7th Ward
[Oshiage, Sumida: Apartments]
Collaboration with @Akashi
Moving past the police car, Taiki ducked under the yellow caution tape and made his way to the two officers at the front. Giving a small wave and showing his badge he introduced himself,
"Kobayashi Taiki, Rank 1 Investigator." he said with a smile,
"We were sent by the CCG to inspect the scene, mind leading us?" Taiki said as he motioned back to Akina.
"Inspector Sugiura, nice to make your acquaintance Investigator. Although the circumstances could be better." the Inspector said with a slight bow of his head. Watching as the female investigator arrived, he turned around and opened the door to the building.
"The scene is on the second floor, but there's blood splatter and evidence throughout the halls. So do watch your step." he said as he made his way inside. "So we think that the Ghoul that did this, came in through the window of the room 27B... It attacked the occupants and made it's way into the halls." he said motioning to a large blood stain on the floor, "It came out here and killed the land lady who heard the commotion in the room, liely she came to check.... Terrible stuff really." He stopped at a door pushed out from the inside, clearly separated from the top hinges. "The Ghoul didn't even undo the latches when it came out of the room, just burst right through the door."
Switching on his torch and shining the beam into the room he continued, "This is 27B, everything's a mess in there, so watch yourself. I need to get back to my partner outside, can't have a lone officer at the scene of a Ghoul attack. Never know who might show up." he said as he stowed his torch and started back down the hall.
As the Inspector started walking away Taiki gave a quick
"Thank you" and motioned for Akina to be the first in,
"This was always your area of expertise-" he paused,
"Or at least... That's what your file said." he chimed with a smirk apparent on his face.
Akina stayed quiet and only showed her badge to the Inspectors outside, right after Taiki introduced himself. One of the officers lead them to the room where the incident happened. She mostly kept quiet and didn't ask any questions, because she knew that they could not answer any of them. Her expression was serious and focused as they made it to the second floor. '
Blood..' She thought to herself
Glancing at the blood on the floor and the walls in the hallway, leading up the the room 27B, they all stopped in their tracks, before the officer who lead the way left. A light smile was expressed in response. Shifting her attention away from the officer, she looked at Taiki, before the broken door. The light inside the room was also flickering. The place was indeed in a bad shape. "
I never pegged you for reading anything that wouldn't suit your interests.." She casually finished.
A few seconds passed before she continued. "
Alright. Lets see what this Ghoul has done so far.." Even from outside the room, the smell was almost unbearable. Taking a small handkerchief from her pocket, she covered her nose. An almost nauseous expression was plastered on her face, before a sigh escaped her lips. They had to get this done and over with.
Once they were inside, blood splatters were on the wall. A half-destroyed lamp on the ground. The light on the ceiling flickering. The kitchen was a mess. There were also more than just one bedroom in the apartment. The glass table in the bed room was shattered into pieces. Standing there still for the moment she opened up her briefcase, taking the file for the investigation out. Extending her hand backwards, where Taiki was, she wanted to hand it to him.
"
The police made the right call. This is definitely up our alley. So.. Take a look in the file for the pictures of the body they found in this apartment. Check the wounds so we can re-confirm exactly how big they are." She asked. She was not done though, there was more to it than what she relayed.
Once Taiki grabbed the file from her hand, she continued. "
This was definitely a struggle. The Ghoul did not catch the victim by surprise. He was an amateur.. But what do I know.. These Ghouls are unpredictable at best... By the way.. I'll take a look at the living room.. Seems like he missed with his Rinkaku and made some holes in the wall.." Akina explained, before she grabbed a few white gloves from her briefcase, handing a pair to Taiki before putting the second pair on.
Taking the folder from Akina he opened it and sifted through the papers for the pictures of the body. Choosing a picture of where the body was found, he moved to the blood stain in the carpet that coincided with the picture.
'Almost ripped in half, almost... Perhaps a Rinkaku user that can only use a single tentacle?' he thought as he knelt down to the stain on the floor. Cocking his head to the side he looked at the window, only a few meters away, and to his left the couch, in between it all was the glass table shattered and in pieces.
"Through the window, the occupant was on the couch, she stood up at the sight and was tackled onto the table..." he said in a low voice, turning his head to the living room he yelled to Akina.
"Do you think that the Ghoul may have knocked over the lamp when it revealed its Rinkaku? I mean if it's unskilled; which I agree on that part with you... It would make sense, right?" he said
'An untrained person, even against a lightly skilled Ghoul, wouldn't stand much of a chance. This fight was over quick no doubt.' he thought as he waited for her response. Shifting his body he moved to the TV stand, behind it the TV. Putting on his gloves he lifted the flat screen out from behind it and laid it down. He ran his fingers over a gash in the screen,
'10 cm wide, and it tapers to the right. The Rinkaku swung from left to right, knocked over the lamp and then came through the occupant. Rough way to go.' he thought.
"Hey Akina, I don't think there was much of a fight..." he said standing from where he was,
"...So why would there be holes in the living room if it ended here, in the bedroom?" he asked s he made his way inside.
Her briefcase was placed on the floor close to her. Akina was in the living room. Slightly crouched as she touched the bloodstains that were dry. Her sense of smell was unique. She was able to smell the difference between a Ghoul or a Human. It was something about the blood of the former which made it unique. It was something she trained back in the CCG during her years in the Academy and what not. "
Hmm?" She wondered, hearing Taiki from the bedroom. "
Obviously.. This would be the victims blood.." Akina whispered to herself.
