Chapter 53:

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"Morning, Hopps."

"Sir," Judy saluted back, standing rigid to attention in the middle of one of the ZPD's rear lots. The sky was slowly turning pink, lighting up the city in the almost small hours, the gentle coolness of the night still clinging around stubbornly, ready to hold on against the onslaught of the day's heat. Farm girl instincts, as Nick would remark, though she'd pushed it a little earlier than usual to be ready for this.

A poor night's sleep, half kept up with worry, half distracted by the pleasant backlash against Dominic Calrama's tricks, cut even harder than usual, her eyes feeling droopy and mind fuzzy until she'd drunk down a cup of coffee to keep her going. A trick that had been essential to keep the cationic mammal on her right in any way, shape and form functional for his task ahead.

"Chief, my chief," Jack saluted back, smiling as Bogo turned to face him.

"Jack Savage, I believe?"

"Your excellent secret agent whom you have heard about, ready and waiting."

The cape buffalo's eyes narrowed as he snorted. "Hmmmm… You're about the worst 'secret agent' I've heard ever heard of…"

"-Ah, but you have heard of me."

Judy was unable to stop an eye roll, nor a slight smile on her face, while Bogo looked up to the heavens for some form of mercy. "I suppose I walked into that one," he grumbled, before looking down at the hare in question. "While I normally appreciate volunteers willing to assist, I do not appreciate gloryhogs or thrill seekers! Do you understand?"

Jack nodded. "Yes sir."

"Very well," he spoke, before glancing over to Judy. "And it does have advantages."

She nodded back. Bogo had been confused at first as to why they should use a volunteering hare to do their undercover sting, but she had pointed out that the DA would likely know what mammals were and weren't in the ZPD. She, to this day, was still the only bunny in Zootopia's law enforcement service, and so a larger male hare would put his mind more at ease. "I'm glad you saw them, sir."

And then the chief stared back at Jack. "In terms of our plan, though it annoys me to say this, your suggestion is a good one, though it does need some extra contingencies." He pointed behind him. "Previously we've used civilian volunteers like yourself to add credence to our undercover officers insertion. In this case, as you're the one being inserted, we've chosen to have one of our detectives as emergency backup."

"That'd be me, pard'ner," Oates spoke back with his texan drawl out on display.

"We'll go over this in more detail in the pre-operation briefing, but for now just know that Oates will be disguised as a mammal from the ZFD officially there to talk to the Assistant to the District Attorney over arson codes. All will be coordinated by me, with assistance from Officer Wolford," he waved back to the wolf in question, who nodded.

A breath in, a breath out, he looked down. "Before we go in and sign the paperwork though, I want to know that the chance to back out is still open and, if you have any doubts or misgivings, the sensible move would be to back out now. Understood?"

"Understood, sir," Jack said, as a silent couple of seconds passed.

"Very well then," he agreed, before leading the small crowd in. Judy gave a look over to Jack, the hare breathing in and holding his fisted paws up, looked on, determined and ready. She gave him a nod back, as they set to work.

Though she didn't say it, she knew it. This was the beginning of the end, for Kurt Wassermaim.

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"S-S-Sarrahson?"

The words were spoken out nervously, the fox that said them curled up tightly on his bed. Holding the pillow tighter, his legs gave out occasional half-steps, as if he were hobbling along, or being dragged, or was shackled.

"Can I have it off?" he asked again, a paw lightly scratching along his muzzle.

…

"Where are we going?"

…

"What do you mean it's my end?"

…

"But I…" He was cut off, flinching and whimpering, tightening himself back in further. He was quiet for a minute or so, before he spoke again. "Bellwether? Why's she tied down on that bed?"

…

"Put us down?"

…

"What? No!" He yipped, tossing over, his thin duvet thrown into the wall before being dragged back again as he tossed. "Please! I didn't do it! I didn't! Don't…" he sobbed. "Don't… Let me go… Please, let me go... " Tears began flowing out of his eyes. "Please…" he begged. "Undo the straps… Let me go… Let me…"

….

