He was regretting his decision almost immediately. As the rain made its way through their windbreaker, McDaniel and Santiago hurried towards the Impala.
Two doors opened and shut as the two men got comfortable and wiped the rain from their faces.
"Double this time?" The first man asked, taking his Trilby off and brushing a wet hand across his buzzed head, "I thought we were gonna have more time." He complained, meaty voice reverberating in the small car.
"That's what Green said. I'm leaning towards White Fang." Santiago answered flatly, turning the engine over and pulling away from the station.
The wipers frantically tried to resist the downpour as Santiago navigated the desolate nighttime streets. Aside from one and twos with umbrellas, the streets were empty. Nobody wanted to be on the road at a time like this, what with the lighting and smooth roads being a low priority in the slums of Vale.
"But I thought they moved out into the Uptown? We haven't had anything out here in weeks, well, aside from the norm. Why now of all times?" McDaniels questioned, pulling a cigarette out and placing it between his lips as he fumbled in his top for a light.
"Maybe,"Santiago replied, turning his signal on before making a smooth left," but when have they ever done what we expected 'em to? Like wild animals, always where you least expect 'em, always fucking things up."
"Hey Marcus, you know my sisters' a faunus." Danny said lowly as he secured a flip lighter and flicked the striker. Run down brick buildings sped past as the light illuminated McDaniels' face, lengthening the myriad of scars.
"And you know damn well I don't care about the ears Danny." Marcus retorted, reaching over and snatching the cigarette before putting it out on his partners still wet coat.
"It's the actions not the appendages, you know that. I wasn't racist back home, you think I'd be in some fantasy shithole?" He finished as he held it up to his friend's nose.
McDaniel frowned as he snatched the cigarette back, sighing as he stowed it behind his ear.
"I can believe you'd hate elves, I can believe you'd do it here."
Marcus pointed a finger at his friends pudgy pale face,"Legolas was a prick and they left the Dwarves alone at lonely mountain, fuck the pointy eared bastards."
Danny frowned as he thought about it,"Point taken. Still, you told me to get into character and I did. I reign supreme in being normal."
Santiago sighed as he slowed to a halt and threw the knockoff Impala in park.
"Fat load of good that does us." He trailed off, scratching idly at his dark beard as he watched the officers on the scene widen the cordon. Four officers milled about a dozen feet past the mouth of one of Vale's many dingy alleyways.
"Alright,"He said, killing the engine,"Let's do this."
The roar of rain filled the car as they stepped back into the new world.
—-
"Ah good, you're finally here." An officer greeted. Short green hair peeked out from underneath his peaked cap.
"Aw, can it Sheen," McDaniels said, pulling his cigarette back out and jamming it in his lip," We were in the middle of our lunch break. We came as soon as we heard."
He smacked his lips and jabbed a thin finger at Danny,"You gonna let him talk to me like that Santiago?"
Marcus shook his head and pulled his campaign hat down a tad. The officers frown morphed into a grin at the action.
"You do it to yourself Green. Now c'mon, our dinner's getting cold in the car. Whadda we got?"
The Sergeant sighed before lifting the tape up for the two of them to cross under. Stepping through, Marcus cast a glance over to McDaniels and whistled.
"Not exactly a happy ending huh?" He asked before crouching down and pulling a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket.
Green made a noise in the back of his throat before following them through the tape.
"Old lady found them here about an hour or so ago. Said some guy stabbed one of 'em and blasted the other poor sod with a shotgun."
Danny frowned as he took a drag from his cigarette.
"The rest of the guys find anything?" He asked, gesturing with a free hand to the three other officers looking under dumpsters and trash.
"Nada. No shells, no blood, nothin so far. Whatcha see is whatcha get." He replied, shaking his head as he stepped around the pair, further into the alley.
The rain had already washed most of the blood down the storm drain, cavities overfilled by the drenching rain. One of the men appeared to be in his mid thirties, short black hair, pale, eyepatch over his left eye. Grabbing one of the man's arms, Santiago lifted it up to look at the hand.
Small scrapes and discoloration, possibly a broken metacarpal. Placing the hand back down, he further inspected the man's head. Looking under the eyepatch revealed a milky white orb, nothing special. What was special, was the blood staining the man's hair. Scooting closer on a knee, Santiago lifted the man's head towards him, so he could see the crown, and there, two angry red lines awaited him. Someone had cut the hair there, with a straight razor or some other blade.
