CHAPTER 4.

"I've been suspended."

Elaine's words stunned Fraser, but he didn't show it. "Ah," was the only thing he said.

The light was beginning to fade as they walked along the streets with Diefenbaker bounding off in front, only stopping occasionally to sniff at a lamppost or rummage amongst some discarded food wrappers.

"They say I deliberately lost a piece of evidence," Elaine continued. "And a murderer walked because of it."

"I know you, Elaine," said Fraser, earnestly. "And I know you would not do that."

"Thank you," smiled Elaine. "I'm glad someone believes in me."

"I'm sure once the investigation is complete you will be completely exonerated," continued Fraser.

"I wish I had your confidence," sighed Elaine, her smile quickly fading. "None of it makes sense, Fraser. I know I logged in all the evidence. I know I completed all the right forms. I'm always so careful, but the leather belt has just disappeared with no trace that it ever existed in the first place and I'm being accused of being a dirty cop." Elaine's voice cracked on those last words.

"Hmmm." Fraser knew that Elaine was not a corrupt police officer. He couldn't believe how anyone who had been working with her since she graduated from the Academy would think such a thing of her either. "Do you have any explanation at all?"

Elaine shook her head. "Not really," she said. "But a few strange things have happened lately. I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but now…" she trailed off and sighed deeply. "Or perhaps I just screwed up?" she continued. "Maybe I made a mistake and I've ruined my career…my whole life…" her voice cracked again as emotion overwhelmed her.

"I've never known you to make a mistake, Elaine," said Fraser.

Elaine covered her face with her hand and struggled to keep her composure. Diefenbaker trotted over and licked the back of her other hand and she reacted by patting his head.

"Have a seat?" suggested Fraser, indicating over to a free table outside a café which was busy with customers. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, or hot chocolate, perhaps?"

Elaine managed a small smile as she sat down. "Chocolate would be nice, thank you," she said and Fraser disappeared inside the café.

Diefenbaker jumped up and put his front paws on her lap. "I'd almost forgotten just how perfect he is for me," she said to the wolf. "Kind and thoughtful and now he's buying me hot chocolate. Why aren't we living in married bliss somewhere already?"

Dief whined and yapped.

"You're not a woman, you wouldn't understand," she replied, rubbing his ears affectionately.

Fraser quickly returned with a tall cup of hot chocolate topped with cream, mini-marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles for Elaine and a glass of orange juice for himself. Elaine's eyes widened as she saw the luxurious treat coming her way.

"I wasn't sure of your preferred choice of topping," explained Fraser, somewhat apologetically. "So I just said yes to everything."

Elaine laughed. "Thank you," she said. "This is just what I need," she added, plunging her finger into the cream and offering it to Dief to lick. Then her smiled faded a little. "I mean it, Fraser. Thank you," she repeated sincerely.

"My pleasure," replied Fraser. "It troubles me to see you in distress."

Elaine nodded. "I need this job, Fraser, it's my life," she said, emotion returning to her voice. "I can't imagine being anything else than a police officer. I worked so hard to get here and now…now I might lose everything…" she had to stop speaking to take a deep breath. She really didn't want to break down in front of Fraser, but she knew she needed to talk to someone and the more she talked about it the more emotional she became.

Then Fraser put a supportive hand on her arm and it was enough to tip her over the edge. He quickly offered her his handkerchief as the tears flowed. "I'm scared," she finally admitted, wiping her eyes. "I think there's something going on. Something big and I have no idea what to do about it."

"What do you mean, exactly?" asked Fraser. "You mentioned earlier that you'd observed some odd occurrences."

"Yes," nodded Elaine. "My partner is on sick leave, she broke her leg in a skiing accident, so I've got a temporary partner," she began to explain. "Blake is…well, frankly he's incompetent. One day he's going to get himself killed, or me, or an innocent bystander, I'm sure of that."

"Have you raised your concerns with a senior officer?" Fraser asked her.

"That's just it, Fraser," replied Elaine. "My Lieutenant seems to be deliberately ignoring the issues. Other officers have said the same."

"Why would he do that?" Fraser asked, with a puzzled frown.

Elaine sighed. "Because…" she trailed off and looked over her shoulder afraid someone might overhear. "Because I think he might be involved in corruption," she said finally in a low voice. "And he uses Blake to carry out his dirty work. Poor Blake is so dumb he doesn't realise what he's doing."

