Hi all,
First off I want to apologize for the delay in updating this story, that wasn't my intent when I started it. Unfortunately, real life came and bit me on the ass.
I want to spend a moment addressing it here so you don't think I've abandoned this story or no longer care about you all.
I was struggling with my mental health a bit at the back end of last year and it was wearing me down. Thankfully, I've been using some self-help techniques and receiving a boatload of love from my other half, so that seems to have died down and I'm back in a good place in that sense. Unfortunately, even though mentally I'm better, my physical health hasn't been great. I suffered a concussion last year and over the last few months my brain has decided to play up and generally give me a bad time - I can't filter background noise, I have near daily headaches/migraines, and I can't focus on anything for more than a few hours without wanting to cry from the throbbing pain in my head. Doctor's are still trying to get to the bottom of it, which is fun...
My headaches have eased a little over the past week or two, so I've started dipping my toes back into writing, but I don't want to push myself too hard and go backward again. I was able to finish this chapter though, which is something!
I'm taking things easy, so all I ask is that you please be patient with me.
I still love you guys, and I haven't given up on this!
~ Ophelia x
"I'm driving this time." Nick snatched the keys from Judy's desk, using her distraction to his advantage. The doe was still engrossed in the paperwork from Wolford.
Sighing as she peered over the papers, Judy stared at her partner. "It's a good job I've taken out life insurance then." She quipped, enjoying the way Nick scowled at her.
"I'm not that bad." He muttered, twirling the keys around a clawed finger as his features softened before he was heading out of their little office.
Locking up their belongings, something Nick always forgot to do, Judy hurried after him, following him down to the parking lot and to their vehicle.
"Where are we heading?" Nick asked as he took the driver's seat, waiting for Judy to hop up into the passenger spot and buckle herself in.
Once seated and buckled in, Judy flipped to the page with the address on, scanning the document. "Apartment 6, 4387 Plow Street" She read out as Nick started the engine and pulled out of the precinct parking lot.
"That's on the cusp between Sahara Square and Tundratown. Why the hell would our vic live there?" The fox mused. Nick's hustling days had seen him explore all areas of the city, and he'd spent many a day on the metro system, dodging the transport officers checking tickets. Plow Street wasn't particularly affluent, and given its location, it was an odd choice of home for a fox. The mixture between the heat and the cold would confuse their bodies, and their fur wouldn't be sure whether to stay fluffy or remain sleek.
Judy pocketed the search warrant in case they came across anyone in the property, and she filed the rest of the documents in the glove compartment. "Maybe it was cheap rent? That might explain why he had so much disposable income to be able to afford his watch and to visit Ruby's." The reason felt flimsy even as she aired it, but it was still an angle to consider.
"Perhaps." Nick agreed absentmindedly as he made a right turn, taking them ever closer to the address. It was still gnawing away at him that a few years ago, it could've been him on the Medical Examiner's table. Since becoming a cop, a lot of his old contacts had kept their distance, but Nick never allowed himself to believe he was safe. There would always be a few who would be convinced he'd rat them out.
Turning her head to look at her mate, Judy wondered whether they were the best pair for the case. The doe wasn't blind; she could see that Nick was affected. What were the chances that their first case would be the murder of a fox? "He could've inherited the home?" She threw out another possibility, trying to fill the silence. Wolford hadn't included any information about the property. With that in mind, Judy pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a quick text to her former partner, asking him to do a bit more digging. If Oskar had inherited the home, then it answered her question, but if someone else owned it, then they would have to track down the landmammal and ask him or her some questions.
"What house number did you say it was again?" Nick queried as he turned onto Plow Street, slowing the vehicle to a crawl while also ensuring the doors were locked. The street was deserted and lined either side by townhouses. They were crumbling with age and lack of love, while the road was littered with household debris, occasionally caught in the wheels of the few old cars parked up. While the street was a mess, Nick knew the area well enough to know all the residents had one another's backs, and that they'd created their own little community. Their police vehicle wouldn't go unnoticed, which he feared could make it more difficult for them to get mammals to talk.
"4387," Judy repeated the house number, observing her surroundings. She watched the numbers on the doors go up as they drove down the street, and she was fortunate that on her side of the road were the odd-numbered houses. "It's a few doors down on my side." She commented as they passed house number 4381.
