Sorry I'm a day late getting these two chapters up, it's a combination of some computer problems and a family situation. But here's the next ones. As always, make sure you haven't missed any previous chapters!

I don't own anything or anyone.

Chapter Eleven - Time and Tide

Outside, Barlow and Hutch paused at Barlow's car.

"So, what do you think of all this?" Barlow asked uneasily.

Hutch shrugged. "Didn't Starsky ever tell you about the Haymes kidnapping? When we had to use Joe Collandra, the psychic? If Mary has even a vestige of the talent that Collandra has, it'll be worth it to just have her look at the mug book tomorrow. The rest of it, all that stuff about the stars and the drowned city... she's probably picking up on the hallucinations the drug users are having, that's all."

"You think that's possible?"

"Well, I don't think there's a big green monster with wings and tentacles coming to get us, but that they might be seeing common delusions, yeah. You said that the people you knew who smoked the toad venom saw things that were similar to each other, so there's no reason why this stuff can't cause common hallucinations too."

"Yeah, but Hutch... the toad venom really did come from the desert, just like people saw. The visions were accurate."

"So maybe this stuff really does come from the ocean, and the rest of it is just metaphor."

Barlow looked as though he were about to say something more, when he stopped, and stared off over Hutch's shoulder. "Hey, Hutch. Isn't that the same guy who was watching your house last night?"

Hutch spun around. Across the street the same shambling, lanky figure lurked.

"You there! Stay where you are! Police!" Hutch dashed towards the watcher without taking time to think, fumbling for his badge as he ran. Behind him he heard Steve running too.

The watcher froze for a moment, then tore off. Despite his strange, almost hopping gait, he ran tremendously fast. Hutch put on as much speed as he could, but still lagged behind the gangling, frog-like figure as it lurched towards the nearby beach.

They ran through the dark, silent neighborhood, Hutch unable to gain on his opponent, and in fact loosing ground. By the time he actually reached the waterside, the lurker had vanished completely.

Hutch was standing on the boardwalk, leaning against a pole, panting slightly, when Barlow thudded up to him.

"What happened? Where'd he go?" the younger man puffed out.

Hutch shrugged and gestured around. The empty beach lay around them, with no one in sight. "I lost him somehow," he admitted.

They stood for a few moments to catch their breath.

"Wheew. Must be low tide. Smell that stench." Barlow coughed.

Hutch nodded, sniffing the fishy, salty miasma. It really was foul, like something rotting. "Funny, I never smelt it this bad before down here." The waves pounded against the shore, and the wind blew another blast of the reek at them. "Let's get out of here."

Wearily the two men started back towards the house. When they got there, they stopped at Barlow's car again.

"Tomorrow, while Mary goes through the mug books looking for tall black drug dealers, I'll go through them too and see if I can put a name to that face. There can't be too many people in Bay City who look like that."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Barlow shuddered a little. "So I'll pick you up again tomorrow?"

Hutch nodded and slapped Barlow on the shoulder. "See you then."

"Right. See you."

Barlow drove off. Hutch watched him out of sight, then went back into the house.

Starsky looked up in concern. "What was all the commotion? I heard yelling, but when I went to look you were gone."

"Have you seen anyone watching the house the last few days?" Hutch asked.

Starsky paused to consider. "No, I don't think so."

"I saw someone when we came in," Kolchak unexpectedly volunteered. "Nasty looking guy. You think he's been hanging around?"

"I saw the same person last night and again today," Hutch confirmed. "Just now I tried to get hold of him to question, but he got away."

"You gotta' be careful" Mary put in nervously. "There was an evil atmosphere outside when we got here. I felt it."

"Maybe we should get someone out here staking the place out," Hutch mused.

"I think we can handle it ourselves, Hutch," Starsky sighed. "In any case, now that you and Barlow chased him off, it's not likely he'll be back tonight."

"I guess you're right," Hutch agreed unwillingly. He didn't like the idea of the lurker staring at their home. But Starsky was probably right, the strange man wouldn't come back that night. Knowing that didn't make him any happier, however. Dissatisfied, he went to start dinner.

