Words: 3498
Position: Firebender, Ba Sing Se Badgermoles
Role: Law Enforcement
Dialogue: "Where were you last night?"
Action: Whistling
Genre: Crime
As Lin Beifong, the wizened chief of police for Republic City, leaned back in her chair, sipping on a hot cup of tea and eying the Varri-cake intently, she let out a groan of exhaustion. It had been a long day on the beat, with a riot or two, around fifty petty thefts, and a few murders here and there to round off the day.
All things considered, it had been a light day of crime, but the effort expended with several of the theft victims had drained her. Rich movers and shakers rarely took theft from filthy street urchins well, and she had been in shouting matches almost all day.
Out of nowhere, her ex-boyfriend, Tenzin, popped into her mind. They had dated ages ago, when they had been young, but it had ended badly because of Pema, that…
She pushed the ugly word from her mind. She had tried too hard to let go of that time to regress now.
A sharp rap at her door sent her jolting in surprise, almost falling backwards before bending the chair into an upright position in a frenzied panic.
"What?!"
The door opened, and the face of Detective Mako came into view.
"Sorry to bother you, chief!"
"What?"
His face turned grim as he entered the room.
"We got a call from the Sato estate. Hiroshi Sato has been murdered."
She pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
"Spirits, this day just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"
As the sprawling complex of Sato Estates came into view, Lin groaned again, ready to demolish the Satomobile they had been riding for the last half-hour. It was a perfect storm of bullcrap, if she had to be honest.
As Chief of Police, the murder of one of Republic City's most prominent citizens necessitated her supervision, but the lack of a clear danger meant that she couldn't deploy the Metalbender Response Force. Which meant she had to be crammed in a car with Mako and several constables and beat cops.
The gold-encrusted gates approached, and they came to a halt. The radio-speaker whined loudly, and the voice of a butler of some sort came on.
"Can I help you?"
"This is detective-"
"This is Chief of Police Beifong with constables responding to the murder. If you don't let me in now, I'm going to rip your-"
The doors creaked open, and the car trundled on. Thunder rumbled menacingly overhead and rain began to fall, deepening Lin's frown into a dour look of something resembling abject hatred.
"Fantastic. Fan-fricking-tastic."
Angrily, Lin slammed the doors open, jolting past the worried butler, ordering her constables to establish a perimeter.
"Miss, this is highly irregul-"
Lin whirled towards the butler, seething.
"If I don't see every person who was in this house when Sato's body was found, I'll have you in the City Jail before you can say 'hotpants'."
She turned towards Mako, and gestured to a couple of beat cops.
"Secure the body ASAP and don't disturb the scene. Forensics will be here in a few minutes."
As they turned away, the door opened, and Korra, as well as Asami Sato, entered the entrance hall, looking distraught.
"Avatar Korra. Miss Sato. You had best start talking."
Korra remained silent whilst Asami looked taken aback, her eyes red from crying.
"Excuse me?" she asked, indignant.
Lin looked at the young woman with steely, cold eyes. The two ladies looked as if they had been roused recently. Edges of their silken nightgowns poked through their robes, indicating that they had been asleep. And, since the Avatar technically resided on Air Temple Island, that left a few possibilities as to her presence on the estate, none of which Lin cared to get into, if possible.
"You were one of a few people present before Mr. Sato's body was discovered, making you both potential witnesses. I empathize with your loss, but you're not leaving these estates until I am certain you had nothing to do with this."
A screeching of tires and a wailing siren came from outside, and the doors slammed open to admit another handful of constables and the Forensics team.
"The body's in his study, west corner," Lin said, nodding to the specialists.
They saluted quickly, scurrying off down the halls, carrying suitcases and packs filled to the brim with all manner of equipment.
She gestured towards five more constables, accompanied by a young, fledgling inspector new to the force.
"Deputy Inspector Long. Take those five officers and escort Miss Sato and Miss Korra to a different room and watch them. Then I want you to gather every person who was present in this estate in the same area and don't take your eyes off them."
The young woman nodded solemnly, looking intently at Korra and Asami as she and the other officers escorted them to a separate room. As the sounds of officers going through rooms and shouting to each other died out as they spread out through the gargantuan estate, Lin let out a sigh of both relief and annoyance.
