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To the surprise of absolutely none of the cops present at the crime scene, no one in the area had any useful information to give the investigating detectives. The person who had found the dead ocelot was a homeless coyote who'd been looking for scrap aluminum to collect and sell for food when he stumbled across the corpse. Having nothing to contribute, the detectives gave him twenty dollars and dropped him off at a local diner to get something to eat. By that point, Detective Lowenstein was ready to head back downtown to see what progress Dr. Schaap had made in his autopsy. The leopard kept thinking that he had to stop this tiger at all costs. He wanted to keep dwelling on that thought, letting it consume him, but the younger Detective Shannon wanted to talk instead.

"Hey, Detective?" asked the jaguar.

"Yeah?" sighed the leopard.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Depends," said Leo in a tone that warned the young jaguar to proceed with caution. "It's not a stupid question, is it?"

"I don't think so," responded Jay, mindful that he was treading on thin ice. "Are you Jewish?"

"Yes," said the leopard. "I'm Ashkenazi Jew to be more precise. My great-grandparents came over here from Germany." Suddenly, the leopard looked over at the jaguar, diving him a suspicious look. "That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

"No," said Jay, shaking his head. "I was curious was all."

"Ah," said the leopard, turning his gaze back to the road. "Well, it was a problem for your Dad."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah," answered the leopard. "Back when we were uniform rookies, they partnered me with your Dad, and I don't know what his problem was, but he starts making all these nasty comments about Jews, even calling me a kike. I finally get my fill of that and decide to punch him right in the face."

Jay was shocked. "You punched my Dad?"

"I sure did," responded Leo. "Got a five day rip for it and your Dad got a busted lip and three hours of sensitivity training. After that, command decided to partner us with different guys. Wise decision, I might ad."

The jaguar was silent for a moment, still stunned by Lowenstein's revelation. Finally, he looked over at the leopard, saying, "I'm sorry my Dad was so rude to you, Detective."

Leo managed a chuckle at Jay's apology, giving him a funny look. "I punch your Dad and you tell me your sorry for what he did? That's a new one!"

"Well, I don't think like that, Detective. I just thought you should know that I'm all for treating animals with respect, regardless of species or ethnicity."

Looking back at the road momentarily, Leo returned his gaze back to the younger detective, giving him a pat on the back. "You're alright, kid. You're alright."

Feeling much more at ease, Jay decided to keep on going. "You married, Detective?"

Grinning, the leopard answered. "Sure am. Twenty years this summer. Her name's Ayala. She stays at home, takes care of me and the kids."

"Kids?"

"Yeah," said Leo, beaming with pride. "Eli is thirteen, thinks he's a comedian. Miriam is eighteen, loves to cook. Such a sweet girl."

"You seem like quite a happy family man, Detective," observed the jaguar.

"I am," concurred Leo. "You'll have to come over some time and have dinner with us."

Jay wasn't even sure he heard that last sentence correctly. "Wait . . . did you just offer to have me over for dinner? Earlier today you looked like you could barely tolerate the sight of me."

"Eh, what can I say? You've warmed up to me already. You'd like my wife's cooking. Oh, she makes the best brisket in our whole synagogue! And don't worry, if you don't like Maneschewitz wine, we can have some Guinness instead. Believe me, you work in a department filled with Irish guys, you learn to like what they eat and drink!"

"I'd love to come to dinner with you, Detective," remarked the jaguar. "You sound like you have a very nice family."

"Thank you, and you can call me Leo" grinned the detective, before looking over at him and scowling once more. "And you'd better keep your paws off my daughter, too."

"Yes, sir," said the jaguar, knowing that the leopard wasn't joking around about something as precious as his daughter.

The city morgue was a place that made every cop's fur crawl until they got used to the sight of death. When Leo and Jay arrived, they were required, like always, to put on the medical scrubs that all medical personal wore. Weaving through the cold, sterile environment of the collected deceased, they found old Dr. Schaap; clipboard in his paws.

"What more can you tell us, Larry?" asked Leo.

"I've run a toxicity screen, but I won't get that back for a few more days, so I can't tell you if she was an addict or someone drugged her."

