I'm bound by the copyright laws so...: This fanfic is about the animated series "GARGOYLES" which belongs to Disney and aren't mine in any way and are being used without their permission ect...
WARNING:This fanfic is rated PG-13 due to a murder scene and a few curse words.
"Broadway, that's your third bag of popcorn!" Brooklyn said as he watched his rookery brother pour a bag of microwave popcorn in his mouth.
"Look how small these bags are!" Broadway said as he pointed to the popcorn bag.
"I don't think Elisa is going to appreciate you eating her out of house and home," Brooklyn said.
"Speaking of which," Angela said carrying cups of soda. "Will Elisa mind us being here without her permission?"
"Not to worry," Broadway said. "Elisa don't mind us coming here as long as we don't turn her apartment into a war zone."
"A 'war zone'?" Angela repeated confused at the saying.
"It means that Elisa don't what us to leave her apartment into a dirty mess," Brooklyn said as he picked up an empty bag of popcorn and threw it in a trash bag.
The three young Gargoyles were watching the first season of C.S.I. on DVD. It was Hudson's turn for the TV and he wasn't about to sit through 3 DVD's worth of episodes.
Brooklyn was just about to press the play button when there was a loud bang.
All three Gargoyles looked at each other.
"So much for our day off," Brooklyn said as he ran outside on the patio with Broadway and Angela. The movie was totally forgotten.
The loud bang woke Cagney from his nap. After stretching in a cat-like fashion, Cagney did a little patrol around his territory.
Cagney went in Elisa's bedroom, and sniffed everything. When something smelled amiss, Cagney knew it was time to redeposit his scent.
When Cagney got to the living room he instantly smelled popcorn. Cagney walked around the sofa and found the source of the smell.
The empty popcorn bag immediately caught Cagney's attention. Cagney stuck his head inside the bag and smelled an oily-salty burnt scent.
Cagney took his head out the bag and swat his paw at it. The popcorn scent was not his cup of tea.
But the noise the bag made had an interesting crinkle to it.
Soon Cagney was batting the popcorn bag around the living room. When Cagney got close to the open patio door, a gust of wind swept the bag up on the ledge.
Cagney looked up at the bag. He had his prey cornered now!
Cagney crouched down and leapt. Cagney got the bag but-
Didn't see the huge drop over the ledge.
"MEOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!" Cagney yowled as he fell.
Elisa stuck the key in the lock and gave it a twist opening up the apartment door. She was greeted to the sound track to C.S.I. which was blasting.
"Guys," Elisa said annoyed as she went to turn off the TV. Electrity cost money and she didn't like it when Brooklyn and Broadway-
Elisa thoughts were cut off when she noticed that her patio door was left wide open.
"Something must of happened that caused the Gargoyles to leave so quickly," Elisa said out loud as she closed that patio door. Elisa wanted to go ask but it was too late now. The sun was coming up.
In the meantime, Elisa went to feed Cagney.
"Cagney," Elisa called out.
Silence.
"Cagney!" Elisa called out more forcefully.
"Okay Cagney what did you do?" Elisa said as she went around the apartment looking for the cat. Cagney only did this when he does something bad.
Elisa looked for the cat for a good 30 minutes. Cagney couldn't be found anywhere.
Elisa then remembered the opened patio door.
"No," Elisa thought. "It can't be!"
Elisa ran out the to the patio and looked over the ledge. She saw cars going by on the street below, but no Cagney.
Or his remains.
"Cagney wouldn't go out on the patio," Elisa said out loud. "He never goes out on the patio!"
But the truth began to sank in. Elisa pick up her phone and dialed.
An hour later two ASPCA cops were in Elisa's apartment. Elisa told the two animal cops what happened.
"Are you sure nobody stole Cagney?" The male cop asked.
"Yes," Elisa said. "Cagney is not an pedigree cat."
The other cop, a female, went out to the patio. "If what you're telling us is true, Cagney must of survived the fall off the ledge, because his body is not out there."
"You mean a cat can survive a five story fall?" Elisa said surprised.
"Yes and no," the female cop replied. "Because of the way a cat falls they can survive. It is said that if a cat falls higher than the 9th floor they'll have an increased chance of surviving because the cat has time to adjust to the fall. But in my experience the cats that survive almost always landed on something to break their fall. The rest die instantly or manage to live and run away in shock only to die a painful death from massive internal injuries hours later."
Elisa sighed, depressed at that mental picture.
"Why would Cagney jump off the ledge anyway?" Elisa asked.
"A bird, paper, or a toy," the male cop said. "It's not unheard of. The cat jumps after it and then falls."
"Why did you leave the patio door open anyway?" The female cop asked Elisa.
Elisa had to think of a quick excuse. She can tell in the cop's voice that she was being accused of irresponsibility. "I was having problems with the door latch for the last two days."
"Did you have the cat micro chipped?" The male cop asked.
"What!" Elisa said.
