Nick rubbed his bleary eyes. "Want to get some coffee?"

"One more cup of coffee and I'll exceed my target heart rate for the next twenty-four hours." Judy focused grimly on the road. "I thought foxes were supposed to be nocturnal."

"That is a misconception based on the fact that we can see in the dark," said Nick loftily. "Staying up late is one thing. Working all night is something else." He peered at the dashboard clock. "At four in the morning I like to be snug in my bed. I still can't believe the chief assigned us the night shift just because I gave him a speeding ticket."

Judy stopped at an empty intersection, scanned the streets, and proceeded on their patrol. "You know perfectly well it wasn't because of the speeding ticket. It was because he had Gazelle with him and you told him he should drive more carefully with such a cute passenger."

"It was worth it just to see the look on his face," the fox chuckled, momentarily invigorated by the memory.

"Keep that in mind for the rest of the month," snapped the bunny. "That's how long before we're back on days."

Nick's retort was cut short by a deafening blast of sound accompanied by a gush of flame to his right. He flinched, reaching for the radio as Judy slammed on the brakes. "Dispatch, this is Car 51. All available units to Kopje Court. Explosion and fire."

The radio crackled. "Any victims?"

"We're investigating now." The fox signed off and got out of the car, wincing at the heat. Judy joined him and they proceeded cautiously, stopping every few feet to scan with their flashlights.

Sirens began to play in the distance and Judy said with relief, "It doesn't look like anyone was here."

Nick snapped off his flashlight as the first firetrucks arrived. "I'll let dispatch know." He started for the police car and was almost bowled over by a big woodchuck running up to the fire. "Hey, take it easy!"

The woodchuck was shouting incoherently and Judy took him by the arm. "Sir, you need to calm down."

Nick grabbed the other arm and they walked him over to their car, where he slid to the ground and put his head in his paws. "I've only been gone an hour," he moaned. "What could have happened?"

Judy bent down. "You were here an hour ago?" There was no response. "Sir?"

Nick said sharply, "Come on, snap out of it. Tell us what you know."

"What I know?" Glassy eyes stared at the firefighters working on the blaze. "I don't know anything. I just work here."

"What's your name?" Nick's voice was insistent.

"Billy. Billy Wilson."

The fox took a step back, visibly shaken. Judy waited for him to ask another question, then took over herself. "Mr Wilson, what do you do here?"

Wilson took a deep breath. "I'm...I was...the foreman on this project. I got a call from the owner…"

"What's the owner's name?"

"Adam Wuchak. This was a really big project, a whole office complex, and he called me…I thought it was strange to want to meet at three in the morning but I'm living on site in a trailer…" The woodchuck gestured vaguely at the firefighters dragging hoses through the rubble. "It must be buried under there somewhere. If Mr Wuchak hadn't wanted to see me, I'd be there too." He smiled wanly. "Guess I got lucky."

Judy smiled back. "I guess you did. We're going to need a full statement, Mr Wilson. Can you come with us to the police station?"

The woodchuck got shakily to his feet. "All right." He was on Nick's side of the car but the fox made no move to open the door for him and after a moment Judy opened the back door on her side, motioning him in and then getting behind the wheel.

"Nick!" The bunny called to the fox, standing in the street, and for a moment she wondered if he heard her, then he got in the car without a word, looking fixedly out the window as they left the scene of the fire.