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THE WHITE ROBE

By BlindTiger

Part 1

"For too long has our society stood by and allowed the so-called rights of the prisoners to outweigh the genuine rights of the victims. No more. From this day forth, justice shall be swift and merciless." -Unnamed senator, from the declaration of universal justice.

Caitlin Kincaid drove her car up the long driveway to her friend Amanda's house. It had been a rather long drive out, but she was used to it. Amanda's family lived way out in what Caitlin's parents always called 'the boonies.' It was a nice place, though, since her neighbors were far enough away that they could listen to music as loud as they wanted without anyone complaining, at least when Amanda's parents were out of town.

And this weekend, Amanda had the house all to herself. She'd been a little bummed when her parents had told her that they wouldn't be around for her birthday party, but Amanda said they'd left some money for her to have a small party, and tonight was the night. Caitlin smiled when she pulled up around the corner to the yard and saw that she was by far not the first one there. Cars were scattered to and fro in a haphazard fashion all around the yard. She recognized every single one of them. That blue mustang over there was Nathan's. He was the football star of the year at Caitlin's high school. Former high school, she reminded herself. She'd graduated just this past year.

And the pink truck off on the far end of the yard was Amanda's. Her parents had gotten it for her as an early graduation present, even though she wasn't slated to finish all her classes for another couple months. But that was the way Amanda's parents were. Once they found something they wanted to do, they didn't let a little thing like tradition stand in the way of doing it. So Amanda had gotten her truck even before Caitlin had gotten her car.

She pulled her sporty little two-seater into the lot behind Amanda's truck, figuring she wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. She frequently spent nights at Amanda's and she'd told her parents that she might be staying the weekend, just to keep her friend company. She didn't, however, tell them that half the high school was going to be here tonight at this party. What they didn't know, they couldn't worry about, and Caitlin's dad had a habit of worrying incessantly, even about things that he didn't need to worry about. And then, when he started worrying, he had this way of working others into his worry until the whole house was worried about the same thing, even if it was some completely off the wall thing. Like the time he got everyone wondering about if they could survive a tornado. There weren't tornadoes here. The nearest tornadoes were five states away. The man could make her crazy.

And here he was, not even here, and she was starting the whole cycle even without him. She shook her head and shut off her car, smiling to herself when the beat of her car stereo was replaced by a softer, deeper bass thudding coming from the house. Amanda always did have decent taste in music, something they both shared. It could almost have been the same song, and Caitlin had to stand a moment when she got out of the car to listen. Nope, not quite, just a bit different.

She shut her door and turned to check her reflection in the tinted-glass window. Just eighteen and freshly out of high school, the young tigress was one of the few girls she knew who honestly thought she looked good. She was happy with her body, and didn't give a damn what anyone else thought of her. She gave a quick twirl, admiring the blood-red dress she'd picked out for the evening. Damn, but I'm hot, she thought, her grin widening.

Satisfied that she'd be the light of the party, she opened the back door and retrieved Amanda's birthday present. She'd looked long and hard trying to find exactly the right present for her best friend. It couldn't be just any generic present, either. Every year, she'd made a special effort to find a variation on one specific theme. Amanda collected stuffed tiger plush toys. Caitlin always made fun of her, saying that she needed a real boyfriend instead of a stuffed one, but every year, she managed to find a more unique toy to add to her collection. This year, she'd found one wearing a sweater with what could almost be a perfect replica picture of Amanda's new bright pink truck. She couldn't have planned it better if she'd tried.

As was her other tradition, though, she'd put the toy in a box inside a box inside a box until the whole thing was almost three feet square. Then she'd found the biggest, gaudiest bow to put on the top. With a wicked smile, she reached into her bag in the back seat and pulled out a little novelty gift tag, in the shape of a wolf penis, and quickly affixed it to the package. On the tag, she wrote "To Amanda, hope your next year is as exciting as you could ever hope!"

