FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Pepper leapt to her feet and exited the office, leaving both Harris and Saul staring after her in startled confusion. She made a bee-line to the station's locker room and practically dove into her standing locker head first. Rummaging around through her uniforms and personal clothes she grabbed a small disc tucked away in a corner, slammed the door closed and marched back to her boss's office.

Returning, she set about unplugging the desktop computer, com-cam and office intercom. The badger frowned. “What the hell..."

The vixen held up her hand, silencing him and put a finger to her lips, then placed the disc in the center of the captain's desk before removing her cell phone from a pocket. She held out her hand to Saul who, recognizing the disc, quietly surrendered his own phone. Pepper then collected Harris' and placed all three devices on a table next to the door.

“Everyone lean in," she said, taking her seat as she was joined by Saul and the captain. The vixen pushed a button on top of the disc and felt her fur tingle slightly as a sound suppression field enveloped the three sheriffs' deputies.

“It's safe to talk now," Pepper said.

“Where'd you get this," asked Saul.

“Gift from a friend in D.C. He was right when he said it's all about owing favors."

The badger huffed a bit. “Should I be worried about what kind of favors?"

The vixen smiled impishly. “Professional ones, of course."

“Of course," Harris replied warily.

Knowing his partner as he did, Saul had to stifle a small chuckle. “Okay, now that we've established a safe zone, can you go into some detail about this evidence locker 'break-in'?"

The captain looked at both Pepper and Saul. “What we know is that sometime last night Sergeant Norris gave an as yet unidentified individual access to the evidence locker. Several internal com-cam systems were then shut down. This triggered a silent alarm. However, when the watch supervisor responded, he was unable to locate the intruder. What he did find was Norris sitting at his desk in the security cage in what he describes as a condition of complete stupefaction."

“Norris is as honest a deputy as you can find," Saul observed. “I'd be hard pressed to believe he'd take a bribe or give anyone who wasn't authorized access to the locker. I think it's wired into him, like a lot of Lappe constructs."

“That makes two of us," Harris responded. “Unfortunately, Internal Affairs is of a different mind."

“Why am I not surprised?" Pepper replied sarcastically. “What do they think?"

“They aren't talking to me... yet. But I wouldn't put it past them to link Norris to one of the local drug rings, just to give themselves an easy case."

“Is that what was taken? Drugs?" asked Saul.

The captain nodded. “About 2 kilos of Synthetic Black Tar. In addition, they're missing about 2 million credits worth of rough cut diamonds and, believe it or not, that dagger from the Hollingsworth murder case."

“All items that can easily be carried in a backpack or briefcase," murmured the vixen softly. “I have a feeling the drugs and diamonds are just a McGuffin. Our mystery thief was probably after the dagger."

“Why?" asked Harris.

“It's one of a collection of four artifacts, each worth about sixty million on the black market."

“How would you know that?"

“We sent my cousin, the museum curator, a picture of the dagger and he identified it as one that had vanished a couple hundred years ago. The other three in the collection are all accounted for."

The captain looked over at Pepper. “That makes him a possible suspect."

The vixen shook her head. “He doesn't spin that way. He's already responsible for a museum collection that's worth a little over fifty billion in credits. Money doesn't float his boat. History and Archeology do."

“A real life Indiana Smith the IV, eh?"

The human chuckled. “Jones," he corrected the badger. “And I only ever watched the original series, not the current vids."

“Saul's a bit of a purist," Pepper offered. Her voice became more serious. “So why did you connect this with the Stromboli case?"

Captain Harris wrinkled his nose. “When we found Norris he was completely unresponsive, so he was transported over to County General. They ran a series of tests, including an MRI but couldn't find anything significant. There was, however, some minor bleeding, similar to what the Stromboli victims had. I know because the doctor there is a friend of mine. I also got a quick glance at his scans."

“Let me guess," Saul offered. “He had a puppet plug."

The badger nodded. “Hospital staff couldn't identify anything, but then they didn't know what to look for. I did."

“Where is he now?" Pepper asked.

“Still in the hospital, under observation. The doctors think he may have had a minor stroke. When he came around this morning he had absolutely no memory of even coming to work yesterday, let alone letting someone into the evidence locker."

Both detectives sat quietly thinking, each mulling over the information.

Saul looked at Captain Harris. “It might be a good thing the doctors think he stroked out. It will keep Internal Affairs away from him for at least a couple of days. Pepper and I will need that time to find our thief."

“What makes you think I want to put you two on this case?" the badger grumbled.

“Because there's already a connection between the break-in and our murder case," the vixen replied. “Isn't that why you called us into your office?"

