Haunted Suite P1x1 - First Measures
Haunted Suite Part I - Nocturne Promenade Episode 1 - First Measures
Tamagi Stardust had only been in the East Coast Colonies for a couple weeks and even then, he had stayed mostly within East Coast City. Though he was surprised at the quick progress that he had made during these two weeks: the purple and white lop-eared rabbit had not even expected to meet his soon-to-be good friend Niko Linni and his faithful friend Raziya "Razzle" Joestar within a few hours of stepping off of the bus that had taken Tamagi from the nation of Lyria to the East Coast Colonies. These two were even able to get Tamagi a position at the company they worked for, The Last Apostle Puppetshow, which was a rather large and well-known multimedia conglomerate that had become more active in recent years in East Coast City. Even if the position was just being the CEO and owner's "Personal Little Errand Boy" he was still better off than most newcomers to the colonies.
"Hey Niko..." Began Tamagi as the three were walking down the streets of East Coast City, "...I've been wondering about something: like, lots of the colonies that're part of East Coast got their own, um, religions and philosophies, right? But like, East Coast City doesn't seem to have anything like that and uh...why is that? Wouldn't the founders' beliefs have stuck around and stuff?"
Niko, a blue and white rabbit, nodded as he thought about his friend's question, "You know what? You would think that, yeah. But it turned out that as time went on East Coast City just kinda became its own central hub to the other colonies and...well it just became one huge melting pot for the other colonies."
"Pretty much yeah." Said Razzle, who was a green fennec, "You takin' a fancy to seeing all of the various creatures and their beliefs that live in the surrounding colonies but you don't actually wanna go to 'em? Simple! Just find the right districts in good ol' East Coast City to go to."
"What about in regards to magic and other such elements?" Asked Tamagi, "Is East Coast City as varied as with, like, those other things?"
"Well...it is...for the most part." Said Niko, "though most creatures aren't as open about it as they would be in their own individual towns. Well, except a couple or so districts here and there such as Little Lunaria."
"Does that, like, mean there wouldn't be too many places that sell magical items?"
Niko shrugged, "Well, I've seen some outside of those few districts. Though some might keep them in a specialty area, such as with Zed Lepplin's Mystery Pawn Shop. Though if they peddle anything that could be dangerous they'll need a special license that's only granted in the Capitol District of East Coast."
As the three friends continued to chat with each other they came up to a small convenience store that they stopped by often, owned by a moose named Fanne Laurren, usually on their way over to the main office of The Last Apostle Puppetshow to satisfy whatever craving they had at the moment. They had been there so often that Niko was on a first-name basis with the owner. However this time something was very different, very wrong. Niko's ears twitched as the store had come into view; he did not know what exactly, but something was not right.
As they drew closer to the store they saw police who had taped the store off and were investigating what looked to be an obvious break in, robbery, and vandalization of the place. The front door's glass was shattered, the cash register was broken open, various glass displays were smashed with multiple items looted, and the place was in a disorganized mess. At first the East Coast Police Department Officers would not let them near the store, but once Niko mentioned that he and the others were good friends with Fanne the officers were fine with them being at the crime scene, but only as long as they stayed behind the yellow police tape that blocked off entry to the store. Soon a full grown adult Denebian moose emerged from the backroom along with a younger looking Denebian gray wolf who was wearing a black long coat with a rather stoic expression on his face.
"Fanne Laurren!" Niko called to his friend, "What happened?! Are you okay?!"
"Oh, Niko! And friends, too! Yes, I am fine myself...though my poor shop...not so much, as you can see. Some miscreants came in, ruined my shop and stole all the money they could find along with whatever else they could manage to grab." Replied the moose.
"I wonder who'd do such a thing like that? Like, I can get robbery but...trashing the place...that's going a little too far to me and stuff." Said Tamagi.
