TRIGGER: CH 5

Chapter 5

After over a week being kept out of action, finally he is able to return. He had been discharged a few days earlier after completing his treatment course and some examinations, but were made to stay at home until they deem him fit for duty. The traces of that day have more or less disappeared. His body no longer feels like it is threatening to crumble away in exhaustion. He's back at 100%.

Audible sounds of surprise can be heard the moment he step into the head quarter’s lobby. Colleagues from various departments surround him, asking for his wellbeing. Some voice out words of relief to his recovery, and some others congratulate him for his success.

The face his boss wears the minute Ryuga slams the door to his office open sure does makes it worth waiting.

 

 

The rest of the week is quite calm and uneventful. It wouldn't be a bad thing once in a while to have some peace in this line of job.

Or so he had thought.

The early morning serenity was broken by sudden, unpleasant news. Ryuga had just woken up when an urgent call from Rian came in.

"Ryuga, a case."

Judging by the tone of her voice, he can tell that it is something bad. Considering the types of crimes they're dealing with, their cases are always something worse than your common misconducts. However, some cases are beyond even that. This is one of those.

 

 

---

 

 

The crime scene was nothing too horrible or gruesome. It was relatively clean compared to some others that he had seen. That is, compared to the body that makes the center of attention in this place. The state of the body appears as if it has been attacked by a vicious animal, only instead of a beast it was done by a person. A fellow human. Calculated strikes, precise cuts, the usage of tools, weapons.

What makes it worse is that this is not the first body to be discovered in this fashion. There were previous ones; too similar it couldn't have been done by a different person. A case of serial killings with a very specific type of targets. Motive unknown. For months, they tried to track down the suspect with no success.

The apartment is blocked with tapes and signs, prohibiting outsiders namely civilians from venturing inside. The perimeter of the building is also similarly isolated. Curious onlookers are held at bay by the officers stationed outside the crime scene.

This particular case was originally not handled by his unit. However, the main division must've become unable to deal with it (unsurprising, they're amazingly bad at doing their job properly). From what Rian had tell him on their way here, they now have full authority over this case and the data collected from previous ones will be transferred to them later. With luck, they'd be able to clear this up without taking too much time.

Even so, what they are sent to investigate here is the scene itself. Any clues that could help reconstruct the process are highly valuable. As for the body, that's to be done by someone else.

"Please, over here."

Speak of the devil.

Ryuga turned around to meet the one who'd be responsible for the investigation of the body. He found himself a bit stunned when he instead comes face-to-face with a man in flowery shirt and red biker jacket.

"Hello, I am Dougai Ryuga, the current investigative officer appointed to this case. I believe this is the first time we meet, Dr..?"

"It's Kujou Kiriya. A pleasure to meet you too, officer."

The man's grip is surprisingly strong, and the air around him suggests something more than meets the eye. The easy, dimpled smile that accompanied his words clashes with the calculating look in his eyes. 'Such a..peculiar person.'

"I've been told that you were responsible for the previous cases as well. So, what do you think this time?"

"Hmm, well normally it'll be hard to comment based only on external observations. Hence, why autopsy is important. But this one's,..quite unmistakably similar to the previous ones. It's possible to say that they're all the work of one person. Though, of course that can only be confirmed after thorough analysis."

The examiner then proceeds to get started on his work, from looking around the crime scene to the area surrounding the body. While technically working on different parts of the case, both the police unit and hospital's forensics actively discuss and investigates together seamlessly. The dead body is later collected by the hospital's forensic team for autopsy.

 

 

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Work at the crime scene unexpectedly took quite long. They returned to the office late into the day after going through every corner of the place. Even so, they still need to go back there. Can’t afford to miss anything; something seemingly insignificant could be crucial. The site is closed off for the time being as long as the investigation runs.

It’s gradually getting darker outside, last rays of the sun disappearing at the horizon giving way to night fall. Sitting at his table, he rereads the rough notes taken earlier at the scene. Flicking back and forth between the pages, slowly working to link the pieces together. A sudden vibration of his phone on the table breaks his concentration. Checking it, he sees a message from an unknown sender. Feeling dread and suspicion building inside him, he opens the message. There was no introduction or anything pertaining to the origin and sender of the message, only a location and time.

 

< Club X, 2230 hrs three days from now >

 

Eyes flicking to the calendar set on his table. Such an abrupt and mysterious message, but Ryuga knows what it's really about.

"You are to return to me after you have recovered."

'Three days..Saturday eh? That's rather thoughtful of him.' 

 

 

 

It's time.