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Chapter 11: The Murderer

Ellie's left leg bounced nervously as she waited in the small break area outside of the

editor's office. She was waiting to interview for a position as a political columnist at the local

newspaper, The Maplesburg Gazette. She really needed the job: she was just barely scraping

together enough money for rent working part time as at Mole's Mugs. She'd arrived early to

make sure she wasn't late for the interview. She'd been waiting about ten minutes when a

poodle wearing a white shirt, black jacket, and blue and white checkered cravat strolled into the

break area and sat across the short circular oak table from her at one of the other armless faux-

leather chairs.

"You here to see the editor too?" Ellie asked, trying to push aside her nervousness

and strike a friendly tone.

"Yes, I have an interview in a few minutes," he replied briskly.

"Really? Me too, well in about twenty minutes actually. I got here early."

The poodle gave her an appraising look, seeming to inspect her white button-up

blouse and dark brown pleated skirt. Despite herself, Ellie couldn't resist shifting nervously in

her seat.

"And what did you major in?" the poodle inquired.

"Political science."

The poodle smiled smugly, "I double majored in political science and journalism."

The door of the office opened and the editor, a dove in a red tie, poked his head out.

"Arnold Packard, I'll see you now."

The poodle stood and extended his hand to Ellie, still smiling smugly. She gave him

her hand, and he shook it firmly.

"Good luck," his tone made it clear he didn't think she had much of a chance.

They both disappeared into the office, and Ellie continued to wait, even more nervous

than before. After what seemed like several more minutes, a dapper brown mackerel tabby in a

white shirt collar and green tie entered the break area and dropped a heavy stack of paper on

the table, sitting where the poodle had been.

Ellie smiled nervously, "Are you here for an interview too?"

The cat looked up at her, surprised, as if he'd barely noticed she was there, "Uh, no,

I'm here to show my research to the editor." He gestured to the stack of paper.

Ellie felt a wave of relief, "I'm trying to get a job as a political columnist. I thought

maybe that was your CV."

The cat chuckled. "So you want to be a journalist, eh? We always need tough

journalists keeping people in power accountable."

"Well, actually, I want to be a private investigator, I thought that if I got this job, I could

save enough money to start my own practice."

"Really? That sounds interesting. I just finished up at the police academy, and I

haven't really thought about what to do next."

Ellie blinked in surprise, "I would have thought that meant you were going to be a

police officer."

The cat's expression changed to one of embarrassment, "When I say I finished up, I

actually mean I dropped out," he murmured.

"Oh! I'm sorry."

The cat shook his head, "Don't be. It turns out I'm not cut out to be a police officer, but

private investigator sounds interesting. I ought to think about something like that."

Ellie smirked, "You don't happen to be sitting on a wad of cash, do you? If you were,

we could go into business together if I don't get this job."

She'd meant it mostly as a joke, but the cat nodded, apparently considering it very

seriously, "As a matter of fact, my grandmother left me a little sum that I've been saving. I think

it ought to be enough to lease an office for several months and put out some advertisements."

He pulled out a pen that he'd apparently had clipped to the underside of his collar,

tore a small piece of paper off of his stack, and scribbled on it. He held the scrap of paper out to

Ellie.

"If you don't get the job, call me, and we'll discuss it more. That's my number. My

name's Jason Brown by the way."

Ellie took the piece of paper in her left hand and held out her right hand across the

table, "I'm Ellie Bennett."

The door to the office opened and the smug poodle strolled out, turning to leave

without giving them a glance.

"Ellie Bennett, I'll see you now," the editor announced.

"It was nice meeting you," Ellie said to the cat before hurrying to the office door.

"Likewise. Good luck again!"

* * *

That had been five years ago today. Ellie had thought the interview had gone okay,

but she still hadn't gotten the job. She'd been upset when she got the email letting her know the

job had gone to someone else, but that afternoon, while she was working at the coffee shop,

she had remembered her meeting with Jason. After her shift, she had hurried home to dig

through her nightstand to find the scrap of paper and had called Jason. He'd told her he was

sorry about the job, but he'd obviously been pleased that she had taken him up on his offer.

They had met the next day for lunch at Lulu's Sub shop and had hit it off even better than Ellie

had expected from their brief meeting outside of the editor's office. Ellie had quit her job at the

coffee shop shortly after, and they had opened their firm.

Using her elbow, Ellie pushed down the handle and shoved the office door open.

Jason was already there, as usual, but Ellie noticed that he was actually wearing a full red dress

shirt today sans tie. She shuffled the last few steps and dropped the heavy box on Jason's desk

with a wham. She brushed off the sky blue button-up blouse she was wearing.

"Seems like you're determined to help me build my upper body strength," she

quipped. "The box was heavy enough without your DVD player in it."

Jason pulled the player out of the box, "Sorry, I didn't realize I had forgotten it until I got

home. Thanks for bringing it."

"No problem. By the way, did you realize that today is our anniversary?"

Jason looked confused, "I thought we started in September."

Ellie nodded, "But it's the anniversary of the day we met."

"You have that memorized, huh?"

"No, I just put it on my calendar. We should go get lunch or something."

"Sure, why don't we go have a drink at that new brewpub that just opened in West

downtown after work?"

"Sounds good." Ellie grabbed a stack of the papers they hadn't read yet and went to sit

at her desk.

Ellie had been reading for about half an hour when the phone rang. Jason hopped up

and went to pick it up.

"Bennett and Brown Private Investigators, Inspector Brown speaking."

...

"Oh, hi, Fitzie, what is it?"

...

"Really? That's great news, great work. Tell Lily I said so."

...

"Right, well, thanks for the update, Fitzie. See you around."

...

Jason hung up the phone and turned to Ellie, "That was Fitzie. He says the police caught

Danny's murderer."

"Woah, that was quick."

Jason nodded, "And he confessed and everything. I guess that's the end of the case."

"I guess s-wait, just one suspect?"

"That's right."

Ellie narrowed her eyes in concern, "I thought the gray fox made it sound like there was

more than one person talking to Danny."

"Did you? We should call just to make sure. Hopefully, he hasn't started back to school

yet, or we'll have to wait until this afternoon."

Ellie pulled the list of Danny's teammates up on her tablet and went to the phone to dial

the number.

After five rings, the call was answered by an angry growl, "Who is this?"

Ellie ignored the rude greeting and adopted a friendly tone, "Hello, this is Inspector

Bennett. My partner and I talked to Nathaniel last week about the disappearance of Danny

Planter. We'd like to ask some follow up questions. Is Nathaniel there?"

The person on the other end responded with a gruff grunt followed by a muffled,

"Nathan! Phone!"

A few seconds later, a nervous voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hi Nathan, this is Inspector Bennett. You remember me from last week when my

partner and I talked to you about Danny?"

There was a brief choking sound followed by a thickly spoken, "Yes, I remember."

"I'm sorry to make you talk about it again after, after what happened, but we need to ask

you something about what you told us. Is that okay?"

"Yes," punctuated with a sniff.

"The voices you heard by the fire ring, how many would you say there were in addition to

Danny?"

There was a pause followed by, "I think there were two, maybe three."

"You think there was more than one though?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's all we needed to know, thank you. We're, we're terribly sorry about what

happened to your friend, Nathan. Have you had the chance to talk to anyone about it?"

"Yeah, someone from school came last week."

"Okay, take care, Nathan."

"Bye."

Ellie hung up the phone and turned to Jason, "He said he heard two or three voices

besides Danny, definitely more than one."

Jason crossed his arms, "So what does that mean? At least one murderer is still out

there?"

"Or an accomplice. Either way, if the suspect has only admitted to his own involvement,

he's not telling the whole story. We should see if they'll let us question him."

Jason looked doubtful, "Maybe if you go by yourself. I don't think Lily will let me

anywhere near him."

"Fine, then I'll go by myself."

"Are you sure you'll be okay dealing with Lily again?"

Ellie nodded, "I'm not looking forward to it, but I'll keep ahold of myself this time."

"Good luck, then. I'll stay here, not much point of going over there just to wait in the car."

"Right." Ellie grabbed her tablet and headed to the door. "See you in a little bit."

After the short trip to the police station, Ellie parked on the street and hopped out of her

car. It was sunny outside, but the heat had been more tolerable since yesterday. She trotted up

the sidewalk to the entrance, and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she pulled open the

door and stepped inside. The same uniformed prairie dog from the other day was at the front

desk.

"You again?" he growled. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?"

Ellie narrowed her eyes, "I'm not here to argue with you again. I have information related

to the murder case that Officer Schulz will want to hear. Please go let her know I'm here."

The prairie dog sniffed testily but got up and walked to the back office. About a minute

later, the uniformed bobcat emerged and strutted across to stand in front of Ellie.