"Probably just some random punks." Razzle sighed, "This used to happen all the time in Lunaria. There were professional crooks who robbed places with some kinda goal or ambition in mind like The Fruit Ghosts, and then there were always these little random gangs, and then stupid little punks who'd steal or wreck some poor fool's shop just to get a chuckle out of it. Heck I'll bet one of 'em's around here now yucking down the street."
"Well, there is a creature here who believes there is some foul play at work," said the wolf with a semi-annoyed expression.
"Who're you?" Asked Razzle.
"My name is Niam Minh. I'm what you would call a PI."
"A Private Investigator, eh? Who called you in?"
"I did." Came a voice from inside the shop, which had a distinctly Wesserxian accent to it. The voice stepped into view and revealed himself to be a male Denebian black and white rabbit with well combed hair that was split down the middle. He wore a sharp black suit with a pinstripe white undershirt, and a red tie with thin yellow stripes along with black gloves. He had sharp red eyes, and curiously kept his ears folded back behind his head quite unlike Niko's ears which were perked, up, and alert. He was also a good deal shorter than Laurren, and was nearly the same height as Niko despite looking at least ten years older than the rabbit.
"And who might _you_be?" Asked Razzle.
"That's really none of your concern, canine." Snapped the black rabbit, "The only thing you should be concerned with is that I am representing Laurren's Lender. This moose has taken quite a few hefty loans, many of which are due today...and I say, what a coincidence that the night prior a robbery occurred? It seems this moose failed to take into account that the insurance he has on this shop is from a company that just so happens to also be owned by his Lender."
"And naturally his Lender thinks the whole thing is staged to collect insurance money to pay back his debts?" Said Niko.
The rabbit straightened his tie, "I suppose we leporids all think alike, as you are quite well on the mark. Initially I did desire to have Ezekiel Willow handle this incident, but not even money can buy him out of retirement, even for a single bloody case. So his understudy Niam will have to do."
Niam spoke up, "You say that as if I was some kind of rank amateur, Ahkin. I may have not solved any major cases like Ezekiel, but I have dealt with small incidents like these many times."
One of the officers, a black Denebian husky, added, "I don't even know why Ahkin called in a PI. Seems pretty cut an' dry to me."
"And that is precisely the reason you are an officer, and not even a captain." Said Ahkin.
Niam cleared his throat, "Getting back on track...there is one area that hasn't been adequately looked into yet: a lock box that is kept in Laurren's office. Ahkin feels crucial evidence may be in there...though Laurren denies it. I feel that regardless it should be looked into. Ezekiel always tells me that the key to solving crimes is to exhaust all possibilities."
Laurren immediately objected, "You...you can't do something like that! Don't you need something like a warrant...or probable cause? Or...something?"
"Actually, Laurren's got a point, right? Like, you would need something, um, wouldn't you?" Asked Tamagi.
Niam shook his head, "Well purple friend, you're partially right: the police would need a warrant, simply because that's how the boundaries for the police in all of East Coast are set up. However, I am not a part of the ECPD, ergo I do not need to abide by those laws and boundaries."
"O-oh..."
Niam sighed, "Besides, as far as 'probable cause' goes we do have one: Potential insurance fraud."
"But Laurren wouldn't really do something like that, would he?" Said Niko, "I know him. He wouldn't get all involved in something like that."
"You would be quite surprised at what one will do when backed into a corner," Niam called back to Niko as he, Ahkin, Laurren, and a Dalmatian from the ECPD proceeded to the office, out of the view of Niko, Tamagi, and Razzle.
In the office Niam found the box that was locked shut, resting on a desk next to a computer and some paperwork.
"That's the box, but it's locked up tight. You'd have to cut off that there lock if you wanted to get into it, as the owner won't give us the key for it." Said the Dalmation.
"And I won't!" Said Laurren definitely, "There's some very personal, private, and secret things in there!"
The dalmatian rolled his eyes, and Niam tensed his fist, "Well, I think I may have something that will work."
The dalmatian perked his ears, "You do? Is it some kind of neat little secret tool?"
