When the Good Detective and I arrived home later that day, we found another headache waiting for us.
"I don't know what it is with this house today," tutted the Beloved Mother. "But every single electrical appliance seems to be on the fritz."
"You don't say." The Good Detective started to head out back. "I'll go check the fuse box."
Before he had a chance, the toaster spontaneously caught alight, and the Good Detective was rushing for the extinguisher. On a hunch, I switched into the Ghost World, and sure enough, I was able to intercept Toon-Face just before he could disable the refrigerator.
"What in the world is wrong with you?" I hissed. "Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused?"
"You left without warning," Toon-Faced grumbled. "And I started to get bored."
"Well I'm sorry, but you just can't go around terrorising people!" I snapped. "Least of all my family."
"Fine. Where have you been all day, anyway? Go to the vet and get a thermometer stuck up yer arse?"
I wanted to tell Toon-Face that I'd like to perform the aforementioned action on him, but he lacked the necessary orifice to do so.
"Look," I said, trying to regain my patience. "I've been busy trying to figure out who you are, amongst other things. It just so happens I have a human friend who is able to talk to you…"
"Hot dang! Finally, someone without fleas!"
"… We'll be going over to her apartment tomorrow…"
"Her?" Toon-Face's tone soured again. "Holy crap, you're setting me up with a skirt?"
"That 'skirt' happens to be a cop, thank you very much. And I would very much appreciate it if you treated her with a little respect."
"Fine, fine."
"And no more fooling with my family's stuff!"
"Ok, ok, I get it! Damn interfering fleabag…"
Sadly the next day brought very little in the way of improvement. I was dropped off at Lynne's apartment which had been cleaned up since the Twister's break in, although it was rather bare since some items were still at the forensics lab. While Loose & Lanky and the Good Detective investigated the headless body that had just been dredged from the harbour, Lynne and I decided to focus on trying to help Toon-Face recover his memory. First thing I did was to introduce the two.
"Lynne, this is… uh, well, actually, I'm not sure what his name is since he doesn't actually remember anything…"
Lynne looked at him thoughtfully. "His face kinda looks like a Daruma."
"A what?"
"A Daruma," she took a strange red, roly-poly doll off one her shelves and showed it to me. "You use them to make wishes. You see, when you make the wish," she pointed out its left eye, which had a black pupil, "you draw in the first eye." She then pointed out the right eye, which was a blank white like Toon-Face's, "Then when your wish is granted, you draw in the other eye. It's a good luck charm – I bought this one when we started the Twister case." She put the doll back on the shelf. "So let's call you Mister Daruma for now, ok?"
I was worried that Toon-Face would object to this idea in his usual discourteous fashion, but what he said next was ten times worse.
"Toots, you can call me whatever the damn hell you want." He spun round to face me. "YOW! Why didn't ya tell me she was such a fox?"
"Uh…" Lynne was stunned. "Excuse me?"
Toon-Face gave Lynne a look that made me very uncomfortable, "Tell me, sweetheart, ya don't happen to have a boyfriend now? I know my current circumstances are a little, well, challenging, but I'm sure you and I could work out some way to…"
"What the… Oh holy crap, NO!" Lynne jumped back, looking as if she was going to be sick. "Let's get one thing straight buddy, my only reason for having you here is to help you get you memory back, and the only reason for that is because those memories might help me out on a really tough case I'm working on right now. So you just quit your ogling and focus on what's important!"
"Oh toots, how can I focus?" Toon-Face drooled. "Those curves of yours are driving me to distraction…"
In my mind I was begging for the earth to open up and swallow me.
Lynne and I took turns showing Toon-Face files of people who had died in Temsik Park over the past ten years, hoping that something would trigger his memory. But Toon-Face's behaviour with me was no different from when I had tried showing him the photos of the Twister's victims, and with Lynne he simply refused to pay attention, instead he kept making obscene comments on her physical appearance.
Finally, Lynne and I had enough.
"Look, we'll just leave you with these files and you can look them over at your own pace," Lynne said as she got up from the table. "Let us know if you nee- I mean, let us know if you remember anything."
"I'll eagerly be awaiting for your return, toots."
"And quit calling me toots!" Lynne stamped over to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
Missile came up to me as flopped onto the couch.
