"How could something like that happen?!" Adrian Manechester demanded, looking at the two mammals that stood before him.

"Didn't I told both of you to keep a watch on everything while you were outside of the mansion?!" The horse demanded again, while the wolf and gazelle stood before him. The canine was looking down, seeming ashamed, while the gazelle still had the gasmask over his face and he was looking back at the horse.

"Didn't I emphasized enough how you should keep everyone safe? Especially my children, my son-in-law and Gazelle?"

"And they are safe." The gazelle said, "No one got hurt in this little adventure."

"But they were in danger, weren't they?" The horse demanded, looking at the gazelle, and wishing that he could remove that mask so they could look eye to eye. "You were supposed to keep watch over them and take them back inside on the first sign of problem."

"W-we couldn't detect their approach." Legoshi said, and this caused the horse to look at him, which made the wolf shrink a bit. "T-they must have approached by an area that my familiars weren't covering. O-or maybe they... got some kind of... protective charm to... hide their presence..."

The wolf's voice was gradually disappearing, as the horse was nearly boring holes into him with his glare, and the wolf whimpered.

"G-gomen'nasai..."

The horse snorted, and turned to the gazelle.

"Why do you even associate with this incompetent idiot?" Adrian asked, and the gazelle looked back at him, and spoke something:

"Didn't I already told you that I don't like that you speak about my partner like that, horsey?"

The tune that the gazelle used was not that usual, goofy tune, but was something that verged on a veiled threat.

Now, normally Adrian would not take anyone using such a tune with him, however, that gazelle had a capacity to do something that not many mammals could: he could actually intimidate the horse.

Adrian didn't knew how he did it. It is was his tune, his posture, if it was some kind of supernatural presence that the gazelle seemed to adopt when he was mad, or if it was some strung up of the three. All that Adrian knew was that this gazelle would often make him back away when he faced him with anger.

Looking at him for a few more moments, Adrian snorted, and turned away.

"Well, what is done is done." He said, "Now is time to manage the damage."

"Okay, boss." The gazelle said, the threatening tune now gone completely. "And... how do we do that?"

"By speaking to our guests." The horse said, and the wolf asked:

"What are we going to say to them, Manechester-sama?"

"You will say nothing." The horse said, looking over his shoulder at the wolf, who shrunk a little bit. "I'll be doing the talking. You can talk when it is to agree with me, but mostly you just have to stay quiet and nod, think you can do that?"

The wolf said nothing, and only nodded without looking at the horse. This was enough to Adrian.

Soon, the horse was walking across a hallway, with the two mammals coming right behind him, as if they were his entourage. They passed by some of the works of art along the way. They were all pieces of Adrian's amazing collection. These were pieces collected through years; works of great value that the horse was proud to say were his'.

Adrian could spend a long time admiring his own collection, however, not in a moment like that. Now the horse had other worries to deal with.

Soon, they passed through a door, leading to another room, where all of the guests were on.

After the scare that was cause by the events of the green maze, the guests had all been quick to return home. Now all of them were reunite in a room of the mansion, all of them calming down from the thing that happened; it seemed that all of them needed it.

Gazelle, the voluptuous popstar was with her bodyguard. The tiger seemed to be on alert, as it seemed that the event had put him on guard, and now he was ready to protect the antlered female in case anything happened. Meanwhile, Judy and Nick were in a corner, both of them discussing what had happened.

Euphemia was sitting with her husband. She seemed to be deep in thought, but she seemed like she had not been shake by what happened, unlike the male horse, who definitely seemed disturbed

Adrian looked at her, and did felt a sense of pride for his daughter for clearly showing strength in the face of what just happened.

Meanwhile, Ben was sitting in the couch, and he seemed quite disturbed by what happened, as he had his arms around himself and kept looking at his own feet. Chandler was sitting by his side, with a hoof on his shoulder, comforting his friend. Hannah, Chandler's girlfriend, was also in there, and she seemed to be helping her boyfriend in comforting his friend, as it was clear that there was sympathy on her eyes as she talked to the big cheetah.

Adrian couldn't help but feel a tinge of resentment at the cheetah. The memories of what that fat bastard caused were still on his mind, and even though he heard that he was the one who was attacked, Adrian could feel absolutely no sympathy towards the cheetah.

Finally, the last ones on the room were Clawhauser's siblings. They were in a corner, drinking something up. The hybrid was drinking from a cup as she seemed to be writing something down on a notebook.

Adrian had been keeping a close eye to her ever since he caught her looking at the Sad Clown. He had surprised her looking at it, and then she moved away. Adrian wondered if she would have tried to take the twelve million zoollars picture if he had not surprised her. He was going to be careful if he caught her looking like that any other thing of his collection.

Finally, there was Joshua, Benjamin's twin brother, sitting by her side with a cup on his paw.

The fact that these two were twins, in Adrian's mind, went against all basic principles of genetics. However, he had already proved to be as revolting as his twin, despite not sharing of his unsightly fatness, as he had chosen an indecent outfit for what was supposed to be an elegant gathering. This was nothing like what a decent mammal would have choose for a party. Adrian knew that none of his children would ever dress up in anything similar to what that indecent feline was wearing.

Josh was looking at Adrian, and for a moment, their gazes met. The way that the cheetah looked back at him was not very friendly.

Adrian snorted, and soon, he was bringing the attention of the entire room to himself.

"So, did you caught those two?" Was Tyson's question, "The dog and that weird guy?" Adrian looked at the tiger, and he nodded.

