FIVE
(12/21/319 2015 London, Blue Continent)
“Stay close to me, Seraphina,” Cooper muttered. “I’m not sure I can trust my leg.” Cooper had been surprised to find that she didn’t have a bike like they did. Instead she had enhanced speed and had merely loped along beside them while they pedaled as fast as they could to the pokegirl center.
The brunette nodded and looked him over with serious eyes. “You focus on your job and don’t worry. I’ve got you, Coop.” She glanced at Gloria. “You have a problem with this?”
“Yes,” the Enchantress admitted, “but he’s right that this will let me work. You can hover near him instead.” She pushed open the door and held it while they headed into the pokegirl center together.
Inside, the place was quieter than normal since uniformed officers were keeping the small but growing crowd outside the building. Cooper nodded to the attendant, a canine type of some sort. From the white fur and black spots he figured she was a Dalmatian. A tired looking man wearing a blazer and slacks waved at them. “Over here, Glory.” It was Detective Lorenzo McCain from homicide. He looked askance at Seraphina. “What are you doing here?”
“I asked her to be here,” Cooper admitted. “My leg still isn’t a hundred percent and I may need a runner.”
McCain’s alpha, a Tigress named Debra, frowned. “The major know about this?”
“No, he doesn’t, and if I do things correctly he won’t need to.”
McCain nodded. “She’s your therapist, isn’t she?” When Cooper’s face stilled, he grinned. “She’s helped out a lot of people, Cooper, including me once, although I think you’re the first to bring her to a crime scene.”
Gloria chuckled. “He certainly knows how to show a girl a good time, doesn’t he?”
Seraphina matched her smile. “It’s the best date I’ve had in a while.”
Debra sneered. “It’s the only one you’ve had in a while.”
The brunette’s smile turned nasty. “At least I have a decent reason for not having any action. What’s yours?”
Debra instantly bristled. “Why you little,” she began.
“Hey!” Everyone turned to look at Cooper. “I don’t know what kind of history you have and I don’t really care. Everyone pull your claws in right now. We have a job to do. Lorenzo, you shorten Debra’s leash and I’ll shorten Seraphina’s, all right?”
The brunette rounded on him. “I am not your pokegirl! You don’t get to touch my leash.”
“You are tonight or you’re out of here.” He continued as she tried to speak. “You are here because I want you here. Make me not want you here and you won’t be here anymore. It’s that simple. Am I clear?”
Seraphina stared at him for several seconds before giving a jerky nod. “Crystal, sir. I am your pokegirl.”
“Gloria, I believe we have a survivor to interview?”
Lorenzo had just given Debra a hard look and the Tigress had stepped back, dropped her head and hunched her shoulders slightly. He pointed towards a hallway leading to the left. “There’s a Nursejoy standing by in taming room 104 with the witness, who was returned to her pokeball after CSU got done with her. She insists on releasing our victim into the bed there. She’s cut up pretty badly and she can lie comfortably while we question her.” He snorted. “And they want to make sure we don’t do anything coercive to our witness. Bleeding libs.”
“They don’t have to worry about that from me,” Gloria smiled. “I wouldn’t do anything to a pokegirl that I wouldn’t do to a human.”
Debra’s ears pricked up and she gave a malicious grin. “I don’t think that would reassure them if they knew you like we do.”
“It’s a good thing they don’t know me. Fill us in.”
Lorenzo powered up his tablet. “The victim is Bianca and her breed is Supe-Bra Genius. She’s a research librarian for the University of London and has worked there for twenty years. She’s the property of the university and has no registered tamer. She’s got no record and hasn’t filed any complaints about anyone else. She was on her way home from work when she was attacked.” He looked up. “That’s it.”
“Thanks, McCain.” Gloria led everyone down the hallway and stopped outside the door. “This is mine and Cooper’s case, Lorenzo and I’d appreciate it if you let us do the questioning.”
“No problem, Glory. I’ve got my own cases to chase.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Especially since we all know that this is about to get ugly.”
“What do you mean,” Cooper asked.
