Hello happy people. I'm kinda in a hurry, so here ya go. I'm already working on Chapter 3. Look for it in... let's be realistic. Two weeks? Yea, two weeks. enjoy... or else.

The agency was clamoring to its feet after a relaxing day of no work. Espio was attaching his wristlets, and Charmy was putting on his socks. Vector shouted as he came out of his office, "Come on boys, let's go! They'll have it solved before we get there." Espio ran out in a flash and joined Vector at the door. Vector yelled again, "Charmy, Hurry!" A muffled yell came from the other room, "Hang on! I can't find my shoe!" Vector sighed and said, "for heaven's sake."

"Found it!"

Vector yelled back, "Well put it on and let's go!"

"Hang on!"

Vector yelled again, "This wouldn't happen if you'd put away your stuff!"

"Sorry!"

Espio's ears started to ring. He stretched his jaw and hit the side of his head with his palm.

Charmy opened his door and flew out. He kicked his door shut and flew at full speed to the door.

"Don't kick the door," chastised Vector.

"Oops, sorry," said Charmy as he quickly slowed to a stop.

"O.K. boys," said Vector, as he opened the door, "we're going to a concert."

At the concert, two and a half hours after the incident, the detectives arrived. Charmy continued his conversation with Espio.

"Heck, it's eleven o'clock at night. I was distraught."

"…In addition to your room being a mess."

"Alright, I said I would clean it this weekend," said Charmy.

"Did he say anything about what happened?" asked Espio. "He?" said Vector. "Oh, the guy on the phone. Not really, someone had collapsed and they suspect foul play. Get this, Inspector Cassidy recommended us."

Charmy perked his antennae and looked at Vector. "Is the inspector here now?" asked Charmy, enthusiastically.

"Na, they thought it would be an open and shut case, so they sent some hot shot detective."

"Who is it?" asked Espio.

Vector held up a mangled piece of paper and said, "We're supposed to meet with Detective…Conelly."

"That sounds like he came right from an old movie," said Espio.

Just outside of the crime scene, Vector tapped a corgi-cop on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me." The corgi turned. He perked his ears and gave Vector his full attention.

"How can I help you?" Vector continued rather gruffly, "My name is Vector. I'm supposed to meet with detective Conelly." The corgi-cop pointed toward the greenroom, and said, "He's in there. He's the sheepdog."

"Thanks." Vector, Espio, and Charmy headed for the greenroom. Charmy thought Vector forgot something, "hey, shouldn't we ask who collapsed?"

"We'll find out," said Vector.

Just outside the greenroom, a cop stopped them. "You'll have to wear these if you're going inside." He handed them large oval stickers. Vector and Espio took them, peeled back the adhesive, and stuck the sticker on the bottom of their feet. Charmy ripped his in half to fit his small feet. Inside, forensics was dusting the area with a fine powder. A couple cops stood talking to a dog in a black and white suit. It was a sheepdog, maybe two to three years older than Vector. From a distance, Vector could tell he was very commanding. Detective Conelly spotted the detectives heading toward him and he finished talking with the two officers.

"I'll be there in one minute to look at the fingerprint myself. I have some business with these gentlemen." The two cops left the sheepdog. Detective Conelly let out a sigh when he finally met the Chaotix. Something about this guy did not sit right. Even Charmy could feel it. He had a certain air about him that almost repelled the detectives. And then he spoke…

"You must be the Chaotix."

"We must be," said Vector, smiling. They paused. "I am detective Conelly," he continued, "Inspector Cassidy says you've helped solve our cases in the past, so…the higher ups thought I should give you a call. Thank you by the way for showing up so quickly."

"Welcome," said Vector. "So, wadawe got?" Detective Conelly looked to the left and said, "Officer Phillips well be along to give you the grand tour. If you'll excuse me, I have to see a man about a fingerprint."

He turned and walked away. Vector just crossed his arms and watched him. "hmph!"

Charmy's face turned sour, "Well that was… what was that anyway?" Vector held a finger up to his mouth. He waited a few seconds before answering. "Sheepdogs have extra sensitive hearing. That's why this guy here is so rude. Probably grew up hearin' people sayin' bad things about him behind his back."

"Huh," said Charmy. "Poor guy."

"Don't pity him Charmy," said Vector. "It was his choice to eavesdrop." Charmy salute and said, "Got it!"

"Even though," said Espio, "He should have told us about the case."

"Ah, it wasn't his idea to call us," said Vector. "It was his 'higher ups.' "He's gonna be difficult."

"Hey," came a voice from behind. Charmy swung around and there stood the Corgi-cop. "We meet again. My name's Hector Phillips," he extended a paw and shook hands with Vector and Espio. He shook hands with Charmy and said, "How ya doin' squirt?"

"All right," said Charmy with a smile. He stepped back and said, "So, follow me and I'll show you around."