"Yes, indeed. We have apprehended both of them, with some help from Misters Ogami and Horne. They were caught before they could leave the Vole Gardens."

Everyone looked at him as he said that. Some of them looked like they weren't buying it.

"They were caught?" Judy asked. "How so?"

Adrian looked at her, and he was getting ready to answer, when the masked gazelle beat him to it.

"It was all thanks to Legoshi, actually." Horne said, causing everyone to look at him. "Luckily he had a few familiars ready, they are his specialty, you know? He was able to track the guys down and subdue the two. How about that? He brought these two wackos down without having to move a finger! Right on the mage style! Ain't that right, Legoshi?"

All eyes then turned to the wolf, who seemed a bit lost. He then looked at the gazelle, at everyone in there, and then at Adrian, who looked back at him. The wolf then just nodded silently.

"Seriously?" Marcy said, "You captured these two guys only using your familiars?" She asked, and the wolf looked back at her.

"Yeah, he is that good." Horne said, "We both are."

"You're both that good, and yet somehow I never heard of either of you..." The hybrid said, looking at the two mammals. A silence followed these words, before Adrian cleared his throat.

"So, it is like I said. The two perpetrators have been captured."

"The Hound too?" Charles asked, looking at his father-in-law. "You have captured the Hound, haven't you?"

Adrian looked at him with a cold glare.

"Charles, this is no time for panic."

"It was the Hound!" The horse said, looking at him. Meanwhile, the other mammals traded looks among themselves.

"The Hound"?

"It was the Hound! It looked just like what Yahya described! Something between a prey and a predator, but it was neither of them!" Charles said, and Adrian looked back at him with impatience.

"Charles, take a hold of yourself." Adrian said to him, "It was not the Hound. I can assure you that."

"But it looked just like the story that Yahya told!" Charles said, and then, someone else said:

"You cannot take everything at word's value." Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, who was no one else than Yahya Manechester himself.

"Not even if it comes from me."

"Father." Adrian said, surprised.

"Yahya!" Charles said, running to the elder of the Manechester family. "Yahya, we were attacked by the Hound! It was the ugliest thing I have ever seen! It looked like you described! A true freak! It was so-"

"Enough!" Yahya said, silencing Charles with that single word, and the rest of the room as well.

Yahya then walked into the room.

"I woke up and was getting ready to go back to work, when I heard that servants speaking about..." Yahya was saying, but he trailed as he got a look at Josh, and at what he was wearing.

The cheetah smiled at the big horse, winking at him and passing his tongue over his lips.

Yahya's ear twitched, before he resumed.

"I heard that servants talking about an attack to the guests of the party." The horse looked around the room. "Is this something that I need to be worried about?"

"No, it is not, father." Adrian was quick to say. "The ones responsible for the attack have already been apprehended. We are holding them on the cells of the dungeon."

"Oh, you guys have a dungeon?" Josh said, "My, my, you horses are a kinky bunch, aren't you?"

Adrian and Yahya both looked at him, before Adrian continued:

"We have them both detained." The younger horse said, more to his father than to the others. "Horne and Ogami have already provided that they won't be able to escape."

"Yeah, we reinforced these cells with a bounded field." The gazelle with the mask said, "These guys won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

The horse looked at the masked gazelle, and nodded, before he looked back at his son.

"And, what was their intention?" Yahya asked, and everyone else looked at Adrian, as they all wanted to hear what he was going to say.

"It was all a prank." Adrian said, looking at his father, who had a raised eyebrow.

"A prank." Yahya repeated, looking his son dead in the eye, and Adrian hesitated, before he nodded.

"Yes, that was what they said while they were being interrogated." Adrian said, looking back at his father. "These two were in a bit of a Halloween mood, and they decided that it would be funny to play a violent prank on the ones in here."

"So, that was all a prank?" Nick said, "Now that is something I find hard to believe."

"Well, you can believe it, Officer Wilde." Adrian said, looking at the fox, and Nick had the impression that the glare that horse was currently giving him was almost as challenge for him to try to say something else to see what would happen.

"Yeah, the guys are some mages who like to pass their time by pranking non-mages." Horne said, "There are more guys like that around than you might think. They like to use their magecraft on the guys who they know that can't fight back, which is why they target you guys."

"They are just bullies." Legoshi said, his voice was barely a whisper, and only a few heard what he spoke.

"So, this was all just some game made by some mage jerks?" Chandler asked, and his father nodded.

"Yes. They both said that they were planning this as part of a Halloween prank."

"I am sorry, Mr. Manechester, but it didn't seemed like a prank to me." Judy said, causing the horse to look at her. "It seemed that these two really wanted to pick up a fight."

"Well, perhaps that is a mage's idea of fun." Chandler said, and this did caused some of the present mages to look his way.

"Really? Attacking each other too?" Nick asked, and the horse now looked at him. "The dog and the monster guy were going to each other's necks when we arrived. Were these two really together in a prank?"

Adrian gave the vulpine a glare, and it seemed that he wanted to tell the fox to shut up already. However, he was very polite when he answered:

"It was part of the prank." The horse spoke. "One of them disguised as a monster while the other attacked, and then they pretended to fight each other."

"It didn't seemed like they were pretending." Judy said, and Adrian was quick to answer:

"They made it look convincing. They already told me that later, had they not been caught, they would later been laughing at how scared they had made us." The horse spoke, "They said that when we interrogated them."

Judy and Nick shared a look.

"I see..." Judy said, looking back at the horse. "Would you mind if we interrogated them as well?"

