Cain arrived at the 9th Street Precinct. There were three armed guards at the door frisking everyone who entered. The one guard recognized him but he still stopped him. "I'm sorry Major, but orders are orders." He made sure that Cain had no other weapon other than his licensed handgun and then left him through. He bypassed the reception desk and went straight to the elevator. He pushed the button for the fourth floor. After a short ride he made a left and headed straight to Sergeant Costello's office.

He knocked on the office door and a familiar deep voice echoed from inside, "Come in."

Cain entered and saw his old friend sitting at his desk. Sergeant Costello looked up at him and said, "Mornin' Cain," and then went back to signing off on some paperwork.

Cain took off his hat and sat down in the visitor's chair across from the desk. He saw the dark circles under Costello's eyes and wondered if he had been home at all to see his family. "You look like hell," he told him.

Costello looked up at Cain and smirked. He looked as tired as he felt. "You don't look so hot yourself, honey." And then he went back to his paperwork.

Cain smiled briefly and then his expression became serious again. "I got your message."

Costello stopped what he was doing and put his pen down. "It's about Detective Spencer." Cain continued to look at him, his blue eyes pale in the morning sunlight. "He committed suicide yesterday afternoon."

An expression of shock crossed Cain's face. "What do you mean he committed suicide? He'd never do anything like that."

"You and me both," Costello replied. "But he did. He was found in one of the parks by a patrol." He paused, "He used his gun."

That sounds too violent for him. Cain asked, "What about that girl he was watching?"

"Rebecca? No one can find her." Costello replied dryly. "We already checked out her school and talked to everyone that might have known her. They all saw her before the attack but not since. Out of normal procedure we put her on the missing child list."

For a moment, neither said anything. Then Costello added, "I bet you can't guess the little surprise Spencer left behind either."

Cain shrugged his shoulders, "Probably not at this point."

"He was married," replied Costello rather matter-of-factly.

"Come again?," asked Cain incredulously.

"We found him wearing a wedding ring Cain." Costello read the disbelief on his face but said nothing more.

Cain looked down at his hat and fiddled with it. He only saw Spencer once or twice since he had been back and even then the meetings were just passing hellos in the hallway. He felt sick on his stomach. He wished he had said more to him. Out of the four of them he was always the sensitive one.

Costello opened a desk drawer and took out a picture. "Cain." At the mention of his name he looked up. Costello shoved the picture his way. Cain reached over and picked it up to look at it.

"That was found on him." Costello reached into the same drawer and pulled out a child's scarf. "Along with this." He tossed it over to Cain who caught it with one hand.

Cain cocked his head slightly and asked, "Is this his family?"

"We're guessing so. Rebecca's not in the picture so we don't know if he was telling the truth or not about their relationship."

Cain sighed. "He never gave any indication that he was in any trouble?"

Costello saw the downward turn in his friend's eyes. "No, he didn't."

Cain did not say anything. He continued to gaze into the picture. His family was smiling broadly for the camera. Spencer, if you were in trouble, why couldn't you let us know?

Costello's voice brought his attention back. "Spencer's apartment was already checked out by some of the other detectives. But I want you to come with me to take another look."

Cain wearily stood up. He looked out the window and felt the heat from the morning suns. He let his guilty thoughts about Spencer drift to Jill. He hoped that Glitch was keeping her occupied for at least a few hours. He knew that he would make it an interesting day; just because he was Glitch. But then again, this was Glitch. He did not want to leave Jill alone but he did not have much choice either. Duty called… yet again.

He heard the squeak of a chair and knew that Costello got up. "So, are you going to come along?"

Cain turned and said, "Yeah, let's get going."

Jeb briskly walked the downtown streets. Fortunately Samantha's father's business was unaffected by the explosion. It was a few blocks to the east of 41st and Main.

It was only a few more minutes until he reached the store. He opened the door and a polite jingle announced his presence. Both Samantha and her father, John, waved briefly to him. They were both busy with customers.

Samantha was showing a recently engaged couple the different types of wedding rings when out of the corner of her eye she saw him take out his pocket watch to look at the time.

"If you would excuse me, I need to meet with someone for a few moments. Why don't you continue looking and I will return in just a few minutes," she asked the couple. The gentleman nodded for her to go on ahead and she quickly walked over to Jeb.

He took her hands in his and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I don't have much time but I wanted to see you. How are you and your parents doing?"

"Obviously they're shaken up like everyone else is. But we're all doing okay", she replied. She brushed her hand alongside his cheek and felt the stubble. "How many days are you scheduled for?"

"I don't know yet. Everyone's to report and stay in the barracks until further notice." He paused, "And yeah, I know, I need to shave before I report again." He breathed in her sweet floral perfume, trying to memorize the scent. He knew that it would be awhile until he smelled it again.

"Oh, here." He reached his arm over to the counter and gave her a small brown bag. She took it and looked inside. In his most royal formal voice he announced, "Crumpets my dear lady."

