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The blue blur fumbled as he stepped through the doorway. His first scene investigation alone entailed a large mansion on the outskirts of the bustling city of Green Hills. He was unfortunately late - having only stayed in the suspiciously quiet city for a month he had easily gotten lost.

"This way, inspector." An elderly wolf smiled after greeting him at the door. She wore regular maid attire with black stockings. Remarkable given the suposed situation he had been summoned to.

"Thank you." He smiled as the small wolf lead him along. She lead him through the home. It was rather lavish - dark wooden floors, perhaps pine, with lavish matching skirting boards going up to the bottom of the hip and a beautiful green patterned wallpaper adorned the walls. Various dressers, mirrors and console tables decorated the walls as they went with odd clutter such as books or candles scattered about in a tasteful way.

The wolf walked towards a door. She hesitated and bit her lip, turning to him in hesitation. A small, uncomfortable smile remained on her lips. "This is the crime scene. I'd prefer not to go in." She politely nodded before walking away. "Miss!" He called. She turned on her heels and smiled. "Yes, detective?" She asked. "Please gather everyone who was in the home around the time the body was discovered in the drawing room." She nodded and swiftly walked away.

The blue blur sucked in a breath, slowly opening the door. The door struggled for a mere moment, an ample amount of force opened it too quickly and almost sent the poor hedgehog tumbling into a large pool of blood. Disgusted, he stared at the thick red liquid. The smell of blood suddenly invaded his nose and the metallic taste crept into his mouth. He gagged slightly, turning his attention to the room.

The room was in disarray. Books decorated the floor haphazardly and bookshelves, desks and the coffee table on the far wall were moved, overturned or looked as though a lot of force had been pressed against it. Quite a common sign of a struggle.

Drying blood snaked across the floor to the other end of the room. He could only gasp in horror at the sight that greeted him.

A corpse layed on its back on the couch. The leather beneath it, previously a deep purple, was a reddish hue. The skull of the corpse was disfigured - no longer identifiable. The upper half of the poor person's clothing was missing. Upon closer inspection, their torso had been torn to shreds. Their organs sprawled the floor like some twisted alternative to confetti - equally mangled.

He shivered, his skin crawling, and closed his eyes and swiftly closed the door. A telephone sat atop the console table beside the door. He picked up the telephone and dialed the number to his station. "Hello? Yes, it's Inspector Hedgehog. I arrived at the scene and require a medical expert and several other detectives."

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"Third one this month, poor soul." The chipmunk sighed as she handed him the pen and paper. "We suspect a serial killer given the similiar deaths and attack approach but no real evidence." She shrugged."Not your problem anymore though." She laughed.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh C'mon Sonic!" She leant over the desk. "This is way beyond your skillset." Sonic huffed, quickly scrawling down his account of the crime scene and his guess as to what happened. "Don't forget the signature." Sally chimed much to his annoyance. He had forgotten to sign one singular document and had been branded with a reputation of forgetting to sign his paperwork. "Don't forget a loving mother died." Sonic bitterly retorted as he scribbled down his signature.

It had been confirmed that the murder victim was a single mother of one by the name of Vanilla The Rabbit. It was quite devastating having known her personally. She was a kind soul with an equally as polite daughter. She had done amazingly well for herself and had managed to keep her lavish home and staff after the passing of her husband. Everyone adored her. She was so generous. Who would be cold-hearted enough to kill her? Who in Green Hills even wanted to kill someone? It was such a peaceful city.

"We can't let emotions drive us in the investigation, you know this." She sternly reminded the blue blur. "Besides, you need the time off to grieve." She reasoned. Sonic huffed and tightened his grip on the seemingly fragile pen. It broke in his hand and coated his white glove in the thick ink. He slammed his fist down onto the table, coating the wood in the ink - much to Sally's disappointment. "A dangerous person is hiding in this city and the people who should be working to protect everyone are shrugging this off."

Widened blue eyes filled with fear met poised green ones. She sighed in regret. "Sonic, please..." She stopped as the telephone rang. Sonic watched her, clutching at the now ink stained desk as she picked up the ringing device. "Hello. This is the Green Hills Police Department." She greeted the person on the other end of the phone. She locked eyes with Sonic once more and indicated to the door.

With a huff, he stomped towards the glass doors and flung them open the sheer force cracking them a they came into impact with the greying plaster walls.

One month, and he had already realised no one ever took things seriously. A laid-back, tight knit community known to be peaceful, now facing a ruthless serial killer merely batted an eye and went about their day. Things could only get worse. If he didn't do something, nobody would be left.

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The blue blur scrubbed at the material vigorously. The ink had began to separate and left his glove a dark, navy-like blue. He gritted his teeth in frustration and threw his glove on the counter with force. He sighed to himself, muttering curses under his breath, and used a nearby tea-towel to wipe the kitchen sink, that was now adorned with splotches of diluted ink.

The door to the small apartment opened suddenly and slammed with enough force to seemingly shake the run-down apartment Sonic could just barely afford.

He poked his head out of the kitchen doorframe. A pink hedgehog was leant up against the door. Sonic's mood soured further upon seeing her. It was Amy. Amy was one of Sonic's neighbors. She was a rather boisterous woman and held parties anytime she could - much to Sonic's dismay. She seemed to have taken a liking to Sonic upon their first meeting given her incessant need to barge into the small apartment for no real reason. It was beginning to get on Sonic's nerves.

"What's wrong Ames?" Sonic asked. Amy's head whipped towards him at an inhumane speed. Her eyes were wide, fear brimming within them, and her chest rose and fell as a rapid speed. She raised a shaky hand at him and steadily approached. She glanced at the doorway before finally speaking.

"Sonic, I think I'm being watched." She hissed. Her distance wasn't much help to Sonic, forcing him to strain and twitch his ears in an effort to try hear and understand her. "Why?" He asked. Amy was always the type to think she was above everyone, everywhere he went with her she always played the victim - it was practically routine now.

"I was walking home from the store." She looked around sheepishly. "And I saw a weird cloaked figure behind me." She took a shaky inhale, tears brimming in her eyes. "So I circled the area and went in and out of stores to see if they were following me and low and behold, they were still right behind me!"

Sonic's blood turned to ice as numbness spread throughout his body. Amy was perhaps now a target. He could use her. Perhaps the murderer had dead set targets, and if so would be now turning their attention to Amy. He wanted to use Amy as a guinnea pig of sorts, but if she could come to severe harm it probably wasn't the best of ideas.

"Take a seat, I'll prepare some tea." He spoke calmly and gently as he guided Amy to the beaten sofa opposite the door to a small balcony. He gently pushed her down by the shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. "We can talk this over, I'll take a witness account and we go from there, kay?" Sonic asked. Amy nodded, fiddling with her golden bracelet.

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1438 Words
Written/Published - 14th May 2024
((Edited))