Reminder of the Heart: A Detective's Case - Chapter 2

Jun arrived at the location. He double checked the apartment complex for any suspicious activity. Nothing. Then, he used the elevator up to the floor and walked to Mao’s apartment. As he stood in front of her door, he cleared his throat and knocked on it. Mao wasn’t home, but Jun didn’t know that. He knocked again and after the second time, he decided he would go back to the Police Department. As he was walking down the hallway to leave, he looked up and noticed a girl walking up. It was Mao who had her hair in a ponytail and glasses on. She looked up and noticed him.

“Good evening, sir.” Mao bowed and knew it was Jun.

“Oh… Good evening, Miss. Are you Namato Kira?” Jun asked.

Mao nodded, “What can I do for you?”

“I need to speak with you with some concerns.” Jun pulled out his badge, showed it to her and introduced himself, “My name is Matsumoto Jun. I’m a detective from the Tokyo Police Department who’s been sent here to investigate your case.”

“Oh. I didn’t send any reports to the police department.” Mao wondered.

“You may not, but your parents spoke to my chief about the incidents you’ve had.” Jun replied.

Mao’s eyes widened because only a few people knew she was in the witness protection program. She told her parents about the incidents she was having like the threatening e-mails and phone calls. Since he mentioned parents to her, she figured he knew who her real identity was, “Okay. I will speak with you.” She went up to her apartment door and unlocked it with her card key. After she went in, she let Jun come in. “Please sit down and I will make some tea.” She locked the door, took off her shoes and went over to the kitchen to begin making tea.

Jun took off his shoes and looked around for any clues. He noticed the apartment interior design as well as how her place was setup. The apartment was very calm with light cool colors. It felt like he was calm while looking around because there was so much peace. She was very neat and clean and nothing was out of place. Everything seemed right when going into the living room. He sat on the couch and waited, “Is it lonely living in this big apartment?”

“I admit, yes it is. What can I say since I had to go into the witness protection program?” Mao answered as she was boiling the water.

“I see.” Jun took out his notepad and noted in it some clues and the way the apartment was setup.

Mao went over to the couch and sat next to him, “So, I assume you know my real name?”

Jun didn’t want to look at her because she really reminded him of Yukie, “Yes. You are Inoue Mao and the daughter of the famous Prosecutors.”

Mao nodded, “So, you are here to investigate everything?”

Jun shrugged, “Not only to investigate…. I’m here to protect you until this case is over.”

She was shocked, “What? I don’t need anyone to watch me!” She got up, a bit upset.

Jun looked ahead of him, not noticing her expression, “Look, it was your parents’ request, not mine. So, I need to ask further if I need to stay here as well.”

“Oi! I’m not a baby! Man, they’re nuts…” She went over kettle and turned off the stove since the water was boiling.

~ I knew this was not going to be pleasant. Nice girl, huh? She sounds pissed off and looks like she wants to kill me instead. Plus, she seems crazy. ~ Jun thought as he jotted down some notes.

Mao calmed down and poured the water into a teapot. After she added the tea leaves and put the tea cups on the tray with a little snack. She lifted it and took it over to the living room. Jun looked up and noticed what she was doing. She placed the tray on the coffee table and poured him some tea in the small cup. He watched her every move and realized how graceful she is which impressed him. After, she handed him the cup of tea, “Sorry about the outburst. I get frustrated when my parents do not inform me of anything.”

Jun smiled, “It’s understandable. I would be upset as well. Thank you for the tea by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled back. She drank her tea conservatively as Jun noticed while drinking his cup. ~ Hhhmm… maybe she isn’t bad after all. I guess I should get to know her better and not be afraid of her because she looks like Yukie. Plus, she’s hot. ~

Mao noticed and thought, ~ This guy is watching me. I don’t know if it’s a compliment or it’s creepy. Maybe he’s lonely like I am… he is very handsome which is a plus. He seems to have a cold attitude but maybe something happened… ~

For a while, there was an awkward silence between the two.

“So, you like looking at me?” Mao broke the silence bluntly.

“Why do you say that?” Jun asked and arched a brow, not realizing that he was staring at her for a while.

“Well, I’m debating if that’s creepy or you really like me.” Mao shook her head, smiling.

“Ummm…” Jun stayed quiet.

Mao’s voice tone became serious, “So, what will you need to do here?”

Jun looked down at his notepad, “Since I have to ‘protect’ you, I will need to either live here or rent out an apartment next to you for a bit and work on my own time on investigating this apartment complex…”

“Oh… hhhmmm…” Mao looked nervous since she was wondering about him living in her apartment.

