The Painted Ladies of Rock and Roll.
                                 by
                               Barbara Holmes.

	Had it not been for the murder, it would have been a particularly nice 
evening. 
	Detective Nick Knight was enjoying the damp, but crisp, night. Everything 
felt fresh and clean. Except for the smell of death in the otherwise sweet scented air, 
there was not much to complain about. `Might put the top down on the Caddy.' he 
thought to himself. 
	"We aren't going to zone out again are we, Nick?" Don Schanke, Nick's 
somewhat round but street-wise partner, asked. He came up to Nick holding 
something in an evidence baggy.
	"I was just thinking how nice an evening it was." 
	"Oh, yeah." Schanke nodded. "If you like being called out to view painted 
corpses.  Me, I prefer my art in a museum, or my kid's art on the refrigerator." 
Saying that last line made him think about his daughter and how much he missed 
spending time with her. He'd have to ask for a few days off, at least, to..... Now who 
was the one zoning out! `Damn, he's rubbing off on me! Watch it Don, or your 
liable to start acting weird.'
	"What's in the bag?" Nick pointed a finger.
	"Oh, this?" Don held it up in the glow of the `light-alls'. "This is what you'd 
call `Evidence that this guy we're after is a first rate sick-o'."
	"It's film." Knight held the bag closer, though with his enhanced vampire 
sight  he didn't need to. "Kodak."
	"Yeah, only the best for our guy." He took the bag back. "There's no actual 
film though, we only found the packaging." Schanke didn't want to know what was 
on that roll of film either!
	"This is an apartment building." Nick made another of his `more than 
obvious' statements as he looked around himself at the somewhat bland, but clean, 
facade of the buildings. "It could have nothing to do with this case." he shrugged in 
a casual manner not wanting to appear as if he were trying to bust Schanke's 
bubble. "It could be litter from one of the tenants. There were no film packages 
found at the last one." 
	`The last one' was only a week ago. At a new office building that was due to 
be opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony the very morning the body of Goldie 
Bostiit, middle class hooker, was found dead. Her body, like this one, was used as a 
canvas for very sensual, very well done, art consisting of demons and naked ladies. 
There was also a recurring figure in the work, a strange, twisting, black, shape. 
Knight felt as if he knew what it represented, but couldn't grasp at it. `Probly just 
an old memory.' he shrugged it off.
	Another part of the murder victim held particular interest for Knight. Her 
throat bore the marks of a vampire. Thankfully though, the pathologist was able to 
say for certain that it was not made by a `real' vampire. When Nick asked her how 
she could be so sure, she explained that whoever killed the `lady' first drugged her, 
then drained her blood out of a puncture wound in the arm. Natalie further 
speculated that the puncture could have been made by a needle like they use when 
you donate blood.
	 Then he made the marks on her throat after she was dead, and painted 
symbolic blood flowing from them.  It turned out that he hadn't gotten all of the 
blood out of the body. A few pints were left to congeal in the lower extremities.....
	Knight watched as the white draped gurney containing the killer's latest 
victim rolled past and was loaded into the black station wagon of the coroner's 
office.
	Don shook his head sadly as he and his partner watched the car drive off, its 
red lights silently flashing.
	"Man oh man, I hate this job sometimes." Pause for a sigh. "You think she 
had any family?"
	Schanke was getting philosophical again. Knight didn't really want to get 
into such dark and gloomy thinking, and he didn't want his partner to do so either. 
It wasn't good for either of them and they needed to be sharp for the case work.
	"I dunno Schanke." Nick said calmly but sadly. "But, it's not our problem. 
Let's not dwell on it all right? The only thing we can do for her and the other one is 
to get this guy, and we can't do it if we let ourselves get too personally involved."
	Natalie came up to the two officers and heard the last part of the 
conversation. Aw, Schanke was such a sweety sometimes. For all his annoying 
personality traits, he was a good man. And good for Nick too. Always keeping him 
firmly anchored to reality and keeping his mind off his `Vampire' problems. 
	"You better get that baggy over to the scene handlers. We don't want to 
corrupt the chain of evidence." She finally said to Schanke.
	"Right." Don nodded. "Certainly don't want to mess up like those 
Americano's!" He walked off. It had bothered him when he read that even the 
respected FBI's crime labs were under investigation for sloppy testing and 
mishandling of evidence! How many criminals would get a new trial and get out on 
the streets again because of this?
	Once Schanke was out of the way.
	"So, anything new on this one?" Nick asked.
	"No, same as the first. Same art, same symbolic blood flowing from post 
mortem bite marks. I think this guy is trying to get someone's attention." She 
looked at him meaningfully. 
	"Not me." He shook his head. How could anyone know what he really was? If 
they wanted his attention, it would be so much simpler to call him. He's listed in the 
phone book!
	"No," Nat shook her head not meaning him personally. "But, someone like 
you."
	"No," Knight shook his head and sighed. "There are other ways. This seems 
more like someone trying to live out his fantasies of being, or becoming, a vampire. I 
do not think he knows there are such things."
	They quickly hushed up on the subject as Schanke returned. "Come on, 
partner." He said. "Captain wants us. You too, Doc." He pointed at her as she was 
about to leave.
	They found their Captain Cohen speaking in a hushed voice with two darkly 
clad, official looking men. FBI? Knight wondered. His partner was obviously 
wondering the same thing.
	"Feds." Schanke had made up his mind.
	Knight shrugged.
	"Detective Knight, Detective Schanke, Dr. Lambert." Captain Amanda 
Cohen waved them over. "I would like you to meet Agent Baun, and Agent Otto 
from the FBI." 
	Schanke looked at knight with `I told you so' written on his face. 
	After introductions and hand shaking agent Baun spoke up.
	"We won't beat around the bush." he said. "Have you heard about the 
recent murders in Texas? Just about two weeks before your killings here?"
	Knight and Schanke looked at each other and shook their heads. American 
crime wasn't their problem and Schanke quickly told the two agents so.
	"Are you saying that there are other murders like this?" Nat asked.
	"Yes." Otto said in his crisp, monotone voice. "There have been several 
murders in several states in the U.S. with the same M.O. We would like to know 
why all of a sudden he is in Canada."
	"We would like to know that ourselves." Schanke stuffed his hands in his 
coat pockets. He didn't like feds, didn't feel comfortable around them. They always 
seemed to know more than they should about a lot of things. His feelings didn't get 
any warmer towards the feds after watching some show on the Discovery Channel 
about U.F.O's and the possible cover up of a saucer that crashed in New Mexico..... 
`Don!' He reprimanded himself. `You're getting really `spooky'. Man! Nick really 
was rubbing off on him!'
	"I have seen the case files." Cohen spoke. "The cases are all similar. How or 
why he is here in Canada, I do not know. We're bringing in Barbara Holmes on this 
one. She's been tracking the killer since his first batch of killings in Nebraska."
	"His first batch of killings?" Nat and Schanke nearly said in unison. 
	"How many murders has he committed?" Did Nat really want to know?
	"He's murdered in three states so far." Agent Otto answered.
	"We were hoping to get to his latest `state' before his second killing. He 
usually kills in threes, then moves on. Right now we have two bodies here, one more 
before he moves on. Will you tell your vice squads to put the word out for everyone 
to be careful and on the lookout?" Agent Baun.
	"Like it will do any good." Schanke snorted. "If the hookers did see anything 
you can bet we'd be the last to hear about it, even though it is them we're trying to 
protect. Huh, that's gratitude for you."
	"When will the profiler arrive?" Cohen asked the two agents.
	"Soon. She's flying in this evening." Just as he said it his cell phone bleeped 
at him. "Excuse me." He stepped away from the group.
	"I've got to get to the morgue." Nat took this opportune moment to excuse 
herself. "See ya." She waved at the two partners.
	"I wonder what weird take `Sherlock' has on this guy?" Schanke whispered.
	Knight smiled at him. He always called her `Sherlock' just `cause her last 
name was Holmes and she was a fan of the great fictional detective.
	"I dunno." He shrugged. "We'll have to wait and see."
	"Whatever it is it oughta be good." He wasn't so sure about all this phsyco-
babble. Yeah, some of it made sense, but a lot of it just seemed like so much hokum. 
If it got the perp off the street fine, if it tried to get people to sympathize and forgive 
the offender, NO WAY. But then again, he smiled, `Sherlock' felt the same way.
	"All right you guys." Cohen spoke up breaking his train of thought. "Get to 
the office and put your reports in order. I want everything we have ready when Miss 
Holmes gets here. According to the FBI we only have one more killing before he 
disappears, and I would like to get him before number three." She fixed them both 
with a stern look.
	"Yes, ma'am." Knight said.
	"On our way, mon Capitan." Schanke saluted as he turned to follow his 
partner off the scene.
	
	Later at the Precinct.

	An hour after they arrived Nick and Schanke had managed to get all their 
reports together from the last murder, and compile what they had so far on the 
current victim.  Preliminary reports from Nat's office showed the same as the 
reports on the first case. Nearly nothing. 
	"Body of hooker, age early 20's, slender build, average height, naked on 
sidewalk of Joel Satellite incorporated office building, body covered completely in 
paint depicting artwork of demons and nude women." Schanke read the highlights 
of the first case prelim report out loud in a dull, dry voice. 
	"What a strange want ad, Schanke! Are you and Myra having problems?" 
Barbara Holmes came up behind him. She had managed to get into the station 
unannounced.
	Schanke gave Knight one of those `tongue in cheek', long-suffering looks as 
chuckles broke out around him in the immediate area. "Oh, very funny Sherlock." 
He turned to look at her over his shoulder. 
	Knight smiled at his partner. He enjoyed watching those two joke around.
 	Schanke had started this little `war of the words' to try to coax the shy 
profiler out of her shell when they first started working together. Barbara was not 
really very happy around people and had been nervous about her first solo profiling 
gig. 
	"Oh, you know you missed me." She smiled at him and slapped him heartily 
on the shoulder. 
	Knight remembered it well.........

******************************Flashback*********************************
	
	"Whaddaya mean you won't take this case?!" Knight jumped at the sound of 
Joe Stonetree's voice reverberating from his office. 
	"I'm glad I'm not in there." Natalie looked up at the door too. She was 
stooped over Nick's shoulder talking to him about some report or other.
	"What's going on in there anyway?" He asked. He was late getting in to 
work because Nat's hamburger she made him buy and eat made him ill. Must've 
been the pickles, never could stand pickles! Why she insisted he eat those things! He 
wanted to become mortal again but didn't think that this was the right way. The 
burgers did such awful things to his insides, what he came to term `Lacroix's 
revenge', that he thought he'd definitely have to become a vegetarian. He couldn't 
look a cow in the face again.
	"Our big-honcho, hot-shot from the F.B.I. is informing our beloved Captain 
that he no more can work for mere mortals." Schanke rolled his eyes. He and the 
younger, `slightly odd' Agent didn't get along too well. 
	"Why?" Knight asked.
	"Seems that `agent' Mulder, and by the way his nickname is `Spooky', -I 
believe it too! You wanna know why he's dumping us and this case?"
	"I thought that's why I asked." Nick said with an amused grin.
	"He thinks he's got a bonafide U.F.O case out in Utah!" Schanke clearly 
thought Mulder was nuts. "Can you believe this guy!?" He leaned forward onto his 
desk.
	"Some people believe in U.F.O's, nothing wrong with that." Nick shrugged, 
edging him on. It was good for Schanke to blow off some steam and Nick was happy 
to help. Being alive for a few hundred years did give him the advantage of being 
somewhat knowledgeable of the human being.
	"Sure, there ain't nothing wrong with that, if you wanna waste your nights 
getting a crick in your neck from looking up at the sky all night!" He sighed and 
tried to cope with the feelings of anger he'd been trying to keep under control for 
several days. "I'm just saying that we need him to help us catch a phsyco murderer, 
and all he wants to do is run off and play with aliens. Excuse me if I find `human life 
in danger' more important than running off chasing Frisbee's." He rubbed his face 
and pinched his chin.
	The point Schanke made was a good one and the two faces of his friends were 
somber.
	"We'll get him without Mr. Mulder's help Schanke, don't worry." Knight 
said with some feeling. He shared his partner's anger. 
	"I hope so, man." He sighed and shook his head. Then he stood up. "Look, I 
gotta go get some coffee or somethin'. Sorry I growled at you like that." 
	"It's all right, Schanke." 
	After he was gone....
	"He's not handling this too well is he?" Nat sat on the edge of Nick's desk.
	He did not know how to answer her. "He's doing the best that he can. It's 
hard for all of us, to some degree. He'll feel better, though, once we catch this guy."
	"Will you catch him? He's been pretty clever so far." Nat sighed. She too was 
affected by the case. She had to do the autopsies, and it wasn't pleasant.
	What made a man want to eat the flesh of another human being? She was 
about to ask this question out loud but then remembering Nick was a vampire and 
liked, or had to, drink blood decided not to bring the subject up.
	"I think I'd better go get something done." She excused herself.
	Nick nodded. He kinda knew what was going on with her even though he 
couldn't read minds. 
	Just as they started to arise he let those feelings of disgust at being a vampire 
go, Nick had affirmed to himself when he started this job that he was not going to 
let his guilt, or anything else, interfere with his work. Being a cop was something he 
enjoyed doing. How many years had he spent bored with life before moving on? A 
hundred? He didn't know, and with something of a start he realized...  he didn't 
care. He didn't care, he was happy for the first time in years!
	With a satisfied grin Nick went back to work filling out his latest report. 
	Suddenly, he felt  a deep uneasiness coming from somewhere in the room.... 
Nat?.... No, she was gone, this was much closer. As the feeling was becoming near to 
an all out panic he spotted a very white, young female standing in the front of the 
room.
	 At the sound of a loud thud and angry words no one could make out 
through the door of the Captain's office, they both jumped. 
	The female's uneasiness grew. Fearing she might have a panic attack, or drop 
over from the adrenaline pumping through her system, he decided to find out what 
it was she needed. Perhaps someone she knew was hurt, or something.
	She watched him approach with steady, almost empty, eyes. How could she 
look so calm yet be in such a state? Maybe I zeroed in on the wrong person, after all 
I haven't used any of my senses for many a year..... No, it's her.
	"My name is Knight, may I help you?"
	At the sound of his name she seemed to smile. A knight in the modern, dark 
world. Barbara thought that unusual. Was he as good a man as his name implied? 
Or was he so much rabble like the rest of the human populous? Well, he is a cop 
after all, people choose to become cops for noble reasons, even if in the end they 
themselves forget those lofty ideals. 
	"My name is Barbara Holmes." She said after a false start. It was hard to get 
those vocal cords to work! She usually didn't speak. "I was sent to replace Agent 
Mulder."   
******************************End flashback.*****************************
	