"Last words?"

…

He said nothing, choking up and then yupping, a paw shooting to midway up his arm. "Pull it out!" he begged. "Pull it out…" He began shivering harder, breath racing, feet beginning to kick as the arm went stiff as if frozen, then that side of his body, then everything bar his head. "It's so cold… It's… It's… AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He stood up, panting hard on his bed, his arms trembling.

It took him a few seconds to realise that he was crying, and he wiped them away with his finger pads before going over to the sink, running some water to try and wash his face. Breath out, breath in, breath out, breath in.

He was shivering.

Eyes closed, he focussed his mind, trying to meditate but, at most, he could only keep the dark thoughts away. It was him, pushing back the tide.

…

"She's gone," he told himself, firmly. "Y-you've got friends here. That thing outside got disproved. They're working to help you. Just keep things together. You're so close to winning against her. You can beat her. You can do it, you can do it."

But, in his mind, there was one terrible thought still nagging in his mind. What if Timofey truly turned on him?

He could try and fight him off, but it wouldn't work, would it? All he could do was try and run and hide, but where was there to go in this place? Where was there to go if he was cornered, like before? And even if it turned out to be others who came for him, and he could fight them off…

What if he injured them back?

What if he became like those inside here?

He'd promised his family and Agnes that he wouldn't change, didn't he? After all, he was the one they all relied on. He needed to keep it together for them.

If that was the case then, maybe the only thing he could do was accept defeat. Go to Terrance, ask to be put in protection or something. But that would be letting Sarrahson win, making her know she was right, wasn't it? Proving he couldn't fight his own fights, and letting that serval bully know that she could do it again and again. There were other foxes, elsewhere in this building, weren't there? What if she turned her newly proven strategies on them?

What if they could handle it even less well than he could?

The thoughts still gnawed at his mind as the bell rang, warning him to get ready. He pulled on his clothes and did his best to neaten himself out before they all stepped out, ready to be counted off. He paused as he saw Terrance doing it, the giant otter pausing as he glanced over at Kris, his eyes lingering for a second before moving on. Everyone was called to be at ease, and the fox moved back in, glancing at himself in the mirror.

He still didn't look good.

Turning out again, he froze as he saw the otter coming his way, only to be cut off by Timofey, asking something seemingly innocuous. Kris paused as the otter, standing up to an apex predator many times his size, let the much younger mammal have it. "Is this what it's about, huh!? You dealing some of your own justice! Dammit, don't you remember how you lost a few years of your life? Haven't you learnt anything!? Or is this some of that same honour stuff, huh? The same crap that'll ruin you if you choose to go with it." On he went, almost stating the same points Kris had made the day before, that if he thought he could do anything to Kris then they would just move him for his own safety.

A gap had formed between them, as if expecting the counter blow to be so devastating that it would capture anyone in the blast zone.

Terrance finished his piece, huffing, staring up into Timofey's face.

He looked down and almost whispered. "I hear from someone that they were told to lie by you. Da?"

Terrance looked back. "Da, si, yes, ja. So what?"

"Then I, mammal of honor true to his word, am not angry and see no problem," he said, shrugging it off and walking away, pausing to nod in Kris' direction, the sign of the cross made on his chest. The frazzled nerves in the air seemed to slowly dissipate as Terrance began looking around, pausing as he looked over at the fox.

"What happened?"

He breathed in and out. "Just a bad dream…"

"Forget all that honor crap," Terrance cut in. "With Timofey. What happened?"

"It's… it's good now."

There was a pause. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Certain?"

Kris nodded. Terrance began walking away, but kept his eyes fixed on him as he went. "You're still a kit," he said, the statement somewhat wounding Kris' pride. "You don't need to be this big mammal or anything handling everything yourself. If anyone is hurting you, tell me, we can get you put in isolation, for your own safety."