"It's when a small rice sized chip that is injected in the skin of the animal to help find it if it is lost and then found." The male cop answered.
"Uh, no," Elisa said feeling dumbfounded.
"Well," the female cop said trying to keep the bad news out of her voice. "We'll try our best to find Cagney. But to be honest I think our chances are very grim."
Everyone stood there quiet for a few moments.
"Here take this," the male cop said as he gave Elisa a business card. "It's a number to an animal grief consular."
"Thanks," Elisa sighed.
23rd precinct two hours before sun set
Bobby Tervesto, Frankie Avila, Jessica Haley, Chante Hall, and Matthew Bluestone are present for the Gargoyles Task Force meeting.
"Why do we have to be here again?" Bobby complained.
"Bob-by," Jessica said annoyed, "This task force is being paid for by the tax payer's."
"Yeah," Frankie added "They'll be very upset if they find out that-"
"Guys, cut it out," Matt said. "I don't feel like going through this again okay? The Quarry men are very quiet now and we need to learn why."
"We need to go undercover," Chante suggested. "That's the only way we're going to find out anything."
Captain Chavez suddenly walked in, and she didn't look too happy.
"What's up Captain?" Frankie asked.
"It's Maza," Chavez sighed.
All the cops leaned forward expecting bad news.
"It's Maza's cat," Chavez said. "He jumped from the patio and is now missing."
"What!" Bobby said laughing. "For a minute there I thought it was actually bad news."
Everyone gave Bobby a disappointed look and made small comments under their breaths.
"Bobby you can be so...so insensitive sometimes-" Jessie started to say.
Chavez shook her head. She wondered why Trvesto was transferred to her squad. If he wasn't such a good cop she would of gave him the boot a long time ago.
"For your information Trvesto, that cat saved my detective's life," Chavez said. "So I'm giving Maza two days off to find him. Since you're bored and itching for something to do; I will put you in charge of this case."
Chavez then tossed the file folder in Bobby's hands. "All the info you need to know is in that file."
Bobby looked at the file and then at Chavez.
"Welllll," Chavez said in a threatening tone. "Get started."
Bobby quickly opened the file and found a picture of Cagney and passed it around.
"Um," Bobby stumbled, "this... is... the missing cat. A... shorthair gray...slender lookin'...cat."
Everyone tried to stifle a laugh.
"I want a progress report by the end of this shift Trvesto," Chavez said serious as she turned to leave.
When Chavez left everyone burst out laughing.
"What do we do now, great fearless leader?" Frankie said mockingly.
"Oh shut up!" Bobby said as he was looking though the file.
The Erie building an hour after sunset.
Elisa told the Gargoyles what happened to Cagney. Elisa was clearly upset, even though she tried to hide it. This was a cat after all. She didn't know how the Gargoyles would react.
"It's alright Elisa," Goliath said as he put his talon on Elisa's shoulder. "We'll try to find Cagney."
"It's no use Goliath," Elisa said, "it's going to be hard to find a cat in a big city. And with the Quarrymen around I won't put you guys in danger."
"If something happened to Bronx or Slivermane we'll be all over this city." Hudson said as he petted the two Garg-beasts.
"We're obligated to look for Cagney," Angela said. "After all somebody forgot to close the patio door."
Broadway and Brooklyn looked down, guilty. Broadway traced the ground with a foot talon. Broadway felt like he hurt Elisa again.
"This is nobody's fault," Elisa said as she patted Broadway on his back. "The animal cops are on it."
"-And we're on it as well," Matt said as he came in with Chante.
"Wha-"
"The Captain put us on the case," Matt said cutting Elisa off.
"And, she put Bobby in charge," Chante added.
"Bobby!" Elisa exclaimed.
"When Bobby thought the news of your cat disappearing was unimportant, Chavez put him in charge." Chante said.
"Everyone decided to split up," Matt said. "Which brings us here."
"You know this is futile," Elisa said.
"Oh please!" Chante said. "Stop being like that! We'll find that darn cat if it's the last thing we'll do!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"How did you two meet?" Brooklyn asked.
"Well," Elisa said, "It was three years before I met you guys. I was assigned to a homicide case. The only evidence was a piano wire and a cat named Cagney."
Cagney was relaxing on his favorite spot on top of the book shelf. His mistress, a fifty year old woman was on the phone.
So what time are you coming Ellen?" The woman said on the phone. "You want to beat the rush hour traffic."
"You will certainly NOT take public transportation! I will have my-"
The woman looked up and saw Cagney on the book shelf.
"Cagney, get your hindquarters from down there!" The woman scolded. "You know better than that to be up there!"
Cagney sat up and meowed.
The woman clapped her hands trying to get Cagney to climb down. "Get down!"
Cagney turned around in a small tight circle, sat back down and meowed.
"Alright then," the woman said. "You'll just get plain cat food tonight for dinner!"
The tone in the Mistress voice said it all. Cagney started to climb down when there was a knock on the door.
