It began when Chief Bogo put a fresh file on Judy and Nick's shared desk, and when they opened it up, they were greeted with the sight of a tree squirrel laid out on the grassy ground. Her fur was wet, clinging to her body, and her eyes were half-lidded, with no indication of life in them. Nick remembered the way he and Judy simultaneously realized what this was, both pairs of eyes looking up at their superior with something akin to disconcertion.

"Your first murder case," the chief said gruffly in response once he noticed them. "They found her in the Rainforest District early this morning. I want you both to work hard on solving this quickly - I have a feeling the media is going to be keeping its eye on this one. I don't want anyone to report that the ZPD isn't doing a proper job with the case."

The victim's name was Amelia Nuttberg, a student at UZSS, or University of Zootopia, Sahara Square. A 19-year-old who was majoring in biochemistry, with dreams of eventually going into medical school and becoming a doctor. At least, until an unknown assailant strangled her to death.

"She was just beginning to go out and see the world," Judy remarked sadly. "What kind of animal would cut her life short like that when her dream was to help people?" Of course she would say that. She was Judy, after all.

Nick's response was a bit more cynical, something about how bad things could happen to the best of people. Something about how some simply didn't care what kind of animal you were as long as you satisfied their own personal needs. He honestly didn't recall the exact words he used, but there was one detail that he still remembered about that day, even months later.

It was March 9. Even if it wasn't mentioned in the file, he would've remembered because it was Finnick's birthday that day. He made a comment to the smaller fox later that day, about the odd works of irony.

After that, however, everything blurred together. Day after day, he and Judy dedicated their hours to attempts at solving Amelia's murder. The pressure was constantly building, especially once they realized that putting the pieces together was a lot more difficult than they first anticipated. Of course, Bogo's accurate prediction of the media wasn't helping matters.

Then, 3 months later, on June 15, a second body was found, this time in Tundra Town. Buried underneath the snow was Robert Beavers, a 25-year-old bookkeeper who worked at some shop downtown.

"He shares a lot of traits with Amelia," Bogo told Judy and Nick later that day. "He's a small prey animal who's been strangled. There's no guarantee, but expect the worst. Both murders could've been committed by the same animal."

Great, Nick thought to himself dryly. As if this case wasn't making me lose enough sleep already.

He didn't dare say that out loud though. As much as this case was taking its toll on him, he wasn't nearly as affected as Judy was. Although she would deny it whenever he asked, it was obvious to him that she was devoting all of her time, even when she wasn't at work, to find a breakthrough in the case. It was evident in how exhausted she now was every morning, in contrast to how peppy she was previously. And that was when Amelia was the only victim. Now that Robert was too, she was definitely going to work herself even harder.

Nick tried to keep up with her, he really did. That was what partners were for - they split the work evenly. And for a while, it did seem like that was what they were doing. That was, until the dark circles under Judy's eyes were beginning to become visible. Soon after, it quickly became a regular occurrence for her to doze off during work.

It then became apparent to Nick that if she was getting sleep before Robert's death, she certainly wasn't afterwards. Which meant that while he wasn't looking, she was taking on most of the work.

He confronted her about this. She denied it at first, but after he pressed on, she admitted to it with a degree of reluctance. "I won't do it anymore," she ended up promising him. "I'll make sure our work loads are more even from now on."

She kept to that promise. Gradually, she began to regain some of the energy she had before the murders, now that he was having a genuine effect on the investigation. We eventually hit a breakthrough, arrested the murderer, and we have regular sleep schedules again, would've been the ideal ending that Nick was hoping for. But no, he had to remember that the world was much crueler than that.

Because single mom Holly Sheepster was found in a shallow grave in Sahara Square on November 29. And once the cause of death was revealed to be strangulation, it suddenly became so much more likely that whoever killed her also killed Robert and Amelia. Murders in Zootopia didn't occur often enough for the commonalities in the 3 crimes to be pure coincidences.

Much to Nick's chagrin, Judy interpreted Holly's death as her own fault, as the result of her not doing enough to prevent it from happening. Consequently, she once again began to shield most of the work from Nick.

He tried to talk to her about it again. The overall conversation was similar to the one last time, although there was one major difference - Judy failed to listen this time around. "I can't ease up on my workload, Nick," she said with finality in her voice. "I'm not letting this guy take away a fourth one."

The usually witty and clever Nick Wilde suddenly found that he couldn't argue with her on that. It was true that they were in a race against time before the perp struck again. "At least let me keep up with you then," he decided to say. "I don't want to be left out of the loop."

She made copies of the notes she had jotted down on her own time and gave them to him. He was almost surprised at how much progress she was making behind everyone's backs, but then again, this was Judy, and no one's hard work paid off as well as Judy's. He should be proud that he had such a dedicated partner.

