Don woke that night in an excited mood. He felt like everything was going to work out well tonight. Nick was on vacation, had been for a few days already, but tonight was the night a rookie detective was assigned to him and he was looking forward to teaching and coaching someone. Knight was a fine detective and partner, but even though Don was older and tried to share his years of experience, instinctual knowledge, and wisdom with Nick, he often felt his partner was not always that receptive. Or knew more than he let on. As if Knight was the older, experienced one, and he was the younger who still had much to learn. But not tonight, he thought. Don rolled over to look at his alarm clock. The good feeling from a moment before immediately vanished, to be instantly replaced by panic. He barely had time to get ready and clock in. Don had no intention of being late and to have the rookie waiting for him. As he lurched out of bed a vague recollection of his alarm's buzzing sound waking him and then the hitting of the snooze button floated past.
Don detangled himself from the sheets and quickly hopped into the shower and turned on the showerhead. The shock of being hit with very cold water finished waking him up. Don knew he didn't have a lot of time, so he would have to just let the water warm up as he showered. In his haste, he randomly grabbed a shampoo bottle, popped the top open, and was assaulted with the overwhelming smell of apples. He had gotten hold of Myra's shampoo. Don used the product anyway, wondering why anyone would want to have something that smelled like fruit on them. Of course, the scent triggered his own hunger pains, which felt like a rumbling beast inside him. He was not looking forward to dinner; Myra was pushing the fruits and vegetables on him again. He would protest, saying he needed strength for his job and rabbit food was not enough, she would nag, but he would eat them anyway. For her and Jenny, he would make an attempt to be healthy and be around for them.
Turning off the water and stepping out, Don smelled something he didn't think he would: bacon. He quickly finished putting on his blue shirt, cologne, lucky paisley tie, and steel gray suit, then headed toward the kitchen. He found Myra and the plate of rabbit food, but he also found bacon on the plate. And eggs. For him. Myra said she thought he might need a little something extra since he was going to be mentoring that night. Don kissed her, ate his dinner, and left to go to the precinct. Jenny was at a slumber party so he would see her later.
As Don leaned back in the creaking chair at his desk, he enjoyed the satisfying feeling of having the Captain see he was on time to work, and waiting for the rookie. The fact that he had been slightly late the last few days didn't matter. Don was there now, on time, and gave a small talk about not being late once the rookie, Belton, had finally arrived. Don didn't mention his own personal experience on that particular issue. He showed Belton around, then settled down on working to finalize paperwork from some closed cases. Always get the paperwork processed while there was open time, he said. Don had no open cases right now, but they would catch the next body if one was found that night. In the meantime, they would finish the paperwork.
Don was over by the coffee pot pouring out his third cup that night when a message was delivered to him that uniformed officers had found a dead body in an alley. He tossed the coffee since it would be cold by the time they got back to the precinct anyway, grabbed Belton, and they headed out to his car. Don missed being able to ride in Nick's Caddy, but at least he would get to pick what played over the radio. Polka music. He drove to the address he had been given, the scene already surrounded with blue and white police cars with their flashing lights and marked off with yellow crime scene tape.
He and Belton crossed into the active scene and walked over to the body. Belton, he noted, stayed as far away from the body as possible. Don got as close as possible and stooped down but didn't touch anything. Since Natalie had not arrived yet he couldn't touch anything with the body except under extenuating circumstances. However, he could look, and he took in as much detail of the deceased and the surrounding ground as he could. He got back up, coaxed his partner for the night over, then asked Belton to tell him what he saw. Don was impressed by how many details the rookie noted, and that Belton noticed the broken glass shards from a bottle. With any luck, some of the shards would have enough of a detectable fingerprint to be useful. While they waited for Natalie to arrive and release the body, Don got out his pen and notepad, flipping it open to a clear sheet of paper. There were a few individuals with the uniformed officers and he needed to find out what they knew. Stepping out of the way of the scene technician with the flashing camera, Don and Belton listened and questioned the witnesses to get a better understanding of the timeline of what had happened. Only one person had seen others in the alley, mostly a group that had run off, but there might have been one person standing at the alley opening. Or maybe not; it was dark. Don tried not to sigh too loud and made a note of the possibly that there was another witness who had been scared off, but didn't hold much hope of identifying that individual. The group had more potential; there was usually always someone willing, with the right incentive, to turn on the others and identify them. Don just had to find one of them to get the rest.
