"You can't be serious, sir!" Ramus braced his hand on the Prefect's desk, staring across it at Raincomprix in shock. "This is our investigation! You can't just turn it over to the Inspectorate!"

Raincomprix raised an eyebrow in amusement, leaning back in his chair with a calm expression on his face. "If you know so much about my position, Luc, maybe you should be the Prefect and I should be the one yelling about how to do it."

Ramus froze, swallowed back the heat that had risen in his face, and slumped backward into the empty chair in defeat. He had been at City Hall now for less than five minutes; had he really spent most of that yelling at Roger? "Sorry, sir," Ramus apologized quickly, forcing himself to meet the Prefect's gaze. "But… I don't trust that Aubert," he insisted. "My gut tells me that there's something wrong with him – and his partner."

"Your gut told you not to trust them," Raincomprix deadpanned. "And you are certain that has nothing to do with the Prefecture they represent?"

Ramus' mouth set in a thin line, and he shook his head. "I have nothing against the 'Rat Squad.'" Raincomprix stifled a snort, and Ramus cleared his throat. "But there was something about their timing yesterday – Aubert and his partner roll up just as the crowd is starting to get out of hand, and only minutes after the Heroes left? Were they watching us?"

"Watching the Prefecture and keeping officers accountable is their mission," Raincomprix pointed out calmly. "An officer-involved shooting is exactly their area of interest. They're supposed to ensure that our officers are doing their job properly and investigate any allegations against individual police officers. Including excessive use of force – such as this incident."

Ramus scoffed. "Yeah? And who keeps them in check? Considering the number of Lynchpin moles in the Prefecture over the last two years, it seems awfully suspicious that the Inspectorate never seemed overly worried about them…"

"And that's where we come in," Raincomprix answered, all jollity vanishing from his expression as he leaned forward. He placed his hands on the desk, his mouth set in a thin line and brow creased. "I assured Prefect Bittencourt that we would turn over any evidence we have collected to his team; that should keep Bastien happy for a while. However," he continued, raising his hand as Ramus opened his mouth to protest. "However, I did not tell him that we wouldn't keep copies of whatever information we have found. Nor did I tell him that we would stop investigating possible… super-criminal connections to this week's incident." He gave Ramus a hard look. "Let the Inspectorate focus on the officers themselves, Luc; that's their job. Our job is to identify any connections to the Lynchpin – or to any of the other super-criminals running around the city, anyways."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

Fifteen minutes later, Ramus stormed through the Department's underground laboratory to the back parking structure elevator, Ray and Sarsavat trailing quietly in his wake. Vernant had taken the new instructions without any overt protest; privately, Ramus wondered if Roger had already prepped him last night to expect the request. He would pack up the material evidence for transport along with his notes… after making copies, of course. That would occupy him and his assistants for most of the morning – especially with Sarsavat accompanying Ramus and Ray. As the three of them rode the elevator up to the ground level, Sarsavat turned to stare at Ramus with his piercing reptilian eyes, a vaguely-human expression somewhere between sympathy and amusement on his lips. Steeling his emotions, Ramus forced himself to stare straight ahead instead of acknowledging the alien's unspoken question.

"So, what's the plan, boss?" asked Ray, arching an eyebrow at Ramus. "Or are you planning to just glare them into bearing their hearts to us?"

Ramus' mouth set in a thin line. "We'll start with their captain, then go from there," he answered as the elevator stopped on the lowest level of the parking structure. "You and I will handle the interrogations; Sarsavat can observe from behind glass."

"I can do that," agreed the alien, dipping his head as he slithered off the elevator after them. "What emotionsss do you exsspect?"

"Guilt?" suggested Ray. "Doubt, fear, suspicion…"

"I'm interested in anything that might indicate that they weren't acting of their own volition when they pulled the trigger," Ramus answered, turning on the car and pulling out of the parking structure. "Maybe they were coerced into doing it. Maybe someone was mind-controlling them."

As they cut north then east, Ray frowned. "Yeah, but why? Why would someone go to all this trouble, just to kill some kid? You saw the report: he wasn't connected to any of the big players – he didn't have any sort of criminal record. He was an above-average student in school, okay university prospects. His family arrived in Paris five-some years ago, and his parents work in maintenance at Sorbonne. Not criminals. There's no real motive for anyone to target him."

Ramus hummed, his brows furrowed in concentration as he picked his way around an impromptu demonstration – this one far from the scene of the crime. "Maybe that's the point," he mused slowly. "What if this was just a way to turn the public against us? Sow distrust in the city?"

"Okay… but why?"

Ramus shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

"Captain Duhamel?" asked Ramus, rapping sharply on the open office door. Behind them, a low hum of whispers spread through the precinct, though Ramus kept his full attention on the man sitting in front of him.