"So you think you have information I need to hear regarding the Planter murder case,"

her tone wasn't friendly, but at least it wasn't antagonistic, which relieved Ellie just a bit. "You

may have already heard since it seems I can't stop people at this station from gossiping like a

flock of sparrows, but we already brought in a suspect who has admitted to the murder."

Ellie figured some compliments could only help get her on the cat's good side. "Yes, I did

hear. Quite impressive. How did you find him so quickly?"

The bobcat smiled smugly, "Just good old-fashioned police work. Some residents of the

area had seen him hanging around the woods that afternoon. We picked him up, and after a

couple rounds of questioning, he admitted everything."

"Amazing. To why I'm here though, after we heard about your success, we called one of

the witnesses we talked to Tuesday, a Nathaniel McCowen. He says he heard two or three

voices besides Danny in the woods where Danny was last seen."

Officer Schulz seemed unconvinced, "That's the gray fox brat, right? You keep putting

an awful lot of stock in that one witness."

"Granted, but I think it's still worth looking into. The guy you caught might be protecting

an accomplice."

"Well, I guess I'll look into it. Was that it?"

"Actually, I was hoping you'd let me ask the suspect a few questions myself."

The bobcat grinned toothily, "Were you now? Well, I suppose I might let you come back

with me to ask him a few questions."

"With you?"

The bobcat nodded and smiled wider, "That's not a problem for you, is it, bunny?"

Ellie shook her head, "No."

"Good. But first, you can tell me something. Who told you that we'd brought in a

suspect?"

Ellie hesitated. She didn't want to get Tom in trouble.

"Come on, just one name in exchange for my help."

"It was, uh, Tom Fitzgerald," Ellie admitted guiltily.

"The coroner, of course it would be him." The bobcat's eyes narrowed, and she grinned

wickedly, "I'll have to have a little talk with him later."

Sorry, Tom.

"I'll show you back to the interrogation room."

The bobcat reached out to place her right hand on Ellie's back and gently pushed her

forward, turning as Ellie went until Ellie was walking in front of her toward the back of the

station. Her needle-tipped claws pricked Ellie's back as she guided her. She stopped by a heavy

metal door and opened it to reveal a metal table with fixtures to lock handcuffs in place and

three metal chairs.

"Have a seat, and I'll bring the prisoner."

Ellie sat in one of the chairs nearest to the door and waited. So far things were going

better than she had hoped. Maybe her compliments really had helped to placate the nasty cat,

or maybe Jason was right that it was only his presence that had put her in a bad mood. After

several minutes, Officer Schulz returned, leading a ragged skunk with his hands cuffed in front

of him. Officer Schulz sat the skunk across from Ellie and locked his hands to the table before

sitting next to Ellie.

She leaned back in her chair and motioned to the skunk, "Go ahead."

Ellie inspected the skunk, he looked haggard and unkempt. The only thing at all neat

about him was the fresh orange jumpsuit.

"So you're the one who killed Danny Planter, right?"

"Yup," the skunk gave her a cursory look over, "What are you, his mother? Look a bit

young."

"No, I'm a private inspector. Tell me, why did you do it?"

"Punk decided to piss on my knapsack. Couldn't let him get away with that."

Ellie shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She could see why that kind of action might

trigger a crime of passion, but this murder didn't seem to be that. From what she had heard

about Danny, she also had a hard time believing he would do something like that though his

friends and mother might have painted a prettier picture than reality.

"I can see why that would make you angry, but angry enough to cut him into pieces? To

torture him for hours?"

"Cross Rocky; get what you deserve," he responded perfunctorily.

"Where did you get the sutures?"

"The what?"

"Many of Danny's wounds had been stitched back up. Where did you get the surgical

sutures to do it with?"

"Took 'em off a doctor last week."

"Why?"

"Case I needed 'em. Why else?"

Ellie frowned. Little of his story was making sense.

"And how did you know what to do with them?"

"Saw it on tv."

"Right," she turned to Officer Schulz. "What did he have with him when you picked him

up?"

"He had an old coat, a knapsack with some camping gear, and a knife."

Ellie turned back to the skunk, "So what happened to all of your other equipment? You

must have at least had a needle for the sutures and probably something more to cut through

bone and cartilage."

"Tossed it in the river."

"All of that useful equipment? What if you needed it again?"

He shrugged.

Ellie looked at him a few seconds longer, but he didn't offer any further response to the

question.

"Okay, uh, just one more thing, I guess. Through all of this, did you ever have any help?"

"Nope."

"The thing is we have a witness who heard at least two people confronting Danny in the

woods before he disappeared. If one of them was you, then there had to be at least one other

person with you."

For the first time, Ellie thought the skunk looked nervous. He shifted in his seat and

glanced between Officer Schulz and her.

"Was just me, no one else."

Ellie glanced at Officer Schulz: her amber eyes were narrowed as she glared at the

skunk.

"You wouldn't be protecting an accomplice, would you?" the bobcat growled. "If you are,

I promise you, you'll regret it."

The skunk shook his head rapidly, "No Ma'am. It was just me. I did it."

Officer Schulz glared at him a few more seconds, during which his haggard features

were accentuated by obvious fear. Ellie almost felt sorry for him, despite the monstrous crime

he had committed.

Finally, Officer Schulz looked back to Ellie, "Is that all you wanted to ask him?"

Ellie nodded.

The bobcat leapt to her feet and strode back around the table. Unlocking the cuffs from

the table, she yanked the skunk to his feet.

"Alright, back to your cell."

As she pulled him out the door, he glanced back at Ellie. After his nonchalant behavior

throughout most of the interrogation, she was surprised to see a look of terror or even

desperation in his countenance. She sat uncomfortably until Officer Schulz returned.

"Let's go to my office. It's more comfortable."

Ellie stood and followed her back out into the front of the station and into her office.

Officer Schulz closed the door behind her and gestured to a red cushioned chair in front of the

desk. Ellie sat down, and Officer Schulz took her seat in the black faux-leather chair behind the

large maple desk, which was neatly arranged with phone, computer, notebook, cup of pens, and

IN and OUT boxes.

"So what did you think?" the bobcat inquired.

"I think he's lying about, about a lot of things. If he had an accomplice who provided the

equipment and surgical knowledge, that would clear up a lot of questions."

Officer Schulz nodded, "I agree. We'll look into it further, see if we can get anything more

out of him and conduct more inquiries to see if anyone saw him with anyone else."

"Right. And we'll keep looking into things, and maybe do some inquiries of our own."

Ellie started to stand up. "If that's all, I think I should be getting back to let Jason know how it

went."

"Just one more thing."

Ellie sat back down. She looked up at Officer Schulz and was surprised to see her

features twisted into a look of embarrassment.

"I just wanted to apologize for how I treated you the other day," the cat explained. "My

behavior was inexcusable. I shouldn't have ignored you, and I definitely shouldn't have tried to

provoke you. I'm terribly sorry for all of it."

Ellie blinked. She certainly hadn't expected an apology from the surly bobcat, but she

seemed sincere and genuinely contrite.

Ellie gave a perfunctory nod, "I accept your apology."

Officer Schulz smiled, looking relieved, "Thank you, Inspector. I hope that, even if you

don't consider me a friend, you will consider me an ally. We're on the same side after all."

Ellie smiled slightly, "I agree, Officer. There's nothing to be gained by us not getting

along."

The bobcat smiled warmly, "If we're going to be allies, then I'd like it if you'd call me Lily."

Ellie let her own smile expand to a friendly grin, "Of course, Lily, and I'd like it if you'd call

me Ellie."

"Ellie it is then. By the way, what have you and Jason been working on the last few

days? Anything related to the case?"

Ellie nodded, "Yes, Jason thought the way Danny's body was cut up might have

indicated some type of ritual murder. We've been pouring over accounts from different cults,

pretty gruesome stuff and surprising that there's been so much cult activity throughout

Vulpineva's history."

"How interesting," Lily replied placidly. "Please let me know if you find anything

compelling."

"Of course." Ellie turned to glance at the clock on the wall behind her before turning back

to Lily. "Thank you for all of your help. I really appreciate it, and I'll let you know if we turn up

anything in our research or inquiries."

Lily smiled warmly, "It was no problem at all. Let me escort you to the door."

She stood and walked around the desk to open the office door for Ellie then followed her

to the entrance and held that door as well.

Lily held out her hand, and Ellie placed her own hand in it. Ellie's hand was engulfed by

the bobcat's, and she prepared herself to have her hand squeezed painfully; however, Lily's

handshake was firm but considerate.

"Good luck, I'll look forward to speaking with you again," Lily declared.

"Good luck to you too."

Ellie stepped out the door and skipped back down the sidewalk to her car. She could

hardly believe how much better that visit had gone than what she had expected. Not only had

she been able to question the suspect, but she had also patched things up with the chief of

police. She hurried back to the office to tell Jason what she had learned.

Ellie swung open the door to find Jason still at his desk reading.

"Hiya!" she piped cheerfully.

Jason looked up. Concerned, "How did it go?"

