Resident Evil Recall: Operation Arklay

Episode Seven: Investigations

Part Three

The Arklay Resort, 3:00 PM…

Now that the manager and staff of the resort were cooperating, McGee found that things were going a lot more smoothly as he and Chambers began the investigation. It was amazing how much of an impact a little threat of arrest could have on even the most stubborn of people, and not only did the manager agree to provide them with anything they needed during the course of their duties, but he also assigned the front desk receptionist to make sure that everything went smoothly, which seemed to make Chambers happy.

In order to keep a low profile, they would need to fit in with the other guests, so they were given a large suite on the ninth floor, as well as full access to all of the resort's recreational facilities, and free room service, which Reginald was more than insistent that the resort was happy to pay for. Most of these things had nothing to do with their mission, but McGee didn't like people looked down on the working class, so this was his way of sticking it to the man. It also amused him to see Chambers constantly calling the receptionist up to their room for simple requests that he could easily have done himself, but she had also been disrespectful, so he thought of it as Karma.

"You called me up here for ice?" She asked while trying to hide her growing anger. "But the ice machine is literally thirty feet from your door."

"I know, right?" Chambers replied happily. "And now you are literally four feet closer to it than I am."

She huffed angrily before turning around and doing a hard walk to the machine, where Chambers watched as she filled up the bucket. She seemed to have calmed down a little by the time she got back, but then Chambers smiled again, and she roughly shoved the bucket into his hands before walking away so hard that she was almost stomping.

"Thank you, Tracy." He called after her with a light laugh. "This really means a lot to me… see you soon."

McGee laughed a little himself as his younger partner went over to the sink and dumped the ice out of the bucket. This was probably not the last time that he would torment the receptionist, but they still had a job to do, and now it was time to get back to it. They had only had time so far to ask a few guests that had been in the lobby about the noises that had been reported, and it had been a lot of work to do it in a way that wouldn't reveal them as cops. As far as the other guests knew, McGee was a rich Ford executive from Detroit, and Chambers was his son. Their explanation for not being as well dressed as the others was that they liked to keep a low profile when they traveled, but for all this effort, only one of the guests they had talked to had heard anything.

"Here's what we have so far." McGee began once Chambers sat down. "Reports of strange noises at night, further described by one of the guests as a sort of scraping or slow sliding kind of sound, like someone was out looking for something. Said guest believes the sound to be coming from outside, but is only in his room at night, so he wouldn't know if it was happening in the daytime."

"Then we'll probably have to stake this place out tonight." Chambers replied. "But we only talked to a few guests, so we might still get some leads from one of the others."

McGee nodded in agreement. The kid was catching on fast, and he was right about their options. He didn't really want to leave the Task Force broken up for any significant length of time, but if there was any chance that the reports from this place were connected to The Cannibal Murders, then it needed to be further explored. Sure, the possibility was remote; probably just some animals rummaging through the garbage outside at night, or maybe some harmless drifters looking for a place to sleep near the building's exhaust since it was still pretty cold at night at this time of year.

"Okay, we'll stay here tonight and check it out." McGee continued. "But for now we keep on the guests, and we'll talk to the night shift staff tonight as well. All right, I want you to tour the facilities, like the pool house and the gym and see what people know. I'm gonna start at the golf course clubhouse, and work my way to the bar."

"Sounds good." Chambers said. "Oh, since we don't have radios, do you just want to meet up back here in a couple hours?"

It was a good point that they didn't have radios, since they left them in the SUV along with the rifle and shotgun, nor could they use the radios even if they were carrying them if they wanted to keep their cover. This wouldn't have been so stressful if they were dealing with middle or lower class people, but these damn rich people were sure to clam up the moment they realized they were talking to the police. They didn't want to risk their names being tarnished by being involved in a criminal investigation, even if the case wasn't about them, no matter how many people could be saved by their information.

"Let's meet back here just before the restaurant serves dinner." McGee decided. "Then we'll go over anything we've learned, get some really expensive room service, and see what the night brings."

Chambers nodded, and they both stood up before making sure that they both had their room keys. This was a really high-end place, so instead of normal keys, they were given plastic cards that had a magnetic strip, like the ones used to enter Soviet bases in James Bond movies. All these ones did was open the doors to their room and resort facilities, so there was nothing top secret there.

"Okay." McGee said as they turned toward the door. "Let's go."

