I followed Lee into a narrow alleyway, the distance between us shrinking as his pace faltered. Without warning, he dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back, his legs splayed wide, front paws pointed upward in a posture that seemed both unnatural and eerily serene. The pufferfish he'd been carrying fell from his mouth, flapping weakly on the pavement, its spiny body twitching feebly. It flapped and struggled for a moment, then gradually, its erratic movements slowed until they ceased altogether.

Lee lay there with his tongue hanging limply from the side of his open mouth. I inched closer. Was he dead? For a moment, I believed he had succumbed to some toxin and became a victim of his reckless appetite. His eyes were shut tight, his face contorted into an odd, twisted grin.

Then, his chest rose in a sudden, deep breath, followed by a tremor that rippled through his whole body. A sound, low at first, grew louder until it burst from his throat in a wild, uncontrollable laugh—a laugh so full of mirth and mischief that I could hardly believe it.

Lee wasn’t dead at all. He wasn’t even in danger. He was simply lost in some euphoric trance, intoxicated by whatever strange effect the pufferfish had brought upon him.

His eyes fluttered open, shining with amusement, and I stood there, half in disbelief, watching as he reveled in his bizarre state. Lee was not just alive—he was, it seemed, thoroughly enjoying himself in a way only he could.

“I couldn't thank those dolphins enough for this,” he managed between fading bursts of laughter.

“I thought you were dead,” I said, my voice cold and even. “You do realize that this kind of fish carries a lethal toxin!”

I moved toward the pufferfish’s bloated form, careful not to make contact, for even the slightest touch could probably kill me. I leaned in, catching the faintest odor. The creature's eyes bulged out, its mouth gaping in a final, voiceless scream. No doubt about it– it was gone.

“Yup, I'm aware of that,” Lee replied with a strange, distant gleam in his eyes, “But if you know the trick, if you know just how to press, it won't kill you. Instead, it’ll set you free.”

“And how exactly did you learn to get high off pufferfish toxin?”

Lee rolled over and got to his feet, swaying slightly from side to side. “The dolphins, of course. After I had escaped the Shelter–”

“–where a thief ought to be–”

“I bolted down to the docks and dove into the nearest dinghy like a fugitive on the run–”

“–Well, you are–”

“–figured I’d catch a quick nap, let the chase blow over. But when I woke up, I was no longer dockside—I was adrift, smack in the middle of the goddamn sea! That’s when I realized: some idiot had forgotten to tie the mooring line to the cleat. Of course, this is my luck. Stranded. Alone.”

“Oh no, what a tragedy.”

“Then, out of nowhere, a pod of dolphins swam up and asked me what the hell a dog was doing alone out here,” Lee continued to yap. “I told them, straight up, I’d broken out of the Shelter—the place was a prison—and I needed to get back to the city.”

“And how did they react?”

“My story didn’t even faze them. They nudged the dinghy, one by one, bumping me in the right direction, all cool and calm like they’d done it a hundred times.”

“I'm sure they've come across sea-stranded dogs many times before.”

“The journey didn’t take long—maybe an hour, maybe less—but it stretched out like some odyssey. Time does weird things when you’re stuck at sea with nothing but hunger gnawing at your gut and dolphins for company. Somewhere along the way, they showed me how to milk a pufferfish for its toxin. They said it’d take the edge off the hunger, give me a kick. And holy hell, they weren’t wrong! That stuff hit me like a yacht crashing into a ship—oh man, it was just enough of a kick to forget about being hungry, just long enough to keep going.”

“And now you're addicted to this toxin and have been stealing from the Blowfish Man.”

He scoffed and shook his head. “Stealing? No, no, man, that was the first time, I swear! I just needed a kick, you know? Just one more. A good one.”

He stopped and eyed me curiously. “But hey, what about you?” he asked. “What were you doing up there with those cats in the Blowfish Man’s stall? Looking for a kick yourself, huh?”

I straightened up, chest out. “I’m on duty. Important investigative work.”

“Exciting!” he exclaimed, ears perking up, tail wagging furiously. “What kind of investigation?”

“I can't tell you the details. It's an ongoing case.”

His ears drooped, tail slowing. As I turned to leave, a thought struck me. I paused, glancing back. “Actually,” I started to say, “There might be something you can help me with.”

His tail was wagging again, faster this time, hope revived. “What is it? What can I help with? I’m always up for a bit of adventure and fun.”

“You know the lay of the land, don’t you?”

He nodded confidently. “Of course! I was born and raised here, you know that.”

“Right, so you’d be familiar with most of the vendors and shop owners.”

“Most of them, yes. I can tell their scent well enough to know whether I love, like, or dislike them.”

“Do you know of an apothecary owned by a strange masked man?”

Lee's face clouded with concern. “Oh, so you're looking for that man.”

“Do you know him?”

“I think I know who you're talking about, but I’ve never interacted with him directly. He always gave me a bad feeling whenever our paths crossed. Yeah, I've seen him. He's got that shop over at Peace Village.”

Intrigued, I settled in, keen on hearing more. “Go on. What do you mean by that.”

Lee paced in a small circle before finally settling down across from me, his expression thoughtful. He cleared his throat before beginning his tale of how he encountered the masked stranger.