She stepped outside, gathering her coat closer to herself as the cold rain poured from above. Around the manor, like a probending arena, high hills and dense forest surrounded the Sato mansion, walling it off from Republic City. Disregarding its high-tech security- featuring brand new devices that could record pictures and broadcast them back to a centralized office- it was the perfect setting for a crime.
Mentally, she went down the list of suspects. For the business tycoon that Hiroshi Sato was, he had earned himself many enemies. His partnerships with the Triads, while never blatantly proven, had earned him the hatred of many common people, as well as police officers and public servants. His bribing of public officials, allegations of rigged elections, and ever-present testimonies of shady business deals had certainly done him no favors.
Could his daughter have done it? Not much was known about the beautiful and illustrious Asami Sato, but Lin had heard rumors. Whispers of an abusive upbringing, threats, and oppression had surrounded the rich family, and if Sato's daughter had found love in the Avatar, and a woman, then the traditionalist Sato would have had issue. Perhaps he had blackmailed her, or abused her even farther, making her a clear candidate with a clear motive.
Yet Lin knew instinctively that the girl was innocent. After all, Asami Sato was an intelligent scientist, philanthropist, and inventor, so she would know that murdering her own father in their shared home would make her an obvious suspect.
Lin tucked her suspicions away. They would only taint her investigation.
Footsteps came from behind her.
"Chief, you're going to want to come see this."
Where is he, Hiroshi! Tell me!
Wouldn't you like to know? Satisfy me as poorly as you did yesterday, and you'll never find him.
You bastard. You can't… you can't keep doing this to me!
Oh, what's the matter? I thought you wanted to escape from your boring, monk of a husband. The Avatar's son he may be, but I know he's no romantic lover.
You don't know anything about Tenzin, you heartless bastard.
The audible sound of a slap, and sobbing, seemed to resonate through the study.
Now be a good girl and fetch me some food. And if it's no good, I'll send you a piece of your son to hold on to.
Mako pressed the large button on the recording device, trembling slightly from pure, abject hatred. Lin frowned, looking at the pool of blood and bodily fluids on the floor where Hiroshi's body had been found, and was now being taken back to HQ.
She scratched at the underside of her chin slightly, pacing around the room, inspecting any details that popped out to her.
"That bastard…" Mako murmured.
"Save your sentiments, Detective. They won't do Hiroshi, or Pema any good."
He nodded, rubbing at the bridge of his nose in stress.
"I'm sorry chief. It's just that- when I was with Korra, Pema was always so kind to me and I-"
Lin shushed him, walking over to the large glass doors.
"These were open when forensics got here?"
Mako nodded.
"Apparently Mr. Sato always kept his doors open. He was a big cigar smoker."
She knelt down, touching the floormat lightly and feeling dampness.
"No one stood on this floormat recently, correct?"
"As far as I know."
She smiled.
"They came in through these doors. If what you're telling me is correct, they weren't caught on camera, so they had a good knowledge of this place's security systems and inner workings."
She stood, her eyes searching the floor, and finding a few splashes of water towards some heavy drapes. She strode over, opening the drapes even more and seeing the slightest imprint of mud on the wooden floors, in the rough shape of a heel.
"They hid here."
She eyed the bottle of whiskey, opening it swiftly and smelling it deeply, wincing as she smelled the slight scent of medicine.
"They poisoned the bottle."
Mako nodded, inspecting his notepad.
"They said that the initial diagnosis is a drug overdose. That would be in keeping with that theory. We'll know more when they study the corpse in greater detail."
Lin nodded.
"Remind me when we got word that Rohan was missing."
Mako pouted slightly as he delved into his memory.
"Tenzin reported him missing… I think it was around a year ago. We had a big manhunt but we never got any leads, remember?"
"Yeah."
Mako's face took on a cautiously epiphanic look.
"Hiroshi kidnapped him."
"That's what I'm thinking."
"He kidnapped him so that he could blackmail Pema into having a protracted affair with him."
"Do you think one of the… No."
Lin looked at him sadly, knowing that his mind was going to where hers had been since she had first heard Pema's voice on the recording.
"That would make the most sense."
"But they're… they're airbenders. They took an oath of nonviolence."
Lin nodded.
"True. But sometimes the loss of a family member can drive the most devout pacifist into the most brutal murderer."
Mako sighed, almost defeated.
"We'll pay them a visit. First, however, we find the baby."
It wasn't difficult. She walked around the estate, utilizing her seismic sense to identify potential underground cellars where the child could have been found. Ultimately, they found it below the greenhouse. An earthbender constable had unearthed the small, metal box, noting that the earth had recently been disturbed by someone digging it up.