"I suppose you could say it is." Replied Niam as he breathed in, and then out, flicking the fingers in his clenched fist towards the lock, and an invisible force hit the lock hard and shattered it completely.
"Oh ho! A telepath!" Exclaimed the dalmatian excitedly.
Ahkin sighed in annoyance, "He's a telekinetic, not a telepath, you uneducated..."
Niam quickly cut off the black rabbit, "Yes, I would be a telekinetic; telekinesis has to do with actual forces, as we just saw. Conversely, telepathy has to do with only the mind - so powers such as mind reading, projecting images, sending messages directly to the mind, and so on. You really ought to read up on these kinds of things."
"Well...I really never imagined myself using any of that kinda stuff."
Niam shrugged, "You would at least be educated, though. Durandal, the head of the Collin Institute's security team, reads up on magic and ESP just to keep up with it and know how to handle such things." The wolf then proceeded to open the formerly locked box, "I know a few places you can check out so you can get the good stuff; unfortunately there is a lot of crap out there that will just give you false info."
Ahkin peeked his head around Niam's arm to see what was in the box, and his eyes widened when he when he saw the contents, "Well, look at this! A tape, which surely must be a security recording. And what do we have here? Some kind of deed?" The rabbit reached in and grabbed the paper.
"Hey!" Snapped Niam, "Save the asset seizure until _after_we prove he's committing fraud and owes his Lender big time," Niam removed the tape much to Laurren's dismay, and would have been extremely worried...had he not remembered something.
"Well, we would be able to watch it if the security TV over there hadn't been smashed up," said Laurren as he indicated the main security station which had indeed been severely damaged, the main TV being broken in.
"There goes that, then." Said the dalmatian, "You'd have to take that there tape and watch it somewhere else, Niam."
"To hell with that bloody idea!" Ahkin snapped, "I spotted a tele that is still in working order back out in the main shop. We shall use that one instead. I swear Laurren...if you truly are guilty after all of this you will definitely regret it."
Laurren swallowed nervously. Despite Ahkin's small stature there was something very threatening and intimidating about him. The rabbit led the group back out into the store and back into the view of Niko, Tamagi, and Razzle. They walked up to a TV that was hanging from a wall bracket, still intact with a few scuffles and dents from the chaos of last night.
"Why the heck would they have left this one alone...?" Laurren said to himself out loud.
"Because your goons are impoverished morons." Said Ahkin, turning to Niam, "Put the damn tape in already!"
"Are we sure it's a security tape though? What if it's a...well heck what if it's a home video of some kind?" Said the dalmatian.
"He's got a point! What if it's something personal and private?" Said Laurren.
Niam turned to the moose and glared at him, "Or, you could stop playing your game and just come clean with things. I will have you know I'm not afraid to get rough. You saw what I did to that lock."
"You...you hit me with whatever you call that and...and I'll press charges! I swear you PIs think you can just come in and...and muscle good folks around!"
"The only good thing in this store are the bloody prices. And potentially this deed...I wonder what sort of place 'Richie and Friends' Family Diner' is? Some sort of other family business? A business that might...say...require a small loan? Well, small to businesses; to in debt amateurs, not so small."
At the mention of "Richie and Friends" Laurren tensed up, "No...you want to leave that place alone! That's a personal place, it is! Besides, creatures like you in charge of a place like that will only bring bad fortune!"
"We shall see about that. But let's start with the tape, first."
Niam put the tape into the TV and pushed the play button, and the footage began playing in full color. Onscreen was an adult brown Denebian moose talking with three other Denebian creatures: a cat, a raccoon, and a fox. Their voices were slightly muffled, but easy to make out. Their plans concerned a staged robbery of Laurren's store, and the moose was seen giving money to the trio of creatures he was talking to.
"Well, Well! Take a look at that!" Said a black husky with a satisfied grin, "We got Laurren right there talking to the creatures that match witness accounts exactly."