Samantha laughed and hit him lightly on the arm. "Stop it, Jeb."

She looked over at her customers and saw that they had stopped looking at the rings. "I need to get going. Call or stop by when you get the chance," she told him.

"I will," Jeb replied. He took another deep breath and held it, letting her sweet perfume linger in him once last time.

He gave her one last peck on the cheek and turned to walk away. As the door jingled, she called after him, "Jeb." He stopped and looked at her. "Be careful," she told him. The look of concern was heavy on her face.

"Don't worry, I will," he said as he smiled and went out the door.

As he walked down the street he looked around. The streets did not look as busy and people rushed to their destinations. The whole attitude of the city had changed. Without thinking his hand drifted to his side, checking to make sure his gun was still in its place and he continued down the street.

Detective Spencer's apartment was located in a modest neighborhood with tree lined streets and white picket fences. It was near the park where his body was found. The apartment was the converted second floor of a large old house with an old-fashioned wrap-around porch. The elderly landlady, Mrs. Jeirles, was shocked when she first heard the news of Detective Spencer's death. The detectives who showed up on her doorstep, out of respect, only stated that he passed away. There was no need to tell her the gory details.

Sergeant Costello and Cain walked up the porch steps and knocked on the door. There was no answer, and Costello knocked again, this time a little louder.

They heard movement and the door opened slightly. The chain from the lock prevented the door from opening any further. Through the crack they could see a very short white haired woman. "Yes?," she asked in a soft spoken voice that cracked with the years of a long life.

"Mrs. Jeirles, this is Sergeant Costello from the 9th Street Precinct and Major Cain from the Royal Guards."

"Oh.", she replied with a little surprise. "Wait one moment."

They heard the unlocking of the chain and the door squeaked open. Standing in the doorway stood Mrs. Jeirles. She was very petite and her white hair was tied up in a bun. She wore a plain dark gray dress with a flowered half-apron. She used the apron to wipe the flour from her hands. The smell of warm baked goods drifted from the kitchen onto the porch. She had been baking cookies; like anyone's grandmother would.

Sergeant Costello spoke again. "We're sorry for disturbing you Mrs. Jeirles. But the major and I would like to examine Detective Spencer's apartment."

"Oh," replied Mrs. Jeirles again. "I don't understand why the police are so interested in Detective Spencer and Rebecca's apartment. I'll need to get the key…… Why don't you boys come inside and have a cookie?" She turned and shuffled away in to the kitchen, leaving the front door wide open.

Cain grinned from ear to ear, and with a wide sweeping gesture said, "After you. Oh, and be sure to save me a sugar one." Costello rolled his eyes at him as he stepped through the doorway.

They politely ate the cookies that Mrs. Jeirles offered to them and then Sergeant Costello reminded her about the key to the apartment. She reached into her apron pocket and handed it to him. "Just follow the outside stair case up to the apartment," she told them.

The apartment was cold. The heat had been turned off and the curtains were drawn shut. Cain walked over to a window and let the morning sunlight fill the room. The apartment was in perfect order. It was in disturbingly perfect order.

"This is odd." Cain said to Costello as he walked through the living room into the kitchen. "Spencer was always a neat freak but this goes way beyond him." He opened the refrigerator. There was a small bottle of milk. That was it.

Costello stood in the entranceway with his arms folded. "The detectives saw that too. The only other thing they found was a box of kids' cereal. It was like he fed Rebecca her last meal."

Cain shook his head as he continued to look around and open cupboard doors. "Do you think that he killed her before doing himself?"

Costello paused. "The old Spencer never would have. And I don't think he did now either."

Costello moved out of Cain's way and they both walked into Rebecca's bedroom. There were many dolls on her bed. Cain walked over and picked one up. It had long curly black hair and blue eyes. He briefly wondered if that was what DG looked like when she was little and then he pushed the thought from his mind. He looked through her closet and dresser drawers but found nothing more than clothes and toys. Like the kitchen, there was nothing to arouse any suspicion.

Then they went into Detective Spencer's bedroom. Cain walked over to the dresser and found a picture. It was from the Academy. As he held it in his hand Costello said, "Yeah, one of the detectives asked about that picture. I only told him that the four of us went to the Academy together but that Dale passed away a long time ago."

Cain did not say anything. He stared at it for another moment and then went to put it back on the dresser. He stopped and pulled the picture in for a closer look. "Paul, did you actually look at this picture?," he asked.

"No I didn't. Why?" Costello answered with a shrug.

Cain held the picture up and motioned for him to come over and see. "Remember Dreisher Hall?"

"Yeah," replied Costello as he looked over Cain's shoulder.

"Remember where we were?" Cain asked and turned his head around to see Costello nod his head. He turned to look again at the picture and he pointed out Dreisher Hall. "When we faced the camera, Dreisher Hall was on our left. So the guy taking the picture would have seen Dreisher Hall to his right. But here in the picture Dreisher Hall is on the left."