"He's not very nice, is he?" said Missile.
"He's a nightmare!" I groaned. "All the trouble I went to get him and not so much as even a 'thankyou'!"
"Maybe he's just cranky about not having his memories?"
"Missile," I raised my head and looked him in the eye. "When I couldn't get my memories back, I'll admit I was pretty self-centred. But this guy has to be the single most obnoxious, fat-headed jerk I have ever encountered. I've wasted so much time and effort on him trying to get a lead on the Twister."
Missile jumped up onto the couch beside me. "You know, I just thought of something."
"Oh?"
"You know how you couldn't get your memories back because you thought you were the Man in Red?" Missile cocked his head thoughtfully. "Well, it turns out you two were friends anyway, right? So when you thought you were him, you weren't that far off, were you?"
I shifted myself up to look at him, "You're saying that funny face he's got on might be a clue?"
"I'm not sure; Lynne said he looked like that little red doll. Problem is I see those things all the time when Lynne takes me on my walks, they sell them everywhere."
"Well, it's a start, anyway. I'll go and ask him."
I jumped over towards the table where we had left him scanning the case files, but he wasn't there. I thought perhaps he was playing poltergeist again, so I scanned the place to see where hiding, but everything was empty. In fact the apartment was quiet, aside from the sound of the shower starting up…
Oh no.
"That no good, dirty-!" I leapt off the table and bolted for the bathroom.
"Sissel, wait for me!"
I got to the bathroom door and began scratching and banging and yowling away, hoping to get Lynne's attention. It seemed to work, because the sound of the water stooped, and I stepped back as Lynne opened the door and stepped into the hall, dressed only in a towel.
"Did Mister Daruma finally remember something?" she asked.
"No," I told her, trying to stay calm. "Lynne, whatever you do, do not have that shower!"
Lynne's eyes were bulging out of their sockets, "Oh gods, you don't mean... THAT PERVE!" Lynne leapt out of the bathroom as fast as she could, almost hysterical with rage. "Where is he, where's the dirty little creep!"
I took a look in the bathroom and saw him – "There! In the loofah!"
Lynne turned to the Valiant Pet and pointed forcefully towards the possessed loofah, "Missile! KILL!"
Loyal little Missile charged into the bathroom, barking and yapping, he tore down the loofah in his little teeth and shook the thing violently, paying no head as Toon-Face screamed bloody murder.
After Lynne had changed into less revealing attire, it was time to take Toon-Face's punishment a step further. Toon-Face, still in the loofah, was dangled from Missile's mouth over the toilet bowl, while Lynne's hand was on the flusher and I grilled the ghost over his ungracious behaviour.
"Aw c'mon toots, what's yer problem?" Toon-Face whined. "When I see a hot young thing like yerself I just can't…"
"Save it!" I snapped. "I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out who the hell you are, and what do you do? It was bad enough when you were just griping, and even when you were messing with the appliances, that I can handle, but-but THIS?" I was in such a state that my claws had come out and were digging into the toilet seat. "You sound like a grown adult, but you behave like a selfish, spoiled child!"
"Well!" huffed Toon-Face. "Maybe my memory's not back yet coz you're not trying hard enough."
That did it. I had been reasonable and accommodating, I had gotten beat up by feline thugs, I had seen a man die and been unable to do damn thing about it, my best friend and his wife had just been dragged into a horror story, and tying all this together was a murdering madman who was nigh invulnerable!
"You want your memories back?" I snarled. "Fine!" I snatched the loofah from Missile and headed back to the living room, he and Lynne close behind me.
I took the one file I had withheld from Toon-Face, opened it up and spilled its contents on to the table. Once again, the tormented faces of the Twister's victims started up at me, their grisly ends displayed in full colour, crisp and clear. I slammed the loofah on the table next to them so Toon-Face could get a good, hard look. Maybe the Professor was right, maybe Toon-Face was just some random dead guy, but I hoped that showing him the crime-scene photos would shock some manners into him, and it seemed to be working.
"D-dear gods," Toon-Face stammered weakly.
"Reality bites, don't it?" I hissed. "I don't know exactly how you died, but it probably wasn't even half the hell that these people went through! You see what I'm dealing with here?"
