Prologue
Early the next morning, when I was having breakfast with Kiara, a car rolled into the driveway of my partner's home in the Projects. It was a modest pre-war car model that had been maintained better than most of the vehicles of City PD. The car's owner, Sergeant Subaru Ooozora, stepped out of the vehicle from the driver's seat wearing her police uniform.
Subaru glanced around the neighborhood, searching for prying eyes aside from mine. All the while, she kept her hand near the pistol she wore by her hip. Even after her promotion to a desk job, Subaru's beat cop instincts were as sharp as ever. When she found that the coast was clear, her hand wandered away from her gun and she opened the passenger's seat. Her passenger, my old friend Ina, stepped out this time.
As always, Ina had a bedhead and was wearing her lab coat with sleeves that were a tad bit too long. However, unlike her usual sleep-deprived self, Ina was wide awake. That was rarely a good sign coming from her.
The brief spell of peace and quiet that I enjoyed was coming to an end.
Kiara made two more cups of coffee.
It was time to get back to work.
…
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Kiara welcomed Ina and Subaru into her house and served them their coffee.
"There's a lot of things that Dr. Ninomae and I would like to talk with you." Subaru took her seat and glanced out the kitchen window, "We wanted to speak privately about it - somewhere where the walls didn't have ears."
"Humu humu." Ina nodded, taking her coffee and gulping down half of it in one go, "Before anything else, did you learn anything new about the Eugenia Medical Center?"
"Quite a bit." Ame admitted, "Though, that snake Detective Ouro strong-armed us into promising to tell her what we found out."
"Have you already talked to Detective Ouro about it?" Subaru asked.
"Not yet." Kiara answered this time, "We were going to tell her when we go into HQ this morning."
"I'd advise against it, you two." Subaru warned plainly, sipping her coffee with a frown, "I fear that there may be more moles in City PD than I first thought. Detective Ouro could be one of them."
"Well, she did try to corner us in Eugenia Medical." Ame hummed.
Kiara shook her head and promptly countered, "But if Detective Ouro is a mole, then she would have had more than enough time to tip off the Shrimps or the Deadbeats."
"She could be playing the long game." Ame argued back, "That snake will bite us when we least expect it!"
"Or she could just be focused on building up her career." Kiara insisted.
Ame and Kiara glared at each other, unwilling to let go of their theories.
Subaru cleared her throat and gave her assessment. "Whatever it is, we don't know whose loyalties lie where. It's better to keep your cards close to your chests. I'll make up some sort of excuse to Detective Ouro in the meantime." She sipped her coffee again and set her mug down onto the table, "At the same time, I believe it would be best for you two to avoid going to City PD HQ if you can help it."
"Huh…!?" Ame and Kiara piped up in tandem.
Ina folded her arms and explained her frustration, "Some folks from the Forensics Department and Technical Services were poking around Ame's office. They somehow got the key and were rifling through your casefiles."
"They got into my office!?" Ame gasped.
"I tried confronting them, but they said it was a scheduled audit of some sort." Ina explained bitterly, "I'm sorry I couldn't do much else." She then looked into Ame's eyes and asked, "But I'm right to believe that those wannabe gumshoes wouldn't have found anything about the 'special operation', correct?"
"Yeah." Ame nodded confidently, "I thought that Chief Enma's operation was fishy from the start, so I kept all my notes in my pocket notebook." She then pointed to her head, "The rest I keep in my noggin."
"Heh, you really haven't changed since our Police Academy days, huh?" Ina reminisced fondly. She then folded her arms and warned, "But there are bad elements on the move in our own backyard, Ame." Her eyes then turned to Kiara now and she asked, "Would you be able to let Ame stay with you in your house for a little while longer, Detective Takanashi?"
Kiara paused.
"S-sure, I don't mind." Kiara played with a lock of her hair, "But wouldn't it be better for Ame to stay with you, Ina? The two of you are old friends, right?"
"Normally, I would have preferred it if Ame stayed in my house, yes." Ina heaved a sigh, "But it's a poorly kept secret that Ame and I are close friends. As for you, Detective Takanashi, you're a fresh face in the department." Ina's purple eyes shimmered and she smirked, "You haven't filed your address in the records of City PD yet haven't you?"
"I haven't." Kiara admitted.
"Then your place is perfect for now, Detective Takanashi!" Subaru beamed and raised her mug.
"Looks like I'll be staying here a little while longer, Kiara." Ame scratched the back of her head.
"I don't mind at all!" Kiara smiled, "Make yourself at home and stay as long as you need to."
"I'll be in your care." Ame smiled back, "At least until Ina and Subaru can finish canvassing the staff of Central."
Ina watched the friendly back-and-forth between Ame and Kiara. The slightest of frowns formed on her lips, but she turned away and finished off her coffee. The Forensics doctor turned her eyes to her wristwatch and she gasped.
"It's already this late!" Ina panicked, "Subaru and I should get going."
"Mhm!" Subaru downed her mug of coffee as well, "If anything important comes up, we'll drop by here again for a cup of coffee - or we'll leave something in the mailbox."
"Humu humu." Ina agreed, "I'll have your costumes for the Swingwell infiltration delivered here as well. It'll be ready in two more days."
Subaru then raised up her pointer finger and reminded, "And remember - avoid calling Dispatch when I'm not on duty as Watch Commander. 8AM to 4PM, got it?"
"Got it." Ame and Kiara answered in unison.
Ina and Subaru got up from their seats and started to make their way back to their car. On their way out, though, Ina turned back to Ame and Kiara and remembered something,
"Oh right! Before we head out - is there anything that you want me to look into for you?" Ina asked, "I'll keep my work away from the rest of the Forensics Department, so don't worry."
Ame rubbed her chin and racked her brains.
"If you can dig up anything on the lieutenants of the two gangs, that'd be great." Ame requested, "Rap sheets, criminal history and other useful information. We've got to corner Bloop and Death-sensei immediately."
"I'll see what I can do." Ina nodded, "Anything else?"
"Ah!" Kiara piped up this time, "Would you be able to look up military weapons that were not returned to the armories? Specifically - Tommy Guns."
"Weapons are more of a Technical Services deal, so I'll be helping you folks there. I'll be discreet too!" Subaru offered gamely, "Though, the thought of ex-military weapons on the streets is pretty scary."
"It's the world we live in, Subaru." Ame wore a defeated smile.
With that, Subaru and Ina waved goodbye. Ame and Kiara waved back and watched them drive out of the Projects.
Kiara turned towards Ame now and asked, "So what's the plan for us now, Ame?"
"We're going back to the fruit cannery and report in for work today and tomorrow. We'll have to report to Gura bout Fauna and Irys too." Ame answered confidently, "Aside from that, we have to find out what we can about Gura's operation there - and get some more dirt on Bloop. If we can get Gura to trust us more than that musclehead, then we'll have a better chance to stop this war."
"Then, when we get our costumes from Ina, we'll do the same thing with Calli and Death-sensei, right?" Kiara guessed.
"You're catching on faster than I thought." Ame smirked and nodded. She then patted Kiara's shoulder, "So come on - let's clear out the table and get going. We've got a pair of sharks to deal with!"
"You got it!" Kiara cheered.
Ame and Kiara went back inside the house and got ready to dive deep into the domain of the Shrimps gang once more.
…
Queenpins
Homebrewed Trouble
…
To Be Continued