"I think that all he really cared about was his son." Davis told the assembled group that next day. They were in the police station, Joe having finally risen from his unwanted slumber, and all the others that had been involved in solving this case. Joey Vermiclin sat to himself at one side, his failure last night overshadowing the victory they had finally won. Oh yes, a victory, but at what a cost.

     "What about the ritual?" Randy asked.

     "It meant nothing to him." Davis replied. Will woofed in agreement while being casually petted by Jason. That was certainly nice, Will thought, he really could get used to that.

     "But all that preparation, everything he did, why do it if all he wanted was his son?" Bill asked, stupefied.

     "Simple." Davis replied. "He needed a distraction, something monumental, that would make the kidnapping of Stevie Engel look insignificant."

     "And in the process," Joey muttered, "he killed his ex-wife and son."

     "That is the one thing I regret." Davis added. "I wish his son had survived at least. It was not his fault, he was just caught up in events he could not understand."

     "Well," Taylor spoke, trying to bring the tone of the conversation back from it's sad tones, "at least we no longer have to worry about him. Now it should be back to the regular thing, just watching out for Cherry. No more psychos out there planning to perform some nutcase ritual that they don't even believe in."

     Just then they heard the telephone ring. Al Barclay had done his job again, the phones were back on-line and running. Jenny then came into the room. "It's somebody named Fred Wilbeshire, he's asking to speak with Will Bryant. Should I tell him you are occupied elsewhere at the moment?" Jenny asked Will, not really expecting him to take the call.

     NO

     Will then much to everybody's surprise slowly shifted, growing erect, but not changing back completely. Will shrugged at them, standing in his median form, head mostly canine, still covered in fur, and with a tail. "Don't got any clothes at the moment. I'll take that call, thanks Jenny."

     Will took the phone in hand, and called out, "Fred! I solved the Santa Claus case for you!"

     The others looked to each other again as Will continued talking on the phone. Joey looked disgusted, "How long has he been able to change back?"

     Davis and Randy both smirked. "Since last night. When we reconned last night, picking up Joe and all, he shifted." Davis explained.

     "Then why was he staying a dog?" Joey asked, not comprehending that at all. Why be a dog when you can be a man?

     "He kinda likes it." Randy remarked. "He says its just plain fun being a dog, so enlightening. I completely agree with him. Don't you like being a dog, Joey?"

     Joey shivered at the thought. "No, this lady who I work with blackmails me into being her dog on the weekend, and she treats me like one too! That's why I came here, to get away from here for a while." Joey didn't quite no why he was saying this, but at the moment he was exhausted, and just getting it off his chest made him feel better than not saying it would have been.

     "Well, I suggest you start liking it." Bill recommended.

     "Why is that?" Joey asked.

     "Because the last time you were here you only visited for about a week, and retained the ability for four years, that's a remarkable achievement. I'm sure you probably would have lost the ability in a few more months or so, I can't imagine it lasting too much longer." Bill explained.

     "What are you getting at?" Joey asked, afraid to know the answer.

     "Well, by coming back here, you may have skipped one weekend, but you've reset your clock. Your going to be able to be a dog for quite some time now, perhaps another four years." Bill explained. Randy, Taylor, and Joe had already started laughing, and Jason himself was mildly chuckling.

     Joey sat there in shock, not believing his turn of fortune. He had come to get away from here, but in the end only made himself more her dog.

     "Well, onto something a bit more heart-warming." Davis said. "We got word form the San Fransisco County Hospital. Harvey Shishido came out of his coma last night, and he's on the road to recovery. He'll be up and around within a week they estimate."

     "That's good to hear." Bill nodded. "Of course until then, we'll need somebody to run the clinic, how bout it Dr. V?"

     Joey wanted to glare at the man, but found his situation already bad off as it is, no need to make it worse. In all likelihood, he would stay here another week, as Will was the only reason he was here, and Will would probably make sure he would stay here. Then again there was another part of him, a more altruistic part, that told him he should stay, to see if he couldn't help repair the damage that had been done. After all injuries could come at any time, and while he didn't usually work with the living, he was more qualified than anybody else in town.

     "Fine, fine, fine. It seems I've already screwed myself over anyway, so what's the difference?" Joey said to nobody in particular.

     "Another four years." Taylor suggested. Joe casually slapped him for the remark, but both Bill and Davis chuckled, while Joey shook his head in a bit of self-pity.

     Will then got off the phone, and came back into the conversation. "I can explain the fourth pentagram."

     "Really, how?" Jason asked, intrigued.

     "Elliot this past year robbed toy stores at the points of the fourth pentagram. He always left something saying All For You at the site of the crime. He always dressed in a Santa suit as well. That's why he called himself Ole St. Nick. Apparently, that location in Colorado was a house that he had bought in the past year, and all the stolen merchandise was found there. It looks like that all he really did care about was getting his son back." Will explained.

     "That's interesting." Jason thought. Davis harumphed, and the others tried to keep the mood of the place up-beat though by making some wisecracks. Will decided that he probably didn't have anything else to say at the moment, so slid back into his full sheep dog form. He really was getting to like it, but he wondered what his friends at the office would say; probably not the best thing to find out.

     "I have some other good news." Davis told them all. "When I went in to feed the prisoner this morning, Tyler Goode told me that he wanted to stay in Barken, and he was being completely truthful. I hope that maybe I can let him go within another month."

     "I can't believe your little indoctrination thing worked." Taylor was stunned. "Who would have thought that by just having them write things down on paper they would eventually want to be one of us. A murdering' Cherrier now wants to be in Barken, that is too sweet."

     Davis smiled. "I'm glad it seems to be working too."

     Just then they heard the phone ring again. "Good gosh, is everybody going to be calling us this morning?" Taylor remarked, slightly annoyed.

     Jenny answered it, and she came back into the room, "Jason, it's Nathan, he says he has something important to tell you."

     Jason's whole demeanour changed right there. While before he had been smiling and slightly up-beat, he was now shaking like a leaf, and his face nearly completely blushed. He stammered a bit, "Okay, let me get it."

     Joey watched Jason go pick up the phone, and in fact he was not alone, for all were wondering just what Jason was so nervous about, all of them thinking different things, all of them now wanting to know.

     "Hi Nathan." Jason stammered a little weakly. "So how are things going?....What?....Your kidding....Your serious!....She is, oh my, I'm sorry, Nathan, uh..." they all looked to each other, whatever Jason had done, they were going to find out. Jason stood there on the phone, his face red, and the Husky in him coming out quite quickly, his tail already poking out from his pants. "How long before she's due?....Christmas? What a wonderful present."

     Will woofed once, and then in merriment started to howl; he had an inkling about what Jason was talking about, and he couldn't wait to find out for sure.