Prologue

Like the snake that's sending us out to die, the new girl and I shed our skins. We hung up our suits and traded them for plainclothes. It was tough to part ways with my favorite pinstripe suit, but I was dancing to the tune of Chief Enma's big band. I had no choice but to follow the steps.

The new girl and I kept our fedora hats and suspenders. What's Chief Enma gonna make us wear? Deerstalkers? Hah!

To Chief Enma's credit, we weren't completely abandoned. City PD gets a lot of impounded cars in the lot. Kiara and I got to choose our ride - our Trojan horse into the dark underbelly of the criminal world.

I gave the new girl a break. I let her choose our ride. She went for the sleek brown convertible. A fancy eight-cylinder steel coffin. The latest 1951 model. We towed it in from one of the smaller bird gangs from the outskirts of town. The Hawkers of Agricola District, perhaps. Maybe the Owl Pals of Parliament Road.

Birds of a feather, I guess.

We took the keys from one of the Uniforms and I took the wheel. I held that wheel and felt the roar of that V8.

For a moment, I felt young again. Like the young girl that I was from before I got my draft letters.

Then, sunlight poured into the impound lot and I… gah!

…

"Ame-senpai, are you alright!?" Kiara gasped, watching Ame with utter concern.

"I'm alright, I'm alright…" Ame shielded her eyes from the sunlight, "It's just that… it's been a while since I've been on duty at daytime."

Kiara frowned, watching the usually stoic Ame toss and turn in the driver's seat.

"You've got yourself an eighteen-karat run of bad luck, kid." Ame hissed, "Getting partnered with someone like me. I've got a spotty record. I don't have a gun. I can't even see well in the freaking daytime!"

This time, Kiara shook her head and smiled at Ame.

"I don't know anything about your record or how you lost your gun, senpai, but I believe everyone has a chance to redeem themselves." The Phoenix reached into her pant pocket and brought out a case of sunglasses, "Who knows? This might be your chance to prove yourself to Chief Enma and Detective Ouro!"

"Prove myself…" Ame winced.

She took the sunglasses from Kiara and put them on. True enough, the glare of the sunlight became less harsh.

"See?" Kiara beamed.

Ame snorted and turned away from her junior.

"Don't get cheeky, new kid." Ame pouted.

Kiara chuckled. Ame, on the other hand, felt her frown mellow down a little bit.

"So, where are we going, senpai?" Kiara asked.

Ame drove the car out of the impound lot and they were greeted by a large billboard for canned fruit. The Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery, it read. They were advertising their wide selection of canned fruits. The address of the cannery was printed out at the bottom.

She turned to her junior and answered, "The cannery on Ocean Street. We're gonna stake out the Shrimps first."

…

Ame and Kiara drove their convertible north towards Ocean Street. The moment they crossed the 'border' from Central to North, shady characters started appearing in the streets. Men and women wearing shrimp masks or shrimp-shaped pins on their shirts or suits walked around the northern city blocks like they owned the place.

In one way or another, the Shrimps did own the place.

Officers of City PD patrolled the place too, but they were few and far in between. The closer Ame and Kiara got to Ocean Street, the fewer the officers they saw out and about.

Soon enough, the two plainclothes detectives arrived at the cannery. They didn't need to get out of their car to see a long line of people outside that factory. Ame was sure that they weren't being given food or anything. Canned fruit was a luxury in this town, after all.

Kiara tapped Ame's shoulder, leaned towards her in the car and whispered, "Looks like they're lining up for work."

"Work?" Ame raised her brow, "How do you know that?"

"There's a sign posted on the side entrance." Kiara explained happily, "It says, 'help wanted - delivery and procurement' "

Ame turned to the side entrance. She could see the paper posted by the door, but there was no way she could read what was on it.

"How the hell did you read that from here!?" Ame gasped.

"Heheh~" Kiara pointed to her bright pink eyes and grinned proudly, "Us birds have sharp eyes, senpai !"

"Huh. I guess you learn something everyday." Ame hummed. She patted Kiara's shoulder and gave the junior her first orders, "Alright then kiddo. I want you to case out the place. I need to call HQ about this cannery."

"Will do, senpai !" Kiara saluted Ame. She hopped out of the car and started going around the outskirts of the cannery.

Ame, on the other hand, casually sauntered over to one of the gamewell Police boxes nearby. Her bright blue eyes darted around the place from behind her sunglasses. Then, once she was sure that no one was looking, she opened the box and took the phone.

"Operator, give me dispatch." Ame spoke firmly.

A voice answered her from the other end, " Putting you through now. "

Ame heard a click. Then, she continued her spiel, "Watson. Badge seven-three-three-one."

However, there was a long delay before Ame heard anything else. After a minute or so, someone finally picked up.

" Doctor Ninomae, City PD Forensics. " Ina's voice reached Ame's ear.

"Ina?" Ame gasped.

" Oh… It's you. I was wondering why Dispatch called me." Ina spoke with passive aggressiveness, " I just can't get rid of you, can I? "

"Did Chief Enma cut me off from Dispatch too?" Ame growled.

" Seems like it ." Ina heaved an audible, exasperated sigh, " If you're gonna make a call to City PD, have them patch you through to Forensics from now on. I may or may not answer. "

"C'mon, Ina. Help me out here." Ame pleaded, "I'll buy you that new-fangled 'instant' coffee that you seem to like. One week's supply."

" H-how did you know I like that!? " Ina gasped, obviously flustered.

"I'm a crappy detective, Ina, but I'm still a detective." Ame answered.

" Make it two weeks supply and you've got a deal. "

"Deal."

Ina heaved another sigh and finally conceded, " Fine. How can I help, detective? "

Ame leaned against the gamewell phone box and spoke, "I need to know if there are any open job ads for the Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery on the newspaper classifieds. Ads for delivery and procurement, specifically."

" Hold on. " Ina answered. She paused for about a minute or so, " There should be no standing ads for work at the Lemon Shark cannery on the classifieds. The last one was from a year ago. Why do you ask? "

"There's a long line of people looking to get work at the cannery." Ame explained, "If there's no real job openings, then what are they all here for?"

" Yeah. Seems fishy to me. "

"Shrimpy, even." Ame added.

" Focus on your work, Ame. " Ina reminded.

While Ame was speaking, she saw Kiara prancing happily towards her from the factory.

"I gotta go, Ina. Thanks again." Ame whispered.

She hung up the phone and walked away from the gamewell. Ame walked towards Kiara and met her halfway.

"Any leads, kiddo?" Ame asked.

"Mhm~!" Kiara nodded happily, "I got us in line for the job opening! Our turn's coming up soon!"

Ame blinked. The sunglasses she wore slid down the bridge of her nose. Then, she gasped, "You WHAT!?"

Kiara, however, seemed completely oblivious to what she just did. She was smiling from ear to ear!

This is gonna be a long day…

...

Queenpins

Lemon Chicken

...

To Be Continued