Non-challenge fic: A Policeman's Tale (Day 12)
Title: A Policeman's Tale (Day 12)
Author:
ytak
Word count: 1125
Rating: K (G)
Comments: I actually don't have anything to say.
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11
Day 12
“What’s wrong, Chiba?” Takagi asked. Chiba looked like he was about to be buried under a pile of paperwork.
“Conan-kun and his little group stumbled across another murder yesterday.”
Takagi winced. Somehow, that group always stumbled across something. That was one reason why he did not want to go eat with them.
“It was just after lunch.” He put down his pen and gave Takagi a sly look. “So, did you do anything special yesterday?” Chiba’s grin grew until it could rival a tiger’s, “Like, say, go on a date with a certain female officer?”
Takagi blanched and quietly asked, “Who all knows?”
“Right now, just me and the Inspector but don’t expect it to stay secret for long. Sato-san's smile has a lot of people on edge. And I think some of the officers collecting evidence might have overheard something.” Chiba cast a quick glance around the room. “I know your place was staked out yesterday but you’d already gone for the day.” He dropped his voice down even lower, “If I were you, I’d keep low today. One or two looked like they wanted to drag you in for questioning.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” Takagi said, going over to his desk. It's probably more than 'one or two.' What am I going to do? he asked himself with a sigh. Aside from all the paperwork that seems to multiply whenever my back is turned.
There was a memo on his desk about a meeting with Terada and Tsutsumi, to write up their investigation. That would give him a break from some of the other more jealous officers.
“Unfortunately, it isn't for another hour,” he muttered to himself. He considered collecting up what he would need for the meeting and finding a place to sort and organize it that was out of the way but decided there was too much paperwork.
Resigned to the glares he knew were going to come, he dove into the paperwork.
The stack of papers that best held his attention were the ones on the interrogation of Ogura. How could someone who claims to love her children kill them? Most people who kill their children then kill themselves. What made her do differently and how could their disappearance go unchecked for so long?
As engrossed in the report as he was, he failed to notice Terada trying to get his attention. So, when he tapped Takagi on the shoulder, Takagi jumped. And promptly toppled back in his chair. Only Terada making a mad grabbed saved him from complete embarrassment.
Terada chuckled a little, “Sorry about that. You didn't hear me call your name.”
“It's all right. I was reading the interrogation transcript.”
Picking up his notes, Takagi followed Terada to a small meeting room. Cutting right to the point, Terada said, “We know why the ex-husband never reported anything. It turns out he went missing three weeks ago.”
Tsutsumi added, “A missing person's report was filed at one of the Hokkaido branches by his employer. Apparently, he was taking some time off to see his children and never returned to work.”
“What does Ogura-san say about her ex-husband,” Takagi asked.
Tsutsumi shook his head, “Not much. She says she hasn't seen him in months. He can be placed getting off at the train station but that's the last place he was seen.”
“So, she might have killed him, too,” Takagi said, finishing the train of thought. “Might she have killed him first? Do we know when the children were killed?”
“The autopsies, well, have been difficult but it appears they died about the same time that he disappeared,” Terada said. “So, unless she says anything, we might not know what really happened,” he sighed.
Takagi flipped through his notebook, reading over his hastily scribbled notes, “She did say they were 'bad children.' Perhaps they knew something about their father. Maybe she was trying to keep them quiet?”
“That doesn't explain the attacks on the children around town,” Tsutsumi said, looking at his own notes.
"It doesn't. It just seems like she snapped and all sanity disappeared," Terada said.
Takagi frowned as he looked at the date of the disappearance and the last date the children had been seen. They didn't match. They were close but something about it bothered him. Hadn't there been a minor earthquake the day the ex-husband disappeared? It had happened at a very busy time of the day, causing a lot of accidents. The worst one had been a bus accident. Some of the passengers were still in the hospital.
"What if she didn't kill him and he is in the hospital?" Takagi asked them. They looked at him like he had grown a pair of antlers. "I was thinking about the last day he was seen. It was the day of that earthquake that caused that bad bus accident. What if he was on that bus? Does its route run or in the direction of Ogura's home?"
The other two detectives looked at each other. “That's a good idea,” said Terada. “And if he really is in the hospital, then the whole case will be easier to deal with.”
Tsutsumi ran off to find out which hospitals all the victims of the bus accident went to and contacting each of them to see if Ogura's ex-husband, Iwase, was in any of them. Takagi decided that he would check if a list already existed in the police reports from the day to see if the ex-husband had been on the passenger list and, if he was, what hospital he might have been sent to.
While there was no record of Iwase-san on the bus, Takagi did find that he had been in an accident involving a taxi. He called Tsutsumi, who discovered Iwase in one of the local hospitals.
Later, the three detectives joined back up. “At least, we can rule out her killing her husband,” Terada said. “If he hadn't been in that accident, we might have discovered Ogura sooner and prevented her from killing that one child and hurting the others.”
He took the toothpick out of his mouth that he gnawed on and flicked it into the trash, “I'll leave you to start the piles of paperwork on this case. I have to participate in another interview with Ogura. However useful it might be. Today there is a psychiatrist in there. It might help.”
“Yes, sir!” Tsutsumi and Takagi said. Allowing Terada to shuffle out of the room ahead of them.
Tstutsumi shook his head, “I don't envy him on his task.”
Takagi nodded, “She's unpredictable. I wonder if is might be because she feels guilty?”
