Under False Badge

Ikaho town, Gunma, Japan
August 24th
20:30

The floor of the hotel room was a bit messy, in the center was littered with cards. Haru was looking with concentration at my hand of cards trying to find some clue that would help him win, while my biggest difficulty was not to make my victory too overwhelming and make this game look like a competition, it seems that playing poker against my Emotionless faces of my daughters and a sociopathic demon has given me some advantages in this game. Haru gives up and accepts his defeat, so I reveal which cards I had, the girl doesn't like it and starts pouting with her face indicating that I have cheated. Someone knocks on the door by surprise before entering, I can tell by the rhythm of the knock that it is my dear husband returning from his phone call.

"Really? And what did they ask you?"
"Or was it just to ask about the ears and tail?"
"Were you able to get any information from them about the case?"

"Well, that and the usual"
"Who I was, what I was doing here, what I could remember about what happened."
"They didn't give me any information about anything"

"Good work out there Danna-sama"
"Glad to see you're safely back with us." I said as I greeted him formally.

"Please stop acting like that, I already told you I'm not angry."
"Besides, I only went to make a call to the garden, not to a battle on the high seas."
"...."
"In fact now that the police are around I have to ask you to simply act as normal as possible."

"But Darling, this is my normal real way of being."
"The sweet, friendly, silly, sympathetic Tamamo is when I'm acting different in reality."

"Yeah right, and I'm a man trapped in a fox girl's body."
"...."
"Look, I'm just saying that Inspector Yamamoto is already counting on your normal way of behaving."
"So if you start acting differently out of the blue it will make him nervous and he might make some silly mistake."
"And right now is not the time for that."

"Yes! my grandfather can't make mistakes in his work!"
"He has to solve this mysterious case so that he can get back on TV."
"The great Inspector Yamamoto solves another case while on vacation."
"It will be a perfect title for him again."
"And for that we have to help him as much as possible!"

"Look Haru, the only thing you will gain by obstructing a police investigation is to have the Inspector completely removed from the case."
"...."
"But don't worry, there are more delicate ways to help."
"And that's why I'm sending you Tamamo."

"What does Darling need me to do?"

"We follow the initial plan"
"I want you to transform into a cop and do some research."
"But this time I want you to go to the room where the dead man was staying."
"Try to find any documents or anything that might attract attention."
"Don't touch anything at all and don't take any pictures."
"In fact just go in and look, as normal cops are supposed to just watch while the detectives investigate."
"If you see the odd couple or Akane try to see what they are doing."
"And needless to say, don't get caught."

"Who is Akane?" asked Haru

"A rival agency"
"We have been fighting for some time now." Darling responded quickly and smartly.

"Demon hunters have rivalries between agencies?"

I checked my cell phone to look at the mug shot I had taken earlier and using my kitsune powers I transformed into a police girl from the ones in the hotel.

*Whooooooosh*

A large smokescreen formed, which by the time it cleared even my height had changed considerably.

"What was that?"
"!!!!!"
"Wait, you're Tamamo!?"
"Oh my god! That was amazing!"
"Just look at you, you look like a completely different person!"
"You were just standing there normal and in just a second you're completely different!"
"How does that work? The clothes come with your powers too, right?"

"Haru, calm down and speak more quietly."
"We don't want them to realize our plan, do we?" Elise said worriedly.

"Oh right, you're right, sorry"
"...."
"But come to think of it now we have a problem"
"How do we know which of the cops is Tamamo when she gets back?"
"We can't just start talking to anyone, can we?"

"Do not worry, we've got that covered."
"Pay attention to this and memorize it."Elise said as she searched through our luggage for something.

"Hey, isn't that the fox brooch pin that Tamamo always wears?"
"What's so special about it?"

"Nothing really"
"But now, if the police girl is wearing the fox brooch pin that Tamamo always wears in her clothes?"