Jun studied her expression and decided, “I will need to rent out a place more since you look horrified from the first option.” He couldn’t help but smile.

Mao nodded and bluntly replied, “I don’t trust you enough since I met you today. Besides, you seem to have a cold attitude and always look negative.”

Jun flinched at her comment, “I like my looks. I don’t like the assignment already, but I will do my job to protect you and figure out who is sending you the threatening messages.” He stood up. “Don’t worry. I won’t be here for long. I will crack this case and then, leave you alone.” He didn’t want to look at her because it was hurting him inside every time. ~ This really won’t be easy… ~

Mao blinked and wondered where that response came from, “Fine. You have my permission to look at all the e-mails, voicemails, checking my apartment for devices and anything else you need to do. That means I have to give you a key card.” She straightened her glasses.

Jun looked at her, “I’m making sure you’re okay with it.”

Mao looked straight ahead of her and responded, “Yes. If my parents trust you to protect me, then I will permit you to do whatever you need do. That means no sleeping with me.”

“That was rude. Who do you take me for? I’m out of here!” He was so upset that he walked out of her apartment, slamming the door.

Mao sat back on her couch and put her hand on her forehead, “Shoot… I didn’t mean to say that. Me and my blunt mouth!” She sat there, upset at herself and realized she didn’t give him her extra card key. “How is he supposed to investigate? Ummm… now I have to go the police station and give him the key.” She got up, picked up her jacket and purse and quickly walked to the door. As she was putting her shoes on, she heard a knock on the door. Checking through the little hole, she saw Jun who was looking at something. She opened the door, “That was quick…” Then she looked at where Jun was looking at. “Ummm… what is that?”

“Interesting.” Jun bent down and look at the slim clear wire going around her door frame. “Is this something the witness protection installed?” He pointed.

Mao checked, “No. They checked everything with before I bought this apartment.”

Jun’s eyes followed the wire to under the concrete. He took out his notepad and drew the diagram of the line.

Mao was impressed by the detective and realized how dumb she was for making him upset. “So, does this mean that someone followed me and put this line here? I never noticed this.”

“Yes. No one really would have noticed this. There must be some connection somewhere in your apartment.” Jun answered, putting his notepad back into his pocket.. He looked up and noticed a tiny hole near the door frame. “The hole was purposely small so no one would notice.” He walked into the apartment, having an idea where wire through and traced it to the phone line of her bedroom. Mao followed him, really amazed at his skill. He bent down and went under the desk. Disconnecting the phone line and power to her modem and router, he detached the slim clear wire and saw a black square piece once it came out. “Technology these days are advancing even to something as small as this.” He showed her what was tapping into her phone line.

“I’ve seen this before on an online site. It was only for testing though. Looking at it, this was being researched through the government. Shoot, I forgot was it was called.” Mao answered.

“Wait… if no one else has access to this, then how was installed here? Plus, I don’t think the government would have anything to do with this. This seems like it was stolen from a source.” He noticed there was no model number on the black tip. “This is a replica of the original. It makes me curious because no one still should have access to this.” ~ Who would go through all that trouble to capture her? ~

“I’m normally home and never see anyone here. When I’m out, I’m at school or with friends. I mean, there are maids that come here to clean the apartment.” Mao said.

“There are maids?” He questioned. Mao nodded. He decided to question further, “Do the maids look suspicious?”

“No. I’ve known them since I was really young. They took care of me when my parents we’re around.” Mao answered.

Jun asked more questions and wrote down her answers, “Okay… I have a lot more work to do then.” He got up, put his notepad in his jacket and held out his hand to Mao.

Mao, surprised, took his hand and he helped her up. Once she was fully standing, she bowed, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He replied. “I will go talk to the apartment manager, rent out the apartment next to you, and see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t forget this.” She handed him her extra key card. “Also, you may need my number just in case, right?”

“Good point.” he responded as he took the key card. After putting the keycard in his wallet, he immediately took out his cell phone. He made a contact slot for Mao, and she got his number as well.

“See you tomorrow, Detective Matsumoto.” She answered.

Jun loved the ring of his title but for some reason, he loved the she said it. He looked at her, “Call me Jun since we’re not going to be really formal around each other.” She smiled and nodded. ~ She’s very cute when she smile. She’s not like Yukie at all… maybe I’ll get over it. I’m still afraid. ~

Mao nodded.