“One death is a murder or a feral attack. Two is a spree and three, which this girl would have been if she’d died,” Lorenzo announced in a sepulchral tone, “is a serial. And serials are ugly business, not only the killings but the fact that this is going to get political and fast. It can make careers but it usually breaks them, so I’m just as happy as can be that it’s your case. In fact, now that you’re here, Deb and I are going to go to where Bianca was attacked and supervise the crime scene unit doing its job. Oh, and CSU’s already done processing the victim. Let’s just be glad that no humans have been killed.” He motioned and they headed back up the hall.
Gloria watched them go. “He’s right you know. Sera, you can back out without any bad blood between the three of us.”
Seraphina looked at Cooper. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“I’m your pokegirl right now, remember?” A tiny smile appeared on her face when Gloria scowled darkly. “You call the shots as to whether I stay or go.”
He nodded. “Very well, then, I’ll ask your opinion. Do you want to stay or leave?”
“Well, sir, if I were a free pokegirl you couldn’t pry me out of here with a dozen Bombshells. Lorenzo is right but let’s face it; my career can’t really be broken. What are they going to do, bust me back to patrolman?” She gestured at her uniform. “This could be my ticket to detective and it’s a chance I’m more than willing to take.”
As she spoke, Gloria’s scowl had deepened. “If you were his pokegirl,” she said in a pointed tone, “you’d already be a detective thanks to me.”
Seraphina smirked. “I’d respond to that scathingly, but I am his pokegirl and you’re my harem sister. Inter-harem squabbling isn’t going to get anything done, so we probably need to cut this short and get back to work.”
“Intra,” Cooper said softly.
“Sir?”
“I know you’re just trying to get Gloria’s goat, but if you were in my harem it would be intra-harem squabbling and not inter. An inter-harem squabble would be one between two different harems.”
Seraphina pasted a goofy smile on her face and hugged him. “Our tamer is so smart!” If looks could kill, Gloria’s stare would have, at the very least, had Seraphina on the ground and bleeding profusely.
Cooper remembered that she was an Enchantress and, for all he knew, she had some kind of optical combat spell. “Stop it,” he warned Seraphina.
Seraphina nodded and released him. “Sorry, sir, Glory. I guess I’m just too used to us tweaking each other incessantly.” She grinned abruptly. “A harem commanded by a corporal that has a lieutenant and a sergeant in it. The BLSF and the Met would have multiple litters of kits over that one. That’s one fucked up,” she blinked, “I mean buggered situation.”
“I suppose it would be,” Cooper said. “But let’s focus on the job at hand.”
Gloria nodded. “Sera, if the Nursejoy tries to bother Cooper, keep her away from him by any means less than overt force. We’re not interested in adding to the harem right now.”
“Yes, my alpha.” Seraphina wriggled her eyebrows and snickered when Gloria scowled again.
Cooper grumbled to himself and pushed into the room. The Nursejoy standing sentinel in the room had hair which was more gray than pink and her face was lined by her years, but she carried herself proudly as she haughtily pointed at the door he’d just entered. “Get out.”
He pulled out his badge as Gloria and Seraphina came in behind him. He read the Nursejoy’s nametag. “Velma, I’m Detective Cooper. This is Detective Gloria and Officer Seraphina. We’re here to question the witness.”
Velma’s face grew even dourer. “You realize that you’re being horribly cruel to her by questioning her before she’s healed. Your people have already poked and prodded at her, taking their pictures and samples and swabs and whatnot. They’re already done and gone.”
“I realize that you think we’re being needlessly cruel,” Gloria said evenly, “and I don’t care. Will she die immediately if released again?”
“No. I stabilized her earlier but she needs prompt healing. She’s not a combat breed and won’t take all of the pain well. There could also be internal injuries.” Sudden determination filled her face. “I won’t release her until she’s healed. You can question her then.”
