[CONTEST] Dry Fountain [FIN]

[Zafun Strider]

Kicking back my chair I stood and ushered Papagor out the door. "We'll get all this cleared up Pa'. Don't get wound up too tight over it." Planting a hand reassuringly on his shoulder I sent him back among the crowd before conversing with the commanding officer once more. "Our interrogations are progressing well. Suspects aren't forthcoming yet, but there are a few strong leads. Keep an eye on them, we'll be back."

The sentinel stopped me as I pulled my coat over my shoulders. "I'll have a guard escort you." His matter-of-fact tone chafed at my already fraying nerves. "Where are you going?"

"Don't bother. There's another crime scene waiting for us."

[MIFF]

"You think we need protection?" Miff asked with shock. The poor Hybrid actually meant that they had to stay under watch like everyone else but this was one Mad Scrub who wasn't about to let an insult to his strength go unpunished. The next Deku Nut to fly was not evaded.

"Let the boys do their work," Miff heard Papagor reassure the Sentinel as he left on Zafun's heels. "They're the best at what they do and they do it their own way."

The air was chilly this morning. An overcast kept the sun from really lighting up the city, not that it needed any help in looking drab and grey to those who lived in it. Several patrols were around, as one would expect after two dead men turned up in separate parts of town, and they took some double-takes at the pair walking without escort from one of the crime scenes. A few whispers among them seemed to clear up who these two were though so everyone kept out of Rockefeller's way as he made for the Steelsprings blacksmith shop.

"So Scales, who have you knocked off the list so far?" Miff inquired. He always wanted to be updated on which targets he should be focusing on. No reason to dream up fun ways to pound a Goron into submission if he only ended up getting to trounce the pudgy Fairy instead.

[Zafun Strider]

Zafun shoved his hands in his pockets as they ventured down the street, his eyes bouncing from alleyway to pedestrian like danger might be lurking anywhere. The cobbled paths clacked along with his footsteps. "It couldn't be Pops or Violet. There's no real motive, and besides. I can't imagine them sneaking into Riku's room properly. Ruupa, Vicks, and Lauto are all possible, but we saw each of them around the time we can assume Riku was murdered. The evidence just isn't pointing as heavily to them as it does to Dotor Soti. Depending on what we find here at the next crime scene, I'd say he's our best bet."

[MIFF]

Speaking of the next crime scene the detective duo had arrived at the place in question before they knew it. A few guards were arguing as they approached. One was demanding why the location hadn't been fully investigated yet.

"We're waiting for Detectives Rockefeller and Tracy, sir," was one man's answer. He didn't speak with any noticeable respect. This one wasn't wearing much of the usual knight gear either, at least not visibly.

"This is why I opposed the Sentinels taking over the scene. We'd be done by now if it weren't for this nonse-Ow!"

A Deku Nut to the back of the head gave the Hylian Knight cause to step aside and shut up. Miff marched right past the spot the man had once stood with Zafun at his side, neither breaking their stride. The Sentinel in casual dress nodded to them in appreciation as they went by. This signaled the guard at the door to open the way for them without hesitation.

No words had to be exchanged to identify themselves. Miff's actions spoke much louder.

[Zafun Strider]

With the initial guard dealt with, walking up to the crime scene was a breeze. Miff was great to have around with his bold nature, but this moment was one of the better ones in that moment. I had been reading about Ricky's health shortly before the time of the murder.

Day 12-

Identifying Ricky's condition has been anything but easy, but after confirming my suspicions (his body has an accelerated hydration cycle, far beyond that which could be considered normal), it has been an interesting series of days. With what is available to me, I have been synthesizing herbal remedies to soothe him. While this is time consuming, there has been some limited improvement in the rate of his water retention, though the regularity with which he must take these remedies make them less than viable.

The reason for this? My treatments do not address his genetic condition specifically, but rather components in the water physically make it difficult to absorb. A normal person would be unable to garner any hydration from them before their body called for excretion. I suppose he is lucky he is not a normal person, but at some point we will have to cease curing the symptoms, and begin curing the disease.

