Caeruleis Tribulation, Chapter 2

“This is the third case this month! Can’t you do something about it?!”

Leo turned his head to the Serperior who had shouted. She was certainly intimidating, with sharp, blood red eyes and that would scare the heck out of everyone whenever she glared, in which she was doing right now.

“W-we have tried our best, ma’am.” Replied the jumpy looking Royal Guard. “We have Stradlessen working on these murders right now.”

“Well, it’s obviously not enough!” the Serperior glared, making the group of Herdiers and Mightyenas flinch. “You better think of something that might help or so help me…“ She left her sentence hanging, but her implications were clear as the Royal Guards said, “Yes Ma’am!” rather shakily before scampering away. The Serperior huffed, looking at the spot where the dead Arcanine had fallen for a brief moment before slithering away.

“Sir Gregor Stradlessen. The only Royal Guard who is not a complete dunderhead, and one of the most brilliant.” Jim said suddenly, referring to the name that was mentioned earlier. “Sadly though, he lacks a large part of imagination. Many said that he’s Jean-Pierre Garfield incarnate.”

Leo turned to face the Zigzagoon. “Who-what incarnate?”

“Oh. Sorry. I forgot that you didn’t grow up here.” Jim said. “Jean-Pierre Garfield. One of the most successful and the most feared Royal Guard every walked the streets of Andalusst. Perfect case record. He never missed every single outlaw in and outside Andalusst.”

“What happened to him then?” Leo inquired. If this Stradlessen was Jean-Pierre’s reincarnate, then the renowned Royal Guard must have been dead.

“Oh. He was honorably discharged. Got himself a nice retirement. It’s funny really. He isn’t dead but they already called Stradlessen his reincarnate.” Jim laughed slightly before his gaze suddenly turned hard. “Great.” He rolled his eyes.

Leo, surprised by the sudden change in mood, looked around for any signs of something that would scream ‘Danger!’. But all he saw were a bunch of Royal Guards questioning the Pokémon that happened to be in the crime scene, and they are next in line of interrogation as it would seem. A Manectric, who had finished questioning a trembling Bunnelby, turned his mud-red coloured eyes on Leo and Jim. The electric type Guard didn’t took more than five steps when a Lopunny quickly bounced towards him, whispered something to the Manectric and went away. The dog-like Pokémon had a dazed look on his face, like a mix of surprise and disbelieve. Shaking his head, he continued towards where Leo and Jim sat, an unsure expression on his face.

“Which one of you is called James Holford?”

Jim sported an annoyed expression, as if saying I-should-have-known. “That would be me.”

The Manectric nodded. “Alright. Come with me. Sir Stradlessen will be seeing you.”

“Okay. Come on, Leo.” Jim said, standing up, fixing the ruffled collar of his coat. Leo stood up but the Manectric stopped him.

“Only him.” He said, narrowing his eyes at Leo. The Vaporeon had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah, like that would scare me.” He thought.

“He’s with me.” Jim said.

The Manectric glared. “I was ordered to get James Holford only.”

“He's with me. I don't care.” Jim asked with a challenging tone.

“Inside, now.” The Manectric growled at the Zigzagoon, blocking him from Leo.

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. This is getting nowhere. “Look, Jim. Just go. I’ll wait here.”

“No.” Jim shook his head. “Why should I? Besides, you have something to discuss with Sir Stradlessen, don’t you, Lieutenant?”

Both Leo and the Manectric stared at Jim in surprise. That’s when Leo noticed the Zigzagoon giving him a sideways glance, towards his coat pocket. Something clicked.

Leo quickly reached for a leather bound wallet which where his Fleet Identification Card was. Praying to whatever deity was watching, he showed it to the Manectric less than two seconds lest the Manectric spotted something off. “Wing Lieutenant Leonard O’Seinn. Ninth Armada Tempestatem.”

