Cage of bones

7.

Tobirama

I looked out over the city lights. It was dark, but I hadn't managed to come home yet. Of course I hadn't. Not after Martin's body had been found. It would probably be an all-nighter.

There was a knock on my door.

"Step in, please, Oliver", I said, not having to turn around to know it was him; I had learned to recognise his knock. "Sit down. Coffee? Tea?"

"Tea, please, Sir."

I poured him some from my teapot.

"Any thoughts?" I asked.

"I wonder if Martin's case is separate from the others", he said. "Seeing we've found his body."

"Good boy", I said and he blushed. "I've had the same thought. But I don't want to count on it. He's part of all of this unless otherwise proven." I nodded towards the papers he was holding. "Obduction results?"

Oliver nodded and handed them to me, but went on to brief me.

"No internal damage. Died by poisoning. Potassium chloride. Same they use to kill people who've gotten the death penalty. We also found some other drugs in his blood."

I nodded.

"Have you told his family?"

"Yes", Oliver said. "But not his partner. That Izuna man."

He's not his partner, I was so close to saying but didn't; it would seem unprofessional and highly disrespectful. For a brief moment, I wondered if Oliver said his name because he'd overheard Hashirama ask if I had fucked him over the phone, but quickly dismissed it; it wasn't Oliver's style.

"I'll tell him", I said.

"Do we suspect Henry?"

I shook my head.

"No. Not enough, at least. We have nothing other than jealousy. It's enough to light the spark of an investigation but not enough for an interrogation. But we could talk to him as someone who knew Martin. They danced in the same company. Closely, it would seem, if they applied for the same role."

I stood up again and went and looked out over the city lights once more.

"There's something bothering me, though." I turned to Oliver, looked him up and down. "Can I trust you with my inner thoughts?"

"Always, Sir", he said and blushed, looking away.

"Good boy. It has to do with what you said. About Martin's case being separate. I don't think it is. But something is... different. I have it just in reach, but every time I think I have figured it out, it slips away."

Oliver was quiet for a while, thinking before he spoke. I loved boys who thought before they spoke.

"Someone had hid his body, but not that well. If the others had been disposed of that way, we would have found them."

So either, they have taken less care with Martin, or they have kept the others... Dead or alive, they must have kept the others.

I went and poured myself some tea. The liquid ran out of the pot like blood coming out of a vessel.

Blood... Vessel... His blood tests.

Suddenly, I dropped the teapot. It broke into a thousand pieces.

"Sir!!" Oliver screamed and stood up to help me.

"Don't worry", I murmured. "It's only lukewarm." I went over to Oliver and grabbed his shoulders. "You're a fucking genius", I said.