Chapter Text
Chara was leaning against a wall, in hopes that the store cornice would stop the rain from hitting their face, without much success. They liked rainy days, just not standing under the rain.
They shouldn't be standing there in the first place, considering that it only started raining a few minutes ago, and Frisk was supposed to arrive there half an hour ago. It couldn’t take that long to buy some groceries, right?
Fortunately, all of their worries disappeared when they saw that messy short hair appear in the distance. Frisk looked tired, just as they’ve been looking for the past couple weeks, but with a smile nonetheless. They were also soaking wet, as none of the two owned an umbrella.
“You’re late.” Chara remarked in an ironic tone. “Did anything happen?” They asked.
Frisk shook their head. “Nothing remarkable, no. Just didn’t do a good job calculating how much it would take.”
“Did you at least remember to buy dinner?” Chara came closer to button up Frisk’s top button on their jacket, which was half loose. Frisk made a grimace. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“Sorry”
“It’s fine, we'll have takeout later. Let’s get into business, hm?” Said Chara while they finished tying up Frisk’s jacket.
Frisk nodded. “Who are we talking to again?”
Chara sighed. “Bratty. Highschool friends… I think. He usually talked about her shop, said he might stop by and buy us something someday, we always complain because everything looks awful. Remember?”
“Oh yeah, that girl.”
They both entered the store at the same time. As they did, Chara’s face quickly changed from total apathy to a smile that didn’t seem forced, but did not look natural either. Their smile always contrasted with Frisk’s, who was always showing off a natural and charming smile.
The store was a catchpenny, mostly focused on purses made with imitation materials. The walls were decorated with bags from what seemed like prestigious marks that no one knew.
The pair was greeted by an energetic employee, who talked to them instantly. “Good afternoon, is there anything I can help you with?” They were the only customers.
“Yes.” Said Chara. “If I’m not mistaken you know Asriel, don't you?”
“Oh, Azzy from, was it… biology, right? Yeah we were like, kinda friends growing up.” Her smile quickly disappeared. “Oh god, has he done something? Are you two police?”
“No, no!” Chara hurried to correct. “We’re just his friends. We haven’t had news from him in a few days and we were kinda worried. He sometimes talked about you and just wanted to know if you had seen him.”
“Oh, hahaha. Yeah, that’s what I thought, you guys look too much like the bad ones to be cops!” Bratty laughed to herself. “But no, I haven’t seen him since… forever actually. It’s surprising he still talks about me.”
Chara kept their smile, but didn’t laugh at any point. “Well, that’s a shame. Thanks for answering our questions."
“No prob. Anything more I can, like, help you with?”
Frisk eyed some of the purses on the wall and asked out of nowhere “Do you have a fur purse?”. They seemed somewhat distressed from the question they themselves had asked.
“Uh, maybe… Let me check in the back” Bratty quickly turned and went through a small door behind the counter that led to, what could be assumed was, the shop storage. As soon as she did, Chara’s smile disappeared.
Frisk quickly approached Chara and gingerly said “I don’t want a purse!”
“Yeah, figured that one out.” They responded. “Wait for me outside, I’ll manage this okey?” Chara didn’t hesitate in giving Frisk a small kiss on the forehead to reassure them that dealing with a store clerk wasn’t a big issue.
“Thanks” said Frisk before leaving. When they closed the door, Chara made sure to bring back their smile.
Right after, Bratty came back with a purse made of white fur. It had golden trimmings, and what seemed like a jewel of some kind decorating the button. Noticing Frisk’s absence, she asked “Wait… where's your friend?”
“I’ve decided that this is gonna be their birthday gift, so obviously I can’t let them know the price.” They lied.
“Oh sure! Do you want it to be wrapped for a present or something?”
“Actually,” Chara took out their small notebook from their pocket. It was a branded notebook, and on the back, there was a drawing of a character that they showed to Bratty. It was a drawing of Mad Mew Mew, with a pink purse with yellow details. “Do you have this one? They're a huge fan of the series.”
“Oh… this one… they probably won’t come until around a few weeks from now. You know, brand distribution and that stuff.”
“Yeah, feared that would be the case.” Chara scratched their head. “If I give you my number, could you call me when you get one?”
“Oh, sure thing! Tell me and I’ll write it down.”
Chara then gave Bratty a phone number. Not their phone number. Maybe it was someone's phone number. They didn’t know because they just made it up on the spot.
“See you then! Have a nice day you two!” She said while Chara left the store.
Outside, Frisk was waiting just on the side of the store’s showcase, in such a way that they couldn’t be seen from the inside, just as Chara was when they were waiting for them.
