13 Degrees of Separation (55 page)

“Yeah.
Guy about oh, 200 years ago, maybe 250. He figured they are worth a lot, which
they are. They are rare metals after all. The goop that got burned off in
re-entry was gone. But he figured there would be diamonds and other stuff at
the bottom of the impact hole too, all from the impact forces and heat. Which
turned out to be true.”

“Oh? Is
this going someplace?”

“Yeah,
I'm getting there. So, he wanted this stuff, but it was too deep to dive for.
So he brought in some genie workers, otters, and some others to do the work for
him. And he brought in some Neocats and dogs to keep the others in line. The
cats and dogs don't get along. Catching my drift now?”

“Yeah,”
Nohar said slowly. Otters were a pain in the ass. Dogs were a nuisance, one he
could tolerate. The shifty otters though... He put a protective hand over his
laptop bag.

“Cats
are mostly leopards and jaguar, but there are some cougars and lions too. A few
Cheetah, though they are dying out. The leopards and jaguar have headed south
into the jungle over time, but the cougars and lions have stuck around. Watch
your back. You'll stick out like a sore thumb there.”

“Let me
guess, no tigers?”

“Nary a
one so you'll be an instant celebrity,” Magnum replied.

Nohar
turned. “Lucky me,” he sighed, orienting on the map he had in memory. It was
going to be quite a walk, at least 12 kilometers. He'd done much more in his
youth, but that had been then, and it had been on dirt, not hard concrete. The
pads of his feet were going to be damn sore. He could drop to all 4's and run it,
but that would draw attention.

“Bus is
down main, on the left. I'm not sure which one will take you there, you'll have
to check the schedule. Wanna meet back here when we're done? Or that country
bar?”

“Here,”
Nohar said absently. “Good hunting,” he growled gruffly.

“You
too, Stay safe,” Magnum said as he trotted in the opposite direction.

Nohar
shook his head, picking up his pace.

...*...*...*...*...

Morey
town was as much of a rundown slum as he'd feared. He'd expected and it had met
and exceeded his expectations. Neo's just didn't care much for shelter
sometimes, in this heat shade and open areas to catch breezes were the main
thing. Everyone around was panting or fanning themselves. It sucked not having
sweat glands.

The
main drive leading to the wharves were lined with makeshift wooden stalls. Each
were about 3 meters tall, simple box things with horizontal wing doors. The
tops formed shade for the customer, the bottom formed a counter where the
seller could showcase his wears or dicker over the price. It was all very
medieval he realized. He nodded to a few Neo's who were watching him warily.

A
cougar pride turned their backs on him, moving silk drapes to cover themselves.
“Well, excuse me,” he said in mock sarcasm. He went to the nearest stall with
smoke coming up from it. The smells were of meat. He bought a rat on a stick
for a credit chit and then walked on, chewing on the rat.

A pack
of young dogs started to follow him. He turned, using his right hand on his hip
he subtly pulled his duster open far enough for the pack to see his holster.
The brown hound in the front came up short and turned away. After a moment the
others followed, though the pit bull in the back looked like he was still game
to go a few rounds. His fellow slapped him away, however.

“Pitiful,”
a  Neo voice said from his side. He turned to see a domestic tabby there. She
had an ocelot coat, with Freckle embossed on her gold necklace. She had a tied
dyed skirt cloth tied around her waist and another cloth tied around her chest
as a bra. He could smell kits on her. She was a parent or a babysitter. Maybe a
foster parent at the local crèche, though he doubted it.

“Dogs?”
he asked, flicking his good ear slightly.

She
snorted. “Them and you, showing off,” she said, eying him.

“I'm
here on a mission actually,” he said, tossing the stick to the dogs. “Fetch!”
he said and turned back to the female.

“Oh?”
she asked, sounding disinterested.

“Yeah.
Someone is killing Neo's. I've been called in to put a stop to it. But to do
that I need help. I'm new here.”

“I
see,” she murmured. She walked to the back of a stall and then nodded her head
for him to follow. He did so.

“I
usually only bring customers back here,” she said with a slight lilt in her
voice. He got the message and pulled a silver coin out. He set it down on the
bed between them.

“My,
someone pays you well Handsome,” she said smiling. Her eyes gleamed as she
reached for the coin.

“Intel,”
he said, brushing her hand away. “I don't have time for games. The killer has
gone from killing kits to prostitutes.”

“So my
life is on the line now?” she asked. She tried to make it sound amused but he
heard the note of genuine concern threaded in the high notes.

