To Be A Wolf

Chapter Three - The Little Things

Rick stands over my desk, tapping his finger on the wooden surface as I read through the files.

"That's really distracting," I mutter as I read about a theft incident reported by Jack Beans. Seriously, there are so many fairytale and nursery rhyme characters named Jack. It's like someone forgot that there are more names out there.

"I want you to deal with that one." Rick taps the file underneath the one I'm reading. "Red has issues with me."

I set the file aside and read about Redding Hood and her home being vandalized and damaged.

"Redding Hood, huh?" I raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure she won't have an issue with me as well?"

"Just don't bring up that you're a wolf." He crosses his arms over his full chest. "Can you manage all of these on your own? I have other things I need to see to."

I roll my eyes. "Yes. They're all minor incidents you could have dealt with in minutes."

"Then off you go." He waves his hand dismissively as he dumps a set of keys on my desk. "It's the black one with the lights on the dash."

"Thanks." I snatch the keys and glare at him.

With the files clutched to my chest, I make my way to the undercover car. It's pretty awesome too. The black Camaro gives me a little zing of excitement. Apparently no expenses are spared on law enforcement.

I head to Red's first, not because Rick asked me to, but because according to the GPS, she's the closest on my planned loop.

The dumpy white cottage definitely shows signs of damage as I pull up. I check the date on the initial report; two weeks ago. She's going to be so pissed.

I sigh and head to the front door.

A scrawny red haired woman answers. She glares at me as she flicks ash from her cigarette at my feet. "Didn't you see the no soliciting sign?"

I glance to the gold sign to the left of the door. "Oh, I'm not soliciting." I flash my badge. "I'm following up on an incident—"

"It takes two weeks for someone to respond and Rick doesn't even have the balls to do it himself? What an asshole." She flicks ash at me again.

"I'm a fully qualified detective, ma'am. I took on some outstanding cases to get out into the community."

"Rick dumped them on you, eh?" She tilts her head. "Well, come on. I don't want to take all day."

She leads me around the yard, pointing out the damage. Her letterbox was destroyed; she replaced it, but kept the mangled one as evidence. She insists I take it, so she gets me a box and I place it in the trunk of my car.

I take photos as I go of the burnt trash bins, the smashed pot plants, the hammer marks in the walls. The back window, now covered by plywood, marks the point of entry. She leads me inside and waves to the tight room used for storage.

"They could have taken just about anything," she says. "But I keep a list of all my supplies here." She opens a laptop and pulls up a detailed report.

I let out a whistle as I look it over. "Thorough."

"After a big bad wolf tried to hoodwink me, I've become a stickler for detail." She blows smoke in my face. "I started looking through things, but decided I couldn't be bothered since the cops couldn't be bothered either."

"I can promise you, I am very bothered by this." I place my hands on my hips. "Okay, where do I begin?"

She motions to the shelves and follows me down the first row. It's literally like a mini store. "Ready for a rainy day, huh?" I ask as I mark off the packs of toilet paper.