Conversation · Damaged Ledger

I like it, but can't we wreak havoc on other nations instead?

Did someone ask what you believe in, man with the smelly toilet ledger? What do you want to tackle next? Or are we done?

The middle class are not to be blamed. It's human nature.

Did anyone ask what you believe in, man with the smelly toilet ledger? What do you want to tackle next? Or are we done?

A) REMOVE THE MURAL, IT IS WRONG

Wait, do I ever find out who came up with it?

The case files do not show you finding the author of the design.

THE SQUARE BULLET HOLE MURDERS

It would be very interesting to read about these, wouldn't it? I mean -- there seems to be a square-shaped entry wound in the victim's forehead. She's been sitting there for weeks. On her rocking chair. With a square hole in her skull, staring at the wall, her mouth agape.

But?

That's all you got. From the half hour you've spent piecing it together, all you know is: the entry wound was square-shaped. You never found the bullet. And then -- another body showed up. Also with a square hole in his forehead.

Toxicology showed the entry wound was laced with an incredibly potent psychoactive substance called HUV4-Nil. No street name.

A sequence killer?

Who knows? Those pages are missing. What next?

Don't worry. One day.

One day you may still catch the man with the square gun.

Browse the yellow papers.

Thin see-through copier paper -- mostly neon yellow, some bright red -- all covered in boxes like marching armies. These are your official forms, easy enough to make sense of...

STATION CALL.

These are quite sinister in tone. They give a date and time for the person to 'appear' at the specified Precinct Police Station. Below the 'call' are the criminal charges you risk by 'not appearing'.

All in a print so small it could be considered downright cute.

MISCONDUCT FINE.

A monetary penalization ranging from 20 to 250 reál. Severe cases allow for 1000 reál, but that requires special paperwork. The details of issuing these fines are spread out over the rest of the fields.

But they appear... pleasantly vague.

A tool for manipulation. Give the lowest amount and people will be ingratiated to you.

FIELD AUTOPSY.

A dozen pages of thin copy paper, bright red in colour. You see the parameters of a deceased human form, waiting to be filled in: age, sex, condition of internal organs...

Colour of the irises. Predation marks. Condition of sexual organs.

"Kim, look, field autopsy."

"Good, yes. We can return to the dead body -- by now it smells exquisite..." Looks like he would rather concentrate on taking notes for now.

Let it be.

The forms feel moist, like the rest. Wavy to touch.

Enough of these. (Close forms.)

The rest of the stinking cellulose is much worse for wear. Being sandwiched between the board and the rest of the paperwork must have spared the fragile copier paper.

Yes -- all that remains now is to fill those forms and hand them to people: fines for wrongdoers, interview requests for bad guys, and field autopsies to dead guys.

What delicious power hid within this pathetic mess... you feel better.

In the back you see thin translucent copier paper -- some neon yellow, some bright red -- all covered in boxes, like marching armies. These look like official forms, waiting to be filled out...

...then rip them from the binder, and hand them out. According to type of form.

What types of forms are there?

Three. The topmost are MISCONDUCT FINES, the middle ones are STATION CALLS, and the bottommost are FIELD AUTOPSY FORMS. Each is easy enough to make sense of.

You don't have to be an intellectual giant to do police-work.

Look at the clipboard.

It's made of dark blue plastic hard enough to beat someone to submission with. The edges are rounded, however. The U4-sized board feels thick and heavy in your hand. Light shimmers on its wet surface. On the back you see the embossed letters: RCM.

What did you say the colour was?

Blue.

The blue heart. Don't look into it.

Shake the ledger.

Something rattles inside, ever so lightly. Is there... a hidden compartment?

And something small inside? Light? Made of paper or cardboard? Or dried flowers perhaps?

Permeables. It's not hidden per se, the compartment is made for permeable materials that would get damaged if something happened to it.

Peek inside.

The plastic shimmers like lapis lazuli, but it is not see-through. You cannot see to its centre...

There's something there. A rectangular shape, like one of those postcards that Annette told you about...

There's pain in there, if you want some. That much you know.

There's something there. A rectangular shape, like a card. Or a postcard...

Back to the rest of this mess.

U4-sized pages hang from the clip screwed to the top of the board.

How would I open it? (Conclude.)

With your hands? U4-sized pages hang from the clip screwed to the top of the board.

Inspect the toilet paper.