Demon of DelMane: Part 4

Pulling up to the precinct, Sable and Kimba got out of the car and walked up to the large brick building, going through the front door. Walking through the small lobby, they headed for a door beside the front desk,

"Greetings officer Crosshairs, officer Shortmain." A droid sitting at the desk greeted with an electronic voice. Sable waved in acknowledgment as he opened the door and the two entered to main office space where they were greeted with rows of cubicles and the sound of phones ringing off the hook as hybrids and humans were busy with their own work, whether it is paper work or actual cases.

"Hey, I'm gonna grab a coffee, want anything?" Kimba asked as she walked in the direction of the break room,

"Nah, I'm good." Sable replied, looking the large room over as his partner walked off, he didn't come here too often, too noisy for his liking, not a good environment to think. He much prefer being on the street and only ever came here to file papers and pick up leads, just then someone called out to him over the noise,

"Sable!" A female noise called out as he looked to see a green bird girl waving at him from the other end of the cubicles, it was Trixie who worked information, if you needed something looked up or traced, she was the one to go to. Going down the row, Sable walked up to her who gave him an annoyed glare,

"Well aren't you a rare sight, nice of you to finally show up, Sable." She took a seat at her desk as the human came up, resting his arms on the top of the cubical wall,

"Now what's got you all bent out of shape, Morgan bein' a bitch again?"

"If only, I've been trying to call you since I got here." Trixie said glancing up at him before handing him a folder.

"Here's the files you requested for the Creekwood case."

"Oh, sorry about that, been busy all morning." He took the folder and thumbed through it for a second before handing it back,

"Though could you hand this off to David, I've actually got a new case right now that's more important."

The bird looked at him in confusion, taking back the files,

"Sable Crosshairs dropping a case, this is a rare sight, what's so important about this new one?"

"It's a murder." Sable responded, lowering his head down, tilting the brim of his hat up with a smirk. Trixie set the files aside, looking at him with a raised brow,

"Aren't we moving up in the world, you talking about that body that was reported in this morning?"

"Sure am, me and Kimmy were the first ones on the scene when the body was discovered." The human said standing up straight, straitening his hat,

"And that's the reason I came here, I didn't get the chance to search the body good enough before more responders showed up."

"And what is that?"

Trixie looked at him; agitated that Sable wanted more work from her after she had spent all her time trying to get those files for him.

"It's nothin' much, just to know if they had found some sort of ID, I imagine that the man has a family that would like to know what happened."

Trixie sighed while shaking her head as she did a quick search on her computer.

"Well, you're in luck, they found a wallet and the ID in it was for a Jonathan Moon, he lives on twenty-second Main Street, house number three zero eight."

Sable looked at the screen, taking note of the address,

"Thanks Trixie, I owe you one." He then reached out his hand to ruffle the feathers on top if the bird's head, then started to walk off as Trixie sprang up out of her chair,

"Sable, how many times do I have to tell you about NOT doing that?!" She yelled, giving him the evil eye, making everyone around stop what they were doing and look. Sable glanced back with a smile,

"Later girl." Was all he said as he walked off between the rows of cubicles and Trixie just sat back down with a huff, ticked by the human's audacity.

"He's lucky I'm vegan."

In the break room, Kimba had poured herself a cup of nice, warm coffee, adding cream to even out the flavor. She sat at one of the tables and she sipped from the caffeinated beverage as she looked through a magazine, this was one of the few time the cat ever got the sit back and take a break, Sable usually ran a tight hip while on the job. That was when a paper plate with a croissant on it was slid in front of her, and looking up she saw a white female human officer with burnet hair in a pony tail standing in front of her,

"Oh hey Alex, what's this for?"

"Oh there was a bake sale down the road and thought you'd like it, so what's up?" The human responded, taking a seat across the table from the lioness. Kimba picked up the pastry, taking bite and enjoying how buttery it was, just how she liked it.

"Nothing much, just taking a break before I head back out with Sable."

Alex looked at her shaking her head,

"Don't tell me you're still partnered with that dick?"

"Well yeah, what's that supposed to mean?" Kimba asked, taking offence that Alex would talk about her partner that way.

"Kimmy, the guy's an asshole, I don't see how you put up with him, I would have requested to be repartnered a long time ago." The human continued to bad talk, but Kimba stayed firm,

"He's not that bad, Sable's actually a really nice guy once you get to know him."