“Don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with an ugly purse.” They teased.
Frisk sighed. “Thanks. Who are we talking to next?”
“We should try with Catty.” Chara looked at Frisk. They seemed confused. “The neighbor that sometimes talks to Asriel on his morning walks. She went to prom with him once if I recall correctly.”
Frisk nodded slowly.
“Great, let’s go.”
They both walked for a few blocks until they ended up in front of a single family house. It was the first of its type, marking where downtown ended and suburbia started. The difference wasn’t really that big, as the downtown was just a few apartment complexes, no more than a few dozen, but it was a difference nonetheless.
Chara put on their best smile, and knocked. A girl in her thirties opened, with purple fur and a flower necklace, she looked like she had just been woken up from a nap.
“Hello, can I help you?” She asked.
“Yes.” Chara answered confidently. “Do you know Asriel?”
“Oh, yeah, Asriel. Went to prom with him once. Got some punch all over him and ended up arrested that night." She laughed out loud. “Not from the punch that is. Kinda got too drunk. What do you two want anyway!?”
“We’re good friends of his and he’s sort of gone missing. If I’m not mistaken you sometimes talk to him on his morning walks. You haven’t seen him lately, right?”
“Oh, so that’s who I was missing. I’ve been saying to myself lately: Catty, something's not right around here. And that was it! Yeah, it’s been quite some days since I’ve last seen him. Maybe like, two or three weeks? But no, no clue of where he's at, not at all, sorry.”
“It’s fine. We already thought you probably wouldn’t know, but it didn’t hurt to check.”
“Well, it was nice talking to you, but I have a nap to finish.” Catty started closing the door. “Oh, and if you find him, tell him to not be shy and say hi more!”
Frisk and Chara left the house, and started walking to their next stop, while they chatted about how this one had gone.
“Was it really that important to ask those two?” Frisk said.
“No, I was already expecting they wouldn’t know anything. But they are between our house and the biology building at college, so we really had nothing to lose.” Chara responded, their smile now gone as it was usual when they were around Frisk.
“It’s been a while since we’ve gone to college. Think someone might still remember us?” Frisk said with a radiant smile.
“I hope not.” Chara said with disgust on their face. “Well, maybe they remember you. You were the one that always went to all the activities. And the one who made the college team a bit known.”
“And why wouldn’t people remember you?” Frisk grabbed Chara’s sleeve and shook it a little. “I think you are quite charming.”
“Must be the only person in town who does.”
“Maybe. That’s probably why we're dating.”
Chara let out a small sigh accompanied by a genuine smile. “Wouldn’t have said it otherwise.”
When they got to the building, they found it as usual. It was small for a college building, but it still housed hundreds of students from all around Ebot county. Made in an eco-brutalist style, the building was actually quite inviting and charming, especially on a rainy day like today.
The main hall, however, was very cold. It was empty, and it had almost no decorations, except for a few posters that indicated some college activities, and a big calendar showing December from two years ago. It was already late in the afternoon, so most students had already gone home.
The receptionist was reading a book, and took a few seconds to notice the pair approaching. “Good afternoon,” he said while closing the book and putting it aside. “Can I help you with something?”
“Yes.” Chara was reading through the pages of their notebook trying to find a name. “Could we talk to… Gerson Boom?”
The man seemed to look up a few things on his computer. “Yes, he’s free right now. You can find him in his office down the hall and to the right.” He said, while giving off a clearly fake smile.
“Thanks.” Responded Chara with an also fake but at least more deceptious smile.
Frisk led the way down the hall, and knocked on the door. There was no answer from inside. They knocked again, and still no answer. “Maybe he’s in the bathroom.”
“Let’s wait here then, shouldn’t take him long.” Chara sat down on a small bench for two situated just in front of Mr. Boom's office door. Frisk sat down with them. A few minutes passed.
“So, just so I get it straight…” Frisk said. Chara sighed in anticipation of the question. “Asriel’s boss?”
“Yes.” Chara opened up their notebook. “Asriel’s professor of Biological Anthropology, and responsible for Hometown college research. The one who should give Asriel sick leave, termination notice or a wave this morning if he’s still coming to work.”
A few more minutes passed. Frisk grew a bit impatient.
“Maybe the receptionist got it wrong? Maybe he’s in class?” Frisk got up and knocked again. “Mr. Boom?” A few seconds elapsed. Still nothing. Frisk tried to turn the door knob. It was open. “It’s open.”
“Well,” Chara got up from the bench. “He won’t mind if we wait inside right?"
