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detectiveforhierophant) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
social_linked2017-08-11 08:07 pm
detectiveforhierophant) wrote in social_linked2017-08-11 08:07 pm
The Inaba Copycat Murders: Initial Investigation
Location: Tokyo Police HQ, in and around Tokyo
Summary: Dojima's arrival in Tokyo to help the investigation of the disappearances and murders.
Ryotaro Dojima was a simple man, or so he told himself
He was accustomed to small town life; and small town crimes with practical, logical solutions, grounded in reality.
The Inaba Serial Murdercase that he had been placed in charge of a few years back had scattered that all to the wind, with national attention suddenly on the town, and a crime that just seemed to have no easy answers.
No logical answers, anyway. Dojima had no belief in the supernatural, or paranormal, even if the circumstances of the murders were... well. Unusual. Bizarre, even.
The victims-- Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi-- found dead, hanging in the air from telephone poles or antennas; and no immediate sign of what had caused their deaths. The city had been covered in a thick fog, so no one saw when the bodies were placed, or by who.
Along with strange television shows on at midnight when it rained, and his nephew's strange behavior, he was left at a loss...
Only to be forced over and over to deal with otherworldly forces; his daughter being kidnapped and vanishing, suffering from an unnameable condition when she was rescued, and then...
Her death, and... subsequent inexplicable revival. A 'miracle', he was almost pained to call it, but he had no other words for it.
And then his junior partner... the true culprit. Adachi's confession was supposed to shine light on the murders, but only led to more questions; pushing people through the tv, tricking Namatame into targeting other's who'd shown up during the 'Midnight Channel'... all of it was a mess. And yet, it both matched the timeline of the murders, and the accounts from both his Nephew and Namatame.
Dojima had hoped as bizarre as the case was, he could put it behind him; focus on raising his daughter properly, and protecting Inaba from more 'normal' crimes.
But... life was never so simple, was it?
Tokyo, 2017.
It had started with a couple of run away teenagers. One by one, they were found, hanging from cables in alleyways and forgotten corners of the city.
Largely unreported, or excused as wayward delinquents who got in over their heads, committed suicide out of shame. Whether that was the callous media writing off their deaths as teenage angst, or an intentional suppression of the information, Dojima got word about it via police gossip. That some sick bastard was stringing up bodies like what had happened a few years ago in town.
"Probably someone wanting to copy your old partner, huh--"
Dojima had to hold back punching the guy in the back of head, but the look he gave him was enough.
He'd made the trek to the jail a day or so later, practically interrogating Adachi about these rumors-- but well. Adachi deflected his questioning, as he usually did. He was quick to point out it couldn't possibly be him; he's not been allowed any contact with tv screens, and the cameras could prove he hadn't left the jail.
"But, you know, Dojima-san... I'm not the only one with this power, right?" And there it was, that smirk, his expression lazy and laid back, but with that edge Dojima had come to know was Adachi's true self, "I think it was... a few years ago that you mentioned your nephew and a few of his friends were headed to Tokyo? University, or something."
Dojima did his best to control his expression, even as Adachi hit on the exact thing he didn't want to consider, but knew he had to. That the only other people who had this ability, were Souji and his friends.
He didn't want to believe they would be doing this. His heart told him no, those kids wouldn't do this, not after spending that entire year trying to solve the case themselves...
But his logical side knew it was a possibility, and too important for him to ignore. That sort of dismissal was what let Adachi...
"...It's probably not them, Dojima-san." Adachi's tone was annoyed, his expression returning to a dull look of boredom, as he leaned his chin against his entwined hands, "...they're too damn goody goody to think about doing shit like that. But..." He shrugged nonchalantly, glancing back up at Dojima, "...You know they're probably involved somehow..." He smiled-- that near feline-like grin he got when he knew he was right about something,
"Good luck interrogating the brats this time."
Dojima couldn't help but hate it when Adachi was right. He left the jail with more questions than answers; so if Adachi wasn't the cause, it was probably someone like him. That did leave the kids as possible suspects...
He didn't want to believe they'd do anything like that, and yet he'd thought the same about Adachi. He couldn't trust his feelings on this, not when lives were at stake.
At the very least, he'd need to question Souji.
It was only a few weeks later, with the case file opened on his desk that it all came to ahead. Despite the Tokyo's Police department's best endeavors to suppress the information to the general public, the high profile murder of a foreign CEO's daughter couldn't be hidden. The media had a field day, declaring it the 'Inaba Copycat Murders', digging up all of the previously 'ignored' cases rile up a panicked public even more.
