She sighed dramatically, then hitched a thumb at Shinji. “He’s wearing your suit, genius. The tailored suit I gave you as a birthday present last year. You hate people touching your clothes, so I figured he must be the boyfriend.”
Shinji narrowed his eyes at Teruo. “You gave me atailoredsuit? Come on!”
“I didn’t even realize.” He turned to Megumi. “I’m so sorry I forgot.”
“No worries.” Megumi chuckled. “And I doubt anyone else will notice, especially the other officers.”
“We’re hoping to keep it that way,” Teruo said.
“A wise decision. The superintendent will probably split you up if he finds out.”
Shinji opened his mouth to defend Superintendent Yoshida, but bit back his words. There were too many supernatural details regarding his relationship with the superintendent and he couldn’t risk Megumi catching up on them. Telling Teruo was somewhat justified, but Megumi finding out wasn’t.
“Well,” Megumi continued, “all I can say is congratulations. You two look great together.” She gave Teruo an elbow nudge. “Told you he’s a catch.”
Teruo flushed and he smiled warmly as his gaze met Shinji’s. For a second, Shinji forgot he was in the office with Megumi right next to them and he almost made to hug Teruo and kiss that smile, but reined himself in. He took a short breath, feeling his cheeks reddening when he saw Megumi looking at him with a huge grin on her face.
“The two of you sure got busy fast,” she teased.
“He hit on me first,” Teruo said.
Shinji huffed. “You’ve been staring at me since day one.”
“Can’t blame him.” Megumi shrugged. “Half the officers on this floor already have a crush on you.”
Teruo waved in a “told ya” gesture then winked, sending a dull throb down Shinji’s abdomen. Megumi said something about them—which Shinji didn’t register—and Teruo’s eyes lit up, crow’s feet crinkling at the corners and his mouth curling into a large smile. He’d only seen Teruo this relaxed when they were alone at home and never at work. Now he understood why Teruo kept the other officers at arm’s length but not Megumi. She accepted Teruo as he was and cared about him unconditionally. Her knowing about the two of them must’ve taken a big weight off his chest.
“The three of us should go out for a beer sometime,” Megumi proposed. “I want to get to know you better.”
“I’d like that very much.” Shinji smiled.
Megumi took a sip of coffee. “So, how’s the case going? There was chaos outside after you two left this morning.”
“Chaos?” Teruo asked.
“Vultures everywhere.”
“Fuck.” Teruo gritted his teeth. “Someone must’ve told them about the fourth victim.”
Megumi’s eyebrows shot up. “Fourth? No wonder the superintendent was angry.”
“Great.” Teruo groaned. “Just what I need.”
She patted his shoulder. “You have my sympathies. Won’t keep you two anymore. Good luck with the case.”
Just as Megumi was exiting, a uniformed officer rushed inside, bowing hastily, then gave Teruo a USB stick.
“We got the warrant for the restaurant, chief,” the officer said. “I went to pick up the video footage for September 17th. I gave a copy to digital forensics as well.”
“Great job.” Teruo grabbed the stick. “Finally, we can see what the hell happened.”
The officer left and Teruo plugged the stick in his laptop, then opened the folder containing the video footage. There were three files inside, each from a different camera and amounting to six hours.
“Shit, those are a lot of hours to cover,” Teruo said. “I’ll keep it on fast forward and only stop if there’s anything relevant. You take care of Yamato’s laptop. If I notice something, I’ll let you know.”
“Got it.” Shinji nodded and returned to his desk.
They sat in silence, Teruo watching the video while Shinji perused websites from Yamato’s browser history, typing names and addresses in a spreadsheet. Yamato had searched a lot, spending quite a bit of time on each one, checking out the spiritual mediums’ services and testimonials. The mediums who offered to bring back spirits from the afterlife were the ones Yamato had focused most of his attention on.