Pulling the car to the side of the road, Nick killed the engine. "You armed?" He asked, checking his belt. They were only permitted to carry non-lethal weapons, but he knew the taser he had on him could pack enough of a punch to take down a moose if appropriately calibrated.
Checking her own belt, Judy nodded. She had her taser and pepper spray, though she prayed she wouldn't have to use them. Judy had become an officer to protect mammals, not hurt them, but she knew that in some situations it was justified for her to defend herself. "Apartment 6." She reminded Nick as they left the safety of their vehicle.
The wind howled down the narrow street, carrying with it the icy bite of Tundratown, and Nick pulled his jacket tighter around him. He'd never enjoyed the cold. Taking the lead, he headed towards the house. The main door was ajar so with a hind paw he carefully pushed it open. The lack of lighting in the dark corridor was easy for him to adjust to, and when he neither saw nor smelt a threat, he led the way up the stairs.
Sticking close to Nick's six, Judy's large ears were turned behind them, to pick up on any mammals that might try to sneak up on them. The more they climbed the stairs, the lighter the building became. There were two apartments per floor, and the large picture windows on the landing of each level afforded them greater visibility. On the third floor, they found apartment six.
"ZPD, is anyone home?" Nick rapped his knuckles on the wooden door to the apartment. They weren't expecting anyone to answer, but they waited a few minutes just to be sure. "I don't think anyone's in," Nick grumbled, reaching for his belt. Though it would've been much more impressive to try and kick the door down, the fox didn't want to have to deal with the paperwork that would arise from the need to then secure the apartment. Instead, he pulled his lockpick from his belt, and after a few minutes of working at the lock, the door swung open.
Judy's first peek at the room made her frown. "I wasn't expecting this." She muttered as the two stepped into the room, taser's drawn and large ears flicking to pick up any noise. Shutting the front door behind them to not garner any more attention, they decided to divide and conquer, doing a quick sweep of the small apartment. "All clear," Judy reported as she entered the main living space.
"All clear on my side too." Nick pocketed his taser, now able to fully take in the space. Given the rundown exterior of the street and the building, he was impressed with how beautiful the inside of the apartment was. "He took a lot of pride in this place." He commented, one ear flicking to Judy as he heard her cellphone beep.
Reading her new message, Judy turned it so Nick could see the screen. "Makes sense considering he owns it." She slid the phone back into her pocket once Nick was done. "How does a quick sweep of the place sound?"
"My little bunny doesn't want a thorough search?" Nick quirked an eyebrow in surprise.
Shaking her head, Judy pulled on the latex gloves she kept on her belt. There could be useful evidence lying around. "Is it bad if I say this place gives me the creeps?"
Chuckling, Nick pulled on his own gloves. "Not at all Fluff. You've got a big bad fox to protect you though." He teased as he headed for the kitchen. Opening one of the cupboards he was surprised to find everything stacked neatly inside, and there wasn't a speck of dust or dirt in sight.
Judy didn't even bother responding to her mate's teasing. While it was true that she felt infinitely safer with a predator for a partner, and with said partner being her mate too, she knew there were plenty of critters out there much bigger than them. Leaving Nick to the kitchen, Judy went for the bedroom. Usually the most personal of spaces held the most information.
The room was similar in style to the living room, with cream walls and soft furnishings. If it weren't for the fact that when Judy looked out the window she could see the neighboring homes crumbling, she would've believed herself to be in a luxury apartment downtown. Rummaging through the wardrobes and drawers, Judy found nothing that could be considered evidence or a lead, but she did see plenty of branded clothing. Just as she was about to turn her attention to the bed and the space beneath it, she heard a mechanical sound.
"Carrots, I think I got something," Nick called from the kitchen. He'd been going through each cupboard quickly, assuming he wouldn't find anything, but when he'd gone to open what he'd thought was the inbuilt fridge, he'd instead been met with a narrow corridor. Reaching for his taser, he heard Judy scuttling into the room, stopping beside him.
"What the hell is that?" She whispered, struggling to see in the darkened space.
