Casefile-#2: Suburban Strangler

It was a normal morning at the agency's Youmakai office. Nate and Hailey were having a friendly chat like usual while Whisper browsed his Yo-Kai pad. Blizzie was making a cup of coffee for herself.

Hailey:"Seriously Nate, when are you gonna properly comb your hair?"

Nate:"Hey, I'm just letting it do its own thing."

Whisper:"In other words, he's too lazy to make himself look presentable."

Whisper butted in.

Nate:"Hey, can it!"

Whisper:"Seriously Nate, why can't you be more like me? I always come here looking fine! You should follow in the steps of your role model more!"

Jibanyan:"You? A role model? Nyaha that's the best one I've heard!"

Whisper:"Now listen here you brat!"

Whisper said as he hit Jibanyan.

Jibanyan:"Hey! Nyate, he hit me!"

Nate:"C'mon you two, behave or I will ground you both."

Nate joked and laughed along with Hailey.

Whisper:"Pah! Youth these days have no respect for their elders, I'm 200 years older than you, you know!"

Katie:"Man, I'm never gonna get used to that.."

Katie muttered under her breath as she walked through the purple warp door.

Katie:"Hey guys! I thought I'd drop by and bring some snacks!"

Hailey:"Whoa, sweet! Thanks, Katie!"

Nate:"Katie, you came back?"

Katie:"Well.. Yeah, you guys have a cool job and it's really interesting!"

Nate:"Huh… I thought after what happened a few days ago, this would be the last place you'd ever wanna be."

Katie:"Nu-uh, I think you guys are amazing!"

Nate:"Well, I'm flattered."

Nate chuckled with his hand placed on his neck.

Hailey:"Haha, well if you're gonna hang out here often, you should get to know everyone! So, this is USApyon, my Yo-Kai partner in crime."

USApyon:"Howdy!"

Nate:"Well this is Jibanyan and Whisper, go ahead, say hi!"

Jibanyan:"Nyice to meet you."

Whisper:"Greetings!"

Whisper said as he gave a bow to Katie.

Hailey:"That over there is Blizzie, she's like our... receptionist? I guess? But she also helps us find anything useful for the case on the internet."

Blizzie:"Yo."

Hailey:"Aaand that's Whapir, she can absorb and display memories from witnesses."

Whapir:"Pleasure to meet you."

Katie:"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine! Man, I didn't know you had a lot of friends here."

As everyone ate the snacks that Katie brought, suddenly they heard the doorbell ring.

Hailey:"Ah! A client!"

Hailey's sudden outburst startled Nate which made him choke on his food, Katie panicked a bit and tried to help him by hitting him repeatedly on his back between his shoulder blades as Hailey ran to the door and opened it.

Hailey:"Hi there ma'am, how can we help you?"

Client:"This is a.. Private Investigator's office, right?"

Hailey:"Yeah, that's right, come on in."

Nate:*cough* "S-So, what brings you here ma'am?"

Client:"I want you to investigate my sister's death."

Hailey:"A murder? Okay, so what details do you have regarding her death?"

Client:"Well, I don't know much, but.. It is an open case that the police are working on."

Hailey:"It's still an open case?"

Client:"Yes, but my sister has a condition, her body doesn't last as long as other Yo-Kai when her soul is removed, I was really worried so I wanted to hurry."

Nate:"Well, do you at least know where she was killed?"

Client:"She lives in the suburbs, her husband found her yesterday."

Nate:"Well, since it's still an open case, maybe we can find some fresh leads? Hey Blizzie, try to get us her casefile from Yo-Kai PD, they might have some clues or crime scene photos we can use, we're gonna go over there now."

Blizzie:"Alright Nate, I'll be on it."

Katie:"Wait, she can do that? Shouldn't that be like.. Illegal or something?"

Whisper:"Well, the laws work a little different down here, a lot of police case files and crime scene details are disclosed to the public."

Jibanyan:"Man, do I have to go too? I mean technyically I don't work here."

Whisper:"Oh don't be such a lazy-"

Nate:"It's fine. Just… don't be surprised if I end up summoning you or something."

Katie:"Wait, I wanna.. Help too."

Nate:"Wait, Katie.. Are you .. sure?"

Katie:"Yeah!"

Katie said with a rare determined look.

Hailey:"I.. Okay, just.. Stick with us alright? We wouldn't want you to get lost like yesterday, okay?"

Katie:"Yeah, I won't."

Everyone was strolling down the streets, making their way to the crime scene on foot.

Katie:"Man, all these Yo-Kai sure are wacky huh?"

Nate:"Don't stare at anyone for too long, they'll think you're weird."

