Initial Investigation: The Red Way Slasher. (Djinn/Gaz)

[Djinn]

Hell's Garden was not nearly as nightmarish a place as the name would seem to indicate. A modest Marine base had been built here to protect a rare fruit; more accurately to safeguard the rest of the world from the same peculiar produce. The people who lived on the island seemed like decent people, but this was his first time on Goya, and he knew better than to take things at face value. Though they seemed like decent people, there was a monster hiding among them; two people had died already, additional fatalities seemed like an almost foregone conclusion. When he and his crew were diverted from returning to G-6 after a routine patrol of the seas surrounding the Lanza Chain, he had no idea that the case waiting for him would be one this atrocious. The evidence the local garrison's investigation had produced was obtuse and unfathomable, so he'd taken a break from pouring through the reports to get a bit of exercise. A bead of sweat trickled up his neck and across his face, barely missing his open left nostril, before dripping off of his forehead and onto the wooden floor. His arms were tense from holding the ninety degree hand-stand push up, but this was a regular part of his workouts so there was little chance of the toned sinews giving in. He held it for a moment or two longer, then extended back up before dipping back down again. This was all automatic, since he was busy thinking about the daunting investigation that lay before him. Though the two slayings were obviously connected by methodology and the same impossibilities, there were other things that didn't add up to your typical killings. Before he could ponder the circumstances surrounding the case any further, there was a knock at the door.

Dropping down from his inverted position, the Marine planted his feet on the floor in a crouch before getting up. He grabbed a towel off of his desk as well as a cigarette from the pack he'd left next to the dossier and his book of crossword puzzles. Walking around the workstation to sit down in his chair, he flicked a match and lit up before exhaling and turning his stern gaze upon the closed door; "Enter." The door opened and the Seaman who'd been assigned to stand guard over his temporary office entered and saluted; "Captain Barras, sir. One of the Recruits under your command is requesting to meet with you." The Marine Officer ashed his cigarette and took another drag; "My crew is on shore-leave until I get this case sorted out. Tell whoever it is to go enjoy themselves..." The guard saluted again, "Yes, sir!"

The door closed and Barras was left alone with his thoughts again. His men had their role to play in the investigation as well. After all, since the base's garrison was in place to guard Hell's Garden, they couldn't effectively protect the people. He'd hoped that by granting his men a brief reprieve from their duties, their presence among the people could discourage further bloodshed until the Slasher could be caught. Again, his train of thought was derailed by a knocking at the entrance to his office! "What is it?!" Again, the same Seaman appeared, this time looking somewhat embarassed; "Sir! This recruit seems pretty determined to meet with you." The scarred swordsman's eyebrow peaked in annoyance, but he maintained his composure; "Fine, see them in." He swiveled around in his chair and looked up at the Marine Flag hanging on the wall, listening as a sound of booted foot falls sounded against the wooden floor, there was something strange about the sound of this persons steps. The door closed, and the Captain addressed his subordinate; "So, what was so important that you decided to disobey the ordered furlough I was kind enough to grant?" As he waited for this determined G-6er's answer, his cigarette continued to burn in the corner of the stern veteran's mouth.

[Kami-Gaz]

Shore leave? Why was it shore leave? Elise Backman, otherwise known as Ellie Bacon had just been transferred off to a small division that was based in the G-6 base. It was on patrol as she arrived so she was sent to meek them at their last checkpoint on Goya Island. But it was as she arrived the order to take a break was issued whilst the captain helped the local base investigate some murderer who left gruesome bodies in his wake. This revelation irked the young recruit who was fresh out of training and felt she did not deserve such a break yet. It was not like her to accept a break she did not earn, and the more time she spent resting and relaxing when she did not needed the less time she was spending changing the world for the better. The young recruit instead of taking her free time to rest and relax had decided upon a new course of action instead, something that would be useful and maybe get the attention of someone higher up, maybe the captain of CHIMERA. The Division made up of cyborgs and scientists was a dream for the girl, if it was anything to improve her metal body she would gladly join it just for that.

The new cyborg, who was still having a little bit of trouble controlling her new limbs left to go and investigate on her own, so something useful like she had planned. However, people who often set out with the best intentions will normally cause more issues than they wanted to solve. The time that Ellie spent looking around and finding clues was all brought to naught after only a few hours of asking around. The people did not like to talk about it and those who did only told the girl what she already knew, the fact that the bodies were left with severe cuts and gashes on the neck and face, they were only male victims, and the fact it only happened to people who were alone at the time. All this made the young marine think was there could be more bodies hidden around the town, or the Island. Though that would be hard to prove, it was not as if she could order a full search of the island.

It was then she got the bright idea to meet her higher up, maybe this might make a good impression on him, if she were to kick his butt into getting everyone to help search for more clues, then this investigation might go a bit faster. The problem was… would he be willing to speak to the girl, was he slacking off himself, using this investigation as an excuse to not go back to the assigned base and drill? If so then she would become the biggest pain in his arse since the last time his or her mother slapped them on the backside for being a naughty child.

As the young marine approached the door to her captain’s cabin she was stopped by a man on guard, he looked tough, as if he was hand picked for watching the guys back. “Sorry recruit, captain is fairly busy right now.” He said in a more hushed tone, it made out as if the guy was sleeping, or concentrating on something very important. The look on Ellie’s face scrunched up, a little annoyed but it instantly shifted back to serious, making the guard sigh. “Fine, I’ll check.” He uttered before knocking on the door and opening to see the captain. "Captain Barras, sir. One of the Recruits under your command is requesting to meet with you." It would be a few seconds before the man returned to face Ellie after closing the door. “Captain doesn’t want to talk right now, he said you should go and have your shore leave like everyone el-” He said before being cut off quite abruptly.

