Reminder of the Heart: A Detective's Case - Chapter 3

After leaving her apartment, Jun went to the apartment manager’s office and spoke with him. At first, the manager didn’t believe Jun was a detective until he flashed his badge. After explaining the situation, the apartment manager gave him the key card to the apartment. ~ Sheesh… just because I look young doesn’t mean that I act young. ~ Jun got up, bowed to him and thanked him. He left and collected most of his important items he needed for the case. As he opened the door of the rented apartment, he looked over at Mao’s door and sighed. ~ Why does she have to look like her? ~ He walked in and closed the door. The apartment was unfurnished and he looked around a bit. ~ Looks like I better add furniture in here since I’ll be in her for a while. ~ In the bedroom, he sat on the floor, against the wall and took out a notebook to start writing information he gathered.

Mao typed on her computer, instant messaging Shun about the evidence Jun found even though she was probably still monitored by the person who was threatening her.

(IM conversation)

Shun: Interesting. Jun always notices the smallest details.

Mao: I figured because he showed me the clear wire. He reminds me of a woman.

Shun: Lol. No, it’s not that.

Mao: What do you mean?

Shun: Jun is really good at his job. Don’t judge him by his looks. He’s been through a lot.

Mao: Oh. Still, he shouldn’t be rude at the most unusual times.

Shun: That’s him.

Mao: He looks really young. How old is he?

Shun: You’re going to laugh if I tell you.

Mao: Don’t tell me he’s younger than me.

Shun: No no. He’s older than you. He’s only 24.

Mao: WHAT? He’s also the top detective of your force?!?!?!?!

Shun: Yes.

Mao: I should research about him further.

Shun: What do you mean?

Mao: Well, even if I ask you some questions, you’re not going to answer them because you’re one of Jun’s closest friends.

Shun: Of course. Still, you don’t need to worry about him. You won’t see him again after the case.

Mao’s face drooped a bit. She didn’t like the fact she won’t see him again. ~ Why the heck does he look scared when he looks at me? Hhhhmmm…. I won’t see him again, eh? I need to know more about him before I continue to judge him. ~ She looked at the time and realized it was late since she had class in the morning. Shun continued to IM her and she responded that she was going to bed.

The next morning, Jun went into his daily routine and wrote down what he needed to do for the day. He also looked at the schedule for Mao since he was being her bodyguard. ~ I better go wake up Mao so she’s not late for school. Oi… I feel like a parent… ~ He checked everything before he left and used the keycard that Mao gave him. “KIRA!” He yelled out, closing the door behind him. Mao didn’t hear him at all. She was sound asleep. Jun shook his head, “This is just great.” He looked at his watch, “Well, there’s lots of time before her class.” He knocked on her bedroom door. No response. He knocked again. Putting his ear to the door, Jun heard a groan from the other side.

Mao opened her eyes and groaned more.

“Get out of bed!” Jun shouted.

She blinked and realized it wasn’t her maid calling her. She quickly jumped out of bed and opened the door, not realizing she had bed hair, “Man, you had to wake me up.” Rubbing her eyes, she got a clear view of Jun’s face. ~ Whoa… He looks really good…. ~ Her face started to turn red.

Jun arched a brow and then laughed, “You’re hair needs to be tamed.”

After his comment, her face turned into a tomato and slammed the door, “You suck! I’m going to shower and get ready then.”

Jun laughed a bit more and then calmed down. ~ So different… Oi… I’m hungry now. I’ll be nice and make breakfast this once. ~ He headed into the kitchen and checked the refrigerator. Eggs, bacon, fruit, bread… He took out the ingredients for a meal and started cooking. After 20 minutes, he placed the plates on the table and poured two glasses of orange juice. He pulled a chair out, sat in it and waited for Mao. He looked at his watch constantly because she was taking long. Mao finally walked out, dressed up, and yawned. She scanned the room and saw Jun waiting for her in the kitchen, “What’s this?”

“It’s called breakfast.” Jun smiled.

“Why are you being nice?” Mao asked as she sat down on the chair.

“What? I was hungry and I assumed you would be too. We have time which is why I cooked.” He took out his chopsticks as he motioned for her to do the same. “Let’s eat.” Mao nodded. Simultaneously they said, “Itadakimasu.” They began to eat and didn’t talk at all. After the meal, Jun and Mao walked over to her college. He was noticing her surroundings and the people she hung out with.

