Epilogue (and a surprise)

                                    

                                          
A beautiful morning graced Chinatown, fresh with the promise of summer. The admirable weather did nothing to improve the mood of Officer Silver, however, as he trudged up to the unassuming storefront and descended the stairs into the welcome shade of the pet shop's foyer. The Siamese cat known as Count D greeted him coolly.
                          
"Ah, Detective, it's you again," the feline practically purred.
                          
"Yeah, it's me. I want to ask you some questions," he said simply.
                          
"I'm terribly sorry, but I simply don't have the time to entertain you today. Several of my animals need feeding, my beautiful anaconda Shenron is cranky, not to mention I've been feeling a bit peaked myself lately- -"
                          
Silver held out the box in his hand.
                          
"Ooohhh! Siam-Sweet's Imported Chocolate Clusters Sprinkled with Catnip! My favorites!! Come in, come in, I'll tell you whatever you want!" D near squealed before he drug him inside by the arm with surprising strength and immediately dashed off to set out his teatime paraphernalia.
                          
Silver had to smirk. He could always depend on the Count's weakness for sweets to get him the information he wanted. D preferred for them both to be properly seated and served before a discussion, so he waited impatiently until the Count began to pour the tea.
                          
"This time I've got a murder and a disappearance, as if one wasn't bad enough," the hedgehog began once he had a steaming cup of tea in his hand. "A corporate fat cat named Shadow the Hedgehog disappeared two days ago, on the same day he was connected in suspicion to a crazy murder that's got forensics baffled. Knuckles the Echidna was the victim, a bailiff. I didn't know him, but he attended the same police academy as me, so that makes this personal. We cops get very pissed off when one of our own goes down; not to mention that we've got Shadow's raging father on our a**es demanding we find him– he thinks the police are supposed to drop everything else and put every man out looking for his son." Silver paused briefly to pull out his pack of cigarettes and shoot a glare at the Count.
                          
"I questioned the son himself that night and guess what? He was a customer of yours– said he bought birds. What the h*ll did you sell him, a werechicken?"
                          
"Ah, yes, the very difficult and very rude Mr. Shadow." The Count smiled fondly at the memory as he plucked a simple chocolate cluster from the box on his lap. "Heh. It certainly took them long enough; he must have been quite resistant. I did sell him some birds, but our main contract was for a Wild. That is the creature that killed the hapless Mr. Knuckles, you know."
                          
"A what?"
                          
D pulled out a leather-bound sketchbook and flipped to a marked page displaying a fanciful drawing of Sonic, done in the stylized fashion of classical Far Eastern art.
                          
"Quite good, don't you think?" he said, handing the book to Silver. "I was completely unfamiliar with the species before he came to me, so I made my own notes and reference drawings about him."
                          
"What the hell is this, a mix between a regular guy and Black Arms?"
                          
"Oh my, no. Black Arms live in the mountains and are quite territorial, secluded, and antisocial," the fancy feline huffed before plopping the chocolate delight in his mouth. "He is a Wild, one of only a handful left of his kind. His name is Sonic."
                          
"Sonic? That was the name of that quiet guy in the greenhouse!" Silver jumped up in excitement. "The greenhouse keeper did it, I knew it!! I have to go find him and arrest him- -"
                          
"Sit down, detective, Sonic is long gone. I estimate they are already close to a hundred miles on their way to the southern jungles by now," he said patiently as he sipped at his steaming beverage.