	"`Bout as much as I'd miss a rash." 
	At the sound of his partner's joking voice he returned from his jaunt down 
memory lane. 
	"How you been anyway?"
	"Fine, fine, and you?" She asked as she moved over to Knight's desk. He 
stood up dropping a file folder on the desk.
	"Great." He answered.
	"Good." She sounded pleased to hear it. "And how have you been, Nicky?" 
	"I'm fine." he smiled. He didn't mind being called Nicky, if it were in a place 
where the other guys in the room wouldn't hear.
	"I know, I know. It's Nick." she saw the look of impatience in his face that he 
tried to hide. "It's just a term of endearment, I suppose I should call you by your 
name though. All right, Nick." 
	Any further `catch up' was interrupted by the Captain.
	"You're here, good." Cohen walked up to the group. "Glad to have you with 
us again Miss Holmes." She got the formalities over with fast. "This is a real 
gruesome one, right up your alley."
	"Yeah, I just love the real sick ones." She smiled. She was in too good a mood 
to be sarcastic at the implication of Cohen's words.
	"That's not what I meant." The Captain smiled, her first smile since this case 
began. It felt good to smile, she hadn't felt like smiling ever since the case began. 
The stress was getting to her.
	"I know, ma'am." Barbara nodded. She understood the Captain's feelings. 
`Poor girl, she has to deal with all this sort of stuff all the time. Me, I only get called 
in when it gets real bad. Most of the time I can go away and call it quits for several 
weeks to months, and I get paid good too.' She knew some people on the police force 
resented her for that.
	"Have you gotten any idea on the type of person we are looking for?" She 
asked curiously.
	"Yes, and no. I still have no idea as to why he does the killings, what his 
motivation is, and why he only kills three then moves on. I thought I was getting 
somewhere on that point, and `boing', he kills in Canada!"
	"Could be a copy-cat killing." Schanke suggested.
	The Captain looked at Holmes for her opinion, eyebrows raised.
	"Could be, though I doubt it. Canada isn't as violent as America, and who 
would care all the way up here? It's too damn cold to run around killing people."
	They smiled. 
	"But, seriously. I don't think Canadian papers would have the story in them, 
and if they did report it, it wouldn't be so sensationalized as to cause someone in 
need of attention to go out and kill."
	Captain Cohen nodded her agreement. She crossed her arms. "So this means 
that he's here in Canada."
	"I'd like to take a look at the photographs of the artwork first before I say it 
is definitely him."
	"You could look at the body itself, we still have both of them in the morgue." 
she said without thinking. She'd forgotten Holmes' dislike of corpses.
	Barbara seemed to Schanke to turn a whole lot whiter. The girl was pale to 
begin with, at the thought of having to go to the morgue she almost became `see-
through'.
	"Uh, Captain, I think the pictures are good enough." Nick said sensing his 
coworker's uneasiness. There were really few things that terrified this strange young 
person, and corpses were one of them. He stood up and grabbed her elbow just in 
case she might have another attack. Slowly her rising fear subsided and she seemed 
to return to her normal color.
	The Captain was looking properly chagrined. "I'm sorry Miss Holmes. I 
forgot."
	"No." Barbara stood up straight. "That's all right. You people are fortunate 
that you have strong stomachs. I suppose I could learn to handle it too, but if I don't 
have to I ain't gonna." She smiled and shook her head. "Looking at them and 
touching them wouldn't be the problem, feeling dirty afterward and not wanting to 
drag dead body germs around with me would be the problem!" She smiled.
	Cohen hadn't thought of it that way before. Eeew. Suddenly she felt like 
washing her hands.
	"Yeah, well uh, let's get off this subject shall we and get on the case." 
Schanke cleared his throat. He didn't care about bodies either way, `I just wanna 
get home on time tonight.'
	"Right." The Captain felt silly. "Let me know when you have something, 
Miss Holmes." She turned to leave. "Let me know when you are ready to go to the 
crime scenes too, and I will arrange a ride."
	"Yes, Ma'am." Holmes removed her arm from Nick's grasp.
	"All right, kids." She turned to them all ready for work. "Let's get busy!"
	Nick went and grabbed a chair for her while Schanke started handing her 
pictures and describing where and when they were taken.
	Barbara could forget anything when she was working. It always amazed 
Knight how she could move easily from one state to another. She had incredible 
control over her mind. Sometimes though, her body took a while to catch up. Like 
when they first met, how nervous her body was, but how clear every thought was, 
and how calm her mind was.
	After a few hours and several coffee cups Barbara spoke.
	"Yes, it's the same guy all right." She sighed heavily. "He's (yawn) so 
young... (yawn) how did he get all the way up here?" She rubbed her face wearily.
	"What do you mean he's so young?" Nick asked.
	"What?"
	"You said something about him being young."
	"Yeah, I think we are dealing with someone who is really immature, I mean, 
look at this stuff." She waved a hand at the pictures. "It's good artwork, he should 
set up at the beach somewhere and sell T-shirts. Anyway, it's good artwork but 
would indicate to me someone who is really immature. He fantasizes all the time, is 
over-sexed, has trouble keeping his mind on the subject at hand." She paused to sip 
some coffee and wrinkled her nose at the cold, sour taste. "He probly doodles 
continuously on things."
	"Yeah, he'll probly make a small fortune on his doodles too. Probly will do 
renditions of his body art and sell it on T-shirts." Schanke snorted. 
	"They should just shoot him and get it over with. It's not like he's worth 
anything, and with all these looser women with nothing better to do than pollute the 
Earth with more humans, as if we don't have enough already, why should we bother 
so much with one murderer? I suppose this society thinks it's murderers are more 
important than the good people or the cops."
	"There you go!" Schanke agreed. "It's what I've been sayin' ever since I 
joined the force. You're a cop and you don't get any respect."
	"Could we concentrate on the case, and not get all philosophical?" Knight 
asked. He didn't want to hear any more of Barbara's anti-human rhetoric. "You 
were saying that he was young and immature?"
	"Yeah, he might be in his early 20's. I can't decide on an age, but I get the 
impression that he is very immature for his age. He also lacks any `normal' values, 
and is very self-centered."
	"What do you think this could mean?" Nick pointed to the black swiggly 
thing. 
	"Yeah, that." She nodded, finding it interesting too. "I've got several ideas 
on that. One is that it might represent himself as this illusive, powerful figure. Or it 
might be a signature....." She crunched her eyebrows together and seemed to have a 
second thought on that idea.
	"What?" Knight prompted after a few seconds.
	"This thing here might not be a signature after all." She nodded to herself as 
if liking the new idea. "No, this isn't some sort of signature. Even though it stays 
constant through all the cases, it's not a signature!" She got all excited and smiled 
like a kid in a candy store. She looked up at Knight who was getting interested in 
what she might have to say. "This is a representation of someone." 
	The way she said `someone' made Nick think he was that much closer to 
figuring out what bothered him personally about the figure. There was something 
after all!
	"Do you know who?" Schanke asked, thinking the look on Knight's face 
meant that the identity should be known to them all.
	"No," Barbara answered still looking at the picture. "But it is a figure that 
represents the person that our guy is killing for."
	"Come again?"
	"I mean that this person is killing-" Barbara shook her head trying to get all 
her thoughts into a coherent order. "Let me start from the beginning." She sighed. 
"This guy we are after lives in a fantasy world. He is alone, lonely, has no friends, 
and is sexually defect. At some point in his life he learned to associate love and 
sexual stimulation with vampires and monsters. Acts of violence might turn him on 
as well.
	He drinks some, if not all, of the blood that he drains from the victim. This is 
his way of becoming powerful, of becoming a vampire." She picked up one of the 
pictures. "Look at these demons." She waved a finger randomly at the photograph. 
"Not only are they horny in both senses of the word, but they've got fangs and bat 
wings." She picked up another photograph. "Look."
	"Yes, and the ladies have bite marks like vampires make on them." Nick said. 
Suddenly his refrigerator flashed into his mind. It was time to.... he shook it off, that 
is not important now. 
	"Right." She nodded. "Representing all the spoils there are out there for 
him." She was into her profiling gig now. He saw the glint in her eyes, she was 
getting the scent. A huntress. "I do not know why these demons are there, probly 
representing the torment he feels....." She couldn't figure out what torment he was 
feeling since she had decided he did not have any feelings of compassion towards his 
victims.
	Knight had one of his `special moments'.
	"Torment?" Schanke snorted. "What torment?" He wasn't liking where this 
was going, this man was an evil killer not some lovelorn asshole we should feel sorry 
for and get him a date. "He doesn't feel any torment, he likes to kill."
	"I know. He kills and he enjoys it. Look at all the prep time for the bodies. 
He takes good care of his art."
	"Could he do this because he cares about his victim? Couldn't this be a sign 
that he is sorry he is driven to kill?" Knight asked.
	Holmes looked at him for a few seconds wondering if it was Nick talking or 
the guilty, `wimpy boy'. She knew his secret, that he was a vampire. She knew 
Knight was a good man, but needed to get a life, he wasn't strong in a lot of ways.
	"Yeah, right!" Schanke looked at his partner with some amount of disgust.
	"You aren't driven to do anything mister." She fixed him with a stern gaze. 
"Killing is a choice. He made his choice, he could stop, he could even go to someone 
for advice. He could turn himself in. He could drop dead. But he doesn't, why? 
Because he enjoys his fantasy, he enjoys the sexual pleasure he gets out of drinking 
blood and killing." She shook her head at him. "He's a murderer."
	Nick sat down, he'd been leaning over the desk to look at the pictures. Was 
he a murderer? Well, of course he was. But, he did not want to be. He hadn't killed 
for blood in a very long time. Now he got a supply from the slaughter house... he 
smiled inwardly at that. Barbara was a vegetarian and was mortified at the thought 
he was drinking cow's blood! She would rather he drank human's.
	"You said he kills for someone, tell us more about that." Schanke tapped at 
one of the swiggly black designs on the photograph.
	"Right! Right!" She smiled all happy. "This figure represents someone. A 
strong presence in his life. I've noticed it occurs a regular 13 times in each of his 
killings. This is his mentor, someone he knows from a distance, someone he wants to 
impress....." She was quiet for some minutes as she stared at the color photographs.
	Mentor! Something about that shook Knight. Yes! Now he knew what it was 
about the figure that bothered him! Lacroix!
	"Yo, earth to Sherlock." Schanke snapped his fingers.What was she doing 
now, communing with the cosmos?
	"Yeah, I'm still here Schanke." She said. "I think this figure represents the 
person that has inspired the killings. Our guy has involved himself in fantasy and 
has latched onto this one particular person."
	"Well, that is at least one clue." Nick was impressed.
	"Yeah, now all we have to do is find out who it represents." Schanke was 
curious but daunted.
	"That shouldn't be too hard...." Barbara picked up one of the pictures. "I 
think like Schanke that he takes pictures of his art."
	"Thank you."
	"But, I do not think that the Kodak box you mentioned is one of his. Nothing 
like that was found at any of the other scenes. Like Knight said, it was an apartment 
building and contaminated with the residents' trash.... However, and this is 
important boys, if he did take pictures he's not just keeping them as trophies. He's 
sending them to someone."
	Schanke sat up straight. "Sending them to someone?! Who?"
	"Whoever this figure represents. It's like he's trying to let that person know 
he is loyal and is doing his best to be in his favor."
	"How do we go about finding out who this guy is?" Knight asked.
	"And why hasn't he come to the police? Could that mean he enjoys the 
pictures?" Schanke asked.
	"I do not know.... There have been other things, items, found at the other 
crime scenes...." she stood up. "Let me get that stuff sent up here, it might be worth 
a look. You know Schanke, I might've been wrong about that film box." She turned 
to Knight to explain. "At some scenes there was litter found, at some scenes not. I 
think it was because at some places a street sweeper might've gotten there just 
before the killer and he didn't feel safe in dumping some of his stuff at so clean an 
area. He's really clean, he doesn't want to leave behind clues, meaning he doesn't 
want to get caught. So he doesn't feel badly about killing, Nick." she shook her 
head, referring to their argument earlier. "And he's not too far gone into his 
fantasies that he doesn't know right from wrong either, Schanke." she knew he 
would be glad to hear she thought that way. If it ever went to trial, the defense 
couldn't use the `insanity' plea. "I think he didn't feel safe in littering in some really 
clean areas. I definitely want to go over all the articles found. Have you had the film 
box dusted for prints?"
	"Yes, we are having forensics check for that, the report should be in later 
today." 
	"Good. I'll be interested in having a look at that report. Hey, you know, if 
you wanna find out if that film box does come from some one in that building, you 
should have everyone fingerprinted and check against the prints, if any, you find on 
the box. Also, if anyone handled the box at the scene check for their prints as well so 
we know what set of prints is the suspect set so we aren't chasing our tails." 
	"That's alot of prints."
	"Yes, but if the box is not from the killer then I want to know so it doesn't 
cloud my thinking. This is one thing we can do, even though it will take some effort. 
But, hey, get a few officers on it and it should be done in no time."
	Knight's wristwatch beeped, his shift was over by an hour and he needed to 
get home before the sun rose.
	This seemed to signal the need in everyone to call it quits for a while.
	Suddenly, Barbara realized how tired she was.
	"Man! Would you look at the time! I should've been home an hour ago. 
Myra is going to kill me for not calling-"
	As soon as he said that... ring!  The telephone beside him on his desk rang.
	"Come on, I'll drop you off at your hotel." Knight got his coat. Barbara did 
not drive so he was used to being her chauffeur.
	"I hope it's not too far out of your way." She didn't want him to start 
smoking like he did the time she found out he was a vampire.
	"I still have another hour." He said.
	She picked up her duffel bag and tried to stifle a yawn. "Let's go before I 
curl up right here and snooze." She walked up to Schanke and patted his shoulder. 
"G'night, Skank."
	"Night all."
In the car :
	Nick turned on the radio. He wanted to catch the end of the `Nightcrawler's' 
broadcast. A song was just ending, some spooky song intended to go with whatever 
was the theme for tonight, and the `Nightcrawler' came on to announce that this 
show was at a close.
	"Ugh! How can you stand that man?" Barbara wrinkled up her nose. What 
was Nick anyway, some sort of closet freak? She did not like the Nightcrawler. In 
her opinion he was a serial killer waiting to happen. Even though she did know 
Nick's secret, she did not know that the voice on the radio came from a vampire too. 
"That guy is a serial killer if I ever heard one. I would pay real money to find him 
dead in an alley somewhere. Would make me feel safer." She was about to reach 
down and turn the knob when a commercial break came on announcing the Rick S. 
Field's `Once bitten, twice shy' tour/movie.
	Barbara was a fan of the hard rock legend. Unknown to her was the fact that 
her strange, pale, friend knew the singer... Had known, for many years. 
	"Oh!" She beamed. "Did you hear? Rick S. Field's is in town to promote his 
new movie `Last of the Vampires.'" Barbara was something of a fan.
	"I didn't know you were into that kind of music." It was more of a statement 
than a question, he'd seen the older tour T-shirt she liked to profile in on several 
occasions. It surprised him that a relatively quiet, hippie-like, love-the-Earth- 
vegetarian would like such dark music. But then, he thought, it was kinda strange 
that a vegetarian would hang out with a vampire. 
	"I don't go for `hard rock' as a rule, I just like his music... I guess it appeals 
to my dark side." She admitted grudgingly. "Besides I am not a really big fan. I only 
have one early album and have only seen two of his music videos. The only time I 
get to hear his music is when it comes on the radio." 
	Nick smiled with one corner of his mouth, she didn't like having a dark side 
but at least she accepted it and is one with it. She learned to have her dark side as 
her friend rather than her enemy and it was a friendship that made her stronger 
and whole. He felt a sting of regret that he hadn't learned that lesson before... before 
his darkness engulfed him, forever hiding him from the light.
	"Would you like to go to this press conference and meet Rick Field's?" He 
asked, forcing thoughts of self-pity back into the shadows.
	"You bet! But, how?" She didn't believe the offering tone in his voice. How 
could he know Rick?
	How should he put it? Could he tell her that this rock star was a vampire too 
without getting her or himself into trouble? The vampire community frowned upon 
mortals knowing their existence, though more of his kind had mortal friends than 
they cared to admit. "He happens to be a very old friend of mine, very old." He 
decided to put it that way. 
	"Oh." She nodded. Vampires were more abundant than she had thought! "I 
suppose that is how he maintains such a hold over his fans." She started to think 
about this new possibility. Could vampires remotely hypnotize people? How strong 
was their influence if there was no physical contact? Was his music really good, or 
just liked because his fans were `told' to do so? 
	"That or he's just a good singer." He smiled at her discomfort.
	"You jerk." She smiled back at him. "You're enjoying this aren't you? Some 
friend you are! Come all this way, and all you do is pick on me."
	"Sorry. Rick won't hurt you though, not if you're with me. He's a bit 
eccentric, but harmless really."
	"I'll bet. Depends on what you think of as harmless." She shook her head.
	"Come on." Knight said. "He enjoys meeting his fans."
	"Don't you mean `eating' his fans?" She crossed her arms.
	Nick laughed. "Come on, it'll be fun."
	"Only if Schanke goes with us." She said. Her instincts told her she'd better 
tread lightly where Nick and his friends were concerned. He was a nice guy, and she 
liked his noble spirit, there was something sad in him too that was attractive. But, 
she felt he was dangerous. She didn't like the idea that he could squash her like a 
bug. And she knew that if she wasn't extremely careful she could end up quite dead, 
or worse.
	Of course being a psychologist she immediately knew why females liked Nick, 
and it had nothing to do with strange vampire powers. He had that boyish, fuzzy, 
face, and that sad, pouty way about him that made females wanna take him home 
and feed him soup. If you can get a woman to want to take care of you, you got her 
hooked. She smiled at her profile of the situation, curious if vampires could eat soup 
or not.
	Her merriment didn't go unnoticed. "What?" He wanted to be let in on the 
joke.
	"I finally figured out what is so attractive about you." 
	"Oh, yeah?" Did he want to know the secret to this mystery?
	"Yeah," she said. "Puppy power."
	"What?" He wasn't sure he was getting the joke.
	"Puppy power. You got this pouty way about you that immediately ignites 
the mothering instinct in females. They all wanna take you home and make you feel 
better." she said that last sentence in a voice one would use with a pet or a child. She 
tousled his sandy hair. "And you're also mischievous."
	"Mischievous? Me?" he put on his best innocent face.
	Holmes cracked up. She hit his shoulder. "You're a good man, Charlie 
Brown." she said.
	"Yeah, well, I try." he shrugged.