"Thanks. Detective slick is too busy." Hector chuckled. They walked to the couches and stopped in front of a little number one on the ground. Officer Phillips started by saying, "At nine twenty-five tonight, Neala Campton, the lead singer of "The Tails", collapsed beside her chair. Apparently, she had been poisoned with something called, detrinol."

Espio clarified, "diphosphorous monoxide, not for ingestion, ever."

"What's it used for?" asked Charmy.

"Usually, plant care," said Espio, "But doctors use it to clear skin diseases also. Not exactly over-the-counter."

Right," said Hector. "That's not the worst part. Everyone working tonight is a suspect. That's over 200 people."

"Yea?" said Vector nonchalantly.

"It's not the number of people that is the problem," said Hector. "It's the way they are incriminated. There's detrinol everywhere. Point to something, and it's got poison on it."

"Wait," said Charmy squeamishly, "should we be in here?"

"Don't worry." Said Hector, "detrinol is easily gotten rid of. Some lime scale remover and some kind of powder distils it." He pulled a small backlight out of his pocket. He aimed it at the couch and switched it on. The lower back part of the couch glowed neon purple. The feet were also glowing. Charmy swayed his antennae and said, "Can't you get him with this?" Hector replied, "No, we can't there's no finger prints. And besides, look at this." He pointed the flashlight toward the floor. Glowing purple footprints cluttered the carpet. Officer Philips shook his head and said, "the crew, the manager's, and the performer's foot prints are all over the floor. It's the strangest thing. At first, the forensics team didn't know where the poison came from. We came up with a theory." He pointed the light toward the door. The footprints became more course and thicker. Charmy scratched his head and pursed his lips. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means," said Vector as he walked toward the door, "The source of the foot prints came from over here." He opened the door and looked to the outside entrance. Hector walked over with him. He pointed the backlight toward the ground. Splotches of barely recognizable purple footprints clumped together outside. Right in front of the door, the footprints disappeared. The space of absent footprints created a perfect square. It had straight edges and sharp corners. Officer Phillips motioned toward the forensics team and said, "There was a place mat here. It was soaked in detrinol. Given the pattern of footprints, forensics believes it was tampered with." Vector kneeled to look closely. He scratched his chin and thought. Espio stood on his tiptoes to look over the massive alligator's shoulder. Charmy thought out loud, "Maybe he knew Neala was going to pick it up," said Charmy. Vector responded, non-critically, "Why would she pick it up?" He turned and asked Hector, "Was there anything under the mat?" Hector shook his head and said, "Connely asked the same thing. There wasn't anything under it."

"Did she eat anything?" asked Espio.

"Yes she did. Right before she collapsed. Crime scene investigators and detective Conelly believe that's when she ingested the poison."

Vector looked at Hector and asked, "Can we see the poisoned food?"

"The food wasn't poisoned," said Hector. "The poison came from her hand."

"Really," said Vector. He stood up and asked, "Alright, anything else?"

"Well," said Hector, averting his eyes and shrugging, "That's about it, really… Oh yea. The other members of the band are coming back for questioning."

"Why?" asked Charmy, "What did they do?" Hector replied, "Any way you slice it, they were with her the most, along with her manager, and a few other people." He passed them the black light and said, "If you need anything, just holler." Vector took the black light and said, "Thanks." Charmy waved and said, "Thank you!" Vector tossed the backlight in his hand and said, "Well, let's take a look around."

"You know Vector," said Espio, "This sounds very familiar."

Vector turned and asked, "What, like another case?"

"Possibly. You don't think so?"

"I don't remember," said Vector. "Just keep it in the back o' your head."

They started at one side of the room and migrated slowly to the other side. Vector, Espio, and Charmy all together found detrinol on items like light bulbs, chair and table legs, lower backs of chairs, lamp bases, bases of walls, tops of walls, under tables close to the walls, and all over the floor. Some of the poison was shaped like paintbrush strokes, and one or two others on the tables looked more like smudges. Charmy scratched his head and asked, "Is this guy a doofus?"

"Whadja mean?" asked Vector.

"He left clues everywhere," said Charmy. "I mean, we should track him down in no time flat."

"Hm," said Vector. He crossed his arms and thought deeply for a moment. Espio, with his arms akimbo, said, "I think the question we need to ask is not who could have done this, but when they could have don it." He paused and said, "It's possible to secretly apply poison to maybe ten places paintbrush style, but this is at least a one hour job, and that's without stopping."

"Yea," said Vector. Moments later, Hector came running from across the room. "Hey you guys! We just found a recording of a break-in that took place last night. They are about to start."

Vector replied, "Hey. Now we might get somewhere. Come on boys." He waved them to follow him as he walked behind Hector. Charmy did a loop-de-loop in the air and said, "alright! We get to catch two bad guys." He held a number two up with his fingers. All four of them walked to the control room. When they arrived, Vector had to fight to get to the front, "Excuse me, pardon, I am a Detective…" Espio and Hector walked behind Vector in his wake, while Charmy flew over the tops of their heads. Vector could spot Detective Conelly with a control room operator at the controls. The screen was blue and bore a rewind sign on the top left corner of the screen. Vector approached Conelly and greeted him.