“Yes,”
he said. “Cats and prostitutes. You are both.”

“I'm a
business woman,” the feline said. She took the coin and put it into her bra. He
snorted softly. He turned when he heard kits mewing. She glanced in that
direction and then turned, looking in a side room. She murmured something and
purred softly before she turned back to him.

“You
are right, it is a Neo killer. Someone here is a traitor in our midst. The
humans aren't interested in the killer though,” she said.

“Yes,
I'd gathered that. Not until the killer escalated to killing humans too.”

“Pinks,
always in it for their own kind,” the cat sniffed in disgust. “That figures,”
she yowled slightly.

“The
last two vic's were foxes. An arctic fox and another named Tracy,” he said.

Her
eyes went wide and slitted. He watched her react, first in shock and then
grief. Her ears went flat and she looked away. A black paw wiped at an eye.
Sometimes he hated it that humans had given them the ability to cry. He sighed.

“Yes,
Tracy... I thought she'd done good. Gone now,” the cat sighed. “How?”

“One
had her throat slit, the other was torn apart. I'm not sure, but I think the
killer was tearing Tracy apart when her friend walked in on it. She ran and her
killer chased her down.”

“Yes, a
dog would do that. Once you run they instinctively chase you,” she said.

“But
the killer of the Neo cubs is a cat.”

“How do
you know that?” she asked in surprise.

“We
exhumed the body,” Nohar said quietly. Her ears went flat and she hissed
softly. “Yes, that's right, we did. I did. I had to know, and the river and
train killings were useless. The humans didn't care but I do.”

“How,”
she asked.

“Cemetery.”

“No,
you fool! How did he die?” she asked.

“Skull
crushed, neck snapped. Sabre canine teeth marks in the skull. It was savage. No
other damage to the body. The humans had thought he'd fallen head first.”

“Stupid
humans, a cat always lands on his feet,” the feline yowled.

“Which
I caught onto right away,” Nohar said, flicking his ears and tail. She sniffed.

“Good
for you.”

“But
not for the community, I need to know if they are linked. If there have been
other bodies. Other disappearances of people, our people.”

“Dozens,”
the cat finally said, sinking onto the edge of the bed. She groomed her
shoulder. “Dozens and dozens actually, my kits are the few left here. I just
had them a few days ago.”

“And
now they are targets,” Nohar breathed. “All the kits?”

She
nodded. “Just about. One by one, we thought some had gotten into trouble with
the humans, or gotten themselves killed sticking their nose where it didn't
belong. Or run off to a better life. Now though...”

“Now
it's something else.”

“Yes,”
she murmured, fingers grooming her side.

A
thought came to him, he was surprised she was taking customers so soon after
giving birth. No cat liked having a male around newborns. That brought forth a
painful memory to the surface, one he ruthlessly suppressed for now. “Any
ideas? Do you know for how long this has been going on?”

She
looked up at him briefly and then to the door where the kits were. He could
hear them softly purring in their sleep. She shook herself, grooming her tail
to hide her distress. “I... yes, A few years now. At first a few, we didn't
think much of it. I myself thought the kits had found some dangerous new game
to play. But the other kits didn't say anything about it. Each of the kits
disappeared alone, or once or twice a pair. We told them to buddy but it was no
use.”

“Curiosity?”
Nohar asked. He knew a kit was ever curious. The old saying about curiosity and
cats ran through his feline mind once more.

“A lure
you mean? It's possible. We try to drill it into their heads to be careful, to
not leave the crèche area, to not go after strange things or to talk to
strangers but...” she sighed.

“And in
your line of work...” Nohar sighed. “Any other things?”

“The
cheetah have been dying off. They were the first. Some of us fled, a few of
them did. Or so we thought.”

Nohar
nodded. He made a mental note to track down any cheetah. This didn't seem to be
panning out. He flicked his tail again in agitation.

“Anyone
acting strange? Out of sorts? Weird predatory looks to the young?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Anyone you would think could do this?”

“No,”
she murmured.

“Anything
at all,” he asked, almost desperately as he reaching for her. She flinched.

“Don't,
um,” the female sighed.

He
retracted his hand, letting it fall to his side. He'd been trying to get her
attention, pet her to calm her distress. “I'm not here for sex remember. You
aren't my type. Sorry, no offense,” Nohar sighed. He showed her his badge. She
stared at it. “You want my advice? Take the credits you've got, bundle the kits
up and get on the next train or boat out of here. north, away from this.”

