Detectives Denny Miles and Miles Lukasky were finishing up with their initial investigation into who might have threatened Megan Decrux when Miles' cellphone rang.
"Detective Miles," Denny said upon answering.
"Strange, Tech section reporting," said the lady on the other end in a formal tone of voice.
"What do you have Tara?" Denny asked in a more friendly tone.
"Last patrol car from yesterday just reported. No shots fired or heard while they were out. Which means the gun shot during the phone threat against Decrux must have been pre-recorded and added to the call, provided the threat was made live and not pre-recorded too."
"Still no word on the burner phone?" asked Denny.
"Negative," answered Tara, "and Decrux's was the only 9-1-1 call received by the station the entire night."
"Not unheard of," conceded Denny since Moon Lake was a relatively small town, despite being a hidden sanctuary for weres. "Keep us posted if you find out anything else. Otherwise, Lukasky and I will be heading back to the station soon."
"Roger. Take care," said Strange, ending the call.
"Everything all right gentlemen?" asked Megan, returning to the front room of her apartment.
"Just dotting I's and crossing T's. Standard procedure," Denny informed her, putting up his cell. "Is that the list?" he asked, referring to the list of names she was going to compile for them.
"The ones I know about, anyway," conceded Megan, handing the paper to Lukasky. "I'd be lying if I said my mother was virtuous, but she was still my mother, you know?" she asked rhetorically. "At least until I was old enough to figure out exactly what she was doing and disagree with her about it, Alice Decrux was a decent mother, at least to me."
"I see," said Lukasky, briefly looking over the list.
"When did you and her start... disagreeing with her methods?" wondered Denny.
"Sometime in my teens, after I had my first transformation and knew exactly what sex was," replied Megan. "Things were... difficult between us from that point. She was still cordial to me, but after I graduated high school I couldn't wait to move out of her house and be on my own. Things went down hill rapidly after that, so there would be long months before we saw each other, let alone even spoke to one another."
"Not unheard of," said Denny, while glancing over over Lukasky's shoulder at the list.
"Funny thing though," said Megan, thinking things over. "Best I know, I'm like the second or third child Alice Decrux ever brought into this world. She kept me because I was a girl, but I turned out to be the only daughter she ever had."
Miles and Miles, as some folks referred to them, looked at each other. Given Alice's track record and history, to only have only one daughter her entire life? It was something to look into when they had the chance.
Then Megan Decrux's wristwatch beeped.
"Dang. If I don't hurry, I'm going to be late to work," she complained.
"We're about done here, so we can finish up and walk you to your car too if you don't mind," suggested Denny.
"Sure," agreed Megan, grabbing her stuff.
Locking her front door, Lukasky asked, "Is there anything else you can think of? Even if it didn't seem important at the time."
"What do you mean?" wondered Megan, walking away from her apartment.
"You know, like people who may have asked about your mother? Your past?"
"While I've never bragged or advertised the fact, despite the potential shame and scandal, I've never made any secret out of being related to Alice Decrux. Better to be open and honest about it now instead of having anyone suspect me of wrong doing later. On the other paw, I've also gone out of my way to make sure everyone knew I was nothing like her," said the naturally born were-raccoon, although everyone was currently in their human form out in public.
"Where are you parked?" wondered Lukasky, since they had already passed their car.
"Around the corner here," replied Megan, taking her keys out of her purse. "The complex's parking lot fills up pretty quickly at night, so a far away space is the best I could do last night when I got home from work," she added, pointing to a red car at the end of a row of empty spaces.
Megan Decrux pointed her key ring at the vehicle and pushed the door open button.
The car made a beeping noise in acknowledgement as it unlocked the driver's side door...
And that's when her car exploded!
TO BE CONTINUED!