The Curious Case of Morgrim City

Drak

Drak answered the door with a grunt. He was a huge, misshapen creature. Yellow eyes gazed out of a green tinged face. Laguna would have taken him for an individual or orcish heritage if she had never encountered a ghoul before. There was also the lurid marks on his skin, which were typical for his kind. He towered above both her and Terry, and gazed at them with a baleful eye, "What do you want?" His voice was little more than a growl; it sounded like he ate rocks for breakfast.

"We're here on behalf of-"

"I know who you are, what do you want?"

"Are you Drak?"

The ghoul pointed to a name badge that was pinned to his dirty shirt but remained silent. Laguna grunted. "We are investigating the murder of Mary Sadler," Terry said.

"And?"

"Where were you two nights ago?" Laguna asked. She folded her arms over her chest but kept the snarl from her face. This was not an interrogation.

"Working."

"Where do you work?"

"Wotan's brewery," the ghoul replied, "But you already know that. You stink of Wotan and hops. Wotan will confirm it, he was working too."

"Did you know Mary Sadler?"

The ghoul growled. "You going to arrest me?"

"Not yet," Terry said.

"Then get lost! I don't have to answer any of your questions unless you have something to go on. I told you where I was." The frown on Drak's face deepened and he looked from Laguna to Terry and back again. "Well?"

"We're not going to arrest you at the moment," Terry said.

Drak huffed, "Get lost!" The door slammed shut, leaving the two officers stunned. Terry raised a single, manicured brow.

"Pleasant fellow," he said.

Not wanting to think further on the rudeness of ghouls, Laguna shrugged. "Let's go. I doubt we'll get much out of it, but why don't we pay Misty a visit instead?" The Vampire nodded and both officers stepped away from the tumble-down tenement and back into the street.

***

Much as Laguna suspected, Misty had been a bust. She had been a lot nicer than Drak, but knew nothing about Mary Sadler. Although Misty had planned the trip, she had left all the communication side of it to Wotan. Laguna had added the both of them to the board of names when they arrived back at the station and pondered what was next. Terry had left already, as had most of the 'day' shift. She knew she should go too, sitting here stewing over what little they had learned was not going to help.

Getting up, she screwed up the piece of paper she had been scribbling on and hurled it at the bin. It landed on the floor next to it. Laguna growled. She threw her jacket over her shoulders and headed for the door. Waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, was Havok.

"What do you want?" she asked, more resigned than irritated.

"Thought you could use a drink," he said. "And some company."

She rolled her eyes, "Do you ever think of anything else?"

"Not that time of the month is it?" Havok asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the ceiling. Laguna cuffed his shoulder.

"You want to make it to the pub?"

The necromancer laughed and almost skipped to the door to open it for her. Laguna doubted that she would have hurt Havok this time. She nodded as she walked through the door, a smile touching her face for the first time that day. Darkness had descended on Morgrim, and many of the residents were out and about. Evenings were always busier than the daylight hours – if it could be called daylight. Many of the creatures that called this city home preferred the true darkness. The smell of cooking meat touched her nose, a few streets away. It smelled delicious none the less.

Laguna realised then that she had not eaten all day. Her mouth filled with saliva and her stomach groaned.

"Hungry too?" The moment they were outside, Havok lit a cigarette. The scent of nicotine and tar destroyed the delicious scent.

"I was," she said. Havok shrugged, not apologising for the smell and stepped into the street.

The pair of them had not got three paces away from the station house when Havok pointed out a figure sprinting towards them. Sprint was a loose term in this case. Shuffle with intent might have been a better description. As the figure got closer, it became apparent that it was a zombie. One of the older ones too by the looking at him. The state of his skin was dire, and there was a definite ruined arm on his left side. He stopped just in front of them and took a moment to catch his breath. How a zombie could get winded so hard Laguna could only guess.

He drew in one rattling breath after another, but did not let the two of them pass. Eventually, Laguna snarled, "What is it? Out with it or I'll send you to the dungeons for the night!"

That brought the ancient zombie back to himself. "Death," he wheezed.

"Yes, there is a lot of that in the city," Havok said.

"Not one of ours, an outsider."

Laguna snorted. "Looks like that drink is going to have to wait," she said. "There has been another murder?" she asked the zombie. He nodded slowly. "Where?"

"He's down by the yard, near the river, Grafton Road." The old zombie seemed to have perked up now that he had refilled his lungs – or whatever it was zombies did for breath.

Havok looked at Laguna and brushed unruly hair from his forehead. "I'm not going to get out of this am I?" he asked.

"Not a chance." Laguna's smile was wicked but she turned to the zombie once again. "Go into the station and inform them what has happened. Tell them to send Terry to the location of the body. I'll meet him there," she said. The zombie remained silent, gawping at her with a glassy expression. "Do you understand me?" she asked. He nodded. "Go on then!" Only then did he shuffle off towards the station steps.

"It never rains but it pours," Havok said.

"Come on, if that zombie can run through the street, then so can we!" Laguna shook off the last of her hunger, resolving to deal with it as soon as she had time to do so. There were more urgent matters to deal with first!