"Hello Detective."

"Oh hello, you're just in time," said Conelly, as if nothing was wrong. Vector pointed to the video screen and said, "You didn't think we would have liked to know about this?"

"I sent officer Phillips," he said in calm defense.

"Oh," said Vector. "Thanks." The control operator flipped a switch and said, "I got it." 'Play' appeared on the screen. A black and white picture flashed onto the screen. Nothing happened initially. "Hang on," said the control operator. He pressed fast forward. A little man passed by the screen quickly, and again a few seconds later. He had a flashlight and a vest. "That's Sweed, the night watch guy," said the control operator. The video fast-forwarded a little farther. "Almost there," said the control operator. He pressed play. A man in black walked quickly in focus. He began to fiddle with the lock. He knelt down and a small bang echoed from the video. It came a second time and a third. He opened the lock on the third bang and stood up. He opened the door and looked both ways down the hall before entering. "He bumped the lock," said Conelly. He turned to the officer next to him and tapped the officer's notepad. The officer scribbled the observation. The control operator typed something on the monitor and it flashed to a different screen. It continued where the last screen left off. The black figure passed from room to room. Each time the control operator typed in a new camera for the rooms entered. The black man came to the control room door and bumped it. He stepped up to the controls and typed a few buttons. After a few minutes of typing, the screen cut to white noise. The control operator talked while he typed, "the feed cuts off there. He knocked out most of the cameras except for the few on the west end." A new picture flashed onto the screen. It showed a small room. A big vanity mirror and desk, sat in the middle of the back wall. A rack of clothes, a couch, and a poster of Neala Campton lined the walls. The black figure was already in the room. "This is Neala's room," said the control operator. The man on the screen walked over to the vanity mirror. He picked a random piece of paper on the desk and pulled out a pen. He started writing something very slowly. "He's right handed," said Conelly to the officer with the notepad. The man on the screen finished writing and opened the middle drawer of the desk. He pulled out a book. "That looks like a diary," said Espio. He pointed to the screen and said, "Look, there's a lock on it." Detective Conelly turned to the officer behind him and said, "Get me that diary."

"Yes sir," said the officer. He left the room in a hurry. On the screen, the black man pulled something from his pocket. He jammed it into the lock on the book and messed with it until it sprung open. He opened the book and flipped pages back and forward. Finally settling on a page, he placed the note in the book and locked the book. He set it back in the drawer and slid the door shut. He then opened the second highest drawer on the right side and took what looked like a necklace. Charmy recognized it immediately. "Wait a minute!" he said. "Pause the tape. I know that necklace."

"What?" asked Conelly. Charmy repeated, "I think I know that necklace." Conelly turned to Vector and said rather harshly, "why did you bring a child to a crime scene?" Vector looked at Conelly without turning his head. He raised his eyebrows and tapped the control operator on his shoulder. "Could you rewind and pause the video to where he held up the necklace?" The operator looked at Vector, surprised that he was taking advise from a child. He rewound the tape and paused where the man held up the necklace. "Zoom in on it," said Vector. The operator selected the section of the screen with the necklace in it. It ballooned to fill the screen. Charmy flew toward the screen and looked closely. "Yea," he said, "that's her necklace. She's worn it at every concert she's ever performed." Vector looked at Conelly and said, "That's why." Conelly asked the officer for the victim's file. He opened it and started scanning. He closed the file and handed it to the officer saying, "find out if she was wearing a necklace at her performance."

"Yes sir", said the officer. Just as he was leaving, the first officer returned with the diary. He handed it to Conelly. Conelly slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a paper clip. Vector looked at the lock and noticed some scratch marks. Conelly unbent the paperclip and shoved it into the lock. He picked at it until it clicked. He opened it to the page with a small gap in it. The paper they saw on the tape was lying flat in between the current day's date and the day before. He picked it up and turned it around. The note was written in small clumsy letters. "What's it say?" asked Vector. Conelly read aloud:

"Neala Campton. I have loved you since the day I first saw you. I cannot live without you. I am sorry I took your necklace. I will give you something in return for it. Please do not stop making music. Please. I love you."

Vector stepped back and chuckled. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"What is it?" asked Charmy, swaying his antennae.

"Our list of suspects," said Vector, "has just been narrowed down to about fourteen people.

there ya go. what's gonna happen... i dunno, i'mmaking this up as I go (he he i'm just kidding, this requires a lot of forthought... a lot...seriously, I'm not kidding, it's a lot of work...first I have to...)

oh yea, and a substantial amount of clues will NOT be in the interviews, but they will have clues and suggestions.

here's the hints

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think. What kind of person could have come into contact with all of the detrinol on the sceen? (back of chair, lamp bases) (this is sort of a trick question)

there is a lot of behavoiral things happening here. the killer will react a certain way. off the top of my head, I can think of only one instance that gave the killer away. it's in the next chapter. it's very subtle, so do not be mad if you don't get it.

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wait for me!!