Chapter Six

Izaya and Mei stopped at one of Izaya's favourite places to eat a small cafe in Ikebukuro. They were given a table for two by the window. Izaya liked to imagine that to an outside observer it would like they were on a date and not a detective and a potential murder victim coming back from an interview with a lawyer who'd confirmed a possible motive for murder.

"The coffee here is good, sometimes I drop in on my way to and from work," Izaya said trying to make small talk
"It's a very nice place in a very good neighbourhood," Mei responded

The waitress approached their table and said "Hello, what can I get for you today"
"I'll have a mocha with two sugars and a pork katsu don," Izaya said
"And I'll have a flat white also with two sugars and to eat I'll have a Tempura bowl," Mei said

"Gotcha that'll be right up," the waitress said chipperly before walking away leaving Mei and Izaya alone at the table

They sat in silence watching people pass by the window, Izaya was desperately trying to think of something to say.

Mei broke the silence first when she asked "Any idea how long before you can close the case and we can go on an official date?"
"Not at this point, I'm waiting on your cousins' alibi's for the night of the murder then I need to tie one of them to the murder scene which hopefully won't be too difficult" Izaya answered
"You're convinced it's Sugou though right?" Mei inquired

"At this point, he is my prime suspect, he has the strongest motive and the means to perform the crime if I can prove he had the opportunity I'll have won the trifecta, though it is still possible it was a hired hit" Izaya replied

The waitress returned carrying their coffees and placed them on the table. Izaya took a sip of his and was satisfied that the cafe still served his coffee the way he liked it strong, bittersweet and highly addictive. He looked across at Mei enjoying her coffee and wished that he could close the case this very second so that this would be an ordinary date.

"Is there actually a chance that it was a hired hit or are you just trying to comfort me by making it seem like my cousin couldn't bring himself to kill me or Decim face to face?" Mei asked

"I won't lie to you, I highly doubt it was a professional hit Sugou wouldn't waste the money and a professional wouldn't make a mistake like killing the wrong person, but there is still a remote possibility I'm wrong"

The waitress returned with their food and placed it on the table. Izaya dug into his pork katsu don savouring every delicious bite, Mei did the same with her tempura bowl.

They finished their food and coffees, Izaya paid the bill and He drove himself and Mei back to Decim's house. They sat in the lounge room as they had the night before with Izaya working on his laptop reading over forensics reports trying to find clues that could help him put away the murderer, Mei was searching for apartments on her computer.

Decim was interrupted from his work when a call came in on his phone.

"Hello Detective Tsunemori how can I help you" he answered 
"Detective, I'm calling from Shinjuku Hospital to inform you that Decim Akabane has been admitted to our hospital after being involved in a car crash, He requested that we contact you immediately"

Decim was in shock one of his closest friends was in the hospital and from the sounds of it it wasn't because of an accident.