Cursed Tastes

Treat 2

The lights of the morgue being flickered on pierced his eyes, causing Nanami to turn his head away from the discomfort. Barely being able to recover when the second set came to life, and Shoko's cigarette smoke didn't help either, he adjusted his glasses, hoping the feeling of strain would fade. The clicking of her short heels reverberated in the small chamber; her tired eyes locked on the metal table that housed the reason for his visit. Without a single word, she disposed of her cigarette, preparing herself for professionalism. She removed the clean sheet reviling victim from last night's news segment, Shiba Rei, her body barely recognizable, beside a few identifiers such as infinity sign upon her left wrist and her platinum dyed hair. Kiyotaka, who had just entered the room, gaged looking at the state of the poor modulated body.

"As the witness said, it did look as though an animal had gotten a hold of her," Shoko said, pausing between her deep sigh as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. " Though you can see the residue of curse energy radiating from the entire body, this was not the work of anything natural." She finished, moving closer to the body, lowering yet another light for better examination while putting on gloves to avoids contaminates.

Nanami had also moved in to have a better look, placing one hand upon his nose to combat the smell, though Kiyotaka kept his distance with his dominant hand covering his mouth. It wasn't as though he wasn't used to the sight of death; however, the stench was quite pungent that caused him to feel as though he was close to vomiting.

"The report said that she had been missing for about a couple of weeks, though how she smells and the condition of the body doesn't match," Nanami said, taking a step back when the odor was finally too much for him.

"You're correct" she used a pen that she pulled out of the breast pocket of her lab jacket. " If you look here, the whole body looks as though it has reached stage three of active decay from only a few days of being deceased. The fluids that were released from her orifices from the liquefaction of her body are indications of such. However, her lacerations seem as though an animal did cause them, but that was post mortem."

"Meaning a curse was the legitimate cause of death, just like the others." Kiyotaka stated through his muffled hand,

"That's right." She stepped back, moving over to the counter grabbing the file that she had been working on.

Shoko striking up another drag and grabbing another folder for Nanami to glance over. Passing it over to Kiyotaka, giving him a reason to leave the room. Nanami quickly following suit, and Shoko, after she placed the sheet back over the body, did the same, allowing them the freedom to speak a bit more casually. All of them took in the office area's fresh air, or at least more so than the previous room.

"Did the crime scene hold much evidence to what kind of curse we might be dealing with?" she asked, cocking a curious brow as she exhaled smoke.

"None in the slightest. Reviewing surveillance of the neighborhood near the park, it was as though she was fleeing something. What it was is unknown." Kiyotaka, let out a disappointment-filled sigh, "and the scene itself held traces of curse energy, but nothing significant enough that leads anywhere."

The room fell silent as each of them dived into paperwork to review everything they had for the moment. The victim was in her mid-twenties, fairly popular, with no prior record and no indication of having any enemies. It was always strange when a curse such as this manifests in such a manner. It would make looking into this simpler if she did have someone she might have wronged. Perhaps that is the direction they needed to look into too? Though an Ex or jealous best friend usually doesn't fester something this malice-filled, this was something powerful to attack multiple individuals at a time. The folder Nanami welded within his hand had something slip from the confines of the various pages, gliding over into natural light that shined through the windows, that light obscuring the item. He let out an annoyed groan as he bent down to pick it up. It was a picture that was a bit time-worn, with crisis scattered through it. Pausing when noticing two familiar faces on a photo,