Doing Laundry

(Chapter 4)

by glacier

The tall man leaned casually against the alley wall, his jaw working around a piece of gum. There was nothing really remarkable about him except that his hair was styled in a manner that would remind you of a porcupine. He watched as the redhead sauntered jauntily across the sidewalk and entered a small shop. He then looked down at the computer generated picture in his hand. *Yup. That guy and this one in the picture are probably the same person. Still, I have to investigate further.*

Thus decided, he slipped the photo back inside his coat pocket and strolled toward his car. After watching the redhead’s activities for the past few weeks, the brunette knew that he wouldn’t be leaving the shop until about 6 in the evening. He’d just have to come back then.

He slid into the driver’s seat and waited for the engine to warm up. After a while, he shifted gears and went on his way. He didn’t know why, but something about that alley he had just passed caught his attention. Signaling a turn, he took a sharp u-turn and coasted back to the direction he came from.

He deliberately slowed down as he once again passed the suspicious alley. The brunette’s blue eyes pierced the semi-darkness and saw something that made him stamp on the brakes and jump out of his car. Someone was having the living daylights beaten out of him.

He ran towards the alley as quickly as he could but the person’s attackers saw him coming and ran for it, leaving the victim slumped on the dirty alley floor. One look at the unconscious person told him that he wouldn’t be chasing after the bastards. He had to get this man to a hospital.

~*~*~*~

Two men came running up the stairs in a dilapidated apartment building and barged right into a small, musty room. It was sparsely furnished with an old mattress, several chairs and a small refrigerator. The only really remarkable thing in the room was a large camera equipped with a high-powered zoom lens.

The occupant of the room didn’t turn around when the door slammed loudly against the wall. He merely brought the bottle of beer up to his lips, took a swig and continued peering into the camera’s viewfinder. “Nice job, you guys. The boss will be happy.”

The two men, panting slightly, dropped down into separate chairs and tried to catch their breaths. The shorter one spoke first. “So? Did he take the bait?”

“Aa. He took the bait with him and drove away.”

The taller of the seated men grinned.

~*~*~*~

“I don’t know how you talk me into this. Do you realize I could lose my job if the director finds out about this?” The dark-haired doctor glanced exasperatedly at his visitor before turning his attention back to his patient.

“I knew I could count on you, Ikegami. Going to other people would only raise questions and I don’t have any answers.” The tall, spiky-haired brunette grinned disarmingly, chewing happily on his gum.

The doctor snorted. “Did I hear that right? Private investigator extraordinaire, Sendoh Akira, for once has no answer to a question? Gee, I better call the press.”

The taller man walked around the small room, peering curiously into the glass vials on display. “Stop it, you’re gonna make me blush. And that’s gonna be bad for my reputation.” He stopped moving and turned to face the doctor.

“But seriously, I really don’t know who he is,” he said, gesturing to the man on the table. “There was no identification on him anywhere and I had some friends do a check but they couldn’t identify him. It’s like he just appeared from nowhere.”

The shorter man finished dressing the patient’s wounds and stepped to the faucet to clean up. “Well, I found some identifying marks on him that could help.”

A gasp from the other man caused him to look quizzically over his shoulder. “What?” He raised a brow at the spiky-haired man’s mock indignant look.

“Ikegami-san! I never knew you found unconscious men so appealing. Remind me never to fall asleep when you’re around.” Sendoh laughed when the doctor tried to smack him upside the head but missed when he dodged.

Rolling his eyes, Ikegami leaned against his desk and addressed the taller man. “No, baka yaro. That’s not what I meant and you know it. Are you listening to me?” He glared at the still-grinning man and only continued when the other gave a small nod of apology.

“Anyway, I found several stitches on his scalp. I judge them to be relatively new, less than two months old. I know for a fact that there are only a few operations done every year that concerns going inside someone’s head. You could start there.”

Sendoh nodded. “Ok. What else?”

“And I found a small tattoo at the base of his spine. I don’t recognize it but I made a copy of it for you. I doubt if this particular design is wide-spread in Japan.” Ikegami handed over a small piece of paper.

The spiky-haired man inspected the design for a few moments before slipping the paper into one of his coat’s pockets. “Thanks, Ikegami. I guess I better go now. Sorry to have bothered you again. He flashed another bright grin at the doctor as he walked over to the examination table and carefully lifted the unconscious man into his arms.

Ikegami smirked. “Of course you are. That’s why you always come running to me to clean up your mess. Saa, run along now. And Sendoh, be careful.”

Sendoh looked over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, usual smile in place. “Aren’t I always?” The door swung closed behind him with a small ‘click’.

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

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