by T S Paul
The house on the left was a not out culprit but they sent us in the proper direction. They raised corgi’s and the three in the house were going crazy by the time we finished interviewing the homeowner.
“They sure didn’t like you very much!”
“Yeah, well, regular animals aren’t fond of Weres. In early human history they were kept in the house to detect us. I personally love dogs. My dad has two. If they are raised in the house as pups they don’t react so badly around us. At least not normally.”
“I see that.” We traipsed across the Smith’s yard to the house on the right. According to the previous homeowner they had a ‘big’ dog.
Agent Nixon rang the doorbell and we waited for a response. Unlike the previous house there wasn’t a cavalcade of barking.
“Yes, can I help you?” We could hear the voice from a small speaker next to the door.
“Ma’am, I’m Agent Nixon with the FBI. Can we talk to you about the Smiths next door?”
“On moment young man.” I could hear steps approaching as someone came down stairs and what sounded like a hallway.
The door opened about a inch. “What can I do for you, young people?” The voice belonged to an older gray haired woman.
“We wanted to ask you about the Smiths next door. Did they have a dog?”
“Those poor dears! It’s so sad about them.” She stared at Nixon for a moment. “I’m sorry, you asked about something didn’t you?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Did they have a dog?”
“A dog? No Agent Nixon, was it? Mrs Smith was allergic to them. The little ones would come over here and play with Hercules all the time.” She had a sad look on her face.
I spoke to her. “Ma’am, who is Hercules?”
“He’s my dog. I’ve been calling for him but he seems to have run off.” A tear ran down her face. This was going to break her heart.
“Is Hercules a German Shepherd?”
“Why yes he is. How did you know?” She had a slight smile on her face.
“I’m so sorry Ma’am. Hercules was killed protecting the Smith children from their attacker. We found him in their backyard.”
“What! Poor Hercules.” She started to cry. I nudged the door open and gave her a big hug. I held the crying woman for a few moments.
She pulled away and looked ashamed. “I’m sorry about that. He has been my constant companion for many years. He tried to save the children?”
I glanced at Agent Nixon. “Yes, Ma’am. He must have sensed the attacker and jumped the fence. We found his body in the backyard so he was not successful. The FBI have taken care of his remains along with local Animal control. I can give you their number if you like.”
“No need for that dear. Thank you, both of you.” She closed the door and I heard footsteps go down the hall.
“Why did you do that Moore? That dog wasn’t trying to save the children.”
“It may have been. Animals are more intelligent than many give them. Besides it was the dog that gave us a new lead in the case.”
He nodded his head. “OK, that I can see. Do you need to see the other crime scene too?”
“I don’t think so. The dog was the biggest question I had. We now know we are looking for a WereWolf. I did think of a question for the other neighbor though.”
“What was that?” We were walking back to our car.
“Have there been other times the dogs went crazy? Maybe the choice of victims weren’t random at all.”
Agent Nixon stopped and stared at me. Sounds like we need to canvas the neighborhood. I think we have some Agents that can do that task. I smiled at him knowingly.
An hour later at the office we found our victims.
“I don’t understand. You want me to knock on doors? Can’t we use the pool for that? Why do I have to do it?” Agent Ramirez had a look of shock upon her face.
“You, Jones, and Cavelli dropped the ball on this one by missing the dog connection. We need to get back in the game here. Find another connection and find it now. Go!” He pointed to the door. The three Agents moped out and went to work.
“I was a little pissed when I was told to assign you to our group Agent Moore, but you are pretty sharp. Maybe we can catch this guy after all.”
“You can call me Catherine or Cat if you like. I think we should sent the Agents in the pool out to some of the other neighborhoods too. This guy may be cruising looking for another house. They should ask about strangers and animal behavior. We don’t want a Witch hunt. Lots of innocent Were’s in the area.”
“There are?” He looked surprised.
“Of course there are. We aren’t restricted to the reservations anymore. That was abolished in 1955. Many of my people stay there because it’s the only life they remember. My father has a lodge and hunting club in Kentucky. He’s very successful at it. Weres are just people Agent Nixon. There are bad seeds among us as much as among humans.”
“Like I said before. Welcome to the team Agent Moore.”
~~~~~~
The canvas done by the team turned up a few instances of dogs and cats going crazy when someone was around. One of the towns postal carriers was a WereFox so I had to cross those on his route off the map. The pool Agents turned up over thirty instances of animal misbehavior in their neighborhoods. A pattern was starting to emerge. We were looking for a lawn service or yard worker. It was the only reason for a rogue to be in some of those neighborhoods and not be noticed as a stranger. Unfortunately there were over thirty services in the area. We still had lots of work to do.
Chapter 3
No one realizes how invasive the yard work people can be. They cut your grass and trim your hedges. Some services clean the pool and wash the house exterior. They see you when you are sleeping they know when you are gone. There were actually more than thirty lawn services not counting the free lancers working the neighborhoods.