Even before Leo finished talking, the Manectric quickly comes to attention and saluted the Vaporeon, who returns the salute crisply, silently thanking Arceus. Leo had been doing some research back at the Yacht during his free time –which is a lot. The Fleet was more publicly known as the Colonial Armada back at this time, a military faction that grew out from public demand as Pokémon started to migrate here and there, and was loosely connected to the ‘Royalty Police’ –as Tristan had called the Royal Guards. The ranks also differ slightly. In this time, Wing Sergeant Commander was called as Wing Lieutenant. He still holds the same amount of authority, but with different name.

So technically, Leo still outranked, and had more authority over the Manectric, which Leo suspected was only a Private-or something similar. If he had pulled it on the Royal Guards back –or forward, whatever –four hundred years in his own time, he would be laughed at and carted off into custody.

As the Manectric nervously led the two Pokémon into a group of Royal Guards that gathered around the crime scene, Leo whispered to the Zigzagoon, who still sported the hard look on his face. “How did you know of my rank and status?”

“Easy. You’re an army doctor, and you hold a sense of authority over your subordinate.” Jim began. “Then, there is your collar. There are three star-like patterns and a half of a wing on the outer side of your collar, which you have carefully and painstakingly tried to hide by folding it inwards and loosely stitching it with a feeble thread. I’ve read about the Colonial Armada before. It’s a clear sign of a Wing Lieutenant of the naval fleet.”

Leo stared at the Zigzagoon incredulously. “How could he saw that? It’s completely hidden from view!” he thought incredulously.

“My thoughts are confirmed when I saw the inside of your wallet.” Jim concluded, recalling when Leo’s wallet fell out from his coat pocket as he was sitting down, waiting to be interrogated. “But something’s weird. I’ve never heard of anything called ‘Wing Sergeant Commander in the Colonial Armada before. It can’t be a new rank, too fast for a new rank to be established and it’s a bit odd for a rank name.” He glanced at Leo, staring at the Vaporeon full force. “There’s something that I missed. Now, what are you hiding from me?” he rubbed his paws together. “A mysterious secret eh? I love mysterious secrets.”

“Now you’re acting like a rabid fan.” Leo said, pushing off Jim’s face which is slowly inching towards him, staring openly with those creepy blue eyes.

"Ahem."

Both Pokémon looked away from each other and into an impatient looking Mightyena. He was tall and burly, standing on his hindlegs and a neatly cut fur. "James Holford, I presume?" he looked straight at Jim.

“That’s me.” Jim nodded, standing straighter.

The Mightyena gave him a once over. “Right. Well, I don’t know why your brother pointed us to you. This better be a good reason.”

“Brother?” Leo asked.

Jim pursed his lips slightly. “Spencer Holford. The Royal Guard’s most trusted ‘sniffer dog’.” He said the last part with a bit of acid in his voice. “Can’t wonder why he decided to not take these cases.”

“He’s out south.” The Mightyena said briefly. He then saw Leo and frowned. “And who are you?”

“Uh sir.” The Manectric spoke up. “This is Wing Lieutenant O’Seinn of the Colonial Armada.”

The Mightyena’s face paled slightly. “Of-of course. Uh…how can I help you, sir?”

“You can help by letting me know who you are…” Leo replied, keeping his posture high. “…before I inspect the body.”

“Gregor Stradlessen, sir. I’m in charge of the murder cases. Particularly the outlandish ones.” The Mightyena introduced himself. “Right this way, sir.” He lead the two Pokémon towards the body of the Arcanine.

“Nothing has been moved, right?” Jim asked, crouching down beside the body.

“Yes. We left it at that, although we have to clear out the glass shards.” Stradlessen said.

Jim nodded, wearing a pair of leather gloves before inspecting the Arcanine’s paws. He lifted the fingers slightly, sniffing it, and then moved to the other side of the body, had a long look over the Arcanine’s neatly trimmed hair, looking at every strand before pressing his fingers on the head. Then, Jim crouched down to look over the fire type’s feet before having a look over on his hands, seemingly satisfied by what he found, he swiped his gloved fingers on the palms before suddenly spitting out.

“Alright, doctor. Your turn.” He nodded to the body, opening and closing his jaw like there’s something disgusting in his mouth. Stradlessen looked at Leo in confusion.