"Great!"

Jason looked at her in surprise, "Really?! So you got to talk to the suspect?"

"Yes, Lily let me question him, and we both thought he was lying. Someone else had to

be involved."

"So it's just what you thought, he must be protecting someone. Maybe we should take a

break from reading to conduct our own inquiries." He paused and looked at Ellie as if he had

just noticed something, "Wait did you call her 'Lily'? That's a big step up from 'condescending

jerk'."

Ellie smirked, "Maybe it's just my lovable personality, but she was almost friendly this

time. She apologized for last time and everything."

"Pu-what?!" Jason spluttered. "Lily never apologizes. She really must have decided she

likes you." He seemed to contemplate Ellie for a second. Then his ears twitched, and he looked

back at his desk, seeming a bit embarrassed.

Like someone whose crush notices them staring. Ellie made a mental note of the

incident so that she could tease him about it later.

"So do you want to have lunch and then run back out to the suburbs to ask the locals

what they saw?" she asked.

"That sounds good."

Ellie ran and got a cucumber and spinach sandwich from a nearby deli. A few minutes

after she got back to the office, Jason returned with a pungent smelling sausage on a hot dog

bun.

"Puh, what is that?" Ellie asked when she got a whiff of his sandwich.

"A bratwurst with sauerkraut. There was a wolf with a cart selling them just down the

block."

"Hopefully, you won't get food poisoning. If you don't show up to work tomorrow, I'll send

Tom to your house to make sure it didn't kill you."

Jason rolled his sea green eyes. "Gee, thanks for your concern." He took a bite of the

sausage.

Once they had finished lunch, they headed down to Ellie's car to drive out the southside

suburbs.

"You know, I haven't been able to really enjoy our drives together the last few times,"

Ellie divulged as they climbed into her car.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"There was always some reason for me not to want to give you a scare. You should try

to be really scared this time, just for me." She ended by smiling sweetly at him.

Jason frowned and checked his seatbelt. "I don't see what you find so entertaining about

that," he grumbled.

"It's fun. It gives me a little thrill."

Jason sniffed testily, "What if I hid and pounced on you? Would that be fun?"

Ellie frowned, "I don't think that's quite the same thing."

"But it might give me a thrill," he rejoined.

"Somehow I doubt that. You'd probably stop halfway through and start apologizing

profusely if you tried to scare someone like that," Ellie responded dryly.

"What do you mean?" he asked defensively. "I'm a cat. That's what we're evolved to do.

Of course I'd get a thrill from pouncing on someone."

"I didn't mean it as an insult," Ellie tried to placate him. "I just don't think it's something

you would enjoy. That's not bad; it's sweet."

The inside of Jason's ears went pink. He flicked them and turned to face forward,

crossing his arms.

Ellie reached over to put a hand on his arm, "Hey, it's okay. You're my sweet, silly kitty,

and I wouldn't have you any other way."

He gave her a sidelong look. She smiled reassuringly. His ears twitched again, and he

looked back forward. Ellie sighed and brought her hand back to start the car. The awkward

conversation had made her feel a bit guilty; she decided not to try any stunts to scare Jason, at

least not this time.

The early afternoon traffic was tolerable, and they arrived in the neighborhood of the

soccer field about a quarter after one. Ellie parked on the street by the woods adjacent to the

field, and they climbed out of the car and started toward the closest house, a one-story brick

building with a brown front door and evergreen bushes in the front. Ellie took the lead and rang

the doorbell. She could hear the faint sound of the chimes ringing through the house but nothing

afterward. They stood waiting several seconds longer.

"They're probably at work," Ellie concluded.

They had started back toward the sidewalk when the door creaked open behind them.

They turned to see a bluebird in a black newsboy cap poking his head out.

"Yes? What is it?" he chirped nervously.

"Hi, sir, may we ask you a few questions?" Jason called, striding back toward the door.

The bird backed into the house, pulling the door to just a crack and peering out with one

eye, "About what?"

"We just wanted to know whether you saw anything last Monday afternoon and evening,

the day Danny Planter was killed."

"I already talked to the police," he chirped quickly before slamming the door. Ellie heard

the sound of the deadbolt being thrown.

Jason stopped and stood staring at the door, "Was it something I said?"

"I don't think he liked the looks of you, better let me try," Ellie suggested.

She walked up to the door and motioned for Jason to move back. He went and stood

about halfway to the sidewalk. Ellie knocked on the door and stood where she would be visible

through the peephole, trying to smile disarmingly. A few seconds later the door cracked open

again, and the bluebird poked his head out.

He eyed Jason before addressing Ellie, "Like I said, I already talked to the police. What

else did you want to know?"

"We're not with the police," Ellie explained. "We're private investigators. Ms. Planter

hired us. Start with what you told them."

The bluebird bobbed his head, "Around two in the afternoon, I saw some creepy looking

skunk hanging around by the woods. I saw him again when I got the mail at about four, and then

when I went to put out the garbage after dinner around seven, he was gone."

"Did you ever see him with anyone else?"

He shook his head.

"Did you ever see anyone else suspicious or even who you just didn't recognize around

the woods?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay, thank you for your time."

The bird shut the door, and Ellie turned back to Jason, "Well, it definitely sounds like the

suspect was here around the right time. Ms. Planter said practice was supposed to end at five,

and Danny's teammates confirmed it ended on time."

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the other residents of the surrounding

blocks. Of the ones who were home, many of them had noticed the skunk near the woods from

as early as ten in the morning to as late as 4:15. None had seen him with anyone else though

one blue jay had noticed several cars parked next to the woods throughout the course of the

day: a yellow compact car at 11:34 AM, a red mid-size SUV at 3:45 PM, a black sedan at 4:47,

a silver convertible at 5:50 PM, and a green van at 7:27 PM. He offered to tell them the cars that

had been parked there the rest of the week too, but they declined. At five, they went back to

Ellie's car. After starting the ignition, Ellie noticed that the gas light was on.

"Looks like we're going to have to stop for gas before we head back," she remarked. She

checked her tablet: there was a station just a quarter mile away.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the station, which had a winking male cardinal on its

sign, and got out to fill the tank with the volatile liquid.

Jason got out too, "I'll just go ask the clerk if they've noticed the suspect recently."

Ellie finished pumping the gas and waited for Jason.

When he got back to the car, he was visibly excited, "It's a good thing I did that! The

clerk said the skunk was here on Monday afternoon at 5:15, trying to bum a cigarette. She had

a time-marked text she sent to her brother about it and everything!"

Ellie started in surprise, "But he admitted to confronting Danny in the woods shortly after

five! What was he doing here just ten minutes later?"

"Well, I suppose it's possible for him to have been in both places, but then what did he

do with Danny in that interval? Leave him gagged and tied up in the woods? It doesn't make

much sense."

"Right. He had to have an accomplice who kept ahold of Danny."

"Or maybe he wasn't involved at all."

Ellie started again at the suggestion, "What, so he admitted to a crime he didn't even

commit?"

Jason shrugged, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"But why?"

"The only way we're going to find that out is if we can find out more about him, but from

all we've heard, no one really knew him: they just saw him as some vagabond. Did you get his

name?"

"He called himself Rocky, but that was all I got."

"We should talk to the police more to see if they know anything about him."

"Definitely, and I told Lily I'd keep her updated on anything we found anyway. We can

stop by on the way back."

Ellie pulled out of the gas station and headed back to downtown. Unfortunately, rush

hour traffic meant that it took almost an hour to get back. It was after six when she parked next

to the police station.

"I hope Lily is still here," she fretted.

"She probably will be. She's a workaholic."

"You two must have had a lot in common then," Ellie quipped. "Are you coming?"

"No, I'll wait. I wouldn't want to interrupt your budding relationship," Jason replied dryly.

Ellie rolled her eyes and climbed out of the car. She hastened into the police station.

"Is Officer Schulz still here?" she asked the uniformed ginger cat at the front desk.

"Yes, but I can help you with whatever you need," she answered.

"Thanks, but I need to talk with her," Ellie replied, hurrying on by the desk.

"Hey, get back here!" the cat yowled.

She dashed after Ellie, and startled, Ellie ran toward the back office. The cat leapt and

tackled Ellie from behind. Ellie yelped, and they rolled around the floor while the cat tried to pin

her. After a few seconds, the cat managed to get on top of her and pull her arms behind her

back.

"I've got a nice cell for you to spend the night in," the cat declared triumphantly. "You can

explain yourself to Officer Schulz in the morning."

She was starting to put Ellie in handcuffs when the door to the office swung open.

"What in Tartarus is all of the racket?" Lily yelled.

"Ma'am! I was just detaining this rabbit."

Lily looked down at them, amused, "Oh? What did she do?"

"Ran in here and tried to get to your office, Ma'am. I don't know what her intentions

were."

Lily smirked, "Good job, Katya. I'm glad you're here to protect me from intruding rabbits,

but you can go ahead and let her up. This is Inspector Bennett."

