Law & Order: Leanbox

The Lynx

by Derald Snyder

Part 7- Enter MAGES.

POLICE DEPARTMENT

CRIMINAL AFFAIRS

SEPTEMBER 19, 12:03 PM

There was a bright flash which blinded everyone present, then the sound of a body hitting the ground. As the light faded, several guns cleared leather, pointing at the new arrival, who wore a black witch's hat and had long blue hair.

"Hmmm... still needs some work," the woman grunted as she slowly picked herself up and dusted herself off, before becoming aware of her surroundings. "Oh! Is this the police department, perchance?"

"Hold your fire," Lt. Van Braun ordered. "Miss MAGES., I presume?"

"Hmhmhmm... That is correct. MAGES. the Mad Magician, at your service," the bluenette took a small bow. "My apologies, I was testing a new intradimensional mid-range teleporter. I meant to appear just outside the door, not inside."

"Just be thankful none of my men have itchy trigger fingers," The stout woman deadpanned. "False alarm, everyone. Back to work." Everyone promptly holstered their firearms as normal business slowly resumed. "Crisco, Green, would you please escort Miss MAGES. to the evidence locker?"

"Right this way, ma'am," Crisco said as he and Eddie led the magician away. "I assume Lady Vert told you what happened?"

"That my name was found on a piece of evidence related to a murder trial, correct?" MAGES. nodded. "But I assure you, gentlemen, though I may call myself mad, I am no murderer..."

*At the evidence locker...*

MAGES. gasped in horror as the evidence bag was brought out and placed in front of her. "Oh, no! My poor, sweet thing, what have they done to you?!" she said as she held the burned-out device in her hands.

"So this device is yours?" Bennie asked.

"...well, not necessarily mine, per se... but I was the one who invented and patented this design, hence my name on the back."

"So what IS this device?" Eddie pressed.

"It's a Magical Energy Detector," The Mad Magician replied. "This device is capable of detecting residual energy left over from magic spells, as well as tracking people with substantial potential for magic. Which includes CPUs. Unfortunately," she sighed, "though I have a patent for this device, it has yet to be approved for use by any law enforcement departments here in Leanbox, and I have not the capital to invest in the other nations yet. For now, the only people who have purchased this detector are private investigators and the like..."

"Well, our victim happens to be a private investigator," Bennie pointed out. "Dirk Lotson, ever heard of him?"

"Can't say that I have," MAGES. shrugged. "How did he meet his end?"

"The same way your invention did, extra crispy," Crisco snarked. "Also, this device was found buried in a trashcan nearby... someone didn't want this to be found."

"Yeah, up until today, we thought that he'd been burned by an improvised flamethrower," Eddie added. "But with the defendant's testimony at trial and what you've just told us, it's possible the perp planted some evidence at the scene to throw us off the scent..."

"I see. So you believe that you've arrested the wrong person?" MAGES. inquired.

"Actually, she surrendered to us," Bennie admitted. "Surely you've heard about that notorious thief, The Lynx..."

"Only in passing," the bluenette shrugged. "So, you believed her to be the murderer, and then she surrendered in order to fight that charge in court?"

"Yeah, she already confessed to the thefts," the older detective confirmed. "Of course, the fact that she turned out to be a clone of Rei Ryghts-"

"EXCUSE me?!" MAGES. whirled on Bennie. "Surely you don't mean that Rei Ryghts, the final boss I faced alongside those Ultradimension CPUs in Victory and Re;Birth 3?!"

"One and the same," Eddie nodded. "She calls herself Tenten, though... but the real kicker is that Rei herself is defending her clone in court..."

"Truly?" MAGES. closed her eyes. "I see... how fortuitous that we should meet again. Things have just become far more interesting... Hmhmhmhmm... Fuahahaha!"

"W-well, anyway, as long as you're here," Eddie ventured, "perhaps you could have a look at Mr. Lotson's body, to try and determine what kind of fire spell killed him?"

"Hmmm... looking at a dead body is not exactly my cup of tea," the Mad Magician frowned. "If you wish for me to assist with your investigation, I will require compensation..."

The two detectives looked at each other, uncertain. "What kind of compensation?" Crisco asked.

"Oh, it's not money I ask for," MAGES replied. "Just a can of Duck Tear Popper will do fine. I believe I saw some in the vending machine we passed on the way here..."

"You heard the lady," Bennie nodded to his partner, who sighed as he pulled out his wallet...

