Metanoia (Part V)

Tokyo, Japan.
2014.

“I’m finishing up and on my way home,” the lady said, glancing at the phone which was attached to the holder. She kept her hands on the wheel and continued to drive home, listening to the reply. “Something to eat…you can heat me up some of last night’s Alfredo and pour me some cola,” she laughed. The man’s voice on the other line made her smile, and she flowed into a stop as the stoplight turned red. “Work today was horrific. I’ll tell the details when I get home.”

“Get right on that, babe. I’ll heat your pasta.”

“I‘d like that,” she murmured. “Love you. See you in five.”

“Love you too, darling.”

The call went off and A smiled, turning up the volume of the radio and listening to the current news. Stocks rose and fell, the weather around was growing crazier each day, and she swore that it was the tenth time that she heard of the crime syndicate that had been caught earlier during the day.

“Tokyo’s drug lord caught, now being prosecuted…waiting for the results of this trial and what sentence this man will receive. Earlier in the day, he was caught by a group of police officers…”

Touta had told her of this a while back – J, Peters and a good number had been patrolling and catching for the entirety of the day.

“…and it looks like they’ll be in there for a longer period of time.”

Cocaine, ecstasy, all of those illegal substances. Smuggled over from another nation, secretly being brought into Japan and sold to those who wanted a hit. The thought made her shudder.

“So Peters is doing a drug bust.”

“I’d like to think so,” Macmillan chuckled as he handed her coffee. “Cheers. J went off with him too, I think she didn’t want him banged up again unlike the time he was assigned to the bank.”

“I remember that. He was in the hospital for days.”

“Was he, now? It’s like some kind of folk legend over here. Saving the kid and all that.”

A nodded as she took a drink of coffee.

“It’s true. I personally went to visit him.”

“Huh.”

 Both of them stayed silent. Macmillan, after running a hand through his brunette curls, looked at A with a slightly amused smirk.

“Truth be told, I’d rather stay in the Forensic team.”

Red light, green light. She switched the gear to “drive” and stepped on the gas, the car running smoothly across the roads and letting her travel back home. The news broadcast regarding the trial went on and on, with brief mentions of celebrities here and there, inserted when deemed necessary. After minutes of waiting, she changed stations and instead paid attention to this DJ who read the top ten songs of the day, composing of both local and international hits.

Text Message from: Matsuda, Touta.

            Peters was on the news for a bit – he was interviewed by Sachiko Sawashiro, the news anchor of six. He did surprisingly well – will ask about the whole thing tomorrow. Are you going?

That was a surprise – A had expected someone like J to be interviewed, but she thought of the icy-eyed J answering rather steely, and was suddenly thankful that Peters liked to hoard the spotlight to him – even when it was irritating.

The roads twisted and she turned right, driving along slowly. She could make out her home at that point and eased the car, driving slowly until she reached the parking and parking easily into the allotted slot. After turning off the engine and locking the car, A stifled a big yawn and walked into the house, sliding off her coat and hanging it by the door.

“Home,” she called, “I’m going to eat. You there?”

“Right here,” a man replied smoothly, taking out a bowl of pasta from the microwave. Blue eyes twinkled at her and she beamed, Matt easing the food down and taking her in for a hug. “You’re a little bit later than usual…were you on the drug bust?”

“Not necessarily,” she said after pulling away. Matt kept his arms around her. “It was Peters, J and a few others…I stayed and had to work on the case with Olsen and Touta.”

“The one with the girl?”

“And the poison.” She sat down and started eating, “How can a sixteen-year-old kid obtain poison within the premises of her home, and poison a classmate?”

“There’s lots of homemade poison nowadays.” Matt frowned a bit, “You’ve got your dishwashing soap, the rat killer, the bleach – houses are stocked with them.”

“How can the victim not notice the smell that would come from the poison?”

“It depends where it was mixed,” he said slowly. “Thick mixtures would tend to hide it, I think. Like hot chocolate or for some reason, mango or whatever fruit concentrate.”

“But the color of the poison would change the color of the drink,” she pointed out.

“True.”

“It was tea – poison in her tea. We had Thomas check it out and send results, there was definitely something toxic in there. Unless she choked on a rogue piece of china.”

“But it would appear or smell in the tea.”

“I’m assuming something transparent,” A sighed and continued eating, “Something that would seem like water but really isn’t…is there a poison that’s transparent and has no smell?”

“I’m putting a bet on yes. The only thing is, where would a kid get it?”

Both of them pondered heavily on that question.

“It has to be bleach.”

“It would taste funky.”

“The person could have prepared the tea, added a shit ton of sugar in it for the disguise of taste and then served it. Bam – instant kill.”

“There was no one else in there,” A argued. This made Matt blink.

“…suicide?”

“A last thing to consider.”

She finished her bowl of pasta and drank from the glass.

“The last time I ruled something as a suicide, it was accidental. I’m not going to let that happen again,” A spoke sharply.

“England?”

“Winchester.”

“I remember that…”

“You were there.”

That made him smile slightly.

“With my babies.”

“Baby.” A corrected. “Technically, your Xbox doesn’t count as a partner.”

Grinning widely, Matt leaned across the table and kissed her forehead, making her cheeks flush a very light red.

“Of course. You’re my baby, darling.”

“Hush now.” She stood up with the dishes and went to the sink, but Matt tsked at that and took them away just as she was about to start.

“I’ll take care of that – you’re going to change into sleepwear, and we’ll head on out. I’ll handle the dishes. You’ve had a long day,” he chastised.

A wrinkled her nose.

“I can wash the dishes.”

“Bed.”

The two had a staring contest. She just looked at him and him at her, until A grumbled and grudgingly allowed him to take care of the housework that remained. As she exited the room, Matt couldn’t help but chuckle as he started to rinse.

* * * * *

Text Message from: Maxwell, Arianne.

            Wasn’t able to see, sadly. Got stuck in traffic and only reached the end of the news when I got home. I’m surprised that J didn’t say anything during, though.

            Tomorrow? Depends if Matt wants to do things tomorrow. :-)

            BTW, have you ruled out suicide?

Text Message from: Matsuda, Touta.  

            Your obligations, A.

            …then again, you have been doing some commendable OTs. I’ll think about it.

            Suicide? I might have – if no evidence points to murder, we might need to take this death from a suicidal angle.

Text Message from: Maxwell, Arianne.

            Commendable. You’re getting old, T.

            Map out possibilities. We’ll compare ASAP and try to figure this out.

A felt someone slide next to her and sighed with a hint of the smile, putting her phone away and cuddling into Matt’s arms. He had already turned off the lights and the two just remained under the sheets, cuddling and remaining in each others arms with the silence enveloping them.

“Sleep?” he whispered.

She nodded.

“Sleep.”

A shifted to face him and he kissed her forehead, the woman resting her head on his chest and drifting off to the sound of his slow humming.