	After taking a nice nap Barbara was ready to visit the crime scenes of the 
first two murders before dark. She would have waited for Knight and Schanke, but 
you couldn't see much in the dark.
	After checking things out and searching for more clues she was taken back to 
the station to await her two friends.
	"Good evening." She said in Bela Lugosiesque as Knight approached. 
"Where's the Skankmeister?"
	"He's on his way." He smiled. "Did you find anything at the crime scenes?" 
Nick knew she wouldn't've wasted any time in giving the old scenes a once over.
	"Nope." She shrugged. "I did find the areas enlightening though."
	"Oh? In what way?" He asked.
	"These places aren't exactly `deserted'." She sat on his desk. "They are right 
out in the open, in well lit places where people live and work.
	I think he wants not only whoever he's killing for to notice, but others to 
notice as well. He wants an audience. He also doesn't consider himself a common 
criminal, to him what he is doing isn't wrong and he doesn't think he should be 
ashamed."
	"All this from some photographs and litter?" Knight was amazed. He 
would've been skeptical but, he'd worked with her enough times before to know she 
was on to something. She wasn't always right about everything and didn't get every 
detail, but she always led them to the right track.
	"I think I am right about his immaturity, his killing for someone- though 
that could be wrong for there is no evidence to support it. I'm just going on gut 
instinct on that one- and that he takes pictures of his artwork." She watched Knight 
take off his coat and sit down.
	"What about the killing in threes and why paint the bodies, why not tattoo?"
	"Tattoo would last, but our killer doesn't care about his artwork lasting in 
that particular sense. He uses paint because it's cheaper, easier to obtain, and to get 
the kind of depth of coloring and detail he gets out of paint would take too much 
time to achieve in tattoo. If you tried to tattoo a dead body you'd have all this nasty 
bruising and `pressure marks' from where the blood settled and congealed. 
Wouldn't make a very nice presentation." She wrinkled her nose.
	"Yeah." Knight didn't like thinking of congealed blood. Those nasty clots 
always made him want to puke. 
	Barbara remembered that he was a vampire and quickly got off the edge of 
his desk thinking she needed to get something to wash the imagined bad taste out of 
her mouth. Eeew! How could anyone drink blood!? It's like sucking on a copper 
pipe, blech!
	"Why does he kill in threes?" Nick wanted to get back on the subject.
	"Oh, yeah. Well, I think he thinks that three is a magic number."
	"Magic number?" Knight raised his eyebrows.
	"Yeah. Either that or he didn't have time to do more before moving on." She 
shrugged.
	Just then Schanke walked up to the group. "What's news?"
	"Barbara was saying she thinks the killer thinks the number three is 
magical." Knight answered.
	"A man and a woman had a little babe, and that's three- hee-ee and that's a 
magic number." Schanke sang a line from `School House Rock'.
	Barbara joined in. "Three-hee-ee is a magic number." Unfortunately, or 
fortunately depending on your taste in music, that's all they could remember of the 
song.
	"What was that all about?" Knight grinned. They definitely wouldn't make 
it in show biz.
	"You don't know `School House Rock'?" Schanke played shocked. "Man, 
where have you been?"
	"Yeah, I grew up on that stuff. Didn't they play it on `Sesame Street' or 
something?" Barbara asked as she grabbed a chair and sat down.
	"I dunno, but they're still playing the stuff. My kid Jenny had it on this 
morning. Apparently a bunch of rock stars have gotten together and remixed the 
stuff and are releasing it on a children's CD." Schanke answered as he plopped 
down in his chair.
	"Cool!" Barbara cooed. "Electricity, E-lec-tricity." She sang.
	Knight didn't have that kind of stuff when he was growing up. There was no 
such thing as TV, radio, or personal hygiene. He liked this century. It was a lot 
better off than alot of times he'd been through.
	"Oh, and by the way." Knight just remembered. "Remember me telling you 
about Rick S. Feild's?"
	"Yeah?"
	"Well, he wants to meet us. You too Schanke. It seems that he has some sort 
of problem he needs to discuss with the police."
	"When are we going?" Barbara said excitedly.
	"How about we leave in a few minuets? He's giving some sort of press 
conference on his new movie and said we could meet with him there."
  
