FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It'd been a standard case of the week: a tod and vixen fall in love, get married in a Mormon wedding, have a litter of cubs every year or so until they reach six offspring, then the husband begins to suspect his wife's been seeing another man once the youngest kit started going to elementary school. The only proof he offered me was his gut feeling, several instances of her spending at least two hours away from the house, and one of their neighbors witnessing a stranger enter the home during the middle of the day. It didn't help that the same neighbor happened to be an outspoken atheist, and the wife a talented gas lighter (per the husband's words), meaning the husbanded needed concrete evidence.

So, I borrowed Daniel's car as the Boulevard café opened up ("As always, don't get into accidents. And Zack, can you pick up some groceries on the way back, please?") and tailed the vixen wife when she drove off from the suburban neighborhood to somewhere in downtown Crossroads. I made sure to tail behind her by two cars, never making myself obvious to any of the cars I was following her specifically.

The vixen eventually entered a Japanese restaurant. It was a Thursday, meaning the restaurant wasn't completely packed. At first, I feared that not having a date or somebody else to talk to would make me stand out. The customers coming into the restaurant were well-off. The cost of an appetizer alone ranged around twenty dollars.

She'd chosen a corner booth near one end of the restaurant, while I unfortunately had to make do with the other end. All the way out of earshot. Thankfully, it provided an excellent view and angle to see what occurred at her table. The dress pants she wore and the noticeable lack of a ring on her finger only solidified her guilt. Without her or any of the staff noticing, after I ordered an appetizer of sushi and a glass of water, I covertly pulled out my phone, pretending to look down at it as I discreetly took three pictures for my client.

A part of me disliked infidelity cases. On the plus side, if the couple were married with cubs, it prevented a nastier divorce from occurring if they continued the charade longer. The faster a bad marriage ended, the healthier it would be for families in the long run. They did provide most of my income as a private investigator, and while a wise man did once say to 'never bite the fingers that feed you', I didn't want to think about how the cubs would feel knowing one of their parental figures was cheating. Once in a while, I even got angry emails denouncing my involvement. Drama like that was the primary reason I preferred tougher, more intricate cases and mysteries.

"Mr. Leander?"

A familiar figure suddenly interrupted my reconnaissance by leaving across my table and blocking the view. He was an excitable, fit jaguarundi dressed in casual clothing, is most noticeable feature being the spiky and white-dyed headfur clashing against his short dark fur, and the bright, quirky smile seen in a number of online gaming memes. He'd not only lost some weight but his shyness, apparently.

"How're you doing, sir?" He asked, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

He had a habit of calling me 'sir', as a sign of respect, despite being two years my junior.

"Sure has, Luke," I forced a smile and peeked behind him to see a random wolf suddenly sit opposite of the unassuming wife of my client. Another click of my phone's camera, then I placed it down. I smirked upon seeing them lean forward to kiss, and genuinely found myself asking my old client, "What brings you here?"

"Ever since I lost the weight, I like to treat myself out to lunch once a month," He explained, then flinched when a waiter squeezed past him to the other table. "Uh, it's kinda crowded here, so uh, would you mind if I take a seat?"

Having seen visual proof of the wife being unfaithful, I nodded. "As long as we pay separate checks by the end."

"If you insist!" He laughed, making himself comfortable and looking over the menu.

Luke Winslow, aka TheRadCat on most social media platforms, had been among one of my tougher cases. A few months after I moved in as Daniel's roommate and eventually opened my agency, the popular video game player came to me for help. The jaguarundi's family had been harassed multiple times by a duo of fangirl stalkers, leaving a plethora of notes, gifts, and the like at their doorstep. It got out of control when one of the fangirls tried entering the residence, then break into the second-story window of the house. Police could only do so much without valid proof of their involvement, so Luke came to me for help.

To make a long story short, I tracked the stalkers down to their home addresses, then informed their parents of all the things they'd been doing on the weekends. Safe to say, the fangirls were never going to bother Luke and his family again. From what I last heard on the grapevine, one of the fangirls was sent to a strict boarding school somewhere in the Rockies. The other fangirl presumably lost all access to technology for years. The Winslows were so thankful they sent me an annual Christmas card photo each year.

There were rare occasions I'd keep in touch with past clients (Hell, Daniel was technically my first client), and once in a while, that included Luke. The online gaming venture not only paid off for him, but it was still paying off, to the point a single shoutout from the excitable jaguarundi had me getting steady business. I even had non-locals sending emails and letters thanking me for helping their idol. It was ridiculous, but I couldn't help but be impressed.

"So whatcha getting then?" Luke asked me across the table as he perused the menu. "I thought about either buying the gyoza or maybe some crab rangoons."

"Crab rangoons are Chinese. This is Japanese," I pointed out at the table, smirking. "I ordered the gyoza, but now I'm thinking of also a katsudon entrée."

"Ohoho, that sounds divine," he chuckled. "Hey, you think I can take a picture of us together and share it to my profile."

I groaned, "You better not. I don't wanna get months of spam mail from your fans. Again."

We laughed, him more so. Long after the vixen and his lover left, Luke and I exchanged stories and talked about how much things changed since his case. Seeing an old client like him was an unexpected encounter, but definitely a welcomed one.