"There is no need." Adrian said, looking at the cops. "They already told everything, it was all a big prank. They expected to have only easy targets, but didn't expected to have mages present. They tried to run as soon as they realized that mages were present."

"We scared them good." Melon said, sounding proud with himself.

Then, someone else spoke, and this time it was Benjamin.

"It wasn't a prank." The cheetah said, and this caused Adrian to look at him.

"Yes, it was."

"No, it wasn't!" Benjamin said, looking up at him. "That dog was not joking! He was being serious! He pointed a weapon at me! He knew me!"

"He was playing a part." Adrian said, now really wishing that the fat bastard would shut his mouth.

"But he was asking me to-"

"It was a prank!" Adrian said, his outburst causing Ben to flinch, and causing everyone to look at him. The horse took a deep breath and continued, this time in a more controlled manner:

"Officer Clawhauser, I understands that you are shaken, but you cannot mistake what happened tonight by more than it really was." Adrian said, looking at the plump cheetah.

"It was all just a prank, the responsible were caught, and they are safely locked away." He said, looking at all of the guests. "The situation is completely under control."

A brief moment of silence followed the horse's words, which was broke by a sneeze.

A rather exaggerated sneeze.

Everyone turned to look at Josh, who was sniffing and rubbing his nose in a rather comical way.

"Sorry, guys." He said, looking around. "So much bullshit at once gives me allergy."

Adrian looked at him for a few moments, before he spoke:

"I'm sorry, do you have something to say, Mr. Clawhauser?"

"Yeah, I have." The muscular cheetah said, putting his glass down and getting up from his seat, now walking to the horse. "I have a lot to say right now, but I am too polite to say some of it with ladies present."

The horse glared at the smaller mammal, who was coming his way.

Great, is this pervert going to make problems now? Adrian thought. As if the fat one wasn't bad enough, his perverted twin now is going to run his babbling mouth. Perhaps they really are twins.

"Oh, so you finally are convincing yourself that Ben and I are twins, aren't you?" Josh asked, looking at the horse, who looked back at him.

"What?"

"You know, you do think I am a pervert because of my clothes." Josh said, looking at him, "But I am not the one who likes to escape with my wife in the middle of the night to go inside one of the dungeons cells, the one with the two pairs of chains hanging from the ceiling."

"Josh!" Ben said, while Adrian's eyes widened with alarm.

"Wh- Y-you... I-I don't know what you are talking about." Adrian said, looking away. There was a blush forming under his dark fur, and Josh looked at him for a few moments, before opening a grin.

"Reins and a ridding crop?" The muscular cheetah asked. "Hah! And you get shocked by my costume!"

Adrian blushed even more, and he looked at the cheetah with an aghast expression, and everyone else shared looks.

"Did I missed something?" Yahya asked, looking at the muscular cheetah, who chuckled.

"Oh, just a special technique that the Clawhauser clan developed in their many years of history and study." Josh said, looking at the big horse.

"You see, changes in emotional or mental state cause one's aura to change." Josh said, "It happens because any change in the mind and heart causes reflections upon the energy of the body, resulting on the prana of the person vibrating in answer to each emotion, to each feeling." He looked right at Adrian.

"To each thought."

"By reaching out for someone else, we can interpret the changes in their aura by causing our prana to vibrate in synch with their own." Josh said, "And then, by interpreting these vibrations, we can know the emotional and mental changes of the other mammals. With enough practice, you can read the prana with well enough to figure out the precise thoughts of the other mammal, down to each specific word they are thinking."

Adrian looked at him, his eyes slowly widening in realization.

D-did that meant...?

"That's right, Manechester." Josh said, looking at Adrian in the eye. "We, Clawhausers, can read minds."

Adrian felt like he had just received a blow.

T-that cheetah was really reading his...?

"Ever since you stepped in this room." Josh said, as he gave a step on the horse's direction.

"That's how I know that you are not really being honest here." He said, "That is also how I know that you think that Marcy would want to steal that painting of that ugly ass clown, did that thing really costed twelve millions?"

"Oh, and that's also how I know about you and your wife going to that dungeon cell, because when you mentioned the dungeon, you did thought about how you and your wife went in there last night." He continued, looking at the horse, "And that is how I know that right at this moment, you are fighting back the urge to scratch the rash you have because of an allergy to that intimate fur product."

Adrian's face couldn't be more shocked if the moon fell out of the sky.

He could actually read his mind!

He could only look back at the cheetah, who he now knew that could look inside his head and find out every single one of his secrets.

He felt exposed. He felt naked.

This cheetah could know all that there was to know about him. He could probe into his head and find out every single one of his most intimate thoughts. He could know about the hidden camera. He could find out about...

"What hidden camera?" Josh asked, giving one more step in direction to Adrian, who now retreated a step.

"And who the heck is Angus?"

"JOSH!"

The sudden cry snapped everyone's attention to Benjamin, who was looking back at his brother.

"Josh, please." Benjamin said, and for a long moment, he and his twin locked eyes. After a few moments, it seemed that the muscular cheetah was finally calming down. He gave one last look at Adrian, before he sighed and walked back to the place where he was once seating.

Everyone looked at him as he was sitting down, many of them with surprised expressions. Adrian, in particular, was still reeling from what he had just learned about that cheetah. About his entire family.

His gaze met with the one of Benjamin Clawhauser, and the cheetah was now looking back at him.

Could he do the same as his twin?

Could he probe into Adrian's mind as well and steal his thoughts?

"Well, that was interesting..." Yahya said, as he had been silent up until now. His son was now looking at him.

