Just My Job (Shuichi Saihara x Reader)

Chapter 8

(???'s POV)

"Remember what I said if you disobey me?" he growled, pointing the gun to my head.

"I-I don't care! I'm not s-stripping!!" I shouted, backing away from him.

"Oh, you stupid girl... Goodbye, Kaede. Too bad your boyfriend detective won't go looking for your killer."

(Shuichi's POV)

"Shuichi! There's been a third murder all the way across town!" Shaun barked, literally throwing the case file at me, "You better not've pulled some cliché 'detective is actually the killer' because I'll kill you myself!"

"Wh-what the hell?!" I stood in confusion, holding the case file. I didn't know why Shaun seemed so agitated, but I just sighed and went to my office with the case file. Opening it, I began reading.

Victim: Kaede Akamatsu

"Wait, what?!" I shouted, standing up with a start. But there was no mistaking it, Kaede was the victim. All I could do was stare at the file with complete numbness before I literally shook myself like a dog, forcing myself to throw my emotions aside and focus on the case.

Kaede Akamatsu, age 30.
Killed at her piano concert in the dressing room. The wound is a bullet straight through the temple, the autopsy says it was an instant death while she was facing her killer. There's many signs of a struggle and blood was found under her nails that doesn't belong to her. Matching DNA found in the room and suspected to be the killer's, but the DNA is not in the system so the killer can't have a passport and can't be government-employed, nor can they have a criminal record.
Time of death estimated to be around 7:30 to 8:00 PM.

I was surprised at how thorough the report seemed, and yet the killer just wasn't revealed. I looked at the pictures of the scene, feeling bad for Kaede. The room was littered with drops of blood and there were broken glasses, probably thrown in a struggle. There were more things on the ground and I finished looking at the pictures, then went to the scene myself.

An outline of Kaede's body was all that remained, but that was enough for me to notice... there were broken glass shards by her body outline, but none actually under her body. Which meant that the glass was a diversion to make us think there was a struggle...

"Notice something, Shuichi?" Lestrade asked.

"There's no glass where Kaede's body was. So I don't think there was a struggle like the file says..." I explained.

"Ohh, you're right! They probably did that to make us think the murder took more time than it did! Which means the file might be wrong about the time of death too..." Lestrade sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, Shaun wrote the file thinking that if there was a struggle it probably took at least 30 minutes until death, and since her concert ended at 7:00 it was listed as 7:30. The place closes at 8:00 and shortly after that her body was discovered by the janitor," Lestrade explained.

"Hmmm..." I thought for a second, "I'd like to talk to the staff."

"Be my guest," Lestrade shrugged.

I walked over to the staff room, where some of the staff members were. I easily recognized the janitor because he was using a mop (and he had quite a few cuts and scrapes) and talked to him first. I asked him questions about Kaede's death, and he said that he didn't hear anything from her room and just went to go clean her dressing room since it's protocol. So why would he go there first...? If her body was discovered shortly after eight that means he went there first or second...

"Do you have a routine for what rooms you clean?" I asked.

"Of course I do! I go from messiest to cleanest, save the best for last. So first is always the auditorium, and then the lobby... then I can get to dressing rooms and then the staff areas," the janitor huffed.

I thanked him and went back to Lestrade, telling him about my theory.

"Sorry dudes, he's got an alibi thingy," Shaun walked in, yawning, "It just so happens that I'm friends with Roger and sometimes when the place closes I'll stay and chat like I did last night."

"Hey, what time exactly was the call made...?" I asked.

"Exactly 8:15. Why?" Shaun raised a brow.

"If it was the janitor then how the hell does he clean an entire auditorium and a lobby in fifteen minutes to have time to discover Kaede's body?!" I demanded.

Shaun sighed, "Shuichi, I think you're focusing on the wrong part. Instead of trying to blame someone for a small contradiction, why not try to find something actually important?"

"That son of a bitch..." Lestrade growled under his breath, "Shaun's story is super fishy, I think he's lying. Some of his blood was found in here and he said it was cuz he got scared when he saw Kaede's body, bit his nails and they bled."

"So he admits he was here... so there's his blood and unmarked blood but if I say there's no struggle, then the only thing I can think of is that there was a fight, and Shaun won. But why would there be blood under Kaede's nails...?" I thought out loud, "Oh! Maybe Kaede scratched her killer and that's when she got shot!"

"So Kaede dies, and then you're saying the janitor and Shaun fight? Why?" Lestrade asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out... Lestrade, can you follow the janitor secretly? I'll follow Shaun," I bit my lip.

"Of course! But be super careful following Shaun, he'll spot you easy!" Lestrade warned.

"I know," I nodded, and we pretended to keep investigating until it was time to go home. Lestrade went off to follow the janitor and I followed Shaun, the task being much easier said than done.

However, when he made 3 right turns I knew he'd spotted my car so I quickly pulled into a nearby parking lot. He finally took a left turn and I let him get some distance before following again, this time being sure to stay a good enough distance away. He started driving into the mountains and I parked near the entrance, following on foot because it was too noisy in my car.

It was getting dark but I didn't let myself use a flashlight, knowing it'd give away my position as I kept following Shaun. Eventually he stopped by a creek and I watched from behind a tree as he crept up to the creek, and then he spoke.

"I know you're here, Shuichi. Honestly I must congratulate your drive to find the truth. However, I'm afraid you've made a grave mistake..." Shaun sighed, "You could've just simply trusted my word and it'd save you and me the trouble."

~~~
Word count: 1163

Decided to spoil y'alls with a second chapter today