Evidence of Shadows [CSI: Crime Scene Investigation / Yu-Gi-Oh!] (COMPLETE!)
Chapter 1
Welcome to Sin City
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10:32 p.m.
Room 1207, Luxor Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
–
"Somebody order new film?"
Sara glanced up to the door and smiled grimly at Warrick Brown. "Over here."
Warrick tossed a pair of camera film rolls to the attractive young brunette, then sighed at the sight of the body. "And here's the man of the evening. Gordon Henstridge, huh?"
"Yeah, how the mighty have fallen, right?" Nick supplemented. He was searching the body with an alternate light lamp. "Dies in a kid's room, of all places..."
"I don't suppose you have any idea how that happened," Warrick surmised.
Sara shook her head. "None. But Brass is interviewing the kid." She stood up and took several angled photographs of the body. Nick and two officers had already assisted her a few minutes ago in scooping out buckets of hot water for evidence; now the jacuzzi was mostly drained. Soon they would take the body out of the room and down to headquarters for analysis.
Warrick looked around. "Where's Grissom?"
"He's interviewing the surrounding guests. Turns out Wheeler had friends in adjoining rooms."
"Wheeler?"
"Yeah, Joey Wheeler. The guest in this room."
Warrick raised an eyebrow. "Joey Wheeler, the Duel Monsters pro?"
Sara glanced at Nick, a disbelieving look on her face. "How is it everyone knows this kid's name?"
Nick snickered, then explained for Warrick's benefit. "Grissom knew about him, too."
"Well, Grissom knows everything." Warrick smirked. "Me, I hang out with kids, and Duel Monsters is a way for them to entertain themselves. Good alternate to joining gangs, I think."
"Well, what makes him so special to them they find fit to mention him?" Sara grumbled, turning back to her task. "For that matter, what makes you think he's the same Joey Wheeler that plays this card game? 'Joey' and 'Wheeler' are both reasonably common names."
Warrick shrugged. "Yeah, but how many kids named Joey Wheeler get a VIP guest room at a five-star hotel? Only the ones who can earn it. And the duelist Joey Wheeler is one of them. He's big-name. It's like NASCAR. People choose an idol and stick with him. I hear he's a risk-taker."
"Risk-taker's another way of saying gambler. No wonder he wanted to come to Vegas." Sara craned her neck and blinked. "He's got an indented cut on the back of his head. Big welt, some bruising. Maybe he got hit with something?"
Nick raised his head and his eyebrows. "There isn't much around here to hit him with. The lamp, maybe?"
"Check it out."
"Where do you want me?" Warrick asked.
"Check for prints. Fingers, shoes, anything," said Nick. "There's bound to be something around here."
"Right." Warrick took Nick's place on the jacuzzi tile.
Nick approached the bedside table. "Who leaves their lamp unplugged?"
Warrick and Sara looked up from their work. Nick held up the loose lamp cord for his co-workers to see. "Somebody pulled this out. Think it was Mr. Elite Duelist?"
"Thinking is overrated," said Warrick. "Bag it up and bring it in." He looked at Sara. "Has David been through yet?"
"Yeah, he was here. He had a bit of a hard time trying to estimate time of death, though, since half this guy's body was in scalding hot water. But I think he got a reasonable estimation, somewhere between 7 and 8 p.m."
"Then I guess our card slinger had better have an alibi," said Nick.
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10:46 p.m.
Las Vegas Crime Lab
–
Jim Brass was a patient man. Not by nature; years of experience had taught him to calm his temper, even around the hardiest and most irritating of subjects.
But the moment he'd seen this kid's photo and profile, complements of the Domino Police Force in Japan, he knew his patience would be stretched to the limit. Not because of any one particular thing. It was never one particular thing that irritated the crap out of him. Rap sheets – he could deal with them. Bad attitudes... well, he'd come across more than his share. Arrogance? He wished he had a nickel for every smug look ever cast him by a suspect later judged guilty.
He walked into the interrogation room, trying not to clutch the portfolio as if it were the last strand of his sanity. The kid was already looking at him with a mixture of confusion and disgust. Brass stared right into the kid's brown eyes.
The kid unwaveringly stared back.
...damn it, I can't tell.
Brass had always prided himself on having a knack for telling whether someone was guilty of something or not. But this one had alternately experienced such trouble and such happiness that the light of innocence and the darkness of guilt had merged and formed a muddled gray.
He was intimately familiar with malice, and unthinking contempt.
He knew evil.
But is he evil?
