We’ve made it to the second-to-last chapter. I’m very happy to see that I’ve managed to keep you’re attention for this long, dear reader.

I guess I should make sure that this beginning monologue is especially good, as a treat for my loyal readers.

Now, while I can’t guarantee that you will connect with this, I thought I could talk about a topic that lies at the center of this story. Well, maybe not the center, but it is certainly very relevant. I’m talking about family.

Now, when I say family, what am I talking about? Some might scoff at that question, but I do think it is vital when talking about this subject. Relating to the term family, there are two main schools of thought. On the one side, you have the classic definition, which generally focuses on blood relatives. However, I find it vital to mention that this definition is often extended to also include family members related to each other through adoption or marriage. Basically, it is defined by a more typical family dynamic, which is also generally recognized legally.

On the other hand, we have the more philosophical understanding, I guess you could call it. This version is generally known under the terms found family or chosen family. I personally prefer the term chosen family.

This version of the term is often understood to mean close friends, or generally people who give you the feelings, typically associated with the word family. A sense of comfort and belonging.

I’m sure, reading this documentation so far, you can probably guess which version the members of the D&M Detective Agency prefer.

I personally am a big believer in the concept of the chosen family, as to me, this version does not inherently exclude blood relatives. I can still choose to see them as a part of my family, I’m just also able to expand this definition to my friends.

But that’s, I think, where the integral difference lies. One family you are forced into, and it affects you from the day you were born, whether your relatives treat you well, or badly, or even if they’re absent, all of this is vital in shaping you.

The other form of family is one you accumulate over time, based on the experiences you’ve already had.

In a way, these two forms live in a symbiotic relationship. The first version shapes you into who you are, while the other is shaped by who you’ve become.

I know I’ve been rambling on for a while, but I thought, seeing as this is possibly one of my last monologues, I would allow myself a bit of a tangent.

Seeing as the first version, the traditional interpretation, is not chosen by the individual, it is not rare for people to cut ties with part of or even their entire family, or at least lessen the contact they have with them, should they have gone through bad experiences with their relatives.

But, for better or for worse, this family will always be part of us, and if someone has a bad relationship with their family, this can haunt them forever, filling them with a sense of loathing.

All of this is to say that I want to recount a case that forced the investigators to confront their more or less estranged families.

Case #73: One Night at Chimpy’s

Saturday, November 16, 8:50 am: D&M Detective Agency, Ashbypond

Alice stepped out of the shower. Steam was rising from her body, and her skin was red from the scalding hot water.

Her left arm had changed quite a bit recently. She’d gotten a tattoo to cover up the burn mark left by Nemo.

The tail of a monkey curled around her arm, and the tip of it was placed on the delta symbol. Above her wrist was also a Teddy that was made to look as if it were being held in place by the tail.

Alice was up uncharacteristically early. She’d planned to sleep in for these next few days, as Xavier wasn’t home, which meant she would not have to deal with any cases. But apparently, her nightmares had other plans and kept her up all night.

She grabbed a towel and walked over to the mirror, which was fogged up from all the steam. Alice wiped it off, just enough so she could see herself, while she was brushing and drying her hair.

Her eyes were drawn to the scar on her left cheek. For a moment, she felt like blood was running down from it. Her heartbeat accelerated as she imagined the warm liquid turning her cheek red.

She splashed some cold water on her face to snap out of it.

She quickly dried off and put on some clothes before putting together her breakfast, which consisted of a slice of a nearly one-week-old cake, squished between two slices of toast, and a mixture of coffee, beer, and energy drink. Frankly, I do not want to imagine what such a combination does to the human digestive system.

Alice sat down at Xavier’s office table. While she was eating, she was checking the notifications on her phone. Besides some reminders to check back in with some of the comics she’d been reading, there was one unread message from Xavier. She opened it to see a picture of the Louvre he’d sent her.

As you can likely gather from that, Xavier was in Paris. He and Inspector Wilson had gone there to investigate reports of a break-in at the museum. A calling card had been left behind, belonging to the international art thief known as The Great Themba, the most recent in a long line of thieves, dating all the way back to the 17^thcentury, originating in South Africa, with the thief known as Ithemba.

You may wonder why Xavier and the inspector would get involved with this. The answer is simple. It was very likely that this calling card was a fake, and The Great Themba had nothing to do with this, especially considering that seemingly nothing was actually stolen, and the break-in did not fit his typical MO.

But what truly got them interested were reports of strange spirals in and near the museum. Naturally, the two hoped this was related to their case and that it could finally deliver them some further evidence, but they hadn’t had any success so far.

Alice started reading a comic as she heard a phone ringing. She walked back into the kitchen, where Amy’s phone was sitting on the table. Alice was about to decline the call, as she noticed who it was. A feeling of anger overcame her, and she picked up the phone.

“Hello,” she said, trying to keep her typical annoyed and cold tone at bay, so her voice would perfectly resemble that of Amy.

“Finally, you pick up. I already called three times,” Amy’s mother said at the other end of the call.

“I was busy.”

“What could you possibly have that’s more important than helping your own mother?” Mrs. Baker said angrily.

“What could you possibly have that’s more important than your daughter’s birthday?”

“Do not get sassy with me. Your father and I already had plans for that evening.”

“What about all the evenings since? You could have come by any time, like I told you before,” Alice said, still pretending to be Amy.

“You didn’t show up to your brother’s birthday party either. Why should we pay you any attention if you can’t get over your jealousy and show Linus some respect?”

Alice nearly snapped at her, but a part of her was smart enough to just end the call before she would lose it.

She headed downstairs to return Amy’s phone.

Amy was sitting in her office, with the only sources of light being her monitors and a desk lamp. She was tinkering with something while listening to some music.

Alice could hear the loud drums of a track from Guilty Gear coming from the other side of the room, despite Amy using headphones, which should give you a good idea of how high the volume was.

Alice walked over to her, noticing an open package with some bottles and a picture inside.

Alice looked over Amy’s shoulder, checking out what she was working on. Amy had disassembled a smartphone and had connected some of the components to her computer.

Alice leaned closer to Amy and quickly pulled off her headphones. “What are you doing?!” Alice yelled into Amy’s ear.

“Jesus! You scared the shit out of me!” Amy looked at her with wide-open eyes.

“Did you break your phone?”

“That’s not mine,” Amy explained calmly. “It belonged to Linda Clark.

Alice had to think for a second before remembering who Ms. Clark was. “Oh, the woman who killed Mr. Cabrera, I remember.”

“Exactly her. I kinda pocketed her phone while she was being arrested and then completely forgot about it until now.”

“What made you think about it?”

“Well, after the recent run-in with Paradox, I wanted to learn more about them, so I went over all the old case files in the archive. When I got to Case #53, I noticed that there were still some unanswered questions. That’s when I remembered the phone, and here we are.”

“Did you manage to pull anything from the phone?”

“Maybe.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The phone was badly damaged, including the internal storage. But, with some modifications, I managed to restore the data.”

“So you got it?”

“Almost. The data is encrypted, but I’m running a program that will hopefully get me access to it.”

“I guess it could be important to find out what she got on there. She wouldn’t have a reason to break the phone, otherwise,” Alice said.

“Exactly. But it will likely take a while, as there is a lot of data to decrypt.”

“Good luck with that, I guess. By the way, you forgot your phone upstairs.” Alice handed the device over.

“Thanks. I was so focused on my work that I didn’t even notice it was gone.”

“No problem.” Alice walked over to the open box and pulled out one of the bottles. It was labeled Forest Hike. Alice looked at the picture that was next to the bottles. It was an autograph of a young man, around their age. The signature spelled out the name Theodor Brown, with the W made to resemble a crown.

“Since when are you into colognes?”

“I wanted to try them.”

“Aren’t these for men?” Alice asked, while looking at the other bottles, with similarly vague names.

“First of all, since when do you care about gendered products, and second, these are unisex.”

“Isn’t this guy a lawyer?” Alice asked, showing Amy the autograph card.

“He’s a very skilled one. Some tabloid magazines call him the Prince of the Law.”

“Since when do tabloid magazines care about lawyers? I thought they were busy harassing celebrities and bullying child stars.”

“He’s an exception. I’m surprised you’ve heard of him.”

“Don’t underestimate me. I’m familiar with his mentor, so my interest kinda trickles down from there. I just think it’s strange to see magazines talk about him all the time.”

“He’s made a real difference in the legal system, often taking on cases that have been deemed unsolvable. Despite his age, he works for a prestigious law office that takes on both private and public cases.”

“Yeah, something tells me tabloids don’t care about that. I think the only reason they talk about him is that he’s attractive.”

“That certainly doesn’t hurt.”

“So, these colognes are his products?”

“Yes. You can try them if you want.”

“No, thank you, I prefer my natural scent over some prosecutor’s toilet water.”

“I believe natural musk is more accurate,” Amy retorted in a teasing tone.

Alice flipped her off.

“Oh, guess what else came in today?”

“What?”

“The Crimebuster and Xavier’s backpack.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I put the box in the office. I’m surprised you missed it.”

Alice was about to leave and unpack the box when the doorbell rang.

Amy got up and walked to the front door, while Alice stayed behind.

“Hello, how can I he…” Amy stopped, recognizing the woman standing outside the door.

“Hello, Amy, could I come in?” the tall woman asked. Her voice was shaky, and her makeup was smeared because she’d been crying.

“Jenna, wha… what happened?”

“You have to come with me. It’s Constantin. He…”

“Did something happen to Constantin?”

“He… He’s being accused of murder.”

“What?!”

“I already called you multiple times, but you didn’t pick up. Linus had shown me this news article about a case you solved, so I thought you could clear up my son’s name.”

“Of course, that’s the least I can do for my stepnephew.”

“Thank you so much.”

“I’ll go get my stuff. It won’t take long. You can come inside for a moment.”

Mrs. Dubois-Baker followed her inside. She watched as Amy searched the drawers near the entrance for some tools.

“I got my hands on one of your business cards and noticed that you’re listed as Alice Baker. Do you go by your middle name now?” she asked, slowly calming down, as she tried to distract herself.

“Oh, no, I’m not listed. Xavier hasn’t updated the card yet.”

“I’m Alice,” Alice said while leaving Amy’s office.

Mrs. Dubois-Baker looked at her in surprise and confusion. “I don’t understand. Linus never told me he had two sisters. And I thought Alice was your middle name.”

“It’s complicated. I think it’s best if we focus on the case, instead of getting distracted.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

Alice watched as Amy was preparing for the investigation. “So, who’s this?”

“That’s Jenna. She’s Linus’ wife.”

“Hello.” Mrs. Dubois-Baker held out her hand, but Alice just stared at her as one would stare at a ghost.

“Jenna, could you give us any details about the case, so we know what sort of equipment could be important?” Amy asked.

“I will try. To be honest, I came here as quickly as I could, so I’m missing a lot of context.”

“That’s okay. Just tell us what you know.”

“Well, the tragedy happened at that indoor playground in Coleson, Chimpy’s Funhouse.”

“Oh, fuck no! I’m not going near that place,” Alice said.

Amy seemed a little shaken as well. “Let her finish.”

“The owner discovered three corpses when he got there this morning. He called the police, who later found Constantin hiding in a toilet stall. The three victims were all close friends of his.”

“That’s…” Amy hesitated. “That’s certainly a lot to take in.”

“I’m saying it was the animatronics. Those creepy monsters are certainly capable of it.”

“Constantin also said that the animatronics murdered his friends,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker added.

“Be reasonable. It was definitely not the animatronics.”

“Well, if Constantin is the only possible suspect, and we believe that he’s not guilty, it can only be the animatronics. I believe it was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who said: “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Are you gonna disagree with the author who created Sherlock Holmes?” Alice argued uncharacteristically in depth.

“First of all, you definitely stole that argument from Mika. Secondly, we have not ruled out anything, except for Constantin being the culprit. We haven’t even investigated the crime scene yet.”

“I still don’t trust those animatronics.”

“Wasn’t the whole point of the movie marathon we did to get over our fears of animatronics?” Amy asked.

“How would watching a bunch of movies where animatronics kill people help with that? If anything, it would do the opposite.”

“I personally found it reassuring.”

Alice walked away.

“Where are you going?” Amy asked. She’d finished packing her stuff.

“I’m getting the Crimebuster. Better to be prepared than to get mauled by an animatronic chimp.”

“Get a grip. You won’t need that.”

“Fine, but I’m at least bringing my crowbar with me. And if one of these freaks gets too close, I’m gonna bananasplit their fucking head open.”

Amy shook her head.

Before leaving, she quickly went upstairs to get some stuff from the office. The box with Xavier’s backpack caught her attention. Normally, he was the only one to hold onto it, but seeing how important this case was, he would likely make an exception, so Amy quickly grabbed it. They then drove off to the indoor playground.

Saturday, November 16, 9:40 am: Chimpy’s Funhouse, Coleson

Alice stared at the large sign outside the building. She exchanged suspicious looks with the large image of Chimpy, the main mascot of the funhouse, while tightening her grip around the crowbar.

Multiple cars were parked outside the building, including two police vehicles.

The three entered the building, stepping inside a large hall with different attractions for kids. The room was dimly lit, as many of the lights were turned off for some reason. Normally, this place would be filled with music and laughter, but the mood was anything but fun.

A group of people had gathered near the entrance. Not far from them were the three corpses, propped up on gurneys and covered with tarps.

Alice recognized the man standing next to them, looking devastated. He was the chief of police of the area. She and Xavier had run into him during a past case.

Mrs. Dubois-Baker ran over to the group of people, while Alice and Amy approached the corpses and the chief of police.

“Hello, Mr. Bailey. What can you tell us about the case?” Alice asked, getting straight to the point.

“Oh, it’s you.” He seemed out of it. “Are you here to investigate the case? Where is Diaz?”

“Yes, we’re here to solve the case. And Xavier is in Paris. Shouldn’t you know that?”

“Oh, yes, now I remember. He and Wilson are investigating a lead in France.”

“You sound pretty quiet. What happened to the aggressive chief of police who kept reprimanding us last time we met?” Alice asked jokingly.

“I am not here as the chief of police. I am here as a father who just lost his son.”

Alice was startled, realizing that her joking tone was highly inappropriate. “I didn’t… I… I’m so sorry for your loss, sir.”

“Me too, I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your child,” Amy said.

“If you are looking for the one in charge, I left the investigation up to my second in command. She should be somewhere around here. Last I saw her, she was searching the crime scene together with her special unit.”

“Special unit?” Amy asked.

“That’s what she calls them. I would say it’s strange to involve minors in the investigation, but she swears by their capabilities. And seeing as how Diaz and Masuda have solved many cases of this caliber when they were still minors, I guess that shows that some minors can handle things like this.”

“We should probably look for them,” Alice said, while Amy walked over to the other people.

A teenager was sitting on a bench, his hands cuffed together. He resembled Mrs. Dubois-Baker, who was sitting next to him, trying to comfort him. There was also another woman who was nervously smoking a cigarette. She looked like she had been crying.

Next to the handcuffed boy, who you can probably guess was Constantin, stood a police officer, keeping an eye on him. A man dressed in an expensive-looking button-up shirt, which he’d tucked into his jeans, was leaning against the counter, unsure of what to do. His freckles were almost invisible, and his naturally red hair was dyed black.

He kept nervously looking over at Amy, trying not to make eye contact with her.

Alice was breathing nervously as she noticed him, and Amy seemed a little unsure before she approached him.

“Hello Linus.”

“Hello.” The man seemed unsure of what to say or how to act. “Thank you for agreeing to help.”

“Who are those two?” the smoking woman asked.

“We’re private investigators who are here to solve this case,” Amy explained.

