The papers and photographs scattered across the floor of his apartment were starting to blend together. Mako knew he should take a break, but there was something he was missing. The problem was, Mako didn't know what he was missing. He was so absorbed at staring at everything around him that he barely heard the knock on his door.
He had reported what the Light Spirit had told them to a weary Chief Roan after the fight with the spirits that afternoon. The interim chief told him that he would meet with everyone first thing in the morning to decide on how to move forward with the case. So that left Mako alone in his apartment with every piece of evidence they had gathered so far.
Running a hand through his messy hair, he jumped over the mess on his floor to answer the door. To his surprise, Soraya was standing on the other side, a bag in her arms. Puzzled, he said, "Hello."
Soraya raised an eyebrow and shifted the bag in her arms to get straight to the point. "Have you eaten?"
"What?"
"Food…nourishment…needed for survival…" she repeated sarcastically. She practically pushed him out of the way to get into his apartment and paid no attention to his grumbling about this action. "I brought tentacle noodles. But I wasn't sure if you liked water tribe food, so I picked up some seaweed wraps and octopus fritters."
"Thanks?" Mako shut the door and watched her make room on his table to unpack her bag.
She was wearing the traditional blue dress of the water nation instead of her White Lotus uniform. He did notice that she hadn't changed her hairstyle. Thin loops of brown hair stretched from her forehead back into the long ponytail. Why was he looking at her hair? It was then that Mako noticed her staring back at him, holding out a pair of chopsticks. The look of query on her face made him think he had missed something.
"What?"
"I asked if you wanted to join me." Soraya waved the chopsticks to emphasize her words. With a low chuckle, she added, "You seem to be in an entirely different world."
Mako really hoped his cheeks weren't burning as red as they felt. He was just tired, he told himself. That's why he had noticed the small silver moon charm she wore around her neck. Snapping back to reality, he muttered, "I'm not picky. Tentacle noodles are fine."
"Great. I know I always work better on a full stomach."
Crossing his arms, Mako didn't move. "What are you doing here?"
Soraya stopped lifting a fritter to her mouth to reply, "I thought that was obvious. I'm here to help."
"Then why aren't you with Korra?"
"Honestly, I figured you'd be doing the sort of work I could help with," she shrugged. "The Avatar is very action-forward. Which is fine, we did learn new information. But she is not a police officer…you know the value of investigating."
She was right. He had left Korra and the others to come back to his apartment to sift through all the clues the department had collected. Photographs of the crime scene were plastered on his walls and he had taken to tossing the papers every which way whenever they frustrated him. Hence the paper covered room.
"Mako, you need to eat," urged Soraya. Again, she was right. His stomach growled and the sound of noodles and fritters sounded delicious. He didn't know what to say as he stepped over the mess he had made to reach the table. She picked up a folder and opened it to begin reading. "Pari seems just like any other officer on the force. Entered the Metalbending Academy at the age of eighteen. Scored average marks and graduated in the middle of her class. Not bad, but not a stand out either. Looks like she's been on patrol for almost six months now."
"Yeah, she was partnered with Ming, who died in the attack. New recruits spend a minimum of six months shadowing an older officer to learn the City. Then the Chief will decide where they'll be most useful. I think she had about two weeks left before she was given a permanent assignment."
Soraya flipped the page in a copy of Pari's personnel file to keep reading. "Looks like Ming said she was friendly, but quiet. Nothing good or bad. Seems very average."
Mako shrugged. He had only said hello to Pari on a handful of occasions. She was a metalbending officer and he was detective. They didn't cross paths much. In fact, when they had discovered she was missing, he had to look at her picture to remember who she was. Like Soraya said, Pari was average and blended in with the rest of the new recruits.
"She has a small personnel file, even for just being on the force for a few months. The only thing in here besides the mandatory reviews is an incident report from her last year at the Academy. Seems she was injured by some cables…but was fine except for some scaring around her thigh. I mean, how boring can someone be?"
"Except she assisted in the biggest massacre the Republic City Police have ever had." Soraya didn't have a reply to Mako's statement. Instead, she put down Pari's file to pick up another and some chopsticks.
They sat in silence for a few hours, occasionally passing a folder or photograph, but mostly keeping to themselves. Mako had pulled every incident file involving spirits from the past five years. Nothing that Mako had linked spirits to Officer Pari or even to the Republic City Police Force. Although, most of the officers felt that the Chief had been the main target of the attack. The evidence suggested she had been tortured before being killed.
But the question became were they torturing her for their own pleasure or for information? There were plenty of people in the world that would have wanted to see Lin Beifong suffer. She had made plenty of enemies over the years. But some of the officers believed the killers had been after information. Mako agreed with this theory, because no one had taken credit for the attack on the Station. If this was just about revenge or showing the police that even they weren't safe, someone would be bragging. Unfortunately, they had no way of knowing if the killers got the information they were looking for. And if they did, what was coming next?
Soraya let out a deep sigh. The sun had set a while ago and the food was long gone. Mako hadn't even bothered to ask how long she intended to stay. Mako threw the folder he had just read through into his 'Not Relevant' pile. Although there wasn't a 'Relevant' pile. So, it was just a pile of folders and reports.
