Hi!

	Well, would you believe I've already read all five parts?  Guess
who's procrastinating...

	Anyways, I really don't have much to say in the way of
constructive criticism other than to say I like it.  You've got the
details -- some of the rather gruesome ones, too -- down excellently. 
Good pacing, too, developping the plot and leads slowly but surely,
throwing enough new possibilities, and suspects, along the way.
	(I'm assuming that the neko-ken is a total red-herring.  It seems
unlikely, especially since the killer has been shown to talk to his/her
victim.)
	One small gripe: one of the greatest strengths is the external
view of the investigator upon the Ranma world; the lunacy of the
Ranmaverse, filtered through a policeman's eyes, makes for some great --
and occasionally funny -- scenes.  We know when Mousse goes off screaming
like a lunatic (or Ryoga for that matter) that any cop is going to
dutifully take a note down, and with some justification . . . but we also
know that the violent action doesn't really mean anything.  Sure, most of
the characters in Ranma 1/2 have some kind of horrible sexual repression
going on, but its just part of who they are.
	(Of course, the point of the fic also seems to be to show what the
real-life consequences of such inner-tension can be.  In my opinion,
that's what makes a darkfic dark: the introduction of real-world
consequences into a consequence free world.  So the question becomes, who
snapped first?)
	But, back on subject: my gripe, then, is the rather jarring break
in that external point-of-view on occasion.  It doesn't happen often: the
one clear example that comes to mind is when the investigator first
questions Ranma, and for one brief moment, the POV shifts into Ranma's
head.  He stops himself from revealing his curse, and berates himself.
It's inconsistent, and worse, immediately (to me) removes him as a
suspect.  If he _was_ the killer, he wouldn't be think 'damn, I almost
revealed my curse', he's be thinking, 'shit, I hope they're not closing in
on me.'  I don't know if it was an intentional effect or an accidental
slip, bu, to me, it weakens the entire story.  Consistency of POV in a
story is crucial.
	Otherwise, the story does a great job of keeping the reader
guessing, and of keeping most of the characters up as potential suspects.
I'm not a big reader of mystery novels (ie. never), so maybe those more
into the genre have already figured it out; me, I'm clueless, and happy
that way.
	Keep it up!
	(And I still don't know how I missed part 1-4 until now . . . how
frequently have these been coming out -- ie., how long until part six?)

	Later!
	-Mike Noakes
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There they stood, ranged along the hillside, met* E-mail at:
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