The Saturday morning after the incident - A few blocks away from the YashiAid Convenience Store
Down the mostly silent night street, Matilda broke the relative peace with the loud motor of her scooter, bringing it to a stop right on the curb outside her meager three-story condominium. A wave of relief hit her hard as she stepped off the vehicle and wheeled it into her designated garage.
It had really been the first time in hours to decompress after everything. From the clean up to the questioning to her trip into what she could only describe as realistic hell on earth. She never felt happier to just see her plain old boring neighborhood. At last she truly felt safe, at ease.
Thankfully it was over now, she was back in her own little world, things could be 'normal' again. That's what she kept telling herself at least. Yup things were going to be normal again. She was going to write it all off as a really bad dream.
That place actually exists. You saw it. The thoughts persisted.
No. Nope, forget about it. She told herself. Just like those terrible stories on the television, you'll forget that type of stuff happens in a few days' time. You'll go work tomorrow, open up with Yelchin-sama and pretend like it never happened, you'll see. Don't worry.
It's right down the road. The lingering truth wailed like a strong wind throughout her head. The terrible stench you've always smelled makes so much sense now doesn't it? The negativity wasn't so easily shaken, the truth was apparent. You can smell it now, can't you? It was all over her. Her wool had absorbed the scent.
I know, she quickly thought. I'll take a nice relaxing bubble bath, scrub it all out, no sweat! Then I'll just curl up into a little ball right next to Nobita. Just dream all this away.
All she just needed to do was head up the stairs and make her way down the long hallway. She hastened her pace. Her neighbors were generally nice, but she wouldn't feel truly safe until she was in her apartment. Nobita was probably in the bed as well. She'd just have a quiet bath, try not to wake him.
She began twisting the knob, when the sounds of heavy footsteps thumping startled her. Suddenly the door flung open and a large figure with a set of hairy arms reached out and grabbed the surprised sheep.
"Matilda! Matilda-chan! Oh thank god, you're safe!" The arms' owners tearfully exclaimed. The sheep was in the arms of a young male Rough collie with brown and white fur. The large shaggy canine looked disheveled and distraught, clad in nothing but his bone-print boxers she had bought him and a red tank top.
"I'm fine Nobita-san. Just put me down." She cheerfully croaked, before squeezing her way up through his arms and giving the panting pooch an annoyed look as the hug started to become more unpleasant. The dog forgot his own strength as he passionately hugged her, nearly crushing the smaller animal into his chest.
"Are you okay?!" He barked "Did they hurt you?!" His tear-filled blue eyes scanned and inspected every inch of his diminutive girlfriend.
"I'm fine. You're the one that is going to hurt me! Rex! Put me down, you!" She demanded, trying to push her way out. "You're too big to be hugging me like this!"
"Sorry. Matilda-chan." He tearfully said, gingerly putting her back on the ground. "I'm so sorry, I was just, just so worried about you." I had been pacing in the lobby all night worried sick when you didn't answer my calls and then the landlady told me I was making a scene. Then I came inside, turned on the television, and then I saw you on the news! Predation Incident! I think I passed out."
"Well, my phone died unfortunately, I left my good charger." She said, taking off her work apron hanging it up in the closet. "I picked up a new one on my way out."
"You must have been terrified. You had me terrified!" He rambled on frantically like a non-stop wreck. "You know I went down there an hour ago but you weren't there!"
Matilda paused and poked her head from the closet to weakly smile, "Sorry about that..."
"And then the police told me you were probably back at home so I came back expecting you to be here, but you weren't. So then I really freaked out and tried to wait for you, pacing around the lobby again waiting for you to come back, but then landlady came back out and told me that I was keeping her and the other residents up, so then I came back up here and got one of my energy drinks so I could stay up." He was beginning to hyperventilate out of breath and Matilda was barely getting anything from his sob-filled tirade. For such a big animal she always found Nobita to be such a softie at the worst of times.
"Breathe, Nobita. Breathe." She instructed him. "Just relax." She said rubbing his hand softly. Her soft wool against own fur felt therapeutic. His breathing slowed to a few short snorts after a few rubs. "Everything is alright."
Nobita smiled as he nuzzled up against her head. "I'm so glad you're alright." He began to give her wool some investigative sniffs. "Uh, are you alright Matilda-chan?
"I'm okay, my big baby." She lightly teased, trying to comfort him, patting his hand. "I'm telling you, I'm fine."
