Hello readers, Chapter 144 is here! This week the investigation for the Widowmaker takes a side turn when a certain little thief has stolen something Link's... again. But little does Link know he'll obtain far more than just his little key thing back...!
"Heh heh heh… I got somthin' real good this time!"
A small girl was walking down the streets of Hyrule Market Town, tossing a small green emerald key with the shape of a leaf up and down in her hand. She had on a blue vest, a red bandanna, white baggy pants, and had short blonde hair with a single strand sticking up with a slight curl to it. She looked back with a mischievous grin and a wink,
"That bloke was so busy gawking at that burned building that it was such easy pickings! I wonder how much it would be worth to-?"
"Hey, get back here, thief!"
"Cobblers, he found me again?" the girl exclaimed with bugged out eyes, before she hightailed it out of there.
Link ran in pursuit of her, nimbly dodging through the crowds, ducking under a woman carrying pails of water and rolling under the legs of a horse passing by.
The little thief saw the twin red and blue juggling brothers known as Cecil and Owan, who were tossing balls to each other to entertain the masses. She grinned and winked as she ran at Owen and yanked down his pants, leaving him in his polka-dot boxers. He yelped out and covered his undershorts, causing him to drop the balls and send them bouncing around everywhere.
"Ohohoho! My dear brother has dropped his balls again!" laughed Cecil, "Maybe you could try juggling the dots on your underdrawers instead?"
"That was clearly the shrimpy boy who did that, brother!" Owen exclaimed.
"I'm a girl, you bleedin' muppet!" the thief shouted in a fit.
Link meanwhile ran at the balls as they rolled and bounced at him, he got smacked by a few of them, but he took a nearby broom and used it to quickly fend off the balls by smacking them away. After breaking through the barrage he chased after the thief with the broom in hand.
"Uh oh!" the girl said, running off.
Walking further down the street was Meifa, the red scaled 'shark nurse' zora who helped Link and Jovie after the fire at the Bowling Alley. She was carrying some groceries she spent the morning buying while consulting a list.
"Hmm... got the spices, the beef, the poultry, the pork, the fish... just need to get a few tomatoes and peppers at the market and I'll be able to make my favorite meal tonight, my patented sweet and spicy four-meat chili!"
Meifa grinned so widely in anticipation of her delicious dinner that she unwittingly showed off a row of her pointy shark teeth, which spooked a few people passing by. Realizing what she just did, she felt a bit self-conscious from the stares, and covered her mouth as she continued on down the street.
The little thief turned a corner and went running down the street with Link in hot pursuit. She ran at Meifa and dropped down, sliding in-between the nurse zora's legs to evade Link's chase.
"EEP!" Meifa was so focused on covering her mouth that she was startled by the thief's maneuver, making her throw her grocery bag upwards and causing her food to go flying out into the air, "Oh no, my food!"
"I sense food in danger!" Link said, darting forward with gleaming eyes and grabbing the paper bag, using it to quickly and carefully catch the spices, the beef, the poultry and the pork meat as they all fell down. He wiped his brow and handed the bag back to Meifa, "Whew, there you go. Safe and sound!"
"Oh! Thank you!" Meifa said with a polite bow, but after looking in the bag she realized, "Wait, where's my fish?"
"What fish?" Link asked, seconds before a large fish came down right over his head, "Mmoh, mmphat mmphish."
"Oops!" Meifa grabbed at the tail and pulled the fish off Link's head. After getting a good look at his face, she quickly recognized who it was, "Oh! You're that Gerudo King from the other day, aren't you? Thank you again kind sir, I've heard bad rumors about the Gerudo in the past, but you seem to be quite the gentleman!" She sported a sweet modest smile, careful to avoid showing her teeth.
"Aw, shucks. It was nothing." Link blushed lightly, sporting a goofy grin, "But more importantly, what are you making with all that meat?"
"It's going to be my specialty, sweet and spicy four-meat supreme chili!" Meifa said, finding herself grinning at the thought of the meal that she showed her pointy teeth.
She then realized she showed off her grin again and covered her mouth, feeling mortified about her creepy smile.
"Um... m-my apologies, but I'm a nurse shark zora from the eastern providence, so I have pointy teeth..." she said with a slightly muffled voice, "P-Please don't be too scared by-"
But instead she treated to the sight of a waterfall of drool pouring out of Link's mouth as he was thinking of what her chili would taste like. It almost reminded her of the waterfalls back home.
"Tell you what, promise you'll give me some of that chili sometime, and I won't be scared of that cute smile of yours!" Link said with a big grin, "In the meantime, I got a thief to catch! See ya!"
With that Link darted off after the thief, leaving Meifa standing there with her eyes widened, She clutched at her bag tightly and put a hand to her cheek in surprise at his words.
'H-He thinks my smile is... c-cute..?!'
Her face managed to flush redder with embarrassment than her scales, as she made a mental note to prepare an extra large amount of her chili for when she'd see him again.
Link rounded a corner where he had finally caught up to the little thief girl in a dead end alley. The thief looked around frantically for a means to escape.