Kris, after all the competing thoughts before and finally hearing that he could take the out regardless couldn't help but feel just a little… put back, by it all. Maybe it was just that it seemed that the one problem he still had, with Timofey, had solved itself? That had to be it. After all, he now knew he'd won. Sarrahson's plan had failed! Her last hail mary had fallen flat, meaning Terrance's offer wasn't needed. And maybe, as he now realised, it was because this would do nothing about the bad dreams. Maybe it was because his instincts and his gut told him that he could still handle this, and there were others who needed his help.

Then again, he was not an idiot, he knew exactly how scared he'd been previously and how many other mammals would beg for such an out. Yet, at this moment, it didn't feel like he needed it. "If it does," he said. "I'll tell you."

Terrance looked back at him. "Promise?"

"Promise," he said.

The otter held still for a second or two. "Did she tell him?"

"Probably, she tried to tell Matt. He's good though."

Breathing in and out, Terrance nodded. "The warden is keeping her away from you, and he'll hear about this. Now please, keep safe."

"I think I am now," Kris said, relaxing a little.

"Well, if you're not, you know what to do," he said. And with that the otter walked off, slipping past Luke Ruta and the goat who'd fought him in the lunchroom and into the crowd. Even so, the mustelid always kept a corner of an eye on him, especially as a much larger, white, figure moved up. "Kristofferson?"

"Yes," he said.

The bear looked down at him. "He does not understand value of honor. I do. You do. I will never stab you in the back, only in the front. Da?"

"Da... " Kris agreed, waiting on the next bit.

"We are not friends anymore. Not enemies either. You understand?"

"I understand," Kris agreed, as the bear marched off. He breathed a sigh of relief before moving with the rest as they began to get ready to move off for breakfast. His walking though was cut off by a pair of paws around his waist. "Huh?"

He looked down to see Matt there, hugging him tight, the warm feeling rippling through and releasing up his tensed muscles. The little pup looked up. "You looked sad."

And Kris smiled. "Thanks," he said, fussing his ears a bit. He felt better. After all, had he chosen to be whisked away and locked alone, by himself, for his own safety, he wouldn't have gotten this, would he? And what kind of help would Matt be getting, given that he truly couldn't look after himself.

At the end of the day, this was why he needed to be strong and not let that serval win.

There were those weaker than him out there that were relying on him, and he enjoyed helping.

The young mammal's arms around his waist put a smile on his muzzle.

Today, he knew, would finally be a good day.

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Pulling up outside the school yet again, Catano breathed in and out. She was going to get to the bottom of this, be there hell or high water. She got a few looks from the streams of students flowing in, but was otherwise ignored.

In a way it felt chilling.

Had these children, and indeed many still very much were, just gotten used to it over the last week? The cheetah didn't like that feeling at all, it just didn't sit right.

Which made her all the more determined to fix this stupid injustice once and for all. Indeed, she almost immediately saw the outline of someone who looked familiar, and who she very much needed to get additional information from. In the crowd of larger mammals, a small brown head with little round ears could just about be made out, walking away from her. She picked up the pace, making her way towards him as he picked up his phone to take a call and… She squinted; that did not look like the kind of phone case that a certain Beavis Chuckman would have, was it? Indeed, as she got closer she quickly realised that it was not a woodchuck, or even a guy for that matter. The fur had a different texture and her body shape was different in a mix of places and, as the gap closed, Catano realised exactly what kind of mammal it was she was coming up to.

And, by all likelihood, her time had not been wasted. "Excuse me? Jenny Bourke, is it?"

She turned around, revealing a face that reminded her far more of a kangaroo than any rodent, though that was to be expected given that this was a wombat talking. "Yeah, that's me," she said,gazing up. She paused as she looked at Catano and her police uniform. "Is this about the…"

"I just want to ask a few questions about some of your friends to get a better picture," she said.

Jenny nodded, putting her phone away. "Why me?" she asked.