“Are you kidding me?! This should be an open and shut case. Constantin killed the three boys. He killed my son. How much longer do you people want to drag this on for?”

“How about you leave this up to the professionals? Throwing out accusations like this won’t help anyone,” Alice said, sounding annoyed.

While Alice was arguing with the woman, Amy noticed a familiar face nearby. A large man was talking to an officer, likely testifying about the incident.

“Brad?!” Amy let out, walking over to Mr. Foster.

“Amy! Good to see you.”

“What are you doing here?” Amy asked.

“What do you mean? I’m the manager of this place.” Mr. Foster paused for a second. “And I’m also the one who discovered the victims.”

“Do you have any more you would like to add to your testimony?” the officer who’d been interviewing him asked.

“No, I think I’ve told you everything I had to say.”

“Thank you. Then that concludes our interview. Would you please stay here, in case we have further questions?”

“No problem.”

The officer walked over to the group of people, pulling the woman arguing with Alice aside to talk to her.

“So, you’re investigating this case?” Mr. Foster asked.

“Yes. The main suspect is my brother’s stepson, so I wanted to help with the investigation.”

“Oh, so you know Constantin?”

“Yes, well, I’ve only seen him a few times during family gatherings. But the way you just asked makes it sound like you know him, too.”

“Of course I do. He works here on weekends. As did some of the victims.”

“Oh, I was not expecting to see you here,” Alice said as she walked up to them.

“He’s the manager of the funhouse.”

“You’re responsible for these horrifying abominations?” Alice asked accusingly.

“Do you mean the animatronics?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, they’ve been here ever since the place was opened back in 1987. But I have made an effort to make them more appealing.”

“Brad, you said you know Constantin and some of the victims. Can you tell me anything about them?” Amy asked, trying to get back on track with the investigation.

“Sure. Constantin, Kai, and Samuel all work here. Or, well, worked in the case of the deceased. But I already told the police, I don’t think Constantin did it. He’s such a nice young man. I simply can’t see him harming his friends. Much less kill them.”

“Then, do you have any idea who could have done this?” Amy asked.

“Or what?” Alice added.

“For the last time, the animatronics are not the killers,” Amy said, annoyed.

“We’ll see.”

Amy shook her head. “Can you tell us anything about the victims?”

“Yes. Kai has a knack for technology. When he’s not working at the front desk, he helps me maintain all sorts of hardware. Lights, computers, speakers, or the guns and vests for laser tag.”

“And the animatronics?” Alice asked.

“No, they’re too complicated and expensive. I leave that up to the professionals.”

“What about Samuel?”

“He tends to slack off at work, but he’s reliable when handling certain tasks. He mainly helps with the heavy lifting and works in the kitchen. He’s very athletic, too. I think he’s one of the star players of his football team. If I remember correctly, the third victim was also on the team, alongside Kai and Samuel. I think his name’s Daniel.”

“What were they doing here, anyway?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Constantin. But one thing’s for sure. They illegally entered the building and disabled the alarm system. If I had to guess, Kai must have stumbled across the code while working at the computer.”

“I take it you wrote it down somewhere in your files,” Amy concluded.

“Exactly.”

“I guess we should probably interview the only witness, right?” Alice suggested.

“Wait, I want to ask one more thing. Brad, when you got here, what did you see? Where were the corpses?”

“I only found two of the corpses. Samuel was later discovered by the police. Daniel was in the dining area, lying between the tables and the remnants of the explosion. And…”

“Explosion?” Amy and Alice asked at the same time.

“Yes, there was an explosion in the kitchen.” He pointed over to the dining area. A part of the wall was broken and scorched.

“We’ll certainly have to inspect that later,” Amy said.

“That makes sense. As for Kai’s corpse, he was lying on top of Gary Gator, one of the members of the animatronic band. For the causes of death, you’d best ask the police, but to me, it looked like he fell on the animatronic from above.”

“Thanks for the info. I hope we can solve this case quickly, to limit the negative press this will undoubtedly cause your business,” Amy said.

“Thanks, but I’m not very hopeful about that. Business has been bad lately. I’ve tried to make some changes, but I can barely afford any of them.”

“Despite you running a business fueled by the worst things humans have ever come up with, you don’t deserve to be slandered by the media. They do have a habit of ruining one’s reputation, as long as it makes for a good story.” Alice sounded as if she were talking from experience.

The two walked back to the other people, hoping to interview Constantin.

He was still sitting in the same spot, next to his mother. Linus was standing near them, having a heated conversation on the phone. From the sound of it, it had to do with his job.

“Constantin, do you mind answering some of our questions?” Amy asked softly.

“I mean, he’d have to be pretty stupid not to, considering we’re trying to help him,” Alice added.

“Shut it, we’re not doing good cop bad cop.”

“I think we do that by default, if we’re being honest. You’re too mushy and shy to step up, and I actually tell it like it is.”

“Jesus, just start a podcast if you need an outlet for your stupid rants.” Amy turned back to Constantin.

“Hey, can you tell us what happened last night?”

“I… It was… It was the animatronics. They killed them. They killed my… my friends,” Constantin said hesitantly.

“Fucking new it! Okay, we need to destroy every last one of them. Where is Nicolas Cage when you need him?”

“Alice, shut up. I know you use jokes to mask your emotions, or whatever, but how about you just take a walk?” Amy asked.

“Fine, continue with the interrogation. I’ll refrain from making any jokes or references for the rest of this case.”

“Okay, Constantin, could you explain what you mean by the animatronics did it?”

“Exactly what I said. There was a power outage, so I left to… I went to turn on the backup generator. When I came back…” He hesitated. “When I got back, Daniel and Kai were dead, next to some animatronics, and Samuel had disappeared.”

“So you didn’t see how they died?”

Constantin shook his head.

“What were you even doing here?” Alice asked. “Pretty sure you were not allowed in here.”

“We were celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” Amy asked.

“Daniel received the news on Monday that he’d been offered the last football scholarship from Stratemeyer University. They’ve launched the careers of many of the greatest athletes.”

“So you broke into an indoor playground?”

“We thought it was the perfect place to celebrate.”

Alice shook her head, and Amy tried to think of what to ask next.

“So, you broke in and disarmed the security system. What did you do to celebrate?”

“We were drinking, eating cake, listening to music, and playing laser tag. My memory is a bit blurry.”

“Probably from all the drinking,” Alice pointed out.

“So you were listening to music. Were you not afraid someone could hear it and alert the police?”

“No, we thought of that. We did like a… Do you know what a silent disco is?”

“No, what’s that?” Amy asked.

“It’s a party, where everyone is wearing headphones to listen to the same music.”

“So you weren’t playing any music over the speakers, got it.”

“Great, so the victims couldn’t even hear their attacker. Fantastic,” Alice said. “Seems like history is fucking repeating itself,” she added quietly at the end.

“Yes, so we didn’t have to worry about the noise, and we had dimmed the lighting, I think. It was just bright enough to see with no problems.”

“Can you tell us anything else? What about the order of events?”

Constantin shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I’m trying really hard, but it won’t come to me.”

“Just keep thinking. Any detail could be important,” Amy said encouragingly, while Alice looked more skeptically.

“This is him! He took my poor boy from me!”

The group turned around to the woman, who was still smoking as she walked towards them. She was holding up her phone, filming Constantin.

“Mrs. Carter, please do not film at the crime scene,” one of the officers said.

She ignored him and simply continued filming. Before she could say another word, though, someone smacked the phone out of her hands, sending it flying.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Alice asked angrily, while grabbing the woman’s wrist.

“This investigation is one big sham! We all know he did it, so I’m telling the public ab…”

She was cut off by a fist hitting her face.

“Alice?!” Amy yelled.

Officer Bailey ran over and grabbed Alice, while another officer pulled Mrs. Carter away from her.

“Who do you think you are?!” Mrs. Carter asked.

“Clearly someone with more common decency than you!”

“You just punched me! That’s what you call common decency?”

“What you’re doing can ruin his life! It’s not even proven that he committed the crime.”

“Alice, calm down,” Amy said, but it had little effect on Alice.

“You know what this scar stands for?” Alice pointed to the scar on her face. “It’s a fucking reminder to never let false accusations be spread about someone. I will not allow you to fuck his life up, so you better knock it off, or I will make sure you can’t do anything to him.”

“Is that a threat?!” Mrs. Carter asked.

“Yes, it is,” Alice answered, to everyone's surprise, especially the police’s.

“Okay, wrap it up,” someone said calmly while approaching the group. “You, bring her into another room and make sure she stays there and has no more access to social media, for now,” the older policewoman said to the officer holding Mrs. Carter.

“Oh, Officer Rhody, looks like you returned just at the right time,” Mr. Bailey said.

“God, why do I get all the strange cases just before my retirement?” Officer Rhody scratched her head, looking at Alice. “Scarface, you’re one of Diaz’s people, right?”

“We are part of the D&M Detective Agency, yes,” Amy explained.

“And I thought Diaz was the craziest one of the bunch.” She paused. “So, can I trust you not to cause any more chaos?”

“I will do what must be done to keep the integrity of this investigation intact,” Alice answered. Her usage of more formal terms came off as more dishonest than she would have liked to.

Officer Rhody sighed. “Fine. You can let her go. I’ll keep an eye on her.” She nodded over to Mr. Bailey.

“If you say so.”

Officer Rhody looked at the group and turned to one of the other officers. “Could you do me a favor and bring the witnesses and civilians into another room? I don’t need all of these people cluttering up the crime scene.”

“Yes, ma’am. Does that include Constantin Dubois?”

“The boy is one of our only witnesses, isn’t he?”

“Yes. I just thought because he was a suspect he…”

“Spare me your explanations, they’re just wasting time. Just do as I said.” Officer Rhody’s tone was a strange mix of friendly and imposing.

“Yes, right away.” Two officers escorted the group away, while Officer Rhody took a sip of her coffee, which she was carrying in a take-out cup.

“So, what’s your deal?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amy asked.

“I’m talking about your twin. She talks like some comic book character. Next, she’s gonna start talking about some oaf she took to always protect the weak and innocent or something like that.”

“Don’t the members of the police have to take an oaf like that?” Amy asked.

“Have you read any news stories about the police? Clearly, not a single one of us takes it seriously.”

“That’s a very calm way to talk about systematic abuse of the police’s power,” Alice pointed out.

“Well, the world sucks, let’s be real. Shit like that is just one of many reasons we humans should just go extinct. As soon as I get to retire, I’ll buy a small boat, sail out on the ocean, and make sure to never see another person again.”

Amy and Alice looked at her in confusion, while she took another sip.

“Well, with such a cynical outlook on life, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re drinking on the job,” Alice said, pointing out the strong smell of alcohol coming from Officer Rhody’s coffee.

“Pretty sure you’re not allowed to do that,” Amy pointed out.

“Is she always such a drag?” the officer asked Alice.

“She’s a bit of a stickler for the rules.”

“God forbid I want the police force to be sober during a triple homicide investigation.”

“Don’t worry, this isn’t even enough to get me buzzed.”

“Are you not worried you could get reported for drinking on the job?” Amy asked.

“And then what? Will they fire me? I’m one of the highest-ranking officers in the area, and I have blackmail on most of the big dogs in the state. You don’t even want to know what police officers do when they think no one’s watching.”

“That’s not concerning at all.”

“I’m mainly upset about those people getting paid with my tax money,” Alice said.

Amy pulled her in closer. “You do know that you don’t pay taxes, right? You legally do not exist.”

“It’s a matter of principle.”

Amy shook her head and looked back at the officer. “I’m realizing, we haven’t even introduced ourselves. I’m Amy and…”

“And Scarface is Alice, I know. Wilson already told me about you.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I guess I should also formally introduce myself then. I’m Assistant Chief of Police, Caitlyn Rhody. I’m stationed in Precinct 0.”

“Wait, you’re the assistant chief of police?” Amy said, surprised.

“What, can’t imagine a hag like me holding such a position?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Amy looked at the officer’s outfit. It was the basic police uniform that any other officer wears, with no special markings or other accessories that would have shown her rank.

In a strange addition to her outfit, she was wearing what seemed to be a scarf, made of many tied-together pieces of police tape.

Her thick jacket was adorned with an emblem on its sleeve, which any officer of the area had. The emblem symbolized the unity of the three neighboring towns. It had the blue water for Ashbypond at the bottom, the green trees of Lawreyville in the middle, and the white mountains of Coleson at the top. Ironically, those same mountains haven’t seen snow in the last two decades. There was also a large pickaxe on the emblem, as the area was originally known for its mining industry.

You might have noticed Officer Rhody referring to Precinct 0. I guess I might have to explain this for outsiders, so forgive me for going on a tangent.

The three towns are unified under the same police force, which is split into multiple precincts, which isn’t such a strange thing. The special thing is the inclusion of Precinct 0. Basically, the numbered precincts are understaffed, which is why they are mostly responsible for immediate responses to emergencies and smaller cases. Precinct 0 is responsible for all three towns and ranks above the other precincts. They are typically called in for larger cases or when there are not enough officers in a specific precinct. So, you can understand that the assistant chief of police of that precinct is indeed a very high-ranking position.

Precinct 0 is also the precinct that the D&M Detective Agency is working with most often. Inspector Wilson, for example, is also a part of Precinct 0. And he’s one of their most skilled officers, if I might say so.

“I think what Amy meant was that typically when you think of a high-ranking officer, you imagine them wearing a ton of medals, or like a sheriff's badge.”

“Are you kidding me? I leave those at home, where they won’t get dirty. I wear this instead.” She pointed to her strange scarf. “I take a small piece of police tape from every case I solve and add it to the scarf.”

“I guess that’s kinda cool,” Amy said.

“I do something similar. I add something to the Crimebuster for every case I solve.”
“No way,” Amy said. “I never noticed you doing that.”

“Just because you haven’t noticed, doesn’t mean I don’t do it.”

“Okay, then tell me what you took from Case #57.”

“Tranquilizer darts.”

“Case #59?”

“Easy, diving equipment. Used it to build an alternate model of the suit.”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to take that.”

“They didn’t say so.”

“Whatever. Oh, what about Case #71? You were drunk and tied up for most of that.”

“I just made a copy of your Inazuma Break on a thumb drive.”

“Wow, I really have to pay more attention to what you do during cases.”

“I’m just going to pretend I didn’t hear you admitting to theft,” Officer Rhody said.

“Probably for the best,” Alice agreed. “So, you’re in charge of the case, right? Do you have any info for us?”

“I’ll leave that up to my special unit.” She turned around. “Where did they go?”

“I haven’t seen anyone with you, ever since we got here.”

“God dammit, working with them is like taking care of a bunch of cats. They just do whatever they want. And I thought it would be easier with only two of them.”

“I take it your special unit is not made up of actual police officers,” Amy assumed.

“No. Haven’t you worked with them before? They bring up your agency all the time.”

“Wait, do you mean the Lawreyville Boy Detective?” Amy asked.

“Yes, that’s what they call themselves. Not sure why they still go by that name, considering one of them is a girl, but whatever.”

The officer took another sip. “God, I would have preferred it if she were one of the two who are here. But of course, I get stuck with the two annoying ones.”

“Should we go look for them?” Amy asked.

“Just a waste of time. They’ll show up eventually. Guess I’ll be the one to give you a rundown of the events.”

“We’ve already heard from Brad and Constantin,” Amy said.

“I guess then you know basically all that I know.”

“We haven’t looked at the corpses yet,” Alice explained.

“Then what are we waiting for?” The officer walked over to the corpses, followed by the two. She lifted up the first tarp, revealing an athletic-looking guy. The corpse was wet, leaving a large stain on the gurney. The corpse wore a party hat with the Chimpy’s Funhouse brand on it, making for a grotesque sight.

