I wish I owned 'em, but I don't-- I'm just having a little fun with them. (Hey, I asked Dief and _he_ said it was o.k! ) No infringement intended; I'm broke; give it up; yadda, yadda, you know the drill....

Interpretations

<<<1>>>

"You're kidding." The slam of a car door added emphasis to the statement.

"No, Ray, I'm quite serious."

"Dief?"

"Yes, Ray."

The cop stared at the uniformed man next to him with elaborate shock. "Wait, I want to make sure we're talking about the same fluffy white furball, here. The one who never met a jelly doughnut he didn't like...?"

Benton Fraser, R.C.M.P., responded with a frown and just a hint of irritation, "He's sticking to his diet, Ray."

Just then the aforementioned wolf bounded forward, catching up to the two humans and adjusting his pace to theirs.

Ray Vecchio, Chicago P.D., looked at the wolf-- the picture of wide-eyed innocence-- and shook his head in disbelief. "So what did you do to him?"

"I didn't 'do' anything to him, Ray. I simply sat him down and had a serious conversation about the importance of a balanced diet in maintaining general health and fitness, particularly in the case of a wild animal such as himself...."

They both watched as said wild animal gave a soft yelp and scampered off ahead after a squirrel.

"You told him he was getting soft and was going to make himself sick-- and it worked?"

"He has managed for the last three days so far."

"Aw, Benny, he's faking it. I bet he's got a stockpile of taco chips stashed in a corner somewhere...."

"I think that is highly unlikely...."

"He's pullin' your leg, Fraser. He's got to be sneaking around on you."

"On the contrary, Ray, I believe that we have finally come to an understanding on the subject...."

As Ray continued to look dubious, the squirrel took a sudden unexpected turn. Diefenbaker enthusiastically followed, darting around a corner and into an alley.

"In addition, as you may have noticed, he is not exactly subtle in such matters...."

Before Ray could respond, they both heard a commotion, a thud, and a strangled yelp from the alleyway into which the wolf had disappeared. Exchanging a worried glance, they followed at a run.

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

Rounding the corner they encountered a scene of minor destruction. A tall, lanky, blond young man lay sprawled on the asphalt; the papers he had presumably been carrying were scattered across puddles left by the last night's rain. As the man managed a strangled protest, to no visible effect, he was watching his breakfast danish being eagerly consumed by a large white wolf.

As he moved towards the unresponsive wolf, Fraser caught the bewildered look the young man directed their way and offered the only explanation he could. "He's deaf."

Seeing the confusion intensify, he attempted to clarify. "I'm afraid he can't hear your objections and, at the moment," reaching Dief and pulling his head around, he enunciated clearly into the wolf's face, "he is taking shameful advantage of that fact to satisfy his unfortunate sweet tooth."

"More like a 'sweet fang'," Ray offered with a grin as he helped the man to his feet.

Turning a grinning and thoroughly unrepentant Dief back to face him again, Fraser sighed and shook his head. "We'll talk about this later."

Rising, he moved over to assist the young man in collecting his papers. "I must apologize for my wolf. You see, Dief...."

"Yes," the man broke in with a voice that held an odd tone neither of them could quite place at first. "So you said." He reached out a hand to the wolf with a grin, "But we usually prefer the term 'hearing-impaired'."

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

Frankly the whole situation was making Ray a bit uncomfortable. I mean it was one thing with the wolf-- hell, he seemed to understand what was going on whether you made an extra effort or not. But with a person?

Once he had recovered from the initial confusion, Kyle Rynne seemed like a nice enough guy. It turned out he worked at RTDS Consulting and was happy to give them directions upstairs to their interview. He could read lips with amazing skill and his speaking voice was only a shade off-normal in tone. Just as long as Ray could remember to talk in the guy's face it should be o.k.

Fraser, of course, was only thrown by his chagrin at Dief's behavior. ('Fess up, Dief,' Ray thought-- not for the first time-- 'You're an American wolf aren't you? You just ducked in from Alaska or something, and that's why you're always embarrassing your poor, polite Canadian buddy here, right?') Rynne certainly seemed happy to forgive Diefenbaker, with whom he had instantly bonded, and he was good-naturedly fighting off Fraser's attempts to reimburse him the cost of the pastry.

