The apartment of the third Replicant – Karok, his files had named – was a pigsty. Kai tried not to gag when he walked into the living room, which was drowned in empty bottles of women's perfume, empty ration wrappers, and spilled bottles of beer.
At a closer inspection, the contents of the ration wrappers were moulding in a small trashcan off to the side; Replicants could eat and drink but not in large quantities, and a Replicant posing as a human would have known this and thus made it seem like they ate and drank on a normal basis.
Kai went into the tiny bathroom that was adjoined to the living room. The fluorescent light took a moment to flicker on, and the glittering of something not-quite-transparent littering the mildew-lined bathtub caught his attention.
With one of the little zip bags used for collecting evidence, Kai picked up one of the glittery material. From touch alone, it felt smooth and partially slimy, like a fish scale. He put it in the baggie and stowed it away in one of the pockets of his trenchcoat.
"What kind of fish?" The old woman at the counter was fiddling with her microscope and made some noises.
"Not fish. Fake snake. White man down there sell."
Kai took the scale back and handed the crotchety old woman a dollar.
Shoving his way through the crowd, Kai found the snake shop. The young man with the sneer and the blond hair got on his nerves immediately.
"Who was the last person you sold your snakes to?" Kai held out his old detective badge and Blade Runner card in hopes that it would facilitate a faster response.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with non-paying customers—"
"Listen," Kai dragged the guy down a notch with a fist in his tie. "I've got four Replicants running around, and one of them has a snake from your shop. If you don't want me to send the strike team down on your ass, tell me who you sold this snake to."
"Alright!" The man swatted at his hands, and Kai barely refrained from drawing his gun and shoving it in his face. "The woman who owns the Strip Bar down the street bought one a week ago! Something about a new dancer!"
Kai dropped the guy and stalked out of the shop. The files had mentioned that the Replicants had escaped a week before, and since most of them were pleasure models it wasn't unlikely that one would try to get a job somewhere seedy while staying low.