last night......
"You sure ya don't want to come along, Frase? Just shoot a few games of pool then call it a night?" The two were leaving the bullpen of the 27th district station, headed for Ray's shiny black GTO.
"Thank you, Ray, but perhaps some other time. The Inspector asked me to help her install some shelves this evening."
"Ahhhhh - the Ice Queen summons! You sure there ain't somethin' goin' on between you two?"
"Now Ray....."
"Just yankin' yer chain, Fraser ol' buddy. Just yankin' yer chain. So ya want me ta drop you off at her place, then?"
"That won't be necessary, Ray, as the shelves in question are in the Consulate kitchen. Perhaps Detectives Huey or Dewey would like a game of pool?"
"Nah, they're on a stakeout tonight - that alleged black-market organ theft ring. So far it seems to be just a rumour, but we got a tip so......"
"Organ theft? The whole idea is patently absurd, Ray. When you consider all the technical difficulties involved, tissue matching, surgical skills and protocols needed... the whole thing is preposterous."
"Hey, ya don't have to convince me of that! But someone upstairs thinks this one might be on the up-and-up so the Duck Boys get to sit in front of a bar for awhile tonight. Better them than me!" Ray pulled up in front of the Canadian Consulate and let Fraser and Diefenbaker out. "See ya tomorrow, Frase!"
"Thank you kindly, Ray. Enjoy your pool game." Fraser turned and walked up the steps to the Consulate door.
Yeah - a solo pool game. What fun, Ray thought as he drove away. He drove aimlessly for awhile, having decided that solo pool was not the way to go. As he was about to pack it in for the night, he spotted a small, friendly-looking bar off the beaten path of his usual haunts. What the hell - stop in, have a few beers, might be a nice change of pace. So he pulled into the parking lot and went in.
Catching the bartender's eye, Ray ordered a beer. He looked around; seemed like a nice quiet crowd. There was a singer in one corner singing a Gordon Lightfoot tune, on the other side of the bar a few dart games were in progress. And there was a pool table. No one was playing at the moment, but... Ray took his beer and went over to where he could kibitz the dart games. He had been sitting for about fifteen minutes watching two players, one a slender Latino man, the other a tall striking redhead. They had begun to argue about a score on one dart; suddenly the woman turned to him and said, "You look at it for us, OK? Tell us whether you think it should be scored as a 10 or a 15. We'll take your call, won't we, Julio?"
"Me?" Ray was surprised. He didn't even think the two had noticed him, let alone knew whether he had been paying attention to their game.
"Why not? All you have to do is look at this dart here" - she indicated a spot on the dartboard - "and tell us which number it's on. Otherwise Julio here will argue with me forever."
"OK sure." Ray got up and went over to the dart board. He studied it for a few seconds, then said "Looks like a 15 to me."
"Thank you, sir! I told you it was 15," the woman said to her companion. She turned back to Ray. "Can I buy you a drink? What're you having?" She was motioning to the bartender as she spoke, ignoring Ray's pleas that he had had all he was going to have. "Nonsense," she said, looking at the two empty mugs on Ray's table. "One more isn't going to hurt." She sat down at the table with him as the waitress set a third mug of beer in front of Ray. "I'll have a Tequila Sunrise," she told the waitress. Extending her hand, she introduced herself as Danielle. "Haven't seen you in here before."
"Nah, I just happened on this place tonight. Seems like a nice little bar; guess I should come more often."
They chatted for awhile, then Danielle excused herself to go to the ladies' room. Ray watched her round the corner out of sight, then turned his attention to the pool table. A game was underway. Damn, he thought, if I'd been paying attention maybe I coulda played this one. He finished his beer and set the glass back on the table.
Danielle had not gone to the ladies' room, however. She stopped at the door to the men's room instead, rapping softly on it. Almost immediately, Julio came out. "Well?"
"I think this one will do nicely. He seems to be in good health and takes care of himself. Notify the others and be ready to help me in about ten minutes."
"Right." Julio took a quarter out of his pocket and moved over to the pay phone. Danielle returned to Ray's table, ordering another beer for him on the way. She and the fourth beer arrived at the same time. Ray protested when the waitress set it in front of him, but Danielle was not to be dissuaded. Truth be told, Ray didn't protest all that much anyway. He was definitely enjoying this evening, and was glad Fraser had to hang cabinets with the Ice Queen. Who knew where this could lead? Who, indeed......
As they talked, Danielle began fishing through her purse. Pulling out items left and right, she dropped a spray bottle of perfume on the floor; it rolled under the table out of sight. "Oops! How clumsy," she said.
Ray bent down to pick it up for her. "Here, let me," he said, trying his best to be gentlemanly. As he did she reached over and dropped a small white pill into his beer mug. No one noticed. He straightened back up again and handed her the perfume. "Thank you so much." She picked up her glass; Ray responded in kind. "Cheers," Danielle toasted. They touched glasses, then drank. "Care to throw a game of darts?" she asked.
"I've never played darts before. Not sure I'd be much sport."
"Well, I'll just have to teach you then. Come on, it isn't hard."
Within a few minutes Ray was throwing the darts quite well under Danielle's tutelage; before they had thrown one complete game, though, Ray was out like a light. He simply pitched forward onto the floor. Danielle beckoned for Julio to come over and help her; the two of them wrapped Ray's arms around their shoulders and helped him out, remarking casually to the bartender that their friend had had a rough day and they were going to take him home to bed. The bartender just shrugged. He'd seen passed-out drunks before.
The two, with their unconscious burden, made their way to the parking lot of the bar. There was very little traffic on the street. A dark van was waiting for them; they opened the door and got Ray's unresisting body in, then drove out of the parking lot. It went a few blocks north and made a left turn into the parking lot of the Excelsior Hotel. Danielle, Julio and the driver got Ray out of the van, into the elevator and up to a room on the third floor. They knocked on the door of room 311. It opened and they quickly went in.
The man who opened the door looked Ray over critically. "So this is the one," he said. "Seems a likely enough prospect." He opened a medical bag and took out a blood pressure cuff. Shoving Ray's shirtsleeve up, he wrapped the cuff around his upper arm and took a reading. "BP's good. Let's get started."