Note: I apologise. Profusely. See me grovelling here. I know I left this un-updated for , basically, months and that that makes me a terrible terrible liar. And I know how many of you like this fic and have taken the time to review it etc. So I'm a bad bad person. As some sort of explanation (not an excuse, oh no, no excuses here) I didn't have the months of free time I thought I'd have…I had to get a job (groan) which took up a helluva lotta time, I've had major computer probs, and when I did get some time to write fic I confess that I concentrated on two other stories which both had more readers waiting for updates (majority rules – it sucks, but it's the truth). But now – I'm back…and having to get this moving before any more spoilers for 'Nightwatch' come out and make any of my back-story null and void ! I'm very very sorry. I really do love this fic so.
Carrying on :
"Found anything?"
Cheery jumped with fright at the sound of Angua's voice by her side. She really didn't like working on the edge of the Shades, despite the armed watchmen keeping her company.
Collecting herself though, she explained the scene before them.
" Well, for starters, I found some more blood, apart from, er…"
"Carrots". Angua finished for her. The cobbles of the street were stained with a small pool of darkness where they'd found him the other night. The alley was narrow here, with all sorts of odds and ends lining the walls…anyone could have hid here and jumped out at him. Dammit, why'd he been so stupid as to come down here without back-up?
Because he was carrot of course. 99% of the time he really was unstoppable, mostly through that knack he had of calming a situation down with a little diplomacy, but also through his sheer size and strength. But it was that nagging 1% that he always seemed to forget about. You'd have thought he'd have learnt after Wolfgang…
But there was no time for that now. Sighing, Angua followed Cheery as she moved closer to the wall, in the shadow of an old mouldy sofa that had been leant up vertically against the stone. Knowing Ankh-Morpork it couldn't have been there very long, or else someone would have had away with it.
"D'you see this here?" Cheery said, pointing towards the smudged red handprint.
But there was no need for Angua to see it…she could smell it.
"That's not Carrot's blood is it?"
It was best to phrase it like that. Sure enough there was a flicker of uncertainty on Cheery's face but the end result was the same; she couldn't tell if Angua already knew and was just asking for confirmation, or whether it was just a guess. Yes, it was best all round if people didn't know just how acute her senses were in human form. Then it could work both ways; close colleagues might opt to underestimate her abilities, and so be more comfortable around her…while anyone else she met on the streets could be fooled into thinking the Watch had more on them than they actually had. The latter had been Vimes' idea. People are mostly still ignorant about werewolves here he'd said, not without looking a little uncomfortable, and we can use that to bluff 'em out. She was happy about that. Forget all Vetinari's PC crap ; she was different from other officers, so by god she better be able to put the fear surrounding her to good use. Vimes understood that.
She pulled herself out of her reverie realising Cheery was already answering her.
" – back to my lab of course, but looking at its distance from the other sample, as well as the size of the print itself, I can't see how this could be Captain Carrot's. Of course, this could be the suspect's...maybe he lay in waiting here, or perhaps he got knocked back in the struggle."
What struggle? Angua thought bitterly. Carrot hadn't even see it coming. And he never laid a finger on DeLancey . He never had a chance.
"Wait. " she said suddenly. "Stand perfectly still. Just…don't disturb anything. I'll be right back."
"What- oh."
Cheery waited patiently, and very self-consciously still as Angua made her way back past the other watchmen, and ducked out of sight into a deep doorway. There was the clatter of armour being dropped to the floor, followed by what might have been the faintest sound of air going 'whoomph' as if something had just vanished and been replaced by an altogether differently-sized something.
A few moments later and Angua came trotting out on four legs.
This was better. Things were clearer now, different smells like trails of different colours, interweaving in different combinations, overlaying each other as time had passed by. There'd been a lot of disturbance here since last night, but unfortunately the smell of blood was still sharp, piercing and metallic. It made her mouth water.
She tried - gods how she tried- to concentrate instead on the scent she'd picked up by the handprint. Cheery stood motionless , trying her best of course to follow orders, but Angua was still put off by her presence. She could see in the colours around her everywhere the dwarf had stood this morning, she could smell her breakfast (toasted rat) on her breath, and as for her clothes…well, even modern dwarfs struggled to grasp the concept of washing daily. But there, closer into the space behind the sofa she picked it up again…describing the smell visually, it would be a midnight blue cloud, exotic and incredibly foreign to a dingy niche of an alleyway.
It was strong, very strong – a perfume, and a rare one at that. Rare was good. Rare was unique, and unique could be traced. Whoever had worn – or rather, doused themselves in this, had waited here for a short while – maybe a couple of minutes at most…and there was an air of…expectation. The outline was blurred and disturbed – they'd risen quickly – but she could still just about make out a form. Someone crouched down here, ready to spring…and one hand leaning against the wall in support. Just blood on the palm though…no blood drops anywhere else from a wound.
Sa-, Vimes, had been right. There was more to this than met the eye.*
Cheery could swear the wolf beside her had an almost pensive look on its face, as it turned away and walked back to where Angua's pile of clothes were waiting.
As soon as the wolf, with all its teeth, was out of sight, Cheery - and the other two watchmen, she noticed – both let out an unintentional sigh of relief. Anyone who'd seen that wolf in action would…and even though Angua was Cheery's friend, this dwarf had grown up in Uberwald. Hse knew what werewolves could do…and despite Angua's good intentions it was hard to get over the knowledge that she was capable of everything Cheery'd heard in the horror stories of her youth. And then some, because lets face it, anyone who'd taken the little diplomatic trip Hubwards a few months ago had seen first hand that Angua came form one vicious and none-too-stable gene-pool.
Sure she felt guilty getting on edge every time Angua turned…but no-one at the Watch could say any differently. Except Captain Carrot of course, but that was different.
Oh, and Mr. Vimes. Which was strange…because he still didn't hide his lack of trust for the undead as a rule. But Angua…well, he seemed alright with her. Cheery shrugged to herself as she went back to packing up her equipment. Nobody really understood old Vimesy anyway….not even the man's wife, from what she'd seen. So he was a little hard to figure out…he was a damn fine copper either way. Just look at what he did for Angua last night.
She'd seen the body, and she knew for a certainty…the Sergeant had been damn lucky that Vimes had been on her side.
*or the nose. TBCReview people! Well don't..review people, I mean, I don't care what you'd give your ex's out of 10 or anything, I mean…review the story. Obviously. Yeah. Go do that.