"Yes, yes, right on the money there, chap." Said Ahkin in a satisfied tone. He looked over to Laurren and saw the moose was coming visibly undone.
"I would say this evidence makes everything cut and dry." Niam turned to face Laurren, "You tried to get your store roughed up in order to collect insurance money to pay off your debt. For whatever reason...you left the footage in that box, as if you thought we would not look into it. I suppose the only unsolved question is: why would you not destroy the footage?"
Laurren did not respond.
Ahkin however, did, "Such a thought would not have bothered to occur to a creature that is an unwise, unclever thing. Laurren tried to play a game that he had no idea in the slightest how to play...and now that he has lost he shall have to suffer a penalty game. And suffer he will!"
As the officers slapped the cuffs on Laurren and began to walk him out Ahkin whispered something to one of them with a devilish grin, and they nodded. Before the officers placed him in their cruiser Niko stepped forward to talk to him.
"Laurren, why would you do something like this? I really thought you were better than this..." The disappointment in the rabbit's voice was all too evident, "...Besides, you're on good terms with The Presenter. You know he would've helped you out if you only asked him."
"It's like Niam said, Niko." Began Laurren gravely, "You never know what you'll do when you're desperate. I wasn't even aware of what I was doing half the time...I was just doing things, without thinking. And now it seems I shall have to pay the price for it." The officers placed him in the car and shut the door.
Niam, meanwhile, was talking with the dalmatian who introduced himself as Dolby.
"So where can I find those lil' books you were talking about?" He asked Niam.
"My advice is to head down to Little Lunaria. There you'll find a proper library staffed by people who will actually know what they are talking about," Niam responded.
"Oh...you mean I have to go there where the freaks and ghouls are?"
Niam glared, "For your own good, do not call them those words while there. You'll regret it, trust me. And yes, you must. Unless you want to get swindled by someone...you will soon see that within the inner districts of East Coast there are both those who have no idea what they are talking about, and those who have some measure and will take advantage of ignorant fools. A trait that carried over from the pure human colony of Vulpecula, I am afraid."
"Huh. I always thought magic was just some kind of fancy trick they do onstage. So it's real stuff?"
Niam nodded, "Yes, it is. You really should get out of East Coast some time. If you do decide to check out those books...well take my card. You might need to give me a call as some of them are quite...unusual and challenging."
"Will do! Thanks sir! I am honestly a little doubtful of those there books you're talking of, but heck if it'll help me do a better job I can't say no," and with that, Dolby entered into his own squad car and drove off. Niam began to walk off himself when Niko called his attention.
"Niam...what's going to happen to Laurren?" The blue rabbit asked Niam.
"That's out of my hands now. It's most likely out of even The Law's hands now. It is in...his hands." Niam indicated Ahkin, who was still inside the shop surveying the damages and looking for whatever else he might want.
"Who is he, anyways?"
"He is a crook, and a dangerous fellow. You and your friends would do well to stay away from creatures like him. Creatures like him...creatures like the 'Lender' he works for...they are only trouble."
"Who is this Lender?"
"That is something I won't share, in order to protect you three. Even discussing him with you is liable to raise Ahkin's suspicions, so consider this conversation finished."
Razzle quirked an eyebrow, "He'd be suspicious of us just talking about these things?"
"Seems he's a little, um, paranoid and stuff." Said Tamagi.
"He can be." Said Niam, who handed Niko a business card, "just in case. Now get lost."
Niko nodded and led his friends away from the store, and down the street towards the home office of The Last Apostle Puppetshow, and Niam took one final look at Ahkin before walking off.
Ahkin chuckled, "The Presenter, hm? Seems like those three know of Tara Myazee from The Last Apostle Puppetshow. Perhaps they even work for him. And Niam...calling me a crook! That mutt should be lucky that I will still sign his damn check! As for those three...I shall have to get in contact with a friend of mine. Little do they know...The Lender has eyes and ears everywhere in this colony."