Lin opened the box gently, grimacing slightly as the pungent smell hit her nose. She regarded the small form in the coffin, resisting the urge to vomit or cry, gently setting it on the concrete floor of the greenhouse before standing up and walking out of the greenhouse without a word.
The rain had stopped, for the most part, shifting into a miserable drizzle, and Lin delved deep into the inside pocket of her trench coat, retrieving a pack of Blue Spirit cigarettes and lighting one, her hand shaking softly as she put the cigarette to her lips.
She worked at the lighter, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. Mako came to her side softly, his eyes empty and desolate as he extended his hand, conjuring a small flame on his index finger, helping Lin light the cigarette.
She breathed the smoke in and let it out with a shaky breath, steadying herself.
"I haven't smoked in five years," she said, dully.
Mako laughed quietly, looking down at his boots and kicking at the point where the concrete met the lush, green grass. Lin looked at the young detective, seeing that his normally stoic yet awkward countenance was struggling to prevent a flood of emotions from erupting. Smirking slightly, she offered the cigarette to him.
He considered it for a moment, his face pale and blank, and took it from her, taking a deep drag. Lin looked back towards the large driveway packed with police vehicles and an ambulance, and the dark, foreboding mansion that reared up before them like a great beast. A crew of paramedics were running towards the greenhouse, bearing a stretcher and a body bag.
"I thought you didn't smoke," Lin noted.
"I don't," he replied, tiredly.
There was a long silence.
"Part of me is glad the bastard's dead. I'm glad he wasn't alive when we found all this out, because I would have…"
Lin shook her head, cutting him off.
"It doesn't matter- we still have to find out who murdered him and bring that person to justice. I don't care if he was Firelord Sozin, you can't just go around murdering people."
"Chief, surely you don't want to actually arrest the person who…"
Lin looked at the young detective with a hard, unflinching expression. She rested her hand on his shoulder, recognizing his expression of indignancy as the very same one that she had had when she had first started out.
"We're officers of the law, Mako. It's our duty to uphold that law, and if we allow people to kill each other willy-nilly, then we fail in that duty. If you don't want to continue this case, you can go back to HQ, no questions asked."
His face was grim.
"No, you're right. I'll see this through."
She smiled reassuringly, turning towards the medics with a serious expression.
"Take the body back to the ambulance and notify his mother. Keep it here until she gets here so that she gets a chance."
Mako looked at her in consternation, almost accusingly.
She sighed.
"We can't be sure that she didn't commit the murder herself. Spirits know, she would be justified, but that doesn't change anything. We have to keep our suspects contained."
"What about Jinora? And Kai?"
"That's where we're going now."
Mako rapped on the door loudly as Lin stood behind him, to the right, composing her face into its normal one of steely indifference. She hated that she had to bring in whoever murdered Sato, but she had her duty to perform. What she had told Mako wasn't a lie- it was a tenet that she had been raised, all her life, to believe in, even religiously. Even after the incident with Su, she had clung onto her mother's ideals of duty and objectivity, making it the center of her life.
Jinora opened the door, rubbing her eyes tiredly and dressed in her pajamas.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice laden with exhaustion.
Lin noticed that Kai's eyes had flitted almost immediately to the Satocycle sitting in his driveway. His eyes returned to the ground, and Lin inspected the Satocycle more closely from her position, noting that it was pristine and spotless. It looked like it had been cleaned very recently.
"A lot has gone down in the last twenty-four hours," Mako said. "We're going to need you to come with us. You too." He nodded towards Kai.
"What's going on?" Kai demanded, almost angrily.
"We think we know what happened to your brother." Lin said, bluntly. There was no use tip-toeing around the issue. There never was.
"And there are additional… complications. Ones for which we hope you can help us."
Jinora's hand clutched the door frame desperately. Clearly the news about her brother had shaken the girl. Curiously, however, she hadn't asked what his status was. Lin chided herself mentally. It could be shock, or a million other things. She wouldn't let her suspicions inform her investigation.
"Where are we going?" Jinora asked, timidly.
"Our second crime scene- where we hope all will be revealed."
"The second crime scene?"
The woman looked surprised at that as well. Another strike to Lin's theory.
"Your mother is at the first crime scene right now. She'll be brought to meet us."