"Apart from being around when the spirit portal was opened, did Chief Beifong have any other connection to the spirit world?" asked Soraya. She was leaning back in the chair, her eyes closed, clearly frustrated with their lack of progress.
"Not really…Chief wasn't a spiritual person. In fact, I don't think she's even been to the spirit world." Mako thought back to fighting Unalaq and realized that Chief Beifong had been in Republic City the entire time. "She does interact with spirit here in the City though…after the spirit vines took over and the spirits moved in, she worked with the Avatar and other city officials to find some sort of peace between the two worlds."
Soraya frowned. "But if this was about being angry with the way the spirits have been handled in Republic City, then why not attack the President or the Avatar? Wasn't the Air Nation involved in settling the spirits?"
"Not to mention, most of that took place years ago. The portal in Republic City has been here for almost a year…"
"So, we still don't have a motive," concluded Soraya with a sigh. She stretched her arms into the air and let out a long yawn. "I should get going. Chief Roan's meeting is in a few hours."
"I'll see you then." Mako's muscle ached as he stood to walk her to the door. "Thanks for keeping me company."
"Sorry we didn't make any progress."
"We'll try again after some sleep…see you at the meeting."
The meeting itself was a big waste of time in Mako's opinion. Mainly, it was to update the rest of the department on the results of the investigation and autopsies. Then Chief Roan had told them about the involvement of the spirits and the room went haywire. Many of the officers were calling for blood, or rather, whatever it was that happened to spirits when they were hurt.
Mako tuned out the officers around him. Let them go after the spirits, but someone still had to figure out why spirits were after the Chief in the first place. He opened the autopsy reports in his hands, flipping past the other seven officers to Chief Beifong's. The cause of death was still listed as unknown. He felt a burning of anger in his chest; not only could they not find her killers, but they didn't even know how she died.
The coroner had listed ever mark on her body, recent or from the past. She had taken quite a beating, even with her armor on. Her arms, torso, and legs were covered in bruises. But most of the damage had been from the attack. Honestly, he thought there would be more scars from her years of service. But other than the scars on her face and one on her thigh, there was very little to note. And the circular scar that wrapped around her thigh had been relatively recent; the coroner suspected it had occurred in the past year.
Something clicked in his head. A circular scar on the thigh that happened about a year ago. What was it that Soraya had said last night, that there was an incident report from Pari's last year at the Academy? Seems she was injured by some cables…but was fine except for some scaring around her thigh. The Chief had been in her fifties and on the force for most of her life. It didn't make sense that she would only have the one lasting injury.
He practically ran from the meeting as Chief Roan was giving orders for bringing the spirits to justice. Sprinting down the hallway, he went into the office where the personnel files were kept. The Chief's had already been pulled and was sitting on the desk. Unlike the single, thin folder that was Pari's, the Chief had an entire box. Mako wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for as he sifted through report after report.
After the first dozen injury reports, he knew there was no way that the body lying in autopsy was Lin Beifong. He didn't know how it was possible, but it wasn't her. Then the thought crossed his mind that he knew where Officer Pari was. That's why no one could find her; why Korra couldn't see her through the vines. Pari was dead, but she was wearing the Chief's face and armor.
Mako's heart was hammering as the pieces fell into place. At first, he turned to go back to Chief Roan and tell him what he had discovered but stopped at the door. How was he going to explain this? That Pari had the Chief's face, but wasn't really the Chief? They were going to think he was crazy. He needed to get back to Air Temple Island and tell Korra. She would believe him and together with the rest of the team, they would find the answers.
As he hurried toward the entrance of the Police Station, he realized what this meant: Lin Beifong was alive. If Pari was the person in autopsy, then Chief Beifong was still alive. He could still save her and she could set everything right. He broke into a jog, eager to bring this new information to Korra and the others.
But just as he was passing the radio room, he heard a female voice. No one should be there; everyone was still in the meeting with Roan. He peaked in the door, ready to tell whoever it was to get out, when he recognized the looped hair. It was Soraya, her back to him, talking into a radio. For some reason, he paused at the door, listening carefully.
"I couldn't find anything that directly linked a specific spirit…" she was saying. "Mako gave me access to all his files, but it was a dead end."
She paused, listening to whomever was on the other side of the call.
"The avatar closed up the portal in the City. You may be able to get to one of the Poles faster than I could. Someone may be watching to see if anyone tries to get through." Again, she paused. "No. Which means they aren't finished. When the Firelord arrives, I'll be sure to stay close."
Who was she talking to? What did Firelord Izumi have to do with any of this? Mako had thought at first that she was reporting back to the White Lotus, but this seemed different. Especially when she said, "Don't worry. The Avatar doesn't know of the White Lotus' or the Order's involvement. I'll be sure to keep it that way."
Mako's stomach dropped. The White Lotus had been involved in the attack on the department? One thing was clear, Soraya knew more than she was telling. And he had given her access to all the department's files. He had to get back to Air Temple Island to warn the others.