"Look, you can pay me back by not telling the boss you saw me slipping out early, o.k.?" he offered.

"Don't you think 9:30 in the morning is a bit too early for that?" Ray challenged him, trying to remember to talk slowly. "Isn't he gonna notice?"

"Well, I've been here since 4:30. I'm supposed to put in eight hours and all, but I've got everything done and, well, you know...," he trailed off with an expectant look at the mountie.

"He doesn't, but I do," Ray agreed. "Don't worry, we won't tell."

With a quick smile and a "Thanks!" Rynne was gone and they were on their way to see his boss, Mr. Bob Stevens, small-time embezzler and purported blackmail victim.

<<<2>>>

Fraser sat at his desk filling out renewal requests for consular license plates and listening to the steady rain falling outside the window of his tiny office. As he dutifully copied page after page of vehicle information onto the State Department forms, he went over their latest-- Ray's latest-- case in his mind.

The interview with Mr. Stevens had been of very little help. While he had been falsifying the books while he skimmed money from his own business for years, the question Fraser had been trying to help Ray answer was whether Stevens was also involved in-- or even aware of-- the much greater embezzlement going on in many of the companies RTDS had built web pages for.

Several of those companies, in keeping with the international approach of internet business, were headquartered in Canada, thus justifying his own involvement in the matter. Well, justifying to himself his usual, 'interested yet unofficial' status.

The general feeling was that Stevens was completely oblivious to any but his own, limited criminal activities, but, until they could be certain, they would have to continue their investigation of the company without his assistance.

A soft whine from where Diefenbaker lay under his desk brought his attention back to his duties. As he finished preparing the last one for Inspector Thatcher's signature, there was a knock at his open door.

"Constable Fraser?"

He looked up to see Turnbull peering nervously in the doorway and sighed. Honestly, the man always looked like a puppy that expected to be swatted any moment with a newspaper-- it was hardly a dignified demeanor for a member of the R.C.M.P. ....

"There's a... a Mr. Rynne here to see you?"

He forced a smile, trying not to let his own frustration get the better of him. "Thank you, Constable. Please show him in."

Kyle Rynne stepped in with a smile that turned into a silly grin of pleasure when he spotted Diefenbaker under the edge of the desk. He gave a wave towards the wolf, following it with an odd pinching motion that looked strangely like he had attempted to grasp his own nose-- and missed. Looking up from where Dief had presented himself for headrubs, he caught Fraser's quizzical look "That's sign for 'wolf'," he explained, repeating the gesture. The mountie looked startled, then tried it himself.

"Yeah, that's it," Kyle agreed amiably, although Fraser doubted he'd done it quite properly on the first try. "I'm sorry to interrupt your work," he continued in his perfectly clear, if flat-toned, manner, "but I was in the neighborhood and I just thought I'd check in and say hi."

Fraser nodded, although Diefenbaker was the obvious point of this man's interest. "I was just about to take him for his walk," he offered, starting to rise while being careful to keep his face in Kyle's line-of-sight. "Perhaps you would like to join us?"

"That'd be great...."

The young man's response was cut off by the sound of Inspector Thatcher calling him. From the sound of her voice, he deduced that the matter was urgent-- in the Inspector's eyes at least-- and was not likely to be something easily or quickly resolved. He glanced down at the wolf, who whimpered in anticipation.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the walk will have to wait." The whine repeated at a higher, more urgent pitch. "I know and I apologize, but you will simply have to wait a little longer...."

"Could I?" Fraser looked up at Kyle. "I'd be happy to take him out. We wouldn't go far...."

Fraser hesitated. He didn't know this man at all. However, he seemed to be genuinely eager to help, and Diefenbaker had obviously taken to him. He had always considered the wolf an excellent judge of character....

"All right, but don't let him wander off too far. You can bring him back here once you're done." He glanced at the wolf, who was looking up at Kyle expectantly. "Diefenbaker and I both thank you kindly."