Arklay County Sheriff Station, 3:00 PM…

Again, things were not going exactly like Ashwood had expected. It had only been a few miles to the station where they were supposed to meet this Sheriff Thompson, and thankfully her stomach managed to settle down a bit after changing her mind and grabbing another of those Vernors drinks from the cooler. She was going to have to remember to stock up on this stuff once they got back to the city, and probably find some more at the General Store or whatever this little town had, since she could smell cooking meat as they pulled into the parking lot. The building was small with only one floor, and outside there was an old metal grill that was permanently fixed to the concrete, where a couple Deputies were drinking beer and flipping over some kind of meat.

"Seriously?" Ashwood asked as the vehicle stopped. "Is eating red meat and drinking cheap booze all anyone ever does in this town?"

"I hope so." Lopez replied as he sniffed the air.

"I resent that, Ashwood." Liquid added while shutting off the engine. "These are honest, hard-working people, and they don't have all the entertainment options that we enjoy in Raccoon City, so this is what they do to unwind at the end of the day."

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon." She argued.

Liquid shrugged before getting out, and Lopez followed, as did Ashwood after a few more seconds. Then for the next hour they just seemed to waste time as far as she was concerned. Deputy Gumb was inside with Sheriff Thompson, and introductions were made before the other two Deputies came in with a bunch of ribs fresh from the grill. Liquid and Lopez continued to gorge themselves, and Ashwood tried to keep up appearances as she was introduced to heavily mustached Deputy Charles Lynch, and the skinny glasses wearing Deputy Johnny Dennis. Apparently there were a couple more that were on vacation, but between her stomach and not really wanting to be there with them, Ashwood didn't pay attention to their names.

"So, Tobias." Thompson said as they ate. "What brings you back to Arklay Village?"

"The food." Lopez interrupted with a mouthful. "Nothing else matters."

Everyone laughed at this while Ashwood shook her head. Lynch then patted Lopez on the shoulder and passed him the barbeque sauce, which he eagerly took and proceeded to use it on his ribs.

"Actually, we're out here on assignment." Liquid replied as he took a drink of his beer. "It's finally happening, Adam. We're finally going to investigate The Cannibal Murders."

Everything suddenly became serious as the Lieutenant began to explain all of the details of their assignment. The Sheriff and his Deputies listened intently as he told them about the different scenes and what had been happening with the evidence after each incident. Like what sometimes happened to Liquid, these other men who only moments ago had been a bunch of laughing jackasses, were now serious and driven as they not only paid attention, but even took notes.

"We're also short-staffed, Adam." Liquid continued. "Irons wouldn't give me all the people I wanted, so we want you and your men to join us. Think of how good it will look if you guys help stop the most heinous murderers in the history of both Raccoon City and Arklay County. You'll get fame, publicity, maybe some more funding… and the best part is that even if we somehow screw this up, you guys won't lose your jobs over it."

"Let's do it, Sheriff." Gumb said while giving Ashwood a wink. "Besides, I gotta show this city-gal what a real country boy can do."

"Does the demonstration involve beating yourself senseless with a hammer?" Ashwood asked.

"Nope, but it involves playing Carpenter." Lynch answered. "That's where you both get hammered, and then he nails you."

Ashwood just glared at him as Lynch did a high-five with Dennis, and then shook her head as everyone started laughing and making tasteless construction-themes jokes like keeping his nuts tightened and checking her airbags. Yep, it was definitely her worst nightmare made flesh… a whole town of Tobias Liquid's.

"Well, you walked right into that one, Ashwood." Liquid said as the laughter died down.

"I know you're doing this on purpose." She replied. "I don't know why you enjoy torturing me so much, but I know you're doing it on purpose, and you're going to pay, Liquid."

"Jesus, Ashwood, loosen up a bit." Lopez replied while licking the last of the sauce off his fingers. "Look, I don't like Lieutenant Vodka Drunkenski here any more than you do, but he did just about double the size of our Task Force."

"Damn right he did." Thompson said as he stood up. "We're with you, Tobias, and I gotta make a quick call to the County Commissioner to make sure it's okay, but starting tomorrow we are all Task Force Arklay."

"Oh, I don't think so." A voice said from behind them.

Everyone turned around to see who was there, and then the room fell silent when they realized who it was. Ashwood didn't have a clue personally, but she gathered from their reaction that this woman with slowly graying hair was someone if high importance.

"Lopez… Ashwood." Liquid said as he stood up. "I want you to meet Katrina Winters-Yvonne, the Commissioner of Arklay County… it's good to see you again, Aunt Yvonne."