It took about five minutes more for the tow truck to arrive at the area where Larceny and Grabar's car had rolled over. A couple men climbed down from the cab of the truck to take a look at the flipped car and to converse with me.
"They leave you all by your lonesome, didn't they?" the first man snickered.
"I'd imagine my partner will be back shortly," I answered, "the officers chasing this vehicle were from Whitefish and one of the two suspects had to go to the hospital, meaning the only one who could take the one who wasn't hurt was my partner."
"Just ignore Phil," the other man answered, "he's just giving you a bit of a hard time... which he gives to everyone."
"I see," I said slowly stood by while the two men looked the flipped car over.
"Looks like they wrecked it good, didn't they?" Phil quipped, "What do you think Frank... which way do you want to roll it?"
"Wouldn't your truck be strong enough to hoist the car up onto the back?" I wondered, remembering some of the newer trucks being built and used to transport wrecked vehicles away from accidents.
"Nah, our truck is an older model," the other man, Frank, shrugged, "all the mechanics of it are probably strong enough to lift the car completely off the ground... but our winch isn't high enough up to do that. We'll have to roll it back onto its wheels and lift the front end up. Besides, the wheels and axle look like they're still good enough to work."
I nodded and then moved toward the side of the road to keep an eye out on traffic. For the moment things were fairly calm, but some ranchers that lived in the area might need to go into town for something, and there was the potential for people traveling through Columbia Falls on their way to some other location... and it was for these specific cases that kept my eyes out for. Grabar and Larceny's vehicle was destined for our station's small impound lot where it would be searched for any possible goods that the two had burgled but hadn't been able to pawn off yet. It would also be searched for any other additional information, but that would likely be Agent Heer's responsibility, and while he was making sure that Larceny didn't flee custody the instant his arm had been repaired, that would mean that we would have to hold onto the vehicle.
While kept an eye out, the two tow truck workers repositioned their truck to begin was was the first step of moving the car. So far, there was no sign of additional traffic and that allowed me to glance back to observe them as they worked. Using the heavy cable, they attached a hook to sturdiest piece of the bottom of Grabar and Larceny's car that was on the opposite side of the overturned car. They also hammered a series of spikes into the ground so that the car wouldn't be drug upside down when it was pulled. Once that was done, the one driving the truck drove forward, though only slightly. This generated enough force and momentum that the car was pulled back toward the road and ultimately rolled back onto its wheels.
"Now to hook up..." Frank sighed, "Which way do you think we ought to line up... we're probably going to have a fair amount of debris to pick up in addition to the car..."
"Best to lift up the front end," Phil cut him off, "the back wheels should be somewhat straight. We may have to pull it up over the embankment here for this side road... but the front tires could be turned already, or could turn as we go, and that would make things worse."
I quietly stood by and let them talk "shop" on how they were going to move the rolled over car. They brought their heavy chain and wires and hooks and hooked up to the front part of the car's body. I glanced over when they did begin to move forward, and slowly pulled the car out. It bottomed out a little bit as it was pulled out of the ditch, but did no real damage to the dirt road it was pulled over. Once they got the car onto flat ground, they stopped and came back to me.
"There isn't too much in the way of debris," Phil commented, "there's some... but it ain't too bad."
"We'll still need to move it," Frank told him and then turned to me, "Well, Officer..." he paused to read the name plate on my uniform, "Wayne, I think we have things from here. When we get back onto the road again, it'll be to take this thing to your impound lot... though I'd think this thing is a total loss. You'd have to sell it for parts."
"Ultimately it'll be the Feds who get this car," I answered, "So they get to auction off its parts."
And as I said that, Officer Barnes returned to the area. He parked on the side of the road in front of the tow truck and then got out.
"Anything further happen?" Officer Barnes wondered as he stood by our patrol car's door.
"No, not really," I answered, "they rolled the car back over and hooked it up. Right now, I think they're making sure there's no large pieces of debris left. Our work is largely done."
"Good to know," Officer Barnes commented, and then spoke to the tow truck operators, "you guys remember that goes to the impound, right?"
"Yeah... just to the right of the last guy's car that you guys had to impound," Phil gave a slight joke.
Officer Barnes gave a nod and moved to sit down behind the driver's seat again.
"So, how is Larceny?" I asked as I climbed into the back seat, "Do we know how bad his arm was broken?"
"If they've found out about it... they haven't told us yet," Officer Barnes replied as he began to return to the station.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We finished our morning patrol with no further major incidents and then quietly returned to the station to give our reports to Officer Howard on the mornings events. He seemed to be on the phone when we arrived at his door. So, Officer Barnes and I waited quietly while we waited for Officer Howard to finish the phone conversation.
"So how is Grabar?" I asked Officer Barnes, "Did he tell you anything in the car?"
