December 2022 Side Story: Whodunnit

Click. Clickclick. Squeeeeak. Click.

I looked up from the newspaper I was reading to glare at my office’s old ceiling fan. The whole thing wobbled as it spun, enough for the pull cord to sway like a pendulum.

Click. Clickclickclick.

I folded the paper and stood up. Reaching the cord wasn’t difficult with my height, and, mindful of my claws, I turned it off with a sharp tug.

Or I should have. Instead, the old frayed cord snapped in my hand.

Click. Squeeeeak.

Great. Just great.

The next click was interrupted by a series of rapid knocks at my door. I didn’t have any appointments today, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t take walk-in clients. Besides, some of the people who hire a private investigator aren’t keen to use a phone—even a payphone. I traded the broken string for my coffee cup and walked to the door.

“Coming!” I said, cheerfully as I could.

The knob rattled in my hand, but I got the door open without fuss, mindful of how it stuck to the frame at the top corner. Standing out in the hall was a kid who looked no older than twenty.

They looked up, and up, and up at me. To their credit, the relatively short person didn’t flinch much and met my gaze with surprisingly steady dark eyes under their curly mop of equally dark hair.

Most people were anxious around me. Ardath City had its fair share of non-humans—an increasing number as of late—but few people looked as I did. It didn’t help that the predominant, but waning, religion in the area attached a lot of negative things to someone of my appearance.

Sure, I had some fire magic and was tougher than most, but it wasn’t like I could do much more than my build would suggest. That’d just be ridiculous, although such a power fantasy would probably help me out with some of my more troublesome cases.

“Are you Detective Miller?” they asked anxiously.

“I am,” I nodded. “Do you have a case for me?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Come on in then!” I beamed at them. “Do you want any coffee?”

My teeth got them to flinch. It’s always the teeth.They shook their head and stepped inside after me. I pulled the door closed behind us with my tail and the kid flinched again. I don’t think I’m their only source of nerves today.

People got like that around me. Big, four-armed, muscular demon ladies tall enough to bang their heads on doorframes tend to give off an intimidation factor. I tried to do my work with patience, understanding, empathy, and good observational skills. Half the time, I flashed a smile, asked a question, and had to sit through a “I’ll say anything—just don’t kill me!” instead. It paid the bills. Mostly. Despite crime seemingly on an upward spiral here in Ardath City, I didn’t see in increase in clients. The worst of both worlds.

I walked around my desk and sat down, pointedly ignoring the clicking and squeaking ceiling fan that was now stuck on. I planted my top elbows on the desk, leaned forward over the folded newspaper and asked: “What do you want me to look into?” With another hand, I picked up my cooling coffee and took a sip.

“Uh…” They fidgeted, seeming suddenly nervous. Their eyes bounced around the room, off the old filing cabinet, over the dusty blinds letting in striated rays of afternoon sunlight, through the dust motes in the air from my lazy cleaning, and finally onto the newspaper folded between my elbows. Their gaze lingered and I followed it down.

The story hadn’t even made it to the front page, but there was a photo of a nice-looking family in front of a brand-new suburban home under a headline espousing murder.

“That,” the small person said.

“This?” I pointed to the paper. None of the three people pictured—a mother, father, and daughter who looked to be in high school—looked like the person sitting across the desk from me. In fact, while the parents were entirely human in appearance, their daughter looked mid-way between human and me—although I couldn’t tell if she was red from the photo.

“Yeah.” They reached a finger out and pointed to the girl. “That’s Sonia. We’re best friends.”

“Did she…?” I let the question hang while I scanned the story.

The small person shook their head vigorously, curls bouncing. “No. She’s staying with her grandma. I was there too, but I dipped out to come see you after we found you in the phonebook. Grandma wouldn’t like us calling you; even though we’re both eighteen, she treats us like kids. But I know the police are wrong! Sonia’s dad didn’t do it!”

“Whoah, slow down, okay!” I put my last free hand up and they quieted down. “First off, can you give me a name to call you? It doesn’t have to be your real one—I just need it for my records.” While they answered, I kept skimming the article. This was starting to look like something I’d take on.