"I-I don't know anything…"
"I don't have time for your bull! If you're not going to even try to help yourself, I might as well through you out in the trash right now-"
"I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANY SOUL-EATING MANIAC!"
I stopped short, trying to process what I just heard. "Wh… what did you just say…?"
"I said I don't know about any…" Toon-Face tried to make himself shrink as he realised his mistake. "Oh crap."
"You said you knew nothing," I hissed. "You said you saw nothing. I showed you those faces half a dozen times and you didn't bat an eye. Have you simply been screwing me around?"
For the first time since I met him, Toon-Face was too humbled to think of a nasty comeback.
I drew myself in closer, "If you do know something about what happened to these people, now's the time to tell me. Trust me; it's the fastest way to get your memories back."
Toon-Face didn't answer. I was just about to start grilling him again, when something bizarre happened. There was a flash, and his eyes had… changed. They were still blank white starting dots, but now they were covered in thin, criss-crossing lines as if someone had tried to scratch them out. This uncanny appearance and the speed at which had occurred unnerved me so much that I momentarily forgot my anger.
"What is it?" I asked him in alarm. "Are you alright?"
Toon-Face flared up again, and the scratches on his eyes left as quickly as they had appeared. "You-you… You insolent flea-bitten hairball!" Before I could stop him, he'd jumped into Lynne's phone. "I don't need this crap! I'll find who I am by myself!"
Down the phone line he went, gone in the blink of an eye. I felt my rage boil over, so I grabbed Lynne's notebook and began ripping the blank pages.
"Hey!" Lynne snatched the book of me, "I've got important stuff in there!"
"Like what?" I snarled. "Your grocery list?"
Lynne's stunned look told me that I had gone too far, so I sprawled myself across the table and sighed, "I'm sorry Lynne, that was out of line. I know you're working hard and you're frustrated …"
"I take it things didn't go too well with the perv Daruma."
"No, he's taken off down the phone. He could be anywhere by now."
"Hey, it's not so bad," Lynne pulled up a seat and allowed Missile to jump into her lap. "Like the Professor said, he's probably just some bum who died before that freaky rock was removed."
I shook my head. "I'm afraid that's simply not the case. Lynne, he knew about the devouring of the souls, and I never mentioned them."
Lynne's eyes grew wide, "No way!"
"He's been stringing me along all this time," I groaned. "All that effort, and just as I was getting somewhere! I blew it, Lynne. I scared him off."
Lynne sighed and gave me a stroke behind the ears. "That's just police work, little buddy," she said. "We get pain-in-the-ass witnesses like that all the time, even Jowd and Cabanela have a hard time keeping their cool with those kinds of guys."
Missile licked my paw. "Cheer up, Sissile. You and Miss Lynne are gonna catch the bad guy, I just know it!"
We all really needed to cool off, so that evening the Good Detective organised a special treat – a trip to the Chicken Kitchen. He even booked an outside table so Missile and I could come along. The Good Detective and his family were seated at one end of the table, while at the other end Lynne sat with Loose & Lanky. Missile and I were on the floor, our leashes secured to the table legs.
"It's lovely and clear tonight," the Beloved Mother said cheerfully. "And this restaurant is so charming."
"I know," Lynne grinned. "Memry and I hang here all the time."
"Memry comes here?" the Good Detective looked puzzled. "I thought she hated chicken."
"She does, but she has this major crush on the barkeep. She practically forces herself to eat that chicken, but he never takes any notice of her."
The Good Detective shook his head, "An odd girl, that one."
"I agree," said Lynne.
Me too, I thought.
"Anywaaaay," Loose & Lanky shifted in his seat. "Isn't about time we ordered?"
"Good idea, I'm starving!" Lynne leaned over and called out to the nearby waitress. "'Scuse me, miss? We're ready to order now – oh!"
Who would you believe came to serve us, dressed in that uniform and greeting us with a smile?
"Oh my," said the Fiancée. "I certainly didn't expect to see you again so soon, Officers."
The Good Detective laughed, "On no, Miss Sissel, there's no need for that whole officer bit, we're off duty."
"Sissel?" the Little Lady put down her colouring book. "Is that really your name?"
