Following the leader

by

It was a good day. The sun was shining for a change, the captain had finished his budget for the year, so was in a good mood, and best of all, crime was actually a little slow at the moment. The detective was actually humming as he headed back from lunch in the blue and white pick up.

"If the weather stays this nice, maybe we can go camping this weekend?" The man asked himself, thinking aloud. Since camping and fishing were two of his roommate and partner's hobbies, he was certain he could get his friend to agree. Maybe they should ask Simon as well, he was fairly certain that Daryl was with his mother this weekend, and if not, maybe they would both like to come. Simon loved fishing and Camping and while Daryl was not an avid fisherman, he did love camping and liked the two detectives.

It was nice to be thinking in terms of us, since for years it had been only himself. He had been a bite of a lone wolf with a few friends but no close ones, until a set of super senses had given him a brother and a best friend. Now it was almost always us and rarely, if ever, me.

Life was good, he reiterated to himself. The only thing that would make it better would be if his partner was here, but he had other obligations until mid-afternoon. And, if they could get a lead on 'the painter'.

The painter was a wacko, and they all seemed to congregate in Cascade, who burglarized homes after breaking in by throwing a paint can through the window. Normally this would not have come to Major Crime's attention, but in the last robbery, in a panic to get away from the owner, thrown paint on the man. Unfortunately the paint had been contaminated with chemicals and the man had died the next day.

The painter was now wanted for murder.

And as usual when a weird, odd, or difficult case hit, Simon Banks, captain of Major Crime, he tossed it on the desks of his version of Batman and Robin. Somehow they would come through for him they always did. It was merely a question of how much chaos and damage to the city would be done in the mean time.

Dispatch alerted the truck and the detective in it to the latest house hit by the painter. Well, maybe this would be the lead, he thought as he sent the truck past the station and to a house in the suburbs. It was easy to see where the can had gone through the window. A patrolman was standing outside waiting to admit him.

Going in, the detective almost began to laugh. Thanks to his partners training, this was going to be an easy trail to follow. Actually, even without it, it would not have been difficult. Of course that would not stop him from complaining about the training sessions.

Following the thief, he went out the back door and easily jogged along, following the trail. Wait until his partner heard about this!

Climbing the stairs in front of the house a few blocks away, he knocked sharply. When a man answered the door, the detective showed his badge and pointed at the man's shoes. Seeing his error, the thief held out his hands for the cuffs, and Cascade's finest was happy to oblige.