"Oh it's my pleasure," Kyle responded with a broad smile.

Fraser simply nodded and held the door for them.

<<<3>>>

"I think that's a great idea, Constable."

Ray shook his head, unconvinced. "We don't know that he's not in on it. And, with all due respect, sir, what's he going to do to help? Sign the blackmailer into submission?"

Before Fraser could counter, Lt. Welsh intervened. "Cut it out, Vecchio. We need someone on the inside, and this guy sounds like our ticket. He can't be the blackmailer, unless he's having someone else make his phone calls for him, and the real blackmailer might not be as careful around him. He can check out the computer systems for us, and if he's as good at reading lips as the Constable says, we may get something that way."

Ray knew when he was beat and just shook his head in annoyance.

"Constable, how soon can we reach him?"

Fraser looked out into the squad room. "Actually, Leftenant, he is taking Diefenbaker for a walk at the moment and should return shortly."

Welsh looked surprised, but then shrugged it off, as he'd learned to do when it came to the Mountie. "Great. When he gets back, you two explain the situation to him."

As they left the office, Ray's muttering turned into an intelligible question. "So what's he doing walking Dief? Is he bucking for Willie's job now or what?"

"Willie is on vacation from school and has gone to visit family in Milwaukee this week. Kyle and Diefenbaker have become quite friendly and, as he lives nearby and works odd hours, he has been volunteering to supervise Diefenbaker's walks."

Ray shook his head, "Must be that Mountie charisma thing rubbing off or something. If I'd realized it was contagious I'd have been hanging around you more often."

Ben looked utterly lost. "Ray, I'm afraid I don't understand...."

"Never mind, Benny."

Just then Kyle returned, a happy, grinning wolf in tow. Ray didn't have a chance to question Fraser's frown at the sight before they were ushering Rynne into one of the interrogation rooms.

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

"...So Mr. Stevens got scared and came to the police. He confessed that he'd been skimming off the company books for years and told us about this blackmailer who'd apparently figured it out too. The guy only contacts him by phone, knows enough to be avoiding a trace, uses a disguised voice, the works."

Ray was finding it disconcerting not to be able to wander around as he spoke. Looking directly at Rynne the whole time made him uncomfortable, but he plowed on. "Now we already had our eye on the company in relation to a string of embezzlements committed against its recent clients over the last six months. We originally thought Stevens was responsible for that as well, but now it looks like he may just be the small-time crook he's claiming. What we need to do now is to find the blackmailer. Given some of the stuff he's said to Stevens, we think he's probably the embezzler."

Kyle Rynne was obviously fascinated. He had the enraptured look of someone getting let into a secret club. "Wow! I mean, I kind of thought something was up with old Bob there, but I had no idea.... So, what is it you want me to do?"

Fraser stepped forward in front of Rynne. "We would appreciate your assistance in determining if the blackmailer is one of the employees at RTDS Consulting. While Mr. Stevens seems to feel that this person is working from the outside...."

"Stevens thinks he's being chased by the Mafia. " Ray interjected. "He's paranoid."

"... the pattern of embezzlement suggests an 'inside job'. If you would be willing to observe your fellow employees closely-- I believe there are twelve of them?" Rynne nodded absently. "Looking for any signs of unusual behavior-- anything which might indicate that they have knowledge of the situation or that they have means or motive to be committing the embezzlements....."

"You mean I'd be like a 'mole'?" Kyle was clearly excited by the idea. "Spying around and sneaking out reports to you guys and all?"

"Actually," Fraser corrected, "I doubt that 'sneaking' would be necessary, we would, of course make provision...."

Ray moved in between them, effectively cutting the mountie off. "Yeah, you'd be our inside man on this job. You interested?"

"I'd love to! When do I start?"

"When are you going to be back at work next?"

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

Rynne had suddenly decided he had projects at RTDS that needed immediate attention. With a few warnings to curb his enthusiasm, Ray let him go.

"So what's with all that fancy waving at Dief?" Ray asked, puzzled, when Rynne had left.

