Chapter Two

Izaya went right into work mode and began to take command of the situation.

"Alright, everybody out of the room, I'm going to call this in and contact my boss so that I can take this case, in the meantime Decim take Mei into the kitchen make some tea try and keep her calm"
"I'll get right on it, do you actually think the murderer was after me?"
"They could have been after your cousin, but I find it highly unlikely, first off why would they kill him here, secondly how would they have known which room he was in, I think it more likely they were after you and assumed the room Shou was in was yours and that he was you, you're around the same build it would be difficult to tell you apart in the dark"
"So you can't confirm or deny it"

"No not at this stage, but my gut and what you writ off earlier as paranoia has me thinking towards you as the intended target, now look after Mei I'll sort things out with my boss"

Decim guided Mei away from the room, leaving Izaya alone standing before the body of Shou Akabane. He pulled out his phone and rang up Okabe Yagami from the crime scene squad.

"Izaya you calling up to rub the fact you're on a break in my face"
"Wouldn't I love to be doing that, unfortunately, Okabe I'm going to have to postpone my break and I need you to report to a crime scene"
"Oh, who died for you to cancel your break"
"I'm only postponing it, and the guy who died is my friend's cousin, but I suspect my friend was the real target"
"Which friend do I know him"
"You remember Decim from Comiket"
"Of course I remember Decim, great guy, solid taste, I'll head out now, give me the address"

Izaya rattled off the address to Okabe, once he was satisfied that the crime scene squad was on its way, he called up his boss Captain Shinya Kusanagi.

"Izaya, what are you doing calling me you're meant to be on holiday"
"Don't remind me, sir, there has been a murder and I'd like to postpone my break until I can either close the case or declare it cold"
"Must be pretty important for you to want to take the case and postpone your holiday to do it, who is it"
"Shou Akabane, He's my friend's cousin, but I think-"
"Shou Akabane, as in the Akabane accounting firms executive!!"
"Yes sir, he's my friend's cousin but I think my friend was the actual intended target"
"Have you called in the crime scene squad"
"Yes sir I have, do I have your permission to take the case and postpone my holiday"
"Permission granted just solve the case, preferably fast if you're familiar with your friends family, you know the power they wield"
"Yeah, sir I do and I will solve this case make no mistake about that"

Izaya hung up the phone and looked back at the dead Shou Akabane. Shou was the same average build as Decim with a more unremarkable appearance. Izaya noticed that the knife sticking out of the neck was a high-end kitchen knife possibly meant to tie the murder to someone in the house assuming Izaya's theory was correct, if he was wrong then only Decim or Mei could have killed Shou and he didn't like either scenario.

"You either got very unlucky or picked a very unfortunate place to die, but I'll figure out who killed you," He said to the corpse as though it was still alive

Izaya went out the front when he heard sirens approaching, he found the crime scene squad arriving, being lead by Okabe personally. Okabe walked up to Izaya who led him into the house and towards the crime scene they were followed quickly by a series of assistants.

"What do you think?" Izaya asked Okabe as they stood outside the room
"From an initial glance, I'd have to say your theory is possible, killer came in through the door without alerting either the victim or the rest of the house, killed him quickly taking the knife right to his jugular and leaving it there, it was so fast your killer could easily have mistaken the victim for his cousin, of course, I'm still going to have to run everything for prints and DNA"
"Wouldn't expect anything otherwise, you and your guys record the scene and call in the ambulance if they aren't already on their way to take the body when you're done, I'm going to interview Decim and his cousin, got a notepad and pen i can borrow"
"Sure, but isn't Decim's cousin the dead guy in the room"
"Different cousin, also staying here"

Izaya took the notepad and pen Okabe lent him and went into the kitchen to question a man afraid for his own life and a woman in absolute shock. He found Decim and Mei sitting down at the kitchen table drinking tea. Izaya sat down across the table from them note pad and pen at the ready.

"Alright, what did you guys do last night, so we can get a timeline of events, starting with you Decim," Izaya asked
"Alright, so last night we ate dinner together at around 7, Shou lectured me about what he thought of my hobbies, I ignored him, once I was finished with dinner I had a shower and went to my room for the night where I watched some anime in bed with headphones on, I fell asleep around midnight, I didn't see or speak with Shou following dinner" Decim answered
"Alright, now Mei if you're feeling up to it can you recount what you remember about last night" Izaya inquired  
"We had dinner together at around 7 as Decim said, Shou did lecture Decim about his hobbies, then after dinner, Shou tried to argue with me saying I should have taken his side when he was lecturing Decim, I told him to live his own life instead of trying to dictate everyone else's, he got upset and said he was going to bed, I didn't talk to him after that and I went to bed shortly afterwards"
"Why did you go to Shou's room this morning?" Izaya asked
"Shou's gets up early all the time and scans the stock market, when I didn't see him at breakfast I grew worried, I went to check on him because whilst he was a colossal jerk I am still a doctor and obliged to help the sick" answered Mei
"I need to ask this question but why was Shou staying here?" Izaya asked
"He heads a different branch of the firm, he was down here in Tokyo for an annual meeting and he wanted to save money as well as lecture me no doubt" Decim answered
"And why are you staying here Mei?" Izaya asked
"I recently got a job here and hadn't found a place to live yet, Decim offered to let me stay here, I agreed as he is the least infuriating of our relatives in the area" Mei answered
"Did either of you know anyone who wished Shou ill?" Izaya asked
"Not really, I rarely and barely talk to him" Decim answered
"Same" Mei concurred
"Alright Mei, has anything strange happened around you lately, have you nearly been hit by a vehicle or has a van been appearing frequently around you," Izaya asked out of curiosity more suspicion
"Actually, I was almost hit yesterday and I have been seeing this van now and again, what does that have to do with Shou's death," Mei replied

Izaya looked at Decim who's face was in complete and utter shock. Izaya was beginning to think there was even more to this murder than he thought.

"It might be something or it may be everything" Izaya said