New York, November 2009
Starfox5
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New York, November 2009
Both women glared at him, and he winced. "Too soon?"
Kate rolled her eyes and stepped inside, pulling on latex gloves while she carefully navigated the various stains on the concrete floor.
Rick and Vi followed her. "He skinned them," the Slayer said, pointing at a bloody frame from which straps of fur hung.
"Is there a market for wolf pelts?" Rick wondered. And if it was, would it be profitable? The whole set-up looked rather small-scale. He peered at a few cans with chemicals. "Did he cure the pelts too? Quite the entrepreneur, I think." Something didn't add up, though.
"Bottles of what looks like blood," Kate said, pointing at a shelf. "And dried meat."
"More meat," Vi said, after opening a large fridge.
"And bones here. It looks like he was a very wholesome butcher - no part went to waste;" Castle said. When no one laughed, he muttered "Though crowd."
"Ew…"
He looked up and saw Vi standing in the frame of a door at the back. Rick walked over to her and peered inside. "A sewing machine… 'Silence of the Lambs', anyone? Or would that be 'Silence of the Wolves'?"
"Castle, making clothes out of fur is not a sign of a serial killer. People have been doing that for thousands of years," Kate said, joining Rick and Vi.
"Not a serial killer… but a furry!" Rick nodded at the most prominent template pinned to the wall. "That's a fur suit!"
"That's not illegal either." Kate was shaking her head.
"It should be," Rick muttered under his breath. Then he blinked. "There's a book under those templates! And it doesn't look like a sewing book."
Kate walked over and brushed the papers on top of the book away. "'Skin-Walkers'," she quoted the title. "Those didn't appear in any of your books, Rick." She looked the book over. "And unless grimoires have started to be published with ISBNs, that's not a magic book either, isn't it?"
"Willow would have dealt with anyone trying to publish books covering real magic," Rick said. The last thing the world needed were more people dabbling in magic without a responsible teacher. "Not that there would be any books about real skin-walkers; the Navajo do not share any information about them with outsiders, and they certainly wouldn't write in English."
"This doesn't smell like magic either," Vi added, her gesture encompassing the whole basement.
"There's no ties to demons then," Kate said. "I'll call it in."
"Maybe there was a furry convention in New York, and Miller was killed by militant vegan furries after they realised that his suit was made from real fur?" Rick rubbed his chin.
"Is there even such a thing as militant vegan furries?"
"Well… wouldn't it make sense for plant-eating furries to be hostile towards carnivorous furries?" Rick held up his hands when he noticed the stares. "I'm no expert on furries. And I don't want to be."
"Too freaky for you, Castle?" Kate asked.
"No. But some of them look far too much like some demons, at night, without good lighting."
"Castle?"
"I didn't kill anyone… but a few might have been accidentally singed, a bit. By someone else. Hypothetically." Rick smiled widely.
Kate kept frowning at him, though.
"So, Mister Bancroft. Would you care to explain what exactly you were doing in Mister Miller's house?"
Sitting next to her in the interrogation room, Rick glanced at Kate when leaned over the desk between her and Bancroft. She was a sight when she was all focused like this. Impressive. And intimidating - for the suspects. Bancroft would crack soon.
"I told you - I wanted to save the puppies he had locked up in the basement."
"And you broke into his house for that."
"I had to!"
"And how did you know about those puppies? His neighbours had no idea that he had been keeping such pets."
The young man hesitated. "Ah…"
"You are currently studying biology in college."
"Yes?"
"Wildlife Biology, to be exact. And you spent one month helping out at a preserve - working with wolves." Kate stared straight into the kid's eyes. "You're almost an expert on wolves."
"Almost? I'm top of the class!" Bancroft said with an indignant tone.
"Were top of the class - until you took a sabbatical," Kate said, sitting down again.
"Dropped out, in other words," Castle added. "And not even for a good reason, like having painted the deacon's car pink." Mother had been amused even if she denied it, he was certain.
