She nodded and stepped back. “Okay, Tracker.”
”Sir, I must turn myself in for the murder of General Cady.”
Magnum sank back into his chair, eying Tracker and Antoinette silently. “What?” he said at last.
”I killed General Cady, and I did not need to. I could have subdued him.”
”I see,” Magnum said slowly. He glanced at Antoinette. “And I see now why you were in such a rush.”
She colored, but nodded, returning his look steadily. “Oui, m’sieur. I had to have the babies first.”
He turned and punched the communicator on his desk. “Legal. Strickland,” he said briefly. After a moment, it lit up. “Doctor Strickland. Need you in my office right away, please.”
”On my way, sir.”
They waited in silence until the door opened and Doctor Strickland, head of the legal branch of the Defenders, came in. Tall and spare, with a greying Van Dyke beard and glasses, he looked more like an artist than one of the greatest legal minds in America.
”Doctor Strickland, John and Antoinette Redd. I’ve talked with you a little about Animal’s charge against Mr. Redd. Mr. Redd now also has a self-inditement for murder. Take them to your office and start preparing your defense.”
In Doctor Strickland’s office, Tracker repeated his self-accusation, expanding on it under the lawyer’s careful probing. Then Doctor Strickland looked at his watch. He glanced at Tracker, then at the other lawyers and legal aides he’d chosen to help him in the case. “Tomorrow morning, ladies and gentlemen?”
Tracker shook his head once. “Psych testing.”
”The psychologist said for him to return tomorrow morning for more testing,” Antoinette amplified.
Doctor Strickland pursed his lips in annoyance. He glanced at one of his aides. “Mr. Riley, get in touch with Psych and see when they will be finished with him.” Riley nodded, and Doctor Strickland looked back at Tracker. “Can you come on over here as soon as you finish with Psych?” Tracker nodded curtly and stood, drawing Antoinette up with him.? As they walked towards the cafeteria, Antoinette said, “Tracker? Your eating habits are different now.”
He thought for a moment. “Yes, I suppose they are. The General fed me on raw meat and I guess I reacquired the taste for it.”
”But it worries me, mon coeur. It does not seem healthy, all that red meat without the grains and the vegetables. May I help you pick your meals, mon cher?”
He smiled down at her. “Of course, love.”
As they entered the cafeteria, she rubbed her cheek against his furred chest. “You go find a table for us, while I surprise you with a good meal. Okay?”
He touched her cheek with his tongue. “All right, love.”
Several minutes later, she arrived at the table carrying two trays. He sprang up but she motioned him back to his seat. “Permettez-moi, mon cher.” She put the trays down on a nearby table and placed a plate with a large slab of meatloaf, a nearly-raw hamburger patty, and a baked potato with butter, shredded cheese and crumbled bacon in front of him. She followed that with a small bowl of green beans, a glass of milk, a large piece of cheddar cheese and a bunch of grapes. She also placed a bottle of catsup and several different bottles of steak sauce on the table near him. Then she unloaded the second tray for herself: a smaller serving of meatloaf with corn, green beans, a small baked potato, a green salad, a glass of milk, a bran muffin, and a piece of chocolate cream pie.
He ate the blood-rare hamburger immediately, then took a bite of the meatloaf. His ears fell as he started chewing the well-cooked meat.
She ate, watching him carefully. “What is wrong, Tracker?”
”Nothing,” he replied, swallowing the meatloaf with visible effort.
She shook her head. “Do not try to teach your grandmother to suck the eggs. What is wrong?”
”This meatloaf is too bland, that’s all. No flavor.”
”But you used to love the meatloaf. Cut it into pieces, and we will try the steak sauces on them until we find one that gives it a better flavor.” He began cutting up the meatloaf as she opened the bottles.