"Oh!"

The cat stood up and offered Ellie a hand. Ellie scrambled to her feet by herself and

brushed off her blouse.

The cat held out her hand, "I'm sorry about that Inspector. I'm Katya Letova."

Ellie shook her hand, "No, I'm sorry. I should have explained myself instead of being in

such a rush."

"Well, now that you've made up. Why are you here?" Lily inquired.

"I think we should talk about it in your office," Ellie answered.

"Okay." Lily nodded to the ginger cat, "Thanks, Katya."

Lily and Ellie stepped into the office, and Katya went back to the front desk. Lily closed

the door behind them.

"So what is it?"

"We went and did some more inquiries around the neighborhood where Danny was last

seen, and we found out that the suspect was at the Cardinal station a quarter of a mile from the

woods at 5:15, Monday afternoon."

"I see, so what do you think that means?"

"I think it supports the idea that he had an accomplice, someone to hold Danny while he

went to get his nicotine fix. Jason said it might mean he wasn't involved at all. What do you

know about him?"

"His name is Rudolph Marcelli. He has a long record from across the country, mostly

petty theft but the occasional assault and battery charge as well."

"Does he have any known associates or partners in crime?"

Lily shook her head.

"Hmph, well, I think he must have this time unless Jason is right, and he wasn't involved.

Can you think of any reason why he would lie about being involved?"

"No, but I'll see if I can jog his memory on the actual course of events. Thank you for

letting me know what you learned, Ellie."

Ellie smiled, "No problem. Could you keep me updated too?"

"I suppose that's only fair. Is that all?"

Ellie nodded.

"Well, I still have some things to wrap up here. Have a good night, Ellie."

"You too. Bye, Lily."

Ellie stepped out of the office and strolled to the exit.

"Have a good evening, Inspector!" the ginger cat called.

"Bye, you too," Ellie replied with a wave.

She skipped back to the car and climbed in.

"I'm assuming that went well," Jason remarked.

"Fine, except for almost spending the night in jail," Ellie responded lightly.

"What?!"

"The officer at the front desk was a little overzealous. She tackled me when I tried to get

to Lily's office."

"Yikes, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. She seemed nice enough after Lily intervened. A pretty ginger kitty, you might

like her."

Jason ignored the last remark, "I'm glad you weren't hurt. Did you find anything else

about the suspect?"

"Just his name, Rudolph Marcelli, and that he has a long history of theft and some

violence but no known associates."

"Hmm, well, I guess we'll do more inquiries tomorrow. It's getting late. I guess it's time to

g-"

"Now, it's time for our anniversary drink!" Ellie pulled up the address of the brewery on

her tablet. "Right, it's not too far. I'll drop off the car, and we can walk over."

Ellie drove back to their office building's parking garage, and then they started their jaunt

to the brewpub. The sun was beginning to approach the tops of the buildings, and the

temperature was hot but not stiflingly so. Traffic was starting to thin out, but the sidewalks were

still busy with people rushing to get home or do errands after work. Jason and Ellie walked side

by side but occasionally had to make way for other pedestrians.

Jason stepped in front of Ellie as a large group of dogs passed them on the sidewalk.

Ellie saw his tail swish nervously and the fur slightly bush out.

When they had passed, Ellie stepped back beside him. "Not a big fan of dogs?"

He glanced at her, "I don't hate them or anything, but a big group of them makes me

nervous. Even on their own though, they're usually loud, and they always smell."

Ellie frowned, "That sounds a bit prejudiced, Jason."

"Are you saying that if you walked into a room of--I don't know--foxes or even cats that

you wouldn't be nervous?"

"I'd try not to be if for no other reason than I don't like to be intimidated, but I guess you

can't prevent some instinctual apprehension."

"That's what I'm saying. A big group of dogs, especially strangers, just makes me

nervous."

"What about them being loud and smelly?"

"I guess I should say that's just in my personal experience, but I challenge you to find a

dog that doesn't smell. I've seen them rubbing garbage on themselves. That's what they think

smells good."

Ellie smirked, "I won't suggest that you date any then."

After several more minutes of walking, they arrived at the brewery, which was built into

the ground floor of an old brick warehouse. The front area contained several long, high tables

with stools and the bar. Jason and Ellie navigated the bustle of patrons and approached the bar.

They stood back a minute examining the selection of beers on tap.

"I think I'll try the coffee porter. What do you want?" Jason asked.

"I'll try the oatmeal pale ale."

"Got it. Go grab a seat. I'll pay since you've been the one burning gas money driving us

all over the place."

Ellie grabbed a spot with another open seat across from it whilst Jason waited his turn to

order. She hadn't been sitting a minute when a brown hare in a powder blue blazer sat across

from her.

"Hey, babe, sorry to keep you waiting."

Ellie blinked, "Uh, I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

The hare grinned rakishly, "Gorgeous lady sitting alone? There's only one mistake here,

and I'm here to rectify it."

Ellie smiled politely, "Actually, I'm here with a friend. He's at the bar right now."

The hare turned to scan the bar and turned back, "I don't see him."

"Red shirt, pointy ears, black stripes, you can't miss him."

He looked again and gave a little start as he apparently noticed Jason. He turned back,

brown eyes wide, "You mean the cat?"

Ellie smiled amiably, "That's right. Maybe you'd like to meet him. He's on his way now."

Jason stepped up to the table and set Ellie's ale down in front of her. The hare jerked his

head to look at him warily. Jason gave him a puzzled look then turned to Ellie.

"Who's this?"

The hare jumped off of the stool and took a hop backward away from Jason, "Sorry, sir, I

didn't mean to take your seat," he apologized quickly before turning and rapidly walking to the

other side of the room.

Jason watched him go before shooting Ellie another quizzical look, "Someone you

know?"

"Nope, he didn't even tell me his name."

Jason sat down, "I, uh, hope I didn't just chase away someone you were interested in."

"His attempt at a pick-up was pretty trite. Anyway, I'm here to celebrate our anniversary,

not to find a date. If I wanted to do that, I could make an account on a dating site or something."

"Coincidentally, they're hosting speed dating here soon. There were some fliers on the

bar."

Ellie's ears perked up with interest, "Really? That might be fun. Did you see when?"

"I didn't look that closely."

Ellie got up, bounded over to the bar, and returned with one of the fliers, "It says it's

Wednesday at eight. We could grab dinner after work then come over if we're not too busy."

Jason uncomfortably shifted on his stool, "I thought the idea was to come looking for a

date."

Confused, "It is. Why do you have a girlfriend you've never told me about?"

"Er, no."

"Well then, unless you already have your heart set on the ginger kitty at the police

station I told you about, we should come. We need to find you a nice kitty so you can stop pining

over Lily."

"I'm not 'pining over Lily'," he returned defensively.

Ellie gave him a dubious look, "You haven't had a girlfriend since her, have you?"

"No, but-"

"But you 'don't have time' or 'have too much trouble finding someone you connect with.' I

know all of the excuses. I make them myself, but like I said, it could be fun. And even if neither

of us find anyone interesting, we can still tell each other about all of the weirdos we talked to

afterwards."

"Okay," Jason conceded. He took a gulp of his beer, using it to change the subject. "So

how do you like yours?"

Ellie took a drink: the ale was strongly malty and slightly fruity with a light hint of citrusy

hops, "It's interesting. How's yours?"

"Good. Do you want a taste?"

Ellie nodded. Jason pushed his porter across the table, and Ellie took a sip: rich and

toasty coffee and malt flavors mixed with the bitter flavor of strong hops.

"It's a little bitter for me. Do you want to try mine?"

"Sure," Jason took the glass and sipped the golden liquid. He seemed to contemplate it

for a minute. "It's okay. How much alcohol is in it?"

"I didn't look."

Jason turned to peer back at the sign behind the bar, "I think it says seven point two

percent by volume. I thought it tasted a bit high."

Ellie studied the glass, "It's kind of a lot too."

"Oh? I thought it looked like a typical volume."

"Probably because you ordered it. They probably would have offered me a smaller

glass."

"Oops, I didn't think to mention who they were for." He gave her drink a concerned

glance. "You don't have to drink all of it, you know."

Ellie smirked nonchalantly, "That would be a waste. If I get drunk, you'll just have to drive

me home." She took another gulp.

Despite her assurances to Jason, Ellie was beginning to feel pretty tipsy by the time

Jason finished his drink, and she still had a third of hers left.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"There's no rush. Are you sure you want to finish that?"

"I said I'd be fine," she insisted again. She pointedly took a large gulp.

Jason blinked, still looking concerned, but he changed the subject, "So you've really

been getting along with Lily then."

Ellie smiled smugly, "You just have to know how to handle her. A few compliments and

she's putty in your hands."

"That doesn't sound like Lily at all," Jason replied skeptically.

