Chapter Forty-Three: Toxic Spilling Out:

When Alex got home, he spotted a woman standing in front of his door in the cold. He pulled his car to a complete stop halfway up to the house. Shinichi looked up at him.

“What is it?” he asked. Alex didn’t answer. He jumped out of the car and ran up to the porch. The woman turned her head.

“Kara?” the detective asked. “What are you doing here?” The woman quickly raced into his arms.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. Her voice trembled as spoke.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Alex asked. She stared deep into his eyes.

“I don’t feel safe in my house,” Kara whispered. “I don’t know where to turn.” She looked so vulnerable in his arms. Alex’s gut instinct said this wasn’t a good idea.

“Don’t you have any family living in this country?” he asked. Kara shook her head. Alex sighed and looked at the front door. Shinichi stood in the doorway. The detective looked down at Kara in his arms.

“Fine,” he said, sighing. “You can stay here for a couple of days.” Kara closed her eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Alex looked over at the teenage boy now in the living room. He had to force himself to smile as he flashed a small V-sign. Shinichi looked relived. Alex already had a kid to deal with. Could this get any worse?

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For four weeks, Alex looked after his guests. How exactly did this happen? Kara, he didn’t mind. But this kid…

“What about your parents?” Alex asked. Shinichi looked up from his ramen.

“I’d be happy to never see my mom again,” he said.

“Why is that?” Kara asked. The young man lowered his chopsticks.

“She doesn’t really care about me,” Shinichi said. “The only thing she wants me to do is study. No friends. No fun things. Just studying.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Alex said. “So what are you going to do?” The high school student leaned back in his chair.

“Don’t know,” he said. “I want to get out of this town. I hate it here. I can understand why Kido-chan wanted to leave.” Shinichi shoved more ramen into his mouth. Kara and Alex looked at each other. Another thought crossed the detective’s mind.

“What about you, Kara?” he asked. “Have you decided what to do next?” She lowered her chopsticks.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I did talk to my sister in Hawaii the other day.”

“You should go,” Alex spoke up. Shinichi and Kara looked up at him.

“Alex?” she asked. He put down his chopsticks.

“Go live with your sister,” the detective said. Kara looked like an injured little deer. She grabbed onto his arm.

“I want to stay with you,” the woman pleaded. Alex sighed and shook his head. He shoved her away.

“No,” he said. “Just leave, damn it! You are too good for this town!” The rest of dinner was silent. Alex took up the empty ramen cups and kitchen to take to the kitchen.

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Alex should’ve know that the end was coming.

Four days after that dinner, Alex awoke to hearing the doorbelling ringing. Not just normally, either. Someone kept ringing the bell in rapid succession. At first, Alex turned over on his couch and pulled the pillow over his head. It didn’t help that sound echoed all over the living room walls. The detective fluttered his eyes open. He sat up in the dark room. The doorbell didn’t stop ringing.

“I’m coming! Hold on!” he shouted. Who the hell would be at his door this early in the morning? Alex picked up his gun from the coffee table and threw on a robe. He walked over and peeked out of the peep hole.

“Who is it?” Alex asked.

“Konoe-san?” a familiar voice asked. Confused, the detective opened the door.

“Chief?” he asked. “What are you doing here?” The police chief was dressed in a light black coat and jeans. He had his hands pushed deep into his pockets. The older man quickly looked around for a bit.

“We need to talk,” he whispered. “Can I come in?” Alex blinked at first.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” he asked as he moved aside. His boss followed him into his house. They walked all the way to the kitchen. Alex sat down at the table but his boss stood in the doorway.

“It’s gotten bad, Konoe,” the chief said. “People are starting to talk.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked. Something about this visit didn’t sit right with him. Right now, Kara and Shinichi were sound asleep. The chief’s eyes moved down to the gun on the table.

“Ever since Kido-san was arrested, there have been ugly stories popping up all over town,” he said. “And it’s really bad.” Alex gave him a blank stare.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. “What kind of stories?” The detective kept glancing over his shoulder down the hall. The chief raised his eyebrow.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked. Alex sat up straight.

