And a new Mame chapter. Thanks for reviewing, guys and girls. You're amazing.

Chapter 4

The call next morning came late, but it came. Ryan would have loved to smash his cell phone against the wall, but he took the call anyways, "Yeah, it's Wolfe."

"Morning, Shorty. It's Walter. We have a case. I can pick you up at your place."

"Err, no, that won't be necessary…"

Walter laughed, "Ah, I see, you got lucky tonight. So, you might just wanna come over here."

"Where is it?"

"The club where we were yesterday. DB in a freezer. You know what's funny?"

"There's something funny about that?"

"Yeah. The guy that harassed Valera yesterday? Deep Freeze."

Mame gave a chump such an ice cold 'No'… for 7 days they shovelled snow… (1) Ryan moaned, "Does Nicole know already?"

"Yeah. I think she pulled a muscle while laughing."

"I'll be there in 30 minutes." He hung up and looked down at Mame, who had woken up and now looked back at him with her big eyes. "I'm sorry, I gotta go."

She sighed, "And I hoped we could have brunch… with desert. You know... I would like to see you naked. Like, all naked. Without the shirt."

Ryan froze, but managed to answer, "Ah, well… I'm sorry, but there's a DB out there that needs to be processed…"

"We could have a quickie under the shower…"

Ryan shook his head, "Some other time." That goes of course for the brunch and the desert. Not for the shower or for taking my shirt off. His scars had suddenly started itching again.

They hadn't stopped itching when he arrived at the club. He had only grabbed his kit at home, not bothering to change. Walter would tell them all where he had been anyways. When he saw Nicole's silver Merc standing on the parking lot, he sighed. She'll never let me hear the end of it… Next to it was Natalia's Hummer and Walter's car.

Nicole stood outside the club at the door with some patrols. When she saw him, she walked over to him, in her eyes a glint of sadness, "You didn't go home with Mame, did you?"

"I did go home with her. So what? Anything bad about that?"

"Wow, you're in a great mood."

Ryan shook his head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to… She said something which… well anyways. I heard Valera's friend from yesterday is dead?"

"As can be… it looks as if he had been in a blizzard. Remember the blizzard back in Manhattan…" (1)

"See, this is why I was hoping you weren't there today."

She laughed, "Oh, come on, Ryan. I'm just kidding. But you gotta admit, it is a coincidence."

"Yeah, but just that. I stopped believing in this crap after that coffin disappeared. It makes life much easier."

Nicole remembered the case, "Didn't you actually start believing in that crap when the coffin disappeared?"

"We could explain it all. It's science, nothing more."

"Yeah, coffins turning into thin air can be explained by science. Anyways. The dead guy? He had it coming. I talked to the bouncers. Apparently he made some fuss here again long after we left. They had to throw him out."

"But apparently he got back in…"

Nicole nodded, "Natalia found out how. Backdoor window. It leads to the storage room where they keep the meat for their snacks. In the freezer. The freezer was empty. Except for the body."

"Who found the body?"

"Waiter. He wanted to check how much meat they have to order for tonight and immediately called it in."

"M.E. there already?"

"Yeah, Tom is working already."

"Tom?" Ryan sighed, "Does he know the movie too?"

"No… But I may or may not have been singing the song all morning. And with Walter telling me that you have slept over at Mame's tonight just when Tom arrived… He might have gotten it."

"Thank you so much guys. With friends like you, I don't need Erica anymore."

The next few hours were spent on the crime scene. They found fingerprints and DNA.

Now, a very tired Valera was running the sample Ryan had brought in. "Nothing in CODIS. But the donor is female."

Nicole grinned, "Mame gave a chump such an ice cold..." (1)

"No!" Ryan interrupted. Just because the donor is female doesn't mean it's Mame. And, by the way, she does have an alibi. She was with me the whole night."

Nicole tilted her head, "The whole night? You didn't fall asleep?"

"Oh, come on, Nicole, that's bullshit. I would have noticed if she had left the bed, put on some clothes, went out to kill somebody, and then returned and lay down next to me again."

Nicole scratched her head, "You didn't notice the cat lying on your face when you crashed at my place."

Valera frowned, "You crashed at her place? When?"

"About two years ago. And I did notice it. The cat almost suffocated me."

"Did you sleep in the same bed?" Valera put the sample down.

"No, he slept on my couch. Yeah, but come on, you have quite the sound sleep."

"How would you know that? I was having the worst nightmares in my life back then. I didn't sleep soundly!"

"Why was he having nightmares?" Now, Valera was curious.

"Because the cat almost suffocated him. But you slept soundly after we talked, remember? You didn't hear me getting up, walking the dog, preparing breakfast… You just slept."

"Because I didn't get a lot of sleep the whole time before."

"Why didn't you get sleep before?" Valera asked her questions so randomly that neither Ryan nor Nicole noticed it properly.

"Because I… I had trouble back sleeping then. Look, Nicole, I know you don't like her…"

"It's not about me liking her or not. I'm just following a lead. I wish to God she was the one for you, and I wish you all the best, and I hope you get a decent girlfriend, but she might not be what she pretends."

"If you hope he gets a decent girlfriend why don't you date him yourself?"

Nicole was about to give an answer, but then turned to Valera, "Maxine, I do have a boyfriend."

"Yeah I know, I was just thinking. You're fighting like a couple who has been together for ages."

Ryan was annoyed by the conversation, "Look, Nicole, I appreciate your worry, but I am grown up."

"I know that, Ryan. Still…"

Ryan sighed, "Okay, yeah. There might be a teensy weensy possibility she got up without me noticing… I'm gonna talk to her." He bit his lip. "No, I shouldn't do that. If anything…" He looked up. "Am I fucking up this case? If I talk to her?"

Nicole shrugged, "I don't know. The easiest way to clear her would be to get us a DNA sample to compare our DNA to, but no judge will ever give me a warrant on those grounds."

Ryan shook his head, "Not in a million years. Listen, I… I really don't know. Could you talk to her? And take Jesse with you? Just pretend you're asking everybody who was at the club."

Nicole nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that. Hey, don't worry. What are the odds?"

"You know how things go in my life. The odds have never been higher." He thanked Valera for the result and walked out.

Nicole followed him, "Wait a second." As he stopped, she said, "I admire your professionalism. If only everybody in this lab was like this." She glanced briefly over to Firearms. "I'm sure Mame was with you the whole night. And I'm sorry for bringing this up anyways."

"It's your job. You're a pro, too." He sighed, "I guess I just don't want to believe she used me to get her an alibi. You know, yesterday before I fell asleep I thought how great it feels for once to not be used by a woman. And now…"

Nicole placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no reason to worry right now. I'll get the information first thing now. Here, I have Jesse's number already typed in. I'm sure everything will be good."

He gave her a brief smile, "Thanks for your support. And... Thanks for not telling Valera why I was having nightmares…" His voice trembled a bit, as it always did when he remembered the Russian and his pliers. "I appreciate it."

She smiled back, "I would never tell anybody about it, Ryan. What happens in Nicole's former flat stays in Nicole's former flat." She hesitated for a second, but then hugged Ryan, "I'm so sorry for what you have to go through. But don't forget that your life isn't all fucked up. You still have Ron and Ann."

He froze under her touch, but then slowly laid his arm around her shoulder, "And you and Natalia. Two of the most amazing girls on earth."

(1) The second verse of Put the blame on Mame

Can it be? Is it possible that Mame has done this? We've yet to find out :o)