Reactions at the LEP were as to be expected, Artemis mused. A lot of shouting across rooms, Commander Kelp was bellowing into a headset and doing a fairly good impression of the late Commander Root, facial complexion and everything. In fact, the only person who was not in a state of disarray was Foaly, who had been absolutely silent since the attack. He had taken to playing a piece of the footage repeatedly: That of the initial sweep of the water in the station. In particular he had zoomed in on a small Atlantean child and an elderly lady. When the water came roaring in, the child was forced off his feet, and, in spite of his gills, the force of the water pushed him towards the glass. While there was no body to be seen, a small, red colored stain had been left on the door.
When Artemis went to go talk to the centaur, Foaly was extremely pale, a haunted look in his eyes.
"Foaly," Artemis said calmly, albeit keeping his eyes off the monitor, "you need to come out. People need you. Commander Kelp specifically asked for you".
Foaly didn't meet his gaze. "Artemis. This wasn't an attack. This was a message. They sent the message for me, not the LEP."
"You think it was the families?"
"Since when have the families engaged in terrorism?" replied Foaly, pausing to replay the footage again.
"Since when have the families had a single person telling them what to do? You're right, this is not their traditional Modus Operandi, but who else has access to the kind of resources to pull this off? Placing explosives in an underwater train track? Hacking into the Haven Terminal mainframe, a Bio-Bomb. It can only be them."
"What kind of monster could do this, Artemis? You have to understand, Fairies don't attack other fairies. Not to this scale at least. We aren't human, Mud Boy."
Artemis decided to let that slide, as he gestured for the centaur to follow him, but Foaly refused to leave his seat, rewinding the tape again. Wordlessly Artemis left the booth and walked over to Commander Kelp's desk. The veteran policeman was wearing a headset mic and was speaking with an angry tone of voice, which could only make Artemis feel sorry for the poor fairy on the other line.
"What do you mean nobody saw him? He placed a BIO BOMB in the middle of a crowded terminal and nobody saw him? Is this a joke? I don't care if there are no tapes, LOOK AGAIN. Don't call me again until I have some results!"
The Commander tore off his headset and threw it to the ground in a rage.
"D'Arvit! This is a nightmare!" he shouted at no one in particular, then, noting, Artemis's presence. "Ah, Mud Man, how's Foaly?"
"Incapacitated is putting it lightly. Chances are you will not be able to count on him for a while." Said Artemis, trying to imitate Butler's curt, military style. Artemis and Trouble Kelp knew each other by reputation but had never truly worked together before.
"Artemis, leave the Butler-talk to Butler please," came Holly's voice from behind him "Speaking of, will he be joining us down here? We could use his experience; the People don't deal with terrorists very often."
Artemis paused, looking, unsure. He then took a deep breath and said: "No, I don't think he will. Butler left my service before I came here. Personal issues". Holly knew Artemis well enough not to push the issue, she could see the unresolved pain in his eyes as he said it.
"Well then, now that that option is off the table, let me see if I can take over for Foaly. I've used his systems long enough to know how they work and Foaly can't help us right now." He continued, pointing towards the booth.
"If you say so Fowl. Get those systems back up and running, and see if you can run a trace on that camera feed. I want every single scrap of data we can get. Short, get out there and get me some hard facts. Also dig up Mulch from whatever hole he's wandered into, he'll have a sense on who's running the show with Mob."
"Agreed Commander, I'll go tell Foaly to get some rest." Said Artemis, still looking sullen, and yet strangely resolute.
Holly also looked over at the booth, then turned back to face Kelp and said: "Yes, Commander, I'm on it. I'll need some tech, though. With Foaly out for the count, is there anything new I can rely on?"
"Unless the Mud Man can dig up something, you're going to be doing this Old School. Will that be a problem?"
Holly chuckled, "No Sir, it'll be just like the academy"
"Then both of you get to work, dismissed."