"Do you have any evidence to support this?" asked Fraser, slightly stunned at Elaine's claim.

"Nothing concrete yet," replied Elaine. "But I'm working on it. I think I was getting close and Lieutenant Lai panicked, so he framed me for the missing evidence."

Fraser slowly moistened his lower lip with his tongue. "You're making a very serious allegation," he pointed out.

"I know," agreed Elaine, stirring the last of the cream into her hot chocolate. "And it scares the hell out of me, but…" she trailed off.

"I understand," nodded Fraser. "And I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you. I suggest your first move should be to raise your concerns with Lieutenant Welsh. You know he can be trusted."

Elaine smiled and sipped at her drink. She'd almost forgotten how sexy it sounded when Fraser pronounced Welsh's rank the Canadian way. "Yes, I know and I've thought about going to Welsh before, but I just don't know how high up this thing goes," she explained. "The last thing I want is for Welsh to put his career on the line."

"Lieutenant Welsh will want to stamp out any corruption in the Chicago Police Department," replied Fraser. "At any cost."

"But what if I'm wrong?"

"As a Civilian Aid your proficiency and dedication was invaluable to Ray and I on many occasions," began Fraser. "You were never wrong then and I don't believe for one moment that has changed now you have a badge."

Elaine wanted to believe him, she really did, but she had so many doubts that she didn't know what to think. "Alright," she said, after finishing the last of the hot chocolate. "I'll talk to Welsh in the morning."

"I'll be there to support you if you need me," said Fraser with a sincere nod.

Elaine smiled, too choked up to speak. She rose from her chair and Fraser gently rested his hand in the small of her back and it suddenly felt to Elaine as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She immediately knew she'd done the right thing by talking to Fraser and, more importantly, it was at that moment that she knew everything would be alright.

They walked the rest of the way to the dry cleaners in silence. The elderly woman behind the desk smiled warmly when she saw Fraser walk in.

"Good evening, Mrs Dorrett," beamed Fraser.

Diefenbaker bounded up to the old lady who quickly produced a packet of cookies from under the counter and gave him one before tucking the packet away again to stop Dief scoffing the lot.

"I was starting to think you'd forgotten about these," she said and she hurried as fast as she could with her walking stick to the back of the shop, quickly returning with four outfits on wire coat hangers wrapped in plastic. "Is she back in town?"

"Inspector Thatcher is due to return from Ottawa tomorrow," replied Fraser, taking the hangers from her. "How is your knee today?"

"Much better now," Mrs Dorrett answered with a smile. Then she addressed Elaine. "He's so kind, he made me this walking stick last week," she explained. "He noticed that my old one was too short. I was really struggling with it – my knees and my back were so painful - so he carved this beautiful new one for me." She leant on the counter and passed the walking stick to Elaine so she could inspect the intricate workmanship. "You hang on to this man, dear, he's a keeper," she added with a wink.

Elaine smiled and glanced at Fraser as she handed the walking stick back to Mrs Dorrett. She was proud that someone might think she and Fraser were a couple. She knew that it would never be true, no matter how hard she wished, but if Mrs Dorrett wanted to believe it she didn't mind at all.

Fraser's face quickly turned a deep shade of crimson. He cleared his throat and glanced apologetically at Elaine. "Oh, no, Mrs Dorrett," he began, turning back to her. "Miss Besbriss and I are not together. Well, of course we are together at this moment…in as much as we are together in your dry cleaning establishment, but we are not in any way, um, er…romantically linked. Not that I wouldn't…that is, not that I would be in any way perturbed if such a situation was to, um, er…but that's not…um…" he trailed off and looked desperately at Elaine for help.

"Fraser and I are just friends," smiled Elaine and Fraser nodded emphatically in agreement.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that," said Mrs Dorrett.

Elaine smiled ruefully.

So am I…

"But he's a good friend to have, if ever you need a walking stick," added Mrs Dorrett.

Elaine laughed. "I'll try to remember that," she grinned.

"Well, thank you kindly for your services as always," said Fraser, who was still a little flustered. "If you would be so kind as to add these to the Consulate account? We will settle at the end of the month."

With that Fraser hurried out of the shop with Dief and Elaine close behind him. He glanced at Elaine and was pleased to see her smiling. Her allegations of corruption at the Twenty Fifth Precinct were quite shocking, but he felt sure once Lieutenant Welsh became involved Elaine would no longer have to fear for her career.