“Fine," Harris said, almost as if relieved. “But you have to work fast. Internal Affairs is already chomping at the bit. I don't know how long I can stall them."

Both detectives stood. Pepper then shut off the sound suppressor, handed everyone back their phones and reordered the captain's desk. “Consider it done," the vixen responded as they turned to walk out the door.

“Detectives..." Saul and his partner turned to look at the captain. “One last point. If this turns out to be what I think it is, and Internal Affairs gets too close, I may have to call our friends in D.C."

“Understood," the large human replied, closing the door behind them. Pepper looked up at him.

“No pressure," she said with mild sarcasm.

“Easy as pie...Just another walk in the park," he answered.

“Hopefully, not like our last one. I'd hate to call Victor for a second dose of anti-

werewolf vaccine."

“Tell you what. Next time we come across that thing I'll let you do the talking... fox to wolf." They exited the sheriff's station, found their car in the parking lot and drove home. Once inside Saul made them both a mug of coffee and they sat across from each other in front of the fireplace.

“Do you think Captain Harris is right? That Stromboli's back?" Pepper asked.

“Yes and no," he answered. “Remember back when we helped Gwen, Sapphire and Victor defeat those two necromancers?"

“I remember sitting on the sidelines while they did all the work, dream walking through their friend's mind." Yeah, I remember that... even the part where Cypriana tried to take control of my mind through the puppet plug. I almost killed myself driving her out of my head."

“Well, it's reasonably certain that she didn't have access to the Stromboli program, otherwise her control would have been absolute," Saul said. “The question of how she did it is as obvious as the answer."

The vixen nickered softly. “Yes... magic." She went silent for a moment. “You think it's possible the guy who broke into the evidence locker used magic to access Norris' puppet plug?"

“It explains a lot. Especially when you consider what was taken. He obviously knows enough magic to know how to use the dagger. Who's to say he isn't a wizard himself."

“Add to that the fact he took a hell of a chance stealing the dagger back..."

“Means he has every intention of using it again," Saul finished. They both sat back thinking silently.

After about five minutes Pepper hopped onto her foot pads and began pacing back and forth across the room. “This is really bouncing around in my head. I know next to nothing about magic yet for all our clues and deduction it has to be what we need to fit everything into a definite pattern."

“You thinking we should call Victor's friend?"

“Maybe. It's certain that my cousin can't help. Not with Gwen expecting and two adopted kits to take care of." She looked up at her partner. “What do you think?"

“I'd be inclined to agree. Unfortunately, we have no idea how trustworthy this Grandma Din-Din is."

“We have Victor's endorsement," Pepper said. “And I can't ever think of a time he steered me wrong."

Saul started to reply when the com-cam began chirring. Standing, the human crossed the room and flipped the device on. A single line of text scrolled across the screen. “Audio only."

“Hello?"

“Good evening. Have I reached the abode of one Penelope Fields?"

“May I ask who is calling?" the detective asked with a polite, but authoritative voice.

“Someone whom you have need of, Mr. Blackthorn," the voice replied. “However before I go any farther, I require your partner to read off the password on the back of my business card."

Saul looked over at Pepper who, after a moment of thought, crossed over to the com-cam and took out the card Victor had given her. “Wéi j? shì chéng f?ng pò làng de j? huì," she read off carefully.

For a moment there was silence, then the voice returned. “You're pronunciation is choppy, slow and there's too much of a nasal twang to your voice, but I suppose it's passable, especially considering you're a construct."

Pepper wasn't certain if the elderly female voice was serious or just testing her patience. “What exactly does it mean?" the vixen countered.

“Why should I tell you?" the voice asked.

“...Sans for the goose," the detective replied

There was a bemuse chuckle on the com-cam. “Roughly translated it means 'A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind.' But then, you knew that."

“Actually, I didn't," Pepper said. “I was just curious."

There was a moment of silence, then the voice erupted with a full throated laugh. “You are a lot like your cousin, Ms. Penelope. Both of you are interested in uncovering mysteries."

“It's sort of a family thing," the vixen replied. “And if you don't mind, the name is Pepper, not Penelope.

“Yes, yes, I knew that... I just wanted to make sure I was talking to the right Zorr." There was an abrupt click and the com-cam went dead.

“Did she just hang up on us?" Saul asked. Before his partner could answer there was a knock on the front door. The human gave Pepper a puzzled look. When she shrugged, returning the look he crossed the room and opened the door. Before him stood a short, gray haired, heavily wrinkled Asian woman whose skin had the color and texture of ancient parchment. She was dressed in a conservative, black ankle length dress, wore a burgundy shawl and carried a dark green umbrella with an intricately carved handle. Behind her was a young, 15-year old, Asian girl, dressed in a black, traditional Japanese school girl's sailor uniform with white pipping. In her hands she carrying a blue, paisley, carpet bag.