I snapped the records shut after reading the most informative entry among them, before a great many rants. That explained the dried husk Riku had left behind a little more thoroughly, but what really intrigued me were those herbal remedies. For now, I'd consider the Riku side of this story settled.

Stepping into the forge behind Miff, I covered my mouth. The dry and dusty atmosphere betrayed a place that had been all but abandoned for some weeks. The flickering of the dying forge cast stark shadows against the windows. Nearby a work table, and there, slumped across the work table, lay Tommy.

There was a thick bloody indentation in the back of his head, but other than that, he looked just as I'd seen him the night before. Instinct told me a murder weapon would be nearby.

[MIFF]

"Check this out, Scales," Miff said with mockery in his voice. It was his usual tone when talking about other people so the detective was quite used to hearing it, especially when it came to the recently deceased. "This guy thought he was so tough but one little hammer blow took him down."

The Deku had discovered said hammer lying on the ground next to the body, slightly obscured from view by the bench itself. Traces of blood lay on its head. Despite the Mad Scrub's choice of words the tool could be called anything but little.

[Zafun Strider]

Getting a feel for the murder, I stood back and took in how Tommy was slumped over, the position of the hammer. It didn't pull itself together right away, but the evidence made a pretty pointed statement, he'd been hit from behind with the hammer.

A few moments later, and I'd shifted the body and lifted the hammer from the bench to the counter. The weight of it was a shock even for its size. It explained how Tommy had acquired his build.

But more interestingly, I discovered a distinct, thin red line across Tommy's neck, perhaps caused by pressure against the counter, but I wasn't writing it out just yet.

[MIFF]

As usual Miff Tracy was not one to spend his time examining corpses. Instead the Mad Scrub once more made his way around the scene, looking for the killer's trail.

"Well, no mystery to solve here," he said with an annoyed huff. "This old lock is so rusty and broken anyone could have come in."

Indeed, the back door to the place wasn't even remotely secure. This explained how Tommy had managed to get inside his old place without the right to do so, but unfortunately for Miff it also meant any of the possible murderers could be to blame. In their experience if there was no forced entry there usually wasn't a clue left to identify who entered.

[Zafun Strider]

"What? Really?" That came as an unfortunate surprise. Miff was right in his thinking. That didn't help us in terms of clues, but there was something.

"Come take a look at this." I had flipped the hammer on end and in the midst of the caked-on blood were flecks of green residue. That could mean only one thi-

"Huh?" I turned around at the sensation of a small hand tugging on my coat sleeve. "You're the uh... That girl. Why aren't you with your parents? This is a crime scene." I tried to sound stern, hoping it would get her to run along.

"I've been here all along! Since you got here." She pouted, hands on her hips.

"Oh. Right." I vaguely recalled ignoring her, but it had hardly been a conscious effort. Not with these killings. "What are you following me around for? Talk, we'll escort you back to the inn."

[MIFF]

Miff walked impatiently behind Zafun and Namina as they strode side-by-side. It had taken him a few minutes to realize that Zafun had been talking to someone other than him back at the shop. That had been kind of awkward. Most people to ignored the Gerudo youth by pure instinct. Miff seemed to go out of his way to ignore her even after her presence was affirmed. Then again he treated a lot of people that way.

"Ricky was always nice to me when he caught me stealing from him," Namina had explained as they moved. Despite the two's friendliness nobody in the city actually believed she was the recently-deceased snitch's source of information. After all, she was still a penniless pauper while Ricky was living comfortably from selling secrets and exposing criminals. According to Namina though that was because she preferred to get by only through thievery and didn't want a cut. "Today is the day Ricky was going to expose the secrets of Victor and Papagor that I had seen to the Knights."

"What secret crime does that old rock have hidden away?" Miff asked with amusement. He knew that Goron was always too friendly.

"Fishing violations," Namina explained, which made the Deku sulk. He had been hoping for something more insidious. "He was probably going to get his licence revoked for a while. Victor though, I found out that Tommy's accusations might really be true. There's no proof yet but that's why Ricky was going to ask his old friends to start an investigation."

