Disclaimer - They aren't mine, or I'd be exploiting them for profit, not fun
Chapter 1- Under Arrest
The ringing of the telephone roused Ray Vecchio from an entirely blissful night of sleep. He answered half-awake, and wholly resentful. Everyone at the Chicago PD's 27th precinct knew about the big bust that had gone down the night before, and they should have known he'd been up staking the place out the last two nights. Which meant calling him on business was just not right. And yet, that was Detective Jack Huey's deep-toned voice on the other end of the line.
"Vecchio, you're going to want to get your ass down here. I just made an arrest you'll be interested in."
"What?" Ray grumbled. "We wrapped up the Simonelli case yesterday, or did you forget?"
"No, Vecchio, it's got nothing to do with last night's bust. It's the Mountie."
"What, Benny made an arrest? He can't do that here-"
"No." Huey's voice sounded tight and strained. "I just arrested the Mountie. Theft. Pretty serious. And he won't let us call him a lawyer, because he says he's innocent. That's why I called you. Are you coming, or not?"
"What!?" Ray's voice echoed down a closed circuit. Huey had already hung up, and Ray wasted no more time, getting dressed rapidly, cursing under his breath in his familiar tongue. Fraser committing a theft was inconceivable. In the short time that Ray had known him, he'd already learned to appreciate and be frustrated by the Mountie's impeccable sense of ethics. There had to be some kind of mistake, and obviously he, Ray, had to get to the bottom of it soon.
"Where is he?" At nearly two AM, the bullpen was all but deserted. Jack Huey and his partner Louis Gardino, were perched at Huey's desk, talking quietly. Gardino looked up.
"Holding cell." he said. "We already questioned him, but I don't think he'll mind talking to you."
"What's he supposed to have stolen?" Ray demanded sharply.
"Some kind of microdisc." Huey said.
Louis corrected him. "MiniDisc."
"Whatever." Huey said. "Fraser was at some fancy dinner party as a representative of Canada. There was a Canadian inventor there, who apparently felt the need to carry her latest big invention on one of these microdiscs in her handbag. Some time after dinner, she discovered the disc was gone. The uniforms were called in, and us, and a search turned it up duct taped to the inside of Fraser's hat."
Huey put his hands on his desk and leaned over in a placatory gesture. "Look, I didn't want to arrest him, but the evidence was against him. There was the disc in his hat, and he'd been out of sight of the rest of the company during the time the crime might have taken place. He didn't have much to say in his defense, said he was out talking to Diefenbaker." He glanced over to where Fraser's half-wolf lay looking moody under Ray's desk. "The wolf was there. I thought it'd be best to bring him back here before animal control decided to get in on things. But there's no way to prove that's what Fraser was doing while the theft went down. I didn't have a choice."
Ray grunted. "But you know he didn't do it." he said, evenly, trying to keep his temper.
"I don't think he's a criminal, but the evidence points to him, that's all. I had to arrest him."
Ray opened his mouth, ready to let fly with some hurtful words.
Gardino interrupted, his voice hot and angry. "You think we liked having to bring him in, Vecchio? Yeah, we know Fraser's a good guy, too, you're not the only one who can see that. But don't get on Jack's case for doing his damn job." His finger jabbed toward Vecchio. "We don't like this any more than you do, but you know how the system works."
Gardino's voice dropped to something more reasonable as he concluded. "We've been wasting time waiting for you to get here so we could tell you what was going on as soon as possible. We have two more witness statements to take. You go talk to Fraser."
Ray turned to leave. "That's just what I'm going to do."
The holding cells were darkened, and Ray flipped a switch illuminating them. He saw his partner seated on the low bunk in the cell nearest the door. He was sitting in an upright posture, in full dress uniform minus the iconic stetson and the belt, with booted feet, although the laces had been removed, planted firmly on the floor, and quite asleep. Ray felt bad about having to wake him. Fraser had been on the stakeouts with him the last three nights. Fraser had spent his leisure time on the stakeouts, just because he enjoyed spending time with Ray. Oh, and that universal drive for justice thing he had going on. He deserved to be at home, even if it was a cruddy apartment in a bad neighborhood, asleep in his bed. Anyone who knew anything about Benny knew he didn't deserve to be behind bars. The man stood foursquare for truth, justice and yeah, the Canadian way of life.
