by M. A. Owens
“This can’t leave this room. Trigger says he trusts you, and you are need-to-know for this case. I’ve sought his help in tracking down this cat, and the weapon he’s carrying, so I’ve agreed to fill you in. His name is Saul, and he’s—”
“Wait, that was a weapon?” Petey asked, nearly choking on the bite he’d just taken. “There’s a weapon like that in the city now, and in this district?”
Kerdy was giving Petey the same glare she’d been giving me. Now he’d get to see what it was like to have a cat look at you like you’re an inch tall.
“Are you stuffing that food in your mouth or your ears? I’m explaining it to you.”
Petey allowed a small grin to escape, looked to me, then back to her. “Apologies. Please continue.”
“Saul is one of mine, and he shouldn’t be anywhere near this city right now. It’s one of the highest crimes to interfere with this city’s natural operation. We have technology far more advanced than yours, and even knowing about it is enough to disrupt life here, much less when an item is brought here and used. I suspect he’s been in contact with someone here in the city, and they’ve convinced him there’s some higher cause he needs to support.”
She stopped, looking me directly in the eye.
“It appears to be whoever sent that letter to you, Trigger. Show it to Petey.”
I reached into my shirt pocket and tossed the letter in front of him. “Not that I really even need to show it to him, Kerdy. Petey probably already guessed, and we’ve encountered this cat before.”
Petey nodded, reading over the letter, putting his paw on his forehead and rubbing. “I had a feeling. I was just hoping that I was wrong. How is it we dealt such an enormous blow to this cat, and all we did is make him angry? He must have an alternative source of funding, picking up for the bulk of his operations. No small fry, but who? You know some of the biggest business dogs and cats over there, and they’re pals of yours, right?”
I inhaled deeply, thinking it over.
“There’s a lot of wealthy dogs and cats over there, Petey, and I don’t know them all. There’s gotta be a dozen or more that could fund an operation like this single-pawed, and any of them might jump at the chance of having the new mayor in their pocket… or to be in his pocket, if there’s even a difference.”
Kerdy waved her paw between us.
“What am I, invisible?”
“Now who isn’t listening?” I asked, shoving her paw out of my face. “His name is Saint. Well… his actual name is Richard, but he goes by Saint because he’s a comic book supervillain, I guess, except he thinks he’s a superhero.”
Petey nodded, swallowing a giant mouthful of biscuit. “I was involved, but only Trigger here met the guy. Several times, in fact. Seems Trigger was his hero, and he was looking to recruit him. He’s done asking nicely, I suppose. We cut off what we thought was his primary source of income, which is what lead the chief to sever the Black District from the ACPD. Punishment for involving ourselves in political affairs. A big rule.”
Kerdy sat quietly, impatiently absorbing every word we said. “But, he had other funding, and you just stirred up the hornets’ nest. Anything else?”
I almost took a bite, but stopped. Pretty sure I just realized the connection.
“Say, your crew outside the city. All cats?”
“With very, very few exceptions,” she said, with a hint of disgust. “I can practically see the gears turning in your head, detective. What connection have you made?”
“Saint wants to skip all this equality stuff and place the city back under single-species control. Only this time, with cats at the top instead of dogs. Dogs will basically be slaves. This is his idea of ultimate justice for the wrongs against his people.”
“His people…” Kerdy repeated, quietly. She leaned forward in her chair, placing both paws on her head, growling softly. She let out a big breath, and leaned back in her chair, looking even more distressed than before. “Yes, I see where you’re going with this, and I think you’re correct. Saul is just the sort of idealist who would join in on such a movement. He has often expressed dissatisfaction with the fact we didn’t intervene before when cats were being treated so horribly. He felt we were traitors to our own people, because of how easily we could have stopped it. He’s young. Doesn’t understand that our rules are our rules for a reason. Alright… so what’s our next move? Kill Saint? Sever the head, and the body falls with it.”
Petey leaned forward, clasping his paws together in front of him. “We are the police, not assassins. We’ll arrest him on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, or at the very least, solicitation.”
