The embassy turned out to be a big, fancy building at the edge of the city with a high wall and a thick iron gate. It seemed that not just any one could go inside; the man at the gate wouldn't let Lynne or the others in until they showed him their badges. The inside of the building was opulent, much like the office of the Justice Minister. Paintings of people in strange costumes adorned the walls, and in just about every corner was some sort of statue.
Lynne whistled. "Nice pad," she said. "Maybe we should've brought a fruit basket or something."
"Now Lynne, we'll have none of that," said the Good Detective warningly. "Its touch and go with these people, the ambassador could call upon diplomatic immunity at any time."
"What's diplomatic immunity?" I asked Lynne.
"Ambassadors have special privileges that protect them when they go overseas," Lynne told me. "If we think the ambassador is up to something, we can't question them or arrest them or anything like that."
"That doesn't sound very smart."
"Maybe, but say, you were an ambassador staying in a hostile nation, and they wanted your government's secrets," said Lynne. "They could bring up phoney charges against you and hold you for ransom."
"But we wouldn't do that to them, right?"
"That may be so, but you gotta have the same rules everywhere so things stay honest," Lynne replied.
I suppose Lynne had a point there, but I still found it very confusing.
We were led to the ambassador's office, and were struck dumb by what was inside. Green. Everywhere you looked there was luscious greenery, broken up only by the kaleidoscope of blooming flowers. A rocky pool sat in a far corner, constantly being filed by a trickle of water pouring from the wall. From my vantage point inside of Lynne's badge I could see the graceful forms of about a dozen large, golden fish. Adding to the pleasant tones of running water was the song of crickets, frogs and birds, the latter of which could be seen roosting in tree branches or flying overhead. The light was natural, for the roof was a huge glass dome which the sunlight could shine through. And the butterflies – everywhere there was butterflies.
"Oh… oh Lynne!" I lamented. "I wish we'd brought my body along, just to run around and chase butterflies and, oh it's so beautiful…"
"I gotta admit, I wouldn't mind working in a place like this," Lynne muttered.
There was the occasional rocky protrusion jutting out from the ground, and upon closer inspection, all of them had a glass box set into them which contained various creature of some kind –spiders, snakes, a nest of ants and a tank full of fish, a black and orange lizard, something that looked like a rat, and a few other creatures that I didn't recognise.
Loose & Lanky was inspecting glass box containing a small black spider with red markings on its rear end, "Black widow – bite's not usually lethal, but I've been bitten by one, and I can tell you, it is naaaasty."
"I do hope you won't hold it against her," was the unexpected reply.
Lynne and the others turned to see the newcomer – a young boy, no older than fourteen, dressed very smartly with curly auburn hair and that unmistakable blue skin. His eyes were gentle and friendly, but oddly they were different colours, one an icy blue, the other a deep rich brown.
"Nah, it was pretty much my fault," said Loose & Lanky. "Went camping as a kid and left my boots outside the tent. I came out it better than the little spider did, anyway…"
"Well that is a shame, but I'm glad to hear you don't hold a grudge," said the boy with a kind smile. "This world has so many wonderful creatures in it but they aren't always appreciated."
"Anyway, kid," said Lynne, stepping forward, "We were hoping to speak with the ambassador. Is he around?"
"Uh, Lynne," the Good Detective pulled her aside. "That is the ambassador."
"What? No way, he's just a-! Uh, I mean…" Lynne winced as her mentors shot her withering looks. "G-gosh sir, I'm so sorry…"
The Little Ambassador laughed. "It's alright, officer. I'm not oblivious to my age, you know." He gestured towards a depression in the floor in which were set a circle of cotton seats with a glass table in the centre. "Please take a seat, refreshments will be brought along shortly."
"I really have to say," said Lynne as she sat down, "I'm envious of your office."
"Designed it myself," said the Little Ambassador with a smile.
"Does it remind you of back home?"
The Little Ambassador's smile faded. "I'm afraid not," he said sadly. "My country puts great emphasis on scientific progress, and our natural landscape has suffered greatly as a result."
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that."
This conversation was interrupted by a yelp from the Good Detective. Lynne and Loose & Lanky turned to see what the problem was – a huge green snake had slithered down from the trees and was nose-to-nose with the Good Detective, its forked tongue darting in his face.
"Oh my," the Little Ambassador chuckled. "It seems that Zaltys has taken a liking to you, Detective."
"I-I, uh, I think this one got out of his c-cage," the Good Detective stammered as he tried to back away from the inquisitive reptile.
"Oh no, only the venomous land animals require terrariums," said the Little Ambassador. "Zaltys here is a python; he kills his prey by squeezing them with the coils of his body, slowly suffocating them."
The Good Detective didn't seem too reassured by this information, especially since the huge snake was now in the process off wrapping itself around the Good Detective's neck and sliding under his trench coat.
Loose & Lanky, on the other hand, seemed to think this was hilarious. "Ha-HA! You never were good with reptiles were ya, Jowd?" He turned to Lynne, trying his best to keep a straight face. "A big tough guy like him, would you beliiiieve it? Maaan, the stories I could tell you!"
"Not funny, Cabanela!" the Good Detective growled warningly.
