My Second Client Is Testy As I Expected!

Yuko Ikezawa and her manager departed from the Mouri Detective Agency, and Kogoro was left alone to formulate the answer to this case. He didn't bother trying to twist the fact to his advantage like what he did to the last case, mainly because of one thing: Kogoro was pretty sure the perpetrator was a man.

If Kogoro was to list the notable points he got from Miss Yuko's manager, Rukia Kazumoto, then the first one would be the time when Yuko Ikezawa started being softly boycotted by the industry.

"After Miss Yuko finished filming her first drama… From this point alone, I can narrow down the possible source to the people who would benefit from her not getting any work; so that would be debuting idols and actors, or someone from the same era- and of course their managers…" Kogoro muttered while he circled down the names that fit the first description.

The second point was the relationship they had with the victim. Although not having one didn't prevent someone from doing bad things, a stronger motive usually popped up only after a certain level of exposure, thus building the culprit's interest for something the victim had that they didn't have themselves.

"This one may be jealous, and this one started receiving more offers just as Miss Yuko received less. Oh, and this one came from the same label before she jumped ship."

With that, Kogoro underlined some of the names he wrote.

And finally, the third point was the ability to sabotage Miss Yuko's affair. This point alone made him strongly reconsider some of the names not included in the list from the first two points, but it also helped him trim the list down to seven names.

"In the end, I have to gather more info about the three artists plus their managers, and also this one TV producer. Man, what an ugly bastard…" Kogoro grimaced, not knowing how to feel about the man who looked like he was born to blackmail married women. Not that he had any right to judge, with his scumbag nature.

Kogoro cracked his fingers to prepare for the most difficult part of his job.

"It's time to make some calls."

***

"Let me make myself clear once again, Kogoro Mouri-san. I. Don't. Know!"

Click!

The call was cut off from the other side, and Kogoro couldn't help but shake his head at the absurd reaction from his client.

After Kogoro finished contacting all the media people he knew, he decided to check certain details he got from the conversations, to the most reliable source he got, which was his very own employer.

At first, Miss Yuko was quite amicable. Although he could sense that she did it out of courtesy, he still appreciated the gesture. But all of a sudden, she turned hostile. Maybe because he touched a difficult subject, or she was just feeling unwell; but Kogoro had to replay the call he just had, to analyze what the answer to his question was.

Kogoro was left with only one option. He needed to talk with Miss Yuko's manager, Rukia Kazumoto. The problem was, she also managed other small-time artists beside Miss Yuko, so she was busy at almost every hour of the day.

'Looks like I need to come directly to their office.'

***

"Ran, Dad's going out, so you don't have to make dinner tonight!" While putting on his coat, Kogoro told Ran, who was watching the news on TV. She was wearing a cream colored camisole top and shorts. Her long, supple legs were distracting him for a second, before he regained his cool.

She replied without turning back, "Okay, but don't be so late like yesterday!"

"Don't worry, that's a special case. Anyway, I'll be going now!"

"Be safe on the road!"

Kogoro closed the door behind him, and took a taxi to the address Miss Rukia left him.

It took Kogoro about an hour before he arrived. He went straight to the receptionist, asking for Miss Rukia.

"Please wait a moment, sir!"

She made a call to notify Rukia about Kogoro's presence. Once she got the permission, she took him to Rukia's office, and left immediately.

Inside, Kogoro sat across Miss Rukia, and he felt bad after noticing her disheveled state. Was she overworking herself?

"Did I disturb your work, Kazumoto-san?"

Miss Rukia smiled, "No, no, no! I will always have time for Mouri-san."

The two exchanged pleasantry for a while, before he moved on to the topics he wanted to ask her.

"Kazumoto-san, please take a look at this list and tell me what you think about it." Kogoro said, giving the folded paper to Miss Rukia.

Miss Rukia knitted her brows, before reaching out and taking the paper. She opened it, and looked over the names neatly listed inside. Her eyes got wider the longer she read. When she was done, her gaze turned to Kogoro, full of complex emotion.

"Mouri-san is indeed a great detective! I didn't know about half the stuff here despite working with some of them for quite a long time." Miss Rukia sighed tiredly, her shoulders dropped while she leaned forward, elbows resting on her lap, and hands covering her whole face.

She shook her head slightly, before she abruptly stood up and went to stand close to the windows facing the street.

"I'm sorry Mouri-san, I showed you a shameful display. It's just that… I have not had a rest today." Her voice was shaky, showing her frustration to the whole situation.

Kogoro went and stood up beside her, before reaching out to hug her shoulder. She went tense for a second, before she leaned to him.

"Rukia-san, the list was just a preliminary guess work, I needed Yuko-san and your opinion on it, before I can take it a step further. So please take your mind off of it for a little bit if it weighs you down!"

Smiling, Kogoro teasingly asked her, "When was the last time you hung out with your boyfriend?"

"W-what?" Rukia sputtered her response, making him crack up.

"You need to stop working all the time, and let someone-" Kogoro leaned in right next to her left ear, whispering "-take care of you."

~To Be Continued~

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A/N: Chapter 10 is up on my patréon and ko-fi pages. I'm writing quite a bit faster now, but there's only so many hours in a day that I can dedicate to this, so I apologize if my updating speed of one 1k words per chapter per day is too slow.

Thank you for reading!

segalengko69