Kerdy tilted her head, leaning forward, leaving only a few inches between their noses. “Oh, really? On what authority, Black District Chief of Police?”
Petey gritted his teeth and curled his lip. The two stared each other down for a moment, but Petey slowly slumped back into his chair again, looking more defeated than ever.
“We’ll tell Buddy. Buddy won’t care what his orders are. He’ll never let a murderer, even an attempted murderer, walk in his district,” he said.
Kerdy and I looked to one another, and she had the decency to let me speak first this time.
“And… if Patches forbids him, Petey?” I asked, feeling just as defeated.
Petey threw up his paws. “Well, what are we supposed to do? Let all of this go? Become assassins hiding in the shadows of the Adria District, killing dogs and cats without a fair trial? I’m a cop, Trigger, and I know that deep in your heart, you are too. This isn’t what we do.”
“Desperate times, Petey…” I said, feeling the air grow cold between us. I couldn’t even bear to look him in the eye. I could imagine clearly the look he was giving me, and I wasn’t ready to see it.
“Yeah, well, why can’t you look me in the eye, Trigger? If you two want my help, we’re doing this by the book. I’ll bend rules for you, and you know it. I’ll even break a few. What I won’t do is compromise who we are. We’re the blue line, Trigger. We serve and protect. We catch murderers and deliver them to justice. We don’t become murderers ourselves.”
Kerdy frowned and looked up at Petey. “Alright, Chief Petey, believe it or not, you’ve convinced me, but now what?”
Petey grinned. “I knew I’d get through to the two of you, eventually. What now? We see the big boss of the ACPD, just like Trigger and I planned from the start. Nothing has changed. We just have a few additional topics to discuss with him, is all.”
I crumpled my empty biscuit paper and tossed it into the bin. “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Petey.”
Petey leaned back, putting his paws behind his head, watching the ceiling fan spin above us. “Me too, pal. Me too.”
5
The three of us walked down to the Blue District gate. Normally, it was a piece of cake to get through here. Adria District, on the other paw, was a nightmare. Big dogs carrying equally big weapons, and no time for nonsense… and they actually checked papers. The look of unmistakable guilt on the Dalmatian’s face as we approached told us everything we needed to know. Today was obviously going to be different.
“Hello there,” Petey said, with his famous warm smile. “Me plus two, just heading over to see the chief.”
“Sorry, Petey… I can’t let you through today. Chief gave specific orders not to let you or plus anyone through this gate today. You too, Trigger. Sorry.”
I held up my paws. “Me? What exactly did I do? You listen here—”
Petey put his paw on my shoulder. “Enough, Trigger. Billy here is just doing his job. He obviously isn’t happy about it, so let’s not make it any harder on him, alright? It is what it is.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not blaming this dog, but here’s a message for the chief. Tell him to shove—”
“Trigger…” Petey scolded, squeezing my shoulder ever so slightly. “Thanks, Billy. I know you’d let us through if you could. No hard feelings. We’ll figure something else o
ut.”
Billy nodded, shrinking like a guilty pup who got caught stealing from the treat jar. “Sorry,” was all he said.
We walked back down the street, stopping once we rounded the corner.
“Well, Petey,” I said. “What’s your ‘something else’ you mentioned?”
He grinned. “What do I look like, Trigger, some kind of genius? I’m thinking. In the meantime, what about you?”
I scratched my chin. “Well, I’m sure he’s got us frozen out of all the other districts, just to keep us from trying to bypass his orders. I could give Sugarplum a ring and see if she can pull some strings to get us in through the Adria gates. If anyone’s got enough pull to make it happen, it’s her. Even Rick doesn’t have the connections she does. Being the former kingpin’s daughter might be just what we need.”
“Trigger…” Petey frowned. “I don’t mind if she helps, but let’s stay away from Mr. B’s associates, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Come on, Petey. You don’t have to tell me twice. It’s not you they tried to kill on more than one occasion.”
Throughout all of this, Kerdy stayed silent, which I found to be especially odd.
