Detective Wolf is a contradiction waiting to happen.  After an uneventful but capable
career in the police business in Miami, he is paired up with a strange partner in a 
suspicious case.  This partner is "Neil",  a Siberian White Tiger, who like h
is many 
compatriots, has somehow learned to talk.  The "non-humans" have their own infrastructure, 
their own stores and jobs, their own clubs, and even their own police department, the 
Animal Regulation Institute.  The institute usually solves
 it's own problems, but this time, a 
human detective is called on the case.  

	After a rough start between the two investigators, and some tutoring on the part of Neil
about the lifestyles of animals, they find out just what has called them to this case.  As they
visit A.R.I. Chief Investigator Riley's office, they find that 
it is a rash of animal killings,
the connection between them all but untraceable.  While they talk, Riley, a gorilla,  is
informed of another murder.

	Riley, Wolf and Neil arrive at the latest crime scene, where they discover that the 
victim, a cheetah named Farrell, has been skinned alive.  Wolf ponders on the audacity of this, 
since animal skins are illegal.  Besides, Wolf notes, anyone selli
ng them would probably get 
eaten by a large animal.  Wolf and Neil reason that the skinning must be a distraction, and 
search the house for any clue.  Wolf easily finds a paper with a time, place and name on it. 
The time:  a few minutes from t
hen.

	Wolf and Neil drive to the meeting place and speak to the contact.  Bassett, 
a human courier for a group called the Council of Territories, reveals nothing much to them, 
even on pain of Neil's sharp claw.  He quips simply that animals can't hide 
anything, and to
 check out Farrell's place again. 

	Wolf and Neil return to the cheetah's home and find a flyer for a gathering 
sponsored by the Council of Territories in Key West.  They journey there and find a wild party 
on hand.  Neil goes off to find some information among his kind as a Walrus
, the owner of the 
property, calls Wolf over.  After identifying himself as an A.R.I. investigator, Wolf is warned 
by the walrus that matters of animals are better left that way.  Two polar bears, henchmen of 
the walrus, stress the point by sh
arpening their claws before Wolf. 
 
	Then the meaning of the gathering is clear, as a Lion, obviously the leader, takes a 
stage and proclaims the Council's purpose, to take back the Earth from the humans who have 
repressed them too long.  Wolf suddenly feels outnumbered and retreats
 back to the truck.

	After a moment he is joined by Neil.  Neil says that the Council is probably nothing 
to worry about, but then notices a smell in the truck.  As they drive, he detects the two
 polar bears in the truck with them.  A fight breaks out among the four.
  Neil and one bear 
battle each other to unconsciousness, and Wolf shoots the other, having none of the skill 
Neil has in fighting large animals.  Wolf drives Neil, who has been wounded, to a hospital.

	At the hospital, Wolf discovers that he is suddenly fond of his new partner, and has 
a new understanding of the non-humans.  He also discovers that the other polar bear was only 
wounded by Neil.  Talking to the bear, Wolf finds out that the attac
k was only meant to warn 
them.  Wolf assures the bear that it will pay for what it did to his partner.

	Two days later, Riley calls Wolf to inform him that the A.R.I. has located the Lion 
and his hangout.  Wolf gets Neil out of bed and they go to the Lion's club, a non-human-only 
establishment.  The Lion says that there is a connection between the 
murders:  they were all 
Council members.  The lion assures Wolf that the killer must be a human, since animals aren't 
psychologically capable of skinning their own kind, and that it must be because of the 
Council's extreme views.  Wolf answers
 that he would have expected opposition, but not murder.

	The lion departs, leaving two female panthers to seduce Wolf and Neil.  Neil is ready 
to succumb and be distracted by the animal lust, but Wolf finds his head and gets them out of 
the club.

	After a rest, a forensics tech calls Wolf.  Wolf and Neil visit the A.R.I. labs again, 
as the tech, named Task, has discovered that the mutilation of the latest body could only have 
been done with hands. 

	Neil is basically useless considering the panther's pheromonal attack, and Wolf is not 
feeling well, so they adjourn for the day.

	The next morning, it is Neil who gets Wolf out of bed.  Wolf is feeling worse, but 
agrees to visit the latest crime scene Neil has discovered.  The victim is the other polar 
bear Neil had wounded.  Wolf finds tickets to a Marlin game for the next
 day, but that is all.  
They decide to visit the walrus again, who had employed the bear.  They drive to Key West once 
again.

	Wolf is feeling worse still and is definitely not himself.  Neil notices that Wolf 
is displaying traits that are decidedly not human.  After an aborted interrogation of the 
walrus, Neil persuades Wolf to get a motel room, where Wolf passes out on
 the bed.

	Neil calls Task and his assistant Ted, a stork, in from the A.R.I..  They discover 
that Wolf has been infected with a DNA changing virus, and is transforming Wolf into a kind 
of half human and half non-human.  They reason that it must have been t
ransmitted through 
the panther's pheromonal release.  They start to take Wolf back to Miami, but Wolf runs out 
into the grasslands.  Wolf runs about in the wilderness, getting accustomed to his new self.

	Neil awakes the next morning to find the animal assassin in his home.  It is a half-
human monster, the thing that Wolf is transforming into.  The animal attacks Neil, but Wolf 
bursts in and defeats the human/animal.  Wolf is more aware now, and f
inds out that this 
animal is indeed the killer of the Council members.  Neil informs Wolf that the A.R.I. had 
known about a virus, but he had been watching Wolf, making sure that he didn't contract it.

	Neil and Wolf work out the Council's plan and their next logical point of attack.  
Wolf remembers the ticket for the Marlins game from the polar bear's house, and they head 
for the Stadium. 
 
	Having left their ride in Key West, Wolf and Neil bum a ride with Ted, the lab 
assistant.  They see the best chance for the release of an airborne virus through a pheromone is 
a blimp, conveniently floating above.  Ted is dispatched to investigat
e, and Wolf and Neil find 
the Lion in attendance as well. 

	Ted finds the walrus and two new bear bodyguards in the blimp.  He sneaks into the 
cabin, and lures one of the bears to his death hundreds of feet below.  

	Meanwhile, the Lion is again spouting off rhetoric, but suddenly changes his mind 
when the falling polar bear lands in the Lion's box seat.  The Lion, seeing that his plan had 
been discovered, attacks Wolf in animal fashion.  Another lion keeps N
eil busy.

	Ted quickly neutralizes the remaining bear, and stops the walrus, who had the trigger 
ready to go.

	Neil stops his adversary, but Wolf again appears outmatched.  The Lion is about to 
make short work of Wolf, but is stopped by many police guns aimed in his direction.  
Distracted, the Lion is hit by Wolf's surprise kick to the head, and is knocke
d out.

	The immediate Council plans foiled, Wolf, Neil and Ted walk to the parking lot.  
Task, the lab tech, hands Wolf a folder.  Wolf sees that it is a progress report for the 
infection of Wolf.  The paperwork is signed by Riley.

	Wolf enters the Chief Investigator's office alone.  Riley wears several of the dead 
animals' skins, grotesquely woven into a gorilla cape.  Wolf and Riley argue as Neil enters 
despite Wolf's instructions.  Neil, seeing the skin, goes slightly wil
d and attacks the 
gorilla, smashing Riley's head into a thick glass window.  Riley is dead.

	The source of the case extinguished, Wolf and Neil rest outside the lab.  A bit 
later, Wolf gets the final word from Task.  The virus is reversable, but it will take 
several years to combat it.  Wolf shrugs and decides that it is not so bad to be
 an animal.


END