Behind Walls of Glass von abgemeldet (TomaPi) ================================================================================ Kapitel 11: Chapter 11 ---------------------- Chapter 11 When the interrogation was over, Yamashita accompanied Toma to the exit. On the way there he wanted to say something to him, but he didn't know what. So they reached the door without exchanging neither words nor glimpses. “Well... thanks.”, Toma said when they were about to part. Yamashita was a bit surprised when he suddenly heard his voice. “It's nothing, I just did my job...”, he answered and waved his hand, embarrassed. When Toma smiled again, his heart nearly stopped beating. “Well I guess I can forget work for today... I'll go home then... See you! Ah, and please let me know if you know something new, okay?”, Toma said and was about to turn and leave, but then Yamashita found himself standing beside Toma, about to grab his arm, but he didn't touch him. “If you don't mind I would like to accompany you to your home. You know... just to be sure... since the murderer could be after you, too...”, he said, getting more excited with every word he spoke. He actually still had work to do but he was worried about Toma and wouldn't be able to concentrate until he knew Toma was home safely. “Okay” was Toma's only answer and so they started walking side-by-side towards Toma's home. While they were walking Yamashita wanted to talk to Toma about so many things. Things that happened to Toma when he was still young. Things that would help him solve this case. What was Toma's favorite food or how long did he use to take a shower? Things like these were circling in his head when he was actually supposed to think about the case. When they reached Toma's home he waited until Toma got the key out and opened the door, but he just stood there and looked at the ground, worried. Yamashita wanted to hug him again, to blow away his worries with soothing words but all he was able to was placing his hand on Toma's shoulder. When Toma noticed it, he said: “Oh sorry, I-”, but Yamashita cut him off and said: “Don't think too much. We will for sure catch the culprit, okay? So don't worry. And... if anything bothers you... you can always come to me, okay?” Toma smiled at him again and Yamashita's heart skipped a beat. Toma looked him in the eyes, but suddenly he looked away again and said: “Well... thank you... really” Yamashita wondered what had made him look away, but then Toma spoke again. “Well, do you want to come in and have a cup of coffee or so?”, he asked, looking at him again. He wanted to say yes, had already opened his mouth to do so, but then he remembered he still had some work to do, and so he answered: “I'd... love to... but I have to get back. Another time, okay? I want to catch the murderer as soon as possible...” “Okay... then, see you. And be careful... okay?” Toma looked disappointed. Yamashita didn't want to see him like that. It made his heart ache. “Don't worry, I'm a cop after all, you should be careful! Well... I'll see you, I guess?”, he said with a cheering smile on his face. “Haha, yes, I will. Sure... I'll visit you next time... see you then...”, Toma said, smiling a little. So Yamashita smiled as well and turned around to leave. He felt a ridiculous urge to cry. He didn't know why but he knew he would start crying if he would say just one more word. He wanted to look back, but what then? Maybe he would just find an empty entrance. Maybe he would find Toma looking at him as well. But he didn't want to know. He would be disappointed if Toma wasn't there any more. So he left without looking back again. Back in the headquarters the examination team came back from the house of the victim with tons of stuff that had to be inspected. “We're done in the house.”, one of them said. “Thanks.”, Yamashita answered. “The boss told me to send you home, when you're done. Good job today. See you guys tomorrow.” He waved them good-bye and when they closed to door of his office again, he sat down on his chair, leaned back and closed his eyes. Why did Toma have to be involved in this case? Even if it was just as an employee, he didn't want him in this case or any other. He wondered what Toma was doing right now. Maybe taking a shower or going shopping again? What if he was the next target of the murderer? If this person was actually about to go on killing people. What if there'd been someone in his room already when they'd arrived there? In an instant Yamashita'd gotten up and was about to approach the door when his mind woke up from it's daydream. “Forget it, Yamashita. Stay here and do your work, dammit!”, he swore, went back to his chair again and let himself fall in it. When he looked through the stuff the others had brought here, he found some letters which didn't look like they were business letters. There was only Kitagawa's name written on it and there was a faint smell of roses. When Yamashita opened it, he saw a beautiful handwriting on the paper which said lovely words that made Yamashita's heart flutter a little. He read about secret meeting, about love-making and keys they had exchanged. And he read through some more letters when he suddenly found one which wasn't as lovely as the others. Horrifying, to be precise. The woman wrote about how much she hated Kitagawa for breaking up with her and that she would not forgive. There were more letters like this and when Yamashita looked at the name he found the initials 'I.Y.' under it. Yamashita ran through Kitagawa's address book until he found what he was looking for: Ishida Yuriko. The secretary. She'd seen him first. She had a reason. And when she'd written about the key it was probably about a key to the office, since Kitagawa was married. And just in this moment Hasegawa stepped into the room. “Jun!”, he cried out, a bit too excited, because he knew that Toma wasn't in danger. Hasegawa stopped on the doorstep, startled. “What's up, Pi?”, he asked. “The secretary! It's her, she did murder the old man!” Yamashita got up, grabbed his jacket and walked towards him. “Let's go.” “O-Okay.”, Hasegawa said. “Just wait a second. I'll just get my gun and everything.” So he walked off to the lockers and Yamashita waited in front of his office. After some time he came back again. “What took you so long? We have to hurry up or she'll get away.”, Yamashita said, already walking off. “Sorry, toilet. And one of the other guys used up the toilet paper.”, Hasegawa answered in a rather annoyed voice. So they headed towards Ishida's home but found it unlighted. Just when they wanted to leave again, the wind blew open the front door, which swung open with a creak. “Something's way off, Hasegawa.”, Yamashita whispered. Both of them got their guns out and cautiously walked inside. They didn't dare to say something. If the culprit was still inside, they could be discovered in an instant. They checked each room and suddenly Yamashita heard Hasegawa shout “Yamashita! Come here, quick!” When Yamashita came to the room where Hasegawa had shouted from he saw a small silhouette on the floor. “What the...” He got on his knees and moved the small figure to its back. It was Ishida Yuriko, eyes half open, dead. But she was supposed to be the murderer of Kitagawa, wasn't she? What now? 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