“Nelys is fine,” Nelys replied. “Will you take the case? I know Sonia’s did didn’t kill her mom, but the police think he did and—”

“I think you might be right,” I interrupted before they started to hyperventilate. Glad they didn’t go for the coffee. “I’ll take the case, but if the police block me, I can only do so much.”

“I can distract them!” Nelys clenched both their fists, excited and anxious.

This kid… “Let’s not be too hasty, alright? Can you tell me everything you know that you think might help?”

Nelys nodded rapidly and a tirade of information poured forth. Cassandra Rozaro had been murdered and her husband, Salvador Rozaro was in custody as a prime suspect. Two details from Nelys’s story stuck out to me. The first was how they, on their way to sneak into Sonia’s window to hang out, caught another lithe figure slipping away from the Rozaro home through a different window near the couple’s bedroom. The second was that neighbors by the name of Lorelei and Markus Mordwell were human supremacists and Lorelei routinely got in arguments with Cassandra over her daughter and the Rozaro mother’s inclusive views.

Whoever was leaving by window is probably the killer.That, or their break-in was an incredible coincidence. Either way, they would have seen something, and from the picture I doubted it could have been Salvador Rozaro. He kept in shape, so it was possible, but the idea felt wrong. Nelys seemed the type to hear things they weren’t meant to, and they had no inclination Salvador had anything but love for his family.

I had two tasks: visit the crime scene and find Lorelei. Nelys had already told what they’d told me to the police, so I’d be competing with the fuzz on both accounts. The murder happened last night, however, so I might still be able to beat the police to interview Lorelei Mordwell.

“Can I come with you?” Nelys asked.

I shook my head. “It’s dangerous, and I need to control how much they think I know.”

They slouched and looked downcast. “Oh… yeah that makes sense.”

“I’m glad you understand.” I stood up. “Can you get back to Sonia and her grandmother on your own? I should move quickly.”

“Yeah, I can.” Nelys jumped up. “Good luck Miss Miller!”

***

I parked a block away from Lorelei’s house and unfolded myself from inside my too-small car. As I approached, I heard an angry-sounding conversation, and I realized I wasn’t the going to be the first to talk to Lorelei about the murder.

“I had nothing to do with this! I didn’t like the woman, but I wouldn’t kill her!” a high-pitch voice screeched.

“Maybe I’d think the same—if you answered my questions!” Another, more melodious voice replied in a biting tone that made the woman speaking sound off-key.

Oh no.

I turned the corner and saw Lorelei on her porch arguing with a silver-haired woman that I recognized. Seyari. I didn’t know her last name despite our history, but she was another private investigator in Ardath. Unlike me, she had quite a criminal history, and although she was supposedly clean these days, her methods were a lot less nice.

Funny how the “demon” investigator plays nice while the “angel” plays dirty. Not so funny for me right now though.

Lorelei shouted something very inappropriate and Seyari replied in kind. With Mrs. Mordwell red-faced and furious, I cursed and switched to the other side of the street to walk by. No point in trying to interview her now. And with Seyari’s methods, I couldn’t make any reliable inferences from Lorelei’s state of anger. Not like I could feel out her emotion—I was no psychic.

Unfortunately for me slipping by unnoticed, the pair had other plans.

“You! Demon!” Lorelei shouted at me. “Get this vile woman away from me!”

I winced at her use of “demon.” It wasn’t a slur per se, but it was… complicated. “Ma’am, this isn’t really any of my business—”

“You!” Seyari shouted and I winced. “What are you doing here? This is my case!”

Immediately, Lorelei looked at me with more scrutiny. I had to admit I unfortunately looked the part of a private investigator in my ill-tailored suit that was far too tight in the chest and hips. My horns poked through holes cut in my hat and my long black hair was tied up in a bun behind me.

“First, I was robbed and now this! Go away, both of you! The police will do their job and find whoever killed that woman and whoever took my jewelry!” Lorelei shouted and, while Seyari was distracted looking at me, she slammed the door in the half-angel’s face.

“I had her!” Seyari groused, stomping over to me and poking into my chest.

“Did you really?” I sighed. At least I know Lorelei was also robbed last night. Or she’s using it as a cover story.

“Hmph! I almost certainly did.”

