I have to admit, in retrospect, this whole story got handled a bit lame. In no small part that it went off in a direction I didn't expect so had to play catch up. But the arc will be done in a few more and we can get on to more better stuff later.

Judy had taken a rather round about route home, to give Nick some more time before arriving.

"So how are you doing now?"

"A lot less muzzy-headed." Then a very long pause, "And still not right."

Judy looked over to her Mate.

"Judy, getting shot this time hit me different. When you see it coming, or at least know you're in harm's way, then it's just dealing with the physical damage. Getting so blindsided like that was a real shock." He rubbed his muzzle.

"Kind of jumped the rails."

"Then not knowing afterwards. I can't defend myself, and you, not knowing where or who or what's going on. And the last thing I want to do is to go into a paranoid freak out. Too easy to get fixated on the threat that isn't there and miss the threat that is."

"And for the first time I feel old. I know its mostly just these injuries rather than real decrepitude, but I feel like I'm really handicapped, no longer up to the task."

None of this was new to Judy, as Nick had voiced all this before, though in an often more disjointed fashion. But she felt a new twinge of dismay that it was still his overriding concern.

"Well, when you get home you can help our crack investigative team go over the data they've been collecting."

Nick's ears pricked up properly, perhaps he was really recovering.

Then Judy remembered why she had to leave him for a while. "OH! I didn't tell you about the Twin's thing at school!"

That really got Nick's attention. "What?! Oh, that's right."

"I got called in. A moose girl was picking on Martin and Mabel dislocated her hoof."

"Sorry about that. Didn't think Sylvan would go so far. Is Martin alright?"

"He's fine, though perhaps feeling a bit more guilty for adding to our collective crisis mode. Same with Mabel. They're both so worried for our sake."

Nick had his own twinge of guilt, allowing himself to slide like that wasn't doing Judy or the family any good.

"So, about the incident?"

"The Calf tried to provoke Martin, taunting him about us and all. Then when she couldn't get enough of a rise off him, she began punchy-shoving him. That's when Mabel intervened."

Then, when I met her Mother, I saw where all that came from. She's a size-ist and anti-interspecies. Not only thought we were perverts, but that the Twins were unnatural to be adopted by us."

Judy saw Nick's 'never let them see' mask hide the full reaction, but his balled paws were enough. Their adoption choice had not gotten a lot of attention beyond the initial media flurry, but there had been some occasional mutterings, usually in conjunction with their interspecies marriage, and it was a fierce hot-button for Nick.

"If its any consolation, the Mother got taken in on an assault charge and I hope the girl gets some counseling."

"Are the Twins alright? I mean, they're tough enough physically, but they are still very little kids."

Judy had to consider that. As they were very well behaved and articulate (that word became a bit of a running joke in the family), she could forget they were as young as they were. Nick had a particular knack for empathizing with children at their level that she, even with all her experience in the fluffle, seemed to lack.

"You ought to talk to them, both to see how they're doing, and to reassure them that you're okay too." Judy gave him an encouraging smile and paw grasp.

"Oh Glob yes. But the first thing I've got to do is get a serious shower." He tugged at his offensive shirt, "I've really let myself go."

"Oh, and another though. It's late enough to start thinking about diner. Should we call in and see if they want more take out?"

"I'll do it. Especially as you do not have a paws free device and should not be devicing and driving." Nick announced in his best officiousness then gave her a very smug smug-face. He really was getting better.

Several pizzas later, they got back to the apartment, to the collective cheers of the household. But when the boxes were open, a general cry of dismay. "Someone's been eating our pizzas!"

"It was I, as I've really got to get clean, and know I wouldn't have a chance for any if I waited." Announced Nick as he rushed towards the bathroom with only a perfunctory wave to all.

"Ruined, ruined. Our perfect pizzas compromised by a marauding fox." Dramatically lamented Sylvan.

"At least he left SOME!" Yelled Martin, loud and sarcastically enough to be heard in the bathroom.

Actually, there was plenty left, and the team noshed on them with vigor. As they did so, Sylvan pointed out the time line she and Avila had assembled.

"Did you know how much Chief Kamatti gave you when she set you up with all this?"

Judy cocked her head. "All I asked for was file access and some communications."

"Uhuh. Normally there is some level of compartmentalization in the various databases. Too easy access could be a potential security issue. But your username and password has gotten us pretty much everything we've needed."

Avila added, "Some of the data bases don't have any confidential information at all, at least in isolation. And getting in there simply means we don't have to do some legwork. But we have to be careful. This kind of access gives you almost unlimited surveillance power." He held up his paws to indicate that he wasn't keen on touching it all. "And I'd recommend changing your pass word very often."

Judy was surprised at that. Chief Kamatti clearly had more trust in her than she would have granted herself.

"Anyway, as we've drawn up the time line, we found something."

"Once the initial assessment of the crime scene got underway, it was barely two hours 'till the shooters acted. I've marked the zero point when the on-site suggested that Post and Wilde be called in. At the same time, actually three minutes before, there was a call out for more officers to secure the site."

"The GPS assisted dispatch," Avila brought up a separate display on another screen, showing a map with inclusion radius. "Included two units from the adjacent precinct. But they needed the watch commander's approval to bring them in. He said it wasn't needed, that he had plenty of bodies available for the task. Jacob and Brechenrich were way across the district from the location but called dispatch that they were responding to the call and would be on sight ASAP."

"But there was no record that they had been contacted, at least not via normal communications. And if they were using private 'phones, that needed to be logged in. But wasn't."

"If we had the dash cams, we could get whether they got private calls."

"And confirm locations."

"I can request access now, but would need to go down there to get the recordings."

"And you might as well get copies of everyone's cams, both to be thorough, and to avoid being too obvious that we're looking into these officers."

"And what's next on the time line after that?"

"Then, four minutes later, the watch commander takes some personal time out of the station, and drives off in his personal car. Comes back an hour and thirty-two minutes later."

"Since it's the watch commander and personal time, no one is going to question it. Seems perfectly legit."

"What do we have on him?"

"Captain Joshua Campbell, Elk. Twenty-two years on the force, all of it in Precinct Three. His record is particularly spotless - ah, uhm?" Sylvan ears fluttered in confusion. "The first five years of his history are heavily redacted. Merely the facts of his posting. No arrest records, no commendations nor complaints. Then, suddenly, he's a fresh senior patrolmammal on his way to sergeant and is totally squeaky clean thereafter. He was also listed as freshly divorced at that point."

"Maybe there was something ugly in his personal life that leaked over to his professional conduct?"

"Not like that's ever happened." Nick observed pointedly. His early years working with detective Captain Post had been somewhat ugly. The Coyote's prejudices and unhappy family situation had threatened both their careers for a time.

"Anyway, he was absolutely clean thereafter. Worked with Tyndel for a while when he first came on. Was checked out as ideologically pure and good after the post Bellwether house cleaning. But I'll take a closer look. Will take some time." Sylvan began to type.

"Of course, what all this means is that we're suspecting some kind of set up or conspiracy among our fellow officers."

They let that sink in a moment.

"If that's the case, we have to keep everything as clean and honest as possible. Document everything." Judy held up a finger for emphasis, "But don't stop looking at everything for evidence of something else. I'd hate to see this get us side-tracked if there is a reasonable explanation for this and we've missed a different thing in the meantime."