Connections are Found [Tokyo Metropolitan Police]

Guy's shocked reaction was overdramatic, his hands shooting up into the air. "A weapons dealer?! In Japan?!" He quickly snapped back into a pose. "Hmm... It seems I have underestimated your potential. Who would have thought I was traveling around Tokyo with such a dangerous woman?" He smiled at her. "I'm not particularly fond of weapons. Cash should be alright."

" Well fondness or not, they are good for people in your line of work. And what about Kiko? Her attitude can't defend her all the time. I'm going to give you at least two tasers at no charge, for safety." she played around on her phone for a couple seconds to order them. "As for your payment, I don't carry any cash with me, if you'd skip your planned bedtime you can come by my house with me and get your payment after we check in with Kiko? I do assume you'd prefer cash," she purred smiling deviously.

"I see... Well, I suppose it's alright to be safe. There's no doubt about that. And sure, I'll go ahead and come by your place. I'm sure in your line of work, it must be very nice!" He laughed aloud again, his laugh echoing off the walls of buildings around them. "I'm sure glad you tagged along with me, Bayle! It's been quite an adventure!"

Once again she found herself giving the man a genuine smile. " I agree fully. This has been a perfect day off."

Upon her arrival she was escorted to one of the interrogation rooms and left to wait for a few minutes. She was sure they were running background checks and other such things. She patiently sipped the water she was provided with before her questioner finally entered. She smiled and waved as he sat down.

This time, her interrogator wasn't a police officer, but a tall and beautiful woman with her long brunette hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore a tight (and quite flattering suit), and thin glasses. She sat down and offered her hand to shake, without a smile.

"My name is Kirihara Misaki from the Public Security Bureau. I'm sorry about the inconvenience, but we have a lot of questions for you. Why don't you start by telling me everything that happened tonight?"

" I'm Bayle Falain, though I'm sure you already know. I like your suit." she replied shaking her hand. "As for what happened tonight, though I did call it in as a suicide, I don't think...well, I know for a fact that these aren't suicides. Let me first begin with last night. I was at the Fiore building and this man came screaming down from the rooftop and fell in front of me. After talking with the officers and reading the papers, I found this string of suicides strange. I made friends with a private detective, who was able to show me the security tape. In the tape I noticed before the man "jumped" there was a blue glow around his body, which through my business dealings I have come to know of signs of a contractor's power. So I came to Fiore tonight to check things out. I was able to pretty much walk right into the building and I never saw a receptionist or anything. Fiore seems to be having some major security issues. But anyway, I investigated the rooftop, found nothing, and then after I had left I saw a suspicious man leaving so I followed him. He ended up going to the construction site and climbing to the top of that scaffolding. When I realised the man was going to jump I tried to get his attention, and now this is where it gets a little weird, but bear with me. He looked at me and glowed, his pupils got red, and then it's like...he took my body. Everything was fuzzy and hazy and I could barely remember anything but flashes. The mysterious guy, of course, fell. Hence he was murdered. I'm not quite sure how I got there, but I was finally released from the contractor, and suddenly there were other people...well one guy and one cat. The cat darted off and the guy, who was wearing this long trenchcoat and a really weird white mask...I could draw it for you if you want. But the man took off, ignoring me completely, and since this guy had just gotten in my body I thought he must have jumped into whatever his original body was and fled and this masked guy must be chasing him. So I followed the masked man, but we lost him. I was still pretty riled up of course, so I wanted to keep looking. The masked guy didn't say anything, but the cat told me that I shouldn't be involved in this, and that I should go home. Naturally, I'm aware that this all sounds completely absurd, especially the talking cat part, so I'm at least blaming the cat on the fact that someone was in my brain prior to that, or that the masked man is a ventriliquist, and I hallucinated that it was the cat speaking." Bayle leaned back in her chair to take a long drink of water. Waiting for the woman to take it all in and then call her crazy.

"I see." Kirihara calmly pulled a folder onto the desk. "That is quite a lot to take in, but I think I understand. We had reason to believe that you were in contact with one of Japan's most wanted criminals. He's been seen wearing a heavy black trench coat, has short black hair, and wears a white mask." She opened the folder to show a sketch of the man. "Is this what he looked like?"

