Arnold slipped off his shoes just inside the door and walked in just his socks as he carried the unconscious officer through the house. It was only a single level, so he had no trouble finding the bathroom. Once there, he sat the man on the toilet and striped him off completely. Once he was naked, Arnold set him down into the tub and turned on both the hot and cold faucets after plugging the drain.

In ten minutes, the tub was filled to three quarters full and reached the man's chest. Arnold used his intimate biology knowledge and used his scalpel to make two discrete cuts to the man's legs in a particular spot on each, that just happened to be very similar to how he had killed the Greater Elder Tasmanian Devil in the game. In less than a minute, the water had turned red. Four minutes after that, the man breathed his last and became still.

Arnold waited a few more minutes and pulled on the little chain of the plug and let the water drain. He turned on the shower and let it wash off the red tinge that the body had. While he waited for that, he left the bathroom and started his search. He knew what he wanted to look for and found the items he needed in the dresser drawer in the bedroom. He went back into the bathroom and rolled the body over and let the wash continue.

He went back to the bedroom and opened the closet. He found several sets of uniforms in dry cleaner bags and took one. He checked inside to see that it was all there, then he rolled it up into a tight bundle and looked down at the large black duffle-like bag on the floor, which looked like it was used for carrying equipment. It was a bit too big for just the dry cleaner bag, then he spotted several new shoe laces in their package and smiled as he had an idea.

Arnold went back into the bathroom with the large duffle-like bag and turned off the shower, then used several towels to dry the body. He used the laces to tie the hands behind the back and then used another to tie the ankles together. He tied those laces together with another, hog-tying the body, and lifted the much lighter body with the lace handle and tucked it into the bag.

It didn't quite fit, so he had to apply some judicial pressure and popped both kneecaps out of joint. It fit now, so he took the bag back into the bedroom. Surprisingly, there was still a lot of room in the bag, so he quickly emptied several drawers of clothing and tucked them into the bag. After that, he went back into the bathroom and took the man's other clothes as well. He found the wallet and some money, tucked the clothing into the bag and closed it.

He had intended to just use a blanket to wrap the body, like he had done at the beach party to Micheal; but, the duffle-like equipment bag was working out so much better, since it was much more discrete than a large blanket. If someone stopped him, he wouldn't have to explain why he was carrying around a stuffed blanket.

Arnold unrolled the dry cleaning bag he had intended to steal and opened it again. He checked the sizes and they were very close to his new slightly taller self, so he took off his pants and shirt and put them into a side pocket of the duffle-like bag, along with the dry cleaning bag.

He dressed in the freshly cleaned police uniform and like his mother recently taught him, he used the bathroom mirror to make sure everything looked right. He picked up the equipment belt and put it on, picked up the hat from the bag and put it on as well, then his outfit was almost complete. He pinned the badge he had found earlier to the pocket and nodded in the mirror.

Arnold now looked like a respectable a police officer.

Because of his earlier search, he easily retrieved the man's cell phone, keys, and a box of bullets. He picked up the duffle-like bag by the versatile handle and walked through the house to the back door. He picked up the gun and put it in the holster on his hip and it didn't sit properly. He took it out and saw a little leather clip, moved it and put the gun back, and it slid in properly.

Arnold snapped the clip closed and the gun remained in place. He walked all the way to the front of the house and locked the door, made sure the windows were closed and locked, then went back to the back of the house. He tucked his shoes into a different pocket of the bag, picked it up by the handle, and carried it out the back door. He grabbed the police jacket and put it on, then locked the door with the keys. He put them back in his pocket and picked up the dead bird with his still rubber gloved hand.

“Good job.” Arnold whispered to it and tucked the bird into his new jacket's pocket. He walked around the house to the police car and took the keys out again. He popped the trunk and put the bag inside, then he closed it and climbed into the driver's side. He sat there for a minute and used the officer's cell phone to look up driving manuals. He remembered what Detective Tanner had told him about what the witnesses said about his driving afterwards. At the time, it fit perfectly and he was glad for that. Now, he had to actually drive.

If Arnold was prone to such things, he would have laughed at how ridiculously easy it was to learn the rules of the road and to get a driver's license. The manual was barely fifty pages and most of it was pictures and guidelines. Nearly a third of the book was for all of the various caution signs he would encounter, and as far as he knew, most of them have never been put on the roads he had travelled so far.