"Just a minute Ellen," the woman said as she placed the phone down and went to answer the door.
"Who is it?" The woman called out as she went to the door.
"It's me," a man's voice replied.
The woman went and opened the door. A man with a panty hose stocking mask bounded in the apartment and back slapped the women across the face, causing her to crash into a end table knocking the phone on the floor.
"Are you alright aunt Jenny!" The woman on the phone said.
The woman tried to get up but she stumbled over the end table. The man was on her in a flash. He slapped the woman again.
"HELP!" The woman cried out remembering the phone.
The man took out a piano wire, and rapped it around the woman's neck several times and pulled it tight.
The woman gagged, instinctively trying to reach and remove the wire from her throat. The piano wire was very thin and it sank deep into her skin making it impossible to grab it.
Cagney was watching the whole event from top of the book self. He thought that his mistress and the male human was playing. Cagney remember when he was a kitten, he used to play predator and prey with his litter mates.
The man dug his knees in the woman's spine while yanking back on wire.
Blood began to ooze from where the piano wire cut into the woman's neck.
The woman franticly tried to escape the man. The woman's escape efforts were only making the situation worse. Her forward movements made the wire cut into her neck even more.
The woman's eyes began to bulge. Her breath came in ragged gasps, with little choking sounds.
That's when Cagney began to realize that this wasn't no game.
Cagney smelled sweat, blood, and pure terror. This male human was putting his mistress in distress. But what could he do?
The mistress movements were less vigorous now. Her lips started to turn blue.
"MEEEOWWWW!"
Cagney jumped 10 feet off the book self and onto the man's back; Cagney bit and scratched into man's neck.
"YeOWW!" The man yelped in pain as he spun around throwing Cagney from his back.
"Damn cat!" The man cursed as he went to grab Cagney.
Cagney quickly ran for the sofa. The woman, hacking and coughing, crawled away trying to remove the slippery, bloody piano wire that was embedded in her neck.
"Help me," she wheezed.
Meanwhile, the man grabbed Cagney's tail right before he could get completely under the sofa. The woman saw what was happening and grabbed a vase that was on a small glass table and threw it at the man. But in her weak condition, the vase went far above the man's head and hit a picture knocking it down.
Cagney was temporarily forgotten. Enraged, the man dashed for the woman; grabbed her by the arm and swung her across the room and into the sofa.
The man pulled out a gun.
"YOU BITCH!" The man yelled as he fired the gun several times into the woman.
Covered in blood splatter, Cagney darted from under the sofa.
The man aimed the gun and fired at poor Cagney.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Thankfully, the gun was out of bullets. The man started to go after Cagney but then ran out the door.
The phone was still off the hook. "If you like to make a call please hang up and try again," The computer voice operator said.
Cops were around the apartment taking pictures, and dusting for finger prints. A Crime Scene Unit officer knelt by the bloody body of the woman with a note pad and pen doing a quick look over before the corner came.
"Maza, detective," Elisa said as she came up to the corner. "What happened?"
The CSU officer, a black woman, looked up. "The victim is a 50 year old woman named Jenny Carter. She was talking on the phone with her niece when some one knocked on the door. She let the murder in and this is what happened."
"So Ms. Carter knew her attacker," Elisa said.
"There was no forced entry," the CSU officer said. "Plus, the niece heard the whole thing on the phone. She is on her way to the station."
Elisa looked down at the body. Ms Carter's eyes were slightly opened in a fixed glaze of terror or surprise. Her chest was bloody and her mouth was hanging open.
Elisa scanned the room. She saw the turn over end table, the shattered vase, and the broken picture frame across the room.
"Our victim put up quiet a fight," Elisa said. "The killer didn't expect the victim to fight this much. It was taking a longer time to do the deed, so the killer shot her."
The CSU officer nodded. "Judging the degree of cyanosis of the victim's lips and the slight forward projection of the eyes, I'd say that the killer almost succeeded in strangling the victim."
"But what stopped him?" Elisa asked.
"The cat."
"You're kidding me."
"No," The CSU officer said as she pointed to a room in the back. "When the EMS came they saw a cat next to the victim. Some officers are in the back trying to capture the cat."
Elisa quickly went to the back of the room and in the hallway. She made a quick right turn into the kitchen and found three rubber gloved cops trying to reach for Cagney who was on top of the kitchen cabinet pacing back and forth and meowing.
"Any luck?" Elisa asked looking up at Cagney.
"Nope," a cop said. "We can't go up there and grab him. He'll just run off again."
"Give me a pair of gloves," Elisa said. "I'll get him down."
"Good luck," said another cop like as if Elisa had a zero chance.
Elisa looked at the cat. It was clear that he was upset. Elisa first noticed the dry blood all over his fur. Elisa also noticed the cat was wearing a brown leather collar with "CAGNEY" branded in with capital letters.
"Cagney?" Elisa said, "Is that your name?"
