Tail-Eaters

"Tail-Eaters" is the sixth part of Anna Starobinets' cycle "Beastly Detective".
In the Distant Forest, there is an epidemic of a new, unexplored bite-virus. The Rook Doctor struggles in vain to preserve the health of the animals: there is no cure... for the virus, the prognosis for the sick is grim, and precautionary measures like tying up tails do not work. Everything indicates that the virus is of artificial origin. Who is the evil genius that unleashed this beastly epidemic? The lives of the animals depend on the answer to this question: the one who created the disease must also know the secret of healing. The Badgers of the Police are pursuing the criminal, risking their own skins. And the bite-virus is pursuing them — like the monster Tail-Eater from a children's rhyme.