“I’m sorry, we’re already closed,” he said without looking up.
Lacey approached him, pulling her badge from her pocket. “Lieutenant Anderson.”
“Oh, forgive me!” He looked startled. “I guess I should be paying more attention.”
“What’s your name?”
“Shaun. Shaun Keller. I’m the main barkeep at night.” He looked as if he wanted to offer his hand but wasn’t sure it was appropriate. “I’m off Mondays and Tuesdays, here the rest of the time.”
“Okay, Shaun. Did you see what happened here?” She took out her tablet.
“Kind of hard to miss, if you know what I mean.” He gestured to the overturned tables. “Started right in front of me.”
“Know what it started over?”
He shook his head. “Not a clue. It was busy at the time, and they had the juke going. Loud, you know?” He resumed wiping down the bar, though Lacey was sure there wasn’t a speck left anywhere on it. “I’d just turned my back to grab a bottle of Jonnie for a drink.” He mimed turning around to grab a bottle of premium scotch from its place on the counter behind him. “That’s when I heard the hollering. Them two big guys were just squaring off, but the blond one was rubbing his chin like he’d already taken one to the face.”
Shaun broke off as the door opened and Colton came in, still putting his badge back into his pocket. “Detective Scarber.” Lacey introduced him with a jerk of her head. She noticed that Shaun showed no hesitation in putting out his hand for the other man.
“Did I miss much?”
“Mr. Keller had just started to tell me what happened,” Lacey informed him smugly. Maybe now he’ll learn to get to a scene quicker.
“Then, by all means, continue.” His voice was scathing.
“Well, the black-haired guy just pulled back and socked the other one. Broke a bunch of glasses on the table he was sitting at, reaching across to get to the guy. That’s when I called for Larry.”
“Larry?” Colton asked.
“He’s our bouncer. I think he’s back there cleaning up the bathrooms.”
Colton stepped away without any urging from Lacey. Maybe he’s finally going to learn how to work with me, she thought.
“Well, anyway,” Shaun continued. “Larry took the both of them and chucked ‘em out the door. And that would have been the end of it, but for the fact that the blond guy came stumbling back in, and he’d been worked over real good.”
“How long after they’d been kicked out did he come back in?”
“Oh, maybe five, ten minutes. I was still trying to keep everyone clear of the mess until Mandy could get it cleaned up. She’s the waitress who was here tonight. She’d slipped outside for a break when it happened, didn’t see a thing. She was pretty shook up, though, seeing that poor guy beat up that bad. I sent her on home. I hope that’s okay?”
Lacey nodded, adding, “If I need to talk to her, I assume you can get me in touch?”
“Oh, yeah, no problem there. She lives in the same building I do.”
“Okay, that’s fine. What did you do next?” She made some notes in her tablet.
“Well, we called 911 right away, of course! Mandy grabbed a couple of towels, tried to stop the bleeding. Later she said that first aid course she’d taken years ago had finally paid off. The guy was kind of really out of it. I think the med tech said something about concussion or brain injury. That’s what got Mandy freaking out. She went into the office to sit down after the EMTs took him away.”
“Did they say where they were taking him?”
“Uh, Medical City, I think.”
Lacey heard Colton’s distinct footsteps as he walked back up the long hallway from the direction of the rest rooms. “Anything?” She asked when he had rejoined her.
“Not much.” Colton shifted his tablet in his large hand. “Didn’t see much, was sitting at the door there when the fight started.” He pointed to a stool situated near the front of the room. “Shaun here called to him, he dragged the perps out the door, end of story. But since he came back inside after kicking them to the curb, he’s not sure what happened before the vic came back in, alone.”
“Okay, Mr. Keller. If we have more questions, where can we reach you?” He rattled off his phone number, and Lacey added it to the case notes on her tablet. Then she turned to examine the shards of glass littering the hardwood floor. Colton followed suit.
“Check this out!” Lacey exclaimed, digging in her pocket for a pair of gloves. With great care, she plucked a piece of glass from the floor and held it up.
“Is that blood?”
She brought it closer to her nose while maintaining the integrity of the evidence and inhaled a deep breath. “I’m not sure. But it doesn’t smell human.”
Colton looked almost embarrassed, but pulled on gloves of his own. He, too, smelled the fragment of glass. His nose twitched as he inhaled deeply several times. “You’re right, it’s not human. At least not any human I’m aware of. You got a bag on you?”
Lacey removed her gloves and stood. “I’ve got some in the car. I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” She was just gone a few moments, moving quicker than any human could. She pulled on fresh gloves and held open the bag so Colton could drop the glass inside. He seemed to be very careful that his gloved fingers didn’t touch hers. Then, she sealed and initialed it.
“We should get this right to the lab. Want me to take it?”
She shook her head. “I’d planned on going to the lab myself, anyway. I want to talk to the Olfactory techs about that smell from the home invasion.”
“Do you think the cases are connected?”
“I don’t know.” She put the plastic bag into her pocket. “But the first vic, Angelica, she’d mentioned an odd odor. And then yesterday, there was that smell at Mrs. Smith’s apartment. I’m beginning to wonder if we have a serial on our hands.”
