Detective Loupe and the Earl of 256 Faces

Chapter 4: The Can Can't Can-Can, Can It?

"I was wondering when you'd show your mug, Megumi." Neru shot a quick glare to her. "Hi, Len." She rocked back and forth on her heels, a shy smile on her face as she said it.

"I'm surprised to see you here at all, after they dropped you after a single lesson." Gumi rolled her eyes, picking up a glass of punch and gulping it down.

"Such curt words. There's no reason for such enmity, is there Len? I don't think she likes me too much. You'll protect me, right?" The girl hid behind him.

"Why shouldn't I be pissed at you? I had to kick you out of the party."

"Are you still on that? That was ages ago." The blonde traced a black-gloved finger in a circle on Len's chest.

"It was last week." They both sent incredulous looks her way.

"What? Well I guess that would explain why my lips are still tingly. You're one hell of a kisser, Len. I wouldn't mind another one of those." She puckered up and closed in.

"All right, all right. Compose yourself. We're at a funeral, not a Bon Dance." Gumi plucked the poor boy out of the obsessive one's arms. "Besides, Len is my escort. You wouldn't want me to tell the organizer and have you thrown out again, do you?" The statement hung there, tension thickening in the air between them.

A parishioner opened the double doors wide to the inner chamber. "My apologies for the delay. The Monks are now taking visitors." As wellwishers filed in, Gumi swept Len into the crowd, leaving Neru to sulk for a bit.

"Did they really kick her out after one lesson?"

"They claimed she had zero talent." Gumi shrugged.

"That's cold."

The lines began to straighten out in an ornate room adorned with red velvet and gold stood three open caskets. The monks pictures were draped over by black ribbons, all three looking completely identical. The wellwishers filed past them, taking time to pause and remember, some in tears, some in whispers. All left some type of flower on the table next to them, to be placed on the caskets later during the burial. "So what are we looking for? This happened weeks ago. I'm sure the cops and the janitors have cleaned everything by now."

Len scanned the room as a man with a visor over his eyes got up from his prayer at the third coffin. "Look for the loupe. If we find that, we find the link we need. I have another way as well. When we reach the first casket, whisper into my ear."

"Eh? What should I say?"

"It doesn't matter. Say anything, just look grief-ridden."

Still confused, she nodded, obeying. When at the first of the trio's caskets, she paused to speak a silent prayer before turning to her escort. "I would have liked to have known your sister. Tell me about her sometime, okay?"

Len was genuinely shocked, not expecting any mention of his sister. He nodded to her before heading off to the organizer. "Sir. Lady Yowane is very distraught. She can't have solace in their passing without seeing a smile on their faces, so she can know they died in good spirits. Would it be pertinent of me to ask to see the tapes of that fateful day, so I can provide her the comfort and consolation that she needs?"

"It is an unorthodox request. But considering the situation…." He opened the rear door. "Follow the signs to the security hall. Speak with Wash about your request."

"Thank you." Len lowered his brow as he went down the corridor. 'Too easy. That was far too easy.' He knocked before opening the door. "I'm supposed to speak with Wash about viewing the tapes?"

"Not again!" A blonde man with tossled hair rotated around in his chair.

"Again? You mean someone was in here before asking the same?"

"Yeah, some guy with an eye-mask asked for a happy moment of the Monks before they died. Is that what you want too?"

"It would help, yes."

"Okay, let me just queue up the tape…."

Gumi was in the middle of mingling with her aunt's industry cohorts that came to the viewing. "Still working through the facts?" A breath tickled her earlobe. "Or are you just playing around?"

It made her go rigid for a second before whirling around. No one was there. She was about to write it off as an illusion, but she noticed a slip of paper in her clutch purse. "No way…."

"Auda? It's not…" The security guard looked at the DVD player. "Maybe it's in the case."

Len went up to the player and slipped open the lip. "There's something… jammed in here." Reaching his fingers inside, he got a good enough grip to pry it out with his nails.

"What the hell? The disk is gone! There's just these two little magnifying glasses!"

