Chapter Text
I decide to step forward toward this guy, who was currently in not the best mood. Without any sudden movements, I slowly approached him, carefully lowered myself to my knees, barely touching the ground. I positioned myself so that our eyes were at the same level.
I looked sympathetically at the young man, who was clearly a bit younger than me, though perhaps we were the same age?
In any case, after taking a deep breath and looking one last time at the face of the lifeless body, I turned my gaze to the boy who still wouldn't stop crying, but it was clear that his grip had noticeably weakened—he was no longer holding the body so tightly against himself.
Gathering my strength, I was about to say words of sympathy, when suddenly the guy himself, through his sobs, quietly said:
"She... I... could... I should have protected her. I could have... prevented this..." He looked sadly at me, clearly seeing the sympathy in my eyes, clearly expecting me to say something.
"I'm so sorry..." I said sympathetically.
However, then he turned his gaze back to the lifeless body and brought her hand to his cheek, gently stroking the pale skin with his thumb.
"Who was this girl... to you?" I asked in a sad tone.
"She... she was my love... I loved her." Tears streamed down his cheeks again, and quiet sobs were heard. He couldn't take his eyes off the pale face. The eyes of this lifeless body were closed. But I think he wished they would open and look at him again.
I pursed my lips, turning my gaze back to the dead body. Understanding that I needed to get him to let go of the lifeless body, and preferably take him to the station for questioning.
But to do it in a way that was less traumatic for him, more gently. He needed to let go of the body on his own...
"What is your... name?" I asked a little louder, but there was uncertainty in my tone. I was trying to be careful with my words, but was I really that good at it?
The guy turned his head toward me again and said quietly:
"My name is... Kyo."
I faltered slightly when I heard his name. It seemed to me that I had heard it somewhere before, or maybe I just hadn't expected him to be so responsive.
"Alright... Mr. Kyo, I understand you're in pain, and I'm sorry for your loss, but..." I said uncertainly, trying to speak as softly as possible. I couldn't meet his gaze, couldn't find the confidence in myself. But at the last words, I finally looked up, constantly shifting my gaze from the corpse to the guy.
I couldn't focus on one thing—my gaze kept darting around, but in the end I still found the strength to look Kyo in the eyes.
"You should let her go..." I asked with the same sympathy. He lowered his eyes with a sad expression, then looked again at the pale face of his beloved.
I felt sorry for him. At some point, I too lowered my gaze to the body. An unpleasant feeling of injustice ran through my whole body. With suddenly appearing confidence, I said:
"I promise, we will find out what happened to her." I said this firmly. This time my gaze didn't wander anywhere. I confidently raised my eyes to the guy, whose attention was caught by my words. He looked at me in surprise, and in his eyes I seemed to see a tiny spark... of hope.
"But for that, we need your help." He immediately wanted to say something, clearly understanding my hint, but then, running his eyes over the deceased body once more, he sighed heavily.
"Alright..." he whispered hoarsely, and although there was pain in his eyes, he let go of the lifeless body, carefully laying it back on the ground and brushing the hair from her forehead. Then he tried to wipe the tears from his face.
He looked at me more calmly, but still with sadness in his eyes. The police officers helped him to his feet, and he obediently went with them.
I told them to take him to the police station for questioning. I myself planned to arrive a little later to personally interrogate him.
I watched Kyo with my gaze. He walked to the car with his head down, but before getting in, he turned around and looked in my direction.
I couldn't make out his expression from a distance, but I think... he wanted me to keep my promise.
I tried to smile at him, but he probably couldn't see it, since he was already getting into the police car, and the officer closed the door behind him. Soon the car pulled away and left the scene.
I sighed heavily. Before I could collect myself, I felt someone's hand land on my shoulder, and behind me I heard a satisfied voice.
"Well done, Toto! I didn't expect him to calm down and even agree to questioning on his own after something like that." Turning my head toward the voice, I saw a smiling Ron. A slight smile appeared on my lips.
"Well... I tried to choose the right words," I said, slightly embarrassed, not often hearing praise from anyone.