"!!!!!"
"Oh! I get it!"
"We can tell which one is Tamamo transformed with a simple glance by looking at which one is wearing the brooch!
"Good thinking! That's pretty smart!"
"How did you come up with the idea?"

"Well, it's things like this that spies in the cold war used to work with all the time."

"Although Darling bought it first as a nice gift for me the day we arrived in Japan" I wanted to clarify a little more the so important object for me

"Wow, I can't believe it!"
"Even your voice is different!"
"This is all so strange and super"
"I even feel uncomfortable talking to you even though I know perfectly well that you are Tamamo."

"Well yes, but we'll talk about that later."
"Let Tamamo work, will you Haru?"
"...."
"Remember, investigate the victim's room first."
"His name is Takahashi Shuichi in case you ask."
"This case is called DL-6, remember that too."

"And how did you come to know that, Elise?"
"Isn't it secret information from the police?"

"Well, I have my own ways of getting information."
"If we want to impersonate the police, we have to know what the police know."

"You think you can teach me how!?"
"If I want to be a detective I have to learn how to do that too!"

"All right, while Elise teaches you, I'll go outside and look at what you asked me to do."

Before touch the door and leaving the room, I took a moment to clear my mind and get into character. A Japanese police officer is expected to be disciplined, respectful, and diligent. They are people who are expected to maintain public order, represent the state, and have authority. I must project a firm and confident posture. It is also a work environment, I must show confidence among my supposed co-workers, but I must maintain formality at all times. A firm and confident, but formal tone of voice. Now I was missing a little background for my character, Sure a name like Kaori should be fine, I should say I'm from Shibukawa as the rest of the cops are from there, age 28 sounds good, one problem this girl might have is the struggle to maintain a balance in her personal life, I often feel lonely because of the demanding job, I find it hard to relate to people other than cops. Okay, I get it, is Showtime.

Deciding to leave the room, I turn around and bow to the occupants, apologizing for the inconvenience caused before closing the door. After that I start walking down the hallway quickly, apparently, the victim's room is on the third floor so I go to the stairs which I climb quickly. When I reach the place I find several policemen protecting the corridor. I can show no doubt, right now Kaori is in the place where she should be. I walk steadily to the room where the yellow tape indicates that it is a restricted area. Inside there are two detectives searching the room for clues, they are not alone, there are several other officers, so I can enter without raising suspicion. They seem to be having trouble searching the whole place, I'm sure they would appreciate more help. I approach them and present a formal greeting before speaking.

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"This is Officer Kaori Sato reporting for duty."
"I was told downstairs that you needed help because of what I told you earlier."
"Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Really? I don't remember calling anyone."
"But it doesn't matter, if you've finished checking the garden with the others, come and pick these things up from here and get out of the way."
"But don't touch anything else."
"The last thing I need is another rookie making a mess in an investigation area."
"Especially with Inspector Yamamoto so close by."
"One word from him and we could all get fired for doing a bad job."

Kaori being a low-ranking officer would not know the list of everyone present, but Inspector Yamamoto is a famous man, a question from her is to be expected. It is a good opportunity to get information.

"Inspector Yamamoto is here!?"

"Oh yes, he was the one who reported the discovery to the police."
"He was on vacation at this hotel, would you believe it."
"If this turns out to be a murder, I don't want to be the poor bastard who did it."
"That man's days of freedom are numbered."
"The Inspector won't stop until he holds someone responsible for ruining his daughter and her friends' vacation."

"And you, sir? What do you think it was?"

"Well, until we have an autopsy it is difficult to know."
"But for the time being, everything seems to indicate natural causes."
"Although he did not have a severe medical history, it seems that Mr. Shuichi was known for working too much."
"In fact, it seems that tomorrow was the only day off so far this year."
"His work at the hospital indicated that he had left work early or had asked for the day off."
"It could have been overwork fatigue, karoshi"
"The hospital indicated that he was even taking clonidine as a treatment for hypotension."