The other detective shrugged, “Who knows?”
Author:
ytak
Word count: 1125
Rating: K (G)
Comments: I actually don't have anything to say.
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11
Day 12
“What’s wrong, Chiba?” Takagi asked. Chiba looked like he was about to be buried under a pile of paperwork.
“Conan-kun and his little group stumbled across another murder yesterday.”
Takagi winced. Somehow, that group always stumbled across something. That was one reason why he did not want to go eat with them.
“It was just after lunch.” He put down his pen and gave Takagi a sly look. “So, did you do anything special yesterday?” Chiba’s grin grew until it could rival a tiger’s, “Like, say, go on a date with a certain female officer?”
Takagi blanched and quietly asked, “Who all knows?”
“Right now, just me and the Inspector but don’t expect it to stay secret for long. Sato-san's smile has a lot of people on edge. And I think some of the officers collecting evidence might have overheard something.” Chiba cast a quick glance around the room. “I know your place was staked out yesterday but you’d already gone for the day.” He dropped his voice down even lower, “If I were you, I’d keep low today. One or two looked like they wanted to drag you in for questioning.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” Takagi said, going over to his desk. It's probably more than 'one or two.' What am I going to do? he asked himself with a sigh. Aside from all the paperwork that seems to multiply whenever my back is turned.
There was a memo on his desk about a meeting with Terada and Tsutsumi, to write up their investigation. That would give him a break from some of the other more jealous officers.
“Unfortunately, it isn't for another hour,” he muttered to himself. He considered collecting up what he would need for the meeting and finding a place to sort and organize it that was out of the way but decided there was too much paperwork.
Resigned to the glares he knew were going to come, he dove into the paperwork.
The stack of papers that best held his attention were the ones on the interrogation of Ogura. How could someone who claims to love her children kill them? Most people who kill their children then kill themselves. What made her do differently and how could their disappearance go unchecked for so long?
As engrossed in the report as he was, he failed to notice Terada trying to get his attention. So, when he tapped Takagi on the shoulder, Takagi jumped. And promptly toppled back in his chair. Only Terada making a mad grabbed saved him from complete embarrassment.
Terada chuckled a little, “Sorry about that. You didn't hear me call your name.”
“It's all right. I was reading the interrogation transcript.”
Picking up his notes, Takagi followed Terada to a small meeting room. Cutting right to the point, Terada said, “We know why the ex-husband never reported anything. It turns out he went missing three weeks ago.”
Tsutsumi added, “A missing person's report was filed at one of the Hokkaido branches by his employer. Apparently, he was taking some time off to see his children and never returned to work.”
“What does Ogura-san say about her ex-husband,” Takagi asked.
Tsutsumi shook his head, “Not much. She says she hasn't seen him in months. He can be placed getting off at the train station but that's the last place he was seen.”
“So, she might have killed him, too,” Takagi said, finishing the train of thought. “Might she have killed him first? Do we know when the children were killed?”
“The autopsies, well, have been difficult but it appears they died about the same time that he disappeared,” Terada said. “So, unless she says anything, we might not know what really happened,” he sighed.
Takagi flipped through his notebook, reading over his hastily scribbled notes, “She did say they were 'bad children.' Perhaps they knew something about their father. Maybe she was trying to keep them quiet?”
“That doesn't explain the attacks on the children around town,” Tsutsumi said, looking at his own notes.
"It doesn't. It just seems like she snapped and all sanity disappeared," Terada said.
Takagi frowned as he looked at the date of the disappearance and the last date the children had been seen. They didn't match. They were close but something about it bothered him. Hadn't there been a minor earthquake the day the ex-husband disappeared? It had happened at a very busy time of the day, causing a lot of accidents. The worst one had been a bus accident. Some of the passengers were still in the hospital.
"What if she didn't kill him and he is in the hospital?" Takagi asked them. They looked at him like he had grown a pair of antlers. "I was thinking about the last day he was seen. It was the day of that earthquake that caused that bad bus accident. What if he was on that bus? Does its route run or in the direction of Ogura's home?"
The other two detectives looked at each other. “That's a good idea,” said Terada. “And if he really is in the hospital, then the whole case will be easier to deal with.”
Tsutsumi ran off to find out which hospitals all the victims of the bus accident went to and contacting each of them to see if Ogura's ex-husband, Iwase, was in any of them. Takagi decided that he would check if a list already existed in the police reports from the day to see if the ex-husband had been on the passenger list and, if he was, what hospital he might have been sent to.
While there was no record of Iwase-san on the bus, Takagi did find that he had been in an accident involving a taxi. He called Tsutsumi, who discovered Iwase in one of the local hospitals.
Later, the three detectives joined back up. “At least, we can rule out her killing her husband,” Terada said. “If he hadn't been in that accident, we might have discovered Ogura sooner and prevented her from killing that one child and hurting the others.”
He took the toothpick out of his mouth that he gnawed on and flicked it into the trash, “I'll leave you to start the piles of paperwork on this case. I have to participate in another interview with Ogura. However useful it might be. Today there is a psychiatrist in there. It might help.”
“Yes, sir!” Tsutsumi and Takagi said. Allowing Terada to shuffle out of the room ahead of them.
Tstutsumi shook his head, “I don't envy him on his task.”
Takagi nodded, “She's unpredictable. I wonder if is might be because she feels guilty?”
The other detective shrugged, “Who knows?”