Quietly, the two nodded, and followed the officers into their car.
The room was relatively small, lushly furnished, and luxurious. Situated on the third floor of the main mansion, it was the setting that Lin had chosen to draw out her killer. Of course, of the people gathered in the room, it could have been none of them, but her gut instinct told her that the murderer was in her room.
In accordance with her carefully-manipulated atmosphere, Lin began whistling a boisterous jazz tune to throw people off, acting more cheerful than most people knew her to be while Mako played the role of the serious one. Misdirection was the key here.
"Where were you last night?" Mako asked, looking sternly at Kai.
He shrugged, nonchalantly.
"Training at the temple."
Mako scowled and paced around, pausing awkwardly before Korra, softening his tone.
"And you?"
Lin noted that the woman's eyes widened slightly, and her eyes flicked towards Asami, doing much to confirm Lin's theory regarding the two women.
"Meditating. On the old Aang Memorial Island."
He nodded, once, glancing at Lin, who abruptly ceased her obnoxious whistling and stepped forward, her face returning to a steely look of determination.
"Last night, at approximately eleven o'clock, Hiroshi Sato was murdered."
Gasps of shock resounded from the room. None seemed fake, but she didn't expect that anyone in the room would be so clumsy.
"The cause of death was an intentional overdose of Skulking Daisy, the powerful narcotic utilized by healers in the area. It was poured into Hiroshi Sato's whiskey, causing him to have a powerful and violent response to the drug, killing him almost immediately."
"And," Lin added, "I firmly believed that someone in this room committed this crime."
The commotion this time was greater. Indignant cries, anger, and immediate denials filled the small room, but ceased when Lin held a hand up, her expression warning.
"We will conduct individual interviews with each of you, and rest assured, I will discover the murderer."
The interviews yielded much information. Much of it, she didn't need to know.
Pema's interview had been difficult. Pema's knowledge of the death of her son, having seen the corpse herself, would have reduced anyone else to an emotional wreck, but the woman held her own, her eyes empty as she divulged every barbaric and disgusting detail about her affair with Hiroshi. Her admission that she didn't kill the man but that she had had thoughts about it confirmed Lin's suspicion that she was innocent.
Korra and Asami's interviews revealed things that Lin had no particular need to know, but that cleared them of any suspicion. Knowing that her seismic sense would give away any lies, they admitted to their secret relationship, their sexual encounter the night of the murder, and the Korra's discovery of Hiroshi's abuse of Asami.
Yet what had piqued her interest was the fact that Korra lied once. Lin had asked her to divulge anything she knew about the murder or if she had seen anything, and she had lied. To a less experienced truthteller, the lie would have been indiscernible, but Lin had trained with her mother, after all.
The door opened quietly, and Jinora entered, escorted by a constable.
"Hello, Jinora," Lin said, testily.
The woman was silent.
"Please tell me anything you can about your activities yesterday and last night."
More silence.
The woman's right to remain silent was guaranteed by the law, but it frustrated Lin to no end, and she resolved to try the direct approach.
"Did you murder Hiroshi Sato."
Jinora's pulse increased slightly, and Lin knew in that moment that she was close.
"Did you poison Hiroshi Sato's whiskey to avenge the murder of your brother and the blackmailing of your mother?"
It increased further.
"Did Kai kill Hiroshi Sato?"
"No," she blurted out.
Her heart was still. There was a long, agonizing silence. Then:
"You know I can truth-tell."
Jinora nodded.
"I don't blame you, Jinora- he certainly deserved it. But you must know that it's my duty to place you under arrest."
She nodded. The girl looked downward, towards the smooth wood of the table, her face pale. She looked extremely frail, in that moment.
Lin stood, metalbending a pair of handcuffs from her belt.
Then, in an instant, the door slammed open, and she was immediately on her back, looking up at the ceiling as her vision dimmed from a blow to the back of the head. Cursing herself inwardly, her vision faded to black, and sweet, blissful darkness overtook her.
She awoke in the back of the ambulance, to see a medic and Mako regarding her. She shoved the medic aside, rubbing at the back of her head and walking out of the ambulance, scowling at Mako.
"Kai?"
He nodded.
"And noone was watching him?"
"He took me by surprise, Chief. You know how he is."
She sighed, walking towards a nearby police car dejectedly, and snatching the long-range radio from the waiting constable.
"I think Mom was right," she said to Mako tiredly. "I do need to retire."