He'd gotten some calls from reporters wanting his 'opinion' as the previous head detective of the serial murders; but he blatantly ignored them, instead working on a copy of the case file to send along to Tokyo, making plans to call Souji that night and ask him what the hell was going on.
But he didn't get very far in either. Instead, he was called to the head office by his superiors who had news for him.
He was being temporarily transferred to Tokyo to assist with the copycat investigation, due to his previous experience. It was at the request of the Police Commissioner; having someone who had technically 'solved' the Inaba case would calm the public's panic, or so they hoped. Of course, some were quick to quietly whisper how Dojima may be being tossed under the bus, since the media would surely pounce on the fact it was his junior partner who ended up being the murderer...
Dojima was far more focused on the fact they were asking him to go to Tokyo on short notice, when he was a single parent. He couldn't just drag Nanako with him, she had school to go to, but who knows how long he was expected to stay in the city...?
Fortunately, small towns have their advantages. Gossip always spread like wild fire, and before the day was over, he'd gotten a call from the Amagi Inn-- Yukiko, Souji's friend, would be willing to take Nanako in temporarily and look after her while he went to the city. That was a weight off his shoulders, even if there was still more to work out. And... to talk to Nanako about this.
He'd gotten nothing but phonetag from Souji over the past several weeks, and Yukiko was also in the dark as to what was going on... or so he could discern from her words. Seems like he was going into this blind, with nothing but past experience to give him a sign.
A few days later, Ryotaro Dojima had arrived at the HQ in Tokyo, ready to hit the pavement and see what he could find out. Hopefully office politics here in the big city wouldn't slow him down too much. Namely, that he wanted to get especially hands on with the case.
If you were going to drag him out to the big city to help, he wasn't going to just standby to look pretty for the press, that was for sure.
(Locked to Naomi)
First order of business was to take a first hand look at the bodies of the victims. Apparently they had a well respected if... unusual forensic examiner working with them right now. There'd been some gossip about her in the media too, before, but honestly... who cared, if she could get the job done?
There was a knock at the door of the lab, before Dojima opened it, letting himself inside.
"...Pardon the intrusion. I'm looking for Dr. Kimishima?"
(Open to All)
Second order of business? Interviews. Lots of them. This would be... considerably more difficult compared to Inaba, but he had some ideas for who to ask.
Including some people not on the interview list...
Summary: Dojima's arrival in Tokyo to help the investigation of the disappearances and murders.
Ryotaro Dojima was a simple man, or so he told himself
He was accustomed to small town life; and small town crimes with practical, logical solutions, grounded in reality.
The Inaba Serial Murdercase that he had been placed in charge of a few years back had scattered that all to the wind, with national attention suddenly on the town, and a crime that just seemed to have no easy answers.
No logical answers, anyway. Dojima had no belief in the supernatural, or paranormal, even if the circumstances of the murders were... well. Unusual. Bizarre, even.
The victims-- Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi-- found dead, hanging in the air from telephone poles or antennas; and no immediate sign of what had caused their deaths. The city had been covered in a thick fog, so no one saw when the bodies were placed, or by who.
Along with strange television shows on at midnight when it rained, and his nephew's strange behavior, he was left at a loss...
Only to be forced over and over to deal with otherworldly forces; his daughter being kidnapped and vanishing, suffering from an unnameable condition when she was rescued, and then...
Her death, and... subsequent inexplicable revival. A 'miracle', he was almost pained to call it, but he had no other words for it.
And then his junior partner... the true culprit. Adachi's confession was supposed to shine light on the murders, but only led to more questions; pushing people through the tv, tricking Namatame into targeting other's who'd shown up during the 'Midnight Channel'... all of it was a mess. And yet, it both matched the timeline of the murders, and the accounts from both his Nephew and Namatame.
Dojima had hoped as bizarre as the case was, he could put it behind him; focus on raising his daughter properly, and protecting Inaba from more 'normal' crimes.
But... life was never so simple, was it?
Tokyo, 2017.
It had started with a couple of run away teenagers. One by one, they were found, hanging from cables in alleyways and forgotten corners of the city.
Largely unreported, or excused as wayward delinquents who got in over their heads, committed suicide out of shame. Whether that was the callous media writing off their deaths as teenage angst, or an intentional suppression of the information, Dojima got word about it via police gossip. That some sick bastard was stringing up bodies like what had happened a few years ago in town.