“No,” he was quick to say. “I just have some guests over.” He didn’t dare tell him who. The detective only hoped that Kara and Shinichi wouldn’t wake up and see what was going on. Alex dragged his gun closer to him.

“What stories are you talking about?” he asked again. The chief drew in a slow breath.

“She has us all trapped,” he admitted. “This is not looking good for all of us. It’s turned into more of a nightmare than I thought.” Alex tilted his head.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Kido-san,” his boss said. “She’s become a monster.” He paused for his subordinate to respond. Alex looked just as confused. His hand looked like it was inching closer to his gun. But he wouldn’t do something stupid like that, would he?

“She knows too many things,” his boss went on. “Kido-san won’t stop talking from her cell.”

“Why would you believe anything an unstable woman says?”

“She confessed to killing her husband and other people.”

Alex raised his eyebrow. “Is that right?”

“The boys dug up Kido-san’s body in the place she said,” the boss said. “She even confessed to the murder Kino Akina.” Alex narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t get it,” he said.

“Get what?” his boss asked.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” his subordinate asked. The chief sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Now we are cleaning up her mess,” he confessed.

“What?” Alex asked. Already, he had a guess about where this was heading. “What have you done?”

“Please understand,” the chief said. “We had to do it to protect the dignity of the police force. She had our backs against the wall.” Alex was quick to grab the gun. The chief put up his hands.

“Come on, Konoe. Don’t do anything stupid,” he said.

“Those girls in the park?” Alex asked.

“Detective Kinmoto’s dealing.”

“Why would he do that?”

“They were talking too much.” The chief sighed and shook his head. “One of them wasn’t supposed to be out there. Poor Yumi. He called the wrong name and ended up calling her out to the playground.” Alex looked over his shoulder again. He couldn’t call for back-up.

“How many of you are in on this plot?” the detective asked.

“Only you and Honda-san aren’t part of this mess,” he admitted. Alex crouched down as if he were would be ready to bolt out the door.

“But you aren’t done with this clean up, are you?” he asked. “Have many do you have left? Who do you have left?” The chief didn’t even blink.

“Three. Shuichi. Kido-san blames him for Midori’s death. He helped her try to run away. Satoru. He’s got a big mouth. He’ll probably tell the whole town,” he said.

“And?” Alex asked.

“You,” his boss said.

“Huh? Why me?” the detective asked.

“You couldn’t leave well enough alone. That’s right, I knew about your little investigation under the table. You should’ve left it as an accident.”

“But what does Kido-san have to do with all of this?”

The chief chuckled in a dry tone. “We all owe her. She tried to get us to kill her deadbeat husband in exchange for keeping our secrets. I can’t afford to lose my marriage. Suki and I were just patching things up.”

“And Kara? What about her?” Alex asked. The chief drew out his own gun.

“Nothing, she has nothing to do with this,” he said. “I feel bad for her, really. That poor woman just wanted love.”

“Don’t talk like you know her,” the detective hissed. His soon-to-be former boss raised an eyebrow as he pointed his gun at Alex.

“What is this? Do you love her or something?” he asked.

“Something like that,” the detective replied.

“Alex?” they heard a tired voice ask from down the hall. Both men turned to see Kara walking into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes.

“Kara!” the detective shouted.

“Alex, what are…?” she began to ask. She stopped in her tracks as she witnessed the scene in front of her. Two policemen had guns pointed at each other. Her eyes widened.

“What’s going on here?!” she yelled.

“Take Shinichi and run!” Alex shouted. “Go!” Kara turned and ran down the hall. The chief turned his gun on her.

Shots rang out just before the sun rose.

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The Official Police Report:

Two officers down at 17-9. Chief Sakumoto and Detective Konoe were found shot to death in Konoe’s kitchen. Both look to have shot each other. A search of the house appears to have two more people staying in the house at the time. Their identities and whereabouts are currently unknown.

As of right now, the whole case is still under investigation.