To yellow 14: Oh, there's no way they can just get him to flip like that, not with Night Bat leaning on him. Still, it's at least a plan, and something for them to work toward in the larger story of this "side-series." The "SLD Case Reports" are (intentionally) formatted similar to a police procedural.
To Butterfly: I'm glad you enjoyed "The Darkest Nights"! Bri will be back again in "Group Therapy" (for obvious reasons). But before then I also have a one-shot with her and Felix that will publish right after this "Case Report."
The radio crackled to life as Sergeant Madeleine de Gouges turned onto the Rue de Rivoli to continue their patrol route on the east side of Paris north of the Seine. The sky overhead was clear and bright on this early November afternoon, without a cloud in the sky. "We have a report of a carjacking in the 13th Arrondissement," announced Élodie Carré, the SLD's dispatcher.
"We're responding to carjackings now?" Ray asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow at Gouger from the passenger seat. "What's the 'super' part?"
Élodie paused for a moment, the keys of her keyboard clicking. "The victim said that she stopped because she hit a bump in the road and thought she had run over something. She got out of the car to investigate but a sudden gust of wind knocked her to the ground. She caught a glimpse of a mound of earth beneath the car, but it disappeared as she watched. Before she knew what was happening, the car door slammed shut and the car sped off."
"So we've at least got some sort of potential elemental manipulation," observed Gouger, mouth twisted up in concentration. Quickly she ran through the possibilities in her head. "Could it be a miraculous?"
"Just based on the powers, that does sound like Tyran-X," Ray observed.
"Possible, but unclear," Élodie answered. "Corner of Sand and Italie. Respond and evaluate."
"That's halfway across the city," Gouger argued. "Don't we have anyone closer?"
"Something like this, I'm steering the regular police clear until we know what's up," Élodie informed her. "And Ramus and Moreau are even further away."
"Of course they are." Ray rolled his eyes. "Still, chasing down a rogue miraculous user sounds like a lot more fun than explaining to another old lady that 'Monsieur Mitaines' probably wasn't eaten by an alien!"
Gouger shrugged, flipped on the car's siren, and pulled a U-turn across traffic before she accelerated down the street. "Or that supposed 'invisible man' who turned out to just be insane?"
Ray chuckled. "That was probably the most… unique… public indecency call I've ever gotten!"
"I was not disappointed to turn that one back over to the regular police."
"Not at all," Ray agreed. He hummed in amusement. "I heard he thought he could walk through walls at the prison. The wall itself disagreed, if his concussion was anything to go by!"
With a sharp turn toward the Pont Neuf they were across the river. Gouger took a measured breath and put on her game face. After spending four years on the street, two in the special Tactical Response Unit until its dissolution after Hawk Moth's defeat, and the following year in the BRI, getting recruited to the new Superhero Liaison Department had been a dream come true. The Tactical Response Unit had proven to be powerless against the Akumas and had resigned itself to doing nothing more than keeping civilians out of the way until the heroes arrived. Not so the SLD; Prefect Raincomprix had promised that this Department would be different. Rather than be relegated to a glorified crowd control unit, they would be actively investigating super-powered crimes. Rather than watching from the sidelines, they would actually assist the Heroes of Paris against some of the threats they face. Her investigative experience was still somewhat limited – she had come up in Public Security, not the Judicial Police – but that hadn't mattered to Raincomprix. He needed people he trusted.
"What do you think this will be, Sarge?" Ray wondered as they turned onto Sand. "Miraculous? Tech? Alien? Alien miraculous tech? What's your money on?"
Not taking her eyes off the road, Gouger gave him a deadpan look. "We can't jump to any conclusions," she warned him.
"Oh, I know," he replied, shrugging. "Still fun to speculate."
Traffic south of the river was light for the time of day, and the patrol car arrived at the crime scene only about ten minutes after receiving the call. The victim, a woman in her forties with bottle-blonde hair and wearing a professional suit, stood on the street corner, arms folded, drumming her fingers on her elbow. The two officers exchanged a dubious look before exiting their car and approaching her.
"It took you people long enough to get here," the woman complained irritably, rubbing her arm in agitation. "I've been waiting here forever because someone stole my car! I have places I'm supposed to be!"
"We understand that, Madame," Gouger assured her, nodding. "We will do everything in our power to find the person responsible."
"And recover the vehicle," added Ray, giving Gouger a look.
Gouger nodded. "Of course." She pressed two buttons on her tablet. "If we're going to do that, though, first we need your information – name, residency, description of the vehicle…"
"My name is Gabrielle Sartine," she began, her voice trembling. "I live in the 5th Arrondissement, um, Rue Larrey. I teach at Sorbonne University."
"Good – that's good, Mme Sartine," Ray encouraged her. "You're doing fine. Now can you describe your vehicle?"
"A blue 2019 Renault Clio," she replied, her eyes running up and down the street anxiously.
"Can we see your license?" asked Gouger.
Mme Sartine gasped, wide-eyed in shock, patting her sides . "My–my purse! It was in the car!"
