Visiting crime scenes was nothing new to Ryo, even the ones involving violent death; investigating homicides was part of his job as a detective in the Two-Seven’s Serious Crimes Unit. This one should have been little different from the half-dozen other murder scenes he’d attended over the last month or so. With a population counted in the millions, murder was an almost daily occurrence in the Big Apple.

Of course, every homicide had its differences, unless there was a serial killer at work, which on this occasion was unlikely to be the case. Different victims, ages, genders, ethnicities and such, different murder weapons, different causes of death… The victim this time was a young woman, early twenties, not wealthy, but not barely getting by on minimum wage either, a step or two up from that. She’d been killed in her own apartment, in a brownstone not much different to the one Ryo lived in, so possibly a crime of passion.

Dee was crouching beside the coroner, examining the body as she moved the woman’s clothing aside to check liver temp and determine an approximate time of death, when Ryo saw something unexpected. He took a deep breath, bit his bottom lip, trying to maintain his usual professional demeanour, but even digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands didn’t help, and a little voice in the back of his mind berated him for cutting them last night. They were too short now to hurt, so he turned away and walked as calmly as he could out of the apartment.

Naturally, his partner noticed, and of course he had to follow. Ryo loved Dee, but right now what he really needed was a few minutes to himself to regain his composure.

“Ryo? You okay, bud?”

“Fine.” Ryo was aware his voice sounded a bit strained, but he couldn’t help it. “I just need a minute.”

“Why? What did ya see in there?”

Damn Dee for his concern; he wasn’t going to let this go!

“Her tattoo…” It was all Ryo could get out, shoulders starting to shake as he struggled to get a grip.

“Yeah, I saw that. A Japanese kanji, right?”

Ryo nodded.

“Does it mean something?”

That drew something resembling a squeak from Ryo.

“Bud, you’re worryin’ me,” Dee said, putting a hand on Ryo’s shaking shoulders.

“Oh, it means something,” Ryo managed breathlessly. “Just pretty sure it doesn’t mean what the victim thought it did.”

“You’re not makin’ sense.”

“Sorry, it’s just… rough translation… Cheap and Tasty.” That did it, Ryo couldn’t hold back his laughter a second longer, no matter how inappropriate it was at the scene of a young woman’s untimely death.

Dee’s eyebrows shot up, and then he was laughing too. “Shit! D’ya think anyone ever told her?”

“It’s not new, looks like she’s had it a few years at least, so I guess not, otherwise she would’ve had it lasered off, or covered.”

“Yeah, good point.”

“I didn’t want to start laughing in there, thought if I stepped outside until it was covered again…” Ryo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I just wasn’t prepared for that. Would’ve been bad enough if she was still alive, but reading that on a dead body just somehow made it funnier. It shouldn’t have, but…” He trailed off, shaking his head

“Oh God, that’s just… Gross! You’re a sick man, you know that?” Dee spluttered, almost choking as he tried to draw breath and laugh at the same time. Ryo patted his partner on the back.

“I know.” He grimaced, sobering up and finally managing to get himself under control. “We should get back in there, apologise to the M.E. for skipping out on her.”

“We should, and I oughta get a photo of the tat.”

“What for? We don’t need it to help identify the victim, we already know who she is.”

“I know, but maybe it’s motive for murder. False advertisin’ or somethin’.” Dee knew it was a tasteless joke, but he made it anyway.

“DEE!”

“I know, sorry, but you musta been thinkin’ it too. One of us had to say it. I’ll go out on a limb here, but she dressed well, so she probably wasn’t cheap.”

“Just don’t let anyone else hear you say that,” Ryo admonished.

“Not a word, I swear.”

“Good, because all evidence so far indicates she worked in an office, not on the streets. Just a decent, law-abiding citizen.” Ryo bit his lip again, ruthlessly repressing another wave of laughter. “Who probably should have done a lot more research before getting a tattoo.”

Dee snickered. “Either that of she should’a gone for somethin’ in English.”

“That might’ve been better for everyone,” Ryo agreed.


The End