The gun that Mark Wilson had stolen reacted immediately to his pulling of the trigger. It fired and went on a line straight to his intended target, Daisuke Tachibana. The fact that the man had produced a katana was a surprise to him, but he was still certain that the man was a Federal agent, and if he was involved already, they had to be on to something. The detective would surely dive out of the way and with the "fed" down, he might be able to make a run for it. After all, he doubted the Chief of Police could stop him in a real brawl. The man looked to be a bit older than even the detective, and in Mark Wilson's mind, the police chief was usually someone who spent most of his day shoving donuts down his throat.
However, with the haste to try and get away, and blind panic, Mark's aim was less than perfect. He fired on Daisuke, and while Daisuke was a skilled martial artist, the notion that knowing karate would allow one to dodge point blank gunfire was silly. Daisuke watched Mark aim the gun and pull the trigger, and did try to get out of the way, but even a werefox couldn't react faster than a gun's muzzle velocity. The bullet caught him in the shoulder and spun him around on his heals.
"AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHAAAHH!" Daisuke gave a pained grunt, dropping his sword and then gripping at his wounded shoulder.
It felt like his shoulder was on fire as the bullet had gone through flesh and was presently lodged in his shoulder and irritating every nerve that it could.
"Get down!" Detective Miles shouted.
Though the shout was directed to Daisuke to get the Skulk's security agent out of the line of fire and giving him a better shot at Mark, Mark took it as simply another command to get him to surrender, pivoted as he made a rush for the door and moved to fire at Detective Miles. He took a step toward Detective Miles and to clear his own shot, since he figured that Daisuke, disarmed and with his back turned wasn't a threat to him. His move made him stumble a bit when one of the officers that he had hit earlier in the escape attempt grabbed one of Mark's legs and pulled. The henchmen managed to break free of the man's grasp, leading to an ungraceful hop on one leg that left him off balance and with his stolen weapon aimed at the floor.
"Why... you!" Mark growled as he staggered and tried to regain his balance.
He took another two big steps before he could get a chance to aim the stolen gun at Detective Miles, only to find himself looking down the barrel of Detective Miles' revolver.
"Da--" Mark began.
Detective Miles wasn't about to let this guy get away with it. Daisuke's katana was a surprise, but the Skulk security agent was presently seated on the floor with his teeth clinched and gripping at his wounded shoulder after the prisoner had shot him with a stolen gun. They had plenty of evidence collected to ensure that the man could be held and charged with at least possession of stolen property, if not more, but this man had made it quite clear that he wasn't going to cooperate or at least cease resisting. He was violent and quite possibly an idiot as he had escalated what was probably an escape attempt into attempted murder. Most importantly, the man was still armed with a stolen weapon and had made no attempt to flee the scene. It was like he wanted to gun them down.
Detective Miles kept his own weapon aimed toward Mark. He held his fire and simply aimed and waited for a clear shot. He got his opportunity when Mark was made to stumble along after one of the other wounded officers grabbed at the man's leg. The stumble had cost the man the chance to get away or to make a clean shot at Detective Miles, and made him struggle to get back on his feet. As he did this, Detective Miles watched as Mark began to raise the stolen gun as he began to regain his balance. That made it clear that this guy wasn't going to let either Detective Miles or Daisuke out alive and Detective Miles wasn't about to let that happen. With Mark now in the open, he pivoted and aimed his revolver. As soon as Mark was ready to fire again, Detective Miles had an easy bead on him and fired at point blank range.
Mark's attempted curse was cut short has his escape plan ended in a gunshot from Detective Miles' revolver. The round caught him in the neck and had enough force to knock Mark on his back. Detective Miles sighed as Mark fell back onto his back, his blood spurting out like a geyser and pooling on the floor around Mark. By this point another two officers came in with Chief O'Hara following behind. They arrived to find Mark dying on the floor while Detective Lukasky clambering out from underneath the overturned table and Detective Miles turning to check on Daisuke.
"This will complicate matters," Chief O'Hara said slowly as he looked at Mark's body.
"Hey... he attacked us," Detective Lukasky answered, "that's self defense on our part well within our rights."
Chief O'Hara nodded, "and we do have security cameras in these rooms, for their protection as much as ours... However, there was still things we needed from him that we aren't going to get now."
"Like what?" Detective Miles wondered as he checked Daisuke's wound. It wasn't life threatening, but the Skulk's security agent would definitely need surgery to remove the bullet and potentially put the bone back together.
"A potential murder," Daisuke said weakly, his voice pained but still clear, "we found a bloody rag... and the scent of the blood does not match the man here. The Chief was telling me of having to send it to Tacoma for the state's crime lab to double check..."
"That will depend on whether or not Oregon's been able to contact the family members and can get DNA samples to cross reference," Chief O'Hara spoke, "the real issue... though... would be confirming the murder and WHERE the bodies are. All the rag can tell us is that at some point there was a scuffle and two other people were at least injured. There is simply too much that we don't know at present that we needed his testimony and cooperation to piece them together."
"I'd think we can put a base narrative together," Detective Lukasky commented as he dusted himself off, "and perhaps the family of the van's owners knows something on where they were headed, which could narrow the search area down."
Chief O'Hara nodded, "that will take time though."
The others nodded with a sigh. Chief O'Hara then turned to Daisuke and the katana that lay on the floor near him. He also noted that Detective Miles was also looking at the weapon. After a few moments, Daisuke also noticed this and answered the unasked question.
"It belonged to my grandfather," Daisuke said slowly, "as a member of Japan's nobility... it was expected that he would carry and wield a katana as other nobles and samurai had in days past. He had told my father that the sword was passed down through the generations and was to provide the family with some sense of honor in all things."
With his free hand, Daisuke reached inside his jacket and produced a small slip of paper, though a part of it was stained by Daisuke's blood. He held it out to Detective Miles.
"And this is the legal permit to carry the sword and use it in all matters regarding the Skulk's security... and the town's security should we be needed," Daisuke continued, "though, for the most part... the need for it has only been ceremonial."
"Wouldn't a gun be more effective?" Detective Miles checked the permit and then returned to Daisuke.
"Guns are uncivilized," Daisuke answered, "no soul in them... while sword serves as an extension of the soul of the wielder."
"We'll see to it that it's returned to your grandmother with the utmost care," Chief O'Hara stated, "In the meantime, we'll get an ambulance here to take you the hospital."
Daisuke nodded, "And while these events may not have gone the way we would like, we may be at least assured that Jennifer Harper is safe and in no immediate threat."
"Hopefully it stays that way," Chief O'Hara said simply as the officers now would have to clean up after the battle they had, but for the immediate future, there should be no further troubles concerning the wedding until Halloween when the wedding was to take place.