Nate said as he gave Katie a small nudge.

Katie:"Oh! Right."

Suddenly, Nate's phone rang.

Nate:"Hey, It's Blizzie, let's see what she has."

Nate:"Hello?"

Blizzie:"Okay so, umm… That case you told me to look up, It's part of a buncha other murders with the same method, 3 other Yo-Kai women were found dead in their homes in the past 3 weeks."

Nate:"Huh, really? That's interesting."

Blizzie:"Look, I'm gonna send you some photos, as well as all the locations, I'll try to get a report from the coroner's office if I can."

Nate:"Alright thanks, keep me posted."

Blizzie:"Where would you guys be without me huh?"

-hard cut to the crime scene-

Nate:"Hailey, are you sure about this? I mean,the place is covered in police lines."

USApyon:"I'd listen to him if I were you.."

Hailey:"Yeah, we'll just be here for a bit, I'm sure it'll be fine."

Nate:"Famous last words."

USApyon:"This is an awful idea."

USApyon muttered as Hailey went past the police line and gently pushed open the door to the crime scene to reveal a house with broken glass scattered on the floor along the living room and kitchen.

Katie:"Woah.. What a mess.."

Nate:"Yeah, broken plates, glasses, vases… He even smashed the coffee machine..Why would he do that?"

Hailey:"They must've done that afterwards, the victim would've noticed the sounds of all these things being smashed."

Katie:"Okay so.. What does that tell us?"

Nate:"Well he's mad about something, the suspect wouldn't waste time and effort doing something like this unless it's personal."

Hailey:"Hey, did Blizzie get those autopsy reports or whatever they're called?"

Nate:"Uhh yeah, hold on.."

Nate pulled out his phone.

Nate:"Uh.. It says here that all of them were found with a thin bruising around their necks, so he used some sort of tool to choke them, possibly a wire, and there are tape markings around their wrists, both of which weren't found at the scene by the way, so he probably brought his own murder weapons with him.. All their estimated times of death were somewhere around noon."

USApyon:"He does all this in broad daylight, don'tcha think someone oughta notice?"

Hailey:"Ew, so he brings his own murder kit?"

Katie:"Wait, you said there were three other murders right? Where were they?"

Nate:"Well they're all in the suburbs.. And they're all about a mile apart in different neighborhoods, how are we gonna get this guy?"

Hailey:"So basically we got nothin'."

Nate:"Yeah."

-hard cut back to the office-

Everyone was sitting at different spots in the office all silent and looking increasingly uneasy.

Hailey:"Okay, let's go over his profile one more time!"

Katie:"We've gone over it three times now, Hailey."

Hailey:*sigh* "I know, I just feel like we gotta be missing something here! I just feel bad about that poor lady's sister."

Nate:"Hmm, so we know that he attacks in suburban neighborhoods. And all the crime scenes are about a mile apart from each other, so he's either got a vehicle of some kind or has some wacky teleportation powers or something."

Katie:"And he does this in broad daylight without being noticed, so I guess he blends in or something."

Hailey:"He brings his own tools and takes his rage out on smashing their belongings after killing them, which makes it seem personal but I don't think there's any link between any of them."

Nate:"Wait a second.. The victimology actually lines up. All of the victims are female, blonde-haired, middle aged-looking Yo-Kai who live in a suburban house.."

Katie:"The what?"

Whisper:"The victimology. It comes from the latin word victima, it's a study that examines and compares a perpetrator's victims to reveal a link between the victim and the reason he or she was targeted."

Whisper read aloud from his Yo-Kai pad.

Nate:"Well, basically these victims represent something that this suspect hates or resents in particular."

Hailey:"So he has something out for that specific victim type, but what?"

Everyone collectively groaned and leaned back in their sitting positions looking annoyed and uneasy.

Hailey:"Man, this would be a lot less stressful without that buzzing sound outside, what IS that sound anyway?!"

Blizzie:"It's the telephone pole operator, he's probably fixing it or something."

Nate:"Telephone pole operator…?"

Nate muttered under his breath.

Nate:"Hey, that's it! Think about it, wire and duct tape? He has both!"

Hailey:"And no one would be suspicious of him driving the company truck around, he can stick around and spy on his victims, learn their routines, when their husbands get home.."

Nate:"Blizzie I need you to check work orders in the local telephone service provider, see if you can find any matching names assigned to all the scenes, we're gonna be heading over there."

Blizzie:"Gotcha, I'll connect with you forthwith."

-hard cut to the telephone company building-

Blizzie:"Okay, so I got the guy you're lookin' for. His name is Hardy Wire from the tough tribe, he's been sent to work on all the locations of the murders. Also, I did a background check, apparently he was abused by his mother at a young age. Oh! And, he's been charged before with assault a few months ago."