The captain, his hair in disarray and dark bags under his eyes, glanced up blearily from the paperwork strewn across his desk and pushed his glasses up on his nose. Blinking several times to focus, he stared at Ramus with a confused expression, leaning forward to study Ramus' face more closely. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant…"

"Ramus," he answered, displaying his badge. "Mayoral Security Detail. I'm here with my associates because the Mayor's Office has taken a… special interest in the Nasri case."

"You and everyone else in this blasted city," Duhamel grumbled under his breath. "Everything will be in my report. I have nothing else to say."

"You ssseem defensssive," observed Sarsavat, fixing Duhamel with his penetrating stare.

Duhamel jumped in his chair and drew in a sharp breath, staring at Sarsavat in shock, all traces of exhaustion vanishing from his face in an instant. "Wha–what are you?"

"He's with me," Ramus retorted sharply. "Now answer the question. Please."

"Sir," Ray interjected, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, "we're just trying to get all the facts of the case. No one is accusing you or your precinct of anything nefarious; we just want to find out what happened – the truth. How did Gaume and Blondeau seem to be that morning, before the shooting?"

Duhamel shrugged. "How would you expect? Gaume had just come off nights, so he seemed tired – nothing unusual about that."

Ray chuckled. "I know the feeling; my fiancée says I'm never really myself when I switch from nights to days or back!"

"Was there anything more to it than that?" asked Ramus. "Was he talking like himself? Dressing the way he normally does?"

"No – nothing out of the ordinary," Duhamel answered with a shrug. "Everything seemed, well, normal with him. Just another 'day at the office.' He was tired, but excited to get back to walking a patrol, rather than driving."

"And Blondeau?" Ramus pressed. "How had she been lately?"

Duhamel frowned. "There did seem to be something off lately, now that you mention it…" he murmured, almost to himself. "Nothing to make me question if she should be on the streets," he added quickly, as Ramus' eyebrows furrowed. "She'd just been… distracted. Leblanc has a locker next to her, and she mentioned something about Blondeau – just that there had been something happening in her personal life lately. But I watched her interact in the station, and she seemed to be fine."

Ramus glanced over at Sarsavat, who nodded pensively. "Thank you for sharing, Captain," Ramus told him. "But now, we will speak with the prisoners – unless there's anything else you would care to add for our report?"

Duhamel glanced away for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "There is one thing…" he began, frowning, "though I hesitate to bring it up."

Ray raised an eyebrow at him. "What is it?"

"If it givesss you paussse…" Sarsavat began, "Then perhapsss it isss worth our attention."

"She got a new car," Duhamel explained, a sour look on his face. "Blondeau did. Not that long ago."

"Interesting…" Ramus muttered to himself.

As they were leaving the precinct building two hours later, Ramus glanced over at Sarsavat. "Well?"

The alien held up the device in his hand and shook his head. "According to thisss ssscanner, they are entirely human," he answered. "Their brain patternsss are normal human, asss isss their bone ssstructure. They have not been replaccced by shhhapechangersss. And asss for their emotionsss, they were asss I exsspected, under the cccircumssstancccesss."

Ramus frowned. "Damn. I was almost hoping these interviews would actually give us something to work with," he grumbled.

Ray shrugged. "Maybe when Vernant looks over the data he'll come up with something better," he suggested. He stopped, staring straight ahead. "Damn. In the meantime…"

"Well, well, well." Aubert leaned against their car, directly in front of the precinct, Durand standing next to him. "And what are you doing here?"

"Same as you, I hope," Ramus answered evenly, not taking his eyes off of Aubert. "Looking into whether the Gaume and Blondeau sitting in the cells in there are actually the real deal, or if they might have been replaced by alien shapechangers."

Durand scoffed. "And that's what you brought the snake for? Because it takes an alien to recognize an alien?"

Ramus' mouth set in a thin line. "Considering that Sarsavat can sense things you can't, he's more helpful here than either of you…"

Aubert's nostrils flared. "Can he sense that you aren't wanted?" Marching across the sidewalk to Ramus, he stopped right in front of him. "This is our investigation. Ours. Now stay out of our way, or we might need to turn our attention on you."

"Likewise." Ramus frowned. "You do your job; I'll do mine."

"As long as your job doesn't interfere with my job, fine." Durand gave Ramus a suspicious look before turning her focus on Sarsavat, who stared back at her without blinking.

"Fine." Ramus pursed his lips as the two Inspectors walked past them and up the stairs to the precinct. Only after they were out of side did Ramus slide into the car and close the door securely, letting out a heavy sigh. "Let's hope that Vernant has had better success than we have."