"Probably someone wanting to copy your old partner, huh--"
Dojima had to hold back punching the guy in the back of head, but the look he gave him was enough.
He'd made the trek to the jail a day or so later, practically interrogating Adachi about these rumors-- but well. Adachi deflected his questioning, as he usually did. He was quick to point out it couldn't possibly be him; he's not been allowed any contact with tv screens, and the cameras could prove he hadn't left the jail.
"But, you know, Dojima-san... I'm not the only one with this power, right?" And there it was, that smirk, his expression lazy and laid back, but with that edge Dojima had come to know was Adachi's true self, "I think it was... a few years ago that you mentioned your nephew and a few of his friends were headed to Tokyo? University, or something."
Dojima did his best to control his expression, even as Adachi hit on the exact thing he didn't want to consider, but knew he had to. That the only other people who had this ability, were Souji and his friends.
He didn't want to believe they would be doing this. His heart told him no, those kids wouldn't do this, not after spending that entire year trying to solve the case themselves...
But his logical side knew it was a possibility, and too important for him to ignore. That sort of dismissal was what let Adachi...
"...It's probably not them, Dojima-san." Adachi's tone was annoyed, his expression returning to a dull look of boredom, as he leaned his chin against his entwined hands, "...they're too damn goody goody to think about doing shit like that. But..." He shrugged nonchalantly, glancing back up at Dojima, "...You know they're probably involved somehow..." He smiled-- that near feline-like grin he got when he knew he was right about something,
"Good luck interrogating the brats this time."
Dojima couldn't help but hate it when Adachi was right. He left the jail with more questions than answers; so if Adachi wasn't the cause, it was probably someone like him. That did leave the kids as possible suspects...
He didn't want to believe they'd do anything like that, and yet he'd thought the same about Adachi. He couldn't trust his feelings on this, not when lives were at stake.
At the very least, he'd need to question Souji.
It was only a few weeks later, with the case file opened on his desk that it all came to ahead. Despite the Tokyo's Police department's best endeavors to suppress the information to the general public, the high profile murder of a foreign CEO's daughter couldn't be hidden. The media had a field day, declaring it the 'Inaba Copycat Murders', digging up all of the previously 'ignored' cases rile up a panicked public even more.
He'd gotten some calls from reporters wanting his 'opinion' as the previous head detective of the serial murders; but he blatantly ignored them, instead working on a copy of the case file to send along to Tokyo, making plans to call Souji that night and ask him what the hell was going on.
But he didn't get very far in either. Instead, he was called to the head office by his superiors who had news for him.
He was being temporarily transferred to Tokyo to assist with the copycat investigation, due to his previous experience. It was at the request of the Police Commissioner; having someone who had technically 'solved' the Inaba case would calm the public's panic, or so they hoped. Of course, some were quick to quietly whisper how Dojima may be being tossed under the bus, since the media would surely pounce on the fact it was his junior partner who ended up being the murderer...
Dojima was far more focused on the fact they were asking him to go to Tokyo on short notice, when he was a single parent. He couldn't just drag Nanako with him, she had school to go to, but who knows how long he was expected to stay in the city...?
Fortunately, small towns have their advantages. Gossip always spread like wild fire, and before the day was over, he'd gotten a call from the Amagi Inn-- Yukiko, Souji's friend, would be willing to take Nanako in temporarily and look after her while he went to the city. That was a weight off his shoulders, even if there was still more to work out. And... to talk to Nanako about this.
He'd gotten nothing but phonetag from Souji over the past several weeks, and Yukiko was also in the dark as to what was going on... or so he could discern from her words. Seems like he was going into this blind, with nothing but past experience to give him a sign.
A few days later, Ryotaro Dojima had arrived at the HQ in Tokyo, ready to hit the pavement and see what he could find out. Hopefully office politics here in the big city wouldn't slow him down too much. Namely, that he wanted to get especially hands on with the case.
If you were going to drag him out to the big city to help, he wasn't going to just standby to look pretty for the press, that was for sure.
(Locked to Naomi)
First order of business was to take a first hand look at the bodies of the victims. Apparently they had a well respected if... unusual forensic examiner working with them right now. There'd been some gossip about her in the media too, before, but honestly... who cared, if she could get the job done?
There was a knock at the door of the lab, before Dojima opened it, letting himself inside.
"...Pardon the intrusion. I'm looking for Dr. Kimishima?"
(Open to All)
Second order of business? Interviews. Lots of them. This would be... considerably more difficult compared to Inaba, but he had some ideas for who to ask.