Alex was about to retort before being interrupted from behind her,

"Kimba." The two looked and Sable was standing in the doorway of the break room,

"We got a lead, come on." Sable said before walking back out and Alex turned back with a shocked expression, Kimba having a chuckle at her expense,

"Duty calls." The lioness smiled, grabbing up her food and drink and walked out of the room to follow Sable.

Back outside, Sable got into his car, Kimba not too far behind, getting in with her croissant in her mouth, placing her coffee in a cup holder, then looked to Sable, taking the pastry out,

"Look, that back there, Alex didn't mean it." The feline trying to apologize for her friend, but Sable just shrugged his shoulders,

"Ah, she's still mad at me solving a case in five minutes that was taking her five weeks; I don't blame her for it."

"If you say so." Kimba sighed, going back to eat her food, and the two were off to their next destination.

Forty-five minutes later, they were in front of where they needed to be, a small town house in the middle of the city. Getting out of the car, Sable and Kimba walked up the steps up to the front entrance. Reaching the door, Sable rang the bell, a few moments later, the door opened and there before them was a tiger woman wearing a blue dress and had bright blue eyes,

"Hello, can I help you?" She asks, taking note of Kimba's uniform, wondering what the matter was.

"Hello ma'am, I'm detective Sable Crosshairs and this is my partner Kimba Shortmain, we were wondering if this was the residence of a Jonathan Moon?" The human greeted, pulling out his badge for her to see. The tigress looked at it then back to them with concern,

"Yes sir, I'm his wife, but if you're looking for Jonathan, he's not here right now."

"That's actually what we're here about, Mrs. Moon." Sable said, putting his badge away and his hands I his coat pockets,

"Do you mind if we come in, it's kinda warm out here?"

"Um yes, please come in." She replied, stepping aside to let the two enter.

Coming in, Sable and Kimba would see they had a very modern setup, with living, dining, and kitchen areas all open, and everything had a light and airy color.

"Please, make yourselves at home." The tigress said before going over to the kitchen where a teapot on the stove had just started to whistle.

"I was actually in the middle of making tea, would you two like some?"

"That'll be fine." Sable responded, taking a seat on a couch,

"Me too, please." Kimba also said with a smile, sitting beside the detective, before looking over across from him,

"Looks like you have an admirer." She giggled pointing to the arm rest beside him, Sable looking to see a pair of hazel eyes staring at him. It looked to be a young boy about 4 or 5 with mostly human features but had tiger ears on top of his head, telling of an offspring of a human and hybrid.

"Well hey there, I'm Sable, what's you're name?" The human asked, not wanting to being intimidating to the young hybrid.

"Bobby... Are you two police officers?" He asked innocently, looking at Kimba who smiled sweetly,

"We sure are." She beamed before reaching into her pocket,

"Hey come here, I've got something for you."

The boy stood and walked over in front of the couch to the feline and Kimba pulled out a piece of candy, holding it out to him, she always kept some on her for when they met kids.

"Thank you." Bobby happily accepting it, and then sitting on the floor in front of her, Kimba chuckling at the sight.

"I hope Bobby isn't disturbing you two much." The tiger mother came over with a tray with three cups of tea and plate of cookies on it, setting it on the coffee table that was in front of them.

"Not at all Mrs. Moon, he's actually a very sweet kid." Sable replied as Mrs. Moon handed him and his partner their cups before sitting in a chair across from the human.

"Well, Johnny and I have tried our best to raise him that way, and please, it's Samantha."

"Very well Samantha, why don't we get to what we are here for." Sable started before taking a sip tea, he would start slow,

"Tell me, would anyone have any ill-will towards Jonathan?" He asked, Samantha tilting her head at the question.

"No, not that I know of, why do you ask?"

"We'll get to that in a minute; I just need to ask a few things first." He continued but the tigress wasn't going to be patient on the matter,

"Mr. Crosshairs please, if my husband is in any trouble, I should be told as soon as possible, shouldn't I?"

Sable paused for a moment, his chin resting in his hand, the index figure up under his lip; this was always the hard part. He looked to his colleague,

"Kimba, could you take the boy out of the room for a moment, please?" She nodded, getting up, kneeling down to the little hybrid,

"Hey, why don't we go to your room and you can show me your toys?" Kimba smiled, Bobby nodding excitedly, the two walking off down a nearby hallway, leaving Sable and Samantha alone.