~ Well, she’s miss popular which is correct on the reports. This is like high school. Well, I’ll inform her that I’m going to investigate around. ~ Jun went up to Mao and the girls she was speaking to were in awe since he was so handsome. “Kira, call me when you’re done with classes today.” She nodded in response. Jun walked off, took out his notepad and checked off his list. Mao noticed and wondered what he was doing.

“Who’s the handsome fellow you were walking with today?” her best friend, Aki Nishihara, asked.

Mao turned around, “Oh… that’s a detective who’s working on my threat case.”

“You serious? You’re still getting those threats? I wonder why they still are on to you. Are you famous or something that I don’t know about?” Aki asked.

“No. Maybe I know someone who’s famous or something. I don’t know. It’s ridiculous!” Mao lied, knowing she couldn’t tell the whole truth to her best college friend.

“I agree. Well, I’ll admit he’s hot and he looks young.”

Mao shrugged, “Let’s get to class because I don’t want to be late.”

Aki nodded and headed over to their Corporate Law class.

Throughout the day, Jun went over to Mao’s apartment to check all her threatening e-mails and voice messages the person was leaving.

“I wonder what the motive is.” He thought as he printed out all the e-mails. “I owe Mao paper and ink after this case.” He chuckled to himself and sat on her chair, reading the printed out e-mails.

Email #1 – Subject: Mao

You can never hide from me. I know who you are and I know you’re in the witness protection program. I will kidnap you without you knowing it. So, you better be prepared.

E-mail #2 – Subject: Schoolgirl

I love watching you at your college. You’re just as pretty as I remember from when I watched you in high school. You’ll always be the pretty schoolgirl who I will take no matter what.

E-mail #3 – Subject: Life

Your parents must be proud of you. If I had parents like yours, I would be proud too. Maybe one day, you’ll be my attorney.

E-mail #4 – Subject: Torture

I’m fantasizing about you right now. I have some ‘teasing’ devices here that will be set up only for you. I can’t wait.

E-mail #5 – Subject: Rape

I’m looking at my bed and I’m realizing how much I want to just take you no matter what. You are a very fine woman and I hope to snag you.

~ This person needs help. He’s more into her than wanting the ransom and it’s very disturbing. Now, why would this person tell her what he’ll do? That’s too obvious. He doesn’t leave a name and the e-mail is invalid. Plus, he stalks her without us knowing… ~ He arched a brow as he searched the e-mail address in the police database and internet search engines. ~ Links to porno sites… ugh…~ When he noticed the porno sites for the e-mail search, he linked them to the subjects from the e-mails. ~ This is interesting. He’s using titles from these sites including Mao’s name is in here. What the… hhhmmm… I wonder if I could hack into the system further to see who uses it. ~ He took out his cellphone and dialed Sho Sakurai’s number.

For some details, Sho Sakurai was a college student who befriended Jun in the Tokyo Police Force when they were training together. He was known for his database hacking skills on any electronic system. With his help, Jun has given him information about anything relating to the internet and other electronic devices. Slightly older, Sho is known to be the most serious person he knows and takes his job to a different level than Jun.

Sho checked heard his cellphone ring and quickly picked it up, “Jun, how may I help you?”

Jun smiled, “Well, I don’t know if you heard about my new case.”

“Of course, I have. Chief told me about it because he knew you would call me if anything about the situation…” as Sho put down his cup of water, “So, what’s something you cannot figure out?”

“Well, I’m checking Mao’s e-mails and they each have themes. There were only 5 but they were disturbing. When I linked them back, they were all porno sites and the e-mail was invalid….” Jun explained.

“Hhhmm… I haven’t seen anyone try this in a long time. The only way to do anything that sophisticated is to hack into the system itself and know how to change a lot of configurations through the network. This sounds like a challenge that I may enjoy.” Sho chuckled to himself.

“So, will you help me?” He asked.

“Of course! It’s boring here anyways.” Sho laughed.

“All right. I’m sending you the e-mails through my e-mail and I’ll even make you photocopies.” Jun clicked

“Sounds good. I’ll be waiting for them.” Sho responded excitedly.

They each hung up their cellphones and the data was transmitted online. ~ Oi… this is going to be very hard case to crack! ~ Jun thought to himself.