"Just like your cat," Lynne said cheerfully. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"He's here with us tonight," the Little Lady bent down and picked me up to show the Fiancée, "Here Sissel, meet the other Sissel!"
"We've already met," the Fiancée said smiling, as she took out a note pad and pen. "But I can't spend my time socialising when you're all probably starving! What would you like to order for this evening?"
Lynne and the others placed their orders, and the Fiancée wrote them down on that little notepad.
"I'll see if I can rustle up anything special for little Sissel and his little doggie friend," said the Fiancée, winking at me. "By the way, I wasn't really able to thank you for your help yesterday…"
"It was nothing, really," said Lynne.
"Juuuust doing our jobs," said Loose & Lanky.
"Oh no! You were all so kind, I have to make it up to you somehow," the Fiancée looked thoughtful. "I'm sure my boss would be able to give you a discount if I explained it all to him, even if he takes it out of my pay check."
"Oh now reeeeally," Loose & Lanky's face went red, "That's not necessary…"
"Sorry, but my mind's made up," the Fiancée shut her notebook. "I'll bring out your drinks and the entries in a minute, and your main meal should be out not long after. Have a nice night." And before Lynne or anyone else could protest, she had scooted off to the kitchen.
"Great," groaned Lynne. "Now feel like a louse…"
"I'm surprised you haven't seen her here before, Lynne," said the Good Detective.
"Well, I usually come here around lunch and they have a different waitress then," Lynne replied. "Though I wonder whether she's really ok to be working tonight…"
I don't really remember where the conversation went from there; I was more interested in chasing the beetles crawling on the floor. We weren't waiting long when there came a horrendous crash. Everyone turned to see what had happened – inside the restaurant the Fiancée had fallen on her face, dropping a huge platter of curried chicken all over the floor.
"Oh… Oh no!" the Fiancée picked herself up and turned to the customer who had ordered the curried chicken, who I recognised as 'Sausage Head' from the Fateful Night. I felt a little bad for him as he sat there looking miserably at what would've been his meal.
"I-I'm so sorry!" the Fiancée sputtered as she cleared up the mess. "I'll get you another one right away – and don't worry, this one is on the house!"
It didn't get any better for the poor Fiancée –when she came to deliver the drinks to our table, she once again tripped over, spilling beverages all over us and sending glass smashing on the floor.
"Oh, oh! I-I'm so sorry!"
"It's ok, really," said the Beloved Mother as she tried to squeeze red wine out of her scarf.
"I don't know what's wrong with me tonight – I'll make it up to you, I promise!" the Fiancée got on her knees and began picking up pieces of shattered glass. "Your drinks are on the house!"
"A liiiittle too generous for her own good, that one," mused Loose & Lanky.
We got our drinks eventually, but things didn't get much better for the Fiancée. She seemed to always be tripping over her own feet, spilling items on customers or breaking just about anything she touched.
"Yeesh, if she keeps this up, she's gonna end up owing this place money," Lynne quipped.
Truth be told, I thought it was all a little… off. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have almost said the Fiancée was doing it all on purpose!
Things reached breaking point when the Fiancée was delivering a bowl of salad to a well-dressed group of people not far from where we were seated. Right on cue, the Fiancée tripped over again, sending bits of tomato and lettuce and who knows what else flying everywhere.
"What are you, wasted or something?" snapped a heavily-made up young lady with shocking pink hair. "This gown is dry clean only!"
"I-I'm so sorry, Miss," the Fiancée was almost in tears by this stage. "I'll pay for the bill…"
"Hah! Like you could ever afford it!" the pink prima-donna rose threateningly from her seat.
Another member of the group, gentle-faced young man with violet hair swept back into a ponytail, dressed in blue evening wear, reached out his hand to the pink prima-donna in an effort to calm her, "Now dear, don't you think you're overreacting just a little…?"
The pink prima-donna tore herself free from the soft-spoken gentleman and lunged towards the Fiancée, "I oughta tear you apart, you filthy rotten-!"
At this Lynne and the others rushed over in order to prevent things from getting too ugly, but I barely noticed this. My attention was more focused on the fact that the piece of loose carpet that the Fiancée had tripped over had just lowered itself back into place.
Stunned, I switched into the Ghost World just to make sure. I gave the area a quick scan, but I didn't see anything out the ordinary. Maybe I'd just imagined it.
