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A Project A-Ko Murder Mystery
Part 1
By Jack Staik
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This is Ippei Oghi with Radio DNA Japan, with today's news.
Hikaru Daitokuji of Graviton City, founder and CEO of
Daitokuji-Zaibatsu, is still in surgery at Kira Daitokuji
Memorial Hospital in Graviton City following an attempt on
his life yesterday evening. He is still listed as being in
'critical condition', but is expected to make a complete
recovery.
Daitokuji was attacked last evening in his own bedroom,
having been stabbed numerous times. As the servants rushed
in, drawn by the screams, his attacker then fled through the
bedroom window.
The suspected attacker, C-Ko Kotobuki of Graviton City, is
currently sought by the authorities. Be advised that this
person is to be considered Armed and Dangerous; should you
spot her, please do not attempt to apprehend her yourself.
Instead, contact the nearest police officer immediately.
And now for the weather ...
* * * * * * * * * *
Captain Napolipolita and Spy-D sat in a bar, listening to
the radio report impassively. Then they turned to each other
and laughed.
"Oh my, how could that have happened?" the Captain asked,
chuckling.
"I would have no idea," Spy-D answered, not even bothering
to keep the smile off her face.
"It couldn't happen to a nicer guy," the Captain toasted,
raising a ginger ale. "Cheers!"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Please, Miss Magami," the detective asked, "any information
you may have -"
A-Ko Magami seethed with rage at the idiotic police officer.
"You want information? Fine - *here's* information! C-KO IS
AS HARMLESS AS A KITTEN!! YOU SCREWED UP!! NOW - *OUT*!!"
"Just a few more questions - HEY!!"
The police officers were quite disoriented as the teenaged
girl picked them all up by their belts with one hand,
carried them over her shoulder to the door, and tossed them
into the air with an underhand throw. She had already
slammed the door when they all landed on top of their cars.
"Should we try to take her into custody?" one of them asked.
The senior detective thought for a second, then shook his
head. "Nah - not right away. We know where she lives if we
want her."
Inside, A-Ko paced through her house, infuriated. This was
*C-Ko* they were talking about! She couldn't stab anyone!
She couldn't even bring herself to eat animal crackers -
she always tried to set them free!
A-Ko wished her parents weren't in America on business
again. She could use their advice right now.
But she had no one but herself now. C-Ko was somewhere out
there, lost and frightened, hunted like an animal. A-Ko had
to prove her innocence and get her home safely.
* * * * * * * * * *
The nurse entered the observation area quietly.
The young woman had been staring down at the operating
theatre since the Daitokuji operation began nearly eleven
hours earlier. In all that time, she hadn't moved an inch.
"Um, miss?" the nurse asked.
"Yes?" she responded, never moving her head.
"We have guest quarters for cases like this at the Hospice
center. You can get a shower and a nap, and only be a
minute away -"
"NO! I mean - no, thank you."
"Miss - " The nurse began, trying to steel herself for this
part, "- you can't help him from here. And you won't do
either of you any good if you make yourself sick worrying -
you'll just be too weak to do anything for him at all." At
this point, in the nurse's experience, people either listened or exploded.
Luckily, this time it was the former.
She sighed and nodded. "You're quite correct. Perhaps you
can show me the way?"
"Of course." As they walked out of the observation theatre,
the nurse asked, "How long have you know Daitokuji-san,
miss - ?"
"Tomiko Minamiya. I've been Daitokuji-sama's personal
assistant for nearly fifteen years."
"My, you two must be close."
Tomiko got a bitter smile on her lips. "You'd think that,
wouldn't you?"
* * * * * * * * * *
B-Ko sat in the waiting room, observing the progress the
surgeons made through computer hookups.
One advantage that being rich had - the ability to get the
finest surgeons in the solar system. Assured that her father
was progressing nicely, B-Ko turned to her other dilemma -
C-Ko Kotobuki.
Not for a moment did B-Ko believe that C-Ko was responsible
for her father's condition. Obviously, someone went to a lot
of trouble to make it look like her, but it wasn't her.
