Dib sat with his head in his hands, staring at the concrete between his feet. He looked up as Henry Pacino was led from the house gently by a Utica officer.

"Stop, wait," the older man said when they passed him. Dib lifted his head as the man reached down to take his hand, folding it in both of his own and shaking it rapidly.

"Thank you. Thank you! You saved my life."

Dib forced a smile and nodded.

"Stay away from it," Henry warned as the officer encouraged him to keep moving. He released Dib's hand and pointed at him, hand trembling. "Stay away. It will kill you. That thing is a fucking monster."

Dib watched as the officer led him to a patrol car and helped him into the back seat. They hadn't been able to make any sense of what he'd said since they arrived. Chalked it up to shock, for now. The old man had blathered on about a monster and Dib being his guardian angel. An EMS had looked at Dib's head and wrapped it but said he would need stitches, which he had no intent of getting. He was sporting a beautiful shiner from the alien's beating, among other bruises and gashes, but he'd come out pretty okay considering what could have happened.

"Dib Membrane?" He looked up again at his name and nodded, getting to his feet slowly.

"I have orders to detain you." Dib looked down as the officer took a pair of cuffs from his belt and stepped behind him. He lifted his arms obligatorily as he was patted down, his phone, keys, and gun removed, and then cuffed behind his back. He went to the car silently, sliding in the back and looking out the window at the house. Other officers combed the property, investigating every nook and cranny fruitlessly. They'd find no trace of the intruder, the 'monster'. Just a suspicious, suspended Norwich detective.

Charles slammed a hand down on the table in front of him, making him jump.

"Damnit Membrane, this is shit."

Dib stared at the table silently.

"First the Brendle kid, now this Pacino. What is your angle?"

"Just a hunch," Dib replied.

"Fucking hunch," Charles spat, pacing over to the door and back. "That's not going to satisfy shit. You just so happen to arrive right after that kid was murdered, then you show up to shadowbox with some fuckin' thing in this guy's bedroom. I'm not buying it."

"I saved his life, isn't that satisfying enough?"

"You know damn well its not." Charles pulled out the chair and sat across from him, leaning forward on the table.

"Look, Dib, I'm trying to keep your ass out of prison but you've got to help me out here."

Dib sighed, rubbing his temple, and nodded.

"Okay. Henry Pacino used to run a sideshow in Utica, about a decade ago. When it closed down he sold an asset to the brothel owner."

"The murdered woman?"

"Yeah. She 'employed' this.. asset for the past decade. When we busted the place up, I'm guessing this asset took the opportunity to exact a little revenge."

"You're saying a goddamn prostitute is our murderer?"

Dib nodded, leaning an elbow on the table and putting his forehead in his hand.

"Well who is it, what's her name?"

"I don't know."

"What's her description?"

"Don't know."

Charles sat back and shook his head.

"Un-fucking-believeable. You know that? That's bullshit. That Brendle kid?"

"He worked with the sideshow. With the.. prostitute, in particular. They were abusive."

"And the whorehouse wasn't a vacation."

Dib nodded. Charles stared at him thoughtfully for what felt an eternity before getting up and leaving the room. He returned a few minutes later with a brown envelope and held it out. Dib took it slowly and opened it, peeking inside. He pulled his badge out out and ran a thumb over it before looking up again questioningly.

"I don't know your methods, and you're damn sure going to answer for this, but you're back on it."

Dib rose and clipped the badge to his belt. He stepped past his supervisor to leave.

"Membrane," Charles caught his arm as he passed and he glanced at him.

"Don't make me regret this."

Dib met his eye a moment and nodded.

He checked his possessions out at the front desk and made a call, then sat on a bench in front of the station as he waited, watching people going in and out of the building. He stood when he saw Steven's car pull up.

"Jesus, you look rough," Steve said as he pulled away from the curb and Dib clicked his seatbelt.

"Rough night," he replied, leaning his head back against the seat and closing his eyes.

"You saved that old guy though."

"How do you know?" Dib side-eyed him. He smiled.

"I know everything around here. Small town attitude. Plus working with the PD doesn't hurt either. So what happened?"

"I followed up on the address. I arrived just in time, jumped the guy."

"Putting yourself out there. You're lucky you got away. So the.. alien, got away?"

Dib sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, he left before I could stop him."

"What now?"

"I've been thinking about that. I don't have any more leads."

"No one else who worked there?"

"I don't know. It might be over."

"Do you really believe that?"

Dib stared out the window and didn't reply.

Steven parked behind his car and Dib thanked him as he got out. He promised to keep in touch and waved as Steve drove off. Dib fished his keys from his pocket and looked at the house down the street. Pacino likely had been released by now, after giving his statement. Dib glanced around, then started walking towards the house.

Henry cracked the door cautiously but threw it open as he recognized Dib.

"My savior! Come in!"

Dib stepped past him into the living room, looking around. The place seemed different in the daylight.

"Please, sit!" Henry gestured at the couch and Dib obliged.

"What can I get you? Coffee, tea?"

"Nothing, thank you."

The older man nodded and sat in a chair across from him, grinning.

"What can I do for you?"

"You know about him," Dib said quietly. "I want to know."

The man's smile slipped and he sat back, nodding.

"It, he, is alien." His thick Italian accent sobered, giving him an aged Godfather feel. "He was here to destroy us. I did us a favor by culling him for so long."

"How'd you do it?" Dib asked.

"I bought him off traders in Paris," he replied, staring into space as he remembered. "I used to travel, seeking out the exotic for my show. They didn't say where they'd gotten him, they just took my money and handed him over in chains. I brought him back to America and he was with me for ten years. He brought in a lot of money. Everyone wanted to see the 'real, live alien'!" He chuckled. "He was good for awhile. He didn't speak, didn't resist. Just went back and forth from his cage to his booth and he sat there all day while the kids, they pointed and gaped and stared."

Dib watched him as he spoke, seeing the passion he must have once had for his show, however cruel it was.

"They'd given me this.. this computer chip, in a little box. Said not to give it to him, it was dangerous. I was getting bad reviews after awhile. After all the computers and technology came, nobody was excited anymore, they were bored. I wanted to make the show more exciting, I wanted more from him. I put it in him, his little backpack. He hurt one of my summer assistants, a high school boy. We said it was tiger, tiger was killed." He shrugged. "We took it back out. I sold him to woman from Norwich when we closed down."

"The bordello owner."

Henry looked up at him, frowning. "Bordello?"

"Yeah. She sold him to perverts nightly."

"Oh, I did not know." He was quite for a moment. "How did you find him?"

"I broke up the club and took him home," Dib replied honestly. "She gave me the chip and I gave it to him."

The older man nodded, "You were curious?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"He's dangerous. He'll kill us, all of us."

Dib sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, then rose.

"Do you know where any of your other former employees are? Anyone else he'd want to hurt?"

"No, no.. That was long ago. I'd forgotten about it myself."

"Thank you for your time," Dib stood and offered a hand. "I wasn't here."

Henry stood as well and nodded quickly, shaking his hand.

"Oh no, not since late night, haven't seen you."

Dib smiled and took his leave. He slid into his vehicle and sat for awhile before starting the drive home.