Murdoch was in the middle of reading a rather confusing article in the Toronto Gazette when Julia and Ben showed up at his office. He found their presence to be a welcome relief from the article in question.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything important," Julia said smirking at his expression.

He smiled, stood up and went to her. "Not at all," he said kissing her.

"Eww, gross!" exclaimed little Ben, covering his eyes. "Why are you always doing that?"

Julia and Murdoch shared an exasperated look. Ben had asked this question many times before and they had always answered him the same way every time. Maybe that was the problem.

"Because we love each other very much," said Julia. Then she hunched over and kissed him on the cheek. "Just like we love you very much."

He rubbed the spot for a few seconds with a scowl across his face and didn't say anything, arms crossed. Murdoch knew it was best to just leave him be or he might through a tantrum.

"I suppose we should go now," said Murdoch. He grabbed the paper before they left and scowled at it slightly, exactly like his son had. Of course, Julia noticed this and asked him about it. "Oh, it's just this strange article about Hallowe'en. I can't make heads or tails about it."

"May I?" she asked holding out her hand. He gave it to her as they made their way out of the precinct, George waving to them from the telephone.

Julia scanned the article as they walked along the street. "Really, William?" she said, laughing. "This is what's gotten you so confused?" Murdoch was a little peeved at her outburst but simply nodded waiting for her to continue. "It's the newest fad for children to get dressed up as all manner of ghoulish creatures and go around getting candy from strangers."

"But why would anyone want to do that? That sounds dangerous."

"Because it's fun!" pipped up Ben, apparently over his annoyance. "John and Bobby are gonna do it! I wanna do it too!"

"Is he telling the truth, Julia?"

"Yes, William. In fact, Margaret and I just finished working out the logistics."

Murdoch was having none of this nonsense. He wanted to put a stop to it before it went any further, so he decided to tell a story, similar to what he imagined George would tell.

"Son," said Murdoch, "do you know the origins of Hallowe'en?"

He seemed to think about that hard for several moments, judging by his scrunched up face. "Nope!"

"Well, centuries ago it was called Samhain and it's purpose was to celebrate the change in season. It was also a time that many honoured their dead. It was believed that the door to the great beyond was opened on this day. Many awaited their deceased loved ones for grand feasts. But there were other spirits that were not so kind."

"William," warned Julia, not liking the direction this was taking. He ignored her.

"There were those that wished to hurt the living. They were feared. The people wore disguises in order to hide from these evil spirits. They stayed indoors were it was safe and waited for them to pass by. Otherwise, there was no telling what could happen to them. So tell me, Ben, do you still want to get dressed up, wandering the streets at night?"

Murdoch was confident that he had scared his son out of this idea by the open mouthed expression he currently wore.

All of a sudden his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "That sounds awesome! I always wanted to see a ghost!"

Julia burst out laughing and Murdoch got annoyed at both of their attitudes.

"Well there you go dear," she said grinning, "I'd say we've got plans for tomorrow night."

It was a quarter to seven the next evening and Brackenreid was giving one of his patented pep talks to his men.

"I don't want this bloody thing to get out of hand!" he barked. "I need you lot to pull double duty tonight! I won't stand for any goddamn shenanigans! If you see the slightest suspicious thing, you better make sure to investigate immediately! Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" was the collective cry.

"Good!" And then quieter but just as tense, "Let's just keep these children safe lads. The last thing we want is for one of them to go missing."

He dismissed the men and walked over to Murdoch, who was still in his office, pouring over a medical journal.

"Is it time, sir?" he asked looking up.

"'Fraid so, me old mucker," Brackenreid grumbled. "Better not keep the wives waiting. Let's get this bloody thing over and done with."

"How do I look daddy?" squealed a positively bouncing Ben. He was dressed as a clown, complete with make-up, fake wig and oversized shoes. No doubt their trip to the circus during the summer time had inspired this idea. Young Ben had taken (in Murdoch's opinion) an unhealthy interest in them. For some reason he thought clowns were simply divine. Murdoch had never liked them very much himself, he thought they were far too outlandish.

"Well," he muttered and Julia gave him the stink eye. "You look great, son, just great!"

"Yay!" Ben yelled and hugged Murdoch's leg, some of the make-up coming off in the process. "Oops," he mumbled glumly.

"Nevermind, Ben," he said knocking it off, "it's quite all right." He sighed, "Let's just go."

He held out his arm to a smiling Julia and they headed out the door.

The group of seven walked down the darkened street until they came to the first house. John, Bobby and Ben looked up at their parents expectantly.

"Go on then," said Brackenreid. Murdoch simply nodded.

They screamed excitedly as they ran to the door.

"Be careful!" called out Julia, knowing it would be very easy for Ben to trip.

Bobby being the oldest and bravest knocked on it. Almost instantly an elderly woman peeked her head out.

"What do you want?" she asked not unkindly, more confusedly.

John and Bobby shared a look and John whispered. "What were we supposed to say again?"

"Um," muttered Bobby.

"Trick or Treat!" erupted Ben, scaring the old woman.

She got over that quickly and said, "Come again?"

"You're supposed to give us candy!" exclaimed John, holding out a pillow case.

"Why?"

"Because it's Hallowe'en!" said Bobby.

"Oh," she responded, clearly still not following, "I'm sorry but I don't have any."

"What!" John said angrily. "That's stupid! You're-"

"Forgive them," said Margaret who had decided to see what all the fuss was about. "Come along boys."

"But-"

"Listen to your mother!" hollered Brackenreid.