Laughing, she picked up the box and made her way across the yard to the porch. Amanda must have been watching her walk up, because the door opened even as she got to it. The thumping bass line increased in volume and Caitlin's ears flattened back for a moment as the sound assaulted them. It only took a moment, though, before she'd recovered, and she smiled at her fellow tiger friend as she handed over the box.

"Happy birthday, girlfriend!" she yelled over the incredibly loud music.

"Didn't think you were going to make it," Amanda shouted in reply, "Almost everyone's already here!"

"Dad wanted to know everything, as always," Caitlin rolled her eyes as she offered the well-known and well-derided excuse. "I told him we were going to get drunk, get stoned and go fuck every old man from here to the coast."

"I bet he just loved that."

Caitlin smiled and reached out to give Amanda a birthday hug. "All right, then. Where's all these people you tell me are here somewhere?"

"They're all over the place. Go get a beer and you'll run into at least ten of them."

"Sounds like a plan!"

Caitlin laughed and made her way to the familiar fridge. The number of nights she'd spent here at Amanda's house made it almost as familiar as her own. She knew where the dishes were, where the liquor was, and even where Amanda's dad kept his porn stash. The number of nights they'd stayed up after they found that one didn't need to be counted. She didn't really want to know.

The fridge was fully stocked with about anything she could ever want, and she opted for her old favorite, a hard pear cider. Someone had already pulled out the bottle opener and had kindly left it on the counter next to the fridge. Now that she had a drink and she'd handed off her gift, it was time to go find some action.

The living room seemed to be where everything was happening. Amanda's dad was an audiophile and he had the entire setup for a stereo, complete with a professional-grade mixing board. Caitlin laughed as she rounded the corner and found Josh, one of the radio club members, behind the table with the mixer under his paws going to town like some professional DJ. She lifted her bottle and caught his eye. "Get some, DJ Blackjack!" she called. Josh got the nickname from the decks of cards he always used to carry around. He used to do all kinds of magic tricks, but then someone said he should start a blackjack table and at least make some money. The name kind of stuck.

"Hey, Caitlin!" Josh called back, "How about some Broken Hearts for the broken heart."

Caitlin blushed. She hadn't realized that her breakup had become popular knowledge. She and Hunter Lewis had been dating for a little over a year before they decided to call it quits. It was amicable enough, they just decided that they didn't really click, and they went their separate ways. She was still trying to figure out why she had a bit of the heebie jeebies around him, though. It was like she could never feel at ease.

At any rate, she gave Josh a quick flick of the finger, but softened the blow with a pantomimed kiss. Josh smiled and mimicked picking the kiss out of the air and slapping it on his butt. Caitlin just rolled her eyes and made her way out the sliding glass door to the pool. There were plenty of kids out here, too, enjoying the warm early-summer night, some were lounging around on the deck while others were in chairs. Someone had even gotten bold enough to get into the pool, and it looked like he'd convinced a few others to join him. It looked like fun, but she wanted to be a bit more loosened up before she decided to hop in with them. Besides, there was always the hot tub, too.

A cool breeze blew against her back and she made her way to the edge of the porch, looking out over the property behind the house. There were plenty of places that she'd explored with Amanda a long time ago, including that copse of trees off to the right where she'd first made out with Hunter. She'd dragged him up here because she knew they'd have the privacy that they wouldn't have at her house with her dad looking over her shoulder all the time.

She took a swig of her cider and looked with soft eyes out at those trees. It wasn't so much that she missed Hunter, it was more that she missed being with someone. It was a happy time, and it still hurt to think about it, even if only a little.

Sighing, she turned to head back into the house and find Amanda so she could get some happier thoughts going. When she turned around, though, she found herself face to really familiar wolf chest. Looking up, she shook her head with a little grin. "Hi, Hunter."

"I figured you'd be here, Caitlin," Hunter said. "How're you doing?"