As returned to the world of the living, things had calmed down slightly. Lynne was helping the pink prima-donna to mop herself up, while the Fiancée tried to clean up the mess through her sobs. The restaurant's owner, the Jovial Tenor, was at her side, trying to console her.
"Sissel dear girl, let me call your husband," he said to her. "I told myself this would happen! It's too soon, I said! For you to return to work after what you've been through, poor girl…"
"No, please sir…" the Fiancée coughed. " I'm ok, really, I can work."
"Are you sure? I won't dock your pay."
"No, no! I can't let you do that, you've already been so generous to me," she got up, her arms loaded with broken crockery. "I'm so sorry for everything; I'll try harder to focus from now on."
No sooner had she walked off, the delivery trolley rolled its way into her path, causing her to run into it with such force that she knocked it over and sent it crashing to the floor.
"Sissel!" the Valiant Doggie turned to me in a state of great excitement. "Did you see that trolley?"
"You saw it too? I thought I was just imaging things!"
"Maybe it's Toon-Face!"
I jumped back into the Ghost World and looked around frantically. Not once did I see a blue flame, near the cart or anywhere else. I knew something had moved that cart, Missile had seen it too, but I was picking up nothing.
I once again returned to the world of the living, where the Fiancée was on the verge on tearing her hair out as Lynne helped her to her feet.
"Sissel, I really think you should take your boss up on his offer and head on home."
"No! I-I can do this," the Fiancée got back on her knees and starting collecting the scattered cutlery. "I have to stay strong, I have too…AAHHH!"
That scream came as the Fiancée sliced her knee on the broken glass that had literally rolled itself into her path. As blood started pouring from the open wound, I jumped into the Ghost World once more, this time zipping all over the place in a mad effort to find the troublesome ghost.
"I know you're here!" I cried, "I don't know what the hell your problem is but you'd better show yourself if you know what's good for you!"
I must've spent a minute or so of fruitless searching before I returned to my body, frustrated and confused. I knew a ghost was responsible for the Fiancée's 'accidents'; there was simply no other explanation. I had switched into the Ghost World only seconds after it had performed a Trick, but there was nothing. I knew a ghost, given time, could learn to hide itself from the view of other spirits. I had seen this trick in the other timeline, and I myself had perfected it other the course of ten years. But at this rate, there was not point in speculating. I knew I had been outsmarted, and there was nothing more I could do.
When I got back, defeated and despondent, a clean napkin had been used as a temporary bandage while someone fetched the First-Aid Kit, and the Vocal Tenor was on the phone to Yomiel. The poor Fiancée was sobbing hysterically while the Beloved Mother did her best to console her.
The Jovial Tenor put down the phone and walked over to Lynne. "Poor girl, after all she's been through, I knew having her work tonight was a bad idea…"
Lynne just shrugged, "Well, I'm sure she'll be okay once her husband gets her home."
"Such a sad story, that girl," the Jovial Tenor continued. "Her husband, it's been a year since he got out of prison, you know!"
Lynne looked stunned, "Really?"
"Ten years he spent there! Used to work for the government apparently, but something happened one day, he went crazy."
Loose & Lanky and the Good Detective were frantically signalling to the Jovial Tenor to stop, but by now he was in full swing and it looked as if nothing could stop him.
"Apparently he stole a gun from the police," said the Jovial Tenor. "He got as far as the park, but they caught up with him, so he snatched a little girl, would you believe it? Threatened to shoot her!"
Lynne's expression switched from astonishment to suppressed rage as she recognised her story.
"Amazingly she's stuck by him," concluded the Jovial Tenor, shaking his head. "She must either be out of her mind or some sort of saint, that girl."
"You don't say," growled Lynne. She shot her mentors a venomous glance, and the two detectives looked as if they just wanted to disappear.
So much for leaving the past behind.
Yomiel arrived just a few minutes later. He didn't even notice Lynne's glare of contempt as he rushed to be by his wife's side.
"Are you ok?"
The Fiancée shook her head sadly, "I can't afford time off, you know that…"
"Then I'll just ask for overtime," Yomiel replied. "C'mon, I'll call a cab and get you to a doctor."