"She was a working girl," said Jay. "I'd bet she was hooked on something."

"Believe me, that's a safe bet," said the rabbit. "I also determined that not only was her neck broken, but whoever broke her neck was holding up off the ground when they did it. Like I said, he's powerful, whoever the killer is."

"Can you rule out rape?" asked Leo, hoping that the girl hadn't been violated.

"Not definitively, no," answered the rabbit with a frown. "I can tell you that she was sexually active shortly before being killed simply by the amount of vaginal trauma down there."

"Did our perp leave his genetic material behind?" asked Jay.

"We lucked out on that one," said the rabbit, holding up a plastic box with the word "EVIDENCE" written on it. "I was doing a swab down there and found just a trace amount of seminal fluid in between her legs,, like whoever did this had a tiny whole in the condom or after removing the condom they brushed up against her fur with their penis. That's just a guess, though."

"At least we've got some physical evidence now," said Leo. "You have any idea about this girl's identity, doc?"

"I know exactly who she is," the rabbit responded confidently. Directing them over to the large computer monitor on his desk, a mugshot of the deceased ocelot was on display, complete with arrest record. "Your victim is named Aurora Marquez. I had one of the interns run her paw print through the system and her arrest record came up. Been picked up half a dozen times for prostitution, mainly over in the Fillmore District."

"Then there's a good chance she's one of Big Time's girls," remarked Leo sourly.

"Big Time?" asked Jay, unfamiliar with the name. "Who's that?"

"Billy "Big Time" Carmichael is who that is. He's this scummy wolf who pimps girls out to make his living. I've had my run ins with him when I was in the Vice Squad."

"You think he could have done this?" asked Jay.

"I doubt it," dismissed Leo. "He's a low-life bastard, but at the end of the day he doesn't have the balls nor the muscle to break a girls neck like that, but I 'd wager my pension that he knows something about this."

Leo sighed, wondering if there would be more victims by tomorrow morning. "Well, Junior, it's passed quitting time and I wanna get home to the wife and kids. I'll drop you off back at the house and we'll go to the Captain tomorrow to see about sharing this case with O'Connor and Byrne."

"Okay," said the jaguar.

"Forgetting my Hippocratic oath for a minute," said the rabbit with a stern expression. "I hope you find the son of a bitch who did this and kill him in custody, Detectives."

"That's a pleasant thought," said Leo. "I'll sleep better tonight thinking about that."

Leo and Jay left the morgue hoping they would get a good night's sleep. They were in for a very long day tomorrow.

Just as expected, Detectives O'Connor and Byrne were none to happy to hear about the news that Lowenstein and Shannon were actually stepping on their case. The arguing parties ended up in Captain Murray's office, pleading their cases.

"You told me yesterday you weren't looking to steal my collar, Leo," said a none too happy Patrick Byrne. "Now, here you are saying that your missing persons cases can override me and Brian's case!"

"Pat, I'm telling you these cases are all connected, believe me," pleaded the leopard. "You wanna take the credit, you want the collar to go on your record, I'm fine with that. Just let me in on this one."

"If this is all connected," began Captain Murray, rubbing his head from a mild migraine he was enduring that morning. "Then Leo's case takes priority over yours, Pat. Sorry, but that's department policy. Leo had the case first."

"Great," said Detective O'Connor, throwing his arms up into the air. "I knew this was gonna happen. I told Pat yesterday, just you watch, Leo's gonna step on my balls over this one."

"Screw you, Brian," snapped Leo, ready to throw down with his fellow detective. "I've got more years in the department than you anyway."

Things were almost to a breaking point when the younger Detective Shannon intervened as the voice of reason. Guys, guys!" he shouted, causing everyone to look at him. "Have we all forgotten that there's a dead girl in all of this? And if Leo's right, we just might have a serial killer on our paws? You know what the media will do if they get wind of this? They'll be playing news stories in the morning and evening everyday, and the city will go into a panic. You'll have dispatch flooded with calls saying they've seen the killer, or even worse, you'll have some nutcase with a gun who thinks it's time to be a vigilante!"