Her attention shifted to her fellow Investigator, before she decided to give a response. "
It may have been the Ghoul. I'm a bit unsure about that.. Something doesn't seem right about this.." Akina was unsure if the police report was actually accurate anymore. Touching some other blood stains on the hard floor, she rubbed her thumb against her index finger. "
They sure took their time in reporting this to the CCG.." Akina whispered to herself, before standing up.
Approaching the wall behind the TV, she noticed the big holes in it and the TV, which was surprisingly still standing on the TV table. A curious expression was plastered on her face, following the trail from the holes to the right side of the wall, with her left hand placed on the wall as she walked, ending up in the right bottom corner. Her gaze ended up on the scratch marks on the hard floor. Something bothered her. "[/COLOR]Now.. Why would there be scratch marks on the floor when the victim was killed in the bedroom?[/COLOR]" Asking herself that question a few times, she sighed.
"
It apparently wasn't much of a struggle as you said.. But Taiki.. How old was the victim? Wasn't she young? In her early twenties?" Akina asked.
Standing in the doorway to the living room, Taiki watched as Akina traced the holes in the wall.
"Yeah she was-" he flipped through the folder,
"23, it says. Why does that matter though?" he asked as he moved to the middle of the living room,
"You think since she's young she may have had a better chance...?" he said as he too moved closer to the holes in the wall.
'Why are these here...' he thought as he took out a small flashlight and looked inside the hole,
"They don't penetrate all that deep, may a quarter of the way through the wall..." he said as he stepped back from the holes.As he stood in the middle of the room he glanced around, the swaying light was beginning to get on his nerves,
'Fuck that light.' he thought.
"Maybe, just maybe... And hear me out on this. Could there have been someone other than the Ghoul and our victim in the room? Maybe a lover, or a second Ghoul...?" he asked Akina.
"
No to your first question.. And a maybe to your second.." Turning around from the wall she followed the scratch marks to the middle of the living room. Standing before the trail which ended, she gazed at Taiki. Her arms crossed before her chest, her eyes squinted. "
In the report it was said that the victim was found naked, with her towel covered in blood. She was in the shower room, which is connected to the bed room.. So once she was done taking a shower, and made her way to the bed room, that's when she met with an unfortunate end. Hmmm... Nor did the police find a second victim."
Walking past Taiki before glancing around in the kitchen, nothing out of the ordinary was there. Everything regarding that one section was thoroughly explained in the report, nor was it necessary for their investigation. The victim or the perpetrator never did make it there. Turning around, she ended up kicking one of the light lamps in the living room, which was on the floor. Her eyes locked onto it. "
I'm not sure why the police was unable to actually discover this...."
Thanks to her eyes focused towards the floor due to the light lamp, she ended up looking at the scratch marks again, and decided to walk towards the balcony. Right before the transparent door leading outside, she crouched, looking at the wall. "
There are some more scratch marks here.." Squinting her eyes she pushed the small table that had the light lamp placed upon it. "
Nails..." She discovered.
Taking them up, she noticed the bad shape they were in. Blood was covering them, but she was able to figure out that they were to that of a female. "
Well.. Apparently, both you and I assumed the right thing. That's why I asked you to check how old she was. I'm almost that age and if I were like the victim, I'd probably have friends over occasionally.. It may be a lover or just a friend though, but its definitely another female.."
Standing up, she walked outside and to the balcony, looking at the view before her. It was finally dark outside. A few moments passed before she turned around, walking back inside. Her expression was quite serious. "
Since this Ghoul has been attacking in this area.. We can probably assume that he or she... Is somewhere close to the crime scenes. The Ghoul probably lives in this area, or moved here due to how easy it is for him to get what he wants... And we both know what that is... Humans..."
Looking over at the holes on the wall, she diverted her attention back at Taiki, to explain further what she had deduced. "
The Ghoul probably didn't intend to have more than just one person here.. Once it discovered someone was in the living room, it tried to kill the second victim, but instead.... Decided to kidnap her... I would only assume its to quench its hunger... When the Ghoul is hungry again.. That is.."
Taiki expression became tensed as Akina got to what he had been thinking,
"So you think it too, it took whoever else was in this room with it..." he said as he motioned to the balcony that she had been standing on.
"Take your folder back, we got what needed from this room I'd say." he outstretched his arm to allow her to take it.
'So there's still a survivor out there.' he thought as he turned for the door.
"We should go inform the Inspector, get police involved in a missing persons search. You know posters, ads, door to door sort of stuff." he said as he headed for the door,
"They still do that sort of thing these days right?" he asked, not entirely expecting an answer.
As he exited the room, he was careful not to further destroy the door. Making his way down the hall he took note of all the rooms that were dark, and the ones with light visible from under the door.
"We should start with the neighbors once we talk to the police, they're our best bet at figuring out who our unknown victim in this..." he said as he turned to start down the stair well.
A few moments later and they were back at the door to the building,
"Inspector Sugiura, we have something that you need to relay up to your superiors." he said allowing the Inspector a moment to be ready,
"We have reason to believe, that our suspect, the Ghoul... Kidnapped another victim from inside 27B after it had already dispatched the apartment owner. We don't know who but it's very likely that there is someone out there with this Ghoul still alive." he said as he glanced out into the darkness of the night.
"You need to get some sort of a search started, whatever cops do in these situations." he said, still unsure of exactly what they could do to help.
"Thank you for your cooperation Inspector" he said with a slight bow of his head as he turned back to Akina,
"Lets start with the neighbors yeah?" Taiki said. Making his way up the stairs, the Inspector could be faintly heard talking on the radio.