There was one thing she could always say about Hunter, he was always courteous and he always seemed to care what she was thinking. That's what made it so difficult for her to pin down exactly why it was that she felt so odd about him. "I'm doing okay, Hunter. Thanks for asking, though."

"Don't suppose you've found anyone new yet, huh?" She could hear a tone in his voice that was one part concern, one part sadness, one part jealousy and one part genuine curiosity. Damn the dude could say so much with one sentence.

"It's only been a few weeks, Hunter," Caitlin said with a chuckle. She cocked her head to the side and pinched his arm, "What sort of girl do you think I am?"

Hunter returned the smile and bent down so he could be a bit quieter, "I know what sort of girl you are, Caitlin."

How could he still press her buttons like that? The sound of his low, growly voice never failed to send shivers down her body. It brought back images of crumpled sheets and hot nights. Her breath caught in her throat and she shivered lightly, glaring at Hunter as he straightened back up again.

"Damn it, Hunter."

"Still get you going, don't I?" he asked with a grin.

Caitlin shook her head but she couldn't deny it. "Yes, you still do, Hunter."

Hunter took the bottle of cider from her hand and took a gulp with a self-satisfied smirk. "Come on. Let's dance for a while."

That familiar feeling of wrongness was back, nagging at the back of her head, but she ignored it. What could be the harm in dancing with him? It wasn't like they were mortal enemies now that they were exes, right? They were still friends, so a dance between friends would be just fine. She followed him back into the living room and didn't miss the look Hunter gave Josh.

The music dimmed and transitioned seamlessly into the next song. Caitlin laughed when she recognized it as one of her current favorites. She'd made Hunter listen to it time after time in the car any time he was with her. He must have gotten so sick of it, but he put up with her playing it over and over until she'd memorized the words and could sing along with it.

It wasn't a slow-dance tune, and she wasn't in the mood for slow dancing anyway. Even though they started out as the only ones dancing, soon enough they had a good following going, and by the end of the song, Caitlin had completely forgotten that nagging little doubt in the back of her head. Out of breath and flushed from the dancing, she stumbled off to the couch.

"You look thirsty. I'll get you a refill," Hunter said, and before she could say anything in return he'd gone off in the direction of the fridge. It didn't take him long before he'd returned with another cider. The first one was doing wonders on her brain already and she couldn't help but watch his form as he walked away and then back. His butt was just as cute as ever, and there was still that barely discernible tell-tale bulge in the front of his pants. He definitely got the good end of the gene pool when it came to that little piece of his anatomy.

Smiling, she took the next drink from him and downed half of it in a series of gulps. It helped the thirst, but it also managed to push her further towards tipsy. It wasn't the first time she'd ever been drunk, though, and she knew she had a good bit of the night ahead of her yet. The music was still going, so, laughing, she dragged Hunter back out to dance some more. Before long, she was dancing up close to the big wolf, grinding hips against hips in a familiar dance. His scent and the feel of him was safe and familiar, and the alcohol almost sealed the deal.

Gasping and panting they finally made their way back to the couch with Hunter flopping down, out of breath, and Caitlin lying next to him, stretched out with her head on his thigh. Hunter looked down at her with a familiar gleam in his eye and leaned down to press his muzzle against hers. Even after the weeks apart, the feel, the scent, and the taste were familiar and comforting. Caitlin returned the kiss with gusto and they continued, tongues playing against each other until finally Caitlin broke away, almost gasping for air. "My god, Hunter, I don't know why you always manage to do this to me."

"Because I'm so damned good looking," he answered, smiling.

Looking up his chest to his face, Caitlin could feel something lighting up inside her and she blushed, grinning. "Let's go upstairs, Hunter. I want to have some fun."

Hunter's grin widened and he reached out to take her free hand, "Don't have to tell me twice," he said. Laughing he helped her up off the couch and led the way up the stairs to the spare bedroom where Caitlin usually stayed when she slept over with Amanda.

