Officer Garry waits under a streetlight for his fellow officers to arrive. As they approach, he gives them a slight wave and smile.
"Good job finding evidence of Vontell down at the Ampere River, Garry...you did well." He gives Garry a proud pat on the shoulder, making Garry rub the back of his neck, somewhat bashful.
"You uh...can thank the others for that... they're the ones who found everything..." He trails off slightly, frowning.
"Should I try hitting up his landline again?" Officer Milly yawned, already tapping into her phone before the others could respond, "I'd really like to save ourselves the trouble of walking all the way there."
"Don't see why not..." Officer JC sighs, looking around the dark, empty streets of the city, "It's been a while, you'd think he would have picked up by now if he was home... I'm beginning to wonder if-"
"Hello?" Everyone immediately stops in their tracks, listening in, "Yes, hi, Vontell Cappala? This is Officer Milly with the VPD. Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker phone."
She pulls her phone back from her ear, shooting JC a smug 'told you so' expression before tapping the button on screen.
"Hello... I apologize..." Vontell sounds out of breath, "I've just arrived home and I'm exhausted, I've had quite a night..."
"So we saw," JC sighs, "We're glad to hear you're safe. We found evidence of a struggle down by the river and found some of your personal belongings. Are you alright?"
"Oh!" Vontell laughs faintly, "Yes, right. I'm sorry if I caused a commotion, I'm fine. I just had a little confrontation with a rather wily Grindylok, but I made it out safely."
"Grindylok..." JC frowns, running his chin, "You don't suppose that's a suspect in this case, do you? It would answer a few questions..."
"Hm. But raise a few more, right?" Milly shrugs, "Heard that before."
"I wondered that as well, which is why I decided to conduct a little investigation of my own..." There's a moment of silence, and Vontell quickly picks up on the air of disapproval, "Foolishly, I may add! Regardless, I can safely say that while troublesome, it is not our culprit. Did you happen to find my notes?"
Notes? JC and Milly look at each other in confusion, before glancing back at Garry, who just smiles and shrugs innocently.
"My notes go over my own private investigation into this. I'm a bit of an expert into strange occurrences around this city, you see. And after eliminating the Grindylok there's only one more lead I have..."
"Which is...?" JC asks, trying so hard to be patient, but feeling so desperate for answers.
Vontell's calm voice turns deathly serious, "A shapeshifter. And by all accounts, a clever one. It's known as Myraj and you should be careful, officers. It can take the form of humans... My theory is that it's been staying very close to your investigation. Why else would it always be one step ahead?"
"Close...?" JC glances back at the other two, his brow creasing, "How close...?"
"Close enough to tamper with evidence. Close enough to lead you down an incorrect path. And close enough to keep tabs on all the information you know... I would be careful with whom you share this knowledge with.."
But it was too late for the officers to heed Vontell's warning, because the creature had heard. JC and Milly could only watch in horror as "Officer Garry" made himself known.
"Hey... Dudes... Case closed..."
art by ghost