(no subject)

[inclothing]

Jason was more than happy to take on this job for the Chief. He enjoyed becoming involved in the other worldly work, what he was privy to, and this was a way to get into the good books of 'it.' Especially since Chief Edward was in the dog house with 'it' thanks to his blunder with Paul Ben.

Thus throughout the week he began to arrive at locations that had experienced frequent visits of Vermini and their hosts. Those little critters weren't supposed to go running off everywhere and a pattern would be nice to establish.

((This is a basic post for anyone who wishes to have a run in with or be investigated by Detective Jason Sherman, who is looking into the appearances (and now sudden disappearance ) of the Vermini, looking for a pattern of where they went. If you want to be an investigation but don't want to thread out the whole thing, give me the answers to the basic questions he'll ask everyone, which are under the cut.))



1. Have you seen any unusual animal activity in the area?

2. Can you think of a reason they'd be nearby? A good food source?

3. Have you seen anything else out of the ordinary, such as strange lights or suspicious people?

Comments

[wordsgate]

"Sasame--

I'm working late tonight. You'll have to fend for yourself for dinner. I'll have something while I'm out. Don't forget to feed Wakana.

-Mom"

His mother's note had greeted him on the kitchen table before school that morning. It was a little disappointing, but unsurprising--she'd had a lot of busy days at work recently. He'd made sure to take care of their bird before he left for school, and he felt like he'd focused enough on his schoolwork in the previous week that he could slack off for at least one day. So as soon as he'd gotten home from school, he dumped his book bag next to the couch and flopped over onto it, streamed some mindless sitcom or another through their bluray player and drifted off into a half-awake, half-asleep state of mind.

He was just starting to blearily think that he should probably get up and get something to eat when he heard a knock at the door. He sighed and forced himself up off the couch, combing his fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it look presentable and smoothing out a wrinkle in his shirt with his hands before opening the door.

"Can I help you?"

[inclothing]

"Detective Sherman, LCPD," he identified himself immediately, flipping open his badge to show Sasame. It was a good way to take charge of the situation right away.

"I'm looking for information regarding the recent animal activity. It's more a formality than anything, enough people report something and we have to look into it." And downplaying the importance of the interdimensional vermin that were critical to the fate of life on Earth, too. "You would be Mister...?"

[wordsgate]

He straightened as soon as the word "detective" was mentioned. "Er, Sam Iwata," he responded as he opened the door wider so that the detective could enter the apartment. "Is this about the rats?

[inclothing]

"Yes, exactly," Sherman replied as he stepped in. He hadn't really known if it was rats or some other small animal, but letting others fill in the blanks without being asked was better.

He stepped in as he asked his next question, looking about casually. "Can you think of any reason they'd be around here, Mister Iwata?"

[wordsgate]

"Reason?" He glanced over at the kitchen. "No, not besides the usual ones. I just assumed they were wanting food."

[inclothing]

"Plenty of food left out here, then?" Without asking permission, he snapped out a cigarette and lit it up. He was setting the tone he was in charge.

[wordsgate]

Sasame furrowed his eyebrows. His mother would not be happy about someone smoking in here...but he usually made it a policy not to push authority unless he felt like he had to. So he just responded with a shake of his head.

"No, not really. We might sometimes leave a bowl of fruit out or something, but we try to stay pretty organized."

[inclothing]

"Hmm. I'd like to take a quick look about the place, just to make sure." It wasn't especially demanding, but it was a fairly firm statement. It smacked of 'you won't deny if you have nothing to hide.'

[wordsgate]

Sam certainly got the message. This guy was pretty good at being intimidating when he wanted to be...luckily, he was pretty good at making himself seem calm and relaxed even if he was on alert. "Of course, detective," he responded with a smile. "Feel free."

[northless]

He's just about to start cooking himself some dinner when someone knocks at his door, and Ice--the lone husky he's kept--starts whining.

Huh, he thinks. That's weird. Who'd come calling this time of night? He comes over to the door, absentmindedly petting Ice along the way. "Who's there?" he asks.

[inclothing]

"Detective Sherman, LCPD," he replied, already preparing his badge to prove it. He'd prefer things go smoothly and without incident, not exactly by the book by virtue of its nature but as close as he could get.

[northless]

The first word is barely out of the man's mouth before Robb freezes up. Bang, bang, bang, the shots still ring clear in his nightmares, along with Paul's terrified face, but he forces a brittle smile and opens the door.

"So what does the police want with me?" he asks.

[inclothing]

"It's not exactly you, Mister...?" Although he already knew exactly who he was talking to, he wanted to get his target to start spilling even minor details. It loosened the tongue for later.

[northless]

"Smith. Robb Smith." And that is as far as he's willing to give. "Okay, so what would bring a detective to my doorstep this time of night?"

[inclothing]

"I'm investigating the recent animal activity, Mr Smith." Leaning lightly on the door frame, he continued. "Have you noticed it?"

