Chapter 48

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Kris had a feeling that the food today wouldn't be good. They were going in last for a start, dropping well behind in the physical exercise session, no small thanks to a certain hare. He'd felt a shiver remembering that he was lining up next to Luke Ruta when they went out into the yard that morning, the older and consequently larger leporid on his right, while Armando stood, almost chilling as usual, on his left. Yet the hare was different.

Much different.

It wasn't just his ears that seemed to be injured. Sure, many of his flinches of pain or discomfort came from the two appendages, his paws tended to be raised over them, rubbing or giving them shelter as they themselves hunkered down close to the back of his head. A valiant attempt, yet futile, given that a brisk and gusty wind kept on assaulting them, earning twinges and shivers. No, it seemed clear that other parts of him had been hurt too. When he moved to kick a ball, he'd often flinch back, some hard ones even earning a visible chew of his top lip. His tail, too, seemed affected, given that, on the occasions where they could sit down, he made sure not to put any weight on it.

All these added up, and he became the bottleneck in many of the challenges, dropping balls here or only managing a slow kick there, all while lagging behind in the running exercises. With all the glares and cusses he'd been earning, Kris wondered if the real punishment that Timofey had brought upon him had only just begun.

After all, whether they knew or not, a lot of angry hungry mammals would have a convenient scapegoat for their lousy meals, and could well chip in into making the big bunny suffer. Such tactics were used in military training after all, weren't they?

And now, coming up to lunch, Kris couldn't help but think on further. He hadn't been here long enough to know if there was a menu routine or something, but someone like Timofey (or for that matter, all the other, clearly annoyed, mammals) would. And fitting in Luke's punishment on a day where the food was a mix of crap, crap, crap, crap and super good would certainly pile the hate on the hare.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

He walked on with the rest, down the hall and straight through the holding area. The canteen was emptying quickly, so they walked straight on through. His eyes only momentarily looked up at the TV screen, playing the news; he felt his heart flutter as he read the scroll bar: 'ZPD states that Anonymous Vulpine picture was faked'.

He sighed with relief as he walked on and grabbed a tray. Good… They had figured it out, and so soon too. That was out of the way, even if it had messed up everyone's plans out there. That plan with the hippo, for a start, though if that had been just a minute or two later it wouldn't have mattered. As for that vote thing… -He didn't know when that was set, though he thought they'd mentioned it being in the morning. His heart was sinking again. Another thing that may have been messed up, but for how long he didn't know. Did it matter? After all, be it that hippo or someone else on the outside, there was someone who wanted him in this place, and was happy to fight dirty to do it. It was why he had to be strong, he had to make sure they didn't win anyway he could. Keeping himself together was that way, for now, given how distant they were. Though he supposed that at least they were out there, and not in with…

In…

His fur stuck up on and and his tail fled between his legs as a shiver ran down them.

Why was the news playing in here?

He glanced around, seeing nothing untoward, before staring down at his tray as he nudged it along with the crowd.

The news was supposed to be off in here, the guards had said so. But if it was on, and had been playing news about him all this morning…

-Wait a second. He closed his eyes and thought back. What was playing on them this morning?

He winced a bit. He couldn't remember. Why couldn't he remember? All he needed to remember was whether they were playing the little kit cartoons they usually did, or were on the news. Come on Kris, that was easy, why couldn't you?

But no, all he could remember was that he'd been looking at Luke Ruta all that time. Why couldn't he have been more situationally aware, or…

Hold it.

Calm down.

First off, he didn't want to look conspicuous.

Secondly, just because it was on in the morning didn't mean they were covering his case.

Thirdly,

"-Busy daydreaming?"

His eyes widened and he looked up. His turn for lunch. "Sorry," he began, before glancing around. Boiled leaves mix, that wasn't for him, and even if it was it looked greatly abused by the cooks. The only other main left was a fungus-based meat-substitute and vegetable…

Mush…

"That," Kris mumbled, absently asking for some peas and sweetcorn on the side. Probably the highlight of this meal. He'd guessed it would be a bad food day. As if to emphasize that, he heard a goat further ahead loudly saying that they could have gotten vegetable enchiladas had they not come in last due to someone. The fox's ears ticked up; as if coming in last wasn't already bad for Luke, he'd not just denied the preds of their standard 'bail out' pizza, he'd robbed the prey of something that sounded good even to him.