“This is Samuel Taylor, 17 years old. He was the last corpse to be discovered. He’d been locked in the freezer for long enough to die of hypothermia.”

“Jesus, that’s horrible!” Amy let out.

“Certainly not a pleasant way to go out. We also found that his right shin is broken. From the look of it, it must have happened recently, potentially even this night. The witnesses could not remember his leg being broken before.”

“How did he end up getting locked in a freezer?” Amy asked. “Don’t they normally have a way to unlock them from the inside to prevent something like this?”

“That’s the thing, the door wasn’t actually locked. I’ll show you later.”

Officer Rhody put the tarp back and walked to the next corpse.

“Oh, fuck!” Amy said as the officer pulled back the tarp.

This corpse was much more of a gruesome sight, although the two had definitely seen worse. Some of the young man’s limbs were twisted, and he was bleeding from different parts of his body. A few pieces from one of the animatronics were stuck in his stomach and arms, and his face showed a terrified expression. The corps wore a vest with red lights, which seemed broken. The vest was one used for laser tag. It was the same model Constantin was wearing.

“This is Kai Bailey, age 18.” The officer was avoiding looking at the corpse. “I hope a quick look was enough. I’d prefer not to look at him. I’ve met him a few times, when he was still alive,”

“We totally understand,” Alice said in an unusually empathetic tone that was normally reserved for only Mika.

The officer draped the tarp over the corpse again. “Our current theory is that he fell from the jungle gym, directly on the animatronic band performing right in front of it.” She pointed to a large jungle gym, taking up about a fourth of the hall’s space, and consisting of four floors.

The band in the front consisted of the singing chimpanzee Chimpy, Tara Tapir behind the keyboard, Jason Jaguar playing the drums, and next to them were the remains of Gary Gator and his guitar.

The officer walked to the third corpse, but before she could reveal it, Alice stopped her.

“Hold on. This one is the one who was killed in the explosion, right? Do we really need to look at that mess of singed skin and popped organs?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding. Yes, this corpse was found near the explosion, but he was not killed by it.” She pulled away the tarp.

The corpse looked surprisingly okay. Similar to Samuel, he was well built, but instead of his body being wet, it was covered in dust and dirt that had likely been catapulted into the air by the explosion. Like Kai and Constantin, he too wore an electronic vest, although unlike Kai’s, his still worked, casting a red glow.

The cause of death was very obvious, as the bullet hole in his forehead was hard to miss.

“This is Daniel Carter, age 18. I’m sure you can guess how he died.”

“Has the murder weapon been found yet?” Alice asked.

“No, we’re still looking for it. I’ve requested the bullet be removed at the crime scene.”

“Does it tell us anything about the murder weapon?” Amy asked.

“Not much. It’s a 9mm caliber, which is one of the most commonly used ones for semi-automatic pistols. Even my police issued Glock uses this caliber.” She pointed the gun in her holster.

“Great, so for all we know, anyone could have just walked in here, considering the security system was turned off, and then shot the guy with a gun they could have bought at every second store in the country,” Alice said.

“Yes, but you’re ignoring the elephant in the room,” Amy said.

“No, I’m pretty sure they got rid of the elephant,” Alice answered.

“I thought you weren’t gonna make any more jokes during this investigation.”

“I’m just stating a fact.”

“Whatever. What I meant is that all three died in different ways and in different places. If the killer had a gun, why not just shoot all three? It would be quick and effective. Especially if you keep in mind that all three victims seem to be in great shape. They were all athletes, after all,” Amy explained.

“You’re right. This seems simply impractical,” Officer Rhody agreed.

Saturday, November 16, 10:20 am: Dining Area, Chimpy’s Funhouse

The trio made their way over to the dining area. It was not sectioned off from the rest of the hall except for a flimsy, decorative fence. Between the tables stood a nearly 2-foot-tall animatronic sloth, wearing a chef’s hat and an apron.

Directly next to the dining area was one of two entrances leading into the kitchen, although not much was left of it. The door had been blown out of the frame, which was broken and scorched. The wall around it was cracked from the sudden impact of the explosion. What they could see from the kitchen had taken on a dark tone from the heat.

The dining area itself was left mostly untouched, aside from the rubble, which consisted mostly of pieces of the wooden door. They were scattered around the white outline of Daniel’s corpse.

The trio noticed the sound of someone whistling nearby. Amy and Alice knew the melody well. It was the upbeat jingle Chimpy’s Funhouse ads had been since the late 2000s. It was a melody that was meant to bring joy, but instead it sent a shiver down their spines.

Someone stood up behind one of the tables. He’d been on the floor, seemingly searching for something. With some pieces of scrap in his hands, a party hat on his head, and a tune on his lips, he walked towards the body outline, as he noticed the three.

“Alice?! Is the D&M Detective Agency joining us in this investigation?” Jim Baxter, the leader of the Lawreyville Boy Detectives, asked excitedly.

“Don’t get too excited. It’s only us two today.”

“That fits perfectly. We’re two investigators short.”

“How come?” Alice asked.

“Well, Sameer is sick, and because his parents are out of town, Sasha suggested staying at his place, giving him some company. But we got the two on speed dial, in case we need them to do some research.”

“Let’s hope he feels better again, soon,” Amy said.

“Probably won’t take long. It’s nothing too serious.” Jim looked at Amy. “We haven’t met yet, have we? I’m Jim, the first investigator of the Lawreyville Boy Detectives,” he said in a bragging tone.

“Yes, I’ve heard about you and your team. I’m Amy, pleased to meet you.”

“Hey, Jim, what’s up with the team name?” Alice asked.

“What about it?”

“You didn’t think to change it after Sasha came out?”

“No, you see, it’s merely about branding, not about expressing the gender of the team members.”

“Then why not call yourself Kid Detectives? If anything, that sounds and fits better.”

“But we’ll age out of that title. Boys are simply more universal.”

Alice smacked her own face. “So, you’re saying you would have to change the title if the members change to not fit the label anymore?”

“Yes. Is something wrong with that?”

Alice sighed. “Frankly, I’m not even gonna bother. If Sasha’s okay with it, I guess it’s fine.”

“What are you doing with the scraps of wood?” Officer Rhody asked.

“Oh, I’m waiting for Parker, so I thought I could use the time to investigate. And that’s when I had the idea to gather all the pieces of the door and put them back together like a large jigsaw puzzle. Maybe it hides a clue.”

“A perfect use of your time, I’m sure,” Alice said.

“What’s Parker up to?” the officer asked.

“I asked him to go get the manager. I wanted to ask him some questions about the technology of this place, mainly about what could have caused this explosion.”

“Reasonable enough,” Amy said.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.” Jim continued whistling, walking past the animatronic towards a pile of wooden scraps.

“You’re very talented, Jim,” a robotic voice said.

Alice’s grip around the crowbar in her sports bag tightened, and Amy nervously stared at the animatronic sloth.

“Thanks, Sally.”

“You’re welcome. Why don’t you have a seat and order a drink? One of our safari guides will clean this mess up for you,” the animatronic continued.

“Why does the animatronic know your name?” Amy asked.

“I told you these fucking things are possessed!” Alice yelled.

“Please do not curse around the children,” Sally Sloth said, slowly raising her arm, holding her mechanical claws over her lips, as if to gesture a quiet shush.

“Did that tin can just tell you off?” Officer Rhody asked.

“I am not a tin can, Officer. I am a lovable companion for kids and adults alike on this wonderful safari.”

“I feel like I just sat through an ad read,” the officer said.

Out of nowhere, Amy gasped and pointed to the legs of the sloth. “Look!”

“What?” Alice asked, trying not to look at the mechanical mascot.

“Don’t you see it? There’s a gun leaning against the animatronic.”

Amy was right. Leaning against Sally’s legs was what looked to be a firearm, most likely a hunting rifle of some sort.

“How did you miss that, Mr. Ace Detective?” Alice asked, looking at Jim.

“I didn’t!” he protested, while the officer walked over to pick up the weapon.

“This is certainly not the murder weapon. Just looking at it, I can assure you that it does not use the same caliber bullets as we found.” She paused. “That’s not even mentioning that this is a fake gun.”

“That’s what I was about to say. It is part of the laser tag equipment,” Jim explained.

“What?! That thing looks just like a real gun. Why would anyone make such a thing?” Amy asked.

“Ask the previous owner,” Mr. Foster said as he was getting closer.

The group turned around to see him and Parker walking up to them.

“I’ve been meaning to buy new laser tag gear, but the money just isn’t there. But believe me, I’m not pleased handing these guns out to kids. Seems like the previous owner wanted to make these guns as realistic as possible. A very distasteful sentiment, if you ask me.”

“What a psychopath wants kids to shoot each other with realistic-looking guns for fun?” Amy said, confused.

“The toy industry from a few decades ago,” Alice suggested.

“A few decades ago? You have a very optimistic view of the world. You know how many toy companies try to get away with producing a product as realistic-looking as possible? All goes back to our country's gross obsession with weaponry, if you ask me,” Officer Rhody said, taking another sip. “Just last week, a kid was shot for walking around with a toy gun that was mistaken for a real one.”

“Fucking hell!” Amy let out in discomfort.

“Come on, for once I’m trying to see the positive in the world,” Alice said, upset.

“Well, if it were just a realistic-looking gun, that would be one thing,” Mr. Foster said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the officer asked, inspecting the gun.

“Well, for one thing, if you look at the bottom of the handle, you’ll find a numbered sticker, right?”

“Yes, this one says 16,” the officer answered.

“Those stickers cover the logos of actual gun brands that the manufacturer put there. With minor differences for copyright reasons, but close enough for a kid to make the connection. And that’s not all. Go ahead, fire the gun.”

The officer shouldered the rifle and aimed at the wall. As she fired and the sound of the gunshot echoed, she was caught by surprise by something and took a step back, staring at the fake weapon. “This thing packs a punch!”

“Yes, it simulates a real weapon’s kickback,” Mr. Foster explained.

“I don’t remember the guns being like this when I was little,” Alice said.

“To be fair, we did repress most of our memories of our trips to Tony Tusk’s Indoor Jungle,” Amy pointed out.

“What’s that?” Parker asked.

“Yeah, what’s Tony Tusk’s Indoor Jungle?” Jim asked.

“Oh, god. I think I’ve never felt this old,” Alice said.

“Tony Tusk was the old mascot, before this place underwent a rebrand,” Amy explained.

“Yes, that was in the late 2000s. The company was trying to replace the character actors with animatronics, which had at that point only been used for the band or as decoration, out of the children’s reach. Tony was the first to get this treatment.”

“He was the first to be given the ability to kill,” Alice added dramatically.

“That’s overselling it a bit. The animatronic was limited to a small area and was meant to hug kids while they were celebrating birthday parties.”

“Why only during birthday parties?” Parker asked.

“I think they wanted to keep it simple. Plus, they were operating with a simple image recognition software. I hope that’s the right term,” Mr. Foster looked at Amy, who simply nodded.

“I actually worked here during that time, so I know some of the details,” Mr. Foster continued. “The idea was that the animatronic would recognize the branded birthday hats as a way to track the position and height of a kid, so he could give them a hug.”

“Wait, but why was he discontinued?”

“I think some of the kids were scared of him. But the main reason was an accident that happened during a party. Without getting into too many details, the animatronic ended up badly injuring two kids during a hug. The company thought it would be smart to distance itself from the character completely.”

“See? Are you still telling me that it’s not possible that these things are the murderers?” Alice asked.

“Yes, it’s still an absurd notion,” Amy answered.

“If I were you, I would take that thing off, just to be sure,” Alice said, pointing to the party hat that Jim was wearing.

“Where did you even get that?” Amy asked.

“It was near the corpse, under one of the tables. I think he might have dropped it.”

“See, they were targeting the hat!”

Amy simply ignored Alice. “So, how many animatronics are currently in use?”

“13, if you count Gary. There’s the band, Sally Sloth, Lenny Lemur over by the laser tag cave, Toby Toucan in the toddler play area, and six simpler animatronics, placed throughout the playground.”

“Wait, but wasn’t there one at the other crime scene?” Jim asked.

“Yes, the scary one,” Parker answered.

“Oh, that’s Rocko Rhino, he’s not ready to be used yet,” Mr. Foster explained, looking nervous, as if he were hiding something.

“In that case, we should probably have another look at it,” the officer suggested.

“You’re right. We should head over there after we’re done with this crime scene,” Amy said, while walking over to the body outline

According to the outline, the body was splayed out on the ground with the legs pointing towards the kitchen.

Amy stood where the feet were marked down, slowly kneeling on the ground, and lying down, trying to match the outline.

“Are you comfortable?” Alice asked, confused by her actions.

“Well, my breasts are being squished against the hard floor, and all the air is leaving my lungs, so I’ve certainly been more comfortable before.”

“Why did you even do this?”

“I’m trying to simulate how the corpse must have fallen down, after getting shot,” Amy explained, while getting up.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Jim said. “The corpse was on its back, not its stomach.

“Wait, but if Daniel was shot in the forehead, that would mean that his attacker was standing over there.” Alice pointed to the kitchen entrance.

“That could explain the explosion,” Parker said. “Maybe it was caused to destroy evidence.”

“Let’s hope it didn’t work,” Officer Rhody said, heading over to the kitchen. The others followed her into the destroyed room.

Varius damaged kitchen devices had been thrown about by the blast, while larger devices had mostly remained in place, but were now covered in a burned coat of grease.

“Looks like we’ve found our cause for the explosion,” the officer said, looking at the large device at the center of the explosion. It was mostly destroyed, but from what was left, the group could gather what it used to be.

“I take it, this was a stove before the explosion,” Officer Rhody said.

“Yes, a gas stove to be precise,” Mr. Foster said.

“I gathered as much from the remains of the gas canisters.”

“It’s an older model, very simple to use. You just open the valve on the canister to release the gas, and then you flick the switch to ignite it,” Mr. Foster explained.

“Which makes it not only easy to use, but also easy to abuse,” Alice pointed out.

“Yes, you simply open the valve and wait a while before flicking the switch,” Amy expanded on Alice’s point. “That way, gas can gather in the air, which will then culminate in a large ball of flames.”

“Oh, that happened to me once in chemistry class with a Bunsen burner,” Jim said.

“Yes, I remember the teacher getting very upset with you,” Parker said.

“Just because she didn’t understand that it was all part of an investigation. Teachers can be really stupid sometimes.”

“Wait, but wouldn’t the culprit get caught in the blast?” Officer Rhody pointed out.

“Not necessarily. The culprit could have used a long stick, or maybe thrown something at the switch,” Amy disagreed.

“Yeah, but even so, the blast radius seems very large. Is that really a possibility?”

“We can put it to the test,” Alice said. She looked around to find something she could throw, eventually landing on a tray with raw patties and other burger ingredients that had been thrown to the ground. She picked one of the patties, which was thoroughly singed, up and formed it into a ball. The cross outside cracked easily, and the insides made a squishing sound that I personally can’t stand. That’s why I’m thankful that I know people who will gladly cook for me.

Alice then walked over to the other end of the room, which was the only spot that hadn’t been reached by the blast, judging from the lack of scorch marks on the wall. It also provided an escape route in the form of the second door, which was still intact.

Alice stepped next to the door, which caused it to slide to the side in an instant, as the sensor near the floor picked up on her presence.

“Everyone, move out of the way!” Alice said, before hurling the meatball towards the destroyed stove. Seeing as the switch was not there anymore, there was nothing specific she was aiming for, focusing more on how well it was possible to throw an object from that distance. Unsurprisingly, the fleshy projectile reached its destination.

“Well, pretty sure if I can make that throw, the four who were here last night can do it too. At least the American football players can certainly pull it off,” Alice said.

