While others enjoyed their day and evening together and had their first real date, Denny Miles and Miles Lukasky were still busy on their own work. Their day had been fairly quiet, and while they may not have found anything that would be anything more than circumstantial evidence against Alice Decrux regard the recently arrived Harold Jenkins being brought into were society, they had found enough that they could charge the wereraccoon with attempted drugging rather than Statute 1A. Love Potion Number 9 was technically a legal drug, but its effect was such that if anything containing Love Potion Number 9 was given to someone, the person had to be informed that the Love Potion Number 9 was present and would raise the level of even a normal human's libido to the point where not engaging in sex would be difficult. However, neither had found any proof that Alice Decrux had provided any such warning to Harold Jenkins when she had the laced peanut brittle sent to him.
Chief O'Hara came out from his office in the early evening hours with his paperwork done and was surprised to find both Miles and Lukasky sitting inside one of the officer's beak rooms drinking coffee. He paused as he walked along and then looked in.
"You're not going home, for the night?" Chief O'Hara asked.
"We're just waiting for a warrant, sir," Detective Miles answered.
"You have enough to get her?" Chief O'Hara asked.
"On drugging charges related to Love Potion Number 9," Detective Lukasky answered slowly and sighed heavily, "it isn't much, but it is the best we have and likely the best we're going to get. Not enough people witnessed the fight with enough of a degree to truly confirm the exact details from either McCoy or Decrux one way or the other. The drugging charges won't mean a long sentence or that Decrux wouldn't be able to afford bail, and a good lawyer might even get that reduced... but it is likely the best we can do. If we're lucky we'd be able get the court to demand that Decrux go into therapy or something... something that might get her to change her opinions... And even if not that, it'd at LEAST let her know that we are aware of she has had done and won't let her get away crime if we can help it."
Chief O'Hara slowly sighed and then nodded, "I trust you have evidence for the charges?"
"Harold Jenkins says there was no note given to him to explain that the peanut brittle handed to him and that he didn't even open the box," Detective Lukasky reported, "and while there was a note in the box that the two male werecats that got the peanut brittle gave us... it DIDN'T give any warning that the peanut brittle was laced with Love Potion Number 9. That's enough for at the very least accidental drugging, but with Love Potion Number 9 it's strength would still make an accident dangerous. No warning was given and thus, drugging."
Chief O'Hara nodded just as another door opened and he looked over to see Moon Lake's DA, Simon Theropod. The police chief noticed a manila folder held under the DA's arm and guessed that was the arrest warrant that Miles and Lukasky had likely requested. O'Hara nodded and then made his way out. He nodded to the DA as they passed and then left the police station to head home. Miles and Lukasky both looked up again as Simon Theropod came in.
"Is that our warrant?" Detective Lukasky asked, sounding rather hopeful and almost eager over it.
"It is," Simon Theropod answered, "though... you will know that a drugging charge won't rate highly and that she'll easily make bail... and that's assuming her attorney doesn't offer a plea bargain." That could very well mean that she's out fairly quickly."
"True, but a conviction would likely hurt her business in that people may not want to buy sweets from someone with a criminal drugging record," Miles commented, "and we figured that if her attorney does offer a plea deal, you could urge that she attend therapy or something... something that would get her to realize that whatever her reasons for her actions are wrong and she truly changes her ways."
"That might not relate easily to the charges... but it might work," Simon Theropod commented as he held out the manila envelope with one hand and raised one had to his mouth as he thought over it, "though, there would the fact that she might only pretend while going along with such a deal."
"Maybe, but it's also the best that we can do at the moment," Detective Lukasky sighed heavily, "there just isn't any concrete evidence that Harold Jenkins becoming a weretiger was anything other than an accident."
Lukasky took the envelope and looked over the warrant and then looked up to Simon Theropod and then nodded. With the nod he knew that the two detectives had their plan and were prepared for their next step.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Alice Decrux sat alone in her home. Her eyes were red with tears and she'd been borderline sobbing which she only paused to sip from a glass of milk. Nothing had seemed to go right with her overall plan and in many ways she couldn't understand why or even why she felt so "hurt" by the failure. It was true that a lot of her plans had often involved simply using men for her own purposes as part of her own private punishment on all men for what had happened in high school, but Alice had knew that plans like that didn't always work. In fact, there had been a few men over the years that had turned her down and left her turning to others. But this time was different and she really couldn't place it. It wasn't really like she loved Harold Jenkins or anything like that.
Maybe it was the fact that Virginia had seemed to latch onto him quickly and created the sense of direct rivalry between her and Virginia for Harold's attention. In that, Alice reasoned that it wasn't so much that Harold had said, "no" to her, but that Virginia had helped him. She'd lost in the battle to claim him and that sort of betrayal was something hurt her. That realization came down on her like a ton of bricks and only reinforced the issues that hampered her other ideas for revenge. With an officer still watching her home, she had still found it impossible to try and sneak her peanut butter cookies into a spot where Harold Jenkins would be able to get it and thus give the starting point for her revenge. There things that she couldn't just understand.
She'd just finished draining the milk from the latest glass that she'd poured for herself when she heard a knock at her door. She managed to get up and made her way to the door where she found Miles and Lukasky waiting for her. That made her back up a step in surprise.
"Detectives?" Alice said slowly.
"Alice Decrux," Lukasky spoke, "You are under arrest for attempted drugging of Harold Jenkins and the drugging Jack Morrison and his life partner... if not his husband."
Alice stood in stunned silence as Detective Miles stepped forward and began to cuff her and while Detective Lukasky continued to list her Miranda Rights. She knew something like this could come, but she also knew that the penalties for drugging someone with Love Potion Number 9 would be far less Statute 1A. In theory she figured she could fight it as there were plenty of options to provide some doubt as to whether or not she had actually written a note that warned Harold Jenkins that the peanut brittle was laced with the aphrodisiac, but she also knew that that might only lower the exact charges from deliberate drugging to accidental drugging, which could still mean some jail time. The one thing she figured would be the best thing to do... would be to offer a plea deal. On some level, it may hurt in some areas, but not necessarily on the same scale on every level. It would also force the police to close their other investigations for the moment.
"Do you understand these rights?" Lukasky finished.
"Yes," Alice said slowly and moved as Miles ushered her forward.
"The hearing for bail isn't scheduled until Monday at the earliest," Miles said to her as they moved along, "You will be given the opportunity to speak with your lawyer and any family/friends that you may have to handle any housekeeping needs you may have."
The hurt losing to Virginia was still there, but for the moment, Alice had recovered a bit from that. It hurt, but Alice figured that at present she had only lost a battle and that the war was far from over.