Kade Chapter 5
#5 of Kade (Rewrite)
Another chapter. Thinking I might've made a mistake in trying to write a story like this. But oh well. I've written worse.
Kade--Chapter 5
Well, this was certainly unsatisfactory. Kade reread his own notes, based on the information that Eric Stone's employer had given them. Yes, they had the footage of Eric Stone both entering and leaving the factory and even more footage of him within the factory. If the lab tech's estimated time of death was right--and it very rarely, if ever, was wrong--then Eric Stone was not their murderer.
"Well, shit," Kade grumbled as they pulled away from the factory in a Peacekeeper vehicle. "That's a dead end."
"Apparently," Tyler grumbled sadly. "So, what'll we do now?"
"We still have the ex-husband," Kade explained. "Although I bet you anything he thinks the message we left was a joke."
"Probably," Tyler mused dejectedly. "And if he doesn't answer, what'll we do? He lives at least an hour and a half away from here."
"Doesn't make him innocent," Kade stated. "And unfortunately, he's our prime suspect right now."
"He's our only suspect."
"Exactly, but innocent until proven guilty," Kade huffed. "Even if we bring him in for interrogation, there's no guarantee that we'll even have our killer."
"Do we even have a motive? I mean, it's one thing to kill and rob somebody, but to rip them open like that..." He shuddered in terror. "I mean, you saw all that blood--"
"If you're still shaken up by it, you may need to see a psychologist," Kade noted.
"You have no idea what it was like to come up on that," Tyler countered. "And anyway, I was saying that for somebody do that much violence on a body... It had to be deliberate. If it was just about her prosthetics, why would the killer cut so much?"
"Maybe searching for more," Kade explained. "Unfortunately, this could very well have just been a one-off murder and the killer could've already fled the country."
"Can we go after them if they have?"
"Not without proper permission and who knows if we'll even get it," Kade huffed.
"So, what now?"
"Our only lead is the ex-husband now," Kade replied. "And we'll have to go see him."
"Why don't we get an arrest warrant?"
"Last thing we need is a wrongful arrest suit," Kade answered.
"Well, what other choice do we have?" Tyler inquired, pulling over into a parking lot. He exhaled heavily. "Are we just supposed to do nothing? I mean, really, we're letting a murderer get away!"
"We're doing what we can," Kade explained, "but for right now, it looks like we're at a dead end. Until we interview the ex-husband, we're stuck with only the info we have." He exhaled sharply and sucked in a quick breath.
"Your eye again?" Tyler wondered when he saw Kade wince in pain.
"Y-yeah," Kade murmured, rubbing his temple. "For now, let's just head back. There's nothing more we can do right now."
"You seem distracted," Elizabeth noticed and Kade could tell by her voice that she was worried. "What's on your mind?"
"Just the case I'm working," Kade remarked. He noticed her glass was empty and reached for the wine bottle. "Need another drink?"
"Not yet," Elizabeth said. She looked down at his hardly-touched meal and scowled. "You go through all this effort to cook a steak perfectly and you're not even going to eat? This case must be really getting to you. Never seen you frazzled before."
"Never had a case like this before," he confessed.
She nodded. "Spots, you know you can tell me anything that's bothering you, right? It isn't just the case, is it? You've had tough cases before."
Kade bit his lip and distracted himself by cutting his steak and lifting it to his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "You're right," he agreed. "I did cook this perfectly."
"Kade, don't dodge," Elizabeth said. "Talk to me."
Kade swallowed and considered his reply carefully. "It's Tyler. He's taking all this personally."
"Is it that bad?"
"Kind of. I bet he feels guilty about the murder," Kade sighed. "Hopefully, we'll figure it out. Otherwise, he might get really depressed."
Elizabeth bit her lip. "What about you? How're you handling this case?"
"Fine, I guess," Kade said. "To be perfectly honest, I'm having doubts we can solve it. We've got a few leads, but nothing solid. Like grasping at strings." He thought for a moment and winced. "And my eye's been bothering me. Been aching like hell."
"Kade... are you still on those painkillers?"
"Just when it gets bad."
She regarded him fretfully, eyes wide with panic. "Kade, it'll get worse. You need to see a doctor. Or someone about taking care of that. I don't want you on that stuff anymore."
"Liz, it's fine," Kade said, rubbing his temple.
"No, it's not. You sound like you're starting to get addicted to them."
"Liz..."
"Promise me, you'll get rid of--"
"Elizabeth!" Kade said, loudly, though not yelling. She wiped her mouth and looked over him with a frown. "I'll be okay."