"Well, I'd heard you mentioned as part of the friend group," she explained, "and I thought it might be worth just checking to see what you had to say. You're not the only one I'm questioning today."

"Oh, okay then."

Catano smiled. "In fact, from behind I actually mistook you for a certain woodchuck, and…"

"-Woah, woah, woah," the wombat said. "You mistook me for Beavis!?"

"Is that a problem?"

She gave back an expression more befitting of a corpse. "Marzie's like me are believed to have split off from plassie's like you one-hundred and thirty million years ago, when dinosaurs still had the next half of history to rule the planet. Being that closely related to Beavis Chuckman is honestly disturbing."

"Right," the cheetah agreed, filing it away. It seemed the impression that rodent had left on her was far less common than the one he'd left on others. Charm offensive much? "Does he pick on you as you're a marsupial or something?"

"No, thankfully," she sighed. "I mean, there was this one time a few months back when a different wombat was attacked on a street by a coyote I think. Just a random assault, but she'd just given birth to a joey and the punch caused it to come off the teat…" She let it hang awkwardly in the air for a solemn second or two before carrying on. "Anyhow, it was more that he'd annoy others who bumped into me… The only time he did something against me was this one time when a porcupine was coming close. He shouted 'look out' and then 'protective cocoon' and bear hugged me to the ground…"

Catano looked on, concerned. "Did you pursue that?"

"Nah… To be fair, I have two wolf friends, brothers, and they were doing that to each other a lot. And I may have joined in a few times at the joke so..."

"You being boys with the boys?"

"Could say that," she shrugged. "Besides, it's not the most annoying thing I can imagine him doing. There's always been this one fact about my species which I really don't want him to know, because I know in that case I'd never hear the end of it. Also, I prefer to get even myself."

"And did you?"

She smiled. "I waited until he was thirsty as cuss after a bunch of exercise, and with my water bottle in paw I offered it to him. He drunk it all the way down, at which point I put it back where I usually keep it."

"Which is?"

The wombat smiled and reached down, pulling up her shirt and pushing her paw down through a fold in her belly fur, burrowing it up to her elbow before pulling out a clear water bottle, popping open the lid. "Thirsty?"

Catano's eyes went wide, a rush of bile bubbling up inside her before she forced it back down, her face curdling like milk as she did so. "I…" she gasped, pushing through her queasiness. "-That's basically your placenta."

She gave a little smirk. "Heh, same kind of reaction I got from him, though with less vomit."

"I wouldn't store something in my uterus just to freak someone out," she carried on, shaking her discomfort away. "You shouldn't be hurting yourself for a joke."

"Oh wow, ouch," Jenny said, her eyes half-lidding. "This plastic is hard as cuss. Dear god, imagine carrying something that moves and has literal claws, like a joey."

"But the point is you shouldn't be storing anything down there except children."

Her head cocked. "Are you placent-splaining me?"

"I…" Catano began, before turning away. She could only assume that as she, a female, was grossed out by this, Beavis had been well and truly freaked out.

Jenny just rolled her eyes, took a swig of the water, and stuck the bottle back. "Seriously, I don't go around lecturing you lot about what to do with your bellybuttons, do I?"

"That's still…"

"I mean haven't you ever seen a young kangaroo with a doll in her pouch and wearing her mother's old Joey on board badge? Basically every marzie girl does that, not that it stops us being told how our bodies work. Do you know how annoying that is? A lot."

"I suppose so," Catano muttered, taking a deep breath in and letting it out.

Jenny nodded. "I once got one mammal saying that if I had a joey I'd have to stay in bed until it was ready to come out. I mean for cripes sake, yes we used to have back-facing pouches when we were on all fours, just like the thylacines. But out of all the things to change when going two-legged, do they really think flipping that around would be too much trouble?"

"I guess not," the cheetah agreed, hoping to get things back on track. "Anyhow, I came here to ask you some questions. And, as we're on the subject of that woodchuck, how did he treat the foxes in your class, and the sheep for that matter?"

