"Knight, Vetter," Captain Reese smiled hesitantly, and tapped a folder in his hand, "I've got a new case here which ought to go to somebody else, but I'm going to ask you two to take it on as a personal favor to me."
Exchanging bemused glances, the homicide partners shrugged as one and turned back to their superior officer, no premonitions of disaster hitting either of them (proving once again that vampires are not psychic). Reese looked vaguely apologetic as he handed the folder to the younger detective. "Why's that, Captain?" Tracy asked, opening the folder.
"And why do you look so nervous?" Nick added, beginning to eye Reese warily. Just then Tracy made a choking sound, and violently threw the folder at her partner's head. Nick caught it, shooting Tracy an amazed glare, and opened it. "What the... Oh, no. No way," Knight exclaimed as he read the report, Vetter shaking her head vigorously all the while. "Not a chance. Uh-unh. Not us. Nope. Nooo. Get someone else to do it."
"He asked for you specifically," Reese pleaded. "Said he'd feel safer if he knew you two were on the case. Look, there's some big-shot financier in town who's closing a deal with him, and the guy might be making contributions to the city and government while he's here. We've got to show him what Toronto's Finest are capable of, and protect his investment."
"WHO would invest in Jerry Tate?" Tracy spluttered.
"Alexander Lucard," Nick said on a falling note, eyes closing in resignation as he read the preliminary report. "Captain... you're going to owe us big for this."
"We're not doing it!"
"Get your coat, Tracy."
"I don't want to be anywhere near that slimy, handsy, grabby---"
"We'll discuss it in the car," Nick said, picking up his keys.
Tracy rolled her eyes in frustration and put on her coat as she followed her partner out the door. "Okay. We're doing this. But you have to be the one to interview Jerry. I mean it, Nick...."
The television station was in chaos. Crew people running everywhere, men in suits tearing their few remaining scalp hairs out by the roots, three sets of twins having hysterics on stage. Jerry Tate, talk-show host, celebrity, and rotten example of manhood, was holding a bag of ice on a long burn along his right arm as a not-unattractive EMT smeared cream on the injury.
"Who's in charge now that Charly's in the mental hospital?" Tracy wondered, stepping back against the wall to give several equipment- bearing young men the room to carry a lighting fixture into the studio.
"Good question. Didn't the report mention someone named Chambers was the new producer?" Nick snagged a passing technician, who pointed them in the direction of the stage, where a middle-aged man in a Jays baseball cap was rubbing tiredly at his eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses.
"Mr. Chambers? I'm Detective Knight, this is Detective Vetter, Metro Homicide. Someone called us about an attempted murder?" The producer smiled in apparent relief, but didn't get a chance to respond.
"THERE you are. What in God's name took you so long?" Jerry Tate tried to stand up, but was firmly pushed back in his seat by the EMT. "Tracy, darling, I'm so glad you're here."
Nick swallowed the chuckle that threatened to erupt at Tracy's sickly, patently false smile. It might be amusing to watch the once-star-struck Tracy try to avoid eye contact with Jerry Tate, but his partner would sock him in the stomach if he showed any sign of how funny he found it. "Mr. Chambers, can you tell us what happened?"
"Someone tried to drop that light---" The producer pointed to a broken lamp in the middle of the set surrounded by scorch marks, "on Jerry in the middle of the rehearsal. Three people saw someone up on the catwalk running away, but we couldn't catch the guy. Luckily, his aim wasn't very good, it just grazed Jer's arm."
"Okay. We'd like to interview the witnesses," Nick said, scanning the milling crowd. He frowned. "How many sets of twins do you have here?"
"Fifteen. It's for the next show, 'Separated at Birth!'. And they're not all twins; some of them just bear an amazing resemblance to each other. Like Jerry and Alexander."
"Alexander?" Tracy asked in confusion.
"Lucard," said a voice behind the detectives. Turning, Nick got the familiar feeling that went with confronting another of his kind. No heartbeat, menacing sense of presence, chill in the air---must be a vampire.
Only this vampire was an almost exact double of Jerry Tate. The blue eyes, blond hair, high cheekbones and arrogance were identical. He was a shade paler, and much better dressed. His voice bore a trace of Slavic accent; no other differences are immediately apparent. He was unfamiliar to Nick, but if he had to guess, Knight would have put his age at about half his own.
Tracy gasped, then twisted around to look at Jerry Tate, still sitting on the edge of the set. Meanwhile, Alexander Lucard was staring at Nick with what appeared to be an expression of incredulity, quickly disguised behind an urbane facade. [For now, Gentle Readers, we will leave the thoughts behind that facade alone; we will probably become more familiar with them than we would wish fairly soon.]
"Ohmigosh," the younger detective said, looking back and forth between the two identical men. "That's... really creepy."
"Do you think so? Personally, I find it marginally amusing," Lucard said in a low confiding voice, smiling at Vetter. His eyes flicked to Nick's, then away.
"Mr. Lucard here was our inspiration for the show," Jerry said jovially. "You have no idea what a kick it is to find out you have a twin who's one of the richest men on the planet."
The billionaire's covert expression of distaste earned a snicker from Tracy, which she quickly covered by coughing loudly. "Did you witness the attack, Mr. Lucard?"
"No, I didn't, Detective---?"
"Vetter," Nick cut in, narrowing his eyes threateningly at Lucard. "And I'm Nick Knight. Where were you when the attack occurred, if I may ask?"
"You may." Lucard showed his teeth to the other vampire in what was _not_ a smile, then turned the genuine article in Tracy's direction. "Somewhere between the editing room and the newsroom, I believe. One of the AD's has been kind enough to give me a tour of the facilities."
"Really." Nick's voice was disbelieving.
"Really." The two men glared at each other. Tracy picked up on the hostility and attempted to defuse it.
"Uhh, Nick, shouldn't we be interviewing the witnesses?"
"Right. Right." Nick smiled blindingly at Lucard, who returned the favor with equal insincerity. "You'll be around if we have to ask you any more questions?"
"Of course. I'm in Toronto for the rest of the week. KIL Communications is currently up for bid, and I like to see what I'm buying before I sign on the dotted line. I'll certainly make myself available to you, Detective Vetter." Lucard smiled charmingly at Tracy, who blushed and nodded like a doll with a spring in her neck.
"Uhhh, thanks," she managed, before Nick dragged her away to interview crew members and separated twins.