The world was fuzzy around the edges as they made their way up the stairs and into the bedroom. Before he took her through the door, Hunter pulled her close and into an embrace, kissing her once again, and they made their way awkwardly into the room, managing somehow to close the door behind them. Somewhere in the middle of the kiss, the music faded into the background and even the feeling of the warm wolf fur against her naked chest felt distant.

Wait. Her naked chest? Caitlin looked down in confusion and saw her shirt and bra by the door, then realized she was laying on the bed with Hunter nude between her legs slipping her pants off. She shook her head, must have had too much to drink. But this is what she brought him up here for, so there wasn't a problem, right?

She lifted her hips and let Hunter take her pants down. She smiled down at him when he moved back in and planted his lips directly where he knew she loved it and slid his tongue inside her. A soft moan escaped her lips and Hunter's closed around them as he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

But...he was... "Oh, gods," Caitlin moaned as she felt the wolf moving inside her. The building warmth between her legs pushed every thought from her mind and she stopped thinking about how she ended up here so fast. She felt Hunter speeding up, and just like he was always able to do, he was bringing her with him, each thrust hitting something inside her that sent ripples of pleasure through her body. Closer and closer to the edge, until finally he heaved forwards, buried himself within her and stayed while the knot expanded and he finally let go.

She let out her own orgasmic wail and came hard around his wolfhood even as the edges of the world blurred and finally blackened. After another intense spasm of pleasure, she sunk into unconsciousness.

---

Caitlin awoke to a pounding on the door and opened her eyes to find herself...on the couch...in the living room. Her eyes opened even wider and she snapped almost to full awareness when she realized she was completely nude where everyone could see her. Almost screaming with her heart beating almost into her throat, she covered her chest and sat up. When the dizziness cleared she really did scream.

Around her, scattered throughout the living room were the bodies of her friends. It looked like six or seven bodies. Each one was covered in drying blood, and each one was simply lying where it had fallen. She stood up off the couch and started to scream again. Just when her voice started to falter, the front door blew apart and inward and four black-clad wolves rushed in, weapons at the ready.

She only had time to scream in an even higher pitch before the first wolf turned and lunged at her. Her eyes widened in terror at this beast coming for her, but she could only stand there, rooted to the ground by some strange force of nature. Catching her by the arm, the wolf forced her to the floor, face down. She felt cold liquid squishing into her fur and her face made a soft, sickly splashing sound when she landed. Another scream tore at her throat, this one as much frustration as fright. She couldn't move her arm, and soon, the wolf had the other pulled up behind her back. She could feel the hard plastic zip cuffs fastening around her wrists. Then the wolf was up again, and she found herself staring through a puddle of blood looking at a huge kitchen knife she must have been almost standing on top of. It was unreal, looking like a movie prop just lying there in the congealing red puddle.

This had to be a dream. It couldn't be happening. She was just drunk and that's all. She kept saying that to herself all the while the only sound she could make herself was a quiet "No, no, no." Too shocked to even cry, all she could do was whisper with her eyes fixed on that bloody knife. She laid there for what seemed like an eternity while the police wolves searched the house. When they returned, all she could see were their boots while they stood around her. She focused on one pair, trying to block out the feeling of her friends' blood soaking into her fur.

"I count seven dead, sir," the first one said.

"And this one," came another voice.

"She was standing in front of the knife," the first voice again.

"Test it," came a new one. The new voice had an authority to it, and even through her frightened stupor she could tell this was the leader.

Caitlin watched a gloved paw reach down with a portable scanner. The red beams caressed the handle on the knife, and then the wolf stood up. She felt her hands behind her being forced open and she could picture those red beams dancing across her palms.

"Paw prints match, sir," the first voice confirmed.

"Take her."

"No, wait!" Caitlin yelled, but it made no difference. Two of the large wolves picked her up by the shoulders and the knees and dragged her out into the daylight and into the waiting police van.