“Thoughts, Kerdy?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet. Let’s exhaust your options before we consider mine.”
Petey nodded. He didn’t ask, so I guess he didn’t want to know. “You know, Harvey’s skill sure would come in handy right about now. Let’s go see how he’s doing, and you can call Sugarplum from the payphone outside after we’re done.”
“Yeah… sounds good. I’ll warn you, though. Priscilla will not be happy to see me. Saint sent her a letter like the one he sent me, and that one cut even deeper. Her letter said I’d know everything about what happened to Harvey. He may have mentioned you in the letter, too. I’m not sure. I didn’t get to read it.”
“We’ll need to seize that as evidence. I’ll read it then.”
“Isn’t that a little cold, Petey? She’s going to give you a hard time over it. You know that,” I said.
“Maybe she will, but I’m sure you recall the way a certain letter factored into the solving of another case of yours.”
I knew exactly what he meant. The Grand Gobbler case. It was the first piece of truly solid evidence we had, allowing Petey to make an arrest of Agatha, and put Lady on the run.
“The Grand Gobbler… You’re right, Petey. Somehow, I think Saint’s beyond our reach, regardless.”
Kerdy perked up her ears at the mention of the Grand Gobbler, and I was sure she was about to say something, but she didn’t.
“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, Trigger. You’re too much of a cynic for your own good sometimes, you know that?” he said.
I couldn’t tell if he was scolding me or kidding around. Regardless, from his perspective, I’m sure it was the truth. Me? I call it being realistic. I’m just calling it like I see it. Like I’ve seen it, to be more specific. This city was heading back in the wrong direction quick, and I had a sinking feeling in my gut that we were only about to scratch the surface of it. Saint’s promises echoed throughout my mind, and he seemed like the kind of cat who would keep them.
“I’ll become an optimist when this city gives me a reason to be, Petey, but you’re right of course. You usually are. Collect the evidence in case the tables turn, and we’ll be ready.”
He nodded. “Now you’re getting it. Prepare for both the best and the worst. Besides—”
“Daylight is burning, gentlemen,” Kerdy interrupted, tapping her wrist. “Do I need to remind you that a potentially city-ending catastrophe is looming over us? Get moving. I’m sure Arc City’s finest has the brain capacity to talk while walking, or am I wrong about that?”
Petey began walking but shot a grin back to me again. Like the one he showed me in his office. He was hoping I would pick up on something, I’m sure of it, and I’m pretty sure I finally figured out what it was. I hurried to keep up with them.
“So…” Petey said, after catching my expression.
“What?” Kerdy replied without looking at him.
“You must be pretty high up the food chain where you’re from. You clearly don’t take orders, and you’re very accustomed to giving them,” Petey said, sounding rather proud of his observation.
“Sounds very similar to the detective here, no?” she retorted.
“Wow…” Petey said, scratching the back of his head. “That’s a fantastic point.”
I shook my head, looking between the two. “Wow, thanks a lot, Petey. Glad you two seem to have such a high opinion of me.”
To my surprise, this got a grin out of both of them. Well, no surprise coming from Petey. It was rare to see him not grinning. Kerdy on the other paw… I was afraid she’d pull a muscle if she did it more than once a day.
As we were coming up on the hospital, I got knots in my stomach.
“Maybe…” I started.
“No, Trigger, you’re not waiting outside to spare Priscilla’s feelings. She’s just upset. She knows this wasn’t your fault. Give the dame a little time. We’re going to make this scumbag pay and pay big. If you could handle Mr. B, we’ll have this copycat out of commission in time to hand Harvey the newspaper with the headline about his arrest before he even gets out of the hospital. And he’s going to get out, Trigger. Focus.”
I sighed. Petey read my mind, of course. He was way too good at this. I’d hate to be on the opposite end of the table of a Petey interrogation. Just the thought should give most criminals in this district cold sweats at night. Maybe it did.
