Driving through the quiet road with his vehicle as Misa sat at his ride, giving him directions about their destination with ease while the three in the back passenger seats were sitting comfortably through this ride except the pink maid in the middle, whose crossed arms and disappointed frown on her face indicated otherwise, especially when her beloved should pay more attention to the likes of Yumi.
They were calmly traversing across the roads, the night still young enough for them to keep their heads cool despite dealing with crime scenes every random day and night. Eventually, the five reached the suburbs, where Sebastian and Koyoshi looked out their respective windows, eyeing their surroundings and noting how peaceful this neighborhood is compared to the rest of Tokyo.
"Park over there," the detective instructed Carter, who nodded his head, proceeding to park on the nearby curb of one house's driveway. "We're here," he declared as everyone got off of the black sedan, stepping foot on solid pavement before closing the doors behind them.
As they exited the vehicle, Misa Namioka then directed his focus towards the not-so-far away location where multiple police officers, medics, and detectives alike are seemingly entering an urban area district with terraced buildings containing different forms of services.
Police vehicles and ambulances alike are also parked outside of that peculiar area, surrounded by many police officers that are investigating the recent murder case connected to Sato Makotori and his accomplice. "This way," the transvestite gestured to them as they followed behind him.
In less than a couple of minutes, they entered the urban area where a pack of curious civilians was standing outside of the secluded alleyway where the crime had taken place. Officers stood surrounding the entrance to prevent anyone from interfering in the crime scene by accidentally disturbing evidence or clues related to the victim or the culprits responsible for the murders themselves.
Naturally, the five walked up to the scene without much trouble, pushing themselves through the crowd until reaching the policemen, who immediately recognized their presence in the vicinity and said, "This is private—" One of them froze from the fight of their commissioner, "sir!" Saluting promptly out of reflex before clearing his throat awkwardly afterward.
"Your friends, commissioner?" The blue-uniform cop inquired, not wanting to make the wrong judgment after encountering such an authority figure in front of himself, "Are they with you on official business or merely witnesses?" He added with the same apprehensiveness shown on his features.
Without responding verbally, Carter gave an affirmative nod, saying, "Yes, they are working under me in the matter regarding this case connected to Sato Makotori," answering clearly while addressing each person present within earshot, "Anyways, allow us to take a good look at the bodies in question for ourselves, understand?" He continued on with no hesitation whatsoever, leaving no room for objections unless proven necessary.
Understanding what their superior meant by saying those words, the officer complied by stepping aside alongside his fellow officers, allowing them inside unobstructed access into a narrow alleyway leading directly into an enclosed area where a woman's body was resting on the corner of the wall.
Several forensics experts, detectives, and medics are currently working within the vicinity, examining blood stains on the walls, floor, or anything else connected to their corpse. Some took pictures of certain things found nearby where she lay lifelessly, while others gathered samples of anything that might help in solving this mystery.
As the group watched this chaotic scene unfold before their eyes, Misa stepped forward and said, "Let's start the investigation already; I want to know who killed this woman and why she is dead." Turning his gaze to the commissioner, he said, "Why don't you begin by checking her body?" stating without delay as he glanced over at the mangled remains belonging to a female.
"Sure," Carter shrugged, strolling leisurely over towards the corpse, "was she identified yet or not?" He questioned the other two forensics workers working diligently within this confinement, "because if so, then who exactly is she?" He looked back at them.
One of the two forensic men kneeling near the said corpse, wearing a white biohazard suit like the rest of his colleagues, spoke in response: "Her name is Ayaka Sakagami, a graduate in the arts with both a master of fine arts and a doctorate degree in business management," he said as he examined her dead facial expression. "Poor girl had life ahead of her," he commented sadly under his breath.
Kneeling beside him, Carter took full analysis and a view of the woman's body as he squinted his eyes with extreme focus. It was a young woman in her late twenties with black hair, shirtless, a torn skirt, and missing feet.
Her exposed breasts and arms contained large chunks of flesh that had been bit off, including an abdomen that had been partially devoured, which indicated to some extent the cannibalistic behavior performed by the perpetrator. Her eyes were missing as always, leaving behind empty sockets that resembled the void itself, with blood trickling down her cheekbones.
On top of all those horrendous details displayed, Carter noticed something unusual about her: "Do any of you have gloves I can use for the moment?" He asked calmly, receiving two pairs handed to him with courtesy by the forensic who spoke with him.
Putting the blue gloves on, he began to first touch her head, especially the head and scalp, his fingers brushing against the skull's hardness until it stopped abruptly once reaching a certain point. "Wound?" Quietly murmuring under his breath.
Getting a little closer to the body, he moved the head to the side of where he felt a mushy part on her head; using his hands carefully, Carter turned her entire head facing to the right, resulting in the two after mentioned forensics widening their eyes underneath their masks.
"It's an inflicted injury," the forensic who spoke with him earlier said in surprise, "there is a wound located on the right temple that looks like someone hit her repeatedly with a blunt object," commenting with fascination displayed throughout his entire body language.