Including some people not on the interview list...
no subject
Dojima had just ordered coffee for himself, though he despaired privately over the quality of the stuff. He shouldn't expect anything more from a greasy spoon like this, but, one would hope...
"And no, we're not looking to 'pin' anything on you and your group..." He rolled his shoulders, staring squarely at the young adult across from him.
He was reminded of someone, very distinctly.
"If anything, we... I want to help find some closure for the ones you lost."
no subject
But the slurping stopped when closure was put on the table. "...Closure."
He rolled his shoulders and looked away. "What do the cops care about a bunch of people who went missing or worse? What was it I heard some of your people calling 'em...? Oh yeah, 'street rats' for one. That's one of the nicer ones."
no subject
At Guzma's questioning, Dojima... sighed. How much should he tell this guy? Being demanding wasn't going to work. If he balked at authority, his usual 'cop' attitude wasn't going to help.
"I can't speak for the police here in Tokyo, I'm not from here after all," Guzma may have seen him on the news, paraded in front as a 'special investigator' for the missing people and the murders.
"...But I do know better than most how not getting answers can eat you up inside."
no subject
He slammed down his drink a little harder than one normally would atop the table.
"I've been on this rodeo before, where the guy acts all nice and tries to twist me all up inside and pull on my little black heartstrings in the hope that I'd slip in a moment of weakness and reveal some crap." With a finger, he tapped down his shades to cover his eyes.
"I'll tell you what I told the last guy: Ya boy's working on it. 'Cause the fuckin' nanosecond I let the cops in on the whole thing is the moment a shiny warrant with ink barely dry gets whipped out like a Sunday night hardon, ready to slap some 'troublemakers' and 'bad kids' into holding, booking, and whatever other hoops you bastards put people into.
They're just kids, Detective. And they're my little brothers and sisters. I dunno where most of 'em came from, so it's not like I can give you an address so you can take the bodies to the parents... but if the kid's a Skull, then they have reason to be. You feel me?"
He turned his head, finally seeming to regard Dojima.
"Last thing they want is for the chunk of meat they're left as to be in the hands of the people that broke 'em."
no subject
Would he have turned out like this man? Broken but trying to hold other people together? Or would he have continued to shove people away?
And he couldn't say Guzma was wrong with his assessment. Dojima tried to be fair, but he knew details of some families in Inaba where the kid leaving may have been the better option, if they had somewhere to go. Loyalty to ones family was admirable-- something drilled into your head as soon as you were old enough to learn in this country, but what do you do when your family doesn't... deserve that sort of loyalty? There usually wasn't a happy answer to that question no matter how you looked at it.
"Look, Guzma-san." He met the other man, eye to eye, "...Your concern is understandable. I don't blame you for not trusting me. Sometimes we-- the police--get more focused on booking a criminal than actually solving a case and finding the truth. But."
He glanced behind him, at all these teenagers, or a little older, eating bad dinner food like they'd never been happier.
"I don't have any stake in putting your... kids, away. Or forcing them to leave if they're really happy here. Sometimes life doesn't have simple answers, as much as we wish it could be."
Turning back to Guzma, Dojima nodded.
"My real concern is making sure no one else ends up like Mayumi Yamano or Saki Konishi. No one else like your kids did--" and a breath-- maybe if he put himself out there a little-- "...Like my daughter nearly did."
He didn't want to think about it, and maybe Guzma could see for a moment those wrinkles around his eyes standing out more, that even the memory felt like it aged him years-
"...So you don't need to give me answers now. This... isn't an interrogation." He was working on that, "But, if you find anything that could help prevent something like this again, I don't want you having to go through the other officers. I'm the one with the personal experience here, and I have no axe to grind against you."
no subject
Some of the Grunts even took the moment of respite to sit together and talk quietly. Fingers interlocked between male and female Grunts, and a fair number of them were pairs of men and pairs of women, living and quietly loving in an environment that perhaps they'd never had before. Just what beat at the heart of the Skull Gang...?
What indeed.
Guzma scowled. Damn it, the guy had to be so... decent about things. But he had a daughter to worry about, didn't he? But he wouldn't soften up just yet. Not when he's not sure of the interrogation regardless of the old man stating it wasn't.
"...You want my advice? Leave us alone. You meddle in this, you'll just get sucked in like some of us were. Not all of us get out alive. It's exactly like your... Inaba case, right? Then you know a little bit about what's at stake, here."