"Not much more then "I didn't do it", that sort of thing," Officer Barnes replied with a sigh, "and he didn't say anything when I put him in one of the holding cells and then went back to get you."
"Do you think that Agent Heer will want us do do anything with him besides hold him while he's waiting for Larceny to be treated?" I wondered.
"Don't know," Officer Barnes shrugged, "while we caught them and assisted Agent Heer in the case, because they crossed multiple state lines, and potentially crossed into Canada, this is a Federal Case. Agent Heer has jurisdiction. Even if we questioned him to try and recover some of the other things that they stole, Agent Heer or some other Federal Agent would probably ask him the same questions again later."
"He'd have to have us help him with something," I commented, "there's only one of him... and they could have been hiding anywhere in the Columbia Falls to Kalispell area. They have to have some place where they were staying... other then random hotels."
"Maybe, maybe not," Officer Barnes sighed, "maybe they stayed in an area where they hadn't burgled... or just far enough away that the heat was off there. No one will learn that until they're questioned, which will be Agent Heer's responsibility."
I only sighed in response to that. At the same time, I heard Officer Howard hang up the phone in his office. With the phone conversation over, I knocked and waited for him to call Officer Barnes and I in.
"Ah... Officer Barnes and Officer Wayne," Officer Howard looked up as we came in, "Finish your patrol?"
"Yes, sir," Officer Barnes answered, "and we are here to give you our report on the apprehension of Grabar and Larceny."
"You'll be the second to report in on that to me," Officer Howard said a half sigh half chuckle, "I just got off the phone with Agent Heer."
"Oh?" I asked, sounding curious, "anything knew?"
"Based off of the X-Rays taken here, Larceny's going to need surgery to heal the wreck he or Grabar caused," Officer Howard sighed, "rolling over smashed up that arm good. Agent Heer was getting ready to follow the ambulance again... this time to Kalispell... he'll try to arrange something with the Kalispell Police Department, but until he can, all we can do is simply hold his partner here."
"Not even try to see where they hid all the stuff they stole from here?" I asked.
"Not even that," Officer Howard sighed, "as are his instructions."
Officer Barnes and I only sighed in response.
"In the meantime, you two can give your report," Officer Howard then spoke.
Officer Barnes then filled in Officer Howard on what had happen. The call on the pursuit in progress and our response to it. Our request to use stop sticks to try and slow them down, and their attempt to avoid them, which ended up rolling the car over and totaling it. Officer Barnes finished with the process of putting Grabar in our car's backseat while Larceny was loaded into the ambulance and their car was towed to our "impound lot".
"So we can probably expect that tow truck in our back lot here in a little while," Officer Howard then commented.
"Probably," Officer Barnes nodded.
"The Whitefish Officer also promised to send in copies of his reports to you, since the pursuit ended in our station's jurisdiction," I added.
Officer Howard nodded, "might make for interesting reading on how the chase started... the big thing though will be getting the answers to where Grabar and Larceny took everything they stole. And that we won't find out until Agent Heer can come to do the questioning."
"At least they're off the streets," I commented.
Officer Howard nodded, "That is good... though their trial could be murder for you Officer Wayne..."
"Me, sir?" I wondered.
"Part of how we identified them as the thieves in the burglaries they committed here was your sense of smell," Officer Howard explained, "and unlike the German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois dogs... YOU can be questioned, and while they may end up with a court appointed attorney, he or she will likely read the statements that have gone through our files and Agent Heers and learn that you were identifying them by scent... and since no one uses animals of the genus Felis..."
"Tigers are of the genus Panthera, not Felis," I corrected.
"You're still a cat," Officer Howard sighed, "and since cats aren't used as tracking animals, the attorney will likely try to discredit you based on your species... if you were some breed of dog, a hound of some sort or of a breed commonly used in police work they wouldn't have that question, as those species are used to track things by scent. By contrast, don't tigers do a lot of things by sight and hearing?"
"Scent is still important," I answered, "It's how I knew Molly was in heat and we were able to get our family started..."
"And Grabar and Larceny's attorney will likely have you explain that," Officer Howard spoke with a sigh, "and speaking of your wife... just make sure she's safe... or that the doctor's equipment is safe... Wouldn't want Larceny to roll off in a wheelchair with the ultrasound equipment, eh?"
I only sighed at that, as he was teasing me in regard to all of that.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The day finished out quietly, which despite some of the issues related to the trial for Grabar and Larceny, which was on the far horizon, was very relieving for me. In fact, catching Grabar and Larceny could not have come at a better time. As the day after the two thieves were caught was the day of Molly's third obstetrician appointment with Doctor Wainwright. And her pregnancy was one of the few truly "happy" things going on at the moment. I took great pride in my service as a police officer and was proud to be where I could help protect people, but I got no kick out of arresting people. It didn't fill me with joy. Molly's pregnancy and becoming a father, did.
