The Veiled Monarch

by Shae Bryant

Catherine went into Detective mode, handing Vince her card, "We'll do everything we can to find out which Werewolf did it and make sure things are cleared out as fast as possible. We can't start questioning Werewolves until tomorrow. The ones we know of are all at the hunting Sanctuary for the full moon."

  "Thank you, Detective." Vince smiled.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A Proper Whodunnit

  The news reports were pouring in. Illegal hunts were rare and dramatic. Every reporter in South Florida was standing in front of The Veiled Monarch trying to interview someone who may have witnessed the crime scene. I turned on the TV to see our favorite sensational reporter. An attractive middle-aged man with hair transplants, a golden voice and a gleaming smile.

  "Janelle, I am here at The Veiled Monarch Nightclub where a gruesome murder took place last night. The Miami-Dade Police Department is ruling this as an illegal hunt. A spokesperson for the Department said that they are currently looking for a suspect. The victim has yet to be identified. We asked the Department if the owner of The Veiled Monarch is a suspect as he is part of the Non Human community. The Department said that no Vampires are under suspicion at this time. The Miami-Dade Police Department is asking for anyone with information to call the crime stoppers hot line. I'm Carlos de la Rosa, Channel seven news, Miami."

  At least the report was accurate this time.

  The next morning, Catherine and I started work with little sleep. We both were yawning and trying to stay awake in the car. After grabbing some coffees, our ride to Hialeah went a lot smoother. I was hopeful that the caffeine jolt would help me deal with our visit to the Werewolves.

  I parked in the back of the motorcycle dealership. My car was unmarked, but it was an obvious Police vehicle. After last night, there was no sense in scaring people.

  I walked us through the back entrance near the service department. The loud clanging of tools against metal and lifts moving stopped when Catherine and I came in. Everyone had seen the news by now. They knew why we were there.

  The front of the shop was where all the magic happened. Rows of beautiful new bikes sat for the taking. One side was dedicated to branded merchandise, including tee shirts for the dealership. Their logo was a howling wolf silhouetted against palm trees. An obvious joke on the stereotype of Werewolf riders and a huge draw for tourists who wanted to have a Werewolf tee shirt.

  I was looking for the idiot who created the logo. Isaac Carillo. One of my closest and oldest friends. He also happened to own the place.

  "Hey! Isaac!?" I called out over a desk.

  Catherine stood next to me, looking at the man who was hunched over a new bike while he polished the chrome. He jerked his head towards me, breaking into a smile and a wave. Catherine backed up a little when Isaac rose to his full height of six feet four inches. I guess she didn't expect to see a large bearded biker pull me into a bear hug.

  "Yo! Raina!" He put me down, "¿Cómo estás, hermanita?" Isaac stopped in his tracks when his eyes fell on Catherine. Here we go. The burly man found himself a pretty little blonde. "Raina, did you bring me a friend?"

  Isaac flashed a flirty smile towards Catherine while I made the introductions, "Detective Catherine Kleyman. Isaac Carillo."

  Catherine shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

  "You too. What can I do for you? Business or pleasure?" Isaac leaned on a bike, still grinning at my partner.

  She was not going to answer Isaac. An older bike on display caught Catherine's eye, and she rushed to it, leaning over the rope. She squeezed the rope, trying to keep herself from reaching out and touching it. "... Is that a '77 FLH?!"

  "Sure is. You know your bikes. You like Harleys?" Isaac ran a cloth over the chrome, wiping off an invisible speck of dust.

  "I ride a Sportster."

  Isaac pointed to Catherine, giving me the dopiest smile I'd seen from him in a long time, "Oh, I like her. You need to bring her around more often."

  "She'll be around alright and you won't like it." I gave Isaac a soft punch on the shoulder, "Come on. You know what happened last night. Stop messing around."

  "Yeah I know what happened. It wasn't one of us, Raina." Isaac said it with so much conviction, that even I believed he magically knew it wasn't a Werewolf.

  "We are pretty sure it was an illegal hunt, Mister Carillo. The condition of the body, the way it was mangled. Everything points to a Werewolf." Catherine was already in Cop mode.