“You’re in America, just call it football,” Parker pointed out.

“Never!” Alice stepped away from the door, walking towards the others. “Let me ask you this, which of the two…” Alice was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang. She nearly screamed as the door slammed shut in the blink of an eye, which had caused the loud noise.

“Jesus, what is this, a door or a guillotine?!”

“I’m so sorry, I should have warned you. The doors close very quickly,” Mr. Foster said.

“I noticed,” Alice retorted angrily.

“Don’t worry, the sensors are very precise. There is no way the door would close with someone standing in the way,” Mr. Foster explained.

“So, we all agree that the killer was standing in the kitchen when they shot Daniel and then proceeded to destroy any evidence in here by causing an explosion from a distance?” Amy recapped.

“Sounds about right,” Officer Rhody said.

“Then we should probably search the other crime scenes. Maybe we’ll find some evidence there that the killer hasn’t destroyed,” Jim suggested in a commanding tone.

The others agreed and headed off.

Saturday, November 16, 10:40 am: Jungle Gym, Chimpy’s Funhouse

Jim and Parker were leading the way to the next crime scene. The entrance to the employee-only area, consisting of storage rooms, dressing rooms, and maintenance facilities, was located behind the large jungle gym.

The leader of the Lawreyville Boy Detectives insisted on taking a shortcut through the jungle gym, while Officer Rhody and Mr. Foster preferred to walk around the fixture.

“The boys certainly did a number on Gary,” Amy said, staring at the animatronic band’s destroyed member.

“Good, one less of these cursed monsters,” Alice said, being careful not to be heard by the other animatronics.

The band was located right by the main entrance of the jungle gym, standing on a small stage, decorated with some artificial plants and rocks. Eerily, the three intact band members were playing their signature song, as if nothing had happened.

The music came from small speakers, hidden in some of the decoration, and could only be heard near the stage. There was a certain haunting feeling accompanying the guitar solo that would normally be performed by Gary Gator.

Jim ran over to the band, picking something up and returning with it. “Here, maybe this proves useful later.” He showed another gun, this one labeled with the number 9. The barrel looked a bit crooked, and parts of the plastic casing had seen better days.

“I assume that’s the gun Kai was carrying,” Parker pointed out.

“That would make sense,” Amy said. “So we now have the guns of Kai and Daniel.”

“Maybe Samuel’s gun is in the freezer,” Alice suggested.

“I didn’t see a gun there,” Parker said.

“Maybe we just missed it,” Jim pointed out.

“How about we discuss this somewhere else?” Alice asked, looking at the animatronics. She was not just creeped out by the band, but also Polly Parrot, who was sitting atop the jungle gym, slightly peaking out over the edge, as if she was menacingly watching the investigators, while flapping her wings.

“Somehow that one is the creepiest one of them all,” Amy said, also looking up at the mechanical bird. “It almost seems like the parrot is staring down at the crime scene.”

“Almost like it was the one to commit the murder,” Alice said, insisting on her haunted animatronic theory.

“Okay, normally I would disagree with you, but I can at least see how the parrot could have killed him.”

“Wait, really?!”

“I’m not saying that’s actually what happened, but if we agree that Kai fell down from the top of the jungle gym, that could mean he could have been struck by the flapping wings, which caused him to fall over the edge.”

“I had considered that too,” Parker said.

“We both did,” Jim threw in, as if to take credit for the idea.

“Yes, but keep in mind. That would imply that he somehow was not aware of the large, moving wings,” Amy pointed out.

“Maybe he was running away from someone,” Jim suggested.

“That could be an explanation. If we just knew how he got up there, we could assess how likely such a scenario is,” Amy said.

“Well, that’s easy enough,” Jim said.

“Did you already find out how he got up there?” Alice asked.

“Everyone knows how to get up there,” Parker said. He pointed to the jungle gym’s walls, some of which were made of nets, while others were made with a colorfully printed tarp, made to resemble tree bark, leaves, mossy rocks, really anything that could be found in a jungle. “At the top of each of the slides, the walls have large enough gaps around the opening for you to squeeze through, if you loosen the tarp a little.”

“We used to do that all the time, when we were little,” Jim said, smiling. “Just go through there and climb up the net when no one’s watching. I remember, Sasha was always so scared we would get caught.”

“But don’t you see, there’s a massive contradiction,” Amy pointed out.

“How so?” Jim asked.
“How are you the leader of a team of investigators?” Alice asked. Jim seemed deeply insulted by that comment. “If the only way out is next to the slides’ entrances, why not just take the slide, instead of this much slower escape, where you end up trapped on top of the jungle gym?”

“You’re right, that doesn’t make much sense,” Parker admitted.

“There might be an explanation,” Jim began. “Hear me out. Where would you end up if you took one of the slides?”

“In front of the jungle gym,” Amy answered.

“Yes, out in the open. You’d be a sitting duck. And not just that. Your attacker, who’s armed with a gun, has the high ground and knows where you’re going.”

“Under those circumstances, it seems plausible, I guess,” Amy admitted. “Still unlikely though.

“Maybe we can tell one of the officers to check the top of the jungle gym for any clues. It’s usually quite dusty up there, so anyone who went up there would have left footprints behind,” Jim said.

“Good, can we please get a move on? You said there was a shortcut somewhere nearby?” Alice tapped eagerly with her crowbar against one of the jungle gym’s padded poles.

“Yes, I think we’ve let the others wait for long enough. Follow me.” Jim entered the dark jungle gym, not paying much attention to whether or not the others were keeping up with him.

The ‘shortcut’, as he’d described it, could barely qualify as such. It may have been a shorter distance, but the myriad of hurdles, which normally served as exciting entertainment for kids, were slowing them down so much that going around the jungle gym would have likely taken less than half as long.

Alice and Parker had little problems keeping up with the less athletic Jim, but Amy found herself struggling not to fall behind.

“Jim, do you even know where you’re taking us?” Alice asked. She was trying to hide how uncomfortable the narrow paths of the jungle gym made her.

“Of course I do. We should be there any second. It’s right next to the ball pit.”

“Did they add an exit there?” Alice asked. “The last time I was here, there were no back exits anywhere in the jungle gym.”

“Well, there is an exit, but it’s a little unconventional.”

“If you say it like that, I’m getting worried. Last time I had to take an unconventional back exit, I had to crawl out a sandworm’s ass while playing Metaphor: ReFantazio,” Alice said.

“I thought you wouldn’t make any references for the rest of the case,” Amy pointed out, slowly catching up with the others.

“Well, I’m not a woman of my word, it’s as simple as that.”

“What’s with your references anyway. They’re either outdated or so modern or niche that no one gets them.” Amy sat down on the edge of a ball pit, thankful that the others stopped for a moment.

Alice gave her a dirty look before pushing her into the pit. “I’m sorry if my references are outdated to you. For your information, I was cut off from most sources of pop culture since I was 16. It’s difficult to make up for a knowledge gap that starts with fidget spinners and ends with a depressed, off-brand Oompa Loompa.”

“I’m just saying the ratio is off. Maybe just diversify your references. I’m pretty sure I hear you mention Heaven’s Gate or Jonestown every other day.”

“That’s not true!”

“Just last week, you had Xavier track down the specific Kool-Aid knockoff that was used in Jonestown for their mass suicide, just so you could give it to a guy who pissed you off, as some sort of abstract threat.”

“You’re right, I did do that. Honestly, I can’t argue with that.”

“But you could help me up,” Amy said, holding out her hand, while starting to sink into the balls.

“Here, I’ll help you.” Parker grabbed her hand and pulled her up, noticing something in the process. “What’s that under the balls?”

“Pretty sure it’s the taint, did you not learn that in biology?” Alice asked with a big grin on her face.

“Beep beep, Alice,” Amy said.

“What?” Alice just gave her a confused look.

“It’s a reference to IT. There they… You know what, forget it, you wouldn’t get it.”

“Oh, but I get criticized for using references no one understands!”

“I don’t think IT can be put in the same ballpark as the Willy Wonka Experience. But you know what? How about a clean slate? Let’s get back to our promise.”

“If that’s what you want. By the way, I was gonna invite everyone to go eat lunch, after we’re done with this animatronic-murder case, and I wanted to ask if you’d…” Alice paused, preparing to emphasize the next part. “…join us for a bite?”

“Alice!” Amy said angrily, understanding the reference her doppelganger was making.

“Fine. I promise not to make any jokes referencing FNAF.”

“That’s not what we agreed on.”

“Well, you can try to keep me from making jokes, but as a wise bunny once said: “I always come back.” Back to comedy that is.”

“That doesn’t even make sense. And it’s a FNAF reference, so you… Actually, I don’t care.” Amy turned around and watched as Parker pulled something out of the ball pit. When she fell into the balls, she had shifted them around enough to reveal a red glow coming from the pit.

“Looks like one of the laser tag vests,” Jim pointed out.

“There’s more in here.” He handed the vest to Alice and grabbed another object from the ball pit.

“I guess we now know where Samuel’s gun went,” Alice said, looking at the toy rifle Parker was holding. It had the number 5 written on the bottom of its handle.

“That would make sense. He was the only one of the four who wasn’t wearing a vest,” Amy agreed.

“What are you doing in here? We’ve been waiting here forever,” Officer Rhody said, looking in through an opening in one of the tarps.

“Oh, now I get what you meant by an unconventional exit,” Amy said.

“Someone clearly cut this tarp open to escape the jungle gym quickly and undetected,” Jim said.

“If I had to guess, it was Samuel Taylor,” Officer Rhody said.

“What makes you think that?” Parker asked.

“We found a flip knife in his pocket. Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it?”

“Fair point.”

“So, I’m guessing that’s why his vest and gun are here. He tried to make a quick escape, and to remain unseen, he just dropped the glowing vest into the ball pit, alongside the laser gun,” Alice put together.

“And from here, he then ran to the freezer, where he ended up getting killed,” Parker added.

“Which is where we’re headed,” Jim said, stepping out through the slit in the tarp.

Mr. Foster was standing right outside it, nervously typing something on his phone.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I’m taking notes of all the damage. If the bad publicity from this situation doesn’t end my business, all the repairs certainly will.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Amy looked past him to a metal box on the wall. It was right opposite the opening in the tarp.

“I should have listened to my friends’ advice and never bought this place. But I just had to ignore the declining profits and buy it anyway, just because I loved this place as a kid.”

“Is business really going so bad?” Parker asked.

“It’s been on a rapid decline for years, even before I bought it. Kids just don’t care as much for this place as they used to.”

“Maybe you should retire the animatronics,” Alice suggested. “They probably scare the kids off.”

“To be fair, considering how prominent a media trope killer animatronics have become, that’s actually a valid argument,” Amy said, while getting closer to the metal box. It was damaged, which was visible even before Amy opened it.

“Is this the breaker box?” Amy asked, looking at the fried circuits.

“Yes, well, it’s a subpanel. The main breaker box is in the maintenance room.”

“Makes sense that a place like this would have subpanels, I guess,” Jim said.

“You say it like you’re an expert on the subject,” Alice said jokingly.

“Well, my parents are both electricians and run their own business, so I hope that I know at least the basics.”

“Fair enough.”

“This panel is specifically used for the lights, the main speaker system, parts of the security system, and some other stuff in the main hall. That’s why it’s so dark in here.”

“The speaker over by the animatronic band was working, though,” Alice pointed out.

“Weren’t you listening? He said the main speaker system. Clearly, there are some exceptions, or he wouldn’t have specified it,” Officer Rhody said, trying to take another sip, but realizing that there was nothing left in her cup.

“Thank you, Officer. Yes, some devices, like smaller speakers and the animatronics, are connected to another subpanel.”

“The witness did mention something about a power outage he had to fix, right?” Parker said.

“If I had to guess, I assume that when this subpanel was shot, it caused it to short-circuit, which in turn overwhelmed the main breaker box. That led to a power outage in the entire building. The witness was able to simply turn all of the circuits back on at the main breaker box, except for the broken one,” Jim explained.

“Back up a second! Shot?!” Alice repeated.

“Yes, we already had the bullet extracted. It was the same caliber as we found in one of the victims,” Officer Rhody said.

“Maybe the killer destroyed it to sneak up on their victims in the dark,” Parker suggested.

“Weren’t they all wearing glowing vests?” Alice pointed out.

“Yes, but they could have taken them off and later put them back on. Also, is it not possible that an outsider might be the killer?”

“That is the theory I’m most inclined to believe,” Amy said. “After all, I’m certain that Constantin is not the killer. And he’s the only survivor.”

“Which doesn’t make this case any easier, does it? I mean, based on that, anyone could be the killer,” Alice said, frustratedly.

“And that’s why we should finally investigate the last murder scene,” Jim said eagerly.

Saturday, November 16, 11:00 am: Maintenance Area, Chimpy’s Funhouse

The door hidden behind the jungle gym normally had to be unlocked with a keycard given to staff, but because the security system was shut down, the door was already unlocked.

Behind the steel door was a hallway leading to the left and to the right. On the right were a closet filled with cleaning supplies and the maintenance room, where, among other things, the main breaker box was located.

Amy suggested they’d search the room, but Officer Rhody assured her that they had already done so and found no new information.

Thus, the group followed the hallway to the left. There wasn’t much to see, besides an emergency exit, which Jim assumed could have been used as an escape route for the culprit. However, he made sure to point out that they’d already checked for fingerprints on the handle and hadn’t found any. Which naturally did not mean it was impossible.

At the end of the hallway, stairs led down to the basement.

“Be careful not to slip. Someone dropped a cake or something at the bottom of the stairs,” Parker said, while the group was descending into the basement.

Amy nearly screamed as she got to the bottom of the stairs and looked to her right. In the corner sat an animatronic rhinoceros. Parts of the wiring were exposed, and instead of a colorful paint job, the bare metal body was visible. All this, combined with the hunched pose and hollow eyes, made for a haunting visual.

“I assume this is Rocko Rhino,” Officer Rhody said.

“Yes. Like I said, he’s still a work in progress,” Mr. Foster explained, nervously staring at the animatronic.

“He’s also involved in the murder of a teenager,” the officer said, getting out her phone.

“This is what the crime scene originally looked like. We had to move the animatronic to get to the corpse.”

The image showed the door right next to the stairs, which led into the walk-in freezer where the corpse was discovered. The mechanical rhinoceros was leaning against the door, holding it shut.

Alice looked at Amy and was about to speak up, but Amy was one step ahead.

“You don’t have to say it. I know it looks like the animatronic murdered the victim. But maybe someone just moved it there.”

“That would be a difficult task,” Officer Rhody said. “It took three people to move this hunk of metal out of the way.”

“See!” Alice said, repeatedly looking over at the animatronic out of fear it might get up and continue its murder spree.

Amy looked around the room. It was a large, dimly lit place, filled with rows of shelves that were stuffed with all sorts of things. Food, replacement parts, clothes, paint, anything that could prove useful in an indoor playground.

“Where is the animatronic normally stored?” Jim asked.

“Normally, it stands over there, leaning against the shelf. That way I can do work on it.”

Mr. Foster pointed to a shelf, opposite the freezer. A long wire came from somewhere under the shelf, lying limp on the floor. It had clearly been dragged across the room towards the freezer door, the plug positioned about two feet away from it.

“Didn’t you say you leave it up to the professionals?” Alice asked.

“Yes, and that’s true. But that’s more about things like wiring. I can handle a bit of welding, painting, or uploading prewritten code,” Mr. Foster explained.

“How about we put that hunk of junk back in position?” Jim suggested. “I assume it was in its normal position before the murder. Maybe that can help us get a better picture of what happened down here.”

“Can’t hurt to give it a try,” Parker said.