"Joseph Wheeler." Brass tossed the now-useless file on the table; it slid across so far that it would have fallen into the boy's lap, had his hand not reflexively come up to stop it in its path. "Born in Brooklyn, New York. Lived there as a family of three for all of five years before moving to Domino, Japan, where your sister, Serenity, was born. Parents divorced six years later; your mother took your sister to live in the States while you stayed with your father. History of gang violence and bullying during earlier teen years, followed by a cleanup of your act and determination to become one of the best Duel Monsters players in the world – a goal that some claim you've achieved and others claim you never will."
"Well, it looks like you've got the lowdown on me, detective," the boy drawled, his Brooklyn and Japanese accents contrasting against each other. "Except the name. It's Joey."
"Oh, well, pardon me. Joey." Brass sat down, remorseless. "Captain Jim Brass, by the way. Mind telling me what happened?"
"What's there to say? I went in, saw the man face-down in the tub, and ran squealin' like a girl out into the hall – which I'm not very proud of."
"Why not?" Brass' eyes narrowed. "Squeamish? Or have you seen a dead body before?"
"I play Duel Monsters and I watch a lot of television. I've seen worse things."
Brass let the subject go for the moment. "Do you have any idea who the man is?"
"I said he was face-down. I dunno about you, detective, but it's hard for me to recognize a man by his ass. An' even if he was face-up, I doubt if I've ever seen him."
"I suppose you can't help us explain why he was in your room in the first place."
"Sorry, I ain't the expert. Dat's what you guys are here for, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It is." Brass folded his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Joey... the man who drowned was the owner and manager of the Luxor. His name was Gordon Henstridge." Joey's gaze darkened. "I see you've heard of him."
"I dunno any Gordon Henstridge, no. I know a Simon Henstridge..."
Brass nodded once. "Gordon's son. Tends to manage what his father doesn't keep an eye on."
"He does a lousy job of it, too."
"According to the Luxor's records, he's performed admirably."
"Yeah, well, dat's the prize you get when your daddy runs the joint an' you go into the family business." Joey's eyes blazed furiously. "Dat man is nothin' but a two-bit hood who thinks he can score some points for himself by tryin' to associate with the Duel Monsters champion. You shoulda seen him the other day. He practically begged Yugi to duel him to settle a minor dispute over some money his gramps won."
Brass frowned. "Duel?"
"Dat's what you do in Duel Monsters. You duel."
"And the dispute was settled?"
"By none other than yours truly."
Brass leaned back in his chair. "Well, it seems someone took a disliking to his father soon afterward. Gordon Henstridge's drowning was no accident."
"What, an' you think I killed him?"
Brass spread his hands wide. "I'm just exploring the possibilities right now, kid."
"Well, explore this: I don't know who he is, and I got no reason for wantin' to do anythin' to him, never mind killin' him. An' the name's Joey."
The homicide detective glared and leaned forward again. "Okay, then... Joey... you tell me. If you don't know Gordon Henstridge, how did he end up in your room, drowned in your jacuzzi?"
"Do we have to go over this again?" Joey groaned, slumping back into his chair. "Look, there could be any number of people who would want him dead. I ain't one of them."
"Oh, really. I suppose you have a list of suspects all lined up for me, right?"
"Off the top of my head, anyone who works in the lobby of dat hotel with access to the keycards."
"The lobby has video surveillance and all employees were closely monitored throughout the evening. Only two keycards were given, one to a Mr. Solomon Motou and one to you. You gonna tell me now that Mr. Motou is the killer?"
Joey bristled, and looked very nearly ready to rise from his chair. Anger poured off him in waves. "Dat is even more ridiculous than accusin' me of killin' the guy! You wanna blame me, fine, blame me, but don't you dare blame him!"
"Aw, I'm touched," Brass commented blandly. "So where do you suggest I go for a lead, hm?"
"How about talkin' to everybody who's ever lost a bet at the Luxor? I bet you'd have more luck with them than with me. I hear casinos are a cutthroat business."
"Uh-huh. But Henstridge didn't drown under the paperwork."
Joey rolled his eyes, trying to keep his temper under control. "Look... you want me to start from the top, maybe give you a clue?"
"Oh, by all means."
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3 Weeks Earlier
Fountain Plaza
Domino, Japan
–
Joey perused his hand of cards for the fourth time, mentally groaning in frustration. I've got my favorite monster right here in my hand, and it could win the duel for me... and I can't use it!
His opponent, a particularly cunning Archfiend duelist by the name of Brooke, had in fairly short order demolished the last of Joey's defenses with her impressive array of attackers, leaving him with only two spell/trap cards face-down, four cards in hand, and 400 Life Points.