He sniffed her closely again. "You don't smell fine. You smell like...like." He pulled her close and stuck his snout into her wool.
She pushed his nose away not wanting to get any snot from his blubbering on her fleece. "Stop doing that, it's gross." She said, stepping away to get out of her work clothes. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"Burnt...Your wool smells burnt" He paused as if caught in a trance, the smell becoming familiar. "And you smell like meat. " He said as a bit of drool began to form at his lips.
"Yeah there was a small fire and.. wait, Nobita, what do you mean?" Matilda asked, looking at the canine wary. "Meat?"
The collie instantly freaked at her utterance and waved away the implication. "What?" he asked. "You shouldn't say that word!"
"You did," The sheep pointed back at him, confused as she removed her name tag and ID card, placing them on the bureau.
He didn't even attempt to repeat it. "No I didn't." He lied, swallowing his salivation with a small gulp, masked by a fake chuckle. "You must have wool in your ears again. I said and you must be beat." He corrected. "Come on. You probably want to take a shower. Yes, a shower after such a long day. Get that smell out of here, so we can forget the terrible stuff. Then we can watch our show together."
"Nobita-san?" The sheep continued to study the dog with scrutiny.
The dog tried to weakly smile away the issue, to no avail.
" You said meat ." She bleated.
"No I didn't." The collie barked.
"Yes, you did." The sheep argued. "You said I smell like meat. "
"No, I didn't!" He denied loudly, a growl rising from his throat. The dog immediately covered his mouth, lowering his long snout, ears flattened ashamed. "I'm sorry Matilda-san. I apologize for yelling. Please, just don't say that word. You shouldn't say…"
"Nobita." She repeated more stern, her eyes narrowed as she stood her ground with the dog. "Just admit you said it." She tried to keep a serious stare on him like she had seen Kyuu give the little fox in the pharmacy, it appeared to be working as the dog finally looked back up at her.
He heaved a sigh. "Okay. I said... meat. You smell like barbequed meat . The scent is all in your wool. It's so intoxicating ." His jaws dropped a bit after he said it, his fangs became visible, causing the longwool's perceived tough act to falter, her mouth quivered with fear as she instinctively took a half-step back from him.
His canine features started to remind him of the snarling face of the Inarigumi foxes or even the coyote that had solicited them in the market. It was strange, they had been together for so long she had nearly forgotten dogs like him were descendants of natural predators, the stoic wolf.
He probably knows about that place too , she thought. She started finding it hard to breathe, her wool oddly encumbering. Her own boyfriend was in on it, she just knew it!
The canine apparently noticed and tried to reach out for her to reassure her he wouldn't hurt her, but ashamedly put his hand down after glancing at his pointed claws. Hands that could maul her soft flesh if he wasn't gentle.
"Matilda-chan… I'm sorry." He said trying to hide his nails, closing his fist before reaching his hand towards her. "Please, I won't hurt you."
This was the first time in months since they'd started dating that she had felt unsafe around him. She was trembling before him like when they had first met at college.
Matilda straightened herself and stopped her shaking, and looked the collie in the eyes. "Nobita, I-I want answers. Answers only a carnivore can give me." She stated.
"Do you know what the Back-Alley Market is?"
The dog's jaw dropped ever so slightly as he stared at her. "How do you know what that is?!" He asked, his eyes filled with fear. "Did one of those thugs tell you?"
She angrily shook her head, frustrated. "Do you know what it is or not, Nobita?" She asked. He hesitated again.
"Are you going to answer me?!" She shouted, trying to mimic the surly rabbit's tone again. "What do you know about it Nobita?!" She stood her ground, placing her hands on her hips.
"Well…it's taboo to really talk about it in front of herbivores, Matilda." He started off slow, submissively looking away from her, his tail drooped.
"Nobita, after what I've seen tonight, I don't want to hear anything about taboos. I want to know what's going on." The dog sat down on his comfy chair while Matilda put her purse down and leaned against the sofa.
"The Back-Alley Market or Black Market is a place where they sell meat for carnivores." He answered, he expected her to be surprised, but she said nothing, likely already knowing that.
"The meat they sell as far as I know comes from deceased animals from funeral homes and hospitals. Animals that typically don't get burials or cremations." He explained, sounding almost depressed.
Matilda felt a tinge of pity for the canine watching him explain, he looked like he was ashamed to even know himself. She also felt a tad modicum of disgust that such a practice happens right under their noses.