"Well, then maybe she just likes me. She even said she'd keep me updated on the case,

so we won't have to rely on Tom for that," Ellie flinched guiltily after mentioning the ferret. "I

hope Lily wasn't too hard on him."

Jason looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Lily, uh, made me tell her who had been leaking information to us before she'd let me

talk to the suspect this morning. I should have told you sooner, but I forgot."

Jason's eyes widened, "Poor Fitzie! Now that sounds like Lily. Are you sure you're not

the one who's being manipulated?"

"I'd know if I were being manipulated!" Ellie shot back. "We have mutual respect for each

other!"

"That or she's putty in your hands," Jason reminded dryly.

Ellie glared at him, "Aren't you glad that we're working together? Maybe you're the one

keeping the feud going between you two!"

"Of course I'm glad," Jason assured consolingly. "I'm just surprised."

Ellie sniffed testily, "Maybe you should be less surprised at my abilities."

Jason frowned and looked at the table guiltily, "I'm sorry, Ellie. I should have known

you'd be able to reason with her. Maybe I'm just a little jealous that the two of you are getting

along when she won't even look at me without a scowl."

Ellie felt a wave of pity, which was enhanced by the alcohol. She stretched herself part

way up onto the table and grasped one of Jason's hands, which were resting on the table. She

met his sea green eyes with a look of earnest sympathy.

"See, I told you you're still pining over Lily. This is why we're going to find you a nice kitty

to make you forget about her."

The insides of Jason's ears pinkened and he flicked them, "Okay, Ellie." His eyes darted

around the brewpub. "Are you ready to head out?"

Ellie plopped back onto her stool, "Just a second." She finished her beer in a few quick

gulps and let out a breath, "Ahh, okay, let's go."

Ellie hopped down from the stool and had to catch her balance. She felt a bit wobbly;

she definitely wouldn't be driving herself home. Jason must have noticed because he offered his

arm as support as they left. They walked back toward the office with Ellie holding Jason's left

arm in her right. The sun had almost dipped to the horizon, and their shadows stretched far in

front of them. Ellie watched the shadow of Jason's tail dancing as he flicked it back and forth.

On impulse, she momentarily let go of his arm and snagged his tail with her right hand. She

transferred it to her left hand and wrapped it around in front. She tucked the striped tail under

her upper arm and ran the end through her hand. Jason tried to pull it away, but she grabbed

on.

"Ellie," he intoned under his breath. "People are going to stare."

Ellie ignored his complaint and kept stroking his tail, "What's it like having such a long

tail? Does it get in the way?"

"Only when someone decides to pull on it," he grumbled.

"I'm not pulling," Ellie countered. "Seriously though, have you ever closed it in a door or

something?"

"Yes, a few times."

"Did it hurt?"

"Obviously."

"What's the point of it then if it just gets in the way?"

"It helps with balance, and it usually doesn't cause an issue. What would I do anyway?

Chop it off?"

"I guess that would be pretty extreme."

"You guess?" he asked incredulously before sighing and grumbling, "Whatever, can I

have my tail back?"

"No, I'm petting it."

Jason grumbled under his breath and turned to glare at a chipmunk in a white dress shirt

and black jacket who was gawking at them. The chipmunk quickly looked away and hastened

on down the sidewalk.

"What's the matter?" Ellie asked with genuine confusion.

"Just like I said, people are wondering what's going on."

"So what?"

Ellie made eye contact with an opossum in a bright blue dress printed with irises, who

was approaching from the opposite direction. Ellie grinned and waved the end of the tail at her.

The opossum smirked, "He must make you a lovely scarf in the winter."

Ellie winked, "That's just one of his many uses."

The opossum giggled as they passed each other. Ellie turned her head to see the

opossum turned to watch them, mouth open in a wide grin, revealing her large fangs.

"She seemed nice," Ellie commented. She glanced up at Jason: his visage was stonily

fixed into an expression of stoicism. "Lighten up, Jason. It's not like it's anyone we know, and

even if it were, it's a joke."

He sighed and looked down at her. She placed the end of his tail against her chin.

"Now I have a mustache and a beard!" she jested.

He smirked, "Very distinguished."

Shortly, they arrived back at the parking garage. After they retrieved Ellie's things from

her car and the office, they climbed into Jason's dark blue sedan. Ellie slid into the roomy

passenger seat. She was beginning to feel a bit drowsy. She must have fallen asleep on the

calm ride home because the next thing she knew Jason was gently shaking her shoulder. She

opened her eyes groggily and noticed they were in the parking lot of her apartment complex.

"Sorry, to wake you, but we're here," he murmured.

Ellie nodded and climbed out of the car. As she stood, the ground swayed, and she had

to grab the door to keep from falling. She groaned, feeling a little queasy. Jason ran around the

car and lifted her across his arms. After closing the car door, he carried her to the entrance to

the building.

"I'll need your key to unlock the door."

"It's in my bag."

"You don't have your bag."

"Yes, I do. I put it in the car."

Jason returned to the car to grab the bag. He set her in the seat while he dug through

the bag to get the keys. He pulled out Ellie's subcompact handgun with a look of surprise.

"I didn't know you carried a gun."

"Now you do," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Do you have a permit?"

"Of course."

He put the gun back gingerly and retrieved the keys. He handed her the bag to hold then

swept her back up. He had to squat down to unlock the door and hold her at the same time.

Pushing into the building, he headed for the elevator and took it to the fifth floor. Ellie was glad

no one else saw her in her inebriated state on the way to her apartment. After Jason had

similarly opened the door to her apartment, he carried her into the bedroom, and laid her on the

bed. He ran out to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water.

"You should try to keep hydrated, so you don't feel as bad tomorrow." He placed the

glass on the nightstand. "Will you be okay now?"

Ellie nodded.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Ellie."

He left the bedroom, and a few seconds later she heard the door to the apartment shut.

Ellie groaned and pushed herself into a sitting position. The first thing she needed to do was use

the bathroom. She managed to stumble to the bathroom. After emptying her bladder, she felt a

bit better. She made her way to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of pea pod crisps. Rather than

going back to fetch the water Jason had left, she filled a new glass and sat at the table while

she ate the salty snack food. At length, she began to feel less nauseous. She went to the

bathroom to brush her teeth where she also removed her blouse and peed again. She then

returned to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. She eyed the water Jason had left and then

chugged it down for good measure. She pushed the mauve blankets out of the way, flopped

down, and let blackness take her.

* * *

Ellie lost track of the number of times she hit Snooze on her alarm clock. When she

finally looked, the glowing red numbers read 8:07. Shit. Ellie dragged herself out of bed and

slipped on her white button up blouse. She headed to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea.

After finishing the hot drink, she brushed her teeth, grabbed her bag, and went out to catch the

4 bus a couple blocks away. The streets were busy with the bustle of people on their way to

work, and the late July morning sun warmed Ellie's fur as she trotted up the sidewalk. A beagle

in a brown fedora and a hamster couple were waiting at the bus stop when she arrived. After

about five minutes, the 4 pulled up. Ellie and the other passengers filed on, and she swiped her

left hand over the reader to pay the fare. Ellie had sat down, and the bus was beginning to pull

away when it halted to let another passenger on. Ellie recognized Joe, wearing his customary

faux-leather jacket, as he ran up onto the bus. They made eye contact as he turned toward the

back, and he paused indecisively before sitting next to her. Ellie wasn't in the mood for any of

his antics and looked out the side window.

"Hi El, I see you're riding the bus for a change. Something wrong with your car?"

Ellie sighed. It would be even more awkward to try to ignore him if he insisted on talking

to her. She turned back to face him.

"No, Joe. I just had too much to drink last night and had to leave it at work."

Joe smirked, "Out partying on a Monday night? Doesn't sound like you, El."

"I wouldn't call it a party. Jason and I went for a drink to celebrate our anniversary."

Joe scowled, "Your anniversary? Don't tell me you're dating the cat now."

Ellie glared back, "Not that it's any of your business, Joe, but no, it was the anniversary

of the day we met."

Joe frowned grumpily, "We've never celebrated the day we met."

"Maybe you shouldn't make me regret it so often then," Ellie snapped.

Joe gave her a hurt look and turned away. Good. Ellie scowled and turned back to the

window, sullenly wishing the bus would get there faster. At last, the bus reached her stop. Ellie

pushed past Joe without giving him a second glance and hopped off the bus. It was only a block

from the stop to the office building.

"You're not looking so good," Jason, who was again wearing a dress shirt sans tie, this

one green, commented shortly after she came in and slumped at her desk.

"I'll be fine," she grumbled.

Jason gave her a sympathetic look before adding, "Mrs. Planter left a message before I

got in this morning. She'd like to talk to us in person and asked if we could drop by sometime

this morning. I guess we were already planning to head over there anyway."

"I wonder what she has to say that couldn't be said over the phone," Ellie groused.

Jason gave her another concerned look, "I can go by myself today if you're not feeling

up to it."