At his words they zoomed away, leaving Ben behind. He struggled to catch up in his ridiculous red shoes.

"Wait for Benjamin!" called Margaret still by the door.

They skidded to a halt and began screaming. "Hurry up Ben! You're so slow!"

Finally he caught up and they moved to the next house.

"What happens if no one's got any candy?" said Brackenreid smirking. "Can we just go home early then?"

"You better hope that doesn't happen, Thomas," said Margaret sternly, "or we'll never hear the end of it."

"Bloody hell!" he groaned. "You're right!"

"Of course I am," she said smiling smugly. "I always am."

The next house proved to be much the same as the last and the boys were getting very riled up in their disappointment. Finally the third house yielded some positive results.

"Oh my!" gushed a young woman dressed up as a princess. Clapping her hands together,"What fun!"

Even from the street Murdoch could hear the revelry going on in there. She must have been hosting a rather lively Hallowe'en party. So there was one good thing about this Trick or Treating business, at least he hadn't had to get dressed up as something ridiculous like at that Alice and Wonderland fiasco almost two years ago.

"And what are you three supposed to be! Let me guess, you're a clown."

"Yup!"

"And you're a pirate."

"Yeah!" said Bobby.

"And you're a...bat?"

The boys sniggered and John got indignant. "I most certainly am not! I'm Dracula!"

He exposed some cardboard fangs that were quite soggy and ripped by now.

"Oh yes! I see it now!" She pulled out a bowl of candy. "Dig in boys!"

They got a little carried away and Brackenreid yelled, "Oye! That's enough! Do you want to go to the dentist?"

All three of them shared a terrified look and put back much of the candy.

"Thank the nice lady!" called Margaret.

They did and it was on to the next house. Murdoch hated to think of how long this was going to take.

As if reading his mind, Julia said, "Surely it's not that bad, William."

He stared at her for a few moments. "No, Julia, it's not that bad."

"Good," she said smirking, "because we'll be doing this for the next five years...at least."

An hour passed in this fashion, more miss than hit, but still enough candy (and less sweet things) was distributed to the boys to keep them happy, especially after Brackenried's warning. Brackenreid had spoken to many of his men during this time, getting updates as they passed through the areas. Other than a few minor instances of hooliganism by local teenagers, there had been nothing to report.

It was clear that Ben was utterly exhausted at this point and it was time to go home. This wasn't surprising for it was eight o'clock and he was five years old. Even the candy he undoubtedly ate would not be enough to keep him awake for much longer. Murdoch was about to pick him up when something flitted by right between them. If he wasn't much mistaken, it had been a black cat.

Oh no.

Ben was also fascinated with all manner of animals, wanting a pet of his own, but they had told him that he wasn't old enough to look after one yet. And they simply didn't have the time to. And Julia's father simply didn't have the energy to look after both of them. And Margaret could only help out so much.

In other words, as soon as that cat dashed by, Ben was awakened as if struck by a lightning bolt and he charged after it, into the tall bushes, narrowly escaping Murdoch's grasp.

"William!" called Julia from several feet back.

"I'm on it, Julia!" he said dashing in after him. It was harder for him to get through since he was bigger and he didn't fit through the branches quite as easily. When he emerged on the other side, he pulled out his flashlight to scout out the forested area. Ben was nowhere to be found but his red shoes were. Either he kicked them off in order to run faster or...Murdoch didn't want to think of what the alternative was. Panic began to eat away at him and only magnified when he heard a rustling sound from behind. Murdoch whirled around to find Brackenreid struggling to emerge from the bushes. They nodded at each other and spread out into the trees, alternatively calling Ben's name. Searching for several minutes, they still had nothing to show for it and Murdoch began to despair. Suddenly he saw a flash of movement in the distance and he ran towards it.

"Ben, get back here this instant!"

He ran a ways until he came out into a clearing. In the distance he could see a cemetery. It was dimly illuminated by the full moon giving it an eerie appearance. Murdoch spotted many black shapes clustered into one small space. One was much larger than the rest and appeared to be a scarecrow, complete with a few birds, possibly ravens. He vaguely thought it strange that is was out there, but didn't spend much time contemplating this as he had much more important matters to attend to. Out of the other smaller shapes, two of them were moving ever so slightly and he prayed that one of these was his son. As he approached the scarecrow, the ravens cawed angrily and flew off. Murdoch barely noticed for he was paralyzed with fear at the sight before him. His son was inching ever closer to the feral cat. Luckily it wasn't paying much attention to the boy as it was to preoccupied with knawing at something on the ground, beneath the scarecrow.

"Ben, get away from that cat right now!"

His son was not listening to him in the slightest so Murdoch had no choice but to go over and grab him. The boy was so intent on catching the cat that he proved easy prey this time. Murdoch held the kicking and screaming boy under his arm like a sack of potatoes.

Brackenreid showed up then.

"Oh, thank God you found him!" Swatting at the cat with his cane, "Go on, get!"

It hissed at him but scampered off regardless.

"What is this stuff anyways?" scowled Brackenreid and Murdoch shined a light on it. "Is that a pig? And a chicken?"

"Yes, sir, I'd say so."

"What the bloody hell are they doing out here?"

"I haven't the foggiest, sir."

"Well," he said gesturing to where they came from, "shall we, Murdoch?"

"No, I don't think so, sir," said a wide eyed Murdoch, shining the light up at the scarecrow.

Brackenreid followed suit and groaned, "Bloody hell!"

Upon closer inspection, the scarecrow was clearly a dead man strung up, almost like a horrific attempt to recreate the Crucifixion.