Chapter 4

"Yeah, thanks," Maria sighed into her cell-phone before returning it to her pocket. She walked over to where Vic was sitting with a member of animal-control who had lost his dinner on seeing the body.

"Small sips," Vic directed gently, handing him a bottle of water.

"Sorry, man... I'm not usually this--"

"Hey, I understand," Vic assured him. "Trust me, I did the same with my first DB... You're okay."

He gave a shaky nod. "Thanks, man."

"No problem. You stay put here for a minute," Vic added, seeing Maria. "I'll be right back." Sighing faintly, he rose and joined her. "What's up?"

"Just got off the phone with a vet. Fifth I've talked to, actually, and all of them agree on one point. There is no way in hell that a Pomeranian has the jaw-strength to tear a person's throat out..."

"Of course there isn't," Vic sighed. "When have any of our cases been that easy in the past few months?"

She sighed and shook her head. "This is... very strange, Vicky."

"You think?" He sighed and shook his head. "What the hell is going on here, Mar?"

"Wish I knew," she sighed, shaking her head. "I'm at a loss here. All I know is that the common consensus is that there's no way that a Pomeranian could have killed this woman."

He sighed and nodded. "Only one did..."

"What's that leave?"

"No clue." Vic sighed. "Damn it, Mar, what the hell is going on here?"

She shrugged. "Has to be a hidden camera around here somewhere..."

"Look, Mar, whatever the vets may be saying, we know that a Pomeranian did this."

She nodded faintly. "So what's that leave?"

"Wish I knew." Vic sighed again. "Animal control is pretty unwilling to even try to take the thing alive at this point. They're not going to let one of their people get hurt over this."

"This I can understand. But I don't know where we go from there, either," she admitted. "I mean... who in their right mind would... it makes no sense."

"None at all," he agreed, sighing. "You think someone trained it to be able to do this?"

"Why not. The thing got trained to rob banks. How much of a stretch is cold-blooded murder?"

"Why do I feel like doing a Rod Serling impression here, Mar?"

"Because I already have dibs on the X-Files jokes?"

Vic chuckled and shook his head. "That must be it," he agreed.

"Mulder, look! Over there!" Maria said in a stage-whisper. "It's Queg-Queg!"

Grinning and trying not to laugh, Vic did his best Mulder impersonation, "Damn it, Scully, Queg-Queg's been dead for three seasons! What will it take to make you believe?" he demanded.

A pair of passing animal-control officers regarded the two with a wary combination of uncertainty and disgust for a moment before walking on.  

"And they say cops have a weird sense of humor," Maria murmured, shaking her head. "Go home and get some sleep, partner. I've got it from here."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, it won't be much more than another hour. Go home. You look like you could use the sleep."

"Thanks, Mar." Vic nodded and patted her arm. "See you bright and early tomorrow."

"Early, at least," she agreed, nodding and watching him walk off. Losing sleep over Melanie again, she decided, nodding to herself. Sighing and shaking her head, she turned as an officer tried to get her attention. "What have we got?"

***

"Morning, Mel," Jess called absently without looking up from the newspaper she was reading.

Mel frowned faintly at that, shaking her head and stepping behind the bar. "Tribune must be a real page-turner this morning," she observed.

"It is," Jess told her, looking over the paper with wide eyes. "Have you seen this, Mel?"

"Not yet, no. Why?"

"This story looks like it belongs in the Weekly World News! There's a little Pomeranian puppy--"

"The one who robs banks, yeah." Mel nodded absently. "Old news, Jess."

"Robs banks?" Jess repeated incredulously, staring at her.

Mel winced internally and forced a cheerfully innocent expression. "Did I say that?" she asked, turning around and pretending to be busy.

"I didn't know it had done that, too. Story didn't say. Guess Vic must have told you that bit."

"Uh... must have," Mel agreed, nodding. It took her still sleep-clouded brain a few minutes longer to process the rest of Jess' words. "Done that, too," she repeated quietly, shaking her head. She turned around slowly, trying to act casually when her mind was screaming at her at the top of its lungs. "What else has it done, Jess?" she asked offhandedly.