The police were saying it was either a love affair gone sour
or a case of unrequited passion leading to murder. All they
had to go on was the testimony of five eyewitnesses that
placed C-Ko in Hikaru Daitokuji's bedroom at the moment of
the attack, and a video surveilance file that showed C-Ko
stabbing him. Not enough evidence (in B-Ko's opinion) to
hang a coat.
Shiiko-chan was in her own bed at the time the attempted
murder took place; B-Ko knew this because she routinely
spied on C-Ko through her bedroom window.
But try telling things like that to the *police*! They
just don't understand a healthy interest in one's close
friends; instead, they start spouting words like 'stalking'
and 'harassment' and 'psychotic obsession'.
Well, it was obvious that if anything constructive was to be
done, B-Ko knew that she'd have to do it herself.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ayumi-sensei was quietly grading papers in the teacher's
lounge when Yoriko-sensei, Mistress of Rampant Gossip, came
in.
"Oh you poor dear! I heard about Daitokuji-san! You must be
heartbroken!"
Ayumi smiled indulgently at her co-worker. "It's terribly
nice of you to be concerned, but I'm fine."
"Have you been to visit him yet?"
"No - he's still in surgery. I'll see him when he's in
recovery."
"I would think that you'd be by his side constantly, since
you two are ... *you* know!"
Ayumi's smile vanished. "No, I don't. Exactly what *are*
we?"
"Well, everyone *knows* that since that wedding mishap -
when those violent lesbian students of yours stole your
fiancee - you two have been seeing an awful lot of each
other. He's a handsome, virile man and you're a lonely
woman -"
<WHAM!>
"Owie ..." groaned Yoriko-sensei from under the table.
"Don't go spreading rumors, dear," Ayumi said sweetly.
* * * * * * * * * *
C-Ko struggled against her bonds, unable to free herself.
What was happening? She had gotten up that morning and
walked down to A-Ko's place to hang out with her. But before
she got there, someone grabbed her and stuck some funny-
smelling cloth in her face, and she woke up here.
She didn't know anyone who would tie her to a chair in some
dark room (well, there was that weird game B-Ko wanted to
play with her once involving fur-lined handcuffs and leather
underwear, but she thought it sounded silly and went home).
"HEY, KIDNAPPERS! I'M HUNGRY AND COLD! AND I GOTTA GO TO THE
BATHROOM!"
Silence.
"USUALLY PEOPLE WHO KIDNAP ME ARE MUCH NICER!!"
<creak>
A door opened and a backlit female form in a nightgown came
in, carrying a tray. When the figure got close enough, she
saw the tray contained a TV dinner consisting of something
unappetizing-looking - probably British, C-Ko figured (C-Ko
being a leading authority on unappetizing food).
The female began cutting the food and sticking it in her
mouth. C-Ko had to gulp it down to keep from choking.
As she was eating, she noticed something. The girl feeding
her looked awful familiar.
* * * * * * * * * *
B-Ko looked over the datafile the police had acquired from
the Daitokuji Security System. The footage was clear;
everybody was instantly and unambiguously recognizable. The
only input to the program was the camera feed from the
Daitokuji master suite, and the security protocols on the
programs made altering the digital image impossible.
The record was damning;
[C-Ko comes in through the bedroom window, dressed in a
filmy nightgown; she awakens the older man by a kiss on the
lips; he jumps back in alarm; she forces him down and stabs
him repeatedly while he screams; the servants burst in; she
looks at them, stabs him again, and leaps out the window.]
She restarted the file a seventh time, and watched her
father being stabbed again.
"Freeze image."
The video image stopped with the knife at the apex of the
swing, about to descend again.
"Magnify quadrant two section five."
The described section was briefly outlined, then it swelled.
The murder weapon now filled the screen.
It looked ... odd in the half-light. Not much of a point on
it ...
"Increase contrast."
The dark sections got darker, and the pale sections got
lighter.
"Enhance image."
The image grew sharper, more distinct.
B-Ko's eyebrows went up in surprise.