“No! I am not sitting back and taking a break when I haven’t even earned the damned thing.” The young girl barked at the man, cutting him off and making him flinch at this recruits temper. The young silver haired girl has crossed her arms. The determined look on her face was only a good indication that she would not stop here. “I am not leaving until I speak to the captain.” She said, making the guy turn around and knock on the door again. As she stood and waited even she heard the Captains reply. "What is it?!"
"Sir! This recruit seems pretty determined to meet with you."
“Fine See them in.” Was the brief exchange between the two before the guard pushed the door wide open and gestured for the young recruit to enter, he didn’t really want to talk to the girl, seeing as she snapped at him moments ago. Ellie entered the room, her footsteps off, one was heavey and thudded on the ground whilst the other made light clunking noises, nowhere near as loud as the ones that were making the floor shake slight beneath it, it was as if her legs were made from metal. She was there mere seconds before the man showed his annoyance to the girl "So, what was so important that you decided to disobey the ordered furlough I was kind enough to grant?" Yeah he sounded annoyed, he was not even smoking his cigarette properly, just letting it burn as she stood there thinking of the words to use for and answer.

“Captain sir! I cannot accept this order for shore leave because I have not earned such a right. I arrived here this morning from HQ after a visit to G-6. It would be disgraceful for me to spend my time lazing around while there is a killer on the loose praying on innocent people.” The girl barked in her military voice, though now she would tone it down feeling that her point was mad and she her self was not her normal self, but she let that slip because of how this undeserved shore leave irked her. “Captain Barass Sir, I want to help you in this investigation, and I spent most of my time today looking for more clues… but all I can deduce is that this killer targets lone targets in hidden places. We need to launch a full investigation if we are to find the killer, every man sweeping every dark nook and hidden cranny.” She said it as she slowly shuffled to the captains desk, he stink of sweat, and the towel on his shoulder proved he was working out. Good at least the man was doing something, she could just give him her respect yet.

[Djinn]

The Captain took a long drag of his cigarette before putting it out in the ash-tray that rested upon his desk. He exhaled, grey smoke highlighted by the dull glow of the desk lamp he'd been reading by. This new recruit didn't look like your average greenhorn, but then again cyborgs were becoming more and more common in the Navy, it was strange that she was just showing up for the patrol now. This silver haired young lady seemed to have a real attitude problem, but judging by her immaculate uniform she was probably just high-strung, what really concerned him was this rogue investigation she'd carried out. "First of all, Recruit, it's customary for a subordinate to introduce themselves when addressing their commanding officer... Secondly, any information you think you've gleaned from your own investigation into this case would be inadmissible in a court of law. We're not Pirates here, these regulations are in place to make sure Justice is administered in a uniform and fair fashion." The Captain pulled out a pen and made a note in the back of his book of crossword puzzles before continuing; "Furthermore, I could reprimand you for insubordination if I wanted to! You can't just fly off the handle like that and expect your higher ups to just overlook things. Your investigation proved as fruitless as my examination of the evidence gleaned by the local garrison. As for your request that we organize a massive search, your request is denied. Perhaps if you'd looked at things a bit more practically you'd see my actions are in the best interest of the citizens out there in the streets! One of them is a murderer, and rather than organize a witch hunt I deemed the wisest course of action was to increase the marine presence on the streets in a way that wouldn't be seen as totalitarian by the people."

The pen he held in his hand made a faint scratching sound as he made another note. After that was done, he closed the book and slipped it into his pocket. He rose up from his seat and wiped away the rest of the sweat from his toned frame. It only took a step or two before he came to the hat rack he'd left the rest of his uniform on; "Your investigation has already tipped the culprit off to the fact that we're on his trail. You didn't think it was strange that the local garrison called us in? It was to avoid alerting this bastard to the level of scrutiny he's brought upon himself. Now I'm afraid we don't have the advantage of pursuing someone who thinks himself untouchable, I just hope he's not already moved on from the area these first two crimes occurred in..." He buttoned up the dress shirt that was customary uniform for Marine Officers, tucking it in as grabbed his suit jacket and continued reprimanding his subordinate; "As for your request to assist me in this endeavor, your request is granted. I'll make my position clear from the beginning: you'll be accompanying me so I can keep you from obstructing my own investigation. Perhaps if you stand aside and pay attention you'll learn something."

The swordsman fastened his suit coat's buttons before donning the Marine's trademark white overcoat. The word 'Justice' was emblazoned across the back of the white garment, something Barras had devoted his life to. Returning to his seat, Barras seized the dossier of evidence he had been perusing. "The victims were indeed both men, both were killed in the same way, this is true. But there are a number of other complications as to the methodology of this criminal. Both victims were found in rooms locked from the inside, neither entrance had been forced open and they were only discovered after close associates reported them missing. These men were killed in their homes with the key to their locked doors on their person, both were slain with relatively little struggle and it seems the access point for the killer in both cases was an open window. This isn't too out of the ordinary, until you consider that both of our victims lived on the upper floors of their respective domiciles. These factors lead me to believe that our perpetrator is either unusually skilled, has eaten a devil's fruit of some kind, or that we're dealing with a group of murderers. None of these possibilities point to a simple conclusion, as of this moment I have my worries as to whether or not we'll be able to see justice done here..." Before he could continue there was a sharp knock on the door; "Captain!"

The scarred swordsman's attention shifted from the recruit in his office to the one out front; "What is it?" The guard burst in again; "Sir, they've found another victim!" No sooner than these words left the Seaman's mouth than Barras had stood up and seized his swords. He passed by the cyborg without a word. He stopped at the door and looked back at her; "Our investigation begins here. What's your name, Recruit?"