Still, matter at paw.

Nobody in his group had brought it up, so if it had been on the chances were they hadn't seen it in the morning, even though they'd had a short wait. More likely though, it hadn't been, or at least it hadn't been covering him. Which still meant that other groups might have seen the DA himself talk about his case, in which case it was only a matter of time before it filtered through and reached his group.

Grabbing a dessert he probably wouldn't eat and a very large amount of ketchup, to let him eat his main course, he began walking over to a seat. Of course, thinking about this morning was irrelevant, wasn't it? It had been on this lunchtime and, even if his group had gone straight in and hadn't looked, how many others had? And again, different mammals in different blocks would talk, and it was only a matter of time until it would reach him…

Except…

All it said was 'Anonymous Vulpine'. They wouldn't know who that was, would they? He suddenly felt a lot better, managing a light smile as he smothered the unappealing food with the red stuff and began forcing it down. It could be a fox, any fox, and while there were only a pawful in this prison (naturally, given that foxes, and pretty much any species for that matter, were very much a minority, so would be here too given that all those stereotypes were a steaming pile of cuss), it didn't specify his age or even gender, would it? Heck, it didn't even specify that he was in a prison at all! Or his 'crime' for that matter.

So, fingers crossed, the lunchtime incident wouldn't cause any issues. And if anyone had a suspicion or anything, he could deny it.

Though, if it'd been on in the morning, when, from what he'd gathered from his friends outside, the DA would have been on and ranting on and off…

Well, then maybe they'd had a good long look, and it was only a matter of time until…

He gagged a little on the food, and not just from the taste. Forcing the last of the main course down, he moved to the side vegetables, tolerable if plain. Looking up, he saw that Matt hadn't bothered with it and was happily lapping up his dessert, the same purple dessert that Kris had, like a baby kit, complete with a heavily stained muzzle.

It reminded him of Ash.

Still, he wasn't that fond of it, so he nudged his one over, the little wolf's eyes lighting up.

And then there was a yelp from behind. Luke was up, wiggling about, sniffing as he tried to reach the zipper at the back of his suit. Kris realised that the area underneath it was wet and, taking a few sniffs, he smelt dessert. The laughing mammals around him were now calling him out to dance, some even clapping or throwing bits of food up at him as if it were money and he was a lap dancer.

Yes, there were the wolf whistles, though it was the kangaroo, Luka, doing it, one of his paws stained the same purple that rimmed the back of Luke's collar. The hare himself, sniffing, yipped out that it was down below his tail now, the macropod instantly responding with a hearty spank on his rear, catching the previously wounded appendage.

The hare squeaked and froze.

"Hey," Luka said, a smirk on his face. "We all know you secretly enjoyed it, don't we?"

Luke, sniffing and crying like a leveret, limped out.

Kris was silent, following out back to the cell block. On the way though, he kept his eyes out, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a particular otter walking the other way. "Uh, Terrance?"

The giant river otter glanced down at him and blinked. "Ah, Kris. Doing okay?"

The silver fox blinked, glancing around at the grey prison walls. One of his paws idly picked at his striped prison suit, before he shrugged. "I guess I'm not in pawcuffs… So, yes…?"

The guard chuckled. "I know it's tough, but it's good to keep your spirits up like that, champ."

"Thanks, uh…"

"You know, one time I happened to get my paws on seven harmonicas. I taught a bunch of the guys how to play that song."

Kris' eyes raised. "That song?"

"Oh come on, you know!" He put his paw over his mouth. 'Dooo-dooo-doooo-dooooooooo… Dooo-dooo-doooo-doooooooo…. Dooo-dooo-dooooo-dooooooooo-doooooooo-doooooooo-dooooooo-doooooooo…"

Kris chuckled. "Right, that song. Kind of obvious now."

"Yup," Terrance said, glancing to the side. "It annoyed some guards, but the warden and I tend to have the same opinion. If you want to keep a lot of bored teens out of trouble, give them something silly to do."

Kris nodded on.

"-I'm currently working on a project with a different cell block. They have an elk in there who does the most crazy Johnny Cats impression I've ever heard. A few others there play instruments, and I'm not going to give that opportunity up."

"Yeah," Kris smiled. "Time limited and all."

"Uh-hu," the otter agreed. "The warden joked about me struggling to get them ready, and them leaving before I was done. 'Right, you can have those, but leave me him, him, him and him.'"