"Benny." Ray said softly, turning the key to the door of the holding cell. "Wake up. We gotta talk."
Fraser's eyes snapped open and he jerked to his feet, standing at attention as he woke up.
"Relax, Benny, it's just me. Come on, we'll go to an interview room, I'll get you some coffee, you can tell me what's going on." Ray said. His voice was carefully modulated. If he felt angry or irritated at his partner for getting into the mess he was in, he was keeping that under wraps for the moment. It hadn't been too long since Fraser got himself stabbed in the leg by a notorious killer, and Ray's protective instincts were still flaring. Besides which, he knew that given a half hour with the most irritating man on the planet, he'd need all the control he could muster.
Settling Fraser in to the interview room, Ray said, "Now, you got mirandized right? You know that still applies, even if it's just us, right?"
Fraser nodded. "Of course, Ray. But since I did not commit the crime, I'm hardly concerned about saying anything that might incriminate me."
"Of course you didn't." Ray said. He pushed a cup of bad coffee from the break room across the table to Fraser and sipped from his own. "So tell me."
Fraser looked at the coffee with distaste, then yawned. "Excuse me." he said. Oh dear. It looked as if he would have to resort to the bitter sludge that seemed to be the lifeblood of the station. He sipped with a wrinkled nose, and then began talking.
"Well, Inspector Moffat, my superior at the Consulate asked me to attend a function tonight as a representative of Canada, a dinner party at a private residence. Since it was such a nice night out, I decided to walk. Diefenbaker needed the exercise, so extracting a promise of good behavior from him, I allowed him to come with me. We arrived at the dinner party punctually at eight p.m.. Attending were-"
Ray put his hand up - "I don't need an exact guest list right now. Just give me the outline."
"Ah. Right you are, Ray. Well, the party was being held in honor of an eminent Canadian inventor, Doctor Michaela Gaffin. She's been at the forefront of some major advances in biopolymers in the last few years."
Ray looked blank, so Fraser elaborated.
"Plastics, Ray. Plastics made from plant materials."
"Huh." Ray said. "You Canadians get excited about the weirdest things."
"Not just the Canadians. She's in the United States to talk to various potential investors. Tonight's dinner party included representatives of rather important firms that might take an interest in her work. There were guests present from this country, China, and the United Arab Emirates."
Ray whistled softly. "That sounds like the big time, all right." he said. "So you walked- your leg must be better."
"Much, thank you. Just a little stiff now." Fraser said.
"And then? After you arrived? What happened at the party?"
"It was a semi-formal occasion. I arrived in time for a cocktail hour, and then dinner was served at eight. Although you don't wish to hear the entire guest list," Fraser raised an eyebrow, "I should note that it was a small group, and aside from Dr. Gaffin, there was only one other woman present, a senior representative of a Chinese company."
Ray said something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'sausage party' to Fraser.
"Why, no, actually. The main course was filet mignon, served with a demi glace, julienned carrots and parsnips, a vegetable which is unfortunately underrepresented in American cuisine, and an artichoke heart and sun dried tomato salad with aged balsamic vinegar."
Ray snorted. "Right. Moving along. Anyone say or do something unusual at the dinner table? Anyone you like as a suspect?" He ran his hand over his thinning hair, and sat back in his chair, waiting for Fraser to reveal anything useful that would help clear up the case quickly.
Fraser cast his mind back to dinner. After being cornered by the gentleman from the United Arab Emirates over cocktails, of which Fraser was decidedly not partaking, to discuss the differences in natural gas management policies between their two countries, Fraser was quite relieved to be seated next to the striking Zhang Xiaoxu, from China, on one side, and Henry Breckinridge, one of the American investors on the other.