Nate:"Let me guess, he grew up in a suburban house with a blonde middle aged-looking mom?"

Blizzie:"Looks that way, now go nail this son of a gun, huh?"

Nate:"Will do, thanks."

Nate said before he hung up the phone.

Receptionist:"Hello there, how can I help you?"

Hailey:"Listen, I need the name of one of your repairmen, Hardy Wire, tough tribe."

Receptionist:"Are you... police or something?"

Hailey:"Uh, no we're…. Private investigators.."

Receptionist:"Well then I'm afraid I can't disclose that information for you."

Hailey:"Aww man just, please? Just this one time I won't ask you again I promise!"

Katie:"Listen ma'am, we think your repairman has been involved in some murders, if you don't help us, someone might get really hurt."

Katie stated in a serious tone.

Receptionist:"..." *sigh* "fine."

Hailey:"Yes! Thank you so much, I'll never forget you!"

-hard cut to the suburbs-

Katie:"Hey, there's the company's van!"

USApyon:"So, he's somewhere in this neighborhood? How are we gonna find this guy? It's like tryna find a needle in a haystack."

Hailey:"Well then I guess we're gonna have to split up, I'll go with USApyon, you go that way."

Katie:"I'll stick with Nate."

Whisper:"Hey, wait for me!"

They went in different directions to search for the perpetrator, after a little while, Hailey noticed a house with an open unlocked backdoor and a broken padlock on the fence gate.

Hailey:"Hey I think we found him, it's the big dark green house with the red chimney down my way."

Hailey whispered into her walkie-talkie, before she and USApyon crept into the house quietly and heard loud muffled voices from the second floor. They then walked up the stairs to find a female Yo-Kai taped to the wall. With another Yo-Kai right up in her face threatening her.

Hailey:"Hardy?"

Hardy turned around, shocked.

Tough Tribe: Hardy Wire

Hardy:"Who are you?! S-stay away from me!"

Hailey:"Whoa, listen! We don't wanna hurt you, just let her go, she's done nothing wrong."

Hailey said as she slowly approached with her hands up.

Hardy:"No.. No! They'll all pay!"

Hailey:"Hardy, It doesn't have to end this way, I know what your mother did to you."

Hardy was suddenly bombarded with violent flashbacks and went into a breakdown.

Hardy:"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

Hardy then transformed into a lumpy creature consisting of wires and shot out a bunch of wires like tentacles. Hailey was able to jump out of the way and USApyon started firing his blaster in random directions.

Katie:"You think this is the place she was talking about?"

Nate:"Seems like it-"

Not even a second later a bunch of tentacle-like wires shot out of the house, smashing through the windows from inside the house. Both kids were able to dodge the incoming wires but however, one of them wrapped around Whisper and held him up upside-down.

Whisper:"Hey! Unhand me right now!"

Whisper said as he started to scream.

Nate:"Ah! Shoot! Uhm."

Nate grabbed Jibanyan's medal from his pocket and started summoning him.

"Come on out my friend! Calling Jibanyan!"

Summoning charming: Jibanyan!

Unfortunately, right after he was summoned, Jibanyan was grabbed up by the wires. Nate then pulled out his blaster, aimed at the wire holding Jibanyan, and started shooting, but only landed a few shots.

Nate:"Dammit, who should I call?"

Nate shuffled through his pockets until he pulled a shiny medal.

"Come on out my friend! Calling- Whoa!"

Suddenly, one of the wires grabbed one of Nate's legs, pulled him up, and dangled him upside-down, causing him to drop the medal he was holding.

Nate then took off his watch and looked at Katie.

Nate:"Hey! Catch!"

Katie:"Wh-what?!"

Nate then threw the watch at her. She was only barely able to catch it. Having to juggle it a bit before she could properly grasp it.

Nate:"You see that coin thing down there?! Go get it!"

Katie:"O-Okay."

Katie ran to the medal, dodging the wires while everyone that was held up was being jerked side to side.

Nate:"Ah! P-please hurry!"

Katie:"Okay! I got it!"

Nate:"Whoa, okay! Now repeat after me: Come on out my friend! Calling Shogunyan!"

Katie:"C-come on out my friend! Calling Shogunyan!"

Nate:"Great! Now put the coin thingy in the slot in my watch!"

Katie did what Nate told her to do and suddenly, bright golden lights bursted out of the watch.

Summoning Legendary: Shogunyan!

Shogunyan:"Greetings! You require my assistance?

Nate:"Y-Yeah, a little help? could you chop up all these wires for us?!"