Kris' ear ticked up a bit, before he shrugged it off. "Well, I look forward to the performance."

Terrance paused. "Well, fingers crossed you never get to see it, am I right?"

Kris let a little smile flick across his muzzle. "Maybe I could come in and visit, who knows?"

"Oooooh," the otter sighed, running his fingers together. "All the wardens are very cautious about letting civvies in like that. -Goes back to a nasty incident that happened at the small-females penitentiary with a travelling magician."

"Right," Kris trailed off.

Terrance just shook his head. "Urghhhhh… -Anyway, I was looking for you. Important news, for later. A cop is coming up to question you again later today and, as they want anything you say to be allowed as evidence, your father will be coming along too."

Kris shook, stepping back and gasping, a swirling mix of feelings he couldn't put a paw on flowing through him, knocking him down and then cradling him as they lifted him back up again. Paws over his heart, he had to take some breaths to steady himself. Dad…

Terrance just smiled. "I thought you'd like the sound of that."

"Y-yeah," he said, his grin growing. "Dad…"

The otter nodded. "Right then, better get going…"

"-The news was on."

Terrance froze. "Huh?"

"The news was on," Kris repeated, "in the holding area." Looking up he spotted some others walking past, and carried on. "It's just been on kits programs while I've been here so… change, I noticed."

The otter blinked a few times, only for his eyes to widen. "Right," he said, nodding. "Noted. Anything interesting on?"

Glancing up again, Kris replied. "Some stuff about an Anonymous Vulpine, whoever that may be, it didn't say and I don't think anyone noticed. Maybe it said more in the morning, but I can't remember it being on then. Can't remember it not being, either."

Terrance's paws were shaking. "Right. Noted. I'll just look that up," he said, giving a firm nod.

Kris did too, and off he went, sighing with relief. It was going to be looked into, finger crossed nobody had seen it, and he was going to see his father today. It was going to be okay. Of course it was. He just needed to remain calm, on top of it, and…

"-What are you doing at the back?" He turned to see Sarrahson marching up behind him. "Answer me, Fox. You're behind everyone, what are you up to?"

"I was talking to Terrance, the guard," he replied, only for her eyes to narrow, her truncheon raised.

"Quit that lip right now," she ordered, before pointing it forward. "And get moving."

Knowing the debate wasn't an option, Kris did just that, even as she gave a few light jabs in his back to move him along. "What were you talking about?" she asked.

"The police are coming to talk to me later, about…"

"About that photo they found of you," she said, and he could hear the smugness in her voice. "No use hiding from it now, criminal. You really thought you could dupe everyone, didn't you? Ha, and they call me the speciesist, when you look down on literally every other one. But it's over now pelt. Your game is up, there's no place to hide, especially as I'm pretty sure that plenty of the other boys saw some interesting stuff in the news just now. Did you, huh? Some news reports, about little old you!"

"You turned it over."

"No cuss. Those idiots you duped did their little thing to defend you. But now your little innocent facade is swept away outside, and I feel that the others deserve to know! There's nothing left for you to do now but sign that confession."

"I saw a report on the lunchtime news," Kris said, looking back and seeing her waiting for it. "About an 'Anonymous Vulpine'." She smirked some more. "The ZPD were saying that the picture was faked."

Her grin froze for a second, before flashing into a snarl as she raised her stick and almost sent it screaming down onto him. Kris jumped out of the way, only for her to halt, mid-swing. She stood there, snarling, staring at him as she rammed it back into its holder, having to repeat the process a few times until she finally got it in. "You almost tripped me up there, fox," she snarled. It was only then that Kris noticed a nearby camera. "But, you're unharmed, for now. But I'll pay you back for that lie…"

"And if it isn't a lie?" he asked.

"I will alway know it is," she warned, pointing at him. "And I will get you for it, and I will make you suffer. Trust me, I have my ways."

They stared off at each other, before the sound of a door unlocking behind them caught Kris' attention. A guard, Kris didn't know his name, looked out. "Need help?"

Sarrahson looked down. "Just take the criminal back in," she said, and off she went.