"Adrian, a word?" He said, and that was not much of a request as much as it was a demand. Adrian shrunk a little bit, right before the two horses leave the room, with the masked gazelle and the wolf hot on their hells.

As soon as they were out of the earshot of the other mammals, Yahya was quick to confront his son.

"What happened tonight..." Yahya said, looking at Adrian, "Was not just a prank from some mages who had too much free time, was it?"

"Father, I..."

"It was obvious from the first moment that you were not being honest, so don't you dare trying to pull out any crap with me." Yahya cut him, causing his son to flinch a little bit, as the taller horse continued. "Now, you haven't really captured either of the ones responsible for the attack, have you?"

Adrian remained in there, looking at his father like a frozen deer looking at the headlights of an incoming vehicle. Before he spoke:

"No."

Yahya continued to look at him.

"Do you have any clues of who they were, or why they attacked?"

"No."

Yahya looked Adrian dead in the eye.

"What happened tonight..." The elderly horse asked, "Has anything to do with the fact that someone has been vandalizing and invading this house?"

A brief moment of silence, before Adrian spoke:

"I... I don't know."

Yahya looked at him for a few more moments, before some of the intensity disappeared from his eyes, and he gave a step back, seeming more relaxed, although he still seemed severe.

"Charles was saying something about it being the Hound." Yahya said, and he seemed dead serious as he spoke that. "What did he meant by that?"

"You know, that is a good question." Nick said, as all of the four mammals turned to look at the fox, who approached with his bunny partner right by his side.

"Maybe you could explain that to us as well." Nick said, and Adrian looked at them both.

"You two go back to the room." Adrian said to them, rather aggressively. "This is not something that concerns you."

"Oh, it is, Mr. Manechester." Judy said, looking back at the horse. "It is because we are in here to ensure the protection of the guests. This means that we both have the right to be here and asking you questions. Officer Clawhauser would be here with us as well, if he was not still recovering from the attack that you insist in dismissing as a prank."

Adrian looked at her, and the bunny returned his glare with ferocity that Adrian honestly didn't believed he would have ever seen in the eyes of a bunny.

"Is there any reason why you are lying to your guests about what happened?" The bunny demanded.

The horse looked at her for a few moments, before he said:

"Officer Hopps. It is important to keep the guests from acting drive by fear." The horse said, and the two cops looked at him.

"And, this means that you will lie to them about the trident-wielding maniac and about the strange monster who are out to get them?" Nick said, "You know, not wanting to tell you how to do things, but don't you think that lying to others is really nice. Especially when it has to do with their safety."

"That's for me to decide." Adrian said to the fox, and Judy glared at him. She was ready to say something, when Nick beat her to it.

"Wow. That's quite rude." The fox said, "Must I remember you that you were the one who agreed for us to come in here for extra protection? If you were just going to be rude and ignore all that we said, then we should not have come in first place."

Adrian looked at the fox, and then Judy spoke:

"My partner is right, Mr. Manechester." The bunny said as the horse looked back at her. "I'm sorry sir, I know that you have your own worries, but the well-being and safety of the guests should be priority over any worries about your reputation. Especially considering that your own children are among them."

"Unless, of course, you don't believe they are more important than your reputation." Nick said, and Adrian gave him a glare that was positively hostile. It seemed that the horse wanted to say something to the fox; however, he instead said calmly:

"So, you are suggesting me to inform my son and the rest of my guests that we have some insane mammal or mammals who have been walking around the house and who may aim to harm the ones inside of it?" The horse looked at the two cops, "That I should inform them all that the very same mammals who have attacked them at the green maze are still on the loose and that they could be lurking around the mansion right now, just waiting for the chance to attack?"

"Well, maybe it would be a good idea." Judy said, "At the very least, you could have warned your son about it when he decided to have this party."

"Officer Hopps, do you know how much effort my son has placed in this little event?" Adrian said, "Especially in something that is such a short notice. He has put a great effort in elaborating this game, and he truly wishes to see it to its end."

"Well, it will end in tears if these guys come back here." Nick said, and Adrian looked at him, before he looked back at Judy.

"Officer Hopps. I understand that you are upset with me for having made these statements for the guests, but you must understand that I had no other choice."

"Why? To protect your image?" She asked, and the horse said back:

"To keep them calm and void panic, which is exactly what will happen if they are to find out that these two dangerous mammals could be lurking around the house. Mammals can do very stupid things when they allow for fear to take hold of them and control their actions. I believe that you are very familiar with this."

Judy looked at him for a few moments, and she then looked down. Adrian took this as a small point that he had just made. The horse was soon continuing:

"Sometimes it is needed to uphold information from others in order to keep them safe. Sometimes even misinformation is needed." The horse said, looking at the two, "It is not the best thing, but it is sometimes the best, as to avoid causing outcry and mass panic, which could lead to damage and to complications of already sensitive situations. You two, as good cops, should know this."

He looked at the two of them, and they looked back at him.

"Perhaps you two don't deserve your badges..."

Nick and Judy were about to say something in return to this, but they were cut off, when Yahya beat them to it.

"Adrian, stop."

It was a simple sentence, but it held the power of an order. The younger horse looked back at him, and he was meet with a hard gaze, which made him stand down. Yahya walked past him, and he looked at the two cops.

"Officers, you have to excuse my son. Sometimes he loses sight of things." Yahya said, looking at the two officers with a friendlier gaze than the one that his son had up until now. This somehow helped the two cops relax a little bit.

