The scent of the detective's meal reminded him of the last time he had seen Mace. Darien couldn't send him back without his knowing what a hamburger was, now could he?
"You know, before I came here," Mace said, sitting down, "I wasn't sure how things would be between us." Darien nodded for him to continue. "I gotta tell ya, this was just like old times." He raised his hands in the traditional Mash Ti triangle and jabbed at the air to punctuate his words. "Still a great team, huh?"
Darien couldn't help smiling. "Just like old times all right, but let's leave it at that."
"Oh, c'mon, Dare, admit it--there's a few things that I can still teach you."
"Such as?" Darien stared at him in disbelief.
Mace grinned broadly. "My way eliminates so much paperwork!"
Darien fought down the lump in his throat. "Yes, I used to be a partner of Officer Warfield."
The other man's jaw dropped. "He was a cop? Damn!" He shook his head. "I never would have guessed. Look, I'm sorry about your partner." He set the cup and sandwich on his desk and held out his hand. "Detective Schanke, at your service. You are--?"
"Darien Lambert. And he was my ex-partner."
"Lambert? No kidding? Huh. Fancy that." He smiled at some private joke. "Follow me, Lambert. I'll take you to where Nat's working on your friend."
"Nat, I'd like you to meet Darien Lambert. He's an ex-partner of the victim. Darien, this is Dr. Natalie Lambert, our Medical Examiner."
Darien shook hands with her, understanding why the detective had been so amused by his name. "Pleased to meet you, Doctor. Tell me, how did Mace die?"
"Multiple stab wounds. We believe this was the murder weapon." She indicated the exotic knife with a nod. "I'll show you your buddy, but it's not a pretty sight."
"That's all right." He steeled himself, uncertain what reaction seeing his friend's lifeless form would provoke. When he saw the body, however, he frowned in confusion. "That's not Mace Warfield."
"What?" Schanke exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" Natalie asked, concerned.
"I'm absolutely positive." He felt a nearly unbearable weight lift from his chest as muscles he never knew he possessed relaxed. "How did you identify him? Fingerprints?"
Schanke shrugged. "Credit cards. They were in his pocket."
Darien turned away from the dead stranger and began to pace, speaking his thoughts aloud as had become his habit from years of bouncing ideas off SELMA. "If this isn't Mace, then he might be alive somewhere. Possibly injured. If he doesn't have his credit cards..."
He spun suddenly, startling the other two. "May I see the items you found on this man? My guess is that he picked Mace's pocket shortly before he was killed."
"Shortly? Why shortly?"
Darien grinned. "You don't know Mace." Or CINDI, he added silently.