“I...”

“It's
for their safety as much as your own,” he said indicating the kits in the back
room. She nodded slowly, eyes still downcast.

“Do you
know of anyone I can talk to? Leaders in the area?”

She
shook her head. “All gone, the cat clans are in disarray. The dogs are taking
over now,” she said.

“All
right, I'll look into it more. Thanks,” he said, passing her another coin. She
took it, looking up in surprise but he was already leaving.

“Thanks,”
he heard her murmur as he brushed aside the curtain door and back out into the
light of day.

...*...*...*...*...

He
checked in with a couple of the venders, always giving them a bit more for
their wares then needed. That got them over their initial hostility, and people
being people, they talked a little. Not the free gossip they usually did
amongst themselves, but enough for him to confirm that the deaths had started
several years ago, starting with the cheetah and lion cubs, and then spiraling
out from there. Dogs weren't on the menu just yet it seemed, but a few here and
there had gone missing. Now they were more wary, keeping a watch of their
people and territory. The schnauzer nodded his chin to a wary mastiff watching
them talk. Nohar nodded. “Good, good for you folks.”

He
tried to check in with the otters and other Neo's but none would talk with him.
He finally gave up as the sun started to sink on the horizon and headed for the
bus stop. He had to go back to the hotel and do some thinking.

...*...*...*...*...

One of
the first things he did, that was, after he got comfortable, was check the
computer for other victims. His laptop identified quite a few deaths from
suspicious circumstances, all fitting the parameters he'd set. He'd left the
filters pretty loose, he didn't want to let anything loose that might be a
critical tidbit.

He set
the problematical accidental listing aside to focus on the murders though, it
was best to see which fit the profile. Some of the victims were killed with a 
knife or had their neck snapped, one had his throat ripped out by something
that wasn't a blade, but the body had been torn up to cover up whatever had
been used as the killing blow. The police of course weren't saying anything,
but they seemed to be highly suspicious of Nohar. He could understand why, and
glanced out the window of his room. Sure enough there was a human cop standing
across the street watching his room. It annoyed him that they were doing this,
wasting manpower and resources on him. He thrashed his tail for a moment before
he gave that up as wasted effort.

He
eliminated two deaths, both had the killers caught right after the killing,
both killers had confessed. One had been a lover's quarrel, another had caught
his so called mate in bed with another being. That was amusing, just about
everyone knew Neo females and of course Neo males were as promiscuous as all
hell. Of course neither gender wanted to admit it, and boy did they climb onto
a high horse when the opposite side got caught. Caught in the act was even
uglier.

He
tuned that thought out and focused on the unsolved murders. Most of the victims
were homeless or prostitutes, so of course there wasn't a large need to solve
the crime. No victims to mourn them and keep the heat to the flat foot's feet.
He felt a bit bitter over that.

After a
while he stopped and wrote a quick script program to have the computer plot the
murders by number on a copy of the map file he'd scanned in the library. He
watched as the map began to be populated by numbered bookmarks and then set his
head back against the pillow, closing his eyes to doze for a little while.

...*...*...*...*...

A knock
at the door woke him. He went to it to find the cat there. “Phone call,” she
said, jerking her head to the lobby. He sighed and gathered his stuff and
followed her out.

“Who
from?” he asked.

“Magnum,”
she said, flicking her ears. “He's tense,” she said as they got to the lobby.
She opened the half door to get behind the counter and then put the phone up on
the counter.

“We've
got another vic Tigger,” Magnum said without preamble. Nohar sighed in
frustration. “Where?” he asked.

“North
Hootersville and Darwin's curse crossing. About a block from the train station.
I'll...”

“I've
got a map. I'll meet you there,” Nohar growled hanging up.

“Another
one?” the feline asked, not looking up. Nohar sighed.

“Yes.”

“Go get
em. Put em in the dirt,” she hiss spat.

“I'll
do that,” he growled,  and went to the scene.

...*...*...*...*...

At the
scene he found Magnum standing under a street light, arms crossed. Nohar looked
over to his shoulder, sure enough his tail was there, following him. Magnum
looked over his shoulder as well and snorted.

“Well,
they can take you off the suspect list now,” he said.

“Yeah
well, don't bet on it,” Nohar sighed as Draskin and his Asian partner
approached. Nohar turned and pointed to his tail. The human who had been
tailing him flinched as if he'd been caught in a spot light. Draskin stopped
short and then scowled blackly at the man. “See him first,” Nohar growled.

