tank.
The victim was a water kitsune. The more Shinji focused on the energy, the more apparent it became. Kitsune were elementals and experts of reiryoku, able to use it in ways Shinji or an extractor never would be. And yet, that hadn’t been enough.
He looked around for any notebooks, laptops, or anything containing information, but the forensic techs likely already took them. He’d have to request them because he wasn’t sure how many supernaturals there were among the forensic techs and whether they even knew what they were looking for.
Truthfully, Shinji wasn’t sure what he was looking for either, but he would figure it out.
He stepped back into the living room, where Dr. Suzuki seemed to be almost done as she had taken her gloves off and tapped something into her tablet.
“May I approach?” Shinji asked.
Dr. Suzuki glanced at him and nodded. “Go ahead. Nothing more I can gather until the autopsy.”
Shinji kneeled by the body and reached out carefully, his fingers brushing the victim’s cold, rigid hand.
As expected, there was no trace of energy from the extractor.
It had long since dissipated. Even the green hue of their power was barely visible around the victim’s mouth and a little underneath her blouse.
He clenched his jaw, pulling his hand back, and moved aside as the victim was placed in a body bag and taken away. Frustration twisted in his stomach. He wanted to get this extractor off the streets, but had no way of finding them, even when they left a trail of bodies in their wake.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway and Shinji turned to see Teruo and Horiuchi returning. While Horiuchi went to speak with Suzuki, Shinji’s gaze locked on Teruo, but when their eyes met, Teruo looked away, a strange and pained expression on his face.
A cold shiver ran down Shinji’s spine. Something had happened between Teruo and Horiuchi.
Did she threaten him once she found out Teruo knew everything?
Shinji regretted agreeing to the discussion, but the investigation risked going nowhere without Horiuchi’s help, even though she didn’t seem in a hurry to provide aid.
Shinji stopped beside Teruo and whispered, “Everything okay?”
“Marvelous.” Teruo grunted.
Shinji narrowed his eyes. “Is she taking the case away from us?”
Teruo exhaled sharply through his nose. “No. She’s agreed to work together, making it like it’s some huge favor to me. Who cares about the six victims? Let’s just play games,” he gritted his teeth. “Never mind. Did you find out anything new?” he asked.
Shinji leaned toward his ear. “The victim’s a water kitsune.”
Teruo’s eyebrows lifted. “I guess that explains the struggle?”
“It does.”
“Would a certain ponytailed guy be of any use since they’re… you know…”
Shinji plucked his phone again and tapped a message to Kazuya. “Field agents aren’t allowed to give mission details to each other if they’re not in the same team, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”
Teruo stopped a forensic tech. “Send everything you find on her phone and laptop to me.” Then he turned to a uniformed officer. “Did you find any cameras in the vicinity?”
“We did, sir. There’s a parking lot to the right, further away from here.” Then he pointed his finger in the opposite direction. “On the left, there’s a bank which has a camera right outside. The footage is being sent to forensics as we speak.”
“Send them to me as well,” Teruo ordered. “I want to check them out myself.”
The officer bowed. “Of course, sir.”
“We should get back to the TMPD,” Teruo said as he walked out of the apartment. “Not much else we can do here.” He lowered his voice to a whisper, “If she gives us what I asked for, we might actually get somewhere.”
“And what were you promised?” Shinji asked.
“Information about the rogue extractor.”
Shinji inhaled. “She knows them?”
“Not sure if she knows who they are, but she’d better have some good information, otherwise she can forget our deal. From what I gathered from her reluctance, the organization is having a tough time dealing with this and doesn’t really want to give us such details. We already assumed as much.”
“Okay… I think that’s fucking ridiculous seeing as we’re trying to catch a killer, but leave it to these people to be idiots,” Shinji spat. God, he was exhausted with them. “And she’s giving you the info in exchange for what?” He dreaded the answer.
“I think it’s better if we spoke about this at home,” Teruo said, not making eye contact even as Shinji stared at him.
Horiuchi definitely asked for something Teruo didn’t want to share.
Shinji’s stomach twisted. He should’ve been there to mediate things.
Teruo was so laser-focused on solving the case, he was willing to barter anything for it and Shinji knew it.
It had been a horrible idea to let Teruo speak with her alone.
Shinji reached for Teruo’s sleeve to hold him in place. “I need you to—”
“See you at the station.” Horiuchi caught up to them, giving them both a smile.
“Yes, ma’am.” Teruo bowed his head.
Shinji quickly gathered himself and offered her a deeper bow. When he raised his head, he found Horiuchi’s gaze lingering on him, a look he couldn’t read on her face. It only fueled his panic more.
Before he had a chance to return to his earlier question, Nakagawa came up to them, tapping on her phone while walking.
“Chief, I got more info from the neighbors,” she announced.
“Well done,” Teruo said. “You need a ride?”
Nakagawa glanced toward the street, then back at Teruo. “I’d appreciate it, sir. I took the train here.”
“Let’s go.” Teruo led the way to the car.
Shinji followed, frustration simmering at the constant interruptions. He shot Teruo a look, which he immediately caught. Teruo’s shoulders stiffened, and for a moment, guilt fluttered across his face. Then he cleared his throat and unlocked the car, climbing behind the wheel.
“I need to get myself another coffee when we get back,” Teruo casually said.
Shinji didn’t reply, only slumped into his seat, and turned on the air con. It was especially humid and hot today, or perhaps the stress made him sweat more than usual. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, sweeping his damp hair out of the way.
“So, Nakagawa,” Teruo said. “Tell me what you found out.”
She quickly pulled her notepad. “One of the neighbors from two apartments down works the night shift. He remembered that, more than a week ago—although he doesn’t know the exact date—he saw someone come out of Ms. Amano’s apartment as he was walking up the stairs.”
“Go on,” Teruo encouraged.
“Because he was tired and the lights in the corridor were dim,” Nakagawa continued, “ at first he thought it was Ms. Amano herself, but it wasn’t.”
Shinji twisted in his seat. “Wait, if he confused her with Ms. Amano…”
“It was a woman who came out, but not Ms. Amano.” Nakagawa checked her notepad. “He realized it when she got closer to him.”
“Did he manage to describe her to you?” Teruo asked.
“He didn’t remember any distinguishing features, but he noticed she was holding a trenchcoat tightly wrapped around herself.”
Teruo nodded. “Rather hot for a trenchcoat. Maybe she had it to protect herself from the rain, or…”
“She stole one of Ms. Amano’s coats to hide all the blood on her body,” Shinji completed.
“It was a pretty horrible fight. Some of all that blood landed on the killer. If this was her, she was obviously careful not to walk around full of blood. The clothing rack was too messy to notice a missing coat.”