"I believe they are communicating in American Sign Language, Ray."

Ray turned back, staring from the mountie to the wolf and back again. "Oh come on, Fraser, you're kidding. You're trying to tell the wolf signs now?"

"No, of course not, Ray" He sounded annoyed again. "However I believe Kyle is teaching Diefenbaker to recognize some basic signs...."

"I don't believe this...."

"Are you sure he's clear on what is expected from him, Ray?"

"Who, Rynne? " Ray accepted the change of subject without comment. "He'll be fine. Without some help we're not getting anywhere on this." He looked at Fraser's dubious expression. "And there's no Mafia involvement anywhere but in Steven's overactive imagination. Nothing suggests that there's any danger involved from this blackmailer guy. The worst Rynne can do is get overenthusiastic and tip our hand-- and then we'll be no worse off than we are now."

He expected more discussion on the subject, but Fraser seemed strangely quiet, excusing himself soon after. Ray couldn't help but wonder what was making the mountie so moody all of a sudden, but for the moment was forced to chalk it up to too much guard duty or a sudden wind-change on the tundra or something.

<<<4>>>

Still concerned, Ray dropped by Fraser's place after work, just in time to be there when Kyle made his first 'spy' report.

"I think it's Booker," he announced, immediately after signing a greeting to the wolf and dropping down on one knee to give him a good fur ruffle.

"Booker?" Fraser asked, when he looked back up at the humans in the room.

"Yeah, Booker Scott. He works just across the aisle from me, two desks down. He's been acting kinda strange recently, but I hadn't really thought about it." He grinned, "With computer geeks it can be hard to tell, you know."

"So you think this Scott guy is our man because, what? His socks don't match?" Ray was starting to find Rynne's level of enthusiasm-- especially this late in the day-- a bit much. Maybe that's what was bugging Fraser too.

"No, no." He stood up and turned a bit more serious. "He's been taking disks home with him-- which is weird, because the offices are open twenty-four hours and the computers there are much nicer than anything we could afford at home. Anytime anyone walks by, he hides the computer screen he's been working on. I nearly drove him nuts, I think, running back and forth to the bathroom and the fridge trying to get a look at it." The grin peeked out again as a self-satisfied smile. "And last week he came in with this splashy new Rolex. He said it was a present from his father, but I dunno. It seems kind of strange."

Ray had to agree, Rynne's observations were good, and Scott sounded suspicious in all the right ways. He made a mental note to look up this guy's records first thing in the morning. At this rate, they could have the case wrapped up in a few days.

He'd missed what Fraser had said, but Rynne was looking pleased with himself when he brought out of his reverie by a strange whine from Diefenbaker. The wolf was gazing up at Rynne adoringly. At an unvoiced question from Rynne and an answering nod from Fraser, they were out the door, presumably for another walk.

Ray frowned at the expression on his friend's face as he watched the deaf man and wolf leave. "So what's with Diefenbaker?"

Ben responded without looking up. "He has apparently taken quite a liking to Mr. Rynne."

"So I noticed. What? Does the guy have a corner on Milk Duds or something?"

Ben responded in a stern tone that would have indicated anger in anyone else. "Contrary to what you seem to believe, Ray, Diefenbaker is a complex individual who is driven by more than his unfortunate passion for 'junk food'."

Ray was watching Ben, trying to determine the cause of this particular mood. "I know that, Fraser. But he's your wolf. I'm just trying to figure out why he's suddenly gone all lovey-dovey over Rynne."

"He is not 'mine', Ray. He saved my life of his own volition and has since chosen to stay with me, but I do not 'own' him. Should he wish to leave again at some future point in time...."

"Benny! You're not telling me you think Dief is dumping you for Rynne, are you? That's just nuts."

"Actually, Ray, it makes a great deal of sense. Kyle is hearing-impaired as well and they seem to have bonded over that issue." He ignored Ray's noise of disbelief. "And while I am here only on a temporary basis, Diefenbaker has quickly adapted to city life and shows no indication of wishing to return home...."

