Okay, this is how it breaks down: the detectives, the victim, plot, and all the obscure references to the people you've never heard of-mine; regular characters, the city, and all that other crap-not mine. All that crap belongs to the company...or something like that. So, let's get going.
"Case
Log
Case GAR-724
Date: June 4, 1915
Code
324-Murder
Loc.-alley off road 23
Victim-Ree, Arika Zuko,
State's Alchemist, General in Fuhrer's Army
Bullet matching
military issue pistol found in stomach. Body found in care of Colonel
Roy Mustang. Mustang hysteric, found with unrelated head wound."
Detective Kevin Conroy turned off his recorder and returned it to his
pocket.
"Would you give it a rest?" his partner, Detective
Julian Garza shouted. "You do that for every case!"
"Mark my
words, one day it'll pay off."
"So," Garza started,
ignoring Conroy's comment, "what do we know about the case?"
"I
just said it! General Arika Ree, State's Alchemist of the Fuhrer's
army, was shot in the stomach by a military pistol in an alley off
street 23. The body was found with Colonel Roy Mustang, also Fuhrer's
army, who was found hysteric with an unrelated head wound."
"He'd
been beating his head against a wall," Garza said incredulously.
"So, what else?"
"According to Mustang, they had been on a
date. They were," he glanced down at his notes skeptically,
"dancing in the alley. Also according to Mustang, they had been
walking back to the victim's apartment building from Central
Park."
"Do you have to keep saying that?" Garza
asked.
"Saying what?" Conroy insisted on playing
dumb.
"'According to Mustang'. It's annoying and
pointless."
"I'm just presenting it as what it is. It's
testimony from our prime suspect, not fact."
"What makes him
your prime suspect?" Garza honestly didn't think Mustang had
killed her, but Conroy had a way of misunderstanding things. It was
always difficult to make him see logic. He always jumped to a
conclusion and stuck to it.
"He was the last one to see the
victim alive. They were in an alley, no witnesses. Hell, he had a
military issue pistol in his back pocket!" Conroy hated when Garza
did this. So he was new, that didn't mean he was incompetent.
"He's
military, of course he had the pistol! Where's the motive?"
"Maybe
they had a fight and it got out of hand," Conroy said
defensively.
"We can't lock a man up on 'maybe',
Conroy."
Ignoring this, Conroy continued. "Mustang says they
hadn't planned to stop in the alley, but they had heard music.
After a few minutes, he says he could tell something was wrong. She
fell, he caught her, he felt for a pulse, she was dead." He looked
at Garza. "All according to Mustang," he added. Garza glared at
him.
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "So this is probably an
opportunity case. Is that all we know? What about background?"
"She
had been in the city two days. The first day, she met with Mustang
and his staff at his office and had dinner with Lieutenant Colonel
Maes Hughes and wife and daughter Gracia and Elicia. On the second
day, she leased an apartment in the same building as Mustang."
"So,
where was she living prior to the new lease?"
"She was
transferred in from the West. She had a home she had recently sold.
It says she lived there with one James Foust before he left. Foust
also now leases an apartment in Central." He looked down at his
notes. "Hmmm…this is interesting," he muttered.
"What?"
"One
of her co-workers was in Central the night of the murder. Lieutenant
Burt Esch. Worked under Ree for two years."
"Why was he
here?"
"Unknown. He was on leave from his post and he came to
Central."
"Okay," Garza said, "I've heard enough. Let's
round up the suspects."
"Hey, Garza?"
"Yeah?"
"Could
it have been that guy, Scar, who goes around killing
alchemists?"
"No, I've seen one of the Scar murders. This
doesn't fit. When he kills, it looks like there was an explosion.
If it had been him, we would know it, trust me."
The two set out
to find everyone they thought had motive or opportunity. In the end,
they had gathered together Lt. Esch, Col. Mustang, Lt. Col. Hughes,
James Foust, Lt. Riza Hawkeye, and Major Alex Armstrong.
"Well,"
Garza said, looking in on the suspects, "let's get to it. One of
these people is a murderer and it's up to us to find out which one
of them it
is."
Anti-climactic as that is, it's still the end of chapter one. Please review, and I'll update soon.