"Until you're not."
Kade sighed. "I'll try to set an appointment. Just for you."
"Promise me?"
"Yeah... I promise..."
"How'd you get permission for this?" Tyler inquired. "Isn't this city outside of our jurisdiction?"
Kade got out of the civilian vehicle and closed the door calmly. They'd just arrived at the house of their only remaining suspect, Nelson Gordan. Kade sniffed disdainfully as he looked around. It was a fairly upscale neighborhood with clean lawns and gardens and the house was orderly (though small), but he felt uncomfortably tense, even as they approached the house.
"Got lucky. Gray actually got the permission for us to investigate here. The only stipulation is that we can't arrest him without reason. So," he said, stepping onto the porch, the files for the case under his arm. "Just like last time. You're the good cop, I'm the bad cop."
"Are we seriously doing this routine again?"
Kade rang the doorbell, smirking. "Yep."
They waited a few seconds before ringing the doorbell again. A voice yelled from beyond the door. "Just a moment!"
Kade scowled. "That's not Gordan."
"No, it sounds like a lady," Tyler noted. "Please, this is the Peacekeepers. We have some questions for Nelson Gordan."
The door slid open and a young, female dog opened the door, dressed in a nightgown and looking quite disheveled, as if she'd only just woken up.
"Can I help you?" she griped irritably.
"Yes, we're Peacekeepers," Tyler remarked, flashing his badge.
"You don't look like it," she noted.
"Yeah, we're plain clothes detectives," Kade half-lied. "Right now, we need to find Nelson Gordan. He's a suspect in a murder in the next city over. We just need to ask him some questions."
"A murder?" she said. "Not my..."
"May we step inside?" Tyler questioned politely. "We'd just like to have a short talk. Maybe you can provide an alibi for Mr. Gordan."
"Actually, I don't think I should invite people in when he's not--"
"Or," Kade began, "we could interrogate you. For all we know, you could've been jealous enough to kill his wife."
"His wife?" she gasped. "He's not married!"
"His ex-wife, we meant," Tyler correctly.
"I knew he was married, but I never knew his ex's name," she explained. "Is he being charged with murder?"
Tyler was about to reply, but Kade elbowed him calmly in the side. "He won't be charged with anything. We just need a statement from him and anyone else who can provide him with a credible, verifiable alibi."
She took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Where was he last"--Kade thought for a moment--"Saturday night, early Sunday morning?"
"He was at work. He's a bartender at the Trapper. It's the dive bar off Winston Avenue."
"Alright," Kade said simply. "My partner, Mr. Mooney, will be able to take your statement. Where is Mr. Gordan now?"
"He's at work," the dog explained, shifting nervously where she stood. "If you want, you can come in and I can tell you where he was. I just... I need to put some clothes on."
"Thank you very much," Tyler said, but she wasn't listening. She turned and walked inside.
"You get what you can out of her," Kade whispered to Tyler. "I'll go down to the... What was it called?"
"The Trapper."
"Right. I'll go down to the Trapper."
"Hey, buddy, welcome to the Trapper," a chubby tiger greeted as Kade stepped inside. Kade analyzed the dive bar. It had a slightly musty smell to it and the interior was cheap and slightly dingy. The other customers were preoccupied with their drinks or friends and the tiger who smiled at him looked slightly intoxicated himself.
"Hello. I'm here to see Nelson Gordan."
"You're looking at him," the bartender remarked. "What can I get you? Looking to get buzzed or shitfaced?"
"Looking to speak to you," Kade explained, unlatching his badge from his waist. Gordan's expression faltered. "It's about your ex-wife?"
"What about her?" Gordan huffed irritably.
"I'd curb the attitude, Mr. Gordan," Kade warned, "and come around the counter."
"Can't just leave. I'm on the clock."
"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice. If you refuse, I do have the authority to detain you."
"Detain? What the fuck...?" Gordan gasped. By now, the bar's patrons had turned their heads to watch the exchange. "Am I being arrested for something?"
"We'll see. Is there a back room where we can speak?"
"M'kay..." Gordan mused, nervously stepping around the counter. He called across the room. "TINA! GOING TO THE BACK!" A buxom calico turned and nodded. "WATCH THE BAR FOR A BIT!"
"OKAY!" she yelled back.
