Chapter Text
Omori stared at the scene before him. The Otherworld campground didn’t change much between day and night, but this hour seemed different. The area near the lake was near empty, except for two figures who stood near its edge.
“I told you, Sweetheart, I can’t take it anymore,” the blue-skinned pirate said, his lone eye gleaming in the moonlight. “I love you, but I’ve taken too much from the other pirates. They’re my friends, and I can’t stand what we’ve done to them.”
“You made a promise to me,” The lady in the frilly dress replied. “You told me you’d put me first. Always. Besides, the money was stolen in the first place, right? There’s no such thing as stealing from pirates.”
“That’s different,” Spaceboy said. “There’s a code. A sense of honor we’re supposed to follow. They all worked hard for the loot, they’re owed some as well.”
“And I’m owed more from you,” Sweetheart replied.
Omori gripped his knife tightly. He knew what was about to happen, but no matter what he couldn’t intervene. Before another word could be exchanged, Sweetheart drew a blaster from her purse and aimed it straight at Spaceboy’s heart. She fired. The pirate fell back into the lake, and disappeared under the crimson water. Sweetheart threw the gun after him, and left the area, only giving a brief glare at Omori.
Omori’s heart raced. He wanted to find his friends, to seek comfort in them after what he just saw. But that wasn’t what he was tasked with doing. He knew what Mari would say. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and plunged the knife into his own chest.
***
Sunny woke up in a sweat. His mouth was dry. He wanted to grab a glass of water from downstairs. But he knew he couldn’t delay his task. He picked up the phone beside his bed, and dialed in a number.
“Commissioner Vance speaking,” the voice said.
“It’s me, Sunny. I figured out what happened to the missing CEO. It was the wife.”
He explained in detail where the evidence could be found, and who to bring in as witnesses. When he was finally finished, he walked over to the bathroom, and stared at himself, his sightless right eye looking back. He sighed. That was a good sign.
After finishing breakfast, he made his way to the apartment door. He took a deep breath, and twisted the knob. The door opened without a struggle. Another sigh. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad.
***
Sunny tapped his foot as he watched the Commissioner pore over the notes.
“After all these years, I still have trouble reading your scribbles,” Vance said, chuckling. “But the evidence checks out. We brought her in for questioning, and she confessed, after we poked holes in her alibi like you suggested. It’ll probably take a few days to wrap up the paperwork, but don’t think it’ll hurt to hand this over now.”
Vance gave Sunny a check.
$2000. Enough to cover rent, and groceries for the month - as long as Sunny was willing to forgo steak for a few weeks. Besides, there was a chance he’d get more cases. But still…
“It’s only one check.” Sunny said.
Vance sighed. “You know that isn’t my decision. Oh, I forgot to mention - the Mayor wants to speak with you. There’s a special case he’d like you to work on.”
“That’s funny. He’s just the one I wanted to speak to,” Sunny said, staring at the check.
***
The Mayor’s office was simultaneously the most tidy, and the most cluttered room you could imagine. Every square inch of the walls was covered in campaign memorabilia or photos of politicians he was trying to emulate. The biggest was a life sized poster showing the Mayor, with his signature smile, and his campaign slogan: “We need more than a Mayor. We need a Hero!”
His desk was no different, with picture frames, small statues, and other awards leaving little room for anything else. But everything had a clear order to it. Everything fit together to create a nice symmetry.
“Sunny, it’s good to see you!” the Mayor said, gesturing at the chair in front of his desk.
Sunny didn’t sit down. He held up the check. “I think there’s been a mistake.”
Hero blinked. “Two thousand per case, I thought that was the agreement?”
“Two thousand for each of us.”
Hero sighed. He glanced at one of the photos on his desk, showing him at his graduation, surrounded by his parents and siblings. By then Kel had outgrown him, wrapping one arm around him and their parents, and tightly holding Sally in the other.
“You were the one who solved the case.” Hero said.
“He helped,” Sunny replied.
“I send him money out of my own paycheck,” Hero said. “It’s enough to cover his rent.”
“Yeah, and not much more.”
Hero frowned. “You know what he’ll spend the extra cash on.”
“That’s his right.”
Hero stood up. “I campaigned on a zero tolerance policy for drugs. You have any idea how it looks for the city to be spending money on that? And for my own relative!”