"And you succeeded, but now..." Ron turned his head somewhere into the distance, smiling even wider.
"Things are only getting more interesting," he said somewhat mysteriously, finishing his thought.
"— Hm?" I glanced in confusion toward where Ron was looking, trying to see what he was staring at. Ron was looking toward the police cars, beyond the crime scene, as if expecting something.
"And now what?" I asked in bewilderment, turning my head toward Ron.
"And now what? We go to the interrogation, of course!" Ron looked at me with obvious enthusiasm. His smile grew even wider when he saw the surprise on my face.
"Wait, but what about..." I wanted to finish, not understanding.
"Toto, we have a suspect. We can leave right now."
"That is... you've already found out everything you wanted?" I said, somewhat shocked, turning my head toward the corpse. So quickly?
"Though... this is Ron. Isn't he the one who solved a case in ten seconds when we'd been struggling with it for ten months? Of course it's him, just like in our first case."
I smirked, not understanding why I was even surprised.
"Alright, let's go to the interrogation," I said with a slight smile on my face, turning my head toward Ron and looking at him.
So, I entered the spacious interrogation room. The most ordinary one—with a table and two chairs. Despite the fact that he's a witness, not a suspect, I'd have to interrogate him as if he were a suspect.
So, to tell the truth, we were hasty in calling him a suspect. We don't have any evidence that it was him.
He's a witness—not one who saw how the death occurred, but simply a person who knew the victim.
Before sitting down at the table, I looked at the person I needed to interrogate, the one to whom I had promised that Ron and I would solve this case, like all the others. His hands lay on the table and were clenched tightly. It seemed they were still trembling.
Apparently, he still couldn't come to terms with the realization that the person he loved was gone. And I would have to question him about it. It was extremely difficult, but... it had to be done.
There was a bottle of water on the table, but it was closed. I didn't think he'd use it during the interrogation, although... when you're nervous and experiencing that kind of stress, your throat can certainly get dry.
Sighing heavily, I sat down at the table, not knowing where to start. My hands involuntarily itched, so I clasped my fingers together, pressing my palms against each other from nervousness.
I involuntarily turned my head toward the mirror in the room. I could see my reflection in it, but I knew that behind that mirror was another room from which we were being observed.
Ron was there too. He was allowed in on the condition that he wouldn't interfere or touch anything, as he usually likes to do.
I turned my head slightly tiredly toward my "interlocutor."
"Time to start the interrogation," involuntarily crossed my mind, and along with that thought came another.
Two hours had passed since the start of the interrogation. By that time, I was pretty worn out, despite the fact that all I'd been doing was talking, asking questions, and trying to find the right approach to the person sitting across from me.
Name: Kyo Brax
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 22/09/XXXX
And other personal information needed for the protocol. His profession, if it can even be called that—musician, singer, and guitarist.
He has his own band, though not particularly well-known yet. Most often, he and his group have to perform in some clubs or at parties.
From the conversation with him, I learned that Azumi—that was the name of the deceased girl whose body we found under the bridge.
According to his story:
On the last day he saw her, nothing unusual happened. They didn't argue, neither of them had any conflicts.
It was an ordinary day when he and his band were performing in some club. When the performance ended, he went to his girlfriend, Azumi.
Kyo was tired. It was night outside. He couldn't walk his girlfriend home and offered her to stay with him, spend the night at their studio. But she refused, citing that she wouldn't be able to sleep in a place unfamiliar to her, where music was constantly playing.
To put it briefly, their studio was located almost in the center of a district with many clubs, and at night it was never quiet there, because from these clubs you could constantly hear the shouts and howls of drunk people. All of this would only quiet down by morning.
In the end, they both agreed that Azumi would either text him or come to their studio the next day. During the daytime, parties weren't held in the clubs.
However, after that, she seemed to have vanished into thin air. The next day, she never came to the studio and didn't leave a single message. Nothing at all.
Three days had passed since that night, counting today, when the body was found.