"No!" Ben looked up, startled at Ray's vehemence. "Dief is not leaving you, Benny. He's just having a little fun with Rynne, that's all."

"Perhaps you're right, Ray." Ben conceded, although he looked anything but convinced.

<<<5>>>

The next morning, Ray was sitting at his desk looking through the file on Booker Scott when Fraser came in, alone. Given the expression on the mountie's face when he caught Ray looking for his four-legged companion, the cop didn't even ask.

"It looks like Rynne may have nailed our embezzler on the first try after all." He read from the report as Ben took the seat across from him. "Booker L. Scott, 43 years old, computer programmer and 'internet engineer'-- whatever that means. Married, two children, divorced four years ago. Shelling out a good-sized chunk of alimony. Would probably be hurting for money on what RTDS is paying him, except he's made several large deposits to a savings account at First Chicago in the past year and a half. Apparently he said it was a lottery prize and some gifts from family members." Ray snapped the folder shut. "He's got the know-how, he's got the money suddenly lying around. Motive's a bit more iffy, but I'm willing to go with good, old-fashioned greed if you are...." He trailed off, watching Fraser stare at the far wall.

"Hey, are you with me here?"

Ben nodded and focused back on the conversation. "Yes, Ray. He certainly seems like a likely candidate." His voice was tired and spiritless.

Ray cursed Rynne one more time in his head for good measure, and continued. "So all we have to do now is nail down a connection or catch him in the act...."

The ringing phone interrupted him. "Vecchio. Yes, Mr. Stevens." He held the phone away from his ear and motioned for Ben to lean over and listen in.

"... said he'd ruin me. That he'd bring down the whole business on my head-- that he could make it look like I'd been ripping off all my clients. That my kids would never see the inside of a college...." Stevens' voice was sliding up the scale as he got more and more hysterical.

"O.k., o.k., Mr. Stevens. So what did he want specifically?"

The man on the other end of the line managed a gasping breath, "A hundred thousand dollars in cash. He said I was to leave it in a briefcase next to my desk when I left work tonight-- no later than seven, he said. Otherwise, he'd ruin me! I don't have that kind of money! This is a small business, Detective. I've put everything I have into it. If he...."

"Yes, I understand." Ray cut him off before he could get started again. Then he thought for a moment and frowned. "You're not calling from your desk, are you?"

"No!" Stevens seemed appropriately insulted at the suggestion. "I went out to a pay phone at the drugstore across the street. Just like you told me."

"Good, good. Now you can go back to your office. Try to act as normal as possible...."

"Shouldn't I have a bodyguard?"

Ray rolled his eyes at Fraser. "Mr. Stevens, I've told you there is no reason to believe this man will get violent. No.... we have no indication that this is in any way Mafia-related. Look, we'll contact you shortly with regards to his demands, o.k.?" With a few more firm reassurances, he was able to hang up.

"All right, it looks like our guy's going to make his move tonight." He looked up at Ben. "Where's Rynne now?"

"I believe he's at work at the moment, Ray. However he has agreed to meet me for lunch at a diner near the RTDS offices." Ben was avoiding eye-contact and keeping his voice carefully neutral. "I wanted to be able to retrieve Diefenbaker should he prove to be making a nuisance of himself this morning."

Ray scowled. "He's going to work with Rynne now? What is this...?" But, at a look from Benny he let it drop. "O.k., so I guess it's about time for lunch, right?"

Fraser nodded once and rose to lead the way out.

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

Rynne, if possible, was even more excited this time. Blind to Fraser's depression and Ray's resentment, he came racing in, full of news, Diefenbaker tagging along behind.

"O.k.," he started before he'd even sat down, "I think I caught him actually making a call today."

Ray tried to exchange a look with Fraser, but the Mountie was looking at the floor.

"It was about half an hour ago. I was working along when I saw Booker pull out this cell phone from his briefcase. I thought that was weird, I mean, he's got a phone right there on his desk, right?" Rynne hurried on without waiting for agreement. "So I, well, I started watching what he was saying-- kind of 'watching in' on the conversation, you know?"