“A serial what? First a rape assault, then a home invasion, now a bar fight? What’s the common denominator? Most serials have a regular M.O. and they usually follow it to a tee!”
“Not sure,” Lacey mused. “But I think we need to find out. Interview the victim at the hospital. When you’re done there, go back to the station, start running background checks on all the vics. Find out if they have anything in common. I’ll stop at the lab first, then meet you there for a report.”
“Sure thing, boss.” His voice was laced with sarcasm.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Do this, do that! Colton left the bar fuming. She acts so high and mighty, treats me like I’m some sort of manservant! Where does she get off ordering me around? He jerked the door of his pickup open, anger turning his face to bright red. He started the truck, and pulled into the street with a squeal of tires. He reached for his coffee cup, discovering that the coffee had gone cold while he’d been tied up in the tavern. He barely contained the urge to hurl the tepid beverage onto the floor.
His anger had just begun to cool by the time he arrived at the station, only to find that someone had claimed his parking space. He roared in frustration. “Son of a bitch!” Circling the parking ramp up and down twice, he had to settle for a spot on the very top of the structure. He slammed the truck door and stalked toward the stairs, having no patience for the elevator. His footsteps echoed with a dull sound through the stairwell.
Knowing he was about to spend several hours at his computer in pursuit of a connection that likely didn’t exist only served to make his mood worse. He stomped through the bullpen, ignoring the greetings of other officers as he did. He slumped down in his desk chair, swore, and then booted up his computer.
He first entered all the information he’d gathered at the tavern as well as his interview with the victim. The poor man was going to have a hell of a shiner, and was likely to be stiff and sore for a few days at least. Then, on impulse, he combined the last three cases into one for the computer. He set it to run a search on any commonality between the victims. As it was working, he began his own
manual search, looking to see if they had shopped at the same market, used the same dry cleaners, or attended the same church. The task was tedious and helped him to shove his temper to the back of his mind, where it simmered like a pot left too long on the stove.
An hour later, and he’d had enough. His search had netted him nothing, and the computer’s search wasn’t going any better. Leaving his cubicle, he stalked into the break room, finding the coffee pot empty as usual, except for chocolate-colored dregs. He paced the small room while the scent of coffee slid tantalizingly through the air. His frustration grew as he discovered they were out of sugar. He turned his nose up at the packets of sugar-substitute, instead putting more powdered cream into the mug. He returned to his work space and prepared for another pointless hour.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
All lab work for the Dallas police department was contracted out to a privately-owned facility. It was housed in a brand-new building of sleek, shiny metal and sparkling glass. Lacey didn’t care for the architectural design of the place, but she knew that the staff inside, and their work, had always been stellar. But being inside its glass walls had always given her the creeps, the feeling of being too exposed.
Lacey didn’t have an appointment with any of the techs, and so decided to make her first stop on level two where the Olfactory unit was located. This specialty unit had been created for scents left on evidence by various species of Undead, but they were useful in identifying the smells of sachets, lotions, and scented oils as well. These techs were most often human, though there were some Shifters as well, those whose animals had a very good sense of smell. Some of them were talented enough that they could likely make much more money working for designer perfume manufacturers. Instead, they devoted their life to helping investigators identify scents on clothing, paper, and all sorts of evidence.
She’d not had much cause for dealing with the O.U. before, though she’d been in several court cases where techs had been testifying. She’d found their testimony rather interesting; her Vampire body was built to identify the scent of blood, and most things smelled like iron to her, more so if any humans were nearby. She’d forgotten the wide range of odors humans could perceive. But this was the first time she’d ever come to this building with the purpose of speaking with one of the olfactory specialists.
The first thing she noticed about the workspace belonging to the scent specialists was that it smelled clean. No, it’s not so much clean, but devoid of scent. Warily, she took in a deep breath, testing the air. Several breaths confirmed her suspicions. It didn’t even smell like humans worked here. She wondered what type of air filtration system they employed that could take away even the coppery smell of human blood coursing through veins.
It was also neat in appearance, unlike some of the lab stations where clutter seemed to collect on its own. Cubicles were clear of notes and the usual bits of flotsam that people hard at work usually left within easy reach. Fingers moved over computer keyboards, the cheerful click of the keys ringing through the room. A young man sat at a half-length counter dividing the front of the room from the rest. There was a small table and a few padded chairs near the door.
“Can I help you?” The young man’s voice held a pleasant and polite tone.
She pulled her badge. “Lieutenant Anderson. I’m sorry, I don’t have an appointment, but I was wondering if one of the techs would have a moment to speak to me.”
“Let me see what we’ve got going on.” He turned to his computer, taking only a few moments before he looked up at her. “Shellie’s free right now. Let me call her for you.”
Rather than take a seat, Lacey stood, patiently waiting with hands in her pockets. She didn’t feel the human urge to fidget. It wasn’t long before a perky woman with a riot of golden curls framing a pretty, heart-shaped face walked up to her.
“Hi, Lieutenant Anderson? I’m Shellie Munroe.” She held out a delicate hand.
Lacey shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
“You wanna come on back? We can have a chat.”