Cagney stopped pacing and meowed.
Elisa took out a squashed pastrami sandwich from her pocket, broke a small piece from it and threw it up on the top of the cabinet.
Cagney walked up to the piece of meat and sniffed.
After a few moments Cagney began to eat it.
When the meat was gone, Cagney look down at Elisa and meowed.
Elisa waved the sandwich back and forth. "If you want the rest you'll have to come down."
"Okay guys, give me the cage," Elisa whispered to the cops, not taking her eyes off Cagney.
One of the cops gave Elisa the cage.
Elisa broke the pastrami sandwich in half. She placed one half on the ground and the other inside the cage.
Cagney looked down at the female human. Was she a threat? She didn't smell threatening. Plus she gave him food.
She also might try to hurt him like that other human.
Cagney's hunger was getting the best of him. Cagney jumped down from the cabinet, to the stove and landed on the floor with just enough time to grab the-
"I got 'em," Elisa said as she snatched Cagney up and gently placed him inside the cage. "He's all yours." Elisa then give the cage to one of the cops.
Cagney started to chow down on the sandwich.
"Well I be," one of the cops said amazed.
23rd Precinct 45 minutes later
"I told auntie Jenney not to move in a building without a door man," Ellen sobbed. "She didn't listen. Jenney didn't want to look 'rich'."
Ellen, the woman who heard the whole murder on the phone was sitting at Elisa's desk giving her info.
"What do you mean by 'rich'?" Elisa asked.
"All of my aunt's resources equal up 4 million dollars," Ellen said. "She was a modest person with a good heart. I don't know who would kill such a nice lady."
Elisa gave Ellen some Kleenex tissue. "Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Ms. Carter? You know, for her money?"
"No," Ellen said. "Besides family, the only other person who was close enough to Jenney to know about her assets was her ex boyfriend George."
"Did they break up on good terms?" Elisa wanted to know.
"Personally, I'm glad she broke up with that lazy slob," Ellen said in between sobs. "George was a leech. He never worked and he verbally abused my aunt. When they finally broke up about 3 weeks ago my aunt was so happy."
"Now," Elisa said, "Did the voice on the phone sound like George?"
Ellen had to think for a moment. "I-I don't know. It all happened so fast. Aunt Jenny went to answer the door. Then sh-she screamed. The cat attacked the man, and there were gunshots..."
"Back up a sec," Elisa said. "The cat attacked the killer?"
"Yeah," Ellen sobbed. "The man screamed in pain and yelled 'Damn Cat'. At one point I thought Aunt Jenny got away. But then...the gunshots...The cat! Is he okay?"
"He's at the corner's office," Elisa said. "They are...they are...cleaning him off for...gun powder residue."
Ellen's sobs became a hysterical cry.
Elisa gave a mental sigh. She might as well tell Ellen the full gory details.
"You can have Cagney when the corner is done," Elisa said trying to sound optimistic.
Ellen blew her nose into the tissue. "I can't have him," she said. "I'm allergic to cats."
"I'll make sure he'll get a good home." Elisa said. "I want you to do something for me."
"What is it?" Ellen asked.
"I want the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all of Ms. Carter's contacts." Elisa said.
"Okay," Ellen replied.
"Don't worry," Elisa said. "We'll catch this creep."
Elisa was very confident that this case would be over in two weeks the most. She already had a suspect in mind. If what Ellen was saying is true, the corner would find some of the killer's DNA on Cagney. All Elisa had to do is get blood samples from the people Ms. Carter knew well.
How little Elisa understood her adversary.
Medical examiner's office the next afternoon
It was important to find out exactly how Ms. Carter died. So Captain Chavez sent Elisa to medical examiner Ron Cass.
Elisa hated coming here. Afterwards she feels like taking twenty showers just to get rid of that smell.
"Did you find anything?" Elisa asked.
Ron was finishing up on another body. "After sedating the cat, I washed the blood off and clipped his claws to test for DNA from the killer." Ron said as he placed the body back in the vault.
"What were the results?"
"There were mostly blood from Ms. Carter, but no gun residue," Ron said. "The blood splatter pattern on Cagney suggests that he was probably right beside her. We also found a small amount of AB- blood which was not the victim's."
"Meow?"
Hearing voices, Cagney came out from under an examining table. Cagney went up to Elisa, sniffed her pants leg and proceeded to rub up against her.
"Hey Cagney," Elisa said as she bent down to pet the cat. "Sorry, no pastrami sandwiches today."
Elisa then looked up at Ron. "I thought Cagney would be at the shelter by now."
"I was meaning to take him but I found out he was good company." Ron said picking Cagney up. "Cagney miss Ms. Carter. Every time I examine Ms. Carter Cagney jumps on the examining table and refuses to get down. I had to place him back in the cage so that I can finish my work."
Elisa sighed filled with emotion. "How can you handle stuff like this?"
