James had managed to find some bags of coarse sand, and for good measure some soap and a pumice stone for her to scrub with. As he pulled into his street, his heart sank. A police vehicle sat outside of his house, with two officers in it and the old couple from across the street spoke to them. They pointed at him as he drove up, and the police officers waited for him to set out before cornering him against his door.
One woman and one man, both imposingly authoritative, stood in front of him. The woman spoke first.
"Good afternoon, Sir. I'm officer Lacy, this is my partner officer Allan. Your neighbors called about an odd sight earlier from your living room."
Shit. He felt all at once like the inside of his body had gone hollow.
"Do you mind if we come in and take a look?"
He tried to steel his nerves. "Well, aside from two strangers in my house I don't see why I should."
The officers glanced at each other.
Officer Allan spoke up. "Sir, are you aware that only a few miles from here is a household with government clearance to host a Novaxan?"
His heart pounded, and he felt like he might break into tears. "No. I never really think about them, since I doubt I'll ever meet one."
Officer Lacy sighed and said, "They reported a few days ago that their assigned Novaxan has gone missing. Your neighbors described a "fish-person" in your window. If you won't let us look inside, we'll have to call in one of the Novaxan investigators to check for any signs of the missing Nova."
He clenched his jaw. "Well then call them. You won't find anything, and I'm still getting settled in so I don't want strangers rooting around my house."
Obviously irate and incredibly suspicious, the officers headed towards they car. "Then we'll be back tomorrow with a warrant and an investigator. Don't go anywhere."
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