As they turned the corner they heard shouting. Instantly both Fraser and Elaine were on alert. As they got closer they could see two uniformed officers were already on the scene of what appeared to be an argument between two teenaged girls. One of the officers recognised Fraser and waved.

"Everything alright, gentlemen?" Fraser enquired as he waved back.

"Yeah, we got this one, Constable," replied the officer.

Fraser nodded and he and Elaine continued walking. Elaine glanced over her shoulder to see one of the girls being put in handcuffs and led towards the waiting police car while the other officer was comforting the second girl who was clearly distressed. "Ever since I was a little girl I've dreamed of becoming a cop," said Elaine with a wistful sigh.

"Me too," replied Fraser, then he immediately realised his mistake. "Er, not that I was ever a little girl, of course," he said quickly, rubbing at his eyebrow furiously with his thumbnail.

Elaine chuckled. "I'm the youngest of nine," she continued. "I have five brothers and three sisters. No one else in my family had any desire to become a police officer, only me."

"Nine?" repeated Fraser in surprise. "I remember your sister from your graduation ceremony, but I did not realise you had so many other siblings."

"My sister, Corinne, is the only other one of us still living in Chicago," explained Elaine. "We're scattered throughout four different states and three countries now," she said. "I miss them all. We were so close growing up, we had to be. We weren't destitute or anything, but there wasn't a lot of money to go around. It wasn't easy sometimes."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Fraser.

"My mom worked three jobs and my dad took all the overtime he could to make sure we didn't want for anything, but it meant we hardly ever saw them," continued Elaine wistfully. "We lived in a decent neighbourhood, but occasionally there was trouble. We were burgled on more than one occasion and it was heartbreaking to see things my parents had worked so hard to buy like the TV just taken away from us. I remember thinking that if I was a cop I could stop it happening to other people and that's when I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I was probably six or seven years old."

Fraser smiled. He could imagine Elaine as a determined young child and he was not at all surprised that she had reached her goal all these years later. "Why did you not enter the Academy after graduating high school?" he asked.

"I couldn't afford to," replied Elaine, sadly. "So when the Civilian Aid position came up I jumped at the chance. I thought I'd only be at the Two Seven for a year, but it took longer than I imagined to save up the money. My graduation was the proudest day of my life." She smiled as she remembered the ceremony and the crazy antics which had interrupted the proceedings, resulting in her making her first arrest - caked in mud - before she'd even collected her shield.

Suddenly Diefenbaker began barking loudly and he ran off across the road and into the park.

"Dief! Come back here!" shouted Fraser, although he knew the wolf wouldn't be able to hear him.

Dief ran a few more metres before turning round and running back to Fraser, still barking.

"No, we're not walking through the park, Elaine is wearing suede boots," said Fraser shaking his head.

"These are old boots," offered Elaine with a shrug.

Dief continued barking and running to and fro in front of them.

"What on earth has got into you?" asked Fraser. "If you want to relieve yourself then please just get on with it."

Dief jumped up at Elaine and then at Fraser before turning sharply and running back to the park.

Elaine looked at Fraser in confusion. She'd never seen Dief acting quite like this before. "Is he OK?" she asked.

Fraser thought for a moment. "No," he said suddenly. "Something's wrong. Come on."

Fraser ran off after Dief and Elaine followed. As they got a little further into the park they could see Dief had stopped and was sniffing and pawing at something on the floor. Elaine couldn't make out what it was, but as they got closer she became aware that whatever it was, was making a pitiful, whining noise. Fraser suddenly thrust the dry cleaning into her arms and ran over to join Dief at the scene.

"Oh my god, it's an animal!" Elaine exclaimed. "It sounds like it's hurt…" she trailed off as she got closer to where Fraser was now kneeling at the animal's side. "Oh it's a little dog…"

The scruffy brown dog was whimpering and writhing on the floor in pain. Dief nuzzled into his face and Fraser gently stroked his back with one hand and made soothing noises.

"Oh, the poor little thing," said Elaine and she kneeled down opposite Fraser. Then, in the fast fading light, she saw what was causing the animal so much distress. "Is that…is that an arrow?" she asked in disbelief.

The long, white arrow could clearly be seen protruding from the dog's side and blood was flowing freely, soaking into the already badly matted fur around the wound.

"Yes, it is," confirmed Fraser as he examined the animal. "Looks like it's nicked an artery."

"Didn't you say that your murder victim was killed by an arrow?" she asked.