A cheeky grin spread across Lynne's face, "Do tell."
"Okay, so back at the academy," Loose & Lanky leaned towards Lynne, "Jowd and I shared a dorm with some other guys, right? We were always pranking each other, so one day we find this gecko, just sunning itself on a window sill. Jowd was still snoozing, so me and the boys grab the little fella and lower it onto Jowd's biiig ooold schnozzle, then we give him a little shake to wake him up. Oh Lynne, it's toooo bad you weren't there, the scream he let out was – GYAK!"
Loose & Lanky jumped back from the big, furry black muzzle that had just lowered itself between him and Lynne. This strange new animal was unlike anything I had ever seen before; its face was a lot like a dog's although the ears were too little, its body had a round rump like a rabbit's, but it's hind legs seemed to be too long, and all four limbs ended in a set of heavy, sharp claws. It was covered in shaggy golden-brown fur, and it was absolutely huge. Suddenly I was glad that I didn't have my body with me.
The Little Ambassador signalled towards the bear, "Brunhilda has been my constant companion since my early childhood. She's almost like a mother to me."
Loose & Lanky grimaced as the creature gave him a huge, sloppy lick on the cheek.
Joining this strange new creature was another blue-skinned fellow, a giant of a man with a bald head and broad nose, dressed in a tuxedo and wearing a monocle. His stature made me nervous – last time I encountered someone like this, they weren't even human.
The Little Ambassador gestured to the large man. "This is Limbo, my valet," said he. The Giant Valet gave a slight bow.
I spoke quickly to Lynne. "Keep an eye on the big guy there," I warned her.
"Seen him before?"
"No, but he's an awful lot like one of the other blue-skinned spies, and that one was real dangerous."
"No mention of the bear?"
"What's a bear?"
"That big furry animal. You've never seen one before?"
"No, never. Truth be told, I just thought it was a dog. A very big one."
Limbo rolled a trolley laden with pots and covered trays into the lounge area and began setting them on the table. "Any special infusions today, Little Sir?" I could sense from the tone of his voice that Limbo had great affection for the Little Ambassador.
The Little Ambassador thought it over before replying, "I'm in the mood for a peppermint with a hint of ginger, if you please?"
"An excellent choice, Little Sir," said Limbo. He opened several small jars, inside which were several fine powers. Limbo scooped small amounts of these powders and tipped them into a sieve suspended in an ornate glass pot. He then took an engraved metal kettle and carefully poured hot water through the sieve, allowing it to pass through the powders and cause the water to turn a strange brownish-green colour.
"Limbo here is a culinary genius," said the Little Ambassador proudly. "Herbal teas and medicines, biscuits, cakes, jams and preserves, makes them all himself, and most of the ingredients are grown in this very garden."
Limbo didn't reply to this, but he had a slight blush. "And what would you officers like to drink?"
Lynne looked at her two mentors who were still busy getting to know their new animal friends, "Uh, maybe a straight up chamomile for all of us."
"Of course, officer."
The Little Ambassador called over to the Bear, "Brunhilda, come here and sit by me." The Bear obeyed, waddling over to the Little Ambassador's side and sitting next to him.
Loose & Lanky was very much relived as the large animal left him, "Who in their right mind keeps a pet bear?"
The Little Ambassador laughed and gave the Bear an affectionate scratch behind the ears, "Brunhilda isn't a pet, Inspector. She's my very best friend." He took a sip of his tea, "But I do apologise, I've distracted you for far too long. You are here to discuss an important matter involving one of my countrymen, correct?"
"Yeah," said Lynne. "We caught him sneaking about the restricted area of our forensics labs."
"Yes, I read the report," the Little Ambassador placed his cup on the table. "You seem to believe he's a spy?"
Lynne and Loose & Lanky didn't reply, but their expressions said everything.
"Are you sure he's not just some vagrant who wandered in from off the street?" said the Little Ambassador causally.
"Nooot with the tech he was fitted with," said Loose & Lanky. "He had a code cracker hooked up to the door of the room he was trying to break into."
"There are specialty shops that deal in such hardware," said the Little Ambassador. "Easily accessed by obsessive gadgeteers and the chronically paranoid."
"That's not what he said when we interrogated him," replied Lynne. "He mentioned a certain Commander Sith?"
The Little Ambassador was silent, picking up his cup and taking another sip of his tea. He placed it back down on the table and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know that name."
"Sheesh, he's a tough one!" I said. "He didn't even bat an eyelid when Commander Sith was mentioned."
"Maybe," said Lynne. "But it's possible he's simply not in on the spies' operation to begin with."
"I can assure you, officers, that my government has no spies operating on your soil," said the Little Ambassador coolly. "I am here to foster positive interaction between our countries, and I would certainly never approve of such unsavoury activities."
"Um, Little Sir," the Giant Valet whispered into his master's ear, "Commander Sith is on the telephone. He says it's urgent."
The Little Ambassador sighed, "Tell him I'll be along shortly."
I couldn't believe what I just heard "What on earth? The Ambassador just said that he didn't know Commander Sith!"
"Yeah, I know," said Lynne calmly.
"Then why did the valet just tell him that Commander Sith is on the phone?"