"Back this way," Gordan said, weaving between slightly dirtied tables and into a back room. Kade followed him into what he assumed to be an employee break room, painted in what was once light blue, but the walls seemed to have faded slightly. The room was small and claustrophobic, a feeling only intensified by the table in the middle which seemed too big for the room itself. Gordan sat down at the table, stained by what looked like years of use, and Kade joined him, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"I'm going to cut right to the chase. Your ex wife is dead," Kade said as bluntly and monotonously as possible.
The effect was slow and Gordan seemed unsure. "Jessica? She can't be. She's too stubborn to keel over."
"She was murdered."
Yet another slow reaction as Gordan's mind processed what had been said. "When?" he managed to say in a weak voice.
"Last Saturday night," Kade answered, "early Sunday morning."
"... Why wait so long to tell someone? It's Thursday," Gordan noted.
"I'm aware," Kade said, "and her brother claimed the body Tuesday. What we need from you is a statement and an alibi."
"... Am I a suspect?!"
"Everyone is a suspect," Kade said. "We've spoken to her brother and your name came up."
"Hold on! He's always had it in for me! He even said he'd kill me if anything happened to her!"
Kade held up his paw to silence Gordan. "We've spoken to him. And we'll go over every bit of evidence we have. Right now, what we need to establish is where you were and what you were doing during the incident. If you can provide a credible alibi, you'll be free and clear and you won't hear about this again."
"I was here! You can ask anybody!"
"Working or drinking?"
"Just hanging out. I'm friends with our regulars here," Gordan said. "I might've had a few drinks and all, but--"
"Can anyone back up that statement?"
"Yeah, there's Don, Sonny, Sid... Almost anyone who was--"
A loud ringing filled their ears and Kade again silenced Gordan by holding up his paw. He pulled his phone from his chest pocket and frowned--it was Chief Bianca Gray.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Where are you right now?" Chief Gray inquired irritably.
"Following a lead. I'm with a suspect."
Gordan scoffed at being called a 'suspect'.
"Well, I doubt it's the right suspect. We've found another body. You need to get back immediately."
"Wow," Kade gasped in shock, looking over the room as he and Tyler stepped over the threshold. The body had been found in a hotel room by a housekeeper and the room looked neat... apart from the bloody mess left upon the bed. Even as Kade and Tyler watched other officers document the scene with photos and samples, they could see just how warped the body had become, skinned of fur and ripped open yet.
"Shit," Kade gasped, nearing. A buck stopped him, holding out his arm to keep him from moving any further.
"Can't let you interfere with the scene, Lieutenant," the buck noted. "You can do your thing when we finish our thing."
"What happened?"
"By the looks of things right now," the buck said, "we're thinking it might be the same guy who killed that one tigress in the alley. This victim was male, a bear, with a prosthetic arm that's missing. There might be further prosthetics missing but we'll know for certain when we finish the autopsy properly. Where were you two?"
"Chasing down a suspect," Kade answered in a huff. He eyed the scene; it looked disgusting. The body was eviscerated and lumps of flesh had been left on the bedside table. His stomach turned at the stench. "Who found the body?"
"A housekeeper. She was trying to clean."
"I see. What do you think, Ty?" Kade asked. He glanced behind him. "Tyler?"
Tyler had backed away, his eyes wide and body trembling. His paw covered his mouth and he looked as if he was about to vomit.
"Tyler..."
Tyler wheeled around sharply and reached for a trash can. Kade looked away as he heard Tyler retch into the garbage can, disgusted by the sound of dry heaving, even though he felt the urge to the do the same. When Tyler had stopped, Kade hefted him up and began to steer him from the room. A crowd had been gathered around the hotel room, eager to see or hear about the grisly spectacle. Other Peacekeepers were keeping the gathered civilians away and Kade pushed by them to lead Tyler out the hotel and into the hotel's courtyard.
"If you can't handle this," Kade said, "I can't have you on this case. I'd do better on my own."
"I'm fine."
"You just puked after seeing it!" Kade huffed. "Listen to me very carefully. You are a Peacekeeper. Nut up and act like it. I get it! I get that it's sickening to see that shit. But what do you think Bianca's going to say when she heard you threw up like that?"
"I didn't puke!" Tyler countered. "I got just a little... grossed out..."
Kade could hear the embarrassment in Tyler's voice. "Ty, I won't say anything to Bianca. I can't promise anyone else won't. But you have to pull yourself together."
"Okay. I understand," Tyler said. He took a deep breath.
"Maybe you ought to go see Greggy again," Kade said mockingly.
Tyler chortled. "Maybe I will. I hear Alistair's dancing again tonight."
Kade snorted, remembering the black panther in the low-rise, almost sinfully tight, briefs. "Interesting. I might drink with you."