“Actually, I think he woul-” Frisk's protest was in vain, as Chara opened the door while they were still talking.
“Frisk.” Chara said with a slight panic in their voice. “Frisk get inside.”
Before they could react, Frisk got pulled in by Chara, who closed the door shut. They had a quick look around, until their gaze ended up on what was in the middle of the room.
Gerson’s desk, full of documents, with a lifeless body on top. An old man, with clear marks of bruises around his neck. His eyes still half open, looking directly to the entrance, haunting the two. For the position he was in, it looked like someone had attacked him while they were working.
Frisk froze in place, while Chara quickly started moving all around the room. “What are you doing?” Frisk whispered. “Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“Yes. But it won’t hurt if we have a quick look around, would it?”
Frisk showed disapproval with their face, but aided their partner anyway. The both of them looked around, especially in folders labelled “Work” or “Biology research”. After a little bit of looking, Frisk found Asriel's work registry.
“I found something!”
“What? What does it say?”
“It’s his work registry. It says he stopped coming to work the same day we stopped seeing him. There's a note that says ‘Said he wasn’t feeling well yesterday.’”
“Well, at least that’s something. Let me note down exactly what it says and we'll leave it where we found it, okay?”
Frisk nodded, and Chara transcribed the text in less than a minute.
“So, what should we do now?” Frisk asked.
“I think now it’s time we call the co-” Chara was interrupted by three loud knocks from the other side of the door. “Fuck.” They said.
Whomever was behind the door knocked again. “Hometown Police Department. Is everything okay Mr. Boom?”
Chara and Frisk looked at each other in a panic, their faces completely pale. Another three knocks.
“HTPD, we’re gonna open the door.”
The door suddenly opened.
It was a slow day at the police station. After everything had calmed down once the Spade Gang came down, this was how days usually went. And everyone in the force was thankful for it.
Busting the Spade Gang was a huge operation that took several months, and countless nights without sleep. So, no one really was mad that their job right now consisted of going on some walks, or how it was called officially: patrols.
But, from time to time however, the phone of the station would ring. And today, just a few minutes before everyone got ready to leave for the day, it rang. Captain Dreemurr, the person that just so happened to be the closest one to the phone, picked up.
“Hometown Police Department, how could I help you?”
From the other side of the phone a quiet and somewhat nervous voice stated “Hi, I’m calling from the biology building at the university because some weird people came in to ask for Professor Boom and they were not from around here. I’m worried they might cause some trouble.”
“Have they done something weird?” Captain Dreemurr put a butterscotch lollipop in their mouth while signaling to their partner to get ready to go out.
“No but… It’s not usual for us to receive a visit from someone who isn’t from academia. And after the whole Spade Gang ordeal… I would be relieved if at least you came to check that everything is ok.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can Sir, don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you officer.” The phone clicked as they hung up.
“Do we really have to go out five minutes before we finish our turn?” Detective Roberts, the Captain’s partner, asked.
“You know how it is, Susie.”
“And what do we have to do?” Susie asked while putting on her coat.
“Apparently two strangers came to one of the college buildings asking to see a professor, and someone’s worried they might be related to a crime gang. We’ll go check if everything is okay and we’ll leave.” The captain put on their coat as well.
“All I’m hearing is that a couple of rascals went in to prank their old professor.” Susie smiled, leaving all of her teeth visible.
“Probably, but you know how it is. And it’s for the best that we make people feel safe after the Spade Gang crackdown. So let’s go.”
They both left the office with everyone waving goodbye at them, thinking they were just leaving a few minutes early. They got into Kris' car, and started driving towards the university. Hometown college was just a few minutes away by car from the police department, as was basically everything in a small town such as Hometown.
Once they got there, they went to talk with the receptionist, who seemed relieved to see them.
“I’m happy you came this fast.”
“You’re the one who made the call?” Susie asked.
“Yes.”
“So I guess you won’t mind giving us a few more details then.” Kris said while putting out a small notepad and a pen. “Just to put later in the report.”
“Sure thing. Two people came in, and they wanted to see Professor Boom. They’ve never been here before, nor do I recall seeing them in any other parts of college. The person who asked was also smiling as if they had something weird in mind. I don’t know how to explain. But I got worried because Mr. Boom is an old man. Strong, for sure, but I worry for him nonetheless.”
“And where is his office?” Kris asked while finishing some quick notes on the case, if one could call it that.
“Down the hall and to the right.”
“Thanks, we're on it.”
Kris and Susie went towards Boom’s office. When they turned at the end of the hall, they saw an office with a plate on top that said “Gerson Boom”, making it easy to locate it. Right at the corner of the hall, there was also a water dispenser. Kris took a cup and drank it with an annoyed expression on their face.