A shocked Lynne stood to attention, "What?"
"The valet just now, he said Commander Sith is on the phone."
"Sissel," Lynne looked at me intently, "are you telling me you can understand what the Ambassador and his valet are talking about right now?"
"Of course I can," I replied. "Can't you?"
Lynne shook her head, "Sissel, those two are speaking a whole other language. I can't understand a word they're saying."
"Seriously?" I asked, stunned. "What about Jowd and Cabanela?"
"Not likely. How are you able to understand them?"
"To be honest, I don't have the slightest clue," I told her. "It could be inherent simply because I'm a cat, or it might be another of the Temsik meteorite's effects. It makes me wonder about the other timeline…"
A sly look crept across Lynne's face, "Sissel, you don't think you could listen in on that call, do you?"
Once again, I felt that mischievous thrill. "Sure thing, I'll let know what I find."
I quickly jumped into the knife attached to the Little Ambassador's belt as he got up from his seat.
"Officers, I must ask you to excuse me for a moment – I have urgent matters to attend to but I shall return as soon as I am able."
"Not a problem," said Lynne with a smirk. "Take all the time you need."
With the Bear lumbering behind him, the Little Ambassador went over to what seemed to be a tree trunk, but he opened up a panel in the wood to reveal a compartment where the phone was held. I jumped into the phone, feeling a little apprehensive as I did.
"I'm here, Commander," said the Little Ambassador, with a hint of irritation in his voice.
"Ah, there you are, my boy!" It was Commander Sith alright; I could see him at the other end of the line with his robotic manservant standing right behind him. "Have you dealt with those three meddlesome lawmen yet?"
"I'm still trying to negotiate for Agent 42's release, Commander," said the Little Ambassador. "But I'm having some difficulties…"
Commander Sith slammed his fist on the table, "Ugh! Confound that 42, he was just supposed to be on surveillance! If it weren't for the fact that he could expose our entire operation, I'd have a half mind to just leave him to rot!"
The Little Ambassador took a deep breath before speaking again, "Commander, if I may be so bold…"
"Yes?"
"Is all this underhanded deception really necessary? Do we really need to kill these people? Surely we could simply negotiate some sort of trade with this nation's government to-"
"My dear boy," Commander Sith interrupted, "surely you jest – with my reputation? It's one thing to break a promise to a mole, but to betray an entire nation is to incite war!"
"I wasn't suggesting we betray them," the Little Ambassador replied through clenched teeth. "And besides, a trade might be more advisable at this stage. It seems we've already been compromised, Commander. The officers mentioned you by name."
Commander Sith stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What else do they know?"
"I haven't been able to discern that yet."
"Well, if they ask any more questions invoke your ambassadorial rights and throw them out!"
"And what about Agent 42?"
Commander Sith groaned. "You're the ambassador, make something up if you have to, I don't care! Just get him out so I can give him the sound cudgelling he deserves."
"Commander," the Little Ambassador bit his lip, "just one more thing. It's about our informant, Mr Twister."
The Twister? I definitely had to pay attention to this.
"What about him?" was Sith's curt reply.
"Well, no offence, Commander, but… he's insane!" the Little Ambassador looked quite ill as he said this. "He keeps bugging me about lending him samples of poison from my collection – those are meant to be used in the manufacture of antidotes, but goodness knows what he wants them for! Just yesterday he was talking with Jeego and Tengo, well I don't know what exactly he said to them but now they refuse to go anywhere near him, professional hit men, Commander! And Beauty – Gods and Saints, she can't stand the sight of that mask of his!"
Commander Sith sneered and whispered hoarsely into the phone, "Now listen here, you whipper-snapper. You have one job and one job alone – to put on a friendly face and distract the enemy! Just shut up and do as you're told, unless you want your precious little garden torn up and its menagerie sent to a sausage factory."
The Little Ambassador seemed visibly upset by this remark, giving an anxious glance towards the Bear sitting patiently beside him.
"Not to mention, my dear boy," Commander Sith continued, "you wouldn't want to be a traitor your country now."
"N-no sir," the Little Ambassador said, with an air of defeat. "I would never betray the Fatherland."
Commander Sith gave a smug grin, "Good lad. And don't forget, you have an appointment with Mr Twister in person later today. He'll meet you at the embassy, and I expect you to treat him with the same cordiality as you would any guest. Oh, but make sure you get rid of those three first."
The Little Ambassador shut his eyes; he looked as if he was about to cry, "Whatever the Fatherland wills, Commander. I will report back to you once he leaves."
Commander Sith hung up, and my decision was clear – I had to listen in on the Little Ambassador's discussion with the Twister. It was a huge risk, but if I kept quiet I wasn't likely to be discovered.
The Little Ambassador's expression was one of melancholy as hung up his phone. The Bear seemed to notice this, nudging his hand with her nose in an effort comfort him. He smiled weakly and gave her a quick scratch behind the ears. I had to admit, I was feeling some sympathy for the Little Ambassador myself. He clearly meant well, but with the circumstances as they were, he was an enemy, perhaps only a minor threat but still a threat nonetheless. I reattached myself to his knife as he walked back towards the seating area.