Sunny took a step back. Of course, that was where the Mayor’s priorities were. That’s all that mattered these days.
As if the Mayor could read his mind, his face softened.
“I’m sorry,” Hero said. “This is between me and him, and you deserve better than being the conduit. I’ll talk to him, and make sure he gets what he needs. I know you care about him, but he also needs to learn to take responsibility for himself.”
Sunny said nothing. He wanted to say more, like how leaving his apartment alone this morning took every fiber in his body. Or how many times he needed to be reminded to eat, or to even look before crossing the street.
But he couldn’t say that to Hero. He saw the toll the job had taken on him, how despite him maintaining his sharp hairstyle and charming smile, lines had begun growing around his eyes and cheeks. Lines rare to see on men as young as him. Sunny couldn’t add more burdens to his life.
Sunny took a deep breath, and turned around.
“Wait,” Hero said. “I almost forget. There’s a special case I have for you.”
Sunny looked back. “Right. Vance mentioned it.”
Hero handed him a folder. “It’s officially a suicide - the police can’t find evidence to investigate further. But the woman was an informant for the mob. It’s too suspicious, I think there’s more to it, and Vance agrees. But we need to be discrete. One of the officers can escort you to the crime scene this evening.”
Sunny paused for a moment. Cracking down on the mob had been a big campaign theme. The case must have meant a lot to him politically.
“I’ll take it,” Sunny said. “But only for double the commission.”
Hero stared at him. He obviously knew what Sunny was asking. “Fine. But you only get payment when the case is closed.”
Sunny picked up the briefcase, and left the office.
***
Sunny knocked on the house door. The bus had taken him to the edge of town, in a neighborhood most sensible people avoided. The landlords who owned the houses on this block rarely showed their faces, and by the looks of it, rarely put in maintenance.
The door opened. It was winter, so Kel had replaced his tank tops with loose hoodies. It covered up his growing belly, but also distorted his shoulder frame. Of course, he still wore shorts, and didn’t seem to get a single goosebump on his legs as he stepped outside.
“Heyyy, Sunny,” he said. His breath reeked of pot. “You should come inside. Maverick was just about to order some pizza!”
“Actually, I need you for something,” Sunny said.
Kel blinked. He paused for several seconds. “Oh shit, I was supposed to check in with you this week! I’m so sorry man, I-”
“You did that on Monday. This is for a new case.”
“Oh, thank god,” Kel said. “Wait, aren’t we still on the old case? With the CEO?”
“I figured it out last night,” Sunny said. “It was the wife.”
“Didn’t she have one of those aliboys?”
“Alibi,” Sunny said. “And no, it turns out the lady at the diner had a pill addiction. Which the wife was blackmailing her with using the company’s purchase logs.”
“Woah,” Kel said, staring wide. “I don’t know how you figure this stuff out.”
“It’s just a puzzle,” Sunny said, looking away. After the cases they’d done, he had still never told Kel about Omori.
“And you were always the best at solving those,” Kel said, grinning. “So what’s this new case about?”
“I don’t know,” Sunny said. “Vance is going to show us the scene at 6 in the evening.”
“So we got plenty of time! You should come in, maybe we can watch the latest Spaceboy movie.”
Sunny sniffed the air coming out of Kel’s house, and recoiled immediately.
“I’d prefer to stretch my legs a bit.”
Kel’s stomach growled. “I think I know just the place.”
***
Sunny stared at Kel across the table. Sunny had gotten full after just two slices of pizza, but Kel was already halfway through his fifth, with no intention of stopping.
“I forgot,” Sunny said. “This is your commission.” He pulled out an envelope with cash inside, and passed it across the table. He hoped Kel had the sense not to open it in public, but he should have known better.
“Woah!” Kel said, flipping through the wad of bills with his grease-covered fingers. “Eight, nine — no way, ten thousand dollars for one case?”
“One thousand,” Sunny said.
“Oh,” Kel said. “I keep misreading the zeros. Wait, weren’t we supposed to get two grand each?”
“Budget cuts,” Sunny said. “Anyways, try to spend it on stuff you need.”
Kel smiled. “Don’t worry about me.” He sniffed a few times. “Maverick and I just did a little bit to celebrate, he’s got this new business venture that’s sure to take off any day.”
Sunny paused. He took a deep breath. “How’s the dating life going?”