She, on the other hand, was keeping a healthy stock of 3100 Life Points, three monsters on her field – a Vilepawn Archfiend equipped with an attack-enhancing Malevolent Nuzzler (1200+700/200), Shadowknight Archfiend (2000/1600), and Terrorking Archfiend (2000/1500) – and a Pandemonium field spell card, allowing her to call any new Archfiend monsters in her deck to her hand in the event that Joey somehow destroyed her current monsters by any method other than battle.
It was now Joey's turn... and he had already drawn.
The only monster in my hand that's even playable right now is Tiger Axe, and there's no way he'd survive the next turn. I wouldn't, either! He took a deep breath. Okay, well... I guess it's now or never.
"I play the spell card Pot of Greed!" he announced. "It allows me to draw two cards from my deck."
"Not like you'll last that long anyway, no matter how many cards you draw," Brooke drawled, "but at least you've got the guts to go down fighting."
That sounds like someone I know... Joey otherwise ignored the comment as he drew his next two cards. All right! This should do it! "First off, I summon Tiger Axe (1300/1100) in attack mode!"
As the Beast-Warrior shimmered into being on the field, Brooke couldn't help but laugh. "Don't tell me, let me guess – you've cracked!"
"Get over yourself," Joey calmly replied, "because I didn't say I was done. Next, I play the spell card Harpie's Feather Duster!"
A sudden burst of wind, created by oscillating force fields from their duel disks' holoprojectors, washed over the field, blowing away not only the greenish smoke of her Pandemonium card that had surrounded them both, but also the equipment spell card attached to her Vilepawn Archfiend.
Joey didn't bother to hide his grin at the play – the Feather Duster card had come from a special friend. And I'm gonna make sure she gets paid her dues.
Brooke still didn't seem impressed. "Big deal, so you've weakened my Vilepawn Archfiend. But due to his effect, he's the only one on my field you can attack anyway, and your Tiger Axe's attack will be barely enough to make a dent in my Life Points. Next turn I'm gonna take you down."
"No, you're not. Tiger Axe, attack her Vilepawn Archfiend!"
Joey's monster, weak though it was in comparison to many other monsters in both their decks, did its master justice and struck down the hideous fiend on Brooke's field. Her Life Points dropped to an even 3000.
She grunted. "Did you have a point to make?"
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"That sounds like a good question to me," Brass interjected.
"I'm tellin' it like it is," Joey retorted.
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"Of course I do. Next, I play my Tribute Doll spell card, which lets me sacrifice a monster from my field to special summon a Level 7 monster from my hand – so I sacrifice my Tiger Axe to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) in attack mode!"
Tiger Axe vanished in a blue haze, and that haze reformed itself into one of the rarer Dragon-Type monsters in existence. It spread its narrow wings and let out a terrifying screech.
"Tribute Doll's drawback is dat the monster I summon can't attack on the same turn," Joey continued, "which is why I had Tiger Axe attack instead. But now I'm just gonna let your monsters do my work for me in finishing you off."
She grimaced. He smirked. If Pandemonium's not in play, her Archfiend monsters cause her to lose Life Points because they're so overpowered. As long as I have the stronger monster, she can't do a thing but wait for the end. "I end my turn."
As soon as Brooke drew, her Life Points sank by 1700 points – 900 for Shadowknight, 800 for Terrorking – but when she saw what she'd drawn, she seemed to regain her sadistic joy of trouncing her opponent. "I sacrifice Shadowknight Archfiend to summon Skull Archfiend of Lightning (2500/1200) in attack mode!"
The flesh-filled skeleton fiend that appeared on the field made Joey do a double-take. "Dat monster looks just like Summoned Skull."
"For all intents and purposes, it is Summoned Skull, but with an effect that causes any card effects you target it with to have a 50% chance of failure. Feel like playing the odds, Mr. Wheeler?"
"Are you kiddin'? The odds are what I play best."
"Then play your way out of this – Skull Archfiend of Lightning, attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Joey smirked. "The odds are in my favor this time around. I activate my Skull Dice trap card!" A minuscule creature bearing a giant red die appeared in the air. "All of your Archfiend monsters have special abilities dat might cause effects I use against them to fail – if those effects specifically target one of your monsters. But Skull Dice targets all your monsters, and all I need is a two or higher for Red-Eyes to survive your attack!"
At that, the little devil carrying the big die dropped its payload; the die rumbled across the ground and spun on a corner... then–
"Looks like you've only scored a one," Brooke sneered. "My Archfiends lose a grand total of 100 attack and defense points – which means my Skull Archfiend will be destroyed, but so will your Red-Eyes, and then Terrorking can finish you off!"
"And it's times like these it's useful to have dis little number." Joey activated his remaining face-down card. "Dice Re-Roll! It lets me cancel out one die roll and try it again. Let's go for a higher number than one, huh?"