---

Inspector Corbett was an old-time wolf going on his tenth year with the police force, and he'd seen some gruesome scenes in his time, but the house he just walked into may have them all beat. The minute he was through the door, the familiar smell of fresh death assaulted his nose. It was the coppery smell of blood tinged with the faint aftersmell of an outhouse. That smell always foretold a long, long day.

"What do we have?" he asked the guard wolf at the door.

"Seven bodies, sir, all stabbed."

"Any suspects?"

"Just one, sir. We found a young tiger in the living room near a knife with her prints on the handle. She was the only person alive in the house, and she was covered with blood when we found her. None of it was hers."

"You got a name on this girl?"

"Yes, sir. Preliminary identification based on her pawprints is Caitlin Kincaid. Eighteen years old, just graduated high school. Lives in the west hills section."

Inspector Corbett grunted, "Anything else?"

"Not yet, sir. She's at Sisters of Charity getting checked out."

Corbett nodded and made his way into the living room, taking in the scene with a practiced eye. Six bodies in this room, all face down. Looked like they all bled out, probably from stab wounds. No one had moved the knife from where they found it and he could still see the outline the girl's body had made in the blood pool when they'd taken her down.

Carefully, slowly, he made his way around the room, eyes taking in everything, registering every minute detail. There was no telling when he'd be called upon to recreate the scene for the magistrates. There were the bodies, the empty keg overturned in the corner, the broken sliding glass door. Seeing the glass broken, he made his way over and took a closer look. The glass had broken from the inside out, which explained the body of a young female tiger laying just outside on the patio, halfway to the pool.

He reached into his suit coat and pulled out his tablet, bringing up the details Central had relayed to it earlier. From the build and fur patterns, this was Amanda Brighton, the resident of the house. Amanda's parents were, according to the intel, out of town on vacation. Typical teenage party, parents out of town, kids start partying it up. Until something went wrong.

Corbett stood up and made his way around the pool, but as he suspected, he didn't find anything beyond what he'd seen. He reentered the house and continued his walking inspection, noting the pattern of bloodstains and spatter, the state of the furniture, the way things had landed.

He stopped at the door to the guest room upstairs. The bed was rumpled and sheets were laying half on the floor. A quick blacklight inspection showed stains on the sheets. He'd have to have those tested. Two empty cups lay on the floor by the bed, probably tossed there by the amorous couple. Or group, he reminded himself.

Back downstairs, he ran into the sergeant who had led the entry team. The big, fit wolf was looking over the carnage in the living room and snapped to attention when he saw Corbett coming down the stairs.

"Sergeant, what have you found?" Corbett asked.

"Well, sir, there's not much," the wolf reported, "I've been down at Charity for the last few hours. They damn near had to shave the girl to get the blood out of her fur."

Corbett frowned. He didn't like thinking about what was going on with his suspects while he was still there looking over their purported handiwork. "I take it they didn't though?"

The sergeant nodded, "Just a couple patches is all, sir. She had blood from every victim on her. Some spatter some not. I think most of it came from this body here, sir." He indicted the body nearest the knife. "Probably because that's where we took her down."

Corbett nodded, "She say anything?"

The sergeant shook his head. "Nothin' yet, sir. Nurses say she's probably in shock."

Corbett nodded again. Things didn't add up, and he didn't like it when things didn't add up.

"Have them do a drug screen and a full workup."

"They're already doing it, sir. They're also doing a rape kit. Nurse said she'd been sexually active before all this happened."

"All right. Get me those results as soon as you have them."

"You got it, sir."

The sergeant saluted and headed out the door, no doubt back to the hospital. There wasn't anything new Corbett could learn from the scene that the crime scene boys couldn't tell him, so he decided to get out of their way and let them do their job.

On the way out, he tried to piece together in his head just how an eighteen year old girl had managed to stab seven people to death.

