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CHAPTER SEVEN

NED

After work, the members of the San Fernando Metro Police Department, Homicide Division, were in the habit of frequenting a bar called Salty Sebastian's, a place that catered mainly to canids, although the owner, Salty Sebastian, was a rat. It wasn't an overly noisy place, so far as bars went, and smoking was banned, so canid patrons could enjoy themselves without the sickening scent of cigarette smoke penetrating their nostrils. Sebastian, a talkative, easy-going character in his mid-fifties, claimed to have once been a crewmember on a tuna fish boat, although he had also professed to having been a bull rider and a sky-driving instructor. Regardless of whether or not he had actually been to sea, though, his bar was done up in a maritime décor style, with old fish nets and sea shells hanging from the ceiling; buoys, life rings, and more shells on the walls. Above the bar itself were an enormous stuffed swordfish, which Sebastian claimed to have caught himself, and the name plate of a sailing ship called the George and Martha, which he said had sank in the bay a hundred years prior.

The door chimed a bell as Ned, Scarlett, Nolan, Montoya, Diego, and Milo entered the bar, and Ned's nose was filled with a myriad of scents of alcohol and bar patrons of assorted species. The radio was turned on to an oldies station, and down the end of the bar, half a dozen guys were watching the news on the bar's one television.

Sebastian's long pointy face lit up as when he saw the officers. "Hey, look guys, it's my favourite cops! What can I get you today?" he asked, pushing his characteristic captain's cap back between his ears.

"Tequila" Diego grinned, "For me and this bastard" he elbowed Montoya.

"Tina!" Sebastian called down to his assistant barkeep, a skinny vixen with three piercings in each ear. "Fetch some tequila for these brave boys in badges. And for you three?" the rat asked, looking to Ned, Scarlett, and Nolan, as Milo had wandered down to watch the television.

"The usual" Ned said.

"Ah, corona, then" Sebastian nodded to himself. "Where's my friend Arkady?" He set three bottles of Corona on the smooth surface of the bar and started popping the caps off them.

"You know Arkady" Ned shrugged, taking a tentative swig of his beer. "As much a workaholic as always." Sebastian nodded and rushed off to greet another customer, leaving Ned to watch Nolan and Scarlett wander over to the bar's pool table, which was currently unoccupied. The way Nolan's arm curled around Scarlett's shoulders made him envious of their closeness. He wondered what Garrett was up to today. Maybe that was a little early too - but, dang it, he and the coyote had hit it off pretty well. They hadn't specifically planned another date yet....but unless Garrett had been completely acting, he had enjoyed their outing just as much as Ned had, so perhaps they could meet again in a day or to.

Scarlett must have been thinking similar thoughts, because she called him over to the pool table. She and Nolan had now separated and were on opposite sides of the table. "We were talking about going out tomorrow night" the coyote explained, "and I suggested maybe a double date?"

Oh. A double date? Well, that could be interesting. If Nolan was ok with it, of course. He and Scarlett had been together long enough that Ned was pretty sure the other wolf knew about his preferences, but just to be safe...

"You're ok with that?" he queried, watching Nolan carefully line up his pool stick and send an orange ball rolling into the hole. Nolan was so damn quiet that Ned never knew quite what he was thinking; not at all like Diego or Montoya, who were always carefree with their thoughts, or like Lennox who spoke what she felt regardless of how her subordinates felt about it. The other wolf was only five years his senior, but he almost seemed like a different generation, always in the background, quietly observing. His coat was an ordinary grey-brown, not dark like Ned's, and his eyes were blue, not brown. Kind of good-looking, in the modest way of someone who doesn't get noticed until you look at them a couple times, although he was smaller than was average for wolves; Scarlett said it was because his ancestors were from Lapland, where people in general tended to be shorter.

"It's not a problem" Nolan said at length, allowing Scarlett to try for a ball. "Bring your...friend." Ned felt sure this hesitance came from uncertainty as to whether Ned and Garrett were to the point of calling each other boyfriends yet, not because Nolan felt uncomfortable acknowledging a male-male relationship.

Ned gave the older wolf a smile. "I'll see if he's available for tomorrow" and he was pleased when Nolan smiled back, taking his eyes briefly off Scarlett. The coyote had lined up a run of balls, and when she made her move, it was with lucky success, as three balls went into the hole.

"Bravo!" Nolan clapped, unusual for him. His tail wagged. "You're kicking my tail, baby."

"Secret coyote talent" Scarlett purred, and when Nolan leaned in to kiss her, Ned decided it was time to step back again. That made him wonder what would happen if he and Garrett wanted to kiss during the date; would it be too awkward for Nolan? At least Scarlett wouldn't care; she'd probably encourage them.

