[CONTEST] Dry Fountain [FIN]

[Zafun Strider]

The Case Files of Zafun "Scales" Rockefeller;
The Dry Fountain Mystery

Crime;
Double Homicide

Assisting Detectives;
Miff Tracy
Various Knights

Victims
One 'Ricky' Sharp, Oocca, a mysterious kid who kept himself hidden behind a veil of shadow and layers of cloaks. Ricky's only job in the last month has been telling secrets, or at least, that's the rumor going around. He was physically frail, and holds tight to a bottle of what he tells everyone is "water". No wonder someone made a victim of him. He was just as likely to keel over reaching for his next glass of the good stuff, as he was at the hand of a pissed off Gerudo dame.

Found as a dehydrated husk in his bed.

Tommy Steelsprings, Human, a local tough and blacksmith with a bad reputation. Recently evicted from his home, and most of his tools seized, he's been in an especially bad mood the last few nights, picking fights with various locals, and has been hanging around the Fairy's Fountain looking for somebody else to pound on. He'd be my prime suspect, if only he hadn't turned up dead in his old forge this morning.

Found with his head bashed in at his old forge.


Suspects
Papagor Decrow, Goron, is a personal friend of mine. Approaching middle age, he's retired and now spends most of his time on the lake near Fairy's Fountain, fishing. He's a booming and friendly sort of guy, the guy I can trust. But when murder's afoot, the best detective knows that he can't trust anyone. Tommy owed him money for fishing equipment.

Lauto Langsworth, Zora, is a clever and conniving profiteer who has everyone's business, and tries to keep it that way. As a businessman he's been described as nefarious and brilliant. Not surprisingly, he always seems to be nearby when there's action, and there's no telling what he'll do to satisfy that greed of his. A merchant like him is bound to have some skeletons in the closet, marking a natural enmity with Ricky. I should also keep an eye on him over Tommy's unpaid debts.

Victor "Vicks" Lightseeker, Twili, is a dark and brooding kid, the sort of guy with a cold look in his eyes. He certainly hasn't made any friends here in town; what with the his anger and dishonesty. He's high up among my suspects.He lives in the attic of the tavern, and earns money by keeping the lanterns around town lit at night.

Violet Lestrange, Fairy, is the Fairy Fountain's most frequent customer, and one of their most dreaded clients. She eats and eats, with a compulsion bordering on psychosis. Heaven help the soul that gets between her and her precious food. She depended on Lauto to deliver her the upscale goods that satisfy her addiction, and now that he's had to back out of their contract, she's gotten a little crankier. She found Tommy's corpse.

Ruupa Murdock, Minish, is the casual and sly patron 'house cat' of the establishment. He's got a subtle air of superiority, the stink that follows him wherever he goes, and frankly I think we were born to be hate each other. If he's worked hard labor a day in his life, I've never seen any proof. However, his knowledge of the surrounding forests isn't to be taken lightly. He's more aware of the countryside than anyone else, and navigates the town easily. He's close to Vicks, and is somewhat defensive of the kid, which puts him and Riku at odds for whatever reason. Interesting, seeing as he was the one to find Riku's body.

Sotivska "Soti" Uchenova, Kokiri, is a young red-haired scientist who arrived in town a month ago and has become a fixture at the tavern in the evenings. He spends his days cataloguing plants. Seems mostly harmless to me, though I'd hate to get him talking on any subject with which he's knowledgeable. He has a professional relationship of some sort with Riku, which has put a strain on his studies.

End Preliminary Notes

Namina Jinsani, Gerudo, is an orphan who sticks to the shadows, and moves about underfoot. She's hard to spot, and tends to pop out of the wood work when you least expect her, making her an excellent pick-pocket. I've tried to watch her at work (though focusing is difficult), but haven't confronted her about her habit yet. She seems like the sort to be able to get into places and see things other people would think unlikely. She was the last to speak with Riku, and no one's seen her since.

End Preliminary Notes

[MIFF]

"All right, let's find this killer so I can clobber him already!" Miff said with excitement after Zafun was finished writing down all the data that the Knight could provide. Apparently another crime had taken place outside the inn. Miff hoped that meant there was a second perp. Two targets to pummel in one day made for a pleased Mad Scrub.

Miff began to run around and look through every place in Room #3... except for the location of the dead body itself. Criminals always return to the scene of the crime right? Maybe they were hiding in here somewhere.

