Chapter 5: Paper trail
It's been two weeks since the hitmen incident, Anna and Kiryu has, since then, moved in with the Carlino Family for protection. Kiryu would sometimes take Anna out for the park, a playground. But knowing that their lives are at stake, the goons of the mobs and bend cops can come at them at any time, they were forced to leave early for the safety of Carlino's family estate area. But there was still one naggy detail that keeps haunting Kiryu's mind. Who killed Elizabeth Townley? Was it don Castagella The Black Hand? Or was it Mayor Wilson, who was running for a second term to make up for his lacklustering first term? Whoever did it must have a plan in mind to murder Elizabeth Townley, but the still what purpose would it serve? One morning in don's Carlino's dining room, Kiryu was sitting in the corner reading the newspaper, he was still searching for a piece of the puzzle but so far all of his clues hit dead end. That was until help came in the most unexpected way. A commercial was being broadcasted on the radio next to him. "Are you tired of being underdressed at the prom? Is your dress's color horrible? Well now you can dye them all at the Henderson Coloration Shop! Available now country wide! You can finally look fabulous at any occasion, any style, any cloth, anywhere, any color! And what's best is that you don't have to waste your money on buying new clothes! It's that easy! Henderson Coloration Shop, the perfect distraction from your woes!" That was the clue that Kiryu needs!
"Distraction", it all makes sense now. Kiryu quickly race to his room and pull out the photos of don Castagella and Mayor Wilson together at the night club where MechaGirain works. Looking at the pieces of information that MechaGirain gave him, compare them with what he had already know and the hint that the radio add accidentally gave him, he had finally discover the breakthrough in the case. "So this is what they want. A distraction. Mayor Wilson wanted a case to land extra voters. And having don Castagella killed Elizabeth Townley and her daughter would make the whole town bottle into the case instead of finding out who is going to benefit the most from this incident. And I was playing the fall guy for everything." The revelation hits hard on Kiryu, this would explain why everything he had ever done in his entire life here in Atlantic City means nothing. He was nothing more than a pawn, the fall guy to take everybody's miseries instead. The down and out of luck private eye Kiryu was the perfect actor in a drama for power by mayor Wilson, the fall actor that is. Kiryu has had enough of all the years of smoking and drinking at the bar, failed arrests and other mishap. It's time to take back control of his life.
He grab the phone and dial the number of his most trusted allied, he waits for a few seconds then the conversation begins. "Hello who is this?" It was the voice that Kiryu was waiting for, Maximillien, "Max, it's me Kiryu. Listen I need you to meet me at Bill's Diner by Gerald Drive. Something just come up, I need your help on this one. I'll be there as soon as I can." Maximillien was a little confused at the sudden call from Kiryu but he does it anyway, Kiryu at that moment, grabs his M1911 pistol, and leave the estate of the Carlino's family, before he left, he promised Anna that he'll be back soon. He drove into Atlantic City, going down to the local diner that has a neon lit sign on top of it that says "Bill's Diner". Kiryu went into the diner where his best friend was waiting for him, after he enters the diner and found a gold scaled dragon with three heads sitting in the corner of the diner, the dragon was looking at Kiryu as if he was telling Kiryu to come over. The dinosaur went over to meet with the dragon, they sat down and have a little chit chat. "Long time no see Kiryu. What's with the sudden return to glory?" Ghidorah asked opening a newspaper and read it. "Have you heard about the dead district attorney Elizabeth Townley? She left her daughter in my care in the case of her death. She was onto the mob until she got too close for comfort." Kiryu began, recounting the events that has happened to him in the passed weeks. "So what does that lead to?" Ghidorah asked, continues to read his newspaper. "This is the thing. Her daughter was nearly killed by a bunch of hitmen hired by don Castagella. Then I was picked by his goons at MechaGirain's night club. It's obvious that Castagella want to tied up loose ends. But there's more to it than I thought. When I asked MechaGirain for help, she tipped me off on mayor Wilson's re-election campaign is tied to the mob's drug outbreak."
Ghidorah lower his newspapers as he begins to show interest in Kiryu's story. "You got my attention there old friend. I'm listening." Kiryu felt he was in a better situation as Ghidorah began to listen to him for real. "The mobs are in bed with Mayor Wilson. He's using the mob to cause a drug outbreak, then he'll launch a crackdown campaign to score a re-election. Elizabeth was propably going close, too close to the mayor and the mob. That's when she died. I have my suspicion on who killed her. But now I think it was the mob acting on mayor Wilson's request to distract the public. Now I need your help to hunt them down." Ghidorah took a sip of his coffee before return his attention to Kiryu. "Now that you've put it that way, you got my attention there. So what's your first shot at this, detective?"; "We're goint to find the guy who killed Elizabeth Townley. Then we'll kill him. Without the hitman, Castagella and Wilson will be cornered. Then we can move on to them." Kiryu confidently replied to Ghidorah, it was pure and simple business for Ghidorah, but a personal vendetta for Kiryu.