"That is exactly him." she said leaning closer to the sketch. "What did he do to become one of Japan's most wanted criminals, if I may ask..."

"I'm afraid that's confidential. So, you said that this man was chasing the Contractor that took over your body, correct? Did he do anything to hurt you in any way?"

" Absolutely not. And he surely could have. Odd for such a dangerous criminal,"

"Interesting," Kirihara said simply. "Do you have any idea what any of them were after? Any bit of information will help."

Bayle furrowed her brow as she tried hard to remember. There was something that he took from the man that fell...oh yes! "Well...from the fuzzy bits...I kind of remember a vial of perfume. I don't know if the masked man was after the contractor itself, or the perfume as well...but the contractor that's causing the suicides definitely wanted that vial, he took it off of the man he was possessing but..I don't know what happened to it after that."

Kirihara looked genuinely confused. "Perfume? How odd..." For the rest of the hour, Kirihara asked her many questions, some in depth about her experience with the Contractor, some pretty much mundane. Nevertheless, she continued on the line of endless questions, before finally rising from her seat.

"I'd like to ask you not to speak of your experience to anyone outside of the police force, for security purposes. Besides that, you are free to go. Thank you for your cooperation."

" Of course. It was lovely to meet you." she said shaking the woman's hand again before exiting the police station. As soon as she was on her motorcycle and away from the police station a few blocks, she called Kurosawa.

When the phone rang, Kurasawa snorted, woken up from his deep slumber. What time was it?! He turned over in his bed and answered the phone. "Hello...?"

" You will not believe what just happened to me!" Bayle exclaimed. She was far too excited about the situation from lack of sleep. As she drove home she relayed the entire story. Luckily she wore her headset under her helmet, so no wind was interfering with the call. It took her until she got home to tell the whole tale. " ...and I'm sorry to call you so late, I just had to tell someone! It was really exciting." she finally finished as she arrived home and began to get ready to get at least a little bit of sleep.

"Wow!" exclaimed Guy, fully awake. "Are you serious? That's quite an adventure! Hmm... I wonder how all of this will come together... Fiore, the Contractor, the perfume, the lost cat, the widow, the dead executive. I can sense it! We're getting closer to solving the mystery! What do you think we should do next?"

"Sleep!" Bayle said exhuberantly. "But tomorrow after my meeting with Fiore, I'll call you and we can decide then. Does that sound alright?"

"Alright, sounds like a plan! I'll go back to bed, and I'll wait for your call tomorrow!"

She giggled at his enthusiasm. " Alright Matsu-san, see you then," she hung up her phone, set her alarm, and was unconcious as soon as she hit the pillow.


***

She awoke around ten the next day, got ready and headed to her meeting. It went extremely well and she was able to sell quite a heavy duty security system to Fiore. This especially excited her as she could now survey the building, just in case Mr. Contractor came back. As soon as she was done she gave Guy a call.

"Hello?" Guy said as he answered. "Ah, Bayle! Good to hear from you! I just got done with lunch, want to meet at Homerun Cafe?"

"You just got done with lunch and you want to meet at a cafe? My what a large stomach you have," she said teasingly. "Really though it's fine, I'm starving myself. I skipped breakfast. I'll see you there soon!"

***
By the time guy arrived Bayle was already wolfing down a gyudon. She waved as she scooped some noodles into her mouth and chewed quickly, motioning for him to sit. "Howsh it goin'?" she asked covering her hand with her mouth.

"Good, good. I've been full of energy since yesterday!" He blushed, but laughed it off. "You must be tired after your exciting night!"

" Oh no, not really. I like dangerous situations so I'm still pretty...excited. But anyway, to the matter at hand. Where shall we go from here? I'm definitely going to have surveillance on Fiore now, everything is being installed as we speak and will be finished by tonight. I think we might need to ask the widow more about some perfume formulas though. The guy that possessed me took a vial of perfume, maybe she knows about some secret formula..." she paused for a response and to drink the broth of her gyudon.