[Zafun Strider]

I took the opposite approach to the scene as Miff, slow to examine the room and what could have happened there. The embers in the lantern were still hot. It had burnt down rather than be put out. So there had been light at the time. I took a few more paces into the room, pulling back the bed sheets.

For a corpse, Ricky looked worse than a senior home full of stalfos. Saying it was unpleasant, that stench and sight, would be a feat if I suppressed the contents of my stomach. Throwing the bedsheet back over the dehyrdrated corpse, I dried my hand on my coat pocket, and noticed a few glass bottles lined up on the wall. Some had a green substance lining the edge. Interesting.

I turned around made for the bathroom.

[MIFF]

"Hey Scales, check this out," the Deku said with a laugh as he stood balancing on the edge of the tub. His spout was gesturing toward a ruffled towel hanging draped over the same rim to his side. Most of it was hanging down into a pile at the bottom of the basin. "All that fuss about a bath last night and the guy doesn't even put his laundry away."

[Zafun Strider]

"Yeah. A bit of a slob, wasn't he." I remarked taking a mental snapshot of the tub before I lifted the the towel, a small cork plug hopping around slightly as I lifted it, likely used as the plug. Strange that he was using a cork plug, but not altogether uncommon. I stroked my chin. "Pretty bad at cleaning up after himself, that's for certain."

Then a thought struck me and I left the bathroom. The windows had been wide open when Ruupa entered, or so said the knight. They were wide enough for me to lean fully out, looking down upon the busy town square. Straight down, was about three or four meters' drop to ground, while to either side the windows of rooms lined up alongside were well out of reach. "Nice day out." An innocent comment, about the weather, as I turned my look up to the clouds.

I had a good idea of how our killer had gotten here, but things were only starting to add up.

[MIFF]

Miff Tracy was no slacker when it came to hunting down a target. Still, none had presented themselves in this tiny room yet. Resigning himself to the fact that he'd have to wait for Zafun to figure everything out as usual the Deku finally moved to the bed for a look.

"Are we even sure he was killed?" he asked curiously. "Maybe he was just dumb and forgot to drink his water before bed?"

Did fleshy types dry up that fast? Miff couldn't quite remember. Hopefully not. He was still hoping for two criminals today.

[Zafun Strider]

As always Miff had a clever snipe to make at the deceased. If anything his humor helped to take the edge off of cases like these, especially in the beginning when the odds were stacked against us and the work overwhelming.

But then something rarer happened. Drink of water?

My amphibious eyes shot up to the bottles near the bed, to the window, over his shoulder to the bathroom, and finally back down to my own hand.

I felt smirk crack wide, loosing the flood gates into a full flushed grin. Something was finally starting to make sense. "We've got a lead, Miff. Let's go speak with our suspects."

[MIFF]

Always eager to follow a lead to someone he can clobber Miff dutifully followed in Zafun's footsteps out of the scene. Downstairs all of the Fairy Fountain's occupants from the previous night(Who still drew breath) were present: Papagor Decrow, Lauto Langsworth, Violet Lestrange, Vicks Lightseeker, Ruupa Murdock and Soti... Soti... whatever his name was.

"Did you find anything?" asked a blond man in Hylian Knight armour with pointed ears.

"Hey, what happened to the other guy?" Miff interrupted. He didn't particularly care, but the last guy kept giving him excuses to spit Deku Nuts so he was nice to have around. If this guy was his replacement he hoped the trend would continue.

"The Sentinel division has taken jurisdiction of this investigation," the Hylian(Apparently a Hybrid?) answered. To the Mad Scrub's displeasure he was completely courteous. "Don't worry, we've been briefed on the detective's contract to investigate for us."

[Zafun Strider]

I was right in line with Miff on this one. This was somewhat out of the ordinary for Hylian Soldiers. They were distinct. Territorial. They didn't like moving around with all this fluidity. That's why the Hybrid division had never been fully synthesized into the corps. Needless to say it had me on edge.

"Why the transfer?" I picked my words casually, and he responded in kind.

"Ricky was a member of the sentinels until his health forced him to retire. He's a good soldier and we want to see his killer brought to justice." Spoken like a true blue Hylian patriot. It was good to see that the 'defenders of the land' still had an idea of what the word justice sounded like. "What can you tell us."

I went over the clues again in my head from order of their appearance. It hadn't been a random act. There was method and motivation, but in the tangle of personalities before me, I'd need to tread carefully to retrieve the answers that would settle all accounts.

"Well?" A voice from the front of the crowd reached me between thoughts. Lucky it did, I was dizzy from the implications around me.