Silently, Kris walked back in and walked over to Timofey. He was worried again. He now knew it was her, she'd said as much, but she'd threatened him back…

But he had friends, didn't he? He could tell Terrance! After all, he knew that prisoners would turn on him if he told on them, but he didn't think they'd care for the guards. Then again, if something wasn't done, what might Sarrahson do to him? He paused as he walked past a cell and glanced inside. Luke Ruta was in there, curled up on his bed, paws over ears, sniffing and whimpering. He didn't like bullies, but this bully… No, far worse than a bully, given what he'd done to get in here and, arguably, what he'd done when simply grabbing his tail… In any case, he was getting bullied now by everyone, as they felt like it was what he deserved.

Kris walked on, not sure what to think, yet feeling uncomfortable about it. It was then that he felt a chill run down his spine. If they found out about him, what did he deserve?

.

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Walking onto the forecourt, Judah 'Jack' Longear let himself slump down, dragging his feet ever so slightly. Calm, low down, more relatable to the eager little weasel currently showing him through the forecourt.

"-Each one of these vehicles has been restored and upgraded," he was carrying on. "More importantly though, when we mean exclusive, we mean exclusive! A standard van will likely have all the little things you could expect. But what about the things you don't expect, huh? I see you're with a fox, and let me tell you something, I've heard foxes love their coffee. Or what about you, are you a dust bath bunny instead of a shower bunny? The list goes on, and the basic van you get can be upgraded with all sorts of mod-cons and bolt ons, the first three free of charge, and highly reasonable rates for more. As my sign says, exclusive wheels, which you can get for an exclusive deal."

Jack, meanwhile, was pondering over all that had been said. It was clear that Samuel Stoatsmith (the senior) was a people pleaser, one who knew how to butter up mammals, leave a good impression, and then swing that around in his favour. He also had the sense that he was a clever businessmammal -the fact that this hire company seemed to be doing well notwithstanding. Nick would probably be impressed by the 'mod-con hire' thing being pitched. Speaking of that and Nick, though, he had an opening.

"None of the foxes I know like coffee," Jack said. "We must know different foxes."

And then he waited. Nick loved coffee. Duke knew Nick, if only lightly. Did Duke know about Nick liking coffee, and if so, did Duke tell Sam?

"Well, it's from what I've heard. Each to their own."

Getting warmer. Jack smiled. "Ah, fair enough," he led on. "From that cousin you mentioned?"

"That's the one."

Oooooh, that's a bingo!

"It's always the cousins, isn't it," Jack went off, in a friendly tangent. "I had one who lived down in San Dingo. Joined the army aged eighteen, only to get into a tank accident and find god as a result. He's a priest now."

"Well, he's a better mammal than my cousin for certain," Sam announced, before halting where he stood. Paws out, he beckoned to a vehicle the size of Finnick's van, decked out for mobile living. "But however good he may be, he'd have a hard time beating this!"

"I'm not so sure," Jack said, waving a finger. "How well does it do confession?"

Sam burst out into a laugh, genuine at first though, by the end, Jack was certain that he was exaggerating it. A butter-upper for certain, though the bunny was certain he could match it. Indeed, finally he had a worthy opponent, and their battle would be legendary!

"You got me there," Sam said, before waving over. "Now, I think that this is just the right size for your mate to drive, and it comes with a booster seat and pedal extensions for yours truly. Now, small as it may seem, it has one big bonus!" Off he skipped, scurrying up a ladder attached to the outside, or rather climbing up one of the poles, not even bothering with the steps. On the roof was what looked like a large roof box. However, as Sam scurried around, undoing clips at each corner, it began to shift until, suddenly, it popped up. "Ta-da!"

Indeed, a whole other floor had appeared, a pre-made tent perched on top of the vehicle. "Now, what we have here is your sleeping quarters, with a solid roof and both an outer waterproof layer and an inner bug net. And, if you're happy to jump up here…"

Jack smiled and took a leap, his eyes widening slightly as he realised he was going further than expected. He hadn't stopped his exercises and, though his limbs had a dull background ache from it all, he was feeling more nimble and athletic. His happy moment was cut short when he saw the ladder coming up and, ungracefully, collided with it, holding on for a second or two before stepping up the last few rungs and into the upper tent.

Inside, a double air mattress took up either end, while the raised roof included lights and a smaller air conditioner for heating and cooling. Sam smiled. "You like?"

Jack smiled too. Let the buttering begin. "I don't like, I love!"

"Yeah, of course you do, my own design of course," Sam boasted.

