Hello, my fellow Zootopians!

And yet another chapter that's quite heavy on medicine. But the stuff I talk about in here is essential to the story, so please, bear with me!

I'm looking at these stats right now: The story was read almost 27,600 times, I received 213 reviews, 151 favorites and 238 alerts. As always, I bow down in gratitude!

And these are the dedicated mammals who bestowed their wisdom upon me: GhostWolf88, PrincessRainbowSparkles, Dirtkid123, Combat Engineer, HawkTooth, Matri, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, gistech, and DrummerMax64. Thanks to you, my friends!

Both HawkTooth and DrummerMax64 came across the movie reference in chapter 19. I was, of course, referring to the infamous horror movie "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick, with the line "All work and no play makes Nick a dull boy" and the reference to an axe. Good work, you two! (HawkTooth even told me he grew up near the hotel where the movie was made and went there a couple of times. I'm sort of envious, you know …)

DrummerMax also pointed "Eat my shorts!" out as a "The Simpsons" reference. Terribly sorry, but as unbelievable as it may sound, I never watched "The Simpsons." I can't even say why, but I never liked the series, so watching it always seemed like little more than a waste of time. While I do know some clichés and catchphrases which stem from the series, simply because they're common knowledge by now ("D'oh!"), I had no idea that "Eat my shorts!" is one of Bart's signature catchphrases. I just wanted a catchy alternative to the much more common "Kiss my ass!" line, and my online dictionary offered "Eat my shorts!" as a suitable one. And that honestly is all there is to it. Sorry, DrummerMax, no points this time! (Insert evil laughter here!)

The disclaimer can be found in the first chapter.

Chapter Twenty-One

An Expert Opinion

Your story's so touching, but it sounds just like a lie.

The King Cole Trio: "Straighten Up and Fly Right" (Written by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills, released as a single, Capitol Records, 1943)

Adrian Bogo dropped the last file onto his desktop and shook his head. He had asked every officer who had responded to the incident at the kindergarten to file a preliminary report, but as it turned out, none of them had been able to give him anything worth mentioning. All of their reports were, ultimately, little more than useless.

Leads: zero. Clues: zero. Eye witnesses: zero.

His officers weren't to blame, he knew that. Each and every one of them had tried their utmost to find clues, to find witnesses, to shed a light on what had happened, but nobody had had any success. They had all arrived too late, long after the damage had been done, long after all the possible witnesses had left the scene. At the moment, Bogo's only hope was that some of the witnesses would make contact with them, giving them a full account of what had happened. And that hope wasn't exactly high.

And the only officers who might have been able to give him something tangible were out for the count at the moment.

Automatically, Bogo lunged for his phone and dialed the number of Zootopia General Hospital. After a few seconds, the phone was picked up.

"Zootopia General Hospital, my name's Marietta Cervo. How may I be of assistance?"

Bogo cleared his throat. "I'm Chief Bogo, ZPD. Good afternoon! There are two of my officers receiving treatment in your hospital right now. Can you tell me who the doctor responsible for their treatment is, and could you please patch me through to that mammal, ma'am, if he's available? I just want to know how they are."

"Of course, sir. One second." Bogo heard her make a few entries on a computer keyboard. "That would be Doctor Randall Antidorcas. Let me see if he has time."

Bogo had to wait for almost a minute, listening to Cervo making a few intercom calls. Even before she returned to the phone, Bogo knew he would be out of luck here as well.

"Terribly sorry, Chief, but Doctor Antidorcas is busy at the moment. However, he told me to tell you that surgery on Officer, hang on, Officer MacIntyre was successful. He'll make a full recovery, but he has to stay here for the time being."

"Of course. What about Officer Hefner?"

"Same deal. She'll recover just fine, but Doctor Antidorcas is fairly certain she'll be in need of some extensive counseling."

Bogo nodded. No surprise there. Experiencing something like that on the very first day on the job would have rattled everybody severely. Bogo wasn't known for being overly compassionate when it came to dealing with rookies, but he could only feel sorry for the poor girl. "Can you tell me when she'll be released from hospital?"

