He Said Always...He Said Never

The store owner slashed with the knives, not with any great skill but with a ferocity born of overwhelming fury. Somehow the priest managed to twist aside from the strokes of the glittering blades and, using a move almost too swift for Ray to see, knocked one of the knives onto the floor.

At that point Dief dove into the fray, literally. He leaped, snarling, onto the counter, and from there onto the chest of the madman, knocking him down and catching the hand with the remaining knife in powerful jaws.

The man screamed, never having anticipated being attacked by an enraged wolf. While Dief kept him pinned, Ray finally pushed his way past Caine and wrestled the shopkeeper into handcuffs. The captive, perfectly cogent mere moments before, now hissed and hurled imprecations in Chinese.

"Yeah, you can have a nice day, too," Ray muttered. He made a show of straightening his rumpled clothing, then turned to look at Caine, who wasn't even breathing hard. "Any reason why this psycho wants to kill you?"

"He is...a minion of a dark force. It will do...anything...to prevent me from bringing its reign of evil to an end."

"You want to explain how you knew to come in here, out of all the places to chose from? At least Fraser usually sniffs out a trail or something; you just pointed and said, 'Here there be dragons.' I admit, it seems to have worked, but I like to put a little more on my reports than 'eeny meeny miny moe,' if you get my drift."

The priest gestured with his hands. "I could feel his evil. It permeates the air around us..."

Ray wasn't buying any of it, and said so.

"Call it...a hunch?" Caine amended.

"Yeah, right. Well, it's better than nothing." He eyed their prisoner. The man had stopped shouting, but he still glared at them in a less-than-friendly, more-than-slightly-insane manner. "I don't think we'll get any leads outta him. He's pretty incoherent."

"Perhaps I can remedy that." Caine glanced around, then began collecting various items from the surrounding shelves. "His...possession...can be reversed by the proper mixture of herbs," he said as he sifted through the assorted ingredients.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I am an apothecary."

"Uh huh." Ray studiously watched him combine the bizarre-looking, foul-smelling components in a clay pot, tasting the concoction occasionally. "I can't believe you put that in your mouth," the policeman said out of habit.

At last Caine spooned the compound into the protesting captive's mouth, Dief assisting by offering the choice between biting and being bitten. The effect was immediate: the store owner tensed, struggling, and then relaxed completely. He would have slipped to the floor if Ray hadn't held him up.

"Now," the Chicago cop said, "you're going to tell us where to find Bon Bon Hai."

"You're right," Peter had to admit. "No dogs allowed. I can see how that might hurt a wolf's feelings." Personally, he thought the Mountie had spent too much time trapped alone on ice floes...but who was he to judge?

Fraser opened the door and then stood there, holding it, waiting for the other to go through. Peter entered the building and climbed the stairs to the restaurant. He looked around, admiring the surroundings. It was richly appointed, yet not obtrusively decorated, just enough for a pleasant ethnic atmosphere.

And that's all he saw. No customers, no waiters, no people of any kind. The place was vacant.

He stepped farther into the room and checked it for signs of violence, but everything was immaculate. "Hey, I thought you said they were still open for business?"

Fraser returned to the dining area after examining the kitchen. "They are--at least, they did not expect to disappear."

"How can you tell that? There's no indication of a struggle, no threatening notes, nothing left behind as an 'example' to others."

The Mountie frowned. "True, but the front door was unlocked." He pointed to a table near him. "The condiments are still set out. And I found this..." He knelt on the floor in front of the doorway to the kitchen.

Peter joined him, crouching down to get a better view. Several small, white specks were in evidence against the red of the carpet. "What are they?"

"Crumbs of some sort. Flattened." He picked one up and carefully touched it to his tongue. "Hmm."

"What is it?"

He brushed off his hands and looked at the policeman. "Popcorn. High in salt, with artificial flavoring. Still fresh."

Peter pushed himself to his feet. "Not much to go on. This is a restaurant, after all. Maybe they forgot to vacuum before they left."

"I don't think that's the case." He also stood. "I've eaten here several times, and while they serve an impressive variety of Chinese food, they do not have popcorn on the menu."

"What then?"

"I believe they received a visitor, someone they knew and trusted, and when he stepped onto the carpet these crumbs scraped off the soles of his shoes. This visitor was the stimulus for their disappearance. So the question is, from where did this popcorn come?"

"And who brought it in?"

The two men pondered the clue for several moments. Then, at once, both began to speak. "My father once told me--" "My father used to say--"

"You go ahead," Fraser said after a brief, confused pause.

"No, no, after you, I insist."

He nodded acquiescence. "My father once told me, 'Always search for wood in a forest.' In other words, although you may find it in different places, it is best to go to the source, where there is a large quantity and you are most likely to come upon what you need."

"Well, my father used to say, 'Never feed the deer meat nor expect the tiger to delight in grazing, for each has its own way of life, distinct from the other.' You claim they didn't serve popcorn here--would they be inclined to eat it?"

"From the quality of their food, I believe Mr. and Mrs. Lee to be people of refined taste who would not be satisfied with such a chemically enhanced snack...but their son, David, is a teenager and possibly has not yet learned their values of proper nutrition."

"And, like a lot of teenagers, he might also spend his time hanging out with his friends--at the movies. Where they make lots of popcorn."

"Your father is a wise man."

"From what I hear, so was yours."

Beside him, Elaine growled in frustration and barely restrained herself from banging her fist against the keyboard. "Doesn't this man even exist?" she demanded. She was normally a calm woman, but he was discovering that she could display a temper when balked. "It seems impossible that there's no trace of him anywhere."

"If you'd seen what I've seen...let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if he appeared out of thin air."

She poised her graceful fingers over the keys. "Well, I'm not about to give up. I refuse to believe we're helpless to find him. So, he doesn't use credit cards, or telephones, or cars; I can live with that. But a man with the power to turn Chinatown upside down has to interact with something."

He leaned closer, her words evoking in him a sudden inspiration. "What did you say?"

"I said, a man with that kind of power has to interact with the rest of the world in some way."

"Power. Yes." A wisp of her hair tickled his ear, momentarily distracting him. He found himself wondering at her faint aroma of vanilla. As soon as he realized it, he shoved that thought aside and continued his line of reasoning. "Electricity. Check the power usage for Chinatown in the past...oh...month or so."

She adroitly typed in the request. As the data scrolled across the screen, he pointed to one set of figures in particular that stood out. "Oh, yeah. We got him."

"How do you know?"

He wanted to tell her, to explain about the electrical surges and blackouts that he had witnessed accompanying Bon Bon Hai's exercises of power, but she wouldn't believe him in a million years. Instead, he tipped down his glasses and peered over them at her. "Do you have a car?"

"Yes..."

"Can I borrow your keys? I rode here with Peter."

"Why do you have to go? We can radio Fraser and Ray and have them there much more quickly."

"You do that. As for me, well, this whole mess is mostly my fault. I let him get away once before." A chill crept into his voice. "It's not happening again."

She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, then dug the keys out of her pocket and handed them over. "Fifth space on the left. Be careful with it."

"Elaine--" he touched his lips to hers in gratitude and sprang out of his chair "--you're beautiful."

He dashed from the room, remaining within earshot just long enough to hear her say, "Thank you kindly."