"About as horribly as you can either way. Half the time he's spilling out all the old slurs, the other he's acting all chummy and making it out that you're the jerk for not wanting to be friends with him."

The cheetah nodded. "Did he have anything against mustelids?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. There's only a pawful in my year, none of them in my class, and if you're talking about the kind of mustelid I'm thinking you're talking about…"

"Minks, weasels, martens," she filled in.

"Yeah, the non-waterproof tubes, then you'd have to go to other age-groups to find someone."

Catano looked on, a slight look of concern on her face. "Non-waterproof tubes…" she began.

"I… I wasn't meaning anything by that, just describing them," Jenny explained, doing a little backpedalling. "I mean, it doesn't mean anything bad, does it? Not like how some would use the word sheep to mean mindless follower, or badger to mean annoying, or emphasise the word fox to mean all sorts of mean stuff. I mean, are you offended if I called the cheetahs, leopards and jaguars 'spotted big cats?'"

"No," Catano said, "I get your point."

"Thanks," she agreed. "I mean, I was a bit miffed with Ash the other day, and cut him off by saying 'none of that sass, foxy.' And the two wolf friends I had were up in arms, thinking I meant something by it, which I totally didn't. And then, talking on, the big dumb-dumb almost described mindless followers of something as sheep, before realising he'd messed up."

"Was Maisy friends with these wolves?"

Jenny paused, her head tilting. "Why do you ask?"

"I met Maisy the last time I was here, the poor girl was in tears, and I helped her."

The wombat's eyes seemed to light up. "So you are the cop she said helped her."

Catano smiled. "Yep. And I'm just concerned for her."

"Right, well, the wolves are loud and often act before they think, but they're nice. They got on with her and she with them."

Catano nodded. "Fair enough. Is she in today? I'd like to check up with her, just see how she's doing."

Jenny's ears pulled down. "She's… not in today. This whole last week has been rough on her, mammals thinking she's involved… just because she was born a sheep."

"I can't imagine how bad it is," she said, sympathetically.

The wombat let out a huff. "Yeah… And I mean, at least this school said you're not allowed to pick on someone 'cause they're a sheep. Meanwhile, all these mammals on social media are saying that stuff against sheep is okay, and it's fair as 'they're the ones in power' or stuff like that." She grumbled as she pulled out her phone. "I mean, this idiot politician here went on a whole rant about 'sheep ideology' and how sheep need to de-learn it. I mean, what the cuss is 'sheep ideology'?"

"An excuse for nasty mammals to bully others," Catano said firmly.

Jenny nodded. "At least you see it."

"Uh-hu," Catano agreed.

"-I mean, it often feels to me that if you just try and point out that these mammals are being mean to sheep, everyone then thinks that 'you hate preds' and you agree with Bellwether or this DA and a load of other crap. And I don't, I just think you shouldn't be mean to sheep."

"Yeah," Catano said, looking down, teeth gritting slightly. "I know what that feels like."

"Uh-hu, though it might be worse for you, being a pred. 'Why are you siding with the ones causing all your problems, huh?'" The big cat nodded, Jenny grumbling. "I hope that all these mammals talking about 'holding sheep accountable' and 'making them understand their privilege' are held accountable themselves… not that that's gonna happen, is it?"

Catano wanted to say 'of course they will be' but, deep down, something made her hang back. Maybe it was a newly ingrown nail of pessimism given what she'd seen but, even if it didn't look good, she'd still try. "I'll try to make sure they are," she promised. "I do have one other question. How do you feel Ash and Agnes are getting along?"

"Uhhhh…" she began, not sure if she'd heard that right. "I mean, they seem really close after all this stuff, closer than I've ever seen them. I suppose it's just the pair supporting each other at the moment, but you'd never know they had a falling out ages ago. He's being a real sweetheart, supporting her through all this."

The big cat nodded. "Thanks," she said. "That will be all."

"Yeah, I'd better get off to registration then," she said, turning and starting to make her way over.