Fraser nodded. He had no idea what the connection was between this dog and their homicide investigation, but his first priority was to help the animal.

As Fraser worked to try to stem the flow of blood they heard a voice calling out. "Billy! Billy! Here boy!" Then a figure appeared in the shadows. He was wearing a filthy raincoat "Hey, have you guys seen my dog?" asked the man, staggering slowly towards them.

"Yes, at least I assume this is your dog," replied Elaine. "I'm afraid he's been injured."

The man tried to quicken his pace, but appeared to be having co-ordination difficulties. "Billy!" he exclaimed when he got close enough to see. "What did you do to him?" he asked aggressively. He was carrying a bottle in a brown paper bag and he took a swig from it.

"We're police officers, we found him like this," explained Fraser.

The man tried to take another step, but instead he stumbled and ended up in a heap on the ground next to Elaine. Instantly Elaine could smell the unmistakeable stench of alcohol on his breath.

"We have to get him to a vet," said Elaine, urgently, her attention returning to Billy the dog.

Fraser shook his head. "No time," he replied. "He's losing blood too quickly, he won't survive the journey. We have to stabilise him before we try to move him and we can't do that unless the arrow is removed."

Elaine nodded and Dief yapped in agreement.

Without warning, Billy's owner lurched forward and tried to grab the arrow, but Fraser clutched his wrist tightly to stop him. "No," he said seriously. "If you simply pull it out you'll cause further trauma," he explained. Then he turned to Elaine. "Which is precisely what happened to our murder victim," he said.

The similarities between the two incidents were far more than co-incidental, Elaine realised, but why would anyone want to shoot a scruffy old dog with an arrow? It made less sense than the killing of the elderly grandmother.

"Elaine, there should be a green, cotton blouse," continued Fraser, nodding towards the dry cleaning they'd just collected for Inspector Thatcher. "Please tear it into strips, I'm going to need bandages."

Elaine nodded and ripped open the plastic, discarding a flimsy dress, until she found the blouse. She began tearing it up, wondering for a moment what Inspector Thatcher was going to say when she found out.

"Sir, what's in the bag?" Fraser asked the man who was now sitting cross legged on the ground.

"Vodka, but I paid for it!" slurred the man, clutching the bottle to his chest. "Or someone gave it to me," he added, with a confused look. "I can't remember now…"

"That's of no importance at this juncture," snapped Fraser with uncharacteristic impatience. "I need alcohol." He pulled out his penknife and snatched the bottle from the man's grasp. "In the absence of a seventy percent ethanol solution, this will have to do."

Elaine continued to make bandages as Fraser doused his penknife in the vodka. Dief yapped and pawed at the dog whose whimpering had quietened to the occasional whine.

"I know," said Fraser to his wolf. "But we've done this before, if you remember."

Dief yapped a response as Fraser attempted to tease out the matted fur, clipping away as much as he could so he could see what he was doing.

"Well canine anatomy is remarkably similar to that of the polar bear," replied Fraser, dismissively. He glanced at Elaine who was looking nervous. "Try to hold him still," he said, but the little dog was squirming and twitching in pain.

Fraser began to gently stroke Billy's furry neck, trying to calm the little animal. Then suddenly Fraser twisted his fingers, pressed them hard against the back of Billy's head and in an instant the dog was completely still.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Elaine. Stunned at what she'd just seen. "Did you…? I thought you were going to try to save him?"

Fraser took a second to realise what Elaine was thinking. "Oh no," he replied quickly. "I simply rendered him temporarily unconscious. It's an Inuit technique."

"Oh." Elaine breathed a sigh of relief.

"But we only have approximately seven minutes before he starts to come around," continued Fraser.

Elaine nodded seriously and made sure she was ready with the makeshift bandages. She couldn't bear to look as Fraser made the incision, but he worked quickly and within seconds the arrow lay on the floor. Elaine passed over the bandages and Fraser wrapped them tightly around Billy's body

Fraser checked the dog's pulse. It was still strong and he allowed himself to breathe a little easier, although he knew the poor animal was not out of the woods yet. He gathered Billy into his arms and got to his feet.

Elaine quickly wrapped the arrow in some of the plastic from the dry cleaning to preserve any fingerprints or other forensic evidence. Then she helped the dog's drunken owner to his feet and ran to hail a cab.

xXxXxXx

Ray got out of the GTO and reached into the back to pick up the bunch of flowers he'd just bought. He looked at them in mild disgust.