“I thought you are an Armada soldier.” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m also a doctor.” Leo replied curtly, walking towards the body and began to inspect the body thoroughly. He then checked the insides of the Arcanine’s mouth –which was covered with red blisters and black tar.

“Well, it’s obvious that he choked on the tar, which origin is a mystery.” Leo frowned.

“The only possible explanation is that he drank the tar.” Stradlessen spoke up. “The medics had confirmed. The tar had burned the insides of his gastrointestinal systems.”

“I sensed a ‘but’ in there.” Jim piped up. “And it provides the biggest question here. Your colleagues think that this is a suicide, but you think otherwise.” Jim said, walking around the body. “Which is correct, by the way. Bravo.”

The Mightyena blinked. “I really don’t know why, but something tells me that this is murder. And that’s what your brother said earlier to me.”

“‘It’s not a suicide case, Greg. It’s murder. Now, I have more interesting case going on at south…. I think my little brother could help. So, off you pop.’” Jim said suddenly, imitating a deeper, and more aloof tone. “Is that what he said?”

Stradlessen stared at Jim incredulously. “How did you- you’ve just repeated what he said word for word!”

Jim gave him a flat look. “It’s not that hard to guess what my brother says. Now, as I was saying, this is not suicide. Your medics got everything wrong. First, he didn’t drank the tar, he ate it.” He said, pointing to the Arcanine’s left hand. “Bits of fine, black powder. A powdered tar, mixed with sugar and laced with a thin layer of aphrodisiac. It turned into half a litre of hot molten tar if mixed with saliva for a long time, particularly in large quantities. Tried it myself. Then, these wounds…” he pointed to the various cuts on the Arcanine’s body. “Although these came from his body landing on the glass pieces, these three, were not.”

Leo furrowed his brows and had a second look on the Arcanine’s wounds. “These appear to be stab wounds.”

“Not deep cuts and scratches like the rest of them.” Jim supplied. “And they made a perfect triangle. Which made this case much more interesting.” He rubbed his paws excitedly. “Now what weapon leaves those kinds of marks? And did you actually think a Pokémon committing a suicide will throw himself out of a closed window? I need more clues.” He spun around, facing Stradlessen. “Can I have a look inside the house?”

“Well, I-“

“Thank you. Come along, Leo.” Jim said quickly, sprinting to the open doors of the four storied condominium, nearly knocking over a Royal Guard that was standing by the entrance in the process.

“Er… Sorry. Excuse me.” Leo smiled apologetically at the Guard and followed after Jim.

They arrived on the third floor, where the Arcanine had fallen. The doors to the victim’s unit was guarded by another set of guards, who Stradlessen quickly dispatched by a nod of his head. It was a large one, lavishly decorated with wood panels with gold accents here and there, with expensive looking furniture placed all over the large living room.

“It seems that our victim was apparently quite loaded.” Jim mused, looking through the room. He walked towards the mantelpiece, looking through the pictures and paintings for a moment before heading to the corridor on the left, straight into a spacious bedroom which housed the broken window.  Leo’s eyes widened at the sight of the bedroom. The wardrobe was partly smashed in, end tabled toppled over, drawers smashed into halves and there are various deep slash marks on the four-poster bed’s columns. Pillows were left into shreds and the mattress had fallen halfway over the bed. In other words, it was a total mess.

“What the hell happened here?” Leo stared at the room.

“It appears that the victim was attacked before thrown over the window by our murderer.” Stradlessen said.

"Yes." Jim nodded. "After realizing what the killer had given him. Our victim tried to get away from the killer. There was a bit of a struggle before he tripped on an end table, here..." he pointed to a small wooden drawer with glass top that laid right below the broken window. "...and fell to the streets below."

"And who's the killer, now?" Leo asked.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out." Stradlessen said. "No one saw anyone come in or out from the victim's unit. Our killer seemed to have disappeared into thin air."

Leo frowned. "What? Don't you suspect his neighbors?" 

"No." the Mightyena shook his head. "The whole building was deserted at the time of the murder. There's no one we could suspect as the killer."

"Ah!" Jim suddenly exclaimed, startling the two Pokemon. The Zigzagoon looked simply ecstatic. "Everything’s coming together now.” He grinned excitedly. “Do you have the victim’s statistics?”