The kid glared at him, but pressed his lips together.
"We also found a stack of bills in your home." Kate dropped the bundle on the desk. "You're in financial troubles, aren't you?"
"I have a temporary cash flow problem."
"Which you wanted to solve by working part-time. You applied at several preserves, without success," Castle said. "Not enough experience."
"But," Kate continued, "there was an offer from a man in need of an expert on raising wolf pups. Quite a generous one, too."
Bancroft stared at her. Castle hoped the man would say that they couldn't prove this - that would make the scene perfect.
"So, you accept, and begin your descent into the dark shadows of the puppy mill world," Rick said in the same tone he used to read scary stories to Alexis. "Driven to crime by your debts and desire to work with wolves."
"No! I didn't know that the man had acquired the pups illegally!" Bancroft fell silent, realising too late what he had just admitted.
"And when did you realise that Mister Miller had not legally acquired those wolves?"
The man hesitated. Rick would have prodded him again, but Kate simply waited. She was right - Bancroft started to talk. "He kept saying that the permit for the pen in his backyard would soon arrive, that the basement was just a temporary solution.... I believed him, he was very convincing."
"And he paid you well," Rick cut in.
Bancroft looked down on the floor - Rick had been on the mark! "After a month, I started to question him. The puppies needed space. I wanted to get them to a preserve, until the pen was ready. That's when he fired me."
"Why didn't you inform the authorities?" Kate asked.
The boy took another deep breath. He wasn't looking at Kate or Rick. "I had… faked some documentation. And he knew it."
"A college degree?"
The kid nodded. "I needed the work, and I have the knowledge and training, but without a degree, no one would be hiring me, so I thought…"
Castle nodded. A classic tale. So classic, indeed, that he'd have to twist it some, to be able to use it, or his editor would complain. Maybe add some romance… expelled after a steamy affair with a professor, and blacklisted by the jealous husband of his paramour… no, people would think it was autobiographical.
"But if you broke in to save the animals, why didn't you leave when you discovered that the pens in the basement were empty?" Kate made a few notes on her pad.
"I saw the… remains, and I searched his house to find the names of his buyers."
"His buyers?"
"He must have sold the meat and fur - there wasn't enough in the house."
"Unless he was a very big eater," Castle added as they got up. The kid looked green in the face at that, as planned.
It was already late when they returned to Kate's desk, where Vi was sitting. On Kate's chair, Rick noticed.
Kate glared at her, and the Slayer got up - slowly. And then she stretched. Provocatively. Rick glanced around, but he couldn't spot Ryan or Esposito. A uniform was staring at Vi's chest as if the man had never seen a young woman in a tight top before. Castle shook his head.
"Where are Ryan and Esposito?" Kate asked while she adjusted her chair.
"Ryan was called home by his girlfriend, and Esposito went to Lanie's office to check on the results of her tests. Half an hour ago."
Rick coughed, and she glared at him, as if it was his fault that the two detectives had not enthusiastically joined the demon hunting. Granted, he had jumped at the chance to finally share some of his more impressive hunting stories when he had shot the breeze with the two detective, but he hadn't even mentioned Sunnydale. Not by name at least. Not everyone was cut out for that, anyway. Vi shouldn't be taking it personally, but of course, she was. Not that he was commenting on that - he knew better.
Instead, he said: "Well, we could go home as well. There's a few bookshops I'd like to check."
"You think Miller tried to get the real deal." Kate was closing windows on her computer.
"Yes. And I doubt that he would accept that there were no books by the Navajo, so some of the vendors might remember him."
"First wolf blood and shit, and now moldy books with a touch of evil… my poor nose." Vi pouted.
"You could use plugs if it's too much for you," Kate said. She sounded almost sincere.
"It's nothing," his Slayer said, quickly.
"Of course." Kate nodded.
Rick had the impression that this would be a rather tiring drive.