"Of course, he does have a point." Yahya said, "Yes, he should have informed Chandler of the situation before letting him have this party, however, this ship has already sailed. Letting the guests in would only succeed in making them afraid and complicating the job of keeping them safe and out of harm's way."

The two cops shared a look.

"So, you agree with lying to the guests?" Judy asked, and the horse answered simply:

"Sometimes others need to be kept in the dark in order for them to be protected. Like Adrian said, it is not the best, but it is truth. So, just for now, I'd really like to ask you two to help keep this a silent as possible until there is really no more danger."

Yahya was being reasonable, and that much the two cops had to admit. Of course, this didn't helped the fact that Adrian was smiling at the two, as if he had won. Of course, this smile vanished as soon as Yahya turned to him.

"The officers also have a very good point, Adrian." Yahya said to his son. "The safety and well-being of the guests is far more important than reputation."

"But, father..."

"Officers Wilde and Hopps will be taking part in this investigation." Yahya said, cutting Adrian before he could protest. "After all, you did allowed them to come in here to help with security and protection, nothing better than letting them take part on this."

"And our dear Benjamin as well, right?" Nick said, and Adrian looked at him. Yahya said nothing for a second, but then he said:

"Yes. Officer Clawhauser as well, naturally."

Adrian looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't had the courage to defy Yahya.

"They are going to take part in all of the investigations." Yahya said, "With every part of it, all with the goal of capturing the culprits and keeping the safety of everyone in this house, all the while maintaining the most of discretion to avoid causing alarm with the rest of the guests. However, if in any moment it seems that things are getting out of hoof, the capture of the perpetrators and the safety of everyone will be the priority."

He looked Adrian right in the eye.

"And I don't care how this might affect your personal ambitions." He said to his son. "Is that clear, Adrian?"

There was a brief silence, as Yahya looked expectantly to the younger horse, before Adrain lowered his head and said, in a low voice:

"Yes, father."

This seemed to satisfy Yahya, as he straightened his back. Behind Adrian, Melon chuckled a little bit, but this was only noticed by Legoshi, who was standing by his side. Yahya turned to the officers, and looked at both of them.

"Officers, I trust you two to act well with this case." He said, and soon Judy was saying:

"Thank you, Mr. Manechester. But, right now, I think that the best to do would be to contact the ZPD and ask for reinforcements."

"No." Adrian said, causing the three to look at him. The younger horse then said:

"T-there is no need for this." He was speaking carefully, and it seemed to be because Yahya was looking at him. Judy then spoke:

"There was an attempt against the life of an officer." The bunny was looking at him. "I do believe it would be for the best if-"

"If we just remain inside of the house and reinforce security it will be okay." Adrian cut her off. He then turned to his father. "We can deal with this ourselves, we don't have to involve the ZPD. I assure you that it will all be okay. Please."

Adrian looked at him for a few moments, and then he said:

"Fine. We don't involve the ZPD at the moment." Yahya said, and Judy was about to protest to this, when Yahya added:

"But if there is another attack, and you are no longer able to assure anyone's safety, then you will allow the officers to assume everything, and this includes calling reinforcements if they see the need."

That was an order, and Adrian agreed with it. Yahya seemed satisfied, and he seemed ready to leave, but he stopped for a moment. He then said:

"Did you took a good look at the creature?" Yahya asked to the ones around. "The one that Charles said to be the Hound?"

"You mean that guy who looked like some kind of big, ugly, mutant wolf?" Melon asked, looking at the horse through the lens of his mask. "Yeah, I guess the four of us did."

"Y-yeah, I gave a good look at it." Legoshi said timidly.

"He seemed to be predator, I mean, judging by the fangs and the claws." Judy said.

"Yeah, but I don't know any predator that has hooved feet." Nick added. "Nor a long face like that."

"Maybe they were prosthetic?" Judy asked, and Nick shrugged, saying that it was as good a theory as any.

Yahya took what they said, before he asked:

"Did he had antlers?"

"What?" Judy asked, and Yahya asked once more:

"The unidentified mammal... did he had antlers?"

Silence followed this question. Soon, all of the four mammals were saying that no, the mammal did not had antlers. They all had looked at it well enough to be sure that he didn't had antlers.

"Why do you ask?" Melon asked, and Yahya took a second to answer.

"Nothing." The elderly horse said, "It is nothing. I have to go back to work. I leave you to take care of this."

With this, Yahya left, leaving the five mammals to look at each other, before Adrian sighed.

"You better not do anything stupid." He said to the four mammals, all of which looked back at him.

In no time, Nick, Judy, Melon and Legoshi had all been take to the security room. The place where the personal security of the Manechester family worked by surveilling all of the area through cameras spread all around the property. In there, they were introduce to the mammals of the security team, among them was Oxler, a bulky bull who was as tall and buff as Bogo himself, and who was the head of the security team.

The bull welcomed them all, and he talked to Legoshi and Melon, as he had apparently been introduced to both of the before.

"We can cover nearly the entire property from here." The bull said to the cops, who looked at the screens that displayed the images of the cameras. "Everything save for two blind spots were the cameras don't reach."

"And you haven't caught sight of the one who had been vandalizing the state and breaking in?" Judy asked, and the bull shook his head.

"Nah, it seems that they know how to avoid the cameras."

"By staying at the blind spots?" Nick asked, and the bull nodded.

"Yeah, that too." The bull said, "But, it is not only the blind spots. It seems that this guy knows how to move around while avoiding being caught on the camera. These vandalisms started a few months ago and we never caught a single glimpse of the responsible."

"Maybe he is small enough to pass without being seen?" Legoshi said.