Spotting a switch on the side of the wall, Nick flicked it, and with a buzzing noise a bright light bulb in the corridor ceiling switched on, illuminating their path. "I think it's a secret tunnel. This case just got so much cooler." Nick grinned, taking the first step into the room.
"Shouldn't we call for back up? We don't know what's in there!" Judy whisper-shouted, grabbing the back of Nick's jacket.
Stopping his exploration, Nick turned to look at his partner. "Use those big ears of yours, can you hear anything?"
Tuning in to their surroundings, Judy listened for a moment before she shook her head.
"Then I'm going in, will you watch my six please?" Nick asked, lifting his taser once again.
Giving a sharp nod, Judy stayed behind Nick as they slowly made their way down the narrow corridor. Her large ears were twisting and turning, trying to pick up on any little sound, but it was silent other than for the noise of their pawsteps against the concrete floor. The corridor didn't go on for very long before it opened up into a small, dark room.
"What can you see?" Judy whispered to her mate, still not detecting any noise.
Nick took a glance around the room. "There's a desk, some filing cabinets, and something on the wall." He answered, before making a small noise of triumph as he again found a light switch. Turning it on, he winced at the sudden stream of brightness, screwing his eyes closed.
"Urm, Slick?" Judy stood in both awe and shock at what she saw in the room. "You might want to see this." She took a step closer to one of the walls. A massive map of Zootopia had been taped to it, and from it were lines of red string leading to photos of mammals, along with newspaper clippings and reports on their deaths.
Cracking his eyes open, Nick let them adjust for a moment before he turned towards Judy. "Well if that isn't suspicious I don't know what is." He commented, taking a step closer to inspect the information Judy was looking at.
"I don't think Oskar was a serial killer, he didn't strike me as one." Judy bit her lower lip as she scan-read the newspaper clippings.
"Met many serial killers then?" Nick shook his head. It was a theory he was still willing to consider. From what little he was reading about the mammals on the wall, there didn't seem to be anything connecting them. They'd all been killed in different parts of the city, and the reported murder weapons were all different. "Nothing is connecting them."
Leaving Nick to ponder the map, Judy turned her focus to the desk. There were sheets of blank paper all over it, but nothing screamed out to her. Feeling along the front of the desk, Judy found two drawers. The top contained typical stationery – pens, more paper, some pencils, tape, and an eraser. However, the bottom drawer was stuffed with a manila folder. "Might be something." She lifted the folder out of the drawer and set it down on the desk. Flipping it open, she found a stack of letters, all with headed paper. "P.R.E.D - Predators Regroup to Eradicate Discrimination" She read the letter heading aloud.
"Pred rights group." Nick abandoned his visual search of the information on the wall, coming to stand next to Judy and examine the folder and its contents with her.
Judy could've planted her face right on the desk. "Predators." She turned to look back at the wall "They're all predators." She made the connection. "He could've been investigating their deaths and stumbled across something." Taking her phone from her pocket, Judy snapped a photo of the wall as a whole, before she went to each mammal identified and photographed their newspaper clippings and portraits. They couldn't take everything back to the precinct with them now, they didn't have enough evidence bags in the car, but the photos could get them started.
"The letters are talking about the increasing surge in predator deaths, and how none of the cases are properly looked at." Nick flicked through the rest of the letters. Some of them were dated before he was born. "It could've been a hate crime." Nick hated the very idea, but it was a possibility.
Returning to Nick's side, Judy snapped a few photos of the letters. "It could've. We won't know though until we can get back to the precinct and recreate this map, and start joining up the dots." She pocketed her phone, placing a paw on Nick's arm as he returned the manila folder to the desk drawer. They weren't expecting anyone to return to the apartment, but it never hurt to leave things as they'd been found, just in case.
Making their way out of the small room and back into the kitchen, Judy stayed behind Nick and flicked off the lights as they went until they emerged into the bright kitchen.
"I don't think there's much else here. We should call this in and get someone to secure this place and properly remove the documents." Nick shut the faux fridge door as Judy pulled out her phone once again, making a quick call to Wolford to relay the information.
Together they left the apartment, and the deadlock clicked as they shut the door. If anyone returned, then they would be none the wiser. As Nick and Judy crossed the landing, back to the stairs, Judy froze. Her large ears swiveled to the door to apartment five. She could hear a heartbeat on the other side of the door, very close to them. Pointing at the door, Judy withdrew her notepad and pen from her belt. A neighbor at the door, we should ask them questions. She scribbled down for Nick.