Foaly was sent home that afternoon. Commander Kelp granted the centaur a leave of absence, which allowed him to stay home and recuperate. The Communications Booth was dark and abandoned. Out of respect to the centaur and his equipment, Artemis had set up his terminals and communication apparatus on a desk outside of the booth. To the outside viewer, the human was doing exactly what fairy he had replaced was doing: replaying the crime video again and again. What this outside viewer wouldn't know, however, was what was going through Artemis's mind. After having meditated and performed the cleansing ritual, he was able to put aside sadness, anger and revulsion, and dispassionately analyze what was, to date, the only clue they had. What had fascinated Fowl the most was the timing of it all. The locking of the doors, the explosion, and the bio bomb had not only gone off exactly as planned, but had also gone off at exactly the right time, at irregular intervals. It was too calculated, too grisly to have been committed remotely via a computer. Moreover, with the cameras disabled, the perpetrator must have been on location to watch his handiwork. It was for this precise reason that he had asked Holly to meet him.
"How can I help you, Artemis?" she asked, her usual flight suit discarded in favor of standard LEP attire.
"Ah yes, I need you to go on location. I would go myself, but I fear my presence here is required. Also, the families are counting on Foaly being otherwise disabled. They want us blind. We still have the element of surprise here, let's not squander it."
"Agreed. What am I looking for?"
"Specifically? I don't know yet. All I know is that our perpetrator was on site to activate the bomb. I need you to find clues. Can you do that?"
"Count on it. Have I ever let you down before?"
Holly had opted to go down to the shut down in civilian clothing. It avoided questions and made her trip look less important than it actually was. She was, of course, provided with standard Foaly tech to put her in contact with Artemis at all times: In-ear communicator, Iris-Cam and Throat Mic. She was, essentially, Artemis's eyes and ears on ground.
Nothing in her training, or Artemis's experiences, could have prepared them for the devastation there. Bodies were still being removed from the terminal, some of them seriously mangled from the sheer pressure of the water. The pressure was, of course, the biggest problem with the retrieval of the bodies: the ones that had slammed against the glass doors were the first ones removed, due to their relative closeness to the LEP retrieval workers. The victims of the exploded train car, however, were still floating in the water under the weight of miles of water and some had already been partially eaten by the underwater wildlife.
"Focus, Holly. We can grieve another day."
"Right. See anything interesting?"
"Well, the water makes things hard to see. But this is what I can tell so far: our suspect could have seen the inside of the terminal from anywhere, but we the first explosion occurred outside the terminal, in the train track. If you can find and flag the spot where we can clearly see both the tracks and the terminal."
"Got it."
Holly wandered around the area as much as she could. The LEP had cordoned off several areas, so it made snooping around hard. After 20 minutes of fruitless searching she ended back in the terminal plaza.
"Artemis, there's no spot like the one you described. The architecture of the plaza makes it so that you can either watch the trains leaving and arriving by the Arrivals area or enter the Departures building. They're separate," said Holly as she walked into the center of the plaza and spun around to give Artemis a full view of what she meant.
"Wait, Holly, stop! Turn back around." Came the voice in her ear, a little forcefully for her taste, but she held her tongue.
"What do you see?"
"What was that railing up there, on the far end of the plaza?"
"Touristy stuff. A few restaurants overlooking the plaza, LEP has set up shop on there to oversee operations."
"That's our spot, Holly."
"But it's so far way, Artemis. How could he see both?"
"The terminal front is glass, right? What if he stood up there and watched the trains leave on the far end throughthe terminal? I'll bet a glass of whatever form of recreational liquor you drink down here."
"Even if it is, how can I get up there? It's completely locked down."
"You're the field agent, Holly, improvise."
Holly mumbled a few curses under her breath, as she trekked over to the LEP operations tent.
"I heard that" Artemis said disapprovingly.
"You were supposed to." She growled.
The LEP had set up an improvised pavilion where the coroner could inspect the bodies and attempt to salvage them as much as possible. They had also taken advantage of the lack of customers in the restaurants to use the tables and chairs to hold their equipment and officers. The fairies that had been working security day and night were sleeping in the booths. She pitied them: Grunt work was hard, tedious and didn't pay very well. The big salaries in Retrieval were in the higher ranks. Something she rarely admitted to anyone was that the higher entry-level wages was one of the reasons she chose Recon over Retrieval.
The steps to the upper level were cordoned off from the rest of the plaza; with a sign reading "This is the site of an ongoing investigation. LEP access only, no civilian entry". Holly looked around and pointedly walked under the cordon and walked up the stairs, and began to overlook the plaza.
"Artemis, are you seeing this?"
"Yes Holly, the prospective is perfect. I believe you owe me a drink"
"Shut up and tell me what to look for now."