Kyo tried to find her. He came to her house, knocked on the door, but she wouldn't open it for him.
He called her, asked around some of her acquaintances. They also didn't know where she had disappeared to, and, as it seemed to him, they didn't care either.
When he told me about this, he literally cursed himself for letting her walk alone at night through the not-so-safe streets to get home.
Kyo was beside himself because this was completely unlike Azumi. They truly loved each other, and she couldn't just disappear without saying a word.
Although... his bandmates thought otherwise.
But he refused to believe it until today, when he was aimlessly walking the streets and found himself not far from the bridge where the crime scene was located, and saw a body lying in the distance from afar.
It wasn't covered with cloth, and even from a distance he could tell it was her. Ignoring the police officers standing in his way, he immediately rushed to her.
And this happened only because Ron, for once, had removed the cloth from the body, exposing the lifeless body to public view. I wonder, if he hadn't done that, when Kyo was passing by, would he have ended up here, at the interrogation, with me?
I let the guy go home. During those two hours of interrogation, I learned everything I could extract from him.
I sat at my desk, and my brain refused to work. Covering my face with my hands for a moment, I lowered my head to give myself a short break.
I felt sorry for the guy and his girlfriend. And besides, this interrogation had worn me out considerably. I couldn't think clearly or focus on anything. Taking a deep breath, I removed my hands from my face, placed them on the table, and tiredly half-opened my eyelids.
I flinched sharply, feeling a hand on my shoulder, which was immediately withdrawn. Turning my head, I looked at the person who had disturbed me.
"Are you tired?" Ron wasn't smiling. He was looking down at me, and there were notes of concern in his voice.
My lips twitched and formed into a slight, tired smile. I looked at him.
"Yeah... a little, but I'm fine," I said, standing up from the chair. With the same tired smile, I turned my head toward him.
"So... where are we going now?" I asked, trying to sound cheerful. I knew there was nothing left for us to do at the police station, and the day wasn't over yet, so the question of where we'd head next remained open.
"Well, if you still have the strength, we could go and have a chat with our witness's band. His bandmates also knew this girl. They might give us more clues."
He spoke the first words in the same tone that carried concern, but on the last words he smiled slyly, like a fox, trying to add mystery to his voice.
I looked at him in bewilderment.
"Wait, but how will we find his band? We don't even know where their studio is."
That was true. Despite the fact that I tried not to put too much pressure on the person, I didn't ask him where exactly their studio was, nor where I could find his band. Now I regretted not doing that while I had the chance.
In response, Ron smiled broadly, as if he'd been waiting for this question.
"Just follow me, Toto. In certain circles, they should know the band we're looking for," he said, still smiling.
I didn't ask any questions and simply followed him. Let's see where Ron would lead me this time.
Ron meant that in these very clubs, there should be people who know the band we're looking for.** Perhaps they could tell us something that would help the investigation.
After more than an hour of walking through rough neighborhoods, past bars, clubs, and dilapidated houses, Ron suddenly stopped near one of the buildings.
By its appearance, you could tell it was many years old. The walls were covered with various graffiti, and inside was a club that was currently closed.
"So... we're here," Ron said thoughtfully, breaking the silence.
"And where do you suggest we look for them?" I asked, looking around. But all I saw were people with indifferent faces, busy with their own affairs.
"Why, there they are, Toto. Look." Ron pointed somewhere indifferently. I turned my head to where he was pointing. Next to this building was an alley, from which three people emerged.
Two of them had large black instrument cases on their backs. Judging by the look of them—guitars.
"Wait, what makes you think it's them?.." Before I could finish, Ron confidently walked toward them and called out, drawing their attention.
"Hey!" he shouted and hurried to close the distance between himself and this group of people. I hurried after Ron. I was afraid he might do something reckless. As a genius, he was unpredictable.
"What? Who are you?" asked one of them, who had an instrument slung over his back.
I sighed heavily and pulled out my investigator's ID to show them.
"Hello, I'm Investigator Totomaru Isshiki. Do you know a person named Kyo Brax?" I said automatically, trying to speak in an indifferent tone.
