“Young Wolves misbehave and make mistakes too,” Simon said. “But for the well-being of the pack, the young must learn from mistakes and be disciplined when they misbehave.”
<The Lizzy is just a pup,> Nathan grumbled. <We won’t nip her that hard.>
<But we will nip,> Blair said.
<If the Lizzy stays in the Courtyard, of course she’ll get nipped for misbehaving, same as any other pup,> Simon agreed. They just wouldn’t tell Montgomery. And if the Lizzy was smart, she wouldn’t tell him either.
“I appreciate you allowing us to stay in the Courtyard while I sort things out,” Montgomery said. “I’ll make sure Lizzy understands she has to follow your rules.”
“We’ve been here long enough,” Blair grumbled.
Simon nodded.
“We talked to a bakery on Market Street and have some samples of the food Nadine Fallacaro can offer for Tess,” Montgomery said. “If the food meets with Tess’s approval, she can talk to Ms. Fallacaro about placing an order for A Little Bite.”
“I’ll help them load the bakery boxes and the cooler, Lieutenant,” Burke said. “Why don’t you pack what you’ll need for a few more days?”
“And don’t forget to take out the waste in the kitchen,” Simon said. “In a couple more days, even other humans will be able to smell it.”
They went out. Blair opened the minivan so that Nathan could get out of sight while Simon walked across the street with Burke to fetch the food.
“The food in the cooler should be put in a fridge as soon as you get back to the Courtyard,” Burke said as they walked back to the minivan.
Something in Burke’s voice reminded Simon of an annoyed Grizzly.
“When Wolves are hunting, they’ll follow the scent of prey a long time,” Simon said. “You didn’t think the predators would follow the Lizzy?”
“They’re not after Lizzy,” Burke growled as he and Simon placed the bakery boxes and cooler on the floor behind the front passenger’s seat. “They’re after the jewels. And these people have already killed a woman and broken into a police officer’s apartment because of those jewels.”
“Can’t you keep Boo Bear in the cage?” Just saying the word cage made Simon’s canines lengthen, but he tried not to make any other shifts.
“Arrest the bear as a jewel thief?” Burke sounded amused.
Not making fun of me, Simon decided. Just amused by the idea. Still, it was an opportunity to ask questions. And if Burke wouldn’t tell him, he’d just ask Kowalski or Debany why it was amusing.
“On TV shows, the police have a cage for evidence,” Simon said. “Doesn’t your police station have a cage like that?”
“It does.” Burke no longer looked amused. “But I think those jewels need to be tucked away in an undisclosed location until we find out where they came from—and who wants them back. Whoever killed Elayne Borden shouldn’t profit from it.”
Simon studied the police captain. Then he took out his mobile phone and called Jester Coyotegard, someone who delighted in mischief.
“Pony Barn,” Jester said.
“It’s Simon. If you wanted to keep a bag of jewels away from bad humans but didn’t want them to know you kept the jewels, what would you do?”
“Go to Sparkles and Junk and replace the jewels with sparklies that are about the same size and color,” Jester replied promptly. “Of course, if I was planning to give the real jewels back to someone in the future, I wouldn’t leave them with the Crows.”