The 18th [2]: Suspect's Manhunt

My name is Adam Graves, high school second year and right now, I'm alone in a girl's room— A room that would've been silent if not for the sound of water spraying down a certain high school girl in the showers.

This feels like a situation right out of an anime. Y'know, that one where the main character lets his imagination run wild while pondering if peeking is the manly thing to do.

I admit, I'd probably be the same way if the person in that shower was a tall, beautiful onee-san character with heavenly proportions. HOWEVER!..... the card I was dealt was a 4ft 8" underclassman who'd probably get mistaken for an elementary schooler if she wasn't so famous.

The risk simply doesn't match the reward. After all, there's no point in peeking if there's nothing to see, no offense to those who swing that way ofcourse.

I began 'equipping' the gear she handed to me before taking her shower— A stab proof vest to wear under my clothes, a neck guard to prevent any stabbing to the throat as well as rubber gloves and socks in case of electrocution— I say socks but it looks more like an inner shoe.

"Do I really have to wear all this? It's hella uncomfortable. Especially these socks! It feels like I'm wearing two pairs of shoes!"

"Ofcourse you do! I'm sure you also realized the intent behind dropping the body at the ferris wheel like that, It's for your own good"

"*Sigh— Yes Mom"

The sound of her shower disappeared and I could hear her drying herself off.

The chameleon used such a complicated method to make sure the body was discovered. Making the police believe the fall was to hide the stab wound on the neck was simply a diversion— A cover up to ensure the police doesn't realize they're being manipulated.

The Chameleon is definitely looking for the third conman, however, searching for one man all by yourself is a chore for anyone and near impossible to complete, that's why he planed to enlist the help of the police— once they discovered the body at the park, they'll focus their resources into finding the next victim before the killer and keeping him in custody. However, once the police find him, The Chameleon will infiltrate the precinct disguised as an officer and kill his target.

Liz realized this as well. She also realized I was the perfect weapon to turn the killer's plan against them, hence why she's gearing me up— No matter what disguise he dons, I can see through it using my curse.

The strings he thought he was using to manipulate us will become the exact same web that catches him.

"One more thing..."

Liz said as she stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a black hoodie and skirt. She threw two small disc-like objects about 1cm in diameter at me.

"What are these things?"

"GPS Tracers. You stick it on your target and you can track his location, it's my masterpiece!"

"This is starting to feel more like a spy mission. Why only two though"

"They're quite difficult to make and I only have five left so you get two. Give me your phone, I'll install the app allowing you to use these things"

She grabbed my phone and started fiddling with it. She guessed my password and proceeded to install the app.

"Invasion of privacy is crime, y'know"

"Quit whining, perv. Once you find the Chameleon, do not engage him by yourself, At least notify me.... You can use morse code or sign language if you don't want others to hear though"

"What makes you think I know those things?"

She ignored my statement. While it's true that I know both morse code and sign language, the fact that she acts like she knows everything about me ticks me off a little.

I called out to her and told her something in sign language after which she frowned slightly. She flung my phone at me and rushed to the door, opening it to scold her Mom for eavesdropping.

That's right, what I told her was—

"Your Mom's been outside your door for a while now waiting to walk in on something 'indecent' "

"Fufu, I'm really sorry sweetie. It's just....you haven't brought a boy home in years... I can't help getting at little curious... Not to mention he's actually quite the looker—"

" —MOM!"

The exchange between Liz and her mother made her seem a lot more like a normal girl— No one'll believe she's had it really rough these couple of years.... and they couldn't imagine the pain she's had to endure.

Lizbeth's mom managed to earn her forgiveness by bribing her with cake and chocolate milk. I also enjoyed some of the spoils before heading out.

We arrived at the precinct in a taxi shortly after, the grimy image was akin to those in crime movies.

"Quit spacing out, I'll leave you behind"

"Oh, I'm coming"

We walked into Stone Valley Police Department side by side. A place for the hard-boiled and badass, where no case goes unsolved and no crime unpunished—

Mostly because of Lizbeth Andrews though but you catch my drift.

"One more thing...."

"I know. You want to talk to your Dad alone, right?"

"Yeah.... Thanks"

"While I'm waiting, could I check out the case files on the lizard"

"Huh? You mean the Chameleon?"

"Same thing. Besides, chameleon's way too long.... I'm just going to call him lizard boy from now on"

"Pfft— Don't you already have all the information you need?"

