At 9:04am on Wednesday, for the third morning in a row, eleven raccoons entered Bellrow's central plaza from three separate directions and stopped in the same place.
Dr. Priya Lund, who studies urban wildlife at Huburb University, has been filming them. "Animals forage," she said. "They do not commute."
Police Chief Nadia Perrone was measured. "It is a nuisance file," she said. "It is a nuisance file with a start time, but it is a nuisance file."
Harlan Pike, reached at his newsstand, said he had "nothing to add at this time", which colleagues described as the most alarming development of the week.