Suddenly a wire shot out and went for Shogunyan, but he barely dodged it.

Shogunyan:"Well! How dare you! I'll mince you up until your shreds are the size of my fur!"

Shogunyan then jumped up and started slicing away at the Yo-Kai in a frenzied state, which caused him to drop Nate, Whisper, and Jibanyan.

Katie:"Hey, You okay?"

Nate:"Y-yeah, I think so, nice job!"

Katie:"Thanks!"

Katie said with a blush at the compliment.

Shogunyan's cuts were able to distract Hardy, giving Hailey the opportunity to grab a table lamp and hit him on the head, knocking him out cold.

Hailey:"Yea-hea! Oh uh, s-sorry about your… lamp."

Hailey said as she looked at the victim, still taped to the wall.

-hard cut-

Hailey:"It's okay Hardy, she's gone now, she won't be able to hurt you anymore, you can rest easy."

Hailey said as Hardy was being escorted to the patrol car.

Hardy:"I.. Yeah.. She's gone, I.. I should be at peace.. I'm deeply sorry for all the trouble I caused. I'll be happy to return all the souls of the women I killed."

Hailey:"Well that's good news, Hardy!"

Hardy:"Well It's.. Gonna be hard to redeem myself now, I shouldn't have been so angry."

Hailey:"Well, you can start here if you want.."

Hardy:"What? What do you mean?"

Hailey:"Look, I'm a private detective, my friends and I help Yo-Kai with all sorts of problems all the time. If you want, I'd be happy to accept your medal, you can help us too."

Hardy:"Helping Yo-Kai.. Yes, I... think I'd like that.. What was your name?"

Hailey:"Hailey-Ann"

Hardy:"Hailey-Ann.. Thank you, hopefully I'll see you again sometime soon."

He said as his medal appeared and fell into Hailey's hands.

Hailey:"Hey, you stay outta trouble alright?"

Hardy:"I'll try my best."

-hard cut-

Hailey:"Alright! That's another one down!"

Nate:"Man, I'm beat!"

Jibanyan:"Hey Nyate, you owe me! I didn't like being dangled like that!"

Nate:"Haha Yeah yeah.. So Katie, how was it?"

Katie:"Well, it certainly wasn't I was expecting but... Man, that was rough!"

Oh, by the way, can I ask you guys something?"

Hailey:"Sure, what is it?"

Katie:"Are you two like… Dating?"

Nate:"..."

Hailey:"..."

Nate:"What?! No!"

Hailey:"Ew, is that what people think about us?! That is SO not the case!"

Katie laughed.

Katie:"I mean you two do hang out a lot, haha."

Katie looked down and clasped her hands together.

Katie:"There's actually one more thing I wanted to ask.."

Hailey:"Hm?"

Katie:"W-well.. I was hoping maybe I could.. Join your agency?"

Nate:"Woah, you sure about this? I mean it can get kinda dangerous sometimes."

Katie:"Yeah, I'm sure I can handle it! Besides, pretty sure I saved your butt back there, Nate."

Nate:"Well… That is true I guess.."

Hailey:"Well, It's decided! I'd be happy to let you join Katie! The more the merrier!"

Nate:"I guess It is nice to have some extra hands. I'll be looking forward to working with you."

Katie:"Thank you!"

Nate walked over to a dresser, pulled one of the drawers and took something out.

Nate:"Looks like you're gonna need one of these, catch!"

Katie:"Woah, what is this?"

Whisper:"Well It's a Yo-Kai Watch, of course!"

Nate:"It's an old model but… It should still work fine."

Katie:"Huh…"

She stared at the watch curiously.

Author's notes:

-Okay so first of all, i don't think this one was as good as the last one, you'll have to forgive me for that, constructive criticism is very welcome

-This fanfic is more about crime I guess, so I've been watching a lot of crime related shows as inspiration and maybe even base one of these chapters off of one of the episodes of the shows I've seen

-yes,"the laws work a little different down here" is probably gonna be my excuse for everything

-Things like profiling, autopsy reports are probably things I'm gonna use for this fic since it's based around crime.

-What Hardy Wire looks like is entirely up to you I guess, like I said, In this fic I'm kinda forced to create new Yo-Kai to be the suspects and I don't have the creative capacity to do it well so I wanna apologize for that.

-I don't know if this is too gritty for Yo-Kai watch but I mean shadowside's a thing but I guess some of these might be too heavy.

-Also, for this fic to work as a concept for a yo-kai watch show, I'm gonna have to give almost all of the yo-criminals a redemption arc so they can give their medals, so sorry if some of them aren't gonna make sense

-I am gonna look up more japanese mythology and real crime stories so I can do these better