What really sucked, though, was how overwhelming her notes were. She wrote down every detail - every new clue, every interview, every animal of interest. Needless to say, it didn't take long for Nick to realize that he was going to need some time to absorb everything. But he needed to; he wasn't going to be that one guy who shoved all the work onto others. So every night, when he arrived home, he made it a habit to look through a few pages of her notes and organize them as best as he could.

He was still trying to make sense of them when the fateful night of December 10 came along. He had promised Finnick that he was going to accompany him to the bar - nothing particularly out of the ordinary for the two of them. They enjoyed themselves, consuming a few drinks here and there, though Nick couldn't help but occasionally let his mind wander to Judy. She undoubtedly was working on the murder cases just like every other night, and though Nick wouldn't admit this to anyone, he did feel slightly guilty that he was having fun while she wasn't. But on the other hand, he did try to invite her to come with him, only for her to reject the offer.

"Judy—" He had noticed the way her ears had perked up when she had heard him use her real name. "I know this case is important and all, but I think you really do need a break."

"Nick, please," she had sighed in return. "Just let me work on this. I'm so close to figuring out the truth, I can feel it."

"This whole thing has changed you. You're not the same as you were 9 months ago."

"I know that already," Judy had snapped. Then another sigh. "I'm sorry. It's just that… You can understand why this case gets to me, can't you?"

Of course he could. Because it got to him, too. He was just better at hiding it.

He left the conversation at that, and he went to join Finnick right afterwards. At the bar, he periodically checked his phone when he wasn't distracted by the noise and Finnick's rambling, and around 1 in the morning, he received a text from Judy.

"I think I hit something. Something big. I'll tell you about it in the morning."

He responded with a simple "ok" and then resumed his focus on Finnick, who was now harassing a poor stranger with a passionately angry story about his ex-wife. Going home at about half past 2, he checked his phone again then. Judy hadn't responded. Nick dismissed it as her still busy with whatever breakthrough she had stumbled upon.

Things still seemed okay the next morning, when he got to the police station (despite the slight hangover he had). That was, until he noticed that Judy, who was the physical embodiment of punctuality and was always one of the first officers to arrive no matter the circumstances, wasn't there. A sick feeling began to rise up from the pit of his stomach, but he quickly squashed it. Maybe the fatigue of the past few months finally caught up to her, and she overslept. Yeah, that had to be it. She would check in late, Bogo would call her out, Nick would tease her for it, things would be fine.

Except that never happened. By the end of the day, even Bogo was less angry and more concerned, especially after Nick told him about her last text to him. Who would've thought that Judy Hopps would one day just miss out on her duty as a cop?

Nick looked at the text messages that he had been sending to her all day. All of them delivered. None of them read.

Judy failed to show up again the following day, and that was when the worries really became rampant. There was not one police officer who did not question what had possibly happened to her, and Clawhauser suggested contacting her family in case she was back in Bunnyburrow and forgot to notify the precinct. As unlikely as that was, Bogo agreed to do so.

Cue her entire family showing up to the station approximately 6 hours later, frantically bombarding the cheetah with questions pertaining to Judy's disappearance. Nick figured it was safe to say that the rabbit was, in fact, not in her hometown.

After Bogo managed to convince her family that they would for sure find her before the holidays ended, they, with more than a bit of hesitance, went back home. That didn't stop her parents from calling them daily to ask for any updates, however.

The season for festivities was quickly coming and going, which usually meant cheeriness and relaxation, but the atmosphere in the station indicated anything but. All officers were zeroing in on Judy's disappearance whenever they weren't occupied by other tasks, leaving them busier than they had ever been.

Then Christmas came and went, still with no sign of the rabbit. Nick had to wonder how her family felt about not knowing where their daughter and sister was on this day of all days. Rather distraught, he could safely assume, because he was feeling pretty down in the dumps himself. Damn it, Carrots, just come home.

He got his wish once dear old Santa decided to belatedly gift them with the discovery of Judy on the day after Christmas, at 2 in the morning. She was in Tundra Town, looking so frail and not at all like the lively rabbit she once was. Having been buried underneath the snow, she remained unspotted for the past 2 weeks until one passerby was keen enough to notice what looked to be a rabbit ear sticking out from the white sheet on the ground.

Happy holidays, Nick, the fox couldn't help but grimly think to himself when he arrived onto the crime scene. You'll definitely be remembering this one for a while. Stepping out of the car that Francine let him ride with her, he took a deep breath, emotionally preparing himself for what he might see. He approached the scene and saw his partner.

Maybe he should've worn something more than a scarf over his police uniform, because numbness suddenly overtook him. Strange, he didn't feel cold…

Chief Bogo noticed that he was frozen to his spot, staring down at the deceased. "You can let us handle this part," he told his subordinate with as much stoicism as he could muster. "I think you need to sit down for a bit."