Len yanked out another from the disk slot that looked identical to the ones in the disk case. He scooped the other two up and laid them on the closest table, looking them over. "The Earl of 256 Faces…."

"Huh?"

"Three Loupes, three murders. You said you had the tapes here earlier? When did that guy with the mask come in?"

"About an hour ago."

Len's eyes widened, bringing to mind the man with the long purple hair in the eye mask he saw when the viewing started. "Can you sketch him?"

"I suck at drawing though."

"Please try. There might be a murderer in the building!" Len rushed out the door with the Loupes.

He ran for the main hall door, as he reached for the handle it flung itself open. "Onii-chan!" Gumi called before the two crashed headfirst into each other.

"Itte…tte…tte…." Len shook the stars out of his vision and dove into the hall, looking around rapidly.

"Len, my brother was here! He was right next to me, and he disappeared! Did you see him in the hallway?"

"No. Did you see a guy in an eyemask before?"

"I did earlier, but I thought he left shortly after we went in."

"Damn it." He grabbed her wrist and tugged her towards the security office, opening the door. "Well Wash?"

"I could only remember the mask itself. Sorry." He slid the sketch in front of him. It was a digital readout, with numerous LEDs on it, and two braces going down each cheekbone.

Len raised it up. "This is it… the first look at the Earl of 256 faces."

The sketch became the central piece on the evidence board, where now three more murders had officially taken up residence. Len stared at it, still in his suit. Gumi finished taking off her gloves, despondent as she sat down. "He was right next to me, and I lost my chance…."

He sat down next to her. "I'm sorry. If I wasn't so busy trying to find the Earl, I would've helped you look, I really would have."

"I know." She sniffed, putting her head on the table. "I don't think he wants to be found… not yet anyway." She pulled the slip of paper from her bag, flipping it over. "Uh?" She raised her head, staring at it. 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584.

"A Fibonacci Sequence?" Len looked over her shoulder. "Why do you have that paper?"

A toddler girl with shoulder-length green hair sucked her thumb next to a pyramid of blocks, each of which were numbered. Pondering over it she took a block with the number 2 on it and replaced it in the center, before covering it with 1 blocks. Satisfied, she sat down.

"That's quite a trick, Megumi." A young male voice said, and she turned to the voice with adoring eyes. A hand ruffled her hair. "Mom and Dad's little Fibonacci." The mouth that said it gave a toothy grin.

A tear ran down her cheek. "Onii-chan."

"Gumi…."

She wiped it up quickly. "It's a message, that it's really from him. When I was a baby I had stacked some blocks in a Fibonacci pyramid. He started calling me Little Fibonacci… until the day he disappeared."

"So what's the deal with the length of the sequence? I've never seen one drawn out to four digits before."

"I think he's trying to tell me something. 18 numbers in the sequence… 18 years." "Or are you just playing around?" "I think… if I don't find him by my 18th birthday, he'll be gone forever." She slipped the paper back in her purse before standing. "But we've got a more pressing deadline than that. We should figure out why the Earl was at that viewing."

"I think I've already worked that one out. Try to follow me on this one. The day of the murder, he had to have been admitted into the building by the security office. The only way he could have met with the Monks in person was by appointment only. Meaning there was no possible way he could have gotten in without his face being seen by some camera somewhere." Len looked at the sketch. "The third victim was in the hall when he was shot, meaning he wouldn't have had time to properly place the Loupes before being discovered."

"So he came back to not only plant the loupes, but to remove the evidence of him being there? That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't the police already have searched through the tapes?"

"Normally you would think so, but because of the importance of the building to the national arts programs, the local police would have had to go through at least three rows of red tape to obtain it. I doubt they were finished by today."

"So how'd the security guard in the video room manage to let it get swiped?"

Len opened his mouth, but his teeth clicked shut. "I haven't worked that one out yet. It's something that happened a lot in older cases, the evidence just inexplicably disappearing."

"This is a lot to take in at once." Gumi pinched the bridge of her nose. "I need to go home and change. I'll be back with some dinner."