[northless]

"Unless you mean the part where someone's heartless enough to leave a box of puppies in an alleyway to starve, not really," he says, and there's a hint of anger in his tone at that.

[inclothing]

The detective gave him back a look which practically glowed with 'I couldn't care less about spare puppies', but decided to stick to business.

"Yes, well... Let's move on. Have you encountered anything else unusual recently? Since those lights in the sky?"

[northless]

He shrugs in reply. "Not really," he says, a little too fast, trying not to think about the ravens.

Monday afternoon, forward-dated

[professorwolf]

Lyall was puttering around the classroom after his last class got out, laptop open on the counter at the front of the room and blinds all closed, like was usual lately. He had all the lights on, so the class didn't lack for brightness, there just wasn't any sunlight inside.

His door was wide open, mostly for students to come by if they needed something, but it also wafted smells inside to him. Most of them he was finally starting to learn to identify. He wasn't expecting adult company, however, and didn't immediately look up at the new scent of someone outside, expecting it to pass him by, though he did pause in his grading to try and identify the parts of it.

[inclothing]

"Professor Randall Lyall?" The adult company was not passing by it seemed, instead rapping a hand on the door frame.

Lyall would surely be delighted to smell that the Detective had a smell most familiar. A sheep, in fact.

[professorwolf]

That was disconcerting. Sheep. He actually knew that smell without having to search his memory for a fainter smell that matched it. He looked up at the sound of the knock, and blinked at the fellow at the door. The fellow who smelled like sheep.

Very strange.

Still, he set down his pen and stepped off the stool he sat on. "Though I don't think I rate a 'professor' exactly, that's me. Can I help you?"

[inclothing]

"Detective Sherman, LCPD," Sherman introduced himself as he flipped open his badge to prove he was who he said he was, entering without asking if it was okay.

And then didn't say anything. He wanted to see if he got a reaction first.

[professorwolf]

The reaction he got was a blink and a worried look. Lyall certainly wasn't expecting a detective... and now one that smelled like a sheep? That could mean something bad, indeed. Thankfully, he could at least use the worried look, even if he couldn't keep it off his face. He only wished he were that good; expression control wasn't something he knew well enough (yet), but he did at least know how to use what he had. Somehow or another. He didn't question it.

"Did they find something out about Paul?" he asked after the beat of surprise. "Something about that fellow who torched his house?" He did, after all, bring the "lead" that he could only assume led to the decision of actual arson.

[inclothing]

"I'm not a liberty to say." A very useful phrase, that. Very useful indeed. He could keep anything back without question.

"But we do want to know if Mister Ben had acted unusually before the incident," he said as he kept his eyes sharply on Lyall. He didn't miss a thing, but not quite enough to attack yet. "Anything at all."

[professorwolf]

Lyall sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He'd just had a student killed, and of course the detective who shows up wasn't going to offer anything useful. Especially not if he smelled like sheep. That was decidedly unfair, that someone he couldn't trust smells like something he actually cared about.

"No more unusually than everyone else around here, that week," he huffed, obviously displeased with the response. He had been flustered and unhappy at his visit to the station, so at least that fit. "I'm sure at least someone has reported the funny way the animals have been behaving. It was throwing everyone off."

[inclothing]

"Hm, now that you mention it, have you encountered any of that unusual animal activity yourself?" It was delivered in a casual manner, almost an unimportant aside. Sherman was skilled at keeping his facial expressions natural, not an obvious poker face.

[professorwolf]

Lyall had been hoping he'd ask that. It was why he'd brought it up to begin with. He could talk much more freely about that than Paul. "Well, there's been sparrows out on the quad every lunch that bother the students," he said readily, and with some annoyance. "And that squirrel out in the parking lot, I heard some of the younger students saying it had grown a human nose, or some other nonsense. I'm sure it was just an over-active imagination, but there's no denying they've been acting strange. Has something been done about them, then? They're gone, now. I know the news mentioned them, but no one ever seemed to take it seriously, so if someone did take care of them, I'll revise my opinion on the city's police. A little."

He just hoped that the glare he gave Sherman said quite clearly that he wouldn't revise it much until some headway was made in the Paul case. That was what he meant to intimate, anyway. He was pleased enough with his ramble. It fit with the attitude he'd been trying to portray at the station, at least. This might almost be fun, if it were less, well, frightening.

[dorkytracksuit]

When he opens the door it's just a crack, the chain still visible across the door locking it in place.

"Hello?"

It's difficult to see through the crack because it's so dark inside the apartment, but it's clear someone is there.

[inclothing]

"Good evening, sir. Detective Sherman, LCPD," he introduced himself, flipping his badge out to prove it too. The caution was noted, but didn't raise alarm bells entirely.

"I've got a few questions regarding recent animal activity in the area."

[dorkytracksuit]

"Um. Okay." he says, not moving to open the door any further. "What is it?"