Kaibaman 5: Yami Muto

The police chief sighed in frustration and leaned back to his office chair.
"Dammit all! For the first time our main suspect is that easily recognized and that hard to be captured!" Ushio said while sitting on a coach in the same office.
"Hmm…" was the only answer the chief mumbled.
It was evening already and the weather was nice and soft that day even though it was still cloudy.
"Anyone ready to go after him?"
"No, sir! Most of our men seem neither ready nor willing to go after him. Also there are people that consider him as a hero. There will be riots out there if our men do something against him!"
"Hmm…I thought that so…"
"What should we do then sir?"
The chief sighed once again and leaned to his desk.
"We will need someone willing to put his fame, no, his life at stake in order to catch the criminal…someone with strong sense of justice…someone whose only desire is the right thing. We need someone who's not afraid to speak his mind or be afraid of the public. We need someone that will not stop till the truth is revealed!"
Ushio's eyes widened.
"Sir! Is there such person in the entire world?!"
The chief smirked.
"I have already called him!"
"Huh?!"
His smirk turned into a grin.
"I have found the perfect guy for this case. He has some people around him to help him with the cases but he practically works alone. He is really famous about his intelligence. He has solved many cases practically unsolved. He has entered to the most dangerous places and gangs in order to find the truth. He even uncovered Yakuza itself! Rumors say that he can think of the criminal action before the criminal himself!"

Meanwhile a black car stopped out of the police station. The door opened and a leather shoe appeared. Someone stepped out of the car…

"…When he takes over a case people say is only a matter of time before it is solved. His strong sense of justice made him well known. No money on Earth seemed able to change his judgment and he rarely makes a mistake!"
Ushio was looking at him in admiration while he was talking.
"…They say that he has eyes given by Devil!" chuckles a little to that, "It only takes a look, they say, and he can tell weather the man in front of him is lying or not! He has even opposed presidents! He never stopped searching till he found the truth! Even his name is nothing more than darkness itself! That's why we have no other choice but to rely on…"
He got serious and then spoke the name…in a whisper pointing out every letter of it!
"…Yami Muto…"
Ushio's eyes widened.
"This…guy…?"
The chief nodded.
"I called him! He'll be here any moment now."
No sooner after had he finished his sentence and a small knock on the door was heard. Ushio gasped a little.
"Come in" the chief said.
The door opened and a man stepped inside. Both of the police officers looked at him! He was dressed in black leather pants with a black leather sleeveless shirt. Leather seemed to be one with his skin and it was pointing out his slim but yet strong silhouette. His chest was lean and covered with hard muscles while he had a leather belt wrapped around his slim waist. From his belt were hanging a gun and his signal as a detective. His hair was remarkable and definitely not easily forgettable. It was spiky and tri-colored in black and crimson-violet with golden bolt-shaped bangs. However the most remarkable thing on him was…his eyes! They were deep crimson like two living rubies and sharp. If you looked in them they were giving you the impression that they could see deep in your soul! Every step he took showed his power and confidence. He approached the desk and pulled his ID out.
"Special Agent Yami Muto of Japanese Task Force. Detective of first class!" he introduced himself in a deep and alluring voice before shutting the ID closed again.
The chief nodded.
"Yes. Welcome here agent Muto. This is officer Ushio. He is the officer informing me for the case!" he pointed towards Ushio's direction.
"Pleased to meet you!" Yami said again.
"L-Likewise" Ushio replied still in a small shock.
"We are really pleased you responded to our call. Please have a seat" he said pointing towards the chair that was in front of the desk.
"Thank you" Yami said and sat down to the chair crossing one leg over the other and his arms on his chest.
"May I offer you something? A drink or…a coffee maybe…"
"No, thanks! You called me because you had something for me."
"Ah, yes! We have a new case…a murder… We were hoping you could fill some missing pieces of this puzzle." Chief said and placed the photo of the dead man on the desk in front of Yami.
Yami looked at it with his crimson eyes.