The host of the evening, Dr. Thomas Raine, who had worked in the past with Dr. Gaffin, introduced Xiaoxu to Henry and Fraser, and as she shook hands with each of them, Xiaoxu insisted that they call her 'Sue', as it was easier for most Westerners to pronounce.
"From your accent, I would guess that you are from the South of China, perhaps near Hong Kong?" Fraser ventured in careful Cantonese, and won a curving smile for his efforts.
"Yes, Guandong province. In that case, call me Xu, by all means. Your Cantonese is excellent, where did you learn?" Xiaoxu replied in Cantonese.
Fraser noted silver grey among the dark hair swept up into a bun on her head, and slight lines around her eyes, but she seemed remarkably youthful considering that she was, according to his briefing, the only ten years younger than Dr. Gaffin, who wore her white hair loose, and showed no vanity about the marks of passing years on her face. Xiaoxu had a quietly appealing elegance to her, from her simple soft leather boots under dark, fine wool crepe pants, to the jacket tailored of what Fraser could tell was an expensive silk brocade.
The first course of chilled watercress soup passed pleasantly as Fraser told Xiaoxu about his grandparents and their experiences in China. They spoke English out of courtesy to the other guests at the table. Fraser felt almost light hearted at the quick connection he'd made with the intelligent woman. Normally he would be uncomfortable with the way she leaned in close to punctuate her stories with a silvery laugh meant only for him, but the tell-tale heat in her eyes was tempered by a restraint that he appreciated, and she seemed to be interested in talking to him for himself, not because the uniform was eye-catching or he in some way conformed to a standard of attractiveness that he didn't understand at all.
Things turned to a less pleasant note over the filet mignon. Henry turned from his conversation with Dr. Raine, to ask in an arch tone, "Now, Constable Fraser, am I to understand that you walked here tonight?"
"That's right. It was a pleasant stroll." Fraser affirmed.
Dr. Raine looked on with amusement as Henry continued the line of questioning. "Was it a long walk?" Henry asked. "Which part of Chicago do you call home, by the way?"
"I don't call Chicago home." Fraser said. "But I have an apartment quite close to the Consulate, over on West Racine."
He thought that the slightly personal line of conversation would end there, but Henry was like a dog with a bone. His tone of voice was casual, even laughing, inviting others at the table to laugh with him.
"That's really not the best neighborhood, is it?" Henry drawled. "Dr. Gaffin, doesn't Canada pay enough to keep its representatives abroad out of the slums?"
"My dear Henry," Dr. Gaffin said, "You should have heard me complain enough about the Government's parsimony toward the sciences, but I've no doubt they have money to burn on our diplomatic liaisons."
Fraser felt his cheeks burn red at Henry's remark and Dr. Gaffin's odd sideswipe, and hated that his blush of anger at Henry's rudeness would be interpreted as embarrassment at where he lived.
"I choose to live there because of the convenient walk to the Consulate." he said, wincing internally at the defensive note in his voice.
"Oh, do you not own a car?" This came from a man who had been introduced to Fraser as Jack Elton, the rival American investor to Henry.
"I thought driving a car was mandatory in America." Xiaoxu said. "It is refreshing to find someone who is not so beholden - is my English correct? Yes? Beholden to American capitalist ways."
"It will be a long time before Detroit gives up its grip on the American heart." Gaffin said grimly. "Yes, the number of cars driven by single occupants on a daily commute - it's absurd. I imagine the collectivism at the heart of Chinese socialism creates quite a different paradigm."
Thankfully, this turned the attention away from Fraser and into a heated but friendly discussion about just how much China could still claim to be pure of capitalism, given the current shift toward a free enterprise economy and the existence of Special Economic Zones, the result of which was the freedom of corporations like Xiaoxu's to make the sort of deal she was seeking with Dr. Gaffin.
As the conversation hovered too close to the actual business that would be conducted ruthlessly over the next week while Dr. Gaffin was in Chicago, Dr. Raine steered it onto a discussion of the cuisine of the Guandong province, where Xiaoxu's company was headquartered.