Don closed the notepad and left Belton with the witnesses when he saw Natalie arrive. He waited for her to finish her scene examination, then listened to her initial impressions. She confirmed that most likely the body had not been moved, so the death had happened in the alley and approximately how long ago. Don could tell this was a homicide but would need Natalie's verification and cause of death, which would come from the autopsy, to keep the case officially open. Knowing which impact had been the lethal one would be needed when he determined which individual had made that injury. Now that the body had been cleared, he searched for identification. Finding one, the victim now had a name. Now he just had to figure out what had happened to the victim before the alley. He walked back to Belton; time for the rookie to have an assignment.
Back at the precinct, Don had Belton look up what was known about the victim while he handled a message that had been left for him. There had been a phone call about a gang going after a man around the same time and location as their victim, which is what had brought the uniformed officers to the alley. About two hours later they headed out again. Belton had uncovered that the victim was a witness willing to testify against a known drug gang in Ottawa. Schanke left a message for Natalie that tonight's body was now a priority, then he and Belton headed out to determine where their victim had been and what he had been doing before being chased into that alley. Don intended to start with the person who had made the emergency phone call to the police.
Strange as it was, Don found that he wanted to turn the car's radio to the Nightcrawler's show now that the time had arrived for the broadcast to start. Nick must have gotten him conditioned after so many rides, he thought. Don adjusted the knob until he got to the correct station.
"Tonight we are speaking of life, dear listeners. How can you be sure if something is alive? Kill it and see if it can die; that is really the only proof you need."
"They say on swift wings Death comes for us all, in time. For some, that moment arrives quickly; for others, that moment of stillness-"
Don turned the radio off. Belton agreed with him; that show was strange. Driving in silence, he arrived at the address and parallel parked against the curb. Talking with the caller, he was able to place their victim at a nearby bar earlier in the night. Going to the bar, Belton proved he was very capable of getting some reluctant patrons to talk and their victim now had a known altercation in the bar that proceeded the chase. With a known individual. They returned to Don's car and called in for an address for their first suspect. This lead to their first perp being brought in for questioning. The suspect didn't want to talk but Don was used to that. He had the suspect put into a holding cell while he took Belton back to the car and drove to the Corners Building. He intended to drop in to see if the autopsy was completed, or if at least Natalie had determined exactly how the victim had died. He would need that information for the interrogation. Plus, the rookie needed to see what an autopsy looked like. Don himself had a stomach of iron and was looking forward to getting something to eat after talking with Natalie. Something with lots of garlic, since Nick was not with him tonight, but that was for later. He parked the car near the building and Belton got out. Simply to satisfy his curiosity, Don turned the radio back on to hear what the Nightcrawler was saying now.
"-the guilty, who were not monstrous enough? Was it from the virtuous, who were not more obviously pure? Or was the source from himself that he could not recognize and judge between the two? Everyone is guilty-"
He shook his head; why anyone would constantly tune in to listen to that broadcast was beyond him. The show was creepy, and the Nightcrawler's voice was disquieting. Don didn't know how Nick could listen every night, acquired taste or not. He turned his car key, and the Nightcrawler and his engine were silenced.
As he walked through the corridors to Natalie's room he saw that Belton was looking more and more sickened. It was the smell, Don had said, the smell was just the cleaning solutions. Belton did not seem convinced. As he got to the door to Natalie's autopsy room, he heard it. Sounded like someone already in the room was viewing their first autopsy as well. Don watched Belton cover his mouth and make a dash to the restrooms down the hall. As he followed his assigned rookie, Don idly wondered how Nick had reacted when dealing with his first dead body.