InsaneJournal

“Mistletoe,” murmured the woman as she crouched next to the corpse, using a pencil to lift his hand.  The green springs and red berries stared back at her and she cursed, dropping her head into her non-gloved hand.  “Shit, he was a practitioner.”

“The oogey-boogey, y’mean,” asked the gum-smacking voice from over her shoulder.  She turned to glare at him, staring pointedly at his mouth that continued moving and smacking.  He blinked then stopped, murmuring, “Sorry, Cass.”

“Thank you.”  She sighed then turned back to the corpse, saying, “And, yes, Tom, I do mean the ‘oogey-boogey’ as you so eloquently put it.”

“So what’s it mean?”

“Well, besides the required kissing under it, the ancient Celts believed it to have healing powers as well as an antidote for poison and infertility.”  She paused then added, “And as a ward against evil spirits.”

Tom snorted and straightened, beginning to chomp on his gum again, as he stated, “So he’s a Celt?”

She sighed and rose, tucking the pencil away into a pocket of her long coat, and corrected, “No, as I said, he was a practitioner.  Religion…religion doesn’t really go along with anything.  Its just belief, Tom.”

“So…like if I believe something, its true?”

“Where there’s belief, there’s power.”  She looked down at the corpse, who had been a wiry little man, and finished softly, “If he believed the mistletoe was protection, it would have protected him.”

Tom frowned then asked, “So why didn’t it?”

"That means that either he screwed up or what he thought was an evil spirit was really something else.”

“Cassidy Majors, what the hell are you doing here?  Detective Abrams!  I thought I told you not to call her?!”

Tom winced and Cassidy cocked her head sideways at him as he eyes drifted towards his irate lieutenant coming through the apartment door.  In sotto voce she said, “Not supposed to call me, hmm?”

“The new ‘Tenant don’t know what Brom did,” replied the detective in a low, gruff voice.  He then turned to face his lieutenant and started to explain, “Boss, look…”

“It’s Lieutenant Wilkins to you, Abrams,” snarled the stocky man, his thick bristle brush mustache flaring.  “And I want you and her out of her.  Your last in charge officer may have put up with her silly mumbo jumbo but I am not about to.  So you strike her number from the department Rolodex the moment you get back – you’re on desk duty for the next month.”

The little man snarled off then and Cassidy blinked after him before patting the now dumbstruck Tom on the shoulder.  He quickly turned to apologize but she lifted a hand to cut him off.

“It’s fine,” she said firmly.  Pulling off the single latex glove, she tossed it into the trash then reached up to pull the tie out of her dark hair.  As it fell back around her shoulders, she smiled at him, saying, “I knew it wouldn’t last too much longer after Brom left but don’t you worry about me.”

“What are you going to do now, Cass?” asked Tom as they walked out of the apartment past the bright yellow tape and other officers towards the elevator.  He blinked as she thrust her police department consultant badge at him then snorted as he tucked it away.  “Damn bastard.”

Cassidy smiled, saying, “Now that is no way to speak about your superior.  Even if he is a hide bound non-believer.”

“Whatever.  What are you gonna do now?”

“Well first I’m going to go home and cook some spaghetti that you are well invited to come have a bite of.  Then I am going to use this to try and find our ghoulie.”  She held up a small evidence bag with a handful of hairs inside and smiled at his shocked expression.  “As an old friend once said, you can’t take the skill out of a thief even if they leave the life.”

“Christ, Cass.”

“Hey, I need something to use to track this thing.  And you’ve worked with me for six years now, Tom.  You know enough to figure out that whatever this is, its something nasty that the department can’t handle.”

“Sure you can’t make the new boss believe?” he asked as they entered the elevator and he pressed the button for the first floor.

Cassidy smiled, shaking her head as she tucked the evidence bag away inside her coat.  Then she sighed and tilted her head back, closing her eyes as the cab rumbled down the elevator shaft, the crappy music all of them had sputtering to a start.

“Unfortunately, Tom, no matter how hard you try, you can’t give eyesight to the blind."