	Holmes, Knight, and Schanke stood at the left of the press conference stage, 
off stage of course, as the rock star appeared.
	Cheers and hormones went up from the fans in the somewhat large reception 
area. Police officers clad in their best uniforms held back the swooning masses. 
	Suddenly, the audience started making odd cooing noises and reaching out 
their hands towards Rick. Who replied by reaching out to touch as many fingertips 
as he could without making a show of effort.
	"Who rules the night?" An attendant asked in a loud but calm voice.
	"Rick it is youuuuuuu!" The audience howled making the hairs on Barbara's 
neck stand on end. What a creepy sound. Kinda like the noise those warriors made 
in that `Zulu' movie. Someone flipped his bick, and others followed suit waving 
them in the air.
	"Did `Mr. Fright' tell you why he wanted to talk to us so bad?" Schanke 
asked shaking his head at all the rabble. Stupid kids.
	"No." Knight shrugged. He was curious too. When Nick had called his old 
friend to set up a meeting between them, he was startled when Rick sounded 
troubled and asked him to visit him not only as a friend but in an official capacity. 
	"Maybe he wants to hire you as a roadie." Schanke teased. He could picture 
Nick in spandex, with lots of beads and wild tattoos.... Well, maybe not.
	Knight smiled. "We could both hire on, be your chance to get into show 
business."
	"Nahhh, Donny is more, how you say, `polyester lounge lizard type', not 
spandex and leather." Barbara grinned broadly at him.
	"Ask him if he does tours in Vegas, then we might think about it." Schanke 
wasn't put off. He enjoyed the ribbing. It was nice to have Barbara comfortable 
with his presence. He felt kind've protective of her sometimes. He didn't like her 
being so closed in and scared of people. She kinda reminded him of the porcelain 
ballet dancer that his daughter has sitting on her dresser, whispy-armed, and 
fragile. `Yeah, that's it.' He nodded. He figured out why he liked the profiler, she 
reminded him of his daughter. `Man, Donny.' He shook his head. `You gotta stop 
taking in the strays! First Knight, now Sherlock.' 
	They stood in the shadows of a large black curtain, listening to Rick talk to 
his fans and a few reporters about his new movie. 
	Rick had this vampire character, Rick De La Noche, that he played on screen 
and stage. A character that had caused several youths in the past to attempt 
dangerous behaviors, and this character was once again to appear in another `Rock 
Opera' type movie to croon his way into the hearts, or should that be veins?, of 
gorgeous, and dumb, women.
	Barbara Holmes scanned the audience looking for anything strange- She 
caught herself quickly and laughed into her hand. Who WASN'T strange here!? 
The only persons looking like the average john were herself, Knight, and Schanke. 
The rest were black lipped, leather bound, and tattooed to the teeth!
	"What's so funny?" Schanke asked.
	"I was scanning the audience to try and find out if our killer might be 
lurking in the crowd." She pointed. "But, how can you pick a weirdo outta that? 
They are all weirdos!"
	"Come on, let's go wait for Rick in his room." Nick laughed.
	When Rick finally joined the group They were shocked at what he had to tell 
them.
	"So, this guy is writing you?!" Barbara took the pictures handed to her by 
the singer and was sickened by what she saw in them. Quickly the profiler handed 
them to the seasoned cops.  
	"Why the wait? Why didn't you come forward sooner?" Schanke said before 
she could. 
	"Calm yourself, detective." Rick held up a hand that was lean and muscular.  
He wore a large amber ring with a carving of a bat stuck inside it. There seemed to 
be some elegance to the movement that held Barbara's attention, then remembering 
what he really was she shook off the feeling and threw up her steal walls. Get 
through that fang face! She thought to herself smugly.
	"I was not aware of the pictures or letters until earlier tonight." He said. "I 
get tons of mail, literally, every day. I read very little of it since I am on the road 
most of the time. I have `fan mail coordinators' to handle it. Most of the letters I get 
are sent through the post office, however, these found their way to me rather 
mysteriously."
	"Mysteriously?" Nick asked.
	"Yes. Some are left under my door after a show. Others are given to me by 
my staff who say a courier brought them. I must tell you that I have received a lot of 
mail like that in the past, from couriers I mean. Mostly it's love letters, or gifts from 
fans. I've learned to ignore stuff like this. A lot of my `special delivery' mail gets 
packed away in a trunk and either I'll read it on the road, or wait until I go on 
holiday. Some of it doesn't get read at all."
	"So you just happened to read these letters now?" Schanke asked in an 
unbelieving tone.
	"Yes, detective." Rick didn't much like Schanke's abrasive attitude, it 
rubbed him the wrong way. "The first two letters I read did not come to my 
attention until last week, there were no pictures in those envelopes. As soon as I 
found the pictures I was going to contact the police, but fortunately my friend Nick 
here got to me first."
	"I am willing to hand over to you all of the stuff I have from this guy." He 
continued. "Even send you any and all new letters I receive. But, I want it kept out 
of the news as long as possible."
	"Yeah, would kinda hurt you at the box office if this got out wouldn't it?" 
Schanke asked in his usual sarcastic manner.
	"Exactly. I have gone to great expense in this tour/movie deal. If I cannot sell 
tickets, then I'm... in the red."
	Barbara thought she heard Nick stifle a chuckle.
	"Oh, be still my bleeding heart!" Schanke groaned.
	Knight cleared his throat.
	"Why should you care about a bit of bad publicity?" Barbara asked. "I 
thought the kind of junkies that come to your shows get off on that stuff? You could 
actually attract more viewers."
	"That kind of publicity, I do not want." He said simply. "I would rather rely 
on my PR staff, they are quite competent people."
	Couldn't disagree there, what'd this guy make anyway? Couple mil a year? 
Watch out Bill Gates!
	"Take this collection and do with it what you will." He handed a small shoe 
box to the profiler. "If he sends any more, I will send them to you."
	"Thanks, you're a real prince." Barbara was careful not to touch his hands. 
She wasn't feeling any threat, or anything else, from him. `Good. I'd hate to have to 
hurt him.' She thought to herself, having absolutely no doubt that she could hurt 
him if he tried anything. 
	"I was once." Rick said quietly.
	Knight cleared his throat and acted a bit nervous.
	What was that all about? Barbara was curious. 
	"But, that was... some time ago." The singer said in a more normal voice.
	`Man, do all of Nick's friends spend time waltzing down memory lane?' 
Schanke shook his head at the strange man. What man in his late 30's goes around 
in tight leather pants? `I am surrounded by `space cadets!''
	"I have read about your talents in the papers." He continued in a more 
normal tone of voice. "You are a hunter." He seemed pleased. "You can catch this 
man."
	"Yes. I think so too." Barbara wanted to look him in the eyes but, was 
careful. She knew what those eyes could do. "We might need your help in this 
matter." 
	"How may I help you?" Rick turned back towards his cozy couch and sank 
lazily into it's depths. "I will help all I can."
	"We might be able to lure the killer out."
	Knight beat back the urge to flashback. He didn't wanna relive the first time 
Barbara lured a killer out, that's when he seen her dark side. A side he did not want 
to be on. If it was not for his powers of persuasion, she might be sitting in jail now 
on a murder charge.
	Rick noticed Nick turn green, an unusual color for a vampire, and felt his 
stomach knot up. Hmmm, this was interesting.
	"Indeed?" Rick asked, his gaze going from Nick to Barbara several times.
	"Yes." She sat down opposite him. "If we could some how convince this freak 
that you would like to meet him, that you approve of him.... What does he say in the 
letters? Is he looking for your approval?"
	 "Yes, he does seem to be after some sort of acknowledgment from me." Rick 
said.
	"Like what? What did he say?"
	"Well, he writes things like; `You are the moon in the sky that lights my way 
in the night.'-" 
	"A frustrated poet is he?" Schanke snorted as he too sat down on one of the 
velvet, over-stuffed chairs. He decided to dig out one or two of the letters and get 
this singers reaction to a few choice lines.
	"What else?" Barbara asked.
	"He asks me to bring him to me... To make him a vampire so that he can 
serve me." 
	"So, he does want your approval." She nodded as she faded off into thought.
	"What does he say about the bodies?" Schanke asked. "He must think that 
this will somehow gain him favor. Why? Do you think you send that kind of message 
in your music and films? This vampire character has made people do some pretty 
strange stuff in the past."
	"Good questions." Barbara nodded. She hadn't ever seen any of his movies, 
because they were hard to find on video, however the few music videos she watched 
didn't give her the impression that Rick wanted people to kill for him. "What do 
you think could have gave him this idea?"
	"I do not know." The singer shook his head. "Why do people latch on to 
figures of fantasy?" 
	Barbara dug in her brief case and pulled out close up pictures of the artwork 
found on the corpses. She handed one to Rick. "Look at these. Tell me what you 
think about the black swiggly figure in particular."
	Rick spent a few minuets looking over the photographs and then said. "I 
recognize this."
	"I think that it is a representation of you." Holmes said as he stood up and 
gave the pictures back.
	"Wait a second," he moved across the room to a desk littered with Rick 
memorabilia. "This shape corresponds to a pattern I used for several of my new 
album covers." He dug out a few things and brought them over to the profiler.
	"Has this pattern been released to the public yet?" Barbara got excited for a 
minute thinking that if it hadn't the killer might be working for Rick!
	"Yes, you haven't noticed it around?" He asked handing her the stuff.
	"No." She was slightly embarrassed. "I really hadn't noticed."
	"Well, here are some samples." He pointed at the small poster like object she 
held. "This is my album cover, you'll notice the pattern in the background."
	Barbara turned slightly pink with excitement. `Cool! One more clue!'
	"This pattern is used on all the merchandise so far. It will be used on the 
video cover, when this movie is finally released on video." He thought it best if he 
move away from her and sat down, as he was reminded of his own `wine' bottles at 
the flush of her skin. 
	Rick smiled slightly at Knight, who gave off a distinct warning signal. 
Vampires had certain powers, not only heightened senses like animals, and the 
ability to see in the dark by sensing the infrared heat of bodies and warm objects, 
but also the ability to sense feelings. And Nick wasn't liking what he was sensing 
from the singer. Fortunately Rick wasn't that hungry to challenge the cop, and in 
the 20th century he really didn't need to, his refrigerator was full of human blood all 
neatly packed in wine bottles. {Rick always thought it looked much better than 
those clear plastic `envelopes' from the `Red Cross'.}  	
	After the slight nod of the singer's head and no show of resistance or 
challenge Knight relaxed.
	Barbara noticed this right off. It would have went unnoticed by any other 
human, except those who spent a lot of time with animals and understood their 
silent language. "I don't want to be the star of a soap opera, fellas." She said. "I'm 
too good for that sort of thing. Pick on someone else or you'll be gumming your late 
night snacks." She said quietly.
	Schanke didn't understand what she was talking about, sometimes he felt 
deliberately left out of the conversation like when Nick and Sherlock all of a sudden 
started talking to each other in Spanish so he couldn't understand what was going 
on. He started carrying a pocket dictionary with him so that in case they started off 
on one of their conversations, he could try to decipher what was going on.
	Rick waved his bejeweled hand again in compliance. He didn't want her 
blood that bad to cause a stir.
	"This is terrific!" Barbara smiled getting back to the case. She was too into 
the game to be scared. If Schanke weren't there, though, then she'd be scared. But, 
somehow she knew that Knight would protect Schanke from anything. "You say it's 
been made public already? Before all the killings?"
	"When did the killings start?" The singer asked.
	"About two months ago."
	"Yes, these objects have been out for three."
	"Well, we definitely know a lot more than we did just a few hours ago!" 
Barbara gleamed. "We know who the killer kills for and a lot more about his 
motivation. I would like to view all of your movies. I have to get inside this guys 
head. Do you think you could supply copies of your movies?"
	"It will be my up most pleasure." Rick bowed. 
	Barbara liked it when men showed servant-like behavior towards her. 
"Thank you."
	"You will be my guest at the premiere of my latest film?" He asked.
	"Only if Schanke and Knight are there too." She said. "After all, they are 
part of my team and I need them to know what I know." `Plus I need Donny boy 
there so that Nick and Rick don't go ballistic and have me for a late night snack!'
	"Certainly," he smiled a friendly, unthreatening smile at them all. "I will 
cooperate fully. Where should I send the videos?" he stepped towards the profiler.
	"I'll take care of that." Nick said. "Just send them to the station, and I will 
make sure she gets them." He stepped forward and handed Rick a business card.
	"Of course," he took the card. "I will have my staff put together the 
requested items tonight and send them to your office as soon as is possible." he 
stuffed the card into a holder on his cell phone. "Now, if you will excuse me I have 
other business to attend to."
	Schanke fought for an idea on how to get this guy into an interrogation 
room, he suspected he knew something more than he was telling them. There was 
something strange about that guy. But before he could say anything Rick popped a 
smoke bomb and disappeared.
	"Coooool! Just like in the ninja movies!" Barbara was impressed.
	"He always did have a flair for the dramatic." Nick smiled at her. She could 
be so child-like and funny sometimes. "I suppose that is why he is so good at being a 
performer."
	"Yeah, well what about that performance he just gave us?" Schanke wasn't 
impressed.
	"You suspect him?" Knight asked.
	"I think that it is possible he might know a bit more than he is telling us." He 
nodded. "Come on Nick, just cause he's your friend doesn't mean he couldn't be 
lying to us."
	"How well do you know this guy anyway?" Barbara asked. Just cause he 
made great music didn't mean he was a saint.
	Knight didn't know how to answer her with Schanke around. "Well 
enough." He hoped so anyway. Rick's past isn't exactly G rated. Being a vampire 
and even before that, being who he was before he took the name Rick, didn't make 
it easy to say for sure or not that he wasn't somehow involved.
	"Well, whatever." She shrugged. "I'll know more after I view these movies. 
Come on, lets get outa here."
					*****
	She was sitting up. Posed in a comfortable looking, lazy position just behind 
a large gold frame. It was 10 o'clock when a few passersby stopped to look thinking 
she was some sort of street performer. Then someone started to think about why she 
would be naked in the very cold air of Canadian winter.
	"Eeeeeek!" 
	Minuets later police and a crowd gathered around the scene.
	"Do the best you can, but do it quickly." The Captain walked Nat over to the 
corpse that was being photographed. "I want to get the body and everything out of 
here before the press shows up. We've already got quite a crowd and I do not want 
things to get ugly." Not that the onlookers couldn't be polite and stay out of the 
officers way, but Cohen didn't want to take any chances. People reacted funny 
around dead bodies. `I'm not in the mood for crowd control, and I don't want them 
messing up the scene.' She thought.
	Just then a white news van pulled up and reporters with cameramen jumped 
out.
	"Damn." Cohen ordered two officers to head the reporters off. "Keep this 
scene cleared! Get the handlers in here to search for evidence." Then she turned to 
Nat. "You handle the body, I'll handle the press."
	"I think I got the easier job." She smiled.
	Cohen smiled in return and went off to deal with the gaggle of reporters.
	She  watched Nick's caddy roll to a stop at the curb.
	"Hiya Captain." Schanke said as they met each other part way. "Got here as 
soon as we could."
	Cohen looked at the profiler. "What about you? I thought you didn't want to 
be around corpses?" She didn't need her to cause a scene.
	"I am not here for the body, I want to take pictures of the crowd in case the 
killer is here looking over his work."
	"Yeah, Barbara seems to think that he might be lurking around here 
somewhere." Schanke agreed. Serial killers do like to watch other people looking 
over their work, doesn't matter if it is on TV or in the crowd of onlookers. 
	"Yeah, and Captain, we have some news to report to you later about this 
case." Nick noted.
	"Good news I hope."
	"Something like that, yeah." Nick couldn't help but to find that pouty, stern, 
oriental face appealing. Oriental blood did have a peculiar and pleasing after-taste, 
especially if it is purebred......
	"All right, go for it." Cohen nodded to the profiler. "I want a full report once 
we're back at the station. Schanke, you and me have a date with the press." She 
took hold of his arm. Cohen knew he was good at handling street-wise punks, his 
`tact' might be useful in dealing with any unruly reporters.
	Knight watched his companions walk off in their respective directions and 
then gazed at the facade of the Crater's National Bank building. This was the place 
where Barbara found out what he really was. Man! What a day that was! 
	Him, Schanke, and Barbara had just solved the `Man Eater' case, the first 
case she worked with the department, and he was driving her back to her hotel for 
some well-deserved rest.
	Nick thought he would make it with at least 5 minuets to spare. The reports 
and questioning by internal affairs had gone on for hours and the sun was ready to 
rise.
	It wouldn't have been so bad, but nooooo, some idiot decided to rob his own 
bank before it opened for business. And it would have to happen as Barbara and 
Nick passed by.
********************************Flashback******************************
	Nick spotted a guy in a stocking mask going into Crater's National Bank.
	Barbara saw him too.
	"Shouldn't we do something?" She asked eagerly not wanting the bad guy to 
get away. After chasing down a mad cannibal, it would be a shame if a simple bank 
robber got away!
	"I could call it in....." Nick knew it was late. The sun would be rising soon. He 
had just enough time to get her to her hotel and then zoom across town to his pad.
	"Go on and call for backup." Barbara nodded. "But, let's do something 
about this guy. You're a cop, let's nab him!"
	"I'm a cop, you're not." He reminded. "You stay in the car."
	"Aw, gimmie a break! You think this pea brain in nylons scares me?"
	"It doesn't matter if he scares you or not. He's a criminal, I am a cop."
	"And it's your job to get the bad guys." She nodded. "But, I am a 
psychologist. I could talk this guy out."
	"I don't think your skills would be useful here." He hopped out of the car 
after calling for back up. "Tell the others where I am when they arrive."  He said.
	"Sure thing." She nodded. She hated the idea of waiting outside while 
Knight had all the fun, but she wasn't about to act like some dumb blonde in a 
movie and get herself hurt. She always had hated that type of female.
	A few minuets later the sun started to peek over the tall buildings warming 
up the interior of the car through the windshield.
	"Ah, that feels really good." She smiled.
	Suddenly, she saw `pantyhose-head' running from the building carrying 
some cash bags and a mean looking gun. Where the hell was Knight?
	The thought angered her, then she realized he wasn't the type of guy to goof 
off on his duty. Something must be wrong. What should she do!? It would be at least 
several minuets until the cops arrived, and if Nick was hurt he needed help now.
	She watched the criminal look around himself with jerky motions. What was 
he up to? Then he started running towards the car!
	"Oh, no you don't you freak!" She swore and pulled out her gun from it's 
ankle holster. He was far enough away for her to have time to take some action. 
Barbara leaped out of the car and pointed her gun at him. "Freeze asshole!! Or I'll 
ventilate your hose!"
	The man seemed startled for a second then he lifted up his gun. 
	Barbara smiled. This was what she'd hoped for, it would simplify everything. 
He would get shot, possibly die, and she would be in the clear because he was 
making threatening gestures. Soon as she took care of this dirt bag she could find 
out what was wrong with Knight. `Good-bye asshole.' She thought as she shot 
several times in his direction. As the man went down, a car -the getaway car, 
squealed around the corner just as sirens wailed off in the distance.
	The driver got out, started for the dead man and the loot, but upon hearing 
the sirens getting closer decided to leave it. There would be more heists. He jumped 
in the car as Barbara ran for cover behind a large dumpster in case there was more 
shooting. But, there was none. She watched the car squeal away as fast as it could 
go.
	Feeling it safe she ran for the bank keeping an eye on the dead guy lest he 
might not be dead. `To hell with him' she thought. He was a criminal and criminals 
do not deserve compassion, so she did not even stop to check if he was hurt, or dead, 
or what. The cop was more important. Cops are more important than criminals.
	"Nick!" She called out as she ran into the building, her sneakers making a 
squeaking noise on the hard floor. 
	The bright morning sun streamed through the tall windows and glinted off of 
the brass railings. A thick haze hung in the air and a strong, odd odor made her 
pinch her nose. "Man! Smells like someone was burning socks in here!" She took a 
few more steps into the room, waving at the fog. "Yo, Nick! Where are you man? 
Are you hurt?" Noticing she still had her gun in her hand she put it in her overcoat 
pocket after putting the safety on. There shouldn't be any danger in the building 
now, there was only one criminal that went in and only one came out. So that means 
only Nick should be in the building...... Then, why was she suddenly apprehensive? 
Something wasn't right.  Just until she found Nick and got the other officers in here 
she'd keep her hand on her gun. 
	"Ni-"
	"I'm all right." He answered, when he could get around the pain. At least he 
stopped smoking. Now he cowered in a long shadow in a corner of the room, it 
would be gone soon and the sun would take its place. Damn the sun! And damn his 
weakness. If he could stand the sun life wouldn't be so bad.
	"What the hell are you doing over there!?" She Shielded her eyes with her 
hand. "Are you hurt?" She walked over.
	"I'm all right." He said. Man, what a mess!! His burns wouldn't heal by the 
time she got over to him and this would demand an explanation. Worse yet, how 
could he explain to all the officers who were arriving, he could hear the cars and 
smell the fumes of their exhaust, that he would combust if touched by the sun?! He 
was weakened by the fact that he hadn't fed all evening since his shift started, and 
now he was weakened even more by the sun. 
	He'd tried to catch the criminal, he tried to withstand the pain of the sun's 
rays to do the right thing, now look at him! How would he get home? How could he 
hide in this large building until nighttime? He shook his head and sighed feeling a 
bit hopeless. Perhaps Lacroix and Janette were right, he should give up this farce 
and accept what he was; a vampire, a killer. Knight heaved a heavy sigh.
	"Then what's the matter?" She asked standing half in half out of the sun in 
front of him. Why was he hiding his face behind the collar of his coat?
	"I, um....." What to do?!
	"You um what?" She reached out and grabbed his arm. The fabric of his 
coat felt really hot, almost too hot to touch. "Come on with me, you gotta vouch for 
me. I just shot that guy in the mask and I think he might be dead."
	"No!" He jerked his arm back with such force that it nearly knocked the girl 
off her feet.
	"What the hell?!" It was then she knew Nick Knight was different from most 
people. She'd felt strong people before. Been tossed around a few times by her 
brother in karate practice, but this was definitely not normal.
	`Great!' Thought Knight. She knows something. Well, looks like..."I have 
something to tell you."
	"Sounds ominous." She couldn't quite keep the fear out of her voice. Her 
heart started to thud and the old `fight or flight' thing kicked in. Barbara's grip on 
her pistol tightened. She kinda felt silly, after all what should she be scared of? He 
was a policeman, a nice guy. But, she knew to listen to her instincts. They always 
knew what was what.
	"I need to get out of the sun." He started to explain in a halting voice. How 
could he say it? It was always difficult telling mortals.
	"Whaddaya mean you gotta get out of the sun? Your in a shadow. Come on 
Knight what's wrong. Are you sure your not hurt? Did that guy hit you somewhere 
where the sun don't shine and your embarrassed to tell a girl?" She couldn't help 
but to laugh at the thought.
	"No, I'm not hurt." He said. "Watch." He held out his hand in the sun and 
after smoking for a few seconds, poof! It ignited and burned with a tall orange 
flame.
	Barbara shrieked. What in the world?! Was this some sort of trick? What 
was going on?
	"Get the extinguisher!" Knight yelped. Damn that hurt! He tried to put out 
the flame with his coat but his coat caught on fire! 
	It took another yell from Nick to get her snapped into action. She got the 
nearby extinguisher from the wall by the elevator.
	A loud `Bwaff!' noise preceded the cool, soothing, foamy stuff that put out 
his coat and hand. Ahhhh, better! His hand should heal before morning.
	"Nice pyrotechnics." She scowled and dropped the extinguisher. "You wanna 
explain what the hell is going on here?" She put her hand back in her pocket where 
her gun was.
	"I'm a vampire." He said simply. How else was he to say it? There was really 
no other way but to be blunt.
	Barbara's brows squinched together. "A vampire?" Was this guy mad?
	"Vampires do not exist." She said. "I don't know if this is some sort of joke 
or what, but you better hope that if it is homey out there was wearing a vest cause I 
just plugged him good." She pointed towards the door.
	The other officers had arrived and he could hear them coming towards the 
building. Damn! "Come on!" He grabbed her arm and rushed to the elevator. 
Suddenly he started smoking all over. Billows of it rolled out from under his coat.
	"Shit!" Barbara was starting to believe, though she couldn't fully. There had 
to be some scientific explanation for all of this!
	Nick punched the buttons but it seemed like it was taking forever for the 
elevator to open. More smoke rolled and Knight clenched his teeth. Thankfully, his 
black coat protected his skin from igniting as his bare hand had done, but, even that 
would not help if he had to stay in that spot much more than a minute!
	Finally the doors opened and they tumbled inside. Nick huddled in a corner 
until the doors were fully shut. The only light inside was artificial and not harmful.
	"Do you believe me now?" He looked at her and his eyes were gold. His face 
was red and smoke still rose from under his collar.
	She nearly freaked! "What-" Then something in her head said `Contact 
lenses.' "They are just contact lenses, you put them in there when you were huddled 
over in the corner." She said stubbornly and a little less afraid.
	"Contact lenses?" He was taken back, this girl was really a skeptic! "They 
are not contacts. Look, they will fade away." and they did.
	That only scared her for a second. "No, wait a minuet!" she wagged a finger 
at him. "Those could be some sort of fancy smansy contacts where they change in 
the light or dark like some sunglasses do."
	Knight shook his head. What would it take?! He floated up to the ceiling and 
down again. "There, what do you say to that?"
	That was a good one, what could've caused that? Shrugging Barbara went 
over to the wall and started to examine it for some sort of flying rig like they use in 
the movies. Then she had Nick take off his coat so she could look for smoking 
squibs. Not finding any made her even more confused. "Vampires don't exist." she 
said shaking her head. There had to be some other explanation!
	"Look, it really doesn't matter to me if you believe me or not. But, I do need 
to get out of this building and I can't let the others out there know I am a vampire. 
Will you help me or not?"
	"Do I have a choice?" She asked. "If you are a vampire and I blow your 
cover, you could easily take revenge and I'd be lunch. A prospect I am not too 
pleased with." Her nose twitched.
	"Any ideas?"
	"Well....." She thought for a few minuets pacing up and down the small space 
inside the elevator. "There are several obvious problems."
	"Yeah, tell me about it." Nick nodded and looked around himself.
	"One: You can't go out anywhere near sunlight because if the cops seen you 
your secret would be out. Two: You did `catch' this criminal and therefore cannot 
just pretend you weren't here."
	"Yes, I've thought over all that the whole time I was hidden in the shadow 
out there."
	"Give me a minuet to come up with something!" Barbara scowled. "It isn't 
my fault your a vampire... You could play dead and they'd take you out in a body 
bag. You'd be protected from the sun and you could easily come to life again in the 
morgue. I mean, happens all the time." She shrugged. 
	Nick didn't like that idea. Body bags smelled funny.
	Suddenly the elevator stopped with a small screech on the top floor.
	"Hey!" Barbara smiled. "That's it! If you've got lots of strength you can 
climb up on top of the elevator and fix it so that we get stuck in it and they have to 
rescue you. If you fix it right, it could take hours!"
	Then she rethought that idea. "Wait a second, let me off first. I don't wanna 
be stuck here all day. Especially with no vampire. I don't donate, and I got things to 
do." she moved towards the doors and as they opened a bright light filled the small 
area.
	Knight hissed and threw himself against the wall. "Close the doors!"
	Barbara did so quickly and stood amazed watching more smoke rise from the 
form huddled in the corner.
	Now she was starting to believe. There were no smoke squibs under his 
jacket! She had checked! Yet he was smoking! 
	"So, you believe me now." He asked.
	"Yeah, I-I guess so." Barbara said. "But I still need to be let out. I got things 
I have to do."  She coughed. The smoke lingered in the air and made it tough to 
breathe.
	 Nick stood up and assessed the damage, finding only minor wounds he then 
decided to float up and find out what he could do about the elevator.
	Barbara noticed a sign on the wall that made her giggle.
	"What's so funny?" He asked not finding the situation at all humorous.
	"Look." She coughed and pointed to the sign.
	It read `No Smoking in the elevator, please. Thank you!'.

