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She felt herself being lifted, then made out the shape of the back door of her shop opening as she was carried through it, only a foot or so off the floor. Then she was hoisted nearly upright, and she felt herself falling into a dark abyss.
They found the back door to the pawnshop open and the basset hound taped up in the corner. Rivera checked the shop with his weapon drawn and a flashlight in one hand, then called Charlie in from the alley when he found no one there.
Charlie turned on the shop lights as he came in. "Uh-oh," he said.
"What?" Rivera said.
Charlie pointed to a display case with the glass broken out. "This case is where she displayed her soul vessels. It was nearly full when I was in here - now, well. . . "
Rivera looked at the empty case. "Don't touch anything. Whatever happened here, I don't think it was the same perp who hit the other shopkeepers. "
"Why?" Charlie looked back to the back room, to the bound basset hound.
"Because of him," Rivera said. "You don't tie up the dog if you're going to slaughter the people and leave blood and body parts everywhere. That's not the same kind of mentality. "
"Maybe she was tying him up when they surprised her," Charlie said. "She kind of had the look of a lady cop. "
"Yeah, and all cops are into dog bondage, is that what you're saying?" Rivera holstered his weapon, pulled a penknife from his pocket, and went to where the basset hound was squirming on the floor.
"No, I'm not. Sorry. She did have a gun, though. "
"She must have been here," Rivera said. "Otherwise the alarms would have been set. What's that on that doorjamb?" He was sawing through the duct tape on the basset's paws, being careful not to cut him. He nodded toward the doorway from the shop to the back room.
"Blood," Charlie said. "And a little hair. "
Rivera nodded. "That blood on the floor there, too? Don't touch. "
Charlie looked at a three-inch puddle to the left of the door. "Yep, I think so. "
Rivera had the basset's paws free and was kneeling on him to hold him still while he took the tape off his muzzle. "Those tracks in it, don't smear them. What are they, partial shoe prints?"
"Look like bird-feet prints. Chickens maybe?"
"No. " Rivera released the basset, who immediately tried to jump on the inspector's Italian dress slacks and lick his face in celebration. He held the basset hound by the collar and moved to where Charlie was examining the tracks.
"They do look like chicken tracks," he said.
"Yep," Charlie said. "And you have dog drool on your jacket. "
"I need to call this in, Charlie. "
"So dog drool is the determining factor in calling in backup?"
"Forget the dog drool. The dog drool is not relevant. I need to report this and I need to call my partner in. He'll be pissed that I've waited this long. I need to take you home. "
"If you can't get the stain out of that thousand-dollar suit jacket, you'll think it's relevant. "
"Focus, Charlie. As soon as I can get another unit here, I'm sending you home. You have my cell. Let me know if anything happens. Anything. "
Rivera called the dispatcher on his cell phone and asked him to send a uniform unit and the crime-scene squad as soon as they were available. When he snapped the phone shut, Charlie said, "So I'm not under arrest anymore?"
"No. Stay in touch. And stay safe, okay? You might even want to spend a few nights outside of the City. "
"I can't. I'm the Luminatus, I have responsibilities. "
"But you don't know what they are - "
"Just because I don't know what they are doesn't mean I don't have them," Charlie said, perhaps a little too defensively.
