Officer Barnes and I left the High School with fewer results then we had hoped. While it certainly would have been bad for the school and the kids if we had had to pull two students out on burglary charges, it would have ended the present part of the investigation of the burglary. But, the two Black Rats that had committed the burglary weren't students there. If they were teenagers, they were being home schooled. And of course, there was the possibility that they had come from somewhere else, and the backpack was for carrying the things they'd stolen. After all, Washerman had a record of crazy "Animal Rights" related crimes going from California to Alaska and to South Dakota. This burglary case could be similar, though Officer Barnes and I probably wouldn't know that until the analysis of the prints came back.
"At least we know who they're not," Officer Barnes sighed as we headed out to the car.
I slowly nodded, "So what next?"
"Next I suppose we'll finish our morning patrol before heading back to the station," Officer Barnes shrugged, "from there, we can inform Officer Howard on our "success" here and then get ready for a relatively hectic afternoon."
"Molly's driving test," I sighed.
And that was the other big thing for the day. But it was something that would need to be done. While I could get time off for Molly's doctor's appointments to deal with her pregnancy, as Doctor Wainwright might have some instructions for me as well. But in the future when it came to things related to after Molly's and my cubs were born, allowing Molly to get her license would be a big thing. That way if they needed to go to Kalispell for some treatment, I wouldn't need to go for everything that Molly would probably inform me of later, anyway. And so, we planned to go in during our lunch period so Molly could get her license.
I was certain we'd have to pay an additional fine for not complying with various statutes related to getting a new license within sixty days of declaring residency in the state of Montana, but we were prepared for that. Given my salary and what Molly earned as a teacher we had enough to cover the monthly payments for the Transit and then some. Based off of what we had figured out, and what I remembered from my training at the Academy, which I still should have remembered outright from the beginning, we'd probably go very close to going over the amount of money we made each month, but were still in the clear so far. Hopefully, the fine wouldn't be too steep and that the people that were running the "DMV" would understand the predicament that Molly and I had been in during our first sixty days in Columbia Falls.
The rest of the morning went fairly quietly. So far there were no major calls and no further reports of sightings of the two burglars, but it did allow Officer Barnes and I to finish our morning patrol without any complications. Once our morning patrol was over, we returned to the station. From there, we carried out our report to Officer Howard on how things went in the school. His response was similar to Officer Barnes' response had been. We at least knew now who the thieves weren't. The rest of the morning involved finishing some paperwork that related to the present burglary case. I finished my section just in time to need to head out for the next part of my day's work.
"You heading out?" Officer Barnes asked as he finished his portion of the paperwork.
"Yeah," I nodded, "Mrs. Fitzpatrick's found an appropriate sub for Molly while she's taking the driving test and all that, but as far as I know, they'd still like things to be as quick as possible. I'll eat my lunch while Molly takes the written part of the test. Right now, I need to get to the school as quickly as I can to make sure everything is done in a timely manner."
"Of course," Officer Barnes nodded, "Good luck."
I nodded and then headed out again. This time, I returned to the Transit that Molly and I had bought. From there, my next stop was the Elementary School.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Molly was waiting for me as I pulled up in front of the school building. She then made her way toward our Transit and climbed into the passenger seat. Once she was bulked, I pulled away.
"So, are you all set?" I asked her as we drove along.
"Yes," Molly nodded, "Mrs. Fitzpatrick has called in a sub for the afternoon, and I have all of the paperwork that will be needed with me. As far as all things are concerned, I am ready to go. How will we handle the business of the fee for the license and the fine for being so late?"
"You will have to do that," I told her, "I'm still on duty and here in a supervisory capacity when it comes to the actual driving portion of the test. Even if I were to write the check on our own checks... separate from the station's funds... it would look as though the police station is trying to get around the laws it's supposed to enforce."
"But both our names are on the checking accounts," Molly reminded me.
"Of course they are... but I don't think that will be the issue they want to handle," I reminded her, "It's all the "official" related thing of this business."
Molly nodded, "I see."
We then made our way to the Community Hall building where all the testing for the getting or renewing a drivers license in Columbia Falls would be done on that day. I parked in an open spot and escorted Molly in. As we made our way in, one of the manning the main desk looked up and made his way toward Molly and I.
"You are Officer and Mrs. Wayne, I take it?" he asked as he approached.
"Yes," Molly spoke first, "I am Molly Wayne, this is my husband, Officer George Wayne. I am here to go through the process of renewing my driver's license so that it is in accordance with all the state's laws."
The man glanced to me, and I only nodded. We were there for that reason. There wasn't much other reason for us to be there.
"I see," the man spoke, "Well... from what I can see, I would say the phone call I received from your local Chief of Police would be accurate. Though I must confirm the date you received the Animatrix Serum, Mrs. Wayne. Just to confirm things."
"It would be about two years ago," Molly answered, and then gave the exact date of the day Molly and I had gone to the state's fair and Molly was jumped by Changes' men and injected with the Animatrix Serum. She then finished with what was obvious, "And since Changes did this to me against my will, there is no paperwork related to an Animatrix order that I can present."
"My transformation was around Christmas of the same year," I added, "through sexual relations on our wedding night..."