Cooper tapped Seraphina on the shoulder, but he was looking at the Nursejoy as he spoke. “If Velma does not release either the witness from her pokeball or the pokeball itself to Gloria in the next ten seconds, you are to obtain the pokeball from her by whatever means you see fit.” Velma’s eyes bugged as Seraphina took two steps in her direction and drew her pistol. “Gloria was asking a question, not inquiring for your opinion. Five seconds.”
With a gasp of mingled fear and fury, Velma almost threw the pokeball at Gloria, who plucked it out of the air. “Well, I should be going now,” she spat at Cooper as Seraphina holstered her firearm.
“Actually you need to stay,” Gloria was examining the pokeball. “I want you here in case she needs more medical care.” She looked up. “We’re not monsters but we have a job to do and you don’t get a say in whether we do it or not. It’s nothing personal.” She turned, aimed the pokeball at the bed and toggled the release.
The pokegirl who materialized on the bed was hard to identify. Her throat had been cut and her hair was matted with blood to the point that it was impossible to tell what color it was. Her clothing had been cut off and massive bandages covered her throat and abdomen. Dried blood covered her from thighs and moved up under the bandage, stopping just under her breasts. She blinked owlishly at them but otherwise didn’t move. Gloria leaned closer as Cooper moved up on the other side of the bed. “Bianca, I am Detective Gloria and I need to ask you some questions.” Her voice was gentle. “I know you’re in a lot of pain and but I needed to talk to you before you were healed. I’ll keep this as short as possible.”
Bianca made a noise deep in the back of her throat. Cooper pulled one of her eyes open. “Both pupils are really dilated.” He looked up. “Velma, did you give her anything?”
“She was in a lot of pain. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
Gloria’s eyes narrowed. “What part of she was to be left as is did you not understand?”
“Gloria?” She turned to look at Cooper. “Just a second, ok?” She nodded reluctantly. “Velma, when did you sedate Bianca?”
The Nursejoy was watching them warily. “When she came in at,” she pulled a handheld from her belt and checked something. “Morphine was administered at 1930.”
He nodded. “We got called at 1945. Gloria, by the time you made your decision, she was already drugged.” He frowned. “What was the damage on her neck like?”
“The windpipe was badly cut, but her attacker missed the carotids and jugulars.”
“Gloria, she won’t be able to talk until she’s healed. I’d recommend she be returned to her pokeball and cycled through a healing program. That’ll fix her throat and remove the opiates so we can question her. Otherwise we’ll have to wait hours for her to work the drugs out of her system.”
Gloria sighed and recovered the Supe-Bra Genius. “Looks like you win, Velma.” She held out the pokeball. “Seraphina is going to go with you and make sure you don’t accidentally L5 her while healing my victim. Nothing against you personally, but I’ve seen the oddest things happen to witnesses during murder investigations. Sera, you go with her and stay with the witness every step of the way.”
Seraphina nodded. “I’m on it, Glory.” She motioned towards the door. “Velma, please come with me.” She frowned. “Coop, do we meet back here or somewhere else?”
“Velma, how about we meet in the employee’s break room? That way you can get Bianca some fluids.”
The Nursejoy’s belligerence had faded once she knew she was going to be able to treat her patient. “That would be perfect. It’s behind the counter in the front room. The code for the keypad on the door is 1342. We should get there in five minutes or so.”
As soon as the door closed behind them, Gloria turned on William. “What do you think you’re accomplishing by threatening Velma with Sera? We are all on the same side, you know.”
He looked sheepish for a second. “I’m sick and tired of Nursejoys getting a pass on disobedience just because they are healers and therefore goddesses to do as they please.”
Gloria shook her head. “Coop, the joys are as clannish as the jennys. If you piss off the joys our work gets a lot harder. I don’t like their attitude either but threatening them in a public forum is not the best way to go about fixing their problems.” She smiled menacingly and dropped her voice. “The problem is that they sometimes get confused about who is a human and enjoys special protections under the law and who isn’t. There is a solution for when a joy steps too far out of line. It’s you get her alone and beat the crap out of her. She’ll be healed by the others but the message gets passed along about who they can screw with involving pokegirl parity and who they can’t.”
“Aren’t they likely to get even when you need medical care?”