“Sure.” All at once, Lacey felt a bit out of her element. Shellie led her to a cubicle and pulled up a chair from an empty one across the walkway.
“What can I do for Dallas’ finest, lieutenant?
“Does the scent of cinnamon mean anything to you? By that, I mean associated with a species of Undead?”
Shellie’s eyes turned inward as she contemplated the question. Finally, she shook her head. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“What about pumpkin pie spice, um...wait a minute.” She pulled out her tablet, accessing the notepad application where she had jotted down reminders. “Ginger? Nutmeg? Any of these smells ever been used to describe a species of Undead? From a human’s perspective, I mean.”
“No, I don’t think so.” As if wanting to be thorough, Shellie began typing a search into her computer. “Are you sure that’s what the scent was? If you have some evidence, we can try to identify it.”
“Nothing in the way of evidence so far,” Lacey told her. “Just observations from witnesses, myself being one of them. It was my partner, Detective Scarber, who said it smelled like pumpkin pies. He’s a Wolf, his sense of smell is much sharper than mine.”
“I’m not pulling up anything that specifically relates to a species of Undead.” Shellie sounded frustrated at not being able to provide an immediate answer. “We do keep a database of this sort of thing, stuff that’s reported to us, I mean. A lot of it doesn’t make it this far.”
“I understand. I just thought it was worth a shot.”
“Well, please, if you do get something physical, something that holds an odor like clothing or paper, feel free to bring it by. We’ll try our best to identify it for you.” Shellie stood to show her out.
“Thank you, I will. And thank you for your time.”
Well, that’s one dead end I can mark off the checklist, she thought as she rode a series of escalators several floors upward on her way to the blood lab. But I had to try. Stepping off the moving staircase onto the 5th floor, she pulled the evidence bag out of her pocket.
If the Olfactory Unit had been a blessed relief for its absence of smells, the Blood and Tissue Department was just the opposite. The smell of blood here was almost overpowering, causing a primal response from Lacey as visceral as the song of a Siren to unsuspecting sailors.
She glanced around the busy room, breathing through her mouth as much as possible, looking for any tech she recognized. There were so many of them, but she had a handful she’d worked with many times before, and she trusted them.
Finally, she spotted Linus sitting at his work station, eyes glued to a microscope. He was a small, slim man with graying hair starting to thin on top, and striking blue eyes that missed no detail. He was an excellent analyst and had done quick yet thorough work for Lacey on past cases. She approached his station.
Without taking his eyes off the scope, he said, “Give me just a moment, please.” He jotted down some notes on the tablet next to him without looking, a feat that never failed to impress Lacey. She supposed he could also type and carry on a conversation at the same time, never having to look at the keyboard. She waited in silence.
When he did glance up, his face lit up in pleasure. “Hiya, Lace! When you gonna go out with me?”
She smiled. It was a running joke that had started between them years ago, when Linus’ sister was always trying to set him up with a never-ending string of friends. To get her off his back, Linus had told his sister he was dating a Vampire. Mysteriously, the blind date requests had suddenly stopped. Though in actuality, they had gone out for drinks, but just as friends and colleagues, after a grueling court case had come to a satisfying end.
“When you don’t smell as appetizing.” It was the same answer she always gave.
He threw back his head and let out a belly laugh. When he’d caught his breath, he managed to ask, “So, did you bring me something?”
She scanned the evidence bag with her tablet,
and watched as he did the same, transferring custody of it. “From my latest case.”
“Heard you got promoted.”
“Yeah, well, I’m still doing most of the grunt work.”
He examined the piece of glass through the clear plastic. “Is this a cold case?”
“No, why?”
“Well, this blood looks old. Or something. Whatever it is, it’s not normal.”
“I don’t think it is blood,” she told him, leaning over his shoulder to look as he slit the evidence tape to unseal the bag. “It didn’t smell like blood, either to me or to Detective Scarber.”
“How’s that working out?” A couple of strong drinks had allowed Lacey to drop her guard and she’d told Linus just exactly why she had such a fear and hatred of Werewolves.
Not wanting to disrespect anyone working under her command, she just shrugged. “It could be worse. He could be related to the ones who killed my family. But he’s really not so bad, just irritating.”
“If you say so.” Linus used a pair of tweezers to gently remove the shard of glass and place it into a petri dish. “Just watch out for the temper! We had a Wolf that worked here for about a week. Never saw so much broken glass! And from what she always said, she was pretty tame, for a Wolf.” Lacey thought back to Missy, the tame Wolf that had been her first case with Colton.
“I’m not afraid of his temper. Anyway, speaking of, I need to go see if he’s dug up any new information. Let me know what you find out from that?” She nodded toward her evidence.
“Right away.”
“Thanks, Linus.”
Back at the department, Lacey scanned the bullpen for Colton as she walked to her office. It didn’t surprise her that he was nowhere to be found. I’m still trying to figure out why they thought he would be the best choice as a second-in-command! He’s shown me these little acts of defiance, and he seems to screw off whenever he thinks he can get away with it. That, along with his long hair, were subtle signs of rebellion that Lacey had no trouble picking up on. How long do I let it go on?
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