While they were getting to work, Amy had walked off, inspecting the rest of the room. “Hey, Brad, could you come here?” she called out from somewhere in the back.

“I’m on my way,” Mr. Foster answered. In a matter of a few seconds, he got to Amy.

“Thanks, I wanted to ask you about this.” She pointed to a metal box on the wall, looking just like the one they had found before, just with no bullet hole.

“It’s another one of the subpanels. This one’s connected to the rooms around here.”

“That’s not what I meant. What does this light mean?” Amy pointed out a small, red lamp that was part of the subpanel.

“Oh, that. All the subpanels have one. They are all connected to some part of the security system. This one, for example, is connected to the emergency exit’s sensor and alarm. It glows to signal that the security system is currently disabled.”

“So all the subpanels have been glowing red for the entire night?”

“I guess so, considering the boys turned the security system off. Why do you ask?”

Amy stared at the small lamp, the red glow casting shadows on her face. “I’m not sure, but it feels important.”

While the two continued searching the room, the others were still busy with the animatronic.

“I think it moved!” Jim said excitedly.

“Sorry to break it to you, but even if it did move, at this pace, we’ll be here for days,” Parker pointed out, while doing his best to help Jim lift the animatronic.

“Ms. R, could you lend us a hand?” Jim asked.

“Are you joking? I’d throw my back out if I did that. Ask Scarface over there, she looks tough,” Officer Rhody replied.

“Alice, how about a little help over here?” Parker called out to her.

She was staring at the cake on the floor. It was squished, and the icing had been smeared across the floor. Obviously, someone had stepped in it and subsequently slipped.

“Alice!” Jim yelled.

“I heard you guys the first time!”

“Then help us!”

“I don’t want to get anywhere near that killing machine.”

“Come on, I promise nothing will happen. I’ll be protecting you,” Parker said.

“Great, so now I have to rely on a 15-year-old as a bodyguard.” Hesitantly, Alice walked over to them. Visibly uncomfortable, she grabbed the mechanical rhino. Together, they managed to carry it over to the shelf.

Alice quickly backed away as soon as the animatronic was leaning against the shelf.

Jim stood right in front of it, closely inspecting it. Parker, on the other hand, had noticed the wire on the floor. Realizing where it belonged, he grabbed it and plugged it into the back of the animatronic.

Alice watched in horror as the machine sprang to life, slowly tilting its head to look around.

Jim excitedly looked into the hollow eye sockets. From within the dark holes, camera lenses looked back at him. The metal creaked as Rocko slowly lowered his head to look down at Jim.

“Let’s party!” the nearly two-foot-tall animatronic said in a haunting, robotic voice. It slowly raised its arms and stepped forward.

“Get down!” Parker yelled. He jumped forward, pushing Jim to the floor. Above the two, Rocko wrapped his arms around nothing.

Realizing what was going on, Alice ran over to them, grabbed the party hat from Jim’s head, and quickly tossed it as far away as she could.

All four looked at the animatronic, not daring to breathe. It slowly looked around, searching for the hat. After being unsuccessful, the machine raised its head, looking straight ahead while proceeding to sing Happy Birthday in its robotic voice.

“What happened?!” Amy asked as she and Mr. Foster got back to the group.

Mr. Foster walked over to the animatronic, quickly pressing a hidden button on its back.

Alice’s demeanor changed from frightened to angry. She grabbed her crowbar and walked up to Mr. Foster. Furiously, she pressed its tip against his neck, pushing him backwards, pinning him against one of the shelves.

“You fucking lied to us!” Alice yelled. “When were you gonna tell us?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would come to this.”

“What kind of shitty excuse is that?! You’re little friend over here nearly killed a 14-year-old.”

“Actually, I recently turned 15,” Jim corrected her, seemingly unshaken by what just happened.

“That doesn’t change the fact that his negligence nearly got you killed.”

“Can someone explain what is going on here?” Amy asked.

“Do you want to tell her, or should I reveal who that metal monstrosity really is?” Alice asked.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

“Told us what?”

“Have you not realized it yet?” Officer Rhody asked. “Rocko over there is just Tony Tusk with some new parts.”

“Holy shit!” Parker let out.

“You wanted to put the killer machine back into the indoor playground?” Jim asked.

“No, well, yes. But like I said, Rocko’s still a work in progress. I would have put in the new code that all the other interactive animatronics use. No hugging, I swear. He would have been totally safe when I was done with him.”

“Why would you even want to go through all that effort?” Parker asked.

“I thought a new animatronic might attract some customers. I had been aware of the old animatronic that was stored down here, so I thought I could reuse it.”

“But isn’t this thing dangerous for your staff members?” Officer Rhody asked.

“My members of staff normally don’t wear party hats when they’re down here. Plus, the animatronic is normally turned off.”

“Clearly, it wasn’t in this case,” Alice pointed out.

“That’s because you plugged it in.”

“Is it normally not plugged in?” Parker asked.

“It is. But all animatronics are programmed to turn on right away when they’re freshly connected to the electrical grid. After that, they can be turned on and off by pressing the button on their back.”

“Wait, so if there was a power outage, and the power was turned back on afterwards, would that turn the animatronics on?” Jim asked.

“I would assume so. I don’t think they can distinguish between different ways of getting disconnected and reconnected to the electrical grid,” Mr. Foster said, still pinned against a wall.

“Oh fuck,” Alice said, slowly lowering her crowbar.

“What?” Amy asked.

Jim looked over to Parker, who returned his knowing glance. “I think Alice also realized what must have happened here.”

“How about we demonstrate it?” Parker asked.

“Sure. Alice, would you play the role of the animatronic? It’s much safer that way.”

Hesitantly, Alice agreed. She stood in front of the animatronic after demanding Mr. Foster make sure it was definitely turned off.

“Imagine, Alice is Tony, or Rocko, whichever you prefer,” Jim said. “Parker will be our stand-in for the victim. Just imagine he’s wearing one of those party hats.”

The others watched curiously.

“The situation is that, for some reason, Samuel was down here. He was likely chased down here by the killer. That killer at some point caused a power outage, which was later fixed by Constantin. As soon as the electricity returned, the animatronic turned on and saw the party hat Samuel was wearing.”

Alice unenthusiastically raised her arms and stepped towards Parker, while Jim continued his explanation.

“Samuel panicked and tried to run away, but he slipped on the cake someone had dropped. This unfortunate accident caused him to break his leg, probably by hitting one of the steps.”

Parker acted as if he’d trip. With much more dedication than Alice, I might add.

“In his panic, he decided that he would likely not manage to escape up the stairs, so he turned to the next best option. He opened the door right next to the stairs and hid behind it, all while still being pursued by the slow animatronic.”

Alice was dragging the unplugged wire behind her while walking after Parker, who was watching her through the small window in the freezer door.

“As the animatronic continued to walk, the wire got stretched to its maximum length, and so, likely mid-step, the wire was unplugged, causing the animatronic to turn off and fall forward, blocking the door and trapping Samuel in the freezer.”

“That does make sense,” Amy said, after Parker had left the freezer again.

“Yes, but I think you’re ignoring an important aspect,” Officer Rhody said. “Wouldn’t this make Constantin the most likely culprit?”

“Not necessarily. If you were in a familiar environment and you experienced a power outage, wouldn’t you head straight to the breaker box to try turning it back on?” Amy asked.

“So you’re suggesting that the killer banked on someone turning it back on?”

“Yes,” Amy answered without hesitation.

“Then answer me this. Who’s the killer?” Officer Rhody asked.

“I still believe it could have been a fifth person,” Amy said, sounding less certain.

“And do you have any proof?” Officer Rhody asked.

Amy wasn’t sure what to answer.

“The gun,” Alice said. “We still haven’t found the gun. Couldn’t that imply that a fifth person took it with them, as they escaped the crime scene?”

“Or it just means that the killer hid it,” the officer replied. “But okay, I guess we haven’t searched everywhere, so we can have another look around.”

Saturday, November 16, 11:40 am: Music Stage, Chimpy’s Funhouse

“Parker, what do you see!” Jim yelled, tilting his head up as far as he could.

Next to the animatronic parrot, which had been turned off, appeared Parker, looking over the edge of the jungle gym.

“I don’t even want to imagine being up there,” Amy said. “Just looking up gives me the creeps.”

“I’d be more worried about Polly turning back on and pushing him down,” Alice said.

“There are shoeprints up here,” Parker reported.

“We already knew that. The question is how many people were up there,” Jim replied.

“From what I can tell, there was only one person up here. The prints have a very well-defined profile.”

“I assume the tracks belong to Kai in that case,” Amy said.

“Yes, judging from the pictures, they can only be his.” Parker had previously taken pictures of all the intruders’ shoe profiles. “It also looks like he was kneeling right in front of the parrot.”

“Interesting. Get back down here so we can discuss further what to do next,” Jim said.

“On it.” Parker quickly took some pictures and turned around. “Hold on, should I turn the animatronic back on?”

“Why would you even ask that?!” Alice yelled. “Keep the damn thing turned off!”

“Okay.” Parker started climbing down on the nets that made up the outer wall of the jungle gym, as Amy watched in horror.

“Are you already finished with your areas?” Officer Rhody asked as she and Mr. Foster got to them. Evidently, she’d gotten a refill of her coffee, as she was in the middle of adding some alcohol from her flask.

“Yes, there was nothing in the laser tag cave,” Amy reported. She and Jim had been the ones to search that area together, while Parker was searching the jungle gym, and Alice was busy with the toddler play area.

“I assume you haven’t found the murder weapon.”

“Nope. And we’re still looking for one of the laser tag guns,” Alice said.

“I did search the room where the laser tag gear is stored,” Officer Rhody said.

“Did you find the missing one?” Jim asked.

“Well, for one, I found a giant mess. Looks like the intruders weren’t very careful when getting their gear. But there are certainly some guns missing.”

“We always make sure that all guns are back after closing time. The staff has to disinfect them, so they would have noticed if any guns were missing,” Mr. Foster explained.

“How many guns are missing? We’ve found those three so far,” Amy said, pointing to the three fake rifles, laid out next to each other, next to the jungle gym’s entrance.

“We have 18 guns in total. In storage are 14.”

“So we were correct to assume that one was still missing,” Jim said.

“So, we found Daniel’s gun in the dining area, Kai’s next to his corpse on the stage, and Samuel’s gun in the ball pit,” Amy summarized.

“Wait, what about the other one?” Officer Rhody asked.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out, Mrs. R,” Jim said.

“I mean the one over by the stage,” she replied, annoyed. “I haven’t investigated the stage much, but I remember seeing two guns there.”

Jim quickly ran over to the stage to confirm what she was saying. He soon returned with another rifle that had been obstructed behind some of the decorations. It was labeled with the number 8.

“I guess Constantin must have dropped it when he discovered Kai’s corpse,” Amy put together.

“Does that help us in any way?” Officer Rhody asked.

“Doesn’t look like it, unless someone was shot to death with a laser gun that somehow fires bullets,” Alice said.

“Parker, could you bring all the guns back to where we found them?” Jim asked as his partner stepped out of the jungle gym. “That way, we return the crime scenes to how we originally found them.”

“Sure can. Should I take some notes on who had which gun?”

“Don’t bother, I already did that,” Amy said.

“Thanks.” Parker grabbed one gun after another. Noticing something as he lifted gun #9. To confirm his observation, he put one of the guns back down, ending up with one gun in each hand.

“Is something wrong?” Jim asked.

“This one is heavier.” Parker took a closer look at gun #9. “False alarm. Looks like this gun got damaged. It probably gained some weight when it was fixed.”

“How do you know?” Alice asked.

“Some parts are a bit crooked, and the welding on the plastic casing looks worse than the other guns’.”

“That can’t be. If one of the guns were broken, the staff would have to report it to me. Let me have a look.”

Before Mr. Foster could grab the gun, Officer Rhody had already snatched it up, looking closely at the cheap welds. “Has one of you got a knife?”

“I’m sure Xavier has one in his backpack,” Amy said, searching through Xavier’s bag.

“Nope, that’s a boomerang, and that’s a magnifying glass.”

The others watched as she continued going through Xavier’s stuff. “Metal detector, a deck of cards, catnip, a burner phone, fireworks, night vision goggles, some Chinese finger traps... No idea what he needs this rubber, bird mask for.”

That mask was actually used to infiltrate a cult-like group of students during Case #38: In the Crows Eye.

“How does all of that fit in there?” Officer Rhody asked, baffled.

“Aha! Here you go.” Amy handed the officer a shuriken.

“It’s not really a knife, but I guess it will do.” The officer used the sharp throwing star to slowly cut the plastic casing open, revealing the gun’s insides.

“Is that a gun?!” Amy let out in surprise.

“I think the killer just invented the world’s first matryoshka gun,” Alice said.

“A what?” Jim asked.

“You know, like those Russian dolls where you put one in the other.”

“Never seen one.”

Alice shook her head in disbelief.

“This isn’t any gun,” Officer Rhody said. “It’s a Glock.” She pulled out her own handgun. “Specifically, the gun our officers are issued with.”

“Of course, it all makes sense!” Alice said. “This gun is the one we found next to Kai’s corpse. Think about it. Who’s been described as being a passionate tinkerer?”

“Kai,” Jim answered.

“Who works here and thus has access to the laser guns and the welding tools in the basement?”

“Kai,” Parker said.

“As well as Constantin and Samuel,” Officer Rhody pointed out.

“And most importantly, whose father is a police officer who owns this exact model of gun?”

“Kai,” Amy said.

“Hear me out, what if it went as follows? Kai prepared this gun yesterday during work, so he could carry it around during their game of laser tag. During the night, he caused a power outage, and in the dark, he shot Daniel. He couldn’t find the others right away, so he decided to climb up on the jungle gym to have a better view. The higher position would also make it easier to shoot the other two. That would also explain why he was kneeling up there. He was waiting for his prey.”

“Wait, but why would he kneel in front of an animatronic that could push him to his death, as soon as it gets turned back on?” Amy pointed out.

“What if he wasn’t expecting it to turn back on?”

“But Samuel’s death…” Parker started.

“Yes, we’ve assumed that the whole thing was some convoluted setup. But what if it was a genuine accident? Samuel had seen what happened and ran into the basement without Kai noticing. Constantin, flicking the power back on, was not part of the plan and accidentally cost Kai and Samuel their lives.”

“Kai would have a motive for killing Daniel,” Jim pointed out. “He lost out on a scholarship because of Daniel.”

“And maybe the other two were just at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Kai had to kill them because they would have confirmed that he was at the scene of the crime,” Alice added.

“It is a very convoluted theory, based on mostly just assumptions,” Officer Rhody said. “But I have to admit that it seems possible. I’ll get the guns checked for fingerprints. No one leaves this building until I’m back.”

The group agreed and went their separate ways.

Saturday, November 16, 12:10 pm: Break Room, Chimpy’s Funhouse

Mrs. Dubois-Baker let out a long sigh, trying to digest what she’d just heard. Mr. Baker had put down the soda can he’d gotten from the vending machine in the room and retreated into thought. And Constantin was nervously fidgeting with his keys, causing his handcuffs to rattle.

Amy sat opposite them, while Alice was standing off in a corner. Amy had just given them the rundown of the current leading theory after the five had retreated into the breakroom. Officer Rhody had arranged for Constantin to be able to have this conversation in private, as long as he kept his cuffs on.

“That’s certainly a lot to take in,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said.

“Do you think it could be true?” Mr. Baker asked Constantin.

“I-I don’t know. We’ve been fighting a lot lately, but we've come this far. It’s insane. I mean, Kai was the one who suggested having a party. Why would he want to celebrate something that makes him so angry?”