"Mind if I follow you?"

"No... " she said, not sounding convinced. "Why exactly?"

"You know a Brittany Voxen, right?"

"Yeah. Form prefect."

"I just want a talk with her like I had with you," she said. After all, the more views on all this she had, the better her chance at working out just what was going on.

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By the time Jenny got to the room in question, it seemed like everyone was waiting for her. Indeed, Brittany, currently listing down everyone's names, immediately broke sequence. "Jenny Bourke," she said out loud, before flipping back down to call out "Douglas Ponderson?"

As the unita chipmunk in question replied, the marsupial sat down on her regular table, glancing over at Ash. "Maisy called," she said, the fox's ears pricking. "She can do both days this weekend, but I can only do saturday. So, we meet up then. Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed.

Jenny nodded, before glancing to the door. There was a window in it, and she could see Catano waiting outside. "You said there was something private you knew about Maisy…"

"Yes. It's still private."

"Does… does it have anything to do with the cops hanging around? That one said she helped Maisy after what you did, but thinking about it, maybe she was questioning her or…"

"Maybe both," the fox said, as Jenny looked back. Sitting down, chin on palms before rubbing her eyes, she sighed.

"I… If it really is more than her being a sheep, what could it be? I mean, she's been acting scared and confused, and I know I should stand by her all this time, but part of me is asking if she might have done something a while ago, or…"

She was broken off by a paw on her own, Ash looking down at them. "If I was where she was now, I'd be scared and confused too… And when you are scared and confused, having a friend who'll stick by you is the most important thing."

Jenny looked up, just a bit hopeful as the last name was called off. "Even if you sticking by them is totally annoying?"

He nodded. "Especially if it's totally annoying."

They looked at each other, a brittle yet firm understanding between them, all as an older red fox slipped out of the room with the register and, unknown to them, turned straight into the chest of a police cheetah.

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"GAH!"

Catano shook back from the muffled cry before looking down at the blinking vixen, her ears suddenly going back. "I… You were just there, and…"

"It's okay," she reassured, the vixen visibly relaxing.

"Phew," she sighed. "Didn't want to get slapped with assaulting an officer, or anything…"

"No worries," the cheetah said again. She seemed a lot more nervous than the last time she'd seen her, but then again that had been after a workout in the gym rather than a surprise chest glomp. Though at least she hadn't been wearing her reinforced chest piece, or else the vixen might now be stuck in the middle of a nose bleed. Thinking about it further though, back then Brittany had been a bit down then about Kris, shooting up when she realised they didn't think it was him. Maybe this was the down-stroke?

"Anyway, I better be off, and…"

"Can we walk and talk?"

She paused, before shrugging. "Guess so." With that Catano began following along. "This is still about Kris, right?"

"Yes," Catano began. "We've had a few reports, including from him, about his local friend group and…"

"This is about the fake picture isn't it?" she asked, her teeth gritting.

"Possibly."

"Gah. It really gave that stupid hippo a boost, and a bunch of speciesist jerks all around the school something to hang on to."

"Right," Cantano agreed, ears going down. "That must have been rough."

"Yeah," she grumbled. "Worst part was knowing those mammals are all just… out there, and they're not going to go away. My sister will have to grow up dealing with them too and… and it's just not fair!"

"It isn't," Catano agreed, looking down. "You didn't deserve it, neither does she, or any other fox."

"Yeah," Brittany sighed. "Especially poor Ash and Agnes."

Kii's ears perked up. "Were they bullied?"

"I was facing off against this mob using the news to try and tar all us foxes, and Ash came up and stood in front of me against this addax I'd been arguing with, acting all hero like. Agnes had been following him and sort of trailed to my side too. We had a sort of face off, but then this boar came in, asking everyone to chill out and saying he'd sing a 'song of peace'." If Kii's skepticism wasn't blaring warning sirens by itself, the way the vixen pulled up her nose sounded the DEFCON one alarm.

"How bad was it?"