She shrugged. “Joys are one of the most kidnapped breeds you can think of. They need us to be on the job and they know it. Besides, if they let one of us die and we figure it out, whoever was involved will get a visit they won’t forget if they survive. It’s not usually an issue though. Most of the time the Met and the healers get along without any serious friction.”
“So I overplayed my hand with Velma?”
“You did, but if she files a complaint we’ll deal with it. She was right on the edge of interfering with an investigation and any psychic scan will prove it.”
***
(12/21/319 2045 London, Blue Continent)
Bianca, it turned out, was one of those auburn haired people whose hair looked like dried blood when it was encrusted with dried blood and was a darker red when it was clean. She was wearing a patient’s robe and sat comfortably in a chair while holding a steaming hot cup of tea in both hands to absorb the warmth. “I’m sorry, detective,” she said to Gloria, “and I’ll tell you everything I can, but there isn’t much to tell. I was walking home from work. I was between the streetlights when someone sprayed me with something and I couldn’t move. Then he cut me up. I heard someone yell and he took off. I must have passed out then because the next thing I saw was Velma here.”
Gloria made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. “Can you tell me anything about your attacker?”
She shook her head and slurped at her tea. “It’s really dark between the lights and all I could see was this shapeless form a little darker than the night. I think he might have been taller than me.”
“You keep saying your attacker was a man. Why?”
Bianca shrugged. “I don’t know. It felt like it was a man. I mean, pokegirls don’t normally do that sort of thing to each other and a feral would have tried to eat me.”
Pokegirls did do that sort of thing to each other and ferals didn’t necessarily kill their prey immediately, but Gloria decided not to worry the Supe-Bra Genius any more than she had to. “So you couldn’t positively identify your attacker as a man.”
Bianca didn’t look happy that she wasn’t believed and her tone became curt. “No.”
Cooper pasted on a sympathetic smile. Supe-Bra Genius pokegirls were said to be so brilliant that they seemed stupid. He knew it wasn’t true, but he also knew that they could be extremely volatile and if Bianca became upset she might sulk for days. So he tried to steer the discussion to something safe to keep her from becoming agitated. “Bianca, I know you’re a research librarian for the University of London. Do you have a specialty?”
Her eyes lit up. “It’s the pre-Sukebe history of Blue and Noir, especially around the time of the industrial revolution. It’s so fascinating to see how Blues lived before technology and pokegirls. Their lives were so complex and rich!”
Cooper had been a mediocre history student except when it came to criminal science, but he remembered something one of his professors had said that he’d found intriguing. “I’ve been told that there are a lot of parallels to be drawn between the industrial revolution and today as we find more ways to incorporate pokegirls and their abilities into Blue’s manufacturing base.”
Bianca nodded happily. “In a lot of ways that’s exactly right. We are standing at the beginning of our own industrial revolution.” She giggled. “Calling it the pokegirl revolution could get one arrested, however, for sedition. One of the people I do research for is writing a book showing the similarities. He’s calling our modern industrial revolution the pokegirl transition. Pokegirls are impacting almost every industry and science, just like mechanization did in the 18th century.”
Cooper glanced at Gloria. She shrugged slightly and made a tiny motion for him to continue. “I hear they’re excavating some of the old canals around Glasgow as an experiment since water travel could be safer than road travel. It’s a lot like they did back during that time period.”
“That’s right. The digging is going much faster with pokegirls than it ever did with mechanical equipment.” She grinned. “”But that only makes sense. Pokegirls are much better than any machine at most things.”
Cooper chuckled. “I won’t disagree with that statement. Now, I want you to think carefully. Over the past few days, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? And by anything, I do mean anything. The smallest fact might help to point us in the right direction so we can find whoever attacked you.”
A pensive look crossed her face. “My work day varies depending on who I’m helping and what they’re looking for, but there hasn’t been anyone new in my work or personal life for months. I don’t normally deal with students, you see. That’s for the regular librarians. I only work with the tenured professors and visiting professors from other universities.”