“That could just mean he’d already formed the plan,” Alice countered.

“Did he suggest having the party here, or was it just the idea of a party in general?” Amy asked.

“I think we decided on the laser tag as a group. It’s something we’ve all liked to do since we were little.”

“I see. Have you remembered anything new?” Amy asked carefully.

Constantin shook his head.

“Do you at least remember dropping your gun on the stage?” Alice asked, quickly glancing over at Mr. Baker, before looking back at Constantin.

“I remember seeing Kai’s corpse. It’s possible I dropped my gun then.”

“Well, at least that confirms that part of the theory,” Alice said.

“I guess it makes sense that if Kai wanted to kill us, he would choose to do it like this,” Constantin said.

“What do you mean by that?” Mrs. Dubois-Baker asked. She was sitting next to him, holding him close.

“He’s always been better than us at laser tag. It’s kinda scary how good he was. We others were lucky if we got a single hit in before he defeated us.”

“I guess that confidence in his abilities translated to the murder. He probably thought that he could take advantage of his laser tag skills. If he were less skilled, he would have likely picked a simpler method. That way, he wouldn’t have to deal with two more targets,” Amy said.

“Why is this all happening?” Constantin asked, holding his keys tightly.

“What do you have there?” Amy asked.

Constantin showed her something attached to his keys. It was a four-leafed clover that had been conserved in resin. “It’s my lucky charm. I need to ward off all this bad luck somehow.”

“Are you stupid?” Alice asked. “This was a premeditated murder with an elaborate plan to boot. This wasn’t some streak of bad luck.”

“But I killed Samuel and Kai.”

“Sweety, their deaths aren’t your fault.”

“But they are. Had I not flicked the power back on, they wouldn’t have died. It’s my fault.”

“You didn’t know that would happen. You just did what anyone would have done in a power outage,” Amy reassured him.

Her brother looked over to her. He’d been quiet for most of the conversation, unsure what to add. He still seemed uncomfortable with Amy’s presence.

“That doesn’t change that my actions led to their deaths.”

“Oh my god, just shut up!” Alice said to the surprise of all. “How about we extend that logic? It was the college’s fault for accepting Daniel instead of Kai. That gave him a motive after all. Or maybe it was Kai’s mother’s fault for giving birth to a future murderer. Or perhaps it’s the fault of the person who invented schools, because without a school system, his motive wouldn’t have existed. See what I’m saying? In fact, you know who you could also blame? All three of them caused their own deaths because they decided to come here today. ”

“She’s right. You all did something wrong by breaking into the playground, but that doesn’t mean you can be blamed for these deaths,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, but whatever,” Alice said quietly.

 “What was that?” Amy asked, upset.

“Nothing.”

“No, you definitely said something really fucked up.”

“Just forget about it. It would only ruin everyone’s hope, and I’m trying to stay optimistic for once.”

“Fuck off, you can’t just…”

“Please, stop fighting. The only one to blame is the killer,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said.

Constantin had a sudden realization. “I just realized, I didn’t do my good luck ritual last evening. Maybe that’s why…”

“Are you trying to find a reason why you’re guilty?” Alice asked angrily. “Stop with the dumb superstitions and see the situation for what it really is. Believe me, you don’t want to live, blaming yourself for someone else’s death.”

For a second, Alice stared intently into Mr. Baker’s eyes.

“I have to thank you two. I don’t know what we would have done without your help,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said.

“You’re not out of the woods yet. We still need to prove his innocence,” Amy said.

Mrs. Dubois-Baker cleared her throat while looking at Mr. Baker. He’d lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but whatever it was, it didn’t keep your sister from coming here and helping your son. I’m sure there’s something you have to say to her.” She waited for him to thank Amy, but noticed that he’d started trembling.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Everyone seemed surprised, and even Alice’s ears perked up as he said this. As Mr. Baker looked up, Amy saw that he had tears in his eyes and his lips were quivering.

“I’m so sorry for what I did to you. Our parents were putting so much pressure on me that I felt like I was going crazy. And I… I know that’s no excuse for what I did, but seeing you without any of that pressure, I… I should have recognized that our parents’ neglecting you was just as horrible…. Just as abusive as their behavior towards me. But I didn’t, and I resented you for it.”

He was breathing heavily as the others stared at him. “That day, I just snapped. I’m horrible, and I can’t apologize enough for what I did.”

Amy hesitated to answer. “It… It’s okay. As you said, we both had it hard, and thankfully, we both made it out unscathed.” Amy tried to smile to comfort her brother.

“Does that mean you can forgive me?” he asked, surprised.

“There is no point in holding it against you. It’s best to move on and let the past be the past.” She hugged her brother, happy the two had finally addressed what was holding them apart.

“Are you fucking serious right now?!” Alice yelled, looking furious.

“Alice, what’s wrong?”

“Alice?” Mr. Baker repeated, confused.

“You nearly killed her, and now you think some half-assed apology can make up for that? The only reason she isn’t dead is that she got lucky and managed to escape you.”

“Alice, it’s okay. I’m just happy that we are finally talking again.”

“But I’m not. You’re the same monster as our parents. And oh, you poor thing, your parents were putting pressure on you, were they? Cry me a fucking river, you were 26 years old when you tried to kill her. You deserve to suffer forever over your regret of what you did.”
“Alice, stop it!”

“Fuck you! I thought you’d finally grown a spine, but you’re still the same pushover you always were. Linus is a despicable monster for what he did!”

“Alice, it’s up to me if I forgive my brother, not you.”

“You think I will just watch as you forgive him, after he ruined my life?!”

“What?!” the group said together.

“You don’t even know how good you have it to be in such a privileged position to be able to forgive him.”

“I don’t understand,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said.

“You said the same thing happened in your timeline. How could he have messed up your life?”

“Because I lied! Unlike you, I realized it too late and didn’t manage to dodge his attack.” Alice was shaking. “I had to fight back and… In the fight, Linus died, and I was accused of murdering him.”

“I had no idea,” Amy said.

“They put me in a fucking youth center, while I was awaiting my trial.”

“What’s a youth center?” Amy asked.

“It’s another name for a juvenile detention center,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker explained.

“Yeah, they have those stupid nicknames for everything, so they can act like they're somehow less horrible than they actually are. They even put me into a reflection cottage. Guess what fun thing that is.” Alice stared at Amy and Mr. Baker, waiting for either of them to answer.

“Wrong! It’s solitary confinement. I was locked in there for 3 days straight. 3 fucking days, not knowing if there was even going to be a lawyer defending me.”

“So, you are Amy, but from a different timeline?” Mrs. Baker-Dubois asked, confused.

“Oh, look, someone’s a quick thinker. I would have pegged you for a bigger idiot, considering you married an absolute monster.”

“Alice, I’m sorry for…” Linus started saying.

“I don’t give a shit! Ever since you attacked me, my life has been one torture after another. My own parents testified as character witnesses against me. And you know what awaited me after I was finally proven innocent?”

Alice looked like she was about to continue, but she paused. “You know what, forget it. Why would I even bother with you? I’m helping Constantin because no one deserves to be accused of a murder they didn’t commit. And frankly, he must have suffered enough, having you as a stepfather. But after I’m done here, I never want to see your face again, unless it’s on a mugshot after you handed yourself in for attempted murder.”

Alice turned around and walked over to the door. Just as she was about to leave, the door opened, and Officer Rhody stepped in, followed by Jim, Parker, and Mr. Foster.

“Wow, the air in here seems dense. Awkward family moment?” Jim asked, unaware of what was going on.

“We’re done with the fingerprint analysis,” Officer Rhody said, looking very unhappy.

“Did it confirm our theory?” Amy asked, repeatedly glancing over at Alice, unsure of what to say to her.

“You said gun #8 is the one Constantin was using, right?”

“Yes, the second one we found on the stage.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but his prints weren’t on that gun. Instead, they were on gun #9, which is the one with the Glock in it.”

“The group was shocked. It seemed even the people accompanying the officer had not heard the results yet.

“I’m sure you can guess what that means,” the officer said.

“We just assumed the one closer to the corpse was his, but dropping it from so far up, it doesn’t have land right next to him,” Jim said.

“Could you tell us all the results? Maybe we missed something,” Amy said nervously.

“Certainly. We even ran the test on the other guns, just to be sure. Oh, and before you ask, the Glock itself had no fingerprints on it.”

To make it easier for you, dear reader, I decided to list each gun, who was using it, and whose fingerprints are on it. Ignoring the fingerprints of any of the investigators, naturally.

 

Gun #5 (Samuel): Samuel

Gun #8 (Kai): Kai, Samuel

Gun #9 (Constantin): Constantin, Kai, Samuel

Gun #13 (Storage): Constantin, Samuel

Gun #16 (Daniel): Daniel, Samuel

 

“We assume Samuel was the one to hand out the guns, which is why his prints are on all the guns. Especially seeing as his prints are generally located on the barrel of the guns, except for the one he was using,” Officer Rhody explained.

“Number 13 is the only one in storage that had any prints on it?” Parker asked.

“Yes. The guns were all piled up in front of the closet where they were being kept. Number 13 was on top of the pile.”

“There’s barely enough space for all the guns in there, so it often happens that they fall out when taking one,” Mr. Foster added.

“I mean, that solves it,” Jim said. “As sad as it is to say, but our obvious first assumption was right. The only survivor is the killer. There is proof he was the one with the real gun in his possession and that he was the one to turn the power back on.”

“How about you shut your mouth and think before you speak?” Alice suggested angrily.

“I feel it necessary to point out a hole in your logic,” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said. “You’re accusing my son of shooting his friends with a gun that belongs to the police. How would he have gotten his hands on that?”

“I was curious about that too,” Parker said. “Officer Rhody and I talked to Mr. Bailey about it. After all, his son had just become one of our main suspects.”

“He certainly wasn’t happy with our theory, so he made it clear that if his son was able to get his hands on the gun, so could the other boys. They were regularly over at his house.”

“So what, he had them just lying around?” Mr. Baker asked.

“He stored an assortment of firearms at home, and let’s just say, they weren’t well guarded. He will have to face repercussions for his reckless treatment of police weaponry, no matter which one of the boys took it. But what’s important for now is that it is certainly his gun. We even found some of his fingerprints on the Glock.”

“That’s great and all, but that wasn’t what I was talking about,” Alice said. “I was about to point out how you morons seemingly forgot an important point. If you change the suspect, some points will inevitably not line up anymore. Like the fucking motive.”

Jim smacked his face. “You’re right! We assumed the culprit did it because he lost his chance at a scholarship to Daniel, and Constantin isn’t part of the football team, unlike the rest of the group.”

“And he already has a spot at a great college,” Mr. Baker pointed out.

“The thing is, if this case goes in front of a jury, it will be very easy for a prosecutor to convince them that there was some sort of infighting going on, which eventually escalated into a triple homicide,” Officer Rhody explained.

“That’s absurd!” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said. “Sure, they certainly didn’t go without the occasional fights, but to suggest my son would kill anyone over it is…”

“It doesn’t matter if he would or wouldn’t!” Alice cut her off. “What matters is what the jury or judge thinks. And let’s be honest, the current evidence doesn’t look good. I’m certain those morons will be okay with believing there was some motive, even if there is no clear evidence of it.”

“She’s right. What you would need is hard-hitting evidence that someone else committed the crime, or at least that your son could not have done it.”

“The culprit certainly planned this well. They made sure that there were no witnesses anywhere near the crime scene. Even the other members of the group would miss the murders, being so spread out and wearing headphones,” Parker said.

Alice seemed to get a sudden idea.

“Maybe there weren’t any other people present, but there is another way someone could be a witness. Have you checked the four intruders’ phones? Maybe one of them was on a phone call while the crime was committed.”

Officer Rhody raised an eyebrow. “That’s a strange thought. Who would they even call in the middle of the night?”

“I don’t know? The point is, that’s a possible lead that should be followed.”

“Well, it’s not that easy. We can’t just look through someone’s phone because there is a slight chance they might have called someone who can deliver an integral testimony that will change this whole case around.”

“I would absolutely show you, if I had called or texted someone, but it looks like that is not the case,” Constantin said, looking through his phone.

“Wait, what about the cameras?” Amy asked suddenly.

“Sadly, they were turned off alongside the rest of the security system,” Mr. Foster said.

“Not those. The ones in the animatronic’s eyes. Can’t we watch back that footage?”

“I would love it if we could, but that’s not how they work. The camera footage is not stored anywhere.”

“Then why have cameras in the first place? Looking at how Tony turned out, I doubt the cameras in the newer models are used to detect something to interact with,” Amy said.

“Well, it has to do with the AI the animatronics are equipped with. It’s state-of-the-art technology. We actually only got access to it through a sponsorship by the…”
“Skip to the important part!” Alice yelled.

“Sorry. Well, the short version is, the video isn’t stored, but the information gained from it is. Not all our animatronics are equipped with it, though.”

While Mr. Foster was in the middle of his explanation, Alice stormed off with a determined look on her face.

“The ones that are equipped with the AI are the ones that are meant to interact with the guests. The band, Sally, Lenny, and Toby. Rocko was also meant to make use of it, but after all of this, I doubt I’ll be able to use him.”

“Great, so we literally have a bunch of useless cameras here,” Jim complained.

“No, we don’t!” Amy realized. “I think that’s why Alice ran off. She also understood the significance of this information.”

Amy quickly explained what she and Alice had realized, and then took off, trying to find Alice.

Saturday, November 16, 12:25 pm: Dining Area, Chimpy’s Funhouse

Alice stared into the unblinking eyes of the robotic sloth, towering over her. She was thinking about how to proceed.

“Hello, friend. Do you need something?” Sally Sloth asked. “I am always happy to answer your questions, or you can ask one of our safari guides for help.”

“Listen, I don’t trust your kind, but if you are the only ones that can help solve this case, I guess that’s how it has to be.”

“Why would you not trust sloths? I assure you, we are very kind.”

“What? No, I’m talking about animatronics. You give me the creeps.”

“I’m sorry.”

“An apology doesn’t change the situation we’re in, now does it?”

Sally slouched down to appear sad, but her always-happy eyes made the gesture appear artificial and rather threatening. “What can I help you with to make up for the discomfort I’ve caused? I could recommend one of our wonderful dishes, which is sure to put a smile on your face.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not. But there is something you can help me with. I’ve come here to ask you about last night, so you could start by telling me about what you remember.”

“We had a group of guests here who were partying at around 1 am. I was surprised to see guests at that time, as I’m normally resting during the off hours.”

“I knew you’d be here,” Amy said as she got to the dining area.

“Oh, another guest. Are you two related?” Sally asked.

“Don’t get distracted. This is a conversation between the two of us,” Alice said, not even sparing Amy a quick glance.

“Alice, are you really giving me the silent treatment?”

“What can you tell me about the guests from last night?” Alice continued the interrogation.

“There were four young men. A small group, having a private party outside business hours.”

“Alice, listen, what happened to you is horrible, and I get that you’re upset, but you can’t blame this Linus for what your brother did to you.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Alice asked angrily. “My Linus would not have hesitated to kill me, and neither would yours. As I said, the only reason you and I are still alive is because of our actions, not because he changed his mind. Face it, there are many timelines out there where he killed us, and those versions of Linus are no different from yours or mine.”

“But he deeply regrets it. I’d rather give him a second chance than cut ties with someone I had so much fun with in my childhood.”

“The only reason you get to give him a second chance is that you’re privileged enough to have the best outcome. Frankly, even I am privileged compared to others in my situation. All those other Alices are still stuck on the street, feared as the brother killer of Lawreyville.”