And things were still developing in that regard. Not very fast, as while we expected Molly to give birth at the end of her sixth month, the rate of growth was still that of a human's. This made it fairly important for us to see an obstetrician, and in our case, Doctor Wainwright. He seemed to be fairly supportive and friendly. Inexperienced with Animal People, obviously, but still friendly and that made Molly fairly eager to see him the date of her next appointment came around. We were certain he would do a very good job, and of course, now as Molly's pregnancy progressed, there was some additional excitement that was on both of our minds. Seeing our cubs on the ultrasound screens and potentially hearing the beating of their little hearts.
"Are we ready?" I asked to Molly as I opened our garage door.
"I'd hope so, otherwise I've forgotten something," Molly answered as she straightened her dress a little.
Physically, things hadn't changed much. Molly, if she wanted to, could probably still hide the fact that she was pregnant. Her womb had pushed out a little... but when viewed from the side, it gave her stomach a sort of a slow curve that wouldn't obviously tell someone that she was pregnant. In fact, she still fit into her normal clothes, though that would probably change rapidly in the coming months. But all of that was still to come, neither of us had done anything to deny Molly's pregnancy. Starting a family was exciting for us. The start of a new adventure.
"Okay then," I smiled and stood aside to let Molly back our Transit out.
This trip was to be the first one in which she'd driven out of Columbia Falls on her own. With the matters related to her drivers license settled, she could drive. The ride took about the same amount of time as it did before, but the fact that the Transit was built for Molly's and my height and legs made it much more comfortable. And in no time at all, we had parked in the Kalispell Medical Center and made our way in. Again, the nurse took Molly's weight when she came for us in the waiting room. It hadn't changed much. Molly had put on a little weight since the month before, but it wasn't much and she couldn't tell us whether that was our cubs or something else. Once Molly's weight was taken, we were then lead to room where we saw Doctor Wainwright in and waited quietly for him.
"Well, well, well," Doctor Wainwright said fairly cheerfully when he came in, "If it isn't my favorite pair of cats. How are you both today?"
"Tigers," Molly corrected.
"Details, details," Doctor Wainwright said with a chuckle, "and how are you, Mrs. Wayne? Ready for your morning sickness to stop?"
"I was ready for that a month ago," Molly gave a sigh.
"Well then, you've finally reached the end of that tunnel," Doctor Wainwright smiled, "as that should stop... or at least be cut down in the months and weeks to come."
He then proceeded to go through the standard physical examination of Molly's womb to make sure that nothing there was wrong our out of place, and to make sure that the texture felt right. He also continued to check Molly's heartbeat and other things. Doing his best to make sure that Molly and our unborn twin cubs were alright.
"Have you felt any pain?" Doctor Wainwright asked, "any pain at all?"
"No," Molly shook her head, "everything is still going quite well."
"Very good to hear," Doctor Wainwright nodded, "among other things I've heard lately."
"Other things?" I wondered.
"These burglars that were in the area," Doctor Wainwright answered.
He was referring to the case with Grabar and Larceny. That wasn't too surprising. Because the two had been traveling around the state, they had made local news, and I was privately sure they'd even made national news given how they crossed several state lines and even left the country.
"Yeah, I'm sure... but they won't be robbing or burgling anyone for awhile," I commented.
Molly nodded to that.
"I'm sure..." Doctor Wainwright answered, "I have a friend in orthopedics who's supposed to do the surgery on the one that broke his arm... I think that's sometime today... but I don't know for sure. Your station might have more info on that then I do."
"It's largely a Federal case, doctor... once they were caught they were beyond my department's jurisdiction, and even if it weren't, I'm questioning you as a suspect," I told him, "I'm here to be there for Molly, listen to any advice you have on treatment, and to listen to my cubs' heart beat."
"I would have thought you'd like to know," Doctor Wainwright commented.
"I may be curious to know," I shrugged, "but it wouldn't kill me if I didn't know."
"Ah ha," Doctor Wainwright shrugged.
The rest of the appointment went amicably. Doctor Wainwright asked a few more questions to Molly over things related to her pregnancy and how she felt. He again ran an ultrasound test to take a look our unborn cubs, which made Molly's and my day to see them. Their arms and legs had developed a bit more and what would be their tails and heads had developed a bit more, but not too much. Doctor Wainwright did try to check for the gender of the two cubs, but for the moment, that was still a mystery. One we'd hopefully get the answer to soon. And he finished with using a specialized stethoscope that allowed Molly and I to hear their little heart beats.
"They sound healthy to me," Doctor Wainwright said with a smile.