"Who's this?"
"Our dead guy. His name was found by our research. He is named as Soichiro Otoharada. Age 37. He was a worker on the warehouses of the East harbor. He was found dead in warehouse number 8, yesterday night. The cause of death was specified as a slit to his throat vein"
"Suicide?" Yami asked taking the photo in his hand, looking at it carefully.
"No. The wound was caused from a distance. It is impossible to kill himself."  
The chief left some more photos on the desk and Yami took them looking at them.
"What have you found on him?"
"His wallet. It had his ID, credit cards and his entire salary in cash. He was paid today. Nothing was missing, we checked it!"
"Hmm…so it wasn't robbery." Yami mumbled more to himself rather than to someone else. "Anything found at the crime scene?"
"Nothing. No fingertips, no hairs, no DNA. Just the victim's blood"
"A professional job…" Yami commented
"That's what we firstly thought"
"What was his financial state?"
"Medium. He wasn't poor but he wasn't rich either. As far as we know he didn't like gambling and stuff. He was always accurate with the time it took him to pay his bills. No family, no wife, no children, no girlfriends, no close friends. Just some colleagues he often had a drink with"
"So this cancels the thought of being killed by a jealous girlfriend. What was he doing there after he got paid?"
"Witnesses said that he had something more to check before he went home. They heard something tearing the air…and then nothing. And the victim was dead"
Yami sighed leaned back and said,
"Goodness! This would be the perfect victim to kill for practice! They could kill him simply and no one would even notice unless he wouldn't appear for work next day! Then why didn't they burn down the entire warehouse to pretend that it was an accident? Even his bones would probably burn down in a strong fire! However they did all this work to erase all the evidence and left the body there! Why? This seems really strange!"
The chief looked at him for a second.
"Mr. Muto. I heard that you play Duel Monsters"
Yami raised a brow.
"I do but what has that to do with our case?"
"Tell me, do you recognize this?"
And left on the table the photo with the Blue Eyes White Dragon card that was taken by the crime scene. Yami looked at the photo.
"Every duelist that respects himself knows the Blue Eyes White Dragon. It is one of the rarest cards in the world. Only four exist in the world."
"And…?"
Yami looked at the photo again.
"…And also the main weapon the masked hero, Kaibaman uses" Yami added.
"Exactly!"
Yami looked at the chief with his sharp eyes.
"Where did you find this?"
"It was found at the crime scene. Right next to the body."
"Right…next to…the body…" Yami repeated in deep thought.
"As you can imagine Kaibaman is your main suspect. This is going to be your easiest and most difficult case at the same time. You know who did this. The only difficult is to find him, reveal his identity and bring him to justice."
He paused a little.
"So? What do you think?"
Yami Muto looked at the photos again in a really deep thought and then placed them on the desk.
"Sir…may I talk freely?" he questioned placing his hands on the desk.
The chief raised a brow.
"Of course. That's why we called you"
"This case…doesn't fit at all!" Yami declared clearly.
This took the chief aback.
"Explain yourself."
"With all the respect, Kaibaman is a hero that saves lives, not taking them. Why would he kill now?"
"Perhaps someone gave him money and he did the job"
Yami shook his head.
"I doubt it. A man using equipment that costs millions would take money just to kill a common man that was merely living his life? No! I am guessing that Kaibaman is a well-standing if not a wealthy person."
"Couldn't his equipment be a present or even stolen? Then it would make sense to need money."
"That would be possible but I doubt it too. If he really had a financial problem he wouldn't bother with…correcting the world! The fact that he is out there trying to deliver justice proves that he has all his needs covered. Also he gained the fame of a hero out there. If he really needed money why can't he sale part of his equipment to the army and gain millions but he chooses to take some money to kill a person and ruin his good name?"
"Perhaps he decided to change. Or he got insane or something. It is quite common sometimes."
Yami smirked as if he found this conversation amusing.