"See if there is any surveillance of that spot of the plaza. We've been so focused on the terminal itself; we've been ignoring the rest of the plaza. Pan 360 degrees. We're looking for cameras, any kind of audio surveillance, legal or non."
"Alright. Standard security procedure would place cameras on the store and restaurant fronts to capture people breaking and entering. So… cameras should be… oh no…"
One of Holly's worst fears suddenly materialized in front of her in the form of a sprite in an LEP officer's attire, wings folded back for comfort, long flowing locks that would make most female elves envious and name tag emblazoned with the words "C. VERBIL. Senior Taskforce Officer."
"Excuse me Miss, this area is clo… My, my, if it isn't Holly Short. How is my favorite police elf? It's been a while since we've been a firefight together."
"Chix, we were in one firefight together and you got shot after 5 minutes, spending most of it writhing on the ground."
"Holly, I'm sorry to interrupt such a romantic moment, but keep it civil please. Don't arouse suspicion," piped Artemis in her ear.
"Oh come on Short, you know you loved it. Why didn't you return my calls?"
Holly flushed and could almost see Artemis sniggering in the LEP Headquarters.
"Holly! For shame, how could you be so rude?" Artemis laughed.
"Fowl, I swear, if you don't stop talking…" Holly muttered through clenched teeth, trying to maintain a smile.
"You know, I think I see why Foaly enjoys this so much"
"Did you say something Holly?" chirped Verbil
Holly was almost shaking, but forced out some words in the form of an "Oh no, nothing" and obliged the sprite with her fakest smile.
"I see," said the sprite, placing his hand on her arm in what he thought was his most seductive voice, "so why are you in my neck of the woods? Business? Or… pleasure?"
Ignoring the howls of laughter coming from Artemis's end, she brushed the hand off.
"Business" she replied curtly.
Chix squinted suspiciously at her, looking her up and down.
"If you're on LEP business, why aren't you in uniform? Why are you in Civilian Clothing?"
D'arvit!thought Holly. She had forgotten what she was wearing. Then, as she was preparing a quick reply, she noticed a camera over the Sprite's soldier, attached to the front of a Vole Curry Boutique.
"Artemis, are you getting this?" she murmured, while offering platitudes to the sprite, and offering to leave immediately.
"Crystal clear. Don't bother coming back to HQ, meet me directly at my apartment."
Foaly didn't walk home directly after he had been temporarily suspended. Instead he went to a sprawling park close to his apartment called "The Centaurian Gardens". The gardens had been developed by an eccentric Centaur, Augustus J. Roan, who had envisioned a place with Centaur-specific facilities and Centaur-friendly attractions. The tranquility pond was Foaly's favorite spot: A babbling fountain of recycled water set in an actual antique Centaurian relic. At the center of the fountain was a giant metal cube. It was completely seamless with centaurian text in small squares wrapping around it.
It was here that he had met Caballine, and it was here where, in those brief periods of time off he was given, he spent most of his time, simply clearing and purifying his mind, and if there was any a time for mental purification, now was it. His mind had a turmoil of anger, revulsion and an irrational guilt fighting with his rational, logical and calm self. Every justification he tried to come up with was countered with the image of blood on the glass.
Foaly shook his head and took a deep breath. "Time to go home, Caballine will be waiting." he muttered to himself.
He moved through the park, and slowly made himself to his apartment on the third floor of a fancy building in one of the nicer areas of town. The LEP paid well, he mused.
As he moved into the elevator, he smiled, the first one today, as he realized his wife might be the only one to make him feel better. For all of his inventions, IQ and practical genius, deep down Foaly knew she was the only one who he considered to be his more intelligent than he was. Chuckling to himself, he turned a corner and faced his door.
It was open.
Foaly walked through the doorway.
The door was open
The house was completely ransacked, though nothing had been stolen.
The door was open
"Caballine?! Caballine?!" shouted Foaly, with no answer
The door was open
He frantically moved through the rooms of the apartment, moving finally into the bedroom.
The door was open
Of Caballine, there was no sign. Hanging from the one of the ceiling lights was a noose, with a foal hanging dead in it, its hooves bent in an unnatural fashion and it's tongue stuck out in what had appeared to be asphyxiation. Its eyes had since glazed over and the corpse was slowly rocking as if moved by some unseen breeze.
Foaly collapsed to his knees and began to weep and scream in horror and desperation.
They have my wife.
They have my wife and the door is open.