*At the medical examiner's office...*

Though Lotson's face and genitals had been covered up, MAGES. still seemed a bit queasy on seeing the cadaver... taking a long pull from her can of Duck Tear Popper, she swallowed hard before stating, "Well, let's begin, shall we...?" Setting the can down, she donned of a pair of exam gloves, and began her examination... "Mm-hmm... mm-hmm... Oh my."

"You find something?" Eddie queried.

The Mad Magician straightened up. "Well, it appears it wasn't a single fire spell that did him in... it looks more like four fire explosions at once, clustered closely together..."

"That's consistent with The Lynx's testimony," Eddie said to his partner.

"Anything else you can tell us?" Bennie asked.

MAGES. removed her gloves so she could take another sip of her soda. "...The Magical Energy Detector wasn't burned up by the same spells that killed Mr. Lotson... It seems it was deliberately burned out by a more focused spell... clearly the perpetrator wanted to ensure that no data could be retrieved from the device." She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I'll be frank with you, gentlemen, whoever did this wasn't some two-bit amateur... If you track them down, I would highly recommend having someone along with you who has a high Mentality stat at the very least."

"Yeah, too bad Mr. Lotson didn't have that," Bennie snarked. "Probably should ask Lady Vert to help us out on that one... Well, thanks for your help, Miss MAGES..."

"Certainly, detectives. I wish you good fortune in apprehending this criminal... Loochs tneve emag noitamina cisum." But then, a gurgling sound was heard, the Mad Magician's face suddenly going pale. "Gentlemen... Bathroom?"

"Right this way," Eddie said as she urgently escorted MAGES. out of the ME's room...

*Back with Lt. Van Braun...*

"So from what we've found, it seems Tenten Ryghts might've been telling the truth," Bennie postulated, "She just happened to be a witness, and Dirk Lotson probably wasn't working her case at the time he was killed."

"Well then, I suggest you go check his home and office and look into his case files," Lita suggested. Just then the phone rang. "Van Braun. ...you're kidding. Alright, thanks." She hung up with a heavy sigh. "That was the fire department... somebody just torched Mr. Lotson's office. Total loss."

"Oh, great," Eddie groaned, "Which means all his case files are probably ashes by now..."

"Somebody really doesn't want to be found out, huh?" Crisco snarked.

"Well, you'd better haul butt to his home before that goes up in ashes too," Van Braun ordered, the two detectives nodding as they quickly left...

APARTMENT OF

DIRK LOTSON

SEPTEMBER 19, 1:57 PM

"No sign of forced entry," Green observed as the NPC landlord led them to Lotson's door. "Looks like we made it in time..."

"Y'know, he mentioned he had a backup of his files here, just in case," the old shadow-man spoke up as he unlocked the door. "All yours, gentlemen..."

"Thanks," Bennie nodded as he and Eddie entered the apartment. "Well, no scorch marks, that's a good sign..." As they looked through the living room, he saw that the window was open. "Guy apparently didn't care about his heating bill...'

"Wait, you smell that?" Eddie interjected. "Smells like something's burning..."

"Oh, boy," Crisco sighed as he unholstered his gun, Eddie doing the same. "Maybe our pyromancer's doing a more targeted burn..."

The two detectives slowly proceeded into the kitchen, looking in every direction... "Clear," Crisco stated.

"Hey, I think the smell's coming from here," Green said, holstering his weapon as he opened the trashcan... "Bennie. Burnt laptop."

"Damn," the older detective muttered as he looked for himself. "Looks like another dead end..."

Eddie threw his head back and groaned in utter frustration. "How'd they get in? The door wasn't even forced..." His eyes opened, and he suddenly paused.

"Well, I'd say through the open window, but we're several stories up... What's up, partner?" Crisco asked as he realized Eddie was looking at something.

"I think there's something in that grate up there," the blond man pointed.

"What, like a camera?" Bennie squinted as he tried to see for himself.

"Nah, looks more like a mobile device. Can you get that step-stool from the other room?" Bennie nodded and did so, Eddie promptly stepping on top, reaching for the vent.

"You need a screwdriver?" Crisco asked.

"Nah, these screws aren't that tight," Eddie grunted as he undid one screw, then the other... then the vent abruptly dropped open, the mobile device falling to the ground with a loud clattering sound. "Whoops..."

"Aw, don't worry about it," Bennie shrugged. "I hear these things can survive getting run over by a semi these days..." Picking up the device, he looked over it in confusion. "Where's the on/off switch?"