"Most adult carnivores know about it, but they try to keep it a secret from herbivores out of respect and to keep society stable. I didn't even really know until my parents taught me about it after I graduated and my college friends started inviting me to go every now and then. Sometimes I get dragged there after work." He slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry."
She had barely seen the corpses on display earlier, just recalling the ghastly sights of their stripped carcasses but it made sense. She even thought of her family, the ones that had passed on. Throughout her life she never recalled going to that many burials or cremations after funerals. It was probably the fate that their bodies had met. Substance for a carnivore's appetite.
"Have you ever eaten… sheep, before?" She bluntly asked, recalling the butcher shop owned by the jaguar earlier tonight.
"NO!" The collie erupted in a frenzy of denial just after she had asked. "Never! No way!" He frantically deflected. "I've never done anything like that Matilda-chan! I swear."
"Shhh!" She shushed him. "The walls are thin. You'll wake the neighbors."
"...Sorry." He lowered his voice and covered his mouth. "I've never eaten your kind before. God I hate just saying it like that." He covered his face further trying not to look at her. "No, I've never eaten meat from a sheep before, Matilda-chan. And I never want to, especially after meeting you."
"But you have eaten meat though?" She asked, slowly taking a few steps towards him.
His shame caused him to pause before answering, as if his world were ending. "Yes... I have... occasionally." He soon after added a caveat. "But, I've never eaten anyone living! It's always been dead meat prepared from one of the stands. I've never done what those monsters did to you tonight. Matilda I'm begging you, please. I don't want this to hurt our relationship. Please don't leave me. I apologize for all of my sins!"
The still lingering instinctual fear was working overtime trying to persuade her not to come any closer, but her memories of their good times overruled it. Nobita was a good boy. He never lost his temper or yelled at her, he was always rather protective when she was around other males, sure he might play around a bit, but he was always nice with her. He wasn't some savage monster like those crooks at the store.
"Not so loud, Nobita... the neighbors. " She immediately said, rushing over to shush him by rubbing his hand with her soft wool to comfort him. "It's...alright, calm down."
The dog still looked visibly upset, as he looked around. "But it's not alright, Matilda." His eyes began to water. "I never wanted you to find out about that and then all this happened!" He bawled. "I honestly wish I never tried the stuff, I feel dirty just for enjoying it and still loving you! What kind of boyfriend am I?"
Nobita was typically tough around the boys, but he could become such a softie at the worst of times if she became involved. But he was her softie. The sheep couldn't help but smile at the weeping canine.
"Nobita stop crying, it is alright." She said comforting him. "You're a good boy. I know you are. Calm down." She said climbing up the chair and scratching behind his ears. He couldn't resist ear scratches, his sobbing became happy panting. "It's alright," she said softly in his ear.
"It's just I love you so much Matilda-chan." He blubbered. "I don't want to say goodbye."
"And I still love you, Nobita-san" She said rubbing atop his fuzzy head. "It's a lot to take in." Her hand slowed, and her smile faded. "But, I still love you. You aren't a monster."
The dog peered up at her. "It's just... how do you know about our terrible secret? Who told you about it?" He asked, calming down looking up at her, teary-eyed.
"Well...promise you won't tell anyone, but it all started with the incident tonight."
"Don't tell anyone, what?" He asked.
"I have to keep this a secret so everything can be normal."
"Wha?"
"One of my customers. Do you remember me telling you about the herbivore couple that comes in occasionally? You know the ones that dress alike?"
"The alpaca and rabbit? Yes, what about 'em."
Yeah, well the rabbit came in by herself late, really hurt, and you know me, I just had to help so I took care of her. We talked for a bit, she told me about the market...and how she was raised there and then a fox came in asking to use the phone and then soon after there were these two Bokagu- um Dota...whatever a bunch of Komodo dragons that came in after her. And that's when everything bad happened and they started chasing us around the store."
A long story later
Nobita looked as if someone had told him his whole family had been killed, all his savings were gone, and that he just had his college submission rejected when she neared the part of her recap where she gave the rabbit a ride home. Throughout most of it he had just sat there, mouth agape, in shock. From how she had almost been caught twice to how gruesome the deaths of the Komodo brothers had been. His hands fidgeted in horror the more she went on.
"So then after the coyote stopped us I drove down some alleyways Kyuu knew to this spot where they both live. This tall and spooky tower in the middle of nowhere."