"I do apologise, officers," he said as he sat down. "I'm afraid that my job is a very demanding one."
I quickly jumped towards Lynne's core, and repeated to her what I had just heard.
"So the Twister's making a deal with this Commander Sith," Lynne mused. "And he's meeting with the Ambassador here later today."
"Yeah," I replied. "I'm going to stay here when you leave and try and listen in; perhaps I can discover his true identity."
"Well, I'll finish up here first, and then I'll talk it over with Jowd and Cabanela."
"Right."
We came back to the world of the living, where the topic of conversation had returned to negotiations for the Phoney Doctor's release.
"There's simply nothing more I can tell you, officers," said the Little Ambassador. "It's true that the man you have in custody is a fellow countryman, but as for the claims of espionage, I'm afraid I have nothing further to say."
It seemed that the conversation had reached a stalemate; Loose & Lanky had used up his ace and was tugging at his ear as he struggled to plan his next move, and the Little Ambassador couldn't recover the captured agent without exposing anything.
Lynne leant over and whispered into the ear of her straining mentor, "I don't think we're gonna get the cat out of the bag this way, if you get what I'm saying."
Loose & Lanky was quiet for a moment, but finally he got up from his seat and said, "Sorry to have taken up so much of your precious tiiiime, Mister Ambassador. I'm sure you have a loooot on your mind."
"I take it that you shall be leaving, then?" said the Little Ambassador.
"'Fraid so," said Loose & Lanky. "We just needed to check out the guy's story, and besides, we've got a big case we're working on right now. A real doozy."
I caught the Little Ambassador gulp slightly; I figured he had a pretty good idea of what case Loose & Lanky was referring to.
Lynne got up from her seat, and followed Loose & Lanky to the door leading to the lobby when they noticed that the Good Detective wasn't following them.
"Jowd," Lynne called back to him, "c'mon, we're going."
The Good Detective didn't budge. He sat there, tense and stiff, gripping the armrests tightly so that his knuckles had gone white, his face pale and contorted in a grimace.
"Jowd?" Loose & Lanky looked worried. "What's wrong, partner?"
The Good Detective didn't answer, but sliding out from under the neck of his shirt was the winding form of the large, green snake. Lynne and Loose & Lanky did their best to keep themselves from bursting into laughter.
The Little Ambassador got up from his seat, headed for the Good Detective and began coaxing the creature away from the Good Detective. "I'm awfully sorry, Detective. I'm so used to how things are around here that I often forget that not everyone is as favourable towards snakes as I am."
"Don't you have anything without scales or venom or something?" the Good Detective said, exasperated.
"Well, I do have a breeding colony of rats…"
"Oh, that's nice!"
"But only as live feed…"
The Good Detective didn't reply to that statement, choosing instead just to run for the door.
When we got back to the lobby there was a couple waiting to speak to the Little Ambassador; the first was a young man with long violet hair tied back into a ponytail and in a blue-green vest with gold trim, while with him was a pink-haired young woman wearing heavy makeup and lots of jewellery.
"Finally!" the Pink Prima-Donna exclaimed. "I've got an appointment for a facial later in the day so this better not take long!"
"Oh, Mister Prater," the Little Ambassador greeted the Soft-Spoken Gentleman. "I wasn't expecting you for at least another hour."
"I have some business to attend to later," said the Soft-Spoken Gentleman. "So unless you're busy…?"
"Oh no, I just wasn't prepared."
"May I dare ask who your distinguished guests are?" asked the Soft-Spoken Gentleman, gesturing towards us.
"Oh, these are Inspector Cabanela, Detective Jowd and Officer Lynne," the Little Ambassador replied. "They're here from the city police department on official business."
"Oh dear," the Soft-Spoken Gentleman looked concerned, "did something happen?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," said the Good Detective reassuringly. "Just clearing up a few issues regarding a man we arrested the other day."
"Oh I see," the Soft-Spoken Gentleman walked over towards the Good Detective and offered him his hand. "Prater deBok, current head of deBok Technological Enterprises." He gestured towards the Pink Prima-Donna. "And this is Tarpeia, my fiancée."
The Pink Prima-Donna waggled her exquisitely manicured hand in the Good Detective's direction, "Charmed, I'm sure."
"Mister deBok's company has provided our nation with many of the tools that have allowed our many technological feats," explained the Little Ambassador. "So naturally he's a much honoured guest."
"You flatter me, your honour," replied the Soft-Spoken Gentleman. "But if you'll excuse us, we really must be getting down to business."
"Of course," said Lynne. "But it was nice to meet you all."
The Little Ambassador and his guests headed for his office, and we were left to discuss the matter amongst ourselves. Lynne recounted everything that I had told her.
"So that's the gist of it," Lynne finished.
"Baby, you doooo realise that anything we find out this way won't hold up in court?" said Loose & Lanky.
"Well, yeah," said Lynne, "but I figured we could at least use the information Sissel got to prepare ourselves."
"Lynne, we're asking Sissel to commit espionage," said the Good Detective. "We can't do that."
"Why not?" I asked Lynne. "What's wrong with me listening in?"