“Alright then, I won’t interfere.” I waved a hand at Lorelei’s house. Curtains moved by one of the lower windows. “Have at her.”

Seyari thought for a moment. “Cassandra Rozaro, right?”

“Right.”

Seyari looked back at the Mordwell house. “I don’t think it was Lorelei.”

“Oh, what makes you say that? And didn’t you say you never wanted to work together?”

“She’s a bitch, but she’s too much of a coward to kill someone like that.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like how?”

Seyari cursed. “You haven’t seen photos of the body have you.”

“I don’t exactly have that kind of access,” I admitted sourly. “I was going to go to the crime scene next and see if I could get in and find anything the police missed.”

Seyari grabbed my hand. “Come on then. We’ll look together.”

I didn’t resist as she pulled me along. “Why together?”

“Because I have a feeling, you’re going to solve this case and I want at least a half cut.”

“Only half?” I asked jokingly. “That’s generous.” And it’s also not your real reason.

“It is,” She said nothing and continued to pull me along toward the Rozaros’ family home.

Her grip was tight. She wanted to catch whoever killed Cassandra Rozaro just as much as I did.

***

The Rozaros had a nice house. It was small, like the picture I’d seen in the newspaper, but meticulously maintained. Unfortunately, the lines of police tape and officers milling about ruined the aesthetic. Aside from all the commotion they caused, there was no hint of the gruesome crime that had taken place the evening prior.

The detective badges Seyari and I flashed got us inside, but with an escort. Police generally didn’t like us messing with their business, but they tolerated our existence. Particularly if they thought the case was already solved and we wouldn’t mess up an ongoing investigation.

Either they had someone else in mind, or it wasn’t looking good for Salvador.

As I thought, Lorelei was also considered a suspect, but not a primary one due to the robbery and the fact she had an alibi. Likewise, Nelys, despite sneaking into the home, had a solid alibi and wasn’t treated as a suspect. They wouldn’t tell me the evidence they had on Salvador.

I suspected there wasn’t any. At least nothing concrete.

Salvador had been out during the evening, and Cassandra was evidently killed in the bedroom. We weren’t allowed anywhere near the bed or the blood spatter, but Seyari and I confirmed at a distance that it wasn’t from a gunshot. High velocity blood spatter is like a fine mist—most of what was here was pooled or splashed, and there was a definite struggle.

A knife attack?

I looked around the room for what might have been stolen. The dresser, jewelry box, and part of the closet were ransacked—blood on some of the furnishings. The window was unlatched and open just barely, like it had fallen closed on its own. Outside was a small, neat yard, and tall fence that backed onto a green belt.

“Have you seen what you need to?” I asked Seyari. Best to stay professional.

“I have.” Her golden gaze trailed out to the green belt behind the house.

Lorelei’s property backed onto it as well. I could interview people on my own to see if anyone saw something, but the article I read mentioned no one who was interviewed saw anyone suspicious near the street. Time was of the essence.

I walked out of the Rozaro home and Seyari followed me. I moved around the side of the house and into the backyard toward the fence.

“I was thinking of checking the green belt, too,” my rival admitted.

“Why are you on this case?” I put one hand on the fence and pulled, testing its strength. The wood was solid.

Seyari shrugged. “I saw it in the paper and figured I could have a go.”

“That’s a bullcrap reason and you know it.” With two arms, I pulled myself up and over the fence, not waiting for a reply.

Seyari came after me, no less graceful (and perhaps a bit more if I were to be honest). She spoke in a low tone, “I think I might know a bit about what’s going on. But I need confirmation.”

“Is this about your past?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she smirked. “I still can’t believe I told you about that.”

“I didn’t get mad, did I?” I walked forward, slowly, checking the ground for any prints and checking along the fence top for any evidence of another leaping it.

“No, but this isn’t the time, Zarenna.” She bent down over a patch of soft soil. “I found something.”

I looked at where she was pointing: a shoe print was in the soft dirt, heel pressed in more deeply than the toe.

“That’d be our fence leaper,” I guessed. I walked over to the fence and looked it over. A small tuft of brown hair was stuck between two slats. I pinched it carefully between two claws and slipped it inside a small glass vial. “And this might be hair.”

“Hair?” Seyari asked. “Either that’s from a dog or our killer has hair in odd places.”