As they left, the Jovial Tenor sighed and started to work on cleaning up his restaurant, and the Beloved Mother took the Little Lady into the bathroom so they could both get washed up. Lynne's mentors did their best to avoid her death glares. Meanwhile, I took to trying to unpick the knot that held me to the table.
Missile watched me with some concern "Um… whatcha doing?"
"I think Yomiel ought to know about that ghost," I replied as I tried to get myself loose from the table. "I just need to talk to him quickly, ok?"
I was finally able to unclip my collar from the lead.
"Dogs have a good sense of smell right?" I asked him before dashing off. "Just track my scent and get Lynne to follow you when everything's settled here, but right now I've got to talk with Yomiel."
"Good luck, Sissel!"
I was worried that they might've gotten a cab already before I had a chance to talk to him, but I then I heard a ruckus coming from the direction of Temsik Park. I could make out the voices of Yomiel and his Fiancée, and there was a third that I thought I recognised but wasn't so sure of.
I followed the voices to the fountain and was greeted with a most unpleasant scene. Yomiel was in a rage; he had gotten hold of someone by the throat and was forcing their head into the fountain jets, causing the captive to cough and splutter as they struggled for air. The Fiancée was standing back a few feet, frantically begging her husband to stop.
I had almost forgotten how frightening Yomiel could be when he was angry. What I certainly hadn't forgotten was the damage caused as a result, granted he had the Temsik fragment at the time, but still. I decided to put a stop to this nonsense before Yomiel ended up doing something he was bound to regret. I jumped up on the fountain ledge and got close enough for me to give him a quick swipe across the face with my claws. Yomiel gave a yelp as he let his hostage drop into the water with a splash.
With that taken care of, jumped to Yomiel's core to talk some sense into him, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Yomiel blinked stupidly before he answered, "What am I-? That creep's been following us since we left the restaurant; I was trying to protect my wife!"
"So… you drown him, get arrested, end up back in jail, probably for good this time, and that helps her how exactly?"
Yomiel looked stunned for a few seconds, but in the end he simply hung his head in shame.
"Yeah," I said. "That's what I thought."
I returned to my body just in time to prevent it from falling into the fountain. As Yomiel paced back towards his wife, still nursing the cut on his cheek, I turned to check on unlucky fellow he had been so intent on drowning. He was soaked through and a little tenderised, but by now I would've recognised the Scrawny Snooper just about anywhere. Boy, this guy sure knew how to piss people off.
It seemed that I wasn't the only one attracted by the commotion – not too far in the distance I saw a group rushing up towards us, led by a man I recognised as the self-appointed 'Guardian of the Park'. He was jumping up and down excitedly and pointing towards us. Close behind him were Lynne, Loose & Lanky and the Good Detective.
"Here, here! This is where it came from!" the Guardian cried out in his distinctive sing-song. "Cries of distress, roars of anger, ripping through the clear, still night like a -!"
"Yeah, yeaaaah, we get it," Loose & Lanky dismissed the Guardian with a wave of his hand.
Lynne rushed up to the Fiancée. "Hey, you ok?" she jerked her thumb towards Yomiel. "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"
"What? No!" the Fiancée was horrified by this suggestion. "Yomiel just caught this man following us, and…"
Scrawny managed to drag himself out of the water, "Like I said, I wasn't following you; we were just headed the same way is all!"
"Like hell you were!" snarled Yomiel, clenching his fists. "This pervert had his camera on us the whole damn time!"
"Oh c'mon, are you hearing this guy?" Scrawny threw up his arms and rolled his eyes. "You can't honestly tell me you can take a guy with such wacked-out hair even the least bit serio–what ah HEY!"
The Good Detective had snatched up Scrawny's duffle bag and began rummaging through its contents. He pulled out a handful of photographs began shuffling through them, shaking his head as his did so, and Lynne and Loose & Lanky looked over the Good Detective's shoulder.
"Classy, Rennie my boy, reeeal classy," said Loose & Lanky.