"Mind reading only gives me your subjective outlook. I'll still like to draw my own conclusions...who knows, there might be something you missed"

"That's unlikely. Still though, I'll ask one of the officers to get it to you"

She did exactly that before entering the captain's office. He had shot down her proposal to conduct a wide search for the culprit before due to lack of adequate manpower to allocate as well as the fact that they knew where he'll be. However, that lead was quickly running cold and the involvement of lizard boy gave her a credible bargaining chip. He can't refuse her now.

After obtaining the case files, I wondered around the precinct in search of something— this 'something' was a very obscure highlight in crime shows, however, without it a crime show just isn't a crime show!.

In less than five minutes, I found it— the coffee machine! Seeing a hard-boiled detective sip a cup of joe while eating a donut is a staple for any detective story.... It kinda adds aura to the characters.

I happily made a cup of joe for myself then leaned with my back facing the table, posing like the stereotypical hard-boiled detective in a city of crime. I depeened my voice with the rim of the coffee mug at the same level as my chin.

"This city.... Is full of scum and it's my job to take out the trash"

I took a sip of my coffee— And holy crap it sucked! I've never tasted such horrible coffee in my life. Did they add engine oil or something to the coffee beans? What the hell is this?!

It took me a few minutes to get over the abominable after-taste in my mouth before heading to the sink to throw it away. I was a step too late though—

"You better have every intention of finishing that!"

Liz said, standing a couple meters behind me.

"C'mon that's cruel even for you!"

"You have to respect the hard work of everyone whose heart and soul went into making those beans"

"What heart and soul?! This thing tastes like shit! If someone's heart and soul is in this coffee, it's definitely one with a heart disease"

"A real hard-boiled detective won't have any problem drinking that coffee"

"Then why don't you demonstrate, great detective"

"I'm a great detective, not a hard-boiled one. You're going to have to ask someone else"

Our debate went on for a few minutes ending in my surrender. I scarfed down the cup full of waste product in a single gulp before falling flat on the ground. Liz walked right next to me, looking down on me with her usual cold eyes.

"You okay? Mr Hard-boiled detective?"

"Quit it! So, how'd the talk with your dad go?"

"He gave me a couple of free officers and control over the case which means, we don't have time to lounge around here. Get up, let's go catch ourselves a conman"

She hailed a taxi outside the precinct for the both of us to head to our next location.

"The shopping district"

She told the driver as she got in.

"More sweets?"

"Quit trying to make me say it, you already know why we're going there"

"C'mon , you seem more like a detective when you explain your reasoning"

I said as I closed the door. She sighed heavily before giving into my request.

"We're going to trace our guy's movements right from when he left the mansion. As you know, one of the roads leading to the mansion passes through the shopping district— "

The path we used to get to that mansion in the first place, ofcourse I remember.

"— We'll check the cameras at the security post in the shopping district during the timeframe of his trick to see if he took that path for his escape. Naturally, if we see no sign of him, we can rule out all areas you can only get to by going through that way. I'll have our officers comb through the remaining footage in case he ended up going through there much later in his trip. As for the two of us, we'll do the same thing at the other areas and gradually piece together everything our culprit has been doing since the murder"

"Ofcourse, doing that by yourself will take ages which was why you needed reinforcements....."

I turned my attention to the cab driver

"And there you have it. A plan thought up by the great detective Lizbeth Andrews herself.... What do you think cabbie?"

"Amazing.... It also sounds like a lot of work. But then, it sure beats searching the city blindly. You've really got guts ma'am"

"I know right?"

I continued my conversation with the driver and got him to waive the cab fees. Liz looked at me with her thoughts screaming "stingy perv"..... I knew she planned on making me pay for this as well!

We got off at the shopping district and began our investigation before the police reinforcements arrived. We spent a little under an hour checking the security cameras of multiple locations and questioning potential witnesses, mapping out his movement by process of elimination.

We surmised that he left Stone Valley to Still Peaks on the day of the murder but returned around 2 am this morning— he then headed to a gun shop downtown to procure a weapon and slept at an inn. After checking out bright and early, he headed back downtown which was where we were right now.

Going off of his behavior after returning as well the time he did so, it's safe to assume he found out about his female partner's murder at the hands of lizard boy and was currently running from him.

"Hey, that's him, isn't it?"

I spotted our guy a walking couple meters in front of us. Liz wanted to apprehend him on the spot but I stopped her.