Reluctantly, the tod nodded, and the pair moved to the other apartment. "ZPD, can we ask you a few questions please?" He asked loudly, knocking on the door.
There was a moment of silence before a soft voice came from the inside of the apartment. "Hold your badge up to the peephole, please."
The request wasn't ridiculous, Judy had heard stories of mammal's wanting to examine their credentials before speaking. With the peephole being too high up for her, even with her arm stretched, she let Nick flash his badge.
Nick only had his arm up for a few moments before the clicking of locks could be heard. Pocketing his badge, a pair of green eyes peered out from around the door.
"How can I help, officers?" The binturong asked, looking between the rabbit and the fox.
"I'm Officer Wilde, this is Officer Hopps. We're wondering if we could ask you some questions about your neighbor, Oskar Reddish." Nick introduced them before he gestured to Judy, letting her take the lead with questioning. The binturong looked skittish, and Judy had always had a way of calming mammals.
"What's your name?" Judy started easy.
Talking to the cops wasn't recommend within the community, but the binturong's curiosity had been piqued at the mention of her neighbor. "Chantou Yeung." She introduced herself, remaining behind the door.
"It's nice to meet you Chantou. Can you remember when you last saw Mr. Reddish?" Judy was still holding her notepad and pen, prepared to scribble down the neighbors answers.
Thinking for a moment, Chantou nodded. "Three days ago. I heard him whistling as he came up the stairs, so I opened the door to say hello. What's going on, is he missing?" The thought of sweet Oskar going missing was upsetting for Chantou. He was a kind neighbor and always offered to kitsit her son when she had to work late.
Looking to her partner for support, Judy bit her lower lip.
Swallowing, Nick offered Chantou a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Reddish has passed away."
"He's dead?" Chantou let go of the door to bring her paws to cover her mouth, and she could feel tears starting to well in her eyes. "What happened?"
"That's what we're trying to establish, Chantou. Anything you can tell us could help us." Judy stepped back in, moving her hind paw closest to Nick so that they touched. Delivering sad news to civilians wasn't fun, and she would have to thank him later for it.
Thinking back to when she'd last seen him, Chantou couldn't remember anything suspicious. Paws dropping from her mouth, she shook her head. "He seemed fine when I last saw him. He looked in good health and didn't seem to be worried about anything. When I opened my door to say hello he handed me a big bag of vegetables from his allotment. He grows so much food, and with him living alone, it would go to waste otherwise. His kindness has meant my son hasn't had to go hungry." Chantou's lower lip wobbled. "He told me that his work was going well, asked how my son and I were doing, and then we made plans to take my kit to the park at the weekend. Oskar would always push him on the swings."
Scribbling down notes, Judy couldn't remember Wolford mentioning anything about the allotment. "This allotment, do you happen to know where it is?" She asked gently.
"Yeah, it's at Rainbow Falls. Oskar said it had the best soil for growing beans in the whole city." Chantou had to agree with her late neighbor, the beans he'd grown were terrific.
Jotting down the location, Judy was satisfied. "Thank you, Chantou. If you think of anything else, please give the ZPD a call. We're so sorry for your loss." The doe reached out a paw to place on Chantou's right wrist, offering her a soft smile as she saw the first few tears slip down her cheek.
Though she was sure she wouldn't call, for again talking to the cops wasn't recommend, the binturong still nodded. "T-thank you." She stammered, using her free paw to wipe at her face.
With nothing left to say, Judy released Chantou's wrist and made for the stairs, hearing Nick follow after her and the click of the apartment door. The duo was silent as they returned to the car. Once back inside the safety of their vehicle Judy produced her phone and started to type.
"You've already asked Wolford to swing by with a team and grab the documents and map." Nick frowned at his partner's furious typing.
"I know. I'm getting a warrant for the allotment, and searching for a food bank in the area." Judy clicked through a few webpages and found an address for the food bank. Copying it, she sent Wolford a message asking for the warrant and for him to push a note under the door of apartment five with the food bank address on. "I don't want Chantou or her kit to go hungry when there's help out there." Satisfied, she pocketed her phone and turned her focus to her notes.