The blood-covered instrument wasn't a knife; it was a ruler.
A normal, plastic thirty-centimeter ruler. B-Ko saw C-Ko use
such a ruler all the time when she drew; she couldn't get a
straight line on her little sunshine doodles without it.
But B-Ko used such things herself - she found her creative
energies were much stronger with pencil and paper than with
a CAD/CAM system. And such rulers were quite flimsy; a small
child could break them.
It was theoretically possible for such an object to inflict
the horrid wounds her father suffered. After all, a piece of
straw can be driven through a meter-thick oak tree by the
force of a tornado. But C-Ko wasn't anywhere near strong
enough to stab with such force. Most humans weren't.
One person was, though ...
* * * * * * * * * *
A-Ko winced as the Kotobuki's door slammed in her face.
She really couldn't blame them. First the police accusing
their little girl of murder, then the news people swarming
like maggots on manure, asking all sorts of disgusting and
embarassing questions. If A-Ko hadn't thrown their vehicles
off the embankment, they'd still be here.
Still, it had been helpful. They saw C-Ko this morning,
acting normal (for C-ko). She had breakfast, headed out
the door to visit A-Ko, and that was the last anyone saw
of her.
A-Ko went along the route that C-Ko used to go to her house
- not the shortest route, but the one that went by some of
the nicer flowerbeds. C-Ko loved flowers, and would
frequently stop to sniff or pick them (this used to annoy
the owners, but C-Ko was so darn cute, they forgot about
it).
As she passed by the Shiratori's daisy bed, A-Ko heard a
familiar whistling noise ...
A-Ko leapt straight up, narrowly avoiding the high-speed
flying kick of B-Ko in her Akagiyama bio-armor. As B-Ko's
foot sank into the soft ground, A-Ko did a mid-air flip and
came down several yards behind her.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?" A-Ko
protested.
B-Ko got to her feet and faced A-Ko in a defensive combat
stance. "Don't play innocent with me, A-Ko! I know
*everything*!"
"Oh yeah? Then what's that stuff they put in the middle of
Twinkies made of?"
B-Ko looked surprised, then recovered. "I mean I know about
your Evil Plot!"
A-Ko looked shocked. "You mean the one where I cut school so
Commander Yashida and me can spend the afternoon at the love
motel?"
"I mean the Evil Plot about C-Ko! I know you dressed up in a
C-Ko suit and tried to kill my father!"
"WHAT?!?" A-Ko cried. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever
heard! Why would I want to kill your father?"
"So C-Ko would have to hide out with you and you could have
her all to yourself! Besides, just about everyone who meets
Daddy wants to kill him!"
"I agree with the second part - but I already spend almost
every free minute with C-Ko! Why would I stoop to something
like that?"
"*I* would!" B-Ko said.
"But you're a nut!" A-Ko retorted.
"How dare you agree with my analyst!" B-Ko cried. "Akagi-"
"YOO-HOO!" a familiar voice called.
A-Ko and B-Ko's heads whipped around.
There, in the window of an abandoned house, was C-Ko, waving
and smiling.
"C-KO!!" the two girls cried.
Rushing inside (and doing permanent harm to the front door),
A-Ko and B-Ko ran up to C-Ko and hugged her.
"SHIIKO-CHAN!!" they cried together. "We were so *worried*
about - AGK!!"
The angelic smile on C-Ko's face never changed as she
squeezed A-Ko and B-Ko in her arms, closing their windpipes.
A-Ko and B-Ko struggled, but couldn't break C-Ko's grip.
B-Ko felt the burn in her lungs as the oxygen in her body
ran out. As her vision blurred and faded, she saw C-Ko's
delicate hands ... covered in blood ...
A-Ko felt her oldest friend's arm around her throat, choking
the life out of her ... then the presence of her oldest
enemy. The one she'd fought her entire life.
Her own anger.
Pure rage took A-Ko's fist and rammed it through C-Ko's gut.
Less than a second later, a massive explosion levelled the
house.
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To Be Continued