"Or maybe the guy actually knows how the security system works." Melon said, "Enough to know how not to be caught by it."

"Actually a good theory." Oxler said, "Of course, we considered the possibility that they could be someone who worked in here before and knew the system, or that someone explained to them how the system worked and taught them how to avoid detection."

"Two good theories." Judy said, looking over the images. "What about how they get inside the house?"

"That is another mystery." Oxer said to the bunny, "There are motion detectors near all windows and doors at night, not to mention sensors that trigger in answer to heat and movement. They should blast an alarm in the moment someone tries to force anything open. But not a single one of them have ever been triggered."

"What about cameras on the inside?" Judy asked.

"There are none." Oxler said, looking at the bunny. Judy looked back at him.

"You mean that there are over thirty cameras around the property, but not a single one inside of the house?"

"Mr. Manechester doesn't like having his employees looking at his works of art all the time." The bull said, "He seems to think that we might start to think about stealing them if we do."

"Yeah, the horse truly loves his art." Melon said, looking at the screens. "Amazing that even with so many cameras you guys saw nothing." He said that very casually, but it caused the mammals of the team to look at him.

"Excuse me, but what have you been doing lately?" One of them, a sheep, asked to the masked gazelle, "And why are you wearing that?"

"Firstly, we have done plenty." The gazelle said, "And second, with all due respect, because it is none of your business."

Soon, the masked Gazelle was turning to the wolf.

"Show them, Legoshi." He said to his partner, and the wolf nodded, and soon, he was closing his eyes and focusing. For a moment, everyone looked at him, wondering what he was doing. That was when the wolf started to speak.

"Right on the edge of the property." The wolf said, "Two mammals are passing on these electric rides, a leopard and an antelope, both of them wearing blue uniform and the leopard has a gun of some kind strapped to his waist."

The mammals looked at the wolf, and then traded looks, before they looked at a specific screen of one of the cameras. They were seeing that there were two mammals in electric scooters, a leopard and an antelope, and they were really standing very close to the entrance of the property. They seemed to be chatting.

These two were guards of the Vole Gardens, and they looked like they had stopped from their patrol and were having a conversation.

They looked back at the wolf, who still had his eyes closed.

"So, you saw them on the screen before closing your eyes." The sheep said, "Big deal."

"They are talking about the last Clawtics game." Legoshi said, his eyes still closed. "The leopard is saying that this season they are having problems with their defense. The antelope just said that they would probably have some problems when they face the Stalkers next game. The leopard is saying that he hoped that they wouldn't, because he has bet fifty bucks on the next game."

Everyone continued to look at him for a few seconds.

"You are making this up." The sheep said, and Legoshi opened his eyes to look at him.

"No, I'm not." The wolf said, and Melon spoke:

"Legoshi can see them from here through his familiars." Melon said, "He can basically see and hear everything that they do, and he is able to order them to give a warning if they see certain things. Legoshi has them spread all over the place, and they will give him a warning if they see anything strange. They might cover those blind spots on your cameras."

The mammals in there share looks among themselves, before one of them speaks.

"And, these familiars of yours will be patrolling the place?"

Legoshi took a moment to realize that they were talking to him, and then he spoke.

"Oh... Uhh, yeah." The wolf said, seeming quite awkward. "You see, I've been using familiars to look around the house ever since we started living here. I usually place them to patrol from sundown to the morning, since the attacks mostly happened at night."

"And, as if that is not enough, we have also placed a bounded field around the property that gives a warning if anyone enter here without authorization." Melon said; his arms crossed over his chest. "Ever since then, not a single vandalism or invasion has happened. You're welcome."

They shared a look, and then one of the members of a team, a Doberman, said:

"I make patrols every night, and I haven't seen a single one of these familiars."

They looked at the dog.

"Oh, you have probably seen them." Legoshi said, looking at the dog. "But, you probably haven't gave them much attention. I mean, most mammals don't give much attention to bugs."

"Bugs?" Oxler said, looking at the wolf. "You 'familiars' are bugs?"

"Hai." Legoshi said, looking at the bull. "Is because, you see, I am an entomancer."

"A what, now?" The sheep asked, and Legoshi looked at him.

"You know, a user of entomancy."

The sheep looked at him blankly. That was when Melon said:

"That's bug magecraft."

"Ohhhh." The sheep said, everyone looked at him and the wolf nodded.

"Yeah, I can use bugs as familiars. I have a lot of them."

"And he sends his creepy crawlies around to keep an eye at everything for him."

"They are very useful at this." The wolf said, and everyone nodded at this.

So, they had security cameras, magic fields and magic bugs all around the area. That was definitely something to work with. Judy suggested that they increased the security for the night, considering what happened, which meant more patrols around the area at night and more of Legoshi's bugs around the area, and that they checked on their "bounded field" to be sure that it was working well. Everyone was able to agree with these ideas.

So, with this done, the two cops saw themselves with nothing more to do than to let the security and the two mages to do their work.

Judy didn't really liked not being able to do anything, but she saw that they had nothing more to do at a moment like that.

"We did our part, now we let them do theirs'." Nick said to her, and Judy was able to nod at this. However, she knew that there was one more thing that they needed to do at a moment like that: call Bogo and let him know what had just transpired.

Nick decided to put on himself the duty of talking to Buffalo Butt. As he was soon pulling out his phone from his costume's belt and dialing the number of Bogo's personal extension. Soon, he was hearing the sound of the phone calling, before someone answered:

"Who is it?" The voice of the buffalo said coming from the other side. It sounded annoyed and impatient, something that Nick considered normal.