[Kami-Gaz]

She was in trouble; her captain was scolding her and telling her how things work under him. She was in the wrong in most regards of how she acted since her arrival; she had disregarded going to introduce herself to her captain. Then again, she thought it would be better to make said introduction later seeing as it was the early hours of the morning. There was no room to reply to anything he said, the court was mentioned and the only thing to run through the girls head was the fact that she could genuinely be court marshalled just for taking matters into her own hands. “We're not Pirates here; these regulations are in place to make sure Justice is administered in a uniform and fair fashion." In her view this uniformed manner that he was so proud of was what she joined the marines to change, this uniformed manner did save her life but it is also because of it that she was missing her legs and her arm. The reason her brother was made a criminal, all because the current system took too long and it failed them. The girl frowned as this man carried on to scold her. Then suddenly she realised, he was right. Her plan would of caused unrest and alerted the killer, if she didn’t whilst doing her own investigations whilst in uniform no less.

Though even with all of this captain’s scolding he did give her something to be happy about, he was letting her join him in this investigation. Then again, it was so he could keep his eye on her and keep her from screwing up his investigation. Ellie would offer a confident nod to the captain before he moved to don his trademark white justice coat. It was something that made the young girl smile, it filled her with a sort of comfort, and the jacket meant this man had the knowledge and power behind him to lead. Even meeting him and having him scold her made her happy, he seemed like just the kind of captain that she could follow and still achieve her dream.

The evidence that he was running through was exactly the same as the evidence that she had been able to gather on her own, the murders were strange that was for sure. The bodies positions the fact the doors were locked and there was no sign of forced entry. All of this pointed to some sort of devil fruit power or someone who was a really good acrobat. It lead the girl to think a lot of things, and the more she thought of more and more complex answers to this case.

“Captain!” A marine shouted as he knocked on the door and pushed himself in, he must have had some very important news that made him barge in like that. "Sir, they've found another victim!" Another one? Crap? Was this Ellie’s fault, was she the one to cause this did the killer kill to taunt her and the other marines. The girls eyes widened as a bead of sweat ran down her forehead, the cyborg hand of hers locked up into a fist. ‘Did the killer see me? Did he do this as I was looking into him? Crap I can’t blame myself it will only make this harder’. She thought as the captain looked back at her from the door, snapping her out of this daze. "Our investigation begins here. What's your name, Recruit?"

“Bacon Sir, Ellie Bacon.” She said as she shifted her weight and headed for the door, her heavy metallic footsteps ringing around the room as she did. It might be a while before she gets the hang of the weight distribution. “Sorry Captain I will behave and follow your orders more closely now. I see that you have the islands best interest in mind.” The cyborg said as she followed the captain, formality seemed to be this guy’s thing so she should conform for now, let him get comfortable with her as she would with him and she could start to get a better read on what he wants and who he is. “He might be doing it to taunt us now… he might think of this as a game that he wins… ” She uttered as she walked behind her captain, if that was the case then this will either be easier or harder depending on how narcissistic this guy was.

[Djinn]

"Alright, this way, Bacon." He motioned for her to follow him as he made a right and began to stride down the corridor. His footfalls on the tile floor of the base produced a cadence for what Ellie said next. “He might be doing it to taunt us now… he might think of this as a game that he wins…” Without looking back, Barras brought his new recruit back into line; "It's best not to indulge in such theories without the evidence to back it up. It could just end up hindering our investigation as it progresses." He'd been on an investigation in the past where the team's expectations had blinded them to the true culprit, he was determined not to repeat the same mistake twice.

Finally making it to the exit, the Marine Captain stepped out into the sunlight of the day. There wasn't a cloud in sight; a hot, bloody, day no doubt lay before them. A recruit from the local garrison was waiting to lead them to the site of the new crime. The soldiers walked down a winding series of streets until they finally came upon an alleyway that had a large group of rather distressed citizens gathered at the mouth of it. The seaman who had lead the officer here quickly got them to move aside so the swordsman could access the crime scene. Before he entered the alley, Barras barked out a command to his newest subordinate; "Bacon, you're on crowd control, see if anyone saw anything."

Moving carefully so he wouldn't disturb any evidence, the detective crept up towards the prone body before him. The smell of death was acrid here, he couldn't have been here for too long, but the hot sun was already starting to work on him. The quiet of the scene also stuck with Barras, but that was something indicative of all the murder scenes he'd ever investigated. The fellow was face-down in a large puddle of blood. Stepping over the prone figure, the swordsman's keen eyes noticed that this was a very different killing than he'd been expecting. There was only a single slash mark on the cheek of this victim, apparently he had died from having his neck broken. Barras made a quick note in his book, this sort of injury could mean the killer is incredibly strong, after all, the body he was examining in the moment didn't look like much of a slouch. There was hardly any signs of defensive wounds on this man, meaning he was either dispatched without his knowledge or he knew his killer and was caught by surprise. Flipping the man over, another injury became apparent that brought up another question. The man's temple that had been lying on the pavement was caked with blood and was clearly dented in. Barras looked up to check for something, sure enough, one of the windows in the adjacent building was standing open. Standing up and closing his notebook, the Captain wasn't sure if the perpetrator of this crime was their guy, but he had a strong hunch their victim had been thrown out that window. Taking one more look at the crime scene, Barras walked away from the corpse.

Coming up behind the silver haired cyborg, Barras tapped her on the shoulder; "Bacon, we're going to go take a look in that building over there..."

