“We will talk to you now.” The agent sat on the floor in front of my desk, her green-maned head level with my own. “You will answer our questions.” Her three ‘tails’ darted out to taste the wood.

“Of course.” I ignored the tails at they continued their dance over my desk and carefully avoided looking at the folders. “I will be more than happy to answer any questions that I can.”

The alien’s double-pupiled eyes narrowed suspiciously, “You will answer our questions. Where are our things?”

“We don’t know yet.” I didn’t bother to keep the irritation from my voice. I don’t intimidate well, which I suppose is the reason I never made Xeno. I’m not about to play mind games with a cat.

“Why do you not know?” The agent yawned in annoyance, making very sure I saw all of her nice sharp pointy teeth.

“Because it isn’t that simple,” I gave up the last shreds of diplomacy with a growl. “First of all, it’s very hard to find your ‘things’ if you won’t tell us what your ‘things’ are. Second, you won’t let us into your dens to gather evidence of the break-ins, and third, you publicly vowed to eat those responsible.” I leaned back in my chair and glared at her. “So we don’t know what to look for, or who to look for, and no one is talking for fear of being eaten.”

The alien blinked and took a longer look at me. I stared right back. After a moment she gave up, curling her tails around her feet and sighing. “We do not understand you. Our things are missing. You have not found our things. This is not acceptable.”

“Tell me about it.”