"I-I-I" He finally started to get his voice back. "I can't believe you actually went there!" The dog exclaimed. "You could have been hurt! You could have been REALLY hurt! What if one of those gangsters down there just nabbed you off your scooter! What if one day I went down there and actually saw you or what was left of you on sale….Oh Rex." He covered his head and groaned just thinking about how horrifying that would be.
"Nobita. Calm down." She said, rubbing his thigh. However he just wasn't having it this time.
"You're telling me to calm down, but that was so incredibly reckless Matilda-san!" he spouted.
"I wanted to see for myself, Nobita." She protested. "Was I scared? Yes. But I wanted to see if the rumors were true. Well… I found out. Besides she advised me on all the safe routes and kept us safe with her blades, plus she told me how to safely get back."
The dog held his head down and rubbed behind his ears. "Aahhh, this just isn't good. Look, we're going to get you another job away from that place. I always thought it was dangerous in that area."
Matilda just looked at him in shock. "What? No. Nobita, you are overreacting."
"Am I?" He looked at her incredulously. "You could have died tonight! You could have been someone's supper!"
"I'm not quitting Nobita!" She shouted back at him. "I like that job. I've put so much time and effort into it."
"It's just not safe. Why can't you agree with that? You now know how close you are to the Market working down there, how can you even want to work down there at this point?"
"Because it was just a freak incident. Nobita. It's never happened before, probably won't again. I like meeting and helping all those nice people everyday."
Nobita's ear perked up. He heard the sound of radio chatter. "Hold on," he said, getting up and looking out the window. A police cruiser was parked down right in front of the building. A short dark furred kangaroo officer stood outside the car talking into his walkie-talkie.
"It's just a police officer down stairs."
"Police?" She asked, confused.
Suddenly there was a loud knock on their door. They both looked at each other surprised, then Nobita looked back down to the car and saw the officer was gone. Then he looked back to the door.
"Hello, this is the police." The voice behind the door said loudly.
Instantly the dog's head snapped to the sheep. "It's the police," he whispered.
"Nobita whatever you do, don't tell them anything about the Back-Alley Market or the foxes." She said, after running over and whispering in his ear.
"What? Why not?" He asked.
"Because we could get in trouble." She said, remembering the threat of the Inarigumi. They'd be in big trouble if she told the police of their involvement.
The dog just looked at her confused, but the knocking broke his train of thought as it got louder.
"Hello! This is the police!"
Nobita gave her a silent nod then moved to open the door. "Um, hello officer?" He greeted them. "Sorry if I'm not really decent right now." He said trying to keep his nervous tail under control.
Before him stood a uniformed gray-furred female Snow leopard.
"Good morning, it is alright. I'm Sergeant Shion from the Algema precinct. I am looking for a special person who lives on the premises. Our records say that a Lincoln Longwool sheep named Matilda lives at this address? Do you know her...by chance?"
"Uh, Yes, Officer. She's my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" The leopard's eyes were ones of unexpected surprise. Herbivore and carnivore couples were becoming a flourishing fad in recent years.
The collie's eyes wandered in the room towards the sheep, then back to the feline. "Is she in trouble?"
"No. No. We just wish to ask her some questions. Is she in?"
"Yes Ma'am, She's in the other room."
The sheep suddenly appeared beside the dog. "Hi, I'm right here officer." Her soft voice squeaked.
The carnivore gazed down at the sheep.
"Hi Miss Matilda, I'm Sergeant Shion from the store, remember?" She said softly as she dropped down to the sheep's level, making sure to keep her fangs from showing too much.
"Oh! Course." The sheep shouted with a bubbly smile, brightening up as she recognized the cat's facial patterns instantly.
As soon as her knee touched the ground, the lingering scent of the Black Market on the sheep hit the snow cat's olfactory senses with a familiar high. This small female had some been in the market, she was sure of it. Shion gave the collie a suspicious glance before looking into the sheep's concerned face.
"I'm sorry to bother you so...early in the morning, but our investigation requires us to ask you some more questions dealing with the crime scene. May we come inside please?"
"We?"
The sheep glanced over her shoulder and saw her partner, a darkened furred wallaroo stepping into view, a bit out of breath as if he had just run up the flight of stairs. It was typical for the police in the city to field carnivore cops with herbivore partners to keep an equal balance and put each side at ease dealing with cases.