“Sitrep?”
Nohar asked, looking at the human PI as Draskin passed him. The Asian detective
sighed and took out his notebook.

“Another
feline prostitute. Female, domestic but with spots. Recently had a litter...
which isn't around. Some bits of fur,” Magnum replied, pointing.

“Shit,”
Nohar breathed, left hand paw going to cover his face. “Wearing a skirt? About
a hundred centimeters tall? Brown?” he asked.

“You
know the vic?” Magnum asked.

“I
spoke with her earlier. She didn't have much to say. Scared shitless. She said
she was the last Neofeline with cubs in the city. I gave her some money and
told her to get the hell out of town.”

“It
doesn't seem like she took your advice very well,” the cop said.

“I
dunno about that,” Magnum said, pointing down the street. “Go that away, hang a
left and you are at the train station.”

“The
question is, did someone stalk her? Or did they do it because I talked to her?”
Nohar asked as he looked over his shoulder to Draskin. The man was waving his
arms and looked fit to be tied.

“What
do you mean he hasn't left his hotel room!?” he snarled.

“Well,
that'll take you off the suspect list,” O'shee  said.

“He
could have done it earlier!” Draskin growled, stomping over to them.

“Give
it a rest Bobby, I told you I'd vouch for him. Besides, it's never that cut and
dried and you know it.”

“I can
wish,” Draskin growled. “And what'd I say about you calling me...” Magnum
snorted, hands up in surrender.

“Fine,
detective Draskin,” Nohar growled, looking at the human with cold eyes. “For
the record, I was in the Neo area for a time. Tom and I split up, he went to
check his contacts, I went to try to make some in the Neo area. I was hoping
for a lead but I didn't get many.”

“They
won't talk to us at all,” O'shee said.

“Because
you usually don't give a shit,” Nohar said eying the junior detective. “Or you
give them the back of the hand. So they keep their heads down, or try to do so.
A cop means trouble. If someone talks it marks them out as an informant, which
then makes it harder on them. No one will talk to them, they'll black list
them.”

“Tough,”
Draskin muttered.

“Besides,
as you said, you could give a rats ass about a Neo death,” Nohar said. “It's
the human ones you care about. Got to get that check mark to look good in the
papers and pass the next review,” he growled.

“You
really are riding for a fall,” Draskin snarled, fists clenched.

“I'm
just saying it as it is,” Nohar said, eying him. “But as your tail confirmed, I
went back to the hotel and crashed to process the data I had.”

“Data.”

“On all
the deaths, I was working on charting them when I got the call,” he said with a
shrug. “Usually a killer starts in his comfort zone and spirals outward. I
haven't checked it though.”

“You
have a computer?” O'shee asked, looking at the bag. Nohar nodded. “With...”

“With a
forensics package. I am a private detective you know,” Nohar said, pulling the
laptop out. He tapped the power button and waited for the screen to clear.
After a moment he frowned. “This isn't very accurate, I'm only judging it on
the unsolved cases in the paper, not the missing persons, or suspicious deaths.
But you can see a pattern here,” he said, turning the laptop. “Which I don't
like to see, but I was expecting it.” He pointed to the numbers forming a
circle. “X marks the spot,” he said, pointing to the center of the circle...
right on Morey town.

“So?”
Draskin snorted.

“So, it
means the killer started there. And as you pointed out, they won't talk to you.
So...”

O'shee's
eyes went wide. “Which means the killer is a Neo.”

“We
already knew that!” Draskin snarled.

“And I
just confirmed it again,” Nohar said. He turned the laptop back around and had
it pull up the accidental deaths and then map them onto the map as well. Dots
of a different color started to populate the map like mushrooms.

“Here
are the accidental deaths. I'm betting only a few are legit accidents. I was
going to filter them out, but...” he pointed again. Again the circle, again
around Morey town.

“So...”

“So, we
know the killer is in Morey town. But no one is talking. It's a case of the
monkey's, no one heard anything, saw anything, and definitely won't say
anything,” Magnum said. “Anything else?”

Nohar
glanced his way and then shrugged. “Yeah, four classes there, Neo cats were the
biggest, but had the smallest population. Neo dogs were second. Otters had the
biggest population but they aren't violent. The last is the genies and mixed
bag. There is some cross over, but most of the time the various clans take care
of their own. This started in the cat clan. It was suspected that it was a clan
war, but that never happened.”