A Costume To Die For

Kasahn: Lansing's Brother
Boise: Lansing's Son
Makia: Lansing's Wife
Lansing: Kasahn's murdered Brother
Rah'Chell: Kasahn's Paralegal

Lansing was killed by a couple of thugs of dumpster-diving thugs. Lansing had witnessed them beating up an innocent bystander, and the thugs thought that Lansing would turn them into The Locals. It was Lansing's dream to start a private investigation business, so after his death, Kasahn vowed to carry on his brother's wish.

A COSTUME TO DIE FOR

    It was already a dreary day, but the latest news made it worse. A third body had been found it as many months. This one a female dressed in a saloon girl costume. The first body, disguised as a cowboy, had been found in a local farmer's feedlot. The second one, dressed as a doctor, was found near the town's national tourist attraction, the Healing Springs. The 'saloon girl' was discovered near the elementary school. What the connection was between the costumes and the dump sites had The Locals baffled. With this being the third body in three months, talk was there could possibly be a serial killer in Meowpaw. The Locals decided it was time to try the new private investigation business, LanSahn Private Investigators.
    Kasahn and Boise had been keeping an eye on these murders but didn't want to go to The Locals until they were asked to help. Kasahn knew that if The Locals needed extra help, they knew where to find the new business. Well, it was time for that visit. Cheif Mr. Magoo made a business call to LanSahn Private Investigators. He explained the situation about the bodies, and asked Kasahn whether or not he would be willing to help out. Kasahn replied that he had been keeping up to date on the news of these murders, but wasn't going to interfere with a police investigation until called upon. "Chief Mr. Magoo," said Kasahn, "my staff and I would be obliged to assist you Locals in your investigation." After a hearty paw shake, The Chief rose to leave. At the door, he stopped and turned back to Kasahn. "Mr. Kasahn, welcome to our community. I hope our agencies can work together diligently." With a generous smile, Kasahn said, "so do I, Chief, so do I." After he left the office, Kasahn repeated those words to himself. He did sincerely hpoe they would be able to work together.
    Kasahn phoned Boise and asked for him to come to the office. They had their first case and it would be a big one. Excited, Boise ran straight to the office. Like Kasahn, Boise had been keeping an eye and ear open to these unsolved murders, hoping The Locals would finally ask them to help. He was hoping that was the reason his Uncle Kasahn was calling him. Arriving at the office out of breath, his uncle told him to have a seat and catch his breath before they discussed business. Boise would need to be able to focus completely on what Kasahn had to tell him. Kasahn and Boise would need to start from scratch. They would need to conduct interviews of witnesses and study every crime scene. The clue to the whole mystery had to be in the reasoning behind the costumes and the places where the bodies were left. If Kasahn and Boise could conclude the reasoning, this alleged killer might be caught. Kasahn and Boise set down to discuss the case.
    The Locals had never dealt with one murder, much less three of them at basically the same time. Kasahn had graduated Phi Kitty from Meowpaw College, majoring in Criminal Justice. So he had better understanding about conducting an investigation than The Locals did. Rah'Chell also majored in Criminal Justice at Meowpaw College, but she also majored in Computer Crimes. She could find a needle in a haystack if she searched long enough. And without asking questions, Rah'Chell began a search of crimes committed with the same modus operandi (M.O.) as in Meowpaw. Kasahn and Boise left her to her computer search while they set off to interview witnesses. The first stop would be to the West Prairie Feedlot where the first victim, the cowboy, was found.
    Chief Mr. Magoo had been out to talk to Farmer Dell a few months ago, had looked around a bit and concluded there was no evidence he could find then left. Kasahn asked Farmer Dell if he would be willing to escort him and Boise to the area where the body was found. Farmer Dell said he would be more than willing to show them. He would like for this thing to get solved because his wife, being the one who had first spotted the body, was still unable to sleep nights without having every light on in the house. Farmer Dell said he was getting frustrated of trying to explain every noise to his wife, no matter what time of the day or night it was. About 50 feet from the house, near Mrs. Dell's flower garden, Farmer Dell stopped and showed Kasahn where the body was found. Boise ran on ahead a few feet sniffing for clues and surveying the area around the dump site. Kasahn asked Farmer Dell if he and Boise could conduct a thorough investigation. Farmer Dell told them whatever they needed he and the Misses were at their disposal. Then off he went to thrash more catawomps. Kasahn and Boise began their search, and within fifteen minutes had found several clues that The Locals had missed; or had just neglected to collect. Whatever the reason being, Kasahn knew they would need a willing sleuth from The Locals, and  he knew exactly who he needed-Podawg Huckster. Boise went into town to fetch Podawg.