“Sorry, Petey. You’re an optimist, and I’m the cynic. It’s what makes us such an excellent team. Look, I’m worried that Harvey won’t make it through this and—”
Kerdy shot a sharp glance back in my direction. “As Petey said, focus. Whether your friend lives or dies, many more will die if Saul isn’t captured, and quickly. Don’t forget that. Even this Saint is secondary.”
“Don’t be so sure about that, Kerdy. You haven’t met this cat. I have.”
Kerdy’s glare only hardened, but we arrived at the hospital before she could spew whatever kind of judgmental, righteous garbage at me she had on the tip of her tongue. A real piece of work, that Kerdy. Really growing on me. Finally had a companion that made me look like the friendly dog, for once.
Petey pushed open the door, and we followed behind him. Best to let the boss dog take the lead on this one. I’d keep my mouth shut and really hoped Kerdy would do the same. Really hoped.
One doctor was about to pass us, and Petey flashed his badge. “Excuse me, doc. I need to check in on a patient here. Harvey.”
The doctor looked up, surprised. Clearly, he had somewhere he needed to be. He hadn’t even noticed us until just now.
“Harvey? They transferred him to Adria this morning, officer.”
Nice. He didn’t even read the badge. I could’ve just come in here with a fake one and done the same thing.
“Ah, so that means his condition improved?” Petey asked.
I held my breath.
The doctor looked down at his watch, not even attempting to hide his eagerness to move on. “It was a tough call. We had to have an ethics meeting. He might not survive the trip, officer. But, if we didn’t transfer him, he wouldn’t make it. Understand?”
Petey frowned, nodding to the doctor. “Yeah… I understand. Thank you for your time. That’ll be all.”
We stood quietly for a moment, without speaking. Kerdy was kind enough to give us this moment. We needed it.
“I’m…” I said, taking a deep breath and composing myself. “I’m going to make that phone call to Sugarplum.”
Petey and Kerdy nodded, and we walked out together to the payphone.
I put a quarter in and quietly wished with all my might that something would finally go right today.
“Sugarplum, please,” I said, when the receptionist answered.
“One moment,” she said, placing me on hold. It was
only a moment, but it felt like years.
“Yes, this is Sugarplum.”
“Sugarplum! It’s me, Trigger. Look, I need your help. The chief’s frozen me and a couple of pals inside the district. We need you to pull a few strings and get us through our gate, and into Blue District’s gate Adria side.”
The line was silent. Were we disconnected?
“Sugarplum? You there?”
“Stay out, Trigger…”
“Sugar? What do you mean? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Trigger, please… just stay out of Adria. Never come here again, no matter what. Please. I need you to promise me. This is all I’ll say, and I’ll only say it once.”
What in the world… Sugarplum was easily the most powerful individual in this whole city. If push came to shove, she could put her foot on the mayor, Chief Patches, and Chief Petey all at once, without breaking a sweat. What could have her this scared?
“Can’t do that, Sugar. Afraid we’re talking about life or death here. Once that’s dealt with, if you’re in some kind of trouble, I’m going to help you. You hear? I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Neither will I,” she snapped. “Stay away from Adria.”
She hung up the phone, and my shoulders felt like they slumped to my knees. So much for the day not getting worse.
“Trigger?” Petey asked. “You alright?”
I held up my paw, still facing the phone. I couldn’t turn to face them. Not just yet. I had no words. This felt surreal. We’re just a couple of Black District dogs and a wildcat. This was big. Too big. We were walking into a death trap, and Sugarplum knew it. But why didn’t she say more? Why isn’t Patches saying more? What do they know that we don’t, and why in the name of everything under the sun will they not tell us what it is?
“Trigger,” Petey repeated, shaking my shoulder. “What did she say?”
I turned around slowly, hanging up the phone as I did.
“She said we had to stay out of Adria, Petey. She didn’t sound like herself. Come to think of it, she wasn’t herself the last time I was there either. I don’t know what’s the matter with me. Why didn’t I see it before? Something big is happening over there, Petey. I have a feeling Patches isn’t trying to keep us out of Blue District. He’s trying to keep us here.”