"Tomorrow, according to the Doctor. However, he doesn't think she'll be fit for duty any time soon. Not without counseling, that is."

"Understood. Anything new on the savage cheetah?"

"Uh, to be honest, I haven't heard anything. But …" She interrupted herself. "Wait a second. Doctor, where are you going?"

Another mammal could be heard, a male one, but he was talking so softly, Bogo wasn't able to understand even one single word. "Oh my!" Cervo exclaimed, adding a few seconds later: "I've got Chief Bogo on the line here. You wanna …"

There was a bit of rustling, then the male voice spoke up, loud and strong. "Chief Bogo? Zachary Pawson here."

"Oh. Doctor Pawson. Aren't you …"

Pawson interrupted him rather rudely. "If you wanna ask me why I'm no longer tending to the patients, well, I have suspended myself from office."

Whatever Bogo had expected, this wasn't it. "What? Why?"

Pawson heaved a sigh. "Because it is my fault that the savage cheetah is no longer with us."

Bogo flinched. "She died?"

"She did indeed."

Bogo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. The medics tending to Fitzinger had told him that, considering her numerous injuries, her old life was definitely over - it would take the doctors years to rebuild her face so that she would be able to lead a somewhat normal life again. One had even mentioned that, in case there was brain damage, it might be possible that she would not survive this. Still, hearing of her death …

Godspeed, Carrie! I hope you're at a better place now!

"Chief?" Pawson asked.

Bogo pulled himself together. "Sorry, Doctor. Just didn't like hearing that kind of news. What happened?"

"We're not exactly sure. During surgery, one of the lab assistants told us that they found the Nighthowler poison in the cheetah's blood. Hearing that, I decided to administer the antidote on the spot, particularly since we had enormous problems keeping her vitals in check. Which was a mistake on my part. For whatever reason, the antidote caused a massive increase in heart rate and blood pressure, so much that her heart wasn't able to cope with it and simply burst."

"Her heart burst?"

"Yes. Almost instantly. The antidote hit her system, she was dead five seconds later."

Bogo made a frown. Why was this sounding familiar?

Pawson continued: "And since I made that call, I have to take full responsibility. Which is why I have suspended myself. It was a grave professional mistake on my part."

"And what happens now?"

"Well, the last thing I did in my line of duty was to give orders to take the cheetah's corpse to your forensics lab. Maybe Doctor Peralta will be able to tell us what happened."

Bogo nodded. That had been the most logical, the only thing to do, particularly in regards of the fact that MacIntyre would be facing a disciplinary hearing afterwards. Not that the outcome would cause any harm to the fox - he had acted in self-defense, that one was obvious, and he had done so in spectacular fashion. And the injuries to the cheetah, while certainly sad and regrettable, had just been a logical consequence. "That's not what I meant. What'll happen to you?"

Pawson was quite a well-known figure at the ZPD. As the Chief Surgeon of Zootopia General, he had been responsible for patching up most officers at one point or another. Pawson had cut three bullets out of Bogo's abdomen once, Clawhauser still felt indebted to him for saving his leg, and Major Mastiff had been under Pawson's knife so often, they were on first name terms by now. His reputation had been so outstanding that the board of directors had made him Chief of Medicine, and nobody had ever questioned that decision. He had saved the lives of so many officers in the past, losing him would not only deal Zootopia General a hefty blow, but the ZPD as well.

"No idea. I made a terrible mistake, and I have only myself to blame for it. That's why I suspended myself. The Medical Council will take care of the rest. I screwed up badly here, I have to face the music."

Bogo shook his head. "On behalf of myself and the whole ZPD, let me just tell you that we wish you all the best of luck."

"Thanks, Chief! You'll hear from me, I hope."

"Looking forward to it, Doctor."

"And if not, well, you know. Take care!"

"You too, Doctor."

There was more rustling, then the dispatcher was on the line again, obviously not exactly sure what to say or do. "Uhm, er, Chief, is there anything else?"

"I don't think so. Can you keep me posted on any new developments?"

"Uh, I'd rather not, Chief. That's not part of my job description. Why don't you just give us another call later, when the dust has settled?"