Over spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and red wine they discussed arranging Kolchak's permission to use the Jameson College library and getting Mary to the police station the next day to look at the mug books. Starsky agreed to call the Jacobs at midnight (which Hutch wasn't happy about, he had wanted to be in bed earlier) and then call Kolchak at his hotel with the results, and Mary agreed to take the bus over to the station the next morning if someone would drive her home.

After dinner, Kolchak took Mary home, and the two detectives settled into wary silence.

"Hutch? You angry at me for this?" Starsky finally asked.

Hutch sighed. "No, Babe. I just wish the whole thing hadn't come as such a surprise when I got here. But if Mary can really give us a lead to who's responsible for this stuff, then I'm happy."

"But what if she's right about the rest of it, Hutch?"

"Right about what, Starsk? She hasn't said anything about anything else, just that there's something evil coming, which could simply mean the drug itself."

"She doesn't think that's all there is to it, though. And I think she may be right."

"Well, Starsk, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. You know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on everything, like when you hid Sharman Crane, or how you handled the situation with Emily Harrison, but I've always supported you, even when I thought you were wrong."

"Yeah. I know that. Thanks, Hutch." He snuggled up against him suggestively.

"Don't start anything you don't have time to finish before you have to call the Jacobs," Hutch muttered darkly. He had really been looking forward to going to bed long before midnight.

Starsky pulled himself to his feet. "My turn to do the dishes anyway," he said regretfully, and started clearing the table.

Then it was time for Hutch to walk the dog.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Starsky asked. "What if that guy's come back?"

Hutch turned and showed him the Magnum in his hand. "Don't worry, Starsk. This time, I'm ready." He holstered the gun, leashed the dog, and set out.

This time there was no sign of the unknown watcher. Euripides seemed nervous, however, and whined anxiously when Hutch tried to lead him in the direction the stranger had taken. Hutch decided discretion was the better part of valor, and allowed him to take his walk in the opposite direction. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

After that they killed time watching TV until finally it was time to make the call. Starsky had still been hospitalized when the Jacobs left for Oxford. As he watched him dial, Hutch considered the irony of how he had managed to charm Mrs. Jacobs even though they had never met. But then, it had always been that way. Starsky's little-boy charisma had any woman with an ounce of maternal instinct willing to eat out of his hand within minutes. His new injured hero aspect had only made the attraction greater.

"Hi, Mrs. Jacobs? It's Dave, Dave Starsky. Yeah, I know it's kinda' unexpected to hear from me now. No, everything's fine. Yeah, Hutch just walked him a little while ago. And the birds are fine, too." There was a pause for a moment as Starsky listened.

"Well, what I'm really calling for is to ask a favor. Or actually, for you to ask your husband for a favor." A long pause this time.

"Well it's pretty simple. I have this friend, he's a writer, and he needs to do some research on the occult, and he says that Jameson College library has the best collection around here, but you need to have a professor's recommendation before you can use it. So I was hoping the professor could call them." Another pause. "OK, I'll hold on."

"She's talking to the professor," he told Hutch. "Oh, OK, I'll talk to him. Hi, Professor Jacobs." He patiently repeated his request, then listened. "Yeah, he's very responsible. Won't cause any damage, I promise." Because if he did, Starsky would take it out in his hide, Hutch privately filled in to himself. Or Hutch himself would, he amended.

"Yeah, he's on a deadline, so the sooner you could call, the better. Yeah, today would be great. As soon as they open. OK, let's figure out the time difference." There was a few moments while they did that, and worked out that Professor Jacobs would call the library at 4:00 pm his time, which was 8:00 am Bay City time, when they would be open. Starsky was actually good with time zones, he'd had to deal with the time difference when calling his mother for so many years.

"Thanks a million, Professor! His name is Kolchak. Carl Kolchak. Carl with a 'C', Kolchak with a 'K'." He spelled the name carefully.

After that the professor put his wife back on, and she and Starsky exchanged a few more pleasantries. It ended with Starsky promising to give her love to Euripides, the birds, and Hutch, in that order, and they ended the call.

"All right, Hutch, just gotta' call Kolchak and give him the good word, and then it's time for bed. Think you can wait, Big Boy?" Starsky batted his eyes suggestively, and winked. Hutch felt his face crimson. He stuttered something incoherent. Starsky laughed, and dialed Kolchak's number.