"Ah. Do whatever you need. This thing's not going to be solving itself for a while." He shrugged as he leaned against his desk. "I might have to pull another all nighter to figure this one out."

"Don't you dare. Your brain needs sleep too you know."

"When did you become my wife?"

"Yahn, Kagamine Gumi has such a nice ring to it! Maybe if we work together long enough, we'll be Common Law lovers!"

"Get out already."

Len pulled out his usual attire and laid it out on the table. While in the midst of trying to get the undershirt off, his phone rang. Wrenching his head out of it, he dashed towards the desk and opened it. "Hello?"

"Yo, Len! It's your bosom buddy Teto!"

"You don't have a bosom."

"That's mean! HMPH!"

"Hey, you said you don't like dishonest people. I'm just being honest."

"Whatever. Look, I wanted to say sorry it's taking so long on the phone number research. Work caught me using their supercomputer to run the permutations. Had to rewrite the program from scratch for my laptop."

"So there's been no progress?"

"None. But I've prepared a consolation prize. Do you have international minutes?"

"No, why?"

"256 is the area code in Huntsville, Alabama, in America. And I found an interesting number in their phone book of a place called Artistic Faces: 256 Types. Not only that, but there's no record of a business of that name ever existing. Go ahead and try to tell me that's a coincidence."

Len gulped. "How long has the ad been there?"

"It showed up in their last version as well, which was three months ago."

"Give me the number."

"Yes, it's me." A female voice echoed into Len's earpiece that wasn't quite all there. It seemed almost… mechanical. "Good job in finding me. The culprit is just who you suspect. Thank you for calling. Huu huu huu."

"Where are you hiding, Earl?"

"Right where he's supposed to be. Huu huu huu."

"Computers shouldn't laugh." Len muttered. "Who's the next target?"

"The one in the bullseye. Huu huu huu."

"I don't believe this. What's your function? Are you just here to mock me?"

"Your daddy liked hints. Do you want one too? Huu huu huu. But all he wanted was more."

"My father? Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"More and more and more and more and more and more and more and more…." Her voice became squeakier and squeakier until the connection cut.

"Kuso!" Len closed his phone and punched the desk hard.

"Higu!" Gumi gasped, nearly losing the box of food in her arms as she closed the door. "What was that for?"

"It's not you, don't worry." He pressed his cell to his lower lip. "The one in the bullseye…."

File folders were strewn about the desk, anything and everything pertaining to bullseyes from previous cases. Archery, a firing range, parachute landings, aerial bomb drops, even really obscure stuff like cricket-spitting, all of it was spread out. Plates of food scraps were interspersed wherever there was free space. In the middle of it all was Len's blonde mop, resting in his arms as he snored lightly.

Gumi came up from the bathroom to find him there. She looked at the clock, which answered her silent question with a big green 12:50. The girl sighed, heading to the rear of his chair and adjusting the incline. As gingerly as she could the girl lifted his head and shoulders until he was leaning back in airline-sleeping position. A blanket was draped over him. "I told you not to overdo it." Gumi whispered into his ear, before giving a gentle peck on his cheek. She took her backpack into the conference area and pulled out a large box. "Though I'm one to talk." She stared at the contents piece by piece, an open locket dangling from the latch, one with a picture of Gumi and her brother hidden inside.

Len's cell phone's muffled ring came from his coat pocket. Gumi lifted her tired eyes, the clock reading 7:30. She dug into his pocket and rushed back into the conference room. "Detective 'Loupe' Len's office."

"Oh, this must be the sexy secretary." A playful female voice answered.

Gumi's eyebrow twitched. "Sexy secretary? Who is this?"

"Kasane Teto, didn't he tell you? Anyway, tell the guy that he owes me a new laptop. Completely burnt the damn thing out thanks to him. But I got the answer he was looking for. It's a match. Have him text me the next batch after he wires me over the dough for a new machine. I'll need a supercomputer to run it."

"O-okay…. Thank you, I guess."