"It killed someone last night!" Jess announced, handing Mel the paper. "Look. There's a picture of Vic and that partner of his, too."

Sure enough, the main photo accompanying the story showed a picture of a parking garage covered in crime-scene tape and crawling with police. Vic and his partner were clearly visible in one corner, talking with their heads together.

"It killed someone?" Mel repeated, reading the headline but not really able to make sense of it. Dog kills local politician, it announced blandly. You had to dig in the article to even find out what kind of dog. Whoever had handled the placement and writing of that story had really dropped the ball. "What the hell is this doing buried in the middle of the paper?" she asked, more to herself than Jess.

"They were probably scared that people at the newsstands would mistake it for a tabloid," Jess said blithely, shrugging. "Ooh, or maybe they were bribed to cover it up!" she suggested, nodding eagerly as she tied on her bar-apron. "Yeah, that must be it!" she enthused, warming up to the theory.

"Bribed? Who'd bribe a newspaper to bury a story like this, Jess? PETA?" She shook her head. "It's just a dog-mauling. They happen."

Except that some nagging part of her mind insisted that things like this did not just happen, not when there were fugitives involved. Besides, Pomeranians were not exactly up there on the list of dangerous dog-breeds.

"Can't recall the last time I heard about a Pomeranian mauling someone," Jess said, neatly echoing Mel's thoughts. "Besides, if it's just some rabid animal, how come there're so many homicide cops in that picture? Wouldn't animal-control be handling it?" she asked reasonably.

"Yeah, guess you could have something there." Mel nodded slowly.

"You reckon it's dangerous to go out after dark?" Jess asked, shifting uneasily. "I mean, this was pretty close to here..."

"I'll have Cole drive you home tonight if you want," Mel offered gently, sensing Jess' genuine discomfort. "But something tells me that some yappy little fuzz-ball is no match at all for Miss Jessica Brown."

Jess chuckled and nodded. "You're right, Mel. Sorry."

"I'll have Cole drive you home tonight," she repeated gently. "I'll go ask him now."

"He awake?" Jess asked casually.

Mel bit her lower lip. "I wouldn't know. His bedroom door is still closed."

"If you say so, Mel," Jess chuckled as she walked towards the stairs. "But don't wake him on my account. Unless you have other plans for him once you do!" she called as Mel vanished up the stairs, laughing and shaking her head. Poor Mel, so easy to tease...

"Other plans," Mel muttered, shaking her head as she stomped up the stairs. "How many times do I have to tell her--"

"Mel? Who are you talking to?" Cole asked, leaning out of the war-room door.

"No one, Cole. Have you seen this morning's paper?" she asked quickly before he could request a further explanation of the strange human custom of talking to one's self.

"Not yet, Mel. Was there another break-in?" he asked, frowning.

"No." Mel held up the newspaper. "This time, it was a murder..."

Cole frowned and took the paper, staring at the article and pictures accompanying it. "Mel?"

"Yeah, Cole?"

"Is your friend David really an expert on these creatures?"

Mel nodded. "Yeah, he is. This is... it's not natural, Cole. There's no way in hell a Pomeranian should be able to rip a person's throat out."

Cole nodded faintly. "We should speak to him again."

"Yeah, good idea," Mel agreed, going to retrieve her car keys. "Will you drive Jess home tonight?"

"Okay, Mel," he agreed easily.

"And?" she asked firmly.

"And I will remember what you have taught me and forget what Nestov has taught me," he recited gravely, his eyes laughing down at her.

Mel ignored his amusement. "Thank you. Come on."

***

"You know, it's funny, but I was just talking to a man the other day who wanted to know the exact same thing," David remarked absently as Detectives Bruno and Cruz followed him through the kennel.

"Really?" Maria asked, glancing at Vic.

He shrugged. "You wouldn't happen to remember this man's name, do you, Mister Anderson?"

"Um... Cole something, I think... I'd have to ask Mel."

"Mel?" Vic repeated, blinking in surprise.

"Friend of mine. Friend of Cole's."

"Of course she is," Vic muttered, sighing. "Now what did this Cole want to know, exactly?" he asked, ignoring the quizzical look Maria was giving him.