He nodded. “Would you be willing to have a psychic scan you to try to get more details about what happened?”
She sighed. “I would love to be able to help and, if it were up to me, I’d agree without hesitation. However, the university and the government won’t let you. There’s a no scan order on me because of the classified work I do. I even have an implant in my head that blocks all psychic and magical scans and prevents me from being hypnotized or enchanted to give up what I know.”
Gloria was working her tablet and she nodded almost imperceptibly, letting Cooper know she’d found the no scan order on Bianca. “Well, I’ll ask and see if we can get permission, but you’re probably right.”
“I usually am,” Bianca said with pride. “I am a super genius.”
“Yes, you are,” Cooper admitted with a smile. He produced his official MPS card and put it on the table next to her tea saucer. “If you remember anything new will you contact me?”
“I promise,” Bianca said, “but only because you’re such a handsome young man.”
“Why, thank you. Now this nice Nursejoy is Velma and she’s going to get you some clothes for you to wear home. Once you’re ready, would you like me to arrange for a uniformed officer to take you to your house?”
“That’s very kind of you, but I really think I was attacked randomly. I should be safe.”
He smiled and patted her on the knee. “Well, I’d like you to get an escort home. That way you’re not proven wrong and I can talk to you again if I need to. I’ll make me feel better.”
Bianca shrugged. “I think it’s a waste of valuable police resources, but I accept.” Behind her, Gloria was muttering into her com to make the necessary arrangements for Bianca’s escort.
As soon as she was done, Gloria gestured to Cooper and Seraphina. “Bianca, we need to go. If you remember anything else, please call Detective Cooper.”
“I will.”
***
(12/21/319 2150 London, Blue Continent)
Cooper had no sooner leaned his bike against a building when someone yelled “Billy!” and he was engulfed in a furry hug that lifted him from the ground. He heard the sound of a slap and he was put down to see a burly Growlie rubbing her forearm and glaring over his head at Seraphina. “Who the hell are you,” the Growlie grumbled loudly.
Seraphina turned slightly to show the triple down pointed chevrons on her sleeve. “I’m Sergeant Seraphina, corporal. Grabbing someone else’s tamer is considered rude.”
“It’s ok, Seraphina.” Cooper gestured towards the Growlie. “This is Corporal Lisa Starnes and she’s from my former station when I was a uniformed officer. She’s hugged me whenever she sees me since the day she met Rosalind and me.” He looked around curiously. “What are you here for, Lisa? You work the day shift.”
The Growlie nodded. “I still do. I was called out because they needed an olfactory survey of the area and I’ve got the best nose in Tower Hamlets.”
Gloria perked up. “I’m Gloria. What did you find?’
Lisa shrugged. “Other than the usual collection of idiots who walked through the crime scene before and after the attack? Nothing. I’ve excluded all of the police and the older scents and all that’s left is the smell of the poor girl who got cut up tonight. I don’t know if they’re using magic to kill their scent or some kind of chemical, but whoever it is knows what they’re doing. None of the crime scenes has a scent in common or one that can’t be accounted for that was laid down around the time of the attack.”
“Fucking hell,” Gloria muttered. She jumped when Seraphina smacked her in the back and shot Cooper a guilty look that he pretended not to see. “Thank you, private.”
“Hey, Lisa, Rosalind’s wake is tomorrow. Can you make it?”
The Growlie grinned. “Open bar?”
He grimaced. “Yes. I’ll be a lot poorer at the end of the day, but it’s for Rosalind.”
“Where at?”
“It’s going to be O’Neill’s. It was her favorite pub. I’ve already told Katrina, but you can spread the word too, if you don’t mind.”
“You would have to pick an Irish pub, wouldn’t you, you bloody Irishman?” The Growlie chuckled. “But I’ll dare Hell itself for free beer and food. I guess the Irish aren’t much worse than that.” Her eyes flicked towards Gloria. “I don’t mean any disrespect, sir, but can I ask why you took her as your alpha? I’ve heard the stories.” The Enchantress scowled darkly.