[Kami-Gaz]

Ellie followed like a puppy on a short leash, hiding her excitement behind a serious face. She was about to help change the world… in retrospective this was only a tiny change, something that would barely be a bump in the road. None the less it would be a change for the better for this island, and she was sure it was more than her pirate brother could ever do with his roundabout illegal ways. Then the captain spoke without even bothering to look back, he heard her mumble and must of considered it but he didn’t think the same way as the girl did, making assumptions like this would only be a hindrance this early in to the investigation. Possibly his experience was talking this time, seeing as he didn’t want to look back, it made the young recruit think that he didn’t want to look back at his own past mistakes but still use them to teach her.


“Yes Captain, I will not make assumptions so easily next time Sir.” She said formally as she followed the veteran closely out in to the blistering sun of Goya Island. The heat hit the Small cyborg girl like a breath of fresh air, unlike the heat of Zarzara this was nothing but a cool spring day to her so she remained relatively unaffected. The white haired girl nodded subtly to the recruit that met them in this heat, they looked like they were suffering more than they should. They probably came from a winter island before being stationed here. The brief contact between the two ended when they turned on their heel and lead the pair down the streets the new crime scene, down a set of winding roads and stinking back streets only to arrive to a mass of citizens.


There was an awkward moment as the pair shuffled through the crowd to get to their final destination, this was different, the body was in the open, and just from a glance, there seemed to be less blood. An open neck wound that would have surely cut the jugular like the other victims would obviously spill far more blood than is apparent. Was this the same killer or someone trying taking advantage of the marine disarray? That was clearly unknown the only way to find out was to get a closer look, alas, that was not the case as the captain turned to Ellie and gave his orders. "Bacon, you're on crowd control, see if anyone saw anything."


“Yes Captain Barras sir!” She replied before turning around and waving her arms into the air to get people’s attention, she had a simple plan to get this done and filter out any unwanted attention. Once the whispers had died down and the people’s eyes turned to be on her the young marine cleared her throat. “I ask that everyone who was here when the body was discovered stay and everyone who doesn’t have any relevant information leave, this is a formal investigation and one for your safety. We request your assistance by carrying on your daily lives like this never happened.”


There were a few moments of silence afterwards as the crowd thought about their next actions for a second before filtering off leaving only one person standing by their lonesome, their eyes red and poufy from tears. She was a female, judging from the tears this person was either really close to the victim or really shaken by the sudden body falling out of the sky. With a slight nod to the younger woman Ellie walked over. “I’m sorry for your loss, were you close to him? What was his name?” The marine asked, slightly tilting her head to the side and letting her stern face fall away so she could see Ellie in a more human way.


It wasn’t long before the captain tapped the metal shoulder of Ellie making her jump and look around to him as he gave his new order, "Bacon, we're going to go take a look in that building over there..." the girl she had asked questions too seemed important. “Sir I think I have someone who saw him fall, are we taking her with us?” She asked keeping her kinder tone around the still clearly upset woman who Ellie thought might hold a clue.

[Djinn]

Kneeling down, Barras opened his notebook again and looked the little lady in the eye; "Please, tell me what you remember..." The child was clearly upset by what she had seen, so she had a bit of trouble finding her voice, the marine reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask of water he kept with him when he was out and about. He offered the witness a drink of water without a word, and remained forcused on her demeanor, what had she seen? This could very well be the break in the case that would make everything fall into line, he wasn't about to squander it...

After taking a sip of water, the girl took a deep breath and began her account; "Well, I was picking up bottles to trade, my mommy trades them for our dinner, I was over there..." She pointed to the reeking alleyway; "I heard a scream, then I saw the man fall! He fell from up there!" This confirmed Barras's hunch that he'd been inside that window, but it raised another question; "The scream was before the fall? Did you see anything else? How did he fall?" The girl thought about it for a moment, her tiny brow furrowed with concentration; "He fell out the window backwards, he landed on his head and didn't get up!" She started crying again; "I'm sorry I don't know more! I heard the scream and I looked up, it just happened!" The detective nodded, jotting down something in his notebook and rising back to his feet, he called out to one of the recruits arriving on the scene to cordon the area off; "You there, Recruit! Make sure you take this girl home when your done there! Let's go Bacon, I still want to go take a look at that room, even more so now that I know our victim was in there right before he died!"

It only took the pair a number of steps to arrive at the sturdy wooden door of the boarding house, nice if relatively plain, nothing looked off here. The Marine Captain opened the door easily as it was unlocked, then took a look around: It was a long hallway, completely barren save for the numerous brown doors that dotted the walls, at the end of the hallway was a flight of stairs that led upwards. "Come on, let's go." He began a brisk walk towards the stairs, noting the quiet of this place, who knew many people were living here, yet there was hardly a sound in the place at all. The sounds of the two Soldiers' footfalls reverberated in the dim hallways of the relatively nice building, finally on the top floor, they came to the door that corresponded with the window left standing open.  Barras tried the door, it was locked; "Well, that's interesting. Though there are significant differences, this locked door fits the killer's profile... Care to do the honors, Bacon?"

One hard blow later, the door was unlocked and the two investigators were inside; the room was relatively undisturbed, a simple apartment. Picking up a piece of mail, the Captain quickly found out the victim's name; "Wezzler Daric." It was something to start with, he turned his attention to the window that Daric had fallen out of. The frame looked unblemished, there wasn't even a drop of blood on it. Perhaps Daric had jumped, but that was troublesome because who screams before jumping to their death? There was also the cut on his cheek, without any broken glass or a bloody knife near the window, there was nothing that could have made that cut here: that means that someone either had to have made the cut before Wezzler fell to his death, or someone cleaned the crime scene to cover up the truth. The latter seemed rather implausible, but it was too early to discount things like this. He leaned out the window and looked down at the body, which was being further examined by members of the local garrison as they locked down the alleyway. Barras looked down at the ground, it had to have been at least forty feet in the air, more of a risk than most would take; only the most expert climbers would be able to make that climb with confidence and without raising suspicion. It was only once he looked up that he felt the need to leave.