All of the detectives were silent at the younger cat's wisdom. Finally, Captain Murray, still with his migraine throbbing, decided on a course of action. "Alright, this is how it's gonna go down: As of right now, the four of you are a task force and you will cooperate with each other. Leo's the primary on this one, but you'll all share credit on this one, understood?"

Grudgingly, Byrne and O'Connor agreed to their Captain's terms. Murray looked back at the leopard and jaguar. "So, where do we start out today then?"

"Junior and I are gonna go talk to Big Time," stated the leopard. "He was picked up for DUI the night the Marquez girl was killed just about six blocks from where her body was dumped. I'd guess he was driving around that night checking up on her. He might have even seen who she was with that did this to her."

"He bail out already?" asked Murray.

"Yeah, and I have a good idea where he'll be too," Leo answered confidently. "Down at that dive of a bar he's running his prostitution ring out of."

"What about you and Pat, Brian?"

Detective O'Connor sighed, still indignant about having the case taken away from his control. "Pat and I are gonna go look into this Isaac Burwell that Leo thinks is our prime suspect. I'm gonna check with the Feds to see if he's got any criminal records in other jurisdictions."

"Has anybody made notification to the Marquez girls family?" asked the Captain.

"We haven't been able to find any here in the city," said Byrne. "According to immigration, she came here legally five years ago from Colombia by herself. I'd guess her family, if any, is still back there. We're gonna call the Colombian counselate and inform them."

"Good," said the Captain. "Let's get to work then. Maybe we can get enough evidence to finally get a search warrant for this tiger."

Billy "Big Time" Carmichael, pimp, low-life, drunk and convicted felon sat at his usual table at the seedy bar called "Time Out", a dive that barely passed as a sports bar. Dressed in a white suit with black button up shirt and a fake gold necklace, matched with numerous paw rings, the wolf's attire screamed that he was in the business of pimping females. Lighting up a cigar, he breathed in the acrid smoke as he watched the college basketball game on the nearest television monitor to him. Putting the cigar down in an ashtray, he picked up the glass that held his scotch and coke, taking a small sip, letting the spirited beverage slowly work it's intoxicating magic.

Taking his eyes off the television for a minute, he took notice of two figures approaching him, one he recognized, while the other was a mystery to him. Inhaling his cigar, he breathed the smoke out directly at them, giggling foolishly.

"Shalom, Detective Lowenstein," snickered the wolf. "What brings you to my little home away from home?"

Leo grinned back at the wolf. "I need some help with something, Billy."

"Is that so?" cackled the wolf. "I've gotta tell you, if you're lookin' for some pussy, I don't get too many kosher bitches workin' for me."

"I always forget how charming you are in person, Billy," said the leopard, pulling out a picture of Aurora. "This girl work for you?"

"Maybe she does, maybe she don't," answered the wolf, toying with the detective. "Why? What's she sayin' that I done to her?"

"She's not saying anything, Billy. She's dead," stated Leo flatly.

The wolf's attitude changed in an instant. "Dead? How?"

Leo got closer to the wolf, pulling the cigar out of his paws and grinding it out into the ashtray. "Somebody snapped her neck like it was a twig, Billy. You know anything about that?"

"Hell no!" whined the wolf. "Look at me, I've got this big gut on me. I don't have the strength or the heart to do that, even to a ho like her."

"Oh, you're such a sweet guy, Billy. I know you didn't do this, seeing as how they picked you up for a DUI that night. What I was wondering . . . maybe you saw her going with somebody."

"Oh, so you need Big Time's help, huh? Well, looks like the ball's in my court now, ha ha! It's gonna cost you, Detective!"

"What are you lookin' for?" asked Leo.

"Maybe you talk to the DA about getting my drunk driving dropped in exchange for cooperation, hmmm?"

Leo grinned wide, motioning the wolf to come closer to him. Billy, feeling the effects of his scotch and coke wasn't prepared for the leopard's next move. Grabbing the wolf by the collar of his jacket, he slammed his face down into the table and wouldn't let him go. Several bar patrons looked over at what was going on and Detective Shannon flashed his badge to them.

"This is a police matter, folks. You need to stay back while we're speaking with Mr. Carmichael!"