"No," shaking his head in disapproval, "she was only hit once, it seems," correcting his mistake while leaning in further to examine it, "meaning whoever or whatever managed to strike at a precise point of impact that instantly brought her into unconsciousness upon contact," deducing everything with careful observation, "obviously blunt force trauma, likely having used a hammer to smack her just to knock Ayaka out, temporarily."
Carter placed the head gently back in his place, saying, "This gives me a possible hypothesis," standing up to meet their gazes. "The boy never seems to be the type of person to go that far," having met him in person before, a person with severe agony, and the way he spoke with him details something important.
Sato was the one acting as an accomplice, meaning he was being ordered around or at least manipulated to follow his friend's demands. Then, the question remains: Who was manipulating him in the first place? And what would make them manipulate a mentally ill individual like Sato into helping him commit atrocities like this in the first place?
Friend? No, that isn't likely, as a ordinary Joe wouldn't go so far as to commit something like this just to throw away their life. Sibling? Cousin perhaps? unlikely, as he killed his entire family just to serve whoever was pulling strings on him.
Love can make others do crazy things; that's a given; but this level of murder and mutilation? Absolutely possible, as Yumi is an example. Then this concludes his theory: Sato has devoted his entire life to his partner in crime, basically giving his life over to the mysterious individual like some sort of pawn to carry out his partner's will.
"Um, commissioner? What are you talking about?" One of the forensics officers asked in confusion, raising his eyebrow inquisitively underneath his mask, "You knew Sato Makotori? The kid responsible for these heinous crimes?" Saying such words rather astonished the two, as they had never assumed to have met him before.
Bringing his attention back to them, he nodded affirmatively with a serious look. " I met him at the bus stop not a while ago," he told them, recalling those exact same words uttered by the young boy himself, "but enough for me to realize he's the one being someone's accomplice."
"What?!" The white hazard suit man stood up and turned to face him, saying, " He's not the only one doing these murders?" Surprise and bewilderment filled his tone as his mind began racing with all sorts of possibilities: "Who in earth would it be then?" Asking curiously before blinking a few times due to the sudden realization striking him.
Carter released a breath of sigh as he closed his eyes for a couple seconds. "The question isn't, who, but rather, what," emphasizing the last word of his sentence, "how long has the body remained in this location?" He said, opening his eyes and gazing upon the man standing, "And did she die recently?"
"She died very recently," the forensic expert confirmed, nodding his head, "right now, based on the estimated time of death, this woman was killed around midnight, approximately less than a minute before someone caught the body lying around," informing him of the information.
Pondering briefly, he tilted his head, saying, "Either we are dealing with posthumans or, in the worst case, something that isn't human," gazing at the inhumane bite marks that look like she was attacked by a wild animal, "those chunks of flesh being torn off are seemingly impossible by humans," adding while thinking back at what he had done during his time as a detective in his past life.
Looking deeper in the messy torn off flesh around her body, parts of the bones were also gone; a human's mouth is incapable of biting an bone with one go," she elaborated while pointing at her various injuries; teeth are also not sharp enough to tear through skin, muscles, and blood vessels like they did," and then pointed at her breasts: "those marks on her chest indicate whatever munched on her breasts, even eating them in fact."
Carter couldn't tell what was used in order to create these markings, whether it was sharp blades, pliers, or some sort of animal bite mark. The bite mark doesn't even look like something an animal could do since it's too big for a normal dog or even cat. In other words, the teeth appear far too large to belong to a normal predator found within Japan itself.
Especially since they are living inside the metropolis and animals are extremely rare around these parts, Carter then quickly concluded, "which means whatever killed this woman, it's far more dangerous than what meets the eye," explaining to the two before him, "make sure to bring all the clues, evidence, and what not to Koyoshi," he said before turning, "he will give me the details after the whole conclusion has been wrapped up."
After finishing what needed to be said, he moved to where Yumi stood, remaining in her spot as her pink eyes were glued to him the entire time while his acquaintances were busy speaking with the rest of the men. "I'm done now," Carter said, announcing himself in order for her to notice his confirmation.
It was kind of creepy, ominous, and terrifying to see her like this after having his eyes meet hers, reminiscing about his childhood friend like some sort of obsessed stalker who constantly watches his every single movement no matter the circumstances.
Part of him wants to believe she's just overprotective, but he knows deep down that this is her true nature, a side of Yumi that he doesn't enjoy all because of the possibility that she may accidentally lose control and snap anytime soon without even realizing it until it's too late. Nudging her shoulder slightly, "are you ready to get going?"
Her eyes and silence followed him until the moment he broke whatever spell she was in by the touch of his elbow. Yumi's cold expression swiftly returned to her bubbly and mirthful smile as she replied cheerfully, "Were going home already!?" Cheerily smiling at him with excitement brimming throughout her visage.
Receiving another affirmative nod, Yumi's demeanor changed from that of a happy-go-lucky person who didn't know a thing about what just happened into someone who's ready for action at any given second. "Yay!" Quickly, she wrapped her arms around his once again, causing him to sigh at this action.
Within the mist of the crowd was no other than Sato and Nomi themselves, staring menacingly at the new guests present before their very eyes, having sneaked through this scene to see what would unfold, and just by the sight of a billionaire philanthropist and commissioner being now present in this gathering, the chances of failure are less likely to become inevitable.