"It's my job, Detective Maza," Ron said. "I just focus on the value of the work."
Elisa nodded in agreement.
Apartment of George Walter an hour later
After walking up seven flights of grueling steps, Elisa finally arrived to apartment 7G; home to Mr. George Walter the prime suspect in this murder. After catching her breath and silently cursing the broken elevator, Elisa knocked on the door.
"WHAT!" An annoyed harsh male voice replied.
"Elisa Maza, N.Y.P.D." Elisa said.
The door opened a few seconds later revealing a 6 feet tall unkempt grizzly man with a beer belly.
And he was in his underwear.
Elisa looked a way for a split second. Ellen was right on the mark about this guy. He is a slob.
"At least he's in boxers," Elisa thought.
"Whada you want?" George said in a slurry voice. His breath was very heavy with the scent of alcohol.
"I want to ask you some questions concerning the murder of Jenney Carter," Elisa asked.
"I did not kill Jenny," George said. "I still luv dat woman."
"So where were you on the day of Ms. Carter's murder?" Elisa asked.
"I was home," George said fuzzy from the alcohol.
"Do you have proof?"
"I don't need to give ya any proof!" George said, "My word is law!"
"Oh great," Elisa commented under her breath. "If you don't have any proof, then you came prove your innocence, by giving us a blood sample."
"I'm gonna tell ya the same thing I told those gov'ment guys," George said agitated pointing a finger at Elisa.
"What 'government guys'?" Elisa said cutting George off.
"They were here an 'our ago," George said.
"Who were they?" Elisa pressed. "What department?"
"How'd the hell should I know!" George yelled. "FBI, CIA, Men In Black, I don't care! Now if you don't have a warrant to arrest me den good bye!"
George then turned around and slammed the door.
Elisa turned around to leave. The feds were now involved in this case.
But why?
Elisa had to tell Chavez the news.
23rd Precinct, Captain Chavez office an hour later
"So the FBI is involved in this case," Captain Chavez said after Elisa told the info.
"They are totally leaving us in the dark," Elisa said.
Chavez went to pick up the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Elisa asked.
"Who else?" Chavez said. "I'm going to let the FBI know that they can't just-"
"No," Elisa said as she grabbed the receiver from Chavez and placed back down.
"Why?" Chavez asked.
"If the FBI knows that we're on to them they'll snatch this case away from us never to be seen again," Elisa said. "We let then come to us."
Chavez nodded. "So did you manage to get anything from our prime suspect? All of our other leads turn up dead; Their blood samples were negative."
"He didn't do it," Elisa said disappointed.
"How do you know?" Chavez said surprised.
"Ms. Carter's niece wasn't lying when she said that George Walter was a slob," Elisa said. "The man has no sense of modesty. He answered the door in his underwear."
Chavez cringed at the mental image.
"I had to force myself to look at him," Elisa continued, "to check for any defensive scars or any scratches that might of been caused by Ms. Carter's cat. Unfortunately I didn't find any."
"Speaking of which," Chavez said, "the medical examiner Cass is coming over to drop the cat off."
"With who?" Elisa asked.
"With you," Chavez replied.
"What!" Elisa exclaimed, "Why?"
"Apparently the cat seems to like you from what I heard," Chavez answered. "Cass' boss found out about the cat and she wasn't happy..."
"I can't keep him!" Elisa said. "My landlord would go nuts!"
"You're a cop," Chavez said. "You can pull some strings."
"But-"
Knock! Knock!
"The cat is here," Officer Morgan said as he did a quick entrance and exit.
When Elisa's shift was over, she took Cagney home; But not before a quick stop at the pet shop.
After explaining to a male employee how she was suddenly forced into temporarily cat ownership, Elisa was given some books, cat food, a litter box, cat litter, toys, and some good advice. While Elisa was waiting at the checkout counter, she did a quick skim of the booklet, So You're a New Cat Owner. "Don't let the cat out in the house at once. Introduce the cat to your home one room at a time." The booklet read.
Elisa shook her head. She wasn't about to do all of that. She and Cagney were on good terms any way.
Elisa's apartment an hour later.
Elisa placed the crate in the middle her apartment so that Cagney can get a feel of his new home while she prepare the apartment for him. After Elisa was finished, she opened a can of cat food, unwrapped some pastrami and mixed it with the cat food in a small metal bowl. Elisa placed the bowl directly across from Cagney near the kitchen. Elisa then opened Cagney's cage.
Cagney walked out the cage cautiously.
Elisa walked towards the bowl of food. "Come on Cagney, dinner," Elisa said as she stood behind the bowl.
Cagney meowed and ran to the bowl of food; After sniffing it's contents, Cagney started eating.
"Well at least we're off to a good start," Elisa said as she went in her bedroom.
Elisa was aroused the next day with the constant ring of her phone. Elisa blindly reached for the phone knocking over her lamp in the process.
"WHAT!" Elisa said, pissed.