*****************************End flash.*********************************

	Barbara tried to be inconspicuous as she snapped photographs of the 
`audience'.  A few people turned to leave, these she snapped extra pictures of. 
`Hopefully they will think I am some dippy newspaper reporter and the killer, if he's 
here, won't get suspicious and leave Canada.' She thought. `This was his third 
killing.' It worried her that he might leave again. `If we could get Rick to prolong 
his stay in Canada, we might get the killer to stay too.' Not good news for the 
hookers, that is for sure! But, it might give them the chance to catch him.
	The profiler took up position by the reporter van and studied the crowd. 
Nothing really unusual there. After a while she retired to the warmth of Nick's car. 
Once inside she started the engine and turned on the heater. `Freakin' cold! Brrrr, 
how can people stand it?'
	She sat there for several minutes thinking over the case and formulating 
theories, writing down questions she wanted to ask different officers about the 
earlier crime scenes.... A tapping on the window made her jump, Holmes hadn't 
noticed that she'd dozed off. `It's been a long day.' 
	"What's up, Nicky?" She rolled down the window. 
	"Let me in. It's starting to snow." He said shooing her over to the passenger 
side as he opened the door and got in.
	"Vampires don't like snow?" She smiled and scooted.
	"Sorry if I spooked you."
	"It's all right. Did you find anything?" She asked knowing that like all the 
other cases beforehand there would be very little if nothing to find.
	"Nope. The scene handlers found some cigarette stubs, dirt, dead leaves, an 
old Styrofoam cup." He shrugged. "Nothing that looks like it is connected to the 
case."
	"Yeah." She nodded. Didn't sound too good. "Well, I think that the best way 
to go would be to organize something with Rick. I do not know what yet, let me 
think on that a while. But, if we are ever going to get this guy it might do us some 
good to get a meeting set up between the two."
	"You think he'll go for it?" Knight wasn't so sure.
	"He might. This latest victim tells me that he is getting edgy. It was only 
yesterday that one hooker was found, now tonight he kills again. Why? He's 
nervous. He's loosing his cool. He wants Rick's attention, and he wants it bad. 
Getting Rick to cooperate might be the only thing that will get the killer captured."
	Knight wasn't so sure her plan would work.
	"How well do you know this Rick guy?" She asked. "Is there a chance he 
might be the killer?"
	"Why would he kill like this?" Knight asked. "Vampires do not get caught, 
nor are they so conspicuous."
	"Could be he is doing this for publicity. Setting things up so that at the right 
time he can release the story to the press and if the killer gets caught with his help, 
he'll be a hero. It sure would attract a lot of attention to his movie and tour. Might 
even win him some new fans."
	What Barbara said made sense. Nick once killed for money, even though his 
kind could get whatever they wanted with out it. What would be so different about 
Rick killing to promote his movie?
	"I'd like you to get a sample of his hand writing." Barbara said in her no 
nonsense business tone. "Get me his autograph or something I can have compared." 
It was a good thing that the killer wrote to Rick in his own handwriting, it would be 
one more way to convict.
	"I'll visit him later tonight." Knight nodded reluctantly. "I don't think he is 
the killer though. He has the community to worry about."
	"The community?" Barbara didn't understand. She wasn't sure she wanted 
to understand.
	"Other vampires." Nick said. "We, they, don't approve of Rick's limelight. 
He is too well known, too visible to the mortal world. If he isn't careful he will be 
forced to disappear."
	"What do they think of you?" She asked. "You're around mortals everyday, 
or rather every night."
	"They have learned to tolerate me." He smiled slightly. "I suppose they think 
in a few years I will grow tired of the mortal world and go into a lifestyle that 
requires less mortal contact."
	Just then Schanke appeared and Barbara had to get out to let the detective 
into the back seat.
	"Nat says the body is clean." He reported. "She'll know more once she gets to 
the morgue, but it looks like the killer didn't leave any traces we can find."
	"He's just trying to show Rick he's clever." Barbara commented. "Schanke, 
have these developed pronto. I want to show them to Mr. Field and find out if he 
recognizes anybody."
	"You think he might know the killer?" Knight asked.
	"I think it is highly possible. It definitely would explain how he can get these 
messages to Field. I want to check out the whereabouts of this guy relative to the last 
murders." 
	"Yeah, well, let's get back to the station." Schanke slapped the seat in front 
of him. "The Captain is on her way and she wants to meet with us."
	Back at the base:
	After telling their Captain about the meeting with Rick and wanting to show 
him the pictures Barbara took at the crime scene, they settled down for a cup of 
coffee and a few minutes of peace.
	The trio talked about old times and took the time to catch up on what they'd 
been up to since the last case they worked on almost a year ago.
	Finally the conversation got around to the current case again and Barbara 
said.
	"I still think our best bet is to get Rick to help us lure the guy out."
	"I don't know if he'd go for it. You, yourself, said that he doesn't want to get 
caught. He certainly is careful not to leave clues. I think he might consider this a 
setup." Knight said.
	"He might. But, I think he is getting jittery. He wants to get to Rick bad. If 
we are careful in the setup, he might not detect us. He might not even care."
	"Not care?"
	"Yeah, he believes that Rick is a vampire, therefore why should he care if it is 
a set up. Vampires are above mortals and have all these powers. He thinks that it 
doesn't matter if you are there or not because you are insignificant. You can't hurt 
him or his master."
	"I say we go for it." Schanke said. "I, for one, am tired of this case and am 
ready to bag this creep."
	"I'll call and set up a meeting with him." Knight nodded. Might as well give 
it a try.
	The following evening the trio found themselves in a plush living room of a 
suite on top of the somewhat tall, expensive hotel.
	Suddenly, Rick appeared from somewhere to the right of the group. "Good 
evening," he said.
	Don jumped slightly. `Oh, real cute. More theatrics,' he thought. The 
vampire singer didn't impress him.
	"We're here on time," Barbara said wondering why he was in such a groggy 
state. The singer still wore his regular street clothes, but looked as if he'd slept in 
them and had just gotten up. "Has the killer contacted you about this latest 
hooker?" 
	"He's killed again?" there was something odd about him. He seemed dazed; 
could vampires do drugs and get a buzz?
	"Yes, just last night," she nodded. 
	"You have to excuse me," he said. "I've just gotten up from a nap. Rather 
busy day."
	She didn't know if that were true or not, but, it wasn't important. 
	Nick smelled blood. Fresh blood. That's why Rick seemed dazed, he had just 
fed and was coming down off his high. It stirred a deep feeling in Nick. He beat it 
back down, `I'll drink from my refrigerator stores when I get home,' he thought. 
	"Whatever." She waved a hand wanting to get back to the case. "He should 
have contacted you by now." What was wrong with the killer? Did he decide to kill 
for himself now? If that were the case then they would have to wait many more 
killings down the road until he made a mistake and they caught him.
	"We got these pictures for you to look at Mr. Field, if you don't mind."
Schanke pulled an envelope out of his pocket and took out some of the pictures the 
profiler had taken last evening.
	"More pictures of dead girls?" The singer didn't want to look.
	"No, sir, these are pictures of the crowd at the scene last night. We want to 
know if you recognize any one of these people," he answered.
	"Hand them here then." He reached out.
	Rick flipped through the pictures, carefully examining each.
	"This guy here seems familiar." He pointed to the figure causing everyone to 
close in around him and peer excitedly at the picture.
	"Who is he?" Nick asked.
	"I think he might be one of my equipment handlers. If so he would work 
during the day mostly, because he would be part of the crew who sets up the stage, 
speakers, lights, and all the other fancy equipment we use in a show like this. I 
wouldn't know him personally, because of course you know I work at night." He 
smiled down on the profiler who responded by flushing pink with embarrassment. 
	"Yeah, well Mr. Field you think you could find out if he does work for you? 
Do you have a manager for these setup people?" Schanke didn't think he should 
look that way at a professional lady. She wasn't a common roadie or drugged out 
kid who lived only for rock concerts.
	"Ask my manager, his name is Bart Kepple." Rick went over to a bunch of 
black gig bags and other musical equipment, dug around a bit and came up with a 
white business card. "Here is his card, you might ask the desk about him because I 
think he might be staying in this hotel with the rest of us." He gave the card to 
Schanke.
	"Yeah, we'll do that." 
	