"Well first of, you're a cat, and you're dead," Lynne explained. "But most importantly, some of the Ambassador's guests will be discussing pretty sensitive stuff. Take Prater for example – he runs a huge company that makes millions of dollars each year. Right now he's probably talking to the Ambassador about future business deals. That sort of information is easy to misuse, and if we get caught eavesdropping, it could cause a huge scandal. But," she turned to her mentors, "I'm not asking Sissel to listen in on sensitive conversations. I'm asking him to identify the Twister."
Loose & Lanky's eyes lit up, "Sissel just needs to wait out here in the lobby and check out whoever goes in or out."
"Sissel can see wandering souls and Temsik radiation," continued the Good Detective, "so he just has to identify the unmasked Twister and report back to us."
"Then we can put out a survey on the guy," Lynne replied. "Sissel doesn't even need to get up close so there's little risk that the Twister will catch and eat him."
"So I just wait here till he walks past?" I asked.
"And Sissel can just come back to us down the phone line when he's done," finished Lynne.
"Ok then," said the Good Detective. "We'd better get going. Good luck Sissel, we're counting on you."
The three of them left me in a statue of a boy herding a flock of sheep and headed out the front door, and so began my stakeout. The first group of people I examined was the Soft-Spoken Gentleman and his Pink Prima-Donna, about an hour or so after they had arrived.
"That damn bear had better not had any fleas," grumbled the Pink Prima-Donna. "Honestly, the kid's a freak, keeping snakes and spiders and Gods know what else!"
The Soft-Spoken Gentlemen placed a hand on her shoulder, "Tarpiea please, you really must learn to control your temper."
"I'm tellin' ya, if there weren't so much damn money involved-!"
"Watch what you say, my dear," the Soft-Spoken Gentleman interrupted her. "You never know who might be listening."
As he said this, he lent down towards the statue that I was hiding in, scrutinising it. This frightened me a little, if this man was the Twister I now stood a very good chance of being discovered. I jumped into the Ghost World, dreading what I might find. But to my relief there was nothing. That slimy, distorted soul didn't seem to be in this man and it wasn't in the woman either, nor was there a trace of Temsik radiation.
The Pink Prima-Donna tapped her foot impatiently, "Prater, what are you doing?"
The Soft-Spoken Gentleman brushed some dust of my statue, then got up and walked towards his fiancée. "Seventeenth century, I would say; excellent craftsmanship."
The Pink Prima-Donna rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Can we get going? I'm gonna miss my facial."
The Soft-Spoken Gentleman and the Pink Prima-Donna made their exit after this exchange, and I was once again left by myself to watch the comings and goings at the embassy. Indeed, there were over a dozen guests that day, whose reaction to the Little Ambassador's odd collection of animals varied from absolute horror to those who seemed to be more familiar to the Ambassador's eccentricities. Most of these guests I had never seen before, although I did recognise the Justice Minister with his wife and daughter in tow. I couldn't help but be amused by the revolted expressions on the faces of the Minster and his wife when they came out an hour later. The Angelic Firecracker, their daughter, on the other hand, was beside herself with glee.
"Did you see the bear, Daddy?" she gushed. "It ate the apple right out of my hand!"
"Yes dear…" said the Minister weakly.
"And weren't all the snakes and stuff so awesome? I can't wait to tell Kamila – the ambassador told me that being bitten by the little hairy brown spiders with the white spots can cause your skin to rot right off!"
The Minister's Perfumed Wife put a napkin to her mouth as she tried not to gag.
"And I though today was gonna be boring!" said the Angelic Firecracker as the Minister grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her towards the door.
But despite all this activity, there was no sign of the Twister. I checked everyone, even the Justice Minister and his family. But there was not a sign of that twisted lump of a soul or the radiation that had created it. I stayed there all night, thinking perhaps the Twister might prefer the cover of darkness to conduct his grim business. But once the sun had set there were no more visitors, the only people remaining being the Little Ambassador and his various staff, who I also scanned, just to be sure. I couldn't understand it. I had stayed in the lobby all day, never moving from that statue, checking out everyone who had passed by.
I wondered if perhaps the Twister had chosen to leave his body and make his visit via the phone line, thus skipping the lobby and arriving in the office. But no, Commander Sith has said that the Twister would be arriving in person. Perhaps the meeting was to be held in another location. But that couldn't be it either; the meeting place was explicitly stated to be here, in the embassy. Perhaps the Twister had used another entrance. Of course, I had no idea how many entrances this place had to begin with. This thought was, of course, very disheartening. This was ridiculous. I mean, an aged soul could easily hide itself from view, but how could you hide the Temsik radiation? The first light of dawn began to creep through the window, and I had no choice but to accept that my mission had failed.
I recounted everything to Lynne the next day, while she and the others were on lunch break in the city's public square.
"You're kidding?" groaned the Good Detective.
"That's what Sissel told me," Lynne grumbled as she bit into her pastry. "He even stayed the whole night, just to make sure."
"Oh, poor Sissel," the Good Detective shook his head. "There'll be a new scratching-post waiting for you when we get home, I promise."
"Weeell, it wasn't a total loss," Loose & Lanky observed. "At least we have an idea on where to look now. We'll just drop the Special Investigations Unit an 'anoooonymous tip', and hopefully they'll uncover the same info we have."