Looking over and noticing Fraser's closed expression for the first time, he misinterpreted it as a criticism of his methods. "I mean, I don't do that regularly, you know. But it just seemed important." When Fraser gave no reaction, he shrugged, turned back to Ray, and continued. "Well Booker's so nervous he doesn't even see me watching him."

Kyle was grinning smugly as he got into his story. "He was saying something about 'put the money in a briefcase on the desk' and 'seven o'clock' and then something about 'college' that I didn't quite catch. And he's sweating the whole time, you can just see it. And then he hangs up and starts looking around, you know, to see if anyone's nearby? But by then I'm watching my screen again. He never even saw me!" Kyle finished with a triumphant flourish.

A bare second later he looked up at Ray, obviously disappointed not to be getting a better reaction. "So, o.k.," he conceded, "I didn't catch all of it, but that helps. Right?"

Ray nodded, still with one eye on Fraser, "Sure. Yeah, that matches what we've got. It looks like you were right about this Scott guy."

"So what do we do now?"

Leaving the Mountie to stew in his own little world, Ray turned back to Rynne. "Now we set the trap."

<<<6>>>

The Riv was parked with a clear view down the alleyway on which the door of RTDS opened.

They had determined that Booker Scott was indeed inside at his desk. Rynne was inside as well, pretending to simply be working his usual odd hours while he kept an eye on Scott. He was wired so that he could alert them when their blackmailer made his move, but for over an hour they had simply been listening to the random shuffle of papers and farewells aimed at him by exiting staff members who seemed to keep more regular hours.

Since Stevens couldn't be trusted to play it cool, he hadn't been let in on the set-up. He had simply accepted the appropriately weighted briefcase they'd given him with instructions to leave it by his desk and leave work as usual just after 6 p.m. They were trusting that Scott wouldn't risk opening it and trying to count the money on the spot-- especially when he found it locked. Hopefully, by the time he stopped to break the lock, they would already have him in custody.

"O.k., there he goes.," Ray remarked unnecessarily as Stevens stepped out of the building and hurried to his car. "Now Rynne just has to tell us when Scott's coming and we can nail him right at the door."

Fraser did not respond. In fact he hadn't said an unnecessary word since they arrived. To all appearances, he was maintaining the same alert, formal attention he adopted for guard duty.

To Ray, he looked downright morose.

"You know, Benny," he kept talking anyway so the silence wouldn't drive him nuts, "For someone who's been carefully siphoning off money for over a year, our blackmailer suddenly seems to be in quite a hurry."

Nothing.

"And why risk doing it right here at work?" ('Because he's dumb, Benny,' Ray answered in his own head. 'Most crooks are. You know it and I know it.')

Ben just shook his head.

"Look, Benny, I really don't think you should be taking this thing with Dief so seriously." No response. "I mean, I know you're going to a lot of trouble to try to win him back...."

"Ray, I am not...."

"You're learning sign, I saw you."

"Well it is a form of communication used by several hundred thousand people in the United States alone, Ray. As a liaison with the public, it behooves me to be able to communicate with...."

"And you just suddenly felt the burning need to communicate with several hundred thousand more people. Right."

"Ray," he paused, his eyes closing, "I have been quite thoughtless in simply expecting Diefenbaker to adapt to my spoken communication. Although he seems to have mastered lip-reading all on his own, I never made the attempt to communicate with him in a manner more suited to his disability."

Ray was really worried by the expression of mournful self-recrimination on the Mountie's face. "Look, Benny. I know you're jealous of the way Dief's fawning over Rynne...."

"No, Ray. I am only concerned with Diefenbaker's best interests."

"His 'best interests' are with you, Fraser. You know that and he knows that."

"If he's finding something with Kyle that he's not getting with me...."

"Benny, stop it!" He'd gotten Fraser's attention, if not his confidence. Damn! He felt like he was trying to talk a couple out of breaking up. "Look, just think of this thing with Rynne as a passing fling, o.k.? He'll be back, I promise."

As Ray turned back to watching the alley he barely heard Fraser 's whispered, "I hope so."