"Don't wear him out too much. Lata." She hung up.

Len's eyebrows twitched as the room filled with dark and malicious intent. Gumi's blackened hand raised up over him like a demon. WHAM! "HIGU?" The boy jumped, sitting up like a rocket.

"Sexy secretary?" Gumi loomed over him with her arms crossed. "Is that what you really think I am?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Your girlfriend Teto called! How could you lead me on like this and never once mention her! We are so over!"

"One, I just woke up, so I don't know what you're saying. Two, we can't be over if we weren't started in the first place. And three, Teto is not, was not, and will not be my girlfriend ever. I called in a favor from her, who was an old classmate. Did she say anything?"

"The number was a match. Oh and it burnt out her laptop, so be prepared to pay up. If you want to sleep with me, you might as well say it, so I can pack up and leave."

"I don't want to sleep with you! Look, whatever she said, it's obviously a misunderstanding. I never told her what you looked like."

"So now you don't want to tell people about me?"

"W-what?" Len sweatdropped. "Why are you being…." Gumi wobbled for a second, before her legs started giving out. "Gumi!" He caught her quickly.

She sighed, hardly able to keep her eyes open. "Yahn…. So compromising… In my condition you could do anything you wanted without resistance."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I pulled an all nighter… My brother…."

"Okay, that's enough out of you." He pulled her up and dragged her over his shoulder to the side closet. He gave it a swift kick and the mattress fell out.

"You going to join me? The smaller the girl, the more room in bed. Yahn…."

"You sound almost drunk." He laid her down and covered her in a blanket. She was asleep before he ever finished. "Geez." He went back to his desk, clearing off the food scraps before the roaches got to them. Then he went back to his files. "Parachuting incident: The Earl burned holes in the guy's chute with acid so he missed the bullseye. Bombardment: A military remote interceptor dropped a bomb on a house. The Earl's final message was Bullseye. Archery competition: Shot at long range while he was retrieving his arrow. That one lived fortunately. Shooting Range: Sniped from behind the target of a shooting gallery. Carnival carnage: The knife throwing target was pierced in the spine by a blade from behind the wheel. She's paralyzed for life. Any one of these could be the Earl's next move."

He sighed, shaking his head. "I can't figure it out just sitting here." He looked at the TV in the conference area and picked up the remote. "Maybe I can find something in the upcoming events."

"Migikata ni, purusaki chou chou…" KFTZ.

"Gumi left MTV on again…."

"The damage BP has done to the gulf is estimated to be far more than the 20 B…." KFTZ.

"Edible packing peanuts…" KFTZ.

"KABOOM!" KFTZ.

"There are things in this room that don't react well to bullets." KFTZ.

"Eight hundred channels and there's absolutely nothing on?"

"A friend asked me what kind of animal I'd want to be, and I said an eagle. He asked 'Why, so you can fly?' I said 'No, so I can finally have sex with eagles.'" KFTZ.

"The absolutely incredible Bucket-O-Nothing!" KFTZ.

"Up next, watch as the well endowed secretary Fuko gets banged by her boss." KFTZ.

"Why do we even get that channel?"

"We now return to BBC World News." Len put his cheek in his hand. "Mixed reactions are expected as Bob Barker arrives in Japan later on today. As an outspoken Animal Rights Activist who has publicly denounced the Japanese whaling research vessels, police expect protests during his visit to Tokyo University for his Game Show lecture tour. An activist vessel bearing his name heads the fleet of activist wavecutters that fought against the Japanese vessels in the Pacific Ocean last year. Some expect him to make a speech on the subject during his layover time on the 21st of the month."

Len's head rose slowly, his eyebrows rising and eyes widening. He dashed to the computer and began typing away like mad. "In the Bullseye…" He put his headphones on and watched a video of the man hosting one of the games. Len ripped the headphones off again. "Gumi! GUMI!"

"Snwha?" She sat up, sand encrusting her eyes.

"I think I found him! I found the Earl's next target!"