"Detective Maza?" A voice replied.
"Cass!" Elisa exclaimed, sitting up straight when she recognized the voice. "What's up?"
"If I woke you up I can call ba-"
"No, it's okay," Elisa said cutting Cass off.
"I'm not suppose to be telling you this," Dr. Cass said nervously, "But, I thought you should know. I was contacted by the FBI."
"The FBI?" Elisa repeated.
"Yeah," Cass confirmed. "It seems that Ms. Carter is one of 38 victims of the "Piano Wire Strangler."
"38 victims?" Elisa said. "The FBI must of had those cases under tight raps."
"The FBI told me not to tell the police that they seen me," Cass said. "They told me if this leaked out to the public, mass hysteria would ensue."
Elisa sighed angrily. "I hate it when the feds get involved in our cases."
"Yeah," Cass agreed. "That's why I'm calling you on a pay phone. I think they have our phone tapped."
"Thanks Cass," Elisa said. "You must of risked a lot to tell me this information."
"You're welcome," Cass replied. "I'll call you if I find anything else."
Elisa hanged up the phone. She took a quick glance at her clock. "Two more hours before the old 'protect and serve'," Elisa said.
Before Elisa could get out of bed, the phone ranged again.
"Hello?" Elisa answered dead pan.
"Maza, it's me," Captain Chavez said. "I'll get straight to the point, George Walter was murdered."
George Walter's apartment, an hour later
Elisa walked in the apartment. She was greeted to the sight of cartons of old Chinese take out, Dominoes pizza boxes, and beer bottles scattered all over the apartment. In the middle of the living room was the body of George Walter. The CSU officer was knelt beside the body doing a quick look over.
"Maza, we have to stop meeting like this," the black female CSU officer said looking up at Elisa.
"How did it happen this time?" Elisa said flatly.
"Single gun shot to the head," The CSU officer said. "Afterwards the suspect ransacked the apartment."
Elisa looked down at George Walter. "He died as he lived, in his underwear."
Captain Chavez office, an hour later
"Now we have a double homicide on our hands," Captain Chavez said to Elisa upset. "Maza, I'm going to HAVE to contact the FBI!"
"Captain no!" Elisa said. "You can't! The FBI already contacted the late George Walter, and Dr. Cass. This means that is a serial killer running around."
"What about the death of Mr. Walter?" Chavez said. "His murder doesn't fit the pattern."
Elisa and Chavez sat there quiet. Elisa closed her eyes deep in thought.
After a few moments Elisa said, "Both murderers are one in the same."
Chavez gave Elisa a skeptical look.
"If you think about it, it makes sense," Elisa said. "Ms. Carter knew her killer. Mr. Walter didn't. Who ever killed Ms. Carter was after her for something. Since the murderer didn't have time to run through the apartment, he went after Mr. Walter. Now we both know that Mr. Walter has no access to the will, which means that-"
"The killer will go after Ms. Carter's niece!" Chavez exclaimed.
"We have to get in contact with her and send police protection." Elisa said.
"Until when?" Chavez asked. "We still don't know who the killer is."
"That's why we have to set a trap," Elisa said smugly.
Chavez smiled and nodded in agreement.
Eight hours later
After getting Ellen Carter to give in to police protection, the rest of Elisa's night was uneventful. Elisa was so bored that she took over a cop's protection detail of Ellen Carter.
Elisa went straight home after her shift. A happy Cagney was there to greet her.
"Hey Cagney," Elisa said as she picked up the cat. "Did you eat your dinner?"
Elisa walked over the Cagney's food bowl. Every bit of the pastrami was eaten. The cat food was left untouched.
"Cagney!" Elisa said, giving the cat the why-didn't-you-eat-the-rest-of-your-food look.
Cagney looked at Elisa and purred.
Elisa sighed. "I'll let you live for now," Elisa said to Cagney. "Your pastrami eating days are limited you know."
"Now it's time for a hot, muscle relaxing, shower," Elisa said as she put the cat down.
A few minutes later, Elisa was in the hot, steaming shower. After a good ten minutes, the hypnotizing waterfall sounds of the shower was diminished by a soul piercing screech.
"Cagney!" Elisa said out loud.
Yesterday, Elisa read in Cat Speak that "Cats communicate through sound, and a meow can mean many things."
That yowl could mean that Cagney is in some sort of trouble.
Elisa grabbed her shower robe and ran out the bathroom. "Cagney!" Elisa yelled out as she was placing her robe on.
When Elisa got in the living room, a man clad in all black, wearing a pantyhose stocking over his whole head was standing there.
The man had a piano wire stung tight in between his hands.
"Time to die," The man said walking towards Elisa.
Elisa bolted for her bedroom and closed the door. Elisa took her gun out of it's holster which was hanging from the back board of her bed.
Elisa aimed towards the bedroom door, and waited impatiently for the man.
The man kicked the door open, and fired 3 shots from a gun at Elisa.