“Did you realize how big a project this was going to be?” Agent Nixon stared at the map of the neighborhood.
“Not really. I didn’t take into consideration the other areas.” I pointed at the map and all the pins. “Most of the services stay to a certain area. It’s the free-lancers that are the problem. We have narrowed it down to five specific ones.”
“You have? Which five?” The Agent’s eyes widened.
I nodded. “The pool was extremely helpful. The information they compiled is what will solve this one. The five independents are Bob’s Mow and Blow, Men with Mowers, Grass King, Smiths All-in-one, and Any Job, Any price.”
“Some of those sound like the services.” Agent Nixon was watching me.
“They do which is why this sounded so confusing. According to the services we interviewed, the freelancers don’t play fair. The services get together once a year and map out what areas they are going to work from. They are actually about to organize and form a mowers union. The freelancers pirate their supposed territories and poach. That is their words not mine.”
“So one of the poachers is out man. Wolf. Whatever.”
“Right. The services turned over their employment and territory maps to us. We haven’t found any known Weres among them. It has to be the others.”
“Do we have eyes on them yet?”
“I have Agents watching their business addresses and others patrolling the neighborhood. The local LEOs are starting to catch on however. You should expect a visit before long.”
Agent Nixon had moved to the window. “I think that visit is going to happen in a minute or two actually. Come on I want you in on this.” He motioned to me as he left the room. “Cover that map first. Let’s not help them out. I don’t want them stumbling all over my investigation.”
I threw a sheet over the pin covered map and carefully closed the door. Our base of operations was an old office complex that the FBI leased from the city. The locals still treated it as their own property regardless of our lease. Police Chief Melvin Lleras was a short chunky bald man with a loud voice. He was demonstrating its
use to Agent Ramirez at the reception desk.
“I want to speak to whoever is in charge here! You people are all over the neighborhoods and are questioning everyone. You suspect somebody and I want to know who! Right freaking now!”
“Calm down Chief. SEC Nixon is still in charge and will be here in a moment. Why don’t you sit right here next to me and cool off? I know it’s super hot out there.”
“Hot! It’s like sixty-five degrees. Stop using your womanly wiles of me Agent Ramirez. What are you an Agent of anyway? Prostitution?” He was staring at Ramirez as she blinked her eyes and thrust her chest at him.
“Chief Lleras, nice to see you again. What can the FBI do for you today?” Agent Nixon stepped out with his had extended.
“You can include me in my own damn case, that is what you can do! I know it’s a Serial killer, half the country knows that already. What I want to know is what you’ve discovered?”
“Chief Lleras you know we don’t discuss open cases.”
“I’m the one that invited you in to MY case! What is going on?” The little bald man’s face was getting redder and redder. He was starting to look like a fat matchstick.
Agent Nixon glanced at me and I smiled. Sighing heavily he looked back at the fuming man. “We rechecked the crime scenes and now believe it was a rogue Were who was responsible for the murders. The dead dogs were the key.”
“A Were? Like a WereWolf? How did you detect that?” The Chief sat heavily into one of the chairs and looked keenly at us. Agent Nixon leaned back on the front counter.
“As you may know we have Weres on the FBI’s payroll. According to the one we used the Unsub is a male Wolf. At the first scene we found a dead dog in the backyard. The victims didn’t own a dog. It was a neighbor dog that jumped the fence and attacked the wolf. The veterinarian discovered teeth marks on both dogs.”
“So the sharp knife we have been looking for is a claw?” The Chief was now calm and focused. He didn’t seem to me to be the bumbler that Nixon spoke of.
“Yes. It is. He killed the parents then the children and didn’t leave any human trace. We found animal hair but thought it belonged to the dogs. We also believe it wasn’t random. They were specifically targeted.”
“So why are your people ripping my town apart? I’m going to find out sooner or later so how about you tell me now. I know more about my town than you do, we can help.” The Chief was staring at Agent Nixon.
I grabbed Agent Nixon's arm and pulled him off to one side. “I know you want to keep this in house but look how that has worked so far. We know it’s one of those five but maybe he knows the players more than we do?”
Agent Nixon scratched his ear for a moment and stared at me. Shaking his head he sighed. “Agent Morris, Cat, you know regs as well as I do. We aren’t supposed to involve the locals in our investigations unless necessary.”
“I know that, but this is now a case for Magical Crimes if it involves a Were. Do you want to wait for them to show up? My friend Agatha is helping them out. I think they are in the Las Vegas area right now. I’m sure the case will wait for them to get here.”
“That’s dirty pool Cat. Fine we will tell the locals. Do not inform of your status. I want that as an ace-in-the-hole if we have to take on the Were in his other form. Will he respect your Alpha status?”