All three of them clearly became wary after my words.
"Well, yeah, we know him... And what happened?" Asked one of them, but I didn't want to answer his question. Ron, for some reason, remained silent, giving me the opportunity to talk to them.
"I'll answer your questions after you answer mine. Do you work with him? In the sense... as a musical group?" They nervously exchanged glances among themselves, but one of them still deigned to answer.
"Well, yeah..." said the guy with light hair, dressed in a black hoodie, uncertainly.
"Good..." I sighed heavily, hearing a quiet chuckle from Ron's direction.
Looking slightly irritated to the side, I realized that Ron had once again been right—this really was his band.
"Did you know this girl? Her name was Azumi Harend." I took a photo of the girl found today under the bridge from my pocket. More precisely, a photo in which she was still alive. An ordinary ID photo. I wasn't in a hurry to tell them that she was no longer alive.
When I showed the photo to these three, only one of them looked at the picture in bewilderment, while the other two widened their eyes in surprise the moment they saw it.
I clearly noticed how the eyes of these two darted around.
They exchanged glances with each other, as if they knew something. It looked extremely suspicious.
The one who looked at the photo with bewilderment and seemed to be the youngest of the three replied:
"Yes, she was Kyo's girlfriend," said the young man.
"'Was'?" I asked in bewilderment.
"Well... no one's heard from her for a few days now. I thought she and Kyo had broken up," he said, slightly confused, scratching the back of his head.
I was about to ask something else when he added:
"The last time I saw her was three days ago. After that, we didn't do a single concert because Kyo just couldn't calm down with..." He was about to continue when the light-haired guy immediately put his hand on his shoulder and looked at him nervously.
"Oh, sorry. Sota's a bit of a blabbermouth, sorry... but..." said the light-haired guy, naming the young man.
However, he was interrupted by the other guy, who also looked nervous, although he tried to maintain a serious expression as he looked at us—Ron and me.
"We need to go. We're late," the black-haired guy said gloomily, trying to hide his agitation. He even resembled Ron a little, except he had a much shorter haircut, and I could see his eyes, unlike Ron's.
Without waiting for my response, they hurried away from us, urging on the young man, who seemed to have no idea why his friends were acting that way.
Soon their retreating silhouettes could be seen in the distance, and then they completely disappeared from my field of vision.
I heard Ron chuckle again behind me and turned my head toward him, looking at him in bewilderment.
"Did you notice how those two got agitated as soon as they saw the photo?"
"Yeah... That's strange," I agreed.
"They clearly know something and don't want to talk about it," Ron said thoughtfully, turning to face me.
I looked at the sky. The sun had almost disappeared below the horizon. Soon evening would come, and after it, night.
The sky was dark blue, almost black, allowing barely visible stars to be seen. But the brightest of all was the crescent moon.
A light breeze made me shiver slightly from the cold, but I barely noticed it because of my fatigue.
I was sure that as soon as I got home, I'd immediately fall into the arms of Morpheus and not wake up until morning. But I still had to get home, and my home...
"Hey, Toto, what are you thinking about?" Ron's voice broke into my stream of thoughts.
I turned to him and looked at him with a tired gaze.
"Yeah... I'm just tired. Thinking about how to get home as soon as possible," I admitted honestly, inhaling the fresh air.
Ron and I walked along the quiet street. Ron's house was already close, but I still had a long way to go to get to mine.
After a short silence, Ron said:
"If you want, you can stay the night at my place," he suggested completely calmly.
His words even made me stop. Ron stopped as well.
I looked at him in surprise, processing what I'd heard. After a short pause, I smirked at such concern.
"No, Ron, really, it's not necessary... I..." I wanted to say, but I was interrupted.
"I'm serious. I can see you're tired, Toto. And I wouldn't mind your company," Ron said firmly, looking at me.
I widened my eyes slightly in surprise and looked at him thoughtfully.
I didn't want to cause Ron any unnecessary trouble, but on the other hand, the fatigue throughout my body was already making itself known.