The man cut me off by raising one hand, "I understand that much. Your Chief has already explained that to me. And based off of our records, you're not due to renew your license, Officer Wayne. You'll obviously have to fill out new paperwork to match your present species, Officer Wayne... but that can be handled when your present license expires, since it is issued by our department of this state."
I nodded in response.
"And due the fact that you were transformed in relation to the actions of Eugene Changes, I can see why you did not renew your license, Mrs. Wayne when you moved to Columbia Falls..." the man commented, "the largest vehicle we have is a Jeep Cherokee from the nineties. Based off its size and your height, I'm afraid we have no vehicle with which to administer the driving portion of the test..."
"That is where I can be of help to you, sir," I spoke up, "We have a Ford Transit that you can use for the test. It is not equipped for such testing and will probably break the normal protocols under which your office follows, but it is large enough that my wife can drive it, physically, I mean. You can ride in the front passenger seat and I can ride in the middle sets of seats in as an escort and to insure that all things are on the up and up."
"And if something happens?" the man asked.
"You make your report to me," I answered.
The man slowly nodded, "Well... due to extreme circumstances, I'm sure bending a few rules will not be out of order. We will of course need to apply the basic fee for a standard driver's license and of course the fee for not applying for the license within the mandatory period with which one is normally supposed to apply for a Montana State Driver's License."
"Okay," Molly responded.
"If you'll come with me," the man urged and lead Molly forward.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The man who had come forward to us and talked with us, lead Molly and I back toward a main desk area and handed Molly a series of papers.
"These are the main written tests which you are expected to fill out, Mrs. Wayne," the man spoke calmly, "you are expected to fill out all of the answers, which are mostly multiple choice, the rest are true and false questions which can be graded mechanically. From there, you are to bring the test back to me and they will be be graded. From there, we will then carry out the driving portion of the test. Should you pass these tests, we will return here and you will fill out the paperwork expected for the paperwork itself. Because of your status as an Animal Person, some of these questions can not need to be filled out."
"I understand," Molly answered and took the written portion of the test, "I do not think the chairs you have provided will support my weight... will you mind if I couch?"
"So long as the test can be finished in the course of one hour, there is no problem," the man we had met at the station answered.
Molly slowly nodded, picked up a pencil and then moved over to one of the tables they were issuing the tests on. While she did so, I turned to the man and lifted up the lunch box I had carried in.
"If you don't mind, I would like to have much lunch while she takes the written test," I told him, "Is there a spot where I will be out of the way? Or would you mind if I ate in the vehicle used for the driving test?"
"There is no problem with that, I suppose," the DMV operator answered, "a lot of this goes against what we've normally done... but it isn't something we can do according to procedure, now, can we? Things are changing."
"Of course," I nodded.
"Just out of curiosity, what have you thought of the Animal Tales series?" he asked.
"It's been a good series," I shrugged, "covering how Animal People have adapted to things and why they've taken the serum and so forth. And they've still avoided what would be the "touchy" subjects."
"And a good thing," the DMV operator shrugged, "and who knows... maybe it'll lead to more Animal People. It'd be neat."
I could only shrug in response to that. He then returned to his own work while I went back outside to the Transit that I had driven to the Community Hall building. And while Molly took the test, I had my lunch. It wasn't as big as what I would normally have for lunch, and it was a little bit underdone by comparison to what my lunch would normally be, but that was to be understood. Some of it had gone into Molly's breakfast since she wouldn't be able to eat lunch today, and the rest was because of the rush that Molly's larger breakfast had put us in, in the morning. I was still able to digest everything though, and my lunch was finished before Molly came out with the man that we had spoken with when we first came in. I noticed that she looked relatively pleased as she approached.
"Did you pass?" I asked as she opened the driver's side door.
"Practically with flying colors," Molly said with a smile, "of course, this is the second time I've taken the test..."
"Most of the ones she missed are relatively minor and related to things that you two probably didn't have to deal with in Illinois," the DMV operator commented, "Mostly related to our snow storms and so forth. Not a major thing that you would have covered in the Academy... and even still... you'd be surprised how many people actually miss those questions the first time they take the test here in Montana."
I could only manage a shrug as since I was was still on duty, I couldn't ask Molly too much about how the written test had gone for her. My duty for the moment was to run "security" related issues while Molly did the driving portion of the test. And that ultimately went quite well as well. It included many of the same things that Molly and I had had to take when we first learned to drive in Peoria. Driving in town, following road signs and even driving on the local highways and so forth. We also did a bit of off road driving which included the dirt roads that surrounded Columbia Falls.
"Well," the DMV operator spoke as we pulled back into the Community Hall parking lot, "you've done very well, Mrs. Wayne. From what I could see, most of the trouble you had would be more physical related when switching from a human foot and leg to a tiger's foot and leg and so forth... and that will go away the more you get used to driving as you are."
"Thank you," Molly gave a weak smile.
"Don't sound too happy," the DMV operator said with a chuckle, "You haven't seen the fine yet."
"That won't be a problem," Molly answered him, "Just being able to drive again will be a blessing."
"I'm sure," the DMV operator replied, "Let's go in and get your picture taken and finish the paperwork. This will handle the the temporary license that you'll carry until the official license can be mailed to you. And congratulations, Mrs. Wayne."
"Thank you," Molly answered him.