"Don't they say that in Guandong, they will eat anything that walks, crawls, or flies?" Dr. Raine said. "You must tell me, does our American cuisine strike you as bland in comparison?"
This relatively safe note of conversation got them through to dessert. After dessert, Dr. Gaffin and Xiaoxu excused themselves to the ladies room, and Fraser excused himself to step outside for a breath of fresh air, and to see how Diefenbaker was faring. Then all the guests moved into a small sitting room for coffee and liqueur, and Fraser wondered how soon he could leave. It was already quite late.
It was when the party began to break up that Dr. Gaffin exclaimed in distress.
"Someone's been in my handbag! It's gone, it's gone. Call the police. All my data are gone!"
Ray interrupted. "So that's when the uniforms showed up, and Huey and Louis running along behind them."
"Essentially, yes. I reinforced Dr. Gaffin's statement that no-one should leave, and Dr. Raine called the local constabulary. I was quite surprised to find that his home fell within the boundaries of the 27th district, but apparently it was right on the boundary, so, as you say, Detectives Huey and Gardino arrived."
"Then what?" Ray said. "Anyone acting funny?"
"Well, no one was pleased to be staying. But everyone agreed to be searched. I volunteered to be searched first, in order to set an example. Sheikh Hamad bin Saqr al Nuaimi was reluctant to allow the search of his person, but agreed when no-one else protested."
"Shake who?"
"The gentleman from the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Hamad -"
Ray cut him off with an impatient hand gesture.
"So the uniforms searched you. And that's when..."
"That's when the stolen property, which was a minidisc containing specifications and data relating to Dr. Gaffin's latest discoveries, and which she had, against all common sense, been carrying in her capacious pocketbook, was found."
"In your hat."
"Yes, Ray. In my hat."
"And you have no idea how it got there."
"None, Ray. I didn't have my hat with me during dinner, but Dr. Gaffin remembered that I had arrived with it, and insisted that it be gathered from the coat closet and included in the search, which showed remarkable instincts."
"So then Huey arrests you."
"Well." Fraser said. "Before that, Dr. Raine brought up the previous conversation about my living quarters and lack of car as evidence pointing toward a motive. Detective Huey seemed reluctant to arrest me, but under the circumstances-"
"So you just came along quietly." Ray got to his feet, pacing.
"Yes, Ray." Fraser said calmly.
"What did you do that for? That makes you look guilty as hell. Why didn't you tell Huey you were innocent? Why didn't you at least make some kind of fuss?"
"Detective Huey had a compelling reason to arrest me and bring me in for questioning. And since I know I am innocent, and I know that I have the combined intelligence of the 27th district's detectives working to solve this case, I was unconcerned."
"Unconcerned?" Ray leaned over the table, his eyes burning into Fraser. "You really think that's how things work here? You didn't even call a lawyer! You've been in Chicago long enough not to be that stupid! If you don't put up a better defense than you have, you'll end up in the big house. Prison."
"But Ray," Fraser said, jaw set stubbornly, as if his point was completely reasonable. "I have no reason to be concerned with you on the case. I'm certain you will prove my innocence."
Ray slumped back in his chair. He hadn't had enough sleep. He certainly hadn't had enough coffee. There were no words. Of course he was going to prove his surprisingly acquired new Canadian partner's innocence. Because if they put Fraser in front of a jury with the evidence as it stood, the jury'd see some poor schmuck who had no money for a decent place to live, or a car, and god but it would kill Benny if the prosecution dug, they'd see a guy whose father was never totally cleared of an implication of receiving bribes. And with Benny having so little to say for himself, they'd lock him away. Of course Ray was going to prove Fraser's innocence - who else would? But- how?
Author's Note: Just to clarify for those unfamiliar with Chinese names, the family name is traditionally presented first, the given name second. So, Dr. Zhang Xiaoxu's given name is Xiaoxu. Chinese people doing business in America often adopt American names to make life easier, which is why she suggests the other guests call her Sue. Of course, Fraser can be trusted to pronounce her name correctly, because duh, he's Fraser.