	With their hopes for the successful conclusion to the case renewed, the trio 
went down to the front desk and inquired about the setup crew manager Bart 
Kepple. They also displayed the picture of the now suspect crew member.
	"Have you seen this man before? Is he here in this hotel with the rest of Mr. 
Field's crew?" Schanke asked as he leaned on the highly polished marble of the 
hotel lobby's reception desk.
	"I have not ever seen him before." The thinly mustached man in a black tux 
said as he peered over his nose at the picture.
	"Well, could you at least call Mr. Kepple and tell him we would like to talk 
with him, please?" Schanke asked with a bit of irritation in his voice. 
	
	"Yeah, that's Dan Gookin." Kepple nodded as he looked at the picture. 
"Real weird freak," he commented, returning the picture to Schanke then walking 
to his small bar and getting himself a soda. "Claims to be allergic to the sun and 
only works at night. Good with the sound equipment though, so I keep him on." 
	"Is he staying here in the hotel?" Knight asked, ignoring a smile directed at 
him from Schanke.
	"No, most of the crew stay at `less refined' hotels. Rick is kind to his crew, 
including the hired help that works under his managers, but he does have to be 
careful about expenses." 
	"Do you know where we could find him? You must have a number or 
something, you have to be able to contact him somehow." Schanke was ready with 
his pen to write down the number.
	Kepple flipped through some pages in his thick appointment book. His finger 
stopped at one point on the page. "Doesn't give a number, just an address." 
	"And that is?" Schanke asked.

	The address turned out to be an unused warehouse that was once used to 
manufacture store mannequins. 
	"Oh, great." Schanke shook his head as he looked around at the large, dark 
area of unused, boarded up warehouses . "This is a joke right?"
	Barbara had gone off to check out some figures in the large unglazed 
window. "No, Schanke... it's not." She pointed to the display.
	Knight and his partner joined her at the window and peered in. What they 
saw made a shiver creep up the backs of their necks. Even Nick was aware of the 
sensation. It was odd, but he rarely felt fear on duty. He had been feeling something 
close to it on some occasions recently though. `Could be that Nat's healthy protein 
drinks are working. Ugh, don't tell her that or I'll not ever get her to stop pouring 
them into me! She might even set up an intervenous drip!' he smiled to himself. The 
smile quickly disappeared though when he seen the looks on his friends' faces. Nick 
felt their fear and apprehension, and it was not pleasant. He realized he had a lot to 
re-learn about fear. `Please do not ever let me feel the same terror that I have caused 
in my victims!' he said quietly to whatever was out there to listen. `That would be 
worse than death!' It was his worst fear, he felt the terror in his victims at the time 
he took their lives, but it had always been as the hunter, an immortal hunter with no 
need to fear the grave. But, if he became human again... could he really face...  
	"Call for backup, Skank." Knight shook off the thought and felt under his 
coat for his weapon. `I just won't think about it.'
	"Right, Nick." Schanke went for the radio in the car, his shoes making a 
clack, clack noise on the pavement.
	The figures in the window were painted with the same artwork as the bodies 
of the prostitutes!
	"You stay here." Knight pointed a finger at the profiler.
	She wasn't going to argue this time. "You got it!"
	Schanke returned to the huddle, "Looks like Dan Gookin is our boy after 
all."
	"It is a distinct possibility," she nodded. "He's either the killer, or some 
pervert who wanted to paint up a sex pad in a real creepy style and chose to emulate 
the killer."
	"You think this guy isn't the killer?" Schanke wondered what more proof 
did she need.
	"I'm just saying anyone can paint these figures, I think he is our man, but 
you'll need more than that to convict him in a courtroom."
	Knight couldn't argue, they needed more than just this circumstantial 
evidence, and he felt that they just might get it, for he could smell old blood and 
heard a man's breathing somewhere inside the building. The smell of blood was too 
faint for a mortal to notice as it wafted out from the glassless window, but mortals 
had fantastic intuition and the smell of blood was setting his two companions on 
edge.
	"Do we wait for the others, or start the party without them?" Schanke pulled 
out his weapon.
	"I'd say we start the party without them." He smiled. "You, in the car," he 
commanded the profiler, "and lock the doors."
	"Yes, sir." She hurried over to the Caddy and locked herself in.
	"You ready?" Knight asked his partner.
	"As ready as I'll ever be."
	"Let's go."
	The inside of the building was dark and cold. It smelled of damp, rotting 
wood. Everywhere the two partners looked there were mannequins. Some were 
posed in seductive positions, some were painted with the same art that had been 
done on the corpses, others were dressed in old `odds and ends' clothing.
	`Weird,' Schanke thought to himself as he walked past a shelf full of hands. 
He noted that they were posed as if they were reaching out, just like the hands of 
Rick's fans that night at the press conference.
	A rickety looking metal staircase strung with small clear lights led up to the 
second level of the building where light shone from a slightly open door.
	As the two moved closer they could hear music playing, Rick's music. 
	`Darkness comes and I follow,
	knowing that there is no tomorrow,
	for a man like me.....
	Oh, oooooo, for a man like me...'
	Knight waved Schanke over to a dark corner where they could talk.
	"So, what do you think? Is there a way for him to get out of that room up 
there other than that door?"
	"Could be." Schanke nodded. "There must be a window..."
	Nick was formulating a plan on how to best cover the situation when he 
noticed the faint odor of perfume. Once that got his attention, he used his vampire 
enhanced senses to detect a female in the same vicinity as the male... What was that 
other smell? ...Blood, and this time it was fresh! There could be no time to plan now! 
He had a victim!
	"Let's get this over with," Nick whispered urgently and the two made their 
way up the stairs.
	His partner was going to ask, `What about the plan?', but knew better. 
`Knight must've had one of his insights.' Schanke shook his head, hoping that it 
didn't get him killed.
	As Knight climbed, he tried to gain more information about what was going 
on in the room above by using his vampire powers... `Would I ever be able to live 
without my powers? I use them on every case. For a while there I used them even on 
the easy ones... Well, if I didn't a lot of criminals would have gotten away and 
Schanke and I would be dead by now... I'll think about it later!' 
	Nick continued to monitor the situation. It seemed odd to him that the man's 
heartbeat was regular as if he were sleeping, not excited as it should be if he were 
draining a person's blood! And the woman too seemed restful. But, there was fresh 
blood in that room... a lot of it! He involuntarily licked his lips. 
	Finally, they were at the door. The adrenaline rush kicked in on both the 
cops as they made their hand signals formulating the game play. Knight would go in 
first after Schanke pushed open the door and got the attention of the killer. 
	`Man, gotta cut down on those souvalki for breakfast!' Schanke thought as 
he kicked at the door and then made for a kneeling position just on the threshold. 
"Freeze! Police! Metro Homicide!" he barked.
	As Knight leapt into the room both officers were met with a very strange 
scene! Anti-climax gave way quickly to horror. 
	"Oh, no." Schanke's said in a small voice.
	The body of another hooker hung upside down from the rafters over a round 
metal tub containing her blood! The last of it dripped from a large gash in her 
throat.
	Knight turned away, sickened by the smell and his bloodlust. `How can I 
even be the slightest turned on by this!!?' he raged as his eyes turned gold and his 
fangs ached to be released.
	"Wait out in the hall, Nick." Schanke grabbed Nick's shoulder in 
understanding. He had often made fun of Nick's inability to `stomach' gorey scenes, 
but he felt the same way and wanted nothing more than to get the heck outta that 
room. `But, I can't,' he thought, `I'm a cop and there are two other people in the 
room that might be alive and I have to check their condition and secure the scene.' 
Schanke pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose to hold off 
some of the stench. Keeping his eyes on the two fully clothed bodies, he went over to 
check their pulse. A male and a female. They were out cold, but otherwise 
unharmed. `Oh, man!' Schanke was thankful, he smiled beneath the handkerchief.
	Nick left the room in a rush trying to force the smell of all that blood out of 
his mind. All the women he had killed flashed before him in a dizzying array of 
smell, sound, and colors. "Nicola! Oh, Nicola!" Janette's passionate voice echoed in 
his mind. She would definitely find his mood appealing. "You are what you are!" 
	"Kill her, Nicholas! Feast on her warmmmm bloooood," Lacroix exclaimed in 
that annoying, soft voice of his. It seemed to echo over and over as each woman 
appeared  and disappeared.
	A beautiful blonde dairy farmer's daughter, as soft and round in all the right 
places as the hills of her land... Where was that? He couldn't remember just then. 
But he remembered her... her laughter... the haystack... the blood... 
	...Georgie Godolfin, a newspaper reporter, met her `end' under the bleachers 
at Wrigley Field. She was as lovely and rough as one of Betty Davis' characters. He 
was `bat boy' for the night games. Hey, it was a fun hobby, and it kept him out of 
trouble... Where was Georgie girl now? He hadn't talked with her in years...
	...Betty was her name, `Betty Bee Bop' they called her because she loved to 
dance to big band music. He could now smell the oil and grease of the airplane 
hangar where they met after the dance. Heard the music playing in his head over 
and over, louder and louder... He couldn't stop himself, he had to do it!... She died 
in his arms in the office of the hangar manager. And as her memories mingled with 
his, he felt a deep pain. A pain that had plagued him before and since. She was no 
more. Her hopes for a better future were no more. 
	How did Lacroix and Janette cope with this?! How could anyone cope with 
this? Becoming one with someone you have just killed. Knowing their hopes, 
feelings, and desires and knowing that they will not ever be because of you?!
	`Make it stop! Make it stop!' Nick cried out. All these images, some lasting 
for complete recounts, others lasting only seconds, all biting deep into his soul. 
`Soul?' He asked himself. `If I had a soul would I be able to continue to do this?!' 
Well, he had stopped hadn't he? For 100 and some years he had not killed a human 
for blood. Now his appetite was quenched by a supply of blood from the 
slaughterhouse.
	It was funny, but cow's blood left him feeling peaceful and contented. It was 
not full of any definite memories, except for the strong emotion of pain and fear at 
the time of slaughter. That memory was strong, and couldn't be lessened by time in 
a refrigerator. Human blood too had `limited bang', as in there were only faint 
traces of memory, after storage. Probably because the blood was cold and had been 
stored for some time.
	A familiar metallic taste in his mouth made him snap to reality with the fear 
that he had bitten someone or had returned to that horrible room! What relief to 
know that he had not!! Rubbing a trembling hand across his lower lip he did find 
blood, but it was his own. He had bit his lip during his bout with the past.
	After making sure the two other people were indeed all right Schanke went 
out to check on his partner. He found him crouched down in the darkest corner on 
the landing of the staircase. "You all right, Nick?"
	"Yeah, Skank I'm fine." Nick forced his vampire looks to fade away. The 
guilt was over and he felt in control again, but very tired.
	They both looked up as they heard sirens approaching. The back-up units 
had arrived.
	"Those idiots!" Schanke sighed. "Now they've told everyone for miles we're 
here!"
	"We've got to get more uniforms out here, Skank." Nick pushed himself up 
off the floor. "If he's not in here it's likely that he will go into hiding somewhere else 
in the city." Nick sighed and returned his gun to its holster. "We'll have to canvas 
the area and try to catch him before he gets into the city. So much for Barbara's 
`Let's lure him out plan'."
	"Take a minute to pull yourself together, partner. You look a bit green 
around the gills." Schanke slapped his friend heartily on the shoulder. "This is a 
great day Nicky-boy, our killer didn't get but one of his victims in there! The other 
two are alive. I've gotta go get some help for them." Schanke went off to organize 
the rest of the officers.
	"Alive?" Nick knew there was someone in the room, but this was unexpected 
good news! He caught up to his partner and they quickly made a dash down the 
stairs and out the door.
	"Yeah, they are sleeping like the dead, but are as pink and healthy as you 
could want." Schanke smiled as if he were their father and they were two children 
asleep in a crib. He was definitely happy.
	Knight smiled. It was a thing to be grateful for, indeed. `How precious life is 
to mortals,' he thought, `that they can feel so much joy and sorrow for those they do 
not know, and how empty are we vampires for not feeling anything for life other 
than it is a playground for us, and mortals, are our playthings.' 
	As more police arrived, and Nat and her team arrived, things got noisy and 
busy. After a while there was nothing for the trio to do until the reports started 
coming in, so they drove in Knight's car to the station to wait it out.
	"I still think my plan is the only way to get him," Barbara said, digging in 
her bag of cookies. She had a weakness for chocolate. "He's getting even more 
violent, and you can't expect to catch him without using some lethal force."
	"All that sugar isn't good for you," Nick commented, not wanting to admit 
she was right.
	"C'mon, Nick," Schanke leaned on his desk towards his partner. "You know 
she's right, that guy could cost the lives of several on this department. Do you want 
the assignment of telling their families? Come on, why should this guy get special 
treatment? We got a plan, I say let's use it." 
	"I dunno, I just think there is a better way, that's all." No, actually there 
wasn't a better way, but he didn't want the killer to get in the way of Barbara. She 
had a lethal hatred for criminals. Actually, it was a hatred of the human race that 
she took out on criminals. Barbara believed that all humans should die or get off her 
planet and go to Mars, she loved the rest of the life on Earth with a great passion, 
and with equal zest she dispised humans. "They are evil, self-centered, destroyers of 
life and they will be the end of everything on this beautiful world!" she yelled at him 
once in an argument, "70 species of plants and animals become extinct every single 
day because of you humans! Just wait until the year 2,005 when the world's 
population doubles! More land will be destroyed to build homes and entertainment 
facilities for you freaks! You are like maggots on a corpse, overpopulating, and 
destroying everything until there is nothing left!"
	He understood her anger in a way. He didn't want to be a vampire because 
he didn't want to destroy life, and she didn't like seeing life destroyed either. To her 
nature couldn't fight back. It wasn't a living entity, Barbara had no religion, and 
the whole of nature was under attack and defenseless against the human onslaught.  
Much like his victims had no protection from him. 
	Balancing this hatred with her deep desire for honor and decency, she 
decided to focus on taking down the worst of humanity, criminals. "After all," she 
said once in a quieter mood. "I can't be the only one left who cares," though in her 
voice he detected the firm belief that she was.  `Just like I seem to be the only one 
who cares about mortals in the vampire community.' Vampires were the evil of 
humanity personified, he felt. They didn't care about any one or any thing but their 
own perverse pleasures, that horrifyingly enough seemed to get more perverse as the 
centuries passed and the vampire became bored. Living forever wasn't easy, how 
can you live for an eternity and not get bored! `How can I redeem myself if I am still 
a vampire like them?'  The thought agonized him.  
	"C'mon, Nick, let's set things up. If it will make you feel better I will stay out 
of the way." Suddenly, inspiration seized her. "Get some cops over to Rick's 
apartment right away!" She nearly dropped her bag of cookies as she pointed 
excitedly to the phone. "The killer might go directly to him and demand that Rick 
make him a vampire!"
	"What?" Nick and Schanke asked, not catching her train of thought.
	"This Dan Gookin guy, if it is him, is so into his need to be made a vampire 
like Rick, right? His pattern of behavior shows that he is becoming more violent and 
agitated, right? What's to say he's gonna sit down quietly and wait somewhere until 
the heat goes away, he believes Rick is a vampire so to him it doesn't matter if you 
are looking for him or not, he and his master are above the law!"
	Just as Knight reached for it, the phone rang. "Detective Knight," he said.
	Everyone was startled to hear the next word out of his mouth. "Rick?" 
Knight looked at Barbara and then Schanke with wide eyes. "What?... When? ... 
Where?"
	"What was that all about?" Barbara asked when he was finished talking.
	"That was Rick. Dan Gookin has contacted him and set up a meeting for 
tonight after the concert."
	"Ha! Right again! Get this girl some chocolate!" Barbara smiled and giggled 
with pleasure as she dug into her cookie bag for more treats. "Ah, it is such a pain to 
be right all the time!" She grinned at the two officers.
	"Or should that be you are a pain because you're right all the time?" 
Schanke said jokingly.
	She shrugged, "If that is what you think, you entitled to your opinion. Just so 
it doesn't cause me to come to harm, I don't care what you think." and she didn't.