We were interrupted by a loud ruckus coming from the stage in the middle of the market square; the Spiky-Haired Rocker and three other strangely-dressed youths were playing their instruments, and they seemed to be quite popular with the crowd. Lynne was looking on with some interest, tapping her hand on the table in time to the beat. Her mentors on the other hand shared my opinion that the screaming and the noise could never be classified as 'music', the Good Detective was grimacing while Loose & Lanky covered his ears.
"You like that racket?" the Good Detective asked Lynne.
"Oh c'mon, it's not so bad," Lynne replied. "All these people here seem to like it."
"Probably because they no longer have eardrums."
It was then that something in the crowd caught my eye – a small, flicking blue flame attached to someone in the crowd.
"'Scuse me for a sec," I told Lynne. "I just gotta go check something."
I jumped across sales carts and partying youths towards the location of the blue flame. I was surprised to find everyone's favourite tabloid reporter, the Scrawny Snooper, pointing his camera at the concert and snapping away, and he seemed to be in a good mood. The blue flame in question was resting inside Scrawny's camera. Naturally, I jumped into the camera to learn more.
The ghost inside the camera had a human form – a short, dumpy man with the same shade of skin as scrawny, while his face had a pair of staring white eyes, a bulbous red nose, thick black eyebrows with a matching moustache and a downturned mouth…
"Toon-Face?"
"You again?" he replied gruffly. "I told ya so! I found out who I am, all by myself!" He thrust his chest out proudly. "Didn't need no flea-bitten hairball or uppity skirt to help me out, after all!"
"Uh… I'm real glad for you," I replied. In truth I was actually pretty annoyed, Toon-Face had been my best lead on the Twister and now I had lost my leverage, not to mention he hadn't apologised for just how poorly he had treated Lynne and I.
"Oh, that?" huffed Toon-Face, as he heard my thoughts. "Ok, look, sorry for all that, really, and as for that soul-stealing freak, all that happened was that I saw him in the Park that night, when he killed that office drone, ok? And one last thing, fleabag," he gave a smug grin, "the name's not 'Toon-Face' or 'Mister Daruma', it's Kenshin Charivari."
"Charivari?" I glanced towards Scrawny. "You two are related?"
"Kid's my son," Toon-Face replied. "Whatcha reckon, huh? A real chip off the old block!"
Well, they sure did both have a talent for getting on people's nerves.
"Hey, Rennie!" Toon-Face called out to the Scrawny Snooper. "I wantcha to meet someone."
Scrawny stopped taking happy-snaps and ducked into a private corner, "Ya there, dad?"
"Heya, Ren!" Toon-Face beamed. "Ya get any hotties with that camera of yours?"
Scrawny laughed and rolled his eyes, "Since when did you become such a perve? I remember you used to be so conservative when I was a kid."
"Never mind that, kiddo, I wantcha to meet someone," he jerked a thumb towards me, "this fleabag here's the one who gave me grief before I caught up with you."
Scrawny gave a smirk, "Actually, we've already met. Believe it or not, this little guy saved my ass."
"No kidding," scoffed Toon-Face. "What is it with ya, fall off of a witch's broomstick?"
"Anyway," Scrawny gave a sly grin, "I'm pretty sure our little lucky black cat here could come in real handy…"
I didn't need to listen in on Scrawny's thoughts to know what he wanted, "You want info on the Twister, right?"
Toon-Face seemed somewhat alarmed by this, "Uh… we really don't need to bother with all that, do we?"
"I'm a hundred percent on this one," Scrawny said with an air of confidence. "I'm gonna find the Twister and expose him to the world."
"C'mon, Rennie, why go through all that crap, huh?" Toon-Face flustered, "Can't we just focus on catching up, chatting about old times, all that father-son stuff…?"
"No," Scrawny was serious and firm. "I can't reclaim the time that we lost, but I can sure as hell find the bastard that stole it in the first place and…!"
"Th-that's all in the past, Rennie, let's just focus on the future, huh?"
This was a major revelation – Scrawny seemed to be under the impression that Toon-Face had died at the hands of the Twister, which meant his hunt was personal. And Toon-Face was frightened enough of the Twister to try and persuade his son from seeking justice.
"C'mon dad, if you could just remember how you died…"
"It's not important anymore, Ren, it's gone. Buried. L-let's just move on, huh?"
I wanted to continue listening, but I felt bad for listening in what was obviously a private conversation between a father and son, "I have to get going, Lynne and the others are going to miss me."
The two of them were too busy arguing to bother with a reply.
I made my way back to Lynne, and told her what had happened. "Well, I can't say I'm sorry to get rid of that pervert daruma," she said when I had finished, "but if he's joined forces with Reynard it's going to be a big headache."
"I'm more interested in their connection to the Twister," I replied. "Reynard seems to be carrying a lot of anger regarding his father's death, which is why he's so obsessive with the case. He might turn out to be of use to us."
"I guess I could look up Reynard's dad when we get back to the precinct," said Lynne.
It was around this time that I noticed that one of our group was missing, "Hey, where's Jowd?"
"He said he had to use the bathroom, but personally I think he just got sick of the concert."