Not so far away, there was a local shop that seemed to have a number of people gathering around it, it seemed to be the area's barbershop. "Hmmm...." It would be a good idea to see if any of those people knew Daric, and it would give him a chance to try and see if there was any reason anyone would want him dead. Turning to leave, Barras was almost to the door when he noticed Ellie looking at something on the floor. He came up behind her; "What is it?"

[Kami-Gaz]

The girl’s words filled the young recruits head; she was obviously upset by the ordeal. A body had fallen from the sky and landed by her feet. That would move most people to tears; it would have surely shaken up the cyborg a bit. When the young girl had finished the captain with no change in face barked his next orders, was he just that used to sob stories and upset people that he would rather not deal with it all? He got the next recruit along to take the girl home after she hung around the body a bit more. With a frown on her face, the girl heard her next orders, “Let's go Bacon, I still want to go take a look at that room, even more so now that I know our victim was in there right before he died!" With that he turned and made his move towards the door.

Ellie on the other hand mouthed to the recruit and pointed at the girl, “make sure she gets someone to talk to!” Then the cyborg quickly turned on her metal heel and jogged after her superior. Their footsteps quite distinct from each other’s, the mans were loud and heavy due to his size, but the girls, hers were heavy and clunking and carried far more sound than they should for someone her size. They all echoed through the hallways creating this eerie atmosphere, it made the young recruit imagine the time she was left home along all those years ago when her brother went to gamble. Those memories did not bring fear but a scowl came across her face as images of her brother occupied her mind for those few moments.

The scowl Vanished when Captain Barras gave her the opportunity to open the locked door. “Care to do the honours, Bacon?" He suggested before quickly moving aside. The girl without hesitation moved to the door her hand on the hilt of her sword. In one quick motion, she pulled on the handle and rammed the pommel into the lock, breaking the wood around it and making the main door, and forcing it open with a violent swing. Once it thudded against the wall it was attached to it swing back but by that time the cyborg had extended her robotic right leg as she slid her sword back down into its sheathe.

“Thank you for the honour Captain Sir.” She said as her eyes inspected the immediate area, she would quickly step to the side and let her captain walk in and carry on his inspections. Ellie shifted and moved to inspect the floor, scanning it and looking for anything that would be out of the ordinary. For a home that a murder had just taken place in it was unusually clean, was it really the case that it was not suicide? Was it some devil fruit that stopped time and cleaned it up? Was it a super speed power?

"Wezzler Daric." The captain said as he shifted through the man’s mail, so the victim had a name, not very unusual, most people had names… Shaking her head and letting her silverfish hair flow over her shoulder. ‘I wonder what the captain’s full name…’ the young lady wondered as she returned to scanning the floor, she was moving away from the floor near the entrance and moving towards the window that the body fell out of.

This entire situation was odd and Ellie could not stop thinking about how clean this place seemed to be. As if no one was killed in here, the only mess was one that was made by the victim’s day to day life. “If this guy lived alone he was fairly clean… nothing is really out of place.” She said as she leaned down to inspect around an armchair that had a magazine thrown on to it, was he in a hurry? Everything else was so neat and well placed… so why was this one thing out… She moved her gaze to the immediate area, there must be something else, something that does not fit with the apartment.

It took a few moments of scouring on her hands and knees, getting close to the floor and letting her enhanced eyes scan. Eventually she found something. “This doesn’t match… at all.” She murmured picking something up in her right hand.

"What is it?" Ellie heard from behind, it would seem that he was watching over her, watching to make sure she was doing good. It made the girl smile as she opened her hand to find a tuft of orange hair. “Wezzler’s hair was brown wasn’t it?” the cyborg asked as she shifted around to show her captain the orange hair that was in her hand. “So why is this hair orange? Why is that magazine thrown onto the armchair while everything else is so neat?” She asked, this man’s neatness made everything about this small investigation so hard yet easy at the same time. Pieces were starting to click and she looked back to the floor to notice the bigger picture, the fact that the rug was scuffed and wrinkled and the tiny specs of blood that lead to the window. All things a person would not notice at first glance. “Someone else was here… ”

[Djinn]

"Someone else was here..." Ellie held up the bit of orange hair, she had done well to find something like this. Perhaps she was more than just the nuisance she had started out as, but that remained to be seen. He moved to get a closer look of this piece of evidence; "Let me see that, Recruit."

Barras took the sample from her, eyeing it sternly before nodding; "Indeed, this is a good find. Excellent work, Bacon." He took out a small cylinder and placed the hairs in it for later examination. Helping his subordinate up, the Captain made his intentions clear; "I saw a barber shop nearby with a sizable gathering of people. Someone over there might know something." Leaving the apartment, Barras gave the hallway another visual sweep. This time he looked for footprints outside of the doorway, any more hair, anything out of the ordinary. His search came up empty, and he concluded that the killer hadn't come in through the door. He waved for the cyborg girl to follow him as they left the area. They made it to the stairs down to the floor below when several more Seamen had made their way up the stairs to follow up with the only officer on site, so Barras put them to work; "You three, secure that room and make sure you lock it up on your way out." The younger marines nodded, moving to quickly complete another search of the empty room. When he heard Bacon's odd footfalls behind him again, he began working the crime out aloud even as he ran through it in his head; "It was hot yesterday, my guess is that our victim had the window open to cool down his home. He left the main room for some reason, and while he was out of the room the killer came in through the window somehow. He might be an acrobat or a cat burglar, but this guy isn't afraid to kill his victims. Someone capable of scaling a building and throwing a man to his death isn't someone who'd easily go unnoticed... We're looking for someone strong."