---

White walls. That's what made it through her mind as she stared at the wall beside her bed. Her room was floor to ceiling white, spotless, and the smell of antiseptic almost burned her nose. It was the smell of sick and dying people, the smell of medicine.

The staff had taken blood, skin, fur, and about every other kind of swab, sample, or vial they could possibly take from her, then they left her dressed in a hospital gown handcuffed to the hospital gurney with two officers outside her door and another large wolf inside the room with her. Despite her repeated requests to be able to speak with her parents, she still hadn't been given a phone.

Tears threatening behind her eyes, she turned and looked the other way at the large, grey wolf. He looked bored, sitting in the chair by the bed with his muzzle buried in a magazine. She couldn't tell what it was he was reading, but that wasn't what she wanted to know right now.

"Umm...Officer?" she asked, voice breaking slightly, "Have you heard from my parents?"

"No," he answered simply. Then he dropped the magazine to his lap and looked at her. She shivered at the look in his eyes, it was one of calm and quiet competence, but something lurked there under the professional look, it was a glint of someone who enjoyed what he was doing.

Caitlin paled and shrunk back a bit from that glare, but she had to ask, she had to know. "Do...do you know..." she was having trouble getting the words out, "Did someone call them?"

"Not my job, girl." He shook his head, and for a moment she saw a look of contempt cross his face. "Someone'll tell 'em some time, don't you worry." The wolf laughed and gestured to the TV screen in the corner, "Or they'll see it on the news."

Caitlin looked up and gasped as she watched footage showing her being dragged out of the house by the huge wolves. She was completely naked on the news and everyone was going to see it. She shut her eyes and turned her head away, blushing furiously.

"What's the matter, girl? Don't all you kids wanna be famous?" The wolf laughed and went back to reading his magazine.

After a few minutes, the orderly came into the room with a tray of instruments. When he got closer to the bed, Caitlin's heart started to race. She recognized the instruments that were on that tray, down to the metal speculum laying there in its paper wrapper. She knew exactly what was coming. "Wait!" she cried, "I don't want that exam."

Tears flowed freely down her face when the wolf answered, "It's not about what you want, girl. It's about evidence."

"But I didn't do anything," Caitlin insisted through a throat thick with held-back sobs.

"In that case," the wolf said, "Don't you want us to find whoever it was who offed your friends?" He said the last word with contemptuous emphasis.

Caitlin couldn't think of anything to respond with. Of course she wanted them to find whoever did it, but this? This was...this was horrible.

The orderly walked to the end of the bed and lowered it so Caitlin's backside was almost hanging off, then pulled the stirrups out of their pockets. He gave Caitlin an apologetic look and lifted her feet one at a time into the stirrups. He draped the gown over her knees to give her a bit of privacy before he left the room, leaving her in that vulnerable position.

Caitlin wanted to sink into the mattress and disappear. She squirmed on the bed, trying to make the whole thing less exposing, but she didn't have any luck. Shortly after the orderly left, a giant male bear of a doctor sauntered into the room. He didn't address Caitlin, just looked past her to the officer.

"Officer..." the doctor paused for a moment to read the wolf's name plate, "...Sinclair. I assume you have to remain?"

Sinclair nodded and the doctor mirrored him, then reached out to pull the exam stool closer. Once he had everything set up just right, he settled himself right up between Caitlin's legs. Caitlin squirmed, trying hard to resist her instinct to close her knees. She knew it wouldn't do any good, anyway, Sinclair would just force them back open again, and from his demeanor so far, he wouldn't be gentle about it.

The big wolf stood up and frowned down at the doctor, then lifted Caitlin's hospital gown up and off her knees so he could watch the procedure. Sinclair didn't realize or more likely didn't are that he'd flung the gown up so far that Caitlin was completely exposed from the breasts down. She started to protest, but Sinclair shot her a look that said "just try it," and she simply turned her head to the side and stared at the white wall.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of something, anything happy that would take her away from this place and this time, but nothing came to mind, she could only go back over waking up on the couch, and the image of that bloody kitchen knife.