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

Less than ten minutes later, there was a crackle of static from Rynne's microphone.

"Guys? Guys, I hope you're there." Kyle was whispering directly into the mic. Ray leaned forward to adjust the volume. "Booker and I are the only ones still here and I think he's going for it. He just stepped into Bob's office...."

The monologue trailed off as the speaker apparently waited for something further to happen. Out of the corner of his eye Ray could see even Fraser was paying close attention now. Then someone-- presumably Scott-- called a farewell which Rynne answered.

There was a soft *woof*, which made Fraser frown in concern.... "Ray, Diefenbaker sounds...."

But he was cut off when Kyle's voice filled the Riv again.

"O.K., he took the briefcase, but he's going out the back way. It leads out through the dry cleaner's and out onto 93rd. Damn! Look, I'm gonna follow him...."

"No! Dammit, Rynne!" Ray pounded the steering wheel in frustration.

"... and meet you guys out there...." The sound of static replaced the voice as the cop and the mountie sprinted around towards the front of the building.

<<<7>>>

Ray entered the dry cleaners, gun drawn, much to the dismay of a wide-eyed middle-aged woman carrying an armful of shirts.

"Police! Get back!" He looked around. "How do I get to the offices upstairs?"

She pointed wordlessly to a door just to the left of the counter.

Moving carefully the whole way, they met no one on the stairs or in the hallway. Ray didn't like this at all. Something was definitely wrong. They should have encountered both Scott and Rynne by now. Benny was right behind him, looking no more comfortable with the situation.

Entering the offices, they saw no sign of Rynne-- or of Diefenbaker-- but a man who fit Booker Scott's description perfectly was just putting on his suit jacket. The briefcase was standing ready on the desk beside him.

"Police! Freeze!"

Scott spun around-- hands in the air, jacket still halfway down his arms, and a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"Booker Scott?" At the man's nod, Ray pulled out his cuffs. "You're under arrest for embezzlement, extortion...."

"What?"

Ray had to hand it to the guy, he was the picture of confused innocence. He upped the level of threat in his voice, "Where are Rynne and the wolf?"

"Kyle?" Scott looked automatically over at a desk bearing Rynne's nameplate, then back at the cop. "He just left a minute ago. He had a big husky with him...."

"Don't give me tha...."

"Ray!"

The cop looked over to where Fraser was standing by Rynne's desk, one hand on the phone.

The phone?

"Oh no...."

"Yes, Ray. It appears as though we've been 'had'." He turned to the dazed man Ray was cuffing. "Mr. Scott, is Kyle Rynne deaf?"

The man blinked in surprise. "Deaf?"

"Oh damn," Ray groaned as he struggled to undo the handcuffs. "So what are you doing with that briefcase?"

"Briefcase?" Scott echoed back helplessly.

"Yes," Ray pulled him around until he was facing the desk. "That briefcase!"

"Ray...."

"Kyle found it in Mr. Stevens' office. He must have forgotten it. I live over on the same side of town and Kyle thought it might be important so I was just going to take it by...."

"Does he have a car?"

"Mr. Stevens?"

"No," Ray tried to control his frustration. He couldn't believe they'd fallen for this. "Rynne... does he have a car?"

Scott shook his head, "Not that I know of."

"Stay here."

Booker Scott collapsed gratefully into his chair as the detective and the mountie raced out the front way.

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

Emerging in the alley where this whole mess had begun, they were faced with the sight of Diefenbaker, teeth bared and fur on-end, holding a no-longer-grinning Kyle Rynne at bay in the driver's doorway of the Riv.

"Good boy!" Ray crowed as he ran forward to take custody of the bad guy. "What, were you gonna hot-wire it, you little creep?" Grabbing him by the jacket shoulder, the cop spun him around and threw him against the side of the car. "You so much as scratch that and I'll make you pay!"

"Hey, the wolf just flipped on me. I was trying to get away from him...."

"Oh give it a rest! Kyle Rynne-- if that's your name-- you are under arrest."

"For what," he snapped back, all traces of affable personality gone. "Faking a disability?"

