Chapter Four: Scene of the Crime

…

Link left most of the pictures behind, only interested in the ones taken in the park. He studied them in silence, much to DS Navi's irritation. A half hour was a long time to spend in the cart, and Officer March occasionally glancing up at her hair forced her to keep her mood in check. She at least appreciated that he was too polite to ask why her hair kept changing color (unless, like Link, he was already familiar with that particular fairy attribute) and that Link was too busy flipping through the same few pictures over and over again to blurt it out. When they finally arrived, Link was eager to jump out of the cart.

Ordon College. A fairly prominent, two-story building sitting on what had once been the greater half of Mayor Bo Park, it was a rectangular structure sporting outer walls of fresh, red brick and windows clear enough to see inside. Unlike the government offices across the street from the park, the college stood out with a gambrel roof of wooden shingles rather than the simpler gable roof made of corrugated steel. The great length of the building hinted at the intention of a large student body, and there were two smaller entrances splitting the difference between each corner and the main, stooped entrance. Well, to call it a "stooped" entrance implied that the upper landing, large enough to accommodate an eight-place dining table if so desired, did not exist. While there were still small piles of dirt currently being cleared out by workers shoveling it into a wagon, someone had at least set up a pair of saplings to flank the cobblestone path up to the steps and arranged hedges under every first-floor window.

Link took only a moment to admire it. Then he turned to cast his eyes across what remained of Mayor Bo Park. This required him to step around the back of the cart, causing Officer March to slip when he tried to follow Link's change of direction while stepping out. Rather than chastise him, March simply grumbled to himself and moved out of the way so that DS Navi could exit. He moved to the front of the cart and waited for her to shut the door. Then he told the driver, "Hitch up a cage wagon and standby at the phone over on Seventh. We'll find you there if we need you."

"Yessir," the driver said, tapping the brim of his helmet before giving the reins a whip. "Yah!"

Navi watched the cart drive off for a moment. Then she broke into a brisk walk to catch up to Link, March following close behind. "Care to tell me what this is supposed to accomplish?" she asked once she was close enough to speak in a normal voice. "I tend to think that our perpetrator wouldn't like to return to the scene of their crime."

"That'd make it easy, wouldn't it," Link said as he examined the pictographs in his hand. He glanced around for a moment. Then he started walking in a direction down the length of the park. "We'd hit the jackpot if he wore a sign, too, but we're not that lucky."

"Why are we here, then?" Navi asked.

"March, you had the sheriff's office contact the pawn shops, right?" Link asked.

"We have deputies on the lookout," March said. "They'll report to me here if they've got anything. Now that they know what to look for."

"Officer March, I would expect you to understand the need to keep the details of the crime as quiet as possible," Navi told him, looking over her shoulder as she spoke. "This is an embarrassment to the Crown, and, as Mister Fieldview has mentioned, having an officer of the Watch appear is rather off-putting. And a thief who knows that we are searching would likely work harder to cover their crime." Then she turned to address Link's back. "Does this factor in to your observations, Mister Fieldview?"

"Really, whoever took these would have to be an idiot to think they wouldn't be missed," Link said just before stopping. Both Navi and March were caught off-guard by the sudden halt and almost stumbled trying not to crash into him. He turned around. He gave them a difficult look before motioning with a hand for them to step aside. The two police officers obeyed, Navi heaving a frustrated sigh. "We're probably never gonna see the necklace or the bangle again. Our last hope is those earrings; they're too nice to melt down."

"Surely, they would have been sold by now," Navi said, her hair turning navy blue as she watched Link hold one pictograph at arm's length to compare to the park behind it.

"So?" Link asked.

"How are we to catch the thief then? Especially since stolen property is among other property sold to shops on a regular basis?"

"Most of the pawn shops in this area are required to take down customer information and keep it for a set period of time before destroying," March said. "Even if they only sold the necklace and bangle, and even if they've already been melted down, the shop will still have a ticket to show the transaction. They're required to take down a name and address."

"And if the perpetrator lied?"

"That's why we're covering a different angle," Link said. "If the sheriff can get the information that easily, they'll have the bust before lunch. If they don't, we're following another trail."

DS Navi crossed her arms. "What trail?"

Link turned and glanced around. One of the chief features of the park was that it was mostly a rectangular grass field surrounded on all sides by brick roads. Only a few people were using the park for recreation; anyone else seemed to simply use it to cut across as they walked from one street to the next. Trees lined the far end of the park from them and flanked the long sides much more sparsely. On the end they stood closer to, there were only two trees before the paved walkway between the park and the street. A third tree sat in the corner, further from the street than the other trees.

Link walked to this third tree. Navi and March quickly followed. "What is it?" March asked.