Again, the minuscule demon let loose the giant red cube. It clattered to the ground, across the field, and stopped to reveal...
"A five!" Joey crowed, and before everyone's eyes, the attack and defense statistics of all of Brooke's monsters dropped by 500 points... including her attacking Skull Archfiend of Lightning. The streams of yellow electricity crackled harmlessly along Red-Eyes' shell-like exterior, and then the dragon loosed a furious counterattack, a glowing crimson orb of energy that shattered Brooke's best attacker and reduced her Life Points to 900.
Brooke growled in anger, but there was little else she could do. "In that case, I switch my Terrorking Archfiend to defense mode and end my turn."
Joey drew his next, and final, card. "I play the spell card Inferno Fire Blast! It lets my Red-Eyes deal direct damage to your Life Points this turn!"
There was nothing more that needed to be said. Brooke had no method by which to stop the attack, and so she stood patiently as Red-Eyes summoned another burst of red flame to attack her with – thus reducing her Life Points to 0, and ending the final match of the tournament.
–
"Omedetou, Wheelelh-san."
Joey found himself shaking hands with the tournament coordinator, one Mr. Morimoto – a man that looked somewhat like Gozaburo Kaiba... except not quite so sadistic. And sans the bushy eyebrows. He had not exactly mispronounced Joey's last name, but there was no R sound in the Japanese language, and so this was customarily as close as they could come. He chose to take the accolades as they were meant to be taken.
One hand was being shaken by Morimoto-san. The other hand was accepting a sizeable portfolio containing the winnings for the tournament his company had sponsored: a round-trip package for Joey and three others to Las Vegas, up to and including hotel reservations, first-class plane tickets, and prize money to spend wherever they wished.
It was happy news that Joey brought to the Kame Game Shop that evening. He'd not told anyone that he was participating in the tournament – he didn't want anyone to know, in case he lost. Yugi hadn't applied to participate because of a desire to lie low in the dueling community for a while; everyone was still begging him to let them see the fabled Egyptian god cards, or duel him for the cards.
Joey had played in the tournament in large part because he wanted to prove himself... both to himself and to others that he could be a winner. He could come out on top, if he tried hard enough, and didn't spend his dueling career in Yugi's shadow – or was it Yami's? Whichever. The point was, he had done it all by himself. He had been able to stand alone and duel his heart out, and he had won.
For that, he'd won this fabulous trip. And he knew exactly who he wanted to share it with. It was Téa's greatest dream to someday be able to visit America, the land of her forebears – it was also Tristan's homeland, although he'd not set foot there in many years, due to his father's extended military duties in Japan.
And how could he not invite Yugi? Yugi, who had befriended him and Tristan despite their initial unthinking animosity towards him... who had helped him through duel after agonizing duel, teaching him patience and faith in the Heart Of The Cards... was more deserving of sharing in that reward than anyone else Joey could think of.
So it was with all the sincerity he could muster that he invited his best friends to join him in his adventure to Las Vegas, one of the most extravagant cities in the world. All three heartily accepted, assuring him that they would find some way of convincing their respective guardians to let them come along.
His perfect world had nearly come crashing down around his ears when Mr. Motou informed Joey there was not a snowball's chance that Yugi would be coming along if there wasn't an adult to accompany them. Joey was mortified – he hadn't even thought to ask an adult. Surely his deadbeat father wasn't sufficient supervision, and a survey of Tristan's and Téa's families found that no one had the time and/or the money to come along.
It was Mr. Motou himself who finally said that he might like to come along. Yugi asked with some surprise if that meant he'd be closing his store for the twelve days they'd be gone – he might lose a lot of business that way. Plus, the ticket for the plane would be at an astronomical price, as would accommodations matching those of the invitees. Mr. Motou had winked at everyone, his former mischief again in his eye for a moment, and said he would simply have to win it back via the casinos.
Two and a half weeks later, on a Thursday morning, everyone piled their suitcases into Téa's father's minivan and left for Tokyo, where they departed on a plane from Narita International that evening. Crossing several time zones ended up bringing them to Las Vegas during the early afternoon in Pacific Standard. As soon as they disembarked, they noticed the slot machines standing in the terminal.
Solomon Motou chuckled. "Lady and gentlemen... welcome to Sin City."
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"An' the rest is old news," Joey finished. "We came here, we went around, visited a few places, Gramps hit the casinos a few times, an' boom – dead guy in my boilin'-hot jacuzzi. I dunno any more than dat, so if you want more info, you're wastin' your time with me."
"Maybe I am," Brass allowed. "But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna find out what happened. One way or another."
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© Matt Morwell, 2011