“Wait, but you were found not guilty,” Amy pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. As soon as the news started reporting on Linus’ death, it spread across the internet like wildfire. A fun new obsession for the drama-craving chronically online people. Didn’t take long for my full name to be uncovered. And after that, no one cared about the outcome of the trial. After all, it’s much more fun if you can make up your own stories, isn’t it?”

“That certainly explains a lot.”

“Don’t give me any of that empathy shit!” Alice said in a sudden change of demeanor back to her anger, almost as if she had an obligation to stick with her previous fury.

“What, you think I can’t feel bad for what happened to you, just because I didn’t have to go through it myself?”

“Pretty much.”

“Oh, no, this makes me sad,” the animatronic said.

“How about you stay out of this, tin can?”

“But you were so close to making up.”

“That’s not how Alice works. She has to keep up her stupid act to pretend she’s not fazed by any of her trauma.”

“Oh, look who’s talking. How’s the eating disorder treating you?”

“Thought about that one real hard, did you?”

“Shut your mouth, your breath stinks of vomit.”

“Fuck you, I haven’t purged in the last two years!”

Alice was about to add something, but she realized just in time that she had already crossed a line, and her next comment would have been a point of no return.

“Ladies, how about we talk this out in a civilized way?”

“Who are you calling a Lady?!” Alice asked angrily.

“Others would take it as a compliment, but I guess that doesn’t go with your insecurity around femininity.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

“Seriously, you’re like the poster child of toxic masculinity, and you’re not even a man.”

“How about we all take a deep breath and work together to resolve this conflict?”

“What are you, a therapist?” Alice asked.

“I have consumed multiple days’ worth of content on conflict resolution,” the animatronic explained.

“Well, I don’t care for resolving this conflict, so can we get back to the case?”

“Seems like someone’s too afraid to engage in a fair discussion,” Amy said.

“You know what, fuck you. Sally, let’s get this over with so I can get back to the actually important things.”

“Perfect. Now, the first step is to tell each other what’s bothering you. How about you start us off, Alice?”

“Nope, Amy can start.”

“Well, Amy, what are you upset about?”

“Didn’t I already make myself clear? I’m upset that Alice can’t accept that I’d rather give my brother a second chance than lose any chance at a healthy relationship with him. After all, like he said, we were both products of our parents’ abuse, even if that abuse came in different forms.”

“Is it my turn?” Alice asked, not entertaining Amy’s point for a second.

“Go ahead.”

“I find it deeply problematic to suggest that Linus’ behavior can be chalked up as a normal response to the way our parents overworked him.”

“I didn’t say that. I just pointed out that his actions weren’t born out of nothing.”

“Amy, please let Alice finish.”

“Thanks, Sally. Jesus, look what you’re doing to me? I’m thanking an animatronic.”

“And that is very nice of you, Alice,” Sally said.

“Whatever. Let me point out one thing. If Linus’ abuse is truly comparable to ours, doesn’t that prove how much he can be blamed for his actions? Even ignoring how much older he was, wouldn’t this equal treatment of our situations imply that we would have done the same thing as him? Or at the very least something on the same level?”

“I think you’ve both made your points clear, so we can move on to the next step.”

“Shouldn’t I answer her question?”

“The protocol only talks about stating our problems, not discussing them, so you’ll have to wait till we get to that step!” Sally said, weirdly insistent.

“Screw the protocol. I’d rather go back to prison than continue this by-the-numbers therapy bullshit.”

“So we agree for once. I’d also prefer to have a normal conversation over some forced multi-step program.”

“I would not recommend deviating from the standard format. But if that is what you wish for, I will adjust my procedure.”

“I’d prefer it if you’d just shut up,” Alice said.

“I’m afraid I have to assist in conflict resolution, at least until your guardian shows up.”

“I highly doubt those will show up,” Amy said, somewhat jokingly.

“Yup,” Alice agreed shortly.

“So, how about you tell each other how this conflict makes you feel?” Sally suggested.

“Annoyed,” Alice answered promptly.

“Well, that makes two.”

“Why would you answer annoyed? You’ve expressed much stronger emotions, so why do you choose annoyance?”

“Because it’s always the same thing with her. I keep thinking she’s better than this, but then she always proves me wrong by expressing her fucking Stockholm syndrome.”

“Maybe read up on what that is, because I certainly don’t have it. And talk about the kettle calling the pot black, you’re the one stuck in her old ways. Since the day we’ve met, you’ve been so insecure about showing even an ounce of vulnerability. You’re basically a caricature. If Paradox were here, they would demand that your character be dropped because it lacks any sort of coherent development.”

“Why am I not surprised that you quote the criminal you’ve fallen in love with?” Alice asked provokingly.

“How do you know about that?!”

“You gave me that turtle plush to stitch it back together, and Mika told me that Paradox was the one who dropped it. Doesn’t take a genius-level intellect to understand what’s going on.”

“You seem to have very similar problems with each other. That is very promising for solving this conflict. How about you both suggest a compromise, so we can meet in the middle.”

“I have no interest in meeting in the middle,” Alice said.

“To be fair, I can’t really see a possible compromise. Either I accept my brother’s apology, or I don’t. And I’ve already made up my mind, so you can come to terms with that, or shut up.” Amy looked at Alice, who stayed quiet. “Seems like all of this was a massive waste of time. Can we get back to the case?” Amy asked, seriously annoyed.

Alice seemed hesitant. “Amy, wait,” she said, after some consideration. Her demeanor had shifted.

“Seems like she has more to say.”

“Take a break, Sally, this is between two humans.” Alice pressed the button on Sally’s back.

“What do you want?” Amy asked.

“If it’s vulnerability you won’t, then let me be honest.” Alice paused for a moment, building up courage. “I’m afraid that you’ll get hurt. Truth is, it’s much easier to just cut ties with anyone who has wronged you than to try to mend things. I never got the chance to accept my brother’s apology, so I have no idea if I would accept it or not. It was never something I had to worry about. But seeing you being given that choice, I worry that you’ll come to regret it.”

“I get what you’re saying, but I promise you, I’m not desperate for this relationship. I hope we can make things work, but if it becomes clear my brother hasn’t changed, there won’t be a third chance.”

“I guess I can live with that. But if he shows even a slight bit of negativity towards you, I’ll break his kneecaps.”

“And we’re back at the tough act.”

“It’s not an act. I’m just that tough.”

“I know. But I do like it when you show both sides of you. A bit of vulnerability makes the toughness seem even more badass in contrast, you know.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. But what’s your obsession with seeming badass, anyway?”

“I can’t get hurt that way.”

“I highly doubt that. But even so, it doesn’t explain your problems with embracing anything feminine. I mean, in my case, I understand it, but you seem comfortable in your own body.”

Alice started laughing. “You seriously think that I’m comfortable in my own skin? Ha, you really are a horrible judge of character.”

“Really? What’s wrong with the way you look?”

“Let’s not get into that.”

“Why?”

“As your ex might say, too much character exposition hurts the passing of the episode.”

Amy chuckled.

“How about we get back to the case?” Alice asked.

“Sure, but only if we do it as a team.”

“I was kinda implying that.”

“No more fighting.”

“Unless it’s fun.”

“Let’s solve this. Team Spark Finn for the win.” Amy smiled and held out her hand.

Alice simply smirked and shook it before turning the animatronic back on.

“Okay, where were we?” Amy asked.

“We were working through your conflict.”

“Yeah, we’re already done with that,” Alice said. “How about you tell us more about the events of last night, instead of getting involved in our personal matters?”

“Well, they didn’t spend much time here in the dining area. When they first got here, they talked about preparing a party.”

“Before you continue, do you know these four guys? Do you know their names?” Amy asked.

“Yes, they come here often.”

“Perfect, then can you tell us about what they were doing?”

“Samuel was telling Constantin and Daniel to go get food and party supplies from the storage, while he and Kai would get the laser tag gear.”

“So Kai was helping with the laser tag gear? But his fingerprints were only on two guns.”

“Kai was carrying the vests, and Samuel brought the guns. They put all the stuff here and started playing, after handing out the gear.”

“This means that Samuel, or maybe Kai, was in control of who got which gun,” Alice pointed out.

“Did you see anything else?”

“They were playing for a while, but later, while the game was still going on, Daniel came here. He took some of the food and went into the kitchen. He was being followed by Constantin, who was trying to shoot him.”

“Well, did he hit him?” Alice asked.

“I can’t say for certain. I heard two loud bangs, and then he looked disappointed and walked away.”

“Doesn’t sound like he hit him,” Alice said.

“Also doesn’t sound like he killed him. He would have certainly reacted in some way, no matter if he was planning on murdering him or not,” Amy added.

“Why would he just walk away, though?”

“The kitchen is a safe zone. That’s what they had agreed on. You’re not allowed to go in there with a gun. That’s why Daniel had put his gun next to me.”

“So, did you see Daniel again after that?” Amy asked.

“He must have left the kitchen at some point. At least his corpse was found out here,” Alice added.

“He stayed in the kitchen. Not long after he’d entered the kitchen, I was suddenly turned off, and as I opened my eyes again, he was standing near me. I was in the middle of greeting him when the kitchen exploded, and he just dropped to the floor.”

“Which way was he looking when he fell down?” Jim asked. He had slowly made his way to the dining area, overhearing parts of Sally’s testimony.

“He was looking away from the kitchen, but as I started talking, he turned around and started walking toward the kitchen. He didn’t even make it one step, though, before the explosion happened.“

“But that would imply that the shooter was in the kitchen, as it was exploding,” Jim said.

“Are you sure there was no one else in the dining area?” Amy asked.

“I’m certain. Only Daniel was here. Although I heard someone scream from somewhere behind me.”

“That would have likely been Kai. The band confirmed that he fell down just after the power was turned back on,” Jim said.

“So you’re done interrogating them?” Amy asked.

“Seems like we all are,” Officer Rhody said. She and Parker were approaching the group.

“Can’t say I got much out of Toby Toucan,” Parker said.

After Amy had realized what Alice was up to, she’d tasked the others with interrogating the other AI-controlled animatronics before she went after Alice. Like you just heard, Jim took on the band, Parker talked to Toby, and Officer Rhody went to the laser tag cave to interrogate Lenny.

“But this does throw a spanner in the works, right? I mean, our theory on how Daniel was murdered and why the explosion was caused has been proven wrong,” Jim said.

“It would appear so. What do you think, Alice?” Amy asked.

Alice was caught off guard. She’d been thinking hard about something. “I might know what happened. But I’ll have to confirm something first. Let me just quickly call an expert.” Alice stepped aside and pulled out her phone.

“What kind of expert?” Amy asked. Alice didn’t answer her, but as the expert picked up, the question was answered straight away.

“Hey, Mika, how are you?” Alice greeted her sibling.

“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten. We’re still on for the premiere of episode 7 of Clever as a Fox today. But listen, I was calling you to confirm something with you.”

“You remember when we fell down that rabbit hole?”

“No, not an actual one. I mean the Beyond Belief marathon we did.”

“Exactly. So, you remember that episode with the tree and the bullet?”

“Can you run me through the results of our research?”

“Yeah, I got time.”

The group waited as Alice listened to Mika’s report. It went on for longer than you might assume.

“Thanks. I’ll call you later for the premiere this evening.”

“So, Mika is your expert?” Amy asked.

“Don’t be stupid, they’re everyone’s expert, not just mine. But to get to the point, Jim, you put the door back together, right?”

“Yup. Like a professional jigsaw… guy.” Jim seemed unsure what the right word would be.

“You wouldn’t happen to have found a small dent? You know, big enough for a bullet to fit in?”

“Yes, I think there was something like that. One of the cracks goes right through it.”

“I see. So that’s one of the two shots Constantin fired,” Amy said.

“No. Only one of the bangs Sally heard was a shot. But I’ll get to that.”

“Hold on, did I hear you correctly? You asked about Beyond Belief? Like the TV show?” Officer Rhody asked.

“Exactly that one. One of their earliest stories shares some interesting details with Daniel’s death.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure if that show is the best point of reference. I mean, a lot of what happens there is overly dramatized,” Officer Rhody said.

“Not to mention that many of their true stories have questionable sources at best,” Amy added.

“I’m aware. See, Mika and I were bedridden a while back, so we spent our time binging Beyond Belief, and as some extra entertainment, we researched their true stories to see how real they are.”

“I take it, the story in question is real?” Parker asked.

“The real story is even closer to what happened here than the version in the show. See, in the real story, a man wanted to fell a tree with dynamite. But stuck in that tree was a bullet. I’ll ignore how that bullet got here, but what’s important is the fact that, according to news stories of the time,…”

“The explosion launched the bullet into the man, killing him,” Amy said. “Did I get it right?”

“Exactly. See, my theory is that just as Daniel entered the kitchen, Constantin tried to shoot him. Likely not aware of the actual bullets his gun was firing. But, just as he fired the gun, the kitchen door slammed shut. We’ve all seen how quickly that goes down.”

“And the bullet got stuck in the door until the explosion freed it,” Officer Rhody said.

“As for the rest, I assume he turned on the gas to prepare the food, just as the power turned off. He likely flicked the switch on the grill to test if it was still working. Seeing as it didn’t, he left to check on the breaker. Doing so, he forgot to turn the grill off or close the valve on the gas cannister. He didn’t get far before the power was turned back on. So, he turned around, and I’m sure you can guess what happened from there.”

“Kaboom,” Jim said, gesturing a bullet hitting him right between the eyes.

“So we now know how all three victims died, but that doesn’t tell us who was behind all of this. In fact, this just adds another person who died because the breaker was turned back on,” Officer Rhody said.

“I was hoping you’d found something out that could help with that,” Amy said, looking at the other three.

“Don’t look at me. As I said, the only thing Toby could tell me is that there were four guys here, playing laser tag in the middle of the night,” Parker said.

“The band knew a bit more than that. I’ll run you through it,” Jim offered. “Samuel entered the jungle gym, pretty much right after they started playing laser tag. A while later, Kai went inside, followed shortly after by Constantin. And not long after that, the power went out. That’s the gist of what they told me,” Jim said. “Well, besides the part where Kai came tumbling from the heavens, that is.

“The Lemur said something similar. Apparently, Samuel was the only one to never enter the laser tag cave. Daniel left first, probably to go to the kitchen, and after that came Constantin and Kai. So it basically just confirmed what we already knew,” Officer Rhody summarized.

“I can slowly see the bigger picture. And I think the solution to this puzzle can be found in the fingerprints,” Amy said. “Alice, could we quickly run through this?”

“Sure.”

The two walked away after Amy told them to gather everyone in the hall.

Saturday, November 16, 12:50 pm: Main Hall, Chimpy’s Funhouse

“Good, you’re all here,” Amy said as she and Alice stepped in front of the group.

“Have you solved the case?” Mrs. Dubois-Baker asked.

“Who killed my son?!” Mrs. Carter asked furiously. One of the officers was holding onto her phone so she couldn’t make the events public before the case had been solved.

“Are you still insisting my son did it?” Mr. Bailey asked in a similar temper.

Amy nervously looked at the riled-up group. “Everybody, calm down. We’ll get to that as soon as…”

“It was Samuel,” Alice cut her off in a dry tone.

“What?!” Jim yelled.

“Are you really surprised he…” Alice started.

“What? No, I was surprised that you revealed it right away. What about the big monologue? What about the suspense?” Jim said, sounding a bit disappointed.

“Well, unlike that embodiment of High School Musical who calls himself our boss, we don’t give a crap about the theatrics.”

“Plus, we thought it worked best if we started by revealing the culprit,” Amy added.

“You can’t just say he did it. Get on with the explanation. And you better have some solid evidence,” Officer Rhody said, taking a large sip from her cup.

“We were getting to that. But I wanted to confirm one thing first. I assume you spoke among each other, so you all know how the three victims died?”

