Monty swallowed hard. “Did Meg tell you that?”

“No. Jean did.”

Gods above and below.

Vlad stepped out of the back of the store. “Simon, Meg was looking for you.” He glanced at the counter. “She’s at the Liaison’s Office now. You need to convince her to go home, let someone else take care of the mail and packages today. The humans will be talking. She doesn’t need to hear more than she already knows.”

Simon looked around, as if wondering why he was in the bookstore. “I didn’t mean to be gone long. I...” He headed for the back of the store, but he stopped and wouldn’t meet Monty’s eyes. “We learn from other predators. Remember that, Lieutenant.”

Then he was gone, and Monty was left alone with Vlad. “Is there anything any of us can do to help?”

Vlad walked over to the checkout counter. He took one copy of the Lakeside News off the stack, folded it, and placed it under the counter. “You could get rid of the rest of these. I’d rather not put them in our recycling bin. Too much chance of someone seeing what they shouldn’t.”

“Of course.” He’d take them to the station. He didn’t think Eve Denby would want the front-page photo in her recycling bin either. “Anything else?”

“What else do you think the police can do?”

“I wasn’t asking as a police officer.”

Silence. Then Vlad said softly, “Ask again in a couple of days.”

Monty left the bookstore, dumped the newspapers in the backseat of the patrol car, then walked across the street to the Denbys’ apartment.

Mother Court was in full swing at the breakfast table as the young wrongdoers tried to get their sentence reduced.

Wrong day to ask about watching TV, Monty thought.

“No means no,” Eve said.

“But I got hurt,” Robert protested, displaying his scabbed elbows and knees before pointing out the bruises caused by Nathan’s teeth.

“If there are any further outbursts over your sentence, you will be held in contempt of court, and ‘no dessert’ will be added to your sentence.”

The girls, Monty noticed, were keeping very quiet. And judging by the look in Lizzy’s eyes, he needed to have a talk with her about the injury she might cause if she whacked someone—like Robert—with Grr Bear since her new buddy had a wooden head and paws.

Then again, the boy was being a bit woodenheaded too.

“As your father, and your attorney, I advise you to accept the sentence you already have and not give the court any reason to add to it,” Pete said.

That ended all discussion. Monty accepted a cup of coffee and a piece of toast—and wondered how much longer those things would be an ordinary part of a meal.