"End of the line, you little brat." Link said, "Now give back that key!"
"No way! It's mine now!" the girl said. She looked up and saw a blanket hanging low from a laundry line. She jumped off a crate and grabbed onto the blanket, using it to pull herself up to the rooftop.
"Jees, that kid is pretty good at this." Link commented.
Taking a deep breath, Link jumped onto the crate and kicked off the wall, jumping across from the other wall and bounding up until he landed onto the roof.
The little thief had just recovered her breath as she turned to see Link had landed onto the roof shortly after her.
"What, he got up 'ere just like that?"
Link ran forward after the kid, forcing her to leap across to another roof and keep going.
Despite the girl having such little legs, she was able to quickly hop carefully across the gaps between the rooftops. Link stayed in pursuit though, jumping over the roofs after her with little effort.
At one point the girl leaped over a gap and barely landed on the edge of one building's roof, but she started to lose her balance.
Thinking quickly though, Link took the broom he was carrying and used it to push her forward so that she'd regain her footing.
"You okay there?" Link asked.
"Oh uh... s-sure, thanks mister." the girl said in astonishment for a moment, she shook her head and sported a snarky wink, "N-Now I can get away, um… sucker!" as she went back to her escape..
The girl landed to another roof, and hid behind a stone chimney, gasping out for breath. She turned and saw Link was coming quickly, so she started to run forward, only to almost trip over something on the ground. She looked down at what it was and suddenly had an idea.
When Link landed down on the same roof, he looked around for the thief, but she was nowhere to be found.
"What the heck? How did she disappear like that?" Link asked. He looked down into an alley just before him and saw a very familiar chalk outline, thinking to himself, 'Say, isn't that the scene of the nobleman murder from last night…?'
He then heard a sneeze, and turned to look over at a cloth tarp laying on the ground. Narrowing his eyes, he walked over to the tarp and lifted it up, seeing the little thief was hiding underneath.
"Uh oh..." the girl sweatdropped.
"Finally." Link smirked, "Now I think it's time for you to hand over-"
But then the girl sneezed again, causing some dust from under the tarp to get in Link's face. While he was temporarily blinded, it gave the girl time to get up and run away, jumping to the next rooftop.
"That little brat, when I catch- huh?" Link looked down under the tarp, seeing what was being covered by it, then looked down at the alleyway, "Wait a minute... if this thing is here then maybe…?"
"Oi, mister, what's takin' ya? Gettin' tired already?" the little girl called out at Link from a distance. Link looked over to see the girl wink smugly, before running off.
"You cheeky brat," Link finding himself grinning slightly as well, as he continued running after her.
The little thief ran to end of one last roof, only to realize she had ran out of places close enough for her to jump to.
"Cobblers, what do I do now?" she asked backing up and looking around frantically. She then noticed a rope tied to the top of the roof that led down over the street and into an alleyway. Presumably leftover from an advertising banner.
Taking a piece of cloth from her pocket, she flipped it over the rope and held on with both hands, jumping off the roof just as Link lunged out to grab her.
"Wheeeeee!" the little thief squealed out as she went over the heads of some of the people walking by, and fell into the alleyway, only to make a crash landing near some trash cans, "Yeow!"
Climbing out the alleyway in a daze and with a banana peel on her head, she looked up to see Link still standing on the roof. She grinned, sporting a mischievous wink, and darted off.
The girl quickly ran through some crowds to completely lose Link, before rounding a corner and coming to a stop in another empty alley. She breathed in and out heavily from how exhausted she was.
"Whew... that... guy really didn't... know when to quit... I'm completely.. cream-cracked..." she sighed. The thief grinned as she flicked out the key and saw how the emerald on it sparkled, "Well in the end I still won! I finally got away with-"
Then two seconds later, the child was lifted up into the air by her vest.
"Got you." Link grinned smugly at the small thief.
"Oi, you shoddin' bloke! How'd you even catch up like that?! Let go of me!" the thief shouted, wiggling around and trying to hit Link with her arms and legs, but couldn't even come close to him.
"First thing's first, hand me the key." Link held out his hand.
"What key?" the thief said, folding her arms and looking away with a pout.
"Come oooon." Link waved his hand up and down.
"Okay, fine! 'Ere, take it!" the girl said pulling out a key from her pocket and handing it to Link.
"Thank you!" Link said clenching the key and setting the girl down, "Now was it that hard?"
"Sure was, you bleedin' muppet!" the girl said sticking her tongue out at him, she turned to go off on her way, "Now if you're done with me I'll-"
"Wait a sec." Link said, stopping the girl from walking by holding her by her vest, "This isn't my key."
Sure enough it was a much different key in his hand, it had a glossy pink and green color to it, and was in the shape of a heart.
"Eh?" the girl looked up at the key and quickly tried to grab it, but Link simply sat down and held her back with little effort as he held the key away from her with his other hand, "Oi! Gimmie that back!"
"Let me see my key first." Link said sternly.
"Alright! Alright!" the girl said, reaching into her vest and pulling out the emerald leaf key, "There!"