    Podawg was about as vicious as a canary in a cage, but if you needed a good Sherlock Holmes, Podawg was the one. He had a nose for evidence and he was more than willing to lend a paw to help solve a crime. Besides, nothing exciting ever happened around the Old Precinct so he needed some new job duties. By the time Boise and Podawg made it back out to the farm, it was nearly dinnertime. Mrs. Dell invited them to stay for homemade tuna casserole. After dinner, with a few hours of daylight left, Kasahn, Boise, and Podawg went back to the crime scene. About two hours later, with plenty of notes and photos, and an occasional piece of trace evidence, they went back to the office. Kasahn thanked Podawg for his services, and told him he might be needed again if he so desired to be part of the team. Podawg said he'd be more than happy to join the team.
    The next day the three of them headed to the Healing Springs east of town. Dr. Moheegan explained to Kasahn that the body found was not that of a doctor from Meowpaw; matter of fact, he didn't think it was a doctor at all because The Locals could not find any credentials on him. Dr. Moheegan showed Kasahn, Boise and Podawg where he found the body, and told them he would be in his office if they needed him. A few hours later they took all the evidence they had gathered from this crime scene back to the office. Rah'Chell had been hard at work on the computer and had found some interesting information. She had found two other cases with the same M.O. as in Meowpaw, one in Tootsan and the other in Felinez. Rah'Chell had already contacted The Locals from both towns, and information was on the way.
    Kasahn and Boise went over to the elementary school to talk to the principle. Kasahn asked if they could look around and if there were any witnesses. Principle Garnett explained that the janitor had found the body, luckily before school started so none of the students had seen it. Principle Garnett told Kasahn he would call the janitor up to his office and they could interview him. The janitor didn't have a lot of information, just that he had found a female body dressed as a saloon girl. Kasahn, Boise and Podawg went over to the playground area and looked around. Soon afterwards, they took the information from this crime scene back to the office. In the moring, they would start comparing evidence.
    The next morning Kasahn bought a newspaper. As he was walking down the sidewalk back to the office, he went by the new costume shop and glanced through the window. "Hmm," thought Kasahn, "I must have a look around in that shop." Back at the office, Kasahn set down to look through the headlines. Nothing new to read except that the new P.I. Office had agreed to help The Locals with the unsolved murders. Kasahn found it amusing that no one cared about the 'new P.I. Office' until after The Locals asked for help. "Oh well, maybe we'll make the front page if we apprehend this character," thought Kasahn.
    Kasahn was sorting through notes when Rah'Chell walked in with the information from Tootsan and Felinez. Now they could really get down to business. First they needed a theory as to how the costumes represented the dump sites. The 'cowboy' found at the feedlot and the 'doctor' at the Healing Springs could easily be theorized, but how did a 'saloon girl' represent an elementary school? Or was it that the killer was interrupted before reaching the final dump site? Something to think about. Since Boise attended school here, Kasahn needed for him to keep his eyes and ears open for any information rather it seemed relevant or not. Kasahn talked to Boise about the new costume shop, telling Boise that they would need to find out more about this new shop and the owner. Boise suggested they pose as father and son looking for costumes for his birthday party. Kasahn thought it was a wonderful idea, but they would wait until they had the information on hand sorted and listed.
    Two weeks into the investigation, things were looking as though the case could go unsolved indefinitely. Boise had heard nothing at school. Ther were no more bodies found in or around Meowpaw. It was as though the killer had stopped entirely; which, if you knew your information, you knew that was nearly impossible unless the suspect was either incarcerated or dead. So Kasahn decided it was time to go costume shopping for a birthday party. He and Boise chose Thursday after school because there was a big sale that day. On Thursday they walked into the costume shop and was greeted by a pudgy old manager by the name of Mewrice. Kasahn explained to Mewrice that his 'son' was having an unusual birthday party, he wanted his guests to wear costumes, and he also needed one. Mewrice thought the idea was quite amusing and asked Boise which characters he admired the most. Boise told Mewrice that he enjoyed super heroes like The Incredible Hulk and Spiderman, but his all time favorite superhero was Flash Gordon.
