𝔅𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 (ʙᴏʏxʙᴏʏ)

1.

But his uncle- the chief- stopped him before that could occur. 

Now here was Souji- packing up his things and leaving his beloved job as a detective for good.

Just as he was putting a couple last items away in his suitcase, he found a beige-colored folder he didn't recognize as his. Actually, the folder was mixed in with his own, so if he didn't have such a sharp eye, Souji was sure he would've missed it. He took an even closer look and skimmed though the papers inside it. Inside the folder, the first thing that caught his attention were the words: One Night Killer.

One Night Killer

He glanced around the station. Nobody was looking, and Souji quickly threw the folder in his suitcase with his other things. It wasn't as if he took habit of taking things from the station without permission or notice, but it was what the words One Night Killer  that caught his attention; that was the title the police used to describe the serial killer they were after in Souji's previous case. The same case Souji got kicked off of working on because he attacked someone he thought was the culprit only to be wrong. 

"I don't think I deserve a second chance, but..." 

Souji shut his case and locked it tightly. He took a deep breath to ease the pounding in his stomach; he never felt so anxious before in his life. Maybe because he knew what his uncle would say- something among the lines Souji already failed, and failures don't get second chances. 

But if Souji didn't at least try to fix his mistakes, solve the crime he knew was still happening right now, he knew he would go crazy. And, honestly, this was all he knew he could do for himself. 

...

For the next week and a half after that, Souji was unable to find any agency to take him in. After sending his application, he wouldn't get a call back. He wasn't surprised. Nobody wanted the officer who screwed up. 

Still, without working somewhere where he would have the resources to help him solve his case, it made things harder. Especially because the case folder he found back at his uncle's station only had a couple pages of information, and most of it was stuff Souji and the cops already knew. However, there was one picture in the folder that had been Souji's main point of focus.

It was a picture taken from a high view- as if from a security camera; in the picture were two men. One of them was old. Like old as in his fifties with a growing hairline and stomach. Meanwhile the other man in the picture was young- as in his early twenties and he looked to be engaging in some cheery conversation with the older man. The picture wasn't very good, and was sort of blurry, so it made figuring out the facial details of the men a bit difficult.

"Why is this picture in the folder?" Souji wondered out loud to himself, scanning over the photo slowly for what seemed the millionth time. The picture just didn't make any sense. Was one of the men in it the killer? Where were they? There weren't any notes in the folder about the picture. Souji was starting to go insane wondering if this picture even went with the case at all.

No. Souji shook his head and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, arranging his thoughts and what he knew. Then opened his eyes and took another look at the picture. 

Pay attention. Think of every possibility. What are the details most would overlook or wouldn't notice?

Then it hit Souji. His eyes went wide, and he stood up from his dining room chair so quickly he knocked it back. Between the jeans and the waist of the younger man, Souji could make out the shape of some dollar bills. So that man could very well be a stripper and entertainer of sorts.