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spoke with the neighbors. One Mrs. Dana Webber was of the opinion that Mr. Delgado is, and I quote: ‘A crazy old bastard who needs to mind his own business.’ So no.”
    “But diligent law officer that you are, you decided to check the sidewalk,” Nick said.
    “I
am
known for my thoroughness,” Wu said. “And I found this.” He nodded to the liquid mass and grimaced. “Reminds me of something a cat would yak up. A very big cat.” He flipped his notebook closed and looked at Nick. “That’s when I called you two.”
    Wu didn’t know about Wesen or Nick’s identity as a Grimm, but he was highly intelligent and one hell of a cop. He might not suspect there was a possibility that something unnatural had occurred here, but he knew better than to completely dismiss Mr. Delgado’s story when there was some kind of physical evidence at the scene.
    “Did you call in CSU yet?” Hank asked.
    “Honestly, I was waiting for you guys to make that call,” Wu said. “Do you really think there’s a chance that glop is human remains? Acid couldn’t dissolve a body in the timeframe we’re talking about, right?”
    “I don’t know,” Nick said. “Let’s let the crime lab figure it out. And have the Coroner’s office send someone out, too. Just in case.”
    “You got it.” Wu took out his phone and stepped off to the side to make the calls.
    When Wu was out of earshot, Hank said, “You know anything that can do this to a person?”
    Hank didn’t speak the word
Wesen
, but Nick knew what his partner meant.
    “No. This is a new one on me.”
    “But you think it
is
something,” Hank pressed.
    “Maybe.”
    Wu finished his calls and rejoined them.
    “CSU’s on the way, along with the Deputy Coroner.”
    “Good,” Nick said. “Do you mind staying here to keep an eye on this… stuff until they get here? Hank and I need to talk to Mr. Delgado.”
    “And Mrs. Webber,” Hank added.
    “Sure,” Wu said, a sarcastic edge to his voice. “There’s nothing I’d love more than to babysit a giant puddle of phlegm.”
    “Then this is your lucky night.” Nick clapped Wu on the shoulder, then he turned to Hank. “Which do you want?”
    “I’ll take Mr. Delgado. It sounds like he’ll have the better story.”
    Nick smiled. “I’ll take Mrs. Webber then.”
    Wu directed Hank across the street toward Mr. Delgado’s house, and Nick headed to the Webbers’. He walked up the driveway, past the car and up the front steps to the door. He knocked, waited for a response, and when he didn’t get one, knocked again.
    This time the door opened, but only a crack.
    “Yes?” said a woman’s voice.
    Nick could only see one eye and part of her face.
    “I’m Detective Burkhardt.” He took hold of the badge her wore around his neck and held it up so she could get a better look at it. “Are you Dana Webber?”
    The woman didn’t bother looking at his badge. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on his eyes. There was an unsettling intensity in the way she looked at him, almost as if she were sizing him up somehow. Judging him.
    She opened the door the rest of the way and smiled. “That’s me.”
    Nick let his badge drop.
    “You spoke with Sergeant Wu earlier. I’m just here to follow up. One of your neighbors reported seeing something out of the ordinary outside earlier tonight, and I was hoping you might be able to answer a few questions for me.”
    He watched the woman closely to gauge her reaction to his request. A person’s response to a cop showing up at their door could tell you a lot about them. She didn’t appear nervous; if anything, she seemed happy to see him. Maybe too happy.
    Her smile widened until it was almost a grin, and she opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside.
    “Come in, please.”
    As he entered, a snatch of nursery rhyme drifted into his mind.
Come into my parlor…
    He told himself that he was being paranoid. Suspicion was an occupational hazard for a cop, and it had only gotten