“Katrina wasn’t going to let me hunt Rosalind’s killer and with Gloria I’m in the middle of the case.” He plucked at his shirt. “The promotion was something I didn’t anticipate but I’ll take it.”
The Growlie bared her teeth in a savage grin that wouldn’t have been out of place on a pre-Sukebe hound when the fox was finally run to ground. “That’s a fine reason for doing what you did, sir. You give whoever did it hell from us, will you?”
“I will.”
“And if you need anything from me or anyone else at the station, Billy, you call me and I’ll take care of it.”
“That means a lot to me, Lisa. Thank you very much.” Cooper turned away from her and surveyed the scene. Portable spotlights had been set up and brightly illuminated the area. Outside of the circle of light were shadowy figures. Some were police stationed in case the light caught the attention of passing ferals. Others were tamers who hung around hoping for the same thing to happen so they could try for a cheap capture. At night there were a lot fewer lookie-loos than there would have been during the day, but the ones that were around were being kept away from the crime scene by the same officers watching for feral pokegirls.
Debra the Tigress was watching the CSU personnel as they packed their equipment back into their van. Gloria caught her eye. “Where’s Lorenzo?”
The Tigress nodded in the direction of a pastry shop. “He had too much coffee and he’ll be back in a few minutes. We’re just about done here. Unless you’ve got something important, CSU is going to release the crime scene.”
“I want Cooper to get some videos of the area, but we don’t need anything else right now.” She turned to Cooper. “Coop, I want you to record the area around where Bianca was attacked both in regular and low light mode. Tomorrow we will come back and record again so we can try to see if there’s a reason the attacker chose this place or if maybe it just wanders around until it finds someone it wants to kill.”
Cooper punched commands into his tablet and began filming while Gloria talked with Debra and Lorenzo about what they’d found when they’d arrived. Part of him resented having to do the filming while she was doing detective stuff, but he knew that he had to pay his dues and learn all of the parts of being a good investigator, things that presumably Gloria already knew. Seraphina followed him around but wisely remained silent to allow him to work undisturbed. Once he was finished with the regular filming, he waited until CSU shut down their floodlights and began retracing his path, this time recording in low light. While he was doing this, Gloria joined the two of them. Once the recording process was complete, she held out her hand. “I want to see what you filmed so I can tell if you’re getting everything.” He handed it over without comment and she watched both the regular and low light recordings. “Not bad. Did you learn how to do this from working with your mother too?”
“I learned it from watching hours and hours of footage from the previous crime scenes.”
Gloria cocked her head. “Coop, there isn’t that much footage associated with these cases.”
“I didn’t say I limited my viewing to just this case, Gloria.” He carefully didn’t smile when she shot him a sharp glance. “First of all, Rosalind and I were already thinking about making detective as soon as we were eligible and, second, we both know I’m not sleeping well and I had to find something to do instead of staring at late night commercials for the latest sexual aid for tamers and needy pokegirls.”
She chuckled and handed his tablet back. “That’s good. Those shows will rot your brains. In the morning I want you to request copies of all the data CSU collected and everything else you can think of. Lorenzo was right. If our bosses decide that this is a serial killer, they’re going to be ratcheting up the pressure for us to find the killer quickly.”
“What’s this wake Cooper was talking about?”
Gloria shrugged. “Sorry, Sera, I thought you’d already heard about the fact that we’re having a wake for Rosalind at O’Neill’s pub.”
Seraphina turned to Cooper. “I’m not from this borough so I didn’t know about it.”
He nodded. “You’re invited if you want to come. You might not have known Rosalind but you do know Gloria and me.”
She looked doubtful. “I’ll think about it, but I don’t think it would be appropriate.”
“Suit yourself.”
***
(12/22/319 1720 London, Blue Continent)
Cooper opened the door and let Gloria go in before following her into O’Neill’s. The pub had its Christmas decorations up and all of the holiday green and red complemented the Irish flags that decorated the walls.