"Wait. We should wait for back up"

"There's no telling what could happen if we wait—"

"—You know as well as I do that he's armed and extremely on edge making him dangerous. Couple that with your curse and we have a suicide mission on our hands"

"*Sigh— You're right. Still though, it's risky trying to tail him"

"Don't worry, I have an idea. We'll have you 'bump' into him and plant one of your tracers. That way, we'll know where he is at all times"

"Huh?! Why don't you do it?"

She protested, her cheeks a little red.

"The guy's on the lookout for lizard boy. Since he's a master of disguise, our guy's on guard against everyone. From what I read in the case files, lizard boy's around my height so he can't make up for the disparity in height between you and himself which is why you can slip past this guy's radar as well."

"Basically, I should face a dangerous psycho alone just because I'm short?"

"Relax, you'll do great. Be sure to keep your hood up, though"

I retorted with a thumbs up while imitating Sara's trademark smile.

She reluctantly agreed to my plan and successfully planted the tracer without issue. Once that was done, she made a call to the joint task force staking out the amusement park instructing them to regroup at the precinct.

I spent trip back to the precinct silently going through the case file on lizard boy.

In summary, The Chameleon was responsible for the serial murder of twelve victims spanning over 3 months— the victims were all females in their late twenties with long brown hair and eyes. During the investigation, they found out his choice of victims was a result of his lack of satisfaction after killing his own mother.

Apparently, he was severely abused as a child to the point where got revenge by killing the cause— his mother. However, he wasn't satisfied after doing the deed and went on to kill even more people, selecting victims with a close resemblance to his mother.

All the victims were found in the same way— nailed to the wall naked in manner resembling being nailed to the cross with bloodstains on the body originating from the single stab wound to the throat which was turned counter clockwise. According to forensics, the victims were drugged first then nailed while still alive. After that was done, they were stabbed in the neck and left to die.

I took a look at the photos of the victims when they were discovered

"I think I'm going to throw up"

"I hate to say I told you so but..... I told you so. You should've just stuck to my thoughts"

"It was a figure of speech....seeing these photos has just given me extra motivation to catch this bastard!"

"That's the spirit.....still though, don't do anything reckless"

She said in a rather depressed tone, I could tell she was incredibly worried about my safety. I patted her on the head.

"Relax, I won't die. Promise"

She smacked my hand while blushing a little

"That's not good enough, don't do anything that puts your life in danger. You're just to identify him and leave the rest to the police"

"Yeah, yeah.... I hear you"

We spent the remaining part of our ride chatting about miscellaneous topics— mostly animes and manga.

Few minutes after returning to the precinct, we witnessed our reinforcement's arrival. Although one of them seemed to be a little injured.

"Sean, what happened to you?"

"Haha....this is a little embarrassing. I just got a little banged up is all. We were chasing someone we thought to be the chameleon but he got away"

"I see..... Where's the old man?"

"He said he had a few things to take care of so he'll join us later"

Liz cut our conversation short with her announcement

"We don't have any time to waste, we'll have to begin the operation without him"

All eyes were fixed on her. She filled in the rest of the crew on the suspect's movements so far before getting down to business.

Guess she makes a good leader if she tries.

"Our suspect is currently at Daiki Mall...."

".....You mean that huge mall that opened up a couple of months ago in the center of town? The one with several brand name shops for the rich? That Daiki Mall?"

One of the officers asked enthusiastically

"Is there another Daiki Mall in Stone Valley?"

"I'm..... really sorry"

Liz's cold response terrified the cop a little.... It also made him feel guilty for interrupting her speech. She ignored this and continued.

"Most likely, he intends to use the crowd to hide from the chameleon. However, this works to our advantage as well.... Our team will be able to blend into the crowd and swiftly apprehend him without any casualties. Remember, he is armed and dangerous, don't take him lightly..."

She paused for a second to look at the people under her command.

"Most importantly, you do not have permission to die! Your safety should be your top priority..... We move out in 10 minutes, PREPARE YOURSELVES!"

The crowd responded with a loud battlecry as though we were off to war. I guess the enthusiasm of a usually emotionless detective was contagious.

Once Sean was treated and everyone dressed in casual disguises, we headed off to nab our culprit.

We got to the mall and positioned ourselves to catch our culprit while blending into the crowd. We watched our suspect for a bit before locking in.

Liz made the first move. Due to her stature, the suspect wasn't weary against her. She moved in close and zapped him with a taser. Our guy didn't go down that easy, instead, he reached for the gun tucked at the back of his trousers while trying to use the other to push her away.