  She also pronounced Isaac's name wrong. She said it as if his name was "Car-il-low". It was pronounced "Car-ee-yo" If Catherine was going to stay in South Florida, she needed to learn some Spanish.

  He corrected her pronunciation, "The name is Carillo, Detective. Were there any claw marks? Any bites?"

  "There wasn't much skin left." I answered.

  Isaac sighed, "Yeah. That sounds like a shift. This doesn't make sense to me. Every time we go to the Sanctuary, we rally before we shift. Last night was no exception."

  The rally is important. Every Hunting Sanctuary has one. They give all the Werewolves a chance to be accounted for. The local community makes themselves known first. Then, any visitors have a chance to be accounted for. After the rally, they go inside. They all stay inside of a large room until shifting begins. Once that happens, the Werewolves start to move into the hunting grounds. The rest of the world is protected by a two story tall six foot slab of concrete topped with barbed wire. Sometimes, you can't tell if you're passing a Hunting Sanctuary or a prison.

  "Could anyone sneak away while everyone is shifting?" Catherine asked him.

  "Sure. Anyone could. There's no reason to. Hunting Sanctuaries are good for us. We can hunt freely without worry. " Isaac clicked his tongue, "Well, most of the time. There are suicides."

  "Wait? This is actually true?" Catherine grimaced, "I thought it was some urban legend they talked about at the Department."

  I nodded, "Oh yeah. That does happen. It happens a lot more than it should."

  Suicide by Werewolf was an uncommon problem, but it pops up from time to time. I once worked a case involving Isaac where someone had done it. Isaac woke up one morning in the Sanctuary with a Human hand next to him. Pieces of the body were found around the Sanctuary later that day.

  A ring on the hand helped us identify a man who had been reported missing. He had a history of DUIs and was a frequent flier in and out of AA. Security footage showed how the man got into the Sanctuary before it opened. He didn't leave a note, but it was clear that he was prepared to die at the hands of about two hundred Werewolves.

  Catherine cleared her throat uncomfortably and asked Isaac the rest of her questions. "Can you think of anyone who could have been missing? Did you miss anyone the next morning? Did anyone act unusual?"

  Isaac laughed, "Unusual? A bunch of Werewolves just woke up from a full moon! Yes. We all act unusual in the morning."

  I sighed, "Anything worse than normal, dummy."

  "Ehhh maybe Nathan. Probably because he was missing his morning...coffee." Isaac hesitated to say what this guy was missing. He must have thought Catherine and I were dumb. We both gathered that the guy was an addict.

  Catherine rolled her eyes, “He's a drug user?"

  "He's got some issues. We're trying to get him help."

  Now it was my turn to explain how things worked, "He won't tell you an affirmative on that one, Detective. Isaac has his loyalties."

  "Loyal as a dog." He chuckled.

  "And we have a great arrangement." I gave him a cheesy grin.

  "Yeah." He nodded, "Non Humans stick together. Don't push me too far and I'll give you anything you want. Except for a free bike."

  Catherine took a moment to sigh at the display bike she had previously drooled over, "I wouldn't mind a free bike."

  "I might give you one." Isaac flashed her another flirty smile, leaning himself in her direction.

  "Oh God..." I rolled my eyes, "We're on duty."

  Catherine laughed at his advances, taking a step away from him. "What
can you tell us about Nathan?"

  Isaac shrugged, "He lives down near South Beach. I'm not giving you his address, but he has a registry. You can find him."

  "Don't worry Isaac. I don't want his address." I gave Catherine the signal it was time to go, "Thanks. We'll go check the registry and see what we can find."

  "I don't think one of us is your suspect, Raina!" Isaac called after me. I ignored him. I wasn't so sure he was right.

  On the way back South, I radioed in for a check on any Werewolf in the area named Nathan. There were two of them, but only one lived in South Beach. Didn't Isaac know the illegal hunt happened in South Beach? Of course, he did. Time to go pay a visit to this Nathan Sutherland.

  We walked up a couple of stairs that lead to his front door. They were old town houses that someone tried to renovate at one time. It looked like work was halted, someone threw up a coat of paint and brought in whatever tenant would pay the rent. The front of the units smelled like stale cigarette smoke and alcohol. Garbage was piled on one side of the stairs and empty bottles on the other.