"Hey Scales," the Mad Scrub interjected. "You think the murder happened when we woke up last night, right? Vickie was in the hall then but not Pops. Should we bump him up on the suspect list?"

[Zafun Strider]

”Papagor? I’d considered him, but not for long. The window was our perp’s entry point; that alone puts skepticism on the idea. It’d have to be someone who could climb up and fit through. He wouldn’t have come through the door, Riku locked it anyway and there was no sign of forced entry. Papagor couldn’t have tried any cheap tricks either, like poison. Because, most importantly, he died in the bath.” I slipped my hands in my pockets and lagged back long enough to end up between the girl and the deku. ”This is how it happened.”

That night, a dark silhouette climbed through the window of Room #3. He was quiet, and of a smaller build. The room was still lit at the time, and Riku had yet to take his bottle of water before bed. He was still in the bath during the last moments of his life. A murderer, in the full light of the room was silent. He turned to see the open bathroom door, the edge of Riku’s leg. Riku was facing away from the door and never had a chance.

The silhouette crept up from behind and forced his head under the water. Even with his heritage, he couldn’t have lasted long. A gasp of surprise ended his life just a few minutes earlier than any optimist would have predicted. Then our perp drags him out of the tub, still soaking and sets him in bed, water quickly pouring into the sheets, and because of his muscular condition, those sheets would stay wet till morning.

But the crime’s not over yet. A gathering of concerned individuals is forming, and our murderer’s still in the room. He has to find a way to escape, while keeping a low profile. Any normal person would drain the tub and make their get away, but something about this crime needed more finesse. There was a cork plug at the crime scene, but Riku would never use something like that. They’re buoyant and easy to keep track of, but they’re also pourous. The bath will empty faster and water he needes to live will escape him. It’d be smarter for him to fold a towel over the drain and create suction.

So why the cork plug? The killer needed delay, for the drain to start at the perfect time to cover, perhaps, the sound of his escape. So in a resourceful fit of instinctive brilliance he stuffs the tip of the rag down the drain, and ties one end of it to the cork. This creates tension as the cork slowly pulls the towel up out of the drain, and the water slips away. In the morning, the towel’s dried, shrinking and undoing the knot itself. Two inconspicuous items are left lying in the bottom of the bath tub.

The bath tub of a person whose entire life has been spent disciplined and looking through other people’s dirt. He himself would never be a slob. Only a keen eye would ever see through the ruse.

I ceased my monologue, explaining the murder to them as we finally reached the doors of the inn, glancing back and forth between Namina and Miff as we entered. Maybe I was considering laying down an early theory of the Tommy murder, but it’d have to wait now. "Let’s get to it."

[MIFF]

"All of you separate!"

Once again the assembled suspects gave Miff Tracy their attention, breaking away from whatever conversations or distractions they were previously occupied with. It was well-established that ignoring the little guy usually resulted in pain. For Miff this was the best part of an investigation, or at least led to the best part. Whenever Zafun started talking like he had outside it meant he knew who the killer was. That in turn meant it was soon time to kick the murderer's butt.

"Come on, move it! It's time to catch the killer!" the Deku elaborated just as angrily. This news caused the people to comply, each moving so that no one was standing too close to another.

"What did you learn at the other crime scene?" the Sentinel from before asked directly to Detective Rockefeller. He was clearly surprised that the duo had already come to a conclusion.

[Zafun Strider]

”About that- About Tommy… Can’t say much yet. There’s still things to do, but there is this. Someone of the same size as Riku’s murderer was behind it.” I could feel eyes on me with my back to the crowd, but I was baiting them just as much as I was informing the Sentinel. ”Could even have been a second murderer with a similar build.”

[MIFF]

"Go on, get out of my way," Miff shooed the lingering Namina as he made his way to the middle of the floor. The young Gerudo obeyed and walked off to some random corner where she was promptly forgotten about by everyone present. "OK Pops, I want answers! Where were you at last night?!"

Papagor seemed surprised by Miff's sudden questioning and looked around the room. Others shared similar reactions. Nobody present thought that the friendly old Goron was under any suspicion.

