Shadow

06

With the arrival of the forensics some time later, Ohm's suspicion was verified: Loom found la petite mort before departing this world for good.

"This is kind of weird…", Fluke whispered softly, almost unnoticed by his colleagues.

"What's up, shorty?", Boun asked curiously.

"The guy wore an animal costume before he died! How crazy is that?!" Fluke frowned as he tried to lift one of the man's hands to see if he could find anything there that would serve as a clue.

"Don't kinkshame the dead man, Fluke! What if the guy liked furry, it's no crime!" Ohm chided, then looked around the man's room decorated with animal heads and decided to add, "Unlike the other things he did …".

"You know a lot, detective! Do you happen to like that kind of–", Boun was starting to tease Ohm when Kao appeared at the door.

"Did you get any leads, guys?", the Chief of Police looked anxious, which was unusual for him. Despite the position he held, Kao had always managed to exercise his power without extrapolating, thus winning the sympathy of everyone in the unit. However, it was clear that something was bothering him that morning.

"Nothing yet, but we need to check with the maid who sleeps here overnight.", Ohm informed him.

"Alright. Alright.", Kao repeated the reassurance words more to himself than to the others. "Everything will be alright!"

"Don't worry, Kao! We're gonna get Shadow!", Boun tried to comfort his friend and boss, realizing that due to his position, he probably was under a lot of pressure to find results, since people were dying and they still had no clues who did it. 

"Okay, okay! See you guys later!", Kao waved to the taller ones and gave Fluke's shoulder a little squeeze before turning and walking out of the room.

********

To the team's surprise, Loom's maid, a petite middle aged woman, didn't have much to report.

"No eyes! No eyes!", she repeated in a thick accent. It was easy to see what she was referring to: the woman couldn't see, she was blind.

"Dear God! What else needs to happen to help this maniac get away with it?!", Ohm asked no one in particular as he stared at the ceiling.

"Fluke, call the Station and ask for the help of an interpreter! We need someone she can communicate with to tell what she might have heard, as vision is not an alternative.", Ohm said, turning to the boy who promptly picked up the phone and started dialing.

Perhaps because he was very excited to receive a new task, the clumsy young man greeted whoever answered on the other side in a very high pitched tone. "Hi, this is Fluke from the special unit…", he started to identify himself, but had to leave the room where they were because of the sudden noise since Loom's maid began to mutter what appeared to be a prayer, but between the words that neither Ohm nor Boun could understand, she repeated "Demon! Demon!" very clearly, her mouth gaping in horror. 

"Hey, ma'am! It's alright, ok? You're safe! We're gonna put you in witness protection and Shadow won't be able to do anything to you, ok?", Boun tried to calm the woman, but the mention of the name by which the killer was known seemed to have the opposite effect on her, who repeated the prayers even more fervently, appearing to be even more afraid.

********

"Hey, Ohm!"

Back at the Station a few hours later, Fluke had walked into the detective's private room without asking permission and ended up catching the man changing his shirt, or at least that's what it looked like. The built chest at plain sight, his honeyed skin glowing with the office's lights.