"I said I'll be fine," Ellie snapped.

"Okay." He paused before asking, "What did you have to eat this morning?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. What is he? My mother? "Tea. I wasn't hungry."

"I'm, uh, going to get more coffee before we go. Can I get you anything?"

"No thanks."

"Alright, I'll be back shortly." Jason hurried out the door.

Ellie glanced at his desk. He forgot his cup. She didn't feel like running after him.

Around twenty minutes later, Jason returned with a blueberry scone, a large cup of

orange juice, and a small coffee; he set all three in front of Ellie.

"Eat this. You'll feel better."

Ellie scowled, "I said I didn't want anything."

Jason crossed his arms, "We're not leaving until you do."

Ellie grumbled under her breath, "Stupid cat." But she took a bite of the scone: it was still

warm, sweet and crumbly.

She washed down the bite with a sip of the hot, bitter coffee. Jason stood watching her

attentively while she ate. She tried to ignore him, feeling a bit embarrassed. Her nausea began

to ease as she put the food into her stomach.

"Feel better?" Jason asked when she had finished.

"Yes," she admitted.

"Good. Are you ready to go?"

Ellie stood up and grabbed her satchel, "Ready."

They headed out to take the elevator down to the parking garage.

"We'll take my car, so that you can relax on the way," Jason stated as they rode down.

"It'll take twice as long to get there," Ellie complained.

"Take a nap."

Ellie decided it wasn't worth arguing about. She was feeling better, but she still didn't

really feel like driving. Ellie hadn't intended to take Jason's advice, but the gentle ride lulled her

back to sleep anyway. She awoke to see Jason watching her intently. She blushed and looked

down while she undid her seatbelt.

"How long have we been here?"

"Just a few minutes."

"You could have woken me up."

"You seemed like you needed it."

Ellie scanned their surroundings: they were on the same block as yesterday. "Didn't we

try just about every house here yesterday?"

"Yes, but I wanted to talk to the very, er, observant blue jay again; a Mr. Pikno I think it

was."

Ellie shrugged, "Okay."

They climbed out of the car and walked to the two-story house with red and white vinyl

siding. Jason knocked on the crimson front door. There was a frantic scabbling from inside

before the door was flung open.

"Inspectors Bennett and Brown!" the blue jay squawked excitedly. "I didn't recognize

your car! You have something else you need to ask me?"

Jason nodded, "That's right, Mr. Pikno-"

"Call me Jerry!" the blue jay interrupted.

Jason smiled placidly, "Jerry, then. Did you happen to record the license plates of the

cars you saw by the woods last Monday?"

The blue jay bobbed his head rapidly, "Let me grab my journal!" He turned and shot back

into the house; half running and half flying, he skimmed across the floor before disappearing

around a corner. Ellie had to hold back a laugh at the awkward display. About a minute later, he

returned with a notebook tucked under one wing. He pulled it out and began flipping through the

pages. How he managed to get any purchase on the paper with the feathers of his wing was a

minor miracle, but he didn't seem to have too much trouble.

"Last Monday by the woods, here we go. The yellow compact had HYG527. The red

SUV had JHF585. The silver convertible had BULLET; very droll, and the green van had

RDG111."

Ellie hurried to type the plate numbers into her tablet.

"What about the black sedan?" Jason asked.

"Black sedan?" the blue jay scanned the book again, "Ah, here it is! It didn't have one,

very odd."

Jason and Ellie exchanged a look.

"Thank you, Jerry. You've been very helpful," Jason stated.

The blue jay bobbed his head eagerly, "Any time! Any time!"

Jason smiled politely, "We'll be sure to check back in if we think you can help with

anything else. Have a good day."

"Bye-bye, Inspectors. Good luck!"

"Good-bye, Jerry," Ellie said with a wave as they turned to go.

They headed back to the car and climbed in.

"I'd bet anything the black sedan was involved," Ellie commented once they'd sat down.

"What's more suspicious than a car without a plate?"

Jason nodded, "It does make it difficult to follow up on though. There must be thousands

of black sedans in Maplesburg."

"At least it gives us a place to start. What do you want to do now?"

"Let's go talk to Mrs. Planter before it gets any later. She did ask that we come this

morning."

Jason started the car, and shortly, they arrived in front of the light gray house with pink

fixtures. Ellie hopped out of the car and waited for Jason. He took the lead and knocked on the

door. After a few seconds, Ellie heard claws clicking across the floor, and the door opened to

reveal the gray and white lop-eared rabbit in a long black dress.

"Inspectors Bennett and Brown," she answered in a melancholy tone. "Thank you for

coming." She stood to the side and motioned inside with her arm. "Please come in."

They entered, and she led them to the living room.

"Please have a seat," she requested.

They sat together on the yellow couch, and she sat in a cushioned light blue chair to the

left.

"First of all, I just want to thank you for all of your help finding Danny," she continued

politely though sadly. "If you hadn't found him, I might still be wondering where he went."

"We're sorry that we couldn't do more, Ma'am," Jason replied.

Ms. Planter shook her head slowly, "No, you shouldn't be sorry. There was nothing you

could have done. It was my fault that Danny wasn't found in time."

Ellie cut in, "But remember what Dr. Fitzgerald said: there was nothing you could have

done either."

Ms. Planter just shook her head mournfully, "No, I should have been there for him. But

that's not what I called you here to discuss." She took a deep breath and looked from Jason to

Ellie and back before going on, "I want you to end your investigations into Danny's murder."

Ellie started in surprise, "What?! But-"

Jason cut her off, "Please explain, Ma'am, we've been doing our best to aid the police in

the investigation because we want to bring the people who did this to justice. If you're

concerned about the cost, please know that we weren't going to charge you for anything after

finding Danny. That was all you hired us for."

"It's not about the money. Officer Schulz called me yesterday evening to update me on

the investigation. She told me you'd provided some valuable information, and I want to pay you

for that work as well. What I don't want is for my son's murder to be made part of an effort to

prove some wild conspiracy." She had remained calm up until now, but with the last statement a

touch of anger entered her voice.

"Wild conspiracy? Ma'am we're not-"

"Officer Schulz told me all about it!" she interrupted, anger in her voice rising. "And she

told me about your history, Inspector Brown, why you were kicked out of the police academy."

Jason's ears twitched, and he looked away ashamedly.

"That's not fair!" Ellie shot back in his defense. "That was years ago! And we were just

trying to examine every possibility!"

Ms. Planter glared at her, "I'm sure you believe you had good intentions," she rejoined,

keeping her voice low but clearly holding back fury. "But I hope you'll respect my wishes and

cease your investigations. The police will handle it."

"Of course, we'll respect your wishes," Jason mollified.

Ellie cut in, "But if you just heard our side of it, I'm sure-"

"No, I've heard enough." She pulled a check out of the bosom of her dress and handed it

to Jason. "I trust this will cover it."

"This is very generous of you, Mrs. Planter."

"Then I think I'd like you to leave!"

Jason stood up, "Very well. Good-bye, Ma'am." He took Ellie by the arm. "Let's go," he

murmured under his breath.

Ellie stood up, and he led her out the door and closed it behind them.

"Zeus blast it!" Ellie exclaimed once the door was shut.

"Shh!" Jason hissed, glancing behind them. "Wait till we get back in the car."

They returned to the car, and Ellie slammed her door behind her. She waited until Jason

was inside as well before continuing, "What in Tartarus was that fiasco?! I don't know how you

kept so calm Jason. Telling us to stop helping because we looked into the possibility that a cult

was involved; it's ridiculous!"

"I'm sure Lily did her best to make it sound as crazy as possible," Jason replied glumly.

"What I don't understand is how Lily knew that was what we were doing. She could have

brought up my past anyway, but did she just guess?"

Ellie's nausea returned with vengeance. She swallowed uncomfortably. "That, that was

me," she murmured. "She asked, and I didn't think there was any harm in telling her; I thought

she wanted to work together. I should have known it was a trick."

Jason shook his head, "Don't blame yourself. Even I wouldn't have expected her to do

something this underhanded."

"But what are we going to do now? Are we really going to stop investigating the case?"

"Yes, we should respect our client's wishes."

Ellie huffed and crossed her arms.

"At least we'll be able to replace the air conditioner," Jason consoled.

It wasn't much of a consolation. Ellie spent the ride back to the office fuming about Lily's

betrayal and kicking herself for trusting the slimy bobcat. She continued to fume after they

returned to the office, making it impossible for her to focus on any of the news stories on her

tablet. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

She stood up and addressed Jason, "There's an errand I need to run. Don't wait for me if

it's time to go home."

Jason blinked, "What is it?"

"Something personal. If you're gone by the time I get back, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, see you then."

Ellie trotted out of the room and took the elevator down to her car. At half past four, she

arrived at the police station. Katya was at the front desk.

