Judy brushed her badge off; looking at her reflection, she placed her paws on her hips and pushed out her chest. In the florescent light of her room, her kevlar supported suit appeared an almost black blue, and the dark pieces of kevlar looked as though they were part of the her shadow. Her left cheek rose up in a close-mouthed smile. "Ready." She spun around, her eye catching on the minute shine her brass badge gave off as the meek light hit it just right, and went for the door.
The two pictures on her wall lifted on their hinges—a large object, probably one of the two gazelles next door, had slammed against the wall.
"Why did you delete my high score?" This one's voice came directly from his nose—it gave it a higher pitch.
"I didn't—I just beat it."
"Yeah, right!"
Another slam. A couple months ago, she'd have been over there trying to dispel the situation, but she'd learned the brotherly duo bickered out of friendship. That, or they forgot about cop living next door.
Judy walked up to the police station. They'd built it out of a light yellow rock in an expansive, cylindrical shape—rectangular pillars stretched up and held up a gray rim at the top.
The door's handle stood a good two Judys high—creatures smaller than her had rat-like holes drilled into the pillars next to the doors, and a circular, blue button with a white-bunny's paw inscribed was the method for animals of Judy's size. But she had other methods. Starting from the stairs, she ran towards a pillar and jumped towards it—one foot connected with the sturdy, hard rock, and propelled her towards the push-handle. Her arm connected, and the door swung open. Judy's momentum carried her through the now-opening door and towards the floor—she slammed into it, but rolled before the force could break her shoulder. With the momentum, she sprang up into a standing position.
A determined grin had spread across her face; she tried to do that every day.
Judy walked—with a little bounce in her step—to the counter. "Clawhauser?"
"Judeyh!" A cat peered over the counter, donut in his mouth. His paw hesitated over the donut, but he pulled it out of his mouth. "I think Chief Bogo was looking for ya." Judy's grin couldn't help but widen—the leopard's always had a smile across his wide cheeks. "He's in the office—but I'd knock first. Give him a chance to hide the Gazelle app." Clawhauser let out an airy, high pitched laugh, and Judy giggled.
"I'll be sure to."
With a wave, she bounded towards Bogo's office; getting called in personally was odd. He normally assigned cases in the bullpen.
Judy knocked on his door. "Come in." Chief Bogo sat with his arms splayed out on the table. "Hopps—take a seat."
Her breath caught in her throat. Had she done something wrong? Did she forget a piece of protocol when arresting that wolf yesterday? Miss a part of her report? Accidentally sleep through an entire day?
"Hopps." Chief Bogo's voice sounded just like an male ox's should: deep, throaty, and jarring. It brought her back, and she walked forward. She hopped to the edge of the seat, and she pulled herself the rest of the way up.
"Yesterday, there were five murders in the main district—this district. All of them between one and one thirty in the morning, and all of them bunnies." Judy cringed. "I want you and Nick on this now."
"Sir." She gave him a salute and jumped from the chair, her legs absorbing the shock from the fall. A growl crawled up from her throat, and her paws collapsed into fists.
Back in the main room, a pair of familiar paws gripped her shoulder. "Heya, Sweetheart."
Judy shrugged off the paws. "Nick, we've got a case."
Nick stared at her. "Well, hello to you too."
Judy continued. "Five bunnies turned up dead yesterday in central." Her fists were still curled up into balls, and her lips were tight as if holding back a scream.
"Alright, I'll grab the case file. You get the car." Nick didn't wait for her response. Judy turned to look at him, his fluffy tail waving behind him as he ran to Clawhauser, before going to the cruiser. For the most part, his fur was a burnt orange. The tips of his ears melded into a light black, and the underside of his muzzle turned an off white that continued down his neck. Her grey fur seemed brighter next to his. And, like Judy, deeper parts of his ancestors' anatomy remained; his legs led up to a sharp, flat bone end that gave way to a thigh.
Judy stared out the front window. A tree rustled lightly in the breeze, a tiger couple and their child walking underneath it. She wondered if those bunnies were parents. "They were bunnies," she mumbled with a sigh, "and we are good at multiplying." A laugh barely reverberated from her chest. She remembered when she'd used that line on Nick. It was the second time she'd met the fox, and he'd ended up being a key witness to a missing animals case. They were the least of the problem. Despite being the root of the case, they were mere pawns in a game being played by the prior mayor. She had attempted to turn the prey majority against the predator minority by using a poisonous compound to turn predatorial animals back into primitive beings—and were it not for Judy and Nick, the species war would have been successful.
Perhaps it had been afterall. Finally letting out that scream, Judy punched the front dash, and she dealt with the accompanying pain for a good ten seconds before clasping the paw with the other. "They didn't deserve it…"
Nick had entered the car sometime during her disassociated rampage—he kept his eyes trained on her. "Sorry, Carrots." The sides of her lips tilted up, though so slightly that only Judy knew they had moved. Over the past month, Nick's little pet name had grown on her. "But the only way we can honor them is solving this case."
A brief sigh filled the cruiser. "Thanks, Nick…ie." She shook her head and laughed, and this time it came from an open tooth-grin mouth without anger weighing it down. "Not feeling that one." Jangling the keys, she slid one into the ignition and started it up. "I'll have to keep shooting for my Carrots."
"Just Carrots?" He scoffed, hitting her on the shoulder with a barely-formed fist. "You don't give me enough credit, Fluff-butt."
Judy glared at the fire-orange fox. "Don't call me that, dumb-fox."
He laughed, leaning back into the leather seat. From the nape of his suit, he pulled off a pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses and affixed them at the base of his muzzle. His posture said nothing, but Judy knew it meant 'let's go.'
The case file pointed them to the first murder site, 583 North Pawster, Apartment C650. Unfortunately, the first letter of the number indicated the floor, and this building didn't have an elevator.
Judy and Nick panted against a sixth story wall. Both of their suits stuck to them with fresh perspiration. "Stairs were my least favorite part the academy," Judy stated between gasps.
"Same."
Despite their exhausted state, it only took half a minute before their breathing steadies again. Finding the apartment posed no challenge compared to the stairs, and Nick opened the door for Judy. Even the fox's night vision couldn't pierce through the darkness in the room. Blackout curtains covering the window across from the door prevented light from filtering in. Judy flicked on a light as they enter. The hallway led into a larger room that split into a living room and a kitchen. On one wall of the living room, a door led to a now-abandoned bedroom. A couch and TV sat in the living room.
The tape markings were on the floor in front of the couch. But this did not make Judy growl. It was what she thought were artistic red splotches on the couch.
Judy flips open the file to the page on this scene. Nothing. No leads, no evidence. And after a two hour long scan of the entire apartment, they've found nothing to add to the list. So they move on to the next scene, and the next scene, and the next scene; each offers no evidence or leads, and each causes Judy's smile to drop further and further into a scowl.
As the crimefighting duo sat in the cruiser, Judy flipped through the case file again. "There's gotta be something that we're missing…"
Nick shut the red booklet. "There is—"
Judy ears perked up. "What? What did we—" A claw covered her mouth.
"There is, but we aren't going to find it unless we sleep." For the first time that night, Judy looked at the clock. 2:00. Simply knowing how long they'd been at it made her eyes heavier. Giving in to the weight, she leaned her head against Nick's shoulder.