Clonidine was a drug that Elise also took sometimes, especially the days after a big battle, he is even undergoing the same treatment right now, so I was also familiar with its effects. It was medicine to treat stress and anxiety, in the case of his PTSD, but it was also a dangerous drug that in high doses could kill a person in cardiac arrest. This is why Darling takes the medications he takes seriously and follows to the letter the dosages prescribed by the doctors, along with the fact that he does not like to rely on any medication unless it is strictly necessary. According to his own words "A warrior should never depend on magic elixirs in his battles, as it is a weakness that can play against him later when it is impossible to obtain". 

While I was collecting what the detectives had indicated to me, a very particular smell came to my nose for a small moment, it was the scent of Inspector Yamamoto that was in the area. Since I was a kitsune my sense of smell was much better than that of humans, although normally it is something to which I attach little importance since I do not usually hunt in the woods, but certainly that scent was perhaps out of place. So I tried to follow the source of it, but it only led me to a cabinet where there was a set of sake called "Ochoko" normally used for informal meetings.

One of the detectives noticed what I was doing and began to speak.

"Sorry girl"
"I know you want to earn a promotion as soon as possible and that's why you show initiative."
"But you will have to think much better of what you are doing."
"You almost modified the investigation scene by not using the right equipment"
"We are lucky that we found Sake's set earlier and already checked his fingerprints."
"Although the set is for two people only Mr. Shuichi's fingerprints are on it."
"Besides, the hotel always gives the sets with two pairs of glasses even if it is only one customer because they are all identical sets."
"...."
"Look, I don't want to be rude, but tampering with an investigation scene is very serious, and I'm not just talking about a criminal, I'm also talking about police officers who don't measure what they do."
"Why don't you go outside and keep watching and come back when you have studied better to try to become a detective"

In such an unforeseen event Kaori would be deeply shocked to see the mistake she made. Because of the way she is, she would be quick to apologize and feel ashamed of making such a silly mistake that could almost cost her her job. An anxious and slightly scared apology is what is expected of her, along with a large quick bow to show great apology and humility. 

"I am so sorry sir!"
"It wasn't my intention, seriously!"
"I'm very sorry for everything that happened, I just wanted to help!"
"I accept any punishment you want to impose on me because I deserve it for making such a serious mistake!"
"I'm very sorry Mr. Detective!"

"Oh, come on, it's not that big of a deal."
"I know you didn't mean to and you just wanted to help."
"We'll let it go this time but be more careful next time."
"Although if the inspector finds out that would be a problem I won't be able to help you with..."
"..."
"Better just go and keep an eye on the lobby, okay?"

Following the indications given to me, I got out of there and walked immediately towards the stairs, after all, Kaori would have done the same thing immediately after being told to do so. Although while I was still walking down I was stopped by a couple, one of them matched the description of the Akane girl that Darling mentioned during the Ueno dam kidnapping, so this must be the couple that he told me he tries to incest if he could, so I could take advantage of this situation.

Kaori would try to remain informed and indicate to the couple to please retire to their assigned room while the police investigation was in progress according to the manual. They will probably try to get information from me, and seeing that Kaori is a girl who is not very inflexible with the rules, they will try to look for something that she is obliged to cooperate with, something like a document or indicating that they are also investigators or journalists, by showing fake credentials. Kaori would normally check if they are real but I have to let it go if I want to get information about what they are looking for.

"Good morning, Mrs. Officer"
"Do you have a moment available?"
"We can ask you a couple of questions"
"No officer has indicated anything to us and we are a little worried about what is going on." said the girl trying to sound friendly but concerned.

"I am sorry but I cannot give any statement regarding what happened."
"I cannot give information that compromises the investigation."
"If you want to obtain information, please wait for the statement of the chief on the case."
"If you are hotel guests, please return to your rooms."
"We promise you that the situation is under control and we are monitoring everything that is going on."
"So you can rest assured that nothing will happen on our watch."