"Ahem. Well." I folded my arms over my chest. "There's only one fact about the killer I can tell you, everyone in this room is a reasonable suspect. You'll all have to stay."

[MIFF]

It didn't take more than a heartbeat for the gathered crowd to fall into angry grumblings and loud denials.

"All of you shut up!" came the squeak of a Mad Scrub. Miff Tracy didn't take kindly to anything that slowed down detective work, including pointless chattering. "We'll find the guy and then I'll beat him to a pulp. Anyone who keeps yakking can get a fee sample of that!"

The gathered patrons didn't all hold the Deku as capable of the threat, but they quieted nonetheless. Miff had a very,.. dominating personality. When he spoke he didn't allow anyone to ignore him, even if they didn't particularly care. The present soldier was the only one who still spoke.

“Could this really just be a coincidence?” he mumbled.

"What did I say about talking!?" Zafun's partner demanded, letting a Deku Nut loose. The Sentinel had the presence-of-mind to duck so that the projectile broke only a bottle of liquor on the counter behind him rather than his own skull. Alcohol dripped down onto the wooden floor without any appreciation as Miff continued. "What do you mean by 'coincidence', anyway?!"

"Ricky wasn't just a member of the Sentinels. He was the apprentice of our leader, Rwaht Orin," the Hybrid answered, apparently unfazed by the marksman's assault. He hadn't been holding back when he told them the new enforcers on-site had been briefed on the detective duo. "The other victim, Tommy Steelsprings, was an old friend of master Orin's as well."

The Sentinel took a chance when he drifted his eyes from the Deku to his Zora partner. Luckily for him the gamble paid off and no new nuts were sent flying.

"If he weren't out of town we're all certain the Praetor would want to be in charge of the investigations," he explained to the detective. "That's why we took over both scenes."

[Zafun Strider]

I couldn't tell what to make of this new information right away, but the likelihood of the Praetor having enemies willing to kill off his friends was real. The likelihood they would kill off old friends who had become withdrawn? I hadn't been sold that story just yet.

Letting this hang up get in the way would really hurt the investigation though, I had to keep moving and make a decisive action. My eyes fixed on the crowd as I leaned over to speak with the Sentinel.

His voice came soon afterward, powering over the group assembled. "Detective Rockefeller is working with the Hylian Sentinels in order to come to a swift conclusion of this case. You are all required to fully participate in this investigation or risk imprisonment." The soldier's authoritative tone serving to back up Miff's earlier words.

[MIFF]

Miff Tracy had walked this beaten path before. He knew how things worked and how Zafun liked to operate.

"All of you get ready to come in here when called!" the Mad Scrub instructed after scurrying over to a side room door.

Miff let the detective go in first then followed him, kicking the door shut so the Zora could collect his thoughts. The room they now occupied had a small table with a few chairs, conveniently. It also had a bookshelf and another Sentinel standing silently in a corner for observation.

"Hey Scales, you said once that you have to look at the connections when there's a bunch of dead guys, right?" came the Deku's inquisitive voice. "Does that make this Ruh-wah-it guy our main suspect?"

Miff seemed excited about the prospect of getting to take on someone strong enough to lead a division of the Hylian Knights. The Sentinel in the corner simply frowned.

[Zafun Strider]

"You think." I chuckled, knowing just what Miff had in mind. "We'd be hard-pressed to take down the Praetor himself. But I don't think we'll have to this time. He's been out of town for some time Miff. Would've been hard for him to commit the murderers." Zafun dismissed the claim with the diplomacy Miff sometimes required. "Besides, if you put down the Praetor, who'd be left to shoot? The princess?"

I looked up to the sentinel. "Bring Ruupa Murdock in."

After the regular formalities, I decided to get right to business with Ruupa. I'd never liked him much, and this gave me good opportunity to put the pressure on. "I think we both know you're not the murderer here, but you know most about something I know the least.

I think we both know, you're Victor Lightseeker's closest friend, if you wanna call it that. Tell me about him, where does he come from. What makes him tick?" My voice was cold and stern, keeping the edge on him. Ruupa hated to be cornered, so I had him right where I needed him.

"Vicks? What's he got to do with anything? He's a Twili. Came from the Twilight Realm. I heard he was first off the boat." Ruupa twitched his nose and glanced up at the door then back to me. "He's a good guy. You can't do this to him. With all the time he spent in that crazy place, anyone would be a little warped."