"I will do that. Have a nice day." Bogo disconnected without waiting for a reply, then he leaned back in his chair and heaved a sigh.

This had certainly been about the most unwelcome piece of news he had received in a long time!

What was more, with what the horse had been saying during the informal press conference, Bogo couldn't shake the feeling that there was something brewing underneath all the obvious things.

Something quite ugly.

He was interrupted in his musings by a knock to the door. "Enter!" he shouted.

The door opened to reveal Armando Peralta, ZPDs forensic scientist. "Have a few minutes, Chief?"

Bogo looked down at his desk. "Looks like it."

"Good." Peralta entered the room. "Just received a call from Zootopia General. They'll be sending an ex-cheetah my way, but nobody would give me any details. Just wanted to let you know, in case you …"

Bogo interrupted him. "I know. Her name's Carrie Fitzinger, she is - was - a kindergarten teacher, and it seems like she turned savage amidst the children."

Peralta stared at him. "Beg your pardon?"

"You didn't hear the news?"

"No. I was quite busy with … she turned savage?"

"That's what they told me. Ripped seven mammals to pieces, injured eighteen more. It took one of our best martial artist experts to take her down, and she managed to break several of his ribs, when even Delgato wasn't able to touch him while sparring."

"Let me guess, it was that new fox kid, er, what was his name?"

"Rocky MacIntyre, and yes, it was him. You heard what he's capable of?"

"Well, the grapevine's been humming. Why didn't he just shoot the cheetah with a tranq dart."

"He did, or rather, his partner did. Seems like she just shook it off."

"The dosage must have …"

"Doctor, they shot her with a red tranq dart."

"Ah. So that's why she died."

"No. Like I said, she just shook it off. MacIntyre had to choke her until she was unconscious."

Peralta sat down on the chair. "How is this possible?"

"I hope you'll be able to tell me, once you have performed the autopsy."

"How did she die?"

"No idea. They told me that they found Nighthowler poison in her blood, so Doctor Pawson administered the antidote. Which obviously was a bad idea, because it killed her."

"How?"

"Heart rate and blood pressure went through the roof. Her heart simply burst."

"Her heart … wait a second! That's how Mrs. Cinerea died!"

Bogo sat up straighter. That's why it had sounded familiar! "Right, I remember. Left ventricle burst, right?"

"That it did." Peralta made a pause. "What about the medication Cinerea had received? The experimental treatment to clinical depression? What if that was just a ruse?"

Bogo narrowed his eyes. "You mean what if she was simply poisoned with a new kind of Nighthowler poison, one that we cannot detect anymore?"

"That's what I mean. What if Ramses was successful?"

"And what if he made the new poison react badly to the antidote, killing the victim in the process?"

"It would mean the antidote is no longer a viable method of treatment."

Bogo snorted. "And that's the mother of all understatements!"

Peralta pondered on this. "What if we're looking at the very same thing here? What if the cheetah was shot with a new kind of Nighthowler poison which killed her when the antidote was applied?"

"You need to look into this, Armando."

"It certainly seems so. But damn! That would be some bad …"

Right at this moment, Bogo's phone rang. Frowning, he picked it up. "ZPD, Chief Bogo."

"Hello, AJ. This is your favorite DA speaking."

Bogo smiled. "Andy! Good afternoon! How are you?"

A few years ago, Bogo would certainly not have talked to Andrew Horner in such a casual manner. As Zootopia's District Attorney, it was one of Horner's numerous responsibilities to issue search and arrest warrants against mammals who were suspicious of major crimes against Zootopia as a whole or against its citizens. As such, he should have been an important ally to the ZPD. After the Savage Predators case, however, he had found himself at odds with Bogo, when he had refused to issue a search warrant against the company of a councilmammal. Bogo had literally hustled him to give him the warrant, and Horner had - very reluctantly - given in, fearing a lot of nasty repercussions.

Repercussions that had never manifested themselves.

