{{OKAY FOLKS. JUST REMEMBER THAT MOON LAKE: TAD IS RUNNING A DAY AHEAD OF THE MAIN MOON LAKE THREAD STORY WISE. SO IT'S MONDAY HERE AND STILL SUNDAY THERE...}}
"Tom. Read my lips. N-O. No," said his editor, staring directly at him.
"But why?" Tom Herald wanted to know.
"Unless Lionel Ulysses' killer is hiding there, I see no reason for you to go to this Loon Lake—"
"Moon Lake," Tom politely corrected him.
"I see no reason for you to go to this Moon Lake just for background information," continued his editor. "Everyone knows Lionel Ulysses was a bad man. There are some who are saying, off the record of course, that the creep got what he deserved. Either way, we already know Ulysses was a drug user, a drug peddler, a murderer, and who knows what else. There's no point in going back to his childhood home just to confirm he was a mean little kid who kicked puppies and stole candy from babies growing up."
"But boss..." began Tom.
"Don't 'but boss' me. Besides, where's that piece on the fake tail finally being found?"
"Because the fake is a fake."
"Of course it's a fake. Ulysses was either nuts or high thinking he might have been a real rat or whatever he believed."
"No. I mean that homeless man faked finding a fake tail to get his proverbial 15 minutes of fame and whatever else he could," explained the reporter.
"Do you have any proof of that?"
"No..."
"Well, fake fake or real fake, our competitors have already scooped us with their afternoon editions," said his Editor, holding up two newspapers.
One had a headline that simply said NO TAIL TO TELL, while the other had the headline THE TALE OF NO TAIL.
"And while it wasn't their top story, both ran their articles above the fold*," he added angrily, putting the papers back on his desk. "You're a good reporter Tom, but sometimes you get these... weird notions, for a lack of a better term. Remember when you thought our new secretary was a vampire?"
"But she cast no reflection in that mirror," pointed out Tom.
"Because they installed regular glass in the lobby by mistake, so no one was casting a reflection until it was replaced," explained the editor. "Anyway, where are you on trying to find out who killed Ulysses in his hospital room?"
"Unfortunately, nowhere," admitted Tom, before explaining everything he had done to investigate the story and the murder.
After hearing all the details, Tom's editor said, "Well, I didn't expect you to be Sherlock Holmes, for even the authorities have yet to solve it, but I was hoping you might have come up with something they didn't. Tell you what. Maybe I've been working you too hard," admitted his boss. "There's been a lot going on in this crazy world, and maybe you need a break."
Tom started thinking about getting some vacation time and going to Moon Lake to do some private investigating of his own, when his editor pulled out a plastic id card on a lanyard.
"The Seahawks** are in town this weekend and have a big division game scheduled Sunday afternoon. Since our sports editor usually covers them himself but he's out with appendicitis right now, I was supposed to find somebody else, but why don't you cover it?" offered the editor.
"Me? But I'm hard news," pointed out Tom.
"Technically, you're whatever I say you are, and right now I say you need a break, and I need someone I can trust to cover the event. The game isn't until Sunday afternoon, so you'll have a chance to interview some of the coaches and players between now and then. Besides, that pass gets you a pretty good seat to the game too."
Fluff pieces. Damn, the reporter silently complained to himself, but knew it was probably either this or going without any paying assignments again for awhile. "Okay. I'll do it," promised Tom.
"Good. Now don't forget to write up your stories on both the fake tail and the investigation so far before you go home for the night," said his editor, indicating their chat was over.
Back at his desk, Tom Herald stared at the plastic lanyard and thought, Well, I can at least still do my research on tails during the week, and maybe I can sneak off to this Moon Lake after work Friday afternoon. Besides, he didn't officially take me OFF the Ulysses story. As long as I'm back in Seattle before kickoff Sunday...
ELSEWHERE...
With their conversation over, the passenger in the car that had been following Tom Herald since the start of his investigation into Lionel Ulysses' death brought the long distance listening antenna back inside and stored it inside its carry case while his partner behind the wheel turned off the car radio.
Thanks to their clandestine eavesdropping, they had heard every word between the reporter and the editor.
"What do you think?" the passenger asked his partner.
"Let's hope the reporter is a man of his word," replied the driver. "We already have instructions to kill that reporter if he discovers weres actually exist, and now headquarters is saying that we cannot allow him anywhere near Moon Lake this weekend, regardless of the circumstances."
"What? Why? Surely they cannot be that panicky over the Ulysses situation?"
"Our brethren have already taken the standard precautions because of Ulysses, but they still have the Jennifer Harper-Harold Jenkins wedding*** to contend with."
"I heard of that. She was recently turned into a were-vixen, is now about to get married to a werefox, but her strict family has other plans, right?" asked the man in the passenger seat.
"Something like that," replied the driver. "Sometimes I wish the world was ready to accept us, for I am tired of hiding. Yet despite my longevity, I doubt such an event will happen within my lifetime."
"So what do we do?" asked his partner.
"What we have always done. Stay in the shadows and protect our fellow weres whether they're aware of our work or not. Even if he doesn't discover who killed Lionel Ulysses for us, as long as the reporter doesn't discover weres exist, he continues to live. If the man attempts to go to Moon Lake this weekend, we will arrange something less violent to keep him away from our hometown. Otherwise, as one of if not the oldest were species in existence, we shall continue to proudly serve The Luna Brotherhood and protect our fellow weres."****
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*In Journalism, the higher on the front page a story, the more important it is.
**Seattle Washington's professional football team, for those who might not know.
***Great cause for concern in the main Moon Lake thread.
****Okay, major clues as to who the mystery men in the car following the reporter are. Hope you've enjoyed that enigmatic bit of drama, for I will be revealing the complete answer soon.—tmw.