  People say Police don't profile, but I say they are lying. When we look at a place like this, we automatically make assumptions about the people who live here. It's not right, but if you work for a while, you absolutely do it. I already had an idea of what type of person Nathan Sutherland was before the time Catherine knocked on his door.

  Catherine announced our presence. "Police Department! Mister Sutherland?"

  No answer. I started down the stairs, "I'll check the back."

  Catherine turned around for a split-second to answer me. That was all it took. The door flew open, and someone blew past Catherine, pushing her to the side. She caught her balance in time to see a man fly past her and towards the back yard.

  "Running!" I hollered, taking off after him.

  "Oh. Oh! Shit. Hey! Hey stop!" Catherine ran after us both.

  He jumped over two fences and tried to keep distance between us by weaving through backyards. I could hear some dogs barking nearby. I quietly hoped he'd pass them. I grabbed my radio and called it in, trying to talk and sprint at the same time.

  "This is unit four one david eight! In pursuit of suspect on foot turning the corner of Meridian onto 10th."

  Catherine shouted to the runner, "Hey! Stop! We just want to talk!"

  He vaulted over another fence and turned towards the side street. We were getting closer, but a Werewolf would outrun us. Even if they hadn't shifted, they could run like hell. When we turned the corner, I experienced a wave of relief. The dogs I heard were loose and standing on the sidewalk.

  "Dogs!" I yelled, "A little help, please!?" I pointed the three curious dogs to the man about to run past them.

  "Hey! She needs help!" One of the dogs brayed to the other, "Let's get him!"

  I slowed down to a walk when the dogs rushed him. All three of them bared their teeth and jumped on Nathan, he lost his balance with a yell and fell down. By the time Catherine and I reached them, the dogs had him pinned to the sidewalk.

  Nathan was flailing when we approached, "Ahh! Stop! Stop! I'm one of you! Help! Get them off of me!"

  Catherine grabbed his arm, trying to give him a stern order while she was out of breath. "Get. Up."

  I smiled at the dogs, giving each one a pat, "Thanks. I wish I had a steak for you. You can go home now."

  One of the dogs looked at me, "I know him."

  The other dog agreed, "He was here last night."

  "What?" I knelt down on the sidewalk to look the dogs in the eye. They always appreciate it when we do that.

  "Yep." The dog bobbed her head up and down, "He was scared of something last night. He went to a house here."

  "Was he at the house after dark?" I asked.

  Another dog bobbed his head, "Yes."

  I grinned, giving each of them a good ear scratch, "Thanks for the tip."

  When he noticed me talking with the dogs, Nathan scowled, "Druid cops? What the hell, man!? Why am I under arrest?"

  "Running from the cops. Duh."

  Nathan looked at me, "I got scared, OK?"

  "Why?" Catherine demanded.

  He thrashed around in the cuffs, "I don't know! Come on. I didn't do anything!"

  "Fine. You didn't. Let's have a talk where you don't run away, then." I pulled out my phone, checking some of my information.

  Nathan slumped on the sidewalk with a sigh, "Fine."

  "Where were you last night?"

  "The Hunting Sanctuary. Like everyone else."

  Catherine was observing him. He was trembling, but it wasn't because of fear. He had the shakes. A common problem with drug users when they haven't had their fix in a while.

  Catherine nodded, "Can you tell us who can back your story up?"

  "What? Do you think I did something?" Nathan was visibly beginning to panic.

  I was getting sick of not having a straight answer from this guy. Either he had an alibi or he didn't. Right now he was stalling for time. "Who saw you at the Sanctuary, Mister Sutherland?"

  "Ask Isaac!" He protested, "He saw me. We talked this morning before everyone left!"

  "Did he see you inside last night?"

  "I can't tell you who saw me! It's kinda hard to notice who is there once you're starting to shift. Hey, I didn't do anything!"

  Enough was enough. Nathan wasn't going to give either of us a straight answer. I had a great tip from those dogs and I needed to follow up with it. Even if that meant bending some rules to go inside his house and search it.