"Huh," was the best response that Costello could come up with.

Cain looked at the frame a little closer. He flipped it around and tried to open the back. It would not come open. He looked away and smashed the frame hard against the dresser. He carefully picked the rest of the glass out of it and carefully took out the picture. He flipped it over. No names or dates were written on the back. There was only a symbol. It was the letter Z on its side with a vertical line down through it.

Costello looked at the symbol. After a moment he said, "Petey had that same symbol on his desk. It was mixed in with all of his trinkets from the other world."

"Oh yeah? Jill recognized this same symbol too. She couldn't remember where she had seen it before but it's on the Wolfsangel Tavern sign."

Cain put the picture in his coat pocket. Costello raised an eyebrow and asked him, "You know that's evidence don't you?"

"And your point is?," Cain replied. He continued looking around the room when something caught his eye behind the nightstand. He went over and reached his hand between the wall and the nightstand. He pulled out a small block of a gray putty-like substance. Some sort of metal flakes had been mixed in with it though. The flakes sparkled as Cain turned the block around in the sunlight.

He stood up and Costello walked over closer to him again. "That looks like the same stuff we found in the bathroom."

"What is it?" Cain asked.

"We don't know. No one could identify it at the Precinct and when we asked for help from the Royal Academy, they confiscated it. We can't get an answer or even an acknowledgment from anyone over there."

Cain held the block of putty up to the window some more. Without thinking he said, "I know someone who might be able to tell us what it is."

Costello read his thoughts, "You're talking about that Jill again aren't you?"

Cain was silent; instantly regretting what he just said aloud. He knew what was going to come next.

"Are all secretaries also alchemists in her world?" Costello asked as he folded his arms again.

Cain did not answer him. He brushed past Costello a little hard and went to the other side of the bed. He looked for more blocks of the putty-like substance.

"Cain, you know as much as I do that there's more to her than she's lettin' on." Cain continued to ignore him.

"The old Cain would've had her in the interrogation room under a spotlight in the blink of an eye." Costello continued to press on.

Cain looked up at his old friend, his expression stone cold, "I'm not that old Cain anymore,…… and you're not that old Costello either," he snapped back.

Costello snorted. "That may be so. But you got a job to do too."

Cain stormed out of the bedroom and went back into the living room. He walked over to the window and stared out in to the street. A group of boys pedaled past on their bicycles.

Costello followed him but stayed back towards the apartment door. "Did you tell her about what we talked about the other day in my office?"

Cain's eyes narrowed, "No. I haven't gotten a chance to yet."

Costello hissed. "What do you mean, not yet? I can't believe that you were even considering it."

Cain remained silent.

"She's a total stranger and you were going to tell her about my suspicions that there are inside jobs going on? That there's something bigger going down? " He paused to catch his breath. "Do you have any fucking clue that we found caches of weapons? Big weapons too, and that the palace has been covering it up?"

Cain continued to stare out the window; his fist slowly clenching together.

"For all you know she's part of it and wouldn't think twice of snitching us out." He paused again and his face furled in anger, "Maybe she already has…. And to think that you left her in the palace."

Cain angrily turned around and snarled. "She's not a snitch." But he knew that he did not have any proof of that and no amount of talk was going to convince Costello otherwise.

Costello stared back at Cain, his eyes burning and his face hard. "You got a thing for her, don't you?," he said accusingly. "Why else would you continue to protect her?"

Cain's voice dropped a level, "You can't stand there and tell me that if someone showed up on your doorstep with nothing but the clothes on their back that you wouldn't help them."

Costello took a side step to move in front of the apartment door and crossed his arms. "I'd help them alright. But I swear to the gods if they were dressed in those other clothes I would've hauled their ass to the nearest precinct. You of all people should understand that."

"I already lost my heart once while I was locked up in that fucking suit and I'm not going to lose it again," Cain replied heatedly. "If someone needs help, outworlder or not, I'm going to help 'em."

Costello's eyes burned in to his. He finally left the subject drop but not before he got in his last barb, "You're a god damned fool Wyatt and it's going to get you killed yet." He opened the apartment door and growled, "Anything else you want to look at?"

Cain did not immediately respond. He took one final look around the living room and said, "No, there isn't. Spencer knew we'd come here." He put his hand in his pocket to make sure that he still had the picture. He had no intention of giving it to Costello.

They left the apartment and while Costello gave the key back to Mrs. Jeirles, Cain waited in the squad car. She offered him some more cookies but he politely declined and left.

From her living room window she watched him get into the squad car. After they left she started to walk towards the kitchen and then stopped.

She looked down at the floor as she raised her arms to the ceiling. Her body began to tremble and then it morphed. What once was a petite old woman was now a young, tall slender woman with pale green skin. She shook her head and her red hair tumbled down her waist. She took her hand and ran it through her hair. In a high sing-song voice she said to herself, "That's so much better." She marched in to the kitchen and began to eat some of the cookies that she had just made. Morphing always made her hungry.