"Insane? I don't think that a psycho killer would actually think to erase every trace behind him! He would probably kill with no protection and then laugh and run away! And this?" pointed at the card-photo, "This card was actually found right next to the body"
"And your point is?"
"If it was the murder weapon then it doesn't have enough blood on it to prove the fact that it slit the throat of this unlucky man! It is barely stained by blood! If it was the murder weapon it should be hardly recognizable by the bloodstains since the victim died from blood loss! And it should have been away from the body! However this specific card, our only clue, was found right next to the body! It doesn't make sense!"
Yami looked at the photos again while the chief waited for him to continue.
"And also…" Yami continued, "…He erased every trace behind him but still he didn't simply burn down the place. He left the body there! Why?"
"Perhaps he wanted to show to people who he is now!"
"Then why did he kill this specific man?"
The chief looked at him questionably.
"What do you mean?"
"It appears that this victim was really carefully chosen so his loss wouldn't be noticeable to people. If he wanted to leave a message of this nature why didn't he kill some important person such as Maximillion Pegasus or Seto Kaiba or someone like this and he killed a person that even if he went missing for eight years no one would notice! Heh!" smirked, "If I were the dead guy lieing to autopsy then I would believe this thought!"
"And why is that?" the chief said a bit ironically.
Yami shrugged.
"Perhaps because is my job to hunt down criminals. Then I would be someone he would be afraid of! Anyway certainly not that man over there would be his first choice as a victim. And also the card…it doesn't make sense!"  
The chief was rather irritated. Not because Yami was provoking him, but because he thought that all the things he said seemed absolutely right!
"I can't really follow the trace of thought…"
Yami sighed and leaned back to his chair with his fingers merged together.
"Sir. Let's say that you are a hero and for some strange and unexplainable reason you decide to kill someone. You find your victim the crime is committed. Then after you've spent some time to erase every single fingertip and DNA in the crime scene, after you've been so careful not to leave a single hair behind, you do the stupid thing to leave behind your signature, the only thing that proves your guiltiness, at the crime scene and go. I honestly don't believe that you would do such a stupidity!"
"Perhaps he was in a haste"
"Haste? He had all the time to erase every single track but then he left the most important clue behind? And if I say he did forget it then why the card wasn't stuck in a wall or anything but it was right next to the body, the first place police would look at? No! This doesn't fit at all!"
The chief seemed to lose his temper.
"Then what are you implying? That you won't take the case?"
"I didn't say that! Do you want me to arrest him? I will. I can arrest him for million 'crimes'. I can arrest him for claiming being justice. I can arrest him for ignoring the law. I can arrest him for using heavy weapons within the city. I can arrest him for wearing mask and not revealing his true identity. I can arrest him for violating public security. I can even arrest him for running too fast in the city center but not for murder! At least not for this one!" he said.
Yami's bloody eyes were now looking in chief's black ones. They were intense and determined!
"So…you're saying that he is innocent…"
"No. I am almost certain!" Yami corrected him. "These are the conditions I put sir. If you agree then I'll continue my job as usually"
The police chief knew that he could never do something for this. He was trapped in the corner.
"Fine then. Do as you wish. I leave it up to you."
"Great. I'll need the clues you had so far and the results of the medical examiner so I can start working on this case."
"I'll send them to you"
"Than you for the cooperation!" Yami stood up along with the chief and they shook hands.
Then Yami walked out of the room and the chief sat back down. Ushio was still surprised.
"This guy is…"
"I know! He's perfect! He is the only one who can solve this puzzle!"

Outside Yami got in the black car again next to the driver. The blonde driver with honey eyes looked at him.
"Well? What happened, boss?"
"We have a new case, Jounouchi!" Yami said getting in and shutting the door.
"Cool! Then who is the unknown guy this time?"
Yami buckled up and smirked.
"It is a very well-known unknown!"
"Huh?"
Yami chuckled.
"I'll explain to you later! Let's go now…"
Jounouchi started the car and they drove away. A slight rain started again softly…