Kel gave a half-smile. “Well, it’s hard to find a good time with my schedule. Besides, Maverick keeps inviting over women he calls up-”
Sunny frowned.
“I don’t do anything with them!” Kel said. “It’s just, not really the best place to bring a date.”
“Do you still think about Cris?” Sunny asked.
“No!” Kel snapped. “I mean, yes. Sometimes. Look, I know it’s been years. But…” He looked down. “It’s not like anyone would want a fuckup like me.”
“Don’t say that.” Sunny said, staring hard at him.
Kel smiled softly. “Did Hero tell you to ask me about this?”
“No,” Sunny said. “But he is worried about you.”
Kel laughed. “Of course, that’s him. I wish he and I could hang out more, but he’s got his job and all.”
“Besides,” Sunny said. “You can’t walk a block without seeing his face on a sign.”
Kel doubled over, giggling.
Sunny checked his watch. “We should head out soon. We need to meet Vance on River Street and Parkway.”
“We can wait,” Kel said. “It’s only a twenty minute drive, tops.”
Sunny glared at him.
“Fine,” Kel said, giving a sheepish grin. “We’ll wait for the bus.”
***
As unpredictable as the bus schedules could get, the two of them were lucky this time. They arrived early, at the entrance of what looked like a high rise luxury tower.
“So what’s with the case?” Kel said. “They give you any briefing.”
“Yeah,” Sunny said. “Honestly, I’m not sure there’s much. Officially it’s been ruled a suicide, and by all the forensic evidence there isn’t much against that. But the case is suspicious. The woman was Melissa Brunswick, wife of Carl Brunswick, one of the heirs to the Brunswick crime family. Apparently she was planning to testify against them next week. So the police have left the scene untouched for us to take a look.”
Kel looked down. “So… is there like a dead body in there?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, is it OK if I wait outside?”
Sunny sighed. He forgot how this stuff still affected people.
“Sure, I should be fine.”
“Thanks,” Kel said. “You know, I wish we could hang out more outside of this crime investigating stuff.”
Sunny said nothing. He blinked several times. Kel was right, it wasn’t fair. But it was what Sunny was good at, and it paid for the food on both of their tables.
Vance finally arrived, breaking the silence. He glanced at Kel.
“Look, the Mayor probably said this already, but this isn’t exactly a standard case. We’re really pulling a lot of strings just to get you inside, and I don’t know-”
“It’s OK,” Sunny said. “He’ll wait outside.”
Vance nodded, and brought him into the apartment lobby. The doorman showed them to the elevator, and Vance hit the button for the penthouse.
“We wanted to keep the scene fresh for you,” Vance said. “I know that’s how you operate. So there’s probably some forensic evidence that we haven’t uncovered yet. But every trace so far looks like a suicide. No signs of foul play or forced entry. The husband’s been estranged for months, hasn’t been seen in ages. Witnesses aren’t saying a word.”
“But you suspect otherwise,” Sunny said.
“Yeah,” Vance said. “Our agents have some intel-”
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Vance led them to the penthouse. He opened the door.
The scene showed itself immediately. A woman, in a white dress, hanging from a ceiling fan. Her head was slumped forward, her black her strewn over her face.
Sunny’s stomach turned. He had glanced at the photos in the folder, but they were all from different angles. From here, though, he could see a glimpse of her face. Only one eye, bulging open, staring back at him.
He turned away and took deep breaths, closing his eyes and shaking his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Shit,” Vance said. “I should have known.”
“It’s alright,” Sunny said, finally catching his breath. “You were saying, about your agents.”
“Right,” Vance said. “Melissa was the most we’d ever gotten into the family’s secrets. But there’s rumors that still pass into the lower rungs. Apparently they have someone on their payroll. Nobody knows what he looks like, but he knows how to do his job well. A perfectionist.”
“What kind of job? A hit man?”
“There’s a lot we don’t know,” Vance said. “We don’t think he does the killings himself, but they say he covers them up. They call him the gardener.”
A pit formed in Sunny’s stomach. “Gardener.”
“Yeah,” Vance said. “There’s a saying in the family, ‘He doesn’t just bury your problem, he’ll bury it under a bed of flowers.’”
Sunny’s mouth felt dry. The walls started shifting around him. Against his better judgement, he turned back to the corpse.
Something stared back.
Everything blurred. He fell back, as the shadows closed in.