"Yo, Chief." Nick said, "Here is Wilde."

"Wilde." The buffalo on the line said, sounding annoyed. "Great, just what I needed. What is it? Did something happened?"

The buffalo was still annoyed by the fox, and Nick decided to go straight to the business.

"Yeah, I think that you should know that the little party that Adrian is making is actually a murder mystery party." Nick said to him, "And that we are going to stay in here for the next week."

"A whole week?"

"Yup, until the 31st. During all of this time, we are going to keep playing games for clues until we can figure out the mystery." Nick said, and he could hear the buffalo grumble something, before he spoke:

"I'd really like to have known this in advance, I'd have been able to plan better." The buffalo said, "So, you called just to tell me that you will be absent for an entire week?"

"Yeah, that..." Nick said, "And to say that this was very close of becoming a real murder mystery."

"What?"

Soon Nick was telling Bogo of the event in the green maze. How a mysterious dog mage and a strange mist-spewing creature had came, and how they had tried to attack both Ben and himself and Judy.

"Is Clawhauser okay?" Bogo said.

"Yeah, he is not harmed, but he is still a bit shaken." Nick said to the buffalo. "By the way, Hopps and I are okay as well. The explosive tridents that the dog threw didn't hurt us. Thanks for asking."

Bogo groaned, and Nick could swear that he was cursing under his breath as he talked to the fox.

"I'll talk to the enforcers and prepare a few officers." Bogo said from the other end. "We will be there in twenty minutes tops. You make sure that everyone stays inside of the mansion until we arrive."

"Yeah, that could be a problem." Nick said to his boss. "You see, Adrian Manechester does not wants the ZPD getting involved in this."

"HE WHAT!?" Bogo said, so loudly that Nick had to move the phone away from his ear. The buffalo once more proved that he had the lungs and vocal capacity to be an opera singer if he had put his head into it. Soon, Nick was explaining to him how Adrian Manechester wanted to keep it all under wraps, and that this included lying to the other guests about having captured the attackers and keeping the ZPD out of this. He also told on how his father had gave his approval to this, with the condition that they would be taking part on the investigation and that they would assume in the case Adrian's men lost control.

"So the police only gets involved after another attack!?" Bogo demanded, "What is that idiot even thinking!?"

"By 'that idiot' you mean Adrian or his father?" Nick asked, and the buffalo nearly shouted back:

"Both of them!" The buffalo really sounded mad. "Adrian worried about his stupid reputation and Yahya giving his son permission to play with the safety of the guest for his convenience! I am calling both of them and talking some sense in those stubborn horses!"

Nick didn't doubted that the buffalo would be doing that, and he nearly felt bad for the horses. Although, considering what he had just witnessed back then, about how Yahya Manechester was able to rein his son like that, the fox had a suspicion that Bogo could find a worthy rival on the dark horse.

"Meanwhile, you and Hopps keep a close eye on Clawhauser. Make sure that he is not attacked again." Bogo said, and Nick had a raised eyebrow.

"Only on him?" Nick asked, "Not on everyone else."

"Wha- Y-yes, that's right. That's what I said."

Was Bogo... stammering?

"Yeah, but it didn't seemed what you just..."

"Just make sure that everyone in there is safe! And tell your partner that!"

With this, Bogo hung up on Nick, and the fox looked at his phone for a few moments.

Soon, Nick and Judy were moving back into the room, where everyone was. As they entered, the first thing that they heard was Benjamin's voice.

"Oh, so Hopps and Wilde told you about that, didn't they?" The cheetah said, as he had his phone to his face and was talking to someone who Judy and Nick could only assume was Chief Bogo. "No, I am not hurt. The dog didn't had a chance to."

The cheetah continued to listen, and then he blushed under his makeup.

"T-thank you sir, I'll call you if anything happens. Bye." With this, Ben hang up the phone. For a few moments, he just stood in there, before he burst into giggling. All the while Nick and Judy looked at him.

Soon, however, the cheetah stopped giggling when the two smaller cops explained to him the situation, and how they were supposed to proceed. Ben didn't liked it, for it meant that he would have to lie to his friend, his siblings, and his idol. However, he soon realized that he had no other choice, for Adrian Manechester had already decided how it would be, and his father had gave him the permission to do as he intended.

Soon, they were talking to the other guests, and mostly they were calming them and telling them that it was okay and that they had nothing to worry about. Well, in this case, Nick did the talking, while Ben and Judy only nodded. It was not the first time that the fox had to say things to others that verged on the thin line between a truth and a lie. Back when he was a hustler, he was the best at it.

Now, while some looked at them with suspicion, the others seemed to mostly accept what the fox was saying, and to just relax as they finally started to feel a bit safer. Even the ones who knew or suspected that things were not as okay as they seemed were relaxing, as they were able to get into a conversation with the others and start to forget the problems. Ben certainly looked like he was starting to feel better after the scare that he had gotten with that dog pointing a sharp object at him, as he was participating on the conversation.

The topics of the conversation varied. However, one topic in particular seemed to be of everyone's attention.

"So, you can really read minds?" Hannah asked to the muscular cheetah, who smiled back at her.

"Of course I can." He said to her, "I am a Clawhauser, after all. Everyone from our clan knows how to do that."

She and the others looked at him for a few seconds, before all eyes turned to Benjamin, who looked down as he blushed.

"Yeah... I can do that a little bit." The plump cheetah admitted, "I did lost a bit of practice, though."

"Yeah, but you used to be as good as me." Josh said, looking at him, "We always knew when someone was trying to lie at us, and we could find out what others were hiding."