Both women glared at him, and he winced. "Too soon?"
Kate rolled her eyes and stepped inside, pulling on latex gloves while she carefully navigated the various stains on the concrete floor.
Rick and Vi followed her. "He skinned them," the Slayer said, pointing at a bloody frame from which straps of fur hung.
"Is there a market for wolf pelts?" Rick wondered. And if it was, would it be profitable? The whole set-up looked rather small-scale. He peered at a few cans with chemicals. "Did he cure the pelts too? Quite the entrepreneur, I think." Something didn't add up, though.
"Bottles of what looks like blood," Kate said, pointing at a shelf. "And dried meat."
"More meat," Vi said, after opening a large fridge.
"And bones here. It looks like he was a very wholesome butcher - no part went to waste;" Castle said. When no one laughed, he muttered "Though crowd."
"Ew…"
He looked up and saw Vi standing in the frame of a door at the back. Rick walked over to her and peered inside. "A sewing machine… 'Silence of the Lambs', anyone? Or would that be 'Silence of the Wolves'?"
"Castle, making clothes out of fur is not a sign of a serial killer. People have been doing that for thousands of years," Kate said, joining Rick and Vi.
"Not a serial killer… but a furry!" Rick nodded at the most prominent template pinned to the wall. "That's a fur suit!"
"That's not illegal either." Kate was shaking her head.
"It should be," Rick muttered under his breath. Then he blinked. "There's a book under those templates! And it doesn't look like a sewing book."
Kate walked over and brushed the papers on top of the book away. "'Skin-Walkers'," she quoted the title. "Those didn't appear in any of your books, Rick." She looked the book over. "And unless grimoires have started to be published with ISBNs, that's not a magic book either, isn't it?"
"Willow would have dealt with anyone trying to publish books covering real magic," Rick said. The last thing the world needed were more people dabbling in magic without a responsible teacher. "Not that there would be any books about real skin-walkers; the Navajo do not share any information about them with outsiders, and they certainly wouldn't write in English."
"This doesn't smell like magic either," Vi added, her gesture encompassing the whole basement.
"There's no ties to demons then," Kate said. "I'll call it in."
"Maybe there was a furry convention in New York, and Miller was killed by militant vegan furries after they realised that his suit was made from real fur?" Rick rubbed his chin.
"Is there even such a thing as militant vegan furries?"
"Well… wouldn't it make sense for plant-eating furries to be hostile towards carnivorous furries?" Rick held up his hands when he noticed the stares. "I'm no expert on furries. And I don't want to be."
"Too freaky for you, Castle?" Kate asked.
"No. But some of them look far too much like some demons, at night, without good lighting."
"Castle?"
"I didn't kill anyone… but a few might have been accidentally singed, a bit. By someone else. Hypothetically." Rick smiled widely.
Kate kept frowning at him, though.
*****
"So, Mister Bancroft. Would you care to explain what exactly you were doing in Mister Miller's house?"
Sitting next to her in the interrogation room, Rick glanced at Kate when leaned over the desk between her and Bancroft. She was a sight when she was all focused like this. Impressive. And intimidating - for the suspects. Bancroft would crack soon.
"I told you - I wanted to save the puppies he had locked up in the basement."
"And you broke into his house for that."
"I had to!"
"And how did you know about those puppies? His neighbours had no idea that he had been keeping such pets."
The young man hesitated. "Ah…"
"You are currently studying biology in college."
"Yes?"
"Wildlife Biology, to be exact. And you spent one month helping out at a preserve - working with wolves." Kate stared straight into the kid's eyes. "You're almost an expert on wolves."
"Almost? I'm top of the class!" Bancroft said with an indignant tone.
"Were top of the class - until you took a sabbatical," Kate said, sitting down again.
"Dropped out, in other words," Castle added. "And not even for a good reason, like having painted the deacon's car pink." Mother had been amused even if she denied it, he was certain.