"Hey, did I ever tell you about the time J LO herself came into my bar?" Sebastian glanced up when Ned had returned to the bar. "Sat her pretty ass right there on that stool."

Like most of Sebastian's tales, Ned found this one questionable to believe, but he nodded and said "That must have been something." Whether Sebastian noticed his lack of enthusiasm he was unsure, but the rat changed the subject.

"So I imagine you're all busy tryin' to find who offed that fox?" his whiskers twitched, small eyes narrowing. "The actor." Probably the rat was just looking for more information he could pour to the next string of customers, bragging that the very officers investigating Conrad Fincher's murder had been drinking in his bar.

"Yes" Ned nodded. "Haven't caught the bastard yet though."

Sebastian took off his cap and stared at it. "Probably killed him 'cause of him bein' a tail-raiser, I'll reckon." He held up a paw. "Not sayin' that I've got beef with tail-raisers, mind you. I ain't like them fuckers on-" he jerked a thumb at the television.

"Who?" Ned asked curiously. A glance at the television showed only the weasel anchor saying something about the presidential election.

The rat grunted. In the background, someone was clapping - Scarlett really must have been kicking Nolan's ass at pool. Which was just as well; he usually beat her at darts. "Some senator chump from back east. Feller says he's gonna give a big speech about that amendment 28 business, ya know, the one allowin' tail raisers to get hitched like proper folk."

"Not positive, I assume?" Ned perceived, glancing at the television again. The main part of the screen was still showing the weasel, but in the upper corner another person's photo was now visible, what looked like a badger.

"Huh. There it is now" Sebastian grunted. "Tina, turn up the sound on the TV!"

The vixen scampered to obey, and the weasel's voice grew louder. "In just a moment, we'll be airing live footage direct from Houston, where Senator Adam Johnson is giving a speech urging Americans to vote against Amendment 28." The screen changed to show a coyote holding a microphone. Behind him were numerous spectators. "We're live on the scene with ABC's Alfred Clayton" the weasel's voice said.

"Thank you, Clarisse," the coyote said. "As you can see, huge crowds have gathered to hear Senator Johnson speak about this much anticipated but decidedly controversial amendment proposal. The senator's remarks about LGBT Americans have sparked praise from the religious right and condemnation from the left and from independent and libertarian circles, as you can see from the variety of protesters currently here in Houston." A different camera took over the screen, showing a cross-section of various protesters, some waving signs that either criticised or praised the senator; others holding signs relating more specifically to either Amendment 28 or to LGBT rights in general. A number of the anti-gay protesters seemed to be members of an organisation called the Traditional Marriage Foundation, or TMF, a group Ned had heard about before, although the name Adam Johnson was unfamiliar to him. Many of the TMF protesters were chanting "Vote straight on 28" or "Protect families" or other such slogans; while the opposition hollered "Love is Love," "Vote for love," or shouted criticisms of the senator and his beliefs.

The animation of the crowd on screen had attracted the attention of most of the bar's patrons, and conversation dwindled as all heads turned to watch. Scarlett had moved to Ned's side and murmured "Wow. Those guys are nuts" as the camera panned over the anti-Amendment 28 protesters."

"If you look to the stage," the reporter coyote was saying, "you can see Senator Johnson preparing to take the stand. Accompanying him is his wife Pamela, and their children John, Patience, Honour, and Justice." Sure enough, as the camera zoomed in closer, it focused on a heavy-set, middle-aged badger, who was making his way across the stage to a centre pulpit. The crowd was still noisy and lively, swarming like bees on honey. Following the badger were a female badger of roughly the same age and four younger badgers, three boys and a girl, all in the mid-teens to mid-twenties. The senator's wife and daughter were dressed in plain denim dresses, and the sons wore plain buttoned shirts and jeans, while the senator himself was dressed in suit and tie, not particularly odd for a politician. Seeing his family, and hearing the names he'd chosen for his children, gave Ned certainty in one area: Adam Johnson took his religion seriously.

The camera panned in close-up on Johnson as he pulled the microphone in to his muzzle. "Friends, countrymen, brothers and sisters under God! I thank you for joining me here on this fine summer's day" the badger's voice was deep and almost gravely, and the crowd finally quieted to hear him speak. In the bar, no one was talking; all eyes listening to this politician.

"I have brought my family along with me today," Johnson continued, stepping aside and glancing back at where his wife and children were standing meekly behind him, each one stony-faced and silent, "because it is a matter of family which brings us together today. There are those among us - among our fellow Americans - who want to destroy the concept of family; who want to erase from existence-" he empathised this last word "what has stood as the centre of human society since creation; the family." There was an angry buzz from some quadrants of the crowd. "These deviants are everywhere!" the senator boomed. "They are within our government," this must have been a dig at Houston's lesbian mayor, Ned guessed, "within our military and our police force," Ned snorted at this reference to his own area "within our education systems and our everyday life - and yes, within this very crowd I see before me."