"Finally." Link sighed, looking up at the key as it gave off a sparkle.
"Hmph, I gotta admit, you did pretty good catching me... for an adult." she said glancing aside.
"And you're pretty quick on your feet for a little runt." Link grinned.
"Oi! Who you callin' little?!" she shouted, lightly bopping his arm with her fists.
"You, you runt." Link snickered, flicking her on the forehead.
"I ain't a runt! The name is Petra!" she said rubbing at her head.
"Ah, so I finally have a name for you!" Link said, he took a good look at her and spoke, "I think I remember you from a while back... you were the one who threw that rock at me when we came here to town, right?"
"Geeep!" Petra flinched as she recalled what had happened.
Link was waving out at the crowd as he and the Gerudo were walking through town, when a rock came flying through the air and hit him upside the head, "Ack!"
"Hey, who threw that at the king?!" Nemisa shouted.
"Out of here with ya! We don't want you lot here! G' the 'ell out!" the kid said throwing another rock which Nemisa caught.
"Keep throwing these things and we're going to have a problem, you little brat." Nemisa scowled down at the kid, crushing the rock in her hand into dust.
"L-Like you scare me! You Gerudo are nothin' but bullies!" the kid said, "A pox on all of ya!"
"I-I..." Petra stammered, "That weren't me! I wasn't even there. Besides, that kid had a cap on!"
"How would you know something like that if you weren't there?" Link pointed out with a cheeky grin.
"GEEP!" Petra exclaimed as her hair strand shot up straight on end.
"You're also the same kid who stole my ocarina from me, as well as my friend's' jeweled brooch, and that stuff from the repair shop too." Link said, he rubbed his fist on her hair, "You're a real kleptomaniac, aren't you?"
"Hey, I don't just steal stuff just 'cause! I know some pawn shops 'round town that'll buy stuff like that for rupees!" Petra said, slapping at his arm to get him to stop.
"I figured as much" Link nodded.
She sulked a little as she lowered her gaze, "So... w-what're ya gonna do to me then Mister? Have that inspector put me in prison or somethin'?"
"... ..." Link stared down at Petra, before folding his arms behind his head and leaning back against the building, "Nah, I'm not going to do that to you."
"Huh? You serious?!" Petra asked, "After all I've put you through?!"
"Sure, as long as you promise me not to steal anything anymore." Link said.
"I..." she folded her arms and looked away, "...sorry, but I can't make a promise like that Mister. Girl's gotta steal to eat after all."
"Why do you have to resort to stealing? What about your parents?" Link asked.
"... … ...don't have em, not anymore." Petra said looking away somewhat nervously, "I... ran away from home a couple months ago."
"That sounds stupid. Why would you do something like that?" Link asked.
"B-Because adults are jerks! They either yell at you for everything or use you!" Petra said, while Link noticed she was in a trembling fit, "O-Or they just don't do nothin' at all!"
"…wanna talk about what happened?" Link asked, "I'm willing to hear your side of the story out."
"Why should I? No point to it." Petra said, "N-Not... gonna change what's happened..."
"Sometimes it feels good to just say it and get it off your chest." Link said, "Come on, I won your little chase and caught you, so you owe me. Now let's hear it."
"F-Fine..." Petra muttered, hugging her legs, "My dad and mom never had much time for me... they were always busy with work and stuff. I have an older sister, but she moved out before I was even born."
"So what happened to make you run away?" Link asked.
"Well I started sneaking out of the house when my parents wouldn't know, trying to make some friends with the kids around town. Didn't have much luck though…" Petra said. "Then this one day I ran into a really tough but really pretty lady with tan-skin and wild red hair. She even had round ears!"
"A Gerudo you mean." Link realized.
"Right. When I told her about my home life and how my parents ignored me; she took a shine to me real quick and we became friends!" Petra grinned a little, "We went on all kinds of adventures in town and just outside the fields, and she taught me a bunch of tricks to sneak around and steal stuff!"
"Ah, so that's where you learned all that." Link said.
"Uh huh, though I was never too good at it, she never minded and kept helping me..." Petra said, she threw the dagger she had into the air and caught it by the handle, "She even gave this here dagger."
'A dagger? Doesn't look anything like what the Widowmaker uses.' Link thought to himself, before asking, "So what went wrong then?"
"Well... eventually that Gerudo wanted to come over to my home one night for a sleepover. I figured it'd be okay since we were friends, so I let her sneak in. My parents didn't hear a peep, and we had lots of fun that night. It felt like I finally had a big sister..."
Petra then lowered her gaze, though Link could still see the sad look in her eyes.
"But when I woke up the next morning, my Gerudo friend was gone, and our house had been looted. Someone had taken a lot of the valuables and rupees and stuff." Petra muttered.
"I get it." Link nodded, "That Gerudo tricked you so she could steal your parents' things."
"Yeah, Dad got real mad at me when he found out it was cause of me, while Mom... just stood there…" Petra muttered, "I got fed up with everything and ran away from home the night after that."
Link frowned. He knew still plenty of Gerudo out there who were still thieves and killers, but to go so far as to trick a child like that, in his mind, was downright dirty.
