Chapter 4
A Shot In The Night:

Swifteye and Robrile hesitated not. After scowling one last time at their first suspect yet, they retreated down the hill to investigate the two crime scenes. The alley, and the river behind the candy shop. Both seemed like the usual spots. But what they needed to find out was if they actually were. They may seem like it, but in a very in the air way, they weren’t. Being the usual spot would possibly make it unusual. The killer was unusual as it was. Committing a crime in such a usual area would be, well, unusual. Swifteye did not see this to be a typical crime. And the odd part was that he thought it was unique because it seemed so normal. Times were confused that day. As were the two sleuths. Sure the case seemed simple enough, but Swifteye had a feeling that it was about to get a lot more difficult. They found out that night that Swifteye’s conclusion was correct. As of the time at this point, the two had no idea and were returning to the inner city to reach the candy shop. Kimsi hadn’t given perfectly specific directions, but then again, no witness ever did. They walked along finding nothing of luring interest. All things beside them were neither abnormal or out of the ordinary. In fact, things were a bit too ordinary. But nonetheless, Swifteye shrugged it off. When the two arrived at the candy shop, it was closed. It always was this early. This reminded Swifteye that Kimsi was up unusually early. But that isn’t important. I’m sure you’ve heard the word unusual enough by now. Anyway, Robrile retrieved his magnifier from his pocket and spun it on his finger. “The usual, then?” he asked. Swifteye shrugged and nodded. The two strode back around to the back of the shop to investigate. As they did so the river flowed peacefully. After a scan on the floor, Robrile announced that nothing had occurred on that part of land. “Shall we go, then? Down to the river I mean?” Swifteye asked. Robrile leaped over the short railing that blocked off as a wall to the miniature creek with a river below it. “We best. There ain’t nothin’ up here.” said the raccoon, and he slid down the dirt slope beside the river. Swifteye glided his claws along the brim of his hat to grab it tightly. With a jump, he was right on Robrile’s tail. The fox did and accidental front way flip, nearly landing in the murky river. He back up and swayed, trying to keep his balance. His back foot planted firmly and he kneeled down beside Robrile. The raccoon was just about to lower his glass to the ground when Swifteye took it. “We don’t really need it yet. But when we do, I’ll be the one using it.” Swifteye snarled. Robrile put up his hands in surrender. Swifteye wasn’t one to mess with at times like this. Especially at a crime scene. The wind was fresh and the sun was shining. Good weather for a detective. But the air didn’t seem to be just right. Even Robrile could sense an uneasy presence in the air. A murder had indeed been committed. Bird songs were slower and quieter. Coaches were not as plentiful. It wasn’t until now that Swifteye noticed this. Had he just missed it? It proved to him that they were on the right track. As he scanned, his nostrils flared sensing all that could be sensed. They could smell only water at first. But once he had an idea, his sense of smell grew. Beyond the muddy smell of old water, he could feel the salty and bitter essence of blood. His idea was put into action. “Robrile, give me your handkerchief. The white one.” Swifteye said holding out his claw. Robrile was scraping away dirt on the side wall. “Just a minute, Swift. Something has been rubbing up against this ol’ dirt wall here.” he said. Swifteye leaned back to see. There was indeed skid marks of a possible clue. But they could have been any thing. At first Swifteye smiled thinking that they were the marks of when Robrile and himself had slid down. But soon he realized that the two imprint spots were on opposite ends. Something had been sliding down. Swifteye processed that it was on the side going up to the city. Swifteye had always thought the criminal had dumped the body on the other side. This opened a new door to him. He nodded approval. “Your right. But for now, give me the handkerchief. We’ll examine that later.” said the fox. Robrile backed away from the dirt and stretched his back. Dirt soiled his whole front. When he pulled out the piece of white cloth, one third of it was covered in dirt. Swifteye frowned at the raccoon but took it nevertheless. He brushed it off as much as he could. Better, but not much. So to solve the problem, Swifteye used the white end for his test. Slowly, he dipped the whitest part of the cloth into the river. Little by little he deepened the handkerchief until all but the dirty part was in the water. A few moments later, he pulled it out and held it up to his eyes. he squinted deeply into the fabric. “As I suspected.” the fox said. “What was