The Cat Who Came with a Crime Scene
It started with a scratch strangely enough. A scratch at his office door which caught his attention. It was too late for it to be a client. Beth was fast asleep upstairs so it wasn't her, besides she would have knocked or used her key.
Opening the door, he looked around to check what could have scratched at the door. There was no one about. "Meow." Glancing down he saw the culprit. A black cat was sitting at his door. "How can I help you?"
The cat looked back towards the lift before walking in the office. "Please do come in." He went into the kitchen to get some milk for the cat who was behaving normally, which was strange in the presence of a vampire. Luckily, he had started keeping food in his apartment for Beth. Just as he was pouring the milk, he noticed the bloodstain paw prints on the white kitchen tiles.
Grabbing a tea towel, he wrapped it around the cat and picked it up. "Where have you been?" The tea towel was covered in blood since the cat was soaked in it.
"Who are you talking to?" Beth walked down the stairs wearing his shirt. He almost forgot about the cat covered in blood when he saw Beth's shapely legs. They were a sight to behold.
"My latest client." He held up the cat. "I don't think I'm going to get paid for this case."
"Is that blood?" Beth glanced over the cat in his arms trying to find a wound. "That is a lot of blood."
"I was about to go and look for the source of all this blood. It doesn't appear to be coming from the cat." He'd checked the feline but if it had an open wound, he would have sensed it.
"Just give me a moment to throw something on." Beth ran back upstairs to change before he could object. It was the investigator in her.
They decided the best bet was to follow the cat and see if it led them to the scene of whatever had lost all this blood. At some point Mick would be able to pick up the scent. So down the hallway they followed the cat, past the lift. They had almost reached the end when Mick picked up the scent of fresh blood. The apartment at the end of the hallway had the door wide open.
Since Mick's hours didn't allow him to socialize with his neighbours much, he had no idea who lived there. Beth reached out and knocked on the door, but no one answered. "Hello? Is everyone alright?" A weak moan responded.
Moving cautiously through the apartment, Mick listened out for a beating heart. It was faint but he could hear it coming from the rear of the apartment. There didn't appear to be anyone else alive in there apart from Beth. It looked as though the place had been ransacked but that could have been the cat as no furniture appeared to have been disturbed. Only things such as trinkets, photographs and a vase, al of which would have been on tables or shelves had been knocked over or broken.
It was in the bedroom that they found two bodies. Both, at first appearance seemed dead but Mick was still picking up a heartbeat. One body was facedown the other sat up leaning against the dressing table.
Mick nodded to the body laying facedown. That was where the heartbeat was coming from. Gently turning the body over, it looked as though they were seeing double: Twins. The only difference was the letter opener sticking out of this one's side.
"Should we remove it?" Beth knew that Mick had been a medic in the army and her only reference for this kind of thing was the time Mick had been staked. It that case she had needed to remove the stake but she doubted it was the same in this instance.
"No. See if you can find a first aid kit and call for an ambulance." He just hoped it wouldn't be too late.
Beth quickly found the first aid kit handing it to Mick while she spoke to the emergency services operator. She relayed any information Mick gave her while he attempted to stop the bleeding.
"I didn't know." The victim's voice was so faint that only Mick heard her.
"You didn't know what?" Mick sighed in relief that he had managed to stop the bleeding. It was too early to tell if it was enough.
"That he was dating both of us." She managed to open her eyes, but it seemed to take a lot of effort. "She didn't believe me."
"So your sister stabbed you?" It was rather extreme. Why not just dump the guy? Or did this mystery man not know he was dating a twin.
"Not on purpose." Now that she wasn't losing blood by the gallon, she was gaining a little strength. "She tripped over her own feet and accidentally stabbed me, then jerked back when she saw what she had done and fell back hitting her head on the corner of the dressing table. "Is she okay?"
Mick made a show of checking her pulse even though he already knew the answer. "Sorry. She's gone."
Tears ran down her face. She was still sobbing when the ambulance arrived to take both sisters away.
By the time they had given their statements to the Police, it was time for Beth to head to work and Mick to the freezer. Mick joined her in the shower as he was covered in blood from the cat who was now sleeping on his couch. "I thought cats didn't like vampires." Beth grabbed her purse on the way to the door.
"Normally they don't." Mick shrugged. "Maybe it wanted to get it's owner help more than it feared me." It wasn't the strangest thing that had happened to him.
Beth accepted the response. Maybe she was just used to unexplained things in Mick's life. "I'll see you tonight." She kissed him goodbye and headed off to work.
"So, I suppose you want something to eat." The cat just stared at him. "You're in luck. I think I have some tuna." He fed the cat and headed to the freezer for some sleep. Normal was a bit much to expect when you were a vampire with a human girlfriend but this was pretty close.