"So that's why you were so angry about me and the Gerudo coming here."
"Y-Yeah... sorry about that whole rock thing." Petra muttered, "As much as I hate that woman though, after what I've been through on my own, I guess I can understand what she had to go through in order to survive." she stared downwards, "Life's tough when you don't got anyone to support you..."
Link stared down at Petra and her sad eyes, it felt like she was trying to say something, but couldn't.
"...listen, I know this sounds weird coming from a royal king, but I know a lot about what that's like." Link said, getting Petra's attention. "When I was your age, I went on an important journey. I lived a lot of that time alone, having to fend for myself. There would even be times when people would trick me in order to get what they want."
"So how do you manage Mister...?" Petra asked curiously.
"...well," Link took his emerald key and held it up again, "This is one way I got through it."
"Huh, that key? What's it for anyway?" Petra asked.
"It's for a locket I bought as a gift a long time ago at the marketplace back when I was about your age, just before I went on a journey." Link said, "The merchant who sold it to me said to hold onto the key so that when I returned, we could use it to open the locket together..."
Link found himself thinking back to that day, when he gave a locket in the shape of a cocoon to a certain young princess with blond hair and wearing a royal dress. She smiled brightly as she took the locket close to her chest, before handing him a shiny blue ocarina.
He also recalled how he saw that very same cocoon locket attached to the rapier sword the now-grown royal princess owned, seeing it dangle around as she had a friendly sword duel with him back in the Castle Courtyard one fun night...
"...and the merchant said inside of the locket is something that's supposed to ensure us both happiness for the rest of our lives."
"Did you ever open it up and see what's inside?" Petra asked with heightened interest.
"I... wasn't able to." Link shook his head with a slightly sad smile, as he thought about a certain prince he befriended, "Honestly I feel like it'd be rude of me to try."
"Oi, then what's the point of that story?" Petra asked annoyed.
"The point is, this key served as a reminder of a place I could come back to... the place that I could call my home. It helped motivate me to keep pushing forward."
Link smiled softly as he thought about Lana back during his time in the Era of Warriors, the first kiss they both shared together, and the vow they made to see each other again.
"...to a place where I could find my family, and my happiness."
Petra stared downwards for a moment, lost in thought of Link's words, before she spoke,
"That's real corny you know, Mister."
Link burst out laughing in response, "Yeah, I know. But it is what kept me going, and now I have a great home, and a loving family that I cherish with all my heart." he looked down at Petra, "...and I'm sure there's a place for you out there as well."
"You really think so Mister?" Petra asked, as Link nodded, "Huh..."
Then the two could hear a small growling sound, it was clearly coming from Petra.
"Guess I'm getting' hungry. Time for lunch." she spoke, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a sweet potato, and using her dagger to start peeling off the skin, "Wanna have a bite of this, Mister?"
"That's nice of you." Link grinned, "But don't worry about me, You have it yoursel-"
That was when Link realized something, as he thought back to what happened the previous night when he went to investigate the murder of the nobleman, and had talked to Honey about what he saw.
"Well... it may not be much... But there was something odd about Darling's potatoes."
"Darling said she had just gone out shopping when she found the body."
"When I was following her, she had been carrying a basket of them. But now that I think back, when I got to the crime scene, I recall the basket was missing."
"...th-that..." Link gasped out.
"What's wrong Mister? You look as white as my pants." she said munching on the potato.
"Petra... where were you last night...?" Link asked.
"Uh, I was stealing your friend's brooch, remember?"" Petra asked, "You adults have bad memory."
"No, I mean earlier than that!" Link said, "Petra, did you steal these potatoes from someone last night?"
"Huh? How did you figure that ou-?!" she slapped her hands over her mouth, and Link saw a horrific stare in her eyes.
"Petra, were you... in that alleyway when that nobleman was...?"
"W-What? What're you getting' at...?" Petra muttered looking absolutely terrified all of a sudden.
"Did... you witness the Widowmaker murder that man?" Link asked.
Petra stared down, and Link could see she was trembling. She looked up at Link with tears in her eyes.
"Y-Yeah… I... did see somethin' real bad that night Mister..." Petra said as tears started running down her face, "Th-That man... m-my dad... was killed by the... Widowmaker..."
"W-W-WHAT!?" Link exclaimed.
"I..."
Petra then suddenly lunged out and hugged Link tightly around the waist, burying her face in his stomach. She was shaking like leaf as those memories started to come back.
"I... didn't wanna remember... but... I saw it... I saw everything...!"
Link sat silently, hugging Petra tightly, as he thought about what to do...
The young king ultimately decided to bring Petra back to the group with him for her safety, and after telling them what he knew, they all came to the knight's station, where Inspector Turrell prepared to listen carefully to everything Petra could tell them. Even Countess Roesia had come there to listen.
"I can't believe Link would actually find an eye witness to the crime." Nemisa spoke, "And that it would be a mere child."
"The same one that robbed us a few times on top of that." Darius spoke.
"The poor thing... it must have been really scary for her." Aviel said.
