spoke in a low tone. “You can manage without Comet can’t you?”

 Ewan arched an eyebrow in suspicion. “I suppose so. Why do you ask?”

 “I have to make a report to Rex before anything else happens. Comet could use an example on how to give reports properly.”

 Ewan caught the hidden message, and threw his mentor a thankful grin. “It’ll be appreciated, Captain. Comet can be a real handful…and it’s safe to say that last night didn’t go as well as planned thanks to his impatience.”

 “Indeed.” Orde sighed, then he turned to Comet who was busy laughing at some joke that Exile cracked. “You are coming with me.”

 “Why?” Comet asked, frowning at the stern tone. “I thought you needed me to help Ewan with the investigation.”

 Orde grimaced as he turned to go back to the station. “I think I may need some backup once I present my idea.”

 The Border Collie groaned as he trotted to keep up. “It’s that weird, huh?”

 The Captain glanced sidelong at the apprentice. “Of all the things Ewan should have taught you, one would think that you’d know by now that most sensible plans don’t work. We have to be inventive, and think outside the box if we’re to get anything done.”

 Comet rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Captain. Ewan says you always get everyone into trouble because of your ‘ideas’.”

 The term ideas was actually a very broad term when connected with Orde. Every single police dog in Nome had found out the hard way that Orde’s ideas ranged anywhere from plain sense, to ridiculous sounding, to extremely risky. The problem was, no matter how bizarre and off the wall they were; they nearly always worked. It was rather irking to the all the other dogs, and Orde knew this well. He shook his head. “I happen to get us out of trouble because of my ideas, young one, so we’re even.” He paused before the door, frowning as he listened intently. “It sounds like Rex has a visitor. Odd.”

 “It might be somebody asking for legal advice.”

 Orde frowned even deeper. “I doubt it. I hate to take up his time, but this will make it worse if there’s a visitor.”

 Comet rolled his eyes. “We’re here on business. It’s not as if you’re here to ruin his day.” With that said, he entered through the doggy door.

 Orde sighed before he followed Ewan’s apprentice. ‘If Rex is visiting with a certain female, then he will definately think I’m doing just that.’

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Meanwhile, Rex and Terry were having another meeting in the den. The map still refused to yield any secrets, and Rex was starting to feel frustrated. “I sure hope Orde’s scout work turns up more than we’ve found here,” the bloodhound commented ruefully.

 “Orde?” asked Terry, looking at him with her head tilted to one side. “Who’s he?”

 “An old friend of mine,” Rex explained. “One of Nome’s finest. He‘s been helping me on this case, although there‘s not much help to give so far.”

 “You can say that again,” she replied with a nod.

 Rex smirked. “An old friend of mine,” he repeated. “One of…”

 Terry shook her head. “Either you’re growing a sense of humor, or you need to get out more,” she remarked.

 Rex gestured to the window. “With the weather out there?” he asked. “Not on your life.”

 At that moment there was a creak of hinges as the pet flap opened, and both dogs turned to see a young Border Collie with lively blue eyes and blotchy brown and white markings enter. “Hey Chief! We’ve…” the teenager stopped upon seeing Terry, and for a moment his face bore the sort of expression you might have if you learned your best friend was an alien from outer space. He seemed to have trouble swallowing his shock, but at last he managed to partially hide it behind a politely blank mask. He turned to Rex, his confusion broadcasting loudly in spite of his best efforts.

 Rex inwardly moaned. He should have known that Orde would be sending one of his officers here to report. ‘Of all the most inconvenient times for someone to show up! Now I have to explain myself to another one.’ Rex cleared his throat. “Ahem. Comet, this is Terry. She’s one of my informants.”

 As the bloodhound spoke, Captain Orde entered as well. “Rex, are you in? I have a theory about-” he stopped, catching sight of Terry. “Ah, is this your friend?”

 Rex nodded. “Yes, Orde, this is Terry. Terry, this is Captain Orde, the one I was just talking about. And the soon to be officer here is Comet.”

 “It’s nice to meet you,” Terry said, dipping her head by way of a curtsy.

 Comet grinned. “Hi.”

 Orde nodded politely. “And you as well, madam.” He turned to Rex. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?”

 “No, not at all,” Rex answered quickly, realizing even as he did that his swift denial was in itself suspicious. ‘This blasted female business has me every way I turn,’ he thought. Then, lest Orde should have a chance to comment on this fact or anything pertaining to it, he hurriedly added, “And how did the scouting go, Captain?”

 Orde shook himself. “There was a small …mishap…” Comet seemed to visibly wilt under Orde’s sharp glance. “But I think I managed to gain some insight into this whole business. I don’t know all of the matter, but the strays we followed said something about a leader.” He quickly outlined what he had heard.

 Rex blinked. “A leader?” he asked. “But no one could ever get those dogs to cooperate outside of the occasional small pack. It‘s impossible.”

 “I don’t know about that,” Orde replied, “But they appeared to be trying to sneak extra rations in violation of someone’s orders.”

 “Then they must have a leader!” Terry exclaimed. “There’s no other explanation, is there?”

 Rex shook his head. “I don’t see how there could be, but there’s still too much that doesn’t fit into place.”

 “Like what?”

 “Who could achieve such a thing?” Rex pointed out. “He would need a powerful hold over the strays, something they would all want.”

 “Just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean somebody else doesn’t know,” Orde countered. “It’s entirely possible that there is some common factor, some shared drive, which all the strays of Nome share. Or at least, one that enough of them share so the rest can be controlled simply by mob mentality.”

 “Mob mentality?” asked Terry.

 Comet shrugged. “That’s police talk for ‘everybody’s doing it.’ A group gets started up, then others join in even when they don‘t know what’s really going on.”

 Terry nodded. “I see,” she said slowly. “So at least their leader, whoever he is, has managed to get most of the strays under his thumb.” She frowned. “But how? And why?”

 Rex frowned as well. “I’m still not convinced, but it’s all we have to go on.”

 Terry got a knowing look on her face. “Are you so hesitant to consider it because you’re a skeptic,” she asked, “or because I suggested a similar theory days ago?”

 Orde interrupted before Rex could make any reply. “Let’s look at what we know before we puzzle over it any further, shall we? We know that the strays are becoming organized…”

 “We know that there is a leader.” Terry added.

 “There may be more than one leader.” Comet pointed out.

 Rex nodded, surprised that possibility hadn’t been considered yet. “But we do know that leader or no leader, they seem to have something against house pets.”

 Terry winced at the reminder of her own close call. “They certainly aren’t afraid to use violence,” she murmured.

 “…And it’s entirely possible that there’s a common goal they want to reach.” Orde finished. He arched an eyebrow and tilted his head. “That’s the catch. What is it they are ultimately striving for?”

 Just then the clock chimed. Terry looked up at it and clicked her tongue. "It looks like you'll have to continue this without me," she noted. "I have to get going."

 Rex nodded. "Alright, Terry."

 She nodded at him, and if it weren’t for the grim situation her nod probably would have been accompanied by a smile.

 "Pleasure meeting you, madam," Orde said with a polite nod.

 "Ditto," chimed Comet.

 This time Terry did smile. "It was nice to meet both of you."

 No sooner had Terry left than Comet began to