"Jesus Christ." He muttered, laying the man's head back down.
"Excuse me?" Green asked, looking confused for a moment.
"He's a faunus. Got his ears clipped the fuck off, Danny check the other one." He said, turning to look over his shoulder towards his partner.
"Already on it," Said McDaniels, a dark look in his eye as he laid his back down as well.
"Same thing. Someone cut this poor kid's ears off. Fuckin H."
Danny stood up slowly before taking an angry drag from his cigarette, a quarter of it disappearing in just a few seconds.
Sergeant Green grimaced as he looked towards McDaniels body," Oum, that's dark. It's gotta be a hate crime then. So, some guy ambushed these two in the alley and dished out some, I don't even know what to call this. Fuck me."
Santiago frowned deeply before standing," This old lady, what'd she see exactly?" He asked, crossing his arms.
Green placed his hands on his hips and stared as Danny rolled the body over to look at its back," Not anything good I'll tell ya. Said it was already too dark to make out details just that it was a shorter, maybe white dude wearing black. Said it took maybe thirty seconds if that. She saw the fighting and pulled out her phone, but she dropped it in the water when the shotgun went off. Then he was gone, and she was too scared to come over here, so she went home to use a neighbor's phone."
Danny stood up and walked to stand between the two of them. He puffed thoughtfully on his cancer stick. Placing a hand under his chin he stared down at the body Santiago had been examining.
"Pen-ah, Lien for your thoughts Danny boy?' Marcus said as he glanced down as well.
"Means this sicko came back to take the ears. Unless they were gone before the fight. So either they took them off before and didn't patch themselves up. Or, our perp waited for Old lady Palmer to meander off and came back for a trophy. Three guesses which it is and the first two don't count."
Santiago sighed before wiping the ever present sheen of wet off of his face.
"Go ahead and get the boys to bag them up, we're gonna explore down the alleyway.
"On it Detective." And with that Green left the two of them to converse.
The glow from the cigarette made McDaniels' green eyes appear an ethereal gray. He reached up to adjust his Trilby again as we walked around the two bodies, his large frame would be imposing if Marcus didn't know him so well.
"We'll get the bastard James." Marcus said quietly, just loud enough for Danny to hear him as he pulled out his own pack of cigarettes.
"Damn well better," He bit out, ash falling into the river they stood in as he turned towards the alleyway," Let's go, before our leads wash away."
Boots splashed as Danny led the charge, ambling down the alleyway and stopping to inspect the asphalt beneath them. Santiago for his part, was looking at the walls, the trash, the poster-
There, near the other mouth of the alleyway, stuck to the brick wall by one corner, was a poster.
It was a small, faded and crumpled paper with a picture of two young boys on it. He ripped the paper off the wall and began scanning it, cigarette hanging loosely from his lip and already too soaked to light.
Can you help?
Sylvester & Sylvan Moreno
Age: 14 & 16
Last Seen: Creme De La Rouge Ice Cream Parlor
near Tukson's Book Trade
Info: Slim builds, 150 lbs and 170 lbs,
Brown Bear Faunus, both with dark brown ears-
Marcus frowned as the rain began to weigh the paper down, drops spattering the picture of two young boys like a mothers tears.
"James! Look at this, it's…" He trailed off, handing the paper over as McDaniels stomped towards him, boots splattering water over Marcus's shins. His heaving breath heavily contrasted the way he gently grasped the paper with both hands, as if it would fall to pieces at any moment.
He was quiet then, for a few moments. Marcus could see his eyes scanning over and over, top to bottom as if rereading would reveal new information.
"You think this is connected?" Danny asked, shoulders sagging as he met his friends' eyes.
"I think it's something worth looking into. Look around Danny, we're in a rain filled alleyway. Any muddy prints or blood are long fucking gone if our perp ever left them in the first place. Let's go help the guys pack up the scene James. There's nothing left for us here."
James McDaniels hung his head, before slowly and carefully rolling up the poster, before placing it in one of his windbreaker's large pockets.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Marcus began moving back towards the cordon, taking one last look back at the barren alleyway, hoping something would catch his eye.
Nothing did.