Cultivating Anthro CEO RPG Hero Harem Reincarnation In Another World

"I don't think that Sheldon did it."

Jake Tornbright delivers his assessment on the case of Zoonic's murder to Dusters. They are sitting side by side at the table in Dusters's living room.

"What makes you say that?"

"Knowing Spacio, he would have had initial suspicions on Sheldon's involvement in the murder. Yet, as the type who would only act out an arrest if the evidence were unanimous, seeing as Spacio hasn't yet arrested Sheldon…"

"Something must not match up." Dusters rubs his chin, looking a tad disappointed. "Then the question remains, who killed Zoonic?"

Who else but Sheldon?

"How was the relationship between Zoonic and Lanie, leading up to his death?" Jake asks suddenly. He picks up his mug of coffee and takes a sip of the fresh, steaming liquid.

"Lanie? They broke up years ago, but she wouldn't give up on the relationship, up to the day he died." The echidna leans back in the sofa, crosses his legs, and gazes up at the ceiling. "Apparently she was too clingy; asking where he was, who he'd been with – Zoonic just couldn't take it anymore."

So they didn't make it together after all, huh?

"Clingy, you say?" Jake looks sharply at Dusters. "The break-up must have been devastating for her."

Dusters looks at Jake and nods, but then stops midway, wearing a facial expression that is hard to explain but you could not miss, which serves to say 'I bet you're thinking what I'm thinking'.

"I hope you like your eggs sunny side up." Lanie says with glee, as she lays out a plate of delicious-smelling breakfast delights in front of Buzzy, seated at the dining table. He is dressed in a suit and tie with a black suitcase next to him.

He is still a little shaken from his experience with Zoonic earlier, and Lanie is quick to notice.

"What's wrong, Miles?" Lanie slips into a chair next to him, sporting one of his favorite T-shirts, long enough on her to hide the pair of bright red panties she is wearing.

"It's nothing, I swear." Buzzy picks up a fork, with a trembling hand. Noticing this, Lanie reaches out a hand to try to comfort him, but he shrugs her away.

"It's okay; you can tell me all about it, honey." Lanie says, not offended by the rude gesture.

Buzzy's ears perk up and he looks at her, somewhat shocked – he had never been called 'honey' before, after all, so he has no idea how to react. It sends a warm feeling coursing throughout his body, and he is all at once made to feel more comfortable about sharing his thoughts. Setting his fork down, after a few attempts he manages to look Lanie straight in the eyes. She looks back at him, through slightly closed, tired eyes, that were nonetheless alert and patiently waiting for what he had to say.

But then Buzzy has his second thoughts.

No, I will not tell her about what happened; it's too soon to risk having her think I am completely insane.

"It's…work. It's been nothing but stress at the office lately." Buzzy rubs his forehead, to seem more convincing. "And frankly, I'd much rather spend some more time with the most beautiful girl I've ever met than sit in front of a computer all day." Buzzy makes an attempt to touch Lanie's hand, but ends up ends up giving her a weird rub on the leg.

Lanie beams, and hugs his neck, and with that, the subject of how Buzzy is feeling is not brought up again for the remainder of breakfast.

…

It is a slow day at the Chaotix Detective Agency. Since the embarrassing turn of events at Sheldon's interrogation yesterday, Spacio has reexamined the case, searching for potential new leads; searching for a new suspect.

He removes the cell phone recovered at the scene of Zoonic's murder from the appropriately marked Ziploc bag. He felt the need to take a second look at the message which was the main cause of his doubt about Sheldon's guilt. The text message, which had been sent to Buzzy on the day before the murder, detailed Zoonic's intention to meet Sheldon that very afternoon beneath the Morpheus City Bridge. At first this made Sheldon seem more suspicious. But alas, whereas the timing of the meeting was a cause for suspicion, the motive of the meeting did not seem to point toward anything sinister.

Zoonic and Sheldon were secret lovers.