Speaking of which, the band were now performing a song which I recognised as a rather imaginative rendition of 'The Three Little Pigs', a favourite story of the Little Lady's. About halfway through the song, the band members seemed to lose their sense of rhythm, looking around as if they were expecting something to happen. Finally, one of the band members, a tall skinny guy with long hair that fell over his face, jumped up from his keyboards and hissed into the wing.
"Dude, where are the frikkin' pigs? They should've run onstage like two choruses ago!"
The reply from behind the curtain was anxious and confused, "Dude, I'm so sorry, but I can't find them, it's like they've disappeared…"
The Lean & Hairy Rocker slapped his forehead and sighed, "Ok, fine. You just round up the damn porkers and we'll just have to keep on playing without them."
The Lean & Hairy Rocker returned to the keyboards and the band started back up. But that wasn't the end of the trouble. A few moments later, the drummer, a big stocky fellow, was distracted from his drumming as he tried to wipe away the beads of red liquid that had started to drip onto his face from the stage roof.
"What the hell?" As he looked up, his face went pale and his eyes grew wide, "HOLY SHIT!"
Almost as if on cue, the bodies of the three missing pigs, their throats slashed open, dropped down from the roof, only prevented from hitting the floor by the ropes tied around their necks that jerked violently as they reached max tension. The band members and the audience screamed at the gruesome sight.
"Wh-what the hell?" the Spiky-Haired rocker dropped his guitar. "That ain't part of the program!"
"And those costumes!" cried the other guitarist, a young girl with pale skin and dressed in black. "Those are not the costumes I made up!"
"Our audience has been traumatised by a live butchering and you're worried about the costumes?"
Lynne and Loose & Lanky jumped from their seats in horror – the little pigs had each been carefully dressed to resemble a member of the team, including the absent Good Detective. They even had wigs to match their hair.
There was another thing about the pigs, something that Lynne and Loose & Lanky couldn't see, but it was perhaps the most worrying of all, "Lynne! None of those pigs have a core! Their souls are missing!"
"Cabanela, he's here," said Lynne. "The Twister, he's here!"
"Shit!" Loose & Lanky whipped around, scanning the area. "Jowd? Jowd, where are you?"
We spotted him a few feet away, near a lamppost.
"Jowd!" Lynne called out to him. "Come on, the Twister could be anywhere around here."
No. He wasn't just anywhere. I could see that vile, warped soul perfectly well from where I was. Right inside the Good Detective.
"Don't go near him!" I warned Lynne. "It's not Jowd – the Twister's controlling his body!"
"What?"
The Twister, in the Good Detective's body, looked towards us, a very un-Jowd-like sneer on his face. He gave a wave of his hand, and gunfire rang out. Lyyne and Loose & Lanky quickly upturned a metal table and dived for cover as the market square exploded into panic.
Lynne and the Good detective pulled out their handguns and buckled down, ready for the fight. I got a good glimpse of their opponents, Jeego and Tengo, who had traded in their usual firearms for a new type of gun I hadn't seen before. Whatever they were, they pumped out bullets at a phenomenal rate and were literally spraying the area with them.
"Semi-automatics!" cried Lynne. "How the hell did they get their hands on those?"
"They must've smuggled them in!" replied the Loose & Lanky.
"What do we do, Sir? If we fight back we risk hitting Jowd, and if we don't fight back…!"
"Let me try!" I told Lynne. "Maybe I can chase them off or stop the guns from working."
It was easy to find a path with all the mess that had been caused in the scramble for safety. I attacked Jeego's gun first, fiddling with the internal parts until it stopped firing. Jeego cursed as he slapped the side of his gun in an effort to get it working again.
"Hah! First your eyesight, now your gun!" snickered Tengo. "Face it, bub, you can't keep with –"
Tengo's taunting was cut short when I made the gun backfire, causing him to drop it as he tended to his stinging hand. Lynne and the Good Detective saw their chance and began shooting at the two blue assassins. Without guns, Jeego and Tengo had no choice but to flee.
Now to rescue the Good Detective, if that was even possible. Lynne and Loose & Lanky rushed out from behind their cover, guns at the ready, scanning the abandoned square for any sign of their comrade.
"There!" Lynne pointed to an alleyway not too far away, and I just caught a flutter of the tail of his brown trench coat.
"Sir, Sissel said that the Twister is… well, he's possessing Jowd!"
"You mean like that movie with the girl spinning her head and spitting out pea soup?" asked Loose & Lanky.
"Yeah, he's controlling him like a puppet!"
"Lynne baby, listen to me – I want you to head back to the car and call for backup, ok?"
"N-no way!" Lynne protested. "If you're going after Jowd, then I'm-!"
"We'll achieve nothing if we aaaall get iced!" Loose & Lanky retorted. "Lynne, we need that backup. And besides, you're the only one who communicate with the ghost cat, remember?"
Lynne gritted her teeth, but she obeyed her superior and headed for the car.
I gave her a quick shout as she passed by, "I'm going with Cabanela!"
"Good luck, both of you!" she called back.