"So, you just go around reading minds of others as you see fit?" Charles asked, and that was nearly an accusation, Josh looked at the horse, and he smiled.

"Afraid that I pick something in your head you wouldn't like me to find out?" He asked, and this caused Charles to flinch. The look on his face said it all and this caused Josh to chuckle.

"Don't worry, dude." Josh said to him, "We don't go around reading minds as we like. It is not a polite thing to do."

"Oh, so there is an etiquette to mind-reading?" Nick asked, and Josh said:

"Yeah, it is a personal thing, foxy boy." The muscular cheetah looked at the fox, "It is part of the personal code of the Clawhauser clan, along with the part that allows us to control matter."

"Control matter?" Euphemia asked, "As in, telekinesis?"

"Yeah, pretty close to it." Josh said, and Charles asked:

"What, are you guys psychics?"

"Nah, we are just really good in vibrating our prana." Josh said, looking at him, "You know, moving things without touching them and interpreting the thoughts and feelings of others are actually both based in prana vibration. On the former, you use resonance to cause your prana to vibrate on the same frequency of a material, allowing you to control it; on the latter, you resonate your prana in synch with that of another mammal, so you can read them and be able to know what goes through their head."

Everyone looked at him as he explained that, and Nick looked at the cheetah, before asking.

"So, you can both move things with your minds and read the minds of others. True X-Mammal stuff." He said, and the cheetah looked at him. "Gotta say, it is good to know you have a code of ethics with this, otherwise I would be worried."

"About me taking thoughts out of your head?" Josh asked, "Oh, you don't have to worry about that foxy, I probably wouldn't get much out of you."

Nick looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Should I feel offended by what you just said?"

"Nah, it just means that you are harder to read than others." The cheetah said, "Seriously, dude, I've never found someone as hard to read as you before."

"Oh, so some are harder to read than others?" Euphemia asked, looking at the cheetah, and he looked back at her.

"Yeah, some are harder; others are easier, for example..." Josh said, pointing at Charles.

"He would be easy." The horse stiffened as this, as he looked at the cheetah with wide eyes as the cheetah looked with him with a smile. "He is the kind of guy that is very blunt on his way of doing things, and is used to dance around problems. Very little empathy and just as little sympathy, but not the kind who is good at hiding his feelings. Makes his desires clear, and often loses control of his emotions, especially the bad ones. Not very good controlling impulses. Also, tries to assert dominance frequently, but is not very good in holding his opinion, quite a pushover." He looked at the horse with a smile, "It wouldn't be hard to get anything out of his head."

Charles looked like he had received a slap, and he looked at the cheetah with a shocked expression, and it looked like he was trying to think of something to say at the cheetah. Josh continued to smile at him.

"Well, that's interesting." Euphemia said; her expression was serene as she looked at the cheetah, "What about me?"

Josh turned to her.

"You?" He said, and leaned forward as he looked at her. It almost looked as if he was evaluating her. After nearly thirty seconds, he said:

"Hmmm. Strong sense of duty, way more assertive than your husband, prefer to face problems head on." The cheetah said, looking at her. "Smart... very smart. Experienced in controlling your own impulses and desires, as well as your emotions, probably used to hide them from others as well. Really sympathetic, but not very empathetic... And, you have aspirations and desires that you would like to follow, but you push them aside based on something else, maybe your family's expectations?" Euphemia flinched at this, in a nearly imperceptible way, and Josh leaned back into the chair.

"Yeah, you would definitely be harder to read than him, your emotions and thoughts certainly seem complex."

Euphemia looked at him for a few moments, and then she nodded.

"I see. So, the intelligence and overall personality of a mammal determines how hard it is to read them."

"That's right." Josh said, and he took a sip from his drink. The mare nodded, and soon, she was excusing herself, as she had to refresh a little bit. Her husband left right after, not following her, but he seemed that he wanted to get far from the cheetah as fast as he could.

Soon, the others were all drinking a little bit. The conversation was developing, as some of them were still interested in the mind-reading thing, while the rest seemed to be mostly minding their own business or talking to each other. Nick and Judy were in a corner, and they were discussing a certain subject:

"Remember to keep your eyes open and to watch in case anything happens." Judy said to her partner. "We will remain in here doing watch until everyone goes to bed, and then we will go to my room."

Nick looked at her, blinking.

"...your room?"

"Or yours, if you prefer." She said, looking at the fox, who looked at her with a blank stare.

"For our movie night, silly." She said, punching his arm playfully.

"Oh, right! Of course! I knew that." Nick said, and Judy smiled at him.

"Okay, I'll go make a patrol on the surrounding hallways and rooms; you stay in here and keep a watch at everyone. I'll be back in a few minutes." She said, and she left, and Nick nodded at her as she departed, and Nick looked at her as she moved away, looking at her ears, at her back, and at that cute pompom tail just above her bunny buns.

Nick looked at her leave until she was out of sight, and then he sighed.

"Ohhh, I see." A voice said, and made Nick snap to look back at Joshua Clawhauser, who stood next to the fox with a smirk on his lips.

Nick looked at him with an indifferent expression, before asking him how he was doing.

"Oh, just fine." Josh said, looking back at the fox. "You know, you are hard to read, Officer Wilde, but you occasionally let something through."

He looked at the fox with a knowing smile.

"You two do look kind of cute together." He said, and walked away.

Nick looked at him while he departed, looking like he was wondering just what the heck that musclebound cheetah meant by that, when in truth he was thinking that he may know what he meant...