While it was true that Ireland was part of Blue and flew the flag of the Blue League, the flag of Ireland had always been flown beside it. Part of the reason was, of course, national pride, but part of the reason was political. Ireland had always rested uneasily in the grip of first the United Kingdom and later Blue, and acknowledging the flag that the Irish themselves adopted over four hundred years before helped the Irish to understand that the Blue League had no intention of trying to turn the Irish into clones of the people on the larger island to the east. In return, the Irish government quietly acknowledged the fact that they had never been as developed as England and that if they withdrew from the Blue League the ferals would quickly become an insurmountable menace without traveling tamers from the rest of Blue. The fact that Northern Ireland had been returned to Ireland when Blue had formed had helped to cement relations between England and Ireland which had remained mostly cordial ever since.
The historical truth of the situation was slightly more problematic. The destruction of infrastructure during the Revenge War had left Blue unable to support the Northern Ireland territory and graciously returning it to Ireland was a face saving gesture intended to breed goodwill before the Irish realized that they could have simply walked in and claimed it.
He looked around as Gloria dragged him towards a table against the wall. They’d been delayed by paperwork and the wake had started at 1700 without them, so the place was beginning to fill up with people who had known Rosalind.
Her grip tightened on his hand and she hissed softly. “I see Queen Penny is already holding court over the wake. That means we’ve made the Officerjenny social scene.”
Cooper looked past her to see Penny sitting with several other Officerjenny of various ages. She nodded to them as they headed for their table. “Is there an Officerjenny that you don’t despise, Gloria?”
She stopped in front of a table and let his hand go before sitting down. “I know I sound bitter and I probably am. They, and to a lesser extent the Growlies, follow the law slavishly and I suppose that overall it’s a good thing they do. However, they always interpret the law to benefit themselves and to keep the rest of us in our places.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “That includes the humans, as you have already found out. I’m not sure which is more depressing, the young and idealistic ones who want to enforce every law all of the time, or the older and more experienced ones like Penny who have learned how to twist the system to benefit her own kind.” She blinked at his slightly stunned expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rub off so much shiny at one time. I keep forgetting you’re still young and idealistic and that much cynicism all at once can be unhealthy for a still growing personality.”
He shrugged. “Growing up in a house full of Nursejoys, I’m well aware that the so called perfect breeds can be far from what their press agents claim. They’re just as petty and mean as anyone else when they want to be.” He shuddered at something only he could see. “I’m just glad mother put off having kits until after she was a pokewoman. I might not have lived to adulthood in a house with more than one Night Nurse in it.” He smiled bitterly when she gave him a disbelieving look. “Most people don’t think about the fact that Nursejoy children need to practice to learn their abilities. You can’t practice healing without someone injured being available, and since mother is a Night Nurse who comes with a built in set of surgical scalpels,” he trailed off. “Most of the time she would cut one of my sisters, but I had plenty of times in the box myself since she believes that males heal differently than females and that my sisters needed to learn to work on men too.”
Gloria covered his hand with hers. “Couldn’t they practice at the clinic or pokegirl center?”
“They did once they got old enough, but mother had them training in their powers as soon as they turned four. Besides, there’s not always someone considerate enough to be injured badly enough to need medical aid from five Nursejoy pokegirls at the same time.” He pulled his hand free and gave himself a mental shake. “Sorry about that. Today is about Rosalind and not about me whining. What do you want to drink?”
The glint in Gloria’s eyes suggested they were going to finish this discussion later but for now she appeared to be willing to go along with the change of subject. “Get me a pint of something that’s not Irish.”
“Coming right up.” He headed for the bar.
The bartender was a Catgirl named Queeny who smiled when she saw him. “Welcome back, Cooper. I’m glad you decided to have the wake here. Rosie would have liked that.” She leaned across the counter and hugged him. “I’m sorry about what happened.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Do you want your regular?”
“Yeah. Give me a pint for Gloria, too.”
Queeny looked around him at his table as she began filling a pint with a rich, dark brown ale. “Is that her name? She’s nothing like Rosie.”
“I didn’t think it would be fair to Rosalind’s memory to just replace her with another Officerjenny.”
