Chapter Forty-Two: Death of a Star Pt. 2:

So much can happen in three days.

6:00 a.m.

Isabel walked into the room, smiling. Aoba, Shun, Yamato noticed her when the door opened.

“Oh, you’re here early,” Aoba said, smiling. “Ready to dive into the case? We’re about to make an arrest.” Isabel reached into her bag. Aoba paused when he heard a clicking noise. He turned and bag! Isabel shot him right in the chest. He didn’t even scream as his body caught on fire. Shun and Yamato became paralyzed with fear. Isabel turned her gun on Yamato and pulled the trigger. A creepy smile inched across her face as he burned up. She enjoyed the fiery deaths so much that she almost didn’t notice her gun overheating. Almost.

“Ow,” Isabel hissed as she turned the gun on Shun. He backed away towards the window.

“Isabel-san?” he asked. “Please… don’t….” She didn’t even blink. Isabel managed to get in the last shot before her gun exploded. She didn’t even stay to watch Shun burn to death as she moved on with the next step of the plan.

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10:21 a.m.

The door to the interrogation room ripped wide open. Isabel smirked as Anna stood in the doorway, panting. The shinigami looked baffled.

“Anna?” Tsuzuki asked, standing up. “Baby, what are you doing here?” Anna pointed at the kuda-gitsune sitting at the table.

“Is that her?!” she asked. “Is she in connection with Haruka?” Isabel snickered.

“Good, you got my text,” she said.

“What?” Tsuzuki asked. The kuda-gitsune crossed her thumbs.

“Everyone’s here,” she said. “Now we can begin.” Isabel held up her hand to stop Anna. “Hold on. I will answer one question at a time. Who’s next?”

“How did you pass yourself off as a shinigami?” Tatsumi asked. Isabel couldn’t help, but smile.

“Ah,” she said. “Let me show you.” Isabel reached into her blazer and drew out a small baggie. “This.” She slid it across the table to Watari. “It was so easy. I just eat that dust and I appear dead to everyone in Meifu.” Isabel’s eyes shifted towards Hisoka. “Tell me, how could you tell?”

“You didn’t feel dead to me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Feel dead?”

“Yeah. Do you remember when we bumped into each other in the hall the other day?”

“Vaguely.”

“I touched your wrist and saw you eating that dust in your past.”

Isabel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You… saw… me… Damn i!” She pressed her palm in her forehead.

“Why kill them?” Tsuzuki asked. The kuda-gitsune lifted her head.

“What? Oh, them,” she said. “They were rather annoying.” Tsuzuki resisted the urge to yell.

“You what?” he asked.

“Well, Aoba was annoying and cocky. Yamato, I had nothing against him. A little talkative, but it was okay. But Shun…” Isabel shook her head. “He was a good man, really. We could’ve been an item. Guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

“You bitch!” Anna shouted. Tsuzuki had to restrain her. Isabel giggled.

“I see Mama was right about you,” she said. She bit back her laughter. “Those fools couldn’t see it was a false trail of clues.” Her eyes turned to Tsuzuki. “But you knew that, didn’t you?” He didn’t have to answer as the other shinigami eyed him.

“Anyway,” Isabel said. “They were getting in the way of Mama’s plans, so they had to die.”

“What plans?” Tsuzuki asked. The kuda-gitsune leaned in, smirking.

“That’s for Anna to see,” she said. “She has plans for her. And you too, Tsuzuki-san.” The violet-eyed shinigami gave her a blank stare.

“Huh? Why me too?” he asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” the kuda-gitsune asked. “You are family after all.” The words made his stomach turn.

“But why do of all of this for Haruka?” Hisoka asked. “She’s just using you. She’ll kill you in the end.” Isabel glared at him.

“You don’t know Mama!” she snapped. “She saved me! I owe her my life!” Her eyes turned foxlike as she bore her fangs.

Isabel wound up arrested fir triple homicide. However en route to be judged, she began foaming at the mouth and having convulsions.

“Somebody help!” one of the guards shouted. By the time Tatsumi and Watari ran down the hall, Isabel lay cold on the floor with her eyes open. Tatsumi put two fingers to her wrist.

“She’s dead,” he said.

“It looks like she was poisoned.” No sooner had he said that, strange burn marks appeared on her wrists. To the shinigami’s shock, they turned out to be the Kanji for “Eda,” “Kimoto,” and “bear.” Her human form broke down, revealing her true fox form.

“There goes that lead,” Watari said, frowning.

“Now what?” one of the guards asked.