That had been the turning point. As nasty as the event itself had been, it had turned the rather awkward working relationship between the two of them into a highly fruitful one. From that moment on, whenever Bogo or some other ZPD officers had approached Horner in need of his assistance, he had at once, and gladly, provided it. And the success had proven everybody right. By now, Horner was commonly considered an incorruptible, tough-as-nails DA who would stop at nothing to make sure criminals were brought to justice. Which made him a kindred spirit to Bogo. And over time, their personal relationship had eased to a point where they had started addressing each other by their first names. Bogo wouldn't necessarily have called Horner a friend of his, but he considered him to be a strong ally, so being on friendly terms was him was just a logical consequence.

"I'm probably better than you are," Horner replied, his voice unusually grim. "My secretary told me there was an incident at the Montessowri Kindergarten, right?"

"There was indeed. A savage cheetah who killed …"

"Do you know that the cheetah in question's dead?"

Bogo stared at Peralta in puzzlement. "Yeah, I just learned of it, but how do you know? To the best of my knowledge, it has not been revealed to the public yet."

"Can't have been," Peralta said. "According to the guys from Zootopia General, she died," he checked his wristwatch, "less than an hour ago."

"Who's there?" Horner asked.

"That's Doctor Peralta, our forensics expert," Bogo said. "He'll perform an autopsy on the cheetah as soon as her corpse has arrived here. Wait." He switched his phone to open listening. "He can hear you now."

"Less than an hour ago, you said?"

Peralta nodded. "At 1321, to be precise. No way this could have made the news that fast."

"Are you sure that no pressmammal …"

Bogo interrupted him. "No pressmammal will have entered the hospital. At this moment, five of my officers are standing guard at Zootopia General to make sure nobody will be able to interfere."

"Well, then it seems there is a news leak at Zoo Gen itself."

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself. Homepage of The Sun. You can't miss it."

"The Sun? You read that wretched paper?"

"I try not to, but sometimes I need to."

Bogo opened his notebook to log onto The Sun's homepage. And when it appeared on the screen, his jaw dropped.

BREAKING NEWS

SAVAGE CHEETAH DIES DURING SURGERY

By Damdin Takhi

Even more bad news from Zootopia General Hospital. As if it hadn't been enough that a female cheetah killed at least seven mammals in a savage fit at Montessowri Kindergarten in Savanna Central today, it has been brought to our attention by well-informed circles that the mammal responsible, the kindergarten teacher Carrie F., 52, has died during surgery.

"Her whole face had been bashed in by the police officer who tried to subdue her," one eye witness reports. "Clear case of police brutality, if you ask me. She needed surgery, so our Chief Surgeon tried to save her. But then he decided to give her the Nighthowler antidote. And that one killed her immediately."

Further reports claim that the surgeon responsible for this gross professional misjudgment has been suspended from office immediately.

"She wasn't poisoned," another witness states. "No, she had just snapped, no idea why. Giving her the antidote was crazy, a stupid mistake! He should never have done this!"

After the cheetah's attack on harmless children, even Chief Adrian Bogo, 51, of ZPDs Precinct One stated that there was no evidence that the cheetah had been poisoned by the infamous Nighthowler serum. While he said that he "cannot rule out this possibility" of Nighthowler poisoning, he admitted that there have been no signs of it "that we were able to see."

Peralta, who had leaned forward to read the article himself, asked: "Wait a second, Adrian. Didn't you just tell me they found Nighthowler poison in her blood?"

"That's what Doctor Pawson told me," Bogo replied.

"This sounds like there was none to be found in the cheetah's blood."

"Sure seems like it." Horner gave a funny sound between a snort and a hiss. "You haven't even seen the best part yet."

"What do you mean?" Bogo asked.

"Scroll down. There's a little movie which, I think, will be most interesting to you."

Bogo did and came across a video still that showed a male chamois in his late fifties. The caption under the video read: "Roger Jaspers, M.D., talking about the Nighthowler antidote."

"Roger Jaspers? Never heard that name," Peralta said.

"Seems like he's a doctor from Swinss. Works at one of their local hospitals," Horner explained.

"Ah. What's he doing here?"

"I guess it's more important what he does, not why he's here."

Bogo snorted. "Do I really need to watch this?"

"You should, Adrian, believe me."