Without even a moment's hesitation, the elderly woman marched purposely into the house, followed closely by the young adolescent. “Careful not to step on the hill giant's feet, Nikko. You'll only aggravate him." The girl looked up at Saul, bowed politely and smiled. Her pupils dilated until they had become impossibly hypnotic. Enthralled, the detective couldn't help but bust out in a wide grin of his own and return her bow.

“Nikko... What did I say about using your charms on the normals?"

She turned toward the elderly woman and her ears perked up, literally. Saul found himself staring as a pair of perfectly shaped cat's ears sprouted from the top of her head. “But Grandma... You called him a hill giant. Does that not make him one of the initiated?

“I was being satirical," she replied. “He's not really a hill giant, just an unusually large human, though he wouldn't have much trouble passing as one, should the need arise."

The girl turned back towards Saul. “I am sorry to have presumed on our initial acquaintance. I am sometimes over-eager to meet more magical beings, like myself. There are so few in this world."

Blackthorn closed the door. “No offense taken, Ms. Nikko."

Pepper watched their visitors from across the room, examining the old woman and her companion. “I take it you must be Grandma Din-Din."

“At your service, detective," she replied with a nod of the head. “I'm sorry for my unannounced arrival, but a good Adjudicator Magi doesn't wait for an invitation. It helps keep the dark forces off balance."

“Dark forces? Is that really a thing?"

The old woman chuckled softly. “Just a convenient moniker for anything or anyone who mis-uses magic. It helps keep focus on the potential dangers of irresponsible manipulation of physical laws, and often dissuades others from traveling down that path."

“Naturally," the vixen replied. “And how did you come to know that my partner and I might be in need of your services?"

“It was quite elementary," Grandma Din-Din said. She paused for a moment. “Is that still a term that people in your profession use?"

Saul tried to suppress a grin. “I suppose it could be, if one is a student of the Sherlock Holmes School of deductive reasoning. Though any good detective uses observation and logic when solving a case."

“You state the obvious," the elderly woman observed. “Why do you think I knew to come to you?"

“Either it was the Oradean Dagger turning up, her cousin's order for Black Rose pollen, or more likely, both," Saul responded.

Grandma Din-Din scowled slightly. “That Zorr has a brilliant mind, but he needs to have a zipper spell cast on his mouth. He suffers from the weakness of most great scholars. He wants to share what he learns with the world."

“Sorry if I disagree," Pepper said mildly irritated. “But he made a point of not giving us anything but general information to go on. If he had talked as much as you believe, we would have cracked this case wide open without your help."

“So what has he told you about magic?"

The vixen shook her head. “That is privileged information, and you have, as yet, to earn the privilege."

The old woman's scowl deepened. “You'll find playing games with me to be a waste of time, dearie." She replied firmly, raising her umbrella and pointing it at Pepper. The tip glowed blue.

Saul saw his partner stiffen and her eyes begin to glow. He immediately reached out for the umbrella but was stopped when Nikko's interposed herself and pulled the same trick she had before, drawing his attention to her instead.

“Now... as Adjudicator Magi I compel you to answer my questions."

The vixen could feel the magic push its way into her head; reaching down into a part of her mind that insisted she obey. The push wasn't painful... just persistent, but Pepper didn't feel much like cooperating.

“No!" she growled, clenching her jaw tightly enough to hurt. The pain helped her focus. “NO!"

Grandma Din-Din's eyes widened in disbelief. “How...?" She waived her other hand before her, drawing a glowing rune in the air. What she read in the symbol astonished her. She took two steps back, banished the rune, then lowered her umbrella and tapped its tip against the floor.

The glow faded and Pepper found herself able to move freely once more.

The old lady looked over at her companion. “Let him go, Nikko," she said. The teenager complied and Saul shook his head clear.

“Grandma?"

“It's okay my dear. We were wrong... No, I was wrong and I need to apologize to these two."

“You're damned straight," the vixen barked angrily. “What the hell right do you have going into my head like that?"

“I'm sorry, Ms. Fields. Often when dealing with other mages I have to be, aggressively pro-active, shall we say. Otherwise I never would have survived so long as an Adjudicator. I didn't know that you yourself had a puppet plug, or that you'd once successfully fought off domination by an extremely powerful necromancer. I treated you very poorly. It was unprofessional and I humbly apologize."

“You know about the puppet plugs?" Saul asked.

Grandma Din-Din nodded. “There is a lot we need to discuss."