Silent, Silver and Deadly: Ellie

14. The Daily Life of a Human Lie Detector

Silver's time estimate was wrong. Very wrong.

It wasn't until the next morning that Aizawa heard.

Instead of the three-to-five days Silver had predicted, it had taken barely two for her old team to complete their job. Nezu and Aizawa were furious that it had taken almost eight hours for them to be made aware of the disappearance of their charge from the cells in an allegedly secure police station. Nezu in particular was enraged, especially since it was Tsukauchi who had given them the message— telling them he wasn't supposed to say a thing yet. Nezu was going to sue them for sure.

Unfortunately, the disappearance (suspected to have been assisted by a few other teens and an adult couple) had pushed the idea of Silver's guilt. Now, she was charged with the murder of one, the suspected murder of thirty, resisting arrest and escaping custody. It wasn't a good place to be in. Even if she was rescued or managed to escape, and that was only if she wasn't dead already, she was going to end up in prison at the very least and that was why— even with Silver gone— Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, in his classic coat and hat, was still working the case.

As Silver had suggested, he had just walked up to the house of the first family. He knew to be gentle with them, this family had lost a father a little over a two months ago, they could very well still be mourning.

He knocked on the door and pulled his fedora into his hands as he waited. A thin woman with a bright smile greeted him a few moments later, she had flowing golden hair and startling blue eyes and was dressed as if about to go to an important meeting.

"My apologies for disturbing you this early, I'm Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa and I'd like to ask some questions if that's alright." He showed the woman his badge to allay any fears and she seemed happy enough to let him in, although, there was some nervousness in her as she wrung her pale hands together.

The detective looked curiously around the house, seeing the pictures of this woman along with some of a teenage daughter who was the spitting image of her mother. There was a slightly younger boy too with much darker hair and in each of the photos, the three of them smiled brightly.

The house itself was modern and well-furnished, the back wall made purely of glass to show the view of a luscious green garden filled with colourful flowers and blossoms. The glass also allowed natural light into the house, giving the white of the tiles a soft glow. A comfortable sofa lay opposite a large TV screen where the girl from the photos sat, happily chomping on cereal in her pyjamas— probably getting ready for a school day.

The woman took a quick look at the watch on her wrist before turning back to the detective, "Would you like some tea?" she asked. "Or coffee?"

He noted the slight shake in the woman's voice as she spoke. "Tea, if you don't mind."

"Please, take a seat," she offered, gesturing to a kitchen surface across from the living room area where four stools were laid out. He sat as told while the woman went about getting mugs and teabags ready. "What would you like to ask about?" the woman questioned, digging in a cupboard for some sugar.

"It's about your husband, Fujii Daiju."

She froze for barely a second, a response Tsukauchi expected. But in the background, he also heard the TV volume go down; the daughter was listening. Perhaps the teen was just curious, or maybe it was something else. The woman quickly returned to making the tea. "W-what about him?" she stuttered, unconsciously rubbing her bare arms.

"I was wondering what you knew about his killer?"

Her eyes widened slightly and she swallowed. "H-his killer? Um-" She paused to think. "Not much I'm afraid, wasn't it supposed to be that uh... Silver, Silent and um..."