They looked classier at the gas station…

He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, but he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Carrie-Ann all evening, so he'd jumped in the car and driven straight to her apartment building.

Ray took a deep breath and walked up the steps to her door and knocked. He was more nervous than he'd expected to be. What if the kiss this morning hadn't meant anything to Carrie-Ann? What if she was just acting weird because of the grief and she really didn't want to see him again, let alone kiss him? What if…

The door opened and Carrie-Ann looked shocked at first, but she soon broke into a huge smile and flung her arms around him. "I was hoping you'd come," she said into his neck.

Finally she released him so he could enter her apartment. It was smaller than his, he noticed, with simple furnishings. "Oh, er, these are for you," he said, realising he was still clutching the flowers.

"Thank you," she said, taking them from him and running off to find something to put them in. She returned with a jug which had a large chip out of the rim. "I don't own a vase," she admitted.

"Neither do I," laughed Ray. He hesitated awkwardly.

Say something, Kowalski. Don't just stand here like a jerk…

"So, um…" he began, but he dried up.

Carrie-Ann giggled. She walked over to him and put her index finger on his lips. "Don't speak," she said and she slowly replaced her finger with her own lips. Kissing him softly.

Ray wrapped his arms around her and the kiss intensified. He tried to hold back, but he couldn't. It was too good and he was too needy to stop now and it seemed that Carrie-Ann felt the same way.

Carrie-Ann pressed herself against him and together they staggered backwards towards the sofa, stumbling and landing on the cushions entwined in passion.

Carrie-Ann lifted herself slightly so she could start pulling up his t-shirt.

Ray's mind was still conflicted.

Oh god…I can't do this…I barely know her…

But despite his thoughts he couldn't stop his body reacting to the intense stimuli, so he put up no resistance.

This wasn't what Ray had planned at all. He'd wanted to see her tonight, but he'd thought maybe they could talk some more, get to know each other a little better first before they ever got as far as contemplating sex. Ray knew it was an old fashioned attitude, but he couldn't shake it.

This is why I never get any…

"Ray…" she breathed into his ear. "I need you…"

Ray closed his eyes.

No one needs me…you just need comfort…

Finally he was back in control and he sat upright, pushing her gently away. "Just…just stop, OK?"

Carrie-Ann looked at him with a mixture of hurt and confusion.

Ray slipped his hands in hers and smiled. "Not now…not yet," he said and to his relief, after a few seconds pause, she nodded.

Then she burst into tears.

"Hey," said Ray, sympathetically and he pulled her into his arms. "It's OK, it's OK."

"I think I'm going crazy," she sobbed.

"Nah," replied Ray, dismissively. "I'm the crazy one."

Carrie-Ann kissed him tenderly. "No you're not," she said.

They settled back on the sofa together, with Carrie-Ann resting her head on his shoulder and they talked and talked. Ray opened up a little about his difficult relationship with his father and Carrie-Ann told him about the deaths of her parents. There were a few more tears, but it felt so natural and comfortable to Ray that he didn't mind.

After almost an hour Ray's phone rang. He looked at Carrie-Ann apologetically. "Sorry, I have to get that," he said. Carrie-Ann nodded and Ray pulled his phone from his pocket. "Vecchio," he snapped. He ran his hand through his spiky hair when he heard the voice on the other end. "Fraser, this had better be important."

Ray listened as Fraser told him about Billy the dog who was currently being cared for by a vet.

"A dog?" Ray wasn't sure if he'd heard correctly. "OK, er, well I dunno what it means, but it must mean somethin'…yeah…yeah…OK. See you tomorrow."

"What was that about a dog?" asked Carrie-Ann when Ray put his phone away.

"Something queer," Ray replied. "A dog got shot with a bow and arrow, just like your gran."

"What?" exclaimed Carrie-Ann. "A dog? Why would the murderer shoot a dog? What a low down stupid thing to do!" Then she burst into tears again.

Ray was taken aback by her outburst. He pulled her into another hug. "It's OK, Fraser got it to the vet in time," he said.

Carrie-Ann pulled away from him and turned away without saying a word.

Ray was starting to get worried about her. He felt a real connection with her and he hated seeing her struggling to cope. "Come back to my place," he said.

Carrie-Ann spun round and stared at him with a look of confusion.

"I'll sleep on the couch again," Ray clarified quickly. "I just don't think you should be alone tonight."