Later at the concert:
	Though Nick didn't want her to go with them, the Captain couldn't find any 
reason why she shouldn't. In fact, Cohen insisted that Barbara attend the concert in 
case she could be of some assistance in getting the killer to confess. 
	The profiler stood riveted to the spot where a strange looking stagehand said 
she could stand, watching Rick entrance his audience with his electrifying voice. 
Lights spun, streamed, and changed colors as thundering drums and guitars made 
her a bit hot under the collar. She always did have a thing for a squealing guitar. 
	Nick and Schanke prowled around, careful not to disturb equipment.
	Rick's intermission was coming up soon and the officers were getting tense.
	Intermission:
	Rick smiled as he approached the profiler. "What did you think?"
	"Quite amazing. How can you stand all that jumping, singing, and all those 
hot lights? I could feel the thick air coming off the stage from here." She was 
impressed.
	"Endurance," he said with a smile that would melt an iceberg.
	"When is your appointment with Gookin?" she asked, trying not to be 
influenced.
	"Now, I suppose, let me go and change into something more dark and 
sinister," and the singer left for his dressing room.
	"Don't you think he's a bit too old for you, Sherlock?" Schanke teased as he 
came up to her.
	"Oh, Donny boy. You'll always be my beau." Barbara yanked on his tie real 
hard.
	"Thanks, I was worried for a bit there," he said with some amusement as he 
fixed his tie.
	"So, you've found a new friend, huh? We're not good enough for you any 
more?" Nick teased, enjoying how she turned a bright red.
	"You're just jealous." She was getting uncomfortable with all the ribbing. 
There was only so much she could take. "Besides, we could always make it a 
threesome." 
	"Three-hee-hee, and that's a magic number," Schanke sang.
	"Ooo, get this guy into a costume and put him on stage!" Barbara joked.
	"Better not," Knight said. "We don't want to upstage Rick."
	"Did someone mention my name?" Rick said as he reappeared. 
	Barbara's jaw nearly dropped. He was dressed as he was when she was at his 
hotel, but now he wore a black, flowing cloak. There was also a tangible aura of 
power emanating from him.
	Nick stepped forward, "Let's get to your meeting, Rick," he didn't like the 
way Rick was looking at Barbara, as if she were lunch or something.
	"Let's not get upset, Nicholas," the singer said after leaving the others. "I 
wouldn't kill her. But, since she knows both you and I are vampires, I would ask her 
to donate a glass or two of blood," Rick held up a hand. "Not like that. Like when 
mortals give at those `donation stations'. I have my own equipment."
	Nick suddenly wondered if some of that equipment might not have been 
obtained by the killer for use with his victims. What better way to become like your 
master than to use his tools?
	"Has any of this `equipment' been `misplaced' of late?" he asked.
	"Now that you mention it, yes," Rick nodded. "I thought at first it was just 
the usual problem of travel. Was simular equipment used on the victims?"
	"Yes, it was." All this talk about blood, plus the effect of the crime scene 
earlier that night, made him hungry.
	 They took a few steps in silence then Rick stopped and turned to face 
Knight, with a serious look on his face. "You know she is a vegetarian."
	"Yes," Knight wondered why this sudden turn in the conversation.
	"You do know what that means. Some vampires covet vegetarian blood so 
highly that they would kill for it, even kill you."
	Knight nodded slowly, he knew. He once had a vegetarian friend in the 
1960's. Ah, flower children! "How did you know?"
	"I can smell it. Carnivores have a distinct scent that all animals can smell, 
comes from some hormone or enzyme or other, can't recall the name just now. But, 
once you have been a vegetarian for several years the scent goes away. She smells 
very clean, like rain in the countryside. Your partner, however, smells like chicken 
McNuggets or some equally greasy food. You should warn him about that, eating 
that way isn't good for a mortal's health."
	Nick laughed, come to think of it he did smell funny! 
	"Seriously, Nicholas. Some vampires dispise vegetarian blood, just as some 
mortals despise health food. But you know some of us find it worth killing for, the 
taste is so pure it is like your first kill and all your best thrills all rolled into one." He 
paused noticing Nick was uncomfortable with the conversation. "Do not worry 
though, I do not kill for blood anymore either. Oh, it might not be because I am 
suddenly taken to being noble as you have, dearest Nicholas." He shrugged. "But, it 
is getting harder to make the kill. Mortals are much smarter than they once were. 
Now I get my blood from fans who think it's sexy to donate their blood to a rock 
star. Or I have a friend of mine make a visit to the blood bank."
	Nick suddenly groaned and clutched at his stomach. He had been acting 
rather weak the whole discussion, but Rick had not really paid attention.
	"Dear boy!" his voice was compassionate, after all he and Nick were always 
as close as brothers. "You are weak! You haven't fed have you?"
	"No, not since I left for the station, and then only a little." he felt very tired, 
and very hungry.
	"Then go to my dressing room, in the kitchen area you'll find a small 
refrigerator. Inside are some bottles, you can take as much as you want. Go on."
	"Is it... human?"
	"Yes, but don't feel guilty about it. No one died for it."
	Knight didn't want to start drinking human blood again, it always left him 
feeling hungrier and wanting to kill. But, he also realized if he didn't drink now, he 
might hurt someone later and that was not going to happen. He would not kill again.
	Rick went on to his meeting alone, the cops would stay out of the way until 
the killer admitted his guilt to the singer and then they would arrest him. Rick 
turned on the microphone in his pocket and tapped lightly on the voice receiving 
end. The cops listening for the signal in an off stage area sent back a reassuring 
silent vibration.
	Everything was ready. `The game is afoot,' Rick thought wryly. 
	The meeting area was dark, and gloomy, with a large black floor, curtained 
off walls. There were lights and scaffolding above, and large unused amps casting 
shadows below.
	Rick was grateful that the officers were not around to feel him reach out with 
his senses and search the area around him. He knew the killer was there, could feel 
his agitation, his excitement, smell his sweat. `Aren't you glad you use dial?' he 
thought to himself.
	"I know you are here. Why don't you come on out and greet me?"
	"I saw that cop friend of yours and the profiler here, are you working with 
them? Haven't  I done enough to prove my worth to you?" A voice came from the 
darkness, it was strained with all sorts of emotion, not the least of them was fear. 
Poor boy was in agony at the thought that his mentor would betray him.
	"Do you think they can stop me? I am above their laws, but you are not. 
Why did you kill those women?"
	"I-I didn't know what else to do to make you notice me." He whined. Oh how 
Rick hated that! There was a small part of him that felt sorry for the misguided 
youth, but, not so much that he would take him under his dark cloak and make him 
one of the night creatures. One has to have some principles. If he is such a loser now, 
he wouldn't make much of a vampire. Even in a hundred years.
	"Am I to stand here and talk to shadows? Why don't you come out here and 
tell me everything." Rick floated up a full 3 feet off the ground and stared at the 
infrared form of the killer with glowing yellow eyes. 
	"You are!" He gasped as if he had only partly believed that the man he 
admired was in fact a vampire. 
	`Ah, some rationale is left in him after all.' Rick was amused.
	With the realization that he was in the presence of all that he ever wanted, 
the man trembled violently with fear and an intense excitement. "You are!" he cried 
again in relief and ran from the shadows to grovel at his master's feet. "Oh, 
master!" he  felt an orgasmic rush, "Pleeeeeze bring me across!"
	"Across to what? More killing? Is that what you want? Tell me what it is you 
want?"
	"I want power! Love! I want to be strong, no one will ever talk down to me 
again! I can master them all!" The veins in his temples stood out and Rick almost 
went wild with the thought of fresh blood! The wild ride this man's feelings, 
memories,  could give would be worth killing him. But, over 1,000 years of `life' had 
taught him to be in control. The only outward sign of his hunger was a slight twitch 
in his cheek.
	"Why can you not master them now? Are you not imaginative?"
	"I need power!" he screamed angrily. He wanted it and bad, `How dare he 
refuse me after all I went through for him!'
	"Power is really only a state of mind." Rick floated down again to stand face 
to face with the trembling, angry young man. "What you want is brute force to 
bully your way through life because you cannot use your mind to get what you need. 
Tsk, tsk, not a very nice way to live."
	"No! Do not speak to me that way!" The killer, his name was Dan, pushed his 
master--- "No, no" Dan was repentant almost immediately afterward, "Please, 
please forgive me! Is this a test? To find out if I am worthy of your gift of darkness? 
Then I accept it!"
	"I do not need to test you." Rick tried to control his disgust at what he 
considered a wimp. "Tell me what you have done. What did you do to those girls?"
	"I did it for you." A mad glint in his eye, "I killed them, I took their blood... I 
couldn't drink it all so I dumped most of it down the sink..." a nose wrinkled at the 
memory, "It tasted awful... the smell... B-but, I'm sure once I am a vampire I will 
like it!" Dan wanted to assure his mentor of that.
	"Yes, you will... tell me more." Rick remembered how he used to cringe at 
the slightest hint of gore. Once you become a vampire though, all that is soon gotten 
over. Like a punk on crack, you only know you need it, you don't care how it looks, 
what it tastes like, or where it comes from anymore...
	Rick had to shake himself out of his reverie so he could concentrate on 
listening to the killer's confession. `Hopefully the police will have all they need in a 
few minutes and will come to arrest this `person'.' he thought.
	"I killed them! I did it for you! All for you! I thought by painting the bodies 
with artwork and using your design you would know it was for you!" Dan pulled his 
shirt collar away from his neck and tilted his head, "Now master! Now before 
someone finds us!"
	"Someone already did, Mr. Gookin." Schanke and team surrounded the area 
and stepped out of the shadows.
	Dan looked at all the faces of the officers around him, `I have been set up by 
my- no! I know what this is! I know! He is just doing this to please the mortals! 
Surely, they must not ever know of his secret. That is why he has agreed to play 
`good guy', it is all a hoax! Once it is over he will take me and I will be dead to the 
mortals, but not really dead! It is all in his plan! How marvelous is he!'
	"Don't do anything stupid, Mr. Gookin," Barbara said.
	"You, you're the profiler aren't you?" he knew she was. "I think you know I 
do not ever do anything stupid. After all it took you how many kills to catch me?"
	That stung a bit, but only for a bit. "Yes, you are ever so clever Mr. Geek- 
oops! I meant Gookin, but now we have you and you are under arrest."
	"Ha! You mock me!" he turned to his master Rick who stood patiently 
behind him wanting really badly for the whole show to be over with so he could get 
to his fridge. He hoped with all his might that Nick didn't get greedy and drink all 
his stash!
	  "It is time, your game is over. Give up." Rick commanded in a voice that 
almost seemed too unearthly, as if he were trying to hypnotize Dan.
	`It is time!' Dan thought wildly, `How will it end and how will he be able to 
make me a vampire? I guess I should wait for him in my jail cell and then pretend to 
kill myself after he brings me across... Yes, that is it.'
	"All right, Miss Holmes, officers," he looked at them all. "I'll go quietly." 
	It kinda disappointed the officers that they didn't get a shoot out, they had 
been so pumped up on adrenaline that they were kinda angry they didn't get to kill 
him. 
	"Another one in the bag, ay Sherlock?" Don asked as the perp was dragged 
off.
	"Yeah, another useless bag of garbage for us to all pay for while he sits on his 
ass on death row for 20 years or more," Barbara grumbled, her eyes full of hate. 
"Better that he die now, he deserves it."
	"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Nick asked, "setting yourself up like that as 
judge and executioner?" The three walked some distance behind the group of 
officers leaving Rick to follow, or go his own way.
	"Some people deserve to die, Nick." She looked him straight in the eye. 
"There are so many people in the world, too many in my opinion, why should we 
give a hoot about an evil piece of worthless trash like him?! I figure if it's defective, 
recycle it. Same with humans."
	"Eres  demasiado joven para estar tan lleno de odio." Nick said in Spanish. 
{"You're too young to be so full of hate."}
	`There they go again!' Schanke shook his head, `Leave old Donny boy out of 
the conversation! I've got to remember some of these words so I can look them up 
later.'
	"Y tŁ eres  demasiado viejo para ser tan ingenuo!" she answered in Spanish. 
"Madura ­¨de acuerdo?!" she walked off. {"And you are too old to be so naive" 
"Grow up will you?!"}
	"What was that all about?" Schanke asked.
	"Nothing, Schanke." Nick shook his head and continued on. Only afterward 
did he wonder why Rick wasn't with the group, where was he? 
	"Nothing, yeah." His partner was not pleased, he felt personally offended.
	Nick didn't feel much like dealing with his partner's feelings. Suddenly he 
thought `Do I ever? Schanke might be annoying sometimes, but he's a good cop. 
And he's tried to be a good friend to me.' Nick felt slightly ashamed. `I should try to 
be a better friend to him... Why do I treat him so coldly most of the time? I have 
had other male mortal friends that I do not treat half as bad as him, and he's my 
partner! He's supposed to count on me in a jam... My last partner... He was my 
friend, and my ineptitude nearly got him killed... Is that why I find it hard to get 
attached to Schanke?...' He looked at his polyester clad partner and smiled. `All 
right so I am a bit attached to him.'
	"Sorry, Schanke," Nick smiled and scratched his ear, a girlfriend of his told 
him once that he looked really cute and harmless when he did that, "I didn't mean 
to snap at you."
	It worked. Don nodded in his own adorable way and said, "Yeah, all right, 
Nick."
	"Good. Come on, let's us three go out and celebrate the conclusion of this 
case."
	"Really?" Schanke gave him an over done look of disbelief. "You mean, 
you're actually going to take me out somewhere for dinner or something? Man! Let 
me mark this date on my calendar, I've got to remember this day!"
	"Come on, let's find Sherlock."
	Rick watched the people leave, listened to the sound of their breathing and 
heartbeat until they left the building. Then he went to his refrigerator to drink.
	His room was comforting; it was dark, smelled of electric guitars and 
electronics that were like perfume to a musician. Smiling, he went over to his 
portable fridge and opened the door. The light blinked on and flooded the small 
kitchen area, causing sparks to jump from the beads and sparkles on the lapel of his 
coat.
	"Damn you, Nicholas!" he roared. There wasn't but a cupful left! That would 
not be enough to satisfy him after those many hours of performing on stage, he 
needed blood and needed it now! As he downed the last of the `wine' he realized he 
knew exactly where to get some more! Growling like a wild animal he leapt into the 
air and flew out the open patio doors across the room towards the police station.
	"I'm coming for you Dan, prepare to meet your doom!"
 				    