"I bet he thought he was the smartest mammal in the world," she hissed. "Urgh, I knew something was up, but maybe I'd been watching too many of my sister's kit cartoons or something where someone sings a song and everything ends happy and nice. Anyway, after that I just got the others out there and we just… dealt with it."

"Dealt with it?" Catano asked.

Brittany glanced up, then back down again. "Yeah…" she said, sadly.

…

"How were they? Ash and Agnes? In general?"

"I… They're getting along really well, it's kind of cute seeing Ash puffing himself up and being this kind of hero for her, helping her through this… I wouldn't imagine he'd be like this at the start of this school year, there was a lot of bad stuff between them, but I guess he's really stepped up for her given all this."

"And do you think Agnes is going for him?"

Brittany froze. "Wait, you think he's stealing her?"

"Oh no," Catano said, hoping that the vixen didn't see through it. "Just, without even knowing it, might she be falling for him right now?"

"I…" Brittany began, pausing, thinking back. "I… -I'm not going to answer that okay."

"Okay," Catano said, as words began spilling out the vixen's mouth.

"-I mean, after your interview I went up to tell him that Kris might be cleared, and I was so excited I hugged him and he thought that I was hitting on him, which I wasn't. Half plus seven rule, and he's really not my type anyway. So I mean they're super affectionate, but even if it looks like that it's probably not, kay? I know Agnes has been taking it super hard, but she's not going to dump Kris while everyone is still fighting for him, and even if she did she wouldn't pick up anyone else for a long time, she's really shy and not a vixen vixen… Is…" She paused, taking a deep breath in and out. "Is that what you think? That she's a real vixen vixen, and…" Brittany trailed off, pausing.

"Vixen, vixen?" Catano asked.

"-You know," Brittany said, her ears going down a bit. "Really hot, manipulative, always finding the next todd to knot… Always thinking about, you know…"

Catano's face soured like month old milk as she nodded. "I think I do."

"Agnes… She just wants a good, nice, mammal to hold her paw and love her. She tried with Ash, but when Kris came he was perfect, and they were a perfect couple! Now that he's matured though, Ash… Ash is there, but she's only holding onto him for support and stuff through all this, and he's mature enough to know it. If Kris keeps on being locked up, she'd wait."

"And Ash would keep, supporting her?" Catano enquired.

"Yeah," Brittany said, nodding. "He's been supporting her tons lately, I… -Why do you ask?"

Catano's mind was thankfully as fast as her legs in that moment. "We're just checking up on the friend group of yours. A few days ago, a certain woodchuck volunteered and…"

"GAH! Beavis?"

Catano nodded.

"The most surprising thing about that mob was that he wasn't part of it," she said, eyes narrowing.

"He hates foxes?"

"He thinks that acting like he does is the funniest thing ever," she said.

The cheetah nodded. "And if there was a mammal behind this?"

"The… the picture, right?" she asked. "I mean, maybe, maybe not, maybe he thought it was a fun prank… I mean, that sounds a bit mean even for him, but… -I mean, he's too dumb to have planted the things in the first place. I mean where would he even get them from? Except that weasel of yours…"

Catano nodded. "Fair point." Indeed, for all these petty motives, there had to be a source for the howlers. There were only two mammals in this whole thing who'd had a firm connection to them in the past, and one's family would have been searched, interviewed, reviewed and audited after a certain related ewe was arrested. She was pretty sure Maisy was not involved and, though she felt Ash had an increasingly strong motive supported by his actions (not that they were mutually exclusive with him just being a good friend), the gap for 'how' was still far wider for him.

Maybe things would be better if they had access to that weasel?

Maybe it had been the weasel working with a certain, increasingly unpleasant sounding, woodchuck?

In that case, it sounded like she knew where to go next. "Speaking of Beavis, I'd like a word with him. Know where he is?"

"Room twelve-seven," she said right away, a certain kind of smile growing on her muzzle.

Catano nodded, and off she went.