"Officer Floyd. Ma'am." The dark-furred marsupial addressed her, hastily regaining his composure, tipping his hat. "Next time, I'm knocking, Spots." He said breathless.
"I'd have thought you would have hopped up here." The leopard joked, much to the marsupial's visible annoyance.
"By all means, come in." The sheep said invitingly, allowing the two uniformed animals to enter.
"Spacious place you got here." The herbivore cop commented. "Can I uh… sit down?" He said, pointing to Nobita's chair.
"Uh, go ahead?" She said, looking at the Rough collie who looked a bit territorial as the tired herbivore sat down in his chair, moving his large tail around to sit down properly.
"Wow, this is a nice chair." He said, relaxing much to Nobita's chagrin. "So," he said rubbing his hands. "I bet you're wondering why we're here?"
The leopardess answered it right after. "We've come because we need to ask if you know anything else about the other participants at the crime scene. Like the rabbit and the third person. You see, we wanted to know if you had any prior dealings with any suspicious characters."
"What are you trying to imply?" Nobita angrily asked. "My girlfriend isn't a criminal!"
"Down boy." The marsupial jokingly said, gesturing at the dog. "We're not implying anything of the sort."
Insulted at the herbivore's attempt at canine humor, Nobita frowned at him, but still obediently complied.
"I apologize," the collie said, sitting on the couch next to Matilda. "Sorry for my outburst, you have to understand it's been a really scary night for the both of us."
"We understand," The leopardess said, trying to put their minds at ease. "We're only asking because those guys were members of the Dokugumi, a very dangerous group. We fear you might be in danger of reprisal."
"Reprisal?" Nobita asked softly, looking concerned at the sheep.
"We just need to know if there had been any motivation behind the attack." The cat explained. "It doesn't have to be criminal, it could just be maybe a disgruntled customer altercation?"
The wallaroo chipped in. "That's typically how some incidents with predations initiate. Usually the carnivore is triggered by a slight or maybe an unassuming provocation."
Shion gave her herbivore partner a slighted look. "Right…"
Matilda just shook her head and softly explained the story was told to give again. "I told you all I know ma'am. I'd never seen them before and they had made it pretty clear they wanted to make an example out of us because of some awful things the people of the city did to them. We didn't want to hurt them, but they gave us no choice."
"And you shouldn't feel bad about that, Matilda-san." Nobita said, trying to calm her down. "Those bastards knew what they were doing. They should have known they were wrong."
"You're boyfriend is exactly right Miss Matilda, you did nothing wrong. Nobody's accusing you of anything right now." The female cat said. "We're actually just curious about the other two who were with you, maybe they knew who the Dokugumi were or had past dealings with them. Can you tell us more about them."
Matilda took a deep breath. "I told all I know. I only know the rabbit from the times she comes into the store. I had never seen the third person ever in my life." She was really telling the truth here.
"Can you tell us whatever you know about the rabbit then?"
Matilda went over just about all she knew prior to the rabbit stumbling into her store. She completely omitted her illegal arrangement living in the tower. All she really revealed was that she carried knives because she lived in the poor part of town.
"Do you know where she lives?" The cat asked. "I saw the two of you ride off together."
"No, she was very secretive about where she lived." Matilda replied, "I dropped her off close to Hokai Street I think and then I turned back." Nobita gave her a slight look for the lie, but kept his mouth shut. "I wanted to go further, but she was very adamant about it being too dangerous."
"Hokai street? Really?" The leopard asked, marginally hiding her skepticism, being familiar with the scent of the Back Alley Market.
Matilda nodded, hoping the officers would buy it.
"How about the other participant? Um, do you think you can identify them more clearly now that you've had the time to clear your head? Anything you can give us would be helpful."
"Um, I think they were a...um…" She was starting to lose her nerve.
"It's okay Matilda-chan." Nobita said, reaching over patting her on the hand.
"I think they were a coyote." She said, thinking about the creep that had tried to solicit them in the market earlier.
"A coyote?" The wallaroo asked, somewhat surprised. "Must have been a small coyote then. The footprints and scents we found in the pharmacy suggest three small animals: you, the rabbit, a small breed member of the Canidae family."
"Floyd, she doesn't need to know all of that."
"Look Spots, it's just a coyote seems too big if you ask me."
"She was a hybrid." Matilda blurted out, as her nerves took over.
"A hybrid?" The leopard asked.