    Mewrice had all the superheroes including Flash Gordon. Boise exclaimed, "That's the one I want! Can I get it dad? Please! Please!" Kasahn paid for the costume, and decided he would do some inquiring about the new shop. He asked Mewrice how business was doing, if he'd gotten settled in all right, and where he had come from. Mewrice replied that business was good and he had gotten settled in just fine, but evaded the question about prior whereabouts. "Well, " Kasahn thought, "why does that not surprise me that the old coot won't discuss where he came from." They would definitely do some research on this character. Before Kasahn and Boise left the shop, Kasahn picked up a business card off the counter. Rah'Chell could get some valuable information from this.
    Rah'Chell wasted no time searching for information on Mewrice and his costume business. By mid afternoon she had found out that he had managed a costume shop in Tootsan and in Felinez. That put Mewrice in the area of the other two crime scenes. Even though there may be nothing The Locals could charge him with here right now, Kasahn told Chief Mr. Magoo what Rah'Chell had discovered, and that he should bring Mewrice in for questioning; but strictly on a volunteer basis right now. So Chief Mr. Magoo and Kasahn went to see Mewrice to ask him if he would be willing to come over to The Precinct for a little chat. To their surprise, Mewrice agreed to come over on his lunch hour. Mewrice said he had no knowledge of the victims other than they had been customers in his costume shops. Business was at a standstill was his reason for moving from Tootsan to Felinez then here to Meowpaw. Mewrice claimed it was only coincidental that dead bodies wearing costumes from his shops had been found in the same towns he lived in. Mewrice claimed he was innocent of killing anyone, even though he did remember that he sold the saloon girl costume to the victim, but insists he had no idea where she went after she left the shop. Having no concrete evidence to hold him on, Chief Mr. Magoo had to let Mewrice go, but adivses him not to leave town. Learning nothing from Mewrice, Kasahn and Chief Mr. Magoo agreed it was time to set down together with all the evidence and sort through it again. But even after that neither one could come up with a reasoning behind the victim's costumes and the dump sites.
    Boise was setting in class musing over the social studies pop quiz (a matching test) when he got an idea. Maybe the suspect's reasoning for the costumes and the dump sites was a matching game. He would definitely have to explain his theory to Uncle Kasahn to see what he thought about his idea. So after school, Boise went to talk to Kasahn about his theory. Kasahn listened and thought about the logic of it. As unreal as it sounded, maybe it did make sense. A 'cowboy' needed to take care of cattle, so it would be logical to find one in a feedlot. A 'doctor' needed to cure others, therefore the Healing Springs would be logical around Meowpaw. But the 'saloon girl' in the elementary school? That one didn't make sense. "Well, yes it might make perfect sense," Boise said. Recently the school had formed a dance team. Maybe the suspect knew this, and didn't approve of dancing. Mayber because the suspect thinks dancing is vulgar, like a saloon girl's dancing seems vulgar to some. "Very possible! Great job my little assistant!" exclaimed Kasahn.
    Kasahn and Boise walked over to The Precinct to discuss this theory with Chief Mr. Magoo. The Chief listened intently. "Well," he thought out loud, "Boise, you might just have a logical explanation. It may well just be a morbid game because this character had mental issues. I think it's something we could definitely run with." While Kasahn and Boise were at The Precinct, Rah'Chell phoned asking for Kasahn. Farmer Dell had called and said he had found a piece of evidence, could they come over. Chief Mr. Magoo, Kasahn, and Boise went back to the farm. Farmer Dell was waiting for them. He led them to his catawomp field where he had been plowing and pointed to a cell phone he had unearthed. Chief Mr. Magoo put on a latex glove and bent down to pick up the cell phone. On it was engraved the phrase 'a costume to die for' and the initials M.C.