Of Light and Shadow: Life After Sibyl

Chapter 3

An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.

-Elbert Hubbard

The lab confirmed the identity of the decapitated head. He was logged in the system as Ryuji Nishikawa, a low-level soldier for the Fujiwara family. Though Karanomori was not optimistic about nailing down a rough time of death, she assured them she would narrow the window as much as possible. Time of death would help their investigation, but they really needed the original crime scene. That would tell them more about the circumstances of the victims' deaths than just their bodies. The longer it took them to find the crime scene the more likely they would lose valuable evidence.

Akane sighed and shrugged out of her suit jacket. Though summer was months away, their HVAC unit in the building had recently gifted them with a heat wave. The air was so thick on the CID floor you could cut it with a knife. Until maintenance could fix the malfunctioning HVAC unit, Division 1 had to be satisfied with the languid air flow from a ceiling fan. Reaching for a water bottle, she refocused her attention to their latest case. The sprawling murder board had grown...only with more questions.

It reminded her of the murder board standing silent sentinel in her home office. The photos of the arms dealer, Nobuyuki Shimada*, and his body guards stared down at her every night as she tried in vain to piece together the circumstances of their deaths. Despite their diligent efforts, they had been unable to find any concrete proof of Charlie Wu's involvement. All they had been able to determine was that the feed in the infirmary had been tampered with. The identity of the hacker had proven equally impossible to nail down. Either Wu himself was an accomplished hacker or he had one in his employ. 

Their cause of death was still murky. They weren't even sure of what the men had been injected with to cause such a volatile reaction. Division 1 had hammered away at the case for months, but had hit an insurmountable wall. Though the case was no longer actively being investigated, Akane hadn't stopped digging for leads. She'd set up the case notes in her office. In what little spare time she possessed, she tried to follow up the few avenues of investigation they had not had the time to pursue. While she had yet to make headway, Akane had not given up. Now it seemed they were about to have another equally enigmatic case.

"We could try using facial recognition to pinpoint Nishikawa's movements. That might help us narrow down his last known whereabouts." Ginoza suggested, discarding his tie in concession to the heat.

Akane nodded. "It's likely he might have gone out of his way to avoid cameras, but it's a good place to start. Get the search parameters set up. You can hand it over to Hinakawa when he comes in." Akane replied, her eyes never leaving the murder board. An idea had begun to take root in her mind.

"What is it?" Ginoza asked cautiously. He recognized that look on her face. It was one of stubborn determination. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

Akane met Ginoza's  gaze. "I think we need to pay the Fujiwara residence a visit."

***

The sound of the cafe's door chime alerted Kogami to Nanami's arrival. She rushed through the entrance, breathless. Two large shopping bags hung from each arm. Her eyes scanned the cafe before she spotted him near the back. She waved a hand in acknowledgement and wove her way between the tables. 

"Thank you for meeting me. I'm sure you're very busy." Nanami flashed him an earnest smile as she settled in the chair he'd risen to pull out for her. Despite her cheerful demeanor, she was still nervous. He could see the anxiety in the flutter of her hands as she spoke. 

"It's no trouble at all. My next training session isn't until later this afternoon." Kogami assured her, hoping to settle some of her nerves. 

"Ah, yes. Akane mentioned that you've been training the new inspectors and enforcers. Has it been going well?" She asked, her fingers toying with the edges of a napkin.