I really wasn’t sure about that. The Wolves at the Academy were afraid of me but only after they saw my other form. “I’m not sure. He will after I shift but I don’t know at this moment.”
“OK then. Remember don’t disclose that to the Chief.” We both turned back to the local officer.
“Chief Lleras, this is Agent Catherine Moore she will fill you in. Agent?” He stepped back from me.
“Sir, normal animals are not fond of the Were. Most natural animals aren’t either. We were able to ascertain that the neighborhood dogs reacted violently when certain people were around. Our Agents canvased the surrounding four neighborhoods.” I pulled the sheet off the map-board.
The Chief stepped closer to the map. “Our data shows that the overwhelming majority of animal reactions happen in the vicinity of lawn services. Your community has over thirty of them. We’ve ruled out the professional ones and are concentrating on the freelancers. Of that group we have narrowed it down to five.” I handed him the list.
He glanced at the list and smiled. “My cousin Jimmy runs one of the more professional groups so I know a bit about this. I’ve heard him bitching about the poachers on his business.”
“Really? Which one does he run?” I looked at the Chief. Maybe he really could help us out.
“It’s called Kensington Lawn and pool, but everyone around here calls it Jimmy’s Septic service. Cutting lawns is only a side job for my cousin. If you went by his shop you would understand. There is a big sign out front that says ‘Septic systems drained and Pools filled. Not same truck.’ I keep trying to get him to change it but he says it’s an attention grabber. Now the ones on this list are interesting. Most of these guys are second jobbers. Bob works out at the airport and picks up work on the side. The same goes for the Men with Mowers. They’re city workers who cut a little on the side. Grass King is James Stevenson.”
“Stevenson. Why does that name seem familiar to me?” Agent Nixon started digging through his files.
Laughing the local officer leaned back in chair he sat in. “Save your search Agent. He sounds familiar because he rented you the building. He’s your landlord. Our culprit is either Smith or that last one. I don’t know either of those outfits. There have been some reports of shade repairs and roofing scams lately. I’ll check with my officers and see what I can dig up. You say dogs don’t like Weres?”
“Yes Chief they don’t.”
“Hmm. Well I’ll have my boys bring a hunting dog with them on patrol from now on. We’ll catch this guy yet.”
“Chief tell them not to shoot the suspect. We don’t want to harm an innocent Were here!” This man worried me a bit.
“Little lady we know our own out here. There is a few lone wolves out here as well as a very nice family of WereBeavers over near the river. We can handle it.” He stood and tipped his hat at me as he sauntered away.
“I hope we don’t have every yahoo with a gun out there now. That is all we need.” Agent Nixon watched the Chief drive off from the window.
“I think it will herd him toward us.” I traced the highway on the map. “If we set up a few road blocks or safety inspections here, here, and here we will bottleneck him. He will have to take either this road or that one to get out of town in a hurry.” I pointed to roads that looked like goat trails on the map.
“What if he goes Wolf and tries cross-country?” Agent Nixon stared at the map.
“Most rogues or loners can’t hold their wolf form for more than an hour. We need the social bonds we form to help up control our second nature. It would take longer than that to cross this stretch of ground. See the drainage ditch here and the large rocks? Those would suck as a Wolf to cross. No he will try one of the roads.”
Agent Nixon smiled as he watched me. “What? Is there a bug on me or something?”
“No, Agent Moore. Nothing like that. I’m impressed. Usually the caliber of Agents we get are not you. They sit in the pool and try to learn real world things until we need them. You are different and it’s refreshing.”
“Oh. Was Ramirez a pool Agent?”
“I think you already know the answer to that one Cat. Now lets get some road blocks set up and call the Chief back. He’ll be pissed but he already hates us.”
~~~~~~~
As Agent Nixon predicted word spread rather quickly about our suspects and many people tried to leave town early. Even a few local Weres suspecting a witch hunt.
“No, Mrs Blacktail. We don’t suspect you or your family. This is just routine. I know you’ve heard about the killer in town. We are pretty sure he’s a Wolf not a Beaver.”
At the word Wolf the WereBeavers body became rigid fo
r a moment and a sharp musk filled the interrogation van. “Calm yourself ma’am. He’s not here. I promise.” I tried exerting some of the Alpha awareness I have. She calmed down but I couldn’t tell if it was me that caused it to happen.
“Can you tell me if you or your family have seen any Rogue activity around town? Police Chief Lleras has already told us about your family so don’t worry about that.”
The WereBeaver looked at me and gave me a long sniff. She shuddered slightly and looked me in the eye. “You must be a strong Alpha to affect other species. That is a first for me to be influenced by a predator. Be careful of that power young lady it can be seductive. In answer to your question we haven’t. There are a couple of lone Wolves in town. Both are Omegas and are frightened half-to-death that their Packs will find them or someone will dominate them. They wouldn’t do something like this. If you must talk to them, they run the computer repair shop on Main. I will tell my family not to run.”
