7 Deadly Sins

by Yukimi2

Part 05: Envy

Illustration by: Dave McKean
From: Arkham Asylum (Batman Comics)     

"I'd like to go home..." Toshiya said.

Kaoru didn't argue with him. He knew Toshiya was in shock with what just happened in the club. He turned on the ignition and drove to the apartment. Once there, he began to have second thoughts on his descision. The area was run-down and unsafe. There were people walking around the streets that either looked like whores, gangsters, or drug dealers.

"Are you sure you don't want to go over to my place?" Kaoru said uncertainly.

Toshiya just shook his head. He got out and leaned in the window. He gave Kaoru a little kiss on the lips. "Arigatou, Kao-chan." He gave a smile.

//Strange smile...// Kaoru thought.

Toshiya made his way into the complex and shut the door, leaving Kaoru wondering if he made the right choice bringing the blue head there.

#######

Jiro came up to Kaoru and handed him the usual stack of papers. "Where's the profiler?"

"He went home." Kaoru said.

Jiro nodded, but didn't say anything more about that. "Those are the compilation list of all the customers that could have purchased the bandanas. Problem is, that's a stack of papers full of names in that file folder. There is no way we can interrogate all of them."

"Then we'll just have to narrow them down."

"OH yeah, and another interresting thing. There's evidence that Camui Gackt had contact with Sugizo's Hungry Cat before he died. Actually, it was a phone call to the place."

"Phone call?"

"Yep. One of the waitresses there overheard Camui and Sugizo talking. One week before the murder, Camui was in New York at that time and he was expecting a trip here in Seattle. He requested to have a few private strippers at his hotel that night he was murdered. He seems to be one of those regulars at strip joints.  Camui seems to have one hell of a perverted mind."

Kaoru snorted. "Didn't think that would be the case. Then again, he wasn't very well-liked anyway. SO, somehow, Camui is related to the Lust murder; but what does that have in connection with the other murders?"

"The setting." Jiro answered. He sipped his coffee then put the cup down. "All the murders, except for Camui's was set on the worst parts of town; but now we have a connection from that end of the social spectrum to Camui's."

"Hmmm.. but what does this tell us?"

"Well, someone who seems to have no liking to those people. Possibly, as Toshiya said, someone obsessed with carrying out God's punishment for the 7 deadly sins."

Kaoru stared at a few names on the list. "How are we supposed to know which of these people are the ones?"

Jiro frowned. "Hey, I've been answering all the questions here."

Kaoru flushed. "Sorry. My mind's a little off today."

Jiro snorted. "That's what you get for getting laid on the job."

Kaoru's face turned crimson. "Yeah, and you need to mind your own business."

Jiro grinned. "It doens't take a detective to find out all what happened between you and the blue boy.

Kaoru frowned. "Alright, alright. Think what you want. I am sleeping with him. Now, can we get back to the case?"

"Spoiled sport."

#######

Jiro knocked on the door. They were in the apartment complex of a man named Toshi, one of the people in the compiled list of suspects. The door slowly opened and a timid child answered it.

"C-can I help you?" he said.

"Yes. We're with the police." Kaoru showed his badge. The kid looked troubled.....and scared. Then, Kaoru noticed the bruises all over the pretty face. Suddenly, he felt bad. "Um... we're looking for, uh, Toshi. Is he in right now?"

The kid nodded and went in. The two officers decided to follow behind the little one, noticing the ugly stench and filthiness of the apartment. "Father Toshi, there are some people here to see you."

The two officers were surprised to see the man wear a black priest's outfit and a large beaded rosary hung around his neck. "May I help you?" He said with a strange stare.

Jiro nudged Kaoru. "Hey." he whispered. "How come no one said he was a priest!?"

"I wasn't the one who got the compiled list." Kaoru whispered back hastily. "Besides, you said the killer has to be someone obsessed with the 7 deadly sins. It could be a priest."

Jiro stared from Toshi to the little child. "Yeah. One hell of a twisted priest." He said, disgusted.

Toshi cleared his throat. "I said, may I help you?"

Jiro stepped forward. "If you don't mind, Father, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Kaoru decided to leave the questioning to Jiro while he looked around the apartment. He found the child sitting in the middle of the floor in the kitchen, scrubbing the floor. Kaoru felt bad, so he decided to talk to him. "Hello. He smiled.

The child looked up with fearful eyes. "I-I'm sorry mister, I didn't see you there."

"Oh, don't be afraid. I just want to talk to you." Kaoru leaned down and squatted beside him. "What's your name?"

"Levin." He said.

"OK, Levin. What are you doing down here?"

"I... I have to scrub the floor."

"Scrub the floor? Why doesn't Toshi do that?"

"I-I'm bad."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Bad? Who said you were bad?"

"Father Toshi. He-he said I'm bad. I don't really understand, but he said I was born from a-adultery."

Kaoru nodded slowly. "Is Father Toshi your guardian?"

Levin looked down. "Father Toshi is my uncle."

"Where are your parents?"

"They're gone."

Kaoru didn't know if he meant gone, as in dead, or gone, as in he was abandoned. So, Kaoru didnt' say anything. "Does Father Toshi ever say anything about the 7 deadly sins?"