“I know all three were killed by this murderer when he turned the power on,” Mrs. Carter yelled.

“How about you look up murder in the dictionary before you open your mouth?” Alice asked.

“True. It’s at most manslaughter, unless he specifically lined everything up, which seems unlikely,” Parker said. “And considering the absurdity of the events, he can likely not be found guilty of that either.”

Constantin had lowered his head, feeling guilty for what had happened.

“Thanks, that clearly cheered him up,” Alice said sarcastically.

“So are you going to argue that Samuel somehow lined up all these deaths perfectly so they would be caused by Constantin?” Officer Rhody asked.

“No. What we’re proposing is laughably stupid,” Alice said.

“Just to be clear, our theory isn’t stupid. The events and how they happened are stupid,” Amy added.

“I think they got that,” Alice said.

“I just wanted to make sure there was no confusion.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “What we’re saying is that Samuel had a whole plan to commit murder, but it went wrong. So wrong in fact, that he actually succeeded in killing his target.”

“His target being Daniel, right?” Jim asked. “It’s like you said before, both Samuel and Kai had a motive to kill him, as revenge for taking their scholarship.”
“Exactly,” Amy said. “And the reason why he had this whole elaborate plan was so he could get someone else to kill Daniel.”

“So, Kai was meant to be the scapegoat?” Mr. Foster asked.

“Indeed, he was,” Alice said. “Think about it, Kai had a motive, the murder weapon was his father’s gun, and the murderer was clearly crafty, something Kai was well known for.”
“And most importantly, Kai was the one with the deadly gun,” Amy said proudly.

“Wait, I thought Constantin was the one with the murder weapon,” Parker pointed out.

“Yes, that’s what the fingerprints led us to believe. But if you look a little closer, they tell a different story. Keep in mind, Kai’s prints were also on the murder weapon,” Amy explained.

“This is really just the first of many mistakes Samuel made. After all, he was the one handing out the guns,” Alice said.

“We believe he handed the guns out as follows. Samuel got 5, Daniel got 16, Kai got 9, and Constantin got 13.”

“Wait, but that doesn’t line up,” Parker said, looking at the list Amy had made.

“Right, because that list shows what guns they ended up using during the game, not the ones they were handed.”

“I’m confused,” Mr. Foster said, scratching his head.

“Well, two people switched their guns, obviously,” Alice said. “We’ve established that gun #9 was the murder weapon. We’ve also established that the killer’s craftsmanship was anything but impressive. To a trained tinkerer’s eye, such as Kai’s, the gun would look damaged or even broken, so he went back after the group had spread out to get a different gun. We know how seriously he took laser tag, so he would not want to play with damaged equipment. As for the other person, Constantin was handed gun #13. You can probably assume that a superstitious person like him would not want anything to do with that number. So he went back as well, grabbing the gun on top of the pile.”

“Which happened to be the gun Kai had just dropped there.”

“Is that true?” Mrs. Dubois-Baker asked her son.

“I remember going back to switch the gun. But I can’t say for sure which gun I picked up. But the one I was handed was definitely 13.”

“I guess that explanation lines up with what we know,” Officer Rhody said.

“We’re not done here,” Alice said. “See, we’ve been ignoring an important question. Why would Constantin shoot the sub panel?”

“You’re right! If he’s not the killer, what reason did he have to do so?” Parker asked.

“Simple, none,” Amy said.

“Is this some kind of joke?!” Mrs. Carter asked.

“No, I’m serious. He had no reason to shoot the sub panel. What he had a reason to shoot was the vests of his opponents. Vests that, just like the sub panels, glow red. In the dim light and likely from far away, he just saw a red glow and shot in that direction. Unaware he was firing actual bullets. Keep in mind, there were likely multiple nets between him and the panel, obstructing his vision.”

“And the best thing is, Samuel’s to blame for that. Well, even more than just for the bullet thing,” Alice added.

“That’s right. See, Samuel basically caused every single error himself.”

“We know Samuel was hiding in the jungle gym, obviously trying not to get shot. But, after a while, Kai decided to head exactly there. The roof of the jungle gym, to be precise. We know he’s very invested in these games, so getting to a higher ground makes sense for him.”

“Samuel would have likely seen him approaching, so he ran away, still believing Kai was the one with the real gun,” Amy continued. “He couldn’t use the actual exit out of fear of crossing paths with Kai, and he couldn’t take the slides out of fear that Kai could easily discover him if he did that. So he picked the alternative he’d likely prepared beforehand, considering the knife in his pocket. He ran to the back of the jungle gym and cut one of the tarps open, creating an exit.”

“But it was exactly that slit through which Constantin, after following Kai, saw the red glow,” Alice said.

“And that’s not all. Samuel was also the one to tell the others to get the food. This eventually led to the explosion in the kitchen, as Daniel was preparing that exact food.”

“It was also that trip to get both food and party supplies that killed Samuel. For one, they dropped some cake, which Samuel would later slip on, and the party hats they got activated the animatronic that locked him in the freezer,” Alice finished the list.

“The truth is, all of this happened because Samuel thought of a way too elaborate plan to eliminate the risk of being caught, by getting someone else to commit the murder for him, but in doing so, he messed up even worse.”

“Am I the only one whose head hurts from all of this?” Mr. Foster asked.

“No, me too,” Parker said.

“Well, it is certainly a good theory, one I will undoubtedly have to look into further. So, thanks for the extra work, I guess,” Officer Rhody said.

“Don’t worry, that’s just her way of saying thanks,” Jim explained.

The group spread out after a while, with the officers getting back to work, trying to find more evidence that could prove the theory.

“Thank you two so much!” Mrs. Dubois-Baker said, giving Amy and Alice an intense hug.

“Don’t worry about it. I just hope they can find definitive proof,” Amy said.

“Hey, asshole!” Alice looked over to Mr. Baker.

“Listen, as I said, I’m sorry for what I did. And I guess for what all other versions of me did.”

“Yeah, I don’t give a crap. Frankly, I will never forgive any version of you, but I’ve decided to stop caring about it. But if you want to make yourself useful, call this number.” Alice handed him a paper she’d scribbled on.

“Whose number is this?”

“Who do you think?” Alice asked, annoyed. “It’s the number of a great lawyer. Believe me, you can’t go wrong with him.”

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to consult him on this case, so we can prove Constantin’s innocence.”

“Can I be real with you?” Alice asked, leading Linus away from the others.

“Sure, what’s the matter?”

“If you ask me, things aren’t looking good for Constantin.”

“Do you mean because of the lack of definitive proof?”

“Yes, but not just that. Even if we get proof he was not involved in planning this murder, chances are, he’ll still be found guilty of murder.”

“How?”

“Take this with a grain of salt. I’m only speaking from the perspective of someone who’s been to prison. I talked to many people in there, heard their stories, and after I got out, I tried to learn more about the legal system. That obviously doesn’t make me an expert.”

“But why do you think he could be found guilty of murder? I agree with Parker that it would be manslaughter at most.”

“Yes, one would think. But I believe the prosecution would have an easy time getting him on charges of felony murder. Believe me, people have been found guilty of that, for much less.”

“So what are you saying? He’s just doomed to be arrested for a crime he was tricked into committing?”

“I’m just saying it’s highly possible. That’s why I’m telling you to call this number. Don’t rely on any other lawyer. This guy is absolutely the best you can get. Not to mention how respectful he treats his clients.”

“Alice, I… I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”
“Just make sure not to fuck this up. Don’t want you to ruin another life.”

Amy and Alice stayed a little longer before heading home.

As they stepped outside, they were greeted by a flurry of flashing lights and hectic talking.

A crowd had gathered outside the building. Among the people were many reporters, desperately trying to get the scoop on this case.

Thankfully, Jim was craving attention, so all the people focused on him, letting Amy and Alice pass by.

They decided to take the bus instead of driving with Mrs. Dubois-Baker.

Saturday, November 16, 14:10 pm: D&M Detective Office, Ashbypond

Amy turned the key in the lock and opened the front door.

“So, he defended you for free?”

“That’s what I told you, isn’t it? I had basically no money, and obviously, our parents wouldn’t pay, so I didn’t have much chance of getting a lawyer,” Alice explained while taking off her shoes.

“That was just after they changed that law, right?”

“The right to counsel? Yeah. Changing it from the right to an attorney to the right to hire an attorney.”

“What a fun way of making it even harder for the poor to get any proper representation,” Amy added sarcastically.

“God, I love this country,” Alice said, rolling her eyes as she put her crowbar to the side.

“What did you say his name was?”

“Bill Troch, head of Troch & Co. Law Offices.”

“I knew it. So that’s why you knew Theodor Brown.”

“I told you I knew his mentor.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t say that he defended you in court.”

“Who says I have to tell you about that? But honestly, I was surprised to learn that the star pupil of a defense attorney became a prosecutor. Although I guess Bill Troch does have a history with both.”

“You really did your research.”

“Sure did. The man’s a hero after all. But enough about all that. I’m surprised you got me to talk about the trial for so long.”

“Right, that was a lot of earnestness. Come on, give me your best insult to balance things out,” Amy said jokingly.

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I think pointing out that you had your fly down the entire case would be low-hanging fruit.”

“What?!” Amy stared down at her pants, realizing in embarrassment that Alice was right. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I thought it was funny.”
“You dick!” Amy said, although judging from her tone, she didn’t mean it.

“So, are you busy?” Alice asked, while Amy zipped up her pants.

“No, why?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

“And here I was hoping you just wanted to spend some time together.”

“We can do that too.”

“So, what favor are we talking about?”

“This.” Alice held up a thumb drive.

“Do you expect me to know what’s on there just by looking at it?”

“I don’t know what your nerd-powers allow you to do. But if you’re asking so nicely. I got Brad to give me a copy of the AI his animatronics use.”

“So that’s what you were talking to him about. I do have to admit, I was impressed by the AI.”

“I wanted to use it for the Crimebuster.”

“You want an AI built into your suit? So you’re moving away from Black Noir and over to Iron Man?”

“What version of Black Noir are we talking about?” Alice asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Obviously. You think I want to be compared to the comic book version? That guy’s a fucking monster.”

“I see someone’s done her research. I guess there goes my power of making references you don’t get,” Amy said, chuckling to herself.

“I wasn’t really planning on a full-blown AI assistant in my suit,” Alice continued. “I have no interest in dealing with Super Clippy backseating me during investigations. No, I was more thinking about installing a camera in the back of the helmet and a simplified version of the AI could warn me if danger was approaching from behind.”

“I see the vision, and I like it. I’ll have to scrap some parts of the AI, and I’ll probably have to…” Amy started mumbling, planning out this new project, while walking to her office.

“You know what the best part is?” Alice asked, following Amy.

“What?”

“Well, you get to keep this copy of the AI. You can do anything you want with it.”

“It would be interesting to work with such an advanced AI. Maybe I could combine it with some of my other programs, or improve on some of the features.”

“Jesus, if I’d known you’d started chewing my ear off about all that nerd stuff, I would have told you this in an email.”

“Thanks, Alice, this is a really nice, late birthday gift.”

“What do you mean? I got you a gift.”

“Yeah, socks. That’s famously the cliché of a bad gift.”

“They had the Umbrella Corp logo on them. Don’t you love Resident Evil?”

“Still, a bit of a simple gift, don’t you think? I mean, I got you a collector’s figure of Akira from Persona 5.”

“His name is Ren,” Alice replied, annoyed.

“Nope, I can show you online.”

“Now you’re just trying to piss me off.”

“I am,” Amy replied jokingly.

“Just go program your AI lover.”

“I’m not gonna do that, because I’m not a weirdo.” Amy sat down in front of her computer, turning the screen on.

“Sure, like you’re above dating an AI. Tell me, how did your last few crushes turn out?”

Amy rolled her eyes. She was just about to plug in the thumb drive when she noticed the notification that had popped up on her screen.

It read: “Data successfully decrypted.”

“Oh shit, I totally forgot about this.”

“What are you waiting for? Let’s snoop through a killer’s private data,” Alice said excitedly.

“I’m on it.” Amy pulled up the first thing she could find. The text history.

“Wow, pretty barren,” she said.

“Seems like Ms. Clark deleted most of her messages before meeting up with Mr. Cabrera.”

“Indeed. But not everything. Here, a few texts in this chat are still left.”

“Well, I guess this explains why she didn’t want the police to see her phone,” Alice said, pointing to the chat Amy had opened. There wasn’t much left of the conversation between Ms. Clark and the person saved under the name Excalibur. What was left were pictures of the research data on Cabrerium.

“Seems like she did succeed in her mission to get the data for her employer,” Alice said.

“That would certainly fit with my theory. I had been wondering about the timing of her death,” Amy said.

“It’s too perfect, right?”

“Yes. Almost like she’d outlived her usefulness and her boss just wanted to tie up loose ends.”

“She was arrested, so there was a risk that she could get loose lips. I guess in this case, Snitches don’t get stitches but rather get murdered in a car crash.”

“Let me check something.” Amy started looking through the data, searching for something in particular.

“What are you looking for?”

“Considering she’s wiped almost everything from her phone, I want to see what’s the oldest thing she still has on here.”

“And?” Alice asked impatiently.

“Give me some time. I need to scroll through some uninteresting stuff. Naturally, the oldest data is general stuff relating to the software. Maybe I can use the AI for tasks like this in the future.”

“Just skip the nerd-talk and tell me when you’ve got something interesting.”

“Got it,” Amy said right away.

“That was quick.”

“Thanks. Seems like it’s a video file. Actually, most of the oldest data is comprised of video files.”

“Well, looking at the titles, you can probably guess why there’s so much of that,” Alice pointed out.

“Looks like she’s kept a daily video journal,” Amy said before clicking on the oldest file.

“February 3, 2023. Project: Substance Rho, video report entry #1,” Linda Clark said, appearing in front of the camera. She seemed very excited, and nothing like the coldhearted murderer they had met previously.

“Tomorrow is finally the day I will get to start this new project. Today I got a chance to inspect the lab that the Red Eye is providing us with.”

“Well, that confirms what I’d assumed,” Amy said. “Excalibur does slide in pretty nicely with all the other codenames the Red Eye uses.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Alice said awkwardly. She still hadn’t told anyone about her conversation with Nemo and the information she’d learned from it.

“It will certainly be a challenge to come up with a substance that fits all the criteria, especially seeing as how the Red Eye still hasn’t told me what it will be used for, but I’m confident we can achieve it. I believe that a good idea would be to rework one of my previous experiments, Substance Zeta, as it shares some of the intended properties of Substance Rho. Today I also got to meet my partner for this experiment. I’ve been looking forward to this, as I haven’t seen him since college, when I still attended his lectures. I’m certain that with the help of Professor Cabrera, I will be able to finish this project successfully.” Ms. Clark chuckled. “Or, well, should I say Jekyll. That’s his codename after all. He thought it was corny, but I kinda like the codenames. They have a certain charm. However, I’m not very happy with mine. Doctor Moreau is known for biological experiments, while I myself am more focused on chemistry.” She went on, talking about less important information, while Amy and Alice stared at each other.

“So, who’s gonna be the one to tell Xavier and Ralph that Mr. Cabrera worked for the Red Eye?” Amy asked, disturbed by the revelation.

The two continued looking through all the data they’d recovered, but this is where I will end my retelling for now. Yes, I know I’m cutting it off at an unfortunate point, but I find it more fitting to focus on this topic in the final chapter.

Seeing as that’s the case, I will keep my conclusion short for once.

As for the taste of what’s to come, I think there isn’t much point to keeping it a secret. The next chapter will finally resolve Case #51: Missing, which has been haunting the agency for over a year now.

I will see you again when we finally put an end to all of this.