Bloody Rose

Until the Clock Tolls

Chapter Forty-Three:

Until the Clock Tolls

Hattori stuck close to Kazuha as the police arrived, led by Chief Inspector Toyama and Inspector Otaki from the Osaka police department.

"Dad!" she yelled running to him.

Toyama wrapped his daughter in a large hug, checking her over for any injuries before his eyes swept the room and landed on Hattori.

"Heiji-kun", he called with a wave.

"Toyama-san", he said with a smile, "thanks for coming. Sorry it had to be about this though."

"No problem. When Kazuha called me about it, I knew I needed to hurry on down here quick as I could. What do you have to tell me?"

"Well the freezer came the garage and the garage has been open all day for people arriving to enter and exit through. The freezer had also had things stacked on top of it before we rolled it outside. The man in the freezer seems to have only been in there a few hours, because his body while frozen, wasn't in a preserved state. He was still fresh, in other words."

"Any sign of tampering with the lid or temperature?"

"Not that I could see, but I haven't had the chance to look to close. With all the kids here at the party, we didn't leave it open. I haven't had the opportunity to search the body either. I do know there was blood inside, a lot of it, so I can only assume his body was dumped in there after being killed, rather than the cold killing him. I also caught a glimpse of his face. I believe it was Manori-Kun, from our grade."

"Probably. Let us take a look and then we can discuss it. Head on inside with the others, we will be in shortly."

"Right."

Hattori led a shaking Kazuha inside where the other guests were chatting away, all of the discussing their own thoughts about the body found outside.

"Are the police here?!" asked some frightened girls all clustered together in the corner.

"Yeah, they will be handling it from here on. They said for everyone to wait inside until they were done examining the scene and the body."

"I just want to go home", one of them cried.

"There, there", whispered Hakuba as he took the girl into his arms. She cried on his shoulder as he comfortingly stroked her hair and back. He whispered into her ear, a smile decorating her face as she closed her eyes and leaned against him. He smiled as he also closed his eyes, the two snuggled together on the couch.

Hattori stared at them in shock. When had Hakuba's 'KILL' aura go to something like a 'love and hope for everyone' feeling.

"Oh that happened earlier when we went inside. The girl was crying because she knew the victim and he was asking her questions", answered Shinichi who had seen Hattori's look, "after that the girl has hardly left his side. If it is as I think it is, she knows he is a guy. I believe he told her."

"Hmm...well whatever. So long as he doesn't blow the cover."

"He won't, but those two I have a feeling are going to be close for a while."

Hattori just shook his head as he looked around for Kuroba. He didn't seen the magician anywhere and that worried him slightly. If there was a killer around here, the last thing they needed was one of them running off alone.

"Where is K-kun?" he whispered to Shinichi.

"Oh, he left when the police arrived. I believe he said something to the extent of "I don't like law enforcement, present company excluded" and then vanished upstairs."