Chapter 8:
"Wait!" said Inara. The conversation of how to get Mal to come back had started to turn in a direction she was not enjoying. "Now hold on just one minute..."
"Yeah," said Kaylee. "If anyone could convince the Cap'n to come back to Serenity, it's Inara. Those two've been carrying a torch for each other for years."
"I have not..." stammered Inara. "I... well..."
"It's no use lying to us, Inara," said Kaylee, a wide grin on her face. "Just admit it."
"I won't admit to anything of the sort," said Inara, trying to hold on to her dignity. "However, I will go see Mal. But only because he belongs back on Serenity, and not because I have feelings for him, which I don't."
"Sure..."
"It was an Aztec priest," said Mal, turning to Beckett, who had just gotten off the phone with the coroner.
"What?"
"Ancient Aztec's performed human sacrifices by removing the person's heart and then burning their body," he explained.
"Lovely," she grimaced. "But I doubt it."
They walked down the hall and over to the board which contained all the information about the crime scene.
"We finally sifted through all the regular members of the church," said Detective Ryan. "Which is about fifty families. Crossing out all youths and elderly, those who were at work, out of town, or any other alibi. That narrows it to about seventeen people."
"Okay," said Kate. "I guess that's better than nothing. We'll split the list up. Ryan and Esposito: you take the first half. Castle and I'll take the rest."
"Remember," said Kate. "We're just here for routine door-to-door inquiries. We don't have a warrant yet, so one slip-up could lose us an arrest."
"Gotcha," said Mal.
They stood outside as Kate pressed the buzzer to the apartment. "Yes?" came the crackly voice through the intercom.
"NYPD," said Kate. "We were wondering, Mr. Newton, if you could help us answer questions about the death of Reverend Douglas?"
When they were buzzed up to the apartment, Kate flashed her badge, while Mal flashed his driver's license. "Mr. Augustus Newton?" asked Kate, stepping into the apartment. The space was nothing remarkable, beige and bland. The owner was nothing remarkable, either: average height, thin, dark hair, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
"It's a shame about the reverend," said Augustus, shaking his head forlornly.
"Did you know him well?" asked Kate.
"No," said Augustus. "Not really; though, he did visit me last year when I broke my leg."
"How'd you manage that?" asked Mal.
"I tripped going down the escalator at a department store."
"Good thing you weren't going up," said Mal. "Could have gone on for days."
Kate gave Mal a dirty look before turning back to Augustus. "Just as a formality, can I ask you where you were at a quarter past eight last Wednesday morning?"
"I was with Madeleine," he answered.
"Who's Madeleine?" asked Kate.
"My dog," he said. "We were having a walk in the park." As if he uttered the magic word, a small basset hound ran into the living room, yapping in excitement.
"No, Madeleine," Augustus reprimanded, shaking his finger at her. "No walk right now." He then turned back to Kate and Mal. "Very smart animals these bassets, you know. And a keen sense of smell; that's why they're such great hunters. But did you know that their long ears make them prone to ear disease, and if their ears are allowed to dangle on the ground or in food on a daily basis they are capable of developing chronic and potentially fatal ear diseases."
"That's, uh, that's real interesting," said Mal.
"I know!" said Augustus. "And did you know that because of their droopy eyes, the area under the eyeball will collect dirt and become clogged with a mucus?"
"Can't say I did," said Mal.
"Pardon me, Mr. Newton," said Kate. "But we have a lot of other people to visit today."
"Oh, of course," he said. "If you have any more questions-"
"We'll be sure to call," said Kate, practically pushing herself and Mal out the door.