As they walked out the front door, Barras halted for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the glaring sun overhead. He pulled out a cigarette and struck a match on the brick of the apartment building's front stoop. Lighting it up, he took a deep breath before continuing on; "To be honest, I have my doubts about this guy being a thief at all, he had left behind a number of small valuables at Daric's home that your average thief would have quickly snatched up. We know he didn't leave out of the front door since Daric's door was locked and the key was still locked in his apartment. Whoever did that was out for blood, plain and simple." They rounded the corner of the cobblestone street and began walking down a somewhat crowded boulevard. As the two Marines began to weave their way through the foot traffic, Barras brought one more point to Ellie's attention; "Our victim might not have been killed the same way as the others, but he still had a cut on his cheek. It was un-tended which makes me think it wasn't just that he cut himself shaving..."

Another hearty puff of his cigarette and it was already at the butt, he flicked it before looking out at the crowd. It was less of a peaceful assembly and more of a riotous rabble, they seemed to be protesting something, but the swordsman couldn't read what their signs said since they were all facing the barber shop he'd spied out of the victim's window. These people were all surrounding the small building, and they were clearly angry; "Bacon, let's get to the bottom of this."

[Kami-Gaz]

The fur was quickly taken from between her metallic thumb and fore finger; they closed fully with a reverbing click sound. The captain would take a few seconds before acknowledging her find and giving her praise… This Bacon name was good, but at this point Ellie felt that the man just liked saying the word bacon. With a smile on her innocent looking face she stood up straight and followed the captain out. Half paying attention to the captains words Ellie was thinking to see if she had remembered anyone with orange hair around. Baber shop nearby” Snapped Ellie out of her thinking. This both made her stumble forwards a bit on her heavy metallic legs and squeak.

“I haven’t seen anyone with that sort of orange hair around captain.. Maybe it is a part of some clothing? Fancy dress maybe?” She said as she quickly regained composure, just before they rounded the corner and bumped into more recruits. After that quick stop and the group was ordered to carry out a full CSI Ellie would carry one and listen to her captains ramblings. As he laid out the points Ellie’s train of thought took a different trail. “What if it’s a small guy capable of using your own size against you?” The cyborg asked tilting her head as her footsteps seemed as loud as ever, her theory would explain why it was so hard to find the culprit, being small and nimble gave you so many more options for travel and escape routes.

Ellie walked into the back of her captain as he stopped to let his eyes adjust to the light, she quickly backed up as he cybernetic eyes automatically adjusted to the change in light. “Sorry sir-” She uttered, but he didn’t seem to be affected by this action one little bit. He just carried on after lighting his smoke and continued to theorise, this currently theory was something Ellie did agree on though. Blood was the motive, either revenge or just a cold random killing. “I agree most men would patch up their face if they cut it shaving, though looking at the victims face he seemed to have a five o’clock shadow like he had not been out all day… I don’t know hair growth rate on his face so I can’t be certain about that…” She added before the captain stopped again, this time his eyes were on the barber shop, either it was popular or something was going on in there “yeah, Shall we break up the rabble or just wade through it to see what is happening here?” She asked, though could read the anger in her captains voice and decided to go with her former decision.

The girl walked forwards and took advantage of her small body to get through the tightly packed crowd, using her heavy metallic feet to step on those who would not get out of the way in time. “What’s going on around here?” She asked as she got to the front of the crowd to see a hairy larger fellow who was stood behind a chair calmly snipping away at a customer’s hair, whilst all around him and the shop people were screaming, “You’re the killer Jebadiah, you have to be!” And other things along those lines, some getting really offensive. With a frown, Ellie stepped out between the angry mob and the barber who was calmly doing his job and cutting a man’s hair.

“Everyone! Stop!” The small girl shouted out trying to calm the situation down. “Leave this poor man alone! There no is use in shouting at a man who is doing something you are not! Let him do his job in peace!” She said before looking around all of the confused faces on the front row, the mob looked at this woman with metallic body parts and a marine uniform before one of them pointed to the large hairy fellow and shrieked out “He’s the killer! He has to be, he is the only one with enough knives to do it!” This was when Ellie lost her cool. Her face had scrunched up and the look of a short white haired girl turning into an angry demon. “Until we have all the evidence we cannot point fingers, now get lost. This is official Marine business, if you wanted to get arrested for hindering an investigation stay. I am not in the mood for paper work.” Of course, the young marine would not do it but seeing someone who is innocent until proven guilty. She did not show any of this she kept her regular voice but it was her eyes that scared the crowd into initially backing off.

The man who was still working away and cutting his customers hair only offered a hearty laugh in a thick accent that the girl could not make out. “You remind me of my Daughter, feisty when you want to be. Thank you for the help” He said not shifting his attention from his art. “They will be at the butchers down the road in 3 minutes, he has knives too.” His accent came out thick and sounded Russian, he definantly was not a native from here

[Djinn]