“Are you so thirsty that you can’t wait a few minutes?” Susie teased with a smile.
“I’m not even thirsty.” Kris said once they finished the cup.
“Then why did you drink?” Susie laughed.
“Nice question.” Kris threw the plastic cup on a garbage bin right by the water dispenser, and walked to the office door. They knocked three times. There was no response from the inside.
They knocked again. “Hometown Police Department. Is everything okay Mr. Boom?” Still no response. They knocked again three times and, once again, got no response from the inside.
Kris exchanged looks with Susie, and both got ready to go in. “HTPD, we’re gonna open the door.” Kris shouted. Right as they had said, they opened the door.
Inside, they saw two adults, right by the side of Gerson Boom. Or, better said, what was left of the professor. The two were clearly in distress, while Gerson had bruises around the neck and was unresponsive on top of his desk.
Detective Roberts was the first one to react, quickly drawing her gun and pointing at the two while shouting “Get your hands up!” Captain Dreemurr followed quickly, also drawing their gun.
The pair, two humans of around thirty each, complied without offering resistance, putting their hands in the air. In contrast with the description the receptionist had given, none of them was smiling. One had a black coat with a green sweater, while the other was wearing a blue jacket.
“Get on your knees.” Susie ordered.
The one in the blue jacket looked at their companion, who nodded in agreement. Both complied and got on their knees, with their hands still in the air.
Kris got closer to Gerson, and checked his pulse, while still pointing their gun at the two suspects. There was none. They turned their radio on. “Patrol FG, we’re going to need reinforcements at Hometown university. We’ve got a body and two suspects.” After a few seconds, a voice responded “Roger.”
While Kris asked for reinforcements, Susie handcuffed the two, and took them both out of the scene at the same time. Kris also got out of the office.
“Doctor Bunting is coming to inspect the scene.” They said while locking the door. “I believe the Chief is also coming, if everyone else already left their turn.”
“Great.” Said Susie. “And what about you two? Anything you have to say about yourselves?"
The one in the blue jacket looked at their companion once more. The other simply said “We just got here and found him already like that. We were just about to call the police.” After saying that they smiled. Both the Captain and the Detective immediately understood why the man at the hall had called them.
“Anything more?” Kris asked.
The smiling one shook their head. “No.”
“Well then I believe we’re going to have to take you in for questioning. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.”
“Do we want a layer?” One of the two asked.
“It won’t be necessary." The other responded. “We didn’t do anything, so it’s better if we try to collaborate.”
“I like your attitude.” Detective Roberts said. “Hope you keep it that way in the questioning room.”
After a while, both Doctor Bunting and the Chief of Police arrived. The Chief proceeded to close off the office with tape, while the doctor and Kris went inside.
“So, Kris, I see you’ve forgotten everything from your last job, as signaled by the fact that you couldn’t even make an initial assessment. But worry not, I will remind you whatever you need.”
“Let’s just get this done, Berdly.”
They both inspected the corpse. It had clear signs of strangulation, with purplish marks all around the neck, and foam still in the victim's mouth. His eyes were red, but he didn’t seem to have any other wounds.
“The receptionist at the entrance mentioned that Gerson was strong. Do you think whoever did this might be as well?”
Berdly gave a quick look at the scene. “My job is to check remains, you and Susane should be the ones inspecting around to answer that. But since you seek the opinion of an expert like I, let me tell you something.” Berdly grabbed one of the victims hands. “No blood on his nails. And for such sharp claws, if he had given a fight he would have definitely left a few cuts on his assassin's face. And also, have a look around. Does this seem like a place where a fight took place? Kris, I know you’ve had a long day today, but even you are smarter than that.”
Kris nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” They took out another butterscotch lollipop and started chewing it.
The Chief entered the scene, having to crouch under the tape that he himself had placed on the door. “Any conclusions yet?”
“No.” The Captain said. “Other than that there doesn’t seem to have been a fight.”
“Natural death then?” He asked.
“No, not that either. He was clearly choked to death.”
The Chief made a clear grimace of disgust. “Do you think your two suspects did it?”
“I don't know. We’ll have to question them.”
The Chief nodded. “Then, what do you think if you have a look at the security camera footage, and I make a background check for the two of them? Once we have that done we’ll question them and decide what to do.”
“On it boss.” Kris joked.
“Do they want an attourney?"
“No, they say they want to collaborate.”
“Great. Then let’s get going. We’re all in for a long night, them included, so the sooner we start, the sooner we finish."