"I mean at least I would think," She corrected. "She was very short. She didn't look like a normal canine. They had sharp knives on them too. They never shopped there before." She stopped because that last part sounded like something she shouldn't have said. "L-Like I said, that's all I know ma'am."
"Small female canine with knives?" The leopard mused out loud. She stood up and gestured for her partner to get up. "I think that will do. Thank you for your time Miss Matilda. I hope you two can enjoy the rest of your day."
The wallaroo stretched before handing Matilda a card from his pocket. "If you need anything or find anything else suspicious, please call this number, my partner and I patrol this area all the time, we'll be here in a jiffy."
"Thank you." Matilda said, studying the contact card as the cops started out the door.
"No, thank you and you all have a nice day." The leopard cheerfully smiled with her eyes closed as they closed the door behind them. Matilda quickly locked the door behind then and drew a sigh of relief.
"Matilda, why didn't you tell them the truth?" Nobita asked.
"Because we'd really be in danger if I did." She answered, putting the card on the bureau. "I need to go clear my head." The curly headed sheep whined.
Downstairs by the squad car
"So Spots, what do you think?" The marsupial asked as he sat in the car and took a sip of his cold coffee. He grimaced, and gulped the cold beverage down before looking for some sugar packets to sweeten it. "Waste of time?"
"Something is going on here is what I think." The leopard answered, fastening her seatbelt.
"You think the dog was in on it?" Floyd asked.
"No. Seems like a good dog." She said as he finished stirring. "It's the sheep I'm worried about. I think she was lying to us."
"Her? No way." He said, looking over to the cat before taking a sip. He still made a sour face and tossed the drink out the window onto the street. "Ugh, what makes you say that?"
"And she had Back-Alley all on her as soon as I came in contact with her, I'm surprised even you didn't smell it."
"I'm sorry, I don't make a habit of getting high sniffing the suspects, Spots. I'm not a Carnie."
"I'm serious Floyd, she didn't smell like that before they left the store. I think she knows where the rabbit lives and she just wasn't telling us. She had to have gone past Hokai with that scent on her."
"What? So what do you think a female like her, foul play?"
"No, I wouldn't say that. No real evidence to really make a case out of it, but she's probably hiding something from us. Whether it's important or not, I don't know. I'll probably swing by her job a few times for some friendly chats just to make sure. The thing that really gets me is what she said about the small female canine hybrid. That was interesting."
"Yeah, I heard it. Coyote hybrid." Floyd folded his arms and nodded. "Yeah, I don't buy it to be honest. Never heard of coyotes being that damn small outside of a pup."
"On the contrary, I think she was telling some of the truth there. You know about the alleyway massacre near Ruchiku?"
"Yeah, the lead suspect was one of those dragon brothers, the black one, right?"
"Well what that reminds me of what one the surviving witnesses told us, an old drunk yak who had been squatting in the area." The leopard explained. "He didn't see much of the actual massacre go down, luckily he got the hell out of there before things went down, but before all that he did recall earlier getting mildly accosted by a small female canine."
The wallaroo looked at her with his mouth ajar as a smile started to form on his face. "Ooooh."
The leopardess returned his smile. "He said she was in a hurry and he also identified the black bastard from the store who was specifically chasing after her. The incidents aren't that far from each other so I think they are connected."
"I get it, I get it." The marsupial said. "You think the third person from the store is this little doggo girl, huh?"
"Yeah, but I don't think it's a coyote. I think that's the lie." The snow cat said, starting the ignition. "The yak said he was sure it was an adolescent female fox of some kind when we asked for specifics. They had a bushy brush tail and they were really short."
"So you're betting this was that hybrid she was talking about."
"This is where it gets juicy. If it's a female fox involved this might be bigger than we think. You recall the incident with the Jewelry Store the Beastar reported in right?"
"Yeah the one where he got buried under rubble after letting one of them go."
"Right, that involved Komodo dragons as well and before he entered he reported two canines fleeing in a car that dropped off the radar. One of them was a female fox. It's too much to be a coincidence."
"So…"
"So, this visit was a lot more helpful than you thought it would be. Which means I win the bet." The leopard sassily said as they pulled off.
"Oh great…" The marsupial just sat back and sighed defeated.
"And you're buying the drinks." The leopard said, getting close in his face flashing a smug grin. "I think I want a frappuccino and I want condensed milk in mine."
"Sure thing, detective ."