"So this is Moon Lake," Detective Holmes said calmly as they rode into the city.
It had many elements that made it look rather quaint as it was nestled in a remote area of the Cascade Mountains outside Seattle. They could make out some modern style buildings along what was labeled as Main Street and the main East/West axis through the town. Behind them they could see several trees growing up behind them. While Detective Holmes, Detective Smith, and the FBI Agent Peters didn't know exactly what the trees were, they could see that they were different from the trees native to Washington State. They supposed that the people of Moon Lake planted the trees to replace those they cut down when Moon Lake was first built. Why they brought seeds for foreign trees was a mystery, but not one they needed to solve.
The mystery they were there to "solve" related to the issues and problems raised by one Dymixious Drake. The man was a prime suspect in the murder of Lionel Ulysses, and they had already found evidence that was pretty damning for the man. The fact that Lionel Ulysses was a criminal was not a mitigating factor. Vigilantism was not justification for murder, particularly as at times law enforcement agencies put guys under cover to try and get incriminating evidence. A vigilante might not recognize that and kill a cop by mistake, and at the same time, the rules of justice also could stand simply killing people because they were assumed to be criminal. In that, they felt Dymixious Drake to be a criminal and potentially a violent criminal, even if his violence was aimed at "criminals."
But so far, the hunt for Dymixious had brought up a lost of goose eggs with regard to actually finding the man. They found plenty that implicated Dymixious in not only the murder of Lionel Ulysses but also in the murder of several others throughout the country of people who were wanted for various crimes, though some went back years. For some of them, they thought that Dymixious's father was involved in some of them, but they had nothing to prove that and with their present case focusing on the murder of Lionel Ulysses, they ultimately decided to let that be for the moment. However, evidence that Dymixious had committed the crime was not the same as finding him. And that was what they had been trying to find, and had had little luck in.
They'd tried to find Dymixious based on what information they had and found. It started with the search of the Drake property in another remote part of the Cascade Mountains, though they found that that home was far more remotely located than Moon Lake was. However, they had found the murder weapon, a concoction of poison dominated by the venom of the Sea Krait, a venomous snake that roamed the tropical Pacific waters. That had to mean that Dymixious had to have a boat with which to sail off into the Pacific, and that lead them back to Seattle's harbor in the hopes that he was there. They found the Drake family's yacht, but the only thing they'd found was a phone number that was to a Akane no Tachibana, and it was that that had brought them to Moon Lake.
They knew a fair amount of about the woman. She was a Japanese immigrant who had come with much of her immediate family after World War II and settled in the town of Moon Lake where they'd established a rather successful business that focused a lot of its energies on scientific research and pharmaceutical production. They were involved in various other scientific ventures as well, and all proved to be rather successful, but the pharmaceutical work that they did seemed to be the main thing. In a way, she was a picture of success under the American dream, but the fact that Dymixious Drake had her as a contact was a mystery. A phone conversation had seemed to indicate that there had been a business deal that had gone bad some time in the past, but none of the three entirely bought that. In a way, that would make sense, as Dymixious's character and what they knew of it wouldn't likely lead to a successful business venture, which a successful businesswoman like Akane Tachibana would have every right to be frustrated over. But something about that just didn't sit right with any of them.
They'd found nothing to indicate that Dymixious was ever involved in the business world. And the way he lived struck them more as though he were some sort of mob hitman than anything else. In that they were left with more questions than answers, and that would only be handled by a more in depth questioning of Akane no Tachibana, see if they could get some clarification on the answers they'd gotten over the phone and follow up on what might be their only lead into Dymixious's location in that he'd asked Mrs. Tachibana about care for his pregnant wife, which could mean he was hiding somewhere in the town.
"Yes, this is it," Agent Peters said from the driver's seat as she drove along, "I've actually come through a couple of times. Once in route to Spokane on an investigation... another was actually to stay at their campground here one summer. It was rather quiet and made for great relaxation."
The two detectives looked to her as they rode along before the FBI agent continued.
"It's layout is... different from any town you know, but the people here are actually rather nice," Agent Peters continued, "So... let's keep that in mind when dealing with both their city government and police department and with Mrs. Tachibana."
"Okay," Detective Smith spoke, "So long as we get something that will lead us to Dymixious."
"Yes, let's start with the Police and handle that first," Detective Holmes added, "As... Mrs. Tachibana is really only a mission for clarification. Dymixious remains the main man to catch."
Agent Peters nodded and continued to drive along as they headed into the town. The two detectives looked around as they rode along and at a point where the main street was met at the first intersection that they'd come across, they noted a walled compound that carried a highly oriental look to it, and both Seattle detectives wondered if that was where they would end up going when it came to talking with Akane no Tachibana, but the ride moved along that their curiosity was not given much time to wonder. They soon rode into the central part of Moon Lake where they noted the first appearance of other streets, but only three of them and from they noticed, they thought some of them looked like they were curved. At the very center of town, they noticed that their route took them into the middle of a large park, complete with trees, playground equipment, picnic benches and one public bandstand from what they could see.
As they reached the center, they finally saw other streets, but as they looked out at them, they couldn't help but notice that these intersecting streets were not at right angles or close to right angles. This left them in amazement as Agent Peters brought the car to a stop at the town's only series of stop lights. From his spot in the front passenger seat, Detective Holmes noted that there was a stoplight for EVERY of these streets that were suspended through the a series of wires that lead to metal poles on the grass side of the park that surrounded them.
"I told you, their layout is a bit different from what you know," Agent Peters chuckled as she noticed some of awe and puzzlement on her two compatriots.
"They got all these streets at angles," Detective Smith spoke, "how is this town laid out?"
"Like a wagon wheel," Agent Peters answered, "I was a bit surprised by it too when I first came through, but from what I was told, it's done to let the town keep a closeness to nature that places like Seattle doesn't have."
"Must have lots of trouble with deer and stuff," Detective Holmes commented.
"If they do... they seem to actually like having the deer around," Agent Peters told them.
"My God... it's a town full of hippies," Detective Holmes grumbled.
"Not hippies," Agent Peters answered with a small laugh, "from what I've seen... though my experience is limited... is that they're more naturalists than anything else."
"Well... so long as they also believe in law and order, we'll be fine," Detective Smith commented as the light turned green and Agent Peters made a turn that would take them toward the street that would take them to the police station.