"Alright." Bogo clicked the video still, which turned out to be an interview.

The setting was quite informal - there was a building in the background, but Bogo was unable to tell where the mammal was standing. He was looking past the camera, obviously at a person who wasn't in the frame. This person said: "Ladies and Gentlemammals, I'm here at the Albert Weinstein College of Medicine, where a medical convention is taking place. My guest is Doctor Roger Jaspers, a chemical scientist from Bawsel, Swinss, who's here to conduct a symposium on neurotoxins. Thank you, Doctor Jaspers, for your willingness to answer a few questions."

"No problem, Mr. Takhi." The chamois's voice was rather high-pitched, but completely unremarkable, apart from a very faint accent. His face showed a benevolent smile.

"Now, as a chemical scientist," the other mammal said, "what is your take on this latest case of purported Nighthowler poisoning?"

Jaspers shook his head. "I do not believe for even one second that there was Nighthowler poison involved."

"What do you mean?"

"It should be obvious. The cheetah died during surgery. If I understand it correctly, she died when she was administered the Nighthowler antidote."

"That is what our sources claim. So?"

"Well, you must understand that most antidotes are poisons, too. For instance, soldiers receive little autoinjectors containing atropine, among other substances, before they go to battle. Should they be exposed to weapons of chemical warfare, to nerve gases like sarin or VX, they use these autoinjectors to administer a few milliliters of atropine. This counteracts the effects of the nerve gases, making sure the mammal survives. With me so far?"

"I am."

"Good. Now, atropine is, first and foremost, a poison you can find in certain plants like belladonna, mandrake, or devil's snare. While it certainly works against nerve gases, the fact remains that it is a poison. And when you overdose on it, it will kill you with utmost certainty."

"So you are saying that the Nighthowler antidote is a poison, too?"

"It definitely is. When it is administered to a mammal suffering from Nighthowler poisoning, it is highly effective, and if it has side effects, of which I am not entirely certain, those are certainly outweighed by their usefulness. However, when the mammal is healthy, it will have no positive effect. To the contrary, it will kill the unfortunate mammal."

"So that is why you think the cheetah couldn't have been poisoned with Nighthowlers?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying, yes."

"Thank you for your time, Doctor Jaspers!"

"It was a pleasure, Mr. Takhi."

With that, the short video ended.

Peralta snorted. "Well, that was certainly enlightening." His tone suggested that he thought the video had been everything but.

"What do you mean?" Horner asked over the phone.

"Almost every chemical substance on this planet is poisonous when you overdose on it. Look at cooking salt. It is essential to the mammal body - if you don't get it, you may lapse into a coma. It's cheap, it's very common, you'll find it in every kitchen on the planet. Completely harmless. But take too much of it, your body won't like it very much. A lot of mammals suffering from cardiovascular diseases overdose on cooking salt on a regular basis."

"So your Nighthowler antidote is a poison, too, Doctor?"

Peralta scratched his head. "You can bet it is, but I'm afraid I can't tell you just how toxic it really is."

"You don't know?"

"We never tested it on a mammal that wasn't poisoned with Nighthowlers, so I can't make any qualified judgment on just how dangerous it is when taken without the need for it. But it consists of quite a lot of chemical agents, some of which, when overdosed, are highly poisonous. So I'd say the end result is highly poisonous as well."

Peralta made a pause. "But what I don't understand is why that guy, whoever he is, is here in Zootopia right now."

"What do you mean?"

"There is no medical convention taking place at the Albert Weinstein College right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. I happen to be one of the mammals who helps organizing the annual convention which takes place there."

"Maybe the place …"

"No, Mr. Horner. There is not a single medical convention taking place in Zootopia at this very moment - the next one is in six weeks. I know that, because I will be a guest speaker."

"So you're saying that this …"

"It's a fake," Bogo said.

"It certainly seems so," Peralta said.

"It cannot be anything else but a fake. I don't need to know that there is no medical convention taking place here right now to be able to tell that one." Bogo pointed at the screen. "The cheetah died one hour ago. In that little time, this Takhi, whoever he is, managed …"

"He's the guy who drilled you with all that questions at the kindergarten," Horner said.

