Beastars: A Steep Fall From Light

Chapter 32: The Plot Thickens

"They what?" Yahya asked Sen.

"Apparently Razor called them and will call back in an hour," the Detective said. "I called in some techies and will be taking a few guys down there to track the call when it comes in. Still waiting on the DA to make a decision about persecution for the company."

"What does the mayor have to say about all this?" he asked. "His life has been threatened and we haven't heard anything from him yet."

"I don't know what Mayor Watsuji thinks," Sen said, shaking his head. "He's been aloof since the initial act of predation in the center of the city. My guess is he's trying to hide it out until we catch him. But he's gonna have to come out at some point. No one's going to vote for a candidate they can't see."

Yahya nodded.

"Well I'm off," the bulldog sighed. "Let me know if you find anything."

Yahya nodded again, turning back to the seemingly endless piles of evidence. Gosha was hunched over the letters looking through them to see if there were anymore hidden messages. Anagrams, cyphers, etc.. Kira was out doing his own investigation into this Shoon Kotobuki, looking through old records down at the funeral home. Yahya himself was busy trying to piece everything together.

"Just like old times," Gosha said.

"What?" Yahya asked.

"Just like all those years ago when we were partners on the force," the komodo dragon reminded him.

"Not exactly," Yahya said. "Back then, we were younger. And the scum we dealt with were no better than common thugs from the Back Alley Market. This Razor Killer is a different kind of criminal entirely."

"Well, it's just nostalgic is all."

Yahya looked to his pile of mail. He threw out the spam and junk, leaving only two letters. One from Gosha, and one untitled, definitely from Razor. He opened this one first. Tearing the envelope, he dumped out the same badge, with no explosive, thankfully, and a metal cigarette case. He peeked inside and saw that there were ashes stored inside as well. He then pulled out the letter and read it.

To the Beastar(or retired, I should say),

Do you remember now?

~Signed

"Why does he do this?" the horse asked. "How many of those letters are duds?"

"Duds?"

"Serve no purpose," the horse clarified. "Have no secret messages, and don't order a news article or story to run."

"Out of all the ones I've read," the komodo dragon said, shuffling through a pile. "So far half of them seem pointless. He rambles on about anything that seems to be on his mind."

"Add this to that pile," Yahya said, handing him his letter.

Gosha gave it a quick look over before putting it in the stack. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, leaning back in his chair. He needed a break. He turned to the pin board and gave it a look over as the phone rang.

"Kira?" Yahya asked, picking up. "What have you got?"

"The funeral keeps records of all the animals they bury and cremate," he said. "They separate them into two books. Shoon Kotobuki was indeed cremated. The ashes were handed off to his mother, Eari Kotobuki. Her burial is on record and all that information matches up."

"So what does that mean?" the horse asked.

"It means that we have a cover up," he said. "Someone had to have forged those documents and records. DNA doesn't lie."