Leo snarled at the wolf, tired of his stupid little games. "You're gonna tell me everything you know about what happened to that girl, or I'm gonna toss you right here!"

"You don't got no probable cause!" argued the wolf, his face still smashed against the table.

"You're a convicted felon whose in an establishment that serves booze! I don't have to have any probable cause, you little dickhead!"

"Alright, alright!" agreed Billy, not wanting the leopard to find the two joints in his coat pocket. "I'll talk!"

Leo released the wolf from his grip. Billy smoothed out his shirt, giving the leopard a nasty look. "So that Marquez bitch worked for me, okay? I sent her over to Parker Avenue last night cause she got picked up too many times around here."

"You know if she got with anybody last night?"

"She was bad, real bad about sending me texts saying who she was tricking with. I tell you, these bitches today got no respect; not like it was in the old days!"

"You're pissing me off again, Billy," snarled the leopard. "Tell me something useful or taste the table again!"

Billy put his paws up, trying to calm things down. "Okay, okay. Look, I know she wouldn't text me last night, so I drive around every now and then to see if she's got any johns."

"You see somebody with her last night?" asked Leo impatiently.

"Yeah, this big motherfucker was walking with her on Parker Avenue. 'Bout six foot five, six foot six. Real muscle head."

"What species, Billy!" growled Leo, ready to slam the wolf's head into the table again.

"A tiger! I can even tell you what apartment building they went in!"

"Good," said Leo, pulling at the wolf's jacket lapel. "You're takin' a ride with us!"

"What? Why?" sniveled the wolf.

"Cause you're a witness, dumb ass," informed the leopard. "You're gonna tell what he looks like to a sketch artist, and you're gonna point out that apartment building!"

Billy protested as he was dragged out of the Time Out bar. Knowing that the wolf had probably not paid his tab, Leo sent Jay over to the cash register to pay before they left, making sure that the bartender got a decent tip.

Billy whined the entire way to the precinct house. Leo kept telling him to shut the hell up or he was going to shoot him in the balls. As bad as it sounded to the younger Jay, he found the older detective's policing methods humorous and sometimes effective. Billy did agree to work with a sketch artist, giving a detailed description to him as well as naming the building that he saw Aurora walk into with the tiger. Still, Leo felt like the wolf was hiding something from him. When Billy asked to talk to the DA about getting a deal worked out, the leopard finally had enough of his games and threatened to search him right there. Whining and pleading, Billy promised him that he could give the police some very useful information if they only got a DA down to the house to sign a deal with him. Growing frustrated, Leo finally talked to the Captain who agreed to call a District Attorney regarding billy's recent DUI arrest.

During the interview, Billy said that he would be willing to plead guilty if they simply gave him community service in exchange for what he knew. Against his better judgment, the young Assistant District Attorney agreed to the deal, though he cautioned the wolf that his evidence had better be solid. It was then that Billy got out his cell phone and showed the ADA and the police a video he had taken last night. Sitting in his car across from Isaac Burwell's building, the wolf had taken a video of Aurora walking into the apartment building with Isaac. Normally the leopard would have been beyond pissed that Billy hadn't divulged that information earlier, but this new piece of evidence was a huge step in the right direction. Taking Billy's cell phone and running out of the interrogation room, Leo and Jay stormed into Captain Murray's office, who was busy discussing the case with Byrne and O'Connor.

"What is it, Leo?" asked the Captain, his migraine from earlier in the day having recently gone away.

"Al, Big Time's got footage of that Marquez girl going into Burwell's apartment!"

The serval got up from his chair, watching the video with Byrne and O'Connor. Leo looked over at the two cheetahs. "Have you guys gotten any more info about what kind of DNA it was they found on Marquez?"

"Yeah," said O'Connor, pulling a paper out of his pocket. "It's all right here."

Leo looked at the DNA report. His eyes fixated on the line that said: "Species of DNA material: Tiger". He showed the Captain the report, hoping he would say the magic words.

"Fellas," said the serval to the four detectives. "Call up a judge. I want a search warrant issued for Isaac Burwell ASAP!"

The four cat detectives gave each other high fives. Finally, they had the green light!