"Well, he mostly seemed interested in what kind of tricks they could do, what kind of temperament they have, things like that... but he did ask how hard they could bite and how much damage they could do." He shrugged. "Strange sort of conversation, really..."

"How so?" Maria asked.

"Said it was for some project or thing that he was working on. Something about a stolen dog, only... didn't ask that many questions about who would steal a dog or why once I told him that I couldn't see why anyone would want to grab an A.K.C. registered one."

Vic glanced down at Maria who nodded faintly and fell back a step, fishing out her cell-phone and dialing. "Yeah, this is Cruz," she said as Vic and David kept talking. "I'm looking for a stolen property report that would have been issued... oh, in the past six months, for a dog. Pomeranian, A.K.C. registered. Thanks." She hung up and rejoined them.

"Seemed harmless enough," David was telling Vic. "Bet just adored him and she's a fantastic judge of character. Didn't seem all there," he added, shrugging. "Was looking around like he'd never seen a dog in his life, and was horrified when Bet started licking him. Wanted to know why she was 'tasting' him."

"Yup, that sounds like Mel's nut-job of a roommate, all right," Vic sighed, shaking his head.

"You know Mel Porter?" David asked, surprised. "You should have said so. I'd have given you the deluxe tour," he chuckled, shaking his head.

"How do you know Mel exactly?" Vic asked. "If you don't mind my asking?"

"Knew her grandparents. Good people, those two. All the dogs absolutely loved them." He looked up in surprise. "Well, speak of the devil!"

Vic turned to follow the direction of his gaze, not even a little surprised to see Mel, with Cole in tow of course, approaching them. Her slightly panicked look on seeing them there was not lost on him either.

"Morning, Mel," Vic greeted her, ignoring Cole who immediately became absorbed with the Pom that David was holding.

"Hello, Vic," Cole greeted him absently. "Hello, Detective Cruz. Hello again, David."

"Bet really does love you, doesn't she?" David asked with a smile. "We might hook you up with a puppy after all, Cole."

"Mel," Cole began, smiling at David's words.

Mel sighed and shook her head. "Maybe, Cole."

"Okay, Mel," he agreed cheerfully, nodding happily.

"What is he doing here?" Vic whispered to Mel, sighing.

Mel shook her head and pointed to where Cole and David were both lavishing a very happy Pomeranian with attention. "In case it was lost on you, Cole's interested in Pomeranians."

"So David said," Vic agreed, nodding. "Are they sweet, do they do tricks, can their bite be fatal..."

"Oh, Vic," Mel protested, shaking her head. "He never asked anything of the sort. He just wanted to know if they did bite."

"So, he was not, for instance, interested in one's potential to say... rip the throat out of a politician?" Vic asked.

"Vic!" Mel protested, shaking her head. "Come on..."

"Vic, take a smoking break," Maria suggested quietly.

"I don't smoke."
"Then take a fresh-air break, Detective Bruno!" she ordered firmly, pointing towards the door. As Vic stalked off, she glanced at Mel. "Sorry about him. Not sleeping much lately..."

"Yeah, so I'd gathered," Mel agreed, sighing softly.

Maria hesitated for a moment before contributing, "He worries about you, you know."

"He doesn't have to," Mel told her firmly. "And whatever he has told you about Cole is..." She shook her head. "Forget it," she sighed, turning.

"Hey," Maria called, catching her arm. When Mel turned, staring at her with wide eyes, she said softly, "Don't you dare hurt him."

Mel blinked in surprise, nodding once. "I... I wouldn't. He's... he's a really great guy."

"Just so we're both clear on that." Releasing her gentle hold on Mel's arm, Maria turned and followed Vic. "Feeling less like ripping his head off now?" she asked gently as she joined him.

Vic shook his head in frustration. "What is it with him?" he demanded.

"You'd probably have to ask Melanie that. But I'd do it in a less judgmental way if I were you."

Vic sighed deeply. "I just made a huge ass of myself, didn't I, Mar?"

"Yeah. You did."

"Why do I always do that?" he muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"It's called trying too hard. Look, we have the information we need. We should just go, okay? I don't think Betty's fan club in there is going to miss us."

"Yeah." He sighed and nodded, following her to the car. "Let's go."