Nick didn't argue, and he hurried over to a nearby bench, head suddenly woozy. He groaned, sitting down and grabbing his head. He had to admit, he did think of the possibility that things were going to turn out this way, especially after the first few days of Judy being gone. Why didn't anyone find her right away? What did she do to deserve to have her body lie underneath the snow for over 2 weeks straight, alone and unhelped? What did she deserve death in the first place?

He wondered if she knew what was happening to her during her last few seconds alive. Was she awake or unconscious? Nick didn't know which was worse; just the thought of both scenarios made him nauseous.

Stupid Carrots. Honestly, she was such an idiot for letting herself die. Did she never take into consideration how her coworkers and friends would feel? How her family would feel? How he would feel?

He began recounting her last hours, those last few minutes that he spent with her. God, he shouldn't have let her go like that. He should've insisted - no, forced her to come with him and Finnick. But he didn't. Instead, he left her to her own devices, what with the murder cases and-

The murder cases.

He whipped out his phone, looking at her last text for what could've possibly been the billionth time. "I think I hit something. Something big. I'll tell you about it in the morning." She had a lead. A lead that led her to death.

Without realizing it, he emitted a low growl. She finally found something, she was finally on the right track, and how was she repaid? With a visit from the Grim Reaper.

Amelia, Robert, and Holly all died from strangulation, which was quickly followed by a shallow grave. The modus operandi was the same for all three animals. All three small prey animals. Judy was a small prey animal. Nick didn't need an autopsy to tell him how she died.

The next morning, the air in the station was tense, with even Clawhauser looking rather saddened by the turn of events. Of course he was, because he was Clawhauser, who was one of the sweetest and most caring animals in the precinct, and she was Judy, a passionate bunny whose ambition touched the hearts of everyone she met. Including Nick's, even though he didn't always show it.

The autopsy was completed on the morning of the 28th, and not to anyone's surprise, the cause of death was confirmed to be asphyxiation from strangulation. They sent her body back home that afternoon to Bunnyburrow, where her family intended to bury her. They invited all of her fellow precinct officers to the funeral service on the 30th, and although Nick attended, he found himself wishing that he didn't once he got there. Would he be able to handle once again being so close to her dead body?

The answer was no. Once he saw the casket, it took all of his will and strength to not break down right there. Her parents asked if he, as her partner, wanted to speak. He declined, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice.

He failed.

After the service was over, her father came over to sit next to him. After a few minutes of silence, Stu spoke.

"She wanted to be a cop ever since she was a little kit," he began. "Bonnie and I thought she was crazy - I mean, who would've thought that Judith Hopps from Bunnyburrow would actually end up being the world's first bunny officer?"

Nick had to smile softly at that. "She really is - was something," he caught himself slipping up.

"Tell me about it," Stu exhaled. "She exceeded everyone's expectations, and we were so proud when she graduated from the police academy. But her mother and I still didn't really want her to have this life, especially once we realized that she was going to be on her own, hours away from us. We were afraid something might happen to her, you know?"

Nick cringed when he heard that. If Stu noticed, he didn't say anything, instead opting to look up at the ceiling of the chapel.

"And, obviously, something did. But the funny thing is, none of us really regret letting her go off into the world in the end. She was happy with the way she was helping people, and there was no way she'd go back to carrot farming once she got a taste of it. I don't think she'd want us to feel like we should've made her stay here, where it's much safer." His eyes refocused on Nick. "In fact, I'm sure that during her last moments, she didn't regret one single bit of it."

Nick didn't respond. He couldn't respond. A few seconds passed by with neither of them saying anything, and then Nick got up from his seat. "I'll make sure I catch who did this to your daughter, Mr. Hopps."

"I sure hope so. And Officer?" Nick, who had already started making his way down the aisle towards the door, turned back, and was greeted with Stu's hardened eyes. "Don't go easy on the punk. If they get away with this, I might just find them and kill them for this."

"That won't be necessary," was all Nick said before turning and walking towards the door again. Muttering under his breath, he added, "It'll be a miracle if I don't do that myself."

lmao k so like to let y'all know I think proper sentence structure is overrated so these author's notes aren't going to be nearly as eloquent as anything that's part of this actual story just so we're clear

strange first chapter huh? so this is a story that I came up with after I watched that anime erased/boku dake ga inai machi so if you're familiar with it then you should know that judy isn't going to stay dead so yay nick won't be sad for long (I'm not that cruel come on)

anyway I can't exactly promise quick updates because I want to put as much effort as I can into this fic, which means a lot of thorough planning and multiple rereads, but hopefully I do have the motivation to continue this to the end! and so far my juices are overflowing so I don't think inspiration is going to die down any time soon

(and yes it has been a while since I even touched this account... oops lol DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE THAT I'VE POSTED HERE I MEAN IT EVERYTHING SUCKS)

see you guys when I post the next chapter *twirls out*