Part 2

It was dark. That's all Walter could tell about where he was, apart from the heavy smell of bleach that assaulted his nose when he woke up. The tiger would've gotten up, had he not been held down by ropes on his arms and legs. After struggling for a moment to try and loosen his bonds, he gave up, exhausted and out of breath. What also didn't help was the gag in his mouth, restricting his breathing.
Then somewhere in the darkness, the sound of scraping metal reached his ears. For a long while, that's all he heard, scrape after scrape. It put his fur on end and had him sweating; unsure what to expect. Then it stopped. The tiger felt cold claws dance over his toes, sending chills up his spine, before a voice echoed in the darkness:

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...
Catch a tiger by the toe...
If he hollers, let him go...

Walter tried crying out, struggling against the rope in desperation. But the voice kept going:

Eeny...
Meeny...
Miny...
Moe.

A resounding 'thunk' was heard and Walter's muffled scream was almost immediately snuffed as well.

...

Judy's phone buzzed on her nightstand, causing a paw to chase the vibrating device from under some covers.
"Wilde here," she answered, still half asleep.
"Judy? This is Connie," a voice said on the other end.
"Connie?" The bunny repeated, still half-asleep.
"Yeah, I work in the morgue, remember? You wanted me to call you if I ever found any leads or anything interesting?"
"Right, sorry,"Judy apologized. "Connie, what time is it?"
"Four-thirty in the morning, why?" The voice innocently asked.
"Can't it wait until we punch in later?"
"I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't important."
"Fine," the bunny huffed as she sat up. "What is it?"
"We've got another one."
In that instant, Judy was wide awake and in full overdrive.
"We'll be there in an hour."

Judy leaned over to shake her partner awake.
"Nick! Get up! We've got work."
The fox snorted and mumbled, but didn't wake. Ever the impatient one, Judy pushed him off the bed with her feet, causing Nick to fall with loud thud. The fox groaned in pain as he pulled himself back onto the bed.
"Dammit, Carrots. What is wrong with-"
"Connie called, said we've got another one," the bunny cut in as she hopped off the bed.
"It's still only four-thirty," Nick grumbled as he saw the clock.
"I told her we'd be there in an hour."
"Then you won't mind if I sleep a for bit longer," he said as he brought the covers back over him.
"Okay," Judy agreed while she made for the bathroom. "I'll be having a shower in the meantime."
"I'm up!"
No sooner was the fox out of bed, he was stopped by Judy.
"Ah-ah," she said while blocking the doorway. "Get the coffee going first, then you can join me."
"Sly bunny," Nick grinned.
"Dirty fox," Judy coyly replied as she slipped past the door.

"Oh good, you guys finally showed up," Connie greeted the duo as they entered the morgue. "What took you so long? Judy said you'd only be an hour."
Judy's ears flushed a little as Nick searched for an excuse.
"Early morning traffic," he lied. "You know how the nocturnals are rushing home at this hour, right?"
The meerkat didn't buy it, but she didn't push.
"Whatever. Come and take a look."
Connie led the detectives to the slab where two head disembodied head sat.
"You've already met Miss Lambsleigh, but not three hours ago Mr. Stripes here was found by officer McHorn in the Canal District."
"Does Mr. Stripes have a name?" Judy asked.
The meerkat gave her a stern look.
"I don't mock the dead, Judy. His name is Walter Stripes. I had Forensics run an ID while I was waiting."
Nick snickered as his partner winced at her faux-pas.
"Now as you may have noticed, our guests here both share a few traits," Connie continued.
"Apart from the whole 'beheaded' thing?" Nick prodded.
"Yes. I found a small note in Mr. Stripes' mouth; it's in the evidence tray over there," she added while gesturing to a metal bin. "So on a hunch, I went digging in Miss Lambsleigh's mouth and found another note. Hard to believe that I missed it on my first survey."
Nick went on to analyze the notes as the meerkat kept talking.
"Also, take a whiff of each of them, Judy," Connie suggested.
The bunny looked at her in disbelief.
"You're serious?"
"Just do as the doctor says, Carrots," her partner voiced from across the slab.
Feeling glad that she skipped out on an early breakfast, Judy sniffed at the wool of Mary Lambsleigh's head. The metallic stench of dried blood assaulted her nostrils along with the lingering smell of decay. Wanting to end the torture quickly, she moved over to Walter Stripes and took in a deep breath. She immediately moved away to cough as her nostrils burned.
"Sweet cheese and crackers! What is that?!"
"Bleach," Connie simply answered. "If Mr. Stripes here was murdered by the same mammal as Miss Lambsleigh, then we have to assume that they're learning from their mistakes."
"Well that's good to know, Connie," Nick responded as he pocketed the notes. "We'll look into Mr. Stripes' unfortunate accident as another facet of our case. Is McHorn still on duty?"
"I think he left right after calling Mr. Stripes in."
"Okay, thanks again," the fox replied as he led Judy out of the morgue.

"You gonna be okay, Carrots?" Nick asked his partner as she held her still burning nose.
"I think so," Judy replied as she tried sniffing in the office air, wincing as she did so. "This is SO not my day."
"Well hopefully this will cheer you up," the fox stated as he noticed a new folder on her desk. "Looks like our guys in IT got an ID on our harasser."
Judy opened the folder and made a quick perusal of the contents. Their suspect was a bobcat by the name of Robert Catmull.

…

Horsey, horsey, don't you stop…
Just let your feet go clippety-clop…

AN: Seems like they've rubbed off on each other after all these years.