And &quot;but-for&quot; the police&#x27;s inability to catch the bad guy, the plaintiff would have recovered his stolen goods as well, right? And &quot;but-for&quot; the Chief hiring the detective in charge of the case, the plaintiff would have been more likely to recover his property. And on and on. He should sue them all as well.<p>A lawyer who doesn&#x27;t quite yet understand factual causation or the limitations imposed by proximate cause would do well to hedge an answer like this with a client. A knowledgeable lawyer, however, would win this on SJ.<p>[edits: typos]