Levin thought about it for a moment. "7 deadly sins?"

"Yes. Does he ever say anything about  'envy,'  'greed,' 'lust'......"

Levin suddenly nodded. "Yes! He talks about lust all the time."

"Really..."

"When he comes home at night, he talks about how I'm the spawn of lust. He said that's why I needed to be punished."

"Does he say anything else?"

"I....I don't know..."

Kaoru nodded. "Does Father Toshi ever stay out at night?"

"Sometimes, he comes home real late. I can tell he's drunk and he gets real mad."

"Does he ever hit you?"

The little one paused. "Why do you ask me that?"

//Typical answer for an abused child.// Kaoru thought, disgusted to hear such a thing. A man considered a preacher for God could be so ironically corrupt. It makes one wonder where a person can get genuine salvation if priests could not be trusted. "Levin, if you ever have any problems, don't hesitate to call this number." He gave the boy his and a hotline card. "No matter what anyone tell syou, you're a special person. Understand?"

Seemingly confused, Levin just nodded.

Kaoru went back tothe room where Jiro and the priest were talking.

"So you've heard about these murders." Jiro said.

"Of course!" Toshi said,his eyes bulging. "Someone is carrying out the act of God."

Kaoru narrowed hsi eyes. "And you agree with this?"

Toshi glared at him. "NO! Because these punishments are to be executed by the Lord himself, if us humans interfere, then we would be murderers. And as murderers, we are no better than the sinners that died."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. //For once, this guy is making sense...// "If you ever found these sinners, what would you do?"

"I would try to save them by converting them to the ways of God."

"So you think beating Levin and you gettting drunk at night will save that child from a sin he never committed?" Kaoru demanded. "I'd think you're no better than those sinners."

Toshi paled.

"And if you touch that kid again, you'll answer to me and the department."

Jiro put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Lt. " He knew Kaoru had a temper when people were unfairly treated. One wouldn't cross him when one of the people he cared about was hurt. "Father, would you mind telling us about this?" He put a black bandana on the table.

Kaoru stared at it, then at Jiro and the priest.

"I found this as I was walking in here." Jiro continued. "Care to tell us about it?"

The priest stiffened.

"We want nothing but the truth from you. If you lie to us, then more sinners will be punished by someone other than God."

Toshi bit his lip, then stared at the two officers. He hesitated, but decided to speak. "Will this get to the press?"

Kaoru shook his head. "We don't deal with the press."

Toshi gave a sigh. "I'm not really a priest. I'm a cult leader. We have certain rules to be followed, and one is to wear black at all times. Black is our symbolic color, so everyone in the cult is required to have a black bandana."

Kaoru stared at the piece of cloth. Jiro leaned over and whispered to kaoru's ear. "Black is not any of the colors of the deadly sins. I think this guy has nothing to do with this."

The purple head nodded. //But that doesn't put him off the list of suspects.//

#######

Kaoru and Jiro reached the precinct an hour after interrogating the priest. There, I greeted them as I picked up my coat to go to lunch.

"How's the case, boys?" I said.

The Lt. spoke up. "Well, doing better than before."

"Where's Toshiya?" I asked.

"Toshiya wasn't feeling well, so I took him home." Kaoru replied.

I nodded. Either the blue head was stressed from seeing his employer die, or something happened between him and kaoru that upset him. "I'll be off to lunch."

"See you, Commish." the Lt. waved.

Once I left, Kohta came rushing in from the IS Dept.

"What's wrong, Kohta?" Jiro asked.

Kohta huffed and puffed. "Lt. Niikura, there's something you ought to see."

"What is it?" The purple head asked.

Kohta pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's addressed to you. you ought to look at it."

"Well, WHAT is it?"

Kohta simply grabbed Kaoru by the arm and dragged him to the computer laboratory. Kohta pointed at his computer and said: "THAT is what it is."

Kaoru and Jiro gaped at the screen once they saw the message. There was an email pop-up screen that said:

>>TO: LT>NIIKURA
'The happy have whole days, and those they choose; The unhappy have but hours, and those they lose.'
MUCH LOVE>
YOUR FAVORITE PERSON>>

Jiro was the first to react. "Kohta, can you trace that email?"

Kohta sat on the chair and began typing the keys. "It'll be difficult, but I'll try to hack into the server records and see where it came from."

"Can they give us the exact location and the person involved?"

"They might, then again, most people don't use their real names on the internet. One thing they can give you is the phone number the port is connected to and possibly a credit card." Kohta typed more keys in and finally had another pop-up screen on the monitor.

Jiro stared at his partner. "Hey, are you alright?"

Kaoru shook his head. "Whoever is doing this is mocking me; this whole case is directed to me. It's my fault that those people died."

His partner put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry so much. We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Got it." Kohta announced. He pointed at the screen. "That's the credit card number, the screen name, and that's the phone number used."

Kaoru's jaw dropped once he saw the phone number listed. It was his home number. The worst part of the surprise was the screen name.

Kyo.

CONTD: @ Part 06: Anger