“Yeah, exactly. Can you find a footprint trail?”

We looked for the better part of half an hour, but lost the prints. We did, however, get a direction, so we followed it and searched the day away for any clues. And, as the sun set, we heard a shout and the shattering of glass from a house over the fence. Both of us turned and jogged toward the sound, just in time for a lithe figure in dark clothes to leap up over the fence and land on her feet.

She fell close enough to me that I was able to grab her with one arm. “Hey! Where are you running off to?” I asked, clearly not suspecting a good answer.

“There was a big guy! With a knife! He’s goin’ crazy back at the house!” the woman pleaded. “You gotta go back there and help!”

Big guy? Yeah, right.

“Bullshit,” Seyari said icily. “You’re coming with me.”

I barely caught the knife the woman tried to slash me with in time. The woman had another in her brown-furred tail and it slashed across my thigh, thankfully shallow. I rolled over and pinned the cat-tailed woman with my weight and extra limbs. Her tail’s fur was the same exact color and a similar length to what was on the fence. And the knife she missed me with already had blood on it. Did she kill again? Is someone injured? Shit, I need to go try to help at that house.

“A real cat burglar, huh?” Seyari mocked, crouching down in front of the woman, who hissed. Seyari slapped her, hard. “No hissing.”

“I wanna lawyer.” The woman spat blood. “I didn’t do nothin’.”

Seyari laughed darkly. “I don’t give a shit.” She pulled a small revolver from the inside pocket of her jacket and aimed it at the cat-like woman’s head. “Did you kill Cassandra Rozaro?”

“If I say yes, are ya gonna blow my brains out?” the woman mocked, despite her situation.

“Seyari,” I growled. “We can give her and our evidence over to the police. We need to go help whoever’s in that house.”

“He’s bleedin’ out real bad,” the woman said without a hint of remorse.

I heard a flash and a bang and I realized too late that Seyari had fired. The probably-murderer yowled. She didn’t hit the head. Blood dripped from her shoulder where Seyari had shot her.

“Did you kill Cassandra Rozaro?” Seyari asked one more time, voice calm and stony.

“I didn’t want ta!” the woman pleaded. “She was comin’ at me with a gun! I don’t even wanna rob people! My boss makes me do it! If ya let me live, I’ll tell ya all about him and ya can take him down!”

My heart sunk. Yeah, she probably murdered at least one person, but part of me hadn’t really believed that until just now. Worse yet, her excuse was amateurish at best.

Seyari, however, narrowed her eyes, evidently interested. “Who’s your boss?”

“Guy named Garvin! Works for the Rolando family!”

“Shit,” Seyari muttered.

“What?” I asked, hauling the now-injured woman to her feet.

“I’ve been hoping for a shot at that bastard for years now.”

“But she’s probably lying!” I protested.

“I’ll take the chance she’s not. Worth it to give her over and let her sing.”

The woman whimpered a little from the pain of being shot.

“Fine. People heard that gunshot, so we need to move. Let’s give her over. What are you going to do about being the one to shoot her?” I asked.

“Self-defense.”

“Bullshit,” the woman muttered.

“My word versus yours,” Seyari replied simply. “You go check up on the house, and I’ll get her to the police. We’ll meet up at the usual diner later tonight and talk about what comes next.”

“We?” I asked, suddenly confused.

“Yeah. I’ll need help taking this guy down, and you’re hard to put down with a single bullet.”

“Sure, I guess,” I replied, hiding my excitement with anxiety. “I need to go check that house—see you tonight!” I dashed off and leapt over the fence the murderer had only just come over.

“Demon-looking woman covered in someone else’s blood runs into back of house” is never going to be a good look. But I’d pulled it off before. People didn’t care as much who was saving them if they were dying. Any port in a storm and all that.

I did find it hard to keep my thoughts on track as I ran inside, though. Working with Seyari on a case? Why was I excited?

A/N: I'm happy with the first scene of this, but I wish I had a bit more time for the later scenes. The end of the month and year kinda snuck up on me, and I also had a lot to do with the Secret Santa project for the Secret Trans Writing Lair and Scales & Shadows. I do think it's up to my standards in an overall sense, but only just.