"YOU BITCHES ARE BECOMING HARDER TO KILL!" The man yelled enraged.
Elisa ducked and managed to jump over her bed, and do a duck and roll.
Elisa and the man aimed their weapons at each other at the same time.
"I guess we're at a stale mate," Elisa said as she slowly got up from the ground.
The Present day...
Cagney woke up to an bombardment of noise and sensations that he didn't like. The cat tried to move but he was surrounded and covered by various paper products, making it hard to tell which way was up or down. Plus it was pitch black. Cagney's night vision was good as any other cat's but he still needed at least some light to see.
Cagney moved in the direction he thought was up, but then fell in a crevice of bounded newspaper and cardboard.
Cagney tried to jump out of his prison but then a sudden lurch caused him to lose his footing and fall deeper into the paper trap.
Cagney meowed in frustration. He was wedged in and trapped and didn't know where he was.
There was nothing to do now but wait.
After what seemed to be an eternity, everything stopped, and it was quiet for a few moments. Then there was a backwards lurch, and then a loud whirling noise.
Suddenly there was pale light and a blast of fresh air.
All of the paper moved and shifted towards the direction of the light. Cagney was now free and jumped and bounded in the direction of the river of paper.
Cagney then bumped into something firm.
"OW! Yikes?" A man voice called out.
Cagney had jumped off the chest off a Garbage man, and ran off, leaving the man standing there dumbfounded.
Bobby Trevesto was standing outside Elisa's apartment looking up at the patio where Cagney jumped off.
Bobby looked down at a paper cup and kicked it a side tiredly. Sometimes he wished his mouth didn't get him into so much trouble. There was nothing he could do now but do what Captain Chavez ordered him to do or face her wrath.
"Okay cat," Bobby thought out loud as he was looking around. "I hope you left some clue behind for me to find."
Bobby did a quick scan of the area. There was a few sheets of paper blowing down the street, and empty paper recycling bins, but nothing else out the ordinary.
Bobby raised his hands in a "I give up" gesture. There was nothing else to do but-
Then a garbage truck across the street got Bobby's attention.
The sanitation workers were finishing loading the truck of recycle glass and plastic products and was about to pull off.
Then Bobby had a brain storm.
"Bobby you have done it again," Bobby said out loud smugly as he snapped his fingers.
Then the garbage truck pulled off going down the street.
"Hey wait!" Bobby yelled as he ran after the truck.
Carmine st. and 7th ave. Manhattan
Cagney ran until he couldn't smell the weird smell anymore, but now he had another problem.
Cagney was tired.
And hungry.
Cagney figured if he was going to start looking for food, the best thing to do was to take a cat nap.
Now to find some place warm.
Cagney walked down the block until he reached a motorcycle. Cagney detected a slight aura of heat radiating from the exhaust pipe; It was warm, but not too
hot.
Cagney jumped up on the exhaust pipe, curled up and went to sleep.
Time went by too soon for the cat when he was suddenly aroused by a heart stopping roar. The owner of the 900cc red sport bike had returned.
And he was leaving.
Cagney barley had seconds to act when the cycle shifted in gear and was picking up speed, going down the street.
Cagney grabbed the exhaust pipe for dear life, and yowled in fright; Over the roar of the motorcycle, the rider couldn't hear the frightened cat.
The cycle turned on 6th ave, and started to pick up speed, causing Cagney to shift towards the edge of exhaust pipe. The back wind from the bike was like
a howling storm in Cagney's ears and his eye's watered; And there was another problem, the exhaust pipe Cagney was gripping on to was getting hot, and his
paw pads started to burn.
Thankfully, the rider hit a red light. Cagney jumped off, ran across the street, and collapsed on the sidewalk next to a street light.
"Okay pal, just put the weapon down nice and easy," Elisa said as she pointed her gun at her attacker.
The man narrowed his eye's underneath his pantyhose stocking mask.
Elisa sighed silently. She knew there wasn't going to be an easy way out of this one.
"Are you Jenney Carter's killer?" Elisa asked.
The man displayed no response.
Right, like he's going to tell me, Elisa thought to herself.
Time stretched on for almost an eternity. It was dead quiet, except for the ambivalent noise of the traffic in the background.
Elisa knew she couldn't keep this up forever, and her arm was getting tired. Elisa figured that her attacker thought the same thing, which made her wonder why he didn't try to shoot her yet. It was like he was waiting for something.
"What's wrong cop?" The man asked after the long pause, "Is your arm getting tired?"
"I still have enough strength to take you out if need be," Elisa said as she readjusted her aim with renewed energy.
"I'm tired of having my hunts disrupted," the man said with a droll sigh. "This is not my style."
"I guess piano wire is your instrument of choice," Elisa said. "That's why you have such lousy aim."
The man looked at Elisa with a baffled expression, but then he suppressed it quickly.
"It doesn't matter," the man replied. "It will be over for you soon enou-AHHHHH!"