However, two officers held both his hands from the back and Sean retrieved the gun. Then, they pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him.

"Phew, that was easier than I expected"

The enthusiastic officer from the precinct said with relief.

"Time of arrest, 2:17 pm"

Liz said before glancing at me to confirm if anyone with malicious intent was in the area. I shook my head to signify that we were in the clear.

All that was left to do now was to guard our suspect and wait for lizard boy to show up...then we nab him and close this case.

Everything was going according to plan— at least that's what we thought... Before Sean received a call from an unknown number at 2:18 pm.

"Sean Bright here.... WHAT?!"

I was shocked as well.... He turned the phone on speaker to fill in the rest of the team. The voice on the other side was one we didn't expect.

"That's right.... This is your friendly neighborhood serial killer, Chameleon, hahaha. Y'know, the one who killed that traitorous little bi*ch you found earlier.... Good job on catching the second traitor....."

Liz looked at me to confirm one more time. He was definitely not in the area.

"Now then...hand him over"

"Huh? Who the hell do you think you are? You think you've got Geass or something?"

I said trying to provoke him but he ignored. Liz continued in my stead.

"We are not handing him over, if you want him, come and get him you psycho!"

"You have ten seconds to agree to my demand. 10....9.....8...."

He was definitely not in the area and there were no viable sniping spots where we were. Also, there are no traps like mass sleeping gas of any kind in the building, Liz made sure to check for that before commencing the operation...

"....7....6....5..."

... So is this just a bluff? If so, it wasn't well thought out. Does he really believe we'll give in to pressure?

".....4.....3....2...."

No, I doubt it. So then, what's he planning? No matter how you look at it, we definitely have the advantage. Well, I guess we're about to find out.

"....1, Zero.... Woow, you guys really kept your word about you. I have to admit, that is kinda cool. As a reward, let's play a little game."

"I'm under no such obligation to—"

"—In this building, I've hidden a special gift for you brave detectives. Whether you choose to seek them out or not is entirely up to you. Solve this riddle and you might just be one step closer to catching me"

"Why?"

"Huh? Your sense of justice impressed me is all. You're interesting y'know so I kinda wanna have a little fun"

A boldfaced lie. For him to have placed a gift here without my notice, he had to have done it in advance. Ofcourse, he knew we wouldn't just hand the guy over.

"Now the riddle.....When you need relief, come find me alone,

Behind closed doors where secrets are shown.

The ladies can't see, but the gents may know,

Seek me out where men must go. Now then, let the first game begin. Good luck detective"

He cut the call.

I had already figured out the answer to the riddle and so had Liz. She then spent a few seconds contemplating the risks.

"Alright boys, this may be a trap so be careful..... We're splitting into groups. Each group will check the male bathrooms on each floor. Be sure to watch each others backs and remember, you're not allowed to die"

"Yes ma'am!"

I, Liz and Sean checked the men's bathrooms on the first floor to no avail. A couple minutes later, we received a call from the officer on the third floor who found something.

"I-I think.... It's best you come see it for yourself"

His enthusiasm had faded for some reason. We rushed to the third floor where we witnessed a gruesome sight in one of the bathroom stalls.

Black envelopes scattered on the floor.... and above it.... The old man nailed to the wall with blood flowing out of the counterclockwise stab wound to the throat, his legs tucked into the toilet's cistern.... His thoughts...nil. No doubt about it.

He was dead.

Liz put on her gloves moving in to examine the body.

"How can you be so calm right now!?"

"We have no time for sentiments"

"He was our comrade! Did his life mean that little to you?! you heartless...."

I stopped him before he could say anymore. As someone who could read minds, I knew just how much Liz wanted to cry her eyes out till blood came gushing out. How she wanted to roll on the floor kicking and screaming over the old man's death. He was with her since she became a detective and was more of a father figure than her dad. Even though she didn't show it, she cared for him very much.

There was no one in this room going through as much pain right now over the old man's death than the girl before me.... However she wasn't allowed to show it. She was never allowed to cry during a case.

She couldn't afford to make a careless mistake out emotion that could cost the lives of those under her command. She couldn't afford to let her deductions slip because she was sad or act on impulse. She could never afford to get distracted or waiver in her convictions....

Because it was her duty as the detective to catch the murderer..... To catch the bastard who'll do such an awful thing before he could hurt anyone else.