Chapter 11 – Telling Dreams

T-Chan forced himself to feign sleep when Leon's coworker rushed towards him. He usually wasn't in the main guest room when any other humans were present, not visibly, at least. He recognized the scent: detective Freshney. His ears told him that her attention was on Leon, and that she was upset. The memory of Leon's phone going off in his pocket came back. Was it her that had been trying to call him? Would she be so upset that she'd come here so late to find him?

Leon inhaled deeply, and the other detective stopped breathing for a moment, and then whispered thanks to one of the human dieties. Why was she saying thanks for? Her breathing became more normal, and she stood up. The sound of Count D's movements joined hers, and they both made their way into the kitchen. When the sounds of their footsteps passed through the door into the next room, his ears picked up the sound of another movement near him.

T-Chan opened his eyes to find Ten-Chan standing at the end of the table, looking at the door as if he were seeing through it. Kitsune eyes met Totesu's. Ten-Chan moved towards the door swiftly and slipped through it before it closed.

Count D caught the flash of a moving figure in the door that he and the detective had come through. His head turned slightly, just enough to make eye contact with Ten-Chan. The Kitsune tilted his head ever so slightly, and his expression clearly asked if everything was under control. Count D moved his head with a slow, downward tilt to convey affirmation, then looked fully at Jill and waited for her to go on.

"Why do you think you would dream such a thing about Leon?" He asked Jill with the faintest note of wonder in his calming voice.

Jill found herself mildly startled by her host's question. She'd been so entrapped in emotion by what she had dreamed, and the fact that she hadn't been able to get a hold of Leon, she actually hadn't asked herself the question just put to her. Her eyes moved to the door they had come through, as though something on the other side might hold an answer. As if she'd spotted that very answer, she looked back at Count D with slight reluctance.

"Has Leon told you anything about the case we're working on?" She asked with an expectant expression.

Count D nodded carefully and allowed her to go on as soon as she was ready.

"Leon and I were questioning people who knew the victims, to see if we could get any information about where they'd been going or who they'd been with." She seemed to comb through her memories for what she could share with him under professional guidelines. "A couple of the people that we spoke with said that Leon reminded them of the victims."

A slight smile twitched at the corners of Count D's lips. "I'm sure there are probably more than a handful of men Detective Orcot's age that may be quite a bit like himself."

The smile wasn't reflected in Detective Freshney's face. "It wasn't just that. The more that I looked over the reports, the more alike the lives of the victims were."

Memories of the conversation with Leon earlier seemed to connect with what Jill was saying now. "I realize that there may be things that you are going to be unable to tell me." He clarified in a reasuring manner. "Is it so rare that you find many similarities in two separate victims in a case such as this?"

Jill stiffened noticeably, her gaze on him sharply penitrating. "Not just two, or I'd be dismissing it a lot more easily." She confided.

Again, Jill's host tilted his head with a lack of understanding clearly in his expression. "More than two, then?"

Leon's partner regained the haunted, tormented look that she'd arrived with. "Four, now," she said with a slight quaver in her voice, "…that we've found, so far."

Ten-Chan made his way back to the guest parlor, where T-Chan had remained snuggly nestled against the pleasantly warm side of Leon's left thigh. The Totetsu opened his eyes with eager attention.

"How far do you think Orcot would go in order to catch someone he was after?" Kitsune asked Totetsu in a hushed tone.

T-Chan turned his head and shot Leon a knowing glance, then turned back to look at his housemate, "Far enough t'get himself killed," he murmered with what should have been careless ease, but now, the luxury of believing he didn't care was no longer there.

"I kinda thought you might say that," Ten-Chan whispered grimmly.