Ellie's intervention planted a seed of uncertainty in the crowd, they began to murmur back and forth among themselves about how they should proceed. The recruit was just standing there defiantly fuming even as Jebadiah finished up the fellow who's hair he had been cutting. After having the hair brushed off his shoulders, the flustered old man who'd been the barbers customer nervously paid up and shuffled out of the shoppe. Bacon's objections had given the crowd pause, but it wasn't long before a short man with a bad wig stepped to the fore of the mob; "Young lady! As the mayor of this town, I order you to stand aside and let us take justice into our own hands! The system is far too slow for our tastes, we're the ones who've lost brothers, husbands, and fathers at that monster's hands! Now stand aside and let us in there!" The crowd roared with approval, but just when it looked like they might charge through the white haired cyborg Barras made his presence known. Clearing his throat as he walked among them, the marine officer's height and presence really made him stand out from the group of irate townsfolk. Their rage subsided and they were reduced to looking sheepishly at this scarred soldier, even the man who'd been so pushy earlier was quick to take a step back from where he'd been a moment before. Barras calmly walked to stand in front of Bacon, looking back over his shoulder at the fellow who'd been so mouthy up to that point; "What's your business here?" His cold glare was enough to draw sweat from the squat man's brow; "L-like I said, I'm the mayor here! The name's Gleason, I might ask you the same question! After all, the Captain from the base here is Berwick and you aren't him!" Barras turned to face this loud civillian and in a stern voice he humbled the man; "My name is Captain Gallo Barras, I assure you, sir, that I have full authority in the investigation you happen to be obstructing. I believe my subordinate has already informed you of the consequences of further meddling in this affair. I recommend all of you disperse at once so we can get back to the business of investigating these grievous acts you're all so upset about." He turned his back to the mob, and instead strode towards the barber. Jebadiah even looked a bit taken aback by this swordsman's forceful presence, it looked like the blood had drained from his face; "Thank you, what can I do for you?" The Marine sat down in the barber's chair; "You can give me a shave..."

The scarred man sat down in the suspected murderer's chair, he didn't seem particularly in need of a shave but the barber set to work with his straight razor. The blade's edge glided gently over the swordsman's face, sheering away the stray stubble that had accumulated while he and his crew had been on patrol. Within moments, Jebadiah had finished, he brushed the shorn hair from the Captain's uniform before bowing politely. The barber spoke in his funny accent; "It's free. Thank you for stepping in on my behalf." Barras lit up a cigarette, still sitting down and looking at the barber; his hands were steady while he was shaving, this guy wasn't nervous at the presence of lawmen. That gave the impression that he was innocent, but no matter how slim the chances of his guilt seemed, there was still a chance. The marine brushed his hand over his now smooth chin, he took a drag of his smoke before speaking; "Well, let me just say this: I don't think you're the culprit. Do you mind if I take a look around so we can clear your name?" Jebadiah was quick to agree to the search, another symptom of innocence, but that remained to be proven...

"Bacon, can you stay up here with him? I'd like to take a look back there..." He pointed towards an open door in the back of the room before getting up to go conduct a further search. The room in the back of the shop was a small living area for the hairy groomer. The first thing Barras noticed was a medium sized bird-cage that hung in the corner, it was wide open and empty. Jebadiah's voice carried over from the next room; "That cage is for my pet, Coco, he got out. But it' ok, he knows his way home..." Barras could hear Bacon ushering Jebadiah away from the doorway so her CO could continue the search undisturbed. Next, his eyes fell upon another doorway in the back of the small room. Moving up to the door, the veteran opened it up to see what was on the other side of it. It opened up into the alleyway behind the Barbershop, there wasn't much to it in the back except for a large trashcan several yards from the back door. At the bottom of the small wooden stoop that sidled up next to the foot of the door, there was a number of strange fruits that had been left half-eaten. He didn't recognize what kind they were off the top of his head, but they were peculiar enough that Barras went ahead and bagged one up, he'd satisfy his curiosity later. It wasn't until that he started to make his way back inside that he saw something that had been cast aside under the steps of the stoop...

Reaching under the wooden boards, Barras found something that wouldn't have been out of place considering where he was, but it was certainly pertinent to the investigation they were conducting. He bagged it up as soon as he got a close look at it, then hurried back inside and back up to the front room. "Bacon, we're going to need to take him into custody." He held up the bagged clue he'd found out back, it was a straight razor covered in dried blood.

[Kami-Gaz]

Watching the scene of her superior being shaved by a possible killer put the girl on edge, whilst the big hair barber seemed like a good man the young marine still had her suspicions. As she stood and watched the pair the young woman’s robotic hand was being held over the handle of her blade. This only seemed to be relieved when her commanding officer stated his trust in the man that had a blade close to his throat, which something that Ellie did not expect. ‘You’re crazy old man…’ She thought to herself as her metallic hand moved back to its natural resting position. So if he was not the killer, who was? The recruit racked her brains after that point, mainly with thoughts about who the killer could be and what they would be doing now.

‘He is clearly a good, honest and hardworking man… I just don’t know who could be the killer… The world we live in is crazy, I saw a lot of things thanks to that stupid gang,’ The young cyborgs mind ran off with the thoughts of her past and what crazy things had happened to her to cause her to get a body like this. Her metal hand squeezed into a tight fist, the sounds of metal on metal scraping. This stopped the second her CO mentioned her name. ‘Stay here with him? Sure I can do that I can question him myself.’ Thought Ellie as she stood to attention and saluted quickly. “Sir, yes sir.” The girl announced, before relaxing and moving over to Jebediah. As Ellie approached, the man started to clean up his tools and smile as he looked over to the girl, a smile on his face.

“Bacon, eh? That is an odd name for a fine girl like yourself. How did you end up here?” He asked, his attention half on the girl and half on the shaving knives that he was wiping clean. The rag on his hand was old, clean but old with frayed edges.

Ellie half smiled at his question, it may be a personal matter but to this man it was quite the personal situation, his shop was being searched and he was a suspect. “That’s… Ehh, That is quite a long story Mr. I joined the marines after they rescued me and gave me a second chance.” Raising her arm the girl would shake it and let the metal glisten in the light. “My no good brother left me in a bad spot for a while, he said he would come back for me but he never…” The metal hand formed into a fist again but was quickly let go as she sighed, there was nothing she could do about it at the moment, the feeling of betrayal in side of her was going to have to be her fuel to get stronger for now.