"Especially since... it... was her father who was killed..." Jovie whispered, thinking about Mr. Burbok.
"..." Roesia just remained silent, watching Petra carefully.
"Go ahead Missy, please tell us you name, and what you saw." the inspector said in a mellow tone.
"I..." Petra stared down, unable to find the courage to speak.
"It's okay Petra, just take a deep breath and tell him." Link put a hand on her shoulder to assure her.
"A-Alright..." sniffled Petra, speaking with a surprisingly more eccentric tone to her accent, "M-My full name is Petrafina Rochchild. I'm ten years old, going on eleven."
"The name and age checks out sir." a knight confirmed after reading over some documents, "She's the youngest daughter of the Rochchild estate."
"So what happened that night?" Turrell asked, "Take it as slow as you need to Ms. Petrafina."
Petra nodded, looking over at Link and Darius, "Th-That night... after I ran into you two at the jewelry store, I spotted a lady with a basket of sweet potatoes... They looked really good, so I followed after her all quiet-like to grab one. At some point I saw some bloke with an arm and a leg cast following her too, so I had to be extra sneaky to avoid him seein' me."
"That must have been Mr. Honey." Darius acknowledged.
Petra continued, "To avoid that guy, I went ahead of the lady into an alley, where I hid inside a barrel so I could swipe a potato from her. But then I heard someone shout out, and I saw... m-my dad come running in there... he looked really panicked about somethin'..."
"So he was being chased into the alley..." Link pondered,
Petra spoke, "I was thinking about stealin' his wallet pouch or somethin', but then this really creepy guy came up in a cloak... and trapped Dad in the alley... They... started talkin' about stuff..."
"What were they discussing?" Inspector Turrell asked.
"I dunno, couldn't really hear them from inside the barrel. All I could tell was the person was a man." Petra said, "Then he knocked... D-Dad down and he... he..." she started sniffling as she tried to force out the words, "He... he..."
"It's okay, I think we can gather what you saw." Nemisa spoke in a soothing tone to comfort her. The small child looked up at the dancer, surprised that the Gerudo would be so compassionate to her.
"She had to see him die right in front of her eyes…" Jovie whispered, trembling a little herself.
Turrell's face saddened, "I'm sorry you have to experience that. I know this might be hard, but can you remember anything else about the culprit's appearance?"
"N-No, it was too dark and I couldn't see anything under that cloak." Petra shook her head, "I was so scared I hid myself up inside the barrel and didn't leave until I heard the lady scream."
"Ms. Darling you mean." Link noted, to which Petra nodded.
"When I peeked out I saw she dropped her basket of potatoes. I took the basket right after that and ran away when that guy in the bandages showed up." Petra admitted.
"What a horrible thing for a child to witness." Turrell sighed, "You're really brave to be able to come out and tell us all this."
"Yeah, you did good Petra." Link sported a grin.
"Then this means Ms. Doris is innocent after all, right?" Aviel asked, referring to Darling, "She was just the first person to find the body!"
"Not so fast. There is but one issue..." spoke up Countess Roesia.
They all looked over at the noblewoman tracing her finger along her martini glass,
"This testimony is rather substantial, but there is a logical inconsistency in it. Ms. Rochchild here didn't see the culprit leave the scene, and Ms. Darling says she saw no one leave either." she took a long sip of her martini, "So how could the Widowmaker had fled the scene after the murder...?"
"Maybe he hid in another barrel?" suggested a knight.
"But there was no container at the scene that a grown man could hide in." Turrell said.
"..." Link stared down in thought, before he spoke up, "Hold on, I think I might be able to prove her story is right!"
"W-What?" Roesia asked.
It wasn't long before the group arrived at the scene of the murder. They were all watching as some knights worked to get up and inspect the buildings rooftops surrounding the alley.
"So what're they lookin' for anyway?" Jovie asked curiously, swaying her shoulders and hips left and right anxiously.
"Just watch." Link spoke with a smirk.
"Ah-ha! The Gerudo King was right, Sir!" a knight spoke up from the top of the back building of the alley, "We found a wooden ladder under a big tarp up here!"
"And there's a thick layer of dust under the tarp," One of the knights coughed out loudly, "It must have been here for a while!"
"Isn't that where I hid back when you was chasin' me?" Petra asked Link.
"Yeah, when I saw the ladder under it and realized where we were, I thought it might be connected to the case." Link grinned.
"And the layer of dust is proof it couldn't have been planted there after the crime as fake evidence." Darius smirked, "It must have been set up there long ago in preparation for the murder."
"And there's even some fresh scrape marks on the edge of the roof here as well." another knight said, "Ones that match that of the ladder!"
"I don't believe it..." Countess Roesia gasped out.
"So I think we have a good point of view about what happened last night." Inspector Turrell said, "The culprit preemptively set up the ladder in the back of the alley, lured the victim here, killed him, and climbed up to the rooftops using the ladder. They then pulled the ladder up to the roof and covered it with the tarp, before making their getaway."
"So that means Ms. Starling is innocent after all!" Aviel said cheerfully, she gave Petra a hug with her bird wings, "You saved her life Debra!"