"Really? Wasted on this thing? Why don't the big companies have you onboard?"

Yup, there was a slight blush from the weasel. "Well… none of them employ around here, do they? Can't leave my family. -Besides, I'm not gonna let others get rich off of my craftmammalship, am I? By the time I pass this stuff over to my son, we'll be making more than any of those corporate sellouts."

Jack just nodded as they walked out. "And packing it up?" he asked.

Sam just jumped into the passenger seat and pressed a button. Hey-presto, the roof came down again, the sides folding in and the clamps locking shut. "Now, inside and behind the front you have your own shower room and toilet," he carried on, scurrying to the back and opening the doors. "Giving you an open plan living space with one heckuva view!"

Jack looked in and walked around. It was clean, nicely laid out, the kitchen was small but had the basics you'd want while the seats looked comfy. There was even a running wheel! "Not too shabby," Jack said, bouncing up and down on his heels. "It's just… not the one."

"Ah," Sam said. "Well, plenty more fish in the sea," he announced, before hopping out. Jack followed him, only to pause as the mustelid looked over into the distance. A dark furred lion and a tiger were on the edge of the lot, talking and looking over and in, while Sam looked out. "Might have some more customers in a bit. Happy looking around yourself, if…"

"-I'll wait," Jack replied, though it didn't matter, the pair were walking away.

"Phew," Sam said, wiping his brow and waving Jack over to the next vehicle, beginning to extoll its virtues. Jack, though, glossed over it. For an entrepreneurial mammal like him to be relieved when two potential customers turned away had to mean something.

"-You know," Jack cut in. "Those two looked familiar."

"I…" Sam cut off. "Hmmm…" he pondered, "where do you know them from?"

"Zootopia."

"Oh," the weasel said, sounding a little more than disappointed. Time to push it.

"Anything the matter?"

"Oh, no no... It's nothing."

"I have friends in high places back there, if you know what I mean," the hare pitched.

Sam paused, his face twitching with thought, before he spoke. "It's probably just a coincidence, but that cousin… he's not what you'd call an upstanding moral law-abiding citizen like myself… -Said that one of the reasons he was leaving the city for a bit was due to a scary lion and tiger who were pushing him around, or something or else… -Probably gang enforcers trying to extort him or something, though if they're out here…"

His foot tapped nervously, while Jack had to hide his smile. It sounded like Duke, though it also gave a different reason to escape out here once his community service was completed. Then again, Sam had said one of the reasons…

"One of the reasons?"

For a moment he thought he'd taken it too far. The weasel looked at him, eye narrowing for a second, before he shrugged. "He gets burned out of city life every now and then. I tend to give him a freeby in one of our older vans, just so he can run and cool off. I don't like him, but he's still family, and giving him that favour is my get out of jail free card if any other relatives try and nudge me into giving him more support 'cause I can afford it', or something…"

Jack nodded, backing off. "Yeah," he said, scratching his head. "City life can really burn you here and there. But that's what campers are for!"

Sam smiled. "You're goddamn right!"

And with that, on the tour went, Jack nodding along and making small talk and strong praise, indulging Sam as he showed off his stock. Let him forget about the pushing over his cousin for now, given that it wasn't needed. It had to be Duke, and so the goal was to now work out which vehicle he was in and, ideally, where it was.

Half an hour later, after touring a wolf sized van with universal size controls and a double decker luxury living space (three, if you counted the roof-tent), Jack began steering the conversation back to where he wanted. "You know, these are all great. They're brilliant! But… they're not right, if you know what I'm saying."

"Well, no…" Sam began, before a happy finger went up in the air. "But I will soon. After all, that's what we're here to find out. The customer is always right, as they say."

Jack nodded, before sitting down, thinking.

Meanwhile, Sam clicked his fingers. "Of course, maybe your mate wants some in-put. If there's one thing that's more always right than the customer, it's the girl after all."

"Hmmm," Jack mused. "Well… -Of course!"

"Ah-ha, got it?" Sam asked.

"All those times she talked about camping around the place," Jack began, standing up and pacing. "-She kept on talking about it could be an old-school road trip, doing it the old fashioned way, ignoring all those fancy mod-cons, not that I don't appreciate how moddy and conny all your ones are, of course…"

"Of course," Sam agreed.

"-What she wants, and what I envisioned, was a classic road trip. And all these wonderful vehicles don't feel classic."

