Chapter Four

Izaya got up early that morning and started assembling his murder board to help him figure out who was responsible for the death of Shou Akabane. He put the crime scene photos in the centre and connected them to the interviews he'd conducted with Decim and Mei as well as the Crime scene reports from Okabe and lastly the Akabane family tree his suspect list at the moment.

Izaya begins by eliminating all those not present in the town for the time of the murder. He then sorts the remaining members in order of most likely, but with so many family members united by an overlapping motive, it becomes next to impossible to rank them. He decides to go get Decim and Mei's input on the matter.

Izaya walks out of the room he was staying in carrying his laptop, He walks into the kitchen and finds Mei and Decim sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Good morning Izaya, I made pancakes for breakfast there's some for you so help yourself," said Decim

Decim was dressed in a suit and tie which looked alien on him but still stylish somehow, Mei was wearing a white blouse and blue jeans which she looked gorgeous in. Izaya felt under-dressed in an untucked black shirt and black jeans.

"Decim, Mei I could use your feedback on who you think in your family could be behind the attempts on your lives and who killed Shou by accident," Izaya said
"Sure, I can give you a hand but I have to head into the office soon, so can we make it quick" replied Decim
"I don't have anything planned for today so I can help you," said Mei

Izaya put the laptop down on the table and opened up his current suspect list, Decim and Mei looked it over.

"Well, we can safely eliminate my parents, they visit at least once a week to complain about my life choices, They know where my room is, you can also eliminate most of my female relatives they tend to make people bleed through legal battles, I'd say your top four would be my cousins Shinji, Mineta, Danzo and while I don't know where he is I'd put Sugou somewhere among them" Decim explained
"I'm inclined to agree with Decim, plus you also have to eliminate Shou's parents they knew he was staying here, also eliminate mine they've also been by to critique my choice to be a doctor" elaborated Mei
"You know considering your family choice of first names, it's no wonder your family isn't the biggest fans of anime" Izaya commented
"That's just a coincidence, their bias is just based on a snobbish attitude, I've got to get going now I'll see you two later," Decim said

Decim left the room leaving Izaya and Mei alone together. Izaya started reordering his suspect list whilst he ate breakfast. He placed Shinji, Mineta, Danzo and Sugou Akabane at the top of the list and eliminated Shou, Mei and Decims parents as well as placed the female members of the family towards the bottom of the list. Mei sat back and watched him while he worked. 

Izaya was confused by the placement of Sugou at the top of the list and asked Mei "Why is Sugous such a big suspect aside from his unfortunate first name?"
"Sugou is not so much a black sheep as he is the runt of the litter, while I'm not an accountant like my family wanted and Decim has some hobbies that our family does not approve of, we both still have I suppose redeeming qualities, Decim is a great accountant and I'm going to be a doctor, but Sugou he is just like the rest of our family but he's a mediocre accountant at best with several addictions that make him burn through money, he's jealous about the fact that we have more than enough money while he's always finding himself running low at least from his point of view" Mei explained
"Damn if we had a solid lead on his location I'd probably be looking at him pretty hard, why doesn't he have a known location?" Izaya inquired
"He's not an executive so he doesn't have to attend the meeting, his job is basically to wine and dine with potential clients, as well as do some minor accounting work, He's constantly on the move, He could have been in town at the time, he could not have been in at the time its impossible to confirm" Mei elaborated

Izaya was disappointed with that news, Sugou was looking really good for the crimes now he had to look at the three copies of basically the same guy. He needed to figure out who could have profited from Decim or Mei's death, and whilst he was unlikely the target from Shou's death. Izaya supposed he had no choice but to do what he loathed and talk to the Akabanes family lawyer.

"Don't suppose you want to come with me to talk to your family's lawyer?" Izaya asked
"Sure, if you take me out for lunch" Mei answered
Izaya thought about it for a second and then said "Deal"