"I... did...?" Petra asked, "Just by tellin' you guys all that?"
"Yeah, you did." Link smiled warmly, rubbing Petra on her head.
"Well I suppose it's hard to argue with this evidence." Countess Roesia spoke, she stared up at the roof and narrowed her eyes, "But if it wasn't Ms. Darling, then who...?"
Suddenly a knight came running up to the group and saluted.
"My apologies Inspector, but we've made a huge discovery back at the Bombchu Bowling Alley!"
As he tried his best to comfort Petra, Link pondered just what was going on with this case.
He had a feeling things were only going to get more shocking… and more tragic...
The group came back to the bowling alley, where they saw Foreman Mutoh and the carpenters taking a break from moving the debris around. Some of the carpenters were looking over some tall white boards arranged into enclosed shapes.
"I say, what's going on here men?" Turrell spoke up to the knights and carpenters, "What are those white boards you got there?"
"These are the structures that were used for the various bowling lanes here." Mutoh spoke.
"This is my first time getting a good look at these!" said one of the carpenters, running their hand on the board, "It's amazing these things are still holding up after all the fire and explosions! It's understandable since they were made to withstand the Bombchu's blowing up, but I've never seen such craftsmanship!"
Link looked over at Jovie, who couldn't help but sport a small smile of pride at them complimenting her work on the bowling lanes.
"Kwaah… they're alright I suppose..." Mutoh said scratching his chin in curiosity, "But there's something way bigger we came across."
He led the group to a broom closet in the back of the building, where they moved some damaged supplies and a burnt rug out of the way. Underneath them was surprisingly a trapdoor, which by opening up they saw a long staircase hat went down below the town.
"A secret passage…?" Link spoke.
The group went down the staircase, where despite the destruction that happened above, this basement was surprisingly intact. They soon arrived at a door at the bottom where two knights were standing guard. They stepped aside to allow the group entry, and there they a shocking sight inside.
The whole room was full of black boxes and cases of various shapes and sizes stacked around. There was also a desk with some paperwork on it.
"What is this place..?" Jovie asked looking around, "I didn't know we had a basement."
Turrell meanwhile looked inside one of the boxes, only for his eyes to widen when he saw a large wooden orange staff with a yellow crystal embedded in it.
"My jove, if I'm not mistaken this is the Staff of Somaria!" he said. He looked in another box, "And this is the Thunderblight Axe!"
"Ah, so that's what's going on…" Roesia spoke, looking at a suit of armor on display in one box.
"Wait, what's this all about?" Link asked the countess.
"Quite simply, these are all stolen or illegal items that have been brought into Hyrule by the Black Market." Countess Roesia explained, "My colleagues Judge Isambard and Captain Andreas have been investigating into how they've been held and distributed across the kingdom as of late, but who would have thought the location were right under their noses this entire time?" she giggled lightly, "Loohuhu… it seems they're even more incompetent than I thought."
'Right… the slaver group the Wyvern Keepers were working with these people.' Link thought, 'And they were the ones who got the Soulbinder sword to Commander Imono of the Ebony Sisterhood rebellion.' he looked around, 'Just wait until Zelda finds out about this...'
"So the bowling alley was being used as a front for holding all these black market items." Prince Darius spoke inspecting a box, "Some of these even have magic seals in place to prevent their power from being detected on the surface."
"Wait… then…!" Jovie gasped out, "You're saying Mr. Burbok was working with the Black Market? But that can't be! Why would he be involved with a group like them?"
"Things are starting to make more sense now…" Countess Roesia spoke as she noted one box, she had her knights open it, "Take a look everyone, and I think you'll find this case has been blown wide open."
Everyone looked inside the box to see four very familiar-looking jagged gold-plated daggers in the case, and there was multiple slots for twenty six more of them.
"T-That's the Widowmaker's signature daggers!" Inspector Turrell exclaimed.
"A set of thirty, with exactly twenty six missing…" Darius spoke, "And the Widowmaker has claimed twenty six victims so far. This can't be a mere coincidence."
"So… Burbok wasn't just with the Black Market, he may have been the Widowmaker too?" Link exclaimed.
"Now that I think about it…" Petra spoke, "The man that killed my dad did kinda sound like that guy who ran this place…"
"So that's it…" Jovie whispered, "That's why… why… ooOOooOoh…"
Just then, Jovie's eyes rolled in the back of her head as she collapsed to the ground.
"Jovie? Jovie!" Link exclaimed, running up to her and lifting her up a bit, "Snap out of it!"
"Linky…" Jovie whispered, slowly opening her eyes, "I'm so sorry… I…"
"Looks like this whole thing was a huge shock to her, poor girl." frowned Turrell.
"…I'm afraid this situation is more complicated than it seems." Roesia spoke, staring down at the dagger set,
"What are you getting at Countess?" Link spoke.
"It's safe to say that these daggers are of the same ones that were used in the Widowmaker killings. From these circumstances, it could be easy to assume Mr. Burbok is the Widowmaker, as well as the head of this black market item hoarding."