Moments later the silence was broken by the freshly shaven CO, he found evidence? Well there was no doubt about it this man would have to be taken in. The girl followed her orders, letting her hand drop to the side and she pulled out a set of handcuffs, the large man shook his head but held his arms out for the petite officer of the law to carefully put the hand cuffs onto him. “You have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law… Shall I also get back up to search the shop?” She asked the commander, the man who issued the order to take a man into custody. That was until she heard a sound, something from outside that was normal. A scream, a blood curdling one. “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!? “ A woman screamed.

Letting go of the barber Ellie darted outside and planted her robotic hand around the handle of her sword, as she pushed through the door her eyes quickly adjusted to the blinding natural light of day and the humid heat of the tropical island. A quick look around and she let her eyes land on a small ginger aired monkey that was caked in blood and holding a shaving knife. “Captain, I think I found the culprit… and the monkey.” She stated clearly as it locked eyes with hers and shifted its small body, the menacing look of an innocent faced covered in blood made her human spine shiver.

Suddenly she leapt forwards and outstretched her arms, the monkey dodged her human hand but was caught in her cyborg grasp. The sounds of a screaming monkey and metal on metal became apparent as the tool in the little simians hand was used to slash at the metal one that held it captive. The people around who spectated the scene saw the young woman in marine clothing capture the bloodied monkey and started to applaud the bravery. “Suspect captured, though can someone take the knife from him?” She asked sheepishly whilst lying flat on her stomach and looking around.

[Djinn]

Even though he was as surprised as everyone else, the Marine Captain moved in and quickly grabbed the monkey's razor-wielding paw before it could further scratch Ellie's arm. Twisting the monkey's arm brought on two reactions, a horrified cry from Jebadiah and the razor falling right into the evidence bag he held ready. Once the weapon was in custody, a quick punch to the monkey's diaphragm knocked the wind and the fight out of it, Barras called over to the barber; "I take it that this is Coco?" The hysterical hairdresser nodded in the affirmative, so the Marine swordsman spoke again; "Alright, go and get Coco's cage. You'll need to come with us to base and answer a few questions."


Not long after that scene unfolded in front of a bewildered crowd, Jebadiah was sitting alone in the Goya Island base. After a few tense moments sitting in silence, Captain Barras came in; "Alright, lets get this started. Based on the evidence we've found, as improbable as it sounds, we believe your pet is responsible for the crimes of which you were accused. Both of the razors found in connection with these cases have been inspected and while we did find your fingerprints on them, we believe these prints to be from before they were used for the crimes. The bloody fingerprints are consistent with those we took off your monkey." Jebadiah asked, the concern in his voice too present to be concealed; "What about Coco? Where is he?!" Barras shook his head; "We'll get to that, but first I have to ask you, do you know what this is?" He held up an evidence bag he'd taken from behind Jebadiah's Barbershop, inside was a half-eaten piece of fruit, with distinctive swirling patterns across it's surface. The barber shrugged, puzzled as he looked at the exotic piece of produce. Barras set the bag down on the table before pulling an uneaten piece of the same fruit from his coat pocket. "I'm not surprised you're not familiar with it, it's commonly referred to as 'Hell Fruit.' It's actually the main reason that this base was built here on Goya. You see, this fruit looks similar enough to Devil's Fruit that criminals built an entire black market based around the selling of these fruits..." Jebadiah exclaimed in amazement over such a rare item; "Devil's Fruit? I thought that was all a myth!!" Barras shook his head; "Though I've never seen one in person, they're real enough for people to kill over. That makes little difference to the account I'm about to give. Our theory is that 'Coco' has been sneaking into the grove at the center of this base, probably to help himself to these unattended fruits. However that doesn't explain your pet's erratic and aggressive behavior."

He lit a cigarette before he continued, exhaling a waif of smoke across the report he held in his off hand; "We gave Coco a choice of which fruit he'd like to eat, and he chose the Hell Fruit almost immediately. This wasn't unexpected given that we found some of this by your business. What was surprising was the effect the fruit had on him, it made him extremely hyper at first before eventually compromising his coordination and agitating him." He took another drag before continuing on again; "This is a dangerous combination, but it still doesn't explain why these crimes were committed. Our theory is that after seeing you work so many times, Coco began to try to imitate you by shaving the victims. In his intoxicated state he botched the job and cost them they're lives..."

Jebadiah stammered at this shocking revelation; "B-but Coco would never!" Barras cut him off; "Just be glad you aren't on this list of dead men." Standing up, the Marine Captain tucked his file under his arm before picking up the evidence and the intact fruit. Placing these in his pocket, he turned to leave; "You're free to go, but I'm afraid Coco will have to remain confined here. One of our guards will show you out." The barber wasn't happy to hear this; "Wait! You can't just lock Coco up, he'll get lonely! He's a good boy!" The officer coldly looked back at the indignant civillian; "Your pet not only cost several men their lives, but it broke into a secure Marine facility. Be thankful that we didn't just terminate it and charge you as an accessory. Good day."  The door closed behind him as he left Jebadiah to contemplate the troubling assertions that had just been leveled on him. Outside the swordsman motioned for the guards to escort the witness out. As they moved into the interrogation room, one of Barras's subordinates approached him in the hallway.

It was Petty Officer Wendall, a lanky and serious fellow, he was back from his shore-leave and already in his Marine uniform; "Sir! We'd heard that you took someone into custody and the men have already started preparing to cast off." Nodding, Barras continued to walk towards the office he'd been allowed to commandeer; "Excellent. I'll be finishing the paperwork up then I'll rendezvous with you... Oh, make sure Recruit Bacon has been given her work assignment. Dismissed, Wendall." This case was closed, soon it would be on to the next one...