"No, smart guy. Try embezzlement, extortion...."

"Based on what?"

"Ray...."

"What, Fraser?"

"He makes a definite point...."

"Dammit, Benny, you're not helping." Ray had Rynne cuffed and was patting him down when he suddenly stopped, reached into the suspect's inside jacket pocket, and pulled out a wadded-up bunch of paper towels. As they fell open in his palm, exposing a smeared, quarter-sized cylinder of data tape, he made a face and held it as far away from himself as possible.

"Eww...." His nose wrinkling, he turned on the suspect. "Microfilm, Kyle? This wouldn't happen to contain evidence, now would it?"

Rynne refused to do anything but demand his lawyer.

.+*+.+*+.+*+.

As he finished calling in the arrest, Ray turned to the Mountie. "Fraser, you're the one always smelling things, what is on this?"

Apparently undisturbed, Fraser stepped forward for a clearer whiff. For one nauseating moment, Ray was afraid he was going to taste it.

"It appears to be traces of excrement, Ray."

"Yeah, I got that, Benny." He could tell by the look on the Mountie's face that he had picked up more than that. "Would you care to be more specific? "

Ben cocked his head, looking intently at Rynne, who was still squirming for the show of it.

"It would appear, Ray, that until recently, this container was....." He paused again, obviously going over something in his head.

Ray rolled his eyes. "Yes?"

Ben started and looked at Ray . "It was in Diefenbaker, Ray."

<<<8>>>

"So it turns out all this worry over Dief was nothing after all."

Ben frowned. "Well, I'd hardly say 'nothing', Ray."

They were at the station, the only thing left to wrap up was the paperwork. Rynne, while working on the web pages RTDS offered their clients, had obtained enough information on those client's 'firewalls' and security measures to be able to hack back in later and access a wealth of handy financial data. He had apparently been aware of Steven's amateurish efforts for some time and had decided they would make a convenient smoke screen for his own actions.

Scott, for his part, had admitted to using RTDS time and resources in finalizing his plans to strike out on his own in the business. With his father's financial support, he was already working on picking up some of RTDS's old clientele.

"Rynne was only hanging around, volunteering for every walk he could, until Dief 'passed along' that last bit of incriminating evidence. And Dief was keeping a close eye on him the whole way."

Fraser looked down at the wolf, stretched out happily under the desk. "He really seemed to connect to Kyle...."

"He was working undercover, Fraser."

The mountie frowned, thinking. "I suppose...."

Ray reached down to scratch the wolf's head. "Of course you were, weren't you, buddy?"

Dief looked up at both of them, panting in a lupine grin.

Fraser frowned. "You know, you could have told me what was going on." The wolf <*whoofed*>. "Just because I don't sign doesn't mean we haven't been able to communicate quite well, you know."

"Oh, let him be, Fraser. We got our man. In fact," Ray continued, with enthusiasm, "if Dief hadn't broken his diet, thereby confiscating crucial evidence, Rynne would have been able to cover his tracks completely."

Fraser looked at him in annoyance. "I hardly think it likely that that was his primary motive in eating the danish, Ray."

Ray shrugged, "With him you never know." Slapping the folder shut and tossing it on top of the pile, he stood up, grabbing his jacket off the chair. "Hey, Dief!" He waved his hand in the wolf's face until he looked up. Then he crossed his fingers and moved them in a circle in front of his mouth. Dief responded with an excited yelp and hopped up to lead the way out the door.

Fraser looked startled. "Ray! Since when did you learn sign language?"

"Aw I didn't, Benny. I just got Rynne's sister to teach me an important sign or two when she came by to post his bail. She wasn't too thrilled with him, you know. The way her hands were thrashing about, I'd say she was giving him quite a piece of her mind on the subject when I left."

When they exited the station they found Dief sitting attentively at the Riv's door, whining softly to be let in.

Fraser looked at Ray. "What did you tell him, Ray?"

Ray shrugged as he opened the door to let the eager wolf in.

"Ray?"

"Oh I just told him we'd stop by the doughnut shop on the way home...."

"Ray!"

<finis>