Nick's shoulders dropped, and a soft smile crossed his lips. He couldn't believe the amount of kindness his mate was capable of. It would've never crossed his mind to do such a thing for a stranger. "How did I get so lucky, Fluff?"
Pulled from her notes, Judy turned her head to her mate, tipping it sideways with curiosity. "I'm not following."
"To fall in love with such a sweet bunny." Nick knew it was corny and wanted to immediately regret saying it aloud, but at the same time, it felt good to remind his mate about how amazing she was.
Leaning across the center console, Judy planted a firm kiss on her fox's muzzle. "Says the handsome fox." She gave his cheek a quick stroke before sitting back in her seat. "Now then Slick, I think we should check out the allotment."
Rainbow Falls was located at the edge of the Meadowlands, bordering Tundratown. It would've been a strange place for an allotment if it weren't for the climate wall nearby. The amount of power needed to keep Tundratown cool meant plenty of engines running 24/7, and these engines kicked back some heat. It made the Meadowlands side of the border sit comfortably between 64°F and 76°F. Growing vegetables there was a piece of cake.
"No stealing any carrots while we're here, Fluff." Nick teased as he turned their car into the allotment parking area, pulling into a vacant spot. There were only a few other vehicles parked up, and Nick took comfort in the fact there would be few mammals around who might see what they were up to. With the victim having been a fox, and the possibility of it being a hate crime, the tod was on high alert.
Rolling her eyes as the car came to a stop, Judy unplugged her seatbelt. "So long as you stay away from any blueberries." She fired back as she exited the car, hearing Nick do the same and their doors closing together.
"You know I only like your family blueberries." The fox squinted in the afternoon sun. Opening the car door again he rummaged in the side compartment until he found his sunglasses, sliding them on his snout as he closed the door again, this time locking the vehicle.
Looking out over the array of allotments, Judy pursed her lips. "We didn't ask Chantou which one was Oskar's." She pointed out, noting the allotments that had mammal's working away at them. They could eliminate those, but it still left around twenty for them to decide from.
Rounding the car to join his mate, Nick stood beside her to observe the gardens. It reminded him of Bunnyburrow and all of the fields of crops. He missed it. "I don't think Chantou would've known, Fluff." Nick scratched at his ear as his tail flicked, the tip curling around Judy's ankles.
Smiling to herself at the feel of her fox's tail around her, Judy came up with a plan. "We could ask the mammal's here, see if any of them have seen him around and can point us in the direction?" She suggested.
Not liking the idea, the fox shook his head. "That'd alert them to our presence." He pointed out.
Frowning, Judy turned her head to look at her mate. It wasn't like him to not want to ask around and network. "We arrived in a police car, Nick." She paused. "Are you worried?" She reached out to place a paw on Nick's arm, feeling his tail around her ankles tighten.
"A fox was murdered, Judy. We can't rule out a hate crime yet. I'm a fox working this case. What if the murderer finds that out and comes after me, or even worse comes after you because we're partners?" Nick voiced his fear, turning his head to meet his mate's gaze.
Judy's brow furrowed. "That's not going to happen, Nick. I don't think the murderer is going to go after cops. They'd be an extraordinary brand of stupid if they did." Judy tried to reassure her fox. She didn't think it would come to that, but if the worst did happen, then she would protect her fox with all of her might.
"Mhm." Nick hummed, not entirely believing his mate but appreciating her assurance anyway. "Asking around is probably the quickest way to deal with this, and I have a feeling time is of the essence if we want to get back to the precinct and look over all the stuff from Oskar's secret room." Nick decided, unfurling his tail from Judy's ankles.
Giving Nick's arm a gentle squeeze, Judy let her paw fall. "Agreed. Let's start with the Eurasian badger." The doe tipped her head in the direction of a middle-aged badger tending to some lettuces, dressed in a pink blouse and a tattered straw hat. The rabbit's phone pinged in her pocket, and she pulled it out, grinning at the screen. "Warrant's been issued. We're good to go."