Link stopped and looked at the bare dirt around the base of the tree. "Looks like a good, inconspicuous place to loiter, doesn't it," he said as he rounded the tree.

"There are a lot of trees in this park, Mister Fieldview," Navi pointed out. "What makes this one special?"

As Link came back around the tree, he pointed at the field nearby. "You see that spot I was at?" he asked. Navi and March turned to look. "That would have been about where Joth was standing when he took those pictures of the princess in the park. If the whole crowd came out to watch her play with the children, a lot of people would have been standing near this tree."

Navi narrowed her eyes as she thought, her hair visibly turning purple. "So, someone… leaning against this tree, perhaps, wouldn't look out of place," she reasoned. "Do you have any clues?"

"If there were, someone got here before us," Link told her. He pointed, prompting her to round the tree. She saw that the dirt had been raked through. When she looked up at Link, he shrugged. "Scavenger."

Navi frowned at him. "Scavenger?" she repeated.

"One of our more honest homeless," March said as he stepped around to address her. "Some of the folks around here, when they need a quick rupee, they'll start looking for scraps and trash to turn in. It doesn't pay much, but, for people without a rupee to their name, it's worth something." He craned his neck to look at the marks in the dirt. "Any idea who it was?"

"There're two people in this area who regularly scavenge here," Link said. "Judging by the way they'd grabbed it up, I'd say it was Losel. That's about where that head injury's left him these days."

"Wait, you mean we have to find this 'Losel' person to get anywhere?" Navi asked as her hair turned blue. "What if he turned in your 'clues'?"

"Not likely," March said. "Losel sometimes can't even find the trash house. He just gathers stuff and shoves it in his pockets. He usually has one of the other homeless to help him, but I think his usual help got locked up for swiping cigarettes again."

"That…" Navi started to say. Link and March glanced at her, both of them expectant of a derisive comment. Instead, she shook her head. "By your lead, gentlemen," she said with an exhausted sigh. "Where must we find this 'Losel'?"

Link glanced around. "That's a good question. He doesn't have much of a routine; he just drifts around."

"How do you find him, then?" Navi asked.

Link turned and pointed at the city offices. "Okay, he probably won't be over there…" he mumbled to himself. He glanced around for a moment before asking, "There's an Ordowich place nearby, right?"

"Ugh… yeah…" March groaned, pointing toward the end of one road. "Behind the tax assessor's office."

"Got it," Link said, digging into his pocket. He pulled out a red Rupee and handed it to March. "Basic Ordowich, fries, and a fruit juice. Don't forget my change; Mara wanted me to get fresh milk." Then he gestured for Navi to follow. "Detective Sergeant?" Navi rolled her eyes and noticed her bangs turning blue. After shaking her head and forcing her hair to go back to almost black, she started after Link and March.

Link's walk was brisk as he crossed the road and strode past the assessor's office. They continued for a block, and Navi saw a Gene's Ordowich Shop and Deli on the next corner. March split from them and walked into the restaurant. Navi paused for a second, wondering who she was meant to follow. She decided to follow Link as he strode past the shop.

She stumbled when he suddenly turned into the alley behind the shop. Her lips released a frustrated growl, her hair flashing maroon as she followed him. Then her hair changed to a dark shade of bluish-green as her nose registered the putrid smell of garbage. The alley was lined with trash cans, most of them overflowing with rotten contents and circled by generations of flies. There were also cardboard boxes and piles of clothing or blankets. Most of them appeared abandoned, but Navi saw one woman lying on a heap covered in filthy coats. They passed the shop and two more buildings on that same side of the alley before Link came up to a cardboard box that someone had braced up with a pair of broken pieces of wood.

Navi watched in confusion, her hair softly shifting between blue and bluish-green, as Link knocked on one piece of wood. Something inside the box snorted in response. Link flashed Navi a grin before leaning close to the box. "Eat the three cheese wheels," he said to the box.

Poph!

"AH!"

"A rubber fish holds no testicles to da fleas of a purple ground!" the box suddenly declared as a fist punched through the flaps on top, the sudden sound causing Navi to jump backwards while her hair changed to a light grey. "Spank da marbles of a tormorrow veep!"

Link chuckled as he turned to Navi. "Found him," he said.

Navi watched, to her increasing horror until her hair was nearly white, as a creature rose out of the top of the box. Its hair was long, blond, and standing up with large amounts of dirt and hardened grease clumped near his scalp. His face was covered in a beard that looked more like a shrub with leaves and sticks stuck in it. His body was concealed in a long jacket of worn, stained leather adorned with rips and blank patches pinned to the front.

"How's it goin', Losel?" Link asked.