"MEOWWWWRRRRR!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Cagney had picked that exact moment to leap on top of the man's head. The man tried to pull Cagney off, but the pantyhose mask he was wearing was working against him. The material snagged in Cagney's claws making it almost impossible for man to pull the cat off.
Elisa used the split second distraction to fire 3 shots. The first missed, hitting the ceiling, but the other two bullets hit the man sqaure in the chest.
The man hit the floor with a thud. Cagney raced off and ran undereth the sofa.
Elisa ran up to the man who had half of his pantyhose mask ripped off and was holding his bloodly chest.
"Tell me who sent you to kill me!" Elisa asked. "And who killed Jenney Carter?"
The man moaned and looked up at Elisa with glassy eyes.
"You're probably fatally wounded!" Elisa said, "It would be in your best intrest to tell me what you know!"
The man gave Elisa a fixed stare.
"Great!" Elisa sighed forcefully as she rushed to the phone and dailed 911.
Seven mintues later CSU Cop' s and EMT's were in Elisa's apartment. The Cop's were taking pictures and collecting evidenace. The EMT's were working on
Elisa's attacker. Detectives were interviewing Elisa.
And that's when Elisa's boss, Captain Chavez walked in.
After Flashing her badge to the uniformed cops, Chavez went up to Elisa. "Are you alright Maza?" She asked.
"Yeah I guess," Elisa said tiredly. "I can't say the same for my attacker though. The EMT's are working on him right now."
And that's when Elisa told Captain Chavez what happened. "He was stubborn to the end," Elisa said. "I tried to get him to tell me who sent him but he wouldn't talk."
"-And he's not talking anytime soon," An EMT said as he was taking off his gloves. "Your suspect is dead."
Elisa didn't know if she should be thankful or frasrated.
"Did the man have anything on him?" Chavez asked.
"He didn't have any ID on him," The EMT said. "The only thing on his person was a silencer for his gun."
"So we have no idea who he is," Chavez said.
"All we have to do is match up the DNA from Maza's attacker to the sample we have," The CSU officer said. "Then this case is solved."
"Which I doubt," Elisa replied. "When I asked my attacker about the piano wire he looked surpised, as if he didn't know what I was talking about."
"Well we'll find out soon enough," the CSU officer said.
"Until we have all of this figured out, Maza you're going to have police protection," Chavez said.
"What!" Elisa exclaimed, "Captain, that's not fair! The guy is dead! Who ever sent him is not going to send another person to-"
"It wasn't my orders," Chavez said cutting Elisa off.
"Then who's?" Elisa asked.
Before Captain Chavez could answer, Peter Maza walked in the apartment.
"DAD!" Elisa said shocked. "But-"
"No buts," Peter Maza said. "I have two uniformed officers downstairs looking at ID's and questioning anyone who comes in the building. I also have officers
in a squad car parked near the back enterance to this building."
Elisa looked at her Captain as if she betrayed her.
"It was either that or a partner," Chavez said.
Elisa shrugged her shoulders in defeat. Anything was better than a partner. The only reason why Elisa didn't have a partner already was because Captain Chavez was a friend of the Maza's for many years, and Peter Maza was Maria Chavez's boss a long time back. And Captain Chavez wasn't about to do anything that would risk the life of Peter Maza's daughter.
"Alright fine!" Elisa said acceptingly as if she swallowed something bad tasting.
Twenty mintues later everyone left the apartment leaving Elisa alone. The only evidenace of what happened that day was a blood stain on the carpet in the middle of the livingroom. Elisa reminded herself to get that professionally cleaned later. But right now she needed rest.
Elisa plopped herself on the sofa. Cagney suddenly appeared from his hiding place and sat on Elisa's lap purring happily.
"Hey Cagney," Elisa said petting the cat, "I forgot to thank you for the save today."
As Elisa was petting the cat, for the first time she noticed how unusually wide his collar was. Elisa wondered why such a small cat would need such a-
Elisa's thoughts were cut off when she felt something hard inside of the leather collar. Elisa then took the collar off the cat to see what it was. There was a small
slit inside the collar, and when Elisa fingered it, a brass key fell out.
"What is this?" Elisa said as she picked up the key.
Elisa inspected the key. By the look of it, it was inside of Cagney's collar for a long time because it was heavily tarnished.
Elisa turned the key on the other side. There was writing on the key.
IF I'M DEAD,
SHAVE MY HEAD.
Elisa was so taken back by the grim saying she almost dropped Cagney.
This case was now coming together. Jenney Carter was no fool. She knew that eventually somebody was going to come after her. It was like Ms. Carter was
speaking to Elisa from the grave. But who was after Ms. Carter and why? Elisa didn't know yet, but one thing was for sure, whatever Ms. Carter 's killer
was looking for was right under his nose all this time.
Elisa petted Cagney and she knew that she wasn't going to get any sleep today.
To be continued...