Concerned by this, Samantha looked at the detective with worry,

"Is there something wrong with Johnny?" She asked, Sable taking a second before finally telling her what she wanted to know.

"We believe your husband may have been murdered." He stated bluntly and taking another sip from his cup. The tigress's expression suddenly changed from concern to one of shock, then despair,

"Are... are you sure?" Samantha asked, still in shock from what the detective just said, Sable setting his cup down, propped his foot up on his knee,

"Not yet, but there was a body found this morning with his ID on it, unfortunately though, with the state the body is in, we won't be able to have you identify it, I hope you understand."

"Um, yes, of course." The feline replied, staring down into her cup of tea, fidgeting with it some, as if thinking about something. Sable observed her doing this, rubbing the bottom of his lip.

"Tell me, Samantha, did you and Jonathan have a happy marriage?" He asked, but with that question, Samantha quickly went on the defensive.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She growled, looking at the human with a deathly stare, and then Sable threw his hands up in front of him, trying to calm her,

"Just covering my bases, Mrs. Moon, no need to get upset."

Samantha eased back with that, but still with a hint of standoffness,

"Sorry, that's just a question I didn't expect." She sat up, recomposing herself, drinking some tea before continuing.

"But yes, Johnny and I loved each other very much; we actually just celebrated our three year anniversary."

"Three year?" Sable inquired, remembering how old her son looked.

"Yes, three year, we had Bobby a year before we got married." Samantha retorted, everyone always asked that, so she was used to giving that answer.

"What kind of work did your husband do?" The human asked, putting the tips of his fingers and thumbs together, looking at the feline from under the brim of his hat.

"Construction." Samantha answered, resting her cup on her lap, holding it with both hands,

"He worked for B and B construction up on the west side of town at that new multiplex their building."

"That's quite the drive from here, isn't it, and I imagine that kind of work keeps him away for a long while?" Sable continued, tilting his head up some, the wife chuckling,

"Yes, that's what I told him, but he wants to do everything he can to support us, even if it meant not being able to me or Bobby as often as he liked."

She then looked down again, her eyes welling up at the thought of the possibly her may husband be dead,

"Why... why him, he didn't do anything, tell me." She whimpered, the cup shaking in her hands. Sable looked at her for a moment then stood up and walked over, kneeling down in front of her chair. He placed a hand on her shoulder and took his hat off, looking up at her, his deep blue eyes staring into hers,

"I know this is hard for you, Samantha, it's never easy for anyone, but you're gonna have to be strong, not for just yourself, but your son too, he'll need someone going forward."

"I know, but Johnny was my rock..."

"And he could still be, we don't even know if that body was him or not, so there still is hope, and you have to keep that hope to keep going, but if it does turn out to be him, I promise you, I will make it right, you can count on that."

Samantha let out a sigh, closing her eyes for a minute, and then looking at Sable with a smile,

"Thank you." She leaned forward to give the human a hug around the neck.

With that, Sable stood up, putting his hat back on and straightening his coat; he looked towards the hallway,

"Kimmy, we're heading out!" He called out before looking back to the tigress,

"Well, we have to be going, but be before I forget; could I get something that could have your husband's hair or something on it?" He asked, Samantha thinking for a moment before getting up from her chair and walking over to a nearby door that was too a bathroom, then coming back out hold a brush, handing it to the detective.

"Here, but what do you need it for?"

"DNA test." Sable replied, taking the brush and putting it in his coat pocket,

"Since the body can't be identified, that is the best shot of finding out who it is."

"Well, I hope it isn't Johnny." She said with a smile

"I do too." Sable smiled back before Kimba emerged from the hallway with Bobby shortly behind,

"Aw, do you have to go." He begged, not wanting his new friend to leave so soon, the lioness looking down at him with a smile,

"I'm sorry, me and Sable have important things to do, but I promise to come again sometime." She beamed, the tiger boy hugging her leg in joy.

Kimba walked over to Sable, the two headed for the front door and exited the house. As the two headed down the walkway, Samantha stood in the doorway,

"If you find out anything, tell me as soon as you can!" She called out, Sable glancing back to her,

"Will do."

With that, the human and his partner were off to their next stop, though Sable couldn't stop having the nagging thought that the tigress knew more than he let on.