The Catgirl dimpled. “That’s sweet, Billy. Is this Gloria Irish?”
“Nope. She’s so English she asked for English beer. She’ll drink what I bring her, though.”
Queeny grinned, showing needle sharp teeth. “If she likes it you’ll tell her it’s Irish, right?”
He smiled back. “I surely will, and if she doesn’t than I’ll tell her it’s her fault for asking for English swill.”
Queeny laughed as she poured a shot of whiskey and put it with the two pints. “You’ve got a wicked sense of humor, Billy. Don’t lose it.”
He nodded. “I won’t. Oh, and if she shows up to get a round, make sure she doesn’t stick me with anything but what I like.”
“I’ll take good care of you, Billy.”
He gathered up the three drinks and headed for their table. Penny waved to get his attention and he changed direction to her table. “Penny, thanks for coming.”
“I liked Rosie, Cooper.” She glanced at one of the Officerjenny and that pokegirl quickly vacated her seat. “Could you join us for minute?”
All of the almost identical faces staring back at him were creepy and he shook his head, making sure he looked sad about refusing. “I’m sorry but I need to get back to my table. Can we meet later?”
Penny let him escape with a nod. “I’ll call you to set up a time. Oh, and I wanted to tell you that we took up a collection and we’ll be covering half of the costs for the wake.”
That meant he was going to have to meet with her eventually. He hated owing people. Cooper plastered a surprised look of pleasure on his face. “Thank you, Penny. That’ll help a lot. Call me soon, will you?”
“Promise.” He could feel her eyes on him all the way back to his table.
Gloria took her pint and sipped at it as he slid into his seat. Her eyes were cool as she regarded him over the rim of her mug. “What did her majesty want?”
“To have a talk with me where you couldn’t hear, I think. She’ll call later to try again.”
“What are you going to do?”
“If she’s as powerful as you say, I’ll have to meet with her unless I want to be a corporal forever. She let drop that she’s covering half the costs of the wake so I couldn’t dodge her.” He carefully dropped the shot of whiskey into his mug, listening to the clink as the glass hit the bottom.
Gloria stared at him. “Oh my god, you drink boilermakers.”
He grinned and stood, taking the pint with him. Pitching his voice to carry throughout the pub, he turned to face the room. “I want to thank everyone for coming. For those who I don’t recognize, I am William Cooper and I was Rosalind’s tamer.” He looked around the room. “I’d like to think that Rosalind is in heaven now, looking down on us.” He licked his lips. “But the truth is that I know that in heaven Rosie would be bored to tears.” The Officerjennys at Penny’s table were staring at him, their eyes boring into his soul. “So I think she lives in heaven but commutes everyday to hell. Right now she’s reading their laws and rules and, when she’s done, she’ll spend her time forcing the devils to obey their own laws.” Laughter swept the room and the people at Penny’s table relaxed. “I’m part of the group that’s looking for her killer and I won’t rest until I catch whoever did it. When I do, it’ll be a righteous arrest, but the whole time I’ll be hoping the killer will resist being taken into custody so that I can lawfully send him to where Rosie can keep an eye on him herself.” A hungry growl swirled around him as he lifted the pint and drained it. “Please enjoy yourselves. Rosie and I came here often and the cook here does marvelous work.”
Gloria’s face was a study in shock as he sat. “I can’t believe you said that in front of Penny.” Her eyes shifted down when he put the mug on the table and the shot glass rattled in the pint. “I can’t believe you drank that.”
He smiled. “I’ve been drinking since I was ten and my mother encouraged us to try to drink her under the table. I didn’t realize until I was fifteen that she was cheating and curing dad or her when one of them started to get drunk. It’ll take more than a single pint to put me down.” He picked up his mug. “I’m getting another. Do you want anything else?”
Gloria looked down at her still full pint. “No. How many of these does it take for you before you pass out?”
His smile became an open grin. “I haven’t done that in a long time, but, since Rosalind also wondered about it, let’s find out tonight.”
***
William Cooper
Gloria - Enchantress