Gumi groggily plunked her chin on his shoulder, staring at the screen. She raised her eyebrow. "No way. He's too high profile. The Earl wouldn't even be able to get close."

"Really? Remember, he's been speaking out against government-cleared whaling operations. Quite honestly, he's been a thorn in their side for a while. I'm sure the security would get pretty lax with all the dissenters against his opinions." He brought up the seating arrangements for the Tokyo U main auditorium. "And there are plenty of places the Earl could attack from."

"So what should we do? Call the police?"

"No. One, because of what I said, they wouldn't care. Two, they have no reason to believe us. Three, I'm still not sure if this is the target or not. There are just too many variables." He stood, balling his fist. "It's up to us to protect Bob Barker, and no I never thought I'd ever hear myself say that."

"Our first priority is to make sure we can get into the auditorium on the 20th." Gumi was speaking on the phone with one of the Barkers Beauties models. "So can you get me a ticket, Yuko?"

"Of course, Gumi! You saved the day back at my bridal shower, how could I say no?"

"Second, we should inspect the auditorium for possible entry points." Teto proudly and loudly gave Len a tour of the grand auditorium, which he gave a critical eye to in every detail. Soon after, he had a conference with Gumi about the plans, which she spoke emphatically about.

"Third, we get in contact with Mr. Barker." A driver put his bags into the limo and ushered the man into the vehicle. Inside was Len, his arms crossed as the driver got in, Kiyoteru smirking as he drew up the soundproofing before heading off to the hotel.

"And finally, we get the trap set." Gumi sat front row center as Mr. Barker came out to a rousing applause.

Len stood back at stage right, his arms folded and not letting the man out of his sight. "Hello. Welcome to the Price is Right…. Is what I would say if I were hosting it anymore. Now, I've been asked by Tokyo University staff to give a presentation about being a successful game show host. My first advice to anyone is that you have to be comfortable with yourself, and what you do. That's why I use this little stick microphone. I have arthritis, so holding thick heavy microphones just won't do. Plus I'm just plain lazy." The audience laughed. He looked to the side, and Len nodded to him approvingly.

The presentation continued, the introduction of Barker's Beauties, one of whom waved slightly at Gumi. "Now, it's come to my attention that we have a local celebrity in the house tonight, who has been through hell recently. So would Miss Yowane Megumi stand up?" A murmur echoed through the crowd as she nervously stood. "Megumi, one of my beauties told me what you've gone through recently, and they unanimously voted you and another member of our audience to become Barkers Beauties for the duration of the presentation. Rod, who is the lucky person?"

Gumi numbly climbed up on stage and bowed. She shot a look towards Len, who raised his hands and shook his head. "Sorry Gumi." Yuko whispered to her as she lead the girl to the back. "Word got out, and the girls just took over."

"You're really kind Yuko." She sighed. She passed the first game demo as it was being wheeled out, the blocks in a Fibbonachi sequence. "But I don't want to play around too much."

The two girls were brought out with the Bullseye game, wearing glittery dresses with a not-too-modest neckline. Len swallowed, rushing away from the stage. "Now this is a true transformation. Ladies you look wonderful. Give a hand for them." There was applause. "Now, you two should help me out with this one. Megumi, you can be my assistant, and you, my dear, shall play the contestant. I'm sure you know how the Bullseye game is played. The trick to hosting this game is to never let the contestant give up hope. There is ALWAYS a chance for them to win." The game progressed with the second girl guessing prizes, however not winning with her three guesses. "Megumi, please pull the price tag for the first attempt, and see if it is the secret bullseye."

"The… secret bullseye?" A red dot appeared on the man's temple. "The… secret bullseye!" She quickly looked to the back, swallowing when she couldn't see Len. Then she turned to the audience, her eyes wide and wild.

"Megumi, is something wrong. Just lift the card, okay?"

"The secret bullseye..." She balled her fist tightly. "It's on you!" Gumi leapt forward, spreading her arms wide. SHUNK! KABLAM!

AN: Sorry, it wasn't ready in time. Nice Boat.