"Well, do I have good news for you," Sam led on. "I said it at the start, and I'm happy to say it again, we've got all the right campers for your inner flower child and…"

"-No, no, not hippy style," Jack interrupted, pausing. He reached into his pockets and brought out a bunch of papers, scanning through them. "We printed off a few stock pictures before, just to get an idea, even though we thought we'd find what we wanted here instead. -But, thinking back, there's one that… -Ah, ha!" Out came a piece of paper, one vehicle folded so that it was front and centre. "That! The old movie classic. That guy would be perfect!"

Sam just looked on silent for a moment or two, Jack letting one of his ears droop down, before he laughed. "Oh dear. Oooops… -Uh, two problems with that."

"Which are?" Jack asked, letting one of his shoot out in a very confused looking askew direction.

"Well, one, that's the one I let my cousin go and borrow."

"-Really," Jack butted in. "Grass seeds, it's probably all the way over at crater lake right now."

"Ha! Almost. He always pitches up and sulks around Howard Prariedog lake when he's in one of his moods. Pop-pop and my family went there so many times it's basically a nothing to me, but I guess the few times his Ma would hike over and join in made it special to him."

"Right," Jack said, brilliantly suppressing his utter glee at the news. "Well this isn't for right now, as I said. Chances are by the time we're ready, he'll be back in the big Z."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "But, no offense here, how is your mate going to fit in? It's a weasel sized camper, after all."

"I…" Jack began, before his eyes widened. He slapped himself. "Ooops, customer wasn't right there."

"Ha, you can say that again."

"Customer wasn't right there."

"Well put. However, I have great news. We have a big wolf sized version with a compatibility system, so both of you can drive and have tons of space to boot!"

"Perfect," Jack cheered, keeping up appearances. "Show me."

And so Sam did, Jack gushing over the 'authenticness' of it and taking pictures for Skye, before being led back to the office. A knock on the door and she came in, holding the sleeping Junior in her paws, rocking him gently.

"Hey, that one's mine, you know?" his father said, crossing his arms.

"Yup, and that's why you get to change his soggy tail."

Samuel Stoatsmith Senior just rolled his eyes before waving her over, grabbing his son's scruff right out of Skye's paws and hoisting him over the back of his shoulder. "Right, you have my details for whenever?"

"We do," Jack agreed, and after a quick few goodbyes they were out.

Walking on, the hare smirked. "I thought you said a hare sized peg had filled that certain hole."

Skye's eyes narrowed and she halted, boinking him on the head with one of her crutches.

Jack paused, rubbed it, before, rigid as a board, falling to the ground. Skye burst into a round of chuckles as he rolled over, leapt right back up and took a bow.

"Come on," she said, before whispering. "Let's get out of range."

They carried on for the next minute or so, Jack looking at his phone before breaking the silence. "Duke was here, he's in that camper, apparently he always goes to a lake that's actually really close. We could race over and have a look right now if we want."

"We have to," Skye said.

"Though if he's going to that place again," Jack mused, trailing off. "Maybe it is a coincidence?"

"No," Skye said, her voice hard as iron. Jack looked up to her, an eyebrow raised. "He's the one who framed Kris."

.

.

The glare of a computer screen filled up Nick's eyes as he scrolled through, adjusting the time before pausing. Checking his notes, his eyes narrowed.

A familiar red fox went around the corner. Flipping to a different camera, a bit earlier, a black goat-like mammal walked towards the same blind spot. The time went past the period that Mickey disappeared and, at the very edge, the capricornis halted, his arms going out and wild, before he charged in.

Nodding, he double crossed it with the grimy video that a store owner, the one who called it in in the first place, had supplied.

It was the same mammal.

The times matched.

The silent assault ended, and Nick watched the perp run off, only to race back into the field of the first camera.

It all lined up.

He was broken off by a knock on the door, and in came Judy. Grunting, she placed a stack of files onto the desk, pulling one over for Nick to look at. "Application form for the same job that Mickey did. Unfortunately it was made after the species blind laws."

Nick rolled his eyes at the irony. A little noticed yet long campaigned for progressive change, finally approved after the nighthowler scare, was that official job applications would be species blind, except in situations where the species type was critical for the job. Heck, even the applications for scenting jobs, be it medical or police work, were now species blind. Though, in that case, the argument was that your official certification acted as a far better gauge of your skill type. At first, Nick had been sceptical of it all, though it was entirely down to the fact that many names were species related: no guesses to what a Miss Redtail, Mr Trunkaby, Dr Whitehart or Mrs Otterton were, was there?