He also would have laughed at how to learn to drive, because he had done it properly and hadn't realized it. You only had to go to a secluded spot, practised with a licensed driver in the car, and drove until you could handle it properly. He found a suggestion that said to keep a driver's handbook in the glove compartment as a refresher when you needed it, so he checked the glove compartment.

Sure enough, there was a handbook.

Arnold flipped through it and confirmed that it was the same as the one he found online. He put it back and saw another handgun there, a really small one, so he took it and put it in his pocket and added the small box of ammunition to his other pocket. He turned the car on and put it in gear, then carefully drove down the driveway.

When he reached the road, he used the signal like the manual said, waited for the traffic to clear, then pulled out and maintained the proper driving position for his hands. He was on his way.

*

“Aww, man.” William 'The Kid' Becker said and stood up straight after picking up another piece of wet cardboard that was like mush in his gloved hands. “Cleaning the park sucks balls, man! It sucks balls!”

“It's better than jail.” Henry said and tossed another piece of garbage into the rolling garbage can he pulled behind himself. “So much better than jail.”

“Hey, Kevin's being railroaded.” William said and tossed the cardboard into the can. “There's no way he was stupid enough to jump Arnold like that.”

“If that was true, he'd be out by now, wouldn't he?” Henry asked. “His mom said that he's taking it like a man, though.”

“Like a man with a gun to his head, you mean.” William said with a laugh. “I heard that you should never make trouble while in jail. It like doubles your sentence or something.”

“Naw, they just charge you with more things.” Henry said.

The two of them worked for the entire morning, had a conversation about everything and nothing, then a police car arrived and honked the horn as the driver's side window rolled down.

“Boys, it looks like the men in blue finally managed to get off their asses to help out.” Their supervisor said. “It's about time, too.” He looked at his watch. “I won't even dock your pay for leaving early.”

“Ha ha. Yeah.” William said and as he walked towards the car, he whispered. “Fuck you, too.”

“What was that?” The supervisor asked.

“I said see you next week!” William said and then mumbled. “Asshole.”

Henry chuckled under his breath, because he didn't want to give his friend away.

“In the back.” A deep voice said and the window went up.

“They're still treating us like criminals, man.” William said and hopped in the back.

Henry climbed in behind him and shut the door. “Thank god that's over for today.” He said and sighed. “I feel like I'm eighty years old!”

The car slowly pulled away from the curb and out onto the street.

“Jesus, man! Step on it! We don't have all day to waste!” William said loudly.

“Neither do I.” The deep voice said and didn't pick up speed. The car slowed down to a stop at the stop sign, the signal came on, and the car made a perfect turn and then accelerated to the posted speed limit.

“That's more like it.” William said and turned to Henry. “Hey, did you get a chance to look at those things I sent you?”

“Hell yeah.” Henry said and grinned, then he glanced at the officer. “We shouldn't talk about shit like that here.”

“What's he going to do? Arrest us?” William laughed. “We're already in the back of the car!”

Henry laughed, too. “That's a good point.” He said and they leaned in close and started whispering back and forth about something. A short time later, the car came to a stop.

“Henry.” The officer said and got out and Henry's door opened.

“Later, man!” William said and the door shut. He felt the car's weight shift slightly and then the trunk closed. He turned to see what was going on, then the officer climbed into the driver's side. “Hey, what was that?”

The officer didn't say anything as he put the car into gear and drove.

“Hey.” William said and leaned forward towards the thick wire mesh that was between the front and back seats. “I asked you a question.”

“I was checking the bag in the trunk.” The officer said.

“Jesus.” William said and sat back. “Was that so hard to say before?”

“No.” The officer said. “I was distracting you.”

“Huh?” William said. “What?”

“We're here.” The officer said and the car came to a stop.

“That was fast.” William said and waited until the back door opened. “I'm glad you took my advice about stepping on it.” He said and stepped out of the car with a sigh. “Home sweet... hey!” He exclaimed at seeing nothing but woods and turned around to look at the officer. “Where the hell... are...” His words died in his mouth at the calm face staring at him.