The crowd was humming now, voices rising here and there. "Look among yourselves!" Johnson growled, pointing a finger into the heart of the gathering. "The person next to you may be the enemy. Your neighbour; your best friend; even your brother, may be a deviant who desires to corrupt the heart of America into an acceptance of sodomy."

At this point the senator had to stop for a minute, because several spectators grew angry and begun shouting at him. As soon as they'd been quieted though, he continued. "Yes, brothers and sisters, that is why we are gathered here. You may be aware of a poisonous new measure which certain portions of our government have been promoting - the abomination Amendment 28. Under this atrocity of an amendment, any two adult civilians could legally be married, without any regard to their gender."

Some part of Ned felt angry at this crazy loon's misguided ideals, but to some extent, he was just curious more than angry, curious at how someone could be so judgemental of something which really had no bearing on his life in any manner. "Do you want to have the tradition of marriage destroyed by these agents of evil?" Johnson demanded. "Do you want to see your children corrupted into believing they can live degenerate lives in sodomy and yet still have a chance of entering the kingdom of heaven?"

The camera suddenly swerved, because one of the spectators - a young wolf - had managed to push past the barrier and climb onto the stage, to confront the senator. He'd started shouting, both at Johnson and at the crowd. "I am a student at the Lutheran ministry school in Missouri" the wolf shouted, although Ned had to strain to hear him. "I am gay and I am a Christian who loves God, and but I believe that in his eyes, these people who preach of love are far more worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven than those like you, who preach only hate." No sooner had these words left his muzzle than Johnson's security guards seized him, just as the crowd broke out into a division of applause and angry booing. Ned realised that some of the applause was from within the bar, including, interestingly, from his fellow officers. He hoped the wolf wasn't being arrested.

"Quiet now, quiet now" Senator Johnson said, holding his paws above his head. "Now you have seen for yourselves how deeply this evil is rooted within our land - yes, even in the holy church of God. That is why I must ask you - no, as a humble servant of God, I must beg you - to vote NO on Amendment 28 when your ballot comes round in November. Save your children and your country from those who would make American into a new Sodom. Stop this evil before it is but too late."

The crowd was roaring now, both at Johnson and at each other, and after another moment the camera shut off and the screen showed the news anchor weasel again. "You were just watching Senator Adam Johnson's anti-Amendment 28 speech in Houston, Texas" she said, "and as you can see the reaction is quite diverse. This is the third speech of this variety which Senator Johnson has given within the last month, part of a planned tour of the country. Both previous speeches met with similar reaction."

The bar's patrons had resumed their conversation by then, but Ned kept staring at the television, even though the weasel was now talking about civil unrest in Africa. Damn, he thought. With people like that spreading anti-gay fever, no wonder some crazy bigot had decided to start killing gay folks, if, as they suspected, Conrad Fincher and Hugo Sota were victims of the same killer. Living in a city like San Fernando made you forget sometimes that in some parts of the country, homophobia was commonplace.

Diego and Montoya were wandering back towards Ned now, looking over his shoulder. "I want to know more about this guy," a cool voice said, and turning, Ned saw that Arkady had come in.

"Hey Sarg!" Montoya said.

"How long have you been there?" Ned asked.

"Long enough" the fox frowned. "I want to know more about this guy" he repeated. "Redfield, can you handle it?"

"Sure" Diego said, "why him though? Just another loon." Despite his words though, the wolfdog looked very annoyed; his tail was all bristled out and his ears weren't as perky as they usually were.

"I just had a thought" Arkady told them. "I've heard of this guy before, in the news, and on the TMF television commercials, but I didn't think of it till now. You take the wrong person who listens to something like this...."

"You're thinking the same thing I am" Ned's ears perked. "Someone gets ideas like that in their head; they might start thinking about putting a bullet in some gay guy's head."

"Yeah...." Arkady scratched the end of his muzzle. "Could be nothing, but it might be interesting to look into TMF membership in this area. There can't be very many of them, I imagine."

Montoya nodded. "Crosscheck the names for crime records. Something to go by, anyway."

"I'll put together a file on the senator" Diego said, but in his thoughts Ned kept going back to Senator Johnson's hate-filled speech. Their killer was religious; the list of ten - no, eleven - commandments found with each body confirmed that. With both Fincher and Sota, a different commandment had been highlighted; not that either one really applied to a crime the victim had committed, so far as Ned was aware. But nonetheless, that still left the other nine commandments. What were they for?

A horrible thought appeared to him.