Still, he'd felt that it was in the right direction, though in the case of scenters he'd been quite surprised by the results. Foxes, who he felt might benefit a little bit (yes, he no longer believed the whole universe hated his kind anymore, but he still knew there were a few jerks out there), turned out to lose big time along with wolves and boars, the usual backbone of the industry. Meanwhile bears and elephants really began to tick up in those areas, though the biggest shock were the small cats! He didn't even know they had good noses at all, yet now, though they were still well beat in terms of range and tracking, they were becoming the key player in terms of detailed scent work, given that they could excellently identify different scents even when they were close together.

Well, Nick grumbled, he had to be the bigger mammal here. You live by the progressive outlook, you die by the progressive outlook. Though when the progressive outlook stuffed up your investigation into a hate-crime, you did have a right to be a little ticked off.

"Still," Judy carried on, her voice a quiet grumble. "He did state that he interviewed a 'Daiyu Diunlaba' at the same time as Mickey. Again, no species given and even he says he can't remember what he was, just 'some black goat but not a goat'."

Nick nodded, giving her a 'wink at reader' look. "Species are hard."

Judy snorted, but went back to the papers. "Didn't get the role as, and I quote, 'no night vision, no point'.

"Call up the burn ward."

"I called up records instead," Judy said. "A D Diunlaba was noted as attending one of the anti-pred riots during the Howler crisis. Booked but released with no charges, however his species is listed as a Chinese serow. As for his mug shot…"

She handed it over, Nick having a look before gesturing over to his screen, showing the various pictures. "Yup, I was really leaning to Chinese, and with this…"

Cradling her head, she nodded along. "I think we have our mammal. And, with some fur samples gathered, we can probably make him confess right off."

"Though never underestimate the stubbornness of a speciesist jerk."

Judy groaned. "You're right. Three in one day, and four by the end of it."

Nick cocked his eyebrow. "Four?"

Judy nodded. "Dawn yet to come, then this guy, then that nurse… and right at the start, Catano."

Nick's ears fell back. "Catano? I knew you'd got into some scuffle at the beginning, but…"

"She was taking his side, Wassermaim's side," Judy groaned. "Blowing up to me about Honey, and going on about Ovinophobia…"

"Which," Nick cut in, "are also bad things, even if they have a worse spokesmammal."

"I…" she began, before fumbling with her words. "I mean, I told her it was a dead cat tactic. Yes, I know there are a few people who hate sheep. Honey used to be one, and right after the howler crisis my sheep friend, Sharla, was scared of the blowback. I am not denying that... But right now a fox is literally being held in jail with a fox loathing guard, with no charges, by an obviously fox hating DA. -And we just saw a fox who was beaten up on the street, as he's a fox. And who knows what stuff Ash and his friends might be facing in his school too! I… I mean, can't she see that one house is burning down, and it needs the firemammals way more than next door with its smoking mulch heap? No, instead she's taking up his talking points. And she's a pred, what's with that?"

Nick raised his paws.

"-I mean, his actions show how much he hates preds, yet she's siding with him. Does she even care that she's literally hurting herself?" Her eyes closed. "Urghhhh… No wonder I have a headache."

Nick's ears pricked. "Headache?"

She nodded, as he pulled out some thylanol from a drawer. "They're some wolf sized ones, so you'll have to do that math…"

She nodded, looking at the number before cutting a pill in half and swallowing it down without water, keeping the rest for later.

A quiet filled the room, Nick calling dispatch and asking for Mr Diunlaba to be picked up, before turning back to Judy. "Better?"

"Will be in a moment," she said, before glancing at his work on the jam cams and managing a guffaw. "Naturally, the time we swap is the time you get something straight away."

"Well, this was just a formality," he said. "Dotting those I's and crossing those T's, and you wanted something more stimulating so I let you do the chase-ups."

"Appreciated," Judy said. "Felt good… Productive police work."

Nick held his paw around her, wrapping his tail for good measure too. He paused in thought, before speaking. "You know Catano?" he asked.

She looked up and nodded.

"You asked how she couldn't see?"