The ginger cat smiled amicably, "Inspector Bennett! Do you need to speak with Officer

Schulz again?"

Ellie nodded curtly.

"She's in her office. Go ahead; I won't pounce on you this time."

"Thanks." Ellie stormed back to the office, threw open the door, and slammed it behind

her.

"My someone woke up on the wrong side of bed," the bobcat said amusedly.

Ellie glared at her, "You back-stabbing shit! Lying to our client to get her to drop us, how

unscrupulous are you?"

The bobcat sneered, showing her sharp fangs, "You mean the victim's mother? I didn't

lie to her. I let her know about what you were up to and the quality of your little operation."

Ellie clenched her fists, "You made her think we were more interested in supporting a

conspiracy theory than finding her son's murderer."

Lily continued to sneer, "Aren't you though? Surely, you've realized by now that Jason's

obsessed. He couldn't let it go at the academy, and he can't let it go now."

"Don't you dare talk about my partner like that," Ellie seethed. "If you weren't an officer-"

"Oh, now it's getting good!" Lily jeered. "What would you do? Fight me? I could

disembowel you in an instant, rabbit!"

"Why don't you try it?" Ellie asked threateningly.

Lily just laughed, "You think I want to clean up the mess?" She narrowed her eyes and

went on in a low, dangerous voice, "However, if you want to take out your aggression, I know a

little game we can play, a little one-on-one competition. Meet me at the gym at twelve sixty-five

East Elm Street at seven tomorrow if you want to prove you're not just a scared little bunny

whose fallen for an obsessed cat who doesn't know the difference between a murder and a

cabal."

"I'll be there," Ellie promised.

Lily grinned wickedly, "Good, now get out of my office. Or I'll arrest you, and you can

spend the night in a cell instead."

Ellie stormed out of the office and back past Katya.

"Have a good night, Inspector!" Katya called cheerfully.

Ellie didn't respond as she stomped out the door.

Jason was gone by the time she returned to the office. Ellie was glad because she didn't

want to answer any further questions about what she'd been doing. She grabbed her things and

headed home. She'd teach Lily a lesson tomorrow.

* * *

Ellie woke up early Wednesday morning and took a short jog to warm up her muscles.

She wasn't sure what the bobcat had planned, but she wanted to be prepared. She left on the

yellow tank top she'd put on for the jog and had a light breakfast of tea and a small apple. Then

she drove to the gym, which was located to the East of downtown. Ellie arrived at the gym a few

minutes after 7 o'clock. The bobcat was already waiting, and she grinned toothily as Ellie

entered.

"So you decided not to chicken out. I'll have to give you that much anyway: you're not a

coward."

Ellie glared hostilely at the cat, "So what's this game you wanted to play?"

"I'll show you."

She led Ellie back to a large room. It appeared to contain some type of obstacle course:

parts were filled with maze-like walls while others contained piles of tires, nets fixed vertically or

a short distance off of the padded floor, and horizontal bars of various heights.

"In the four corners of the room, there are posts with indicators," Lily explained. "Your

goal is to tag all four of them, and my goal is to catch you and stop you."

"So it's a glorified version of tag." Ellie responded, deadpan.

Lily smiled dangerously, "If you like. Anyway, if you're up to the challenge, I'll give you a

ten second head-start. You'll want to take the shirt off though, or it might get torn up."

"Why can't I be the one to chase you?"

"Because even if you caught me, you wouldn't be able to stop me from finishing the

course," Lily answered matter-of-factly.

She was probably right, but Ellie wasn't about to admit it. She pulled off the yellow tank

top and dropped it by the door. That explains why she isn't wearing anything, I guess.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Alright, go!"

Ellie ran toward the closest corner to the left of the entrance. The indicator was

surrounded by a pile of tires. She bounded up the pile, scrambled down the other side, and hit

the button on the metal post at the bottom. The light on top of the post changed from yellow to

blue. One down, three to go. Ellie scrambled back up the pile of ties and looked around: she

couldn't see the bobcat anywhere. Ellie jumped down and made a dash toward the maze wall

that surrounded the back left corner. A wall of fur and claws slammed into her right side out of

nowhere. Ellie yelped as she crashed to the floor. She was fortunate that the floor was padded

with a thick mat; even so, the impact stung and knocked the wind out of her. A clawed hand

pressed down on her back, holding her down firmly.

"Got ya! You can do better than that, can't you, bunny?" Lily didn't wait for an answer but

stood Ellie up, easily lifting her by her shoulders. "Another five seconds, and I'm coming to get

you again."

Ellie was still feeling a bit shaky from being slammed to the floor, but she dashed into the

maze anyway, adrenaline pumping. Being caught by the cat had awoken her survival instincts,

and the flight or fight impulse was nearly overwhelming. Ellie dashed around a corner and

spotted the indicator. Just then, the bobcat leapt up to the top of the wall in front of her and

quickly dropped down, blocking her path. Ellie stood stunned, not knowing what to do for a

second. How is that fair? The bobcat bolted toward her. This time, Ellie had time to dodge away,

but the cat still managed to grab her left arm as she ran by. Ellie tried to pull away, but Lily's grip

was too strong. And she forcefully yanked Ellie in against her chest, her free right hand catching

Ellie around the neck. As they stood back to front, the bobcat gave Ellie's neck a slight squeeze.

Ellie swallowed nervously at the horrible feeling of vulnerability as razor-sharp claws pressed

against her neck.

"Better, bunny," she murmured, her hot breath tickling the tips of Ellie's ears. "Another

five second start."

She let Ellie go, and Ellie dashed to tag the post before turning and dashing back by the

cat. She had almost reached the other edge of the maze when the bobcat dropped down in front

of her again. Damn it. Ellie waited for the cat to charge, but this time Ellie also ran towards her,

ducking under her arms at the last second, and punching her in the stomach.

Lily let out an oof but executed a lightning-quick twist, swinging her leg to kick Ellie's legs

out from under her. Ellie crashed onto her back and was slightly stunned as her head bounced

painfully on the mat. The cat pounced on top of her, holding her chest down with one hand.

"So you want to play rough, do you?" Lily growled.

Ellie's eyes went wide as the cat opened her mouth full of jagged teeth and reached

down for her neck. Ellie brought her arms up to push her away, but she seized Ellie's hands in

her free left hand and pushed them down against Ellie's chest. Ellie's heart felt like it was trying

to burst through her rib cage as she watched the deadly maw inch closer. She kicked her legs

but hit only air. Ellie closed her eyes tight as the cat's jaws began to close around her throat. Lily

opened her mouth and pulled away. Ellie opened her eyes to see the cat giving her an amused

look.

"Just a little reminder of who you're dealing with," she explained jovially.

Whatever was supposed to be humorous about the action was lost on Ellie. Lily let her

go, and she scrambled to her feet. I'm not going to lose to this jerk. Lily stood up as well.

"Another five seconds, but after that punch, I'm done going easy on you."

Ellie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. This has been 'going easy'? Ellie ran toward

the back right corner, but she could tell she was already slowing down. She was starting to get

tired, but moreover, her body hurt all over from the abuse. She heard the cat's footsteps racing

up behind her and put on a burst of speed, aided by another rush of adrenaline. Ellie threw

herself at the vertical net that surrounded the corner. Just as she reached the top, Lily raced up

and over the net to wait on the other side.

"Jump, and I'll catch you!" she called teasingly.

Ellie started to climb back down the way she'd come, but Lily raced back over the net to

block her on the other side. Ellie dashed at the cat, hoping to surprise her. If she ducked the

cat's arms again, maybe she could get a better hit in this time. But this time Lily was ready for

that move. She feinted going for the grab but then dropped low, pushing Ellie's fist out wide with

her left arm and delivering her own punch with her right. The breath went out of Ellie in a

whoosh as the sickening pain of the punch shot through her stomach. She collapsed onto her

side on the floor, curling into a ball. Lily rolled Ellie onto her front and sat on her back with her

hands pressing down on Ellie's shoulder blades; her weight forced Ellie out flat on her sore

stomach. Ellie felt tears of pain and frustration welling in the corners of her eyes as the cat

crushed her. Lily either noticed her tears or otherwise sensed her distress.

"Had enough, rabbit?" she taunted.

"Yes," Ellie murmured.

"Say that you give up."

Ellie hesitated, and the bobcat put more of her weight on her.

"I give up!" Ellie gasped.

Lily burst into a rumbling purr and flexed her claws. Ellie winced as they picked into her

shoulders.

"What a clever bunny to admit when she's been bested," Lily mocked. "Just like how I

bested you professionally."

"That was just underhanded bullshit," Ellie protested.

"Ah, ah, what did I just say about admitting your defeat?" Lily chided, flexing her claws

again; Ellie was unable to hold back a squeak of pain as the claws pierced deeper. Lily ignored

the cry and went on tauntingly, "I only told the victim's mother the truth. It's not my fault if she

didn't like what she heard."

