“What was?”
“Monday evening I heard two HR employees received warnings that they’ll get fired if they don’t mind their business. Probably Superintendent Yoshida was the reason.”
Teruo shrugged and sipped more coffee. “I’m not surprised he went nuts. You can’t just smear an officer’s image with unfounded gossip. Unless, of course, it’s well-founded and the superintendent’s covering it up.”
Megumi folded her arms. “I doubt the superintendent would do such a thing.”
“Yoshida said Miyazaki and his superior officer were attacked during a stakeout and it was just an unfortunate incident. On the other hand, he went out of his way to shut HR up. That’s suspicious.”
“It does sound a bit strange, but I don’t think there’s more to it. The superintendent was most likely protecting Miyazaki’s integrity. And was possibly annoyed you found yet another reason to dislike your coworker.”
“Nah, this isn’t me being obsessive. There’s something about Miyazaki.” Teruo drummed his fingers on the counter, thinking of a way to explain what he saw. He couldn’t, well,didn’t wantto speak about the white wind. It sounded like lunacy whenever the thought crossed his mind. “Miyazaki does these odd things which… bother me.”
Megumi arched her brow. “Odd?”
“On Monday during the investigation, he talked to someone. I saw him twice. But here’s the thing: there was no one next to him.”
“Wireless earphones?”
Teruo shook his head. “He didn’t have any. I confronted him and he said he was talking to himself, but it wasn’t like that. It seemed as if he was having a conversation with someone.”
Megumi huffed, preparing to laugh, but then stopped. “You’re serious? Perhaps he just thinks out loud. I do that too sometimes.”
“I’m not convinced,” Teruo said. “And yesterday during the second murder, he disappeared from the crime scene. I had him make two phone calls which couldn’t have lasted more than two minutes, but he returned after twenty minutes.” He sighed. “With a bag of sandwiches that, I admit, was quite welcome.”
Megumi contemplated for a bit, staring down at her steaming cup. “Did either of these things directly affect the investigation?”
“Not really, no. But he was distracted.”
Megumi rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you just say he does his job well? You know what I think? I think your incessant need for perfection is getting in your way of forming a good partnership with your officers. Humans aren’t perfect, Teruo. Neither are you.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “You finally got a good officer. Tone it down, otherwise he’ll quit and if he does, you’re fucked.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Teruo muttered.
The superintendent’s threat to fire him had kept him from being too harsh on Miyazaki. He didn’t want to risk losing his job. Working as a private investigator wasn’t his thing. He lived for the thrill of catching criminals and throwing them in jail, whereas P.I.s prowled around after unfaithful husbands.
Even so he wasn’t about to give up on finding info regarding the incident with Miyazaki’s former superior officer. Not after what happened with himself and Ishida. Ishida’s carelessness had almost cost Teruo his life. If the criminal had plunged that knife lower, he’d have been dead.
Teruo checked his watch. “Got to get back.”
“Good luck with the case,” Megumi said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”
“Will do.” Teruo left the kitchen, cup in hand, and headed back to his office, finding Miyazaki already inside.
He stood before the whiteboard, a marker in one hand, the other ruffling his already tousled hair. He turned to Teruo and greeted him with a wide smile, and hair looking like a bunch of ninja cats had a fight on his head.
Teruo’s traitorous brain made all the other worries he had about Miyazaki instantly vanish from his mind. Instead, the image from last night’s erotic dream came back to him.
With the dark clouds obstructing the morning’s sunrays and the lights turned off inside the office, Miyazaki looked just like his dream. Teruo drank in Miyazaki’s smooth complexion, the high cheekbones, the lush, full lips. The top two buttons of his shirt were open and Teruo stared at the column of his neck and lower to his collarbone, wondering how it would feel like to trail his tongue…
Whoa there!Teruo inhaled.That’s forbidden territory.I can’t be thinking about his lips and neck. Can’t be fucking fantasizing about him!
“Inspector Hayashi!” Miyazaki snapped Teruo out of his inappropriate reverie.
Just then, he realized Miyazaki was right in front of him. Too close, in fact. Miyazaki’s mouth was slightly ajar and he regarded Teruo with a worried look. The smell of sandalwood radiated off Miyazaki’s body and Teruo held his breath so he wouldn’t fuel his fantasies any further.
“Are you all right?”
“Fine,” Teruo grumbled.