"I think you gotta press and hold the button on top," Eddie suggested as he stepped down.

Crisco did as instructed, and sure enough the screen lit up, showing a numerical keypad. "Aw, great, what's the code to get in this thing?"

"I think there's numbers on the back," Green pointed out. Sure enough, '2-1-3-2' was written on the back of the mobile device.

"OK, let's give it a try..." Bennie muttered as he entered the code... "Hey, it worked, we're in!" His partner walked to Bennie's side to get a better look. "Hey looks like a note of some sort..." the detective began to read,

'To whom it may concern,

If you're reading this, you're either a thief with a keen eye, or you're a member of law enforcement searching my apartment. If the latter is true, then it's safe to assume that I'm either dead or incapacitated. In which case, the information contained on this device may be of value to you. I have made a backup of all my recent cases on here, which I hope you can use to find whoever killed or injured me...'

"Huh, so he had an insurance policy in case he bought it," Eddie observed.

"Wait, there's more," stated Bennie...

'However, the case files on this device are encrypted, and can only be deciphered by a computer forensics expert. So sorry, thieves, you're outta luck, unless you've got friends on the dark Internep... But if you're cops, then I wish you luck in finding my assailant/killer.

-Dirk Lotson, Private Investigator.'

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's get this down to the lab!" said Green.

"Yeah, before our pyromancer flies back in through the window again," Crisco quipped...

FORENSICS LAB

CYBER DIVISION

SEPTEMBER 19, 3:16 PM

"Aaaaand... we're in!" declared the NPC with a final dramatic press of the Enter button, the detectives watching as the jumble of seemingly-random symbols suddenly rearranged themselves into more coherent words and sentences. "Honestly, whoever encrypted this was a rank amateur..."

"Well, Lotson just did it to make it useless to thieves," Green pointed out.

"OK, let's start with his case file on The Lynx, and see if there's anything there," Crisco instructed.

"Alright," the technician nodded, typing on the keyboard, pulling up The Lynx's file. The three of them then started reading through Lotson's notes...

"Doesn't look like he was making much progress..." Eddie mused. "Wait, what's that?"

Bennie read off, "'Today, I learned that The Lynx actually has the face of Rei Ryghts. While most people think they're one and the same, it doesn't add up. I need to look further into this...' So he found out her identity at the same time we did..." He then continued, "Next entry: 'I learned that the army shut down a cloning laboratory a couple months back. My Army contact told me that they were trying to create their own CPU from Rei Ryghts' DNA, and that there was a victim who was put in witness protection. He wouldn't tell me who or where though... but I think I have an idea how to track her down. I need to find this girl... even if she isn't The Lynx, her existence could be a threat to Leanbox and maybe even Gamindustri as a whole...'"

"And that's the last entry," the technician confirmed.

"OK, see if you can't print this off so we can take it to the DA," Bennie requested...

*At the District Attorney's office...*

"So what are you saying?" Jared said with a stony face.

"We're thinking that Lotson was trying to track down that woman the army rescued from those scientists that created Tenten Ryghts," Eddie explained.

"And he was using Miss MAGES' Magic Energy Detector to try and track her down," Bennie added.

"So, you think he found that woman, and then she fricasseed him," Rizzoli summarized.

"Definitely a possibility," Eddie shrugged.

"Even if what you say is true," Jared argued, "How would this girl have gotten the Share Energy to have that kind of power?"

"Well, Miss Ryghts herself isn't exactly ugly," Green pointed out. "This girl could've advertised herself in catalogs or calendars or something like that... 'sex sells', as they say."

"Wonderful," sighed Allen, who had been quietly listening to the conversation. "So now you want to prosecute this lady- who might just be an innocent victim- based on the theories of a private investigator?!"

"Not necessarily," Eddie cut in. "When Miss Ryghts was handling that petty officer's court-martial, she managed to lure in the real killer, and got him to confess on the stand. Maybe we could try something similar, bring the lady in to Tenten's trial under a plausible pretense, have McCoy and Ryghts cross-examine her and see if she slips..."

"But in order to do that, we're gonna need the lady's name," Crisco stated.

"And we'll have to bring Rei Ryghts in on it," Jared supplemented.

"You're willing to go along with this?" Curmudgeon glared at his subordinate.

"You know me, Allen," Jared didn't flinch. "At the end of the day, all I want is justice for the victim. And if that means colluding with the defense, then so be it."

The balding DA bit his lip as he pondered for a few moments, before finally relenting and giving them the name of the woman...

*To be continued...*