Buenos Aires: Puss in Boots

Leon frowned. There was no need for a placard for him to be able to tell what this was.

"Puss in boots. Or in the language where the story first came from, Italian... il gato con gli stavali."

Wolfe gulped at the dead cat, sweating. "I only know the Shrek version."

"Well, you know that part where they stole clothes from a carriage in Shrek 2 to make Shrek look more appealing to Fiona as a human? That part was borrowed from the fairy tale."

"Puss in Boots was more like a fairy godmother in the original story. He is a helper to this miller's son, who fooled the king in order to get his daughter's hand in marriage."

He picked up the carcass, examining it and checking if it had died long.

It doesn't seem to be that long, as the rigor mortis had not yet fully set in.

He approximated about 2-3 hours. That coincides with a little before their play.

"Is this cat familiar to you?" Leon asked. "I can't see any labels or anything. It seems to be an British shorthair, just like Shrek's Puss in Boots."

"Mm..... Yeah, the one voiced by Antonio Banderas." Wolfe nodded, and went closer to look at the cat.

Under the clothes, it seemed to have died of strangulation.

"It really looked a lot like it.... Even the clothes too... Wait..."

"This is Antonio." His heart quickened. "Taji's cat. He named it after Antonio Banderas."

"Taji... Tsk, it's messed up if his girlfriend would kill his cat just to mess with you." Leon growled.

"Yeah, it's sickening. And Taji loves animals so much, he's pretty much a 'fur dad' and donates to shelters as much as he can."

He turned to Leon. "How do we explain this to him?"

"We took off the clothes, and tell him we found it here. We don't know who did it, we don't mention the tableaus and placards. Act just as confused as him."

They set off into handing the carcass, but the problem was that Taji was in the victory party. They'll be pretty much raining on his parade with the sad news.

But it's better to get it over with, as pushing this back later would just make it harder to explain.

Wolfe was the one who made the call.

A jolly voice answered on the other line, with some upbeat Latino party music in the background.

"Hey, Fang! About time, you guys going to the party now? We still have some of that pineapple ciders I told you about, they're to die for---"

"Uh..... Funny you should say that, Taji because.... Well, we found something." Wolfe said, looking at the dead cat with a guilty expression.

He explained that they found Antonio somewhere in the changing area, and they also didn't know how the hell he got there.

Taji immediately said he will rush back to Teatro Colon and hang up.

Wolfe sighed. Leon was fixing up the bit of matted fur on the dead cat.

Wolfe was not much of an animal lover, but he knows how animals can mean to someone.

If Little John ever dies this way, it won't be Leon that gets mad, but him too.

Because he knows how much that will affect Leon.

Well... maybe a little bit because he finds the little pest kinda cute.

Leon seemed to be on the same wavelength as him. He frowned as he wrapped the cat in white cloth.

"What if they go after Little John next? Well, he was an accessory to these crimes... Poor dog already went through a lot after losing his old owner."

"That won't happen. He's safe with Mrs. Gonzales at the hotel right now." Wolfe paced back and forth. "What's the significance of all this?"

"I don't know either. I only know that when it comes to a demented mind..... Outsiders can never truly understand their logic. Our logic and their logic are different."

"Even if there is a reason, it's something that's only reasonable for them."

Wolfe nodded. "Maybe... But maybe not too."

"Red Riding Hood is a fairytale, that pretty much is obvious. But why these specific ones?"

"Pinocchio..... Robin Hood.... Puss in Boots...." Leon rubbed his chin. "The only similarities I can find when it comes to theme..... Is that they are all not-so-moral characters."

"They're all male too. Hah, is that supposed to be a message for me?" Wolfe asked. "Am I like these fairytale characters?"

"Someone immoral, deceitful.... deserving death?"

It was not a bad analysis. Leon actually thinks this was most likely what the mastermind believe.

But whatever this mastermind thinks of Wolfe... Leon would never agree to it.

"Wolfe..... Even if this mastermind thinks that you're so damn terrible to deserve death...That doesn't mean it's true." He said, walking over to him.

"You're not a bad guy....."

He reached out to pat his head, but Wolfe avoided it, shaking his head.

"How can you be so sure?"

He sounded so weak when he said that, his voice cracking a little. He took a step back, not wanting to be comforted by Leon.

"You and I have been apart for so long, Leon..... You don't know the person I have become over these years, or what I have done when you were not around."

"Have you killed anyone?" Leon asked bluntly.

"No....." Wolfe frowned. "But killing someone isn't the only way to become a monster."

"I know that. I know that very well..."

He looked down. "There are times that you have killed someone without actually murdering them."

"You have killed the person they once were, or have killed the person they should have been."

Wolfe sensed something in this, and went closer. But he faltered, and took back his hand.

They were both just broken people in the end, and they don't even know the first step to comfort themselves...

Much less comfort each other.

"Where's Antonio!?" A voice suddenly broke them away from their anxious thoughts.

It was Taji. He took his dead pet from Leon's hand, crying.

"Taji.... Where did you last leave Anotnio?" Leon asked, now in his usual calm detective mode.

"I... I just left him in our hotel earlier. He was alright that time.... He can't have followed me here, can he?"

Leon shook his head. "No, someone took him here. Were you sharing the same hotel room with Cherith?"

"Yes...." Taji blinked, tears still trickling as he hugged the dead corpse. "Why?"

"The person that most likely took him here.... And killed him..... Would be the person you share your hotel room with, right?"