The doctors gloved hands touching her between her legs, probing around her labia brought her attention sadistically back to the present and she cried softly as the doctor took swab after swab. She clamped her eyes shut even tighter when she heard the clippers start up. She felt a piece of thin paper slide up under her butt and then a vibrating against her mons made her look down at what the doctor was doing. Carefully, methodically the doctor drew the clippers down between her legs, shaving the fur entirely off her labia from one side to the other, catching the trimmings on the paper.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught Sinclair staring between her legs with a lewd smile and she sobbed, turning her head once again away, willing her brain to come up with something she could think of besides the burning shame of having this giant police wolf seeing her more clearly than any other man ever had.

She didn't even flinch when she felt the speculum being worked inside, just sobbed louder, unable to contain her pain and humiliation any longer. She could only squirm in discomfort as the doctor spread her, and then took what seemed like a million swabs and samples.

Finally, the speculum was released and retracted and she took a long, shuddering breath. It was finally over, and she could just lay here. But she was wrong. No sooner had the doctor placed the last instrument on the tray than she felt a cold, metallic insistent pressing further down, under the base of her tail. Gently, but firmly the doctor pressed the instrument past her sphincter and into her ass. She cried out in pain and a fresh set of tears began joining the others, pooling under her face on the paper-covered mattress.

After another multitude of swabs, the instrument was finally withdrawn and the doctor packed up his instruments and wheeled the table out into the hallway, not bothering to close the door or curtain, and not bothering to take Caitlin's legs out of the stirrups.

A quiet, whispered conversation in the direction of the door told Caitlin that the officers outside the door were having an enjoyable view. She pulled her feet out of the stirrups and pushed herself up in the bed as much as she was able, drawing her legs up to her chest, but unable to do anything about the gown pooled around her neck.

Finally, though, the orderly returned and put the bed back together. He gave Sinclair a defiant look as he adjusted Caitlin's gown over her body. There was little he could do, but he could make his displeasure known at least in that glance. The orderly patted the fabric down around Caitlin's body and then left the room, careful to close the curtain and the door behind him.

Sinclair sat his bulk back down in the chair and picked up his magazine. He leaned close to Caitlin's ear, muzzle almost touching, "You've got a pretty pussy, pussycat."

She said nothing, just stayed lying in a ball on the bed, quietly sobbing to herself while Sinclair opened his magazine laughing.

---

Two badgers in suits opened the door to the laboratory office and simply looked across the desk at the pathologist until he noticed them and looked up.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" he asked.

"We're here about the Caitlin Kincaid case," the larger one said.

"Oh, yes. I'm just going over the slides now." The pathologist gestured to his microscope.

The smaller badger reached into his coat and pulled out a plain white envelope. He placed it on the desk and gently slid it across with one finger.

"Mister Lewis wants to make sure that you get the test right," said the larger one.

The doctor opened the envelope and his eyes widened, then he looked up with an angry frown on his face.

"My integrity is not for sale. To Mister Lewis or anyone else."

"You might want to rethink that, Doc." Big Badger sighed, "He thought you might be...hesitant, so he told us to remind you that he still has a marker on you."

The pathologist paled, "He said no one would know."

The badger nodded, "And no one has to, doc. Just make sure you get the right results on those tests. We definitely don't want Mister Lewis to be embarrassed, do we?"

"N-no, I don't suppose we do."

"Good. Keep the money, doc. Send your wife on vacation. Hell, take that cute little Alsatian you're fucking around with on a cruise." The badgers turned to the door and the larger one looked over his shoulder, "Either way, have a nice day, doc."

Still pale, the doctor watched the door close behind them, then turned to his microscope and then to his computer. He took a deep breath and reached out to hit the DELETE button.