“Hello, William.” Arnold said and pressed the cloth full of chloroform into the other young man's face.

*

Detective Olivia Tanner was having the best two weeks of her life. Despite the absolutely horrible way it had started, when she had been violated by her prime suspect in two murders, after that it was almost a dream come true. It was only almost, because she was still on administrative leave. Even though Internal Affairs had cleared her of all wrongdoing in every other case she had been involved in, they were being pansies about her handling of Arnold Strickland during his assault.

She was okay with that, though. She had handled it professionally and she had answered everything they had asked truthfully. They already had all of the evidence she had gathered, circumstantial though it may be, and she told them her explanations and her reasoning. She knew she was very close to convincing them, since they had unofficially given her approval of her stakeout at the beach party.

It was just too bad that it had turned out like it had. As long as they didn't find out about her unintended sexual liaison with the suspect, everything would be fine and the investigation would proceed as planned. Olivia sighed as she remembered that little fiasco, then she rolled over in bed and looked at the man beside her. His sleeping face had quickly become a welcome sight to her mind and she suspected that he felt the same way.

She had caught him giving her certain looks when he thought she was asleep. To her surprise, she actually liked seeing those looks on his face. It wasn't something she was used to seeing and every time she did, it made her a little more emotionally invested in their budding relationship. She had taken a fair amount of teasing and friendly ribbing over how they had fallen for each other during a stakeout, too.

Olivia had to smile at that. Unlike her, he had been congratulated for acting so well that he had made his partner fall for him for real. He was a great guy and said that it wasn't like that, even though it kind of was, especially since they had sex before even discussing going on a date.

“You're thinking too hard.” Mark said and opened his eyes to look at her.

“Your dick is too hard.” Olivia countered and he laughed.

“It knows something delicious is right there, waiting to be devoured.” Mark said and it was Olivia's turn to laugh.

“Devoured, huh?” Olivia asked and moved close. “Who is the one that can't wait to see me do my magic trick?”

Mark opened his mouth to deny it, then he smiled. “You're just so good at making it disappear.”

Olivia laughed again and gave him a kiss. “Look, there's nothing up my sleeves.” She whispered and moved down and the blanket moved down with her. “Witness my slight of hand...” She gently stroked his erect penis. “...as I perform the best magic trick in the world.”

Mark stared at her and she stared right back, then she slid her mouth over him and went right down to press her top lip to his skin. “Good lord.” He whispered as she easily took all of him into her mouth and partially down her throat. “The best magic trick in the world.”

The look on his face and the tone of wonder in his voice, made Olivia very happy. She would never admit that the best relationship she had ever had, was all because of Arnold.

*

Annie was taking her time shopping for groceries and was actually having fun browsing through everything that the store had to offer. She had a specific list to buy and she did buy them; but, she also looked at a few guilty pleasures like marshmallows and double butter popcorn. They were definitely not healthy items to eat, by a long shot, and she put them in the cart anyway.

She also grabbed a bag of soft candy to put in a bowl for picking at occasionally. It was a little thrilling to cheat a little and do things like that. She also picked up some instant hot cocoa for the marshmallows. The weather would be turning cold soon and she wanted something besides tea to help keep her warm.

Annie thought about how Arnold had no problem cuddling her and she liked that he didn't see it as weird or was disgusted by it. It was a little weird, since he was almost a grown man and she was his mother; but, neither of them were thinking anything sexual at all and they just liked being there for each other.

She picked up a few frozen meals, for the times that she didn't feel like making a huge mess and cooking a meal just for herself, and added them to the cart. A bag or two of frozen vegetables were next and her order was complete. She marked the last item off her list and put the paper away, then took the cart to the checkout. She was buying a little more than she normally would, because she was wasting time for Arnold. She chuckled at the thought that she had to leave the house, just so he could work on a specimen.

At least he's doing it in the shed. Annie thought and watched the clerk ring her things through and bag them, then that thought finally registered. Oh, my god. She thought and stopped herself before she laughed. I'm so stupid! He's doing it in the shed and I didn't have to leave at all!

With her mind full of amusement, Annie left the store and loaded the bags into the trunk of her car. She drove home to tell her son how she had completely missed the obvious.