"Well, I was at home in northern Hyrule Field all night," the fisherman explained, speaking of his hut built near the channel that fed Hyrule Castle Town from Zora's River. "Naturally I was alone. I can't get anyone to confirm my alibi or anything."

Papagor rubbed his the fingers of his right hand through his impressive beard. A look of concern was on his face.

[Zafun Strider]

I could tell where my partner was headed, and knew to jump in."Hold on Miff.” I interjected before the spitfire could jump on Papagor’s lack of a solid alibi. ”We haven’t figured him out to be a suspect yet. Let's play this smart, and we'll end up taking down the cleverest, vilest creature here. I'd like to question Violet first."

[MIFF]

The large Fairy gave an audible huff in response to the detective's intervention. With her hands on her hips Violet handed down glares to both Zafun and Miff in equal measure.

"And what, pray tell, do you plan to learn from me?" she asked venomously. "I already gave my statements to the Knights when I reported finding that blacksmith's body. I have nothing more to add to them."

Miff was reminded of a time when Fairies were thought to be such sweet, innocent creatures. He liked how they were nowadays much more. Nobody complained as much when he shot them down.

[Zafun Strider]

"Correct. You were the first on the scene where Thomas Steelsprings was murdered." I interrupted. "And you had motive. Both our victims Tommy and Riku were indirect causes that a local merchant was unable to acquire a certain package for you… Weren't they? Lauto would you care to check my facts on that?"

The merchant shifted uncomfortably in his chair, coughing beneath his wig as if from mild embarrassment.

[MIFF]

"Well yes, you are quite correct," Lauto elaborated after Miff gave him one of his patented "I'm going to nut you" glares. Zafun, as far as this Zora could tell, seemed to be implying that it was the woman whom he suspected now. Anything that kept focus off of himself was good with Lauto so he ran with it. "Violet has been extremely volatile toward me ever since but with Tommy's unpaid debts and the young Doctor needing my assistance with Ricky I haven't had the time or resources to help her anymore. She has quite the temper when she doesn't get her chocolate... actually the truth of that is-"

"That just makes you more suspicious, stache-man!" Miff interrupted before the wily Zora could try to make Violet seem more at fault. The Fairy was giving Lauto the most impressive death glare anyone in the room had ever seen after his last comments. "The one he owed money to was you! And it was helping Ricky that got you into trouble with the traders, right!?"

[Zafun Strider]

Miff was right on track with where I was leading the crowd, and whether or not he knew it, he played into the game I was setting up quite smoothly. "Indeed. Miss Lestrange was hard-pressed-" I took special care to make eye contact with Lauto, putting him in the hot seat. "-But barely backed down into a corner. Her innocence is all but guaranteed.”

I pulled out a chair from a nearby table and sat, his pale expression sinking. “What about you Mister Langsworth? Tommy was deep in debt, and with his habits, unable to work, he would never be able to pay up." I turned my deadpan gaze to the other zora. ”As for Riku, a man of your occupation surely might have a few stalfos lurking in his closet. Things Riku was especially good at digging up.”

[MIFF]

"Now hold it right there," Lauto responded with renewed vigor. He had been shaking before but the detective's last comment seemed to offend him. "That's slander! I have the cleanest record of any businessman left in this city! I had no direct business with Ricky to begin with, and if I thought my trouble was worth confronting someone over it would be Dr. Uchenova."

What little colour he may have had seemed to drain from Lauto's face at his own words.

"Not that I held him in any contempt either!" he added defensively. "As for Tommy the answer should be obvious. Dead men won't ever have a chance to pay their debts and I have plenty more living clients with unpaid bills in this city. If anyone had a reason to go after that man it would be the Twili wouldn't it?"

Victor glared daggers at Lauto from his position in the most shadow-filled corner of the room. Miff, in contrast, was unimpressed. All of Lauto's pleading fell on deaf ears when it came to this Deku.

"But your business partners are all mad at you now, aren't they?' the Mad Scrub chided, hoping the Zora would give him an excuse to fire. "And if the tattle-tale was dead then you wouldn't have any deal to honour with the runt either, right?"