Gouger started making notes on her tablet. "Did you have anything else in your purse? Wallet, cash, ATM card…"
"Yes, all of that," she answered, nodding. "Makeup, PDA… My university computer was in the trunk. My daughter's backpack was in the passenger seat – I'd only just dropped her off at her after-school program. And they got all my keys: apartment, university, bank box…"
Gouger cocked her head. "Which bank?"
"BNP – the one closest to the University."
Gouger raised her eyebrow at Ray, and he stepped away before hitting the button on his radio. "Élodie, send Lt to the BNP near Sorbonne University, 5th Arrondissement. Victim has a box there, and the perp got her key. They also got her apartment key."
While he was on the radio, Gouger turned her attention back to the victim. "Tell me about the incident," she instructed her. "What did you see? Anything unusual?" Mme Sartine shook her head hesitantly but stopped, her mouth turning down into a frown. "There's something," Gouger pressed.
The other woman nodded, slowly but gaining confidence. "I was waiting at the light when I thought I saw a young man on the corner watching my car a little too closely – you know that feeling you get, right? Like your skin is crawling?"
Gouger nodded. "Of course. Can you describe him?"
Mme Sartine shrugged. "He looked… average. Average height, average build, didn't look any different from a hundred students I see every day at the University."
Gouger furrowed her brows and cocked her head. "Do you think he was a student? Might you have recognized him from the University?"
"I–I don't know. I teach so many students every semester…"
"Was he dressed unusually?" Gouger asked next. "Funny outfit, colorful suit, fancy jewelry…? Any of that ringing a bell?"
The woman shook her head. "No. I think he was wearing one of those hoodie sweatshirts or something like that – green, I think? Nothing exciting. I couldn't describe him any more than that."
"Okay, you're doing fine. But what about describing him? Tall or short? Hair light, dark, or somewhere in between?"
"Maybe a little taller than me. Fair skin. I think his hair was black."
Him and half of Paris, thought Gouger. Nevertheless, she entered the information into the correct lines on her reporting form. She eyed Mme Sartine carefully. Even with the information they had now, it was hardly anything to go off of. Without more than this, the chances of finding the criminal or the stolen car were next to nil. "What about the incident itself?" she asked next. "You told the operator that he was manipulating earth and air. Can you describe it?"
"I–what?" the woman asked, head cocking in confusion. "No, it–it must have just been really windy for a couple of mintues. It felt like I was being blown off my feet. And the dirt… I don't know. Maybe I was confused."
"Madame," Gouger interrupted, holding up a hand to forestall her protestations, "Let's be honest here. There hasn't been an unusual level of wind all day. The reason my partner and I are here is because we believe you. If you think you were attacked by someone who could cause earth to move and create gusts of air so powerful they could knock you from your feet, then we will assume that is what happened."
She sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried people would think I was losing my mind. I mean, I know the Heroes of Paris are around, and I still remember Stormy Weather, but all the same. Even with all of that, who actually expects to have their car stolen by someone playing with soil?"
"Describe it," Gouger instructed.
"I mean, it wasn't all that much," was the unhelpful response. "I was blown off my feet and fell to the ground. The earth under my care was there one minute, and gone the next. I'm not sure what else I can say."
Seeing Ray walking over, Gouger nodded and stepped away. "I assure you, we will find this man who attacked you – and hopefully we will recover your vehicle," she told her before she turned to face Ray, who had a troubled look on his face.
"Struck out at the bank," he reported. "Bank security reports nothing unusual whatsoever. Lt is going to check the apartment building next."
"Then what's the look for?" she asked sharply.
"I think we're missing something," he began slowly.
The radio on Gouger's shoulder crackled. "We have an alert from the Sorbonne campus police for a super-powered disturbance," reported Élodie. "A building burst into flames spontaneously. Ramus and Moreau are en route but request backup. A local patrol is less than a block from your location to assist your victim."
"Something like that," Ray commented.
"Acknowledged," Gouger responded immediately into the radio. "On our way." She started toward the car but hesitated, glancing over at the victim, who was giving them a curious look. "Madame," she began, "we may have some new information about the person responsible for your car theft. Another officer will be here shortly to escort you home."
Mme Sartine nodded hesitantly as the two officers quickly jumped into their car. "O–okay."
Gouger hit the button to turn on their lights and siren as they tore up the street, weaving through traffic to avoid a couple pedestrians and skirt past a line of cars. Smoke billowed into the sky from a location to their north, and Gouger steered directly toward it. "From the witness description it doesn't sound like we're dealing with a miraculous here," she explained. "Though we can't rule it out of course."
"Still, it does sound like Tyran-X's powers," Ray pointed out.
"Not his MO."
"Fire is currently on the scene," Élodie told them. "Their water isn't even touching the flames."
"ETA one minute," Ramus announced over the radio.
"Same," Gouger replied, pulling a sharp turn onto the University campus.
"So what the hell are we walking into?" wondered Ray.
