The next day, Groin-Cruncher wakes up in the guest room of Bill's house and goes to his room. "Hey, whatcha doin'?" Groin-Cruncher asked. "Just editing some videos for Nuka-World." Bill answered. A phone rings nearby. "I got it." Bill said as he picked up his iPear.
"Sorry, I'm busy right now… a murder? Where? I'll be there as soon as possible!" Bill said hurriedly. "What was that about a murder?" Groin-Cruncher asked. "It's work. There's some takeout in the fridge. Don't touch the regal queen." Bill said as he took a hardhat and a white shirt from a shelf. Groin-Cruncher moves out of the doorway to let Bill through, but hears him stumbling on the stairs. "God dammit, Harvey!" Bill swore angrily.
"Are you okay?" Groin-Cruncher asked. "Yeah, *GROAN* I'm fine!" Bill said in pain. Later Bill, wearing a brown jacket and a white cloth wrapped around his face with a hardhat fastening it, arrives at an alley in his brown sedan where a police investigation is conducted. "Ah man, Bill's here." a Moon Elf policeman said in annoyance. "Hello everyone, Merry Eyesore the Elk here and what do we got?" Bill wondered.
"A murder apparently; abandoned taxi, dead guy; shot in the head." an Altmer policeman explained. Bill zips open a nearby body bag to find the body of an Orc man. "Oh no…" Bill said in despair. "Ghreg Gro-Adal, police detective. He disappeared three years ago during a case." the officer answered. "Any trace of the driver?" Bill asked.
"Unlike other taxis, this one doesn't have any tacky decorations. We found some footprints, but they're blank, almost as if this guy… isn't a guy." the officer informed. "What do you mean?" asked Bill. "The shape is a foot, but they're… boxy, right angles and such. We already got a cast in the labs for analysis. It's either that or this guy's been making his own weird shoes." the officer explained. Bill follows a trail of footprints into the back of the trunk. He looks inside and finds a pile of ash.
"What's this?" Bill asked. "It's ash, and a lot of it. We detected residual magicka so it may have formerly been a conjured creature, a daedroth, maybe." the officer explained. "It smells like firewood." Bill commented. "Send what you need to C.S.I., but I'm taking the body." said Bill. "Why, may I ask?" the officer asked.
"I just kinda have a hunch. I'll send a report soon." Bill said as he picked up the heavy body bag. "Vik, what's Detective Breacher doing now?" a Moon Elf officer asked the Altmer officer. "Oh, the usual stuff. It's a miracle he hasn't gotten in trouble with the higher-ups. He's a weird one, but always closes his cases." Vik said as he watched Bill dragging the body to his car's trunk and driving away. Bill calls someone on his phone, jacked into the car. "Uh hey, Crunch? Can you get Steven? I need him for something." Bill requested.
"What do you need him for this time? Body disposal? Exhuming one?" Groin-Cruncher asked. "I'm doing an autopsy at home, so I'll need Steven and his doctorate." Bill answered. "Wait, an autopsy? You're bringing a dead body to the house?!" Groin-Cruncher exclaimed in shock. "I'm doing it in the shed. Just keep Harvey and Darlene away." Bill requested. "Whatever." Groin-Cruncher said before Bill hung up.
Meanwhile Groin-Cruncher is sitting on the couch with his team around the living room. "Steven, don't eat the body this time. Please." Groin-Cruncher advised Steven. Later, Bill arrives back at the house, holding the body bag over his shoulder as he removes his face-shirt and hard hat. "Where's Steven?" Bill wondered. "Probably talking to 'The Queen'." Groin-Cruncher replied as Harvey stares at him from on top of the coffee table.
Bill goes out to the back of the house where Steven is staring at a tomato plant. "Steven, we're doing an autopsy, don't eat the body." Bill informed Steven. They walk into the nearby shed with a small lightbulb and a blood-stained table in the centre. "You have a grim look." Steven commented.
Bill slams the body bag on the table and opens it up. He casts a blue alteration spell on the body and it transforms into Jirald.
"Just as I suspected; someone wanted to cover up his murder. But who is this guy, and how does the perp know the detective?" Bill wondered as he finds bruises on the neck. "Steven, pass the fingerprint powder." Bill requested. Steven passes a small can with his mandibles to Bill, and then a brush. Bill opens the can and brushes the powder on the bruises.
"Hmm… there doesn't appear to be prints." Bill commented. Steven crawls up the table and buries his face in the body's neck. "Steven, what in Oblivion are you doing?!" Bill said in shock. Steven shows him a small black splinter between his mandibles. "Is that a splinter? Okay, the transfiguration spell is used by assassins like the Dark Brotherhood and several organized crime gangs. But which one?" Bill wondered.
He closes the body bag, puts the splinter in an evidence bag and exits the shed. He puts the body bag back in the trunk and starts the car. "Get in, Steven." Bill said as he opened the passenger door next to him. Steven jumps in and they drive away. They arrive at the crime lab where some forensic scientists are waiting for him outside.
He and Steven leave the car and grab the body bag from the trunk. "What have you done with the body this time, Bill?" a female Orc forensic scientist asked angrily. "I found that the body was transfigured." Bill answered. "Well if you're coming in, no pets allowed." the scientist said. "Please, if I brought a pet it would be either Harvey or Darlene. This is Doctor Steven; he helped me with my amazingly short autopsy. I'll explain later." Bill said as he walked the steps of the building.
To be continued…