"…" Link stood silent, not liking where she was going with this.
Roesia spoke, "But as we saw upstairs, Burbok himself was a victim as well. The coroner confirmed that the dagger had been thrust in his chest in such a way that it could not have been a mere suicide. So that raises the question, who was it that killed him... and why?"
She took a long drink of her martini, finishing it and licking her full lips, as she turned to one person in the room.
"I think it's time for you to confess to your own crime… Ms. Jovie."
"WHAT?!" Link exclaimed.
"…" Jovie lowered her head silently, her bangs covering her eyes.
"Kwaaah! Hold yer horses, where are you coming from with that accusation?" Jovie's father Mutoh asked Roesia.
"Think about it, you fool." Countess Roesia spoke, "She happened to be the sole person who was in the bowling alley besides Mr. Burbok at the time the fire started. According to the knights, the fire was started in an overturned trash can of Burbok's office. It seems like it could be a quick and easy way to dispose of any evidence, correct?"
"There's no way…" Link gasped, "I can't believe Jovie would murder someone!"
Jovie looked over at Link with a light blush on her cheeks, as Mutoh looked to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Well then, allow me to shatter that belief." Roesia spoke, gesturing to a knight who brought over a bottle with what appeared to be a piece of cloth. It was pink and white striped with red stains on it.
"What's that?" Aviel asked.
"This little one, is a bloody cloth we also found at the scene of the fire." Roesia spoke, "Does it look familiar to any of you?"
"That's from Ms. Jovie's bowling alley parlor outfit." Darius observed, It did a fine job containing her impressive bust!"
"You want me to tell the princes about that?" Nemisa spoke sharply, causing Darius to stumble over.
"The red stain… is that what I think it is...?" Link asked with worry.
"It is indeed blood." Roesia nodded, "And since the zora nurse at the clinic stated Jovie suffered no bleeding wounds, it can be assumed it was the blood of Mt. Burbok."
'Come to think of it…' Link thought to himself, 'When I saved her from the fire, her top had some embers lighting up on it, so I had to tear it off of her. I didn't even notice any blood was on it.'
"Jovie…" Mutoh muttered, "Did… you really do it?"
"…" Jovie just stared down silently.
"So I repeat to you, what do you have to say for yourself Ms. Jovie?" Roesia glared.
"Ms. Jovie, you don't have to say anything." Nemisa assured her.
"… ...n-no." Jovie whispered, "S-She's right… it was me…" she brought up her head to show tears were spilling down her face, "I-I was the one… who killed Mr. Burbok."
"WHAT?!" Link, Aviel, and Nemisa all exclaimed.
"But… I still don't know what happened back there!" Jovie said, leaning forward a little as she shifted her shoulders and hips left and right, "That night after Linky dropped me off at home, I went back to the bowling alley to get my apartment keys."
"Mr. Burbok let me in, but before I could leave he took me into his office where he had a fire going in his trash can. He asked me something about losing a key and wanted to know what I did with it."
"A key?" Link pondered.
"I thought he was talking about my keys or something, so I got real confused." Jovie looked down, "H-He started getting' real mad out of nowhere, I don't know what his deal was… then suddenly he grabbed a knife from his desk and came at me!"
"Mr. Burbok attacked you?" Mutoh exclaimed.
"Believe me Pop, I was just as confused!" Jovie said, "We fought for a while, until I managed to grab the knife from him… he lunged forward and fell on top of me… The next thing I knew I pushed him off of me and saw he was laying on the ground with that knife in his…" she gulped "...in his chest…"
"That sounds horrible…" Link said sadly.
"So you claim you killed him in self-defense, and he was the one who started the fire that burned down the place?" Roesia scoffed, "What a convenient story."
"I'm telling you the truth!" Jovie shouted, "Why would I hurt someone I care about?!"
"Maybe there is some truth to it Countess." Darius said, "Though it would be hard to confirm anything else without proof."
"There's got to be more to this incident than that…" Link pondered, "Why would Burbok attack her to begin with…?"
"Pardon me Inspector!" a knight came running down and saluting, "Someone needs to see you up-top immediately!"
"Wonder who that could be…?" Turrell spoke, munching on a danish.
"Hello everyone, looks like I showed up just in time!"
Everyone had left the hidden basement of the bowling alley to see Nabooru standing before them, proudly smirking while waving a paper in her hand.
"Woah, it's the Gerudo Queen!" Petra said astonished, huddling close to Link.
"Oh wow... she's so gorgeous!" spoke a carpenter.
"She makes me wanna go meet the other Gerudo." spoke another one drooling.
"Please don't." Link said, recalling what the carpenters did in the dark future.
"So how goes your investigation Link?" Nabooru noticed Petra standing beside Link, the small child quickly hid behind his legs, peeking up at her, "Made a new little friend while you were out?"
"It's a long story, but she's the daughter of the twenty fifth victim Welsom Rochchild." Link spoke, "It's thanks to her that we've just cleared Darling's name of his murder, but we still have no idea who actually did it."