I grabbed on to Loose & Lanky badge as he raced towards the alleyway where the Good Detective had last been spotted. As we entered the alleyway, Loose & Lanky slowed his pace, keeping his back to the wall. Parked at the end of the valley was a black van with tinted windows, and there was the Twister, still in the Good Detective's body. He opened the door, revealing another familiar face, Beauty, the Black-Hearted Lady, waiting inside along with what appeared to be a coreless dead body.
"Have you realised that we've got company?" she said, pointing her riding crop towards Loose & Lanky.
The Twister turned casually to face us, still holding that smug sneer on the Good Detective's face. Loose & Lanky took his gun, aiming it not at his partner, but at Beauty behind him. Beauty seemed to be slightly unnerved by this tactic, but she didn't move an inch. The Twister, however, raised a quizzical eyebrow, scoffed, and took out the Good Detective's gun.
"You really sure that's such a smart move?" he sneered.
I knew it was the Twister speaking, and not the Good Detective. It was the Good Detective's voice, but the inflections and attitude was all wrong. It gave me the creeps.
"She may not mean anything to you," replied Loose & Lanky, "but can you really afford to lose her aid?"
"You're right in that she means nothing to me," the Twister replied. "In fact, they've got so many like her that if you were to kill her right now, she could easily be replaced. And besides, I just have to rewind the clock to prevent her from dying."
Loose & Lanky was shocked, "W-what the hell are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean, Inspector," said the Twister. "The powers of the dead. The same powers possessed by your little friend hiding in your badge." He waved the Good Detective's hand at me, "Hello there, my little disembodied friend. I tell you what, though," he turned back to Loose & Lanky, "being able to rewind time and prevent death opens up a whole world of creative freedom for my craft."
Loose & Lanky blinked stupidly, "What?"
"Torturing and killing a person once is a true joy, to be sure," continued the Twister. "But when you can bring that person back to life and prolong the entertainment, well!" The Twister contorted the Good Detective's face into a monstrous grin. "Since they remember everything, it has quite an interesting effect on their mentality. I tell you, its one thing to push a person's body to the limit, but to destroy their will to live and their grip on reality takes things to a whole new level!"
"W-why you sick sonna-! Get out of my partner's body!"
"Are you done gloating?" Beauty yawned. "Either deal with the cop or drop the hostage so we can get outta here."
The Twister rolled the Good Detective's eyes. Then he took the gun and held it to Good Detective's temple.
"Oh Gods!" Loose & Lanky gasped. "No, don't!"
"I don't really care if this meat puppet lives or dies," the Twister sneered. "I'll kill him, devour his soul, and just take you hostage instead. Or you could drop that little pea-shooter of yours and let us get back to business. What shall it be, then?"
The Loose & Lanky was in a deadlock. Even without the threat of being taken hostage himself, there was no way he was willing to risk the life of his friend and partner. But I never expected what he said next.
"Take me instead," he said calmly, slowly placing him gun on the ground. "I'm higher up in the force; you can get more outta me than you can with Jowd."
The Twister's cocked the Good Detective's head quizzically; he didn't seem too impressed by this idea.
Beauty on the other hand, jumped on the offer, "Take him and dump old forest-face. I just want to get outta here and it'll be easier if the hostage doesn't wiggle."
"Fine," the Twister grumbled. "I suppose I can play with him later."
The Twister handed Beauty the gun as she took out a pair of handcuffs and clapped them to the Good Detective's wrists. Loose & Lanky went over to the van, still cool and collected, and stepped inside, as the Twister's soul slid into the lifeless body that had been lying in the back of the van. But I was surprised to see that the maggoty soul seemed to vanish as it entered the body. The body began to rise, and as the head came into view, I could see that ugly stained mask with its zipper teeth and slitted eyes. He lent over towards Loose & Lanky, and tore off his badge with me still inside, throwing me out of the van and into the gutter. Beauty handed the Twister the Good Detective's gun to him as the Good Detective, no longer possessed, slowly came to.
"Wha… what on earth?" he said groggily.
The Twister's reply was to thump the Good Detective on the head with his own gun, knocking him unconscious.
"Jowd!" Loose & Lanky called out to his friend, but he was roughly shoved into the back by the Twister.
Beauty jumped into the van, and called out to the driver's seat, "Step on it, Dandy!"
She slid the door shut as the van sped off, leaving me and the unconscious Good Detective lying in the mud. Not long after, Lynne arrived with the backup, and as paramedics tended to the bump on the Good Detective's head, I was once again telling Lynne everything I had seen. Needless to say, she was distraught at the news of Loose & Lanky's abduction.
"Jowd will be devastated," she bemoaned. "I can't believe Cabanela would go so far to…"
"There was nothing any of us could've done, Lynne," I replied.
"You don't think they'll kill him, do you?"
I couldn't say for sure. While the blue-skins' goal in the previous timeline had been to eliminate anyone who knew of the Temsik event, it seemed odd that they had simply chosen to take a hostage and hadn't taken the chance to kill Lynne and the others. What's more, in order to posses the Good Detective, the Twister would've had to abandon his own body, with its precious Temsik fragment sill inside. Yomiel had made a similar mistake in the previous timeline, and Commander Sith was quick to betray him. And yet the Twister was still working with Sith and his subordinates. Something was off.