April 16th

[coquettishflame]

‘Tell Mick at the entrance you’re here to see Ryo-chan, and he’ll let you in.
I’ll be on the second level. ♥’

- Hiraga

That was the note Ryoko Hiraga of the Okachi City Police Department had left with Gregory yesterday. She’d met up with him briefly to arrange a more ‘formal’ meeting. The police would be in contact with him eventually… They’d said that at the scene of the crime on the 13th of April. It was now the 15th, and they’d been true to their word. The detective had asked Greg to meet her at ‘The White Lotus’, a club in the heart of Okachi known for it’s less than stellar reputation. While it looked rather classy, the patrons generally didn’t match the décor and it was the epicenter of some highly unpleasant things.

The club consisted of two levels. The main floor had a massive bar, and an even larger dance floor (a small stage for a DJ or live band was slightly north of that). This was where most people hung out, either on the floor or seated at small tables scattered through out the club. Then there was a flight of stairs leading up to the more lounge-y second floor. Private booths lined the walls, and there were several private rooms as well. The music wasn’t quite as loud up here, but the hum of it was decidedly still audible.

Ryoko was on the second level, tucked away in her own little booth. Her messy red hair was tied back into a short pony tail, and her work clothes were a tid bit ruffled. Rather than wearing the suit jacket that went with her dress pants, she chose a dark, dark blue leather jacket (it didn’t exactly match her tie and white button up, but hey).

“Mirror, mirror, huh…?” The detective remarked to herself quietly, inhaling deeply on her cigarette in thought. One hand lifted to adjust her glasses as she exhaled a puff of smoke. “What’s this city comin’ to?” Her ‘date’ would be there any second!

Comments

[youngsleuth]

Sometimes having a partner like Ryoko was a bit frustrating & Testament wondered how he ended up getting assigned with the woman, but as a professional he decided to make the best of it. Even if that meant going to a place like this. He will definitely have to talk to her about it later though.

Having no qualms with the switch of language, he began speaking Japanese once more. "It's not a problem Hiiraga-san." It was probably for the best anyway. He sat straight in his seat & observed Greg for a moment before speaking again. "As my partner has said, we're going to be asking you some questions about that day so just try to answer them as best as you can." From his vest's pocket he produced a small, worn notepad. Within the spiral binding was a pencil that he pulled out, ready to take notes.

[americandiplomacy]

"Why would I leave town..?" Was he a suspect, now? Well, Greg had figured he was one from the start, but to come right out and say it like that was... Weird, to say the least. He immediately felt a hundred times more uncomfortable, though, and shifted in his seat with an awkward and slight frown. "Sure, I guess. I really just walked in and... There it was, I don't know what kind of questions you could have." Now he wanted to be anywhere but here! Ugh.

[coquettishflame]

Ryoko just kept right on smiling. She looked like the type that never really dropped the lazy grin, honestly! “just makin' sure, you know, G-kun.” On this particular case, she'd been asked to leave the majority of the questioning to her partner (something about him being her senior, knowing more about homicide and this sort of... thing. Ryoko was a rookie, after all), but she figured something simple to start them off couldn't be so bad! “How well did you know Hikari Endo?” She glanced to Testament for approval, raising her brows.

((let's play good cop bad cop YEAAAA))

[youngsleuth]

The other detective gave her an approving nod as he started to write some things in his notepad. He decided to let Greg answer Ryoko's starting question before he made any comments himself so he decided to just watch the boy quietly, making sure to study his behavior & such as he spoke. As a detective for a good amount of years he knew that paying attention to body language was a huge key to interrogating people.

[americandiplomacy]

Greg still looked a little uneasy, no doubt thanks to the strange introduction. He tried to compose himself for the first question, though, and sat up a little straighter. Hadn't the cop at school asked him this..? They were probably looking for discrepancies, or something. "Well, I really... Didn't. She was in my classroom, but I only just arrived in Japan a month or two ago. I don't really know anyone too well, except one or two people." It was nice to talk in English, mostly because it meant less 'um' and 'uh' while he tried to figure words out. "So I'd seen her before, maybe a few times? That's all, never talked to her."

[coquettishflame]

Ryoko, at least, seemed to be taking the questioning part seriously. While she was a very casual person, she was also a detective, after all! A rookie, sure, but still a detective! “Mm, okay, darlin', sure.” Her partner seemed to be keeping an eye on the boy, and taking notes, so she went ahead and hit Gregory with another question. “You had an awful lot of blood on you, reportedly. Her blood, ya'know? Why'ssat?” Blink blink. “Would y'all mind if I ordered a drink..” Okay so that was a little unprofessional...

[youngsleuth]

He let Ryoko take the lead with the questions for now, since rookies had to learn somehow. Though if they weren't going anywhere, he'd take over. When she asked if she could drink though...

"No," Testament answered sternly in Japanese. "You are on duty. You can drink afterwards." This was why he didn't want the interview to occur here, of all places. The detective rubbed his forehead, slightly annoyed that his partner would even ask. He slid a glass of water that one of the waitresses brought over in front of her.

[americandiplomacy]

"Oh, well..." Greg actually had some trouble explaining this one when the lady at the scene had asked him the same. Changing his story would obviously be a terrible idea, so he just said the same thing he had then... Even if it was a flimsy excuse and a little weird. "I almost fainted. I was really surprised, so... I've never seen a dead body before." Telling them that he had climbed up onto the sink for apparently no reason would've sounded worse than that, he figured. The boy cocked an eyebrow at her request for a drink, though it dropped back down with the other man's denial. Eeek... Now there was some tension. "Uhmmm..."

[coquettishflame]

During Greg’s little explanation Testament had to leave – it appeared he was being called away… A more important case, perhaps? That left the rookie Ryoko to work on this one until she heard otherwise! That also meant Ryoko was alone with Gregory right now, scrambling to finish her notes on what he’d said. “Right. I’m gonna order that drink now, y’mind? Want one- No, wait, you’re.. heh. Ahh, forget I said that, huh?” The woman ordered herself a whiskey on the rocks, and then lit another cigarette.

“Didjya take any photos or anythin’? We can’t have you uploadin’ shit to the internet, and I know kids these days…”

[americandiplomacy]

Greg might've been worse than her partner, honestly, if only because despite a slight nervous look to him he remained line-faced and not very reactive to her sort-of joking. "Uh..." He switched back to Japanese, now that Testament was gone, feeling it might be rude if he didn't. "No, I don't mind. And... I will." He scratched at his cheek, still not sure what to think of this woman, and ordered himself a cherry soda while she was getting her alcohol.

"People.. Take pictures?" He wasn't an incredibly convincing liar, but the boy was hoping his face would help with that. "I, uh... Wasn't thinking about anything like that at the time, that'd be crazy."