Stradlessen took out a report paper that had been given to him earlier. “His name is Alexander Colton. 36. A divorcee. His ex-wife had the custody over their twin Growlithe pups. He’s also a member of the Explorers Guild.” he turned the report over. “He also has a ranch business in the city and in other settlements.”

“So. Unhappily married, about twelve years give or take, twin pups, which he seemed to care a lot.” Jim stated, pacing around the room, pausing slightly to touch three deep gauge marks on the wood panels. “And our victim is not completely innocent.”

Leo blinked. “What do you mean? And how did you know that?!”

“There are a number of rings on his fingers, but none of them seemed to look like a wedding ring. Then, there are pictures of two identical Growlithes in their late teens. Too young to be the victim’s brothers, but old enough to be his sons. But no photograph of the wife. So, unhappily married, but still cares for his pups. He even visited them occasionally, as I noticed some new pictures of him and the twins that had been taken two weeks ago. And then, I noticed something else.” The Zigzagoon took a deep breath. “An ideally built body, a gold earring on the lower parts of his right ear, and a distinctive level of personal grooming. He seemed to have his way around females, and males for that matter. He also often invited them here.” He walked to the door, looking all over the polished wood surface before moving his attention to the upturned bed.

“He’s been sleeping with some Pokémon, so what?” Leo inquired. “I don’t see why this is relevant.”

“He had been doing it for years, even before his divorce.” Jim stated, earning a look from the other two Pokémon in the room.

“Wait, so he had been cheating on his wife in secret?” Stradlessen asked incredulous. “Mr. Colton had been a prominent figure in Andalusst, especially as a renowned Explorer. Him having an affair is unheard off!”

Jim cocked his head. “Wasn’t it mentioned in their court files?”

“No.” the Mightyena shook his head. “His wife often complained that he had been spending less and less time with his family. And he had been distant, according to news reports and court records. It was the only complaint.”

Jim smirked. “I think this should shed some light on the subject.” He said, pressing his paws on the underside of the dresser. There was a click and a smaller shelf slid open, revealing numerous items and trinkets imaginable. Both Leo and Stradlessen stared at the contents in disbelief.  The Mightyena messaged his temple, feeling a headache coming.

“As you can see, Mr. Colton is not completely innocent.” Jim mused, looking through the items. “Some of them looked quite… forced, don’t you think?" he uttered nonchalantly, gesturing to a stack of compromising pictures on the side of the secret drawer. "Add these into evidence, won’t you? In case something came up.”

Stradlessen spluttered. “Are you out of your mind? People might talk if they saw the Royal Guards holding these! And they are completely irrelevant!”

“Use your brain! Don’t you smell something else in this room?! I thought you have the best nose in the Royal Guard!” Jim shouted impatiently.

“Something else? I could only smell blood, alcohol, and-“ he frowned. “Strange.” He sniffed the air, bending down to the floor boards, following the new smell before his eyes widened slightly.

“Sex Pheromones. At an unusual amount.” He said, standing up and looking at Jim, slightly disturbed. “Are you implying that he-“

“Yes.” Jim nodded.

“With a-“

“Yes. With a certain male Pokemon.”

“At this time of day?” Stradlessen finished incredulously.

Jim sighed. “You really need to get laid.” He teased.

Stradlessen spluttered in indignation.

“If you two have done playing, we have more important issue here.” Leo interrupted, gaining the attention of the two. “What do you make of the victim’s last words?”

“Sugar? That’s what he said, wasn’t it?” Stradlessen asked.

“Yes. He was referring to the poisoned sugar cube he took.” Jim nodded. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to visit the morgue. I believe the last two victims had been stored there?”

“Yes, but-“ Stradlessen looked confused. “What sugar cube? You could at least tell me!”

Jim gave an impatient look. “We’re dealing with a serial killer, Stradlessen. If you want to stay in my sister’s good books, I suggest you to follow us. You’re in charge of this case, are you not?” He said before leaving the condominium, a stunned Mightyena, and an extremely confused Vaporeon behind.