Ellie gritted her teeth against the pain before growling her response, "Even if you didn't

think what we were doing was worthwhile, I don't see why you wouldn't accept our help. We're

supposed to be on the same side. You said so yourself even if you didn't mean it."

"Because I don't want your help," she sneered. "Your operation is a joke, and the sooner

you pack it in, the better."

"No, you're just a conceited asshole."

Ellie struggled to pull herself out from under the nasty cat, but she couldn't make any

progress. She flopped back out, exhausted. Lily reached forward with one hand to tousle Ellie's

laid-back ears.

"You know deep down I'm right, but if you ever decide to give up on that waste of time,

you can always become my personal toy. It would amuse me to take away Jason's little pet.

We'll do this every day. Maybe eventually, you'll even become a challenge for me."

"In your dreams, you twit."

Lily patted her on the head, "Ah well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to

go."

Lily stood and placed her right foot against Ellie's back. She used it to smooth down her

fur and then stepped on her to squash her one more time as she walked toward the door. Ellie

continued to lie on the floor while the cat left.

"See you around!" Lilly called back before slamming the door behind her.

Ellie groaned and pulled herself up into a sitting position. She could tell she was covered

with bruises, and her shoulders strung where the bobcat's claws had punctured her skin. I'm a

fucking idiot. She should have ignored the vile cat's taunts rather than going to get beaten to a

pulp. She stood shakily and stumbled to the door, retrieving her shirt on the way out. She

assumed the gym had showers, but she didn't want to have to deal with the vicious cat any

further. Instead, she dragged herself to her car. It was only half past seven; she could hardly

believe the session of torment had been so short. She could probably still drive home and take

a shower, but it would be closer to go straight to work. She checked her location on her tablet

and realized that she was only a short distance from Jason's house. It's not like he'll be using

his shower. She started the car and started on her way to Jason's.

* * *

Jason was finishing a breakfast of several pieces of bacon and a piece of whole wheat

toast when he heard a knock at his front door. Who could that be? He stuffed the last piece of

bacon in his mouth and stalked to the door to look out the peephole: he saw a familiar pair of

long, white ears. He pulled the door open, and Ellie limped in. Her fur was disheveled, and he

even thought he saw a few specks of blood showing through the white fur on her shoulders.

"Oh Zeus! Ellie, what happened?!" he cried. He grabbed her in a hug, and she gasped in

pain. "Sorry!" He let her out of the hug but then held her gently by the arms, staring at her in

concern.

"Lily happened," she muttered.

"Lily did this?!" he gasped. "That's it. I'm calling the Mayor's office right now! The police

can't go around beating people up, especially people a fraction their size!" He ran to grab the

phone.

"Please don't," Ellie called.

He halted and turned around, "Huh? You don't want me to report this? Why not? We

can't let her get away with it!"

"Because I let her do it."

Jason stared at her, baffled, "You 'let' her? What do you mean, Ellie?"

Ellie sighed, "Yesterday, I went to confront her about the underhanded shit she pulled.

She challenged me to come play a 'game' with her to prove I wasn't a coward. I never should

have taken the bait, but even after I did, I could have given up sooner. But my pride wouldn't let

me quit, so I let her pummel me and slam me to the floor until I couldn't fight back anymore."

Jason shook his head in disbelief, "Still, she should have shown some restraint; you're a

rabbit, and she's a bobcat. What kind of game was it anyway?"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now. Can I use your shower? I assume you do

have one."

Jason nodded, "The bathroom is up the stairs and on the left."

"Thanks."

Jason watched as Ellie limped up the stairs. A short while later, he heard the water start

to run. He was shocked and horrified that Lily had brutalized her. He had never known Lily to be

that cruel. Had she changed so much since they were in school together? At length, the water

stopped. Jason still needed to brush his teeth though, obviously, he wasn't going to leave until

he was sure Ellie was okay. He climbed the stairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Can I come in?" he called.

There was a brief pause. "Yeah, that's fine," Ellie called back.

Jason opened the door. His jaw dropped when he saw Ellie lying submerged up to her

neck in water.

"Gah! It's not enough to soak yourself?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "I wasn't going to invite you to join me anyway," she called from the

tub. "I thought a soak in hot water might help soothe my aches."

Jason crept closer warily, still staring at the tub full of water.

Ellie giggled, "Heeheehee, what are you doing? It's not going to jump out at you."

Jason stopped a short distance away and kept watching the water carefully. Ellie made a

splash with her hand, and he jumped.

Ellie burst into a loud chortle, "Ahahahaha, you're such a goofball, Jason! If only I'd

challenged Lily to race me in the pool, then we would have seen who chickened out."

Ellie made a series of splashes, and each time, Jason couldn't help giving a little start.

After Ellie finished laughing, she dabbed the tears away from her eyes.

"Thanks for that, Jason. That made me feel loads better."

"Thanks for what?" he asked, confused, still keeping half of his attention on the

threatening pool that had invaded his domicile.

Ellie grinned, "For being my silly kitty and making me feel better."

"Uh, no problem. So do you want to talk about what happened now?"

"It's not important. I won't be making the mistake of accepting vague challenges from

condescending jerks again anytime soon."

"Okay, do you need anything?"

"Do you have shampoo anywhere?"

"Uh, yeah." Jason retrieved the bottle from under the sink and gingerly handed it to her,

trying to avoid getting too close to the water.

"Hey, this is the same rosemary scented shampoo I have at home!"

Jason twitched his tail embarrassedly, "Yeah, I bought some because you said you liked

when I used it, but I haven't been able to convince myself to take a shower yet."

"That's sweet, Jason."

Ellie stood up and started applying the shampoo, eventually she was covered in the

scented foam. Jason smirked at her comical appearance. She lay back down to rinse off and

finished by taking a deep breath and sliding down to submerge her head and ears. Jason

gasped in horror as she disappeared under the water. He stepped over to the tub and stared at

the obscuring layer of foam. Was she okay? Did he need to pull her out? She reemerged,

blowing out her breath then shook her head to remove water from her ears and eyes. Some

drops flew on Jason, and he yowled in surprise.

Ellie stopped shaking and gave him a puzzled look, "What are you doing all the way over

here?"

"I thought you might not be coming back up!"

Ellie gave him a funny look, "You doof, I was just rinsing off." She stood back up and

stepped out of the tub, water streaming from her fur to pool on the white tile floor. "Do you have

a towel, or do I have to use you to dry off?"

Jason hurried to get a towel from the cabinet and gave it to her.

She gently ran the towel over her fur until most of the water was gone, "Do you have a

blow dryer?"

"No, sorry."

"That's okay. It's a warm day; I'll dry eventually."

Ellie let the water out of the tub and left the bathroom. Jason was relieved to see the

pool slowly sink away. He brushed his teeth and went to his bedroom to get dressed. He

selected a blue dress shirt, leaving the top button undone. He went back downstairs and found

Ellie sitting on his dark blue futon, which faced the short tv stand and a large bay window. His

claws clicked against the wood floor of the living room as he trotted over to sit beside her on the

sofa.

"Are you going to be okay to go to work today?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I might be a bit unkempt for speed dating this evening, but I doubt that

will matter much."

Jason felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I kind of hoped you had forgotten about that,"

he admitted.

Ellie grinned at him, "Of course not. I also thought about where we should go to dinner.

There's a nice Indian restaurant just a little out of the way between the office and the brewery.

Maybe we should invite Tom to apologize for getting him in trouble."

"Sure, that'll be nice."

Ellie seemed to inspect his outfit, "Not that I dislike the shirts you've been wearing lately,

Jason, but I think you should try one of your collar and tie combos for this evening to show off

your pretty stripes better."

He gave her a dubious look, "You think that will make a difference?"

Ellie nodded confidently, "They'll help you stand out. Go get changed."

Jason obediently went back upstairs and changed into a white shirt collar and a dark

blue and silver tie with narrow diagonal stripes. When he returned to the couch, Ellie nodded

approvingly. She reached out her right hand to smooth the fur on his side.

"There, now everyone will see what a pretty kitty you are."

Jason felt his ears getting warm and flicked them embarrassedly. "I guess," he

murmured. He peered at the clock on the DVD player, "It's getting close to nine. If you feel okay,

I guess we should go."

"Right." Ellie hopped up off of the futon.

They headed out to their respective cars; Jason grabbed his phone off of the tv stand

and locked the door on the way out. Ellie sometimes teased him for not having a cell phone, but

the reality was that he usually just left it in his car so that he wouldn't have to carry it around.

The office had its own phone line anyway; though, he guessed he could get a hip holster for his

mobile. Ellie's silver compact car was blocking his in, so she left first, speeding away once she

backed into the street. Jason didn't try to keep up. He arrived at the office to find Ellie already

there.

"You finally got to work first for a change, eh?" he jested.

Ellie turned to look at him. Her expression was stony, "I just talked to Tom on the phone.

The suspect is dead."