Minotaur: A Wholly Superior Creature

Part III - The Partner

It was close to nine when we pulled up to Roger's house.

We marched up the sidewalk to the front door. I knocked twice, then rang the doorbell.

The door opened. Roger was there in the empty space. I barely recognized him. While he was on the job he'd always been clean-shaven, now he'd opted for sporting a white, unkempt beard. His brown eyes regarded me heavily. I could see the gears working behind them. He looked at Father Daniel.

"Well shit," he said, his face grim.

"I know," I said.

Father Daniel looked at me curiously.

"I always thought it'd be the German Lutherans that got you."

"My Irish grandmother would spin in her grave," I said.

Roger and I both smiled at each other at the same time, finally cutting the artificial tension for Father Daniel.

"Roger Dale," he said.

"Father Daniel," the priest replied.

They shook hands.

"Sorry to knock so late. Is my girlfriend already in bed?"

"She's in the den, leaning toward knocking off, but I bet she perks right up seeing you."

He ushered us inside and closed the door.

Even though I'd only visited a couple of times, Roger's place always felt comfortable to me. Some people have houses that feel like spaces where they reside, but Carol and Roger had a home that felt warm, lived in.

Stepping across the threshold into the den, just opposite the hallway, I saw Carol pulling herself from the couch into her wheelchair. Her long, silver hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and when she looked up at me, she flashed a smile that belied a woman in her late fifties.

"There's my girl," I said. We met in the center of the den and I leaned down and gave her a hug. She squeezed me tightly around the shoulders.

"Sam Maxwell, what on Earth are you doing here?"

"Needed to chat with your bum husband. I see you finally got him working in that yard."

She rolled her eyes. "It only took thirty-four years."

"You're a saint for staying in the fight that long."

"Don't I know--" she looked over my shoulder at the gaunt Priest who entered behind me. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Honey," Roger said, as he stepped into the den. "This is Father Daniel."

Carol looked at me with a curious smirk.

"It isn't what it looks like," I said. "he's helping me on a case. Speaking of, mind if I borrow the old man for a few minutes?"

She slapped me on the leg playfully. "Have him as long as you like, I get plenty of him these days."

"You've never had it better," Roger said.

She spun her chair toward the kitchen. "I'll put on some coffee. You boys, please, have a seat."

Daniel and I took two armchairs and turned them to face the couch where Roger sat. I started in. "That beard is something else."

Roger chuckled. "Retirement is something else. Carol likes it, so what the hell, right?"

I nodded. "I wish this was more of a social call, but it isn't."

Roger's smile faded, his brow wrinkled. The gears were turning again, a small excitement leaked into his voice. "Case giving you trouble?"