I was curious, so I climbed up the Good Detective's trench coat and leapt up onto his shoulder to see the photos for myself. They were of Yomiel and his Fiancée alright, taken from a distance and telling from the green fuzz in the foreground while Scrawny was hiding in the bushes. The pictures seemed to be in sequence, I could see the exact moment that Yomiel and the Fiancée realised they were being tailed, followed by an incensed Yomiel rushing towards Scrawny's hiding place. The last photo was nothing but a blur, presumably when Yomiel grabbed him. The photos at the Park weren't the only ones, either – several of the photos were either of Yomiel or the Fiancée during the day, meaning that Scrawny had been stalking them for some time. Classy, indeed.
Knowing he'd been caught, Scrawny began fidgeting nervously as Lynne, Loose & Lanky and the Good Detective rounded on him.
"So Rennie," Lynne said in a syrupy tone. "I, uh, never realised you liked to watch."
"Oh for pete's sake, no!" Scrawny's anxiety was replaced with disgust. "I was following a lead on the Twister case!"
The Guardian jumped at the mention of the elusive murderer, "The Twister? You mean the vile demon that violated the landing site of the Sacred Rock of the…?"
The Good Detective hushed him, and then turned back to Scrawny, "What on earth are you babbling about?"
"Oh c'mon, some chick gets a head in the mail with hugs and kisses, that's gotta be worth something."
Yomiel exploded and made a dive for Scrawny's throat, "You sonnova bitch, I'm gonna kick your-!"
The Fiancée let out a shriek, and the Good Detective jumped into action, grabbing Yomiel before he could do anything stupid, although in the process I was shaken loose from my perch on the former's shoulder and into the fountain pool. Scrawny ducked behind Loose & Lanky, who made it clear he didn't appreciate being used as a human shield.
"Let me go!" Yomiel shouted as he struggled against the Good Detective's grip, "I'm gonna kill him!"
"Calm yourself brother," the Guardian began his manic twirling, "For remember, the land we stand upon now is those most sacred of sites…"
"Oh will you shut up!" Lynne snapped, before rounding on Yomiel, "And you! Cool your grits before I lock you up for another ten freaking years!"
The colour drained from Yomiel's face and he stopped struggling. The Good Detective let Yomiel go as he shot Lynne a warning look.
Lynne paid no heed to this, simply folding her arms and shooting Yomiel an icy glare. "What's the matter? Didn't you recognise me? Or were you too busy holding a gun to my head to get a good look at my face?"
"That's enough, Lynne!" snapped the Good Detective.
The Fiancée was pale and shaking. Yomiel was too ashamed to even look at her.
"Better get that cab," he muttered as he took his wife by the hand and led her away.
There were a few moments of awkward silence. I pulled myself out of the fountain and did my best to shake myself dry.
"So," said Scrawny, shuffling his feet. "Can I have my stuff back?"
The Good Detective glared at him, but he finally handed Scrawny his duffle bag.
"And my photos?"
The Good Detective growled, but he made to hand over the photos to Scrawny – before ostensibly changing his mind and tossing them in the fountain instead.
"Hey!" Scrawny made a mad grab for the photos, but it was too late, they fell into the pool and the images slowly began to warp and fade. "Geez man, that's my pay check right there!"
"You're breaking my heart," the Good Detective snorted. "C'mon, we'd better be headed back."
"Oh no!" Lynne crossed here arms and scowled at her mentors. "I didn't say anything back at the restaurant because I didn't want to make a scene. Why the hell didn't tell me that Yomiel guy was the one who kidnapped me ten years ago! Hell, I never even knew he's been let out of jail!"
The Good Detective and Loose & Lanky glanced at each other, seemingly at a loss as where to go from here.
"Iiiii'll talk to her," Loose & Lanky finally sighed, "You head back before Alma and Kamila start fretting. Get them home."
The Good Detective turned to me and lifted me up from the ledge. "Thanks for your show support," he grumbled. "Running off like that…"
It was then it hit me that I'd forgotten to Yomiel about the ghost that'd been tormenting his wife! I was mentally hitting myself as the Good Detective walked us back towards the restaurant. In the distance Lynne and Loose & Lanky could be heard arguing, with the occasional unwelcome interjection from Scrawny and the Guardian.
A gun shot rang out.
It alarmed me so that I dug my claws into the Good Detective's arm. As he gently pried me off, he turned around and headed back for the fountain, letting out a sigh.
"This was just supposed to be a quiet dinner."