"He is? I didn't know who that guy was?"

Horner snorted. "Takhi's one of the worst troublemakers this city has ever seen. Whenever there's some sensationalistic story going around, you can bet he has his dirty hooves in it. Back when Takhi was still working for the Zootopia Tribune, he wanted to make believe that Cameron Caballus was a child molester. Fortunately for Caballus, that one backfired badly."

"What happened?"

"Well, the so-called victim Takhi presented the public with turned out to be a hired actress. That was enough for the Tribune's editor-in-chief to give him the boot. He's with The Sun now. A match made in hell, if you ask me."

"Interesting. Anyway, this Takhi not only learned that the cheetah died, he also had the time to write an article on the subject and managed to find an expert on the subject who was able to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear. Just how probable do you think this is?"

"Particularly since it fits so well to the questions he asked you, Adrian," Horner stated.

"My thoughts exactly."

"So you think this doctor is fake as well?" Peralta asked.

"No idea. Seems like he knew his stuff, but a good actor should be able to pull that one off. In the end, it doesn't even matter. He certainly serves the purpose."

"Which is?"

"Telling the people of Zootopia that there is no Nighthowler poisoning."

"Which in turn means there probably is," Horner said.

"Which in turn means that this Takhi is in league with the people behind all this," Bogo said with a nod.

Peralta got up. "In other words, you need me to find the smoking gun."

"So we can put a stop to it before it gets out of hoof."

"I'm on it." Peralta turned around and left the office.

"And what do we do with Takhi?" Horner asked.

Bogo narrowed his eyes. "Right now, I can do nothing. I have a suspicion, that's all. If I act on it, every lawyer will read me the riot act, and rightfully so. I need something tangible, which I don't have at the moment. But I will keep a close eye on this, believe me."

"You better. Keep me posted, will you?"

"Certainly. Have a nice day." Bogo disconnected and leaned back in his chair. "Something is rotten in the state of Zootopia," he said to no one in particular.

Again, not much action here, but a lot of quite nasty repercussions. And Pawson sure is a poor fellow, ain't he?

In case you wanna know more about Zootopia's District Attorney, Andrew Horner, just look the guy up yourself - "How to Treat a Festering Wound," chapters 6 and 11.

Albert Weinstein is an obvious pun on the mighty Einstein. By the way, "Weinstein" is the German word for cream of tartar, commonly known as winestone.

"Bawsel, Swinss" is my version of the Swiss town of Basel, the third-largest Swiss town. The name "Roger Jaspers" is an amalgamation of two people closely connected to Basel, professional tennis player Roger Federer, who was born there, and Karl Jaspers, a world-famous psychiatrist and philosopher. Born in Oldenburg, Germany (which is quite close to where I live, actually), in 1883, he was married to Gertrud Mayer, a woman of Jewish heritage, which caused the Nazis to put a lot of pressure on him. He was banished from teaching and wasn't allowed to publish books, but he was able to continue his research. Friends of his offered enough protection for him and his wife to stay in Germany until after World War II, which is when he relocated to Basel. He later became a naturalized Swiss citizen and died in Basel in 1969, three days after his 86th birthday.

There's one rather obvious Shakespeare quote in here. That one should be a pushover!

I also added a reference to a song from Linkin Park in here. Should also be quite easy.

But in case you're wondering, no, the plants I mention in this chapter are no sly reference to Harry Potter. It just so happens that all the plants J.K. Rowling mentions in the Harry Potter series (particularly mandrake or devil's snare) are real - they belong to the nightshade family and produce atropine. The stuff I mention about atropine being an antidote to neurotoxins and in use by soldiers during wartime is true as well - I learned about this way back when I was a soldier myself. One of my comrades, who thought he was really clever, even picked the berries from a belladonna shrub and ate them, completely ignoring the fact that they contain quite the potent poison - and it's not that our drill instructors hadn't told us. Well, stupid is as stupid does, I guess … (And no, this isn't a hidden quote either.)

Thanks for reading, and if you could find the time and let me know what you think of this, I'd be grateful!

Take care!

J.O. aka TheCatweazle