"Yeah…"

"Maybe she just doesn't…"

Her brows furrowed. "But then where was she looking?"

Nick thought for a few seconds. "At Maisy Calrama."

"I…" Judy began, before her ears stood up. "-You said that Ash said she led her off in the school…" She paused, thinking. "Maybe Kii's being bombarded with how 'it's super bad for us sheep' and all that, to the point she thinks it's the sheep house that's the one on fire?"

"Maybe," Nick shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not her. I'm not a sheep either."

Judy shrugged. "Well, I know sheep and foxes, and I know which one is having it worse now." She stood up, tapping her foot on the floor. "And if Kii is being gaslit and all that, then I can't blame her. Heck, we should be trying to help her, shouldn't we?"

Nick nodded. "Maybe so."

Slipping off her chair, Judy began walking around and talking. "I mean, she's been tricked by a mammal who was right up in with all of this, who she may not have known was in with everything. She won't know about PSC and all their thoughts, so she goes in and Dominic parades a crying daughter about and talks about how Ovinophobes are bullying her and destroying their life… And she gets hook lined and sinkered! Which means we can still help her and be friends again once I've pulled her back to the right side! I mean, Honey did it to herself, didn't she, and we're all good…"

Nick's head tilted a bit as Judy trailed off. "Carrots?"

Her ears drooped down. "Then again," she trailed off, before pacing slowly, shaking her head. "Then again there was one other thing that split us. I… -With Honey, she said that there was no way she could be forgiven, and we were bad mammals for working around her and saying she could be forgiven which… -if she is hanging around the Bellwethers, then pot-kettle-black, huh?"

Nick paused. "Then again, you don't know them, do you? Dominic might appear like… might even be a real swell guy."

"Mr PSC?" she asked, crossing her paws, an eye cocking. "I thought I was the optimistic one."

"No," Nick waved off. "Just the bipolar one."

Her eyes narrowed and her fist punched.

"Ouch. Fox abuse," he joked. "Sorry Fluff, but I don't think I'll be able to forgive this one."

"Was I asking for it?" Judy snarked back, a little pep returning to her. She turned away, her left foot starting to drum a tattoo. "I suppose, I suppose… I don't know Dominic, I only knew…" She broke herself off, looking around uncomfortable. "-thought I knew Dawn. And yeah, I don't know Dominic or what he's been through or what he's done, but if he's willing to try and earn it I would be willing to accept his redemption. And the thing is, she doesn't know Honey. She doesn't know what she's been through, how she's changed, and she made it clear that she doesn't think any of that matters! She won't even consider that Honey can earn redemption. I…" She sighed. "If there's one thing I believe in, it's redemption. You made mistakes, you redeemed yourself. So did Honey, so did Skye, so did I. I…" She fumbled with her words again, before getting them out. "I'd be happy to accept Dominic's redemption. Maybe even Dawn's, if she truly works for it. And I want to accept Catano's too. I want to do that soon."

"I know you do," Nick said, "and hey, maybe it'll just take some time. Took me a decade and a bit, but here I am. Give Catano some time."

Judy looked back and, through all her stress, looked hopeful. Nick looked back and shared her smile as he hugged her, the pair taking a moment.

A moment broken as their radio chirped. Picking it up, the fox smiled. "Well, seems like our guy tried to run when he got picked up, and assaulting an officer can be added to his charges. I love it when a case comes together like this."

Judy looked up and nodded. "So do I."

And so they went down to give him a look at. He didn't ask for a lawyer and immediately said that 'the fox hit him first', even when shown the video. He then said that the fox deserved it if it did happen, and that Nick was being speciesist to him. Maybe he was siding with the 'Chinese-Taipai' serows against his kind. Nick, deciding to get a little barb he'd been working on, happily said that he had nothing against 'Taiwanese-Beijing' serows, long live Chang Tiger-Chek.

At which point the serow lost it and said he'd make Nick sorry just like the other filthy pelt that deserved it. That confirmed his charges, and they waved 'threatening a peace officer' at him too, at which point he broke down into tears and begging.

And with that, the lawyers were called in to work out his deal, no 'threatening a peace officer' if he pled to everything else. And then the pair were done, with a nice, easy, feelgood yet ultimately uninteresting perp set to go to jail on a healthy list of charges. It was a nice, happy, breather, before the angst and stress picked up once again.