The kid glared at him, but pressed his lips together.
"We also found a stack of bills in your home." Kate dropped the bundle on the desk. "You're in financial troubles, aren't you?"
"I have a temporary cash flow problem."
"Which you wanted to solve by working part-time. You applied at several preserves, without success," Castle said. "Not enough experience."
"But," Kate continued, "there was an offer from a man in need of an expert on raising wolf pups. Quite a generous one, too."
Bancroft stared at her. Castle hoped the man would say that they couldn't prove this - that would make the scene perfect.
"So, you accept, and begin your descent into the dark shadows of the puppy mill world," Rick said in the same tone he used to read scary stories to Alexis. "Driven to crime by your debts and desire to work with wolves."
"No! I didn't know that the man had acquired the pups illegally!" Bancroft fell silent, realising too late what he had just admitted.
"And when did you realise that Mister Miller had not legally acquired those wolves?"
The man hesitated. Rick would have prodded him again, but Kate simply waited. She was right - Bancroft started to talk. "He kept saying that the permit for the pen in his backyard would soon arrive, that the basement was just a temporary solution.... I believed him, he was very convincing."
"And he paid you well," Rick cut in.
Bancroft looked down on the floor - Rick had been on the mark! "After a month, I started to question him. The puppies needed space. I wanted to get them to a preserve, until the pen was ready. That's when he fired me."
"Why didn't you inform the authorities?" Kate asked.
The boy took another deep breath. He wasn't looking at Kate or Rick. "I had… faked some documentation. And he knew it."
"A college degree?"
The kid nodded. "I needed the work, and I have the knowledge and training, but without a degree, no one would be hiring me, so I thought…"
Castle nodded. A classic tale. So classic, indeed, that he'd have to twist it some, to be able to use it, or his editor would complain. Maybe add some romance… expelled after a steamy affair with a professor, and blacklisted by the jealous husband of his paramour… no, people would think it was autobiographical.
"But if you broke in to save the animals, why didn't you leave when you discovered that the pens in the basement were empty?" Kate made a few notes on her pad.
"I saw the… remains, and I searched his house to find the names of his buyers."
"His buyers?"
"He must have sold the meat and fur - there wasn't enough in the house."
"Unless he was a very big eater," Castle added as they got up. The kid looked green in the face at that, as planned.
*****
It was already late when they returned to Kate's desk, where Vi was sitting. On Kate's chair, Rick noticed.
Kate glared at her, and the Slayer got up - slowly. And then she stretched. Provocatively. Rick glanced around, but he couldn't spot Ryan or Esposito. A uniform was staring at Vi's chest as if the man had never seen a young woman in a tight top before. Castle shook his head.
"Where are Ryan and Esposito?" Kate asked while she adjusted her chair.
"Ryan was called home by his girlfriend, and Esposito went to Lanie's office to check on the results of her tests. Half an hour ago."
Rick coughed, and she glared at him, as if it was his fault that the two detectives had not enthusiastically joined the demon hunting. Granted, he had jumped at the chance to finally share some of his more impressive hunting stories when he had shot the breeze with the two detective, but he hadn't even mentioned Sunnydale. Not by name at least. Not everyone was cut out for that, anyway. Vi shouldn't be taking it personally, but of course, she was. Not that he was commenting on that - he knew better.
Instead, he said: "Well, we could go home as well. There's a few bookshops I'd like to check."
"You think Miller tried to get the real deal." Kate was closing windows on her computer.
"Yes. And I doubt that he would accept that there were no books by the Navajo, so some of the vendors might remember him."
"First wolf blood and shit, and now moldy books with a touch of evil… my poor nose." Vi pouted.
"You could use plugs if it's too much for you," Kate said. She sounded almost sincere.
"It's nothing," his Slayer said, quickly.
"Of course." Kate nodded.
Rick had the impression that this would be a rather tiring drive.
*****
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