A person of perhaps fifteen calmly walked up. He or she had such long brown hair and baggy clothes that Fred couldn't guess a gender.

Fred asked, "Do you know this cat?"

"That's Eric's cat. He found him a year ago. His Mom had a fit, but Eric kept him. His girlfriend Beth claims he loves Blackie even more than her."

Since the person had talked longer, Fred could finally tell this was a boy.

"Who are you?" Fred asked.

The boy puffed out his thin chest and declared, "I'm Pipe!"

Fred asked, "You mean like a water pipe?"

The boy laughed, "I've got several of those! Not on me, though. Too delicate. I’m just carrying a regular pipe."

This reply initially baffled Fred. Then, he realized that while he had meant a pipe that water flows through as to a sink, the kid had taken it to mean a type of pipe used to smoke tobacco or marijuana, usually the later, with the smoke filtered through water to cool it.

Fred asked, "Can you call the cat?"

Pipe nonchalantly asked, "Gonna arrest Blackie for shooting the lady cop?"

Fred asked back, "Did you see what happened?"

"Sure! It was better than watching TV or playing a video game! The way that lady cop bled was awesome! Blackie didn't shoot her. It’s too hard to control a gun with paws," Pipe said, then laughed hard at his own wit.

Fred took a deep breath, but felt a twinge in his chest as he did so. He ignored the pain. He felt Pipe was not in his right mind. Up and down the street, not another soul could be seen. Fred knew that was typical for when cops, especially in uniform as he was, showed up in this neighborhood. Still, Fred was shocked when Pipe pulled a small pipe from one pocket and a cigarette lighter from another. The pipe had a bowl about a third the size of a typical tobacco pipe.

As Pipe struggled to get it lit, he asked Fred, "You want a toke?"

Smelling that it was not tobacco, Fred thought, "They're never going to believe this back at the station!"

Fred said as though this was a kind but commonplace offer, "Not right now, thanks. I think your nickname suits you well, but do you have more of a name than Pipe?"

From the open window, Dave shouted, "Hey, look what the cat's doing!"

Fred turned to look. There was a puddle of blood where Sharon had lain. The cat had crept up to it, then stuck out his tongue. Fred shut his eyes hard. He felt an acidic taste in the back of his mouth. He fought it back down.

Dave then shouted, "The kid's bolting!"

Fred opened his eyes. Pipe was indeed running. Fred turned and ran a few steps. He stopped suddenly as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Dave leapt from the open window, landing in the soft dirt underneath. He too was following Pipe, but then he stopped as he saw Fred freeze.

Dave shouted, "What's wrong?"

"Don't worry about me," Fred said. "Get the kid! He's a witness! Ugh!"

Despite the command, Dave hurried over to Fred, asking again, "What's wrong?"

"I was shot is what's wrong, but I've got my vest on! Probably just my ribs. Go get the kid!"

"Better not be a heart attack," Dave muttered, then ran in the direction the kid had gone.

Maureen then appeared at the open window and yelled, "The house is clear, but what's going on out there?"

Fred walked closer to the window so he wouldn't have to shout and gasped, "I was talking to a witness. Dave's chasing him."

"What's wrong with you? Something the witness did?"

Fred replied, "No. I might have cracked a rib when Eric shot me, but I didn't even feel it until now."

Fred bent over a little to lessen the pain. Something seemed wrong by the window, but he couldn't think what just now. He could see Dave's footprints from the leap.

Maureen ordered, "Don't move around! A broken rib could puncture a lung! I'll be right out."

Fred turned back to the cat, still by the blood. This time, Fred couldn't stop his response. No matter how much damage it did to his chest to have this happen, he fell to his knees and retched.

Fred was vaguely aware that Maureen had run out, using the door rather than leaping from the window as Dave had.

Fred was mystified as he heard her yell, "Carbon! I don't believe it's you! Bad cat, leave that alone! Come here, Carbon!"

Fred recalled that Pipe had called the cat Blackie. He wondered what was going on. The cat left the blood and ran toward Maureen. She held out her arms. The cat joyfully leapt into them. As this happened, Dave came walking back, holding a clear plastic bag at his side.

Dave said, "Sorry, Fred. He got away. He dropped this, though."

He held up the bag. It held the small pipe that Fred had seen earlier.

Dave then turned toward Maureen, who was hugging the cat, and said, "Hey, that looks like the black cat you used to have."

Maureen grinned and claimed, "This is Carbon!"

* * *

Joel Robust sat in a hallway lined with chairs. He was peering through the bottom part of his bifocals at a popular murder mystery novel. He laughed as if reading a comedy. An uniformed officer hurried up to him.

The officer said, "Joel, you need to come with me right away."

Joel moved a bookmark, closed the book, and said, "I can't go anywhere, Ralph. Any minute, they're going to call me into the courtroom."

Ralph fidgeted like he had to go to the bathroom, then asked, "How long will that take?"

"I've no idea. I was told I’d be called any minute, but that was two hours ago. If you get called to one of these things, bring a good book to read. Something long."

Ralph said, "All I've done so far is traffic court, and that goes fast."

"I hope that means you were there as an officer and not defending yourself."

Ralph looked at his feet and replied, "I meant as an officer. However, I once challenged a speeding ticket and been let off because the issuing officer hadn't shown up at court. I make it a point of showing up when I issue a ticket."

Joel decided not to comment on that, so asked, "What's up?"

"The rookie...I don't remember her name...just got shot. The shooter is also shot, and he's dead. That makes it one of your cases."

Joel thought it was amusing to hear Ralph refer to someone else as a rookie, but then Joel sat up straight as the rest of what was said hit him.

Joel asked, "Do you mean Sharon Smith got shot?"

"That's the name."

"I saw her at lunch time. Fred was forcing her to get her vest."

Ralph said, "The way I heard it, Fred got shot too. He’s been taken to the hospital. You have to come right away."

Joel said, "As serious as that is, I can't go. Detective Mackenzie is supposed to handle all these cases until I'm done here."

"Maureen and her partner Dave were the second unit at the scene."

"She'll do a fine job," Joel said.

Ralph declared, "She's been taken off the case by the chief. I guess Dave's still on it, but he isn't a Detective."

"Why did the chief take her off?"

"Something of a personal nature, but I don't know what."

Just then, a court official opened the door and beckoned. Joel had a hurried conversation with the judge and the lawyers, then he left with Ralph. If Port City had been a larger city, Joel knew his leaving might not be allowed. Port City only averaged four to six homicides a year, so the judge knew how important a shooting death was. The Blackstone case was put into recess.