The answer seemed to annoy the girl, while the man simply didn't seem to care and began to search through his clothes for a piece of paper, which he then showed me.

"I am very sorry for my colleague as it seems to have given rise to a misunderstanding."
"We are private I.S.C. investigators."
"Our company sent us to investigate the case of Mr. Takahashi Shuichi."
"Here is the sheet and our IDs to prove it."
"Due to the nature of the work he was doing, the I.S.C. has grounds to do a private investigation to determine whether the death was caused deliberately or was due to the work environment."
"Unfortunately the medical field is an extremely difficult and hostile area between companies, so homicide is not out of the question."
"Do you think you can collaborate with us and help us with our investigation by answering a few simple questions?"
"If not, I think I will be forced to bother your superiors while they are busy conducting preliminary investigations."
"But don't misunderstand me, we are just doing our job."
"We know what the limits are and we don't intend to break the protocols."
"We just want to have something to send to our bosses before waiting for the official police report which takes days to be done."

The man had a much easier way of speaking than the girl and presented reasonable arguments to try to get information without actually threatening a police officer, although his speech was quite fluent. Kaori would normally try to talk to a colleague to see if it was okay to talk to these people, but I would have to step out of the way a bit to continue the conversation smoothly.

"Okay, all right"
"I will try to collaborate with you a little bit."
"But you also have to understand that as a rookie officer, I am only assigned to guard the places while the investigation is being carried out."

"Don't worry, these are just easy questions."
"We see that it comes from the third floor, which seems to be out of access to the others, so that should be the place where the victim's room was located."
"Is this correct?"

"That's right, the victim's room is room 303."
"Currently under investigation and off-limits until further notice."

"What about the detectives in charge"
"Mr. Yui Tanaka and Mr. Takashi Nakamura, right?"
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Do they have any clues about what happened? Do they have any important evidence that makes them suspect homicide?"

I have no information about the detectives, but the information Mr. Gomez seems to ask for doesn't seem to require that it be very precise, so I can try to make up something from what Darling said when he met them in the garden and what they told me when they were in the room

"Mr. Yui Tanaka and Mr. Takashi Nakamura are very capable people who know how to do their job properly."
"They have been working in the department for quite some time and are the right people for the case."
"Although they are a bit nervous because of the presence of such an important person as Inspector Yamamoto on site."
"They want to leave a very good job to be done and I feel the same way."
"Since our arrival, the investigation has focused on three areas, first the arcade area where the body was found, after that the gardens were investigated according to standard procedure to secure the area while at the same time, the victim's room was corroborated and further investigated thoroughly."
"The investigation has been standard with nothing out of the ordinary as far as I have been informed so far."
"But no possibility is ruled out during our investigations."

"Speaking about inspector Yamamoto, what about him?"
"Has he actively participated in the investment or has he taken a side and decided to rest?"
"Has his presence been influenced in any way?"

"Well, I believe that the inspector's timely presence and quick action have been the key to attending to this matter in an appropriate manner."
"From the moment he reported what happened to answer our questions, he has been very helpful in facilitating our investigation as smoothly as possible."

"Okay, that's enough, thank you very much for your cooperation, Miss ...."

"Police Officer Kaori Sato"
"If you'll excuse me, I have to return to my post."

"Okay thank you very much, Miss Kaori"
"You don't know how much you have helped us."
"From what I can tell it looks like the garden and surroundings are available now."
"I guess it won't be a problem if I walk around and check on my own, right?"

"No problem at all, go ahead."

After I finished talking to them I went back to the stairs to go to the second floor and return to the room with Darling and Haru. Looking around I saw that no one had followed me and I tapped my rhythm on the door to let my husband know it was me, as soon as I finished the door opened immediately. Haru was waiting for me excitedly trying to ask me for as much information as I was able to get. But Elise, from behind her and with her look seemed to indicate me to not to say everything and to be careful with what I said, so I kept the most important things to myself and tried to mention that I couldn't find much and that there was nothing out of place.

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