that, mate?” Robrile asked, coming to see Swifteye’s discovery. The fox held it up for him to see. The fabric was the slightest bit tinted red. And by the appearance and chemicals of it, it was an apparent remnants of blood. Swifteye tossed it back to Robrile, who avoided it’s path. “That’s okay, mate, I don’t want it any more.” he said with a look of disgust. “This means that the murder was either committed recently, which I don’t think that’s true, another murder was committed after it recently, which I don’t think that’s it either, or the body is still in the river.” Swifteye concluded standing up on his back paws. Robrile’s eyes were rather wide. “Still in the river?” Robrile replied in shock. Swifteye ignored him. “One of us has to go under.” Swifteye said, keeping his eyes on Robrile. At first Robrile simply nodded in agreement. But once he saw Swifteye’s gaze he shook his head violently. “Aye, aye, aye! I ain’t goin’ down there!” Robrile objected. “There may be a body down there! Come on, mate! Don’t make me go.” but the raccoon new that no matter how much he protested, he was going to be the one diving under the river. “Don’t worry, that’ll be later. Let’s have a bit more of a look around before we jump to conclusions.” Swifteye said. Robrile sighed and nodded. With that, the two began searching once more. They searched up and down the bank in all ways possible. Up the walls, under rocks and inches from the water. Many things were suspicious, yet could mean nothing at all. This was why Swifteye did not enjoy investigating natural scenes. Everything seemed like a possibility. The skid marks discovered by Robrile were closely examined as well. But no matter how much they looked, the duo unearthed nothing other than it was just a long skidded mark. Many broken sticks were found as well. Some proved normal, others remained in the air as a possibility. But still, there wasn’t enough information to change a theory. In this case, Swifteye’s theory. In fact, many of the findings seemed to make the case even more difficult and overwhelming. There just weren’t enough clues. Through and by the day the two examined. Hour after hour passed by until it was turning later into the already late evening. Robrile’s coat, trousers and boots were piled up in a corner as he prepared to dive under holding a candle in a small glass box to burn. It would last long with the small bit of air so he had to be quick. The raccoon exersized his muscles for the swim. “Nearly ready, Rob?” Swifteye asked staring up at the sky. Robrile sighed again nodding. His bare fur glistened brightly in the moon light. It was way too dark for him to be swimming in a murky and bloody lake. His two bright yellow eyes stared down into the silent blackness. It would definitely be an experience to remember. He just wished that Swifteye would do the dirty work for once. With all the silence and preparing, the one quick, violent, ear splitting, split second, overpowering gunshot made the tow mammals nearly loose their fur. It rang out for all unexpecting ears to hear. Once it occurred, Robrile lost his balance and fell backward. “What was that?” Swifteye asked. His ears were straight up like a cat’s. All of his muscles were tense and ready to run. “Now don’t get me wrong, mate, but I think anyone could tell you that that was a shot of a gun.” Robrile said directly. But before he could finish, Swifteye was off like an arrow, up the slope and down the street. His claws scraped the ground loudly. Robrile stammered to his feet and shook the dirt off. With a final sigh, he darted after Swifteye leaving his belongings behind. Up the slope and after his partner he went. One foot in front of the other he urged himself to run. He urged to catch up with Swifteye. At last he arrived at the foxes side. For a short time, the two ran side by side in the direction of the sound. The quiet and peaceful evening suddenly broke into an action filled experience. Swifteye followed his instincts to the exact location of the next crime. It was just in front of the butcher shop, on the curb next to a burning street light. Swifteye dug his claws into the brick road. They pulled him to a stop, while Robrile flew on passed him not expecting such a sudden end of movement. Swifteye looked out at the seen before him. Truly a sad and tragic picture. Robrile came by his side to view it with him. Both were in shock at their next information to work with. It could not possibly be more simple, however. Just in front of the feet of Swifteye lay the dead body of Kimsi the young mouse, surrounded by a puddle of blood. He had been shot once in the stomach. The trace was lead up to the one beast holding the gun. It was none other than the otter himself who had attacked them in the alleyway. As guilty as ever. Red handed with a small magnum pistol, aimed at the victims bleeding carcass.

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