Letting Judy lead the way, Nick kept close to her six, ears listening to their surrounding as he kept his eyes on the badger. The sound of their approaching footsteps caught the badger's attention, and she looked up from her lettuces.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm Officer Hopps, and this is my partner Officer Wilde. We're working a case concerning a mammal that owned an allotment here. Do you know which of these garden's belongs to Mr. Reddish?" Judy adopted a softer tone, the one she reserved for prying information out of unsuspecting citizens.
Standing up, Maya abandoned her lettuces, giving the two cops stood in her garden her full attention. Unfortunately, she had no idea about the mammal they were asking for information about. Though she spent several days a week tending to her little patch of land, she didn't bother to socialize very much with the other mammals. Her garden was her tranquil space, somewhere to get away from others and the hustle of the city. "I'm sorry Officer's, I don't know a Mr. Reddish." Casting her gaze around the allotment, she raised a paw to point at a deer a few gardens over. "Emmie knows a lot of the mammal's who have garden's here, she might be able to help you." Maya offered.
Clocking the deer in his peripheral vision, Nick offered the badger a smile. "Thank you, ma'am. Sorry to have troubled you, enjoy the rest of your day." He led the way out of Maya's patch and towards the deer, Judy by his side.
"Excuse me, Emmie?" Nick spoke as they reached the fence of the doe's garden, causing the other mammal to lift her head from the patch of potatoes she'd been weeding. "I'm Officer Wilde, and this is my partner, Officer Hopps. We were wondering if you could point us in the direction of Mr. Reddish's garden, please?" He asked, adopting Judy's strategy and using a gentle tone.
Curious about the police visiting the allotment, Emmie had to bite her tongue. What were they doing? Was Oskar into some sketchy business? "Of course Officers," Emmie responded, standing tall. "His patch is five gardens over." She gestured along the line with a hoof. "Is Oskar in trouble?"
"We're just looking into a few things, making sure that's not the case," Judy responded tactically. Something in her gut told her that Emmie didn't know all the mammals who had gardens because she enjoyed their company. She'd met her fair share of gossips during high school, and now it was easy to spot them. "Thank you for the information, you have a nice day now." Judy excused them, keeping a leisurely pace as she approached Oskar's garden with Nick. Any indication of haste would only pique Emmie's interest further.
"This is it?" Nick muttered as they stopped in front of the garden. It was small, but well kept, and there was a wide variety of fruit and vegetables growing in the flowerbeds. They'd been weeded recently, but the soil was dry due to Oskar's untimely death. There was a small wooden shed to one side of the garden, the tin roof a little rickety, and a giant padlock keeping the door securely shut.
Stepping into the garden, Judy saw nothing of interest in the flowerbeds. Instead, she made a beeline for the shed. "What did you think his allotment would look like?" She asked as she checked the lock. It was rust-free even though it was exposed to the elements. "New lock." She pointed out as Nick came to stand behind her.
"A free supermarket." The fox responded dryly. "I got this." He nudged his partner out of the way. Picking locks was his specialty.
It only took a few moments before Nick and Judy were able to enter the shed, and both mammals were disappointed at what they found. "A whole lot of nothing." Nick sighed. There was a wooden workbench at one end of the shed, with a multitude of gardening tools scattered on it and a corkboard above it. At the opposite end of the shed was a counter and small sink, presumably for washing off fruit and veg and packing it up. A spade and hoe sat propped next to the door, and an exposed lightbulb hung from the ceiling. "Guess we'll have to go back over the stuff from his apartment." Nick's brow furrowed as he stared at the floor.
"Nick," Judy called her mate, wanting him to join her at the end of the shed with the workbench.
The tod started to stomp on the floor, listening for a change of sound. "Surely he has a hidden trapdoor in here. If he can hide that room in his apartment, he can hide something here."
"Nick," Judy called a little louder this time, thumping her hind paw.
Caught out by the sharpness of Judy's tone, Nick gave up his hope of finding a trapdoor and joined his mate at the end of the shed. "What's up?" He asked.
Lifting a paw, Judy pointed to the corkboard above the workbench. Documents with planting information for various fruit and vegetables were pinned to it, but amongst the info was a photograph. It was a group shot, in black and white, at what looked to be a large gathering of mammals outside City Hall. "Is that…?"
Nick's jaw went slack. "Mom?"