"His daughter? I see…" Nabooru looked to Petra bearing a sad gaze, as she handed over the paper to the inspector, "Well I hate to bring this up in front of her... but me and Halei went to investigate the Rochchild's estate, and we discovered some rather disturbing information about her father."
"Let me see that." Turrell read over what was on the page.
'Mr. Burbok, You missed your last payment. If you fail to uphold your end of the deal, and leave the money in the correct hiding place, I may be forced to loosen my lips about your little secret. And we both know you can't afford to let the authorities know about your dealings with-'
"By jove…" gasped Turrell.
"That looks like a blackmail letter if I've ever seen one." Darius observed.
"Huh? But the paper looks white-colored to me." Aviel pointed out, causing Link, Nemisa and Darius to fault over.
"You found this at the Rochchild estate?" Turrell asked, to which Nabooru nodded.
"How can we be so sure this is authentic though?" Countess Roesia spoke sharply.
"We found it in his study drawer, and his wife confirmed the handwriting was his." Nabooru explained, "Looks like he was in the middle of writing it, but ran out of ink. His wife said he was going out to meet someone for an appointment that night, and to buy some more ink as well."
"That must have been when he was ambushed by the Widowmaker." Link spoke.
"Wait a minute, are you tellin' me Dad was tryin' to take money from someone?" Petra asked, "But why would he do that? He had lots of money and stuff!"
"This might also be hard to take in…" Nabooru spoke somewhat distantly, "But his wife also admitted that he was under some serious debt a few years ago. It's possible he extorted money from this person to pay off those loans and keep his estate afloat."
"I didn't know that..." Petra said sadly, "Maybe that's why he was so mad at me about all that stuff being stolen by my Gerudo friend..."
"I think at this point it's fairly obvious what's going on, given Mr. Burbok's actions." Prince Darius spoke, "Rochchild must have come across information about Burbok's connections to the black market, and was discreetly blackmailing him over it."
"That's crazy," Jovie spoke, "So Burbok was havin' to make payments to that nobleman to keep his lip shut?"
"That certainty sounds like a motive for murder." Nabooru nodded.
"But none of that doesn't make sense based on what we know." Roesia interjected, "If Rochchild was the blackmailer, why would Burbok go through the trouble to kill all those other noblemen?"
"That is a good question…" Darius pondered.
As everyone thought about it, Link suddenly had an idea of his own.
"Hey Petra…?" Link spoke, "Could I possibly see that thing you had back when I caught you?"
"Huh? But I already gave you back that pretty leaf key of yours." Petra said.
"No, I mean the other one, that heart-shaped thing that you had given me by accident."
"I dunno what you're trying to do… but alright." Petra said pulling out the glossy pink and blue heart-shaped key.
"Now what is that…?" Darius pondered.
"Do you recognize this Jovie?" Link asked as Petra held it up to her.
"It looks really cute, dunno what it's for." Jovie asked, leaning forward and giving it a good look, shifting her hips left and right as she did, "Is it from an earring or something?"
"So you really don't know what it is…" Link spoke, kneeling down to the child and giving her a sharp look, "Petra, tell me the truth. Did you take this key from Mr. Burbok that night we were at the bowling alley, just before your father was killed?"
"Huh? How'd you know about-" she slapped hr hands over her mouth again, "Oh cobblers!"
"Ah ha! Our little thief strikes again!" chuckled Darius, snatching the key away, "Now if you'll allow me, I'd like to see it for myself."
"Hey, don't get so grabby!" Petra protested.
"Like you're one to talk." Link snickered, earning him a jab to the side by Petra.
Darius examined it carefully, until his mouth turned upwards into a big smile.
"Uh, Prince Darius?" Inspector Turrell asked, "Is something the matt-"
"Ha ha ha… ah ha ha…" they all heard a chuckling, as Darius slapped his forehead and slouched forward, hugging his stomach as he was strained with laughter, "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Darius, what's the matter?!" Link asked, wondering if his friend had lost it.
"Ah it's nothing…" Darius said calming down and wiping a tear from his face, "It's just when your pint-sized friend showed us that key, everything finally came together." he struck a dynamic pose, "Everyone, I have finally figured out the truth behind this horrible incident!"
"Huh?!" everyone looked to Darius in confusion.
And that ends the chapter. Next week the Widowmaker mystery finally comes to a close. Just what was the Widowmaker trying to accomplish with their killings, and how will everyone, especially Jovie, take this information? Find out next week!
To answer your question; Yes, Petra's character is meant to be a reference to Tetra from The Wind Waker. I've received requests for her to cameo in the plot, and I felt making a new character in her likeness like I did with Ashe being a likeness of Twilight Princess' Ashei would be fun. Having her be a street urchin who came from a noble family was a variation of Tetra's own backstory.
So over the past three days I've binged through a lot of Tears of the Kingdom to help fuel my creative juices for future chapters. Thankfully, so far I haven't run into any real continuity conflicts with the direction I've planned to take the story.
As always, thank you all so much for your support! If you're new please feel free to like and follow the story, and send me a comment or private message at your leisure. Your feedback is always encouraged!