					*****

	Several hours later at the restaurant, as the friends are conversing about the 
case and wondering about the psyche of the killer, Nick's cell phone bleeped at him.
	"Yeah, Knight." 
	"Get back to the station now, Dan Gookin is dead." The voice of his Captain 
sounded strained and annoyed.
	"Dead? What do you mean, how?" Knight's words got everyone's attention.
	"I mean dead. There really is only one meaning to that word, detective. You 
and your partner get over here right away. Is the profiler with you?"
	"Yes, she's here, so is Schanke."
	"Good, bring them." She hung up without so much as a good bye. Such 
formalities were of no use in a modern, hectic business environment.
	All attention was focused on him. It seemed as if time had stopped, freezing 
his companions in mid-motion. Barbara's fork was paused at her mouth. "Dan 
Gookin is dead." he said.
	"Dead!?" Barbara and Schanke said in unison as the end of her fork wound 
tight with a large portion of veggie spaghetti dropped it's contents onto her plate.
	"Yeah"
	"What happened?" Schanke asked before his partner could say more.
	"I dunno, Cohen didn't say. She wants us at the station."
	"Let's go." Barbara said.
					*****
	At the station the Captain informed the trio that Gookin had been found 
hanging from the rafters by his pants, dead. 
	"Well, that's the end of that then, huh? Yeah, well too bad. Thanks for 
telling us Cap'n. I'm going to get me a beer and slavaki and celebrate, you up for it 
Sherlock?" Schanke smiled.
	"You eat, I'll drink some lemonade or something." she wasn't an alcoholic, to 
her any one who drank even only one beer once in a while was an alcoholic. 
Alcoholic beverages were stupid and so were the perverts who drank them. 
	"Did you call us down here because his death is suspicious?" Knight asked, 
"where was the guard on duty?" he ignored the expression Schanke gave him, 
obviously his partner didn't care who killed Mr. Gookin. 
	"Officer Chugga went to the bathroom and while there he went to sleep as he 
was reading his favorite girly magazine. No one saw anything suspicious and Officer 
Chugga swares he was only asleep for a few minutes."
	"Does Nat find anything wrong with the situation?" Knight didn't 
understand why they were called in if the killer's death was really a suicide.
	"She said it looked legit to her, she just has to make a report and then it is 
done. I want you to go down and make sure things are all right." 
	"I ain't goin' no where near no morgue!" Barbara shook her head, "We 
caught him, now he's dead. Who cares?"
	"You've had problems with internal affairs before-" Cohen began.
	"What?" Barbara played calm and snobby, "Are you accusing me? I have 
the best two alibi's sitting right here with me. And I assure you," she leaned 
forward, "If I were to kill him, you would not ever find the proof."
	"I am not accusing anyone." Cohen felt the situation getting out of hand fast. 
"I merely want no trouble with the `criminal rights' people, I want it to be 
unshakably clear that he DID kill himself and there was no effort on our part to 
encourage him to kill himself, or to encourage some one else. Also, I do not want it 
to look we are not trying to find out exactly what happened." she sighed, "I do not 
like it any more than you. But, it should only take a few hours to question the 
officer, look over the scene, talk to forensics, and type up a decent report. I won't let 
this `creature' take up more of your time than that."
	"Right, Captain. We'll get right on it." Schanke stood up.
	As the three were leaving Barbara turned around and said, "Sorry about 
that, Cap'n. I didn't mean anything by it, I'll send you a hallmark in the mail."
	Cohen smiled, "That's all right kid, I'd rather have some of those chocolate 
cookies."
					**********
	 The trio went to the morgue and while Nick went in to talk to Nat and find 
out when the reports would be in, Schanke stayed in the car with Holmes.
	"I tell you, this case is becoming very tiresome." Schanke looked to Holmes.
	"Yes, I agree. The guy died, so what, unless..." Barbara was shaken for a 
minuet, what if Rick got to the killer, what if... he bit him!?... What if he turns into 
a vampire!?
	"What?" Schanke was curious, she looked really scared there for a minute.
	"Nothing, nothing, Skank, forget it." she smiled, hoping she looked 
reasurring.
	Schanke was going to press further but Nick showed up.
	"Well, any news?" Schanke asked as Nick got in and slammed the door shut.
	"No, looks like things are fine." 
	Barbara thought she saw him hesitate, what was wrong?  
	"Que pasa?" she asked. {"What's up?"}
	"There you two go again!" Schanke grumbled, "What is so secret that you 
can't let the `ol Skankmiester in on it? I thought we were supposed to be a team, 
right?"
	"Sorry, Skank." Barbara felt a bit shameful, she didn't know what else to 
say.
	"Yeah, sorry Skank." Knight said with a smile. "Everything is fine," he 
turned to the profiler in the rear seat, "Nat should have the reports in a few hours," 
he turned to his partner, "Looks like it was suicide after all."
	"Happy days are here again!" Schanke smiled, "We might get off on time 
tonight, partner."
					**********
	After several hours doing paperwork and getting what reports that were 
available filed, Nick and his team called it quits.
	On the drive to her hotel Barbara asked him if everything was fine with the 
suicide of Dan Gookin, she had thought that Rick might have gone to bite him for 
whatever reason. He lied to her and told her that Gookin really did commit suicide, 
fact was Rick had been there and drained him. After getting her to her hotel he 
went and asked Rick what had happened, after all, he was the only other vampire 
connected with this case other than himself so it was an easy guess that Rick was the 
one that left those puncture wounds on Gookin's neck then hid it with the hanging.
	"What else was I to do, Nick?" the singer asked, "you drained my supply, so 
I had to find a drink somewhere, or take the chance of hurting some one who did 
not deserve it."
	What could he say to that? He knew how hard it was to control the blood 
lust.
	 "Look, I am sorry if I caused you some added paperwork, but, don't get 
upset about it. He went quickly and with great happiness."
	Knight sat in the dark in his livingroom area and thought over the events of 
the `day'. He sighed after a while and smiled peacefully as he downed the last of the 
`wine' and thought to himself, `Yeah, let it go. Gookin had no redeeming qualities, 
and there was nothing wrong in his death. He couldn't be rehabilitated... Can I be?'
	Bleeeeep! Knight's cellular phone interrupted his thoughts.
	"Yeah, Knight here."
	"Dan Gookin's body has just disappeared from the morgue." Barbara's voice 
sounded groggy and angry, "You wanna explain how that could've happened, Mr. 
Vampire cop?"
	"Damn!" Nick whispered.

					**********
	"Well, I am waiting," Barbara said after a pause in the conversation. She 
had been awakened by Captain Cohen (Who was also tired from many hours of 
over time. Cohen had been getting press phone calls all night and now all morning 
asking for interviews, statements.)  to ask if she could do a profile on the now dead 
Gookin to add to the police reports so that there would be no trouble with `criminal 
rights' groups, when the news of the body having disappeared came in.....

*******************************Flashback******************************
	"I know it seems like over-kill," Cohen was saying, "But I need something to 
give to the press and these stupid `Criminal Rights' people."
	Barbara couldn't understand why anyone would think a criminal had rights. 
Yeah, she could go for `innocent until proven guilty', but after that `Tough shit.'
	"Those damn panty waisted freaks will just have to wait until I decide to get 
up!" Barbara growled. "To hell with them anyway, why don't we just dump Gacey 
and Dahmer in their livingrooms for an indefinate stay and see if they feel the same 
way about their criminal lover boys after that!" Holmes relished that thought for a 
few seconds until Cohen replied.
	"I don't like it either," she sighed, "but, we do have to worry about public 
relations-"
	"To fuckin' `you know what' with public relations! Let them do our jobs for 
a week and they'll find out all they need to know."
	"Barbara, could we just get on with the subject please? I don't like it either, 
but it is part of the job so you just deal with it."
	"Yeah, whatever." Barbara didn't want to pick a fight, that is not what she 
was commenting for, she was just showing her fustration. "I'll nap for a few hours 
then get in to the office early, could you give me the name of your second so I can 
call when I am ready and request a ride?"
	"Sure, hold on one second- someone just came in....."
	Holmes heard some muted voices a sharp gasp and a heavy thump on the 
desk. The phone made some funny scraping noises as the owner lifted the reciever 
from it's temporary spot on the desk. 
	"You are NOT going to beleive this!" Cohen's voice was a mixture of 
emotions. 
	"What?" Barbara asked as her own emotions started to tingle inside her 
stomach, something was up and it wasn't going to be good.
	"Gookin's body has disappeared from the morgue!"
	Barbara's whole body jerked with sudden fear and as she looked around 
herself out of habit, she was greatfull it was daylight! Gookin was a vampire! Nick 
had lied to her!
	Holmes took a deep breath and got a hold of her emotions and asked, "When 
did he disappear?" If he got out in the morning he would be toast for sure, or what 
if he got out before the sun rose and had time to hide?
	"Nat says no one was in the morgue after 3 or 4 am this morning....." Cohen 
repeated to Barbara words that were spoken to her by the upset Pathologist 
assistant Jerry Curl standing in her office. "The body was checked in and cataloged 
by Garth Stream after it had came in