Interesting. What was Ruupa really trying to say here. "Warped? What do you mean Ruupa."

He scrunched his face in response. "He's got, uh.... He's got a phobia. Of the dark. But don't tell him I told you, it took years for us to work up this trust. That's why he lights the lanterns around town. It's the best job anyone could find for him."

[MIFF]

"I saw the face the grey kid gave the dead Human last night," Miff spoke up, recalling how eagerly he had observed the small scuffle while hoping for a full fight to break out. "He should have had more of a problem with the dried up guy. Why was he so ticked off at the other one?"

Ruupa seemed surprised at Miff's observation. He hadn't been present during Victor's encounter with Ricky and Tommy the night before. Zafun was unlikely to miss, though, that he wasn't confused by the Mad Scrub's question. He knew what 'look' the Deku was talking about.

"Tommy was trying to drag Vicks down in order to pull himself back up," the Minnish finally explained. "He lost everything in a risky card bet but Vicks took everything in the same round. As you might imagine, lighting lanterns doesn't earn much money so he tries to win a bit more that way whenever he wants to buy something. Tommy tried to accuse the kid of cheating to pull it off."

Ruupa said the Human's name with a bit of disgust. Clearly he was on the Twili's side in this matter,

"I appreciate the trouble Tommy was in, but it was his own fault. He turned into a real lowlife afterward and trying to accuse Vicks wasn't the lowest he went. Ask Soti if you're curious about that."

[Zafun Strider]

This was getting frustrating. I considered having Miff shoot the cat to alleviate my nerves, but I knew if I needed to come back to Ruupa, he'd be a lot more willing without a dislocated shoulder or the like. Instead I plucked a cigarette from jacket pocket and lit it up.

Quietly opposing Ruupa, we stared each other down while time passed, and I finally said the words he wanted to hear. "You can go. Bring in Mr. Langsworth."

It only took a few minutes for the merchant to show up. He was another Zora, but I couldn't trust his kind. Who knows how long since he'd felt the ocean or the river on his fins. Scumbag. "Tommy owed you money. A considerable sum actually, with far reaching consequences, touching on Violet Lestrange, Papagor DeCrow, and Sotivska Uchenova, to name a few. I want you to tell me about those debts."

The merchant shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He obviously didn't like talking about his clients, but his answer came soon enough. "What do you want me to say? I provide goods to people, and I need money to get those goods. If you're suggesting I murdered him over that, it's a little extreme, don't you think?"

[MIFF]

"We're suggesting you can tell us stuff we might not know yet, genius!" Miff explained, Zafun's favourite partner was always at his side and ready to move things along.

"Look," Lauto began again, trying to put on a charming smile. The merchant-turned-profiteer had lost most of his socializing skills long ago, sadly. "Violet might get a little... extreme, when it comes to her chocolate addiction, but she'd take that out on me, not Tommy. As for me, a dead man can't ever turn himself around so it would just be bad business to aid in the killing of clients."

"That mail guy you were yelling at last night have anything to do with this?" the Deku demanded. He wasn't about to let any potential criminal, and potential target, get away because he forgot to ask. Lauto scowled at the memory.

"Just some... difficulties with recent business," the Zora decided to answer. "Trust me, I'm much more suspect to have murdered the Kokiri than either of the two actual victims after what helping him out has gotten me. I think you should ask that one plenty of questions about both Rikcy and Tommy."

[Zafun Strider]

Zafun exhaled a plume of smoke. "Thank you, that'll be all. Get outta here, we'll stay in touch." He ground the ashes into a corner of the table. "I suppose it's about time we talked to this Sotivska character everyone seems to have a problem with. Maybe we'll get somewhere with him."

The sentinel, seeing her cue, exited and returned with the red-haired scientist in tow. "Yes, I see you're finally settling business with the busiest of us. And I suppose once you've asked your questions, I can return to more important matters?"

I scowled. "We'll see about that, Soti." Consulting my notes, I realized I hadn't seen him more than once the night of Riku's murder. "First things first. Where were you last night? What were you doing? And moreover, what's your take on these murders, Doc?"

The biologist was making a big play of not being intimidated. It struck me how defensive he already was. An interesting little thing to note. "Last night I was at the bar where you saw me until last call, when I promptly stole into the basement of the tavern to examine my fungus cultures. Seeing as how I wasn't supposed to be down there, no one can vouch for me of course."

He stroked his chin when asked about the murders. "As for Riku's death, it pains me to lose a patient I was in the middle of treating, but I confident it was not my methods as a doctor which lead to his current condition. "

Huh. An odd way to put it. "What about, Tommy?"

