Chapter One Part Three
Sasuke half-parked the squad car half-on the grass and slammed his door shut after him. He noted with not much excitement - it died after maybe his third case in detective work - the flashing lights and sounds of the ambulance and the general hustle and bustle of the crime scene.
They were stopped from approaching by a stiff-looking policeman demanding to know who they were and what they were doing there. Coolly, Sakura flashed her badge and identified herself but the policeman didn’t appear satisfied until Sasuke showed his own badge and gave his name briefly. Sakura took the encounter remarkably well; it irritated her that none of the personnel seemed to believe a woman could be a detective, much less a pretty, young woman like her in police work at all. Or maybe she did nothing because she knew it would amount to nothing, it never did. In any case she was silent as Sasuke said, “We hear there’s been another murder. If you could show us the way...?”
“Oh, of course,” the still-nameless cop said politely and led the way. It was a typical street, roped off as a crime scene, and Sasuke noted the fact that he lived only twenty or so miles away. The cop led them into the alleyway, where several powerful lights had been installed to chase away the general darkness the alley harbored.
The body, surrounded by personnel, was stretched out in an awkward position, arms flung forward, her torso bent as though she’d tried to pull herself up into a fetal position but never quite made it. Sasuke and Sakura nudged their way into the crowd and gazed down at the young body. Her skirt had been yanked upward, exposing her, and her legs were spread apart in an unnatural manner.
“Female, aged 28,” a voice said behind them. “Identified as Kurio Yumato, cause of death blunt-force trauma to the head. The placement of the body is postmortem - there are several scratches on her wrists and elbows, perimortem, and a fracture on her left fibula, antimortem. We’ve already pulled her dental records.”
Sasuke turned and smiled warmly at the tall, white-haired man who’d addressed them. “Captain Kakashi,” he said. “Good to see you.”
His superior shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned. “Yup.”
“So-” Sakura, business-minded as always, quipped. “What’s up with the latest stiff, boss?”
“Well-” Captain Kakashi’s eyes strayed over their shoulders, to the image of the woman currently being closely photographed, “We think it’s the same guy who killed the last two victims. We’ve got a serial killer on our hands, guys.”
“Again, no sign of penetration or semen,” Sakura, reading from her notes, said. “I don’t think this is a man, guys.”
“Serial killers are men, Sakura,” Sasuke stated reflexively.
Sakura shrugged, giving room for debate. “I’m just saying that there’s rarely a murder without any sign of motive such as robbery, rape, or jealousy. And her purse wasn’t ransacked, so robbery isn’t a motive.”
“Just like the last ones,” Sasuke said cynically. “But this is no woman, Sakura. Penetration or not. Look at the way she was killed. The aperture on her head was caused by one hell of a strong guy.”
“Probably a bat or something heavy and metal,” Sakura conceded. “Time of death?”
“Rigor mortis has already set in,” Captain Kakashi answered, “So I’d place it no longer than twenty-four hours. She was killed sometime in the early morning hours this morning.”
Sasuke used this excuse to glance at his watch. It was almost midnight and he stifled a sigh. No sleep tonight, either.
“Any suspects?” Sakura asked, writing all of this down in her pad, the trademarks of a detective.
“We’re investigating the family and boyfriends, current and past, and so far we’ve come up with nothing.” Kakashi shrugged. “Good family life, loving boyfriend, great job. You know.”
“Drugs? Existing medical conditions?”
“Nope, not a drug user and healthy as a horse.”
“What about tattoos?” Sasuke said suddenly. The two conversing stopped to look at him. “Never mind,” he muttered. “Just a silly question. Go on.” Sakura and Kakashi exchanged glances, then began to talk again. Bored, Sasuke wandered back to the body. The initial bustle around it had died down and Sasuke was nearly alone as he looked down at the body. “Poor thing,” he muttered beneath his breath. Barely out of college age. Even though he’d been working as a detective for nearly five years and this certainly wasn’t his first body he’d never really gotten over the feeling of - he would almost call it guilt - and wondered why humans did this to each other. Killed each other, especially the innocent young ones.
“Don’t be getting sentimental, now,” Sakura chuckled, putting on her gloves. Her young, pretty appearance belied one of Tokyo’s brightest forensic minds. Sasuke had only known a precious few with minds as keen as Sakura’s.
“I’m not,” he replied, putting on a slightly insulted face as he looked at her. “What am I, a greenhorn?”
“You might as well be, standing there and gawking. Come on; help me.” She’d bent over and was now examining the body and the areas surrounding closely. “Look at this,” she
murmured, waving her hand over the area but careful not to touch or contaminate it. “The whole temporal and sphenoid areas have been caved it. Something that did this was either mechanized or someone with the body of a bodybuilder did this. And they were pretty angry, too.”
“This almost looks like bare hands,” Sasuke murmured, and ignored the look Sakura shot at him. “Signs of strangulation?”
“None. The hyoid bone is unbroken.” Sakura used her pen to point closely at the head. “Look. No paint specks or anything on the wound, so it’s probably unpainted metal or something like that.”
Sasuke was nodding. “Looks like he came up from behind,” he said, “She realized he was there, tried running, and got it right on the head.”
“Hmm....” Sakura said. “It’s on the side. I think he caught up with her, she turned slightly or was turned and she saw it coming.” Her eyes, out of courtesy, had been closed but the muscles on her face were frozen, though the rigor mortis was beginning to fade away so the body was once again flexible, into a grimace of pure terror.
Sasuke sighed and shook his head. “I’m not liking the looks of this, Sakura.”
“Tell me about it.” If there was indeed a serial killer on their hands, it was a race against time - and he would inevitably strike again.
[Reviews - 66]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: I don't own Naruto, but I own this story. Enjoy and review! Arigato, SBP