  "Nathan, we're going to make a deal." I grinned at him, holding my radio in my hand, "We're going to search your house and you're going to consent to it. Or, we'll arrest you. Then, I'll be able to search anyway."

  Nathan shook his head, "No way. Not happening. You can't do that. There's no way you can do that."

  Catherine whispered to me, "He's right Raina. You can't do this."

  I buried my face in my hands with a groan, "Really Catherine!?"

  Werewolves have amazing hearing. Just like their sense of smell. They can pick up on something from a mile away without issue. They weren't quite as adept as Vampires when it came to picking up sound, but they were very keen listeners.

  "This is unethical!" Catherine was aggravated with me, putting her hands on her hips like she was about to give me a lecture.

  Our suspect gave me a defiant glare, "Yeah. Listen to her."

  Catherine trying to lecture me was one thing. A suspect trying to lecture me is infuriating. Even more so when they are acting smug about it. Nathan's reaction and the dogs talking with me all pointed to Nathan hiding something.

  I bent down and grabbed his arm, picking him up off of the sidewalk. "Nathan Sutherland, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent."

  Nathan struggled, "Seriously!?"

  I ignored him. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney one will be appointed for you."

  "I didn't do anything!" He complained.

  "You ran."

  When I put him in the back of the car, he shouted at me, "This is bull shit!"

  The remainder of the ride to the Department was in silence. Nathan scowled out the window and Catherine paid attention to her phone. Every so often, she'd give me a look of reproach. I ignored her too. No, it wasn't right. I wasn't doing things by the book. But, I needed that warrant.

  I took Nathan over to intake and went into my office to try to work on a search warrant. A few minutes later, Darius burst through the door. "I should put you on disciplinary action for this whole thing! This isn't how we do things, Detective! Your charges won't stick!"

  I stood up, "Darius! I just need to get a search warrant. That's all. Then, he'll be arrested for sure."

  "No one will grant you a search warrant from this arrest!" Darius waved a paper in my face.

  Catherine stood next to Darius. She was trying to diffuse the situation so Da
rius and I didn't start yelling at each other. I'm sure our frequent arguments made her uncomfortable, but Darius and I acted this way. We got into an argument, we yelled, and then we were fine.

  "Raina, we could have done this the right way. If we did...we'd have a warrant eventually."

  "Are you incapable of listening to me? What is this? A Non Human thing?" He slapped the paper on my desk. This wasn't the first time he had to yell at me for doing things 'the wrong way'.

  His words bothered me for some reason. I always hated it when someone made the distinction between Human and Non Human. As if I wasn't one of them. No, I wasn't. But I was.

  "I am Human." I crossed my arms.

  "Fine! Is it a Druid thing?" Darius pressed his hands on my desk, leaning towards me,"He's not under arrest, Raina. I suggest you start making calls now. You're going to be lucky if he doesn't sue!"

  When Darius stormed out of the office, I smacked the door with my fist. "Just great!"

  Again, Catherine tried to reason with me, "He's not even a suspect yet. We have no evidence against him at all. I don't understand why you want to search his house."

  I rubbed my face in frustration, trying to calm myself, so I didn't yell at Catherine. I was angry with Darius, not her. She didn't deserve a shouting match with me. "He is a suspect, Catherine! Unfortunately, the testimony of a dog isn't admissible in court."

  "A dog?! That isn't nice! Werewolves aren't dogs!" Did she think I was insulting Werewolves? Oh, God, she did.

  "No Catherine! An actual dog! My affinity is for canines! Those three dogs told me they saw him last night!"

  Catherine worked her jaw, trying to come up with a response. After a moment, she just lowered herself into her chair. "Are you serious?"

  I nodded, "Yeah. They told me he was at the house last night. After dark. Which means he was not at the Sanctuary when he should have been."

  Catherine leaned back in her chair, pushing it away from the desk while she let out a deep breath. "I'm surprised more people weren't murdered. I wonder why he wasn't at the Sanctuary? Could he have just gone in late?"

  "I wish I could say..." I shrugged, "Maybe. The whole thing is unlikely, but maybe."