The red-hair had as unfeeling a gaze as I'd seen that day. "What about him?"

[MIFF]

"Scales is askin' what's your tiff with the big guy!" Miff elaborated. "Everyone says you two were at each other like no one else."

Soti frowned before he answered.

"I made the... mistake... of trying to cheer that brute up after he was evicted. He responded by destroying half of the research samples I had managed to accumulate. Curatives, preservatives, poisons, stimulants, perfumes, fruits.. a full two years' worth of work," the Kokiri explained, his anger at the event not even remotely concealed. "I wasn't the only one he was lashing at out at, either. As far as I'm concerned he got what was coming to him."

"Yeah, yeah. What about the fish in the hat?" Miff asked. He paused, turned to his partner, then back to Soti. "I mean the one with the fake mustache. What'd you get him into?"

"That... takes a bit of explanation," the immortal child of ten answered. He actually got up off of his seat and walked toward the book case. "As you probably know I was trying to cure or at least alleviate Ricky's genetic condition. He saved my life once and I wanted to pay him back. I needed samples of a flower that grows far outside of Hyrule to test one of my theories but trade between here and there is limited. Since he has old connections in the business I solicited Mr. Langsworth's aid in the matter. Apparently he received some backlash from the other merchants because of it."

At the bookshelf Soti dropped a seed to the ground and waved his hand over it. It sprouted into a tangle of ivy up the wall which he quickly climbed to grab a book off the top shelf. Once back on the ground the plants regressed and he collected the seed again.

"Ricky's passing truly does sadden me. I'm glad I can return to my important research as a distraction. These are my personal medical files on the boy if you want them," the Kokiri explained as he pulled some documents out of the book and tossed them across the table to Zafun. The redhead held up the book itself with a gesturing motion. "Nobody ever reads these books. They makes as good a hiding place as any around here."

[Zafun Strider]

"That ivy trick of yours must come in handy around town, Doctor. I wouldn't mind learning it myself." I lifted the folder in gratitude, but my gaze didn't leave him for a second. "You're free to return to the group, though stick around. I imagine, the Sentinels will want everyone present when we unmask the murderer."

Zafun didn't wait to hear what the scientist had to say in response, which was a good thing, because Soti was happier to be out of the cramped room and back somewhere he could conduct research than he was that the interrogation was over.

"We'll need Papagor next." I called, adding the medical records to my case files, and jotting some notes down in the process. "Good to see you again, friend. Suppose our toast was never meant to be." I leaned back in my chair and Papagor took up his own chair. "Sorry I gotta call you in here like this, but you know how it is. Let's get this over with, and we can get all the accounts settled. What's your take on our victims? Where's the motive"

Papagor grunted. "I was afraid you'd be the one asking me that. I try to stay on good terms with everyone, but with Tommy's debts to me, I'm afraid you might have to consider me a suspect." A snort of dark humor passed by. "But the only two I can say for certain would be Doc Soti, and erm..." A frown. "Vicks."

[MIFF]

"Gosh maybe you should be a detective instead of a fisherman," Miff answered sarcastically. "I hope it's both of them so I can have two to pound on. The forest kid wouldn't kill his own patient, right?"

"Actually..." Papagor began, well aware of how carefully one had to be around the trigger-happy Deku. He was thicker-skinned than most, of course, but Miff Tracy wasn't an opponent worth irritating even for a Goron. The guy was absolutely relentless once he got started. Papagor's pause had gone on long enough now, though, and he was being prompted to continue or face his punishment. "I've seen the young doctor around quite a bit. He'd never say it to Ricky's face but he lamented the fact that trying to cure an incurable condition was holding him back from what he really wanted to be doing. Much as I hate to suggest it, drying up a man isn't exactly a normal way to kill. Perhaps he used his position as a doctor to poison the lad somehow?"

Papagor shook his head.

"Vicks is no less suspicious, though. Ricky and Tommy were both working together despite the man's mean streak of late. I personally overheard the young one ask him for protection, of all things. After last night it seems to have something to do with the Twili boy. If Ricky had come across another secret to sell, one that proved what Tommy had claimed about that card game was correct, then I wouldn't know what to think."

With everything he had personally suspected out in the open the old and very large fisherman let out a deep sigh. His eyes turned toward Detective Rockefeller with an expression of regret.

"I'm sorry I don't have any direction to point you in, old friend."