"So Zoonic and Sheldon had a little fling going on, huh?" Hector bellows, his voice bouncing off the walls of the compact room.

Spacio glances up from his work, and looks to see Hector sitting across the table with a cup of piping hot coffee in each hand. He offers Spacio one and he gladly accepts it – oh, if thinking alone could wear a man out, he was exhausted!

Spacio takes a sip of the coffee, and the graceful warmth passes through his lips and down his throat in one easy gulp. It was extra Black; just the way he liked it.

"We can't safely eliminate Sheldon as a suspect, we still haven't received those results from the lab yet." Spacio leans back in his chair and massages his temples. "And maybe those results will shed some light on how dysentery could possibly link in with all of this."

"Listen Spacio, I think we should forget about the dysentery for now. Even if it does have a link to the murder, it didn't cause those laceration wounds or that blunt force trauma. What we should be focusing first and foremost is locking up whatever psychopath did this."

Spacio can't help but grin.

Leave it to the boss to keep me on track.

Hector is, in fact, long retired from his days on the force, and has since settled into a new life of managing the calls and the case file documentation of the Chaotix Detective Agency which he had originally founded. It is a humble position, but one he has taken to with his own particular flair and keen attention to detail, that originally made him famous on the force.

Spacio remembers something that the chief used to say to him. He would say, Spacio, you're much sharper than I ever was, and you'll get farther than I ever did. It's my time to step down, it's your turn to shine now, kid.

What a swell guy! What a man to work for! Although Spacio could no doubt serve the Morpheus Police Department well with his skills and experience, he could not see himself working for anybody else other than Hector.

"Hey Cammy, that damn door's been ringin' for five minutes." Hector shouts, so that the bee can hear from downstairs.

You see, the door to the small detective's office would be locked tight from the inside throughout most of the day. So, should anybody attempt to make an entry during this time, there would emit a loud buzzing noise. Usually, it only took no more than a buzz or two to scare would-be visitors away, but this time was different. Somebody really needed to get inside.

Hector asks of his bumbling associate, still shouting, "Who's at the damn door, Cammy?"

Hector stops what he is doing for a moment; listening, as Cammy opens the door to the detective agency. He glances at Spacio across the table and by the look in his eyes he can tell they are both concerned about the same thing – Cammy has been quiet for far too long.

"Cammy?"

His response is not immediate. "Uhh…chief there's somebody here to see you." He eventually says, sounding unsure.

Hector locks eyes with Spacio again, who shrugs. Who could it possibly be, so early in the morning? Hector did not have many friends outside of his work, so it would have to be a client.

Curious, Hector, with Spacio trailing behind him, makes his way down the flight of steps. On the first floor landing he meets with Cammy.

"So what's going on, Cammy?"

"He says he has information on the Zoonic the hedgehog murder case. He's in the side room."

Hector's eyes widen – now this was the last thing he expected. It was a rare thing for the Chaotix detective team to get a tip on a case they are working on from an outsider. In fact, Hector thinks on the walk to the living room, how could somebody even be aware of the team's investigation into the case? They were private investigators, after all, so the whole affair seemed rather fishy.

Things only got stranger after meeting the fellow.

"Hector the crocodile; it is a pleasure to finally meet with you." He says, and turns to greet Spacio similarly.

The unexpected guest rises from the sofa and shakes hands with Hector. He is unlike anybody the seasoned investigator has ever seen: a lanky hedgehog with snow white fur, with exceptionally long spikes, and crystal blue eyes. He speaks with a decidedly posh accent.

"I thought I would share with you some important information on the Zoonic murder case."

Hector can sense Cammy coming up behind him, and waits until he settles himself.

For once, Hector decides to go against his better judgment and listen to what the visitor has to say about the confidential case.

"Well, now that you've got the whole group here, what do you got for us?"

"To put it simply…" He begins to say, and continues, with a now severe expression, "I know who killed Zoonic the Hedgehog."